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IBatch

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Everything posted by IBatch

  1. Sorry - just find the amount of gloom and doom on this site a bit too much. Didn’t mean to single you out. It was rude and your right for calling me out on it.
  2. Expose themselves...yeah maybe. But how many cases are in EDM and TO exactly? I’m not a Trump fan but come on - the math isn’t that difficult. Sure they have actuaries working on it for insurance reasons and we are talking tiny tiny odds once all players have made it to the hub cities - been tested - the ones that have it are isolated and the tournament begins. Most players have much worse odds of getting it staying home and training in the US team cities that fall under the 24 teams in it to win. Yes we all know it could happen. That said unless EDM and TO have a bunch of new cases it’s not very likely the players that test negative will get it. The NHL should hurry up and get them out of the US and test them when they get to EDM and TO and get on with it. Odds are higher of getting hit by a bus. Or the plane going down on the way to the hub cities. Edit: plus have you factored into this that EVERYONE is getting tested daily - including anyone who comes into contact in the “bubble”?
  3. Odds are most would be much safer in EDM and TO....
  4. Glad to see some people have arrived at the same conclusion. You bet. They will be treated like royalty as far as Covid 19 goes. And the tests aren’t as bad as some people think. My wife was tested and it wasn’t at all what she was expecting - done in an instant and didn’t have a lobotomy or any pain ... mild discomfort. I’ve seen people with fingers up their nose to the last knuckle while waiting for a light .... these guys are hockey players for crying out loud...more discomfort on an average shift. These 25 positive tests... well how come if they were so sick they didn’t get tested before going? They were positive upon arrival ... and it’s the ones in the US getting it. Get them out and to the hub cities as soon as possible ... two weeks to get a negative test ... that’s all they need to do to lower risk. 50k new US cases yesterday ( a record) beating the previous record from June 26 around 45k.
  5. Bo’s ready to play. Read some news.
  6. So far 25 NHLers have tested positive upon arrival - the vast majority didn’t even know they were sick or why would they have come back and not tested before going? They’ve been isolated for Canada and CDC protocols...and should be good to go once things get rolling. If a player gets it (tested before and after games - daily actually) they will have to bow out - doesn’t necessarily mean the entire teams gets it or the tournament is cancelled. Players get the flu and don’t play sometimes - sure it would be a serious blow but not necessarily a tournament ending one. The best possible outcome is the cup is awarded....or for all play- in teams at the very least they get the draft pick sorted out. We don’t play - wasted Madden and NJ gets the 17th ish pick. Plus a second. Everyone knows the risks - right now EDM and TO are way safer then any US city. So much anxiety and worry over this - which I get - but the vast majority of the players want to play - and they should IMO. It’s SAFER for more then half the leagues players. Most people are working and putting themselves out there every day - and a lot of front line workers much more so. Having hockey this summer would be an excellent reprieve from 2020 gloom and doom crowd - and provide a great escape from what’s been a bad year for a lot of regular folks.
  7. At this time it’s much safer for most players to get out of the US and come play hockey for a month or two then it is to stay in 37 US states that are trending way up. EDM and TO are practically Covid free in comparison. That’s the math.
  8. I assumed Carlyle was in already...wow for sure he’d have made it. Vaive would have easily scored a hundred more goals , same with Kerr. Bobby Smith ... Just glad that they didn’t have more then 11 all-stars ... Vancouvers record suffered terribly at the hands of EDM and even CAL during the 80’s, those teams were stacked. Amazing drafts for them 79 to early 80’s. Wayne Gretzky getting four consecutive 200 point years plus a pile of mid-hundred point seasons pushed the entire teams stats up 20%.
