Goal:thecup

Crikey! Whack-a-mole!

Yeah, agree, but was thinking more of Bo in his role as captain, having more guys under his wings (maybe as opposed to older guys helping him learn the role).

Sorry to hear that Hairy. Hope you are ok now.

I'm just glad we're rid of Richard Loney. Sorry he is dead, but he murdered that 'song' way too many times.* Donnelly has shown his stupid side with this nonsense; good riddance; the pandemic is outing so many; drain the swamp. While we're at it, lets identify and eliminate those fentanyl-dealing murderers who have trapped so many victims. Credit to our government for finally decriminalizing these poor people who have fallen into their traps. * Slapshot: "Shut up man! I'm listening to the song."

Ya Baby! Me too. Gotta think Hughes is number one though, but I love the enthusiasm for Juolevi. For our top 6 D, in position(L,R), I like: Hughes, Schmidt Edler, Myers Juolevi, Rafferty (I think, but it's a dog fight from RD3, i.e. # 6 down, imo). Gotta think Bo is excited too; he will have a lot more to work with this year and next.

Lock him up! Lock him up!

That big defenseman was so tired of Podz by the end of that shift, lol!

Maybe he just needs to change his diet..

There's a round of brewskis for y'all; keep the Podz Komments koming. Any word on his "illness"?

"F" is for forward right? Some people weren't sure what the heck he was. Actually, I like Eriksson, just don't like his contract, of course. Or the fact that he is currently (arguably) our 2nd best RW.

I think we are still in cap-clearing mode. Just look at the quality of players we decided not to re-sign. This upcoming covid-crushed season is the time to clean up as much of the old crap that is taking up cap space as possible. Also, some things, like bonuses, are better paid this year so as not to become a problem moving forward. And next year, we can look forward to the end of The Luongo Curse, LE's contract expiry, LTIR and bonuses caught up, etc. I'm looking forward to James Jet-Black Benning, GM Unleashed! That said, if we do end up with room, perhaps from some relief coming out of NHL/NHLPA negotiations, and can get AA very cheap, it might be worth it. There may be much better players (read RHD) available during this crunch if we have room to take on their salaries, e.g. Schmidt for a 3rd, plus eat his contract. I don't think we should 'waste' any cap space at this time on flyers; we are better than that now and don't have to scrape the absolute bottom of the barrel. We have a nice combination of attributes that will attract players to Vancouver; (Vancouver itself, Canada over the US, Covid control and care better in BC, young, talented, and upwardly-mobile team, honest and forth-right management, emphasis on character, family, overall well-being beyond the player/team relationship, etc, etc.) I think JB & Co are trying to be as fully-prepared to pounce on Covid-crushed cap-strapped teams like Tampa for example, who, so far anyway, have to do something soon. Query: Is Tampa going to work a deal with Stevie Y? Detroit has everything Tampa needs and vice-versa.

Who's the idiot that called that a penalty? And who decided it was a suspendible offense? Woodennah even be a heed-butt in Scotland, laddy. Carry on. Aye! Wars m' hagus? Bloody id-jits. Go Go Go Yoni Go Yoni Be Bad(der)

Where's Wellwood (on your chart)?

