The 25th Anniversary season begins at home.
Another season of high expectations, another season of significant roster turnover. Gone are Trocheck, Niederreiter, Domi, Lorentz, DeAngelo, Cole and Smith. In are Stastny, Kase, Burns, Coghlan, de Haan, with Pacioretty waiting in the wings. Can KK replace Trocheck? Can Necas climb out of the funk that plagued him all of last season? Can Stastny replace Niederreiter on Staal’s line? Will the 3rd pairing be a revolving door? Here is how they lined up at practice yesterday. I’d expect the same tonight, although Martinook, who was ineligible to practice, could replace Noesen.
Teravainen - Aho - Jarvis
Svechnikov - Kotkaniemi - Necas
Stastny - Staal - Fast
Noesen - Stepan - Kase
Slavin - Burns
Skjei - Pesce
de Haan - Chatfield
Columbus went through some changes of their own. Most significantly and surprisingly, they added Johnny Gaudreau. The aging Erik Gudbranson joins the blue line. But they lost Oliver Bjorkstrand to Seattle for 2 picks. After missing 26 games last season, Patrik Laine is healthy. He scored 26 goals last season, but 21 of them came in a 29 game stretch. So he only scored 5 in the other 27 games, including just 1 in his last 12 games.
Even though the team switched to home black jerseys this year, they’ll be wearing the new/old reds tonight. I saw a tweet last night that SRO tickets were being sold. So an overflow crowd, combined with the usual early season parking and entrance snafus, could lead to long lines. Pack your patience and plan accordingly.
Another season of high expectations, another season of significant roster turnover. Gone are Trocheck, Niederreiter, Domi, Lorentz, DeAngelo, Cole and Smith. In are Stastny, Kase, Burns, Coghlan, de Haan, with Pacioretty waiting in the wings. Can KK replace Trocheck? Can Necas climb out of the funk that plagued him all of last season? Can Stastny replace Niederreiter on Staal’s line? Will the 3rd pairing be a revolving door? Here is how they lined up at practice yesterday. I’d expect the same tonight, although Martinook, who was ineligible to practice, could replace Noesen.
Teravainen - Aho - Jarvis
Svechnikov - Kotkaniemi - Necas
Stastny - Staal - Fast
Noesen - Stepan - Kase
Slavin - Burns
Skjei - Pesce
de Haan - Chatfield
Columbus went through some changes of their own. Most significantly and surprisingly, they added Johnny Gaudreau. The aging Erik Gudbranson joins the blue line. But they lost Oliver Bjorkstrand to Seattle for 2 picks. After missing 26 games last season, Patrik Laine is healthy. He scored 26 goals last season, but 21 of them came in a 29 game stretch. So he only scored 5 in the other 27 games, including just 1 in his last 12 games.
Even though the team switched to home black jerseys this year, they’ll be wearing the new/old reds tonight. I saw a tweet last night that SRO tickets were being sold. So an overflow crowd, combined with the usual early season parking and entrance snafus, could lead to long lines. Pack your patience and plan accordingly.
