-
Posts
5,665 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Blogs
Gallery
Everything posted by kloubek
-
I think I would agree with most of your selections - though I would mention I think if we see Tryamkin back in the NHL he may very likely become the best hitter. I also don't think Crosby is the best passer. I would probably pick one of Backstrom or Thornton.
-
Kassian kick Cernak in the Chest - Now with Poll
kloubek replied to VegasCanuck's topic in General Hockey Discussion
This is going to be an interesting outcome. A couple of thoughts: - Absolutely an intentional kick. Very dangerous. A suspension is absolutely coming, even though it didn't result in injury. - Kassian didn't exactly kick him as hard as he could. Doing so might have resulted in damage. If he missed the target and hit him in the throat.... well... - This is gonna suck for Edmonton having McJesus out as well. They will fall in the standings for sure. Although Kassian seems to have gotten his stuff together, he still does bonehead things. At the end of the day, I don't think the league can let him off too lightly. Actions like this can literally kill people, so a message has to be sent. Combined with his suspension history, I see anywhere from 5-10 games, and if they REALLY want to send a message I can actually see more... but somehow I imagine the suspension will indeed fall in that range. -
[PGT] Chicago Blackhawks at Vancouver Canucks | Feb. 12, 2020
kloubek replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in Canucks Talk
You're drunk. Sleep it off. -
[PGT] Chicago Blackhawks at Vancouver Canucks | Feb. 12, 2020
kloubek replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in Canucks Talk
Boys worked hard out there tonight. Clearly the Hawks had their game going while we did not, but at least we kept the intensity going. Sometimes your goalie has to steal games for you. Marky has been really good so far, but tonight was stellar. I gotta can't say I'm too keen on relying on our goaltending so much though. More games than not we require our goalie to play a great game but they are entitled to having off nights. If that happened at a typical rate, we would be a bubble team. That's kinda scary. -
So far, I would tend to agree. But all these guys are young. The rise of Makar and Hughes so quickly is unprecedented but I still think it is too early to tell exactly how good any of them will end up. Keep in mind too that Dahlin doesn't exactly have a strong team to work with like the other two. Plus it must be hard for a young player to be his best when the team culture is one of losing and the fans hate you. Just sayin'.
-
[PGT] Nashville Predators at Vancouver Canucks | Feb. 10, 2020
kloubek replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in Canucks Talk
Many players use the game to focus on instead of their own hardships, but I am not sure he is one of them. Clearly something os wrong with him, and it stands to reason the mental stress of what is going on with his father is a likely source. But I think he was trying to battle through it before he got injured so I hope he uses this time to get himself in check mentally as well as physically. If we are lucky, we see old Brock when he comes back. -
I think most of will agree that for the first time in... well, ever... we now have a superstar dman. We have had good defensemen, but never one at his level that I can recall in my 30 years of watching. Is Makar better? Possibly. Is Dahlin? Possibly. Is Huggy ours? Absolutely.
-
[PGT] Nashville Predators at Vancouver Canucks | Feb. 10, 2020
kloubek replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in Canucks Talk
Generally good game. Team had some real fire in the 1st. 2nd wasn't so great - Marky had to be spectacular. And he was. 6 to 2. Now imagine a healthy and productive Brock, and Ferland in the lineup. Could easily have been 8-2 against a (typically) very good Nashville squad. Seriously, I think our win was equal parts our team playing well with their team not playing so well at times, combined with Marky's heroics. Still, a good game. Thought Bailey showed very well. I would like to see more of him up with the big club. He is way faster than I realized, and shows some real push. -
Smoking much? I pick scenario 2. Taking all the details into account, we have lots of unutilized talent, yet we were able to make the finals? To me, that speaks of a team that has already made it, and will probably be healthier in year 2 to win the cup. Scenario 2 says we don't need that 1st OA pick.
-
I agree with the negativity regarding our pushback and tenacity. Both are obvious deficiencies. It isn't our personnel. Benning has done an excellent job with bringing in heavy guys with size, who have been known to have pushback in the past. I too can't think of why we don't play such a game other than the coaching, and when we have been outmuscled the last couple of games I taught my 7 year old son what the word "timid" meant. We don't seem to have that real fire and ability to really take it to the other team. With that said, adding guys who are primarily known for such traits are already our property. Signing Tryamkin(hopefully) and getting Ferland back should make a huge difference. I believe tenacity is infectious, and if we have guys like that it will force the opponent to try to match. Which in turn forces the rest of our guys to play that style, and I believe our team CAN play that style better than most. Granted, this may be harder on our smaller guys but they'll learn to deal with it eventually. What we have seen in the last few games is NOT our team. Once we find a way to step up, I believe we will easily keep with Calgary and others.
-
Petey good to go for tonight.
