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kloubek

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Everything posted by kloubek

  1. Hogs is still quite raw and I feel he has several years to reach his potential. This is a good thing, as that potential is very high and he has the drive to get there. I know he's playing at a .5ppg clip now, but mark my words - he's going to be an elite to near elite player for us. 1st line player. Yet another absolute steal by Benning and Co.
  2. Lol. Well put. During that play I was seriously wtf'ing, but that pass was gold. One thing I've come to realize with Myers is that he's kinda like Hasek in that he looks super awkward out there and makes odd plays sometimes, but in the end, often gets the job done. Biggest difference (besides the many obvious ones) is that Hasek did it with consistency and Myers is off and on. A Myers on his game truly can be effective.
  3. I was merely hoping for a semi-competitive game where our guys didn't get injured. But tonight I had the biggest smile I've had watching a game in years. Way to go boys. So proud.
  4. Holtbys best save as a Canuck. Can't blame him if we lose this... he's been good.
  5. Two entirely different kinds of players. Jack, if he makes it, will always be the flashier of the two and put up more points. Juolevi operates on his smarts and calm play.
  6. This is nothing like the Hodgson situation. Petey is injured. He also has the compete level, professionalism and morals. He will be fine.
  7. This season's Tanner Pearson, sure... 3rd line guy. Last year, he had the best gpg of his career, by a long shot. Not sure if you can claim a "trend" set by only a couple dozen games. With this said, I don't feel Pearson is an ideal 2nd line winger. I think his first full season with us was as much an anomaly as his poor performance this season. Imo, and historically, Pearson is about a .5ppg player, which puts him at an elite 3rd line level but not really a 2nd liner. So your I think your *overall* assessment is pretty dead on.
  8. Funny... I was thinking Edler? Sutter makes more sense, situationally. Schmidt: Started looking better as the season wore on. Sometimes it takes a while to adjust, and to be accepted for your... entertaining style. He was quite good in Vegas and we really do need a second scorer back there. Now, if Rathbone turned out and the return was good enough, I'd consider it. Miller: He's been one of our heart and soul guys. He's on a decent contract. He brings it every night and is a leader for our team. I think for those reasons, you keep him. With that said, I always question when an "aging" player has a career year, as often it's a steep downhill from there...
  9. We are used to injury issues, reffing issues, schedule and travel issues, and bad luck draft issues. Now we can throw Covid issues in there too, and the season is finished imo. Get Loui out there to earn his pay (ie: help our draft position) and the whole taxi squad out there, rest up our players with any signs of post covid symptoms and call it a season. It isn't worth added injury risk or rushing rehab.
  10. Even if we weren't dead last, we'd still have a pretty decent pick if we lost them all. Hughes, anyone?
  11. Given Benning's obvious ability to pick out drafted talent, don't you think it would have been his preference to tear it all down asap? I'm not sure if it is public knowledge or speculation, but I believe it was ownership who wanted to keep the window open for as long as possible. We also had the aging Sedins, for whom we were waiting to retire before a true rebuilt could occur, and even when it did, we had to content with Loui's hurl-worthy contract as an anchor to bringing in talent as well as Luongo's ridiculous penalty. One may say that LE is Benning's fault, but I would make that same acquisition every single time if I'm GM. His falling off a cliff was an absolute anomaly and bad luck. I'm not blind to Benning's mistakes. He's made some gaffs which are entirely on him, but that could be said of literally every other GM. I think if you step back and look at all the speedbumps and hurdles he's had to deal with, he's actually managed quite well. And while the Aquilinis can make mistakes like any other owner, their confidence in him by virtue of his 3 year contract signals to me that they believe the same.
  12. Absolutely not. Since they got it from him already, there isn't much reason in being separated at this point. And really, once he DOES return, it does nobody any good to make what's been a very difficult situation even worse by limiting access to family. He will require the support for what is going to be a brutal finish.
  13. Sorry, but I'm going to play pessimist. 8-0 Oilers. Like Trudeau, we just aren't ready.
  14. Well during our rebuilding years we certainly didn't have much quality. But I'm saying now. Despite his warts, Myers is a decent defenseman. Not interested in debating his contract. Huggy is Huggy. He struggled defensively this season, bit I'm not necessarily blaming the coaching staff for that, as they were the same staff the year prior when he was not that bad. But he's a star and we all know it. Schmidt took a bit to find his way and looked better later on, but he's been underwhelming despite being a big name. Benn should have been better. He's BEEN better. Edler has been part of an inept defensive core for years. But I honestly don't think he's a big problem, as the team plays so much worse without him. And yes, he's clearly declining and too much was expected of him. Then all that's left is Juolevi, who was touted as being a very savvy and intelligent defender. He gets a pass for being somewhat ineffective based on his NHL experience. But really, I think if you go back before this D was assembled, most would look at that lineup and say, yeah... that looks solid. It just seems like no matter what Benning does to tweak it, we still give up ridiculous shot totals and high scoring chances. It's simply not fair to our goalies either, who have been expected to be godlike for a decade to keep the team competitive.
