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Post by spiritfan8 on Sept 8, 2007 21:45:56 GMT -5
I wasn't the only one from the board at the game was I? Surely SOMEONE must have something to say....
OK, I'll start. Wow. We are young, and there are a lot of guys out there who have never played with each other. It showed, especially with the turnovers and bad passes. Defense is REALLY young--when Chris Breen and Nick Crawford are your vets, you are infants. The penalties were killers--not the number of, so much, as the 3 long 5 on 3s, 2 of which the Soo scored on.
On the other hand. We are young. I do see some talent out there. I guess we are going to find out how good a teaching coach Watson is right from the get-go. If he's good, things could start to improve fairly soon. And we have 4 pretty good players who will be back sooner or later.
One thing that worried me tonight--Zelenbaba did not play. Does this mean we are right back in last year's goalie situation? No knock on Perron at all (And he didn't play badly tonight) but I am not eager to burn an OA spot on a back up goalie. Perhaps our new GM is looking to make a deal for one, in which case we are going to start learning about HIM soon, also.
I'll chime in later, but time for someone else to share some thoughts???
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Post by kivpit on Sept 8, 2007 21:54:47 GMT -5
I assume that there was a final score?
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Post by spiritfan8 on Sept 8, 2007 21:57:31 GMT -5
Oops. My bad, kivpit--sorry. 4-2. And as often as the Spirit shot themselves in the foot, they had a goal disallowed late in the third and a PP the last 2 minutes of the game--they weren't that far out of it.
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Post by spiritfan8 on Sept 8, 2007 21:59:42 GMT -5
Goals from Comrie (Asselin, R McDonough) and Brodie (R McDonough, Swarz)
The Spirit gave up three long five on threes and the Soo scored on 2 of them. A short handed unassissted goal and a goal on a turnover at the blueline were the other two...............
Line combos--Chappell-Muravich-Craig
Asselin-R McDonough-J McDonough
(variable--often Chappell)-Pachis-Berard
Clothier-Swarz-Combs
D pairings:
Sol-Breen
Brodie-Oglivie
Comrie-Crawford
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Post by MidlandSpiritFan on Sept 8, 2007 23:09:21 GMT -5
Jason McDonough did not play?? If not, was he in attendance??
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Post by spiritfan8 on Sept 8, 2007 23:19:33 GMT -5
SSF--Yes he played (see the line combos 2 posts ago).
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Post by MidlandSpiritFan on Sept 8, 2007 23:29:48 GMT -5
SSF--Yes he played (see the line combos 2 posts ago). OOPS, Sorry about that!!!! I saw R McDonough and blew right by J McDonough. So how did Jason McDonough look?? Can you describe the minor penalties leading to the 5-on-3 PPs for the Soo?? Was it poor positioning leading to a hold or hook or were they "good" penalties to take stopping a good scoring chance?? |
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Post by MidlandSpiritFan on Sept 9, 2007 7:00:51 GMT -5
Who wore the "C" and the "A"s for Saginaw during exhibition game #2?? Any idea who wore them in the Soo Friday night??
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Post by bpfox on Sept 9, 2007 8:04:04 GMT -5
Who wore the "C" and the "A"s for Saginaw during exhibition game #2?? Any idea who wore them in the Soo Friday night?? No letters on sweaters in this one. Asselin and Berard, however, were the on ice leaders with Asselin running warm-ups and Berard consulting with the officials after penalties. No big surprise there. Notes: Yes the team on the ice last night was young. But that's not a big surprise. Keep in mind this team lost 3 overagers from last year's team, 4 19 year olds who have moved on to pro careers and has 4 players off at pro camps right now. Besides, a coach has to play the younger players during the pre-season to make decisions on who stays and who gets sent down to jrB. He will also be playing with combinations to see what works and what doesn't. While simple math will tell you the Spirit will be younger this year, they are going to be fun to watch. Looks to me like Ryan and Marc-Andre McDonough will play well together on the same line. Tyler Murovich is small but quite the firecracker. He will be a fan favorite. The Spirit had three 16 year olds in the line up last night and I hope all 3 make the final cut. (Sol, Pachis and Swarz) The one thing I did notice is all three 16 year olds were wearing full cages. Did the OHL change the rules on this? I know in years past if kid wasn't actually 16 yet (late birth date) he was required to wear the full cage. But all three in the line-up last night are already 16. Just wondering if this is a league wide rule or just something the Spirit are doing. |
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Post by sagspiritsfan on Sept 9, 2007 9:16:19 GMT -5
The only comment I would like to make and this worries me the most is regarding the Soo's line up.
