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kilgore

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Everything posted by kilgore

  1. Benning didn't seem to understand that even a moderately good defenceman is three x as valuable if he's in a monster body
  2. The way Petey can use his stick, intercepting and interrupting plays by the opposition. Hand / Eye is amazing
  3. The only way we lose enough now I think is because of injuries. I don't wish harm on any player. But dang it, if Petey and/or Demko got an injury that was 100% percent recoverable in few weeks, like a clean bone break, I won't be crying about it. edit: It would be terrible for them and I'd definitely let out a little whimper
  4. Yup. And yes, we will have too few young junior prospects, and picks. That is the main con part of doing a retool now. I've already written saying a rebuild is best way to achieve a more sustainable improvement. But at some point as a fan, one has to accept that Aquilini is not interested in a full rebuild. It is what it is. And now, even if he wanted to change his mind, its too late IMO. And after a fan comes to terms with that fact...only then can they take a deep breath, start to have opinions on just HOW to fill the needed roster spots best and WHO would be best, to make the retool as successful as it can be. About "well managed". I think there is a huge difference between a Macaroni Benning/Weisbrod retool attempt, and a Rutherford/Allvin retool attempt. They've already done more better value deals in a year and a half than Benning did in eight years. A well managed retool can be just as successful as a rebuild. If you measure success by building a team that can contend for the Cup. But its riskier and it has a shelf life. And it kicks the prospect can down the road. Not good. We will have to deal with that problem somehow in future. That is one of the prices of using all you got now to go all in. But again, that is the direction. And we do have a lot of the pieces already. In goal, on the wings. And two top centers, and two good younger D. There is still time. If people say they are willing to wait the probable 5-7 years of a proper rebuild, surely they can wait a couple more seasons to see if the new management can salvage Petey and Hughes and Demko's best years. Also one aspect of having a good team, is that other teams value your players more than when you are losing. And so by improving the team, even if its only a temporary 3 or 4 year window, you can trade for more picks again that way if it doesn't work out.
  5. "I want an actual plan an actual direction because adding a piece or two of significance a season while claiming "hughes and Pettersson won't wait" means that by the time we add the centre, the rhd, the bottom 6 wingers and 3rd line center and stay at home crease clearing top 4/ 5-6 we need to claim we have the depth and skill to compete they'll be pushing 30." We do have a direction. And it hasn't changed with this management. A retool, adding younger pieces, players that have NHL experience (or KHL) that fit in roughly with the core ages and when such players become available....Bear, Hronek, Joshua, Kravstov, Kuzmenko, Beauvillier, Aman. Some fans may not agree with that direction, but there it is. And actually, this kind of retool is the only way to avoid the situation you are talking about. ie. finally having a team to compete when Petey is 30+ (if he hasn't left by then). A rebuild would definitely threaten any chance of watching Petey, Hughes, Miller, Demko, go deep into the playoffs while still a Canuck. A well managed retool will be able to get us there sooner. We just acquired a good top 4 RHD. I don't know about you but I'm impressed with just how well JR and PA have done.....if you are looking at it through their plan.
