Barracuda News & Discussion VII

[Juxtaposer]

Good lord Andrew Poturalski. Automatic.

 

[Hobocop]

The Canucks score on their third power play, naturally off the first penalty that I didn't think was due to a lack of discipline (Frisch got called for tripping as his stick got caught in the skates of a Canuck). It's Aman again, and it's 2-1.

Not a lot of shots so far in this one, but plenty of goals. I dunno what it is about this Abbotsford team that's making us so hot-headed this weekend.

 

[Hobocop]

Canucks tie it up on some bad luck. Carriere makes a blocker save, but the puck bounces right into the back of Frisch and into the net.

End of the first, Sabourin takes a penalty right at the end for roughing. Something was going on with him and Woo yesterday and he just trucked him. Carlsson then also takes a minor for high sticking and this is getting a little ridiculous. I'm good with washing my hands of this period. Smarten up guys.

We will start the second with Abbotsford on a 5 on 3.

 

[Hobocop]

And Abbotsford scores with two seconds left on the 5-on-3, just when I was starting to feel optimistic. 3-2 Canucks. I really hate this game thus far.

Found it interesting they left Schuldt and Frisch out there for the full two minutes, even when there was a stoppage in play with 30 seconds to go in the two-man advantage.

 

[Hobocop]

Oh geez. Cagnoni is hurt.

Arshdeep Bains looked like he was trying to hop over him for some reason and it looked like he just landed on Cagnoni's leg. Cagnoni had to be helped off.

 

[Hobocop]

Halfway point of the game. Barracuda have managed 8 shots on goal in the game.

Nollenberger described the Canucks' style a couple times in pre-game as "blue collar" hockey and I will less charitably call it "boring as hell." They just run into us all game, dump it to center, try their hardest to draw penalties and if we have the puck there's typically a Canuck draped all over us.

Cuda finally going back to the power play, at least. And good news- Cagnoni is back.

 

[Hobocop]

Barracuda get a 5 on 3 of their own and Cagnoni scores, his 10th of the season. Tie game.

He's looked extra motivated this weekend, he is from the area.

---

That is your score after two periods, if there's one thing I'd like to see as a casual observer (I mean, apart from fewer penalties) it would be for us to worry about getting the puck out of the zone before we look to break out. Too many times now this weekend the Canucks have held the zone because we stop and look for a pass a couple steps before hitting the blue line. You don't have that kind of time right now.

 

[Hobocop]

Right off the opening draw, a bad bounce off a stanchion goes straight to Cardwell, who has an open net. 8 seconds into period 3, it's 4-3 Cuda. I'll take it.

But, the Canucks get it right back. So, so much for that. 4-4.

 

[Hobocop]

And, the Canucks score with 38 seconds left, just for one final punch in the gut.

Man, it has been a tough day for Ethan Frisch.

5-4 Abbotsford is your final, and that was anger-inducing.

 

[Hobocop]

Just genuinely disappointed with our effort, this is the sort of loss we would have last year. A ton of penalties, a third period lead that got immediately canceled out under a minute later, losing late. In fact, we had a two goal lead early and just coughed that up in short order. I was not even surprised they scored that last goal, of course we're not even going to get a point out of this trash. I mean, I think I'm more annoyed with our guys than I am with Abbotsford's BS.

I don't know, were we trying to set a tone early or something? Because we did, and that tone was "We're going to give you a bunch of power play opportunities." We took seven penalties in the first. That's insane.

I said tough day for Ethan Frisch, and I don't really even mean he played poorly necessarily, but he was absolutely in the wrong place at the wrong time all game:
Goal 1: Was in the box for tripping, PPG for Abbotsford
Goal 2: Carriere made a blocker save, but bounced it off Frisch and in
Goal 3: Frisch was out there for the whole 5 on 3, defended it well, and then caught some bad ice or something and lost his balance. Canucks score seconds later
Goal 4: Was marking Linus Karlsson, who just put his stick out for a redirect
Goal 5: I guess he was playing LD? Which is very unusual. He came over to help and somehow that meant the entire left side was wide open. Why were we all in one spot?

We really need our wingers back. Gushchin, Bordeleau and Graf were missing all weekend, so I'm at least going to say we're pretty shorthanded right now.

 

[Hobocop]

It's the halfway point of the season, by the by, and where are the Barracuda? 5th. Four points out of 2nd, and six points above 8th. In fact, Tucson plays last-place Henderson tonight and tomorrow and if they won both of those games we'd be 6th before we play again on Wednesday (vs. Coachella Valley, who is the aforementioned 2nd place team)

We actually are one of the best home teams in the league. 12-4-0-1, good enough for third-best, behind two other Pacific teams, Calgary and Colorado. And we have our longest homestand of the year next. Seven games: Coachella Valley, Toronto (x2), Henderson (x2), Tucson (x2). Seems like a good time to make up some ground. But yeah, couple weeks ago I was hoping this team would be knocking on first-place Calgary's door, not smack in the middle of the division.

Andrew Poturalski is now tied for 1st in the AHL in points with Dryden Hunt of the Wranglers, who suddenly shot up the leaderboard because he has 10 points in his last 5 games. The rest of the players on this team seem to go on brief hot streaks and then go ice cold for weeks at a time. Really want to see more from Bystedt, Carlsson, Thompson.

Hopefully we get Bordeleau and Gushchin back Wednesday, because our wing situation is pretty dire at the moment.

 

[The Nemesis]

I guess they just released Justin Bailey? Cuda Twitter account posted a "thank you for your service" but there's no announcement for a corresponding roster move and I would imagine that a trade would include "welcome!" Tweets unless it's just for picks/cash/futures.

 

[TheBeard]

I guess they just released Justin Bailey? Cuda Twitter account posted a "thank you for your service" but there's no announcement for a corresponding roster move and I would imagine that a trade would include "welcome!" Tweets unless it's just for picks/cash/futures.

Traded to Anaheim for Pavol Regenda

Seems like a good low risk buy low move.

 

[The Nemesis]

Traded to Anaheim for Pavol Regenda

Seems like a good low risk buy low move.

Huh. Weird that they put out the tweet thanking him at least 20 minutes before the one announcing the trade. Unless the Sharks put out the trade tweet and my feed just wasn't on the tab for tweets and replies/retweets.

 

[LadyStanley]

Huh. Weird that they put out the tweet thanking him at least 20 minutes before the one announcing the trade. Unless the Sharks put out the trade tweet and my feed just wasn't on the tab for tweets and replies/retweets.

Sharks would only do trade if he was on NHL contract

 

[Hobocop]

Barracuda continue their tradition of re-using jersey numbers from guys who have departed during the season, the AHL site says Regenda has taken Pulli's #77.

Hopefully Gushchin and/or Bordeleau return, Nollenberger mentioned Gushchin traveled with the team to Abbotsford so he's probably close to being ready, and Bordeleau was just ill last weekend. We definitely need the help, especially if Regenda isn't here yet.