Curmudgeon
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Everything posted by Curmudgeon
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Joni Jurmo? He’s our best prospect in the system, he should make the team
Curmudgeon replied to Odd.'s topic in Canucks Talk
I agree that playing him at forward wasn't great, but he was at least a number seven on a defence list that had Brisebois, Juulsen, Sautner, Bowey, Rathbone and Stephens playing ahead of him. This year Woo has shown that he's done the work to be a better player and with the departure of Sautner, Bowey and Stephens, his game has improved with more ice time and greater confidence. I admire Woo's persistence and work ethic. I hope he makes it to the NHL. -
No, thanks for yours. A thoughtful post with lots to think about. Good work.
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Bally Sports Bankruptcy Can Affect the Salary Cap
Curmudgeon replied to ToTellTheTruth's topic in General Hockey Discussion
Fun fact, apropos of nothing in particular: The top NHL fortune accumulated over a career is Jaromir Jagr's $218.6 million. Sidney Crosby is third at $187.7. Guess who is in second place? Ovechkin? Pronger? Fedorov? Sakic? No, no, no, no. In second spot, and soon to be top, is Gary Bettman, with an NHL fortune of $213.8 million. I'm thinking the Arizona Coyotes might be his someday retirement project. -
I looked at some Brock highlight videos from his first season and what strikes me is how quickly he got his shot off back then. Now it seems he takes a half-second longer to line up the shot and that gives the goalie a chance to get into position. Brock is at his best when he just receives a pass and shoots all in one motion. He also has seen his role change on the power play from triggerman to set up man for the bumper. Maybe with Horvat gone, Brock might get moved to the bumper position to take advantage of a still awesome shot, when he can get it off.
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But do we really need him?
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Yes, because if Vancouver had waited until the deadline without getting a good offer for Bo, the price goes down because all a team has to do is wait until July 1 and sing him without giving up anything. That's why this is a very smart move to get out in front early. I don't think Lamoriello makes that deal at the deadline.
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Bobby Hull was the first superstar I ever knew about when Chicago won the Stanley Cup in 1961. He was amazingly fast and strong and once he began experimenting with the curved blade, slapshots became so hard and wild that more and more goalies began to wear masks. Yes, in the early 1960's, only one or two goalies wore a mask and some of the old news reporters weren't impressed. They thought masks (and helmets) were a sign of cowardice, and they also thought the slap shot was a passing fad. And here we are.
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Quick question: At what age does someone cease to be useful?
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[Waivers] Lane Pederson (claimed by Blue Jackets)
Curmudgeon replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in Trades, Rumours, Signings
Pederson cost nothing, scored a whole bunch of goals in Abbotsford in what was shaping up to be a career AHL year, then scored once with two assists in 11 games. The kicker is that he was on a one-way contract, meaning he'd be paid $750,000 in Abbotsford. By contrast, both Podkolzin and Hoglander are on two-way contracts, which pay them each $70,000 for AHL play. So I'm thinking they weren't upset to lose a $750,000 salary on a guy who is not really an NHL player. -
[Waivers] Lane Pederson (claimed by Blue Jackets)
Curmudgeon replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in Trades, Rumours, Signings
Some time ago I did some digging to try and answer the question, "Do waiver wire pickups make a difference?" As of today, January 28th, there are 27 players on NHL rosters who were acquired off the waiver wire. Almost all of them are bottom end players. The answer to my question seems to be "not much at all". Have a look. -
Partially true. The two other pieces that most forget is that in the 60's Maple Leaf owner Stafford Smythe offered to build an NHL arena in Vancouver. All he wanted was the city to gift him the land, and the city told him to pound sand. The other piece was that the prospective owner of a Vancouver franchise, Coley Hall, was hated by the NHL owners because he held the hockey territorial rights to San Francisco, so the planned expansion to San Francisco in 1967 ended up in Oakland. They did not last, but as long as Hall was involved in anything, the NHL wouldn't consider Vancouver. They even had to shop for an owner, a Minnesota entrepreneur named Tom Scallen who later did time on a federal rap for stealing $3 Million from the Vancouver Canucks. To put that into perspective, the team paid $6 million to the NHL as a franchise fee. And this has been another Curmudgeon episode of way more than you wanted to know.
