I need a weekend to recover from my weekend

As noted in the previous post, Adam Hughesman is on his way back to the Americans after not passing his physical with the Islanders.  Not sure what that means, he walked away with the camp fitness awards here.  Weird. But it will be nice to have him back.

Some general observations/opinions:

• Thursday night's goaltending (Comrie) worried me.  Friday night's goaltending (Rimmer) worried me.  Saturday night's goaltending (Comrie) looked much better.  I have a feeling it's going to be like that all season, up and down.  Then again, if it's more down than up, Bob will work some of his magic to make something happen.
• Mackenzie Royer is off my "uh...no" list.  Kid can win a few faceoffs, and that's something.
• I really like the work ethic and skill of Malte Stromwall.  And his tenacity.  RAWRRR
• Mitch Topping is a solid addition, he'll do well.
• I opened my eyes and figured it out, Marcus Messier had a good weekend.
• Riley Guenther and Justin Hamonic, also quite solid.
• I repeat my thoughts that Drydn Dow has been playing well and that the extra ice time at forward last year boosted his game and his confidence immensely.  And the confidence the coaches have in him.  Is he going to be in the top two D pairings?  Not sure, but he certainly wouldn't be out of place.  He's better than a 6th D man, IMO.
• Behbeh-faced rookies that impressed me: Gutierrez, Williams, and Bosovich had some flashes of goodness.

Overall it was sloppy as hell, all the teams were.  That's part of the deal with pre-season, GM and coach evaluations and working out the chemistry and tightening up the messy play.  Passes were terrible, turnovers galore, but that's what pre-season is for.  One more matchup against the Chiefs this Saturday, then onto the real deal!