Hi, this is Fred Wallace with ” Off the Wire “, brought to you by Auto Logic, the Logical Choice.
It’s the long weekend, Labour Day Weekend, the weekend before hockey season commences in these parts.
The Greater Metro Junior Hockey League begins play on Tuesday.
The Western Junior C openers are 1 week away.
And training camp for the Owen Sound Attack of the Ontario Hockey League builds to a climax on Monday night when they play their first pre-season game at Barrie.
The glaring issue up front for the team is truly up front, or more accurately found in the question of who is going to score for the Attack.
Looking at the Team Maltby & Team Snyder lineups this weekend, I see 18 players with OHL game experience, which is usually is a great sign.
Of those 18 players, I count almost 200 career OHL goals, which is also pretty solid…………………..
However, more than a 1/4 of those goals belong to newcomer Josh Sterk who has scored 53 times for Kitchener, Oshawa, London, and hopefully will light it up here in Owen Sound.
Petrus Palmu, Jaden Lindo and Thomas Schemitsch account for 63 more career goals, so among 4 players, that’s almost 60 percent of your returning goals.
Of note, Schemitsch is one of 7 returning defenders who have scored decently, accounting for 43 markers as a group.
However, when you factor first rounder Markus Phillips into the mix, and conceivably another young defender, that gives Owen Sound at least two too many blueliners.
The conventional thought is the excess blueliners can be dealt for scoring punch, but that’s always more easily conceived than achieved.
So with hockey season on the horizon, the early question for the Owen Sound Attack pertains to offensive production.
Have a great long weekend.
I’m Fred Wallace