Friday, August 14, 2009

Fronts: Beskorowany literally a big piece of the puzzle

Doug Gilmour has his big goalie: The Kingston Frontenacs just announced they have added 6-foot-5 Dallas Stars second-round draft choice Tyler Beskorowany from the Owen Sound Attack.

(And hey, they managed to get radio coverage.)

Beskorowany got drafted on upside. Part of the reason he was available was that the Sound Attack has another NHL-drafted big 'tender, Scott Stajcer (a fifth-round pick of the New York Rangers), who is a year younger. That's a big piece of the story, although it doesn't mean the deal should get panned from a Kingston perspective.

The upshot is that Beskorowany was added for relatively little, with centre Bobby Mignardi and a 2010 fourth-round pick going to the Sound Attack. One would have to figure that Beskorowany, after splitting the games almost 50/50 last season is Owen Sound, is coming in assured that he will start the season as the No. 1 netminder with either John Cullen or Mavric Parks as the backup. The people who have time invested in Beskorowany would like him to play more than 37 games and if he's as good as his NHL draft status indicates, then he should.

Some scouting reports have noted Beskorowany, who had a 3.64 goals against average and .902 save percentage with Owen Sound, has some issues with controlling rebounds. This is where you keep your fingers crossed the Frontenacs are going to be much tighter with their, cue Harry Neale, defensive zone coverage.

Parks' play in the first half of last season might have been worth a couple wins for a foundering Frontenacs team. However, even his biggest supporter will admit he had a proclivity to follow up a string of great saves by letting in a soft goal. One would hope he would rise to the challenge of having to earn his playing time after being the only option for much of last season, whether that is in Kingston.

(Kinger notes in the comments that adding a 19-year-old goalie is only a one-year move. The Frontenacs are notorious for this, but picking up a NHL-drafted goalie could also be a focal point.)

Meantime, the gang at Fronts Talk directed attention to the news the Fronts have found a radio partnership with, wait for it, 88.7 myFM in Napanee. (I would ask my parents how it sounds, but they might not be able to get from their RR1 Napanee address; just kidding, but only a little).

Far be it to put a spin on owner Doug Springer's contention that putting broadcasts on a 6,000-watt adult contemporary station will "help the team win fans in outlying areas" by saying he might want to prioritize keeping fans in Kingston's core.

Today is not the day for that. Please save smart remarks about a Kingston team having its games on a Napanee station that might be hard to get in parts of Kingston, or that trading for Beskorowany is only proof Mavric Parks is indeed one of the OHL's top goaltenders, as an anonymous commenter contended earlier this week. It's all on the up and up. Most of the commentariat has been that Gilmour has upgraded his complement of forwards and defencemen and now he has a NHL-drafted goalie.

(Although, it is almost like they are taunting Kinger. They trade for a goalie who is the same height, has the same first name and put the games on a radio station in his technically adopted hometown and make sure it's station whose signal is not much more stronger than CFRC 101.9 FM. Well played.)

12 comments:

Tyler King said...

They traded for a 19-year old goalie who they'll only get one year out of, leaving them with three goalies they were committed to playing - Besko, Parks, and Cullen. Unless they get a great future deal for one of the two odd men out, how does this at all fit into the idea of rebuilding, and not completely fit into the idea of trying to make another first-round playoff exit into the world's greatest turnaround?

Anonymous said...

Regardless of what your feelings are or are not about the radio station, the fact is Fronts talk did not verrify this story. There are a number of official sites that are doing this now and they should be credited as the ones verrifying, not Fronts talk.

sager said...

Stop whining and learn how to spell "verify."

Blog etiquette is that you credit the place where you first saw an item. Fronts Talk linked to team's website before it was posted elsewhere. There are not enough hours in the day to link to everyone who's reporting a story.

Tyler King said...

You just got Sager-serv'd.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Unknown said...

Is this not a odd move for kingston.

Tyler King said...

That it is.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
sager said...

You've been given more consideration than you deserve.

I already clarified that the way it works among us adults is that you give credit to the forum who directed attention to something. That is not the same as saying it was reported.

When you want to make a reasonable, rational comment and put a name to it — any name — then it will stay up. Thank you for your contribution.

sager said...

Reported by them, to make it clear.

Robert C. said...

Tyler and I remember our first "attempt" at trying to broadcast a Queen's hockey game from Napanee. Long story.

Now Frontenac games being played in the city of Kingston will be on a radio station in Napanee. Wacky.

MisterDB said...

Good news is 88.7 has a live feed on the INTERNET. The bad news is the signal is very weak in the north country out Division street.

As far as the trade short term deal for this year, but Mignardi wanted out so the deal is not bad especially when you consider the inconsistencies in goal the past several years. But Besko isn't a miracle worker either if one looks at the Attack's winning record and G's for and against, nothing to write home about.

The long term objectives of this team still boggle the mind.