  6. Yup. The way it is now is that its past the tipping point. Way past now with the Hronek trade. I too was shouting for a rebuild, getting louder each season JB doubled down. And I believe that it was still possible even right when JR took over. But for whatever reason he didn't, ..maybe simply that his bosses new coach hire went on a win bender and so it was pretty hard to start your job arguing with the boss about replacing his own "brilliant" hire who has gotten the team starting to think playoffs again. And maybe as JR and PA watched the team they started to see how special this young core was, and with some obvious pressure from ownership, made their minds up that they could salvage the team. I agree that the difference between a JB retool, and a JR retool is timing and competence. As you laid it out. Your #2 reason for benefits of winning is a little odd because it seems like an argument downplaying any benefit of winning games now. Saying you see no history of teams where the winning culture carries over to the next season. So I'll argue that point. I think that may be true for a loosey goosey team under BB. But it seems that Tocchet is implementing a system that some players have said is more 'black and white'. That when things go awry, there is a backup play they fall to. So, like riding a bike, I think it will be easier to get off to a good start if returning players have this 3 month pre-training camp lesson now instilling good habits and predictable positioning. An intelligent, careful, retool can work. Need some luck too. Its not ideal though. I think most times a real proper strip down rebuild usually will work more reliably, sometimes taking longer than fans want, but its bound to eventually be successful. And the kind of success that sets the team up for years of competitiveness. Still the best way to get a floundering team to the shore. But a retool can work. Every team is so different with so many tangibles you can't really compare them, but one could say Boston, and LA, have retooled on the fly successfully. But its more risky. And its probably not sustainable. But we will have to deal with the farm later for this to work. Its a choice between this more risky way, or giving up on Petey, Hughes, Demko, Miller, Kuzmenko, and the other great additions. Maybe have to watch Petey lift the Cup in another building. That would suck. And then hoping you make the right picks to replace our current core with an even BETTER core, especially on defence. That also comes with risks. coughCoilerscough. Its a gamble both ways. One is more safe mutual investments with a slow build up of returns, and the other is a bit of an all in at the roulette table. But we are now so far down that path, its counter productive to start walking back to a rebuild at this point IMO.
  7. I'm really not interested in the captain having to answer to a question about how they played that night, especially after a loss. It's pointless. There is nothing more they can say but "We sucked, and we gotta be better". That's the wear and tear of the job. Bo just repeated the same few phrases he memorized while he stared into space behind the camera. Even after a win, he never strayed from the script. And to be fair every captain is the same after awhile. But you're never going to learn anything new, and its a stressful part of the job that doesn't serve much of a purpose. That job should just be automated with a robot.
  8. Gotta love it. So this tictocker has an in with the team too. Well played.
  9. Ha. you're right. I guess I was referring to tangibles.
  10. There is something worse than being so improved at the end of the season that you screw up your chances at the #1 pick. Yeah its double tough seeing a player like homeboy Bedard up there. And that's if this team was still fully committed to the retool like it is, traded away top picks already. Capped to the limit. And still sucked. That Tocchet made hardly any difference. That JR wasn't capable enough to have enticed Kuzmenko to come here. That we signed Bo instead of Miller , And if the season went the opposite way. We had a good start but were fading down the stretch. And we end up in the same spot we will anyways. Which I'm not optimistic will be any higher than 11 - 13 now. Even if we had managed to still squeek into the playoffs but probably bounced in the first round. That is worse than watching the team play this well at the end of the season, knowing Tocchet still hasn't had a training camp here, including Mikhehev and Hronek. And a renewed Demko. I know momentum doesn't span the summer, but when a system has been begun and has paid dividends already, then its not just momentum to be relied on carrying over. Which seemed to be all Bruce had going for him.
  11. Bo's intangibles turned out to not be the PK, or even the back check, not even assists. But pure goal scoring. And we are not missing goal scorers on this team. We definitely didn't need to pay another scorer 8.5 x 8
  12. I understand your point on one hand. A player can get a little too visibly upset at a missed call, or at himself for a bad play even. It can even get in the way of energy levels when its needed, like the back check. He's explained that its not so much laziness, but he's p'd at himself for losing the puck etc, and his brain can't let go of it enough to get his legs moving. But hopefully Tocchet is working with him on that. But on the other hand, I think it is very very good to have a Captain who gets emotionally involved. in fact, imo, its better to have a Captain who fans can see that he does care about wins, and his team mates once in awhile. I even like to see a captain "lose it" once in awhile if its for the right reason. Bo acted like a robot out there. One of the most striking differences was the talks on the ice before a faceoff. Miller is yelling and pointing and engaging the other players to respond to his own energy level. I remember one of the games this season watching as Miller and Bo and the rest of the PP came onto the ice, and not only did Bo not even participate in the discussion, he looked like he was too good for it, or bored by it, and just skated on his own to his position with a blank expression. Right there I finally decided for sure just whom of the two I wanted to stick around.
