Ducks vs Vancouver Canucks

Yes, just another preseason game, but hopefully one that will give us fans a good idea of what to expect from our boys this season. It was reported that coach Carlyle would be keeping the top RPG line intact, the Fins would be joined by Brandon McMillan on the second line, Andrew Cogliano would play center to Devante Smith-Pelly and Andrew Gordon on the third.

I'm still liking what I've seen with Gordon as well as Maxime Macenauer, hoping they continue their strong strides for roster spots.

I'm also incredibly curious to see how Jonas Hiller fares in between the pipes. He played against the Canucks in Vancouver a few days ago, but I want to see him on home ice with my own eyes.

As for the Canucks, I'm hearing that there are a lot of rookies trying to make the roster. And a lot of the veterans haven't seen much ice time yet. So it might be a slightly lopsided affair, but after watching our rookies beat the pants off of the Los Angeles Kings (who were playing some of their big guns) at the Staples Center Sunday night, anything is possible.

This is hockey afterall, right??

Ducks vs Dallas Stars

I was at this game, but without the camera. What I failed to capture was Lubomir Visnovsky's second career hat trick!! His first came when he was with the Los Angeles Kings. Back when I first started watching hockey, I watched the Kings and loudly noted that Lubo seemed to be the only player that knew what he was doing...

In any case, it was an awesome game, an awesome win, and an awesome treat for the fans to see a guy who works as hard as Lubo get his hat trick at home.

He was also awarded first star of the game, and he accepted the honor amidst tons of screaming fans. Raising his hands in the air, he skated around and broadly beamed throughout his post-game interview.

Kudos to Lubo!