Jake Virtanen | #18 | RW

[10pavelbure96]

17 minutes ago, Green Building said:

You mean like this hot garbage?

 

 

 

I hate our local sports media when they do stuff like this, I really do. Absolutely no shame in how they portray a kid, and one of their own at that. It's one of many reasons Utica should remain our farm team, location be damned.

 

Yes it was Botch and he's a proven jackass, but he and the Province had a chance to be objective with that article and they instead chose to incite contempt. Pathetic is an accurate way to describe them, and sadly, they aren't alone. 

Disgusting. But I don't think Botch makes the headlines.

[SilentSam]

18 minutes ago, Green Building said:

You mean like this hot garbage?

 

 

 

I hate our local sports media when they do stuff like this, I really do. Absolutely no shame in how they portray a kid, and one of their own at that. It's one of many reasons Utica should remain our farm team, location be damned.

 

Yes it was Botch and he's a proven jackass, but he and the Province had a chance to be objective with that article and they instead chose to incite contempt. Pathetic is an accurate way to describe them, and sadly, they aren't alone. 

Was easy to see that Jake was being alienated on that team. Many times he was in position to score, but no one passing to him.

More boys on that team wanting to "show", than pass to a kid with an NHL paycheque, in a scoring position.

Jealousy was the winner.

Absolutely brutal that Jake was left the scapegoat.

 

[Green Building]

14 minutes ago, 10pavelbure96 said:

Disgusting. But I don't think Botch makes the headlines.

No he doesn't, and I tried carefully to not suggest as much. The article itself wasn't entirely tragic, in fact I'd say much of it was alright, but Botch doesn't get any credit for then "reporting" on how mad the entire country was at Jake. No pressure kid. 

 

9 minutes ago, SilentSam said:

Was easy to see that Jake was being alienated on that team. Many times he was in position to score, but no one passing to him.

More boys on that team wanting to "show", than pass to a kid with an NHL paycheque, in a scoring position.

Jealousy was the winner.

Absolutely brutal that Jake was left the scapegoat.

Just to play devil's advocate, I wonder how well Jake was liked in the dressing room. Maybe he didn't fit in for reasons other than an NHL paycheck. I don't know. He really didn't look too comfy on that team though, but of course that was in the midst of a bit of a rough time for him anyways. 

 

I was never happier for him than when I heard Green talking about him right around Christmas. If he puts in the work we'll see him back here in a year or 2. I'm just hoping that he's found, and he keeps, his motivation.

[khay]

On 1/24/2017 at 2:32 PM, Me_ said:

However, one must indeed question Virtanen's present motivation to make it back to the NHL.

 

Perhaps the kid needs someone to talk to in order to get back to basics.

Maybe that's already happening.

 

Sometimes, you gotta take a step back in order to take two steps forward.

 

He may be going back to the basics and re-working things right now. It may seem like he is standing still or even going back in development but I'm sure he will take steps forward when he is ready. 

[coastal1]

6 minutes ago, Green Building said:

No he doesn't, and I tried carefully to not suggest as much. The article itself wasn't entirely tragic, in fact I'd say much of it was alright, but Botch doesn't get any credit for then "reporting" on how mad the entire country was at Jake. No pressure kid. 

 

Just to play devil's advocate, I wonder how well Jake was liked in the dressing room. Maybe he didn't fit in for reasons other than an NHL paycheck. I don't know. He really didn't look too comfy on that team though, but of course that was in the midst of a bit of a rough time for him anyways. 

 

I was never happier for him than when I heard Green talking about him right around Christmas. If he puts in the work we'll see him back here in a year or 2. I'm just hoping that he's found, and he keeps, his motivation.

I agree, i would say you give him 2 seasons in the AHL and then you see if he can find a spot on the team. And then from there he can make his way to top six within a few years. He is obvioulsy a long term project.

[messier's_elbow]

On 2017-01-25 at 10:27 PM, DeNiro said:

Yea I guess we should all just step back from focusing on him for awhile and realize it's probably going to be a long process.

 

I have no problem with him taking until 22-23 as long as he comes into the league a complete player.

Yeah exactly, I think the best idea is to bake him in the minors until you know he gets it. We want a two way player who plays physical and can score 20 goals. Until he's dominating down there like Baertchi was a few seasons ago I'd keep him down there. When he does come up he has the physical tools to be an important player in the future. I think he's a classic late bloomer. I just hope he puts in maximum effort.

[SilentSam]

7 minutes ago, Green Building said:

No he doesn't, and I tried carefully to not suggest as much. The article itself wasn't entirely tragic, in fact I'd say much of it was alright, but Botch doesn't get any credit for then "reporting" on how mad the entire country was at Jake. No pressure kid. 