  13. Henrik was suited to be the captain because even if he didn't have that aggressive side to him, there were plenty of others on the team to fill that role, including their regular linemate. There are countless examples of this kind of leadership structure around the league. The problem with Bo carrying on the soft, mild mannered captain tradition, was that these more aggressive passionate players from the last core were almost over the hill, or being traded away, with no one else coming up to replace them. Kesler, Burrows, Bieksa.... Who did Bo have? Pearson and the rest of the sea of Granlunds. Bo can only be Bo. Nothing against him, I wish him well, but I am soooooo glad to have JT over him, and think it would have been a doubled down disaster to have given him even 7x8 which by some accounts he was offered. But JB never acquired or developed any player to compliment him. If he'd been patient developing McCann for instance, he could have been a great complimentary piece for Bo's line eventually.
  14. I agree that he didn't have a great start, but he was asked to do a lot, including switching from center to wing and back to center again. This is from an article from Canucks Army. https://canucksarmy.com/news/in-defence-of-j-t-miller This season has been especially difficult for Miller in this regard. He’s been asked to play both centre and wing, two positions with vastly different job descriptions. “It’s a work in progress,” Jim Rutherford told Postmedia’s Ben Kuzma when asked about the situation. “Every time anybody tried to do anything, we want it done yesterday. But there’s a process. I’m not complaining about this, but there have been a lot of line changes with JT [Miller] at centre and then wing.” When playing centre, a position he’s been moved back to recently, he hasn’t always been given the most gifted linemates. Curtis Lazar has been one of Miller’s most common wingers over the last few games. Lazar was signed to be a checking centre and is far from the player that can unlock the offensive upside we’ve seen from Miller. Another factor in Miller’s subpar play this season has been his quality of competition. For the first time in a Canucks jersey, he’s being asked to go against the top players in the league in more of a two-way role. Freeing up your teammates to play against weaker competition is not something that shows up in the box score but it makes a big impact nevertheless. Take a look at Miller’s most common forward matchups over the last few games and you’ll find some of the biggest names in the league. (the article goes on to list his matchups in the last five games per the article date last December)
  15. With Miller, and his underwhelming start, people also forget that the season began with him at center again behind Petey and Bo. He played with Lazar a lot. He was up against the top lines of the other team and forced to play a shut down role he was not as familiar with. And it showed. And that also kept him off the scoreboard. In all fairness, Bo was put into this position for too long during his time here as well. And good on him for accepting his role even though he was not a great 200 ft player. If Benning had managed to find a top defensive minded set up line mate for him, or a decent 3rd line center to take the responsibility, Bo could have been set free to concentrate more on goal scoring a lot earlier. Its inevitable that Miller, like every other player in the league including Gretzky, will slow down, and not be as productive or valuable to the team's success. And his age is a concern only because he is ahead of our main core. But for years and years we've needed this kind of leadership and passion. I think some here have been so shocked to see what a real NHL player should look like when Miller first burst onto the scene, they couldn't handle it. We need even more "Millers" IMO. So even if he's only a high value player for 3 or 4 seasons more, just the front half of his contract, I'll be happy. I'd rather pay a "Miller" $56 mill out of the cap for 4 outstanding seasons, and 3 average ones, than a "Bo" even 10 million less at $46 million for 7 years of "fine"
  16. Just wanted to bump this. I think its overlooked somewhat that building off of JR's filling the front office with experienced and diverse talent young and old, he also hired not only an experienced coach in Tocchet, but the assistant coaches of Gonchar and Foote are also a steal. They must have liked the direction they saw and also working with Tocchet. Loved watching Foote in his prime, usually dismantling the Canucks forwards. And Gonchar was a premium talent. Compared to the long list on nobodies and AHL alumni we had coaching here before. I have a lot of faith in these two ACs. We finally have a team that is beginning to look like JRs team. With management hires, with his own choice of coach, and starting to munch on the elephant in the locker room. Trading away our soft mild mannered captain for....eventually a top RHD, and promising prospect. Which seemed to unleash Miller at the same time.
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