-
[Speculation] Canucks interested in Wayne Simmonds
kloubek replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in Trades, Rumours, Signings
I can understand the thought behind this: If Ferland can't go, Benning feels we need another player who fights hard, has size, protect our players and can help us with a playoff push. Simmonds fits that bill, and IF he can gel in the top 6 it seems like a pretty sound idea to me. Even in the bottom 6 I still feel he is a better option than the callups we have, and I expect injury replacement will be a factor on the run. I feel like he could come cheap - considering he is UFA and is a gamble to perform in the first place. I wouldn't want to give up any really strong futures for him, but I imagine NJ would want to get *something* rather than nothing. So if the rumors are true, I do believe this makes sense if Ferland can't go. However, I find it odd this story is coming up now - just as Ferland is seemingly getting better and close to going to Utica for conditioning. Seems almost a forgone conclusion he will be back inside a month or so - unless there is something I'm missing... -
[PGT] Vancouver Canucks at Minnesota Wild | Feb. 06, 2020
kloubek replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in Canucks Talk
This road trip is one to forget. Luckily, we are good enough to remain 1st in the pacific. All is not lost. -
[PGT] Vancouver Canucks at Boston Bruins | Feb. 04, 2020
kloubek replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in Canucks Talk
Hard game to watch. Officiating was poor. Boys looked tired and without much fire. Was hoping for at least a competitive game - though the outcome was what most were expecting. At least I saw Loui make a hit. That accounts for his seasonal quota. -
[GDT] Nucks @ Bruins - Feb 04 2020 - 4pm Pacific - SNET
kloubek replied to xereau's topic in Canucks Talk
Will be a tough game as it always is against Boston. But if they manage to keep it going with them I think the confidence of hanging with the big boys will spread through the team. Go Canucks! -
I was going to say something similar. The guy has obvious skills but gets regularly outmuscled out there. If he wants to thrive in the NHL, he is going to have to win more battles - especially in the corners and along the boards.
-
I agree, though it could be argued that many (most?) teams have a scoring dman who he could pair with potentially just as well. It seems to me that we have seen his potential this season because we finally have a true offensive threat on the blueline after so many years of missing such a player. I think Tanev is a smart enough guy that he could have a similar effect elsewhere. With that said, I see no evidence to suggest he would rather play elsewhere and that adds to my confidence Benning will be able to find a way.
-
Yeah I agree. It is hard to dispute how Bo and Tanner have been playing for a stretch, but the play does die too often once it hits Eriksson's stick. As others have asked for, we should ve putting Boeser on that line. I imagine Green wanted to have 3 scoring lines but he hasn't gelled well on the 3rd. Someone probably mentioned it, but with Benning saying he isn't worried about cap space but with 3 key players due for raises, I can't help wonder if a statement was said that went something like this: Benning/Green: "Loui, we know things haven't worked out since coming here and you're unhappy. Understandable, but let's come up with a solution that makes sense for both of us. If you agree to play your heart out, we are going to insert you into the 2nd line for the foreseeable future. If you succeed up there, it will help us to move you. If you don't find more success up there or/and we can't move you, then you retire as there is very little real money owed on the rest of the contract. At least then you had more fun for the remainder of your time here and can leave with less regrets". I can't help but think Loui has upped his trade value of late. Now more than ever he should be an attractive veteran player to be picked up for a rebuilding team with cap space available. And if he still isn't an attractive acquisition, retain 1.5m of his salary and/or throw in a b level prospect. Win win for everyone. This should be totally doable.
-
I am not going to lie - I was worried about Tanev. He just couldn't remain healthy and last year even his defensive game was a noticable step back from prior years. But this year, he has looked fantastic. Not just good (as we expect), but he is having a defensive year to match any other, while adding career-best scoring as well. Of course Hughes has everything to do with all this, but it is awesome to see. Hard to imagine he isn't going to insist on a reasonable raise - and he probably deserves it.
