The Manitoba Moose have 2 games to go before they can settle back and relax for their holiday break as they square off against last season's Calder Cup champions, the Hamilton Bulldogs. The 'Dogs are another struggling team, currently tied for dead last in the North Division and riding a 5 game winless streak.
Meanwhile, the Moose are looking to continue their pursuit of the Toronto Marlies for the lead in the North Division and hope to have a better outing against another team that is currently struggling than they did last weekend against the Lake Erie Monsters, where they split the back to back games. Fortunately, the Moose will have help, as defenseman Maxime Fortunus and forward Ryan Shannon are both expected to be back in the lineup for tomorrow night's game.
The Moose themselves have been looking like a rather inconsistent bunch thus far this season. A number of injuries have sidelined players such as Fortunus (who has missed 14 games in the Moose's campaign thus far) and Ryan Shannon (who hasn't played a game since October 26th), but other key players to the roster have been missing. Josef Balej is done until at leas the playoffs, Jannick Hansen and Jason Jaffray have both missed time with injuries or serving as a call-up for the Vancouver Canucks along with blueliner Luc Bourdon. Nathan McIver and Shaun Heshka have also missed games, which have necessitated in bringing up players from the Victoria Salmon Kings. While the Moose's recent struggles (3 wins in the last 9 games) could be seen as understandable given the circumstances, but this is a Moose team that has been able to find ways to win when other folks thought that they were beat. This year's incarnation of the Moose is a very hard working team and is one that has seen a lot of adversity early on in their season. Put into that context, this recent stint of games is disappointing and they simply need to be better.
Tonight's starting goaltender is? I would expect that Corey Schneider will get the start tomorrow night, based on his performance last weekend in the second game, although head coach Scott Arniel might want to give Drew MacIntyre some action, as he's played 2 periods worth of hockey in 2 weeks time.
That said, if D-Mac does start tomorrow, I'd expect him to start both games to try and whip him into shape for the three game road trip that starts on the 27th and has games in three different cities (and you thought that the New Jersey Devils travel schedule was bad) before having a day off and then playing a home game on New Year's Eve. I would expect Arniel to go alternating nights for that road trip as it is a brutal schedule.
Who to keep an eye out on? As I said last week, forwards Michael Grabner and Juraj Simek are going to have to step it up while Mason Raymond and Jason Jaffray are away on assignment with the Canucks. Scoring 2 goals in 2 games is somewhat underwhelming for two forwards who are known for their ability to put the puck into the net, especially since neither of them had scored either one of those goals. The Moose need to get the offense going and they need to be getting that help from Grabner and Simek. Pierre Cedric Labrie could stand to step up his game a bit, too. I wouldn't be surprised to see Labrie have a big game tomorrow night.
Big shoes, small feet. While Ryan Shannon should be making his return to the lineup tomorrow night, I wouldn't be expecting great things from him right off the bat. He has just come back from a lengthy knee injury and may need to spend some time getting into his comfort zone where he's confident and happy with his play. While the opportunity is there for Shannon to step up and contribute is there, I would consider it as a pleasant surprise if he has a strong game and think he will have a good game if he can be a plus or even player out there.
More of the same. Luc Bourdon and Jannick Hansen looked quite impressive last weekend, with Bourdon getting back to the basics and doing things The Bourdon Way (hard-edged, physical game) while Hansen was looking great out there as a checker. They should continue with their impressive performances.
Again, I am not going to be around tomorrow night, so you'll have to make due with just a simple recap. I should be able to make Saturday's game, however!
Meanwhile, the Moose are looking to continue their pursuit of the Toronto Marlies for the lead in the North Division and hope to have a better outing against another team that is currently struggling than they did last weekend against the Lake Erie Monsters, where they split the back to back games. Fortunately, the Moose will have help, as defenseman Maxime Fortunus and forward Ryan Shannon are both expected to be back in the lineup for tomorrow night's game.
The Moose themselves have been looking like a rather inconsistent bunch thus far this season. A number of injuries have sidelined players such as Fortunus (who has missed 14 games in the Moose's campaign thus far) and Ryan Shannon (who hasn't played a game since October 26th), but other key players to the roster have been missing. Josef Balej is done until at leas the playoffs, Jannick Hansen and Jason Jaffray have both missed time with injuries or serving as a call-up for the Vancouver Canucks along with blueliner Luc Bourdon. Nathan McIver and Shaun Heshka have also missed games, which have necessitated in bringing up players from the Victoria Salmon Kings. While the Moose's recent struggles (3 wins in the last 9 games) could be seen as understandable given the circumstances, but this is a Moose team that has been able to find ways to win when other folks thought that they were beat. This year's incarnation of the Moose is a very hard working team and is one that has seen a lot of adversity early on in their season. Put into that context, this recent stint of games is disappointing and they simply need to be better.
Tonight's starting goaltender is? I would expect that Corey Schneider will get the start tomorrow night, based on his performance last weekend in the second game, although head coach Scott Arniel might want to give Drew MacIntyre some action, as he's played 2 periods worth of hockey in 2 weeks time.
That said, if D-Mac does start tomorrow, I'd expect him to start both games to try and whip him into shape for the three game road trip that starts on the 27th and has games in three different cities (and you thought that the New Jersey Devils travel schedule was bad) before having a day off and then playing a home game on New Year's Eve. I would expect Arniel to go alternating nights for that road trip as it is a brutal schedule.
Who to keep an eye out on? As I said last week, forwards Michael Grabner and Juraj Simek are going to have to step it up while Mason Raymond and Jason Jaffray are away on assignment with the Canucks. Scoring 2 goals in 2 games is somewhat underwhelming for two forwards who are known for their ability to put the puck into the net, especially since neither of them had scored either one of those goals. The Moose need to get the offense going and they need to be getting that help from Grabner and Simek. Pierre Cedric Labrie could stand to step up his game a bit, too. I wouldn't be surprised to see Labrie have a big game tomorrow night.
Big shoes, small feet. While Ryan Shannon should be making his return to the lineup tomorrow night, I wouldn't be expecting great things from him right off the bat. He has just come back from a lengthy knee injury and may need to spend some time getting into his comfort zone where he's confident and happy with his play. While the opportunity is there for Shannon to step up and contribute is there, I would consider it as a pleasant surprise if he has a strong game and think he will have a good game if he can be a plus or even player out there.
More of the same. Luc Bourdon and Jannick Hansen looked quite impressive last weekend, with Bourdon getting back to the basics and doing things The Bourdon Way (hard-edged, physical game) while Hansen was looking great out there as a checker. They should continue with their impressive performances.
Again, I am not going to be around tomorrow night, so you'll have to make due with just a simple recap. I should be able to make Saturday's game, however!
No comments:
Post a Comment