[Elias Pettersson | #40 | C]

Ferarro on whether Pettersson should have been one of Sweden's players of the tournament 

[Elias Pettersson | #40 | C]

Elias apparently sustained a minor injury and is day-to-day

 

Inserted as picture as I couldn't get the tweet to embed

[Thatcher Demko | #35 | G]

Demko currently has both the best GAA and SV% of all goaltenders to play more than 3 games this season in the AHL 

[Jake Virtanen | #18 | RW]

Saw this on the Canucks reddit a few days ago, not sure if this was already posted but gave me a good laugh

[Adam Gaudette | #96 | C]

The last 2 goals were pure hustle to get into the right spot. Love it

[Jake Virtanen | #18 | RW]

11 hours ago, Where's Wellwood said:

My favourite part of the game last night, Jake pops into the camera with a huge sh*t eating grin on his face 

 

You could really tell the Canucks were getting under the skin of the opposition last night. I think I've heard "we're gonna be hard to play against" repeated over and over, every new coach we get. Last night was the first time I finally saw some substance.

[Jake Virtanen | #18 | RW]

Really excited to see the steps Jake takes this year, be it in Utica or the Canucks. Now that his conditioning is improved and he can use that speed more consistently throughout a shift, his ability to create turnovers is really standing out. Seems like he creates a turnover every time he's on the ice, and I was really happy to see that hold true even against a more veteran Edmonton squad last night. There's a lot to like about Jake's game in all three zones so far this pre-season.

[Elias Pettersson | #40 | C]

 

[Kristoffer Gunnarsson | D]

Was really impressed with how effectively Gunnarsson uses his body. Really keeps players out of the dangerous spots and makes it hard to come down the boards on him. Crushing body checks are great, but one thing I really admired watching the playoffs this year was the Ducks use of physicality to separate players from pucks. Here's hoping Gunnarsson can provide some of that effective physicality for us in the future!

[Elias Pettersson | #40 | C]

Inititial reaction was shock, but I recalled feeling the exact same way when we picked Boeser and settled in pretty quick. Trusting Benning on this one, and very excited to follow Elias this coming year.

[Nikita Tryamkin | D]

13 hours ago, stonecoldstevebernier said:

I thought the biggest thing that put him out of position a couple times was his uncertainty on when to attack the puck carrier. One of his first shifts he thought about moving forward to keep the puck in, stopped halfway and decided to turn to defend the puck carrier, but by that time the Avalanche player with the puck had way more momentum than he did so he got left chasing. Not a case of being slow, just a matter of positioning that can and will be coached.

The good thing about Tryamkin is that his reach can compensate for being slightly out of position at times. A couple of times he managed to knock pucks away when he looked beaten, and also did well to make sure he got the puck and not the player's feet. Throw in the assist off a nice point shot and overall, about as good a debut as you can ask for from a guy who's never played a pro game in North America before.

Great point, this is such a key mental part of the game for defenseman, that quick decision making on whether to attack or retreat on a close play. I know as a plug beer leaguer defenseman my timing can be thrown off pretty bad by mental fatigue, so as a guy who has done a complete 180 on his sleeping schedule and probably has some new team/league jitters I think he'll fix this up quick. I've never heard bad things about his decision making.

[Brock Boeser | #6 | RW]

12 minutes ago, chilliwiggins said:

Konecny has to be better because he will be playing in the nhl next year, where as boeser isn't near ready.   konecny has 99 pts in 53 games and plays a 200 ft game, plays in all situations and is the go to guy on his current team past team, team Canada etc.   the 67s, traded him a month ago for 12 players( a RECORD) because his team knew he wouldn't be playing for them next season, so they cashed in as they believed hes in the nhl next year     I AM RIGHT.  

There there, hushhh shh shh shh, of course you are right, no need for tantrums you're a good boy.

 

5 minutes ago, chilliwiggins said:

hes playing with smaultz whose chicagos 1st rounder of 14 as he is the guy who gets him the puck as his stats are matching.    boeser is a bit of a floater,   when I played those players used to be called seagulls.   which I guess relates to them being scavengers waiting for food.        the quality is higher in the CHL talent wise.   maybe not maturity     the speculation is more so on boeser as konecny is slated to play in the NHL in 2016  

You said it right there.. I never said the NCAA was more talented, I said it's stiffer competition because the talent their is more developed. This is why I referenced the many undrafted 20 year-old overaged players who dominate juniors. Not even saying Boeser is better than Konecny, just that it's apples and oranges when comparing stats from the two leagues. When they are both in the NHL we'll see but until then, stat lines don't tell the story and Brock shouldn't be sold short for what he is doing right now. Not even going to comment on the riding on Schmaltz's coattails remark...

[Brock Boeser | #6 | RW]

1 minute ago, asian player said:

Many elite NHL players have come from the NCAA as well. He is saying the average age of the players in the NCAA is higher than the average age in the CHL. The players in the NCAA are more physically mature and have had time to develop their skill. Imagine the overagers (20 year olds) in the CHL that just absolutely dominate and out-produce the younger guys (Dane Fox-64 goals) but go on to play in the ECHL. It's the same thing in the NCAA but the players are 21-22 years old so as you can imagine, these guys are significantly better than the 18/19 year old freshmen/sophomores. The competition in the NCAA is far superior to the CHL so comparing numbers between the two leagues is just stupid.

Jonathan Toews put up 46 in 34 at UND and put up 54 in 64 for the Blackhawks the next year

 

Exactly, thank you

[Brock Boeser | #6 | RW]

25 minutes ago, chilliwiggins said:

pick 24 travis konecny has 99 points in 53 games, so he hasn't outperformed him, but we all know this lol

Apples and oranges... the average age of college hockey teams is 21-22 years old, much stiffer competition. Seeing how many undrafted 20 year olds dominate juniors each year, can you imagine what the average college team would do to an OHL team? What Brock is doing in the NCAA right now as a freshman is extremely impressive, don't sell him short.

[Markus Granlund | #60 | C/W]

Was pretty sad originally with the trade but the more I learn about this guy, the more I like. I think most of my frustration with the trade came from years of anticipation to see Hunter hit the ice for the Canucks and never seeing that come to fruition. His personality is infectious and that quick strike offense is easy to get excited about. But Benning is a scout first and foremost, and when I take a step back and look at the trade I think this was a smart move. We get a player with comparable AHL success and although there's seemingly a higher ceiling for Shinkaruk, our organization isn't in a position to have one of our top prospects bust. Granlund looks like a surefire young player, great on the third line and can move up the lineup if need be. Once we have a better base of young players I think we'll see a little more willingness to have those high risk/high reward type prospects in the pool.

 

This one may bite us in the ass, but I trust in Benning's scouting and I think at worst, it will just be a nibble. Looked great in the first game with us and hope to see more great play from Granlund for years to come!

[Brock Boeser | #6 | RW]

Having watched the last 4 UND games in full, I haven't really noticed his foot speed lacking. I think this may come from the fact that he seems to look like he's coasting sometimes, but he's always in the right spot. Shows good hockey sense that he doesn't need expend a lot of energy to be in the right spots, never chasing the play just plays sound positionally and puts it in gear when he needs to. Pretty common for good goal scorers to roam the ice like this and slip into soft spots on the ice unnoticed. Definitely showed some good foot speed to beat out the icing on that play, but of course the NCHC isn't as fast as the NHL so can't wait to see him at camp next year.

 

On a side note, man is college hockey fun to watch.