The season began Saturday September 2 when Frolunda HC and Bruins seventh round picks in 2023 Kristian Kostadinski and Casper Nassen took to the ice against IF Malmo in J20 Nationell action and came away with a 4-2 victory.
It was the type of game you’ve come to expect from the season opener – a lot of players still trying to get their legs under them. Kostadinski contributed to the offence with two assists in the match while Nassen was held off the scoresheet. It was a blah game from Nassen. While Kostandinski contributed offensively, he was on the ice for both Malmo goals against. Still, he was a mean S.O.B. to play against.
My biggest takeaway on Kostadinski: A lot of jokes were made at Development Camp about his skating with some suggestions he was getting lessons in camp on how to skate. While he will never be confused for Fabian Lysell, there has been some noticeable improvement. He’s not there yet and he will need to continue to show progress if the NHL is his ultimate goal.
Last Sunday, the KHL schedule got underway for Roman Bychkov. They dropped a 5-2 decision to Torpedo in their opener. For the 22-year-old Bychkov, who was selected in the fifth round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft it was more of the same – he did not dress. Now in his third KHL season, Bychkov’s career high is 22 games played which came in his rookie season in 2021-2022.
On Wednesday, Frolunda HC won for thee second time in as many games to start the season defeating Farjestad BK by a score of 2-1. Both Kostadinski and Nassen were kept off the scoresheet. Interestingly, Nassen was kept on the second line but where he began on the left wing in the season opener, he and his right winger, Teodor Forssander swapped wings for this game.
Also on Wednesday, Lokomotiv won their first game of the season by a 3-2 score over Traktor in overtime. Bychkov was once again a scratch for Lokomotiv
In Friday’s KHL action, Lokomotiv defeated SKA Saint Petersburg 3-2 with Bychkov being a healthy scratch once again. There was exhibition action involving Bruins prospects. The Guelph Storm defeated the Niagara IceDogs 5-2. Matthew Poitras had a goal and 2 helpers to lead the way. The biggest takeaway so far through the preseason is that Poitras has spent the whole time with last season’s linemates Braeden Bowman and Max Namestnikov. That’s going to help his stats. In USHL exhibition, Tri-City Storm defeated Sioux Falls Stampede 4-2. Christopher Pelosi did not play in this one but fellow 2023 draft pick Beckett Hendrickson did and was kept off the scoresheet. This game was not streamed so I have no insight on it.
On Saturday, Nassen scored his first of the season as Frolunda improved to 3-0 on the season following a 5-2 victory over Farjestad. It was a solid outing for Nassen who once again skated on the right wing. He had 6 shots on goal with a few of them being solid opportunities. Kostadinski did not register a point nor a shot on goal but was very solid defensively once again.
In Saturday’s preseason action, the London Knights lost to the Sarnia Sting by a 3-2 score. It was the first game for both teams so it was sloppy in a few spots but Jackson Edward looked like he was in mid-season form. While he didn’t hit the score sheet, his skating was great for the first game and his conditioning appeared to be excellent. He was his solid self defensively and had a couple of devastating hits.
In the other OHL preseason game, the Guelph Storm defeated the Niagara IceDogs 4-1. Poitras had the game’s opening goal shorthanded and then set up the game’s final goal on the powerplay to earn second start of the game. He now has 2 goals and 4 assists through 4 preseason games, fourth in the OHL.
In the USHL, Sioux Falls opened up an early 2-0 lead over Des Moines and held on for a 2-1 victory. Pelosi made his debut and Hendrickson dressed for the second time in two days. Both were kept off the scoresheet but I liked what I saw early in the season from them, especially Hendrickson’s tenacity.
On Sunday, Frolunda improved to 4-0 to start the season with a 7-5 win over Orebro. It was a wild, crazy back and forth game. Trailing 5-4 entering the third period, Nassen set up the tying goal and began the comeback for Frolunda. (The goal was initially awarded to Nassen but was officially changed this morning). Nassen also had a goal and another helper to give him 2 goals and 2 assists to start the season. For Kostadinski, it wasn’t his best game of the young season but I expect some ups and downs from him.
Coming up this week:
| PLAYER | MON 11 | TUE 12 | WED 13 | THU 14 | FRI 15 | SAT 16 | SUN 17 |
| NASSEN/KOSTADINSKI | v RBK | vHV71 | v OHK | ||||
| MYRENBERG | @HV71 | v IKO | |||||
| BYCHKOV | v HCS | v KRS | @KRS | ||||
| JELLVIK/GASSEAU | |||||||
| LOCMELIS | |||||||
| WALSH | |||||||
| LANGENBRUNNER | |||||||
| SPICER/OLSON | |||||||
| SCHMALTZ | |||||||
| DURAN/SVEDEBACK | |||||||
| GALLAGHER | |||||||
| POITRAS | + PIT | + MTL | |||||
| EDWARD | + PIT | + MTL | |||||
| HENDRICKSON/PELOSI | |||||||
| DYCK | + PIT | +MTL |
+ Prospects Challenge in Buffalo
Dom - Hockey 