The calendar has turned to November in the Ontario Hockey League with the Owen Sound Attack on the road for their annual Eastern swing at Ottawa tonight, at Belleville tomorrow and then at Kingston on Sunday afternoon.
If you’re counting, this is the 7th straight week that Owen Sound has either 3 games in 3 days, or 3 in 4……….but let’s talk about something else today.
Am I wrong in suggesting two Western Conference teams threw the white flag this week ?
Erie dealt overage Brett Thompson to Sarnia for picks and while the Otters have 4 overagers left and could use the picks to acquire another body, I doubt they can bridge the 12 point gap between them and the playoffs, and the picks acquired from Sarnia will be destined to upgrade next year
And Windsor dealt defender Craig Duinink to Sarnia, also for picks and the talk persists that Windsor may discard even further in order to create an exceptional team for 2013-14, when the Memorial Cup is back in an Ontario city.
I’ve been wrong many times before, but the writing on the rinkboards seems to indicate Erie and Windsor willingly are taking a step back in the short term for long term benefits, reducing the annual derby to be Best in the West down to 8 clubs.
Have a good weekend.
I’m Fred Wallace