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SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME

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Everything posted by SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME

  1. Wouldn’t that make Bowey even better than Tanev? Juice once said Grease “could have played with a cigarette in his mouth.” Bowey is literally smoking spliffs. Clearly an upgrade.
  2. Seems like DoPS got this one 100% correct. Feels weird.
  3. Meanwhile, over at HFBoards: I know it’s a much more critical group over there, but 98.6% calling for Benning’s immediate firing is higher than I ever expected to see, even for HFBoards. Wonder how a similar CDC poll would look right now?
  4. Sign Igor Jr. first (currently playing KHL on an expiring contract), then make an offer to Igor Sr.?
  5. For a dark horse/outside the box pick, I’d add Växjö’s (SHL) Sam Hallam to the list. He’s Elias Pettersson’s old coach, and the guy who built Växjö into an SHL powerhouse, winning three championships in the last seven years, and his teams have never missed the playoffs. He’s been linked to several previous NHL vacancies over the last few years and is often described as the next European coach expected to land an NHL gig. Apparently, he is still interested in coming over to the NHL, if the right opportunity presents itself. I think it’s more likely the next coach in Vancouver isn’t a first time NHLer, but rather an experienced, “name brand” NHL head coach, but Hallam would be an intriguing pick, and quite possibly a very good one, for this team. He’s definitely a young, up and coming coach, with a new age style and approach. Uses analytics/advanced stats and also draws on elements from other sports (from soccer to basketball) to develop strategies and systems. Fosters a positive atmosphere where creativity is encouraged, and where systems are built to be flexible to encourage individualized contributions from each player, while still functioning as a well structured and organized team.
  6. Do you mean “this roster” as in this current group of players? Or “this roster” as in the 2021-22 Canucks. And management having ~7.5 years to retool/rebuild and put together their version of the roster? The first one I’d disagree with. I think this roster, as currently constructed, still has too many flaws and holes/weaknesses to be a “solid playoff competitor,” year in and year out. The team has the players to build a contender around. But not all the necessary parts are in place (yet), despite how long they’ve had, and the quality of some of the pieces already in place. However, if you mean that Benning and company have had enough time, from May 2014 until now, to have built a competitive team for the 2021-22 NHL season, then I’m with you 100%. (Dammit, I was going to shut off my brain and stay away from this Canucks stuff for the rest of the night. Better go have another drink. )
  7. So, I’ve had a few drinks. And this is probably going to be long and rambling, and maybe not as clear or well stated as I’d like. But just a few observations before I turn off the Canucks hockey part of my brain for tonight: * * * Travis Green is currently the 7th longest tenured head coach in the NHL, in his current role. Only 6 NHL head coaches have been with their teams longer. Meaning that 25 NHL teams have hired/replaced at least one new head coach, since Green joined the Canucks. Only one working head coach (Blashill) hired prior to 2019 has a record (points percentage) worse than Green. All the others with worse records than Green have been in their jobs for <3 seasons. * * * Jim Benning is the 9th longest tenured GM in the NHL, in his current role. Only 8 NHL GMs have been with their teams longer. Meaning that 23 NHL teams have hired/ replaced their GM, at least once, since Benning came to Vancouver. I didn’t have the energy right now to run the numbers, but I don’t believe any of the longer tenured GMs (still employed by their teams) own worse records (points percentage) than Jim Benning. * * * I’m not necessarily saying that tonight is the night both Green and Benning should be fired. Just that based on their results, and the usual “life expectancy” of their positions, it’s actually quite unusual that they haven’t been fired (yet). These guys have had a good run. They’ve had a lot of time. More than most. They haven’t been successful. I know there are lots of excuses. But I also know that there are 50+ head coaches and GMs who almost certainly weren’t given the benefit of those same kinds of excuses. Many have been fired for far less. I really don’t think Green and Benning are better at their jobs than all the others who were fired from the other NHL teams’ head coach and GM positions, during Green’s and Benning’s respective tenures with the Canucks. Like I said earlier, I’m not sure tonight is the night to fire anyone, but if the axe is coming down sometime this season, I’m definitely leaning more toward the “fire everyone” camp, both management (other than maybe a couple guys like Ryan Johnson and Chris Gear) and coaching staff (other than Ian Clark, definitely, and