Thursday, October 16, 2008

Falcons 2nd Week Preview...

After collecting 3 points in their first 2 games, the Falcons are looking to keep in the upper half of the Atlantic Division. With only the top 4 teams in the Atlantic Division making the postseason, the Falcons will have 3 consecutive games against Divisional rivals.

If you think that playing 8 games against divisional rivals was tough in the NHL the last number of seasons, just consider the fact that that the Falcons will play their 6 divisional rivals TEN times each this season. Lots of time for bad blood to start to say the least.

Without further adieu let's take a look at this weekends match-ups...

Friday 7:00PM EST Springfield @ Providence
In a rematch of last Sunday's game where Providence beat the Falcons in overtime 4-3, the Falcons are looking to leapfrog the Bruins for the top spot in the Atlantic Division. Last seasons Atlantic Division champs, the Bruins will continue to be a very strong veteran laden team this season.

Saturday 7:00PM EST Portland @ Springfield
The Portland Pirates are no longer the affiliate of the rival Anaheim Ducks, they are now stocked with Buffalo Sabres prospects. The Pirates are 1-0 in their lone game so far this season. It will be interesting to see how they stack up in the Atlantic Division this season.

Sunday 4:00PM EST Springfield @ Manchester
The team that surged past the Falcons for the 4th and final postseason spot last season has started this season with a loss to Buffalo's new affiliate the Pirates. Manchester still has some serious pop up front with Teddy Purcell, last season's AHL rookie scoring leader and AHL allstar MVP. Expect the pleasantries between these 2 teams to be back in full force on Sunday.

Falcons Additions to the roster: Lw Rob Schremp and D Mathieu Roy

Falcons Subtractions from the roster: Lw Adam Huxley, F Ryan McMurchy, D Rob Bina, D Josef Hrabal. All players were assigned to Stockton on 10/14/08

My projected line-ups...

Against Providence

Schremp-Spurgeon-Brule
Trukhno-Potulny-Reddox
Corazzini-Sestito-McDonald
Lefebvre-O'Marra-Goulet

Peckham-Chorney
Wild-Roy
Young-Taylor

Dubnyk

Against Portland

Schremp-Spurgeon-Brule
Trukhno-Potulny-Reddox
Corazzini-Sestito-McDonald
Lerg-O'Marra-Benson

Peckham-Chorney
Wild-Roy
Bisaillon-Taylor

Dubnyk

Against Manchester

Schremp-Spurgeon-Brule
Trukhno-Potulny-Reddox
Lerg-Sestito-McDonald
Paukovich-O'Marra-Goulet

Peckham-Chorney
Wild-Roy
Young-Bisaillon

Fisher

9 comments:

doritogrande said...

I hate the AHL schedule, yet it's friendly on the travel budget. It just sucks that my hometown Moose are in one of the toughest divisions with the always tough Griffins, the Marlies(spits) and the Bulldogs. Syracuse killed us in last year's playoffs, but Brule's not there anymore and we scooped up their goaltender to back-up Schneider, so they may be a tad easier to play against this year.

You think they'd start Dubnyk back to back instead of going DD, Fisher, DD? Why's that? In my scenario at least DD would get a day off to recover.

Bryanbryoil said...

They are going to play him a ton, and IMO with Nathan Gerbe on the Pirates and the Pirates beating the Monarchs, the Falcons will need to size up their opposition this season in Portland.

Not to mention, it's their home opener ;)

As big of a dip as there is from Dubnyk and Fisher, I'm sure that Truitt wishes that DD would play in all 3 games!

B.C.B. said...

Do you know why they demoted D Josef Hrabal?
Is his shoulder better yet, because I thought it was a rotator cuff (which should take longer then 4 weeks to heal). I am not a doctor: but that is my guess- for reading injury reports to know who bet on.

Bryanbryoil said...

IIRC Guy Flaming had an interview with coach Truitt a week or 2 ago. It was said that he wasn't hurt as badly as initially thought and that he'd get some time in teh ECHL to get up to speed.

I'm anxious to see what the kid has got because he has pro experience.

doritogrande said...

rotator cuffs are a bugger to heal properly. You think you're good to go, then pick up a beer can wrong and you're in pain for the next three days. Problem is the rotator cuff is full of tiny muscles that are hard as hell to build up. They're there for stabilization and seemingly nothing more.

I've sprained both of mine through physical activity and they took about 6 weeks of limited activity to recover. Had to take a two-week hiatus from my three ultimate frisbee teams, and then said "fuck it, I'm young." Josef Hrabel however, is not as young as I.

Bryanbryoil said...

Yeah, I'm not sure about Hrabal's exact status, but considering that he hasn't played for the Falcons but he's being sent down, I would assume that he's close to ready to go.

Thanks for the insight on the rotator cuff type of injuries. It reminds me of when Moreau rolled his ankle playing basketball, most people thought that it'd be a week or so max, and I was telling everyone it could even be months depending on the severity.

I've done it in the past, and some times you walk it off, while in others it takes months to get even remotely close to normal again.

Anonymous said...

rotator cuffs are a bugger to heal properly. You think you're good to go, then pick up a beer can wrong and you're in pain for the next three days.

No shit. I wrecked mine in the gym once. Hurt like a bitch for a while, couldn't make certain movements for a couple months. 9 months later I think it's healed, I'm on a beach and try to throw a rock (to skip it across the water)....absolute agony. Took probably 2 years before I could throw with any velocity again, but other than that I never noticed it at all.

Anyway, hopefully Hrabal can come back soon, though he's too good for the ECHL.

doritogrande said...

Well that didn't start well...

DD gets chased after the first period. Doesn't bode well for the rest of the weekend.

Bryanbryoil said...

Yeah, I missed all but a few minutes of the game. DD REALLY has to get his game in gear. This team is far better than the team that JDD was stuck playing behind for much of last season.

If Dubnyk isn't up to snuff, I'd expect Pitton to get the call eventually. Hopefully Dubnyk rebounds in a big way.