FGD: Preseason 1...and 2
Pat Steinberg
September 20 2011 12:18PM
Just like last year, the Calgary Flames open their preseason with a split squad affair with the Vancouver Canucks, with games at the Saddledome and Rogers Arena (7pm, Sportsnet Radio FAN 960/8 pm, Sportsnet West). Neither team Vancouver is sending is what you'd call stacked, however the team they're sending to Calgary certainly isn't rife with tenured NHLers.
It's the first on ice test in a real competitive environment for most of the guys, even with the scrimmage the team had on Monday afternoon. Calgary's teams are a little more competitive, and especially the game at the Saddledome, they should be the team that carries the play.
The Lineup(s)
We'll start with the team in Calgary, who will start Miikka Kiprusoff in net before likely being relieved by Henrik Karlsson around the midway mark. Kiprusoff's off season training program has apparently been a little more ramped up this summer than in the past, so we'll see how he looks to start the fall. Brining Karlsson in in relief is an important excercise as it's something he'll have to do over the course of the season. Here are lines and pairings:
Alex Tanguay-Paul Byron-Rene Bourque
Lee Stempniak-Matt Stajan-Turner Elson
Ryan Howse-Lance Bouma-Tim Jackman
Tom Kostopoulos-Olli Jokinen-Greg Nemisz
Scott Hannan-Mark Giordano
Brendan Mikkelson-Jordan Henry
T.J. Brodie-James Martin
Names like Bouma, Henry and Brodie are the ones that will likely be getting the closest looks from fans and coaches alike, as they're the players knocking on the NHL door loudest at this point. I spoke to Mikkelson this morning, and he's fired up to try and force his way into the lineup, and his preseason will be an interesting one.
Calgary is sending a fairly solid squad to Vancouver as well, with two scoring lines, a pretty good top pairing and a number of younger bubble players to watch and evaluate. Mikael Backlund scored twice in the practice scrimmage Monday, and he'll be one to watch on his line with Sven Baertschi and Niklas Hagman.
Curtis Glencross-David Moss-Patrick Holland
Sven Baertschi-Mikael Backlund-Niklas Hagman
Michael Ferland-Roman Horak-Quintin Laing
Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond-Carter Bancks-Guilluame Desbiens
Chris Butler-Jay Bouwmeester
Derek Smith-Anton Babchuk
Clay Wilson-Joe Piskula
Leland Irving will get the start in net and it's expected he'll go the whole way with Joni Ortio serving as his backup. Irving needs the game time, as Abbotsford does not have a preseason this year.
The Opponent(s)
Yeah, as referenced as above, this is not the A squad for the Canucks coming to Calgary. It isn't even the B squad...we're talking about the C- or D squad to be perfectly honest, but there are some interesting names involved. Manny Legace is one of the goaltenders making the trip, as he tries to reclaim a spot in the NHL, or more likely pro hockey. See if you can't recognize some names from the past in this group:
Mike Duco-Cody Hodgson-Victor Oreskovich
Niko Dimitrakos-Nathan Longpre-Mark Mancari
Darren Archibald-Steve Begin-Todd Fedoruk
Steven Anthony-Alex Friesen-Alexandre Grenier
Kevin Connauton-Anders Eriksson
Alexander Sulzer-Frank Corrado
Andrew Alberts-Sebastien Erixon
Legace and Matt Climie are the goaltending duo making the trip, so we'll see how they're utilized; Climie is expected to get the start. So, remember Niko Dimitrakos? Or Steve Begin? Or Todd Fedoruk? OR ANDERS ERIKSSON? Bubba is back on Saddledome ice, a surface he graced and dominated for so long wearing a flaming C. Okay, maybe not, but it's still funny he plays hockey. The team in Vancouver looks like this:
Marco Sturm-Andrew Ebbett-Owen Nolan
Steven Pinizzotto-Jordan Schroeder-Niklas Jensen
Aaron Volpatti-Maxim Lapierre-Anton Rodin
Matt Clackson-Antoine Roussel-Kellan Tochkin
Keith Ballard-Chris Tanev
Yann Sauve-Ryan Parent
Aaron Rome-Adam Polasek
Eddie Lack and Cory Schneider are the two goaltenders going for the Canucks. There's a few more notable names involved for Vancouver at Rogers Arena, but even still, it's not what you'd call overly special. Jensen was very good at the Young Stars Tournament in Penticton while Nolan is similar to so many other guys in Vancouver, playing on a tryout.
The Story
It's the preseason, the Canucks aren't sending much of a lineup to Calgary, and we're at day four of training camp. So it is what it is, but it's NHL hockey, so it'll be better than no NHL hockey!
@CJT6
Take a while to write and edit it when he probably 2 finger types on a fisher price speak and spell
@SmellOfVictory
True. Butler remains in that grouping for me as well, until he convinces me otherwise.
Great game by Backlund but Sutter isn't going to like that penalty.
The third period was just a bad shinny game. Flames were great in the first two, but completely folded afterward.
Getting a couple of penalties in the final two minutes isn't a great way to end the game.
I didn't see the last 10 minutes, what did Leblond do, I can only imagine.
NO UNBEATEN PRE-SEASON!! This is a good thing.
Boarding. God I hate that waste of a 5th round pick.
@Colin
Hit Clackson from behind. 2 and a 10 for that one.
@Kent Wilson
Oh thats just great, thats all we need..... I don't get this teams fascination with fighters, most other teams are moving on from them, or at least getting a dual pressence, where the guy fighting can still atleast play hockey in some respect.
We have Ivanans who is terrible(also at fighting), now PL3 who is terrible, Desbiens who I can't really comment as I didn't notice him at all and then you can consider Kosto and Jackman as fighters as well, but at least those two are still legitimate hockey players. If management NEEDS a fighter have one, not 4, and if they get injured and can't fight, well to bad so sad.
I thought Butler played really solid. Albeit against a pretty weak ass line up. That being said. The puck did not remain in the Dzone very long once it was on his stick.
Why are people complaining about tough guys , do you want this to turn into figure skating , yes we need them , they have always been in the game , remember the good old hockey there was hard hitting , fighting and it was great hockey , now hardly any hitting , let's ban fighting , if you don't like fighting go watch figure skating and leave hockey alone , fighting should never be taken out of hockey , get rid of the weaklings that complain all the time