Notes from Giant Center's second deck Friday night

Posted on October 06, 2012

HERSHEY-It may not count for much (anything), but it was good to see live hockey Friday night, as the Binghamton Senators defeated the Hershey Bears 5-3 in preseason action at Giant Center. After calling games in the press box since the building opened in 2002, I had the chance Friday to watch a game from the seats for the first time. Saw a lot of friends, and met a lot of fans. It wasn't a winning night for the home team, but they had lots of good chances. A bounce or two, and it would have been a different outcome. A few observations and notes from Friday night, from Chocolatetown, U.S.A., in no particular order... -Dmitry Orlov was paired with veteran AHL blueliner Garrett Stafford Friday. This could very well be Hershey's top defensive pair to begin the year, especially when Oates/French want to push the pace. Patrick Wellar teamed up with Kevin Marshall Friday, and Tomas Kundratek played at even strength with Cameron Schilling. -With only a couple of exceptions, Hershey had "the varsity" in the lineup Friday night for this preseason tilt. Defenseman Patrick McNeill and winger Stan Galiev were both missing Friday, but the lineup card otherwise could be seen as a potential opening night list. Braden Holtby served as Dany Sabourin's backup against the Senators. -Reading too much into one AHL preseason game is not generally a good idea, but we did perhaps get a bit of a glimpse into the mind of Adam Oates when it comes to the power play. Center Ryan Potulny played the point on the man advantage Friday, with four forwards playing with a single defenseman. Tomas Kundratek scored a goal by jumping up on the power play in the second period, and nearly had another at the end of the first with Hershey up a man. With a very limited sample size, the Bears seemed to push the pace on the power play. Perhaps a preview of coming attractions at Verizon Center? -I was reminded of a couple of rule changes the AHL has put in place for this year. One is the implementation of instant replay when the regular season starts. Replay has not existed at the AHL level previously. Also, at the NHL's request, the league is testing hybrid icing to start the season. From opening night until November 19, the rule is in effect as a modification to having to touch up. Read more about hybrid icing here to see what it's about. -Real pretty goal in the second period, when Jon DiSalvatore potted a pretty Ryan Potulny pass down low. DiSalvatore is a veteran poised to make his Hershey debut, while Potulny enters his second season in Chocolatetown. Both are likely top line choices to begin the regular season. Veteran Jeff Taffe played on their line Friday night. -Praise for Mattias Sjogren from co-coach Adam Oates after the game Friday. Sjogren skated on Hershey's checking line with veteran captain Boyd Kane and right winger Garrett Mitchell. -If you're a hockey purist, Friday night at Giant Center was for you. No dasher boards in place yet. No promo time outs either. The game took just over two hours to complete. It had a turn-back-the-clock feel to it. Not a bad change of pace. Hershey will play Saturday at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and home Sunday against the Penguins at 5:00 p.m. We're back with full Caps 365 coverage this week at Giant Center, as the Bears make final cuts and prepare for the regular season opener next Saturday night in Syracuse.   -