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bigbadcanucks

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Everything posted by bigbadcanucks

  1. So this guy^^^^ takes Botchford's single line where he states "Olli Juolevi, the team’s top defensive prospect, looks a couple of years away from being an impact player" as Juolevi won't be ready for the NHL this fall. According to this guy^^^^, a prospect has to be an impact player to be in the NHL. Riddle me this...how is a brain-dead Hutton who is barely an AHLer (okay, an exaggeration) in the NHL (albeit he's been a healthy scratch more times than I can remember)? This guy's^^^^ "analysis" makes me laugh .
  2. While watching some of the highlights someone posted on the Sedins magic, the puck always seemed to find Burrows, or to put it another way, Burrows always seemed to be able to either be in position to be on the puck or hound his way to retrieve the puck, a knack that really complemented what the Sedins were doing. Watching Leipsic over the past few games, it looks like Leipsic's got that similar sticky stick blade where the puck seems to stick itself to him. And Leipsic has demonstrated that he can make something happen once the puck is on his stick...very much like what Burrows was able to do with aplomb back in 2008 to 2013.
  3. Is it just me, or does Leipsic look like the second coming of Alex Burrows? Leipsic has got the sort of skills that Burrows showed while playing with the Sedins and he seems to have some of that edge to his game that Burrows had. And apparently Leipsic is killer at running his mouth. Wishful thinking on my part?
  4. Two things strike me when I see this photo...the first, no wonder anabolic steroid use among Russians is widespread -- looks like Putin condones its use; the second -- what the heck is Putin doing on Mike Tyson's tiger from the Hangover?
  5. That's a pretty low standard you have for a fifth overall pick in his third year as a pro. Though I'm rooting for Virtanen to succeed, he's demonstrated very little on a consistent basis to justify his place as an everyday NHL player. I've said it before, and I'll say it again -- with what I've seen out of Virtanen, if he amounts to anything resembling Raffi Torres, that is going to be a win for Benning and the rest of us Canucks fans. And that makes me sad that that's all I can hope for out of Virtanen at this point in his career. Maybe it's coaching? Would Virtanen have enough in his tool bag to be the Canucks version of Tkachuk? A player like that would at least bring value to the Canucks. Right now, he's a baby-fat less project who is taking the long and winding road to becoming a regular NHLer. I'm betting his next contract is a two year two-way deal that pays him $675,000 in the NHL and $67,500 in the AHL. Sort of what he deserves.
  6. Canucks need to sign Jesse Virtanen from SHL ASAP to divert all the attention that Jake is getting. http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=38090
  7. That's an honest and savage assessment of Virtanen...yikes.
  8. At this stage, if Jake Virtanen gets to be Raffi Torres without the crazy eyes, I'd be super happy.
  9. Maybe you and I can both work for Jake at his Tim Hortons? That might a little harder work than being a greeter at WalMart...are you up for it, Alf?
  10. Whoa...I thought I was being harsh on Virtanen. But Alf takes it to a whole new level.
  11. That's probably true..maybe he'll take his money and buy a Tim Horton's franchise and I can work for him when I retire. Hope he can handle having a cranky old dude on staff serving up Timbits (when did they start selling hash browns at Tim Hortons?). What do you think the over/under on his ELC+1 contract will be? I'm going to wager that it's going to be under $750K (which would still land him on the higher end of upper-middle class in my 'hood in Crescent Beach).
