Preseason Ducks: 5-4 Kings win; Hnidy disappoints
Posted 11:14 AM ET | Comments 1
I went to the first Ducks preseason game last night at the Honda Center.
There were more people there than I expected and it was a fun crowd. The season tickets I bought into are pretty high up (though, there’s not really a bad seat at the Honda Center, which is great) so I was around a lot of real fans. I had a blast.
This is my first time watching a preseason game and it was a lot of fun. Some of the people seemed to expect a lot and were confused by all the new names, but I thought it was great to see who the Ducks are developing and who some of the new faces might be.
I was particularly impressed with Jean-Philippe Levasseur. He let one really soft goal in, which kind of spoiled the night for him, but I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. I see a lot of potential in him, even if he is small enough that the net looks like it could swallow him.
I was sorely disappointed with the performance of Shane Hnidy, however. This is a guy who has been around for a couple of year and has play-off experience. He looked sloppy and uncoordinated. The first Kings goal went off his stick and he was the defense man protecting against the shooter in two of the other goals. After giving up so much, he switched to just getting physical, including the only gloves off fight of the match. Not what the Ducks need (or want I would imagine) in a defense man. I hope they take this guy to task and get him up to snuff.
There were more people there than I expected and it was a fun crowd. The season tickets I bought into are pretty high up (though, there’s not really a bad seat at the Honda Center, which is great) so I was around a lot of real fans. I had a blast.
This is my first time watching a preseason game and it was a lot of fun. Some of the people seemed to expect a lot and were confused by all the new names, but I thought it was great to see who the Ducks are developing and who some of the new faces might be.
I was particularly impressed with Jean-Philippe Levasseur. He let one really soft goal in, which kind of spoiled the night for him, but I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. I see a lot of potential in him, even if he is small enough that the net looks like it could swallow him.
I was sorely disappointed with the performance of Shane Hnidy, however. This is a guy who has been around for a couple of year and has play-off experience. He looked sloppy and uncoordinated. The first Kings goal went off his stick and he was the defense man protecting against the shooter in two of the other goals. After giving up so much, he switched to just getting physical, including the only gloves off fight of the match. Not what the Ducks need (or want I would imagine) in a defense man. I hope they take this guy to task and get him up to snuff.
Looks like we agree with both JP Lavasseur and Hnidy. Nice assesment on both guys. JP was aweful in warm ups, but he was hot in the game.