maybe also Brad Shaw). I don’t think Benning has done enough during his tenure to deserve the chance at a coaching change. If Green goes, Benning should go too, and all the coaches and staff closely linked to both of them should be cleared out at the same time. I’m okay waiting a little longer though. The 20 game mark was always where I said I’d make my decisions, as to judging this team and what I felt was the best way forward. But this coaching staff and management sure has a steep hill to climb, if they are going to convince me that they’re the best people to guide this team to success. And if changes are needed, I don’t think the owners should wait much longer than the quarter mark of this season, if they hope to turn things around, recover anything positive from 2021-22, and get the team on track to compete for 2022-23 and beyond. Nor do I think they’re well served by firing just the coaches but leaving lame duck management in place, on a short leash, with a GM making his decisions based on trying to save his job, versus ensuring the longterm success of this franchise. So IMO, it’s a choice between staying the course, and remaining patient, despite neither the coach or the GM really having done much to justify ownership (or us fans) continuing to put that level of faith in them. Or finally pulling the trigger, firing both Green and Benning (and all their respective lieutenants), and giving a new GM (and also a President of Hockey Ops, hopefully) the chance to make the necessary hires, and free from ownership interference, to build a completely new staff to manage and coach this team. * * * Anyway, that’s enough of me droning on and on. Sheesh! That was way too long. Kudos to anyone who actually read this far. Have a good night, everyone!
  8. Was going to say the same. I’m not trying to compare Nash to Ovechkin, but if you swapped him into Ovy’s spot on those Washington teams, and played Nash for 1000 games alongside guys like Semin, Bäckström, Kuznetsov, Oshie, Green, Carlson, etc, you can bet that Nash would have broken 40 goals several more times, and easily finished with 1000+ NHL points for his career.
  9. Yeah, it’s really tough to overstate how much this team is feeling Sutter’s absence (and also Beagle’s). Going from having two of the better RH’d faceoff guys in the league, to having no righthanded options, is quite the downgrade. I’m not normally one to puts a tonne of value on faceoff percentage, but this is one time when you can definitely draw a direct line between many of this team’s struggles, and their lack of ability to win key draws. Starting pretty much every PK with a weak side faceoff is a serious disadvantage. As is having only one true “faceoff ace” on the team, in Bo Horvat, who, unfortunately, isn’t really a natural fit for heavy use on the PK (even if he’s been the only one of the lefties who’s been able to win a good share of PK draws on his weak side). Thankfully, Horvat is performing more than admirably under the load he’s carrying, but I’m not sure it’s sustainable. Piling around 30 faceoffs per game on the captain’s shoulders is a heavy load. And Green seems to be only increasing that load, as he has few, if any, better options or choices, to try to stop the bleeding. Horvat has taken (and won) the most faceoffs of any player in the league this season, and his 57.3% win rate is elite, especially considering the workload, and the number of key draws, often against the other team’s “ace,” and taken at disadvantage. But so much would get better for this team is they had one RH’d quality faceoff option available. The PK would suddenly be starting with the puck and an easy clear on many more penalty kills, Horvat’s load would be lessened, and he could be tasked more favourably to faceoffs where he has advantage, and the other centres might have a chance to pull out of their funks, as faceoff stats generally tend to rise globally, once you have personnel available to adequately handle the load. You’ll often see “poor” faceoff guys suddenly have respectable FOW% when they’re playing on teams with an established “faceoff ace” available for both the RH and LH sides. But when coaches don’t have adequate personnel available to manage the load, it’s often the middling/below average faceoff guys who see their win percentages plummet, whether due to lack of overall confidence, or simply the inability to shelter them. Right now, it seems like this team expects to lose their PK and 5v5 Dzone draws, and pretty much every other key faceoff that’s not taken by Horvat, in three zones. That’s not to say Miller hasn’t been good. He’s over 50%. And Lamikko is just under 50%. But when it comes to PK and Dzone, every centreman, other than Horvat, is under 50%, and well below 50% on the PK (where the team is only around 36% win rate). Compare that to last year, where the Canucks owed the 5th best PK FOW% in the league, with both Sutter and Beagle (both RH options who can match up against the roughly 65% of league players who are lefties) winning over 50% (and Sutter actually winning closer to 55% IIRC). So yeah, we could definitely use Sutter right now.
