GDT- Wolves vs. Heat Weekend

[Rozzy]

Kassian's fight from my seat.

[avelanch]

@NuckMan

I thought Sweat was better than you said, other than that I agree with most of it.

[Smashian Kassian]

same, i noticed bill all night.

Also, Schroeder threw a couple hits out there. very nice to see.

[Trelane42]

My takes from the game:

Ebbett – assisted on the Kassian goal and hit a post. Was making things happen out there. Opportunistic, as when he was with the Canucks. Looked to be Wolves’ best centre and Arniel used him a lot.

Kassian – skating is fine, though may appear sluggish because of his size. Can float in the neutral zone for spells, but has good offensive instincts. Thinks ahead and knows what to do and where to go. Already a proven finisher at this level. Developing chemistry with Ebett.

Schroeder – other than the shootout, wasn’t especially noticeable. He has great wheels but his hockey IQ has yet to catch up; tends to hold onto puck for too long. If it is between him and Ebett, the veteran has an edge at present.

Pinizzotto – was a pain in the rear for Heat players all night long. Knows his role and hockey skills are pretty decent. This guy really wants it. Maybe better than even money he beats out Weiss for a spot.

Tanev - no real complaints but he doesn’t belong on PP. The quote a character from moneyball: “the polite way to say it is he has no feel for the position.”

Lack – looked solid and only got beat by 2 PP goals. Not sure about the complaints on the first one. All I saw was a point slapper while a convention was being held in front of the crease. The second was a perfect slap-pass to a guy who tipped it while standing unmarked in the slot. Stoned all Heat shoot out attempts, including Flames savior designate Baertchi.

Longpre – this guy looks like he wants his contract back. Smooth skater who goes into dirty areas.

Rodin - MIA

[inkorea]

great game by kassian and lack.desbians looks good at times.

heat really need to sort out some stuff.

advertise 19.00 ticket

ends up being 29.00 on your card

find out guy beside you paid half price.

parking regular price 5 bucks up it to 10 for tonights game.

beers 9.00

45 minutes for food to be cooked after ordering-people were not impressed.

toilets= such long lineups people probably just hold it until after game.

if they want to attract more fans they have to stop the obvious attempts at blatent cash grabbing.

people dont want to pay same prices as canucks games at minor league games for food and drinks.

[avelanch]

beer was 9.50 for 24 oz, 4.75 for 12 oz.

[FS91]

Going tomorrow night

Hopefully they put on the same type of performance again tomorrow. Kinda wish I had gone tonight instead tho seemed like a great game plus just figured out tomorrows will be televised.

[canucklehead44]

I sat front row so it was a little bit harder to see everything but here is my take:

Kassian - Beast. The fight started right in front of where I was sitting. He was really getting under guys skin, throwing huge hits, protecting the puck well. VERY underrated playmaker. He can get the puck on other guy's sticks in high traffic.

Rodin - One good shift, otherwise ineffective. Doesn't have high end offensive skills. He skates well but is not nearly as quick as Schroeder or Sweatt. He is a bit like a slower Jeff Tambellini with a weaker shot.

Pinnizotto - I really liked his game tonight. Good speed, solid puck skills. Great along the boards, physical, wins battles.

Schroeder - Extremely fast and hardworking. Kind of like Raymond but without the falling down. He seems to be all by himself and doesn't really take the puck to the net very well. He has the skill to be a PPG NHL player down the line but he has trouble putting it together, could be better in the NHL with better talent.

Connauton - Good skater, can get the puck on net. Not terrible defensively, was even used in penalty killing situations.

Desbiens - Awesome hitter. A little bit slow. He didn't look as effective as he did when I watch the Moose a couple years ago.

Friesen/Matson - Held their own. Hard working, but a bit too small to be physically effective and lack high end offensive skills.

The defense was steady, nobody really stood out. Tanev has a crappy shot even at the AHL level but has great positioning and skating. I noticed a few gaffs by Andersson, otherwise he wasn't very noticeable. Sauve is a good skater for his size.

Overall I really liked Pinnizotto and Kassian in terms of what they can bring to the Canucks. Schroeder could work on a line with Booth and Raymond or Hansen. He seems a tad too fast for the AHL and is better suited as a complimentary player.

