Stop the complaining and support your team

[xereau]

We were given a glimpse of the future, and it was magnificent.  And then all of that hope and good will was nuked into a cinder.

 

The summer UFAs have been hit and miss. 

• Schaller is sitting out, with injuries still taking guys out of the line up.  That should tell you something. 
• Littlethinger is not even doing the little things well, despite the coaches' assertions.  Nice muffins, though.
• Gagner has been acceptable since coming back.  But he had to be embarrassed in order to come back and perform. 
• Roussel has been as advertised.  A real pest.  Has drawn some penalties. And taken a few dumb ones  Potential fan favorite moving forward imo. 
• Beagle was really good, before the broken arm and really solidified the PK which is the worst we have seen it in possibly decades atm. 
• Sutter was perhaps the unsung hero on this team during the good start.  His solid shut down performance greased the skids for the rest of the whole team.  His injury devastated this team more than any of the others.
• MDZ is hot garbage.  Chases and just waves as guys blow by.  The rare good hit.

 

The depth trades from the last few seasons have been mostly hits, to Benning's credit...  at least in terms of getting NHLers... ...on this team.  Sorry to sound snarky about this but I am not sure about so many reclamation projects on one team and calling it a rebuild.  Many of these guys are not NHL players, or top 6 players on others teams.  But they ARE here!

 

1st gen:

• Granlund has been asked to play up and down the lineup, and has done a decent job when asked to score, and a marginal job when asked to check.  He is too soft to be a shutdown guy. 
• Baertschi had concussions coming into this team. And Benning knew it.  He can score too.  When he isn't concussed.  I like him but he is a low grade top 6 imo.

2nd gen:

• Goldobin is still an enigma.  He is definitely not a honey badger.  But he sure looks sparkly once in a while.  But have you ever seen a guy more soft on the boards or when stick checked, or even looked at wrong in your entire life?  SOFT AS BUTTER. 
• Dahlen is a work in progress.  I get it.  He might even pan out.  But hasn't played a single game in the NHL yet.  Until he proves he can, he is just a stat sheet in the minors.

3rd gen:

• Motte has been a surprise to everyone.  He works hard and looks like Chris Higgins out there to me.  Really happy with this guy.
• Leipsic is another story.  Tiny.  Was supposed to be gritty.  A busy bee buzzing the perimeter.  A bee with no stinger is a fly, just FYI.

 

And now on to the giant green white and blue elephant in the room. 

• Where is the backbone of this team? 
• Is this new age country club identity from the Gillis years still the status quo? 
• Where is the push back when a player slams Pettersson to the ice? 
• Where is the emotion when someone headshots Baertschi? 
• Who is going to do something about Edler getting clipped from behind and falling on his face?  NO ONE?!? 
• WHAT IS THE IDENTITY OF THIS TEAM?

 

There was a LOT of discussion after the EP incident, by the fans and the media.  But the Canucks 'didn't see it happen' and 'it was a close game'.  BULL.  They have those tablets on the bench.  There has been barely a peep from the fans here on CDC after Sven, and nothing from the media.  And virtually crickets from the Canucks.  Why on EARTH would Edler want to re-sign here?  I am not asking for bench brawls.  Or curb stomps.  But I want to see something. Anything.  There is a reason other teams are taking runs at our guys.

 

Our D is abysmal.  Baumgartner is the best we can do for D coach?  You need to pursue the puck with a puck pursuit system.  All I see the entire team collapse to the net, every single time the other team touches the puck.  I just don't know what ever happened to making guys pay for going to the net.  See above for more on the spineless culture of this team.

