It is only preseason, or so I keep telling myself that over and over.
Same game, different night.
Well, not quite the same, but the basic formula was the same.
Seattle had a really bad slow start, and it showed.
Seattle got lucky when Elder went off for high sticking a minute and a half after Everett got it's second goal. I thought for sure they would get a third and basically wrap the game up right there.
It is only preseason, or so I keep telling myself that over and over.
If I have my numbers correct, Everett got it's 3rd shot of the game right after their 2nd goal around the 6:15 mark of the first. Their 4th shot game at the 19:00 mark of the first. So they went 13 minutes of playing time between shots.
Seattle just controlled play the entire rest of the period.
The 2nd period was much the same. Everett had 10 shots, and 7 of them came in a 2 minute window half way through the period.
It is only preseason, or so I keep telling myself that over and over.
Now, here was the difference from Friday night.
Seattle was back to shooting the puck wide of the net, and also afraid to take shots.
More then once, a Seattle player found themselves in the slot with a shot, but instead tried to make a pass. Or they just plain held the puck too long, and the chance went away.
The 3rd period was also a little from the previous night. Everett didn't dominate play as much, but instead, they just gave Seattle no chances. Only 2 shots the entire 3rd period, and those came in the last 5 minutes.
It is only preseason, or so I keep telling myself that over and over.
As the previous night, the lines were changed again. But Saturday, I actually thought they started to play better then the previous night.
I thought Flodell looked very good, and was beat by very nice deflections on two of the goals, and was left out to dry on the giveaway behind the net. The only goal I really fault him on was the empty net goal, I mean come on, he was so far out of position sitting on the bench.
As has been pointed out in the write up's by Andy Eide, Nolan Volcan had a great night.
But the one player I thought had the best night and I have not seen it mentioned was Nick Holowko. He hit everything that moved when he had the chance, went very hard after the puck when he was on the ice, and played smart in his own zone. He got his name on the score sheet with two checking from behind penalties. One was a good call, the other somewhat questionable to me.
After this post, it is not preseason any longer, so I can't use that line any longer.
Hockey Challenge 2014
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6 comments :
I was away for a while .Recently I don't see any mention of Connor Honey . Is he still with the team , what is his status ?
There is no official status except for the fact that he isn't on the roster.
It's being assumed that he hasn't been cleared to play due to his "upper body injury" symptoms
Yeah. Connor is unfortunately gone. I guess the Birds still have his rights, but he never came to camp and word is he's still not recovered from what people assume is some manner of concussion or neck injury.
Very much a shame to me; he was one of my favorite Birds in his time here. Knew how to score, knew how to hit, wasn't afraid to stand up for his teammates.
We all know that this will be a year where a substantial amount of offensive production will need to be made up from the losses of the offseaon. I think we should keep Hickman, Mac, and Henry because I see this as the overage combination that gets us the most points.
Kozun is apparently the guy Russ wanted to step up and take the starting job, but I do not believe it is in our best interest to retain a 20 year old goaltender when we have an 18 year old goaltender who might be with us another year, as well as a 17 year old who looks pretty damn promising.
Wardley is a strong candidate too but the name of the game this year is offensive production.
I think this year is a growing year. A year to let the kids get more experience and we have to be patient. By Christmas, we should see them improve and hopefully make a playoff spot, and perhaps an upset in the first round. But the key this year, is experience, then next year, should be a banner year. From your comments Jon, you saw what I saw from Holowko when he played last year. I haven't seen any exhibition games, and was hoping that he would take the body, but what people don't see are the little things that he does with the puck and his strong back check. Watching him play Junior B last year for a struggling team, he does not shy away from the hits, and usually the big guys that he takes on. I'm surprised that he took checking from behind penalties, as his hits are always clean and hard. A bonus for the team (if they realize it) is that he has played defense in a lot of games last year, namely the reason for the low point total, and I would say that if the team were to use him on occasions, they would not only be pleasantly surprised, but they would not lose any strength on the D-line. In closing, Jon, I was pleased to see your comments, as I didn't know how Holowko was performing during training camp and the pre-season games, Wishing him and the T-birds the best of luck.
For those of you who may listen to TSN 1040 in Vancouver, Nick Holowko is the nephew of Don Taylor who is on from 2-6pm in the afternoon with Barry Macdonald . great show by the way for hockey talk.
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