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[Signing] - Raymond


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Low-risk, high-reward signing. I approve.

Seriously, give the kid a chance. He came back from a broken back.

He's Garrison's close friend. At least he did some service to the Nucks this year.

His underlying numbers are great (except for last season); he's not getting much PP time as he did when he scored his 25 goals - of course, his production will dip. He's good defensively, and because of his speed, he's rarely useless on the team.

With the reliable minutes he plays, If he's able to net 15 goals, it'll be a great signing.

He kills penalties. He's really useful on 4 on 4 and will be even better 3-on-3, if that ever materializes for next season (and I think it will).

If Raymond ever puts on 10-15 more pounds of muscle, and this signing will look golden.

Most importantly, with Luongo out of town, we need someone to takeover the scapegoat role on the team. He seems like a natural fit.

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The issue with what you are saying is Vancouver isn't a big hockey town. Its like people try to make it seem like it is by talking trash about players and demanding to trade them. Look at the fans in Rogers Arena.... many of them don't truly care about the team. Lots of people right now only care about the Canucks because they are winning.

I used to live in Thunder Bay Ont, I played hockey there, and I've played hockey near Vancouver. Its ridiculous how many people call themselves hockey fans here. When we are sitting in the dressing room between periods when I play near Vancouver... the players on my team are talking about baseball, or golf... or football. Then they laugh if we are losing. Then when I played in Thunder Bay, the players would be quiet and mad about the fact that we are losing. They actually cared! Coming from a real hockey town, I see how much people don't actually care about hockey in Vancouver as much as people say they do.

Also for a city like Thunder Bay, it only has roughly 110,000 people... and back when I played in Midget hockey there, we had 2 AAA teams for the city, 6 AA, 10-12 A, and then about 6 house league teams. Plus there was a whole other league where players just played for fun, which had about 6 teams. Then there are the ones that just play at the outdoor rinks for fun. Whoever didn't play hockey was pretty much an outcast.

I know there are a lot of hockey fans in Vancouver.... but to call it a hockey town is a little over the top. Lots of people know next to nothing about the sport, barely know the rules, yet they talk about players and trash talk them for not scoring in a certain situation, or not saving a certain shot. Its very frustrating hearing people talk down about players on the team they are a "fan" of. A big reason why the Canucks sell out all their games is because they have been winning a lot, plus there is a lot of rich people in this city.

There are times I feel embarrassed to say I'm a Canucks fan, only because right now we are seen as a bunch of whiners. Look at comments on other sites, every other teams fans make fun of us because we just ran a superstar goalie out of the city.

If you are going to whine about something, make sure you know what you're whining about in the first place.

Raymond deserves this chance to prove he can play like he has in the past.

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He was defensively fantastic in 10-11. One of our best forwards. Last year? Well, recovering from a broken back can be tricky. I'll ignore last year and give him the benefit of the doubt since he'll have had the full summer to bulk up.

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Defensively fantastic? Really? Was playing with the Selke winner who was plus-24, and Raymond somehow managed to finish plus-8. Oh, and he was minus player in the playoffs when we needed him most playing with that same Selke winner...

A lot of fans love Raymond. You know who hates Raymond? The stats...

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I've heard that argument before. He was fully recovered from his back otherwise they wouldn't have let him play. It only takes a handful of games to get your mojo back, which he did almost immediately, and then went completely invisible on the score sheet, for the most part, for the next 41 games. (7 points in 9 games upon returning), finished with 11 points in 41 games or .27 p/g.

Well, whatever, this team is good enough to play well even if they're dragging him along. But if he can't get back to being a legitimate threat on a consistent basis sometime during the season then he needs to get out of here.

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