Latest prospect updates, from: The Hockey Writers Dot Com: Canucks Prospects Report: Truscott, Kunz, Podkolzin & More BY MATTHEW ZATOR NOVEMBER 29TH, 2020 The Vancouver Canucks finally have some prospects playing in North America as the NCAA and United States Hockey League (USHL) have both started their 2020-21 seasons. Jacob Truscott was front and center with the Michigan Wolverines this past week and Jackson Kunz is showing some intriguing potential early on with the Greenbay Gamblers as well. The high-profile prospects in Vasili Podkolzin, Nils Hoglander, and Joni Jurmo also continued their seasons overseas, as NHL hockey and even the 2021 World Junior Championships (WJC) remain in jeopardy due to rising COVID-19 cases. Here’s to hoping we get to see at least Podkolzin and Jurmo shine with their respective countries during the WJC in a few weeks’ time. With all that said, let’s dive into another edition of the Canucks prospects report here at THW! Truscott Shines With First Career NCAA Goal The Canucks drafted the smooth-skating Truscott a little over a month ago and the 18-year-old freshman defenceman is already shining at the University of Michigan. He recorded his first two points, including his first goal this past week, and is playing a regular shift on the third-pairing and has seen time on the penalty kill as well. He is averaging just under 15 minutes a night on one of the biggest powerhouses in the NCAA surrounded by first-round picks and hopefuls Owen Power, Brendan Brisson, Matty Beniers, and Kent Johnson, so he’s definitely getting a good education on and off the ice. Truscott has the makings of an NHL defenceman, with his great skating abilities, accurate shot, and pin-point passing skills, but like all young defenders, still needs to work on his defensive game. However, it is encouraging to see him carrying the play, as evidenced by his 57.3 Corsi-for percentage (CF%) in six games this season. Related: Wolverines Set To Dominate 2021 NHL Draft Going back to his strengths, Truscott has completed 81 percent of his passes and has a shot on goal in every game. A lot of his skills are not elite, but solid, that’s why he was selected all the way down in the fifth round rather than the first two. Right now he is on a two-game point streak and looks to be yet another potential late-round steal for the Canucks. Kunz off To a Hot Start in the USHL Another late-round pick for the Canucks in 2020 was winger Jackson Kunz. He wasn’t given much fanfare when he was selected in the fourth round, but if his start to the 2020-21 season with the Gamblers is any indication, he should be a player to watch moving forward. He already has three goals and five points in six games and is well on his way to a full-time role in the USHL this year. Before this season, he only saw seven games with the Gamblers as he was shuttled back and forth between the USHL and his high school team for the past two campaigns. Kunz has an impressive package of raw skills including a nose for the net and a heavy, accurate shot. Though his skating needs to be developed a bit more, as it is a definite weakness of his game right now. Unfortunately, that sort of deficiency may prevent him from making it to the NHL one day, as mobility has become one of the biggest predictors of success for prospects of his size. In 2021-22, Kunz will join the University of North Dakota where Jake Sanderson calls home, and current NHLers Brock Boeser and Troy Stecher graduated just a few seasons ago. Brad Berry, who has coached the team for the past five seasons, should provide him with some solid direction as he transitions to college hockey next season. Podkolzin World Junior Bound As expected, Podkolzin was named to Team Russia’s preliminary roster for the 2021 World Junior Championship, but the recurring theme