 

Just to play devil's advocate, I wonder how well Jake was liked in the dressing room. Maybe he didn't fit in for reasons other than an NHL paycheck. I don't know. He really didn't look too comfy on that team though, but of course that was in the midst of a bit of a rough time for him anyways. 

 

I was never happier for him than when I heard Green talking about him right around Christmas. If he puts in the work we'll see him back here in a year or 2. I'm just hoping that he's found, and he keeps, his motivation.

Utica is the best for him.. the worst case scenario would be trading him away without allowing him to show his best.

The Cam Neely scenario playing out again.. what could be worse.

Jake will be a powerhouse, that thick girth gets great speed, hits hard, and has a whip of a shot.

 

I just remember Jake being treated as though he was invisible in that Junior Tournament, and I'm surprised the Coach did not see it in the Video room.

The headlines here at home were horrible, a teenager being cruisifide and humiliated in his home town, and Country, by men who have no idea the sacrifice those kids make to get to that level.

Kids who basically give up their adolescence, play for nothing but the shallow promise of a limited tuition to University or College, only if they have schooled themselves the education and credits to get there, while they travel on a bus to make Hockey Canada and the CHL big money..

Makes you understand the hunger  Jake's teammates had,. Selfishly wanting to "show" that they were better than him.. after all, Jake had "made it".

[Whale Tail]

43 minutes ago, SilentSam said:

Makes you understand the hunger  Jake's teammates had,. Selfishly wanting to "show" that they were better than him.. after all, Jake had "made it".

We will never really know what happened in the locker room but it could have been the other way around. Maybe Jake showed up super cocky and ignorant of the others becuase he "made" it and was playing with juniors. 

[SilentSam]

3 minutes ago, Whale Tail said:

We will never really know what happened in the locker room but it could have been the other way around. Maybe Jake showed up super cocky and ignorant of the others becuase he "made" it and was playing with juniors. 

... still,  you pass the puck to the open forward in scoring position.

This a Coach should see,. and selfishness should not exist on the ice.

What ever is happening in the dressing room should be left there.

[Whale Tail]

5 minutes ago, SilentSam said:

... still,  you pass the puck to the open forward in scoring position.

This a Coach should see,. and selfishness should not exist on the ice.

What ever is happening in the dressing room should be left there.

Oh I agree. It's a team game. Kids will be kids though. 

[ice orca]

7 hours ago, SilentSam said:

Was easy to see that Jake was being alienated on that team. Many times he was in position to score, but no one passing to him.

More boys on that team wanting to "show", than pass to a kid with an NHL paycheque, in a scoring position.

Jealousy was the winner.

Absolutely brutal that Jake was left the scapegoat.

 

C'mon man that's a bit much..lol.

[mll]

8 hours ago, Green Building said:

You mean like this hot garbage?

 

 

 

I hate our local sports media when they do stuff like this, I really do. Absolutely no shame in how they portray a kid, and one of their own at that. It's one of many reasons Utica should remain our farm team, location be damned.

 

Yes it was Botch and he's a proven jackass, but he and the Province had a chance to be objective with that article and they instead chose to incite contempt. Pathetic is an accurate way to describe them, and sadly, they aren't alone. 

 

He was not involved in choosing the headline or the picture - they apparently never are.  

 

The headline was so stupid that many never read the article which is unfortunate because it was positive.   It was actually in favour of Virtanen and allowed Benning the opportunity to come in his defence by describing what he brings. 

[alfstonker]

2 hours ago, The 5th Line said:

 

Yo I have seen plenty of outlandish remarks and excuses in this thread but now we have people acting like they know what's going on in the dressing rooms?  Give me a break

 

Not wanting to pass to him because of Jealousy?  You have just won the award for worst excuse so far.  

 

IF anything, they aren't passing to him  because he himself is a bad teammate, we have all heard the rumblings of character issues and where there's smoke there's fire.  Go watch his highlights from Calgary before he had "made it" .  He would score a beauty goal and his teammates were never in any hurry to congratulate him.

 

Yeah let's not rip apart Jake because he's just a kid, but we can throw kids from other organizations under the bus and that's okay?

 

 

Can you be paranoid on someone elses behalf?  Looks like Sam has managed it.

[Conscience]

10 hours ago, SilentSam said:

Was easy to see that Jake was being alienated on that team. Many times he was in position to score, but no one passing to him.

More boys on that team wanting to "show", than pass to a kid with an NHL paycheque, in a scoring position.

Jealousy was the winner.

