Wow, Chuck is really off his game tonight. Said this is Corvo's second game, that Colgate is an Ivy League school, and called Sutter's play from last year Selke-esque because of the gentlemanly play and lack of PIM...
I guess they all need a few games to shake the rust.
I have no idea why MSP isn't more highly regarded by more fans around the league. I know they're a bit apart in development, but this kid blew me away in the WJC last year. Seems to play like a Paul Kariya type game with a bit of Euro flair to it.
I have been high on Omark for a while now. He's every bit the player that MZA is in New York and has been producing among better talent for longer. If people are expecting MZA to be in a Top 6 this early, there is no reason Omark couldn't right now too. The only bad part is that being an undersized skill player in Edmonton right now is like bringing sand to the beach so a lot of these kids may not get the opportunity to stick full time. I think Omark starts in the A at the hands of guys like Gagner, Cogliano, Hall, MPS, Hemsky, etc.
Omark could dangle all 20 canes on the ice at the same time. He is like young Sammy with a better shot, and he goes to the net. Msp reminds me of naslund in his prime.
Sammy and Cole score.. the 2 hated players on the board!
I don't hate Sammy. Some don't like what he brings to the table for how much he makes, but I see him giving effort and have no problem with him on a 3rd line.
I don't hate Sammy. Some don't like what he brings to the table for how much he makes, but I see him giving effort and have no problem with him on a 3rd line.
Cole does drive me nuts though.
Yeah Sammy fits on the 3rd line, but on the 4th its a real joke
staal. 7 wins 16 losses. Mostly against two kids on the Preds. There is no excuse for this
That's just flat out awful, not as bad as Skinner the other night though. Looks like we're going to be doing a lot of chasing the puck, hard forechecking and backchecking with the current crop of centers in our lineup.
That's just flat out awful, not as bad as Skinner the other night though. Looks like we're going to be doing a lot of chasing the puck, hard forechecking and backchecking with the current crop of centers in our lineup.
I expect big things from Brandon Sutter in that department. One man cannot carry the load, but he stands to improve once again in that particular aspect of the game.
I find that even strength draws are fairly overrated. Especially in the neutral zone. What is key is that we get strong short handed draws and powerplay draws.
In fairness as well, faceoffs are usually an effort battle and it's obvious between Eric Staal and various benders from the AHL who is going to out battle whom in those draws.
McBain getting huge minutes in the first two...they've proved their point that they want to lean on him for ice time this season. I just hope he gets some rest before it starts counting.
So I just realized something, and it's something I want to see happen (preferably at the free Atlanta game):
Staal and Staal need to play together. Now obviously, there are better wingers out there that couple be playing with Staal. And obviously, keeping Jared up here till the Atlanta game for the sole purpose of that would be questionable at best.
But it's the preseason, and likely, the only chance in a long time we'll get to see it happen. The brothers grew up playing together, with Eric and Jared facing Jordan and Marc, and I'd like to see if anything stuck.
I just want to state for the record that i still love Eric Cole and think he is capable of 20 goals this year. Love to see him as a second or third line forechecking winger with maybe occasional second unit pp duty. Love to see haters proven wrong.
it was a weird game. The Predators dominated the first (though helped by possibly one of the most insane saves I've ever seen from Rinne, at one point). Then the Hurricanes dominated the second. In the third, it was pretty even, although the refs seemed to want to call every little thing, which sort of spoiled the flow of the game.
I thought Samsonov and Sutter both looked good, as did Jokinen and McBain. Staal and Ruutu were a little invisible. Expected a bit more, given that the only regulars in the lineup from the Preds' defense were the bottom pairing, and they were essentially playing as the first pairing.
O'Sullivan looked mostly good, but took a terrible penalty in the third in the offensive zone that left Maurice watching the replay and shaking his head. Dalpe looked pretty good as well.
Wasn't impressed with Boychuk.
Nothing Peters could do on the goal scored against. Dumont sniped a perfect laser into the top left corner. At two points in the third I thought the game was tied at two-- one, Peters made a highlight reel save on Taylor Beck, getting back to cover a wide open net as a power play wound down, and the other, Goc redirected a puck that skimmed along the line and out the other side of the crease.
Tonight's Preds roster appears to be a bit more veteran heavy.
highlights are up on the Preds front page right now if anyone wants to watch: http://predators.nhl.com/
Good to see Sammy crashing the net, to be honest I didn't even think that was him that's how much I'm not used to seeing him in that position. If he's willing to take a bit of abuse in front of the net he could set himself up to have a nice season offensively.
Will be interesting to see if tonight's game has a different flavor to it. The Canes are likely going to play mostly kids out there so if the Preds are bringing their veteran lineup this could get ugly. Although as long as Cam doesn't have another 3 in 2 breakdown like last time he could be able to keep us in it.
I just want to state for the record that i still love Eric Cole and think he is capable of 20 goals this year. Love to see him as a second or third line forechecking winger with maybe occasional second unit pp duty. Love to see haters proven wrong.
He's proving the haters wrong by getting injured before the season begins and being able to score into empty nets?
I've heard Poggemon will be in the goal tonight, not Cam.
I wouldn't be impressed either with a guy who didn't even make a trip.
Ah, my bad. Well, I'm not sure who I was looking at then, I thought I saw his number down there according to my guide. Whomever it was didn't impress me
possibilities: Drayson Bowman (#21) or Riley Nash (#23). the rest of the lineup was prettymuch regulars aside from Dalpe, and you already mentioned him as a positive standout.
I just want to state for the record that i still love Eric Cole and think he is capable of 20 goals this year. Love to see him as a second or third line forechecking winger with maybe occasional second unit pp duty. Love to see haters proven wrong.
If healthy, I see no reason Cole can't be a 20/20 guy. The 2 questions for me are 1) Will Maurice really use him in that mode and 2) if he is used as a forechecking winger, can he stay healthy?
I am not a big Cole fan, but I wouldn't classify myself as a hater either as I'd really like to see him do well. If he'd play the "forechecking winger" style more often rather than try that same move at the blue line, if he backchecked hard, and if he skated harder to the bench during shift changes, etc... I'd have no problems with him.
All players have their warts so I don't want to sound like I am picking on him specifically, but when you get paid $3M, aren't staying healthy, and aren't producing points...those warts stand out more.
possibilities: Drayson Bowman (#21) or Riley Nash (#23). the rest of the lineup was prettymuch regulars aside from Dalpe, and you already mentioned him as a positive standout.
I would put bets on it being 23 Riley Nash. I still have a hard time with Boychuk at 11 due to "getting to know him", as 23. I remember thinking that finally a Gelinas replacement, an actual talent, was going to be wearing the number. When 11 came available, he snatched it up quickly.
