Next Season - Current Roster - Keep or Move On?

[BontSteeler]

Under contract next season :

Robert Dowd
Brandon Whistle
Sam Jones

Latal has told Steelers he's going back home to the Czech Republic.

[smbmetal]

Would have been nice to read it on our own official club website rather than in the local rag.

There's a golf day though.

https://www.thestar.co.uk/sport/ice-hoc ... rs-4108165

[icemagic]

Greenfield Yes
Lavigne Not sure
Mitchell No
Ciampini No Too slow and does not go to tough places
Mosey Yes because he's a Brit and 2 way
Pitule No
Graham Yes 2 way
Neumann Yes
Shudra yes 2 way
Allen Yes
Latal No
Whistle yes
Dowd yes Captain
Kristo No
Vallerand No
McNally No
Ackered No
D Phillips Yes
Petgrave No
Schulze No
Jones Yes
Nevalainen Yes
Piche Yes

There is such a big rebuild needed (yet again} the chances of getting it right is negligible. If Fox had done a decent job last year we would only need to carry out tweaks, not make wholesale changes.

[paul johnston]

The problem is he selected so many veteran players at tail end of careers so hard to build a Core group for successive years, even more so when the team underachieves.
He needs to rebuild significantly and like many of us said in previous off seasons we need to be younger and need to sign more north American style players than we currently have done up to now under his stewardship.

[greeny]

The problem is he selected so many veteran players at tail end of careers so hard to build a Core group for successive years, even more so when the team underachieves.
He needs to rebuild significantly and like many of us said in previous off seasons we need to be younger and need to sign more north American style players than we currently have done up to now under his stewardship.

Agree about veteran players, if foxy was fetched in to rebuild over several years and given time to do so, then he should of initially gone with younger players and gave them time to get used to our league etc and then he would now have a good core to build around and maybe in position where tweeks here and there was all that was needed

[Sully]

Was thinking about this earlier.

Veterans are great if you’re bringing other players through and there’s a succession plan. Sadly, there isn’t so apart from the Brits and the odd few, which veterans are really going to go into the dirty areas and do the real dirty stuff that they did 5-10 years ago?

I’d say they probably aren’t.

Add to that, they aren’t playing at intensity they used to they are getting found out when it really matters and teams do get deep and dirty. That extra yard of pace has gone and on the ice, you can’t really hide. There isn’t another position to drop back to like in football.

There are no prisoners on the Ice.

[stans lad]

My take on who I would be happy to keep.

Mason Mitchell - Fitness a question so NO
Daniel Ciampini - Works hard, needs to score more 50/50
Evan Mosey - Against him is his age, slowed this year so probably NO
Tomas Pitule - Good 3/4 line player YES
Alex Graham - Would improve playing with better players and with more Ice Time YES
Brett Neumann - YES
Scott Allen - YES
Brandon Whistle - YES
Robert Dowd - YES
Danny Kristo - Good stopgap but not for a season,NO
Marc Olivier Vallerand - Rely too much on him, NO
Brandon McNally - NO
Calle Ackered - Big dissapointment, NO
Davey Philips - YES
Matt Petgrave - Defencemen need to defend, NO
Kevin Schulze - YES
Sam Jones - YES
Niklas Nevalainen - YES
Sebastien Piche - YES
Mat Greenfield - Best goalie we have had for years, YES
Hayden Lavigne - Not seen enough to make judgment
Curtis Warburton - as above
Jordan McLaughlin - as above

This leaves a hell of a rebuilding job especially up front.
As others have noted we are desperately short of proper goalscorers and the thing that stood out for me more than anything else was the lack of intensity, we have been far too soft which leads to the lackluster displays we have seen all to often.

[Jayboy]

Forwards:

08 Mason Mitchell - No
12 Daniel Ciampini - no
17 Evan Mosey - no
19 Tomáš Pitule - No
20 Jonathan Phillips - Retired
21 Alex Graham - Yes
25 Brett Neumann - Yes
27 Cole Shudra - No
29 Scott Allen - Yes
62 Martin Latal - Leaving
63 Brendan Connolly - Retired
74 Brandon Whistle - Yes
75 Robert Dowd - Yes
79 Danny Kristo - No
88 Marc-Olivier Vallerand - No
92 Brandon McNally - No

Defenders:

05 Carl Ackered - No
13 Davey Phillips - Yes
22 Matt Petgrave - No
28 Kevin Schulze - No
44 Sam Jones - Yes
57 Niklas Nevalainen - No
58 Sébastien Piché - No

Netminders:

01 Matt Greenfield - Yes
30 Hayden Lavigne - No
34 Curtis Warburton - Yes
72 Jordan McLaughlin - No

Wholesale clear out for me...

[greeny]

Other than greenfield there were no real stand out imports for me, no big deal if there were no returnee s. Some looked good on paper before season started, but did not really deliver, whether that was how they were coached and told to play etc or other reasons. But plenty players out there and then up to coach to get the correct balance of players and styles in and hopefully getting them to play to their full potential.

[Jayboy]

I say it every season and every season I am more or less proven right, start at the back and make sure we have a stud goalie and a defence that knows its job, that collectively knows how to put a forward on his arse, can clear the crease and back check all night long well before any offensive talent...

Championships and Silverware are all won at the back... Greenfield is the perfect guy to build that around,,,