Ray_Cathode
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Just an observation, but Lind, like Miller for the Canucks, takes a ton of faceoffs for Utica. Wonder if, like Jasek, he might get converted to centre? Now that could be simply that Utica has a shortage of talented centres and a surplus of wingers.
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[GDT] Nucks @ Sabres Jan 11 2020 - 10AM Pacific - SNET
Ray_Cathode replied to xereau's topic in Canucks Talk
Yeah, and why does the net bulge as the puck passes through. What is that, a stray wind anomaly passing through the rink? Corruption. -
[PGT] Vancouver Canucks at Florida Panthers | Jan. 09, 2020
Ray_Cathode replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in Canucks Talk
That’s cuz it’s before the young guys bed times. -
Bailey gets the hat. Bailey(16) from Goldobin(19) and Lind(22) Lind really becoming a complete player - some nice D tonight and also pretty feisty piece of work. Juolevi also made a couple of slick passes that created opportunities - looks good tonight.
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Gadjovich(8) from Saunter(7)
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Yep. The specific thing I see in Rafferty is the quickness of his offensive reads (this is also a strength of Juolevi, but Juolevi does not have Rafferty’s skating. Rafferty also had a lot to overcome:
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I don’t even try, so cudo’s to you for trying. Boucher(22) from Baertschi(24) and Juolevi(14)
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[PGT] Vancouver Canucks at Florida Panthers | Jan. 09, 2020
Ray_Cathode replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in Canucks Talk
The PP becomes static usually when the team is tired - like in the last game of a three in four, or the last two or three games on a four in six, or on just returning home from a road trip. But overall our young players draw lots of penalties (I believe we are near the top in most PP advantages) and we are at or near the top in PP goals. This has a lot to do with Hughes’s mobility and smarts, though even Edler gets good PP results when he abandons the big slapper and just focuses on getting the low wrist shot through - Myers too has been getting points of late by getting his writer low and near the net - lots of deflection goals over the past month and a half. Breaking the cycle is not merely a defenceman’s job, it is a team issue that raises two questions; are we coached properly.’ but also do we have the right personel? Hughes seems to have the mobility, but does he have the strength? Tanev appears to have both the mobility and the strength, Edler has the strength, but no longer the mobility but he makes up for a lot with experience and smarts), Myers has the skating and the strength but his reads may not always be the best. Fantenburg, Benn and Stetcher are marginal NHL defencemen on a good team, but probably entirely acceptable on a middling team. We have neither the tradeable assets nor the cap space to upgrade right now, but we may have assets in the organization that could help us in the near future - I’m thinking Rafferty and Tryamkin (when the KHL season is done) in the near future, Rathbone possibly when his college year ends, Juolevi and Woo down the road. A possibility for a defensive fill is Brisebois who is playing very well in Utica - he has good size and mobility, is sound defensively and a decent shot blocker and is having his best season offensively since turning pro. -
Bailey(15) from Rafferty(28) PP Bailey (16) from Lind(21) and Goldobin(18)
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[PGT] Vancouver Canucks at Florida Panthers | Jan. 09, 2020
Ray_Cathode replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in Canucks Talk
They are not our best players defensively. They are our most technically skilled players for the most part (Miller?). We do not line up our young guys in defensive alignments with the exception of Motte, Stetcher and Horvat. When Green can get our match ups, I.e. at home, we are much more successful - a view of our record establishes that. Why should that be? Because he can protect our young guys and put them in a position to succeed - which Green does. In another post I pointed out where I thought coaching was a problem - it was to do with the entire defence with the exception of Edler, making poor decisions on pinches, and forwards making poor choices on when and how to fill when a defender pushes up. -
[Discussion] Canuck’s Prospect Rankings #1-10
Ray_Cathode replied to Odjick the Warrior's topic in Prospects / Farm Team
I forgot about Placek and Costmar - and probably others too - I put it down to senility. -
[PGT] Vancouver Canucks at Florida Panthers | Jan. 09, 2020
Ray_Cathode replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in Canucks Talk
We were making ill advised pinches all night long (and in the previous game) and forwards filling for pinching D were pathetic in their commitment to defence. As best I could tell, All of the D except Edler we’re guilty. The outnumbered chances we gave up because of so many players not performing their defensive assignments can only be an issue of coaching, and we shall not be rid of those errors until the instructions to the players are changed or there are new players that will perform properly. -
[PGT] Vancouver Canucks at Florida Panthers | Jan. 09, 2020
Ray_Cathode replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in Canucks Talk
First of all, Green needed a team to coach - hasn’t had one in Vancouver till this year, and the key players are still very ‘green’. -
[Discussion] Canuck’s Prospect Rankings #1-10
Ray_Cathode replied to Odjick the Warrior's topic in Prospects / Farm Team
I have watched pretty much all the Utica games this year - Rafferty’s improvement has been continuous all through the season - he has continued developing all year long. Some players just keep rising to the level to f the competition. It is also instructive to note WHY Pouliot could not make the NHL - he couldn’t play defence, and that inability is reflected in his AHL play. In even strength play Pouliot is -13, Rafferty leads his team in even strength play at +18, only his defence partner, Brisebois is close at +15. Rafferty can play defence, a prerequisite that Pouliot lacks, so that the two are not comparable. In addition, unlike Pouliot, Rafferty is a strong skater, and has good size at 6’2 195. -
[Discussion] Canuck’s Prospect Rankings #1-10
Ray_Cathode replied to Odjick the Warrior's topic in Prospects / Farm Team
