Blue and Green
Out to lunch
- Dec 17, 2017
- 3,544
- 3,591
Ontario ties it on a PP, a cross-ice pass off of a faceoff win followed by a laser slapshot just inside the post to beat Tolopilo. Now Abbotsford has a PP opportunity.
Website showing Dries on the EN?Ontario pulled its goalie but Podkolzin hit the empty net from his own blue line. 4-2 Abby with 1:19 to go and it seems that the win is in hand.
It was Podkolzin.Website showing Dries on the EN?
You’re clearly blind cause the AHL.com says Dries shot and scored…and they’re never wrongOntario pulled its goalie but Podkolzin hit the empty net from his own blue line. 4-2 Abby with 1:19 to go and it seems that the win is in hand.
A couple of decent chances going wide around the defenceman on his side which is basically his go-to move. I'd say that Dries had more good opportunities to score.Podkolzin had 10 shots alone tonight wow. Any good chances?
Had the new player Cicek in the line up and he played pretty hard nosed. The trade was defintietly an admission that Johnson signing of the ridiculously bad Loewen to offer some protection for other players was a dreadful mistake. Not only can't Loewen play even a little bit but also he makes only a pretense of sticking up for his teammates. In fact, all of Abby's off season pick-ups have been awful. Players like Passolt, Joyeux, Daschke and Lemieux have been useless signings. Much the same as he did in Utica when when Johnson brought in one uselss plug after another.
The underlying and most important story coming out of Abby this year has been the way the young players have been thrown to the Wolves. The announcer mentioned tonite that no player other than Raty has played every game. There have been 14 injuries (that might br some kind of record) on the team and many of them have been major and the long term effect of all the concussions is yet to be seen. Certainly they have not helped players like Sassons, Podkolzin, Neilsen and others to have chance to develop.
Johnson has been entrusted to do very little in terms of the roster. The team has basically been assembled by the Vancouver mangement and their scouting staff. One of the few duties Johnson has is to make sure the younger players had some vet help. Instead Johnson hires a useless crony like Stevens. And this was little different than when he was in Utica where the team was racked. year after year, with injuries and useless replacements. Indeed, fans in Utica hated the man if the accounts by Comet posters like Bad goalie are to be believed. There were times apparently when he was simply AWOL when the going got tough.
Johnson is remnant of the Benning era and seems to have some organizational survival skills. But his managment of the Canuck farm team has been questionable over the years. Allowing the team to go through what they have this year (which essentially forced the Studnicka trade) is sheer incompetence. This really is a matter that senior Canuck management should deal with. Johnson talks a great game with all rah rah, cliche-filled sports jargon, but when you look at what he actually done, there is legit reason for concern about the state of our farm team.
Gatcomb needs to be more consistent but he has the enough speed and enough of a physical game to make you think he could serve in a pinch with Vancouver. Would be fringe but still maybe not entirely out of place.
Am i wrong to think that organizational depth is actually decent right now?Really strong, comprehensive performance last night despite some very suspect refereeing. Felt like playing Calgary as their goons were punching guys in the face after basically every whistle and somehow never getting called for it.
- surprised there isn't more positive talk on Podkolzin here. Absolutely terrific performance, the best he's ever skated at this level. Best player on the ice by a mile. 5 or 6 dangerous rushes, looked legitimately powerful and fast, 10 SOG. Only issue is that the finishing was pretty terrible once he blew wide on a defender and had a grade-A chance, but he looked like an NHL player playing against AHLers last night. Also had a couple very strong backchecks/defensive plays in the 3rd period. Was happy he got the ENG because he deserved a reward for that performance. Still some hiccups in final product and execution but the skating and the motor and the ideas were all spot-on, exactly what he needs to be doing.
- Sasson was back (what was his injury? who knows!) after missing 7 games and was really solid with a 2+1 game. Now 7-4-11 in his last 10 games. Smart player who is solid everywhere but doesn't really have any one skill that pops and makes you think he could move up levels and looks a bit smaller than his listed size, but he's certainly making a case for himself to get a callup at some point.
- Cicek took two penalties (I thought one was quite soft and was just hard physical play, would never be called in a playoff game) but otherwise that pairing with Irwin was rock-solid. Really good addition, and as @orcatown noted it's nice to have another bigger player to actually push back a bit in scrums etc.
- Woo has been a bit off since taking the crosscheck to the face against Calgary a few weeks back but played a terrific game last night. Skated well, a couple big hits, scored a nice goal. Had one rush in particular that really popped, was the best/fastest I've ever seen him skate.
