implying it won't happen during the season

Is there a player who'd leave a bigger void on his team if he left than Kaprizov?

Refs literally called everything in the Flames at Canucks game. Combined for like 15 total penalties

Josh Anderson

Can't teach that 6'3

W

Patrick Kane is the only NHL-calibre player on the Blackhawks roster. Shesterkin leaving would tank the Rangers. Kaprizov is probably #3 though

Saros is up there too

He’s up there for sure. But Shesterkin is better than Saros and Josi is better than Panarin, so he doesn’t top the Rangers for me. And there’s not many good players on the Wild outside of Kaprizov.

Jake Oettinger anyone?

The Flames AHL team beat the Canucks NHL team lol

Refs in midseason form. 15 total penalties. The OT one was especially brutal

If Matthew Phillips doesn’t make the Flames roster, I don’t think he passes through waivers. Such a smart player

Man ben harpur got knocked the **** out havent seen that in a fight in a long time

Hairline has been receding for like 20 years I see

They called it both ways at least. Both teams were 0/7 on the PP in regulation 🤷‍♂️ That many penalties should’ve further benefited the Canucks if anything, PPs only exacerbate the skill difference

Yeah I’m kinda disappointed that he probably won’t. Lucic-Rooney-Ritchie started in Vancouver tonight, which might indicate that’s what our 4th line could be. Ruzicka and Lewis are guys I think would fill 4C and 4RW better, and they’re probably the spare forwards. Even if there’s injuries, Klapka (who has impressed so far) and Duehr probably have the inside track on filling in on the bottom line due to being bigger and able to play that grinding game that Phillips can’t. Which basically means that our final middle six wing slot comes down to Milano, Pelletier, or Phillips, and it’s kinda make or break for Phillips due to no longer being waiver eligible. And I’d probably have him as 3rd priority of those 3. He’d probably get minutes on Arizona or Chicago, might be a savvy pickup there, which is kinda unfortunate for the Flames franchise, because I’d love to see him on the Wranglers (they’re in Calgary now so I’m actually gonna be able to see them play this year 👀).

It felt like the refs were also trying out for the NHL. Called way too many penalties both ways for a pre season game

crazy that he was at the All Star game a couple years ago, his down fall started after that stupid stick flip he did

The fact WPG didnt trade for one of the SJS goalies and instead decided hmmm lets give this guy a deal makes no sense. Or heck why didnt they just extend Comrie lul

As the fact Koskinen is not in the NHL anymore yet Rittich is still puzzles me to this day

I mean sure, but if it’s called evenly there’s nothing to complain about. And it’s probably better in the preseason honestly, because you get to try out new systems and personnel on special teams in a game that ultimately doesn’t matter (like I wasn’t paying super close attention to the game, but presumably Kuzmenko got his first look on the PP, and I know Ritchie was killing penalties for us, which as usual made me want to claw my eyes out).

While I didn't really care for the abundance of penalty calls, the overtime penalty was particular brutal. It was an awful call. I guess if refs want to get all of their bad calls out in the offseason, I am fine with that . As for the powerplays, there was really no power to them.

lol this is only 0.1% of the refs’ true power, the bad calls are just getting started 😉

I don’t remember the OT call but almost every call was questionable tbh, you don’t end up with 15 penalties otherwise. Agreed that the PPs were useless though. At least the Flames had the excuse of the best players at their respective positions being Lucic and Zadorov lol

Bobcat’s Post Game Notes, PS Game 1

Jackets lose, 3-2 in overtime against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

-FINALLY. IT FELT LIKE FOREVER, BUT AT LAST. HOCKEY. IS. BACK.

-I find it odd that this game isn’t being broadcasted on ESPN or Bally Sports Ohio. Would be better, since I write my notes live on an Apple Notes page.

-It’s also odd to watch/listen to a CBJ game and not hear Bob McElligott. I’m having to listen to the Pens broadcast. Eww.

-This is definitely the game I expect to lose out of this double-header. WE HAVE JOONA LUOTO ON THE FIRST LINE. Not good.

-Pens get a rush (not a good sign when we have an unproven Pavel Cajan in net), but David Jiricek diffuses the situation perfectly. I like that. I like that a lot.

-The first thing I’ve noticed Denton Mateychuk do all game, and it’s a penalty for holding. Not a good way to make your first impression.

-Samuel Poulin had a rebound, had Pavel dead to rights, and rings it off the post. Bad luck for him, good luck for us, as that’s the last opportunity for that power play.

-If we want to make any progress, we need to get out of our own zone. This is frustrating.

-Didn’t seem like we could get anything on net in the first frame. Every other shot would miss wide or over the net. Gotta work on that over the intermission.

-First power play of the preseason: Corey Andonovski goes off for hooking about 4 minutes into the 2nd. Let’s see how this turns out…

-IT TOOK 4 SECONDS. Jack Roslovic and “The Real Deal” James Neal catches Casey DeSmith all alone overcommitting to the wrong side on a play that confused the Pens announcers.

