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Jake Virtanen still doesn't realize how strong he is


*Buzzsaw*

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Did everyone notice the sequence with Ryan McDonagh in the third?

 

Canucks are trying to clear the zone, someone tries a pass to Jake at the blue line... McDonagh decides he'll step up and flatten Jake.

 

McDonagh is not some spring chicken, he's been around, he's a solid 215 lbs... BUT...  despite having the momentum, he bounces off Jake like he was a lightweight and ends up on his butt.  Meanwhile Jake calmly clears the puck and heads for the bench for a change.

 

So McDonagh takes offense, then the rest of the Lightning take offense and they all swarm Jake.... which doesn't work out so good for them either, as they all bounce off like pinballs and Stamkos who is also not a lightweight gets tossed on his butt too... with Jake's one hand.

 

Afterwards on the Bench, Jake sits there like some overgrown kid who's a little worried somebody spotted him swiping the hot pie off the window sill... oblivious to the whole ruckus he's caused...

 

I think that whole sequence helped to get the Lightning off their game and also got the Canucks going harder.

 

Somebody on the Canucks needs to take Jake into a room and show him that video over and over again until he gets it into his head he doesn't need to play as cautiously as he does.  He could be a one man wrecking crew if he wants to be.

 

 

 

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17 minutes ago, *Buzzsaw* said:

He doesn't need a hockey IQ to hit and be physical... he just needs to do it.

You need hockey IQ to know when he needs to use it and when to not use it.  Smart players will know when its necessary to make the hit and crash and bash.  Hockey idiots like Tom Wilson don't and make dumb hits.

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15 minutes ago, *Buzzsaw* said:

Did everyone notice the sequence with Ryan McDonagh in the third?

 

Canucks are trying to clear the zone, someone tries a pass to Jake at the blue line... McDonagh decides he'll step up and flatten Jake.

 

McDonagh is not some spring chicken, he's been around, he's a solid 215 lbs... BUT...  despite having the momentum, he bounces off Jake like he was a lightweight and ends up on his butt.  Meanwhile Jake calmly clears the puck and heads for the bench for a change.

 

So McDonagh takes offense, then the rest of the Lightning take offense and they all swarm Jake.... which doesn't work out so good for them either, as they all bounce off like pinballs and Stamkos who is also not a lightweight gets tossed on his butt too... with Jake's one hand.

 

Afterwards on the Bench, Jake sits there like some overgrown kid who's a little worried somebody spotted him swiping the hot pie off the window sill... oblivious to the whole ruckus he's caused...

 

I think that whole sequence helped to get the Lightning off their game and also got the Canucks going harder.

 

Somebody on the Canucks needs to take Jake into a room and show him that video over and over again until he gets it into his head he doesn't need to play as cautiously as he does.  He could be a one man wrecking crew if he wants to be.

 

 

 

Leave it for the playoffs (when we get there again) when the refs swallow their whistles. Right now, Jake's physicality seems to take other teams by surprise. Case in point. He is flying under the radar and we don't want a target on his back for suspensions. I say let teams just try and continue to do that and get nothing out of it. Continue to develop his hockey IQ. I turned on the game late and saw Jake make another poor decision with the puck, trying to pass on the rush instead of waiting for help. He didn't even pass the puck in the direction of the guy he wanted to hit. He passed it to one of Tampa's guys and there was an odd man rush the other way.

 

He needs to keep it simple. Skate the puck in, because he's fast enough, wait for help, start the cycle.

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7 minutes ago, Zhukini said:

Good game tonight,very good actually, but man oh man seeing him come down the right side wide is so frustrating, there's only two plays he makes

Yes, he really needs to learn to cut to the middle, he is strong enough on his skates to do it, just needs to want to do it.

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1 hour ago, Noseforthenet said:

He got 2 empty net points...it wasn't that good.

If he wasn’t having a good game  coach wouldn’t trust him enough to have him out there defending a lead while the other team had 6 guys on the ice with the net empty. You would haven’t seen this 1 year ago. He was a beast on the boards. 

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