Belleville Bulls Possible Lineup
Eric Tangradi - Bryan Cameron - Jan Mursak
Matt Beleskey - Stephen Johnston - Adam Perry
Andy Self - Cory Tanaka - Keaton Turkiewicz
Matt Tipoff - Stephen Blunden - Tyler Randell
Geoff Killing - P.K. Subban
Nigel Williams - Shawn Lalonde
Marc Cantin - Chris Mifflen
Mike Murphy
Parker Van Buskirk
Projected Starting Goaltender: Mike Murphy Regular Season Statistics W-L-OT: 36-7-4 (2nd in Wins) GAA: 2.24 (1st) SV%: .929 (1st) SO: 3 (T-5th)
Playoff Statistics W-L-OT: 8-0-1 (T-1st in Wins) GAA: 1.94 (3rd among goalies that played over 5 games) SV%: .934 (4th among goalies that played over 5 games) SO: 0 (T-6th)
Belleville Bulls Injuries Shawn Matthias - Out indefinetly with Mononucleosis Nick Pageau - Day-to-Day with High Ankle Sprain
The Oshawa Generals Possible Lineup
Patrick Asselin - John Tavares - Dale Mitchell
Brett MacLean - Brett Parnham - Corey Cowick
Kevin Baker - Kory Nagy - Taylor Tyler
Jonathan Sciacca - Jeff Hayes - Andy Andreoff
Michael Del Zotto - James DeLory
Eric Regan - Ryan McGinnis
Matt Seegmiller - John Quarrie/David Corrente
Daryl Borden
Shea Cooper
Projected Starting Goaltender: Daryl Borden Regular Season Statistics W-L-OT: 16-13-6 (T-18th in Wins) GAA: 3.83 (22nd) SV%: .885 (26th) SO: 2 (T-10th)
Playoff Statistics W-L-OT: 1-0-0 (T-10th in Wins) GAA: 3.23 (16th) SV%: .906 (13th) SO: 0 (T-6th)
Oshawa Generals Injuries Michal Neuvirth
Top-5 Scorers in Playoffs For Belleville
P.K. Subban - 12 Points
Jan Mursak - 11 Points
Matt Beleskey - 11 Points
Andy Self - 10 Points
Nigel Williams - 9 Points
Top-5 Scorers in Playoffs For Oshawa
John Tavares - 14 Points
Brett Maclean - 13 Points
Dale Mitchell - 12 Points
Patrick Asselin - 11 Points
Ryan McGinnis - 9 Points
Players to Watch
Belleville Bulls: #6 P.K. Subban
Oshawa Generals: #91 John Tavares
ANY OSHAWA GENERALS FANS THAT CAN SHED LIGHT ON THEIR LINEUP WOULD BE VERY APPRECIATED. IM NOT FAMILIAR WITH THE LINES AND INJURIES!!!
GO BULLS GO!!!!
PS: Its the Conference Finals, I think its worthy of a thread.
Last edited by chaosrevolver: 04-13-2008 at 05:39 PM.
Thanks for starting the thread chaos.
However I can't see Burnett changing the lines. IMO he will keep them the same for this round as they were for the previous 2 series. No changes up front I think you will see Pageau make his playoff debut and Cantin will still be out with an upper body injury.
Go Bulls Go
I've been surprised each time out by the Generals so far in the playoffs. They played so miserably heading in that I thought they'd at least be blitzed by Niagara, even if they did somehow get past Ottawa.
I'd say there have been two changes thus far that have been primarily responsible for the Generals' success: 1) Goaltending, and 2) Overall team discipline/composure/defensive awareness.
Goaltending probably doesn't get as much press, especially with the lopsided series outcome against Ottawa, but Neuvirth really stood on his head at times to make sure that what might have been a somewhat closer matchup ended up being so lopsided. The Generals didn't have anything like that kind of goaltending in the regular season. And I don't know if they'll have it again if Neuvirth is out. (Although full credit to Borden who played well in Game 6 against Niagara... I don't have a lot of faith he can do that on a consistent basis, however).
The discipline and defensive improvements have been the biggest surprises. A turnaround of that magnitude could not have been expected from the team that finished the regular season in total disarray and confusion. At best, I thought maybe the Generals would basically run and gun to beat somebody, if they were going to beat anybody. Not that they should be mistaken yet for a really strong defensive team, mind you - Niagara still managed to score with relative frequency and pressure them at will at times - but still the turnaround has been impressive. And their discipline really was a key against a far less disciplined Niagara team.
