SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME

Who needs Sam Bennett when we have the 18 year old JT Miller.

Can’t remember that last time I’ve been this mad about a win. **** the refs.

AS Sv%: Demko 0.920 Markstrom 0.903 AS GSAA: Demko: 10.36 Markstrom -1.90 5v5 Sv%: Demko 0.927 Markstrom 0.917 5v5 GSAA: Demko 5.08 Markstrom -0.22 PK Sv%: Demko 0.889 Markstrom 0.857 PK GSAA: Demko 4.26 Markstrom 0.21 (GSAA: goals saved above average—Demko is 4th in the NHL by this stat) Pretty safe to say Demko has been the better netminder this year. He’s basically performed at the level of an elite/top-5 NHL #1G so far this season, while Markstorm has been pretty much average/middle of the pack. (In Marky’s defence, he was very good early, but then Calgary rode him far too hard, and his performance levels came crashing down. Getting banged up probably didn’t help much, either.)

He’s really impressive, no doubt, but he’s also been developed about as perfectly as possible. He’s a 5th year professional, 25 years old, and came up through Boston College (an elite NCAA program) and the USDP. You can’t ask for a better pathway. Thankfully, the Canucks never rushed him, and had world class coaching in Ian Clark, to help Demko every step of the way, since turning pro.

I think I saw that act at the Jim Rose Circus back in the 90’s.

**Resists urge to create a Rick Roll using Goldy’s Elite Prospects page**

Could be. He has one of the best names, for sure. I really like him as a player, as well. Would not have complained if we’d taken Fontaine with any of our picks from rounds 4-7 last year (although I was still happy with the players we drafted).

Might make it more surprising that we did claim Vesey. Weisbrod seems like one of those Crimson alums who loves to tell everyone “I went to Harvard.” Those guys tend not to like having someone else around who can make the same claim.

I’m not JB, but we all know Jim reads my posts.

Only one I’d have mild interest in would be Vesey. Byron is a $3.4M cap hit, so no. Forsberg doesn’t make sense unless we’re shopping for a backup (which we’re not), since we can’t waive him to the taxi squad. Grigorenko is south of the border, so he needs a quarantine. But Vesey? Maybe. He’s not having a good year, and hasn’t really done too well since the Rangers, but he’s still been acceptable value for a $900k player this year. No question his production has been poor, but he’s a decent PKer, and he’s not bad defensively. Also tends to do well on differentials like penalties drawn/taken, takeaways/giveaways, hits/hits taken, etc, which all adds a little value. Not saying his overall stats profile looks enticing, but he’s been ok, and certainly no worse than several other bottom of the lineup types in Toronto. He has good size at 6’3”, ~200lbs, and has pretty good wheels. Doesn’t use his size, in terms of physical play, but does go strong to the net, and isn’t afraid to park himself there. He has some skill, but can be pretty streaky as a scorer, and certainly hasn’t heated up this year. He has, at times, looked like a top-6 guy during his career, and put together some decent numbers over short stretches (especially with NYR). Overall, his career NHL numbers are pretty similar to Virtanen’s. I wouldn’t expect too much from him, but at $900k, I’d be ok taking a flyer, giving him a few games, and maybe it clicks and he’s a decent player for us (like the 17G 35pts/82 pace player he’s been before) or it doesn’t, and we just waive him again, and Toronto takes him back for their taxi squad.

I think the only way to settle this argument would be to loan Jake to an AHL team and see if he can outscore Jonah.

Unfortunately, his draft rights will expire this coming June 1st, and with the pandemic severely limiting his opportunities to really prove himself worthy of a contract, he’ll likely go unsigned. He’ll have to try for a good season in 2021-22 as an overager, and hope he gets noticed by a team looking to add a free agent (possibly the Canucks, since I’m sure our scouts will continue to track him, even after the draft rights have expired). But it’s very true that he’s been unfortunate, both with his injury, and the shortened seasons due to Covid. He was a promising prospect who, under better circumstances, may have already earned an ELC. I hope he bounces back, and eventually catches on somewhere. Ideally with us, if he manages to get back on track. He has a strong toolkit of skills and has good hockey sense, combined with an impressive physical package (at around 6’2”, 210lbs), and could still prove himself to be a pro-level player one day.