  9. Carbonneau was a great player for the role he played - think Esa T wasn’t much different though and that’s a very good comparison (with the exception of extra aggravation/pest value). For awhile it seemed like adding Claude Lemieux or Mike Keane to your team it meant better odds at winning a cup ... didn’t Claude win a conn smythe too? Tonneli was considered the most complete player in the world by that famous Russian coach that won all the time with the Red Army...and had one outstanding international tournament too. If Gilles gets in you have to think he’d also be a possibility at some point ... not that I disagree with him getting in I don’t at all I like that other experts at certain things get some due too. Gainey, Carbonneau types deserve recognition and for that I’m glad. Only thing different from them and say Peca and even Kesler is they won cups. And Kesler had some very productive seasons too as a second line guy (so did Tonneli)... I said earlier I’d be fine with seeing Probert getting the call posthumously given how great he was at doing that specific job. Nobody wanted to fight him but everyone had to too gain respect. When your that good at one thing it deserves recognition- the same way Langway managed Norris trophies with 30 odd points when guys were scoring 80-100. It’s never going to happen but I’d get behind it right away if it did as it would open the door for a couple other guys of the same ilk - and that part of hockey is gone for good now. Why not celebrate it a little? Noticed you mention several times if a player had better luck and better teammates that maybe they’d be in the HHOF...truly believe that’s correct. Crosby, WG, M Lemuiex play at another level where spare parts can be added and they shine or pretty good players can be made into Stars... they are at another level (same with a few others like Lafontaine, Hawerchuck, Kane but a tier down) .... guys like Anderson lucked out on great teams ... didn’t manage much after the band shut it down. Justin Williams has a chance too given its either Anderson or him as far as all-time clutch go. If Babych played on the Oilers he’d have over 1000 points for sure. Even a guy like Dino Ciccerrali - made the hall anyways but didn’t have the same chances as other playera of his era (except late in his career in Detroit). Dionne said a few times if MTL drafted him instead of Lafleur he’d have scored 1000 goals ... watching them play an old timers game in the mid-90’s I’d have to agree - was miles ahead of Lafleur even though he was the main draw. One heck of a player for sure. Luck definitely comes into play for these guys ... some get in because they win a bunch of cups and are core players - others just as or even better player don’t get in because they spent too much time toiling on mediocre or even bad teams. Hawerchuk was drafted and WNP went up a record 48 points in standings his rookie year. What could he have managed playing on the Oilers too? Several players have to thank him too - Paul McLean probably the most. He’s easily as skilled as Crosby and McDavid are - but never won anything and played behind the shadow of Gretzky and Lemieux otherwise he’d have won a ton of hardware.
  10. No arguments there. What I was trying to say was his importance level (Lowe) to that Edmonton team especially, was on a similar level to Anderson’s, without Lowe or someone else like him around the net Furh and Moog would have had an even a harder time and have to make even more slot saves. Lowe was definitely part of that groups core through thick and thin and don’t mind that he’s got the recognition. Do feel that the bar is creeping lower the past few years though. It also bugs me a bit that some better players won’t ever get in because of how they value cup rings - especially now with how hard it is with guys who played in 21-30ish team era. At some point they won’t value that at the same level, Lowe is probably the last guy who will ever get in with more then 3-4. Edit: THN has been beating a drum the past five years or so that the HHOF has relaxed its standards ... first and second team all-star selections, personal hardware and cups used to be weighed higher then they seem to be now ... going from elite super-stars/stars down to the hall of very good. Rechi and Anderchyuck getting in on longevity .... Sundin was never a top centre, no individual hardware - did win a gold medal though ... wonder if he didn’t play in TO if he’d get in .... what’s really all that different between him and Turgeon? Except Turgeon did score 131 points once and over 100 a couple times. And played in the dead puck era too.
  11. I don’t mind Lowe getting the call - he was Edmonton’s defensive consciousness for a decade and won six cups...see your Huddy post from above and funny thing is I thought of him too. He was a very good two-way defenseman and also had some Norris votes and all-star games/cups and finals under his belt. If I had to pick someone from todays game it might be Suter...another minute muncher or more appropriately Vlasic in SJ, I suppose if either of them won six cups they’d get the HHOF call too at some point despite never really getting much Norris attention or first or second star all-star berths. I expect this will be contraversial for quite some time... and maybe it lowers the bar a bit too. EDM at its peak of power sent 11 guys to an all-star game. Sure the league was smaller back then... but they also didn’t have some quacked out “inclusive” BS they do now where legitimate all-stars are passed on just so ARI or even VAN has to be represented ... Patches should have made it this year on his own accord not as some replacement BS... Lowe knows he’s a tier down.... he said as much in his comments about getting the call. Thing is he was a key part of their core - at least on par with Moog and probably Anderson as far as importance goes. Others have mentioned Foote - good comparable- but imagine Foote winning six cups? How many NHLers have even done that since he was drafted? Three. All drafted the same year in different rounds. I’m ok with his inclusion - he was a leader and a rock for Edmonton.
  12. Don’t forget orange and purple...too bad that’s all the skate jersey means to you, missed some great hockey. We aren’t the only team to have a wide selection, it’s part of our past - just like at some point I’m sure the current one will be too.
  13. Have to admit Horvat looks like a boss in the above picture. Agree with Biestra above ... Kevin Bieksa wanted to wear it but those guys were turned down ... glad at least we got to see them again.
