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. you're off your game Phil. but thank you for leaving room for more outrage privelege. Cuz I can't believe you missed the opportunity to call out the wasp undertones. I mean come on - Stewart is black and Cassie is a woman... a 'whole nother level' of WTM!
  2. whoever it is there - they need to have a 'bottom 6' quality game without the puck - otherwise Gaudette could be a decent option as someone else has suggested (although credit to Gaudette - he does look like he's taken another 'step'.)
  3. SN showing a replay of the 2011 game 7 vs Chicago. Unreal hockey. The battle, the pace, the puck movement = as good as it gets. Up there with those matchups with the Redwings in their heyday. Probably good video for the young players to watch / aspire to.
  4. Jake is the best option they have in present circumstances. People need to accept that or propose a better alternative. So far there have been literally none. Motte is probably comparable - but who is 'better' there is debatable. No placeholding winger there is going to replace Miller, period. And not many teams have top line centers to pull out of taxi squads....so.... Much ado / much noise - about nothing.
  5. I don't have a problem with you not liking her voice. And no one called you 'sexist' for it. I'm simply stating my/the counterpoints. I intentionally did not quote or engage with particular opinions on the matter - because there is no 'objectivity' when it comes to preferences like this - no one is 'right' or 'wrong'. For me I don't judge her voice anymore than I judge the sound of many of her peers (I honestly can't stand the sound of a number of them) - but moreso, I have little regard for the content that comes out of their mouths. A person can't change their voice - but they sure as hell have 'subjectivity' / perspective - and the ability to effect the quality of their content. For me - she's a pro - and a huge upgrade relative to some of the idiots that have departed. I'm certain that not a single ex-NHLer in those positions is there because he's blessed with a radio voice.
  6. I'd love to hear some actual substance behind all the whining about /whipping-boying/scapegoating of Virtanen - if there is any. I've read lots of one-liners and crap-goggles narratives, but yet to see a reasonably qualified word among it. I'm far more interested in results than CDC stories. The goal is to win, and you do so by outscoring your opponent. Virtanen has the highest positive on ice goal differential on the team through two games. 4.9 on ice goals for per 60 5o5, 0.0 on ice goals against. +4.9. Small sample - whatever - everything here is small sample - most of it non-sample projection. Virtanen has played about a dozen minutes with these guys. The 'attention' / dwelling on his perceived inadequacy - is ridiculously disproportionate. Neither the "Blood-Pressure" line, nor the bottom six lines that Virtanen has played on - have given up a goal with him on the ice. Impossible to lose when you don't get scored on. And btw - EP and Boeser - are getting rekt on possession regardless of who they play with. 87.5% ozone starts for both of them - 42.6% corsi for EP, 47.5% for Boeser. 35.7% in the faceoff circle. They need a center. Period. No placeholding winger on that line is going to be adequate relative to Miller. Nevertheless - the three of them are +2. So....really = it's much ado about nothing.
  7. I love Cassie. She's one of the greatest players of all time. A huge part of bringing a whole lot of metal/medals to this country. And provides much better analysis than the vast majority of her peers. Players like her - who made jack $quat playing the game and are far better than some of the departed CBC twits - more than earned the role/job she now has. I've had to listen to complete idiots - like PJ Stock, Glen Healy, etc, etc - insufferable halfwits who were also never a fraction of the player she was.... I'll take Cassie anyday - and don't care if she might have a streak of prairie-homer in her - she's a pro regardless. Like DeBrusk - who was a Coiler - you don't necessarily detect it / he checks his ego/identity at the entrance, like a professional - one of my other new favorites - and good riddance to the guy(s) he replaced. Some people don't like her voice - Idgaf. I'm glad people like her and Tessa Bonhomme have carved out well-deserved careers beyond their playing days.
  8. I'm hearing LE is in and Hoglander is out. Some of you guys are exceptionally easy to bait, wadr.
  9. I don't necessarily agree that it was "coached" out of him - what I think he was coached to do is prioritize maintaining positioning/coverage over chasing hits. I think a lot of progress has been made by Virtanen - but I was never in agreement with the crowd that perceived (and still does) that he lacks hockey intelligence or is incapable of executing (defensive) systems. For me - he's a 24 year old with the potential to continue to build a speed and power game. I'm in no hurry to move on from the Virtanen development project.
  10. My teams played a variation of the box and one - but it wasn't a box and exception man-to-man - it was the closest player attacking possession, with the 1 switching /filling - the remaining 4 maintaining the 'box', the switching player taking the spot that opens in the box (depending on where possession was). Depending on personnel, it can be an extremely effective defensive half-court system. One of my favorite defenses - and when played well, sometimes difficult/confusing for opposing players to identify and adapt to. In hockey - your version would require a skater that could stay with McDavid. Not many able - but the Virtanen option mentioned above is not a bad one / likely the best option this team would have (perhaps Motte another, but not quite the footspeed of Virtanen) - and the fixed 1 form that you describe would be necessary, because switching with McDavid would only enable him to pick his defenders in the end. In past years we have had Tanev - at this point some version of Essa Tikkanen may be necessary. The bottom line imo- while there are a lot of similarities in systems between hockey and basketball (because of similarities in shapes of the court/ice, number of players/skaters and location of the basket/goal - a box and 1 in hockey simply is not/cannot be as dynamic a defensive system as in basketball - because 1) a skater moves much more quickly than a guy in shoes 2) the ice surface is considerably larger than a half court, and 3) the puck moves more quickly than a basketball - and it is smaller. The one advantage an attacking basketball team has over hockey - they handle the ball directly/with their hands.