I’d be surprised if he turns pro this year. I certainly wouldn’t be against it, and would be quite pleased, actually, if he got signed. But I expect he’ll return to NU for at least one more year, and possibly play out his full 4 years and complete his degree, before signing his ELC. The Huskies will see the bulk of their leadership group graduating this year, as well as key contributors like Solow (Captain and leading scorer) and Jozefek (Assistant Captain and T4th). So next year offers McDonough a chance to take on even more of a main role, likely wear a letter, and really look to be a key player, both in scoring/production and taking on a leadership role, on and off the ice. It’s a pretty young team, with the majority of the roster being underclassmen, a large group of sophomores (I think 11) now moving with McDonough to their junior years, some freshmen (like Gunnarwolfe Fontaine) showing great promise, and also a solid recruitment class coming in for 2021-22. I could see McDonough sticking around for another year or two and seeing if he can help lead the next generation of the team, and build the group into a Frozen Four contender, and maybe win another Beanpot, before he closes out his college career.

McDonough and the Huskies not getting the start they’d want in their Hockey East quarterfinal against UMass. Already down 2-0 after one period. Here’s hoping they come back, because I think this is a one and done tournament, so they need a win today to advance to the semis.

Good news! Graovac joins the taxi squad, and apparently made very good use of his concussion protocol period, serving out his one week quarantine while he was out of the lineup with the injury. He’s now available for the Canucks roster, if needed, and will be joining the team for the road trip. EDIT: Have to say, while I give the Canucks management some criticism at times, this was good foresight and “asset management.” Made the best of a bad situation by initiating the taxi squad recall over a week ago and then using concussion protocol to their advantage, by having Graovac quarantine while he sat out.

Nothing in the rules saying he can’t, but it’s unusual. AFAIK, it’s happened only three times in the history of the award. But most recent two times were in the last decade: Bobrovsky (2012-13) and Hellebuyck (2019-20; a play-in isn’t playoffs, and the Jets lost).

That’s a shame. The NHL team’s current injury woes might have been a good opportunity for him, if healthy and available.

Is Graovac still on concussion protocol, or has he recovered and returned? Just was thinking, if he’s fit and game ready, Canucks should really scoop him up on a private jet and have him join the team for injury relief.

Yeah, it really is that simple, when it comes to the AHL issue. Tryamkin was given an assignment clause (which is fairly standard practice with players from elite European leagues), and he expected it would be honoured. The Canucks started trying to pressure him to waive his clause and accept a demotion, and he refused, as was his right. I do think there was some naivety on Tryamkin’s part, and certainly a lack of understanding the expectations of NHL players (especially when it came to offseason fitness/conditioning, and the differences between NHL and KHL training camps), but that’s again more of a failure of the people around him, including his agent and the Canucks staff. And there was a language issue and some cultural differences, which again fall back on the team and Tryamkin’s representatives, and could (and should) have been handled much better. It continues to surprise me how a certain segment of fans has very strong feelings about Tryamkin and blames him entirely for everything that went wrong.

