Saturday, September 10, 2011

Cats-Oil Kings Preview (Part 2)

The Prince George Cougars continue their quest for their first preseason victory tonight against the Edmonton Oil Kings. Last night Edmonton defeated Prince George 4-1 on the strength of two goals from Stephane Legault, and some terrific goaltending from Jon Groenheyde.




Who’s Up Front:

The Edmonton Oil Kings got terrific contributions from their forwards in last night’s game. Mark Reners, TJ Foster, and Stephane Legault all factored into the offense, and performed admirably. The Prince George defence-core will need to do a better job of keeping these three off the score-sheet.

Who’s on D:

Griffin Reinhart is the real deal for the Edmonton Oil Kings. The 17-year-old is the total package. He’s got size, smarts and skill. He quarterbacked an unsuccessful power-play for Edmonton last night, but was also a strong force defensively.

Who’s in Goal:

20-year-old Jon Groenheyde got the call for Edmonton last night, so it may be that 16-year-old goaltender Tristan Jarry gets the call tonight for Edmonton. Although given how well Groenheyde played, maybe coach Derek Laxdal wants to stay with the hot hand.

X-Factor:

Edmonton defeated Prince George 4-1 last night with almost ZERO help from their special teams. They went zero-for-nine on the man-advantage. They’ll need to fix their special teams if they want to give themselves another good shot tonight.





Who’s Up Front:

Collectively the Prince George forwards need to be better in tonight’s game. Several forwards had their moments in last night’s game, but nobody was really able to rise up and lead the Cats offensively. Hopefully tonight we see a stronger offensive showing for all four lines up front. It starts with the veterans. My hunch tells me that the 92-aged forwards specifically will be better in Jasper.

Who’s on D:

Linden Springer is very quietly having himself a strong preseason offensively. Springer has goals in two straight games, and has held his own defensively through three games. Springer has a strong shot, and can move the puck really well. Can he make it three games in a row?

Who’s in Goal:

Tyler Santos had the night off last night, so in all likelihood he’ll get a shot tonight in Jasper. Devon Fordyce stopped 13 of 14 shots he faced, while Drew Owsley made 20 saves on 22 shots faced in the first-half of last night’s game.

X-Factor:

The Prince George Cougars had numerous chances to extend their 1-0 lead last night, and were simply unable too. Tonight the X-Factor for Prince George is going to be ‘killer instinct.’ If they get the lead, they need to stay hungry and continue to be the aggressor. Right now the X-factor cannot be an individual, it has to be a group mentality. If they keep the killer instinct for 60 minutes, they’ll get their first preseason ‘W’ tonight.


----

In other Cats news, Prince George has reassigned defencemen Joseph Carvalho and Raymond Grewal to their respective Midget Teams. The Cougars roster now sits at 29. Three are goalies, nine are defenceman, and 17 forwards remain.

1 comment:

Ryan in Lloydminster said...

Thanks for the updates from camp there Dan!