Abbotsford Canucks | Season Starting

[Bgav]

Brännström makes a great play but breaks his stick and flames score on the oddman rush.

Brännström is by far the best player on the ice.

dudes going crazy today

 

[WTG]

Patera makes a huge save on a 2 on 0. Brännström makes a amazing stress pass, 2-1 the other way, Karlsson scores.

IDK if Brännström will be in the AHL long. He is clearly better than everyone else.

 

[WTG]

3-3

Abbotsford is better in general but a couple brain farts and it's in the back of the net.

 

[Lindgren]

3-3 late in the third, despite lopsided SOG in Abby's favour.

 

[WTG]

Pettersson I think is stappled to the bench. Brannstrom double shifted.

 

[Vector]

 

[WTG]

Canucks prospects stappled on the bench
Great development strategy. Meanwhile, Brzustewicz gets the first shift in OT for the Flames.

 

[JumpierPegasus]

Brannstrom isn't going to be in the AHL for long if he keeps playing like the first two games

 

[Blue and Green]

Weekend report:

Won an evenly contested opener, then dominated most of the second game but only got one point for a SO loss.

No Lekkerimaki, seems to be injured. Wolanin and Phil D also didn't appear; I'm guessing that they were left in Abbotsford to be the just-in-case guys for Vancouver.

Tolopilo and Patera were both solid; the goaltending should be fine this season.

Hopefully the seven defencemen thing will end sooner rather than later but I can understand why they are going this route at the moment. No particular complaints about any of the guys who played; by AHL standards it was a good group.

--Brannstrom's skill stands out at this level while his defence is solid but unexceptional. Can play either side and should be able to fill a 7/8 role in the NHL if called upon.
--Friedman was fine and will probably be recalled for the road trip due to Myers' day-to-day status.
--Brisebois is probably not yet back to pre-concussion form but had a good second game after what I thought was an average opener.
--McWard looks steadier and smoother than last season; I'm not ruling him out as a prospect.
--Woo is a competent second-pair calibre AHLer.
--Pettersson looked alright as a #6 and PK guy. Big and moves reasonably well for his size, but not much apparent transitional/offensive upside. Hopefully he can become a solid stay-at-home, physical third-pair NHLer.
--Kudryavtsev was in the #7 role, getting a bit less ice time at even strength than Pettersson who is also getting regular PK reps while the former gets none. At evens, Kudryavtsev is the better player at this stage. Smart and quick.

Not going to say much about the forwards as this is long enough and there's nothing earth-shattering to report, especially with Lekkerimaki not playing. As a group they generally were fine, especially in the second game.

This report cannot end without a mention of the worst goal/no-goal review in the history of hockey, which occurred in today's second period. We're talking about a four-minute delay on a shot that didn't get closer than two feet to the goal line-- and no, I am not exaggerating.

 

[LemonSauceD]

The demon in me wants to see Hughes and Brannstrom together

 

[David71]

The demon in me wants to see Hughes and Brannstrom together

nah you need to split them up. brannstrom on the third pairing to move the puck while VD stays back. forbort to the pressbox where he belongs.