I’m not claiming that my ranking is objectively correct by the standards that others are using, but I will try to explain and justify the standards I used in my list. Yes. He is that good (2 more assists tonight) and he is that good NOW. Most of the prospects on this list we will have to wait for before they can make significant contributions. We probably won’t see Podkolzin for a couple of years, maybe Hoglander next year. Not many players are like Hughes or Pettersson that can come a year after being drafted and improve your roster immediately. Not many players come in and show the dramatic improvement of Rafferty. Remember that Rafferty was only about a 0.60 point per game player his last year in college, when he got to the Canucks last year he showed dramatic improvement in just two games - something I wrote on CDC about at that time. I also wrote previously about his continued rapid improvement even during this season, in Utica - he had 1 goal and 7 assists over the first 15 AHL games, he has 4g and 22 assists over his past 22 games; which reflects an improvement from about .5 points per game to about 1.2 points per game. I have watched those games, he is visually dramatically improved. He thinks the game like an NHLer, the smarter the players he plays with, the better he plays. The difference between him and Juolevi is stark, and Juolevi is still a viable prospect - where Juolevi needs to get to, Rafferty is already at. You really need to watch Rafferty’s first two NHL games again and isolate on him - he got better with each period he played. In the third period of his last game he was paired with Hughes - they had the puck ALL the time. In addition, I was one of the guys pushing Rathbone from the opening of last year’s season and explaining why, after Rathbone’s great start last season, that his offence tailed off. He started last season paired with Fox, but later was moved to the second unit because of his defensive prowess and they needed him to shut down the opposition’s best unit. Remember that Gaudette was the Hobey Baker winner, which means that he was a very highly regarded prospect, and much more physically mature than either of Hoglander, Podkolzin or Madden, and he struggled his first season. This season, he is greatly improved and looks ready to take over the third line centre role next season. When I look at prospects, I look at what their value is now as well as their ultimate value. In addition, I rate quality defenders higher than forwards because they can have a greater effect on the game, especially when they generally play more minutes than forwards, and I rate defencemen that can play outstanding O and D more than D whose contribution is limited to one or the other. Secondly, I consider centres of greater value than wingers. Goaltenders I find much more difficult to judge, I’ll leave it to goaltenders to judge goaltenders’ relative value. -
[Discussion] Canuck’s Prospect Rankings #1-10
Ray_Cathode replied to Odjick the Warrior's topic in Prospects / Farm Team
1) Brogan Rafferty 2) Jack Rathbone 3) Nils Hoglander 4) Vasily Podkolzin 5) Tyler Madden 6) Olli Juolevi 7) Kole Lind 8) Michael DiPietro 9) Zac MacEwen 10)Tyler Graovac 11) Jett Woo 12) Carson Focht 13) Lukas Jasek 14) Linus Karlson 15) Aiden McDonough 16) Teves 17) Brisebois 18) Sautner 19) Lockwood 20) PetrusPalmu 21) Jonah Gadjovich 22) Silovs -
“This is ridiculous. Do you go through life constantly thinking the worst result for yourself?” You are ridiculous, do you go through life not evaluating your own limitations so that you can compensate for them? Who said I “constantly think the worst result for myself”? You? Based on one analysis you rush from an unwarranted assumption to a forgone conclusion? Are you so bereft of a connection to reality, so hooked on a pretty pink dream that you cannot admit realistic concerns? There is a vast history of the special issues faced by smaller players and what they may do to compensate for their lack of stature. My my concern for Hoglander is that he is a special talent that will attract ‘special’ attention from some of the nasty pieces of work in this league. As for Pettersson, you do recall the body slam from last year that put him out? And you do recognize that he is both bigger and stronger this year.
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Rathbone only not played the first half dozen or so games paired with Fox last year, then he was moved to the checking pairing because he was the team’s best defensive D - that slowed his offensive production after a very fast start -though it picked up again toward season’s end.
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Staying healthy is a skill mediated by the context of one’s work environment. Having the worst schedule in the league last year contributed greatly to our poor health. This year, our worst schedule so far occurred in November, but far worse than November will be March - right before the playoffs. Hopefully, JB can clear enough cap space to add some bodies such as Tryamkin, Rathbone, and maybe even Hoglander to reinforce our troops. Also, it is to JB’s credit that he has accumulated some valuable assets in Utica - when we get to March and the imminent playoffs those assets will be invaluable.
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Why is the regard of envious fools important? Messier was a great player, that he was past that point in his career by the time he got to Vancouver does not invalidate his accomplishments up til then.
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I agree, he is a jem, my only concern is his long term health in the NHL. It would be awful to have his career cut short by concussion - all too frequently the fate of small, talented players.
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Just because he is a Canuck property does not change the meaning of his previous suspendable, deliberate elbows to the head. In both cases He hit the other player in the head, and both plays were deliberate - that is why he got a major penalty and eviction in both cases. To deny obvious facts on the basis that he is our guy is just stupid. In this most recent case, his action in a close game probably cost his team a trip to the final. What I am saying is that as a shorter player, that may be the ongoing cost of his survival in the NHL. The level of his effectiveness in the NHL will be the exact measure of how often he will attract high hits and deliberate attempts at his head. To the exact extent that he responds as he has in these past two incidents for which he was thrown out, he will be behaving like Marchand. Whether it is a slewfoot or a spear or planting a grenade in an opposing player’s diaper is an irrelevant detail, in principle, by instigating these suspendable headshots he has acted like Marchand. The alternative, for Hoglander, is the fate of Sidney Crosby - and you might want to review Crosby’s response after suffering multiple concussions.
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There appears to be a bit of Marchand in him. It might cost him some suspensions, but it might grant him a longer career.
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I was responding to a comment about Boeser.
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He may not get much icetime in the KHL, but he sure did today - most of any forward on his team - courtesy of his coach today, Larianov - one of the smartest guys that ever played the game.