The Soo have now won both exhibition games without:
Jeffery
Godfrey
Muzzin
Cuthbert
Tlusty
Arguably 3 offensive weapons, a steady dman and a 5th -6th depth d man
The Spirit are only missing Daniels and Williams. Those are 2 players that do log alot of minutes and play key roles, however I think the Soo are way more short handed then the spirit are for the exhibition season
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Post by MidlandSpiritFan on Sept 9, 2007 9:26:23 GMT -5
The Spirit are only missing Daniels and Williams. The Spirit are also without Tomas Zaborsky (NY Rangers) and Jan Mursak (Red Wings) who are both playing at the Red Wings Prospects tournament in Traverse City. Both will likely be at their respective NHL club's opening week of training camp meaning they will probably miss the regular season opener at home against the Soo. |
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Post by bpfox on Sept 9, 2007 9:26:39 GMT -5
The only comment I would like to make and this worries me the most is regarding the Soo's line up. The Soo have now won both exhibition games without: Jeffery Godfrey Muzzin Cuthbert Tlusty Arguably 3 offensive weapons, a steady dman and a 5th -6th depth d man The Spirit are only missing Daniels and Williams. Those are 2 players that do log alot of minutes and play key roles, however I think the Soo are way more short handed then the spirit are for the exhibition season So you aren't expecting much offensive support from Zaborsky or Mursak? |
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Post by MidlandSpiritFan on Sept 9, 2007 9:31:29 GMT -5
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Post by tuppura on Sept 9, 2007 10:18:31 GMT -5
I am excited about this year and love the fact we have got a "young" energy team. Hey, these kids will make mistakes but I can live with it as long as they put in the effort. To me it looks like its a good mix of speed, skill and flash. We could probably use some size, but who couldn't.
I can see that the Spirit will be extremely young on the back end this year, but I liked what I saw.
Comrie is a nice addition, and with Crawford, Brodie, Breen and Olgovie this team is set at Defense for the next couple of years. Sol looks like he might be a year away - but he got a lot of ice time to show his stuff. He looks like he will be real solid.
Up front, I thought the Spirit looked grittier than I have seen them in the past. You can tell Todd Watson won't allow guys to take shifts off even in the preseason. I liked the fact they aren't afraid to mix it up a bit.
Let's not forget its only preseason and we have got a long way to go.
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Post by spiritfan8 on Sept 9, 2007 12:50:56 GMT -5
In answer to the 5 on 3 question, SSF---the first was R McD with a hook followed by Combs with an elbow. Both pretty easy calls to make, and this was the one the Spirit killed off, even though Berard was without his stick for a lengthy period of time.Actually this one was REALLY long, because as soon as MCD came back, Brodie went off w/ a slash. Second was Chappell, Brodie--can't remember what for, but I remember saying Brodie's was a rookie penalty. Comrie made a great play on this one to close off a lane preventing a score, but the Soo scored on an easy put in when Campbell was left all alone at the side of the net. The third one was the worst--Brodie for holding and then R McD for unsportmanlike conduct after the whistle, so it was a full 2 min. McD was protecting his guy in a scrum, but he got the only call, which I didn't agree with, but it wasn't a good time to take one. It did seem like any time there was a scrum, we got penalties and the Soo got misconducts, but it's pre-season for the refs, too.
The first half of the first period was really all Saginaw--they controlled the puck very well. The second period obviously was all the Soo, aided by Saginaw shooting themselves in the foot a lot. To their credit, the Spirit came out in the third and played a good period. Throughout a lot of the game there were good opportunities that didn't go in; hopefully more familiarity w/ each other and the coaches will help that.
I continue to be more impressed with Swarz than Pachis--he has shown a better head for the game so far IMO. I think if Sol doesn't stick, he will be our 2008 TJ Brodie and we will still see a lot of him.
I'm not complaining about the youth--we all knew it was coming this year, and I still say that I am glad mgmt went for it last year, even though it didn't work out. One interesting part of this is that we will immediately see what kind of teaching coaches we have. If they are good at it, the second half of the season could be much better than the first.
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