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Team's lack of confidence directly tied to loss of leadership from Horvat


*Buzzsaw*

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On 11/01/2018 at 1:57 PM, *Buzzsaw* said:

Since Horvat went down the team has gradually started to lose its swagger and sense of confidence.

 

At the beginning of the season the team believed it could win any game... and the players believed they could come back from a deficit.

 

But that is now eroding fast.

 

From my perspective you can tie that loss to Horvat's absence.  He was, and is, the real leader of the team.  Over the last two years he has quietly taken charge of the Canucks and made it his team... showing by example and by effort game in and game out, providing the inspiration for the rest of the team.

 

Maybe he doesn't wear the 'C' or an 'A', but he shows leadership every time he is on the ice... both in his demeanor and in his play.

 

Horvat is the complete package... he can score, he can be physical, he can be a playmaker, he can control the faceoff dot and he can be a shutdown forward.  Sometimes it is easy to overlook how effective he is because he just gets down to business every shift.  But he also has the ability to single handedly pick up the team on his back and lift them... with his end to end rushes.  It is the threat of him taking the puck end to end is which makes the rest of his linemates more effective... the opposing team has to respect his rush and that means more room and time for the others on his line.  He forces the opposing team to key on on him and his line and that opens the game for the rest of the Canucks.

 

By drawing the focus of the other team's best players, he gives the Sedins and the rest of the team the kinds of line matchups which they can take advantage of.  It is no surprise Eriksson and the Sedins were thriving when Bo's line was intact... now Eriksson has disappeared... the Sedins are still scoring, but that is because they are getting #1 minutes, and they can no longer be a #1 line.

 

Boeser has continued to play well, but he is feeling the pressure and the focus of the other team's checkers... he would have a lot more room if Bo was wheeling on his line... not to mention he'd be getting a lot more pucks on his stick as a result of faceoff wins.

 

It's gonna be another process to rebuild the confidence of this team again after Bo returns... it probably won't happen right away.  For one, its an ankle injury, Bo's skating will be affected, and he will take time to get up to speed.

 

But I believe we will see the change in direction start to happen when Bo comes back.

 

If there is one thing which I draw from the season... it's that the MVP of the team is Horvat.  Yes, Boeser is getting better and he will be great... but all the dimensions which Horvat brings to the game makes him a special player for the Canucks.

 

 

 

Its awesome we got him locked up for 5 more years. But, we all knew at the start of the season if we ran in to injury troubles we were destined for the lottery. The only way we were going to be a playoff team this year was a clean bill of health across the board. 

 

I still dont think were a bad team, its clear we need more skill, but for wherw we are in the standings i dont think its all doom and gloom. I really feel we have a bright future and potentially could be a powerhouse in a few years. 

 

If we have a successful deadline, we get Dahlin this draft (after the seasonal pre-draft goat sacrificing) lol Pick up a little physicality this offseason, we could be a playoff team as soon as next year. 

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1 hour ago, KKnight said:

Its awesome we got him locked up for 5 more years. But, we all knew at the start of the season if we ran in to injury troubles we were destined for the lottery. The only way we were going to be a playoff team this year was a clean bill of health across the board. 

 

I still dont think were a bad team, its clear we need more skill, but for wherw we are in the standings i dont think its all doom and gloom. I really feel we have a bright future and potentially could be a powerhouse in a few years

 

If we have a successful deadline, we get Dahlin this draft (after the seasonal pre-draft goat sacrificing) lol Pick up a little physicality this offseason, we could be a playoff team as soon as next year. 

When I read statements like this I always feel the urge to yell.......... VEGAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:lol:

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1 hour ago, EdgarM said:

When I read statements like this I always feel the urge to yell.......... VEGAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:lol:

I think it's Button that said that McPhee was smart and understood that he had to go for fast players re they were not going to get top end skills taking the other teams' 8th forward or 4th D.  They are not more skilled than other teams but they are really fast.  Not the only team that moved to speed and look much better this year.  The Avalanche don't have much past their first line - they have three regulars who are waiver pickups including 2 on D but they have speed.


