A mixed bag of first impressions:
-the new jumbotron is huge. I'll have to get used to small digits for PP/PK time left though.
-the new boards are new. Also to the players obviously as they still have to learn where the bounces go. One bounce to out benefit tonight, so all good here so far.
-the new glass panels in the curves are too narrow, the connections are blocking a good chunk of a view towards the goal.
-obviously no idea how the TV picture looks. Going to find out in 2 days.
The team:
Lines tonight
Lukoyanov - Tkachev - Azevedo
Glukhov - Malykhin - Varnakov
Glinkin - Popov - Sekac
Lazarev - Zhukov - Chibisov
Rough game for Tkachyov playing with the full mask,so still recoverng from an injury. Don't know how it affected his game, but he barely made any good decisions for his level. As a result a fairly invisible Azevedo too until that one PK with Sekac(which is supposed to be a part of a regular line some time going forward).
Nothing spectacular from the Malykhin line. We do need another center. Varnakov is a goal scorer. He scored his goal, but it was a good shot by Batyrshin he preyed on. Goal scorer's goal. Varnakov is in good shape. The line not so much.
Fairly happy with the 3rd line. Glinkin-Popov is working. Obvious chemistry is there. They create chances, they will get the goals. Secondary scoring as it should be. Sekac was good as the 3rd man on the line.
Lazarev was given offensive zone starts mostly. He has some skill. Looked gassed towards the end, nearly dying in long shifts. The speed of grown men hockey seems to be a bit overwhelming after all. Let's wait and see how he manages the grind of a long season. Other than that the big guys on the 4th line were working hard, but looked like a 4th line. No skill to create something out of the box or finish. Chibisov should learn to use his size better.
The D pairings have gone through some changes, so it's better to go through the players.
Ohtamaa as advertised. Very solid in his own end. Little to no offence.
Batyrshin with fewer minutes than expected. One good hit he got penalized for. A smart play that led to a goal. Expected veterean poise. Liked the signing actually.
"Uncle Styopa" Zakharchuk finally in his role as a 3rd pairing stay at home guy with some hits that got Riha going
. All good here finally. Having him on the 1st pairing was a nightmare.
Tokranov with an uneventful showing which is okay for him being a middle pairing guy.
Big things I expect for Paigin. He looks much more mature than a year ago and he has that all around level. Good offensively, good pinching, good in the neutral zone, good shots, good in the own zone using his reach well(still needs to beef up to fill out the huge frame). Nothing but praise. After one game though. But Billyaletdinov obviously also sees change as evidenced by his ice time.
Yarullin with a good game. The leading OD obviously right now. I hope he embraces the role more and more as the season progresses.
The one guy who is getting an F is Musin. As I mentioned in one of the previous posts the ne small guy on the D, but as I predicted a year ago he seems to have reached his ceiling early. I see no change in his game. He is still chasing the play often, not tough enough, not skilled enough to contribute offensively. A trainwreck in this game at least. A year ago he looked more consistent and reliable than Paigin, but one could see that Paigin is the one whose game is going to grow. Bring on Sidorov when he is back from the U20 NT. Abrosimov will probably get the nod instead of Musin soon.
Garipov was okay in goal with two or three bad rebounds, but he basically made the saves he had to make. Still those focus losses are what prevents him from becoming a starter.
Despite the good grades to most defencemen personally there are still holes in the team's defensive play. Forwards made a lot of own zone mistakes that lead to unneeded stints on the D. Some blunders lead to chances a team better than Slovan will use thankfully. It might be the opening night rust, but I think it reflects some more systemic troubles on this roster. The team D has to become better structured.
The offence lacks one or better two players with game breaking skill. They are not creating necessarily dangerous plays. I know we are spoiled by the Morozov-Zaripov era, but that's exactly what the team needs - at least a duo that would be dangerous every shift.
On PP Bill used two units dfferent in design. The first unit with 4 forwards and Yarullin and the the 2nd with Tokranov and Paigin on the blue line. Both units were meh, mostly because of the forwards. No ojections towards the D-men.
The PK was alright with a SHG. And nearly everybody gets some PK time with Bill, as always.
From the scratched and injured I only expect a boost from Obukhov. I doubt a modern day Svitov will give the offence a spark.
Let's come back to this after 10 games.
"Most impressive skater" gone. Weird move by Ak Bars but fair enough #justRushathings
But I don't like to make predictions form pre-season. The real thing is totally diffrent. All players will get different roles the moment the puck drops tonight.
, I do not know a single player's name on Rubin.