 

Now a quick jab at the offensive system(s).  BATTLE BATTLE BATTLE plastered all over everything at the start of this season.  It was evident.  For a while.  Winning the dash to the puck more often than not.  Actually banging guys off the puck on the boards.  Shooting it from everywhere.  Getting rebound goals.  Well I guess you need to actually shoot the puck to get rebound goals.  Where has this style of play gone?  What has gotten into the team?  If you are going to be a puck pursuit team, shouldn't you pursue the puck?  How about the old school blue collar dump and chase game we have reverted to? This is amateur.  It also helps if you actually go get the damn puck when you dump it in.  We dump and let the other team pick it up, don't even make it miserable on the other team most of the time!  What happened to carrying the puck up the ice?  Making the opposing D fail by collapsing to far too fast?  We were all over teams to start the season.  And no, don't tell me what injuries did to the system.  I am mainly talking about our D here, and a few of the guys that haven't left the line up.  Hutton was rushing up the ice end to end.  Stecher too.  Now they are afraid to make a mistake?  Run and gun it out there!  Finally, the power play is mostly a sad joke.  That drop pass makes me want to puke.  Our two guys on the side wall are the only threat.  D almost never gets a good look, or even a shot through.  Second unit... there's a second unit?

 

Lastly, the buck has to stop somewhere.  Green refuses to load up lines to get things going.  This was the rap on him in Utica:  stubborn and pigheaded.  If he refuses to adapt to the NHL his stint will be a short one.  This run of losses puts him closer to the precipice than anyone thinks too, imo.  Also, Benning has not changed the roster significantly to give Green much to work with considering all the black holes in the line up.  So much for 'depth'.   Something is rotten about this team.  I don't know enough about the internal workings to put my finger on it.  None of us here do.  But there are signs.  Linden knew enough to bail, and this, my friends, should tell is A LOT about the state of this franchise.  The most beloved alumni of all time, had seen and heard enough, took his puck, and went home.

 

All of this being said, there is still hope, probably.  Once The Canucks are healthy again, perhaps they can make a run for the playoffs. The Pacific Division is extremely bad so far this season. Whether or not that is what is best for this team at this juncture is up for debate.   But this is the goal for the team, and for the fan base.

[IBatch]

But if we only drafted MT and the twins got traded for draft picks they became Barzal and Chabot...what was Benning thinking, fire Green and hire JQ and trade Markstrom back to Florida for Luongo already please.  Ha ha my kids are teaching me sarcasm, it’s rubbing off.  FF I didn’t really mean fire the couch so don’t get excited.

[iinatcc]

I support this team but It doesn't mean I don't blame people for complaining.

That said I am quite optimistic about this team despite the string of loses if you think about it.

Of the games Vancouver has won it was against Pittsburgh, Los Angels, Boston, and Chicago elite teams that have won the Stanley Cup in recent years. I mean sure losing to Winnipeg, Buffalo, Carolina, and Minnesota can suck but, you know what, it's reassuring that Vancouver can still beat the marquee teams of this league. 

[GritGrinder]

15 minutes ago, iinatcc said:

I support this team but It doesn't mean I don't blame people for complaining.

That said I am quite optimistic about this team despite the string of loses if you think about it.

Of the games Vancouver has won it was against Pittsburgh, Los Angels, Boston, and Chicago elite teams that have won the Stanley Cup in recent years. I mean sure losing to Winnipeg, Buffalo, Carolina, and Minnesota can suck but, you know what, it's reassuring that Vancouver can still beat the marquee teams of this league. 

In case you haven’t noticed three of those teams have as bad or worse record than the Canucks this season, 2 have fired their coaches and are no longer the “marquee” teams in the league. Not to mention that the Canucks lost games this season to LA and Pittsburgh. If I didn’t know better I’d swear this post was from 2015.

[iinatcc]

20 minutes ago, GritGrinder said:

In case you haven’t noticed three of those teams have as bad or worse record than the Canucks this season, 2 have fired their coaches and are no longer the “marquee” teams in the league. Not to mention that the Canucks lost games this season to LA and Pittsburgh. If I didn’t know better I’d swear this post was from 2015.

