JamesB Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 The Canucks surprised a lot of people by winning the first three games. Pessimists would say it is primarily just good luck, or maybe just that the goalies started hot. Optimists might say that we are seeing development from young guys (Horvat, Hutton, Baertschi), or that injuries really were the problem last year and that having Sutter and Edler healthy makes a huge difference. And maybe the new guys are the key (Guddy, Eriksson, Larsen). Obviously it is a combination of factors, but I think that the injuries (or lack thereof) make a big difference, although I also think that the continuing improvement of the young guys is big. Hutton really impresses me. He came to camp about 15 lbs heavier than last year and looks a lot bigger and stronger. And his skating looks very good. Add in his offensive instincts, his puck-moving abilities, and his improved defensive play and it looks to me like he will soon be a legitimate top pairing guy. Horvat has also looked very good. We need more from Virtanen or he should go to Utica to get his game sorted out. On the negative side, I am not sold on the new guys. Guddy is good -- pretty much as advertised -- but that is as far as I would go. Larsen is better than a lot of people expected but he still has a lot to prove, and Eriksson has been disappointing so far. Thanks for any other thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10TRAVIS NUCK10 Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 I feel we are deeper and the accountability or fear of losing your spot makes you play with a little more grit or heart or desire whatever yo want to call it. Also theres probably a big 65 points sign in the locker room as a constant reminder of no one is giving them respect. Sutter came exactly as advertised, he's foundational player. He is a big part of this team now for sure, having him healthy and in the line up makes us significantly better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaudette Celly Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 Coaching? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sxqhfeh Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 I am wondering if Canucks keep playing like this they will run out of gas after 15-20 games, then injure will come to hurt us, we must fixing the PP. like Sharks did last year, almost every game they had PP goal, that will save a lot of energy. IMO you want to go further? fix the PP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toni Zamboni Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 Bo Knows, the answer to this question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HerrDrFunk Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 13 minutes ago, 10TRAVIS NUCK10 said: I feel we are deeper and the accountability or fear of losing your spot makes you play with a little more grit or heart or desire whatever yo want to call it. Also theres probably a big 65 points sign in the locker room as a constant reminder of no one is giving them respect. Sutter came exactly as advertised, he's foundational player. He is a big part of this team now for sure, having him healthy and in the line up makes us significantly better. I really hope this is true....and they all flip the sign the bird as they walk out of the dressing room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FijianCanuck Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 Everyone thinks the canucks are an easy team to play now thanks to the "experts". Just stay healthy and we will be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'NucK™ Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 Goalies played well but I'd say it's been due to a better structure to our defence (+ helps that Sbisa is playing well, Larsen has impressively been almost mistake free) and playing their systems better. Breaking out of our own zone seems to be no problem, forwards have been in good position, and D has been finding them. Not giving up many odd man chances has allowed the G to settle in and get some confidence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogersTowell Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 If we look at the stats, we can get a bit of clarity. Firstly, 71 shots in three games, or just under 24 shots against in those three games. That tells me team defence has been strong. Part of this is obviously an improved back 6, but part of it is also better back checking, winning more face offs and moving the puck out of the zone much better. The face offs are improved partly due to the return of Sutter, and partly due to Manny Malhotra. Save percentages are averaging 0.943 between the two goal tenders, which is very good, especially with the low shot totals. Our goals against are close to best in the league. Some of it must come down to coaching and focusing on an old school shut down style ala the old NJ Devils, so some credit needs to go to WD on that, and some credit has to go to Benning for putting together a better team and support staff for this season. This doesn't mean we'll be doing this all season long. It's a long season, injuries can still come up and other teams might start to crack the code to start scoring. But so far, I'm pretty happy with the results. A win is a win in my books. And we wouldn't have been winning these close games and coming from behind last season, so something's different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cripplereh Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 should not be a surprise and I have said why many many times! The so called experts even in Canada TSN do not know this team I said other cause last year we were in an awesome spot and we got better so no surprise this is good as teams must think we are not good if they listen to those idiots! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grind Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 Seems there is a better team commitment to defence - Canucks do not seem easy to score on anymore. Forwards are contributing more to getting back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrinceGeorgeGoon Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 Doug Jarvis. Manny Malhotra. Brandon Sutter. Bo horvat. Loui Eriksson. Brendon Gaunce. Heart. Chip on the shoulder. Something to prove. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlwaysACanuckFan Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 There are a few things that come to mind regarding this early success. 1) having a healthy line up especially Sutter and a resurging Edler seems to be making a difference 2) the addition of Gudbranson , deletion of Weber and Bartkowski. 