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Everything posted by Kevin Biestra
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Yikes, I don't know what Boeser is worth but if that's all then that's kind of sad. Boeser is basically equivalent to a 5th overall pick that panned out. We need to give up him and a 14th overall pick for a 5th overall pick that might pan out...
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[PGT] Buffalo Sabres at Vancouver Canucks | Mar. 20, 2022
Kevin Biestra replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in Canucks Talk
I can't say for sure that Miller wouldn't be. But we have seen non-HOF grade but rather just very good players turn it up in the 11th hour of their careers and be very impactful. Ray Ferraro had one of his best years ever at 36. Mike Foligno was still a modern day Marleau type contributor at 35, same with Doug Smail, Dave Poulin, Murray Craven, Brian Skurdland, Joel Otto, Brent Sutter, Kelly Kisio. Cliff Ronning at 38. Scott Mellanby at 40. That's going back a while but as of yet I don't have reasons to claim Miller won't be able to do that. Mats Zuccarello is currently having the best year of his career at 34. He's another player who is just very good like the ones I named above. -
Yikes, that forced energy and excitement is pretty hard to watch for more than 30 seconds...but that's interesting the Pittsburgh and Vancouver have the most deadline deals. Pittsburgh has matched the Edmonton dynasty in Stanley Cups and the Canucks, well, er...no Cups and just got 1 out of 4 points against the NHL's bottom feeders in must win games.
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The contract ends this year and there's nothing more to pay really that can be avoided. The only benefit is it would free up a roster spot to bring Spencer up. Or...is it possible to trade away next year's already earned bonus payment?
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I think they're 22-10-5 under Bruce. That's a pretty good testament to this group of players. I'd listen to offers on anybody other than Hughes and Demko but since jettisoning Green the signs are quite promising.
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That's kind of an interesting question now that you mention it... I guess the obvious guys for most people are Linden, Sedins, Bure, Naslund, McLean, Luongo and Bertuzzi... I'd say Smyl and King Richard achieved more as well in their best four year stretch. Then I guess it's time to start thinking with Tanti, Gradin, Gary Smith, Mogilny, Andre Boudrias, Ronning, Courtnall, Kurtenbach, Kesler, Lever, Sundstrom, Rota. That might be it though. Being a top 10 scorer this year really elevates JT's cache if he can maintain it. Not many Canucks have ever done that once. I guess Quinn Hughes might be up there already if he has a good year next year. We've had plenty of good defensemen but none of the offensively gifted ones were at the top of their game for four years in a row. Guys like Ohlund and Snepsts might have done their thing at peak levels for four years.
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Could happen but we would really feel the absence of Horvat's faceoffs. I think he's gonna be a top ten Selke vote getter within the next few years. Pretty reasonable contract too if I remember right.
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I think if they actually do make the playoffs after the Travis Green start then it's not unreasonable to consider them a contender to do well. They will have played at a contender level the entire time under Bruce if they make it in. They might have trouble with whoever comes out of the east but I don't think there's a team in the west they can't beat, if they keep up their Boudreau pace all the way to the end. If the bottom falls out somewhere before the end of the season, then yeah they aren't quite up to it.
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The veteran leadership on the 89 and 90 teams was off the charts. 89: Smyl, Mel Bridgman, Reinhart, Snepsts, Pederson, Butcher (was there for the 82 run) + Tanti, Skriko, Steve Weeks 90: Smyl, Larionov, Krutov, Reinhart, Dan Quinn, Butcher, Rich Sutter, Andrew McBain, Pederson, Snepsts + Tanti, Skriko, Steve Weeks Yeah I eventually come around on almost all of the old enemies when they're in their final years. Not Messier or Marchand though. Every other old Flame, Oiler, Ranger and Islander no problem. I was even sad to see Jamie Macoun and Ric Nattress retire. And enjoyed Jim Peplinski's little Claude Lemieux / Guy Lafleur style comeback in the mid 90s I think it was.
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Yeah between Zezel, Craven, Bridgman and Rich Sutter, we got our hands on some of that classic 80s Flyers lineup. I had hopes for Zezel too...but it was kind of like Mike Ridley or Esa Tikkanen or Ryan Walter...just kind of a cup of coffee at the end. I was happy to get all those guys...even Eric Weinrich at the time...but I've got a soft spot for old veterans. Zezel did have a very good rest of the season when we first acquired him.
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Or Zezel... 66 career games, +18. Semenov, 62 games and +21. And the much maligned Nolan Baumgartner. 99 games, +25.
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How do you rate our team after 4000 games played?
