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Ray_Cathode

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Everything posted by Ray_Cathode

  1. I don’t know if any team is going to be able to afford Petey’s next contract...
  2. Exactly. Go after the other team’s best players when the goons are gooning. You go right after the best player then look straight at the goon and tell him you’re gonna do it all night. You do till the goon loses his mind, then not go with him when challenged, then go right back after the talent all night long. Pretty soon the other coach calls the dogs off because his best guys are taking a beating.
  3. Now that is a good line. Reminds of Thomas Hardy: “The smile on your mouth was the deadest thing Alive enough to have strength to die;”
  4. That for sure. Better see if Myers is ready, too. We needed a couple of days off - but we didn’t get them, so time to move on. Let’s get Demko in there this period. Bless Sutter for going to Hughes and talking to him, the kid’s been having a tough time. Real solid citizen move by Sutter, that one move might be earning him what he’s being paid for this year - it will be something that Hughes remembers, maybe for the rest of his career. A person’s life can change a ton depending on how pivotal moments are handled and the things you tell yourself that are the lessons of those moments. Many people’s lives are the sum of a few crucial ‘lessons’ wher teach ourselves entirely the wrong thing. Well done, Sutter: well done, Green!
  5. He has played there occasionally, and often crosses over within a shift to take advantage of the better shot angle. A modern pro goes where he has room on the attack unless he has @ specific assignment.
  6. Yeah, and Costmar 2019–20 Linköping HC J20 29 26 24 50 59
  7. Sutter is playing a hell of a series, and I’m happy to have him. Worry about next year next year.
  8. You mean rookie of the year? Wasn’t he saying that should have been his award?
  9. I’m so happy about this game that there is only one last thing... Eriksson’s new nickname should be Noodle... cuz that’s about how strong he is on the forecheck or with his stick or shot.
  10. Cap space... right, maybe we could trade Noodle, er I mean Eriksson toToronto cuz, well Eriksson is in the playoffs and they are not...
  11. Great time to finally get some bottom six scoring. Of course, Motte was a big scorer in college: Tyler Motte Center -- shoots L Born Mar 10 1995 -- St. Clair, MI [25 yrs. ago] Height 5.10 -- Weight 192 [178 cm/87 kg] Drafted by Chicago Blackhawks - round 4 #121 overall 2013 NHL Entry Draft Regular Season Playoffs Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM +/- GP G A Pts PIM NHL Totals 187 22 16 38 40 8 0 0 0 0 2011-12 U.S. National Development Team USHL 36 15 13 28 32 -5 2 2 0 2 0 2012-13 U.S. National Development Team USHL 26 11 6 17 6 14 -- -- -- -- -- 2013-14 U. of Michigan Big-10 34 9 9 18 22 2014-15 U. of Michigan Big-10 35 9 22 31 14 1 2015-16 U. of Michigan Big-10 38 32 24 56 36 28 2015-16 Rockford IceHogs AHL 5 2 3 5 2 4 3 2 0 2 0 2016-17 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 33 4 3 7 14 2 -- -- -- -- -- 2016-17 Rockford IceHogs AHL 43 10 6 16 20 -19 -- -- -- -- -- 2017-18 Cleveland Monsters AHL 17 9 2 11 25 -4 -- -- -- -- -- 2017-18 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 31 3 2 5 2 -3 -- -- -- -- -- 2017-18 Vancouver Canucks NHL 15 2 0 2 4 -1 -- -- -- -- -- 2017-18 Utica Comets AHL 2 0 0 0 2 -2 5 2 0 2 2 2018-19 Vancouver Canucks NHL 74 9 7 16 10 -12 -- -- -- -- -- 2019-20 Vancouver Canucks NHL 34 4 4 8 10 -10 8 0 0 0 0
  12. Yeah, if any of our forwards come demanding 7.5 in the next couple of years, management better crack out the game video of this game and show them what 7.5 looks like.
  13. Yeah, I watched Utica all year long. Even got to watch Fantenberg play a couple of games in Utica. Fantenberg is adequate defensively and brings some toughness, but in Utica he was alright but nothing fantastic. Benn has been awful for us pretty much all year, that’s why he was benched before he got hurt. That said, Fantenberg, at least, is adequate defensively in his own end, but like Benn he sucks at transition. Just review last night’s game and count the icings - after which the puck comes back to our end and we have to fight again to get possession. Add to that the rare occasions that they were able to get the puck out of our zone by delivering solid possession, like almost never - most times, they just delivered the puck to the Blues D for them to start with a solid possession to re-enter our zone where they would enter and have a solid shift of possession until, hopefully, Markstrom got hold of the puck to gain a line change. Next, Stetcher has been entirely out-muscled in both of the last two games, and Edler looked frustrated harried, lost and confused. At his age and mobility level, he needs help getting out of our zone. Not every D has to depend on being physical - for instance, Hughes - he uses skill, positioning, skating, and quick stick to defend. Rafferty is that kind of player, Juolevi, now that he is healthy, is not a shrinking violet - clearly you have not watched him in Utica. After his recovery from injury he was first up on the penalty kill, and on the number one unit defensively. The problem for us is that in the absence of Myers, it is pretty much only Hughes and Tanev that get us out of our zone and deliver possession, and believe me, if we want to defeat the Blues, we will need possession. In addition, most D’s in the NHL in the number 7 or 8 slot are pretty much interchangeable with the top layer of the AHL, except that the up and coming players graduating from the AHL are often better than the worn out vets and never weres that occupy those spots in the NHL, they just lack experience and they won’t get that experience until some coach takes a chance on them or when injuries leave that coach with no choice. Juolevi was a number five over-all pick held up only by his injuries. Well he’s not hurt now. You don’t get to be that high a pick by a team as astute as Vancouver has been the past few years, without being worthy. He needs to play, and looking at the futility of watching Benn and Fantenberg ice the puck or merely dump it out for the Blues to get solid possession and drive the play back in, the time is now.
