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Everything posted by IBatch
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Gudbranson NOW officially The WORST PLAYER in the League
IBatch replied to RU SERIOUS's topic in Canucks Talk
Ohlund was solid, but never produced at a level that approaches top defenseman, a very good number two. Edler isn’t that much different, other than he doesn’t hit as much or as hard. Jovonoski PPG was close to elite for the time period, and also layed guys out and when he fought did it like his life depended on it. Both had size and skated well for big men. It’s been awhile but I think Jovo finished with over 1000 games and 400 points, which is pretty darned good for a guy that played most of his years and all his prime in the dead puck era, Ohlund played more after the lock-out and was part of two cores, never thought of him as a number one defenseman, and wasn’t when the two played together for us, Jovo was the clear number one on the team. Just my opinion. Edit: he won a gold medal at juniors, a gold medal at the Olympics went to seven all-star games and was voted as the Canucks best defenseman three years in a row from 2001-2003, when both he and Ohlund played together...food for thought, we can’t say that about any other defenseman that’s ever played on our team -
Gudbranson NOW officially The WORST PLAYER in the League
IBatch replied to RU SERIOUS's topic in Canucks Talk
Jovo might be the most compete defenseman we’ve ever had, and the closest thing to a true number one as well (Reinhart as well). The league is drafting smaller skilled players and it’s hard to argue against the results...just look at the leagues top scorers and it’s mind boggling at the quick turnaround, we are approaching 95 levels (first year of the dead puck era). That’s something I wasn’t sure we’d ever see again and for that I’m extremely happy to see. Maybe it’s just cyclic and it’s the sheer number of quality players both already in the league, and the ones coming in, or maybe it’s becuase it’s become all about skating and skill. I miss the hitting and fighting, the hockey is way better with both, but if I had to trade off on one so we could watch more 5-4 games and less 2-1 games I think it’s worth it. I do know that every single player asked says fighting belongs in the game and that they love having guys on their team that can keep cheap shots from occurring and keep them safe. Can’t think of a single player now or previous that has said otherwise. They love their “enforcer”, now that’s guys like Wilson and every GM and team would love having him on their team. Dirty hits and cheap shots are an easy way to get rid of a star...we’ve seen it twice already this year, and that’s not even the playoffs. Guddy is fine as a bottom pairing guy, and until we can replace his intimidation factor (Hominic and Getzlaf say hello), we are way better with him on the team then without...just wish he’d play with more of an edge like you’ve pointed out, and I think he will if he wants to stay in this league. As an aside I wonder what will happen when a Mckinnon or McDavid or Mathews or Kucherov is injured in the playoffs as a result of either a legal or illegal play. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if one or two teams went out and got a few tough SOBs that would do anything it stay in the league and protect their teammates...and start the arms race all over again. -
Gudbranson NOW officially The WORST PLAYER in the League
IBatch replied to RU SERIOUS's topic in Canucks Talk
When we picked up Gudbranson my hope was he’d be our new Mitchell/Murzyn type guy, a very solid defensive defenseman. At this point his biggest value to the team is as a deterrent, someone who makes anyone pay heavily for cheap shots or running our goalie. That’s hard to put a value on, but if you want to the top enforcers we’re making over 2 million per year fifteen years ago and the cap has more than doubled since then, so he’s pretty much right where he should be...my problem is he doesn’t do it enough or play with enough of a chip on his shoulder to really be taken seriously enough by the opposition. He’s entering his prime, the clock is ticking for sure and unless his intangibles or actual play go up, he’s going to end up in the AHL. If Hughes, OJ make the team who do we cut? I hate to lose his toughness as without him we are pussy cats (sorry Rousell you intimidate nobody) but that can be fixed easily in the bottom nine with a guy like McEwen, or somebody even more eager to stay on the team. The clock is ticking. -
It’s really looking like we are going for a nose dive, and at the right time of year. It didn’t seem at all likely that we’d get over that huge losing streak, somehow we did, and injuries did it to us again. The positives far out weigh the negatives, right from the get to go we needed another solid of not spectacular player from this years draft, no Sedins, no Vanek etc. We’d be battling OTT right now if it weren’t for Markstom and EPs play, two players is never enough. Benning also solidified the bottom six in the summer, AG proves he belongs, and help on the defense is coming with Hughes and possibly OJ next season (good-bye poo, goodbye ?!). If if we do land an 18 year old that can jump right in and play with Horvat then next year we should see a big jump in the standings. Even with injuries next season our team is better prepared to replace players with guys like McEwen, Brisbois, Sautner and Dahlen ready to carry the torch. Only a few days left to get more picks, Benning is working the phones no doubt, interest in Edler is high enough he might bring a trade to him if he thinks it might work, and rent him before re-signing. Probably not, but at least this year we have all our picks and some extra padding in the later rounds. Stetcher is also playing himself into the next core, a bright light, Hutton too. JV? Maybe he’s a trade chip, if not that’s ok too. Motte didn’t seem like a good return but he was. The draft is now becoming the thing to look forward to next, what Benning does could determine his future after the end of next season, so far he’s done enough to let things play out, but at some point patience will start to wear thin. Being one heck of a season, post Sedin plus one the team has played with heart, and the season has had its moments, now is the time to see what our top AHLers can do and prepare for the draft, including making deals to add picks and cut off some chaff.
