almost there..... =]

so, we are most of the way through the preseason, and although the roster is beginning to trim down a good amount, there are still questions galore.
so far this preseason, the line-ups have changed every game, and it doesn't seem to have affected the outcomes of the games (6-0-1 in preseason so far, best in league!). however, the quality of play from lots of the newcomers has been very evident, and most of them are gone.
the biggest talk is obviously hodgson and shirokov. hodgson came into camp with a back injury, and although he has played a couple games now, he still isn't at the quality he needs to be at to make the final roster. meanwhile, shirokov has been excellent and everyone is loving him so far. he did hurt his knee last week, but he's now ready to play tonight. this will be very interesting, since there is really only one roster spot open for the two of them (demitra is on long-term IR).
more big talk has been about the defence. with the meltdown in the playoffs and ohlie's departure to tampa, there were many questions about where we were going to find our defencemen. then, in september, there were too many good choices! although the prospects have been sent off, the final roster spots are still to be confirmed. mathieu schneider is on LTIR, so that allows a bit of temporary flexibility.
finally, the other big question: who's backing up luongo? cory schneider and andrew raycroft have been duking it out for the position. although schneider looked to be the answer back in the summer, raycroft has been slightly outperforming him so far this preseason. schneider has one chance left with the upcoming oilers game to show he's ready for the nhl, otherwise he's heading back to the moose.

tonight will be a fun game. nucks play the flamers at the saddledome, then the oilers at rexall tomorrow night. after this, the next game will be next thursday, the highly-anticipated season opener at the saddledome. exciting times ahead!!!

ps. i really want to see rypien fight iginla in one of these two games here, either tonight or the season opener. it would just be epic!!