Heat vs. Moose preseason

[FoxMulder91]

Is Backlund playing tonight?

[jeremywilhelm]

Yep, havent heard how he has done, i've only listened to the last period. Final Score 6-4 for the Heat!

Backlund had only 1 assist but was on the ice for 3 of the goals. Abby outshot the moose 39 to 25.

[Hack&Lube]

What's with all of Backlund's # changes?

Kelowna: 22
Calgary: 60
Abbotsford: 11

What did he wear for Västerås HK? How about for Team Sweden?

[West Karma]

nm

[flamesrule14]

How was the attendence tonight? Anyone find a boxscore for the game?

[tkflames]

I made the 50 some odd km treck to Abbotsford and watched the game and must say, Backlund's line with Vandergulik and Germyn was absolutely dominant. The Moose had no answer for it. I think Backlund's most distinguishing asset is, when he shoots, regardless of how hard, he shoots it away from the goalie. I think this is the biggest difference between a top 6 and a bottom 6. A top 6 will shoot at the net away from the goalie, while a bottom 6 will just try to hit the net.

Irving didn't have his greatest game, but the goals can't be blamed on him either. The defense was a bit sloppy, but you can definitely tell the collapse and explode toward the point strategy that Sutter has employed, also being practiced in Abbotsford. Still needs some work obviously, but you could definitely tell they were trying.

Chucko impressed me today. He is not affraid to shoot and got involved emmotionally and physically. A good first half and I think he could make an impact on the bottom 2 lines in Calgary. He is a couple of years behind Nystrom in development, but is a very similar player.

Greentree is unbelievably frusterating to watch. The guy has all the tools, but needs a Sutter kick in the A$$. It's not major things, but he seems to do all the little things wrong, or not to his best ability. Example, he will easily let himself be pushed into offside positions when the puck carrier is slow, rather than fighting for the line. It's not a big deal once in a game, but it is the perfect illustration of the difference between him and an NHL player.

Those are the biggest players to stand out for me today. Additional player comments available on specific request.

Much like the Calgary team, when they are not physically involved, they lose a lot of momentum and generally start losing the game. This is what happened in the first period until about halfway through the second. A couple of big hits and fights later it was 3-2 Abby instead of 2-0 Moose.

The atmosphere was great. Considering the team has only been around for a couple of games, the fans got really into it at some parts. The Moose and Heat will have a very good rivalry and there was definitely a lot of Canucks and Flames support there. I think the attendance number announced was around 4400. Just before then I would have guessed based on the number of seats filled it was definitely over half, but less than 2/3 (of 7000 full). I.e. The announced attendance was fairly accurate. Great experience overall, the stadium is beautiful for a 7000 seat arena!

[jeremywilhelm]

Originally Posted by flamesrule14

How was the attendence tonight? Anyone find a boxscore for the game?

They dont post the preseason boxscores, attendance was around 4,300.

[Mad Mel]

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

Awesome, thanks for the link!

4-0 Heat. LOL!

I guess it wasn't apparent at that time that most of the Moose regulars were on a plane headed to Calgary.

[Flames1848]

Is there anywhere an actual heat roster sheet?

[dobbles]

Originally Posted by tkflames

Greentree is unbelievably frusterating to watch. The guy has all the tools, but needs a Sutter kick in the A$$. It's not major things, but he seems to do all the little things wrong, or not to his best ability. Example, he will easily let himself be pushed into offside positions when the puck carrier is slow, rather than fighting for the line. It's not a big deal once in a game, but it is the perfect illustration of the difference between him and an NHL player.

at the beginning of the year last year i actually disliked greentree. even though he did start out with a decent amount of early season points, it seemed like he was missing chance after chance to get even more. as the season went on he looked more comfortable and he clicked well with lundmark. he was really able to bury chances the last couple months. and also was able to do it in clutch situations late in the game. still not sold on his nhl upside, but hopefully he can shake the rust off again this year.

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by tkflames

Those are the biggest players to stand out for me today. Additional player comments available on specific request.

I'll take you up on that. Specific Player comment requests:

The pro rookie defensemen (Seabrook, Aulie, Negrin) along with Grantham (Since I hate having a otherwise useless goon I'm more interested in hearing about his actual hockey skills... whether he can play a decent checking/energy line role in addition to the pugilism).

[tkflames]

Originally Posted by Parallex

I'll take you up on that. Specific Player comment requests:

The pro rookie defensemen (Seabrook, Aulie, Negrin) along with Grantham (Since I hate having a otherwise useless goon I'm more interested in hearing about his actual hockey skills... whether he can play a decent checking/energy line role in addition to the pugilism).

Seabrook- I was very impressed with the guy playoff performance with the hitmen last year. He finishes checks and could develop into a really mean defensman with offensive upside (he will never be as good as Dion, but he will need to follow in those footsteps to be successful). Having said that, last night he looked a little bit out of position and is still getting used to the system. It is obvious that he is one of the younger defensman on that team.

Aulie- The guy is mean. I really like him. He will not let a forward go without making sure he hits him and even an extra shot if the ref isn't looking. He didn't have the greatest game last night and personally I thought he looked better in Calgary. On one play he got burned really bad last night, but I think yesterday needs to be taken a bit with a grain of salt as it is pre-season AHL after just getting sent down by the Flames.

Negrin- He is slick and confident. The guy will cut to the inside, put a move on a forward and outskate him out of the defensive zone. His shot is not bad either. I think the biggest reason he looked worse this training camp than last is because he doesn't have the system down. You can see he has all the tools to be dominant, but is still out of position. I think the best comparisson for him is a player like Giordano. That is not to say that his ceiling is higher or lower, but his skating/speed, his skills with the puck and his playmaking make him look very comparable.

Grantham- I liked him in Kelowna's playoff run and in the memorial cup last year. In 1-0 games a couple of times it was Grantham with the only goal. There is no doubt he is a goon and got into a pretty good tilt last night after some pushing and shoving drawing a penalty (In fact it was this penalty that led to the tying goal for the heat IIRC). He tried to make a couple of behind the back passes that ended up going the other way, so I think he needs to simplify his game a little bit. He could definitely become a Prust-esque player with better fighting or a big game specialist, but he could also be a straight out goon with better skills than Godard, but worse fighting. Grantham is at least 2-3 years (if not 4) from the NHL, if he makes it. I really liked Prust's playmaking in the preseason so far and this will be the guy that Grantham has to outplay to make the team.

I got a little caried away and provided my analysis on everything I have seen from the player instead of just last night, but I hope I did answer your questions.

[jeremywilhelm]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6N6GOZo0CZs

Highlights from last night.

If you arent a fan of the Heat on Facebook, sign up, they post alot of info.

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by jeremywilhelm

6-3 so far for the Heat tonight. Carpentier with a 4 point night, 1 goal (penalty shot) 3 assists. Van der Gulik goal and an Assist and i think Germyn has another goal and an assist for 6 points in 2 games.

Good to hear Carpentier is getting some results. He didn't have a great freshman year last season and I was wondering if he had a future.

[Reggie Dunlop]

But an even more fascinating measure of how well the team is connecting with the community came prior to the pre-game puck-drop on Friday. The Moose emerged from the tunnel to scattered applause, while the Heat hit the ice to a rousing ovation.


Given that many pundits questioned whether a Flames affiliate could succeed in the heart of Canucks country, it was a positive sign that most of the crowd seemed to be backing the home side against Vancouver's farm team.

http://www.bclocalnews.com/sports/62470642.html

[THEO]

any ideas as to why they dont wear home RED???

[dobbles]

because the ahl is stupid