I did say recent years so not really right now. Yes Vancouver lost to the Kings and Pens but the did win games as well. LA, even when Vancouver was the top team, always gave Vancouver a hard time and Chicago still has Toews and Kane

[King Heffy]

25 minutes ago, GritGrinder said:

In case you haven’t noticed three of those teams have as bad or worse record than the Canucks this season, 2 have fired their coaches and are no longer the “marquee” teams in the league. Not to mention that the Canucks lost games this season to LA and Pittsburgh. If I didn’t know better I’d swear this post was from 2015.

Tampa Bay in their own barn good enough for you?

[GritGrinder]

16 minutes ago, King Heffy said:

Tampa Bay in their own barn good enough for you?

A. TB wasn’t mentioned in the post I quoted on.

 

B. if that win was in Feb or Mar and actually meant something then maybe. A week into the season to even your record at 2-2 is barely mentionable.

[ktcy2]

We’ve been saying that since 2014. Good luck. The rebuild on the fly/rebuild was on since 2013. 

 

Now we are in 2019, you can be nice and kind all you want but it doesn’t take away the fact that these players are paid millions to play. In Europe, soccer players who don’t play up to standard are criticized on national news.

 

Some people here seem to think it’s acceptable for a popular franchise like the Canucks to suck for so long. Maybe in Florida this is ok, maybe in Carolina this is ok. Know what? It’s actually not OK in a big market like this.  The Management people had a job to do, which was to prevent the team sucking the way it is without the Sedins, they saw this years ago and failed to prepare for it. If you buy what the management has been selling all along, which is the playoffs every year but yet year after year after year they fail so far and beyond their so-called goal. 

 

Well, losing 11 out of the last 12 is OK. The lack of effort on the ice is not. No one cares out there except for a few guys who know they are gonna be here long term. Losing is acceptable but the on ice play is not. Oh and this team has been rebuilding since 2013/2014, rebuild on the fly they called in, that’s why benning was hired. So what now? You mentioned progress but what progress was shown? 

 

Life time fans like me since 1995 have been patient for years. We have been saying that there is hope with the current group of guys. Guess what, the hope was even higher with the Naslund, Bertuzzi era, or the sedins Luongo era. So rebuild all you want, it takes years to get back to the teams of the aforementioned caliber. When you have a team like that, you are just one of the maybe 10 teams to play in a crapshoot tournament for the cup. Yeah, be patient? I don’t think a die hard fan of 30 years has any patience left with this group and management. 

 

 

 

[Nuxfanabroad]

This season's going quite nicely. We got a real nice glimpse of young talent, now we need to land this Hindenburg.

 

Agree with OP..let's cut the gripin'!

[MJDDawg]

4 hours ago, Alcholic9000 said:

We are either in the middle or tail end of a rebuild, every analyst had is ranked near the bottom in every field.  Now that we are losing its all fire this person trade that one.  What is trading mdz gonna get us?  We have maybe 1-2 defence that would make it on a contending team.  Relax. 

 

I'm personally happy with where we are, we are seeing growth from a lot of our future core, also while we are not winning the effort on most nights seems there.  This is a year to allow mistakes, I am not wanting the team to tank and lose for the sake of losing, but I am completely ok with young players making young player mistakes and our swiss chesse defence (most of which will not be here when we finally come out of rebuild) make terrible plays that cost us the game. 

 

What I don't want to see happen is for the fans to demand change, stop going games etc.  This is when the aqua brothers start demanding drastic changes and we screw up what is starting to look like a good foundation for instant mediocre results.  

 

So support the team, buy the $&!#, enjoy all the excuses to drink more in frustration, but don't be a child demanding instant results.  

 

Sorry for morning drunk rant 

 

Go Canucks Go

 

 

 

 

 

Bravo.

 

This market can be so stupid sometimes.

 

This is what the team should have started to look like a couple years ago, but the greaseball owners were so afraid of losing their shirts in ticket revenue that they did everything they could to prevent the rebuild starting earlier. Well, that was the worst thing the team could have done and you could argue set them back at least three years in the rebuild.

