G-52 Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 I agree wallstreet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldnews Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 Whether or not he can play center is not really the point. It is that he is generally very effective in his role as a winger who moves up and down the lineup as necessary and adds a lot more to this team in that role. Adding the defensive responsibilities a center has, faceoffs, pressure to anchor a scoring unit, etc. may reduce his effectiveness in those other areas or may force him to change his game more than a little bit. Weakening the wing to shore up the center position is not the best use of assets - especially if Raymond is his replacement as our utility winger. If AV is not going to use Ebbett or Schroeder then maybe MG should be looking at signing someone he will use until Kesler is back. Teams who win the cup generally fill holes without creating other holes...........food for thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldnews Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 And I get that MG' whole schtick is to do things differently and that he beats to his own drum but sometimes following the crowd is what works best. Using Higgins as a center isn't creativity, it is desperation because of the woeful lack of depth we have at center. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disisdayear Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 Whether or not he can play center is not really the point. It is that he is generally very effective in his role as a winger who moves up and down the lineup as necessary and adds a lot more to this team in that role. Adding the defensive responsibilities a center has, faceoffs, pressure to anchor a scoring unit, etc. may reduce his effectiveness in those other areas or may force him to change his game more than a little bit. Weakening the wing to shore up the center position is not the best use of assets - especially if Raymond is his replacement as our utility winger. If AV is not going to use Ebbett or Schroeder then maybe MG should be looking at signing someone he will use until Kesler is back. Teams who win the cup generally fill holes without creating other holes...........food for thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wallstreetamigo Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 Here are his career faceoff numbers. It does not look like he has ever been a regular center in the NHL and on the surface those numbers are pretty underwhelming to be the best choice to replace Kesler. I also am not saying Higgins could not be the answer. I am saying in a 48 game season the margin for error is razor thin and could be very costly if 10 games in they realize he is not the answer. I love Higgins as a player by the way. 2011-2012 - 30 faceoffs in 71 games 40.0% 2010-2011 - 85 faceoffs in 62 games 48.2% 2009-2010 - 70 faceoffs in 67 games 40.0% 2008-2009 - 57 faceoffs in 57 games 50.9% 2007-2008 - 62 faceoffs in 82 games 35.5% 2006-2007 - 53 faceoffs in 61 games 34.0% 2005-2006 - 45 faceoffs in 80 games 51.1% Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wallstreetamigo Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 If within is the only place they are filling holes from then I don't think this team has what it takes to go all the way. I love them but they need something added not just pieces moved around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamJamIam Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 There's a big difference between saying MG hasn't played Higgins at centre so far, and saying that he won't play Higgins at centre ever. He simply hasn't needed to yet because Kesler came back from injury (probably too early). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disisdayear Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 If within is the only place they are filling holes from then I don't think this team has what it takes to go all the way. I love them but they need something added not just pieces moved around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogbyte Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 I heard that Burrows has also been tried at center. Sedin Sedin Kassian Booth Lapierre Higgins Raymond Burrows Hansen Wiese Malhotra Volpatti Ebbett Piniziotto Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dasein Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 If we are moving a winger to center, it will be Raymond. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogbyte Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 If we are moving a winger to center, it will be Raymond. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThaBestPlaceOnEarth Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 Gallagher, Papp, McIntyre, Botchford...and a bunch of other journalists and media guys in Vancouver are a collective group of morons. These guys all have a way of spinning stuff and trying to present themselves as experts, when in fact they do zero research and have their facts skewed. You guys remember Pratt getting fired from TEAM 1040 for plagiarism? How was that for journalistic integrity? Had to laugh at Papp, Gallagher and McIntyre's questions. Do you guys remember Gallagher getting railroaded by Scott Thornton and broadcaster from NESN or ESPN radio (Boston) after January 2012 game? I couldn't help but laugh listening to Gallagher get embarassed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThaBestPlaceOnEarth Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 There's a very real chance Gillis looks at the CBA, looks at Luongo's deal, realizes he cant sign a deal like that under the new CBA, realizes it's actually quite a good deal, and backs off trading him and/or increases his demands to the point nobody will trade with him. Either that or some other GM will put two and two together and get Lu for a song before Gillis figures out what's going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-52 Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 There's a very real chance Gillis looks at the CBA, looks at Luongo's deal, realizes he cant sign a deal like that under the new CBA, realizes it's actually quite a good deal, and backs off trading him and/or increases his demands to the point nobody will trade with him. Either that or some other GM will put two and two together and get Lu for a song before Gillis figures out what's going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disisdayear Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 The lockout's been over for a day and Gallagher is already writing his garbage articles in the Province, it's infuriating. Can we go back please? Sure the lockout was a shame, but at least it saved us from these foolish fools in the "sports media." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldnews Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 The lockout's been over for a day and Gallagher is already writing his garbage articles in the Province, it's infuriating. Can we go back please? Sure the lockout was a shame, but at least it saved us from these foolish fools in the "sports media." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEAN HARNETT Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 It doesn't matter what Gillis wants to accomplish in the Luongo trade. All of his scouts are idiots and cant recommend a good return for Luongo if it smacked them in the face. As it stands now that Canucks will get something so useless that it wont even help the fourth line center position, let alone the second line center spot. Fire Gillis and Hire a smart GM who will surround himself with COMPETENT scouts who can make SMART hockey decisions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disisdayear Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 As much as I don't like Botchford at times and that I lumped him in with the media clowns that included Gallagher, McIntyre, Papp, Garrett, etc., I found his video commentary on the following Province link is very much on the mark... http://www.theprovince.com/sports/Canucks/894638/story.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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