GDT: Opening Night: Carolina vs Minnesota, 7pm

[HisIceness]

Looks like last nights game was a sellout. So thats 100% attendance rate this season. Put that in your pipe and smoke it haters.

 

[bleedgreen]

I thought Hanifin was brutal for the first two periods. His goal was huge but hopefully his overall play wasn't indicative of what's to come. We need him to step forward defensively.

Skinner looked like he regressed a few years back into the kid who hadn't figured out what works and what doesn't in the NHL.

Everyone else on forward looked unsure and out of sync until the third when they looked awesome.


I hate the captain thing. Jwill absolutely deserves a letter of some kind. He took the deal to come back and be a leader and he is exactly that. I thought he was the most consistent player all game.

Jstaal is a poor choice for captain. He doesn't want it, never did. They want him to be it so badly, but he just doesn't take the reins. Last night was standard "B" level jstaal. "A" Level deserves the accolades, and rarely appears. I keep thinking when I'm watching him that, "he's just not that into us".

Done venting. Darling made big saves, his only real gaffes to me where the failed poke check and how he got lost on the last goal. Dumba kept him out but he put himself there in the first place. Downside to being so big is once he commits, he isn't getting back. He won it for us in shootout, and those have been games we found a way to lose last year. Uneven start but we pulled it out.

I loved that though it was Aho being Aho, the last goal was a team goal. Everyone pitched in.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

^^I know you are saying that sarcastically, but you might want to look at the available seats for the Columbus game before getting too carried away. Still, play more exciting games and win more and fans will come.

 

[AD Skinner]

Totally agree about Williams and Staal. Williams was making good things happen all night long. And who came out after a lackluster first and looked into the camera and said "we are coming back and winning this game tonight"? Williams. I wonder if he also didn't straight up tell them he didn't want the C though. I just don't understand this co captain thing at all. But whatever keep winning and no one will care

 

[Stickpucker]

I know it's been a while but I was still surprised last night now fast Williams can skate at this age.

 

[sheriff bart]

Gonna be hard to send Kukuforcocoapuffs down.

Skinner tried to do it all by himself. Can't do that.

Darling did okay for a goalie that let 4 go by. No goalie in the league stops the first one. The second was a nice move. The third, yeah, he'd probably like a do over on that and be a little more aggressive. The last goal was a Chinese fire drill (apologies to my Asian American friends)

Glad to see EStaal still a disappointment in the shootout.

 

[raynman]

The lines look fine to me. Jordan might end up with the best stat line of his Canes career playing with Aho and Lindholm for a full season. The fourth line is easily the best I've seen in a Canes uni. Still don't understand why Ryan was on the ice in the final seconds of the game. Yeah Peters was trying to call a timeout, but why is Ryan anywhere near the ice anyway?

 

[Navin R Slavin]

Totally agree about Williams and Staal. Williams was making good things happen all night long. And who came out after a lackluster first and looked into the camera and said "we are coming back and winning this game tonight"? Williams. I wonder if he also didn't straight up tell them he didn't want the C though. I just don't understand this co captain thing at all. But whatever keep winning and no one will care

Justin Williams is the captain of this hockey team. The letter doesn't mean a damned thing.

 

[Big Daddy Cane]

That second to last faceoff in regulation was to Darling's right and Ryan was the only center with a RHS. I presume that's why he was out there.

I don't have an issue with Peters there. Ryan has been very good at the dots thus far in his NHL career. It just didn't work out in that instance.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

So after 1 game, we're deciding that not only should Jordan not be a captain, but also that he doesn't want to be and we somehow forced him to accept it.

That's great

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

So after 1 game, we're deciding that not only should Jordan not be a captain, but also that he doesn't want to be and we somehow forced him to accept it.

That's great

In fairness, I think most of us "decided" Staal shouldn't be captain as soon as they announced that they were going to have "a" captain this year.

