Return of the 'Jerks

Ah, Sunday morning hockey on top of a parking garage. Wholesome.

Usual disclaimer - it was the first scrimmage so not a whole lot can be divined from the play. Players may have had a good game that I didn't note; I probably just missed them.  Overall, I'd describe the game as choppy, not chippy.

Team Blue was in white sweaters, so if the two get confused, apologies. Team Red wore the appropriate colors.

Netminders - Holtby for BlueWhite, Copley for Red.

One of the fellas I wanted to keep an eye on was Kris Bindulis, as I'd not seen him play before. Gotta say I like what I saw. At first I found his on-ice posture to be...odd. Looked like Bambi, or that a stiff breeze could knock him over, but he turned in a good contest. He got involved, activating at one point to keep a puck in at the halfboards in the O zone, and laid a hit on Jokipakka (man, that's even fun to type.) Bindulis also bailed out Orlov after Orlov gave the puck up skating East-to-West along the opposition blueline, with Bindulis breaking up the subsequent two-on-one against. Overall I was pleasantly surprised by the confidence he showed.

Didn't see a lot from Jokipakka early, but he made a nice poke check on Chandler Stephenson to break up a two-on-one against. Truth be told, Jokipakka didn't make too much of an impression. At one point Jakub Vrana ate him alive, driving past the defenseman, dekeing through his skates, and getting a shot on net.

Vrana looked active and involved. Good energy level. I'd guess he makes the team. Speaking of, Nathan Walker showed some good hands in a few tight spots.

It's an early scrimmage with unfamiliar linemates, but Kuznetsov gained the offensive zone simply by feeling like it. Effortless. Wayne Simpson isn't particularly big, but he also demonstrated some nice hands.

Tom Wilson bossed the game, spending a lot of time with the puck on his stick. Had a nice feed to his bro Burakovsky, had a nice backcheck late, and also had a bad turnover in front of his own net. At one point he didn't see Aaron Ness near him and accidentally trucked him.

Speaking of trucking, Hubert Labrie one-handed Devante Smith-Pelly to the ice, and Travis Boyd gave no ground (ice?) to Smith-Pelly when he tried to bully past the center to the slot. Didn't appear to be strong on his skates today.

Nick Backstrom? Good at hockey. Had a chip-along that sprung a linemate for a scoring chance that he made look like it was no big deal.

Nice to get some ice-time in today. Make sure to check out Vogs' post on the scrimmage.