Note from practice today: Jesse Winchester went into the boards hard and it appears he has injured his shoulder. Matt Carkner also hurt and did not practice today.
Here's David Rundblad's new blog for anyone who reads Swedish or loves a good Google translation laugh:
http://norran.se/bloggar/davidrundblad
A funny google-translated excerpt.
On Friday evening we had the honor of being on a horse racing evening where there were treated to food and a ride in the car boot, a sjuuukt cool experience. Note: I do not like horses and have realized that I can not talk to them.
Note from practice today: Jesse Winchester went into the boards hard and it appears he has injured his shoulder. Matt Carkner also hurt and did not practice today.
1 pre-season game in the books. Sens lose 4-2.
Best players:
-Erik Karlsson -- best player on the ice by far)
-Jared Cowen -- 2 goals, steady D, fought Phaneuf)
-Nikita Filatov -- 2 assists, showed nice hands, great speed, great playmaking(
Ups and downs:
-David Rundblad -- showed nice offense later on in the game but had some big turnovers trying to be too creative. No worries there, though, he will adjust. Probably in the AHL to start.
-Mika Zibanejad -- did not show a lot offensively but finished every check and played a sound 2-way game. I think he'll get better as he gets his feet wet. He's a sponge.
Duds:
-Bobby Butler -- didn't do anything, but he wasn't with Spezza, his primary centreman.
I agree with every point.
Lehner looked OK as well. Not great, but OK.
Mika looked pretty damn good to me. After the rookie tourney I had hoped he could translate that aggressive game to big show. So far, so good.
Big Ev:
1) Do you think that Mika is ahead of DaCosta or anyone else for that 2nd line C gig?
2) Who would you compare him too. My team is a top contender for my league but I'm not sure if I would rather have Mika or Boedker for this year. Any thoughts?
20 team keeper: 20 players. no farm.
Goals=2 pts---Assists=1 pt-----DG=3-----Wins=3.5-----SO=4
G: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen....Bobrovsky
D: Fox....Bouchard....Letang....Heiskanen....Perunovi ch....Zellweger....Toews....Ekholm
F: Eichel....Caufield....J Robertson....W Nylander....Kucherov
Eklund....W Johnston....Peterka....Fiala....Bratt
2012 Third Place
2013 Runner Up
2014 Iron League Champion
2015 Iron League Champion
2016 Runner-Up
2017 Third Place
2018 4th
2019 18th-rebuild
2020 10th
2021 8th
2022 7th
2023 Third Place
1) Still early but #2C is still Peter Regin's to lose, most likely. He had a strong game last night IMO. Not sure if Mika is ahead of Da Costa, we'll see soon.
2) I've been trying to find somebody to compare him to for a while and I can't pinpoint one...he seems to be unique. At different times I see Forsberg, Backstrom, Sundin (in terms of playing style, not projected upside). Others say Okposo, Kesler, Mike Fisher with actual hockey sense, and even Malkin because of the skating style. So as you can see, there are mixed opinions when it comes to comparables for him.
I would probably take Boedker but I am unfamiliar with Phoenix's situation. Is he expected to play and play a big role? Your question will be easier to answer in about 2 weeks.
A couple of questions for the Sens Army..
Mika killed it with Petersson in the rookie camp. Do you think that could mean time with Alfy (trying to toss him with a Swede)? Maybe a line of Michalek-Z-Alfredsson?
Also, Cowen had a great game last night but his skating still is pretty brutal. Do you think he can make the team even with his subpar skating?
Follow me for some fantasy hockey, Jays tweets @thelandshock
1) I think if he makes the team he would be given thrid line minutes, so probably not with Alfie regularily. Maybe though, who knows.
2) Cowen's skating is not brutal in the slightest. He's pretty moible when he wants to be, and is considered an above average skater for his size. Skating is not a concern with him, and trying to put it politely, I'm really not sure what you're talking about. He makes the team easily.
I'll give Rundblad the benefit of the doubt being his first game, but I thought he looked terrible throughout the game. Ottawa's D was sloppy overall though.
Even without the nice set-ups, I thought Filatov looked pretty good on the forecheck. And I was impressed with Cowen at both ends of the ice.
Rundblad will take some time to adjust. No worries though, Karlsson had to go through the same thing, and look at him now. I don't think he will ever be as good as Karlsson but you can tell he'll be a good one on offense.
Filatov was pretty impressive for his first game in a long while. Will be interesting to see what he can do with Spezza.
I'm thinking he doesn't get 100 PIM consistently. I'm thinking more Schenn or Weber or Staal type PIM numbers. Not sure if he will fight as much in the NHL. Tough to really say though.
Is anyone watching the game tonight?
Any updates?
How does Filatov look in his 2nd game? Z? DaCosta?
I was there but left after 2. Only Brian Lee and maybe Regin, Cowen, and Foligno stood out, but even then the game was sloppy for both teams. Filatov showed some flashes but stumbled a lot. Da Costa also showed nice hands and defensive awareness. Terrible hockey to watch but hey it's pre-season and both rosters were weak.
Zibanejad had a nice slapper to win it in OT, though.
Ev, which rookies do you think crack the roster this year?
"We've had a couple shakers in this place. This year we haven't had the time. We had a couple good ones last year, right?" - Phil Kessel
I'm only giving one guarantee: Jared Cowen. Other one is either Zibanejad or Da Costa.
and technically Colin Greening is a rookie too, so him as well.