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[Rumor] Panarin Interested in Vancouver
IBatch replied to SuitnTie's topic in Trades, Rumours, Signings
Money. Cold hard casholla, something the Canucks have in spades and other teams do not. But the cost doesn’t seem worth it, I’d rather have Stone at 9-10. Panarin has been looking forward to this payday since he came to the NHL, and I bet he goes to the highest bidder which will like be Florida given no state tax (and at his pay scale that’s an extra million or two in his pocket). We’d have to offer 12 to match 10 in Flordida...could you imagine? We’d McDavid ourselves.... and not have McDavid. -
Congrats to Lu - moving up in all time wins - Luuuu
IBatch replied to gizmo2337's topic in General Hockey Discussion
It sucks that we lost and the reffing didn’t give us more PPs (although we did get our opportunities, twice as many as Boston got) and it sucks that some fans were ready to trash our city. However I won’t forget the hope and the elation when we were up in the series. It was a beautiful time to be a fan. Luongo is the best goalie we’ve ever had, and I count as one of the best moments as a Canuck fan the day we traded for him. One the the best of his generation, his legacy isn’t that he lost in 2011, it’s that he won in 2010, and that he’s played at an elite level his entire career... -
Congrats to Lu - moving up in all time wins - Luuuu
IBatch replied to gizmo2337's topic in General Hockey Discussion
When your team scores five goals and you make to to game seven it’s not your goaltending. -
He played the first two months with a sub-.900 SP which dug him a pretty big hole. Since early Dec. that all changed, and there was an article at the time explaining how with a new goalie coach and systems in play it takes 4-6 weeks for those changes to seep in, instead of relying on years of automatic moves that he used in the past, and that for goalies it usually meant some regression before the benefits started to appear. Good thing he stuck to it, because since then he’s been dynamite, so good in fact I’d say he’s responsible for more points in the standings than anyone else including EP.
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How true. Laughed because, well before at times he did look like a spaz as you pointed out.
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I’ve been critical of Markstrom in the past; and also quick to point out that he was once considered the best goalie prospect in the world, and for some time had that mantle (Demko and Diepetro fawning should come with some realism) for several years. He took some time to gain traction, and he’s definitely stealing games for us. I agree that the sample size isn’t big enough, but he’s done enough to be a number one in this league at least for now. Elite? Well nope he’s not, at least not yet and probably never. There’s a reason that the Vezina has a lot of different names on it and that it’s hard to win more than a couple, it’s the same one that makes picking your fantasy goalies difficult and that you wait as long as possible to do so in a snake draft despite the best ones often near the top of fantasy scoring. Every year someone else wins it or is a finalist (which makes Hasek all the more immortal), a few years ago Price won the Hart too and now... we’ll he’s playing better but still closer to like the last goalie to win the Hart did, other than when he won the Hart, than elite (what’s his name again? exactly who remembers ), so defining elite is hard to do. Bobrovsky is elite, he has a couple Vezinas over the last few years now but he’s playing pretty average these days. I’d say any number one can win the cup as long as they are HOT, and Markstrom is Hot enough to be keeping us in a playoff hunt now. When Schneider was traded everyone in the hockey world thought he was a top ten if not a top five goalie. Half a decade later in what should be his money years he can’t win a game and hasn’t since 2017. Hammond in OTT a few years back won 22 consecutive games to start his career....makes Hart’s little run in PHI look funny, and can’t make it as a back-up now. Consistency is likely the hardest thing to find in goalies, if you get one that is like Luongo, Lundqvist, Roy, Belfour, Hasek, Furh etc...well they are all HHOFers (or will be). Murray won a couple cups recently and I wouldn’t call him elite. I do think we need top ten goaltending to win though, or a hot one.
