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The League-Wide Lucic PF Brand ~ Zack Kassian Talk


TheRussianRocket.

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http://www.theprovince.com/touch/story.html?id=8762266

When you say powerforward in hockey, the first player that comes to mind is Milan Lucic. He symbolizes that role and exemplifies the highest standard of it's position today.

He's become a brand. Vancouver Canucks fans routinely discuss whether Zack Kassian is a "Milan Lucic type."

That tag has been handed to prospects like Tom Wilson (Washington Capitals) and Michael McCarron (Montreal Canadiens) and Tyler Biggs (Toronto Maple Leafs), and countless others.

Edmonton Oilers president Kevin Lowe went as far as telling reporters in April, "It's easy to sit here and say we want Milan Lucic-type players. We do. But we've got to find a way to draft, acquire, develop these kinds of players."

And Lucic? He doesn't take it too seriously it all, it seems.

"I just laugh and smile," Lucic said Wednesday.

"I think it's pretty cool and pretty unique. End of the day, it doesn't matter. Your goal is to be the best you can be."

A lunch meeting with Boston Bruins legend Ray Bourque right before the playoffs this past NHL season helped reinforce things like that.

Lucic said that Bourque told him that he tried to focus on improving every day. That was his main goal, he said. Everything else would fall into place.

"It was big for me," he said of the meeting, which, coincidence or not, took place right before Lucic went on a postseason tear for the Bruins.

"It was Ray Bourque saying how he approached the game.

"Here's a guy, the highest-scoring defenceman of all time, not caring about the Norris trophies he's won. He just wanted to be better tomorrow than he was today.

"He said that when guys would tell him, 'You're the best,' or 'Look at your stats,' he always said to himself, 'Whatever,' about what happened. He said that he wanted to be the best he could until he stopped playing - and then he would look back at what he had accomplished."

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Kassian has the complete package of size, skill, grit, speed, and the ability to physically impose his will on players in a single shift. However, what he lacks is consistency, which isn't the biggest surprise given his age, and the perceived curve for development of a power forward taking longer. You see bits and pieces here and there, but if he brought his tools into play every shift, I'm sure negative attitudes will quickly dissipate.

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Kassian has the complete package of size, skill, grit, speed, and the ability to physically impose his will on players in a single shift. However, what he lacks is consistency, which isn't the biggest surprise given his age, and the perceived curve for development of a power forward taking longer. You see bits and pieces here and there, but if he brought his tools into play every shift, I'm sure negative attitudes will quickly dissipate.

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From what I've seen so far Zack was a bigger version of Anson Carter/ Trent Klatt, in that he knows how to find space down low with this size and decent mobility before scoring from in close. While it's promising that he knows how to do that from in close I hope he can show his potential sans setup par Sedins. During his prime, his idol Bert didn't rely on his line-mates to create for him, but he also had the mobility and smarts to use his reach and strength to dominate even while in transition. I haven't seen too much of what Zack can do for the Twins (aside from repeated assertions that he'll pummel any guys who try to hit the Twins) and I'd like to see him elevate his play to become a bigger version of Burrows, if that's possible.

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Lucic is slow, stupid, and not all that great of a player. He barely lit the lamp last year. He takes the dumbest penalties, only to be backed up by a great PK. He gets pyloned defensively and is average at best hitting wise for his size. If reffing was half consistent, Leafs would have beat Boston because of Lucic, rather than the opposite.

I would hope Kass turns out better than what Lucic is now.

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kassian's problem is not consistency ..... he consistently loses puck battles to guys 1/3rd his size ... he consistently loses control of the puck after a few short seconds of possession ... he consistently fails to get the puck out of his own end ... he consistently miss times hits and smashes into the boards ........ he seems to be a pretty consistent player ... we always know what we get every night from him which is next to nothing... and for people running down lucic... same people who say we need to be patient with zack because power forwards take longer......todd bertuzzi didnt hit 50 points in a season until his 6th season... Lucic hit 60 points in his 4th season same season he was a huge part of a stanley cup winning team.... yeah lucic really overrated...

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someone's mancrush is showing.

Umberger hit him clean and Lucic had a hissy fit.

and your statement doesn't seem very accurate in this clip

This play here also really seals it for me that you don't know what you're talking about

pretty sure a dumb plug couldn't do this either

Kassian maybe inconsistent or lazy or you may question his work ethic, but he 1-is not a over glorified goon 2-has excellent hands for a big guy and underated passing skills.

3-Is one of the few canucks who let their passion show on the ice.

4-has not had any suspensions since being in the NHL, or tried to hurt other players.. unlike your precious lucic.

why are you even talking down a canuck over an overrated player like lucic?

People talk about lucic like he is the second coming of Neely.

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