From the same interview you quote Gillis, here’s what else he had to say: “Ownership is involved in all kinds of decisions that we make," said Gillis. "And when you are in a situation like that at trade deadline day and the draft they are going to be involved as you advance situations and evaluate situations, like any other business. It’s not uncommon. In fact, it’s encouraged, because you need everybody in alignment when you are doing these kinds of things." You have to read between the lines a bit here, and remember the circumstances under which Gillis is speaking. He’s still employed, but his authority has been compromised, and he’s hanging on by a thread, as far as keeping his job. So he’s not going to directly come out and say ownership nixed the deal. Had he done that, he’s have been fired by end of business that day. But he’s giving as much of an answer as he can, as far as whether or not the owners were involved in the deadline trade decisions. People hate Botchford, but Jason did have legitimate sources, and he maintained, with 100% confidence, right up until his death, that he had sources confirming that the Canucks owners had blocked Gillis from completing the Kesler trade. He said as much numerous times, whether in radio hits, The Athletic articles, and on his podcasts. Rob Rossi, out of Pittsburgh, who was following the Kesler trade negotiations as close as anyone at the time, suggested the same reasoning, as to why the deal fell apart. And when Gillis was interviewed years later, regarding the 2013-14 season, and rumoured trades, here’s what he had to say: “We had a plan for that,” said Gillis. “We had really strong players who were highly desirable. We had some trades on the table at the deadline before I got fired that would’ve changed the landscape of the team.” “There were a couple and they didn’t happen. That was an organizational decision that didn’t happen.” https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/canucks-gm-mike-gillis-interview-2018 ”Organizational decision” is the key term here. You have to remember that Gillis wasn’t just the GM, but was President of Canucks Sports and Entertainment (CSE), and not just Hockey Ops. There was no higher authority inside the organization, other than ownership. So when he talks about an “organizational decision,” he’s saying the Aquilinis overruled him. Similarly, you start to get an idea of the 2013-14 picture, when Gillis discusses the Torts hiring: “We all felt the team needed a different viewpoint but it became apparent to me early on that this wasn’t going to work, and as I made those feelings clearer and I made them clearer on this station – I said later on that I didn’t like the direction of the team and where we were headed – I knew I was becoming part of the problem and not the solution by doing that. “The solution is to find your way out of it and do your best, but I didn’t see a way we could emerge from this intact. I was watching a lot of the things we had done that gave us a competitive advantage go out the window, and I made my position clear. And in professional sports, 90 per cent of the time, as Laurence likes to say, you get rid of your problem. I was the problem and I deserved to go because I disagreed with certain things.” “When I couldn’t be influential in the things I thought I should be influential in, I guess so.” Again, for the President of CSE to say he “couldn’t be influential in the things [he] thought [he] should be influential in,” that means ownership had stepped in, as there was no one else within the Canucks organization with the authority to limit Gillis’s influence. Ownership had cut Gillis off at the knees, and he was no longer calling the shots. That was the situation in 2013-14, from the head coach hiring, through the trade deadline, and up to the day Gillis was fired.

Gillis was blocked by ownership. Multiple sources, both out of Vancouver and Pittsburgh, confirmed that Gillis had a trade worked out with the Penguins, but it fell apart when the Aquilinis refused to authorize their GM to complete the deal. The return, according to multiple sources, would have been 1st and 3rd round picks, Brandon Sutter, and one of either Brian Dumoulin or Simon Despres (with our luck, we’d have taken Despres, but Dumoulin would have been quite the steal). Kesler did not have a full NMC. He had an NTC. The only players on the 2013-14 Canucks with full NMCs were the Sedins. Kesler, Luongo, Edler, Bieksa, Hamhuis, Garrison, Burrows, Higgins, and Hansen, all had some form of NTC (either current or pending), many of them modified. It’s true that Gillis gave out a lot of trade clauses to his UFA signings/extensions, but this was a tool that allowed the Canucks to shave considerable money off of their salary cap, and put together the type of roster that took them to within one win of the Stanley Cup, and was, during its peak, the most dominant team in Canucks history. The NTCs/NMCs were the cost of doing business. Without a doubt, they created barriers to maximizing trade returns, once it came time to sell off assets and rebuild, but they were a necessary evil to keep that team intact during a contending phase. And while Gillis may have “given them out like candy,” let’s not pretend that Benning wouldn’t have done the exact same thing. In fact, JB has given out some form of NTC/NMC to every eligible player he’s signed on the current Canucks roster (something Gillis never did, although he came close). I have little doubt JB would have given the same clauses to every player Gillis did, while probably also handing out higher salary and term, in many cases.

Nah, Duncan Keith is made up of even parts misogyny, cuckoldry, and hair clogs from the bathroom drain.

Thought you were talking about Duncan Keith for a minute there, and I had some issues. Then checked the previous page. Carry on.

I’m blaming daylight savings time.

Probably, based on past tendencies. I think Green will feel that Petey has earned his spot, respect him as a star player, and will return him to the 1C and move Miller back to the wing, reuniting the Lotto line and also the 2nd line of Pears-Bo-Hogs. That said, I would kind of enjoy seeing them leave the current top-6 untouched, and slot Petey into the Michaelis spot at 3LW, just to see what might happen running with that kind of a balanced and deep top-9, even if the talent is spread a bit thin.