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The best reasoning is we as fans don’t really know what goes on in the dressing room, who’s a vocal leader between periods and who management thinks is the best person for the job. I don’t think it’s as cut and dried as we as fans think, one red flag is whenever Henrik was asked about Bo being the next captain (outside optics suggest he’s a shoe in, we as fans picked him two years ago and only have stronger convictions now) he was diplomatic about it without giving an actual endorsement. Including comments like he’s quiet in the dressing room and goes about his business like a pro. Not all leaders in the past in general are vocal, Sakic is the best example of this (quiet stoic type), he did his leading on the ice though, and his teammates would go through a wall for him. Bo is great with the press, and I agree with you that with the information we have he’s the best choice. Pettersson w could be a great choice too, but it’s too early to saddle him with it. Lots of other teams have used other guys who weren’t the best players on the team to take the C, Orr and Esposito (who at the time we’re like Gretzky or Lemuiex, was making a mockery of the record books), Landeskog in COL is really enjoying the breakout with McKinnon and Rantanen and has had the C for years without being their best player. Brown (ew) in LA is a cautionary tale to make sure the player is who you think he is first, although they did win two cups with him and not Doughty it Kopitar with the C. Personally i also want Horvat to get the C, two cores of Swedes is enough for me (and thank you gentlemen because that’s what they were), I’m ready for a different take and Bo is appears to be the perfect leader to take us on the next journey towards the promised land.
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I think both sides were happy just to get it done. For TO they got their man, and got their man, and for arguably less than someone else would pay near the TDL. For LA Blake got a first and some spare parts for someone who might have only played one more season for them, and once other players get traded the buyers start to dwindle. Fair deal for both sides.
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This is a fair deal for a good two-way, all around top four defenseman with playoff experience and a year left on his deal. He should help stabilize their defense, and by doing this early they got their man without having to up the ante closer to the TDL. Next year they have the option to re-sign or use him as a rental and re-coup something.
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I should have considered that too, he was on pace to destroy his previous points totals playing often with spare parts...you have to figure that after last year he saw a bright future playing with Boeser, and that was taken away from him (not his fault, Boeser needed a spark and Horvat isn’t the best passer on the team) plus he took a huge load with both Beagle and Sutter out. Hopefully he will get a good long rest and come out guns a blazing for the rest of the year, if he can pace his early scoring that could be all the difference in making the playoffs. Captain...well we will see soon enough.
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Me too ... Not very often do you see someone come in and do things that are that incredible right away. When they finally peaked the Sedins were otherworldly too, especially their passing game...which is something Pettersson has too. The Sedins being twins and playing their entire career together is very special and unique and nobody will ever do that again (and will ultimately get them into the HHOF)...Best rookie we’ve ever had? Maybe.
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Phat fingers well said...I’m not a tanker per say but I did come into this year expecting another top ten or even top five pick (as was being advertised by pretty much every hockey news outlet). Im glad we are playing for a playoff spot, and am absolutely stoked Pettersson is going to be at least a star, if not our second ever super-star (sorry Sedins two years on the top doesn’t give anyone that name). Good times ahead!
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For me EP and Markstrom are the biggest difference makers on this squad this year. Boeser has struggled to get back to his pre-injury form when playing with Horvat and Bear or anyone not named EP, in other words EP has kept him in points, without that it’s questionable he’d have 26 points in his last 25 games (how many of those were scored when playing with EP and without him in the lineup?). Markstom as morphed into the goalie we hoped we’d get for the Luongo trade. It’s been a long and often disparaging ride, all those early goals, many on the first shot of the game, almost beat the record for games without and shut-out, during a span where other new goalies have come into the league and piled up a couple before their 40th game. Amazing that the teams patience lasted that long, and that he’s actually done it...well hopefully that’s not pre-mature, but his play the last six weeks has been great and we’ve won many on his back. Horvat started the year lights out but has slowed right down, maybe the all-star break will re-invigorate him. The new kids kids on the block have played a part in our ressurgance, as has TG in dealing with both injuries and finding places for the new guys. But the biggest reasons for the teams uptick in points so far are Pettersson and his timely scoring (a huge portion of his points are primary assists on game tying and game winning goals, plus he has his share of game winning goals too), and Markstroms play.