  10. Agreed. He’s one of the few NHL executives that I’d be absolutely shocked to hear allegations of any past or present misconduct. I don’t agree with everything Benning’s done during his tenure, but any criticisms are strictly hockey ops related, in areas like team building, strategy, etc. But he’s always given me “good guy” vibes. Seems to genuinely care about his players and staff, and goes out of his way, sometimes even at minor losses on the purely competitive/“asset management” side of hockey ops, to treat people right and look out for their well being. He clearly wants to win, but he’s not one of these “win at all costs” GMs who doesn’t consider the human side of the equation.
  11. Yeah, not exactly “honest” from Benning, just that he never really got caught in a lie. Well, other than the initial PR bungling (when he said Hamonic would be at camp and the team would be fully vaxxed). After that, you kind of have to admire the team PR effort. They had an anti-vax player, and they managed to spin it into a “personal matter” that was seen as unsavoury and inappropriate for fans or media to even talk about.
  12. Benning never “lied.” Whenever he made statements as to the team being “fully vaccinated,” he was careful to not include Hamonic. When Hamonic was holding out, Benning would only say that everyone who had reported was vaccinated. Once Hamonic was demoted to Abbotsford (EDIT: more accurately, once Hamonic had cleared waivers), Benning said everyone on the Canucks NHL roster was vaccinated.
  13. I think he has around five NHL games and 20 NHL roster days left of exemption, since clearing waivers. He was originally recalled November 1st. At that point, because he’d already cleared waivers, he was exempt until he either played 10 NHL games, or had been on the NHL roster for 30 days, whichever comes first. Someone else can do the math. I haven’t had my coffee yet.
  14. Wonder how Di Giuseppe feels about being pictured with a Hawaiian pizza? Most Italian folks I know seem to come down on the anti-pineapple side of that argument.
  15. Hard to say if I could pull that off. 18 cheerleaders is a lot for one man, but I’m willing to try, if they are.
  16. No idea. But generally speaking, I’d still favour a centreman on his weak side, over a winger on his strong side, unless that winger has experience taking faceoffs. Even with the disadvantage, the centre still probably wins more often. EDIT: looks like Garland has taken just over 50 faceoffs and is a career 42.6%. But he’s a perfect two for two this season in Vancouver, so maybe you’re on to something?
  17. Typical NHL. This would have been such a great opportunity for them to show some leadership, prove they really care, and that regardless of who’s to blame, they will be stepping up and supporting this young man, and covering costs for his therapy. It’s a drop in the bucket, financially speaking, and would pay for itself, as a PR move (as cynical as that sounds). I wonder if they’re nervous about setting a precedent where the NHL compensates a player who wasn’t part of the league, for abuse that happened outside of the NHL. The Blackhawks clearly should face legal consequences, as their negligence in failing to act is what allowed Aldrich to continue to abuse players. But regardless of where the responsibility lies, legally speaking, I think the NHL should be stepping up and offering support to any and all of Aldrich’s victims, no matter when or where the abuse happened. It would really show that the league cares and that they’ve changed. Instead, it just seems like they’re doing the usual thing. Trying to minimize the NHL’s role and responsibility, rather than leading the way in changing the culture, and righting a wrong.