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1. Petey is on pace for 100 points and thrills and delights us with his playmaking and stickhandling. 2. Kuzmenko has been a tremendous addition. 3. Quinn is the best defenceman we've ever seen in Vancouver. 4. Mikheyev has been a good addition. 5. Dakota Joshua has been a good addition. 6. Ethan Bear has been a good addition. 7. Luke Schenn is the heart and soul of the Canucks defence. 8. Linus Karlsson, Danila Klimovich, Nils Aman, Jack Rathbone, Vasili Podkolzin and Nils Hoglander are all developing nicely in Abbotsford. 9. Aidan McDonough will sign after the NCAA season. A pure sniper, he will likely need time in Abbotsford. 10. Arshdeep Bains is developing steadily in Abbotsford and could become a third or fourth liner. Oh, there are negatives, to be sure, but man, try looking for the good things about the team. It's so much more satisfying than to constantly pick at the negatives and use them as an example of general and total ineptitude. We get it, the team has vastly underperformed this season, but there have been bright spots that should make you hopeful.
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[Signing] Canucks re-sign Andrei Kuzmenko
Curmudgeon replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in Trades, Rumours, Signings
My dear departed father-in-law once got me a subscription to The Hockey News and I am ashamed to admit I rarely read them. Except for the Future Watch and Draft Previews. I still buy those, but because of editorial and marketing deadlines the yearbooks are done in July, so are out of date before the season starts. The thing about The Hockey News, as with most other magazines, is that people don't need them anymore, now that everything you'd ever want to know is available virtually immediately online. Once you take out all the statistics and rosters all you are left with are opinions, and we can get all the opinions we could possibly want on social media and CDC. -
[Signing] Canucks re-sign Andrei Kuzmenko
Curmudgeon replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in Trades, Rumours, Signings
Kuzemenko is the first brick in the rebuild. I can't understand why so many of you can't see that. They go out and sign a guy who chose them over 31 other teams, he comes in and is nothing but positive and even joyful at being a Canuck, he is on pace for 35-40 goals, and he has shown that he thinks the game at a similar level to Petey. I look at that and say, we succeeded beyond our wildest dreams, let's keep him and make him part of the new core. Yet others look at the same things and say, Yeah, his value is really high so let's trade him for a young underachiever, a draft pick, which is basically a roll of the dice, and veteran bottom six guy to even out the money. And Dan Milstein is so annoyed that he vows to never steer a Russian free agent towards Vancouver ever again. But yeah, we got PO-tential up the yin yang. And, in another year, Kuzmenko begins to pop up in conversations about Panarin and Kaprizov and Kucherov. Don't laugh, it could happen, and wouldn't you rather it happened in Vancouver? -
This is pretty horrible. Can't score if you don't have the puck. Can't have the puck unless you beat somebody to it. Can't beat anybody to it if you're just standing around watching the other team. Just a whole bunch of passengers tonight who seem hypnotized by Seattle's speed and precision passing.
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I'm still holding out for the Leafs to choke in the first round, Sheldon Keefe to be canned, and Bruce to be hired to fulfill a lifelong dream of coaching his beloved Leafs. I will cheer for Bruce, even at the same time I am cursing the Leafs.
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Who would replace Tyler Myers if he is traded/bought out?
Curmudgeon replied to Hectic's topic in Canucks Talk
59 games played in three seasons and out since November 4th. I'm getting Olli Juolevi vibes here. -
Андрею Кузьменко: Есть много глупых болельщиков, которые хотят, чтобы тебя обменяли. Вы можете игнорировать их, пожалуйста. Большинству болельщиков нравятся навыки, которые вы привнесли в команду, и они хотят, чтобы вы остались. Мы хотим, чтобы вы помогли этой команде выиграть Кубок Стэнли. Спасибо, что выбрали Ванкувер. Мы гораздо лучшая команда с тобой в составе.
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It would be a dream come true if the Canucks were to win the lottery and take Bedard, but there are some pretty good consolation prizes after that in Adma Fantilli, Leo Carlsson, Zach Benson and Wiil Smith to name a few. Matvei Michkov is also pretty good, but is tied up until 2026. So, I guess I am saying that as long as Vancouver continues to slide, they will still get a really good player.