Kevin Biestra replied to danjr's topic in Canucks Talk
I'm kind of glad they did. Tardif joined the 150 point club with Gretzky, Lemieux, Esposito, Yzerman and Nicholls. A legendary (though mostly forgotten) achievement. I'm glad the WHA existed as it did and had top players...though I wish their stats would get absorbed into the official record books. Guys like Gordie Howe and Bobby Hull, and on the other hand our 80s goaltending tandem Richard Brodeur and John Garrett, would really see their career numbers reflect their total careers. Garrett had 148 WHA wins, Brodeur had 165 (and another 26 in the playoffs) to go with his NHL numbers. That's 39 career playoff wins for King Richard, more than the 34 for either Luongo or McLean. Another 174 goals and 508 points for Gordie, another 99 wins for Gerry Cheevers, another 232 points for Frank Mahovlich, another 303 goals and 638 points for Bobby Hull, 291 more points for Dave Keon. Another 110 points for Wayne...and he deserves them since they made him ineligible for the Calder Trophy. If it wasn't NHL level competition, then why does a year there make him not a rookie? Marc Tardif is actually over 1000 points for NHL + WHA combined. And nobody knows who he is nowadays. Two seasons with 148 points or more. Real Cloutier is over 900 combined. Andre Lacroix...996 points and six straight seasons with >100 points in the WHA. Over 100 assists one year, putting him in a club with only Orr, Gretzky and Mario I think. Mike Rogers is at almost 900 points, and he scored much more in the NHL than the WHA...never got 90 points in 5 seasons in the WHA, then broke 100 points in all of the next three seasons once he switched to the NHL. And your boy JC Tremblay...almost 800 points as a defenseman with NHL and WHA combined. -
How do you rate our team after 4000 games played?
Kevin Biestra replied to danjr's topic in Canucks Talk
JC was great. I just consider him a part of the previous Canadiens dynasty in the 60s (Beliveau, Pocket Rocket). Has to be nice to have your team enjoy a dynasty in back to back (to back) decades. I kind of think of it as (1956-60) and (1965, 66, 68, 69) and (1976-79). And then there are the 1971 and 1973 Cups which are kind of harder to place, are they the 60s dynasty or the late 70s dynasty or neither... And there was certainly a bit of brief overlap between the 60s dynasty and the lineup I posted for the later 70s (Serge Savard, Cournoyer, Lemaire). And darn close to the greatest goalie tandem in history (Vachon and Gump Worsley, or Worsley and future Canuck Charlie Hodge who was no slouch either). Or Jacques Plante / Charlie Hodge for the 50s dynasty. JC also was great in the WHA. Won the AVCO Cup with King Richard on the Nordiques. -
How do you rate our team after 4000 games played?
Kevin Biestra replied to danjr's topic in Canucks Talk
Would have been a hell of a matchup. That 76-79 Montreal lineup was insane. Guy Lafleur Steve Shutt Pete Mahovlich Yvan Cournoyer Jacques Lemaire Bob Gainey Doug Jarvis Yvon Lambert Mario Tremblay Doug Risebrough Rejean Houle Pierre Larouche Pierre Mondou Mark Napier Larry Robinson Guy Lapointe Serge Savard John Van Boxmeer Don Awrey Rod Langway Brian Engblom Ken Dryden Bunny Larocque -
How do you rate our team after 4000 games played?
Kevin Biestra replied to danjr's topic in Canucks Talk
As you wish. Were you watching / following the team in the early 90s? -
How do you rate our team after 4000 games played?
Kevin Biestra replied to danjr's topic in Canucks Talk
I don't think that's very fair to the early 90s Canucks. They had three consecutive great years from 91-92 to 93-94. The first two as division champions with great regular seasons and the second round of the playoffs before running into Gretzky and the Kings, and then everybody knows what happened in 1994. This era can also be extended back to 1989 for the series against Calgary and forward a year or two for at least the victory against St. Louis (Shanaha, Hull, MacInnis, Joseph). -
How do you rate our team after 4000 games played?
Kevin Biestra replied to danjr's topic in Canucks Talk
Yeah both the Flyers (80, 85, 87) and the Bruins (88, 90) were Cup worthy teams, maybe even mini dynasty worthy. In all five instances they just ran into the Oilers or Islanders. Yeah Janney what a dink. That entire situation was a mess...Nedved leaving the way he did, Janney won't report, then Brown arrives and turns into a scurvy dog. -
How do you rate our team after 4000 games played?
Kevin Biestra replied to danjr's topic in Canucks Talk
Well to be honest I think five cup finals is more impressive than one cup and no other finals. It suggests a better and more consistently great team. But that aside, since I was using 1980 as the starting point, those 1980s Flyers teams were legendary and were only stopped from Cup victories by possibly the two greatest teams in NHL history and without question two of the three greatest...the Islanders dynasty and the Oilers dynasty (x2). The Flyers of the 80s didn't win a Cup but they went to the final 3x and were an absolute beast team. Mark Howe was +87 one year and Brad McCrimmon was +86. If it wasn't for the two greatest teams of all time, those Flyers win three cups in eight years. Then if I just think back to the great players from both teams over those years, off the top of my head the list is longer for Philadelphia. Let's just go 1980-2000 to keep it simple... Flyers (1980-2000 off the top of my head) Bobby Clarke Bill Barber Rick MacLeish Reggie Leach (all of the above were at the tail end of their runs but they were also the core for the 1980 trip to the final) Brian Propp Tim Kerr Mark Howe Pete Peeters Pelle Lindbergh Ron Hextall Eric Lindros Rod Brind'Amour Ken Linseman Mel Bridgman Paul Holmgren Brad McCrimmon Dave Poulin Rick Tocchet Bob Froese Brad Marsh Mark Recchi John Leclair Blues (ditto) Brett Hull Mike Liut Adam Oates Bernie Federko Wayne Gretzky (one year) Brendan Shanahan Al MacInnis Joe Mullen Doug Gilmour Chris Pronger Craig Janney Rod Brind'Amour Brian Sutter Wayne Babych Rob Ramage Jeff Brown Grant Fuhr Curtis Joseph -
How do you rate our team after 4000 games played?