of low ice time in the KHL has continued to dominate the headlines. Now he is out of the lineup with an “illness” that has not been confirmed or denied as being COVID-19 related. It sure has not been a good start to the 2020-21 season for the Canucks’ top prospect so far. Vasily Podkolzin of SKA St. Petersburg Vasily Podkolzin should be a player to watch at the 2021 World Junior Championship (photo courtesy SKA) Hopefully, it’s just good old fashioned paranoia, and the illness is just a common cold or flu. If all is well, Podkolzin should have a dominant performance at the WJC this year with Team Russia, as he will resume his duties as team captain and one of the top prospects in the tournament as a whole. Related: 2021 World Junior Championship Team Russia Preview Podkolzin gave us a glimpse of what he could do at the Karjala Cup with five points in three games, so if that’s any indication, we should be in for quite a show in a few weeks’ time. Barring the cancellation of the whole tournament due to the threat of COVID, that is. Jurmo Needs To Seize the Opportunity Ever since Alex Lintuniemi’s contract was terminated by JYP, Jurmo has seen an uptick in ice time. He is now averaging just over 14 minutes a night, only at even strength. Even though he’s not seeing any power play time, it’s a significant improvement from the six or seven minutes he was getting earlier in the season. Related: 2021 World Junior Championship Team Finland Preview Jurmo is now playing a regular shift on the bottom pairing, so he should start seeing more opportunities for offence. He remains stuck on zero points and a minus-8 in the plus/minus column but judging from some of his rushes in recent games, that first point should be coming very soon. Like Podkolzin, he should be an important player for his nation in the upcoming WJC, so he could use a strong performance to springboard himself to some future success once he returns to JYP. Joni Jurmo Jokerit Joni Jurmo has a golden opportunity to make an impact after Lintuniemi’s departure from JYP (Mikko Taipale/Jokerit) Jurmo was noticeable physically this past week, but not in a positive way, as he was given a major and game misconduct for head butting during his last game on Nov 27. Hopefully, that sort of questionable physicality does not seep into his game more as time moves on. It’s okay to be physical, but that type of after the whistle stuff can’t be something we see regularly when he gets to the NHL. Other News & Notes: Hoglander, Karlsson, More Here are some other news and notes as we approach the beginning of December and finally the end of the year 2020: Despite testing negative for COVID-19, Hoglander’s season with Rogle BK remains on hold for the foreseeable future. If the NHL’s 2020-21 season turns out to be a go for Jan 1, he can join his Canucks teammates in training camp once his loan expires on Dec 13. Linus Karlsson is on fire with 13 points in his past 10 games, including a four-point outing on Nov 18 and an eight-shot night on Nov 20. He continues to be one of the hottest Canucks prospects overseas right now. Nils Hoglander, Rogle BK. Nils Hoglander’s season is on hold, but the Canucks should be on the horizon very soon (photo by Andreas Ljunggren) Dmitri Zlodeyev was not named to the preliminary roster for Team Russia, despite putting up impressive numbers in the MHL and VHL so far this season. It’s unclear why he was not considered, but he remains a prospect to watch regardless. Arvid Costmar and Viktor Persson are candidates for Team Sweden’s roster, but won’t be able to showcase their skills in the normal way by playing in the “Finnkampen” which is usually held at the beginning of November. They will have to continue to impress with their club teams with the hopes of being selected for the tournament in December.

