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"If there's one person Zack Kassian needs to look at ... it's Chris Higgins" - Torts


BlueLemming

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Tortorella once again proves why he is the right coach for the Canucks. Kassian is coming along fine. He was vital to the game yesterday. He is willing to stand up to anyone and still has talent to burn. The Canucks last night showed that they have the grit to compete along with unfathomable skill and fortitude.

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Burrows-Santorelli-Higgins looked deadly last night

The line looked great, 3 guys that really know how to play the aggressive Tort's fore-check.

Tort's with another outstanding message. Not only does it clearly explain what Tort's wants out of Kassain, it let's Higgins know that he is doing it right and leading by example.

The clarity and directness of this coach is so refreshing!

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Tortorella once again proves why he is the right coach for the Canucks. Kassian is coming along fine. He was vital to the game yesterday. He is willing to stand up to anyone and still has talent to burn. The Canucks last night showed that they have the grit to compete along with unfathomable skill and fortitude.

I loved the way he was in Phaneuf's grill every chance he could get. Awesome.

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kassian is in good hands with coach torts unlike under vigneault whom had no patience with him, one little miscue and whammo on the bench or 4'th line minutes...i see progress in his game because he is getting the minutes and building his confidence and i might mention sestito looks better under totrts too, with limited minutes he has a presence and showed up well last night against the brawny leafs...

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B) In the GDT before the game I commented that Kass has improved a lot this year, but needed to play the game harder and with more intensity. I noted watching him play with Higgins and watching Higgins go head first into a board battle, while Kass hung out just behind the battle waiting with his stick on the ice hoping for the puck to pop out. For all his skills, he has soft hands and surprising talents for a big guy; he was not going to impact as much as he can unless he dove into parts of the game that put him where he can help more. I noted he had great examples of how to play the game hard, playing the boards, winning battles, fighting for position in front of the net, fore checking... On his own team he could follow the lead of these guys who impact as much or more on work rate as talent: Hansen, Santo, Burrows, Higgins. I asked the question when has Kass dominated or impacted a game physically this year?

:rolleyes: Then there I was in the PGT commenting on how Kass made me look stupid, crediting him with a well played game and helping the team win. On his goal he made a hit, went to the front of the net after digging out the puck, and scored. Almost everything you want in one shift, but was involved all game. He did help the game in other ways. He was involved with McLaren, Phaneuf, Clarkson and others in the game, looks like he lost part of another tooth drawing the double minor. Kass, Sestito, Bieksa, Burrows, Stanton, even Archibald all put up just the right front to neutralize a clear attempt to intimidate our team. It helped us win, and we will need that part of Kassians game in a big way in the play-offs as well.

Course it has a touch more credibility when Torts says it... :bigblush:

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Another guy who deserves credit in a big way is Stanton!

For all our talent on D, only Bieksa amongst our D is a stand up for the team kind of guy historically. And he's barely 200 lbs. For years no one other than him on the ice did any more than clutch and hold on from our back end when teams came to intimidate.

There was Stanton, staring down and making it clear to Phaneuf he could drop the gloves and it would be welcome. He locked horns, held his own and pushed him away from more than one scrum, also stuck his nose into conversations with Clarkson and McLaren during scrums. When was the last time we had that on D?

The team is standing up for each other. Lord knows it helped, how many boarding penalties or cheap elbows did TO try to throw? Orr and Clarkson reckoned because Burrows, at 185 lbs, goaded Kessell into a fight that gave them free reign to go after the Twins. Guys like Burrows have always been willing, but its been years since we had enough "bodies" suited to this type of game.

Thats why when Kesler or Burrows yapped, or took a dive, we got a bad rap. We were not prepared to fight our own battles, wanted the ref's to do it for us. Wow, a stand up game! I'm so very pumped!

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The line looked great, 3 guys that really know how to play the aggressive Tort's fore-check.

Tort's with another outstanding message. Not only does it clearly explain what Torut's wants out of Kassain, it let's Higgins know that he is doing it right and leading by example.

The clarity and directness of this coach is so refreshing!

You nailed it.

Tortz is clearly outlining what he expects from his players each and every game.

AV benched players for mistakes, Tortz benches for effort.

Kassian will blossom.... Loved how he kept going after Phaneuf.

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I'm not sure Higgins is the exact style of play that Kassian should play, but the effort is something he should definitely try to mimic.

From what I've seen of Kassian's changes to his play this year, I see him mimicking the Sedins more than anybody with the way he protects the puck along the boards, trying to set up plays. I'm fine with that. And at the same time, with him working on that side of his game, I'm glad he's not playing with the Sedins right now.

I think Kassian needs to play with high-tempo players on his line. He is a guy who will follow those around him when he's on the ice. If he's on the ice with Higgins, or Archibald as the case in the Leafs game, he'll play to their level of energy. And that is when Kassian is at his best.

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^Its not about Higgins style of play it's about his effort. Higgins became the player he is when he worked on his acceleration/burst and overall activity level. Kassian will be a different player based on his size, vision, and puck handling abilities but if he can add the burst and hustle Higgins plays with then he will be a special player.

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It would bring a lot to this team if we could start to play, or learn to play, like Hansen and Higgins do. Higgins and Hansen do so many little things that help win games, things like hitting, stealing pucks, solid defensive play, solid PK, winning small battles along the board as well as just their general compete level and work ethic.

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I don't know if I necessarily agree. When Higgins is playing well yes... but thats not always the case. For a player like Kassian he should probably be zooming in on how Bertuzzi was playing in his hayday. Cause thats exactly what we want from him.

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I don't know if I necessarily agree. When Higgins is playing well yes... but thats not always the case. For a player like Kassian he should probably be zooming in on how Bertuzzi was playing in his hayday. Cause thats exactly what we want from him.

Look at the chances Higgins is getting, the areas he is going into, the skating ability Higgins has, the hitting and forechecking he brings.

If Kassian had played at Higgins' level with his skillset (better hands than Higgins) and size, then he wouldn't be too far off from Big Bert. Think a defensively responsible Bertuzzi (with less skill and toughness - I don't think Kassian will ever surpass Bertuzzi in that regard - Bert was a pretty special player).

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So glad Higgins is still on this team. I remember getting into arguments last season with a lot of the pro Raymond guys who decided the best way to save their boy was to throw Higgy under the bus.

Argument then and now stay the same.

You failed to see how each respective player plays and went by point stats and contracts.

While I saw Higgins as a much better board player, much more abrasive and built for playoffs, the Raymond defenders used Higgy's point totals to say that all the heat on Raymond was uncalled for and that Higgy should be the one to go.

Anyway, who would take Raymond over Higgins now? The way Higgins plays the game, its impossible to keep going without producing.

So far this season, the only one I am wrong about is Booth. I feel the same way about Booth as I do about Higgins. I thought he would have a great bounce back season. His play is exactly like Higgins but with more speed/skill/power and less hockey sense.

I still hope he comes back with a vengeance but I would say it's Booth's last chance this season. I still think hes a solid player but the string of injuries and bad luck might mean that hes just not meant to be with this team.

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Guys, don't turn this thread into a Burt-Kassian discussion... we have another Kassian thread for that, and most of us are pretty sick of hearing it to begin with...

Kassian had a pretty monsterous game vs TO as well. It's a shame he got that 10 min misconduct at the end of it. I would have liked to see a few more shifts out of him.

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