GDT: Canucks vs Kraken @ 6:00 PM (Pre-season Game #1)

[gstommylee]

How did Alexander True look (if he even played...)?

wasn't there.

 

[Toomany7pins]

Fun game. Lots of shots on goal.

 

[SquidBrains]

Finally started working. Unis look gorgeous (though too dark a blue, looks black)

Agree -- the base color looks much darker than expected, at least on TV. Hope they lighten it up a couple shades in a future tweaking of the uniform.

 

[gstommylee]

And more Tanev shenigians

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

Did they use the San Jose horn?

 

[gstommylee]

Did they use the San Jose horn?

I think it was a generic horn or what spokane cheifs used. I don't think we'll see ours until the NHL season starts at our normal home game arena.

 

[Toomany7pins]

Forslund and JT Brown did an excellent job on Root sports telecast.

Good flow and chemistry.

 

[Panteras]

Glad we won our first ever game. Specially agains the Canucks even though their lineup was pretty weak. It’ll be a good rivalry with Vancouver.

 

[gstommylee]

the away penalty song was alice in chains man in a box

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Thoughts on some of the players from yesterday.

Forwards:
------------
Eberle was a standout to me yesterday. I don't think he was trying 100% but still made some beautiful plays and was solid. Same for Geekie.
I think McCann could be really good. He has the talent for sure
Tanev was just as expected. He is expensive for his role but is a much needed player.
Sheahan and Donato signings were not liked by a few on this board and its still too early to say but they both looked decent.
Appleton was a little underwhelming to me. As was Jarnkrok.
Bastian was good. Knows his role and uses his size.

Goalies:
----------
Off the 3 goals that we gave up, I think the 1st was the only one that was stoppable. And even that was hard because it was pretty much bad luck to turn the puck over right when the Canucks player came out of the penalty box. The other two were deflections that were hard to really do much about. That and the Kraken controlled possession and suppressed a lot of shots, the goalies were pretty much untested through the whole game.

D-Men:
---------

Gio looked solid. As did Larsson.
Oleksiak has a big body but does not really play physical.
Cholo looked ok. So did Fleury.
Soucy was a little disappointing. Turned the puck over a few times and didnt really do much to drive offense.
Borgen. Honestly, did not even notice him out there. Which I guess can be a good thing for a D-man.

 

[The Marquis]

Thoughts on some of the players from yesterday.

Forwards:
------------
Eberle was a standout to me yesterday. I don't think he was trying 100% but still made some beautiful plays and was solid. Same for Geekie.
I think McCann could be really good. He has the talent for sure
Tanev was just as expected. He is expensive for his role but is a much needed player.
Sheahan and Donato signings were not liked by a few on this board and its still too early to say but they both looked decent.
Appleton was a little underwhelming to me. As was Jarnkrok.
Bastian was good. Knows his role and uses his size.

Goalies:
----------
Off the 3 goals that we gave up, I think the 1st was the only one that was stoppable. And even that was hard because it was pretty much bad luck to turn the puck over right when the Canucks player came out of the penalty box. The other two were deflections that were hard to really do much about. That and the Kraken controlled possession and suppressed a lot of shots, the goalies were pretty much untested through the whole game.

D-Men:
---------

Gio looked solid. As did Larsson.
Oleksiak has a big body but does not really play physical.
Cholo looked ok. So did Fleury.
Soucy was a little disappointing. Turned the puck over a few times and didnt really do much to drive offense.
Borgen. Honestly, did not even notice him out there. Which I guess can be a good thing for a D-man.

I wouldn’t disagree with any of this. Although did Borgen actually play? I don’t recall seeing him once.

A couple positives.

Donato was very good at finding space in the first two periods. It was immediately noticeable to me.

Eberle really looked good out there. In fact the entire first line looked a step ahead most of the game. They should though, they are definitely a step up on the rest of the guys on the ice.

Johansson didn’t get a lot of chances because Appleton and Jarnkrok gave up the puck a lot. The chances he did get were pretty solid. If I remember correctly, he and Donato gave the first Canucks goalie some great save opportunities in the first.

The defense was clearly good on the whole. Limiting chances tremendously. My negative there would be Soucy giving the puck away a bit too much.

overall not bad, and I’m very interested in what they do on Tuesday, and I’d like to see them get tested more if they are going to play mostly expected roster players.

regardless, so damn cool.

 

[GrungeHockey]

Ummm, ya, you didn't notice Borgen cause he wasn't dressed for the game.

Can't really tell much from this as they dressed close to a starting line up against a mostly rookie Canuck squad but you get a sense of the planned style. Bit of a grind you down hard checking thing reminding me of Columbus from a few years back. Not a bad idea.

Sheahan looked surprisingly decent and I liked that whole 4th line in terms of fit and chemistry.

Geekie very good. Donato good on PP not sure about full strength. He's an open ice guy and not strong on the puck when challenged.

Fun though for sure and smart to dress a line up that wins first game to amp up the hype.

 

[JP Mick]

Your team looked pretty good for just being put together a couple months ago, nice win! You could see the guys get more comfortable as the game went on. I’m a Panthers fan so I’m rooting for Driedger obviously. I’ll be checking out some more games this season. Cheers

 

[RainyCityHockey]

Just finished watching the game(minus the first eight minutes thanks to the brilliance of NHL Gamecenter) and I really liked the intensity of the group.

The Bastian/Sheahan/Tanev line was a pain in the butt for Vancouver and pressured them all night long while I really liked the chemistry of the McCann/Eberle/Schwartz line as well.

Eberle looked really good to me and was clearly standing out with his superb playmaking.

Also really happy for Geekie and his "two" goals.

