Jump to content
The Official Site of the Vancouver Canucks
Canucks Community

oldnews

Members
  • Posts

    53,830
  • Joined

  • Days Won

    186

Everything posted by oldnews

  1. that wasn't the argument - it's your misrepresntative one-liner paraphrase, as if you read the first line only. the rest is a straw waste of time (I have argued precisely the opposite of players like Hutton - whose minutes on a M.A.S.H. bottomfeeder were very misrepresentative - and called it beforehand that he'd get nothing resembling the contract people in here were projecting based on one reductive indicator).
  2. That's hard to agree with, especially when you state it as "is a level above." Klefbom has been playing a #1D role - hard minutes - on a trackmeet of a team. He's their principal penalty killer. He blocked 180 shots last year in 62 games. Scored 34 pts in the process. He's not playing in behind Hedman, McDonagh types....and I'm not looking to sandbag Edmonton's group - but beyond other guys like Cernak, and very solid depth (Shattenkirk last year, Foote emerging this year)....Edmonton just does not measure up - let alone when you look at their relative forward groups and the strength of Tampa's bottom six, for example. Not really a 'comparison' that should be made a glance / or on production. Also not factoring in that Klefbom is a silly 4.16 million cap hit (agent fail)....while Sergachev's covid-context bridge deal exceeds that.
  3. He's second on the blueline in ice time. He's second in scoring - and aside from the powerplay, leads the blueline in scoring. He leads the team in blocked shots. He's second to Edler in penalty killing minutes. Yours is a one-liner misrepresentation that is often parroted with no subtance to back it up.
  4. That's a foregone. Of course he's going to be back in the lineup most nights - and I'd be pretty certain that he knows it's not a performance matter. They've given him two rests - in back to backs. Caling it 'kid gloves' is a distant armchair perspective imo - I'm pretty sure Green would have his reasons. One might be that Juolevi has been playing relatively hard minutes for a rookie. 34.1% ozone starts is just a hair over Edler, who otherwise is the lowest on the blueline - by a fair margin. Juolevi is also getting worked into the penalty killing rotation. Nothing resembling typical 'rookie D' minutes - and with his injury history - and the fact that he's still a slight 182lbs - I'm not sure it's a mystery why they're not looking to overwork him. It's a long season - they have other arguably NHL-ready young depth / and serviceable depth (thankfully Benn has looked like playoffs Benn as opposed to the Benn we saw last regular season).
  5. I agree - he's been excellent - and adds a similar element of relentless work ethic that Motte brings. He's making it difficult for Gaudette to get back in the lineup.
  6. the distance between @squamfan and hockey intelligence.....galaxies away.
  7. I honestly couldn't care less. "Top 6" / "bottom 6" / "top 4"/ "3rd pairing" are increasingly meaningless terms in the present NHL. The reality is that the young highly talented players - as expected - are not really close to ready to winning the "possession" game at the NHL level. So you need a 'bottom 6' that can generate 'territory' - or you're getting killed at the 'top' and 'bottom' ends of your lineup. Miller was an epic - and as perfect as they come acquisition to fit with this group, so the principal matter was 'solved' imo when they pulled that off. I'll get to Horvat's line later. Why would you want to take a player with results like this: 30.4% ozone starts (only Beagle is lower) 50.0% corsi (6th on the team) 5 goals (tied for 1st), 5pts (5th). +3 (2nd best on the team). 34 hits - leads the team by a large margin 3.9 on ice goals for per 60, 2.2 against +1.7 on ice goals per 60 is 3rd best on the team (Virtanen 3.1/0.6 = +2.5, Beagle 4.8/2.7 = +2.1) That incredibly valuable when your bottom six generates outcomes like that. And further - it takes a ton of pressure off the young players. The idea of moving Motte into the top 6 only makes sense if 1) the top 6 is broken or 2) you are deadset determined to 'reward' him. I'm pretty sure that a coach like Green makes it patently clear to everyone that a player's 'value' is not dictated by semantics ("top 6") or misleading 'rank'. The team needs Motte right where he is - more than they need to take away one of the huge advantages he provides - the ability to turn pucks in the dzone into possession (and faceoffs) in the ozone. The exception to that - the one idea in this thread that I agree with - is that he could make sense on Horvat's wing - when Horvat is drawn into principally shutdown/matchup duty. For me that is the worst case scenario for Horvat's line - and is typically dictated by injuries to other centers - and the need to shelter a line centered by Gaudette, at the same time as tiliting the ice for EP's line... Leave Sutter and Beagle centering the "bottom six" lines - and Horvat's is freed to play in more opportune circumstances - and leave that line as it is. Additionally - Hoglander is a very adept without the puck - a good young defensive forward for his 'stage' of development, and Pearson is a capable secondary penalty killer - so Horvat's line in matchup is not without capable defensive wingers. "If it aint broke, don't 'fix' it."
  8. it's Beagle he's taken out of his lineup - in favour of a 'kid' 4th line.
