it started as a snoozer... ended up a nail biter...

This was a fun game to watch. The Mantha-Larkin-Bertuzzi line is going to something else. They mesh well together and compliment each other. If only Blashill would keep them together for the whole year. Mantha is going to be a beast and earn himself a nice contract. He was on fire tonight. McIlrath certainly showed me why he's an AHL lifer. The guy got pounded along the board and took himself out of position several times b/c he was trying to pay someone back for checking him into the boards. Kaski was meh for the most part but got better as the game went along. He's still destined for GR though. Bowey has surprised the hell out of me this preseason. He played with confidence and I'm getting really excited to see what he has this coming year. The dude was in on all 3 goals!

I followed the play of Seider, Hirose and Cholowski today. When they were on the ice I focused on them. Seider made a rookie mistake that Rust turned into a Penguin score. He also got burned once at the point and made a good recovery but had a cheap slashing penalty called on him late in the play.  Hirose looked like a seasoned veteran out there- the guy plays smart and makes the guys on his line better. Cholowski was more invisible and I guess that's good He put some shots on goal but his defense seemed good and I didn't notice him making any bonehead plays.

I think Hirose makes the team out of camp. Seider is a maybe and Cholowski almost certainly starts in GR (at least until we move Green, Daley or Ericsson). Veleno is a long shot to stick in Detroit- we just have too many veteran forwards that we "have to keep" b/c of their contracts. Same thing goes for Rasmussen. Ras looks like he's skating better (faster) but his thinking is still a split second behind where it needs to be. Zadina looks shifty, shiny, and fast- but why the hell can't he score? I think there's a 50/50 chance he's in Hockeytown on opening night. Mainly b/c so much is expected of him, I think they start him out on the third line and see how he does.