[hockeywoot]

Youtube Clips:

[TOMapleLaughs]

Mobile

[Baercheese]

didnt get to see the game, but from people that did, how did Beartschi look?

[Wolf smell]

he missed in the shoot out

[Pears]

didnt get to see the game, but from people that did, how did Beartschi look?

[Joel Heyman]

didnt get to see the game, but from people that did, how did Beartschi look?

[LostViking]

My (extremely amateur) scouting report from Friday's game:

Andersson - Looked very solid at both ends of the rink, very sound positionally, bailed out Sauve a few times. Definitely impressed with what I saw from him.

Connauton - Moving the puck very well. Had a lot more success moving the play up the ice than Tanev, and has a good sense of when to jump up without getting caught out of position.

Tanev - Looked shaky at times, a little bit lost. He seemed to go back and forth from trying to generate offense and making the safe plays, doesn't seem like he has settled into a particular role yet.

Kassian - Looked good physically and offensively. Didn't dominate, but was one of the more dominant players, made a lot of plays happen with his size, and made some great passes.

Sweatt - Didn't have a very solid game, the offensive skill doesn't seem to be there, I'm not 100% sure but it looked like his minutes were cut for part of the game.

Schroeder - Skating very well, generated a lot of chances, and very sound positionally coming back on defense. More two-way ability than I expected to see.

Matson - Didn't notice him too much, but saw him make a few good plays. Didn't look out of place at the AHL level.

Friesen - Another player I didn't notice much, didn't really see anything worth noting.

Lack - Was shaky on a few plays, particularly early in the game. When he is crossing his crease he seemed to slide over a little too far, rather than using his size to cover more of the net, still seems to need some tweaking on his technique, as it looked very unconventional, but you can't argue with the results, despite some hiccups, he was rock solid when the game was on the line, and made all the important saves. Definitely the best player in the game.

Shootout - No need to evaluate anything here, just a silly shootout. Very entertaining though, and nice to see Kassian put in the winning goal.

Ice girl - Tripped over a camera cable and broke the t-shirt gun, she wasn't hurt so it was very amusing

Cliff Ronning - Class act, extremely nice guy, got to meet him at the game!

[eretz canucks]

I would have given Cannuaton A- and Tanev B.

Tanev had 2 guys blast by him, he hauled one down and took a penalty and the heat scored.

Also this guys shot is petrude.

Schroeder can fly but did little else. Didn't really set anyone up as far as I could tell. Kassian seems to have superior vision when it comes to passing.

Kassian and Lack stole the show and were by far the best players on either team.

Bartshi was good or however u spell his name.

Cannauton looked more polished than Tanev. Surprising. Cannauton is bigger and more physical.

Arniel used his third line a lot, at even strength they seemed to be out there all the time.

Rodin was invisible out there.

Schroeder should be included in a trade for Bjugstad, don't see this kid being an impact player in the NHL. Lacks size and hockey sense. I hope I'm wring about him.

[avelanch]

didnt get to see the game, but from people that did, how did Beartschi look?

[Chaos Giraffe]

Hi everyone! I watched the game from about 10 mins into the 1st period.

Here's my take on how the player performed, if you care enough to read my ramblings:

E. Lack - Grade: A+

Great game overall. Looked big in the net and made some key saves when the Wolves were running around in their own zone. Nice point blank and glove saves saves tonight. Can't really fault him for the PP goals. Absolutely STELLAR in the shootout.

Y. Sauve - Grade: B-

Had a very solid start to the game. Very strong and physical with the Heat forwards. Made less of an impact as the game progressed. I want more from Sauve.

P. Andersson - Grade: B-

Solid effort overall. Sometimes absolutely rock solid, and other times prone to being beat out wide. Nice reach and you can tell he is a smart player. Effectively tied up opponents along the boards and I don't think I counted a single (glaring) bad pinch tonight. Relatively impressed by his defensive game tonight.

K. Connauton - Grade: B

Absolute bomb of a shot. Too bad it was blocked most of the night. The kid has flair that much is obvious. Really nice acceleration and rushes out of his own zone. However he's now been caught a couple times with a lazy stick in his own zone and his positioning could also use some work. It is my hope that Tanev shows him a thing or two about positioning and smart stick work, since we all know neither are overly physical, and Connauton can return the favor by showing Tanev how to shoot the damn puck. All that being said I've watched Connauton since we drafted him and I feel like his defensive game is improving. Case in point - a one on one situation which he played particularly well going down at the right moment to block the shot. Really nice play.

