Dr. Crossbar

He's at home happy, with Hronek! *The comma makes a difference

Nice one! I'm guessing he's doing a bit of damage control.

It's interesting to see a lot of people immediately pounce to the negative. Me, personally, I think these 4-year RFA deals are much better for the league and teams rather than being saddled with 8-year contracts that go horribly bad with injuries or age. Sure there's cost-certainty but we've also seen too many teams piss money down the drain. 4-5 year deals are just better to take on cap/term wise. This also puts the onus on the team to build a better team around their star. I mean, also, it makes sense to hold off to time an extension to the cap increasing.

Not that long ago ...

Now that's a fair post. All good points. I appreciate what you put into it. I really do. I disagree with you about people tearing him down, though. The way this thread started and the lengths people go to around here in order to be negative is astounding. And the tactics people use to reinforce their negativity over and over is quite surprising, subtle, clever at times, and also aggressive. Quite frankly, when people were going on and on and on for months - a long time in here - about the need for a young RHD - and then we actually get one - a good one - and suddenly you see the negativity and even the implied negativity in the title of this thread - it's absolutely crazy. I know I'm not alone in that thinking. Imo, Hronek's exactly what we've needed, what people were calling for, who also brings an edge to his physical game with pushback ... something else people have been calling for. It just doesn't make any sense to not be happy about getting a Dman like him. I don't think he's a saviour. Not once have I ever said that. I have been saying he's exactly what people were wanting for months and putting a spotlight on that. Rightfully so, imo. But I will say ... People have taken me far, FAR too seriously with this. Hell, first and foremost, it's the offseason and I chose to have a lot of fun with it to offset the lack of hockey and chronic negativity. And second ... it's funny, and interesting, the more ridiculous my posts, the more angry people got. Geez, people, lighten up! Of course we're all waiting and seeing. I mean, that's what we'll all be doing anyway no matter what happens. Yes, he was injured. Sure, that hesitation is fair and legit. What I don't think is fair is to say ... give him 20 games, give him 40 games, keep setting benchmarks, and then if he does well, immediately find the negative at the end of the season in what his next contract will cost. It's like waiting to see if he's any good ... but if he is, it's still going to be negative anyway. The fact is ... Hronek's a good Dman. It's not what I've built him up to be ... he already is that. That's been evident in all the highlight videos. That's been my point all along. Now, in saying that ... If I'm wrong, I'm wrong ... so be it ... my world isn't going to end. It won't be the end of the world. I'm still happy with this trade and will be surprised if he doesn't improve our team.

Enter the Dobson narrative to minimize Hronek ...

Lol ... goaltending Kardashian

Difference maker! Goaltending Influencer!

Demko's misfortune is Silovs' opportunity ... that's how it works! Then Silovs becomes the new Jordan Binnington ... we win the Cup. Plan parade. The end.

Many of the Canucks defensive alumni all come together in Vancouver for the season opener ... Salo, Ohlund, Lumme, Jovo, Bieksa, Edler, Hamhuis, Snepts, Babych ... even former Canucks Dman Jim Benning secretly flies in under the cover of darkness ... To throw their support behind Hronek and openly give fans the exact reasons why they should be ... Wait for it ... Wait for it ... Happy with Hronek

Hrock of ages ... keep hrollin'

Tocchet and Clark definitely have to get his management right. Both Demko and Martin need to have bounce back seasons.

Hasek ... And it becomes more and more clear as the years pass. I really don't think it's close. I think people's emotions surrounding Roy clouded their judgement when it came to Hasek. It's finally great years on now to finally see more of a consensus around Hasek. Imo, he's the greatest ever and we were lucky to have seen him. Also Roy, Brodeur, and so many others. I also believe Hasek would dominate today in this era as well.

Gunter Glieben Glauchen Hronek

Excellent post. You're right about the bias. That is - and has been - the easy prediction. With so much parity in the league now, we're not nearly as bad as some say. The interesting things is the new regime is making improvements across the board in all areas, including Abbotsford. So, as we head into this season with improvements, and the next few with improvements, we should see much, much better results. This season should be the start of those and it's going to be harder for naysayers to keep repeating the same thing each year.

I like the ridding of Boo Hoo part!

I'd say Wolanin is the closest. He was on fire in the A last year. Looked great when he was here.

If Hughes gets the "C" ... that means Hronek can take sole possession of the "H". We'll have to "wait and see" about Hoglander.

Lol ... I used it in the Hot Takes.

After a long offseason of waiting and seeing, after 20 games into the season, and after a full season in the lineup, some fans finally come off the fence - begrudgingly, through gritted teeth - and finally admit they're happy with Hronek.

The Reckoning

Also within this thread was the notion that in order to make playoffs we had to get off to a great start. I agree with that. To that end, I said ... again ... They themselves were treating the end of last season as an extended training camp. So there really isn't any excuse for a bad start. Even more so given that's how they were treating it. Has nothing to do with the past three seasons. I'm simply talking about what they said last season and how they approached the latter half of the season. I'd say that bodes well for a better start than last season, which would help in us making the playoffs. There just aren't any excuses for a bad start this season.

It doesn't matter what you or I think ... that's exactly how they were treating it. Tocchet and management even said so. So, by their own words, there's no excuse for a bad start. Even more so since they were treating last season as such.

Captains are the most underrated thing in hockey.