It was a game of our offense against their defense… their defense basically won. IDK where the King’s have been shopping for their rooks but it must be the plus size section, they got some big boys *and so many I never even heard mention of*. I really like the Moller and Simmonds pairing for the princelings. Simmonds got a lil bit tacky (not quite dirty but real damn close a few times) and Moller knows his way around a net for sure.
Well my major complaint about the rookies as a whole was dead feet and extreme nervousness. Many times *especially on the PK* they bunched up in a tight box in front of the net like scared calves and their feet were glued to the ice. Hopefully that will stop… today! hopefully it was just nerves. And on the PP we had some good patience with the puck, a couple times, a little too much patience… but they just need to play the system a little bit longer, you can see that they mostly get it. But really please don’t start that waiting for perfection setup thing like the big boys are sometimes guilty of.
WG needs to even up the shifts a little. Some of the kids were blown by the end of their shifts. Need air to haul ass like we all know Tishka/Bods and BigMac can. They got their first taste of our bungholio ice… now they just have to learn to shoot the puck even if its bouncing, on its side or just plain skittering willy nilly. At the Job there is no such thing as a smooth setup.
Ahne – Jonas Ahnelov looked great out there with a little more mean than I was expecting (hoping, but not expecting). That butt check was nice and the snarl and willingness to head in to a scrum was even nicer. He did almost get hit w/ too many men on the ice… obviously the boy wants to play.
KT needs to QB better..he’s learning, it will take some time. Boy is a scrapper though ain’t he?
But if he doesn’t tighten up that fargin helmet, he’s gonna get his damn bell rung and miss season start… don’t be a dumbass Kyle… tighten the helmet! But other than inspiring that motherly comment, he had some niiice sogs and nearly tied the game up late. He battled well, not as concerned as I was about his strength, he can win battles w/ smarts and had some good stick work.
Bods – Mikkel Boedker didn’t stand out like I thought he would… still interesting, but w/ his speed and creativity… just felt like there shoulda been more to his game. Maybe he was trying too hard. His passes were decent, clean and mostly well executed. Unfortunately for us, it just seemed like he only got good chances to display his dazzling speed… right at the end of a shift when the boy was about huffing to drag air.
Brodie – Mathieu Brodeur looked much, much, much better. The guy looked like the scarecrow from Wizard of Oz on skates when I saw him the first time this summer. Again, these kids have seriously worked hard to get themselves into contention for a spot in the organization. Matti took his work seriously this game, at 6’5″ and still filling in, he doesn’t really have much weight to throw around but managed to fight fairly well anyway.
BigMac attack! – Brett McLean, the boy’s skate work definitely paid off! Stronger, meaner and much more stable in the corners. I was impressed. That boy was knockin people into the glass in front of me so often I figured he was tryin to give me a present (King under glass is supposed to be very tasty) LOL
Tishka… Viktor Tikhnov had a few oops moments. egads! that kid is a bit bigger than I thought. Looked good, a little tentative at the beginning but got his stride quickly. Like Bods… just expected a lil more poise and a little more explosive creativity from the kid for some reason. Skates well and did not disappoint in strength and puck movement.
Little Tyler Johnson! Whoo hoo! showed all the hyped boyz how to put the puck in the net. The littlest thing on the ice and the baddest on the offense. Having a nice walkon tryout.
More to come on Ports/Kols/Staal and Ross… and then game 2 comments and thoughts… stay tuned..