dondo
09-21-2012, 09:21 AM
Tonight the G's open their 12th season. There is a feeling of optimism, but with the rest of the BC Division getting bigger and more skilled on average they will have a battle most nights.
What are your feelings on this years squad?
My Take:
Goaltending is still a question mark. We need Liston to be as good if not better than Morrison, but mostly we need our rookie tenders to steal some games and give the coaching staff reason to put them into the net about 20-25% of the time.
Defense on paper looks better than in years, some real size and getting Musil back as a veteran presence as well as Niebrandt to clear the front of the net, hopefully will give other teams less quality chances in front of our net.
Offense is a question mark. I expected to see more from Sward and Bellerive last season, so for me this is their year to really step it up a notch or four. We don't really have any high-end offensive players to really hold up other than maybe Tvrdon. We need someone to fill the Martinook void and I expect that should be players like Burns and especially Sward. It will be interesting regardless.
We should be competitive, but need some tumblers to fall into place to unlock a dominant season. I don't see many games where the Giants won't have to be battling for the full sixty. Our preseason sags are frankly unacceptable come regular season and coughing up good leads will kill us if they become common when the season moves ahead.
No NHL distraction early - so that should mean more bums in seats and more people who might be drawn away from the dark side and over to the light of hungry intense WHL hockey.
What are your feelings on this years squad?
My Take:
Goaltending is still a question mark. We need Liston to be as good if not better than Morrison, but mostly we need our rookie tenders to steal some games and give the coaching staff reason to put them into the net about 20-25% of the time.
Defense on paper looks better than in years, some real size and getting Musil back as a veteran presence as well as Niebrandt to clear the front of the net, hopefully will give other teams less quality chances in front of our net.
Offense is a question mark. I expected to see more from Sward and Bellerive last season, so for me this is their year to really step it up a notch or four. We don't really have any high-end offensive players to really hold up other than maybe Tvrdon. We need someone to fill the Martinook void and I expect that should be players like Burns and especially Sward. It will be interesting regardless.
We should be competitive, but need some tumblers to fall into place to unlock a dominant season. I don't see many games where the Giants won't have to be battling for the full sixty. Our preseason sags are frankly unacceptable come regular season and coughing up good leads will kill us if they become common when the season moves ahead.
No NHL distraction early - so that should mean more bums in seats and more people who might be drawn away from the dark side and over to the light of hungry intense WHL hockey.