  9. Jake is getting that for an 18 goal/36 pt season in 69 games. It was 9 games in before he had a goal last season (2 assists to that point). People were going on in exactly the same ways it's being beaten to small sample death early this season. I dunno - if I care to dwell / micro-it the way so many folks here do.
  10. What system is that? Sorry - but there is no such thing as "the system" = there are a LOT of systems in a team game. Forechecking systems Neutral zone systems. Dzone systems Penalty killing systems. etc, etc... Breakout. Zone entry..... And further - each unit/line/pairing - may not play the same systems as others on the same team - "systems" are typically tailored for units/lines/pairings - not teams. Ie a third line of Burrows Kesler Hansen.....would not necessarily play the same 'systems' as a line of Naslund Morrison Bertuzzi.... or Sedin Sedin Pyatt/Bernier/Klatt etc...You don't cookie cutter your team into a "system". The closest thing we've seen to that is the Tortorella attempt to one-size fits all - ie the genius idea of making the Sedins penalty killers and Tom Sestito a powerplay winger.... - and that is merely a joke - because Tortorella, likewise, has no 'system' - he has systems (by far the worst suited I've ever seen here - but that is a long, snow-tire of a conversation/thread of it's own). And they aren't stagnant from one opponent to the next either. Pet peeve when people one-liner a coach/team like this - and don't begin to flush out any actual systems whatsoever. "passive" or "risky pinches"...are still only a few words. Dates back / reminds me of the "defend-the-0-0-tie" one-liner regarding AV's alleged "system"....which was a literally meaningless - but a common currency misrepresentation. I think if people want to call out the coaches - it's going to take countless more effort - accounting in far more depth what the team is actually doing - than anyone here puts into it - if it hopes to be taken seriously.
  11. Not sure anyone measures up particularly well if Motte is the standard. Virtanen hasn't had the best 'puck luck' thus far - and has only taken a dozen shots - perhaps he should rip the puck a bit more frequently - but for me, his production is the last of my concerns - I'd prefer he keep his focus on the game as a whole and take care of the rest of it first - which I think he does reasonably well, in which case even if he's not producing, he's complementing his line. The 'bottom six' on this team has a fairly clear principal role - particularly when Sutter centers the other line - which is to give up as little as possible (with Gaudette it needs to produce secondary scoring, because it's going to give up it's share). If the bottom six limits opposing production and do so while the top 6 gets/ is rolling - the team is hard to beat (and Virtanen's bottom six production is not really vital/an indicator of much). I'm not sure I 'expect' a lot of secondary scoring (what guys like Motte and Sutter are doing is high-end in a shutdown role) - but I think Virtanen will manage to get his nevertheless - if he continues to play the game without trying to force production.
  12. Interesting that Roussel has become the #4 penalty killing forward. No penalty killing last year. Less than a minute his first year here, and the year before in Dallas...killed slightly more earlier in his career in Dallas, but never this much. Wondering if he is edging Pearson out (who was pretty bad on the pk early this season...)? Hard to argue with his work ethic (when it's there) - but something about AR's awareness makes me anxious. Still - when he's getting in on the forecheck, getting his hits in, etc the bottom six looks better (otherwise he's hard to watch).
  13. he wasn't bad - aside from attempting to do the shot clock's job for it....
  14. Virtanen has the lowest on ice goals against per 60 on the team. 0.7 3.5 on ice goals for per 60. +2.8 Tied with Sutter for team lead in takeaways (6) Highest on ice save% on the team (98.0). His corsi is higher than Pettersson's. EP 78.2% ozone starts Virtanen 47.9%
  15. MacEwen is adding some great energy. Probably tough for Gaudette to be watching - but realisitcally, the team is stronger with this 'bottom 6' setup... Hard to take Zack out of the lineup though when he's working like he is (maybe Gaudette will see more ice once the top 6 gets rolling more consistently...)
  16. Jim Hughson should stick to Leaf fluffing. At least he was without his sidekick. John Garrett held the space.
  17. If you have a problem with people deriding Canucks, you have absolutely come to the wrong place . I might sympathize with not encouraging people to make a whipping boy of Canucks - but I've also never interpreted that emoticon as a slur directed at Eriksson's mental wellness - am also skeptical that it would impact him that significantly...
  18. One thing I might suggest is an additional "?" emoticon/'rep' - so a person can indicate more of a question / a neutral 'not sure what you mean by this' - as opposed to the dopey LE face, which has somewhat of a different impression/meaning. Great rep options here - but I think a ? might be a good addition - that could be seen as relatively neutral.
  19. exactly - talked about a bounty on Moore and then did nothing about it himself.... Bertuzzi hit Moore late in the 3rd of that game - May had all night to walk the talk.
×
×
  • Create New...