Horvats_Big_Head

He could be way better than demko

So is OJ Salos responsibility?

Might be time to cut him loose. His ceiling has always been a great fourth line player. Brendan Gaunces grow on trees, and we can save salary space by not extending him.

Heard from Craig Button that Dahlen is NHL ready. Anybody have a run down of how he has progressed this year?

Really excited for this guy. Hopefully he wins, but I won’t be too upset if he loses so we can get him up for a few games. Winning would do do wonders for his confidence though.

His stats are a little concerning. Not anywhere near what we expect.

Warhippy, you said it yourself that one game does not make or break someone. Yes Gaunce scored 2 goals last night, but this is a statistical anomally. That five-hole goal was pure luck. The other one was a nice pass by Loui and porous defense by Chicago, all while shooting on an AHL goalie. He is still on the fourth line getting fourth line minutes, while you said that he was going to be a middle six player, possibly top six. You need to finally come clean and admit that was a ludicrous statement. Career -10 player, Corsi of 45.6 (so generally hurts us on the ice). Faceoff percentage of 45.1%. Wasn't he supposed to be the next Malhotra according to some?! Not gonna happen when losing more than half of the faceoffs. Manny never had an average dip below 50%. On top of everything else, word through the grapevine is Gaunce isn't a very nice person. Been told he's pretty much a bully. This guy will not last long in an NHL, let alone Canucks sweater. Sure, he is pretty good defensively but that is all he does. I can't wait for the future to unfold when Gaunce gets traded/cut/waived, so I can finally say I &^@#in atoadaso.

Raptors with a big win today. They just beat Lebron without Lowry and Ibaka. This proves that they must trade Lowry, for the sustainability of this team. Get a high draft pick plus a young blue chipper. Lowry is overrated by many in the NBA. He is also a whiner and a "locker room cancer" according to people around the team. My best friend is brother of a scout for them.

CMON MAN IVE BEEN OVER THIS. HE WILL BE BETTER

HE WILL BE BETTER THAN JAGR

Could be the best #5 pick ever in the history of ever

You think you can block my stoyle, and yet you cannot. HAHA...

EP sure is making Subban look bad. Subban should be embarrassed at his performance so far as a prospect.

So when can we get this kid into the lineup?

Anyone been making any highlight packages of this kid so far? Im curious to see

It's great that he's doing well, but we should just let him to continue and not get ahead of ourselves. I remember a guy by the name of Tommeres who was doing very well over in Europe and he failed to improve. I know he wasn't anywhere near the 5th overall pick, but still.

Jake just needs to keep doing his thing...its working!

I think now that Travis Green is coach, I was probably wrong about Jake Virtanen. If he can keep building on this, who knows how good he will get... I am sorry for calling him a bust. Can we talk about how Jordan Subban will never make the Canucks?

It is funny to look back into the archives of the Brendan Gaunce prospects thread. You get a real idea of how far he has fallen, both in fan perception and as an actual hockey player. I've gone back quite a ways to the year after he was drafted. There is one fellow who seemed to call it all from the very beginning, that Gaunce would be a fringe NHLer/4th liner and never make it higher, the position he finds himself in now. This poster was Dangler696969 (what a ridiculous name). People who claim to have superior hockey knowledge on this forum, like "Warhippy", "Elvis15", "Derp..." were quick to praise Gaunce, most saying he would be a Top 9 player or even possible 2nd line center. It is laughable to read some of their comments from a few years ago. Here are a few quotes: From Page 90: Dangler: Gaunce will be a permanent 4C for us, that is, unless we can trade him while his value is much higher than a 4C. Warhippy: I seriously question why people are throwing Gaunce into every proposal lately. We need a 3 C. Want to rent one? or want one for a career? That is what we are looking at with Gaunce. A true 2B center or 3rd line center star. Yes he needs to throw the body more but that will come in time. Every other aspect of his game is quite polished and generally ready for the bare least AHL duties. His foot speed/acceleration is not the best, he isn't as hard on the body as he could be. But then again neither are the twins, Thorton, Bergeron and dozens of other top tier players in the league. Derp...: Gaunce will be a Utility forward for us in the Top 9. His Smarts will put him ahead of any 4th line spot. Who does Tort's put into the top 6? --- Guys who Process the game at a very high level. What is Gaunce's strength as a hockey player? --- How he processes the game... He's too smart and works too hard to not be in the top 9. From Page 91: Warhippy: From watching some of our top prospects I can honestly say Gaunce will make it in this league as a 2b center or a solid 3rd line C The thread goes on for a while with a lot of back and forth between Dangler and most posters in the thread, with dangler all of a sudden disappearing around page 104. Lots of people were talking about his amazing shot (have yet to see that in a canucks uniform) while ignoring his skating deficiencies. He still is a terrible skater, without the necessary acceleration to create space for himself. He could get a breakaway at the red line and have any competent skater catch up to him from a long ways back. It is funny because all of these smug people were telling Dangler how wrong he was, when in reality it turned out he was completely accurate in his assessments, however elementary they were. And here we are, Gaunce scored no goals last year, has 1 career goal that was scored off of his butt, and is on the very edge of bust status. I've heard the guy isn't too pleasant either. I think its time to make room for other prospects who are knocking at the door. We no longer have room for Gaunce, unless he becomes a totally different player this year. Right now, he's a bum.

He better make it this year. That would be huge for his development. He deserves a chance to prove himself.

I wanted to apologize for what I said earlier... I didn't mean to sound like a jerk. Just was curious on whether Jake was training or not. Any relevant info would be cool.

Is Jake getting fat? Does anybody see him?

I said I would not post in this thread until after the season so here it goes. I'm encouraged by Jake's progression over the last third of the season. It seems that something is starting to click for him mentally, which is a sign he is more mature. However, this does not change my opinion about whether we drafted the correct player with the 6th overall pick. Nonetheless, this is the player we have so hopefully he can turn into a solid complimentary piece going forward. Could he make it out of camp next year? Maybe. Travis Green will definitely give him a long look. Hopefully he doesn't get so god damn fat this summer...

The savior has arrived. This is the the guy who scores the cup winning goal.