I said I'd wait until we had conducted all our business before seeing where the land laid on our business for the summer. I'm glad I did.
If I'd reacted after each signing, I might have questioned some of them. Some of them didn't make much sense, and didn't excite me that much.
Now I've seen the whole puzzle, I'm delighted.
I'm going to go through this line-by-line (as I predict them anyway), and talk about each player on them.
Mathieu Roy - Tyler Mosienko - Colton FretterI'm chuffed by this line. I think this has the potential to be as lethal as any combination in the Elite League. Roy's quality is evident from his numbers, and I fancy him to be a leader in both quality, contribution and attitude. If he lives up to his reputation, he'll become a firm fan favourite.
Tyler...well. I wasn't happy when it was announced. His reputation precedes him. I am not a fan of cheats within sport, and regardless of if you call it spot fixing or match fixing or just plain wrong, I still class it as cheating. However, G has signed him, and must have faith that he has learned his lesson. Everybody gets one chance. Mosienko has to make the most of it.
Colton Fretter is a bit of a bewildering one. You wonder why he's in our league - the opportunity of a two-year deal at this point in his career is an indicator. He looks very good, and was G's main target through the summer, so that counts for a great deal.
Expect plenty of goals and plenty of incident from this line.
Robert Dowd - Mike Forney - Pascal MorencyWhat can you say about Robert Dowd that hasn't already been said? There's Dowd, Lachowicz, David Clarke, then every other Brit. Always happy he's on our side.
Mike Forney puts up some decent numbers and looks like a bit of a flair player. Good puck skills and the like. I'm pleased with him.
Pascal Morency got some stick when he was first announced, but I think he'll be the no-nonsense type this year. I reckon his primary job will be to look after Robert Dowd and avoid the check-to-head-into-board kind of moves we saw last year. Think he'll produce his fair share too.
As a line, I think this will be the ideal mix of dishmaster, lethal finisher and hired muscle.
Jason Hewitt/Phil Hill - Jay Latulippe - Jonathan PhillipsThe old trusty checking line. No issue with any of these. I was pleased with the signing of Latulippe as I remember him as the agitator at Cardiff, and in his time he was successful at bringing the best out of Phil Hill - god knows we need someone who can. You know what you get with Hewy and Jono, leaders on the ice.
Luke Ferrara will be slotted in whenever wherever - I actually think he may get some second line shifts to give Dowd a rest at points. Much potential - let's see it used.
Gord Baldwin - Darrell HayGord returns on the second year of his uni deal, and I'm pleased, lets just hope we keep the second half of the season Baldwin. I think Hay will be a good foil for him, will be key on the powerplay, and will be a good outlet from the back. Pleased with this line.
Dustin Kohn - Cullen EddyWhat I would describe as the All-Star D. Eddy is an incredible signing, another of those "how have we done that" kind of deals. He will stay at home and do the dirty work, and I look forward to it. And I hope we get the intelligent, picks his shots, all action Dustin Kohn rather than the repeated-concussion-recovery Dustin Kohn. He's a great player, when he's fit.
Mark Thomas - Rod SarichMr Dependable in Tomo, and lets hope Roddy's fit and willing. When he's on form, he's unplayable. Lets hope he's in fine fettle.
Frank Doyle - Geoff Woolhouse - Andy JaszczykNaturally they won't all play together. Pleased with this though. Hopefully Wooly's fit and we can give Doyle a bit of a break at some point. 5 more years of Frankie though please. Top nettie.
There we go then. That's how I see it. Cautious optimism - remember how good we were supposed to be on paper last year.
Agree/disagree? Tell us why on Twitter (@frozensteelblog) or on the Frozen Steel Forum.
Cheers for reading.
Liam
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