-
[Discussion & Poll] Markstrom, Tanev & Virtanen - One has to go
kloubek replied to grandmaster's topic in Canucks Talk
If I had to pick, I would say Tanev due to age, injury history, and the fact he is having his best season ever and may be offered more elsewhere despite those factors. All three would be hard to replace. I feel we need Jake's speed and size, we need Markstrom's goaltending and I don't believe many are convinced Demko is ready for #1 duty yet, and we would need to try to sign or acquire a talented shutdown guy as we don't have anyone else near Tanev's ability to fill that role. Expansion draft aside, I do feel Benning wants to re-sign all 3 and I feel he probably will find a way to make it happen. Even if we have to make some tough decisions on giving away assets in order to free up cap, it -should- be possible. It obviously starts with letting Schaller walk. Re-signing Leivo could be challenging. We would still need another 2-3 million which could be had by moving one of Sutter, Beagle, or Eriksson. You have to think that even if we had to sweeten the deal, there should be a way to make that happen. I would also like to see us move Stecher before the deadline. While he is a solid player, I think one of our other guys like trying our Rafferty or OJ could be in the cards, or even just playing Benn for the remainder of the season. Bottom line: The situation is fluid and dynamic. Many things could happen to alleviate the pinch and I am confident Benning has a few ideas up his sleeve. -
I made a comment just a few posts up from April. To me, there is now enough sample size to suggest Marky is exactly the goalie the supporters felt he was. I am finally convinced. Obviously the market worth for a UFA player depends on what other teams are willing to pay, and how much of a discount (if any) the player is willing to give their current team. We all know what Markstrom has done for this team. He has very few poor showings these days, and is our obvious #1 guy. With that said, if you look at his surface numbers, he isn't exactly showing as truly elite from a historical numbers perspective. Even this season, for goalies who have played 25 games or more, he is 9th in save % and I believe 14th in gaa. Don't get me wrong - that is quite good, but hardly stellar. But once you factor in the quality of shots we give up, I think it could be argued he is better than these already decent numbers initially show. One could also suggest his father and friend dying likely took his numbers down a notch. His appearance at the ASG may also give him the edge when it comes to perceived worth. In any case, IMO, he is clearly a top 10 goalie... possibly even top 5 this season all things considered. It will be interesting to see what he will be asking for, and how much Benning is willing to (or even CAN) pay. If you look at a few of the inflated goalie contracts out there like Bobrovsky, I don't think it is unrealistic that a GM might offer him over 7 million a season. That may seem high, but I could see it. CDC seems to think he is worth far less than that. But I say if we get him on a shorter (3 year?) term for around 6 million, we will have done well. Any less than that would be some serious magic by Benning imo. Should be interesting.
-
I agree, but switched up Eriksson and Sutter for that "cycle". I feel Sutter generates more than Eriksson, and that both Gaudette and Roussel need that. Either this lineup, or sit Schaller in favour of seeing what Bailey can do then move Eriksson to the left side. As far as Boeser being "demoted", I am sure there are good reasons for this. Could be Green simply icing what is working. (Oddly enough, that includes Loui on the 2nd line. Could be reducing Brock's stress levels. Could be trying to get a legit 3rd line scoring punch. Or maybe it is tough love. (I doubt the latter, though). Who knows. This is why he is the coach and we... aren't.
-
Here's my perspective: Hughes is obviously our offensive blueliner. We all know what he can and does do. While we have other guys who can produce some as a collective, we don't really have a second guy who is a significant scoring threat. (Edler CAN be sometimes, but you never know which Edler is going to come to the rink every night). So in this regard, I would really love to have Barrie and bringing him in to get a taste of the Canucks would probably help us sign him to his next contract. 2 true scoring threats on the blueline would really be a dream come true. However, other posters have already pointed out that Tanev is our only premier shut-down guy, and our overall defense isn't that great as it is. Lose Tanev and we would get a lot more goals scored against us. This has been proven time and time again through Tanev's many injuries, and the team flounders. Posters have also pointed out that Barrie will want good money next year, and unless Benning works some magic we probably won't be able to afford him. With Tanev actually having a healthy year AND on pace for his best PPG total ever, I feel we are better off just riding it out and seeing what happens. If Tanev doesn't end up re-signing with us, perhaps that will make it easier to bring Barrie in if Benning so desires. However, if we did that we really would need to figure out who will pick up the defensive slack. But really, if Tanev is fair with his demands, I imagine Benning will do whatever he can to keep him. IF (and it is a big if) he can continue to stay healthy and continue to put up the points he has so far this season, he might actually be pretty good value for another couple of years.
-
Not getting a mid-round pick for Eriksson. But overall, I do agree we don't *need* to do anything. It would be ideal to find a true 2nd line winger that could work well with Bo, but it is hard to give up quantity for quality at the best of times - but especially when you are against the cap. The only move I really want to see is something to try to reduce our cap space. Anything Benning can do to rid ourselves of the Eriksson contract (and perhaps Beagle) would make me happy.
-
We are just fine. Most of our players are gritty and/or big. Yes, there are a couple of chinks in that armour, but it is hard to ice a team with -every- player being so. I can't think of a team that does, actually. The only guy I see a real problem with is Stecher, and he tends to be very resilient. Tanev is fine. Quinn skates around guys. Petey plays bigger than he is when he wants to. Eriksson isn't a physical threat at all, but he can play with some fervor when he decides to. Our size even extends to our backups like Macewan and Benn. Tryamkin could in theory be back as well which would basically makes the concern moot in itself. Ferland will be back - which will be huge. Even our other injured guys have size and/or grit. Do we have a heavyweight fighter? Not really. Do we need one in today's NHL? Not really. It has probably said that we also now have the depth to cover the inevitable injuries that will occur. That's also huge that we don't have to insert some plug in such events. In fact, I would say we are better than fine. There are lots of playoff teams out there -far- more in need than ours. Bring on the playoffs.