  18. Had we known Sutter would be out, this would have been a good year to give Jasek a contract and a real shot at the NHL lineup. He’d give us a right handed faceoff option, and he’s proven to be a top PKer and faceoff ace at the AHL level. Might not be the biggest or strongest guy, but he’s wiry and has a lot of determination. Works hard, skates really well, and has good instincts and positioning. Too late now, as he’s in Liiga for the year, but it’s a shame because this season would have probably given him a good chance to crack the lineup, as a PKer and bottom-six option.
  19. We’re really missing right handed options for taking PK/Dzone faceoffs. Having only lefties available puts us at a serious disadvantage, and teams have been exploiting this. The attacking team on the power play gets to choose which faceoff dot is used on the starting draw, and they also get to put their stick down last every offensive zone faceoff. Choosing the dot allows the attacking team to start the power play on a “strong side” faceoff. And when it’s lefty vs lefty, and the attacking player is on his “strong side,” the defending player is on his “weak side,” which is a serious disadvantage. Additionally, having to go stick down first basically forces the defending player to always “show their cards” on a faceoff. And the attacking player gets to adjust to what he’s shown. It’s also just harder to tie up the other guy when you’re stick down first. All together, this probably adds up to around a -15% disadvantage. As in an average 50% faceoff winning player might only be expected to win 35% of his draws, if he’s taking all his faceoffs on his weak side, and having to put his stick down first. And with only lefties available on our current PK, there’s really not a lot we can do to counteract this overall disadvantage, when it comes to winning faceoffs. Definitely would be nice to have Sutter back.
  20. I almost didn’t notice the camo (edit: might even say it’s camouflaged ). Maybe just the lighting in the pic, but looks more like a jersey that’s been run through the laundry too many times with dark colours. Or worn to play rugby in the mud. Looks more crusty than camo.
  21. Hopefully by trade deadline 2023, Pettersson has matured into a player who (a) can win ~50% of his own faceoffs and (b) brings more consistent production and doesn’t go through lengthy slumps to start seasons. As things stand right now, trading Miller would leave a massive hole in this lineup. He’s been such a key player in the games we’ve won, or even the losses we’ve been competitive in. And Pettersson still really struggles when he’s tasked with taking faceoffs for his line. I shudder to think how bad this season’s record would look right now, without JT Miller on the team. That said, I’m still very optimistic that Petey will develop into a pure #1C who doesn’t require any hand holding, either in sparking offence for his line, driving/extending play, taking faceoffs, or handling defensive responsibilities. I’d just expected he’d already be a little further ahead on the curve (as far as the “completeness” of his game), but hopefully this season is the transition year, and by the second half of 2021-22, he’ll be proving that he doesn’t need Miller. I still hope we find a way to keep Miller and the rest of the core together, however. But JT Miller is the most obvious trade chip we have, for upgrading the roster in other key areas, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s moved in his final year, especially if it doesn’t look like we can afford to keep him.
  22. Voted “status quo” and not just because we won tonight. I’d have voted the same yesterday, had I noticed this thread. It’s still too early IMO. Not that I’d have been surprised, if Green got fired. It’s the quickest and easiest way to shake up a team. And often it has good results. But I said going into this season that I’d wait for the 20 game mark before starting to pass judgment. And I’ll stick to that. I think the team will still turn the season around. At least somewhat. I still see this roster as a bubble playoff team, and getting anything more than that would be a credit to the coaches. But getting significantly worse than that (like staying in the cellar in the standings) is an indictment of the coaching staff (unless there’s a reason, like injuries, which hasn’t been the case yet). I think my preference remains that the fate of both the coaches and management rests on this season. If the team significantly underperforms, I’d clear house in the off-season, and start next season with a new GM (and a President of Hockey Ops), and let them pick their staff, with complete autonomy (ie: no Torts style coaching hires pushed by ownership).
  23. For a guy who claims he’s “not some sort of anti-vax flat-earther,” Rodgers sure displays a high level of fluency in their “language.”
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