Melville's crowded crease

[swkot]

The goaltending situation in Melville was muddy enough a week ago, and now it is almost to the point of uniquely absurd. I'm not sure I've seen a team in this situation before.

I'm still a little baffled as to why Fiesel gave up on Richard Palmer prior to training camp, citing an injury and the fact that he would have been a backup anyway as the reason he wasn't brought back. The latter is particularly puzzling since training camp was to be an open competition with the starter job up for grabs. Looks like he's playing well in Melfort at any rate.


So Fiesel made a trade to bring in 19 year old Sean Keuhn from the AJHL and has 2 other 19 year olds (Jon Manlow and Josh Bykowski) with Junior B experience doing battle with him. 5 games into the season and I don't think he's any closer to deciding which of the 3 ranks where. All 3 have been solid with exception to the rough start Bykowski had against Battleford.

Saskatoon released Troy Trombley last week and it looks like he played the waiting game a bit before deciding to come back to the SJHL. He's supposed to be in Melville on the weekend. He posted some good numbers when called up to Tri-City as an 18 year old. He didn't have eye popping numbers with Saskatoon last year, but I'm not sure anyone could have. I was expecting him to make his way back to the Mils this year as the Blades new brass gave some indicators that they were looking for alternatives. Hopefully the season and a half had in the WHL will allow him to step in and take over the starting spot in Melville with the type of play we've gotten accustomed to with Voth, Wakaluk and Plett in the last 3 seasons.

Now to really stress Fiesel out, the Blades have also released Trevor Martin. The Mils apparently have his Junior A rights (must have signed a card in summer??). Now skill level being equal, I'd always rather the team carry an 18 year old backup over a 19 year old. Better for the future. However an article in the Star Phoenix indicated that Martin has been sent down "to get some work". With as incredibly indecisive as the Blades have been with their goalies, I wouldn't be surprised to see him recalled at some
point. That really makes the situation tricky. Fiesel generally rides his starter almost to the point of exhaustion, so I'm not sure Martin is going to see much game action unless he can outplay Trombley. I can't help but wonder if Fiesel will end up keeping a 3rd goalie just incase Martin does get pulled away. Should be an interesting week or two just to see how this all shakes out.

[scorp]

Can't really see Trombley sticking around.He never really impressed with his time with the Mils and last season with the Blades he was less then stellar.

[swkot]

He saw limited time on his last stop here. Posted the same save percentage as McCauley last year despite playing on a far worse team. McCauley has established himself in the SJHL so hopefully Trombley can do the same.

Looks like Bykowski may have worked his way ahead of Keuhn and Manlow has been released. But I suppose who is in net may be of little consequence if the team is going to have an erratic and anemic offense again.

[scorp]

You have that right swkot.Mils could have all 3 goalies in net and still lose. Unless Fiesel goes out and finds some scoring this team is in trouble.

[swkot]

For whatever reason this team always falls short in some aspect. There are a few players on the team who really need to turn things around soon.

Don't know what to hold out hope for at this point. Predinchuk if off to a good start in Portland this year. I would have almost bet money on Calder Brooks not sticking as a 20 year old, but he just keeps getting opportunities and now that the Chiefs have released Messier, Brooks looks very unlikely.

[nofavorites]

how about the lack of scoring or do you think that will fix itself.

[swkot]

Keuhn to Virden for futures, back down to 3. Probably need to stay there because both Martin and Trombley are a risk to jump to the WHL if given the opportunity.

nofavorites if that question was directed at me, my answer is I haven't seen enough of the team to really offer much of an opinion. I liked what I saw from some of the new guys, but if what we saw late last season is any indication I'm not sure some of these veterans are going to step up. The team last year after Reeve retired, Predinchuk left and Mospanchuk was injured was probably a glimpse of what to expect this year.

[swkot]

Well, Trombley and Martin both solid in their debuts. Better keep looking for a goalie capable of getting a shutout every game. Gonna need to win 1-0 in a shootout I guess.

Watched the game tonight. Puck movement sucked, big time. Players don't seem like they have much chemistry or their skills just don't compliment the guy playing next to them. Too much of the same I guess. Really the only thing I liked out of them tonight was that Mack, Kyle and Bear were all taking low hard shots from the middle of the ice. Almost made something happen a few times. Too used to seeing the defense pass back and forth until somebody mis-plays the puck, so this was a welcomed change.

[scorp]

Another goose egg against the Mils.Fix it fiesel or you won't have anyone in the stands.5 goals in the last 5 games will not cut it.

[nofavorites]

I still think this team is the sleeper that is still trying to get things right. They seem to have solved the goaltending situation, now they just need some goal scoring. If they had scored a few more goals they would have had more w's to start the season. this would put them near the top. they are very tough team play against they have size, are aggressive, and play with some edge. if they could land a legitimate goal scorer watch out.

[swkot]

There's still lots of time for them to make a statement. They are as strong on the back end as they've ever been, maybe more-so than ever. A player or 2 up front could change things for them. There's very little spark there right now.