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Appreciate your dislike, many feel the same thing about the Orca (especially those around when they crammed everything Orca down our throats when the new uniforms were introduced), and the votes so far have the stick in the rink ahead in the polls. Personally I’m fine with going back to the original WHL Canucks logo which probably should have been adopted into the first place. Eventually the Orca will poll better as new fans are created I suppose too, it’s unfortunate that the fan base is so divided but that comes with having four or five different brands if you include the original original. Glad to see they will play with the skate next year, that will be nostalgic. Experts have grown to like the C stick in rink over the years, and it does look better than the Orca ha ha...what would you do if they made it permanent for real?
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Love your optimism. Pettersson has proved he’s a very special player, if Hughes can do the same for our defense than I like our chances. If for some reason he struggles like the guy your replying to suggests, than they could always switch him back to playing forward and then again I like out chances, Hughes, Pettersson, Boeser would make a pretty elite line. His size is the only thing that I find worrisome, he’s managing fine against young men so maybe it’s not really too big of a deal.
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Same with Boeser. If he scored 20 goals I would have been very happy. Thing is now maybe we’ve been a little spoiled, and some fans have posted Quin is the next Orr and expect him to win Norris trophies soon after he plays. Better than Dahlin, best pick in the draft etc. Been around long enough to see more than a few highly touted prospects amount to nothing, even when they are given way more chances than regular picks do. I’m still a believer it was only one tournament and I also believe that too much stock is taken from this (see Puljajarvi and even OJ)...also believe Jack should be the number one pick based on his body of work.
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Me too. He fell to ten and EDM didn’t even have a sweater with his name on it just in case because everybody thought he’d go anywhere from 3-7. He’s everything you want in a number one, he kills penalties (will Hughes do this?) he plays 30 plus minutes a game (who does that as a teenager?) he has a monster shot (Hughes doesn’t have a one-timer that you really want from your number one guy), he’s got size and is strong as an ox (tenth in pull-ups at the combine, at 215lbs, that’s a strong guy, usually the small light guys do this, we don’t know how well Hughes could go because he didn’t do the combine) so he can move guys away from the front of the net or pin them to the boards behind it etc..his pass was considered the best in the draft class and he can run a dynamite PP, his apparent lack of speed wasn’t noticeable during his try out in EDM (his backwards skating was considered better than Dobson’s) ... ALL those things are important components in being a number one guy. Hughes makes up for some of his lack of size with competitiveness and speed, but that won’t move a Getzlaf or Wheeler or Laine or Mathews away from the net..and it’s concerning that injuries are much more probable too, personally I find injury prone players tiresome even the good ones. This was a high risk high reward pick, after all the hype with those two brothers before the tournament both in print and TV media, it was underwhelming at the best, not so good after all at the worst. You can forgive Jack a little given his age, he was obviously eager and pushed the play when he was on the ice and had lots of chances, Quin didn’t do much though. I’ve pumped him up quite a bit but have also said he wasn’t my choice. I think that Bennings future might hinge on this player panning out, if he doesn’t and follows OJs path we are screwed, two high picks out of three not becoming blue chippers is very bad drafting, even if EP is destined for greatness. PS.!! Best case Phil Housley, he was also 5’9 (not sure he’s even that, the top of his head barely passed Bouchard’s shoulder when they all lined up to meet Cherry), that’s amazing, worst case...well I think we all know what that is but don’t want to say it. Very high reward, but also a pretty risky pick. Dobson and Bouchard were the safe ones IMO, hope Benning and Hughes alleviate my concerns when he finally plays (maybe this Spring)...
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Thinking about eating some lays, while I skate my super fast and super lazy circle from one blue line to the other...maybe if my troups get the puck in our zone where its been the entire shift, they can pass and I can show them what a break away Messier Style looks like. PS I LIKE the Orca, Orca Entertainment got me the endorsement for Lays - suck it Vancouver!
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You bet, Chia can get a “premium “ defenseman for him, like Hutton, and or trade him for a killer shut down Center like Sutter...get er done Benning (shades of the Hall trade).
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In my mind if his size just doesn’t cut it and he can’t make it work...get him working on face-offs, he’d make a killer two-way Center.
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Given his age (remember this could be his one and only tourney) he’s come as advertised. Both Crosby and McDavid were criticized a little as not being as good as other players two or three years older than them because of how touted they were coming in, and this is no different. Now if this forum is talking about his older brother then maybe yes, a little underwhelming performance given some experts have been saying he would have been our best defenseman if he started the year in the Canucks lineup. Edit: As far as Kakko goes, Puljajarvi and OJ had great tournaments too, were drafted high and you know what happened there. I’d take this with a grain of salt to a certain degree, Hughes has been projected to go first for years, he’s the better player, and Quin has been great so far in his second year playing mostly against young men.