Stormriders Posted November 27, 2015 Share Posted November 27, 2015 For a long time now I have tracked the Canucks and hits per game, always feeling the Canucks do not play physical enough. To me to be successful, you need the right balance of skill, speed, and physicality. Since we peaked in 2011, our overall skill level has diminished, but at the same time, so has our physicality. Simply put, we are not a tough enough team to play against, and here I am not referring to fighting but rather making other teams less willing to play against us because of the price they will have to pay to make plays. The Canucks have trailed number of hit stats for years. I look at that each and every game, and I think it is an indicator of how soft a team we are to play against. There are very few games you will see where we are close in the hit department. Here are some stats to support my opinion: In hits per game, for the current season, we are 28th at 17.2 vs a league high of 36.4. 2015 we are 27th in hits at 19.2 vs a league high of 32.7. 2014 we were 21st at 20.9 vs. a league high of 31.8. See the trend? Year to date our highest hitter is Jake at 53, which ranks 40th in the league. Some surprises when you look at other individuals are Prust at only 12 [yes he was injured but that is only 1 hit pg], Sutter at 10 and Tanev at 6. Until we start making other teams pay the price to compete against us, or, until we become an elite skilled team [not in the near future based on our roster and prospects], we will be a mediocre team that will never contend for a cup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRussianRocket. Posted November 27, 2015 Share Posted November 27, 2015 I get you but that isn't a recipe for success and cdc has gone over the argument of size vs skill many times over the past few years. Truth be told, it can be any and/or a mixture of both. And we have a good shot at bringing home Lucic in the Summer so maybe that answers your concern? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xereau Posted November 27, 2015 Share Posted November 27, 2015 Bad passes and give aways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormriders Posted November 27, 2015 Author Share Posted November 27, 2015 8 minutes ago, TheRussianRocket. said: I get you but that isn't a recipe for success and cdc has gone over the argument of size vs skill many times over the past few years. Truth be told, it can be any and/or a mixture of both. And we have a good shot at bringing home Lucic in the Summer so maybe that answers your concern? It's not just about size, it's finishing your check. As an example, I don't expect Tanev to be putting guys through the boards, but it's hard to believe that a D man that plays the minutes he does, only has a total of 6 hits all season. Even McCann, a 19 year old rookie has more than twice that in less games and much less ice time. Hitting might not be a recipe for success on it's own, but it is an important component. It's part of our compete level and the responsibility of all the players and might help us play a full 60 minutes. Having a guy 'like' Lucic would be great and certainly help, although I am not sold on what it would cost us, even as a free agent in the summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bo.Horvat53 Posted November 27, 2015 Share Posted November 27, 2015 Benning is trying to address that, that's why he drafted Virtanen, signed Prust, traded for Dorsett & Sbisa. We will get there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Kneel Posted November 27, 2015 Share Posted November 27, 2015 Put in Grenier and Gaunce for Burrows and Higgins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanuckleHorse Posted November 27, 2015 Share Posted November 27, 2015 I would trade Higgins, Bartschi, Weber for a Matt Martin but would Ny ILanders do this trade? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathew Barzal Posted November 27, 2015 Share Posted November 27, 2015 We don't need big bodies that can hit, we need big bodies that can effectively forecheck and cycle without getting ragdolled like Baertschi, Vrbata, Sutter etc do. I'm literally praying that somewhere down the line Virtanen develops the ability to think on the fly and use his reach/physicality/skills in a manner that would favour possession hockey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowardrobertford Posted November 27, 2015 Share Posted November 27, 2015 Funniest thread ever, a very well articulated post as if written by a very famous student of literature, which I never actually bothered to lay my eyes on with fear of having an envy towards the intellect the "one n only" op posses. complain at the blackhawks thread they are always at the bottom when it comes to hits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iBlueGreen Posted November 27, 2015 Share Posted November 27, 2015 29 minutes ago, xereau said: Bad passes and give aways. Bad passes and give aways are caused by hard hitting teams, teams with physicality. As a player your time and space gets smaller when someone on the other team is coming to give you a big hit to separate you from the puck; you'd be thinking twice about holding on to that puck longer. I agree with @Stormriders post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackpluto96 Posted November 27, 2015 Share Posted November 27, 2015 52 minutes ago, iBlueGreen said: Bad passes and give aways are caused by hard hitting teams, teams with physicality. As a player your time and space gets smaller when someone on the other team is coming to give you a big hit to separate you from the puck; you'd be thinking twice about holding on to that puck longer. I agree with @Stormriders post. Sounds more like speed to me rather than big