  15. Not going to quote your lengthy post, and normally I would just give an emoticon, but I agree with every single point (and there were many). All well said. I don't agree with everything Jim has done, and he's made unfortunate mistakes, but people have to understand how depleted we were after the Gillis era, how we were expected to keep the team winning with a core in the twilight of their careers, and how much work there was to be done in homegrowing our talent. He HAS has a plan all along, and has almost finished executing it. I also don't believe these people realize that we are basically almost there. Yes, Benning will need to continue tweaking and trying to keep injecting high end talent, but most of the pieces are in place. If guys like Rathbone and Podz turn out as expected (and there is a high chance for), maybe we bring in Tryamkin, hopefully Demko remains stellar, we are right there in a year or two. I do think we need to fix our defensive structure though for it all to come together. It's just so hard to see right now for some. The team (for whatever reason) started off poorly then all this Covid BS, it's been one hell of a downer season. But for me, the start of next season symbolizes a shift in our momentum. If I'm right, it's all going to be up from there.
  16. I can't help but believe it's the defensive coaching that is keeping the Canucks from being better. If you look at the names on our blueline, we actually have a fairly good D on paper. We have a lot of cap invested, and a few players who would certainly be sought after by other teams. I feel they are literally ALL underperforming from a defensive perspective, and this has been a problem for us for years. Look at Stecher. He was always decent defensively but he's a defensive darling in Detroit... who as a team are negative a thousandsomething. We can keep rotating defensemen like we've been doing for years, or maybe Benning might have a eureka moment... but something has to give if we want to ice a contender.
  17. My interest lies in hoping none of our guys get injured. The season is essentially a writeoff.
  18. Me too. Quietly did his thing, and didn't complain about ice time. (Or lack thereof). I thought he played alright this season for a bottom pairing guy. Better than his first with us for sure. Wishing him the best - seemed like a good guy.
  19. Honestly, we were relying on Demko to find God Mode *before* the team got wrecked by Covid and facing a super compressed schedule. At this point, we need both goalies in God Mode, blessing for the entire team, and for the Gods to damn the Habs. It's a pretty big ask for fictional characters.
  20. Unfortunate, but I understand the conditions aren't exactly optimal to be playing a big tournament.
  21. Many think Rathbone is going to be a very effective player, and we can't rely on Hughes to be the only one on the back end who can score regularly so I think he'd likely be a great addition to our team. When we have other options to deal with Loui, I'd sooner take them. It also shouldn't be ignored that it is *possible* that by us having less cap space it puts pressure on Petey and Hughes to sign team-friendly contracts. I'm not saying they would necessarily care or that such matters factor into business negotiations, but maybe?
  22. Me too. I find re-signing him entirely plausible, with one caveat. Why he could: He has stated and shown before and recently that he doesn't want to play anywhere else, yet he's still an NHL-level player who can and probably should continue playing if it suits him. I imagine it does. He's been a loyal Canuck his entire career, and it would be nice to see him get a couple more years (year by year contracts) and retire a Canuck. If he wants to stay, he has to understand that we won't be willing to pay him the big bucks any longer and he's going to have to take a big pay cut. (And honestly, his performance this season has shown a certain decline and he's worth less anyway). I don't imagine he'd play 21 minutes. I would guess perhaps 18 minutes a night as he continues to age. Which is still fine value for us if we can get him on the cheap. But that caveat... I think the one big thing riding on re-signing Edler really is simply the roster spots available... which has already been mentioned. I could see perhaps one year of Rathbone getting seasoned in the AHL and filling in for injury, but I imagine we'll want him with the big club full time asap. Juolevi appears to have secured his spot and we all know and we know Hughes is going nowhere, so something's gotta give there. In the end, I could possibly see a one year deal, but I'm not sure it makes sense after that point.
  23. Agreed. He simply was not a defense-first player, which is what you need in those roles. And honestly, our top 6 plays a pretty decent 2 way game, and I feel he was always going to be the weak link - even if he makes it as a top 6 winger. Just not a great fit, but I wish him the best. Seemed like a good guy. I'm more just questioning the return. Despite his flaws, Gaudette tries hard and when he's on his game, has got some obvious skill. Apparently Highman is fast, but otherwise doesn't seem like he will be much of a contributor. (Unlike Motte, who can actually pot some goals) Time will tell.
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