Fronts: Who can it be walking out that door?

To quote a song lyric which was popular back when Larry Mavety was regarded as an up-and-coming manager of men, Who can it be now?

It has been all quiet on the trade front for the human comedy which is the Kingston Frontenacs, which has led to some message board buzz that a few players pulling a Heatley:

"There are at least 3 players on this current squad that have demanded/requested trades and have put a deadline in place for Mavety to move them. Two of these players already have CIS offers to play at the university level starting with the upcoming season and are willing to take their education money they are entitled to and move on. One other is more than willing to sit out the season if he is not traded. These are not random statements by a rambling fool, they are truths and realities of what some on this team want."

Picture Kinger and yours truly circling faces in the team photo to narrow down the culprits, like the two reporters in Eight Men Out. Cue the rambling fool, since the Frontenacs are one occasion when this forum does not mind trading in the potentially specious. Which players from the Frontenacs would wish jump to Canadian university hockey while they still have junior eligibility remaining?

The only potential overagers who remained at the end of the season were defencemen Corbin Crawford and Zack Fenwick and forward George Lovatsis. Forward Bobby Mignardi, who would be a 19-year-old next season, might also be on the move, though that's just a wild guess based on his play, which was occasionally here-today, gone-tomorrow.

Fenwick is an interesting case since he had a call-up to the ECHL last season and originally went the NCAA route, playing a half-semester at Mercyhurst before joining Kingston midway through 2007. Corbin Crawford has been in the OHL four seasons, so he would have scholarship money waiting for him. Lovatsis has played two full seasons and part of a third.

Meantime, it is as if what this site has said about Kingston, lo, the past two-plus seasons is gaining traction. Back to the anonymous truth-sayer from:

"With this current management of the Frontenacs organization, unless the player is a superstar or a golden child type player, they will not grab that brass ring as it is further away than they think. This team, under Larry Mavety, does not have the development system in place to help many of these players get to the pro level by way of high draft selection or heavy central scouting. Sure there is Ethan Werek and Erik Gudbranson on this squad, but they are the exception as the natural talent comes shining through. Other players that could have had opportunities with other teams to develop get stuck in the Mavety rut and their careers have stalled.

Far be it to wonder why anyone would want to abandon ship. The belief aboard the HMCS Royal Mavesty has always been been that just because the water has risen from ankle-deep to knee-deep to waist-deep, that doesn't mean you should check if there's a leak. Let it sort itself out.

Meantime, the song remains the same for Frontenacs owner Doug Springer's promises..

It's not the future that I can see
It's just my fantasy

It has been 597 days since Doug Springer promised to do "whatever it takes" to bring a winner to Kingston.