Thanks Sid. That wind up is old school: Pronger, MacInnis, Robinson; like they've got all the time in the world.

I think the team planned to fly to Canada Dec 13th, not much more than 2 weeks.

Go Go Go Joni Go !! Joni be bad.

You definitely called it Fan. Been reading through old posts (while waiting for news on the world juniors and on the start of NHL 2020-2021) and you've been calling it for quite a while. Now, get to work, and predict something else interesting; only, this time, make it good news for the Nux please.

Some updates and perhaps the NHL is digging in its heels for that Jan 1 start date and less money to players: From Gameonhockey.ca: by Carter BrooksNovember 22, 2020 The National Hockey League and National Hockey League Players’ Association have continued dialogue the past week in going over many facets of the proposed return-to-play scenarios. Although much of the talk surrounds players, agents and NHL representatives squabbling for money, some direction has begun taking place as to the layout of the coming 2020-21 season. With the NHL’s board of governors discussing potential return-to-play plans for the coming year, many options – schedule-wise – have been suggested. However, one proposal has garnered the most attention: that of a 60-game regular season, with a full four-round Stanley Cup Playoffs, beginning roughly around January 1, and ending approximately July 15. These dates will have some wiggle room, but must remain in place as this proposed start date is now only 40 days out, with the July 15 conclusion holding significant importance, as the 2020-turned-2021 Summer Olympic Games are now scheduled to run Friday, July 23 through Sunday, August 8. Both NBC and CBC will have full coverage of these events – meaning hockey must be wrapped up prior to that. Should this proposal be accepted, training camps will begin by the second week of December, while players have already begun returning to their NHL host cities. Already eliminating various fixtures from the average NHL schedule, including the All-Star Weekend, the Winter Classic, the Heritage Classic, Stadium Series matchups and various scheduled break weeks throughout the season, the NHL continues to look for ways to compact a full season into the shortest possible stretch of time, allowing for injury and potential game rescheduling – due to possible COVID-19 conflicts. One way that this will be possible is the elimination of 22 games per team, bringing the abbreviated season total to 60 games. Originally adamantly sticking with the thought of a typical 82-game season, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has since changed course. Just last week, the long-time NHL exec mentioned the ‘possibility’ of a shortened season, while NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly outright stated that the league has been in discussion with its players on a variety of issues, including playing a 48-72 game season in 2020-21. While the main issue with playing/not playing is the rapid transmission of COVID-19, other factors (primarily money, salary, sponsorships and team/league revenue) is the driving force behind the league and players attempting to get the season back on the rails. Helping lead that discussion is a pair of Winnipeg Jets forwards and roommates. Players involved on the newly-formed Return to Play committee include: David Backes, Darren Helm, David Savard, Justin Faulk, Lars Eller, Sam Gagner, Justin Abdelkader, Ian Cole, Zach Hyman, Ron Hainsey, Claude Giroux, Ryan Dzingel, Alex Biega and Chris Kreider, as well as Jets Andrew Copp and Mark Scheifele. Interestingly, zero goaltenders are a part of this committee. After agreeing to this deal as part of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement in the summer that will see players earn just 72 percent of their set salaries for the 2020-21 season, the New York Post’s Larry Brooks is reporting that the NHL is looking to bring that number down another 13 percentage points to 59 percent. The deal was originally set to be in effect whether 82 games were played or if the season did not even occur. However, the NHL is apparently going back on its word. With the main concern stemming from the lack of individual team revenue due to the expected minimal fan attendance, owners have balked at the idea of continuing to pay players while hosting games in empty arenas. The focus for the Return to Play committee continues to be a January 1, 2021 starting date, with a two-thirds length schedule. It appears as though teams will most likely be playing out of their own arenas in baseball-styled series with their divisional opponents. The idea of hosting an all-Canadian division remains at the forefront of the conversation. Last Wednesday, it was announced that the ground traffic border closure between Canada and the United States would remain in place until at least December 21, 2020. With that said, players residing in other cities, countries and continents have begun flocking back to their North American post. The proposed divisional realignments for 2020-21 appear to be three eight-team, US-based divisions, with the seven Canadian teams sticking north of the border and playing games solely in Canada, out of their own arenas. At this point, the four divisions for the 2020-21 season are as follows: Canadian Division: Winnipeg Toronto Montreal Ottawa Edmonton Calgary Vancouver US Division I Boston Buffalo Carolina New Jersey New York Rangers New York Islanders Washington Philadelphia US Division II Chicago Columbus Detroit Florida Nashville Pittsburgh St. Louis Tampa Bay US Division III ************************************* (Sorry, I could not seem to get the balance of the article, but, if inclined, a reader could deduce the remaining teams in Division III.) The NHLPA is probably going to take another poop-pounding, as they still do not have very much power since caving during the lockout(s). This is the hold-up imo; get the money straight and DROP THE PUCK!!

