Lancaster

Yesterday's game looks like as if Virtanen has finally turned the corner and with everything clicking. Strong on the backcheck, more than willing to pay the price to be in front of the net, strong along the boards, very physical, comfortable making pretty plays...... the exact opposite of what we saw during the Zack Kassian experiment. The hardest thing for a young player isn't whether they're producing or excelling.... it's about being able to do all the little things right. So far he's been able to, along with McCann, Horvat and especially Baertschi.

Translink should have just bought 2nd hand stuff from Japan or something. Not sure the exact mechanism, but some of those gates will alternate the Enter/Exit to make the movement of people as quick as possible. They're arranged wider than what Translink has now. Large enough to go through with a single luggage.

Well.... I remember hearing how Alexandre Daigle actually didn't really enjoy playing hockey all that much. Hence he never realized his full potential. Yet, he was still skilled enough that he still played hockey for a living up until 2010. Then there's Bobby Hull who mentioned that he loved playing hockey, while his son Brett just only liked the game. Most of society probably don't really enjoy their jobs, but tough it out. Imagine getting paid millions to do something you don't really enjoy and is very demanding.... most people wouldn't mind doing it.

Wouldn't be surprised. Sometimes the hockey life isn't as glamourous as we all think it is. Wake up early morning for practice, then off to the gym, reviewing plays, etc. "Off-days" are probably spent at the gym or with the training/medical staff for treatment. Your meal plans are probably laid out by nutritionists and dietitians. Then there are meetings with sponsors, marketing departments, and other events around town you gotta attend to. You're basically living out of a suitcase for half the season too. All that and we haven't even included the actual games yet. They put in more than the normal 40-hours work week like the rest of society, probably closer to 60-80 if you're factoring in travel too. Plus, Higgins is also a married guy with kids, so you still have to deal with the normal family things like the rest of society... except you're only home half the time. Chances are Chris Higgins and many players in the NHL are still in the game because they're good at it (good enough to make a very decent living) rather than the actual love of the game.

Bieksa said it took about over 1 year before it finally gets back to normal. Chances are this might derail any hope of Rodin returning back to North American hockey. If he's out this year and will be mediocre next season (getting back into shape), he'll be 27-28 before playing at a high level again. I don't know too many teams willing to bring over someone who is in their late 20's into their NHL fold.

I know how they work, but just never really gotten into them.

I believe most people weren't upset at the trade per se (although probably better to have kept Schneider instead of Luongo... but that's a different thread)... just many felt the returns could have been better. I think the expectation was at least 1st rounder plus prospect. Considering the Oilers were rumoured to have offered the #7 and perhaps Klefbom, MG's asset management was poor.

Jere Lehtinen?

Pretty much got killed in recent weeks. Investments probably dropped a good 20%..... a couple of directional bear ETF helped out a bit.... but man, it's brutal out there. Fortunately, 25% of my portfolio was in cash... so still a good opportunity to drop back in once the market bottoms out. My predictions with the markets... it will be very unpredictable, lol. What happens to oil prices once Iranian supplies start reaching the markets? Or when storage facilities are maxed? How long will the Saudi keep manipulating the markets? Is this the end of China's rise? I mean.... we've seen the same thing happened to Japan during the 90's and into the 2000's after the bubble burst. Their population demographics are eerie similar... so no next "boomer" generation will force the GDP to grow. The difference between Japan and China... Japan is a 1st world, democratic and open economy with a high standard of living. China is still developing, authoritarian and the ruling party will do whatever it takes to maintain control..... not gonna be pretty. How will the "Brexit" referendum impact the European Union? The rise of nationalism, the influx of refugees.... perhaps the European Project will start failing. For Canada... where are all those people complaining about high oil prices and how it's creating the Dutch Disease? Anyways.... good luck everyone.... because we'll all need it.

Could Gaunce just be a victim of being pigeonholed? I mean, when drafted, he was supposed to be a Linden, Malhotra, type of player. Someone more known as being a clutch performer, great at faceoffs and as a defensive stalwart.... not necessarily an energy, power forward, crashing and banging kinda guy (yeah, I know Linden was pretty physical when he was younger). As much as everyone wants Gaunce to someday be a 6'2, 220lb physical force.... that just might not be his game. No point trying to fit a square peg in a round hole IMO.

The card reader is so weak, I can't even tap with the card in my wallet like when in Japan. What the missus found really inefficient is that the gates are closed and only opens when your pass works, which is very very slow. In Japan, the gates are open, and only closes when you don't have a pass, invalid ticket, no money, etc. It makes passing through so much quicker. https://youtu.be/lktBTPWioLw?t=3m7s

If only the NHL can make exceptions with ELC on players from other professional leagues in Europe. Chances are those players coming after a contract or two from the SEL or KHL are usually at least mid-20's and probably with families. It's a tough choice to potentially cut 50-75% of your salary just to chase a maybe.

To be centre, you either have to have speed or size (preferably both)... and Gaunce has size. Manny Malhotra wasn't a speedster, but does have enough speed and strength to shutdown the other team's top players (usually other centres). Also, speed could be improved upon. Watch the Sedins when they were in their early 20's and then after the 2006 season, it's night and day. I think even Kesler was mentioning how Daniel was almost matching him stride for stride in a race.

