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Owen Sound Attack might backtrack: OHL Burning Questions

The Ontario Hockey League regular season begins Thursday. They play one of these every winter? Man, it never ends. With the days getting shorter and the season getting nearer, BTN is taking an early look at each team in reverse order of last season's standings.

Owen Sound Attack

In 2012-13 — 44-18-1-5, .691 point pct., 226 GF/160 GA. Third, Western Conference. Lost 4-2 to Plymouth in conference semifinal.

Final Dynamic Dozen ranking — third OHL, eighth CHL.

On the junior-or-pro bubble — Captain Kurtis Gabriel, 20, remains at the Minnesota Wild camp, as anticipated. Eighteen-year-old D Chris Bigras, a second-round NHL pick, has outlasted some first-rounders by hanging in at the Colorado Avalanche's camp.

Drafted — Bigras (Colorado, second), C Zach Nastasiuk (Detroit Red Wings, second), Gabriel (Minnesota, third), C Jarrod Maidens (Ottawa Senators, third*), C Gemel Smith (Dallas Stars, fourth).

2014 NHL draft watch — RW Jaden Lindo has a man-among-boys quality that makes him a quality power-winger prospect; D Damir Sharipzyanov is also among the club's half-dozen 17-year-olds.

1. Why is it always sunny in Grey County?

When only two of a team's seven selections from the past two NHL drafts will play opening night due to trades, NHL organizations' priorities or lingering brain trauma in Maidens' case, well, that's more than most teams located in a city of 21,000 people can handle. Nastasiuk is back from Detroit. Smith is back from Dallas. That is it.

The Attack's bills for building for both 2011, when they won a somewhat improbable OHL title, and for '13, when they finished with the league's third-best record, have come in the past few months. The cost of doing business has included trading away three first-rounders from 2008 through '12. Maidens' struggles have further reduced the impact from high-end players.

However, Owen Sound under GM Dale DeGray has done remarkably well at mining gold from Round 2 and beyond, where it evidently saw something other teams didn't when it landed the likes of Bigras (second round in 2011), Lindo (second in '12) and Smith (sixth in '10). That should inspire confidence that the Attack can get back to the lead pack. Another part of the upside is that the Attack, after their time as a contender, are now acclaimed as the OHL's answer to the Oakland Athletics or Tampa Bay Rays as a small-market success story.

The club, present-day Ottawa Senators star Bobby Ryan in the mid-aughties aside, used to have to go for signability over star power when it had a high pick (see Steven Shipley one spot ahead of present-day Florida Panthers defenceman Erik Gudbranson in 2008). It's now shown it can elbow its way up to the big kids' table. That should help with recruiting if they have a high pick next spring.

2. How will Brandon Hope do as the new No. 1 goalie?

The 19-year-old Michigander posted a 2.61 average and .915 save percentage in 1,080 minutes last season while backing up Jordan Binnington, who capped his four seasons by the Bay by being named OHL goaltender of the year. Hope's has had some auspicious performances during the preseason, which concluded with a 50-save effort in the final exhibition game. So there is that.

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The Attack, for what it is worth, won the first three games last season with Hope as their interim No. 1. after Binnington made Team Canada. They lost the last four.

A breakout from their new No. 1 goalie is among a few outlier performances the Attack might desperately need. Nastasiuk, Smith and 35-goal man Cameron Brace, the designated overage offensive player, are a good top three but they likely need support.

3. Who becomes the Attack faithful's new folk hero?

Attack fans, at least on TV, come across as blessedly irreverent. They have their custom of chanting, "Who cares?" as the P.A. announcer introduces each player in the opponent's starting lineup. They also chant, "We want a ref!" when the calls are perceived as going against Owen Sound.

For the past four seasons, forward Daniel Zweep's name had about thirty E's every time he touched the puck. Those touches were usual very short, seeing as Zweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep had 12 goals and 24 points in 221 OHL games. I suppose the chant started since his name was easy to say, but the 6-foot-5, 229-pound Zweep was also a flesh-and-big-boned monument to optimism. He was a plugger, but maybe just maybe there was some latent scoring ability.

The Attack fans will find a new player to champion in their own good time. It is worth pointing out it would be an easy switch to adapt the ritual for rookie forward Ryan Heeps, an undersized skill player who could complement the club's top pick, Ethan Szypula. The two 5-foot-10 Attackers are a big part of the club's future.

(* Maidens has not played since sustaining a brain injury in November 2011.)

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.