Overall the entire D corps was caught flat-footed on multiple occasions allowing the Heat forwards to split them and go in alone on Lack. After getting burned a couple times you'd think they'd try to adjust. I felt like they were giving up their blue line far too easily allowing the Heat players to break in with speed.

D. Joslin - Grade: C+

Steady enough, but unspectacular. Don't feel he rushed the puck particularly well. Still trying to feel this player out. I'm trying to figure out what he does really well, if anything.

S. Pinizzotto - Grade: C+

Threw some fantastic hits and had a solid forecheck tonight, but for the most part that was the extent of his effectiveness. His hitting tends to take him out of position. He threw a good hit tonight on the PK but the Heat scored right after. Not saying that it was entirely his fault or anything, just that the Heat had lots of ice to work with near the blueline because he was pasting a guy at the boards. I'd say pass on that gamble next time.

A. Gordon - Grade: C+

Worked hard with Longpre to make that goal happen. Did a decent job in his own zone. Otherwise relatively quiet. Tough night in the faceoff circle for the boys tonight overall.

C. Tanev - Grade: B

Classic Tanev. Solid game in his own end but I didn't see much offense there tonight. Struggled to get shots through, but like you'd expect he makes a nice first pass and makes the right play the majority of the time. Bobbled the puck out there a few times. I want to see more out of him. I would say he's off to a slow start this season.

A. Rodin - Grade: C

I'm rooting for Anton. Believe me I am. I desperately want him to become the player I think he can be. He didn't have a great game tonight. Yes he had some strong work along the boards but it's pretty apparent that he needs to get bigger still. The only reason I'm rating Schroeder higher than Rodin here is because he looked confident carrying the puck and he used his speed through the neutral zone whereas Rodin did not. I want to see him use his speed and his quick hands to attack the opposition D and back them down much like the Heat did to our guys tonight. His shots were off target tonight and he lost too many races in his own zone. I'm hoping that this is just a slow start. It's hard to believe that this is the same guy who was so incredible at the world juniors, based on his game tonight.

J. Schroeder - Grade: C+

Brutal night on the draws. Got creamed in the neutral zone and to his credit got right back up. Liked that he was willing to carry the puck. Didn't get nearly enough shots tonight. He's got a nice release and I would have liked to see him use it more. For his small stature I didn't think he was bullied around too much out there. He's obviously very strong on his skates. Plenty of room for improvement. Cool as a cucumber in the shootout.

B. Sweatt - Grade: F

Absolutely unacceptable. Made nothing significant happen. I think I recall his name called once, maybe twice. I almost noticed Climie more.

A. Ebbett - Grade: B+

Nice assist and vision on the Kassian goal. Liked his game overall. Played smart hockey out there.

A. Friesen - Grade: D / Incomplete

Worked hard and competed. Had a couple hits. I didn't notice him otherwise because he didn't have much ice time.

Z. Kassian - Grade: A+

Goal, fight (I'd give him the decision on that one), surprisingly deft puck control in the offensive zone, and some strong hits / board play. Lovely little backhand deke on the shootout goal. Looks faster out there. He was engaged all night. Everything I want from Kassian was on display. I hope he can find some chemistry with Rodin and whoever centers them.

T. Matson - Grade: D / Incomplete

Worked hard and competed. During one shift he outworked his opponents and won a prolonged puck battle in his own zone. I didn't notice him otherwise because he didn't have much ice time.

[*vInTaGe*]

Met Jay Feaster at the game. The guy is way shorter than I thought, which just adds to his rotund-ness.

Also, I was standing by the bar, and one of the t-shirts from the guns flew in there, knocked a beer off the table, and generally scared the crap out of anyone not paying attention.

Since I was working, I didn't get to see much of the game at all, but the crowd was nice and big.

[NuckMan]

I'd agree with the majority of this but I think Sweatt didn't play as horrible as you make it sound. He had a few really good scoring chances and his speed was on display at times and I was impressed with that. Chris Tanev on the other had really disappointed me. He looked extremely shaky with the puck, lost several battles deep in his own defensive zone and turned the puck over on several occasions. His attempts at shooting were also feeble at best (not that this is news).