Dogs vs. Moose

[Gas]

I can't remember the last time Hamilton won their season opener.

Anyway.....some points.

Kyle Chipchurra is a special player. This kid is a keeper. His game style is the same as Bob Gainey. Kid is always the first one back and has got some slick stick handling ability, made some keen passes and created chances almost every shift.

Maxim Lapierre continues to impress and shows why he was called up last year. He has no quit in him at all. A pleasure to watch.

Jonathan Ferland played his usual feisty game. Great defence and penalty killing ability, but he still takes some unnecessary penalties.

Those are the good points.

Yann Danis really struggled with his rebound control although most of the goals he didn't have much of a chance on.

The defence played terrible. Reverse was his usual self. The rest of the guys just struggled. Benoit, Jancevski, Groulx and O'Byrne looked less than average. Mathieu Roy was the best of the D....too bad he's an Oilers prospect.

Don Lever has no business coaching a team. Were killing a penality and after a timeout by Manitoba he puts out 5 guys. The refs never said a word as I think they would have loved to call a too many men penalty. Thankfully, someone down there noticed and jumped off. Lever is going to be a problem with the development of our kids. He doesn't instill much confidence.

Hopefully, the Dogs can pull it together for game two next Friday against the defending champion Gummi Beras.

[Gas]

I forgot to mention Corey Locke. Unfortunately for us, Corey did not add to his repetoire of hockey skills over the summer. He's still relying on giving the puck away, being the last one back, lazy forechecking, soft dumps into the corner during power plays, missing the net and giving new meaning to the word frustration.

Atta boy.

[chief6]

To add to the Kyle Chipchura comment, this kid is incredibly strong on his feet. Considering he's only nine games into his professional career, his drive to the net is matched by few. He's almost impossible to knock off the puck.

Gas was kind to Andre Benoit. There are times this kid doesn't know where his own blue line is, but if Bryan McCabe can steal $7 million for his offensive production, Benoit's gotta be happy with the team-leading three points and plus-3 rating he had in the first game. Dan Jancevski, though not the steadying presence he usually is, was also plus-3.

Michael Lambert had the best game of his American League career. He backchecked, showed strength in the offensive zone and hustled. I still will call him Minus, but he played his ass off.

Corey Locke is terrible. He took a couple of penalties, and the four minutes he spent in the box were four of the best minutes of the game.

Probably the biggest concern for Hamilton is the power play. Though they were 2-for-9 with the man advantage, they didn't run any kind of functioning system. James Sanford, who was sent home from camp, was an excellent quarterback on the power play, and without him, the Dogs really seem to lack a guy that can step up and do the job. With his defensive play improving, and his cannon of a shot, Andrei Kostitsyn may be the guy to do it. Wouldn't be the craziest thing I've seen the Dogs do (two forwards and one defenseman killing a 5-on-3?).

Edited for typo.

[Anardil1]

I love Chipchura as a prospect. But, and this is a big but... his lack of foot speed is a major concern personally. Everything else about him is fantastic. Since he is a character player, I'm confident that he knows that it is his ONLY obstacle to him reaching his goal of playing in the big show.

[habmeister]

i think chips more than makes up for his lack of speed with solid positioning and intelligence off the puck. he's never going to blow by a d-man and score, he'll muck in the corners and always seem to be in the right place at the right time. wouldn't be suprised to see him called up late in the season, or when our first centerman goes down.

[Gogie]

Just a few thoughts about game 1 (and I stress, it was only game 1, lots more to go).

Chipper has progressed significantly from his brief stint last year. He was a leader on the ice and played with a high degree of confidence. I suspect he'll be up with the Habs as soon as someone on the big team falters or gets injured.

I like Stortini (even though he belongs to the Oilers). He brings a physical presence that was missing last year. As long as he stays away from stupid penalties he'll be a positive for the team.

Maybe Ferland has decided this is a make or break year. He played with a lot more intensity then I've ever seen him and he was effective. He seems to have a bit more strength.

Milroy also seems to have upped his game a level, at least for one game.

The defense needs work. O'Byrne is huge, but he's definitely a work-in-progress. I wouldn't be too negative on Traverse, he did seem to be a bit of a steadying influcence at times.

Noticeable by the lack of comments on his play is Kostitsyn. This guy is a real enigma. He has a ton of talent, he seems to display it when he plays with the Habs, but he seems almost invisible too much of the time with the Dogs. Maybe when Grabovski gets healthy he'll team up with Kostitsyn and we'll see what he's really made of.

Danis was solid but unspectacular in net.

Overall I liked what I saw (compared to last year). The team seems to have more energy and played a more physical game than they tended to last year. Let's see how they do against the defending Calder Cup champs this Friday.