All of it has been without the really top shelf performances I would have expected from Tavares, Maclean, and Del Zotto too. Those guys have been good - I'm not trying to criticize their play. But if the Generals were going to win, I would have expected them to be far more key to those wins than they have been. Guys like Asselin and Mitchell have come in with scoring, and Parnham and Nagy have brought energy and dynamicism, while I still think (based on their regular season play) that Tavares and Maclean have another gear that they can still shift up to.
To me, that's their hope if they're going to beat Belleville (or even make it close). They have to get the goaltending, they have to maintain the defensive composure and discipline, they have to keep all their depth chugging along and contributing, _AND_ on top of all that they need Tavares and Maclean to take their games up a notch. It's not impossible. But I still can't quite expect it will all happen. Especially if Neuvirth is out. But I'll give the Generals more credit than I have thus far in my predictions and say Belleville in 6.
I've been surprised each time out by the Generals so far in the playoffs. They played so miserably heading in that I thought they'd at least be blitzed by Niagara, even if they did somehow get past Ottawa.
I'd say there have been two changes thus far that have been primarily responsible for the Generals' success: 1) Goaltending, and 2) Overall team discipline/composure/defensive awareness.
Goaltending probably doesn't get as much press, especially with the lopsided series outcome against Ottawa, but Neuvirth really stood on his head at times to make sure that what might have been a somewhat closer matchup ended up being so lopsided. The Generals didn't have anything like that kind of goaltending in the regular season. And I don't know if they'll have it again if Neuvirth is out. (Although full credit to Borden who played well in Game 6 against Niagara... I don't have a lot of faith he can do that on a consistent basis, however).
The discipline and defensive improvements have been the biggest surprises. A turnaround of that magnitude could not have been expected from the team that finished the regular season in total disarray and confusion. At best, I thought maybe the Generals would basically run and gun to beat somebody, if they were going to beat anybody. Not that they should be mistaken yet for a really strong defensive team, mind you - Niagara still managed to score with relative frequency and pressure them at will at times - but still the turnaround has been impressive. And their discipline really was a key against a far less disciplined Niagara team.
All of it has been without the really top shelf performances I would have expected from Tavares, Maclean, and Del Zotto too. Those guys have been good - I'm not trying to criticize their play. But if the Generals were going to win, I would have expected them to be far more key to those wins than they have been. Guys like Asselin and Mitchell have come in with scoring, and Parnham and Nagy have brought energy and dynamicism, while I still think (based on their regular season play) that Tavares and Maclean have another gear that they can still shift up to.
To me, that's their hope if they're going to beat Belleville (or even make it close). They have to get the goaltending, they have to maintain the defensive composure and discipline, they have to keep all their depth chugging along and contributing, _AND_ on top of all that they need Tavares and Maclean to take their games up a notch. It's not impossible. But I still can't quite expect it will all happen. Especially if Neuvirth is out. But I'll give the Generals more credit than I have thus far in my predictions and say Belleville in 6.
I agree pretty much right across the board especially with MacLean and Tavares having another gear/level they need to reach. I've commented before on Tavares 5 on 5 play and how he really isn't even close to dominating. Of course I'm talking in terms of of a guy who will be or close to being next years number one. I realize he is trying to be a little more defensively responsible and it is nice to see the 2 minute shifts gone but is it just me or does he seem to be getting less shots off ? I just don't totally buy into the theory that he is becoming more of a playmaker.In any event he and MacLean will have to take it up a notch to have a chance but the Gens goaltending is a huge question mark.
I agree pretty much right across the board especially with MacLean and Tavares having another gear/level they need to reach. I've commented before on Tavares 5 on 5 play and how he really isn't even close to dominating. Of course I'm talking in terms of of a guy who will be or close to being next years number one. I realize he is trying to be a little more defensively responsible and it is nice to see the 2 minute shifts gone but is it just me or does he seem to be getting less shots off ? I just don't totally buy into the theory that he is becoming more of a playmaker.In any event he and MacLean will have to take it up a notch to have a chance but the Gens goaltending is a huge question mark.
Exactly what I was going to say. Tavares should be a level above anyone else in this series but so far in the playoffs he has played more like a regular 1st line forward than a star/superstar. The Generals will be done in 4 or 5 if he doesn't step it up.
PS: Mitchell has been the opposite. He has been even more dangerous than I would have expected.
Big kudos to Borden for keeping the Generals from being embarrassed.
I agree with the other comments about Tavares. No real signs of a breakthrough last night either. Is he perma-bored with the OHL now or what? I do think he's putting more emphasis on playmaking, though, and on defense, and all that. And the progress he has made there - and with his skating - has all been good, all encouraging for his overall development. But at some point, he has to find some intensity too. What separates the generic star players from the real mega-superstars is often that inner drive to excel, and I'm not seeing any external indicators that Tavares has that. You'd think this would be a pretty good time for it to be on display.
Borden was fantastic last night. It couldve been a blowout. Not trying to take away from Murphy's accomplishments, because he was great too, but Borden was just a brick wall.
Borden was fantastic last night. It couldve been a blowout. Not trying to take away from Murphy's accomplishments, because he was great too, but Borden was just a brick wall.
very well said i agree. The best part about last nights game is to show the heart that Geoff killing has i watched them put his shoulder back in and i almost threw up
Belleville Bulls give up 3 goals in the first 4 minutes which caused Mike Murphy to be pulled. From there they would score 4 unanswered goals and Parker Van Buskirk shuts the door as Belleville would win 4-3.
The Bulls take game two in Oshawa tonight by a score of 4-3. The Gens stormed out to a 3-0 lead after one and then the Bulls started to chip away... they scored early in the second on a goal by Adam Perry.... The Bulls inched closer on a goal by Eric Tangradi.... they tied up the game on a marker by Shawn Lalonde, Bulls completed their comeback as Matt Beleskey scored his fifth of the playoffs to cap the scoring. Mike Murphy gets pulled after allowing three goals on five shots and Parker Van Buskirk came in and shut the door the rest of the way. Final shots on goal were 48 - 33 and an astonishing 21 - 7 in the second period. Congrats to the Bulls for not folding the tents and I think this loss is a real crushing blow and we shall see how the Gens rebound tomorrow night in Belleville
Belleville has depth bbut tjhe Generals are far more talented. It's too bad the number 1 guy is doing very little.
The Gens are far more talented are they? Talented teams dont blow three goal leads in their home rink... The Bulls won tonight with their backup who hasnt played the entire playoffs and he SHUT the door on the more talented (your opinion and not many others I bet) team. Oh yeah did you forget that the Bulls are missing their number one forward as well...the only difference is Oshawas is playing and not very well as it stands....
Maybe I was overly charitable in thinking the Gens could stretch them to 6 games. So far, it has basically been two games of domination by the Bulls. The close scores haven't really been indicative of Belleville's edge in the play IMHO.
Borden has sure lived up to his part of the bargain in terms of giving them the goaltending they were going to need in order to be competitive. And the team's discipline and defensive play hasn't really gone down the tubes either (although I think there are probably Bulls fans scratching their heads on that one... *this* is the vaunted improved defense Oshawa observers were talking about?!?!... well, yeah, kinda - considering how bad things were heading into the playoffs! Remember, we didn't say it was actually *good*... just a whole lot better than before!)
I can't help agreeing with the ongoing Tavares complaints. He's not raising his game to the star level, period. He looks like the guy playing with mono out there. Maybe I wasn't watching closely enough, but I recall some last-minute shifts where the Gens had Cowick or some others on the ice while others like Asselin or Parnham weren't? I can understand Nagy over Tavares for a crucial draw, but there were some 3rd period personnel decisions that I wasn't sure of.
Oh well, no surprise to most that Belleville is the better team. I'm a little surprised that they've actually been a dominantly better team even without Matthias, but the end result is the same.
And if I was born with a P****, then I would be a girl too.... Keep the excuses coming
Belleville has won 2 games by one goal while Tavares has done very little. I suspect if he had played like a potential 1st overall draft pick they would have won at least one of those games.
Oshawa is forced to play their backup goaltender as well so there is no advantage to either team there.
And good teams lose 3 goal leads all the time. The key is what they do in the next game.
Belleville has won 2 games by one goal while Tavares has done very little. I suspect if he had played like a potential 1st overall draft pick they would have won at least one of those games.
Oshawa is forced to play their backup goaltender as well so there is no advantage to either team there.
And good teams lose 3 goal leads all the time. The key is what they do in the next game.
yeah if it wasnt for that certain back up goalie all these games would be blowouts...Ask anybody who has seen the game and the Bulls have dominated in all areas.....
Bulls take a 3-0 stranglehold on the series as they defeat the Gennies tonight by a score of 5-2. Chance to wrap up the series and get to the OHL Final after being denied last year by the Wolves.
Over on the NOOF, it appears that there was an accident just after the game near the Yardmen.... I dont have any further details.... Pray that nobody was seriously hurt
VS.
GO BULLS GO!!!!