Defensively I think Giordano and Larsson showed their experience and I did like Cholowski as well.
I'm courious to see who's playing the next couple of games because the team needs to make decisions and see who out of Fleury, Soucy, Borgen or Lauzon makes it and who should be dealt.

BTW: I saw Larsson and, I think, Schwartz wearing an A on their jerseys but I couldn't really see if Giordano had one as well.
If he didn't might that mean he's going to get the C?

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Just finished watching the game(minus the first eight minutes thanks to the brilliance of NHL Gamecenter) and I really liked the intensity of the group.

The Bastian/Sheahan/Tanev line was a pain in the butt for Vancouver and pressured them all night long while I really liked the chemistry of the McCann/Eberle/Schwartz line as well.

Eberle looked really good to me and was clearly standing out with his superb playmaking.

Also really happy for Geekie and his "two" goals.

Defensively I think Giordano and Larsson showed their experience and I did like Cholowski as well.
I'm courious to see who's playing the next couple of games because the team needs to make decisions and see who out of Fleury, Soucy, Borgen or Lauzon makes it and who should be dealt.

BTW: I saw Larsson and, I think, Schwartz wearing an A on their jerseys but I couldn't really see if Giordano had one as well.
If he didn't might that mean he's going to get the C?

Gio and Schwartz were the two with the A's. I am not sure if there is any plan to hand out a 'C' this season or not.

I think our top-4 D is pretty much set in stone:

Gio-Oleksiak
Dunn-Larsson

I think the last few D spots are definitely going to be interesting to see. I think other than the 4 you mentioned, Cholo is definitely also going to be in the fight for the last few D.

 

[The Marquis]

So Wennberg and Dunn were not there, which is interesting. Wennberg due to the birth of his child. Dunn though? The team is so stacked on D it's ridiculous. Dunn is a healthy scratch and they trot out those 6 still? They are definitely going to be tough to play against.

With that said... what changes do you make to insert Wennberg and Dunn into the lineup?

 

[The Marquis]

I just completely forgot about Lauzon. He could definitely fit into the mix. Wild stuff this team has at the blue line. You don't want to lose any of them to waivers.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

So Wennberg and Dunn were not there, which is interesting. Wennberg due to the birth of his child. Dunn though? The team is so stacked on D it's ridiculous. Dunn is a healthy scratch and they trot out those 6 still? They are definitely going to be tough to play against.

With that said... what changes do you make to insert Wennberg and Dunn into the lineup?

Wennberg did miss out due to person reasons but I think Dunn didn't play because he is pretty much guaranteed to be on the starting roster. They need to figure out the last few D spots between Cholo, Borgen, Fleury, Soucy and Lauzon will be fighting it out. Pretty sure 1 or 2 of those last 5 get moved out.

 

[RainyCityHockey]

Gio and Schwartz were the two with the A's. I am not sure if there is any plan to hand out a 'C' this season or not.

I think our top-4 D is pretty much set in stone:

Gio-Oleksiak
Dunn-Larsson

I think the last few D spots are definitely going to be interesting to see. I think other than the 4 you mentioned, Cholo is definitely also going to be in the fight for the last few D.

Yeah, just saw on twitter that Gio also had an A.
Though, Larsson also has one, if you look closely at the start of the tweet.

 

[brewski420]

Of the D last night the one I was disappointed in was Fleury. I thought he turned the puck over a bit too much and looked tentative.

 

[The Marquis]

 

[GrungeHockey]

Lauzon and Borgen are both very interesting imo, especially Lauzon. Both would fit nicely and both have a physical side and both are potentially at their breakout points in their development. So they could go either way, but I think at least one of Boston or Buffalo will be pissed they lost that guy as we love the guy(s).

 

[UseYourHedman]

Finally got a chance to watch last night's game. Some thoughts
- Fun to watch. Solid effort with a great forecheck. I hope this is the style we see in the regular season. With the emphasis on D in the draft and FA I am concerned we're gonna see a CBJ defensive BORING style this year but it didn't look that way at all in game 1
- Team colors looked SHARP! Can't wait to see the whites tomorrow night.
- Forslund sounded great. JT was meh, but hopefully he'll step up his game
- Got my wish with Man in the Box playing to start the PP. No brainer there. Hope they use it at CP arena too
- Intermission crew was pretty terrible, but they usually are. No biggie I guess

 

[gstommylee]

Wennberg did miss out due to person reasons but I think Dunn didn't play because he is pretty much guaranteed to be on the starting roster. They need to figure out the last few D spots between Cholo, Borgen, Fleury, Soucy and Lauzon will be fighting it out. Pretty sure 1 or 2 of those last 5 get moved out.

wennberg and his fiancee just had a baby.

 

[The Marquis]

I watch the game a second time, sans the nerves, so I have a bit more to add. Less on the play, more on everything else.

1. Forslund is great. GREAT. This guy was a fantastic choice. I'm personally shocked he isn't THE pxp guy on one of the big networks. He had so many great calls.

2. Man in the Box rules as the opposing penalty song.

3. The team looked a lot better without the nerves and really dominated the game. Silovs (in particular) and Martin had some really challenging saves to make to prevent the game from being a route. The first goal was one of those bad luck deals. If the puck had gone up the ice 1 second earlier, Geekie wins it easily and that first goal never happens. It was perfect timing.

4. Obviously aside from the fluke goal, all of Seattle's other goals were fantastic. I saw Canucks fans calling Sheahan's a garbage goal. Not a chance. Tanev's digging, Bastian's puck work and pass to get that to happen was fantastic.

5. Obviously Vancouver trotted out a trial squad as much as is allowed. Cool. That's actually great for allowing the team to build chemistry. Thanks Vancouver! I'd like to see Seattle do that at least once of the next 2 games, but I also want to see the expected NHL roster get challenged a bit more, but I'm sure that'll happen in games 5 and 6.