Hockey season is officially upon us! It is finally October. The Coyotes went 0-5-1 in the preseason but I have not gone to the sky is falling mode yet. For some reason, preseason records have no bearing on the regular season. It always seems teams that do well in preseason don’t always do well in the regular season and vice versa. Preseason is the time to test your young guys and see how they respond. It’s the time to tinker with the defense pairing and line combos to see who has chemistry.
Last preseason the Coyotes went 4-0-2 and look how well that worked out for them. I am not expecting a parade at the end of the season, but I do think we will see a more exciting team, a team that plays hard every night. We will see a younger, faster, hungrier group of guys. We will lose a lot, but we will see some dynamic goals (or almost goals) from Domi and Duclair. These will help us glimpse the future greatness that is coming in the next year or two.
Goal and defense are set and the forwards seem pretty much set with the last spot being battled for by Strome, Martinook and Platcha. Smith and Lindback will share goal. I have a feeling Domingue will be with the NHL next season. He was the last goalie to be cut. The d-pairs will look like this, at least for now: OEL-Stone, Grossman-Murphy and Dahlbeck-Z with Elliott being the 7th man.
I think the forwards will be: Boedker, Chipchura, Doan, Domi, Downie, Duclair, Gordon, Hanzal, Richardson, Rieder, Scott, Vermette, and Vitale plus one of the three (Strome, Martinook and Platcha). As much as I like Strome, I think I would rather see him spend the season in juniors and fill in a bit. I think Martinook may be the one that gets the chance.
Tell me… of the three who do you want to see on the roster opening night, Strome, Martinook or Platcha?
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