-Marcus Bjork and Drew O’Connor start shoving each other after Cajan stops play. O’Connor looked pretty mad too. This could lead to something.

-John Lizotte (a name I’ve never heard before) gets a bullet of a pass from Jon Gruden (throwing the game back to 1998) and turns it into a wrister that blows by Cajan. Tie game. That was a nice shot, but Elvis likely would have made that save. Just a small hiccup from a 19 year old rookie.

-Another PP: Sammy Poulin gets sent off for tripping Luca Del Bel Belluz.

-Is it just me or has Jack Roslovic gotten faster? It felt like he was a tad slower on his feet last year. Good development.

-Drew O’Connor gives us another PP after tripping Kirill Marchenko. Didn’t get anything going last time, maybe this will be different.

-Nick Blankenburg takes a shot reminiscent of his first NHL goal last year and gets it through Filip Lindberg’s five-hole! It’s another power play goal! Hell of a shot, Blanks.

-JAMIE DEVANE! BEN HARPUR! LLLLLLLET’S GET READY TO RUMBLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLE!!!!

-…oh dear. Hopefully Ben’s okay. That was a gnarly hit to the head. Tip o’ the cap to DeVane for staying by Ben’s side as he got to his feet. Classy move.

-I had never heard of Nolan Lalonde before this game, but I sure as sh*t do now. What a save off a Jason Zucker breakaway.

-With 50 seconds left, a defensive breakdown leads to Corey Andonovski tying the game at two. We’re going to overtime.

-Game over. Jason Zucker takes a… shot? from point blank, half running over Lalonde to put it in. Pens win. If you don’t mind, I’m gonna split this into two posts because this one was so long.

Bobcat’s Post Game Notes, PS Game 2

Jackets win, 5-1 over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

-This is the game that I expect a better outcome from. This is the NHL roster. Let’s see.

-No sound at all from the livestream feed. Weird.

-Justin Danforth scores on a tip-in, and I completely missed it because I was on the phone with my dad. Whoops!

-Other than that, the 1st period was rather boring. Lots of shots on net, no real big moments besides the Danny goal.

-about 8 minutes of boring back-and-forth hockey later, and THE SMOOTHEST ONE-TIMER IN THE GAME puts us up by two! What a pass from Andrew Peeke to set that one up. That whole play was SCHNASTY.

-Nathan LeGare takes a hooking penalty, and that leads to… Jakub Voracek… scoring a goal? Am I dreaming? Did that just happen?

-On another note, I find it odd that we put Danforth on our power play unit. I understand that it’s the preseason, but at the same time, I saw him as more of a penalty kill guy. Danny, Gus, Gavi and Peeke would make a pretty solid PK1.

-Gustav Nyquist scores on a play I only caught half of because I was distracted by something else. From what I saw, Dustin Tokarski was stuck 3 feet out of the crease spread-eagled on his stomach while every skater was panicking looking for the puck. It’s 4-0 now. Good play, Goose.

-Uh oh. Mathieu Olivier gets sent off for high-sticking. Time to see how our PK does…

-…all in all, not bad. Much better than what I expected.

-It took until near the end of the second period that I realized that they’re not drinking Gatorade on the benches anymore. What is “Bio Steel”?

-Second period was WAY better than the first. Good stuff, boys.

-Josh Dunne wants the smoke from EVERYBODY. He started shoving Jordan Frasca after the whistle, and after Frasca got escorted away he started jawing at Ty Glover. Chill, man!

-The stream didn’t get any sound until early in the third. Now I can hear Bob, but the audio is super crusty. Weird.

-Erik Gudbranson makes a terrible pass that I felt like I could see in slow-motion. Ain’t no way that wasn’t getting picked off. Alexander Nylander gets a breakaway, but Jet Greaves makes a life-saver of a pad stop! Alex, your room is ready in the Heartbreak Hotel-wait, wrong guy.

-Now Jet himself makes a bad pass, the Pens have him dead to rights, and he makes ANOTHER mind-blowing save, this time with his stick. Ithink this performance is confirmation that he’s starting in Cleveland this year no matter what.

-Only took them forever, but the Pens finally score. Jordan Frasca whips it past Jet to make it 4-1.

-Johnny Gaudreau has been almost invisible, which sucks. He has an assist, but the only other thing he’s done that I’ve noticed so far is a penalty he took just now. Hopefully it’s just an off night.

-Boqvist, to Gaudreau, to Danforth, and a slapper blasts right past Tokarski. Let’s go, JD!

-JOSH DUNNE WANTS ALL THE SMOKE. Right off the faceoff, he tangoes(?) with Xavier Ouellet. To be fair, he lost the fight (he fell first) but it does show his grit. He’s the type of guy Torts would adore.

-We just run out the clock and win! What a rollercoaster of a day. I like how they played, but it begs the question of “How would we perform if PIT had their big guns (Sid, Geno, Letang, Guentzel, etc.)?”

Bobcat W.

Also the pens broadcast is really bad. I agree