The Blues, Capitals, Nashville, Chicago, Sharks are all teams that talked about speed as being a key factor to explain their exits these past 2-3 seasons.  Hitch was saying that the Blues had to play perfect because if they lost the puck they couldn't get it back.  Poile says that in his mind no skill is more important than skating.

Johansen was semi-joking that he can just send the puck anywhere because Arvidsson would always be first to it.  They can also be more aggressive offensively because they have the speed to get back on time e.g. the Canucks had a 4 on 1 and they broke it up.  

WD identified speed as an issue very early on.  Benning said that he kept on telling him to add fast players. That's why they moved Bonino with WD explaining that the team didn't have Hagelin/Kessel's speed.  

 

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1 hour ago, EdgarM said:

When I read statements like this I always feel the urge to yell.......... VEGAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:lol:

Just my opinion. My definition for the term powerhouse, is sustainable success. I think we can all agree thats what we want, along with winning it all. 

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19 minutes ago, KKnight said:

Just my opinion. My definition for the term powerhouse, is sustainable success. I think we can all agree thats what we want, along with winning it all. 

Yes I agree and I was referring more to the guys who think we are years and years away from being competitive and we need "elite" players to be successful. Vegas and Edmonton are prime examples of this not being the case. In a cap world teams are fairly even and things like injuries play a more major role then years and years of drafting young talent. Buffalo,Arizona, Edmonton are prime example of that. We did not look too out of place with the rest of the league until we sustained injuries to key players, even with our questionable goaltending. There are many more pieces to the puzzle then that.

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1 hour ago, mll said:

I think it's Button that said that McPhee was smart and understood that he had to go for fast players re they were not going to get top end skills taking the other teams' 8th forward or 4th D.  They are not more skilled than other teams but they are really fast.  Not the only team that moved to speed and look much better this year.  The Avalanche don't have much past their first line - they have three regulars who are waiver pickups including 2 on D but they have speed.


The Blues, Capitals, Nashville, Chicago, Sharks are all teams that talked about speed as being a key factor to explain their exits these past 2-3 seasons.  Hitch was saying that the Blues had to play perfect because if they lost the puck they couldn't get it back.  Poile says that in his mind no skill is more important than skating.

Johansen was semi-joking that he can just send the puck anywhere because Arvidsson would always be first to it.  They can also be more aggressive offensively because they have the speed to get back on time e.g. the Canucks had a 4 on 1 and they broke it up.  

WD identified speed as an issue very early on.  Benning said that he kept on telling him to add fast players. That's why they moved Bonino with WD explaining that the team didn't have Hagelin/Kessel's speed.  

 

Not sure it is the speed that is making them successful. Biega is pretty fast but...................................::D

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6 hours ago, YummyCakeFace said:

So what you're saying is that we have a team of weak minding players that can't meet the challenge of playing for a loser. Sounds about right actually. It would be hard coming to work every day knowing you're gonna get your ass handed to you on a platter. 

I have watched this team for many, many years and we have had some pretty talented players in that time frame. The thing that stands out through all of that is that they could not carry it into the playoffs. Win the presidents trophy and then bow out in the first or second round of the playoffs. This happened through the Nazzy era as well as the Sedin eras. The team never seemed to have that extra gear and that extra drive during the playoffs. Watching Sedin getting bean bagged is not my idea of going to war to win the cup.

I see many similarities in Bo as I seen in Linden. I believe leadership/character stems from the Captain out to the rest of the players. This is essential to a team's success IMO and I believe what this team has lacked over the past couple of decades. The "gentlemanly" type Captain is fine in the regular season but I am not sure if it is effective in the playoffs.

This is why I am so excited to see what the next chapter brings with a new start and a new Captain to see if that is if what this team has needed all of these years. There should be no quit even if you think the mountain is too impossible to climb and that should be the teams mentality IMHO.

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I disagree, it’s because players like the sedins, and Ericsson are once again being put up the top line and power play even though the younger players are better. The sedins may have points but they are a huge defensive liability and turn over machine. When Bo is given the C, and the Sedins are driven out, things will change. There’s also a problem with canucks management and coaches starting off first round drafts on the fourth line which stunts their development and confidence. Also Bo should force players to abide by curfew or risk being scratched or benched.

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