I’m think most ppl have forgotten something
Oli Juolevi is a defenceman playing in the best league of the world, he’s about to get burned and make mistakes here and there facing world class players night in night out
just like everyone else
True enough....However, in 10 minutes of play he made a bad mistake that led to a goal and was walked once or twice. Stapled to the bench in the third I believe so he didn’t gain any trust from the coaching staff. I disagree it was the strong game people are saying.
That said, it’s one game, no pre-season, nerves etc. so you can’t read anything into things one way or the other really. Same can be said for the team as a whole.
Some nice things to see:
Hoglander looked good. What stood out more than his play to me is he’s one of those guys that seems to simply love stepping on the ice and competing. There is an enthusiasm about his game that not every player has.
Boeser skated well and shot the puck well. I do worry what will happen to his skating as the grind hits. Will his back hold up and prevent what I call in my life dead leg syndrome where due to a back issue I can lose what seems to be strength and mobility every now and then.
Hughes...good game. Key passes to put the game out of reach.
Horvat and Pearson were good.
Beagle and Sutter in the offensive zone at the same time was cringe worthy.
Virtanen still looked like Virtanen. Frustrating on many shifts and then has a couple ones. He needs the Hoglander enthusiasm in his game.
Gaudette was invisible but a nice opportunistic goal.
Hamonic ...first game a long while but he was bad. He will get better but his game has been in decline the last few seasons so what does that year off do? Can he get back to truly being an everyday top 6. He needs to or the Canucks are in trouble on the back end.
Holtby...stood strong. It was reminiscent of the past several years. Too many grade A chances against and relying on the goaltender to keep them in the game at times. Luckily against the Oilers it’s a good bet you can outscire your bad team defense.