Thoughts from the first pre-season game

Two nights ago, I eagerly sat down to watch the first pre-season game of the season. My expectations for the game were not a quality hockey game, but more a chance to observe some of the Canadiens offseason acquisitions for the first time. The players I was eager to observe were Cole, Yemelin, Diaz, and the players who would be battling for the thirteenth forward spot (Engqvist, Palushaj, and Blunden).

As expected, Hab fans were not treated to a quality hockey game but we did get some glimpses of hope.

Cole was a great aquisition by Gauthier

From what we saw in the first game, Cole is exactly what this team was missing last year - a big, strong, fast winger who drives to the net and is not afraid to hit. Cole was strong on the puck and will compliment Pleks and Cammalleri well throughout the season. An added benefit of the Cole signing is that Kostitsyn will be freed to play against the other teams third lines. And as we saw from the game against Dallas, he seemed to thrive as the go-to-guy on the line. Maybe we will see his emergence as a more consistend offensive threat this season.

Yemelin has more tools than I expected

I was expecting Yemelin to be a physical force on D. However, I was surprised by his skating, his vision, and his ability to carry the puck. My initial expectation is still that he will be a 6-7 defenceman early in the season but I am now more confident that he will be a key part of the defence by the end of the season.

Diaz = Weber

As for Diaz, he didn't impress too much and seemed like a very similar player to Weber - same size, same skill set, and same style game. It seems like he will be Hamilton bound this season.

Battle for the thirteenth forward spot

I will go into more detail on this subject in my next post because both Engqvist and Palushaj played the following game.