  14. Our D’s that are adept at getting out os the zone without icing the puck or giving up possession are neither of Benn nor Fantenberg, Edler is no longer that guy either - gifting passes from beside his own net to blues in the slot as if they were invisible and Stetcher is adequate, but not adept. Hughes is great at the outlet play with his wheels or the pass. Tanev is good. Myers is good (one of his strengths). And that is our problem - except for Hughes and Tanev our transition is poor. But we do have a possible solution. We have two guys that excel at precisely that - Juolevi and Rafferty. They both have the wheels and intelligence to retrieve pucks and transition back to the attack under control. Yes, in the AHL, but one of them stood out in that regard, Rafferty, and he was a high plus player. In addition, both of them have good size 6’2 195 for Rafferty, and 6’3 at least 198 for Juolevi. Against a team as big and tough as St. Louis, that matters. Let’s face it, Benn and Fantenberg are marginal NHLers, and Stetcher is size mismatched in this series even though he has brains and the heart of a lion. Too bad his brain and heart couldn’t be transferred into the body of Virtanen - what a player that would make! Giving Stetcher someone more mobile than Eddie and reducing his minutes would help him. Giving Eddie Rafferty would give him somebody with wheels to retrieve pucks and give us some transition in that pairing. I don’t think it is about trying to outhit the Blues, it is about getting out of our zone under control and having the threat of reaching forwards behind their D - something at which both Rafferty and Juolevi excel - that will force St Louis to worry about their pinches. And, we have to get the six million dollar man out of this game. We would still have enough forwards for PK - Beagle, Sutter, Motte, Roussel, Horvat and Miller - bring back Gaudette on the RW. Let’s out score the b/lues - at least give us a chance of secondary scoring. for this game: Hughes. Tanev Edler. Rafferty Juolevi. Stetcher
  15. Virtanen put the whole team at risk by going in that bar/club - I’m sure it wasn’t only management that wasn’t impressed. Apart from players, their families were also put at risk, and if any of those relatives were elderly or immune compromised, their lives were put at risk. Then, on top of that, he comes again, out of shape. He is no longer a kid of 18. Nuff said.
  16. He’s got some real fire in him right now. Our other young, top six centre has acquitted himself well also. Gaudette needs another year of curing, but it has been coming. There is a promise of great, young depth at pivot for Vancouver. I really like that these centres have taken t on themselves to be complete players - unlike some of the stars on another Canadian team that shall remain unnamed.
  17. I don’t think exposing yourself to covid in a bar while his teammates, coaches an d staff were diligent in protecting themselves and the other players in the team’s first shot at the playoffs in five years, did not win him any friends in management or among the players. To then come into camp out of shape wasvstrike two. Running one of his teammates, exposing that teammate to potential injury was a likely strike three. Jake has lost a lot of respect through his own behaviour. Coaches forgive physical errors, they let you think a while about mental mistakes, but flaws in character you have to earn your way out os - usually by your diligence and attitude in practice. From what I have seen, MacEwen has none of those issues. To appreciate how deep is the pit Virtanen has dug for himself, he was the guy next up when Toffoli went down, his role was taken over by Eriksson, who had dug a hole of his own to climb out of. Eriksson did everything he had to to get out of that hole and won the job over a high first round pick who was carrying a substantial amount of Benning’s credibility. That speaks to management’s and the coaching staff’s current assessment of Jake.
  18. Well then, maybe management is making a point with regard to what they expect from players. As I recall, Bo also made a point to Virtanen regarding Virtanen’s attitude.
  19. “I got no explanation on any of the calls tonight.” I guess when your work is undefendable, you don’t defend it.
  20. Yeah, I think you are right. I think Jake needs a good look in a mirror about taking his career seriously. It’s a shame, he has all the physical tools - he’s physically like a bigger, faster version of Horvat - built for this kind of hockey - but that is the extent of the positive comparison.
  21. The pk has been damned good, is Virtanen going to take that? At even strength, Eriksson is on Horvat’s line, and that line (with Pearson) has been so good that I’d be reluctant to change that chemistry.
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