Every preseason you see kids who have been on the ice playing in rookie tourneys and development camps and what not for over a month come in and look great ...but by the time the season starts and the games become real these guys fizzle back to earth ...once the nhl caliber players get their conditioning back up and the feet and hands are back in game mode then they make any prospect look like just that ...a prospect ...I can't believe how much stock ppl put into every aspect of these games

So bouma didn't have his usual fire in the first preseason game of the year ...guess he's gonna be crap now ...and wideman looked sloppy in his first game at his age ...cut him ...magpie has been dominating kids in juniors and rookie camps ..I doubt he is used to playing against pros so I am not surprised his size showed as there is a reason he was passed in the draft

It's the first game of the preseason so expectations should be low for pretty much any vet who plays and and kid who has little chance to make it
- Redmile247

ummm that's why I said Bouma had an off game.... do you even read?
How you concluded that somehow I mean that "he's gonna be crap now" is beyond me

Same thing with Wideman....clearly didn't read my statement. He played like a beast yesterday, didn't even look like he missed a step or that this was pre-season. He was everywhere, skating, good on the stick, great passes, etc.... Just one mistake which was really unfortunate, but it happens. The guy was manhandling those Oiler kids

I'm just trying to be helpful and give analysis on what I saw last night even if it's just 1 game (pre-season at that...) so don't be such a turd

ummm that's why I said Bouma had an off game.... do you even read?
How you concluded that somehow I mean that "he's gonna be crap now" is beyond me

Same thing with Wideman....clearly didn't read my statement. He played like a beast yesterday, didn't even look like he missed a step or that this was pre-season. He was everywhere, skating, good on the stick, great passes, etc.... Just one mistake which was really unfortunate, but it happens. The guy was manhandling those Oiler kids

I'm just trying to be helpful and give analysis on what I saw last night even if it's just 1 game (pre-season at that...) so don't be such a turd
- cpltanto

Hey man, I really appreciate the effort, I'm sure many on here do. Keep it up. I was only able to watch the last period unfortunately. I tried to watch both on separate computers but it was difficult. From what I saw, both Ortio and MacDonald were pretty good. Gaudreau looked good. Didn't get to see much of the guys fighting for jobs but I didn't see any glaring errors. Oh well. Hopefully I can watch more of the next games.

Hey man, I really appreciate the effort, I'm sure many on here do. Keep it up. I was only able to watch the last period unfortunately. I tried to watch both on separate computers but it was difficult. From what I saw, both Ortio and MacDonald were pretty good. Gaudreau looked good. Didn't get to see much of the guys fighting for jobs but I didn't see any glaring errors. Oh well. Hopefully I can watch more of the next games.
- TandA4Flames

Yea thank you to both you guys! I'm working in an area where I have no cable and the Internet is a joke, so I rely on guys like you 2 to give a break down from a fan prospective!

nice (frank)in visor there Smith... clearly a top 6 kinda guy
- BigDre

Yeah, unfortunately YOUR NOT ALLOWED to take your helmet off for a fight (like Iggy always used to do), it's a fairly new rule to prevent player concussions if they fall to the ice and smack their head of it. In this case, it was Hunter's own visor that cut him. Stupid rule, I know, but what can you do about it

I thought Ortio looked pretty calm in there, so that was good to see as he tends to overplay the puck a little bit I find.

I thought Nakladal looked good out there for his first game. Has some size, a little grit, decent skater and moves the puck. I thought a lot of the same things about Wotherspoon. He was composed out there and made some real solid passes.

Best player on the ice was Gaudreau. He's gonna have a filthy year.

Yeah, unfortunately YOUR NOT ALLOWED to take your helmet off for a fight (like Iggy always used to do), it's a fairly new rule to prevent player concussions if they fall to the ice and smack their head of it. In this case, it was Hunter's own visor that cut him. Stupid rule, I know, but what can you do about it
- Flamin_Irishmin

I have a visor (Bauer) that snaps in and out in about 2 seconds...

Not that I fight in my div 5 mens over 40 league (for some reason) but its the first thing I thought of when I snapped it in for the first time... (old habits die hard)

ummm that's why I said Bouma had an off game.... do you even read?
How you concluded that somehow I mean that "he's gonna be crap now" is beyond me

Same thing with Wideman....clearly didn't read my statement. He played like a beast yesterday, didn't even look like he missed a step or that this was pre-season. He was everywhere, skating, good on the stick, great passes, etc.... Just one mistake which was really unfortunate, but it happens. The guy was manhandling those Oiler kids

I'm just trying to be helpful and give analysis on what I saw last night even if it's just 1 game (pre-season at that...) so don't be such a turd
- cpltanto

Calm down dude ...I was being sarcastic about bouma and wideman

I'm not worried about anything bouma wideman or any of the guys that are locks are doing right now as long as long as they are healthy for game 1 against van

I do care about the fringe guys tho that are on the bubble so sorry to be a turd

Keep up the good work