  14. Was just reading NHL.coms picks for this years Vezina finalists...all of them with the exception of perhaps Binnington had very good cases, with Hellebucyk and Rask looking like the obvisous top two ... personally I’d go with the WNP goalie given they lost their entire top four and Myers this season. They listed Vasilevsky as another possible finalist...and one honourable mention who they picked Markstrom for. Also mentioned if he didn’t get injured and continued his stellar play that he may have ended up in the conversation for a finalist. For me I’d say Markstrom had been playing like a top 5-7 goalie the past two seasons...definitely top ten. And when it comes to playoffs that a critical component. It’s rare that a team wins a cup with a goalie who isn’t playing in very good to elite form. They are often the difference makers. Markstrom is only 30 and doesn’t have the hard miles on him compared to guys like say MAF - who is also still a top goalie - or Cam Ward (who won his first season and for a long time was a consistent 35-40 win guy). He’s in his prime, better yet it’s just started. Have zero problems signing him to a mid to long term deal (5 years seems about right). Rinne, Lundqvist and Luongo were all still top goalies at 35..and of course legends like Bower (33ish when moving from the AHL) and hate to say it but Tim Thomas too. A lot of pros had their best seasons from 30-40 too...Howe, Lidstrom ... Visnovksy, Schneider... I get that this is a young mans league now but I it doesn’t mean guys can’t play superb hockey past 30. Staal resurgence..Stamkos and Tavares still doing their thing...Naslund started his peak at 27...the Sedins 29-30ish. Think that Marksrom has all the same chances of doing great things for us over the next 5-7 years...and stoked he worked out.
  15. So what your saying is we went from a iconic (playoffs do that ) skate jersey, to a dreadful black, purple and red one with a constipated looking Orca Messier era logo and that’s your preference because it was darker? Back then the rest of the leagues were also going as dark as they could and some games with the TV quality back then it was hard to tell say Dallas apart from ours from a distance..even though it was white and dark ... Buffalo and Dallas too...plus black isn’t a colour ha ha. Just teasing...kind of. When we played the black skate jersey at home it looked great but didn’t feel right - left me wanting to see our white ones. Now I really don’t care, it’s a new ish look this year, not sure about the green sleeve stripes but it’s still miles better then the ones we had in both the Messier and WCE era so there’s that. It’s definitely colourful (current one). Not sure I actually prefer it over our road ones - kind of meh either way.
  16. Don’t make fun of his height ... short coaches can win too just look at the best ever ha ha. The goals increase was truly refreshing this year ... a huge turn around, at one point we were on pace to surpass all but one of the Sedin years...
  17. Used to like the light ones .... and understood the reasoning behind it - season ticket holders got to see each road teams more colourful jerseys. In fact when they played the “road skate” 3 times this year it left me wanting to see their “home” version. Since the change came not soon after that and the hideous first generation of the Orca is gone - it really doesn’t bother me much either way. But I do understand why they used to be white, and it makes a lot of sense really.
  18. Doubt even that would happen. The players have said several times that winning this cup might the hardest one in the entire history of the league. The rhetoric around this meaning this is in anyway a lesser accomplishment is pre-mature at the very least...think once the puck drops this will become one of the more interesting playoffs - and whoever wins it will be proper champs. Even if it happens to be us.
  19. What’s ridiculous is the title. Why would anyone consider no cup better then any cup no matter what’s happened outside of hockey. It’s NHL hockey and winning the cup is the entire point. Only time in history that a team might have to play 5 + 28 = 33 games to win it all. Doubt it will ever be harder under the circumstances...for two plus months playing every second night like it’s a road game without seeing most of your family/friends, infront of no fans and only a select few people outside of hockey to get a causal chat with in the flesh (driver? hotel staff (limited) ...). Why would anyone seriously want to wait another possible 50 years... or maybe longer who knows. This whole “asterisk” thing is complete BS. Might as well say the 40-60’s MTL, TO and DET dynasties were BS too, they didn’t play many regular season games and the current format was still years away. And before expansion every team would be considered contenders by today’s standards...we have at least 3 in each conference at any given time right?
  20. That will only be true if a team is playing without guys because of the virus, and even then it’s not that big of a deal unless it’s a key player or more then one. I wish some fans would spend some time and see what the actual players are saying about this - they believe (some) that it will be the hardest cup to win in the history of the NHL. All teams are back to full strength - but half of them will have to win 19 games to win the cup. No home building to give you a boost, all the games will feel like road games for most teams. I’m going with that viewpoint. No asterisk required unless you want to add how much harder it was to win under the circumstances....
