Nice to see hockey back. Even nicer to see clean boards with limited advertising! But I guess I'll be the Debbie Downer and say the game didn't leave me with the same warm and fuzzy other have.
The Flames prospects were very good at being opportunistic and taking advantage of some really weak goaltending. Both teams looked like a bunch of juniors and minor leaguers. I thought the Oilers made more skill plays with the puck and were ahead of the Flames in their ability to move the puck as a team. The Flames beat the Oilers in the north-south game, badly. It was very much reflective of the big clubs. Oilers had an advantage in the sizzle, but the Flames had the advantage in the cut of the meat that matters.
The only two players that really stood out to me, for the right reasons, were Kylington and Phillips. Kylington really surprised me with his well rounded game. He was solid in both ends of the ice and looked like he was above this level. Phillips impressed me with his thinking of the game. Made some really impressive plays that generated some quality scoring chances. Too bad he is so tiny. Still has a very long way to go.
I wasn't as impressed as some with the play of the prospects, especially Parsons. We already knew his strength was his athleticism and his ability to make the circus save. What I wanted to see was more composure in the crease and better positional play. I saw the same player that we saw last year, one who is still fighting his own aggressive instincts and over challenges. If he's going to make the NHL he needs to get better at being positionally sound, making the easy save, and controlling his rebounds so he doesn't need to make the big acrobatic save. He's still very much a work in progress.
The rest of the lineup was pretty much what you would expect in a battle of minor league teams. I saw some flashes of good play that was lost in a sea of inconsistency. Not many really impressed by being dominant in a game against minor leaguers and junior players. If you're going to fight for a job on the NHL roster you have to be dominant and noticeable in games like this. I didn't see that with the exception of Kylington. With the NHL roster pretty much set, it is going to be difficult for anyone to force their way into the mix without a standout performance. It was nice to see the Flames light up the Oilers though.
One last point, it's gotta be pretty tough being an Oilers fan and having to sit through that mess. The players you hoped to standout really didn't, or did so for all the wrong reasons. Bouchard got his goal, but he also looked like a pylon out there for many shifts. The kid needs to improve his skating something fierce. Bear, who they are already counting on making an impact, was one of the worst players on the ice. Yamamoto was invisible in a game where he should have been dominant. Just a flat out demoralizing game for the set that is always living off the hype.
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