Knights on Ice — Burn the Tape and Move On

Part I by Eddie Rivkin

Coach Gallant said that he would like to have his lineup “pretty well set” for the last couple of exhibition games. That set up last night’s game vs. the Colorado Avalanche as likely the final real chance for those auditioning for roster spots to stand out and earn their spot.

Oh, it should have been glorious: Cody Glass centering Valentin Zykov and Brandon Pirri, all of them vying for spots on the same line; all five of the young defensemen playing together, while competing for one or two roster spots; nearly 18,000 filling the Fortress and ready for a show. Hell, I was so excited, I made sure I had a double stash of popcorn for the view from the couch!

Unfortunately, what ended up happening was absolutely none of the above.

The VGK managed a total of 17 shots on goal (to the Av’s 32) and lost 4-1.

There is no real need to do a period-by-period postmortem, so I won’t. There won’t even be a 3 Stars from the game, because frankly there weren’t.

Now onto what the preseason is about and an attempt to answer the most pressing questions for the VGK heading into October 2.

Let’s examine who did what for their chances to make the big club last night.

First up, the 3^rd line debate. None of the three did anything to cement their spot on the roster. Glass showed flashes of what will make him a great pro for many years. He’ll be deadly from the half wall on the power play. And when he gets fully acclimated to the speed of the NHL, I believe he’ll turn into a top-tier forward.

Zykov continued to show why the VGK claimed him last year and stuck with him through a rough year. He’s big and strong with soft hands and a scorer’s touch.

Pirri, in my opinion, didn’t do anything either way last night. He’s still a player with a lot of scoring prowess who has taken the time to be better on 200 feet, something Coach Gallant demands of all his players.

Second up, the great D Man debate. To prevent this article from becoming a novel, I will say that one of the youngsters, Dylan Coghlan, is now more clearly the favorite. He’s the most comfortable at both ends of the ice and (so far) and his decision-making in the defensive zone looks very good.

One of the other younger players stood out last night, but not in a good way. Jimmy Schuldt seemed to take a step back. In the first period, he made an ill-advised pinch in the offensive zone and committed the cardinal sin, stopping neither the puck nor the man.

Back in the prehistoric days when I played, my coach Eddie Lubanski said, “I don’t care if you pinch 20 times a game, but you better get either the puck or the man every single time.”

Schuldt missed both and Matt Calvert ended up scoring the first goal of the game. He also had a couple of other questionable decisions that led to turnovers and scoring chances. I’m not down on Schuldt. I’m just stating that last night, I believe he hurt his case to make the opening-night roster. With a one-way contract, there’s still a real chance he makes the big club as he (100% for sure) will get picked up if he’s put on waivers.

There’s not a lot to write about the other three, Bischoff, Whitecloud, and Hague. The only thing of possible significance is that Whitecloud was held out of the 3^rd period for the always-ambiguous “precautionary reasons.”

There’s a saying in sports that sometimes you just “burn the tape and move on.” I’m sure there are a bunch of teaching moments from last night’s game. And teach I am sure the coaches will. Then let’s just burn the tape and move on.

Notes from the couch:

It was AWESOME to see Shea Theodore in the lineup last night. I don’t need to explain why, do I?

1. Last night was the season debut for Paul Stastny. Great to see him in the lineup too!
2. VGK social media was losing its mind again about Malcolm Subban after the game. You people must stop! You can ask Joe; I’m far from a Subban supporter. But last night there was only one real softie and one goal went in off the skate of a VGK player. The numbers aren’t pretty, but neither was the performance of the VGK. No goalie was going to “steal” last night’s game for the VGK. Subban is going to get a much more balanced workload this year and the expectations for him are going to be very high. Especially with this being the final year of his contract.

I’ll end on this: Joe and I are going to practice tomorrow and I think we will get a first look at the opening roster. Or at least a pretty good idea of what it will look like. Stop by and say hello if you see us.

Maybe he will let me write and off game night article so I can spill the beans?

Part II by Joe Pane

My thoughts from the press box.

I saw this game as the last chance for one of the five young defensemen to be on the ice for opening night. Coach Gallant will pretty much have his opening-night roster playing in the last two preseason games, Friday vs. the L.A. Kings and Sunday vs. the San Jose Sharks, So there was a 5-to-1 chance that one of the young defensemen would be on the ice for game one a week from last night against the Sharks.

Unfortunately, they pretty much laid an egg last night, some for the entire game and one for just two periods as Zach Whitecloud did not play the third.

Having five rookies who have a total of two games played in the NHL among them as the last line of defense is like playing keno with the rent money—not much is expected other than going broke before the cocktail waitress delivers your second round of drinks. Jimmy Schuldt and Zach Whitecloud have played one NHL game. The other three have never played a game on the big stage that’s 200 feet long and 85 feet wide, which may have seemed like 250 feet by 125 feet to them last night, especially in the 3^rd period when this group of kids was playing every other shift.

The only VGK player who probably didn’t cringe watching this game was Nick Holden, who may have locked up his spot on the ice instead of the press box on Oct. 2.

The 5/6 defenseman who should have no issues getting ice time staring on Oct 2 are: Schmidt, McNabb, Theodore, Merrill, Engelland, and Holden.

The sixth spot was open for one of the youngsters who would put Holden or possibly even Engelland into a seat in the press box. That changed last night, unless the VGK braintrust has enough confidence in one of them who didn’t do themselves any favors last night.

Subban wasnot strong in net last night, but he didn’t have much help in front of the crease. Plain and simple, the young kids of the Avalanche were the better team last night. They played with emotion, while the VGK were the uninspired team and not even the 17,954 who on most nights inspire the Knights were of any assistance.

In the post-game interview, I asked Gallant if the 2 off days that the team had on Sunday and Monday were part of last night’s lack of energy He thought it was a key factor, but added that the team bonding in the off days was a good thing going forward.

We know that McPhee likes to take his time in injecting his rookies into the lineup and last night might have helped him and GM Kelly McCrimmon into staying with that overcooking theory.

Time will tell and the last two preseason games might offer a clue as to where their thinking is when it comes to the defense. If this team has a weakness, it’s on the blue line, in my opinion, after the first four defensemen.