  12. It looks like the story on Virtanen is he can only process one thing at a time. Step 1 was getting rid of his baby fat...done. Step 2 is to get him to understand how to play the NHL game (work in progress)...Step 3 is to become an effective everyday NHL player. As much as Green has tried to spin things positively for Virtanen, it seems like at the young age of 21, Virtanen has yet to get it. You would think that Virtanen, being around Horvat on a daily basis, would be able to learn by observation, but the evidence shows that is not the case. Who knows...maybe Virtanen's hockey IQ and real-life IQ puts him on the bottom part of the bell curve. Hope hockey work out for the kid; otherwise we might be seeing him while doing the drive through at a Tim Hortons in Abbotsford. Kid goes off to Vegas during the break...like he needs to reward himself with a little holiday when he's only working part-time. Much like Vinny, gotta remind myself to be patient...old enough to have seen the Canucks cast away players like Cam Neely, Rick Vaive, Bill Derlago, Dirk Graham, Curt Fraser, Brent Ashton, Petr Nedved, etc. too soon. As much as I'm not a fan of Virtanen at this stage of his NHL career, I'd hate to see the Canucks give up on him too soon. At least Benning didn't get a chance to choose between Virtanen and Michael Dal Colle.
  13. Gonna say it...IMHO, making the WJC U20 team is not a good predictor of a player's success in the NHL. Especially goalies. Other than MA Fleury, Luongo, Price, Theodore, Vernon, and Burke (and quite possibly Jake Allen), the AHL/ECHL/KHL/Swiss is littered with a bunch of goalies that represented the Canadian team as 18/19 year olds. There's a bunch who made it as of middling tenders in the NHL, so I guess there's that. I'm going to bet that DiPietro is going to have as good a shot at making the NHL than the two guys tending the nets for Team Canada now.
  14. IMO, it's only a matter of time before Gaunce starts to generate some offensive numbers...he does so many little things well. And his selfless play is what you want out of your young guys. He was touted as a leader coming out of junior, and he's showing it as a fourth liner. I've liked Gaunce from day one and he continues to be one of Mike Gillis' few good draft picks. Was very happy when the Knights chose Sbisa, leaving Gaunce to the Canucks. Just a simple prediction, but quietly and steadily, I believe Gaunce is going to develop into one of the top shut-down forwards in the NHL.
  15. I must be watching a different Ben Hutton then you, Zepp. The Ben Hutton I see this season is consistently losing puck battles, treating the puck like a hot potato, and making predictable plays. The only time I see him with any sort of poise is when he's got lots of space in front of him...then he takes a few strides in a northerly direction and when he's in the midst of traffic in the neutral zone, he looks lost. For me, he's been one of the few disappointments on the Canucks team this year. But you're right...he's young and has some time ahead of him and hopefully he gets back some of the swagger he had in the very early days of his NHL career.
  16. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that this is past draft is the one that is going to round out the Canucks roster core for the next 10 years...Horvat (albeit he's a Gillis pick), Boeser, Virtanen, Pettersson, Lind, Gaudette look like they have the makings of a top tier top six. Add Demko and Juolevi (really hoping he takes a giant step forward this season), and the future of the Canucks look solid. Gadjovich could very well turn out to be a "foundational" player as well. A couple of blue chip d-prospects and these Cancuks should get back in the Stanley Cup discussions in 3-4 years, if not sooner.
  17. There's no doubt...the kid is going to be a star in the NHL.
  18. Wut? Did the Canucks re-acquire Jared McCann? I mean, if Boeser produced McCann-like numbers as a rookie, I would be sort of sad.
  19. Thanks for the geography lesson, Sabre. Been back on the westcoast for over 10 years now...have completely forgotten the lay of the land out east.
  20. Northwest New York? Upstate NY? I used to live in Edgewater, NJ (for one year) and I always had thought Buffalo was considered to be northern NY. What do the locals call it?
  21. You're probably be better than Weber was in his last season here with the Canucks and by the looks of it, you're a Intranet Qualifications Expert. If Del Zotto can re-discover the promise that he showed back in 2010-2013, Benning's got a killer UFA signing.
  22. Nice bit of northern NY intel...glad to always get local perspective. IMO, Nillson may be the sleeper Benning UFA signing of the summer of 2017 -- he just needs to stay square to the puck, raise his shoulders when he's in the butterfly and keep his arms tight to his body. Gonna predict that Nillson gets 36 starts, Markstrom 46.
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