[GDT/PGT] Preseason Game 2 | Wednesday, September 25th | Calgary vs Vancouver | 7pt/10et | Stream on Canucks.com | Abbotsford Centre, Abbotsford, BC.

[bh90]

1 hour ago, IBatch said:

Personally like to see Hogs Suter Sprong as a bottom six line feasting on lesser competition.   Leaves Sherwood, Heinen, Lekkermaki, Pizza for the top six.   Hogs maybe moves up but would collar him pretty fast if he's going to Mikheyev himself (can't built chemistry, misses too many chances etc).   

I agree I think a Hoglander - Suter - Sprong 4th line would be amazing.

 

Only curveball right now is Joshua being out. So Hogs could move to the 3LW spot with Blueg and Gar

[Jester13]

7 hours ago, Googlie said:

 

Nice point shot that JDB deflected for his first goal, but along with Woo, a bit meh.  Outshone by Juulsen, but ofc it's easy to look good partnering Hughes.  Soucy and Wolanin had good games, Wolanin especially - showed his smooth skating puck carrying ability several shifts

 

Aside from Hughes, Soucy was our best D last night. He looked sharp and ready.

 

6 hours ago, Curmudgeon said:

Just got home. What a great finish. We were seven rows back and right in line with the faceoff dot. Sprong's goal was right in front of us, with 14.3 left on the clock. The OT goal was awesome. Petey, Quinn and DeBrusk made the Flames look like U-14s.

 

A few observations:

1. Quinn Hughes is such a smooth skater you don't even hear his blades on the ice. I was awed by his ability to process the game and to make ingenious plays with the puck at breathtaking speed. Worth the price of admission.

2. Petey had a slow start but picked up as the game wore on. He had a couple of good looks and dinged one off the post. His play in overtime was top notch.

3. I can see DeBrusk playing with Petey. He was able to find the open spots and his deflected goal showed great hand-eye coordination.

4. I think Desharnais is going to really grow his game with Foote and Gonchar working with him. He is very big and plays hard. He played with Soucy and they were solid.

5. Arshdeep Bains is such a smart player. He's a great playmaker and can score when the opportunity presents itself, but there is a little too much competition and I think he'll end up in Abbotsford.

6. I know many are sold on Raty making the club, and he would be a good addition, but my preference would be Max Sasson. I like his speed, skill and high hockey IQ. I believe he is ready for NHL duty, but there is another log jam at centre, so I don't know that he'll get the chance.

7. Jiri Patera looked fine. Made some big saves and didn't allow any softies. I see him backing up Tolopilo in Abby.

8. I watched Sprong closely to see if he is weak defensively and I have to say that he seemed to be engaged enough. But his goal was a thing of rare beauty that offers a glimpse of what he could be if he is able to adapt to Tocchet's demands. The guy sure knows where the net is.

9. Di Giuseppe had a solid, two-way game. I think he makes the team. He wouldn't clear waivers, so Abbotsford isn't an option.

10. The radio guys spent time pumping Sherwood's tires, but I honestly didn't see much from him, but I only see what I see and I don't pretend to see it all.

 

Overall, a really great finish to a pretty tight game. 

 

 

 

Sherwood had a really good game. Wheels for days. I could see him on a line with Debrusk and Petey. 

 

When healthy: 

 

Heinen - Miller - Boeser

DeBrusk - Petey - Sherwood

Joshua - Blueger - Gnarly

Hogs - Suter - Sprong

[Bob Long]

4 minutes ago, Jester13 said:

 

Aside from Hughes, Soucy was our best D last night. He looked sharp and ready.

 

 

He did. He and Myers both look ready .

 

4 minutes ago, Jester13 said:

Sherwood had a really good game. Wheels for days. I could see him on a line with Debrusk and Petey. 

 

When healthy: 

 

Heinen - Miller - Boeser

DeBrusk - Petey - Sherwood

Joshua - Blueger - Gnarly

Hogs - Suter - Sprong

 

I think Sprong gets a chance to play with Petey and Jake. I can see opening day looking like this with Sherwood and sprong exchanged.

 

 

[Jester13]

2 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

 

He did. He and Myers both look ready .

 

 

I think Sprong gets a chance to play with Petey and Jake. I can see opening day looking like this with Sherwood and sprong exchanged.

 

 

 

That would also be sick. I just think Sherwood as F1 with Petey could do more damage, but I'm okay with either. Oh, how sweet it is to have such amazing depth. Lfg.

[AmyTheGma]

7 hours ago, N4ZZY said:

I think that belongs to Räty and Lekkerimäki. 

 

Then what happens to Åman, PDG and Karlsson? 

 

Anyone thinks that those guys would be claimed if they have to go through waivers? 

 

Right before the season starts is the time to do it with the best chance of players not getting claimed.  All the teams are doing the same thing, so there is a lot of players available and all the teams are trying to make room.

