EVERYONE IN RED PRETTY MUCH PLAYED LIKE IT WAS PRESEASON!
BLEH!
-Conlkin was not too bad but far from anything amazing. I am fully assuming tonight was not his best effort. He played solid and was on top of things, but the two goals could have easily been saved. Savard's pass to Axelsson was a typical Savard pass so Conklin had very little chance. Decent i guess.
-Kindl, well... yea. Kindl was possibly one of the worst dman out there for Detroit. Actually, in the first period he was thee worst player on either team. Just made poor decisions and bad outlet passes. He played some what physical but from a guy who is as big as he is, he should easily have been throwing it around a little more. Didnt show like he wanted it at all. He has very good puck handling skills however and a decent shot. Definitely raw skill here.
-Abdelkader, Mursak were very impressive i thought. Abby i think could be your stud 3rd liner who can throw it in and also be a player who would not look out of place as a fill in on the top 6 with some skilled players. He does everything above average and his hands are better then i thought. Mursak to me looks identical to Filppula. Stride looks the same, the number 61 almost makes you think its Fil as well. He hustles and has some slick moves. Impressive. Its nice to see a Flashy RIGHT HANDED shot upfront for once.
-Leino made me wonder at times. Like said, his speed is average at best, he does hustle at times, which made me impressed. He displayed a good sense with the puck and im assuming fully he could only get better. He had a amazing chance to tie the game but whiffed badly.
-McGrath took a 4 minute BAD penalty. Got back to the bench, got chewed out by Babcock and never played again tonight. Him, Oulahen, and Downey were a very unimpressive line but we could expect that.
-Quincey im sorry really just doesnt stick out as a top 6 defenseman. He's got the awkward stride, average hands and goes out of his way too many times to make a small hit. I was no impressed tonight.
-Meech looks like he could be a solid top 6. Him and Lebda were the best pairing tonight; which is why we lost if you think about it.
-Atherton impressed me. He's a ECHL dman who signed to play in the AHL, but i think he looked better then Quincey tonight and better then atleast one or two bruin defensemen. Maybe he was just Hungry but he's solid. Should be a good one in GR.
-Hossa, Homer and Fil made things happen but i dont think Hossa was playing very hard. At times he tried, but lets face it: He can do a lot more then he showed us tonight. I was just happy to see Marian in Red and White in person for once! And by the way, everytime homer touched the puck it makes me chuckle. He's a fun guy to watch play hockey.. lol!
-Draper, Maltby, Kopecky were very good grinders tonight. If you told a outsider the Koppy tore his ACL only a few months ago, they would call you nuts. Kid is gonna be a good grinder and i think he looks better now then he did last year (or maybe taking off where he left off is a better way of seeing it).
Ill answer any other questions about tonight.
For the B's:
-Ward, Aaron ward is a ****** bag. Nothing else needed.
-Savard was impressive and played like Hossa. You know he can do more and with what he was doing he made it all look effortless.
-Sobotka, Krejci, Lucic are great young guys. Sobotka threw his weight around a lot on the PK and forecheck and Krejci is just a smart kid with the puck. Nothing fancy but smart. Lucic was Lucic but i some what expected more physical play but hey, its preseason!
-Im looking at the stats and it says Stuart for Boston played a little over 20 min. If i had to guess at how much he stood out, i thought he played 7-10 honestly.
-I would comment on Ryders goal but some chick got up and down every other minute so i missed it while she moved. He looked pretty good, gelled nicely with his linemates most of the game.
-Yahoo says Hunwick is 5'11... He looked 5'9, 170..
Good game though, crowd was bigger then i thought but still no where near packed. But again, its preseason.
I really wish Kindl would start showing some of his promise sooner or later. Was pretty much a boom or bust pick and so far at least the signs aren't great.
And Hossa, I know it's only PS and he'll lift his play when it matters, but a little more effort would be nice.
nice to hear kopy and Kader are doing well. also nice surprise from Leino.. I am thinking about boarding his bandwagon. along with Larsson and McCollum.
Also I wonder if Kindl will ever make the team at all. I know he is young and all but does he really have what it takes? Everytime I hear about him, it doesn't sound like he knows how to play defence in NHL level.
