These notes were for the first game. I won’t be physically at the second game, but I’ll be watching.

Carson Bjarnason – Good early stick save. Good glove save on PP. Good glove save on an Aspinall shot. He was smart, controlled, and when he went down it was purposeful and under control. This was a terrific first game for him. He talked about how goalies getting in this first game after the offseason isn’t easy.

Ty Murchison  – good zone entry. Noticeable speed on retrievals. Good trip when Roobroeck had a breakaway,

Jackson Edward – He had a lot of safe clears.

Evan Kaplan – Good drop pass, but teammate missed on it. Decent game for him.

Alex Bump – Nice pass to Luke Vlooswyk who got a nice shot on net. By the second period, he took fewer chances up the middle, and his game was terrific, including the pass to Knuble.

Noah Powell – Set up the goal with a shot on net. Hard wrist on net. Got crushed but drew a penalty.

Matthew Gard –  Scored on his keister. Never gave up on the puck. His defense was the best. 

Jett Luchanko – Tentative zone entries early, plus a rushed pass. Lost some draws badly. Did win a PP offensive zone draw. Made a play and streaked to get a shot on net. Another good rush on the net. Lost board battle against Alberts Smits. He got past three guys up ice and got it to Bump for a goal. It was a mixed bag for him.

Cole Knuble – He had good cycles, best puck possession on the team. Solid offensive plays, including his goal. He had good chemistry with Bump. Bump liked the fact that Knuble was “heavy on the puck”.

Maksiim Sokolovski – Roughing penalties are ok in certain spots. He was thinking when he had the puck. This was different from junior hockey for him in certain sequences. Good reach to break up a scoring chance. His penalties gave Rangers two PP goals. Solid performance overall.

Brek Liske – Had a nice pass to set up scoring play. Backing up, still made good passes. Good 

on the  point on the PP. He was one of the smoothest out there.

Ilya Pautov- He was very noticeable on PP. He assisted on Bump/Luchanko play. Showed improved acceleration. He had some of the best shifts in the third period. If he played with higher-skilled players, he may have put up more points.

Luke Vlooswyk – He had good passes and retrievals. One good shot on net. His skating continues to improve.

Spencer Gill – He made good passes and had solid decision-making. Set up a good PP scoring chance. I still wanted to see a bit more from him.

Cole Knuble photo by Sportsology