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Attended a Jackets open practice/schrimage


yave1964

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Saturday morning we loaded up and went to Columbus to see the Jackets who had an open practice, I decided to wear another teams jersey so here that is.... I

I swear that 

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 I swear that I was the only one there wearing anything other than CBJ gear, of course the icehaus opened at 8am so only the diehards are out at that time. Fans took it with good humor, I was told repeatedly however that if I had worn Penguin or Wing gear I might not have survived. Anyway, the first 1,000 folks inside received a CBJ long sleeve tee so I threw that over the Flyer jersey to blend in, lol....

  It was really cool, they played two periods with the ref sitting on his whistle and letting everything go, the hitting was minimal but offside and icing were not ever called. I wanted to pay attention to certain players.

  Tyler Motte came over from Chicago along with Panarin in the Saad deal,he looked really good for the Hawks early last year and then was shipped out,  I wanted to study him a bit. He is a bit small, he played at Michigan with a stacked team that included Werenski, Larkin, Kyle Conner, Hyman, copp and a half a dozen others who are either making their mark or clawing at the door to make the NHL. He was always a first line player for the Wolverines and always owned my Buckeyes. I wanted to see what he looked like.

  In a word, he was awful. He would come down the wing, receive a pass and instead of challenging the defender to stop him, every single time he fired the puck behind the net and set up at the dot. It was so obvious that he wanted no part of attacking the net that the last time David Savard actually backed off and cheated towards the net and intercepted the pass. Awful. Captain Nick Foligno was scrimaging on the same line and I watched him take Motte to task for this, i saw Motte nodding his head in agreement but after that he never took a pass where he could challenge a defender for the rest of the scrimmage. I am not certain if he is hiding an injury or just ridiculously timid but that is no way to play the game.

  The main guy I wanted to see was the bread man and Panarin delivered, he was easily the quickest player on the ice counting everyone. Pretty much whenever he had the puck on his stick which was often he went between the dots and attacked straight down the middle. I am telling you dont laugh but do not be surprised if he plays some center this year. He played center in the scrimmage with Cam Atkinson on his wing and the two of them were really good together. Not saying I would move him inside and off the wing but the only top six center the Jackets have is Wennberg unless Dubois makes the cut and stands out. Dubinsky is a perfect third liner, if Dubois dont make the team seriously the bread man may move to the middle. In the practice after the scrimmage, that is all that Panarin did for a solid hour was take faceoffs against Boone Jenner who is awful at them, Panarin looked really good taking them.

  The last player who I studied was Brady Austin who signed as camp was beginning, Austin is a big hard hitting defender who played for Rochester for the past three or four years and made it up to the Sabres a few times, still young, he took forever to land a job he might have been the last player signed by any team as camps began and I wanted to see why. I remember him drilling Abdelkader in his NHL debut, first shift, knocked him off his skates. It was vivid as Abdelkader was furious over a rookie taking him out like that. When the Sabres didnt resign Austin at seasons end I was surprised and kept an eye on him.

  The Kings supposedly were interested for their AHL team but nothing came of that, finally a few days ago the Jackets signed him for the Monsters team in Cleveland. I watched him to see what he had.

   They lined him up on both left and right defense, he was clearly a bit out of sync and a few pucks bounced over his stick, he sent one pass over the middle that was intercepted by a streaking Panarin that ended with a laser that hit the crossbar but overall he wasnt bad. Although he was the last signee and as under the radar as you can be I see him as the eighth or ninth d-man, if he does well in Cleveland he should get a shot when injuries pile up as a stay at home 15 minute a night guy who plays a bit in the NHL.

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So that is that. Good time with the wife and daughter and grandson here I am with the Jackets tee covering the Flyer jersey to stay warm and keep from getting killed, lol. 

Man did I miss hockey, wow am I glad it is back.

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8 hours ago, yave1964 said:

Saturday morning we loaded up and went to Columbus to see the Jackets who had an open practice, I decided to wear another teams jersey so here that is.... I

 

LOL. hey look... a   "Bobrowski" fan.    

I'm curious to see if Panarin becomes the #1 center or if Wennberg earns that role?  It really makes a lot of sense.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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7 hours ago, hf101 said:

 

LOL. hey look... a   "Bobrowski" fan.    

I'm curious to see if Panarin becomes the #1 center or if Wennberg earns that role?  It really makes a lot of sense.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I see the Jackets opening with Panarin on the wing as he was in Chicago, probably on a line with Atkinson and Wennberg, a fast creative fun line, but center depth is a massive problem in Columbus and I seriously believe that the end game all along was to bring Panarin in to move him to the middle, something Saad never could. They really are lacking options:

 

Dubinsky is a solid 3C with a slightly diminished skill set who is all grit and heart but as a 2C is punching above his weight class.

 

Dubois is likely to make the team as a teenager and was drafted to play center but IMHO he would be better suited to be brought along slowly for a year or so as a winger.

 

Boone Jenner is one of my favorite players but is awful in the dot and belongs on the wing.

 

There is nobody else. Wennberg is special and deserving of his power play time and top six center role, but unless they trade Murray and Anderson to Colorado for Duchene before the season starts I believe Panarin will play a lot down the middle.

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15 minutes ago, yave1964 said:

There is nobody else.

Yikes.   

 

How has Dubois looked in camp?  I guess if you pair him with 2 experienced wingers and give him 2nd PP time he probably would be ok too.  

 

 

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1 hour ago, hf101 said:

Yikes.   

 

How has Dubois looked in camp?  I guess if you pair him with 2 experienced wingers and give him 2nd PP time he probably would be ok too.  

 

 

They are being very quiet about Dubois so far, the worst part is he is ineligible to be sent to the AHL, he would have to be returned to Juniors which IMHO is the most ridiculous rule in all of Hockey bar none. That is a subject for another post but the number one thing I would change if I was commissioner for a day would be the stranglehold that Juniors has on teams. Dubois and the Jackets would probably be best served with him starting the year in Cleveland playing against men and being a midseason recall. Sadly it is not an option.

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