3) Having Jarvis onboard seems to be making a huge difference on the defensive side of things. 4) Better success on the 3v3. 5) Horvat Baertschi Hutton development continue to improve. 6) the play of the 4th line especially Dorsett. 7) the 2 negatives are the PP needs to start clicking and the obvious gotta stop trying to play catch up, let's see how we do with leads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenhodgejr Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 As much as people don't want to talk about it Larson with the point shot has added a weapon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nex is my ex Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 Having guys like Weber, Bart, Biega play 20+ minutes a game really hurt us last year. Injuries to Sutter, Edler, Hammer, Miller and others hurt the team and made us worse than we actually are. If we continue to stay healthy and play a well structured game we can make the playoffs. Some positives that I've noticed this season 1) The defense. Out are Weber and Bartkowski(2 absolutely terrible dmen who played big minutes last year) and in are Gudbranson, a healthy Edler, Larsen and an improved Hutton. We've played way better defensively and it shows on the score sheet 2)Improved 3v3 OT. last year we were garbage in OT and now we seem to have figured it out 3)Healthy Sutter. Brandon Sutter is extremely valuable to our team, he may not put up a huge amount of points but he's our go to guy defensively, can kill penalties, is good in shootouts and can snipe, a full season of Sutter should make us way better 4)Coming back in games. Last year if we even went down 1-0 we knew it was over, now this team seems to never give up and has given me reason to not shut off my TV after 2 goals against 5) Better coaching. I'll admit I ragged Willie all preseason, but to start the year he's coached great. Jarvis too 6)Bo Horvat Negatives: 1) 1st line hasn't been amazing, if they get going we'll be even better 2)Our pp sucks balls. It needs to improve if we have any hope of winning in the playoffs, I don't like Daniel being on the far side as the Sedins are no threat from the top of the circle anymore, I like them near eachother and let Sutter or Baertschi take Daniels spot on the far boards, let Eriksson screen the goalie. in my hockey opinion I say we make the playoffs this year if we stay healthy enough Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperSayianCanuck Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 Hard question to just pick 1 or 2. All the reason just blend. Feel our defending has been betted so far, which factor Hutton developing, new faces Larsen, and Guddy. Not vetting hemmed in D-zone as often. Have a Healtby line up. So far. Knock on woox. Manh interchangable peices as well. Goltending making saves when needed. So I feel like all factors add up for our great start. And the things is. The Canucks don't seem to get as down when trailing in a game. Staying with it till the end. May the season continue to be stellar. Be nice to have a lead but id rather be trailing going to the third and win then leading and lose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkpoet Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 -> DOUG JARVISTHANK YOU GOD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aircool Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 I'm really surprised people think we are doing well... I know we have wins, but just like sometimes when you play well, you lose, sometimes when you play poorly you win. Look, we've scored 5 goals in 3 games, that's a pretty bad ratio. Now, I understand we've also only given up 5 goals in 3 games, but if you aren't scoring you better be playing defense. It's discouraging to me that against teams that are better defensively than Carolina, we are incapable of scoring more than 1 goal so far. Small sample size? Yes! Still discouraging. Last year we scored the third fewest goals in Franchise history. When were the two lower season? They were in two 48-game seasons, 94-95 and 12-13. Our projection over 82 games in those seasons is far higher than the 191 we scored last year. So it was our worst goal scoring year EVER. The second worst was a year in which we scored 192 (1 more goal), what happened in that year? Well it was 98-99, and in the following draft we got the Sedins. Okay, so that's how bad our team was last year, and that's not because of Sutter or Edler injuries. They aren't huge goal scorers, I don't think anyone is going to argue that. We are offensively anemic, and that's concerning. I know we signed Eriksson, and the expectation is that he is capable of potting 30 goals, but our issue is the lack of depth scoring. I don't believe the Sedins' point totals have declined so much as a function of aging. While aging is a part of it, when your lineup lacks scoring depth, you get shutdown players on the little scoring that you have. Due to this, the Sedins' point totals have declined more than as a result of aging, in my opinion. As they've aged, this team has also gotten a lot worse around them. So I also believe that Eriksson isn't necessarily going to step in and produce like he did last year, playing on a team with less scoring depth. So yes, I know we're winning right now, and I'm happy about that actually, although I'd love for us to get a high pick and continue getting more talented young players, I will never be a Sabres fan who cheers for his/her team to lose. What I will say though, is that unless our scoring output increases, more than the current 1.66 goals per game, which is about 136 goals in a season, we're going to lose a LOT. I think it has to obviously increase more, I mean our worst is 191, it's going to increase. But the notion that we are playing good hockey right now, I'm not so sure about that. We're winning, but it's maybe not good hockey. EDIT: I should say that it's 5 goals in regulation, we do have 2 overtime winners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowtieCanuck Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 Threads like this make me fear when the team eventually wins the cup and Canucks fans become like Cowboys fans and think every season is going to be a trip to the Super Bowl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spook007 Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 The Goal tending has been good Sutter, Hansen, Granlund line has been real good Bo started on fire Dorsett has been good Defensively we look miles better than last year and of course 3v3 big improvement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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