 

I like this team. I like where it's going now because we see the future. And quite honestly, I don't give a fat rat's a$$ whether we win or lose at this stage. I'm just enjoying watching the kids learn and grow and as long as the team is playing fast and efforting every night, I'm happy. 

 

You can tell who on these boards have never played team sports because they don't appreciate how going through this now will make this teams' future success taste all the more sweeter when it comes. 

 

C'mon fans...embrace the pain. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dr. Crossbar]

What I find fascinating is that if you look back through old posts from year to year, you start to notice that the exact same things were being said nearly verbatim four to five years ago ... and in between across similar situations.

 

Lol ... injuries, no depth, fire the coach, goaltending, better teams, no defense, need to draft, can't score, PP sucks, if only we were healthy, prospects take time, just wait... next year ... next year ... next year  ... next year ... just you wait ... next year ... TDL, Edler, Tanev, Virtanen ...

 

Everything that people say year after year has already been said ... to the same results even though there have been a lot of changes.

 

#craycray 

 

I wholeheartedly support this team but at the same time I can't keep saying the same things year after year ... pretending that I'm not saying the same things year after year.

 

The sooner this city gets s cup, the better ... and I don't believe we need to wait another 15 years to do that. 

 

 

 

 

[Nuxfanabroad]

Every yr we've seen us beaten up

Why can't we be fadin out, nice & easy?

 

But when I see my 'Nuckers

Can't help but cheer them F***ers

Rebuild..it'll be, just like

Starting over!!!!

 

 

[Dr. Crossbar]

2 minutes ago, Nuxfanabroad said:

Every yr we've seen us beaten up

Why can't we be fadin out, nice & easy?

 

But when I see my 'Nuckers

Can't help but cheer them F***ers

Rebuild..it'll be, just like

Starting over!!!!

 

 

You said the exact same thing this time last year.

[Nuxfanabroad]

1 minute ago, Dr. Crossbar said:

You said the exact same thing this time last year.

Sorry..I woke up with Lennon tunes in my head..Imagine, #9 Dream, & here comes the pun(sorry George)

[Laheys Liquor]

Its honestly hard for me to complain when our 2018-2019 season includes Elias freakin' Pettersson breaking into the league. I would of been super impressed if he was on any other team, but to have him on the good guys? Damn. 

Sure our defense is trash, but look at who we got in the pipeline, both having a huge chance of playing most of next year. Gotta be excited about next season. 
That being said, once Sutter and Beagle come back and we have our top 4 centers healthy we are going to win more games, it gives Bo and Petey easier assignments and more flow throughout our lineup. With a fully healthy line-up alot of people will be jumping back on the wagon, but will we ever have everyone healthy? Thats the question lol. 

[Drakrami]

we are at least a real NHL goalie, a 1st dman + a top 4 dman, a 1LW, and 2 character 3rd/4th line players from competing. Not to mention current young talent like Boeser and Pettersson need another 2 years to mature. 

[Dr. Crossbar]

15 minutes ago, Nuxfanabroad said:

Sorry..I woke up with Lennon tunes in my head..Imagine, #9 Dream, & here comes the pun(sorry George)

Lol ... you're 50 ... you know better by now!

[ChuckNORRIS4Cup]

Get bigger players and maybe fans will.

[Nuxfanabroad]

2 minutes ago, Dr. Crossbar said:

Lol ... you're 50 ... you know better by now!

Prob anyone who suffered thru Van's 1980's hockey memories has thick skin.

 

It's really the league(& their rigged deck) I take issue with. But Hell, seems corruption runs rampant nowadays, in virtually any/all domains.

 

To watch a younger team ascend, can be pretty exciting. We're mostly all salivating at that anticipated moment of "lift off". This time next yr, is prob a much better vibe...

[6string]

4 hours ago, Fanuck said:

People on both sides need to calm down.  The team was never going to sustain the pace they were on through the first 15gms.  And they're not as bad as their last 10gms either. 

 

Somewhere in between they'll find their way and become more consistent.