Abbotsford Canucks Talk | Part 2

[Lindgren]

Silovs is in net, Pettersson is playing, they're going with 7 D, and they're down 1-0 early.

 

[Lindgren]

Abby hosts Calgary tonight and tomorrow night to close out their regular season. I believe that they need to take both games to have a shot at moving up one spot in the standings and having home-ice advantage in the first round.

I'm curious about line-up decisions in these games. I guess they'll split the goal between Tolopilo and Silovs. But will Pettersson play, or will they go almost with all lefties on the back again?

I'd like to see Raty and Sasson get hot again (obviously ...), both for what that suggests about chances in the playoffs and what it might mean for next year.

And it'd be nice if Wolanin could finally recover his form from last season.

A goal and an assist, and first star, for Wolanin in a 4-3 Abby win.

 

[VanJack]

Canucks with a chance still to overcome Colorado for fourth in the Pacific. But need to hold serve against the Wranglers tomorrow night, and then get some help on the out-of-town scoreboard.

In tonight's game Silovs was voted the second star, but could have been star #1-2-3. Calgary dominated for stretches, and Arty was the only thing holding the fort.

Max Sasson wasn't voted 'a star, but probably should have been. This kid is just blowing by people right now; and was virtually unstoppable in 3-3 OT. Took the puck wide and then exploded to the net, but was thwarted. He did however draw the penalty late in OT that led to Wolanin's PP winner.

Karlsson with a goal and a helper; along with Dries. The third goal belonged to McDonough on a back-door feed from Bains on the PP, which went 2-3.

Continue to be impressed with Raty who plays a mature, 180-foot game. He's showing nice vision through the neutral zone and has really come on as a Canuck prospect.

 

[alternate]

180 foot game? Does Raty just refuse to go behind either net?

 

[Vector]

 

[Nucker101]

Tocchet is gonna love this kid

 

[RobertKron]

180 foot game? Does Raty just refuse to go behind either net?

Maybe Gretzky wasn't having office hours at the time.

 

[Tables of Stats]

180 foot game? Does Raty just refuse to go behind either net?

His skating is so slow he can't afford to skate an extra 20ft end to end.

 

[Lindgren]

Abbotsford and Calgary are back at it. It's scoreless after the first.

It looks like Colorado is about to lose tonight (down 4-0 in the third). If Abbotsford can take this, their last game of the regular season, that'll put some pressure on Colorado, who will need to win their last game to retain home-ice vs Abby in the first round.

Tolopilo has the net. 11 forwards, 7 D. Pettersson is in again.

 

[RobertKron]

His skating is so slow he can't afford to skate an extra 20ft end to end.

Actually, he just always gets on the bench at one end and then gets back on the ice at the other end. Never touches that part of the rink. Efficient.

 

[rypper]

Technical difficulties in abby.

Edit repairs still ongoing.

 

[tradervik]

Abby came back from a 2 goal deficit to win 3-2. Bains with the winner.

 

[rypper]

They got the W but Calgary dominated that one. Wolf is a great goalie.

 

[RobertKron]

View attachment 856414

Technical difficulties in abby.

Edit repairs still ongoing.

League caught Raty trying to remove the curved glass to bypass another 40' out of his game. Possible suspension incoming.

 

[VanJack]

Abbotsford started strong, but really appeared to wilt as the game ground onward. This Wranglers team has all their players back from the parent club, and they're going to be a tough out in the playoffs,.

Fortunately Abby won't meet them in round one. They pulled two points ahead of Colorado for fourth by gutting out a 3-2 win tonight. But Colorado has one game remaining against the Ontario Reign tomorrow. With a win they'd tie the Canucks in points, but own the tiebreaker.

So Abbotsford won't find out until tomorrow night whether they open at the Abbotsford Entertainment Center, or climb on a plane for Denver.

As far as tonight was concerned, Bains had a strong game was voted star #1 with a goal and assist; while Nick Cicek was all over the ice and a tower of strength in his own zone. Easily one of his best games of the year.

And Tolopilo didn't get much love from the guys picking the stars, but was simply outstanding in the third period, where Abby was badly out-shot and out-chanced. He was at his acrobatic best after Calgary pulled Wolf and pressed for the equalizer in the last two minutes.

Another successful AHL season in Abbotsford......and they reached the 40 win mark for the second straight season. More importantly, they're one of the youngest teams in the AHL. And development of young players is what it's all about for your AHL farm team.

 

[Tables of Stats]

Actually, he just always gets on the bench at one end and then gets back on the ice at the other end. Never touches that part of the rink. Efficient.

I've been hearing that he's a smart player but this is next level.

 

[RobertKron]

I've been hearing that he's a smart player but this is next level.

His wide skating stance is actually an adaptation for straddling the bench.

 

[Tables of Stats]

His wide skating stance is actually an adaptation for straddling the bench.

I'm just picturing him using the bench like a Mario warp pipe.

 

[RobertKron]

I'm just picturing him using the bench like a Mario warp pipe.

To give him the element of surprise, the rest of the players stand up and he runs straddling the bench behind them, and then suddenly appears out of nowhere at the other end. Really high-level stuff.

 

[David Bruce Banner]

They got the W but Calgary dominated that one. Wolf is a great goalie.

Too bad for him that he seems not to be an NHL goalie... too bad for other teams in the AHL that he's an amazing goalie at that level.

 

[VanJack]

Too bad for him that he seems not to be an NHL goalie... too bad for other teams in the AHL that he's an amazing goalie at that level.

It was a tale of two goalies in last night's game. At one end, Dustin Wolf listed at 5', 165, and Nikita Tolopilo, at 6'6" and 230.

Wolf is a dominant goalie at the AHL level, but in the NHL, so much of playing goal is about just 'positioning' and covering as much of the net as possible. Big goalies at the NHL often stop pucks they don't even see, based on their size and athleticism.

It isn't impossible for a 6' goaltender to be effective in the NHL, but the way the game is played these days, they're operating a significant disadvantage. Pucks that would normally just 'hit' a bigger goalie, have a tendency to leak through.

 

[Lindgren]

Colorado is up 5-2 mid-way through the second. It's looking like there will be no joy in Mudville, and Abbotsford will not have home advantage when their playoffs start.

 

[IComeInPeace]

It was a tale of two goalies in last night's game. At one end, Dustin Wolf listed at 5', 165, and Nikita Tolopilo, at 6'6" and 230.

That has to be the largest size disparity between 2 starting goalies in pro hockey history

 

[Vector]

 

[arttk]

AHL is weird, no home games at all for the lower seed?