- Tolopilo is *almost* really good and might be really good with some more seasoning. Looks big in net, makes some really impressive saves ... but his rebound control at times is not ideal.
Am i wrong to think that organizational depth is actually decent right now?
forwards that could be called up and not look horribly out of place:
Podkolzin
Raty
Sasson
Bains
Karlsson
Defenders:
Wolanin
Woo
Cicek
Irwin
McWard
interesting rant on Johnson. Curious if you can explain why?Couldn't get the replay to run right to the end but from what I saw would say the following:
Difference b/w Tolopina and Silvos is negilible. Tolopina might have had the first goal in this game but on the second he made two huge saves before the last shot went in. Guy continues to do well in his first year and seems a good pickup. Very calm and moves well for his size. Not a huge stretch to see him at the next level down the road.
Sasson was a little lucky on the first goal as it struck an Ontario stick and popped into the top corner. But made a nice deflection on the second. HIs line was the best in this game and Sassons, outside of Dries drives the the play as well as anyone on the team.
Gatcomb needs to be more consistent but he has the enough speed and enough of a physical game to make you think he could serve in a pinch with Vancouver. Would be fringe but still maybe not entirely out of place.
Podkolzin needs more finish. Some strong skating in this game and drove the puck well into the offensive zone. But he lacks touch on his passes and shot. Had chances to create goals or score but just a little enough off to be unable to complete those chances.
Had the new player Cicek in the line up and he played pretty hard nosed. The trade was defintietly an admission that Johnson signing of the ridiculously bad Loewen to offer some protection for other players was a dreadful mistake. Not only can't Loewen play even a little bit but also he makes only a pretense of sticking up for his teammates. In fact, all of Abby's off season pick-ups have been awful. Players like Passolt, Joyeux, Daschke and Lemieux have been useless signings. Much the same as he did in Utica when when Johnson brought in one uselss plug after another.
The underlying and most important story coming out of Abby this year has been the way the young players have been thrown to the Wolves. The announcer mentioned tonite that no player other than Raty has played every game. There have been 14 injuries (that might br some kind of record) on the team and many of them have been major and the long term effect of all the concussions is yet to be seen. Certainly they have not helped players like Sassons, Podkolzin, Neilsen and others to have chance to develop.
Johnson has been entrusted to do very little in terms of the roster. The team has basically been assembled by the Vancouver mangement and their scouting staff. One of the few duties Johnson has is to make sure the younger players had some vet help. Instead Johnson hires a useless crony like Stevens. And this was little different than when he was in Utica where the team was racked. year after year, with injuries and useless replacements. Indeed, fans in Utica hated the man if the accounts by Comet posters like Bad goalie are to be believed. There were times apparently when he was simply AWOL when the going got tough.
Johnson is remnant of the Benning era and seems to have some organizational survival skills. But his managment of the Canuck farm team has been questionable over the years. Allowing the team to go through what they have this year (which essentially forced the Studnicka trade) is sheer incompetence. This really is a matter that senior Canuck management should deal with. Johnson talks a great game with all rah rah, cliche-filled sports jargon, but when you look at what he actually done, there is legit reason for concern about the state of our farm team.
Gatcomb just doesn't have much skill with the puck and although his speed is fine for the AHL his agility is mediocre at that level. He's the winger version of Chase Wouters, with a step more of speed. Can do a solid job in the bottom six in the AHL and that's about it.I said much the same thing after the last game.
You look at his production and the fact that he's on an AHL contract and you'd think he'd be a total nothingburger. But to me he's probably the most fundamentally solid player in Abbotsford. He skates well, good size, finishes his checks, is in the right places defensively.
Like, if we had an injury crunch in the playoffs and just needed a reliable winger body to play 5-6 minutes on the 4th line, finish some checks, and not screw up ... I think he might actually be the best choice. Most of the other guys have skating or puck management issues that you wouldn't want to put into an NHL playoff game but he doesn't.
I'd like to see him get some better offensive looks higher up the roster instead of just playing 10 minutes on the 4th line every night, typecast as AHL filler.
I've never understood your disdain for Stevens. He's a very good 3C in the AHL, he's not taking up a contract slot anymore and he is by all accounts well respected by his teammates.One of the few duties Johnson has is to make sure the younger players had some vet help. Instead Johnson hires a useless crony like Stevens.