Anyone find it strange that many weather forecasters were saying how locally we will be having a warm winter, due to global warming and El Nino. Yet some farmer's almanac predicted a colder winter and more snow.... due to El Nino.

The Caps got a draft pick back.

Sending someone to junior doesn't automatically means they'll develop better. Name a player that became a bust due to being in the NHL too soon... without naming everyone's favourite "evidence", Gilbert Brule. Players get better by playing against more difficult opposition. How would Jake Virtanen get better if he just overpowers 16 year old defenders and shoot against goalies that may or may not even have a career after junior hockey? Virtanen will be better by practicing his shot against Miller and Markstrom, one who has won a Vezina plus an Olympic MVP, the other who is a 6'6 monstrosity and rising prospect. Who better to compete against on a daily basis? Some 16 year old defender who 5'9, 170lb... or practice battling against a positional player like Tanev, a rough player like Sbisa, huge defender like Edler, or formerly one of the premier shutdown specialist and gold medal winner in Dan Hamhuis? Learning little tips on passing,shooting and other facets of the game... perhaps some junior/skills coach? Or would you rather he learn some the 2010 Art Ross and Hart winner, plus Olympic Gold medalist Henrik Sedin, the 2011 Art Ross and Pearson winner, plus Olympic Gold medalist Daniel Sedin, World Junior and World Champion sniper in Radim Vrbata, the 1 in a million longshot workhorse in Alex Burrows, and even the more truculent players like Prust and Dorsett? Choosing not to send down Virtanen means he's accountable for each and every shift. He can't afford to just simply glide back to the bench, or making high-risk plays. With the Canucks, he knows that the coaching staff will be keeping tabs on how he does his shift changes, whether or not he finishes his checks, and how often he's not comprising his team. All of them are things that in junior he can get away with, just because he can slack off most of the game, then just flip the switch and goal a goal and then be praised. That won't work in the NHL.

Luc Bourdon got a severe leg injury once returned back to junior. Injuries could have happened at any level, but considering that he completely regressed in his development, perhaps in an alternate scenario, if he was up with the Canucks, having an elite pro-level medical/training staff, plus veteran mentors to guide him along (Linden, Naslund, Ohlund, Salo, etc.).... it might have led him down a different path.

FYI.... the Portland Timber are MLS champions

Wally coaching again? He certainly knows how to coach, so this might be good for the short-term... but what about the long-term? Who is the next successor for coaching? Waiting for Lulay to eventually hang them up?

Wasn't Camilo's new team having financial trouble a while back? The Whitecaps should lowball them for the transfer fee, lol. A "take it or leave it" type situation. As much as people hate Camilo for what he did... should he come back and win another Golden Boot (a Morales and Camilo combo would be magic) and help the Whitecaps to reach the championship round, watch out Lenarduzzi for being the most popular soccer guy in town.

I'm not sure. Didn't he have some visa issues or something that prohibited him from either playing for the farm team or in WHL? So far, he's in the 2nd tier of Swedish hockey, so nothing really to write home about in terms of stats. On a slightly unrelated note.... former prospect and one of another Swedish twin, Patrihk Vesterholm is starting to get his bearings.... putting up 14 points in 20 games in the SEL.

Hopefully this kid progresses correctly. Before we proclaim him the next eventual starter for Canucks.... lets just remember that Vancouver wasn't just a graveyard for near NHL-level goalies, but for goalie prospects too. Schneider was perhaps the only starter to be developed in-house in the last few decades. Prior to him..... Cloutier was acquired through trade. Alex Auld wasn't developed properly and ended up as a 1B to backup goalie. Corey Hirsch was good initially, but left for Europe. Then there's Brochu, Mike Fountain, Jonathan Iilahti seemed like a good prospect at one point, Joe Cannata was given the same praises as Demko is now. Just saying, we should temper all expectations until at least Thatcher can at least perform in the AHL level.

So, when can he make those mistakes then? Maybe once the Sedins are long gone and there no chance of tying the game up? Become like the next Oilers and have no "safety net" in place? And how would Jake going back to junior be helpful? Chances are he'll just out-muscle, out-skill any 16 year old who tries to check him, thus no learning opportunity will be available for him there. Players learn from mistakes and it's probably 100% that the coaching staffs will be showing the videos of his mistake back to him, thus breaking it down and lecturing him on what to do when a similar situation happens again. Had the Canucks just kept saying, "they're not ready" for the Sedins, they would have probably left back to the SEL long ago.

Rookies making mistakes? What a novel concept.... lol. Virtanen will be getting a good talking to by the coaching staffs. He knows he probably was one of the key reason the Canucks lost tonight. Sending him back to junior won't make anything better, as most likely he'll just be cutting corners even more. At least in the NHL, he'll learn that any mistake made can be turned into a goal against and potentially costing the team the game. Better for him to learn from his mistakes now, when the Canucks have the ability to clean up his mess rather than later on when he'll be thrusted into a position where he's more unprepared for. He'll learn and will be better for it.

"Fortunately" it's just a broken bone. It has nothing to do with whether a player can "tough it out", need to train more, or whether one is truculent enough or not. Bone is bone.... unless he's calcium deficient, lol.