Kevin Biestra replied to danjr's topic in Canucks Talk
The Blues were 0-3 before winning their recent Cup. -
How do you rate our team after 4000 games played?
Kevin Biestra replied to danjr's topic in Canucks Talk
Are you talking about the 94 Rangers as the top 15 all time team? Because we also lost to an arguably #1 all time team and #3 at worst in the Islanders. And also the best version of the Islanders dynasty as from 1982 on they had Brent Sutter. The 82 season also had the best Mike Bossy ever and the best Billy Smith ever. And I think the 82 Canucks really could have beaten anyone else the way they were rolling...as was seen in game 1 of the final. And had it not been the Islanders it would have been the Nordiques in the final (who the Islanders swept in the semis) or maybe the Rangers who the Islanders beat in round 2. -
How do you rate our team after 4000 games played?
Kevin Biestra replied to danjr's topic in Canucks Talk
I think it's at least theoretically possible to rank a team without a Cup higher than one with a Cup. Just to make things even let's say the league started in 1980 for these purposes. Philly went to the final in 80, 85 and 87 I think, plus the Lindros final and was there one after that...I can't remember offhand. Could you rank the Flyers 1980-present over St. Louis 1980-present? I probably would to be honest. -
How do you rate our team after 4000 games played?
Kevin Biestra replied to danjr's topic in Canucks Talk
The consensus was that the Canucks were underachievers in 93/94 and that this was not going to be their year. They had been monsters in 91/92 and 92/93 in the regular season and then lost in the second round I think. In 1994 people just figured if they are going to be worse in the regular season then they won't do even better than before in the playoffs. There were definitely some people who were prematurely ready for changes at that point...a bunch of the fan base quit on McLean in 1991 and wanted to trade him when Troy Gamble had a better year than him. But the overall consensus wasn't really that the Canucks sucked and that their core was through. They were all young still and it had been demonstrated conclusively that Linden, Ronning and Courtnall were playoff machines. -
How do you rate our team after 4000 games played?
Kevin Biestra replied to danjr's topic in Canucks Talk
Did we not have a #2 and a #3 overall pick in the lineup? -
How do you rate our team after 4000 games played?
Kevin Biestra replied to danjr's topic in Canucks Talk
The winning percentage stat doesn't hold. There are a half dozen teams that have pretty much their entire existence with three point games where it's virtually impossible to finish below .500 for the season. There needs to be some kind of standardization factor before throwing around relative winning percentage comparisons. Also, the Canucks spent much of their existence in the Smythe with both Edmonton and Calgary, two of the three best teams in the NHL probably for that stretch, just getting hammered for a significant part of the season by those two teams year after year. This hurt their winning percentage relative to other teams, even in the two point game era. All of that said, 50 years and no Cups is not very impressive. The best memories are easily the 1982, 1994 and 2011 finals. The Presidents Trophies were certainly nice but nothing compares to deep playoff runs. Bure's appearance was a lot of fun and, I think, his Calder was the first actual trophy for a Canuck. He was also the first 50 goal scorer and 100 point player (over 20 years into the Canucks existence) where most teams had seen at least a 120 or 130 point player many years back in their history by then. What else... Garrett's all star game, Brodeur's song during the 1982 Cup run, the Canuckmobile, Linden almost winning fastest skater at the all star game, McLean's save against Reichel in 1994, Bure's goal against Vernon in 1994, Stan Smyl's breakaway against Vernon in 1989, Stan Smyl keeping his cool after getting slashed in the face by Billy Smith and bleeding in the last game of the 1982 final so as to not put his team down when they couldn't afford it, Gino Odjick taking on the entire Blues team, Linden hitting Jeff Norton through the glass, Burrows slaying the dragon in 2011, Gino Odjick's 16 goal season, Ronning's playoff OT goal against the Kings in 91 or 92, in fact entire sudden ascension of the Lifeline immediately after trade to acquire Ronning and Courtnall, the comeback from down 3-1 in the series to the Jets in the early 90s, Jeff Cowan's scoring streak with bra included, vote for Rory, Trevor Linden's six point game, Dave Babych's hat trick.