The game against the Ice Wolves left me wondering 2 things:

1) Why is Tyler Kreklewich playing AAA? He was one of, if not the best players on the ice offensively. Great acceleration, his vision for the game is at a Junior A level and I really liked his positioning (something I find is an issue with the team, the forwards frequently get caught too close together). I didn't see any training camp, so maybe he blended in a bit there, but he stood out on Saturday and that awful white cage wasn't the reason.

2) Some of what made Kreklewich stand out got me wondering if some players are sort of "handcuffed" by whatever system they are trying to employ. Obviously being an AP, Kreklewich isn't well versed in the Mil's game plan, but he looked to me to be playing an instinctive game and doing what comes natural. For the vast majority of the game the rest of the team looked like they were more worried about what they are "supposed" to be doing as opposed to just making plays.

[milsfan]

Yep, I agree. He looked like he belonged out there. Add him to the roster and pick up a couple more goal scorers/play makers and this team could be very good. We were missing offense lately, we needed a spark.

[ipeecoy]

It's simple, Fiesel has gone ALL-IN with the Melville Americans, that's why local boy Tyler Kreklewich is not playing...

[Deleted]

Is that a slam? 4 American kids and 8 Saskatchewan kids - including the local guy.  Doesn't seem like ALL OUT!

[swkot]

Well that took all of a month, apparently Martin is headed back to the Blades. Saw that one coming.

[brewersdroop]

Supposed to return to Melville when the Blades'starter gets back from a concussion.

[swkot]

And back to the top this merry go round of a thread goes. The Mils apparently traded Parker to Winkler. Any idea who is replacing him? I was under the impression Martin would not be coming back.

[swkot]

NVM. Look's like Bykowski is back as per Benny on twitter.

[swkot]

Martin traded to Red Deer and then reassigned to the Mils. Curious move, as the Rebels presently have a 17 and 18 year old on their roster that look to be adequate for their needs. Unless there is something in the works down the road, it is weird that they'd pick up another 18 year old.

Gotta feel bad for Bykowski if he is the odd man out again. Personally I'd rather see Fiesel try and send Trombley somewhere in need of a goalie and ride the year out with Bykowski and Martin. Trombley has been very good at times, but he's also had some pretty rough games as well.

[milsfan11]

I think Feisel needs to sell what he can. This team isn't going to win anything.

[ipeecoy]

From what I hear on Benny's thingy, Feisel is all talk about but no action ...

We talk about this, we talk about, we talk about so forth or whatever

[milsfan11]

We're listening to basically the same coach's show every week. He says the same things over and over. C'mon coach!

[swkot]

First place is slip sliding away. Same old, same old. Feez hasn't even managed to put a division banner in the rink in his tenure despite having a healthy lead early in several seasons. And then come the injury excuses, character excuses, lack of intensity excuses, players not following the system excuses. Blah, blah, blah. He's disgusted with the team again last night for what, the 20th time this year? Show them and clean house! Our biggest offensive threat is a 17 year old who started the season playing midget, this team is more than a few WHL castoffs away from being in the fray. Though reading between the lines on this week's coaches show I certainly get the sense that he's either going to stand pat or even be a buyer. Probably have to be a cash deal because I'm not sure we can afford to lose any futures, but even then I've got to think cash is starting to get pretty tight with 300 butts in the seats for weekday games.


For the record, I'm giving Young credit for the 03-04 division pennant because the only thing Fiesel did was destroy that team.

[rm2188]

Can I just say that the only issue I see with feisel is player selection the system works and is more than simple enough the problem is the team the guys a good coach they don't have the talent up front and out side of betreth mack and carr the d is weak. Other teams exploit the lack of skill on the wing which causes pucks to stay deep and chances to pile up against them they need more depth everywhere. The only soar spot with me is the pp if kyle isn't smart enough to shoot the puck when its open instead of passing to a covered winger then get him off it or change the scheme. But over all his coaching doesn't seem to be the issue.

[swkot]

Fiesel's teams have seldom taken shots from the point on the PP, by design. Kyle has some of the best puck skills for the PP Fiesel runs, and that is why he is out there. His teams have always been poor at breaking out or clearing the zone regardless of skill level. Deficiencies of scheme that have not been corrected in 10 years.

[rm2188]

I can't argue with 10years of watching the same mistakes as I have not watched for 10years. I agree with Kyle's puck skills but I'm just saying he needs to be smart enough to see when the defensive player is giving away the shooting lane he needs to shoot. And as far as the breakout it did not seam nearly this bad last season until they played Yorkton in the final (but their d was fantastic) so I gave them a pass

[ipeecoy]

Melville'so deficiencies started with the assistant coach (the guy that moved upstairs), your team has had the same system breaking out of your zone for the last or seams like 20 years or so... In one simple like word - Crappy

[snipe44]

If anyone knows about crappy hockey this year it's a Bronco fan...