Keep in mind most thought it'd be a competition between Skinner and Williams. This isn't really a knee-jerk reaction to one game, more like leftover frustration from the announcement Thursday.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

Yeah, but no one had an issue with him wearing an A last year, and for all intents and purposes, having two Cs and an A isn't much different than having 3 As.

I mean, even I gave Eric a year or two as captain before I started ragging on him. Deciding that Jordan's a terrible captain and that he never wanted to be one (because apparently he couldn't have just said no?) after one game is quite a leap, to say the least.

 

[Joe McGrath]

Oh

That second to last faceoff in regulation was to Darling's right and Ryan was the only center with a RHS. I presume that's why he was out there.

I don't have an issue with Peters there. Ryan has been very good at the dots thus far in his NHL career. It just didn't work out in that instance.

I understand the logic. Doesn't make it the right decision. Koivu is a better faceoff man, on his strong side, with the advantage of the stick down first in the o-zone. Ryan is at best 50/50 to win the faceoff, probably worse. Once he loses it, he's the worst defensive player on the ice by a country mile. And it showed as he pushed Dumba into the goalie, then fell down, then flopped around like a dead fish until his man tapped into the empty net.

 

[Penaltykiller17]

Lots of overreaching in this thread. To me, we seemed to have picked up where we last left off. Same people playing good or bad, defensive lapses, mediocre goaltending, odd bounces, except we found a way to win. Not used to seeing one of our goalies actually stopping shootout attempts though.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

Yeah, but no one had an issue with him wearing an A last year, and for all intents and purposes, having two Cs and an A isn't much different than having 3 As.

I mean, even I gave Eric a year or two as captain before I started ragging on him. Deciding that Jordan's a terrible captain and that he never wanted to be one (because apparently he couldn't have just said no?) after one game is quite a leap, to say the least.

My point is that it's not a reaction to the evidence of one game (at least for most). It's continued frustration from a conversation we've been having for at least a year.

Now, disagree with the point as you will, but this isn't "first game knee-jerk", it's just ongoing frustration.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

Also Lindholm is a righty and could've easily taken that faceoff.

 

[GoldiFox]

How many wins did the Canes have last year when down by 2 in the game? They came back and scored three straight goals. If not for a last second desperation clusterfudge the Canes would have won in regulation. I don't see that as par for the course from last year.

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

Minnesota board says we were the better team.

Hype thrusters activate

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Wasn't the comeback against Vancouver last year? Other than that, I'm not sure.

 

[AD Skinner]

I think that Vancouver game was the year before last. I could be wrong though

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

I think that Vancouver game was the year before last. I could be wrong though

Nah, it was last year because I remember thinking that it was a bit of a pay back for the game we blew at Vancouver at the start of the season.

 

[Roboturner913]

Wow, don't get the Jordan Staal hate at all. I know he's got his flaws but being uninvolved/unmotivated/lazy/selfish has never been one of them. I think he's a fine choice to be captain, co-captain, whatever. You don't have to be a Brind'Amour type yelling at people and lifting cars over your head to be a good on-ice captain.

 

[hurricure]

I don't think they played as poorly as some of us are letting on... first game of the year and we were the better team all night minus a couple defensive lapses. I think Darling played well and I'm happy he's a cane... players like Skinny and Hanifin, well everyone can have a stinker, I'll reserve my judgment for a few games but I'm def not on the ship Hani to Colarado wagon just yet. I think Staal and Faulk will be fine leaders and need some time to grow into the role (game 1 everybody) but having someone like JWilly, who letter or no letter, is a true leader and someone to look up to in the room will help them immensly

 

[SaskCanesFan]

Makes me glad that I use NHL TV on my ps4.

F center ice

Yeah I've thought about that, but internet in rural Saskatchewan is basically third world level. At least with satellite I get HD picture without buffering and dropped frames, so it's a necessary evil.

 

[Breakdowns]

I think I read somewhere (might have been on hfboards), that Williams didn`t want to be a captain
He can lead the team in locker room without a letter on his chest anyway