GDT - Saginaw @ Windsor 1.10.24

[donjohnson]

Well, it's 12:01 and I think our lineup is set for the rest of the season and the Spitfires are our first victim.

I am really interested to see how the lines are going to be put together tonight. Obviously Lazary has to build some chemistry with this group which will take a while but hopefully he'll stick with some pairings and they can do just that.

Also wondering how long Guo will be out for...hopefully not a long time but for the first time since covid, we have 8 very capable defensemen so we should be able to roll 3 pairings and keep people fresher than past seasons (I can only imagine how gassed Smith was last year). It wasn't that long ago that Bloom and Loukus were filling in on defense so it's nice to have a full squad back there especially with Guo's injury.

We also get Sapovaliv back in the lineup tonight...despite all of the additions, I think it's possible that he's still our best player and he showed what he could do in the playoffs last year. Coming off a great performance in Sweden, he should be primed and ready to go.

Here's my prediction of the lines and we'll see how they actually match up tonight:

Misa - Beck - Haight
Bloom - Sapovaliv - Mangone
Willis - Hay - Christopolous
Castle/Moore - Gervais - Sima

Hache - Parekh
Donovan - Dionocio
Forgione - Bishop
Glavin

Oke
Lalonde

[aj0512]

Ended up going with a pretty balanced line combination and after the first 25 minutes or so Saginaw completely wore them down. But the bigger story was Sapovaliv being stretchered off the ice. I see he was released back to the team, so hopefully it was just done as a precautionary measure and he will not be out long term.

[MidlandSpiritFan]

Jan 10, 2024 22:15:31 GMT -5 aj0512 said:

Ended up going with a pretty balanced line combination and after the first 25 minutes or so Saginaw completely wore them down. But the bigger story was Sapovaliv being stretchered off the ice. I see he was released back to the team, so hopefully it was just done as a precautionary measure and he will not be out long term.

Someone posted a video on Facebook. Thankfully he hit the boards with his back and possibly the back of his head. He did not go in head first.

[donjohnson]

Quite the performance by our existing and new players...it was Windsor so nothing to write home about but we'll see what they have tomorrow night in London.

[aj0512]

Ethan Hay has been suspended for two games for his fight in the 3rd period last night. Been a lot of talk about that today.

[donjohnson]

Jan 11, 2024 12:46:14 GMT -5 aj0512 said:

Ethan Hay has been suspended for two games for his fight in the 3rd period last night. Been a lot of talk about that today.

There's an automatic league review for fights that are at a faceoff...I think this is a result of the old "buckets off" at the opening drop type fight which were annoying. I like the fights in the heat of the moment or standing up for a dirty hit but I'm glad the staged fights are out of the game. I don't think it's an automatic 2-game but it could be.

[MidlandSpiritFan]

This was not a staged fight. The Windsor player hit Hay in the side of his head with the butt end of his stick right after the puck was dropped. That’s what started it.

[donjohnson]

Jan 11, 2024 16:36:35 GMT -5 MidlandSpiritFan said:

This was not a staged fight. The Windsor player hit Hay in the side of his head with the butt end of his stick right after the puck was dropped. That’s what started it.

Ya, I can't agree with you on that one... Hay was already engaged with him and his stick came up when he was trying to separate... Hays gloves were off almost at the exact moment the stick came up... No one is that fast at dropping the gloves not even my favorite player Steve dix.

And I wasn't saying this was a staged fight, I was just saying the game misconduct penalty (and subsequent suspension review) is a result of the old staged fights between two tough guys.

[eric8199]

Also high stick or not, I believe Hay would still get the instigator. He had his gloves off and swinging well before the Windsor player dropped his and he clearly did not want to fight. The instigator rule is pretty clear in this instance.