hitters for your argument. Don't get me wrong, I love to have a physical and punishing team but that's not the only criteria. We have the roster right now and it won't be an overnight job to turn that into a hard-hitting team. But JB is working on it since he took over to find the right mix of skill and physicality. He simply doesn't want a one-dimensional hitter on this team taking up a spot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elvis15 Posted November 27, 2015 Share Posted November 27, 2015 Hitting is not everything. Hitting means you don't have the puck, and if you don't hit to try and gain possession, then you're just trying to intimidate. How'd that work out for us last year in that super physical game against the Kings where we took it to them with grit and strength? Oh right, we lost. We actually outhit any other team in the 2011 playoffs - including the Bruins in the final - and that didn't work out for us either. If you look at someone like Kesler, who does hit, his strength is more in his ability to strip the team of the puck rather than trying to knock them off it. I'd rather have solid guys who are strong on takeaways than a bunch of physical guys who hit everything they see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mcfly Posted November 27, 2015 Share Posted November 27, 2015 2 hours ago, TheRussianRocket. said: I get you but that isn't a recipe for success and cdc has gone over the argument of size vs skill many times over the past few years. Truth be told, it can be any and/or a mixture of both. And we have a good shot at bringing home Lucic in the Summer so maybe that answers your concern? Eww Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Kneel Posted November 27, 2015 Share Posted November 27, 2015 Having Prust Cracknell and Sbisa have shown that being physical helps us win. Makes more room for the skill guys We should keep this line-up ( minus Baers) add Pedan instead of one of the bottom d we're using, Then we can set the tone. Hitting is the way of getting everyone into the game, it's respected by the skill players on the bench. See Prust tap McCann's helmet when he got off from a rough and tough shift in Minny?... and McCann smiled. That's hockey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toews Posted November 27, 2015 Share Posted November 27, 2015 1 hour ago, elvis15 said: Hitting is not everything. Hitting means you don't have the puck, and if you don't hit to try and gain possession, then you're just trying to intimidate. How'd that work out for us last year in that super physical game against the Kings where we took it to them with grit and strength? Oh right, we lost. We actually outhit any other team in the 2011 playoffs - including the Bruins in the final - and that didn't work out for us either. If you look at someone like Kesler, who does hit, his strength is more in his ability to strip the team of the puck rather than trying to knock them off it. I'd rather have solid guys who are strong on takeaways than a bunch of physical guys who hit everything they see. This. Also add up the fact that the hits stat is literally the worst stat in the game. It is even worse than +/-, which despite being a useless stat is at least accurate across the league. Hits are recorded differently in different arenas. What maybe considered as a hit in Nashville, may not be a hit in Boston. If there are different qualifications for a hit in different arenas then there is no value to the numbers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warhippy Posted November 27, 2015 Share Posted November 27, 2015 Lets look at 3 teams over the last 15 years who never even approached the top 20 in hits in the league Detroit Pittsburgh Chicago 6 cups between them. Let's add a few more. Carolina. Tampa Bay and the 2000 and 2003 jersey devils. 10 cups between them. All of them weren't in the upper half of hitting in the league. Food for thought when we worry about finishing checks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Money Posted November 27, 2015 Share Posted November 27, 2015 We lost the cup in 2011 because of hitting. Guys throwing the hits get worn down and hurt too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desiboynux4lifee******* Posted November 27, 2015 Share Posted November 27, 2015 Yes Hitting is needed come playoffs, but I hope Benning sees the biggest problem which has been DEFENCE! move edler,Sbisa,Weber,Hamuis get younger assets and begin the transition by building a GOOD defence that can do its job around Tanev and Hutton. I don't know why Benning doesn't see this, but instead he wants to be competitive? how the heck can you be competitive with this defence we have now? Benning's answer rely on Miller, goodluck with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hlinkas wrister Posted November 27, 2015 Share Posted November 27, 2015 Op, I know exactly where you are coming from, it makes me grind my molars when I see big heavy teams have their way with our guys. But as others have shown already there's no true advantage to building teams like that anymore, and with the department of player safety governing the game we will see less and less hitting every year. A perfect example is the Jets- the old school in me could totally get on board with Benning building a team like that but the result for them is they spend too much time in the box, every year they are just a playoff bubble team. Size in today's NHL just seems to be a "threat deterrent", not a weapon anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
higgyfan Posted November 27, 2015 Share Posted November 27, 2015 Would rather see an upgrade on defence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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