Canucks Schedule 2020 - 2021 According to the following article, the Canucks should be prepping for their pre-camp quarantine period before training camp. Quick summary of the schedule for the remainder of 2020: Working backwards from the proposed January 1, 2021 regular season start date, training camp should open about December 15th. There is talk that 2020 non-playoff teams may get permission to open camp early, maybe the 8th of December, but there may not be time. Quarantine would have to start about December 1st to get the 2 weeks required in some jurisdictions (like ours). With only a week left in November, it is pretty quiet out there; this is the latest article I could find: Per The Washington Post, Nov 19/20: The NHL, facing more questions than answers, is still targeting a January start. By Samantha Pell November 19, 2020 at 4:33 a.m. PST With December approaching, the clock is ticking for the NHL to formulate a plan for its 2020-21 season. In the middle of this unconventional offseason, there are still a lot more questions than answers for how, when and where the league plans to play. With the NHL and the NHL Players’ Association in talks, here is what’s under consideration and the timetable for some of these decisions. When will the season start? The NHL hopes to open next season as early as Jan. 1. The league already pushed back its start date from Dec. 1 and now appears intent on a January start. The American Hockey League, the top minor league, announced in October that it is targeting Feb. 5 for its start date. If the NHL does start in early January, it is expected that AHL players would be available for teams to use during that gap period. The NHL already postponed the 2021 Winter Classic in Minneapolis and the 2021 All-Star Game in South Florida. Both will be pushed to 2022, according to the league. When will training camp open? When mandatory training camps will open is unclear. Those camps are expected to last two weeks, but teams that did not take part in the expanded 2020 postseason will get an extra week. If the NHL can hit its Jan. 1 start date, teams would start camp in mid-December. “Realistically, if we’re going to start in the first part of January, mandatory training camps are going to have to start in the middle part of December,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said on the NHL’s @TheRink podcast Nov. 13. “In some of our markets there continue to be quarantine requirements associated with players coming into town, so you factor those in and you back it up from there. I would ultimately concur with the conclusion that time is getting short.” How many games will the season be? The NHL and NHLPA remain in talks about that. The NHL has not announced plans to shorten the season, but that seems likely. The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun reported that a return-to-play committee, made up of 16 players, convened several times in the past week. LeBrun also reported that most conversations between the league and the players’ union have focused on trying to play more than 60 games. Previous reports suggested the NHL will not consider anything less than 48 games. The NHL used a 48-game schedule during the 2012-13 lockout-shortened season, as well as in 1994-95. “We know there is some urgency here. There is some urgency for making decisions, and while we want to drop the puck on January 1, we also recognize that we’re not going to rush into a bad decision just to make it,” Daly said on the podcast. "Whether that January 1 can be a little later, we certainly have flexibility to move it later.” Where will teams play? Will there be realignment? Daly acknowledged on the podcast that the league could open the season using one schedule model and then transition to another later. A couple of those options include having all teams start the season in hubs instead of their home arenas. In this scenario, the hubs would be in cities that are not located in high-risk environments, and teams would play a baseball-like schedule. After the NHL staged the 2020 playoffs in bubbles in Toronto and Edmonton, the league made it clear it would not put players in a hub situation for an entire season. “You’d set up some dedicated space and restaurants for the players without the secure perimeters that we had in the bubble cities,” Daly said on the podcast. “That would be the benefit of hub cities. You would be in a situation where teams would travel in, play a bunch of games over a two-week time period and then be able to go home and spend time with their families and their own local practice facilities for a week and cycle through a season that way.” The other option would be for teams to host games in their home arenas like normal. Teams also might transition to this model during the season. Daly indicated some teams prefer to go that route. However, not all teams may be able to play in their cities — with or without fans — because of coronavirus restrictions. The closure of the Canada-U.S. border remains a concern. During a virtual panel discussion this month, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said the league might temporarily realign its divisions to accommodate travel restrictions. “It may be that we’re better off, particularly if we’re playing a reduced schedule, which we’re contemplating, keeping it geographically centric, more divisional based, and realigning, again on a temporary basis, to deal with the travel issues,” Bettman said. Fans or no fans? The NHL did not allow any fans to attend the 2020 postseason, and it is unclear whether fans will be allowed in the stands to start 2020-21. With local restrictions tightening and coronavirus cases surging, it would seem unlikely that fans could return anytime soon, but that could change during the season. Health and safety restrictions will play a key factor in that decision. In the D.C. market, Washington Wizards General Manager Tommy Sheppard was asked Tuesday about getting fans back into Capital One Arena — the same venue used by the Capitals. He told reporters that it depended on NBA and local guidelines. In D.C., gatherings of more than 50 people still aren’t allowed. What are players doing now? Many players are training on their own or in small groups in their hometowns or have returned to their teams’ practice facilities to participate in optional skates. Once the dates for training camp are announced, more players should trickle into their teams’ cities. On the podcast, Daly said there has been discussion of allowing optional conditioning camps before training camp.

Thanks; I love a good cryptogram...

No.

Very interesting; if it works out that way, we would be sitting pretty, imo. Very interesting upcoming events as we wait out the Diva penalty (Luongo's God-Given Right to Stick it to Us), the All-Star Rookies' bonuses, LE's anchor, the ED, etc. Also, the Russian Flotilla has built their boats and gathered the cargo (Larionov, Tryamkin, Podkolzin, and others?); just need to load up the boats and get up a good head of steam. Plus, the Swedish Saab (Hogs)* and possibly others s/b coming to camp soon (when?). This is shaping up to be the most interesting training camp and season ever (if we have it). * Saab JAS 39 Gripen

milk toast vs milk hot dog anyone know how to put a thread on 'Ignore'?

Yeah, sorry about that 'flake' dig. I get crotchity old fart syndrome and should just keep my mouth shut sometimes (wish I knew when).