  11. yeah - Virtanen has yet to be on the ice for a goal against - he's +2 in two games, he's moving up and down the lineup (played on 3 lines already)... but he's the reason the team lost last night lol. Bottom line - EP and Boeser need Miller - need a developed NHL center (that can win some faceoffs). But as you point out - Virtanen has been a good defensive complement to those two. Worth noting that when he was moved off that line, Green moved Motte there. Anyhow, they're making do - and realistically, they have had two of the league's best centers to deal with in those two games in Edmonton.
  12. I agree with this, but in fairness, they aren't simply setting up on their strong side - they are mixing it up/alternating. The powerplay moved the puck exceptionally well in spite of all the angst in these threads - they simply weren't getting very good shots off in general (EP's sticks snapping repeatedly also did not help). Some nights you're simply snake-bitten.
  13. https://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/VAN/ if you look at the outcomes overall of those two games.... the only real 'concerns' are the top line. EP and Boeser with 87.5% ozone starts and 42.6% and 47.5% corsi. We don't really expect them to 'win' the 'possession' game at this point, particularly in the absence of Miller. 35.7% faceoffs for EP doesn't help. But interestngly, those two (and Virtanen) were not on the ice for a 5on5 goal against in either of the first two games. The top line aside, the next closest concern would be the Hughes Hamonic pairing. Gaudette and Juolevi small samples are promising. Bottom line - the 'foundation' remains critically important to this young group. Beagle with a 67.5% corsi vs Deadmonton (27 shot attempts for, 13 against = 3rd best on the team)...not bad for a guy that always handles the highest dzone starts on the team.
  14. sites like hockey-reference have the standings in the old division forms. https://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/VAN/
  15. irrelevent when you have Pearson, and - the typical one-liner. a one down imo.
  16. Good for Ben. Not going to repeat what I posted in the pto thread- his season in L.A. last year was probably worthy of another contract imo.
  17. I agree with John Garrett when he points out that it's quite difficult to pick a favorite in the North - a real toss up that might come down to health and depth... While Ottawa may lag behind a bit - they've got some serious young talent - adding Stutzle to Chabot types should be fun to watch. And they are going to be a nasty piece of work to play against - they lost Borowiecki, but brought in Gudbranson, Haley, Watson, Coburn, Paquette...I am really going to enjoy those battle of Ontario tilts.
  18. Probably should have known better than read the PGT lol. Absurd levels of obsession with Jake Jake Jake... Virtanen 50% ozone starts (3/3) 50% corsi (12/12) 2 hits, +1 (the only other plus player was Beagle). As if Virtanen was the reason the team lost. Complain that he's not a 1LW all you want, but Virtanen had very little to do with the loss. The team did not produce on the powerplay, period - EP rung a post, team in general didn't finish - Edmonton did. Period. (Didn't Virtanen ring a post in game 1? Funny how small the margin between goat and goat is). None of the top 6 were particularly good last night - Horvat and Pearson included. The team also doesn't have the one guy that was key to our team shutting that team's top2 down = Tanev. I was ok with not re-signing Markstrom, ok with not re-signing Toffoli - but think the team should have prioritized bringing Tanev back (no hindsighting here, that was my position at the time.). It might have resulted in slightly higher asset cost to make room for Schmidt, but the extra 3 millionish to sign Tanev imo would have been worth the loss of a Roussel (Benn, pick your cap alternative casualties - those would have been mine). Anyhow - there's not much point second guessing that - Tanev chose to go to Calgary - his right - so we move on (but sure miss the guy, particularly in games like last night, where the opposition has one or two key players but otherwise are the lesser team - Tanev was pivotal). Hamonic has parachuted in and has understandably looked rusty and a step behind (and will never have Tanev's mobility). But in fairness to him - when you watch the goals they gave up, you'll see a number of players with situational sub par efforts - so there's no point singling out any one player in particular. If anything, the game otherwise (finishing aside) resembled the first. Game one - Canucks 53 shot attempts, Edmonton 38. Last night Canucks 84 Edmonton 66 56% team corsi With players like EP, Boeser, Hughes et al that can simply produce/finish- you typically win those games. Team defense as a whole (with the exception of the 4th line) needed to be better (and therefore the difference between giving up 38 shot attempts in the season opener and 66 last night - but again, finishing on a few more of the Canuck's 84 shot attempts is the other way of making that difference). For those that like to use Beagle as their whipping boy... 14.3% ozone starts 60% corsi (15 shot attempts for, 10 against Had a great night again imo - (and that line looked quite good with Virtanen on it, actually). Anyhow - the team is capable of producing in lots of ways - they just did not finish. Nothing particularly alarming in the second of an opening nights back to back. Next. EP MIller Boeser Pearson Horvat Hoglander Virtanen Sutter Leivo Motte Beagle MacEwen Edler Schmidt Hughes Tanev Juolevi Myers.
  19. one of those nights so far, but not out of it, certainly not if they continue to tilt the ice this well.
  20. opening nights back to back might not be pretty the rest of the way (having said that, the Habs and Leafs were sucking more wind than this on opening night....)
×
×
  • Create New...