And Then There Were 25

- The Washington Post reports that the second-to-last cuts have been made, and it should come as no surprise that Fleischmann and Schultz are on the train back to Hershey. Both are talented and young, so I expect we'll see them back at camp next year. Congrats to Beech, Klepis, Giroux and Fata for sticking it out this far. Of those four, I'd like to see Beech and Klepis on the opening night roster - mostly based on my one preseason game, the day at training camp, and the various articles, so take it with a grain of salt.

Not that I don't love Rrrrrico, because I do - he can fly, and he has a fun name - but that's about it. He reminds me of that kid in the Mighty Ducks 2 (a classic!) that could skate really fast but couldn't stop and would go crashing into the boards...everyone remember the stacks of soda cans on the ice? Anyone? No? Never mind...

As for Giroux, I really don't know much about him - it seems he's impressing people, especially in the last few games, but I'll need to see more before I make up my mind. Apparently Hanlon is putting him out there with Ovie and Zubie tomorrow, and if that's not the ultimate test I don't know what is. Let's just say if he can keep up with those two, he deserves another look.

- Some wonderful soul has posted video of the Ovie-Richards fight on Google - yay! I've watched it a few times in a row, and to be honest Alex didn't look half bad. He (mostly) stays on his feet and gets some pretty good punches in before taking a bit of a beating towards the end. The commentator annoys me because he is clearly from Philly and he makes it sound much worse than it looks, but I was very proud of Ovie.

Now I never want to see that again.