Strange how the Blades are coming out of the gates this year as hosts of the Memorial Cup. Siemens got stripped of the 'C', Stransky hasn't exactly picked up where he left off and 10-1 is embarrassing. They've been blown out a few times now. I just hope for his development sake, Stransky is part of the solution when they blow this thing apart. Might be early to say, but I see some big moves on the horizon in Saskatoon and Stransky has a big role to play in turning it around there.
Yeah it's definitely disconcerting what's happening in Saskatoon so far. As hosts they really can't blow it up, they're going to have to fix it. The talent is still there for the most part, not sure what's wrong. Need RS to weigh in here.
Esa Lindell's ice time took another hit today after Erik Karlsson played over 30 minutes. He was down to just over 13 minutes, and he only managed 1 shot in a win.
Yeah, Karlsson is such a beast out there, he's playing the whole powerplay now, I think someone saw him spend the first 4:40 of the 3rd period on ice in Friday's game. That naturally takes powerplay time away from Lindell but he's still paired with Ossi Väänänen(the best defensive dman in Finland and possibly Europe) and learning from him (he really needs to work on defensive positioning/marking, it's a big weakness, even from the few games I've seen).
Ritchie's scoring numbers look good but very slanted toward assists. Can any WHL fans weigh in on how he's getting his assists? Are they from chances created or is he picking up "spare" points so to speak?
Yeah it's definitely disconcerting what's happening in Saskatoon so far. As hosts they really can't blow it up, they're going to have to fix it. The talent is still there for the most part, not sure what's wrong. Need RS to weigh in here.
They can pull a Hamilton (1990 hosts who gave it up because they were so bad) if they continue to struggle.
Ludwig Byström with his first SEL goal! Emil Molin has scored aswell.
Bystrom picked up his goal in 9:21 of ice time on 1 shot.
Molin also earned his goal on 1 shot and 9:54 of ice time.
I still haven't seen any updates on Klingberg. The last update I saw was over a month ago, and Klingberg was hoping to get back on the ice by late October. I think the doctors were still saying November though.
Going simply off of stats, Winther reminds me of Fraser (and Ryder) for some reason. Doubt he actually plays like them though, but does seem to be more of a goalscorer than anything.
That naturally takes powerplay time away from Lindell but he's still paired with Ossi Väänänen(the best defensive dman in Finland and possibly Europe) and learning from him (he really needs to work on defensive positioning/marking, it's a big weakness, even from the few games I've seen).