  21. MTL couldn’t win despite a good core until Robinson arrived and got rid of the PHI flu starting with Shultz...NYI couldn’t win despite gaining immediate traction once Potvin was drafted and several cracks at it until the team was all in their mid even late primes (Potvin was 27 and Billy Smith 30 in 80-81)...EDM had to go through a still great MTL team (Messier vs Robinson) and of course lost to NYI the first time to the final - experience trumped talent, ability and youth... More recently Detroit’s last two cracks at it against PIT - and then a decade of losing by WSH vs PIT finally prevailed. Really it’s hard to find many examples of a young core winning it all....look at the Detroit teams of the 90-2000’s, the older core needed to learn how to lose first (SJ playing the underdog in the mid-90’s despite some of the best regular seasons ever). Sometimes winning teams have some new blood but it’s rare that’s the portion of the team carrying the mail - ANA cup an example - same with the “kid” line on the Oilers last cup...Perry, Getzlaf and Gelinas weren’t the same as Selanne, Pronger, Niedermayer(s), Messier, Anderson etc. Point is the more cracks at it now the better the team will be for it in the future. As far as the best prospect in the world now goes ... well last year it was Hughes, before it the “next Lidstrom”...and if anyone’s noticed the recent draft re-dos going way back to the early 80’s now on NHL.com there are few slam dunks period. Daigle was supposed to be the next Mario Lemieux...Yakupov scored more goals then anyone for a long time too...hype is hype - not always right though ... calculating all those variables I’d say sticking to the plan (meaningful playoff minutes) is way more important...we only have three more cracks at it before Horvat and Miller are up or traded right?
  22. Since that’s a valid point what is the actual risk of Covid 19? First the odds of contracting it, the odds of getting hospitalized, dying or just being asymptomatic .. based on the age of players too (say 27 average age). It’s drastically different in a hub city like Vancouver compared to one in the US too. To put it into perspective at the peak in NYC the Mircomort chart which tracks the odds of dying in things like skydiving, riding a motorcycle daily, going to war and pretty much any activity you can think of put it at 50 micromorts - 50 chances in a million. Given the mortality rate you can track the chances of getting it in NYC at the time at 450 chances in a million...those are some pretty slim odds. 45 in 100,000, 4.5 in 10,000, .45 in 1000. Imagine what those odds would be like in even TO? Minuscule. The players are all getting tested now, the 11 so far (most from Florida pretty much 8 were asymtopmatic and 3 had slight fevers and still didn’t feel sick). It’s a valid concern, but seems extremely unlikely in a place like Vancouver. Or even TO where the cases have come almost entirely from three of 50 or so different districts for the past month or so. The math doesn’t lie - the scary part is the virus seems to be going awol again especially in Florida, Texas and California..but still not as bad as NYC was at its worst (yet)...glad Ovi and crew went home, the league would be smart to name the Hub cities soon and get the teams playing in hot spots out of there as quickly as possible.
  23. The odds are just as good the whole thing unravels and then what happens to our chances with winning a playoff series ... and the odds at first go from 12.5% to zero just like that and we pick around 17. Since we are dealing in fantasy how’s that for one? This is the best outcome we could have possibly hoped for given how our season was unraveling too at the time ... going from first to the very fringe in our division ... now we get the chance to play with a full lineup, with no cap restraints. It’s a pandemic miracle that saved the season - and one of the few bright sides to it. Heck yeah we should be fully behind the team to win as many games as they can...19 to be exact.
  24. The players themselves are already saying this is going to be the hardest cup to win in history - five rounds instead of four coming off a long break ... and are excited for the chance to win it. IF there is an asterisk maybe that could be the reason for it. Someone mentioned winning on the road....not much different...and the league is already exploring the idea of letting 1000 fans in for later rounds like other countries have done for soccer games etc. And I’m going to question the “we “ part of waited this long. Waiting since when? 2011? Anyone younger then say 10 in 94 I wouldn’t consider a truly long suffering fan (yet). Especially ones that have only been around for the hey days of the WCE-Sedin era where for a 16 year block only SJ won more regular season games then we did. 32 teams ... maybe 3 cups a century for an average team. It’s only getting harder to win, take whatever we can and be proud of it.
  25. Maybe next season - part or in whole, but with dozens of vaccines already created and some already in trials I doubt we need to worry about this becoming a new normal “any other year going forward”. NHL hockey couldn’t exist without gate money, players wouldn’t be so quick to choose a 5-7 year career if they were earning regular wages and owners would fold. So let’s not worry about fictional outcomes too much. Sure their belts might get a little tighter but they will survive this just like most of us and things will go back to the “old normal” soon enough. And cups are cups - if we win this year then holy sh!t! Would make up for everything instantly.
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