We're hours away from our first preseason game. There seems to be an extra crackle in the air, and it's deeply gratifying to know that some time very, very soon, the Honda Center doors will be opening on a new frontier.
According to the official Ducks website, we'll have an interesting mix of players strutting their stuff tonight. It's probably time to eat a little crow about my earlier write-off of Timo Pielmeier, as he's highly-thought-of enough to warrant tonight's backup job. I would've bet $5 that Pogge would have been on the bench, but that would have made me $5 poorer.
There aren't any big surprises in the forward lineup, but I do find it kind of amusing that Bobby Ryan is leading the charge tonight. Don't get me wrong - I'm as impressed with the kid as anyone and can't wait to see what he can do with a full season (in a contract year) on the top line - but it's another sign of Anaheim's rampant turnover that the premier skater in tonight's game has been with the team full-time for less than a year.
On defense, we have three new faces in Luca Sbisa, Nick Boynton and Steve Eminger, and three of our more interesting developing D-men with Sheldon Brookbank, Brian Salcido and Brendan Mikkelson. I fully expect Coach Carlyle to swap around several of these pairings to see who plays well together. But what about Brett Festerling? Is his omission here something worth noting, or simply a side effect of just how many players are competing for, at best, three spots on the blue line? Perhaps it's best to wait until we see tomorrow night's lineup before we make any calls.
Meanwhile, I'll be watching the clock wind slowly to 7pm. The skates are sharp, the ice is fresh, and the nacho cheese is heating up.
It's almost here.
Until next time...
-The Raving Duck
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment