Panthers Preseason, Game One: Cats shut down Hurricanes 4-1
by Donny Rivette on Sep 21, 2010 10:42 PM EDT
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PrintBear with me, kids...haven't written up a game since early April. Call it a Curve of Rediscovery, or some other such nonsense.
Florida netminder Scott Clemmensen allowed one goal while Jacob Markstrom kept the plate clean in relief as a primarily rookie Panthers squad rolled over an equally untested - relatively speaking - Hurricanes bunch 4-1 in Raleigh Tuesday night, despite being outshot 34-24; old habits and all...
The first three goals came against veteran 'Canes goaltender Cam Ward. Says a little something about Carolina's defense of the future, but enough with wishful thinking.
Erik Gudbranson, Michael Santorelli, Scott Timmins, and Nathan Paetsch scored for the visitors, allowing only a single goal (shorthanded) by Carolina's Anton Babchuk in a game which, honestly, was difficult to judge pace-wise with a rickety-but-thankfully-available internal feed from the Canes' RBC Center. Love-'em-or-hate-'em, even this jaded Whalers fan will be first to line up in defense of what's become a first-rate organization; they didn't need to stream the game.
2010 first-rounder Jeff Skinner, signed by CAR only hours ago to an entry-level deal, finished with no points. But make no mistake: he was buzzing in his 17:31 TOI. G Justin Pogge gave up the final FLA goal in front of an announced crowd just short of 6,000. Got to be a hardened Hartford hockey fan to appreciate that number.
That said, it's a ridiculous proposition to claim I watched it at length; instead we'll turn that over to the NHL's official box score, the Miami Herald's OFP, and Sun-Sentinel for the on-site stuff, as well as SB Nation sister ship Canes Country for a home club perspective.
Quick thoughts: heard a lot of Rostislav Olesz's name (18:59 TOI, tops among forwards), as well as Evgeni Dadonov (2a). Markstrom was a human elasticman, covering every inch of net with not only sheer size but wild athleticism when the team before him began to slack. Tyler Arnason and Shawn Matthias (3sog) saw a reasonable share of icetime at center, as did the pairing of Gudbranson (1g, 1a) and Jason Garrison (1a). Far from being overlooked, defenseman Joe Callahan registered two assists. We'll have a few pictures from inside the building posted up tomorrow.
Had a terrific time chatting it up at OFP, and big thanks to GR for hosting; we'll do much the same Thursday as the Panthers take on Nathan Horton, Gregory Campbell, and the Bahston Bruins from Rochester's Blue Cross Arena. No sidebar stories to highlight on that one, right Mr. Wideman?
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Bring it all on, KW. You know the password ;)
Litter Box Cats - Your Panthers Colossus. Twitter me up @LitterBoxCats.
by Donny Rivette on Sep 21, 2010 10:54 PM EDT up reply actions
Force a Decision
I’m hoping that Erik keeps this up and forces the Panthers to keep him here. He’s received rave reviews long before he came here, and all I can say is this:
Look at him right now, and look at Jay Bouwmeester when Jay was 18. I see a huge difference in demeanor, skill and tenacity.
Size wise they are about the same in height, but Jay wasn’t nearly as physical as Erik, then, or now.
Erik wants to be here and deserves the chance if he’s ready. Don’t play mind games with this kid. His confidence is there.
And, he’s a great interview. Talks like a vet. Jay? Puts me to sleep.
I am so glad that Bouwmeester is gone.
Gudbranson has been exciting since the draft, his attitude is awesome, he wants to play here and he has a terrific personality for a hockey player. I really hope he makes the big club.
I think it’s funny that when I first got my copy of NHL 11 I started up Be A GM which has just recently added preseason games as a feature and Gudbranson scored the first Panther goal of the preseason off a slapshot directly off of a face-off. It felt pretty prescient at the time and all I can say is that when he scored last night it was almost exactly the same moment.
The biggest difference is the confidence level. Even now, with being a long-time NHL veteran, JayBo plays, talks and behaves like a player with a questionable confidence level.
That being said, I don’t think Gudbranson will stay up this year. I think he’ll have one more year of development. I do think they’ll keep him up for the first nine though.
I agree – I remember them drafting JayBo and comparing him to Paul Coffey. He doesn’t have 1/10th the heart of Paul Coffey and was constantly looking to avoid trouble. If you could put Ballard’s sense of hitting in JayBo’s body, you’d have an absolute beast of a defenseman.
I think Gudbrandson has to go back – not because he isn’t ready defensively, but because honestly I think he needs to add a little weight. He’s listed under 200 lbs, which is fine for a physical defenseman in juniors, but that may work against him in the NHL. I’d like to see him about the size of a guy like Bobby Ryan, who is listed at 205. That’ll help him with his style as there’s a big difference in throwing around 17-19 year olds and throwing around 30 year old NHL vets. I’d like to see him keep his swagger, so get him his ten games, then send him back to juniors with things to work on. He’ll work on them, be hungry and ready to turn loose next year.
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