[Bob Long]

3 minutes ago, Jester13 said:

 

That would also be sick. I just think Sherwood as F1 with Petey could do more damage, but I'm okay with either. Oh, how sweet it is to have such amazing depth. Lfg.

 

I'm just thinking about how good Petey is when teams are forced to deal with a real shooting threat on his right side. 

 

But I think we will see a number of looks all year depending on who we play, etc.

[Jester13]

2 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

 

I'm just thinking about how good Petey is when teams are forced to deal with a real shooting threat on his right side. 

 

But I think we will see a number of looks all year depending on who we play, etc.

Good point. Sprong can capitalize and finish,  as we witnessed last night. What a goal.

[Johngould21]

1 hour ago, bh90 said:

Yeah but asset management is a thing.

 

We all say we have a lot of depth but I wouldn't undo that depth by losing guys to waivers

 

I think Lek, Raty, Karlsson all start in AHL unless PDG/Aman drop they ball which is unlikely.

 

Also Aman is very underrated. The guy is a great penalty killer.

 

It's a long season and I'd rather be 18 deep at forward. Whoever forward 13-15 on depth chart will get plenty of NHL games and forwards 16-18 will most likely get games in there as well

Especially on this board, RT likes his play. However, there are about 5-8 players on this team trying to impress Toch as well. PDG, Karlsson, Sasson, Raty, Bains, Lek, and Blais. First time in years this team has had this much depth, without trading for it at the deadline.

[AK-19]

31 minutes ago, Johngould21 said:

Especially on this board, RT likes his play. However, there are about 5-8 players on this team trying to impress Toch as well. PDG, Karlsson, Sasson, Raty, Bains, Lek, and Blais. First time in years this team has had this much depth, without trading for it at the deadline.

Great forward depth, Defense not so much. 

[Alflives]

2 minutes ago, AK-19 said:

Great forward depth, Defense not so much. 

Our D is tops in the league.

Hughes is the number one D in the league.

Hronek is top 15.

Soucy is good.

Myers, with these coaches, is good

Forbert is great on the PK

Deharnais is a beast 

Juulsson is the perfect #7

Then there’s several guys pushing for minutes in Abbotsford. 
And we have Willander and D-Petey to look forward to. 
Our club is tops in the league. F the rest. F their fans. F their cities. F them all! 
 

[flat land fish]

1 hour ago, Jester13 said:

 

Aside from Hughes, Soucy was our best D last night. He looked sharp and ready.

 

 

Sherwood had a really good game. Wheels for days. I could see him on a line with Debrusk and Petey. 

 

When healthy: 

 

Heinen - Miller - Boeser

DeBrusk - Petey - Sherwood

Joshua - Blueger - Gnarly

Hogs - Suter - Sprong

That is so much better than anything we trotted out last year

[flat land fish]

1 hour ago, Johngould21 said:

Especially on this board, RT likes his play. However, there are about 5-8 players on this team trying to impress Toch as well. PDG, Karlsson, Sasson, Raty, Bains, Lek, and Blais. First time in years this team has had this much depth, without trading for it at the deadline.

Even compared to the last cup run team remember 4th line dynamo Victor oreskovich 

[nergish]

24 minutes ago, Alflives said:

Our D is tops in the league.

Hughes is the number one D in the league.

Hronek is top 15.

Soucy is good.

Myers, with these coaches, is good

Forbert is great on the PK

Deharnais is a beast 

Juulsson is the perfect #7

Then there’s several guys pushing for minutes in Abbotsford. 
And we have Willander and D-Petey to look forward to. 
Our club is tops in the league. F the rest. F their fans. F their cities. F them all! 
 

Dunno Alf. It’s definitely passable, but that’s not a top D corps to my eyes. Gotta think that’s where we make our next move, in-season or deadline.

But that’s something I’ve thought about myself - what if Willander has a huge developmental season in college, and is ready to sign before the playoffs? 

[Alflives]

8 minutes ago, nergish said:

Dunno Alf. It’s definitely passable, but that’s not a top D corps to my eyes. Gotta think that’s where we make our next move, in-season or deadline.

But that’s something I’ve thought about myself - what if Willander has a huge developmental season in college, and is ready to sign before the playoffs? 

Which club has a better D than ours? 

[Canuck You]

Sprong with the goal of the year!! THE END.

[-dlc-]

Hey I like this new Pavel Sprong guy. Where'd he come from?

[Johngould21]

What is Brisbois' status?

[Mrwipeout]

If i werent as backed up with work as i am i would have been able to watch more games.. what im wondering abt mainly is the  top 6 lines. is Heinen 1st line material or suter still the best option? how good has hogs been so far? whats ive read so far he seems like hes ready to take another step in his career. Debrusk, how is he? hes a vet, his positioning should b good and is he a good fit together with EP40? i remember sherwood quite well from the playoffs last year, to have him on our team sounds great but i havent seen him play yet, is he a perfect bottom 6 winger or potential fit for a top 6 role? 

[spook007]

2 hours ago, Jester13 said:

 

Aside from Hughes, Soucy was our best D last night. He looked sharp and ready.

 

 

Sherwood had a really good game. Wheels for days. I could see him on a line with Debrusk and Petey. 

 

When healthy: 

 

Heinen - Miller - Boeser

DeBrusk - Petey - Sherwood

Joshua - Blueger - Gnarly

Hogs - Suter - Sprong

I didn't see last nights game, but the previous v Kraken... I'm just wondering, why you think Heinen played on the top line? Is it by default or other, as I don't think he did much in the first game...

[Johngould21]

8 hours ago, JamesB said:

 

In early pre-season wins and losses don't matter much, although it was fun to see the win and the last few minutes were exciting. The biggest issue is how the guys fighting for spots look. So which guys helped themselves and which guys did not? Here is my take.

 

1. Patera was okay but probably remains pencilled in at #3 on the depth chart (i.e. starter in Abby). Giving up 3 goals on 19 shots is not a great stat line and the Bean goal was not great. The other two goals were on grade A chances and he made some big saves, but no more than most goalies make on an average night.

 

2. The D is pretty much set and Woo and Wolanin did not do anything to make a case for making the team. Wolanin had some good moments offensively but had too many defensive breakdowns. I thought Woo had a tough night.

 

3. That said, I was a bit disappointed in Juulsen and Desharnais, both of whom struggled at times. (And Juulsen fell down on the 3rd Calgary goal.) But I guess Desharnais looks ok for a 3rd pairing guy with Juulsen as 7th man.

 

4. Sprong and DeBrusk had big nights offensively, with good chances as well as actual goals. But Tocchet was restrained about them in his post-game comments and it is pretty obvious he wants more defensive consistency from both guys.

 

5. Raty, Sasson, Bains, Karlsson, Blais and Lekker all played back-to-back. Lekker may be on the opening night team for cap-related reasons but I now expect him to be sent to Abby soon after, although he will get another shot in pre-season.  I think the Blais PTO will end soon and I don't see how Karlsson or Bains could make the opening night roster. I think Raty and Sasson were pretty good tonight considering the fatigue factor and both are competing with Aman for a spot. Any of those guys could play 4C with Blueger injured or with Suter moving to the wing. (Suter was excellent with Miller and Boeser last year.) 

 

6. As for the "stars", Hughes was coasting for much of the time but still looked like the best player on ice. Petey did not do much in the first two periods (and I have no problem with him coasting in pre-season), but in the 3rd period and OT he looked like the best forward on the ice.

 

On the whole, pre-season is going pretty well. I just hope the goalies can hang in there until Demko is healthy.

He didn't look very good in the 15 minutes of the game I watched. Abby bound for sure.

[Ghostsof1915]

2 minutes ago, spook007 said:

I didn't see last nights game, but the previous v Kraken... I'm just wondering, why you think Heinen played on the top line? Is it by default or other, as I don't think he did much in the first game...

Maybe because he's scored at least 22+ points in the past 3 seasons including 17 goals and 36 points last year? 

[Alflives]

10 minutes ago, Mrwipeout said:

If i werent as backed up with work as i am i would have been able to watch more games.. what im wondering abt mainly is the  top 6 lines. is Heinen 1st line material or suter still the best option? how good has hogs been so far? whats ive read so far he seems like hes ready to take another step in his career. Debrusk, how is he? hes a vet, his positioning should b good and is he a good fit together with EP40? i remember sherwood quite well from the playoffs last year, to have him on our team sounds great but i havent seen him play yet, is he a perfect bottom 6 winger or potential fit for a top 6 role? 

You’re pointing out just how this management has created competition for the top line minutes.

Debrusk, Petey, x

x, Miller, Boeser

 

Guys are now, and will continue during the season, fighting for those minutes. And we have several guys who will do very well in those roles. 
super Job by this management to create competition like this. 

[spook007]

11 minutes ago, Ghostsof1915 said:

Maybe because he's scored at least 22+ points in the past 3 seasons including 17 goals and 36 points last year? 

Cheers... maybe...

I have no issue with Heinen playing on the top line, but just wondered.

Nothing would make me happier than finding a winger to compliment Mille and Boeser, so they can play Suter at C... (except perhaps finding Petey some proper top line wingers instead of maybes, but with DeBrusk its a start)...

[Devron]

3 hours ago, bh90 said:

I agree I think a Hoglander - Suter - Sprong 4th line would be amazing.

 

Only curveball right now is Joshua being out. So Hogs could move to the 3LW spot with Blueg and Gar

I think this is a big year for Hogz, Is he a top 6 forward, does management see him as a top 6, do other teams? 

[Bob Long]

15 minutes ago, Devron said:

I think this is a big year for Hogz, Is he a top 6 forward, does management see him as a top 6, do other teams? 

 

JD-EP-Sprong/Lekker

Hogs-Miller-Boeser

 

I'm fine with this, because the remaining quality of the bottom 6 should give teams fits.