Absolutely brutal that Jake was left the scapegoat.

 

Jealousy? Hah he was also playing like $&!# in the tournament and constantly loosing the puck when he had it.

[Boudrias]

9 hours ago, SilentSam said:

Utica is the best for him.. the worst case scenario would be trading him away without allowing him to show his best.

The Cam Neely scenario playing out again.. what could be worse.

Jake will be a powerhouse, that thick girth gets great speed, hits hard, and has a whip of a shot.

 

I just remember Jake being treated as though he was invisible in that Junior Tournament, and I'm surprised the Coach did not see it in the Video room.

The headlines here at home were horrible, a teenager being cruisifide and humiliated in his home town, and Country, by men who have no idea the sacrifice those kids make to get to that level.

Kids who basically give up their adolescence, play for nothing but the shallow promise of a limited tuition to University or College, only if they have schooled themselves the education and credits to get there, while they travel on a bus to make Hockey Canada and the CHL big money..

Makes you understand the hunger  Jake's teammates had,. Selfishly wanting to "show" that they were better than him.. after all, Jake had "made it".

Sam; Good post.

What is your take on the condition of Virtanen's shoulder? Injured in Junior and again last year. This year he made a hit and he looked uncomfortable on the bench afterward. I have no idea if he is playing a hitting game in Utica or not. Not taking many penalties.

[aGENT]

10 hours ago, Green Building said:

No he doesn't, and I tried carefully to not suggest as much. The article itself wasn't entirely tragic, in fact I'd say much of it was alright, but Botch doesn't get any credit for then "reporting" on how mad the entire country was at Jake. No pressure kid. 

 

Just to play devil's advocate, I wonder how well Jake was liked in the dressing room. Maybe he didn't fit in for reasons other than an NHL paycheck. I don't know. He really didn't look too comfy on that team though, but of course that was in the midst of a bit of a rough time for him anyways. 

 

I was never happier for him than when I heard Green talking about him right around Christmas. If he puts in the work we'll see him back here in a year or 2. I'm just hoping that he's found, and he keeps, his motivation.

We don't really have space/need for him on the roster next year anyway with Boeser coming in. By all means short of coming to camp kicking arse and taking names, he should be down in Utica with the influx of talent they'll be getting next year and learning to dominate off the foundation he builds this year.

 

Likely first call up for injuries.

[Toews]

3 hours ago, mll said:

 

He was not involved in choosing the headline or the picture - they apparently never are.  

 

The headline was so stupid that many never read the article which is unfortunate because it was positive.   It was actually in favour of Virtanen and allowed Benning the opportunity to come in his defence by describing what he brings. 

I am not even sure if the headline was supposed to be received that way. "Goat" could have meant "scapegoat" as that is what was happening all over the country, people were blaming the loss on a 19 year old kid playing for one of the worst coached team I have ever seen at the World Juniors. Jake definitely under performed at the tournament but he wasn't the only one. Perlini was absolutely worthless every time he was on the ice. Point was supposed to be one of the leaders on that team and he was invisible for the most part. Strome and Marner were trying to do too much out there. It is our depth that is our biggest strength every year but the coaching staff was over playing an already ineffective top 6. The lines should have been juggled. Guys like Barzal and Konecny should have been given more opportunities in the top 6. Anyway no point complaining about it anymore.

[SilentSam]

5 hours ago, Boudrias said:

Sam; Good post.

What is your take on the condition of Virtanen's shoulder? Injured in Junior and again last year. This year he made a hit and he looked uncomfortable on the bench afterward. I have no idea if he is playing a hitting game in Utica or not. Not taking many penalties.

His shoulder was originally injured in Major Midget playing for Fraser Valley, Sadly Its one that never got full attention in Junior..

He is packing enough mass to protect it, as long as he continues to build the muscle surrounding it.

Chances are there is surgery at some point in his future to tighten it all up. It's the ligaments that get stretched or torn, and never tighten up.

... actually a minor repair at this point, and given his age, might tighten that injured one up to be better than his undamaged one.

One can only be happy with TGreens comments about Jake.

I understand he's being played on the 4th line..  I can only guess that Green is working all angles of Jake's game,. If there is a weakness, TG will find the opportunity to work Jake on that, only to make him stronger.

Virtanen is too big an asset to let slide.. 

Hell, Green made Shinkarik look like a high scoring god so the franchise could move him for a better asset.

Green has Virtanen's best interest.. and I'm sure JB understands what is happening.

Edited January 27, 2017 by SilentSam

[SilentSam]

8 hours ago, The 5th Line said:

 

Yo I have seen plenty of outlandish remarks and excuses in this thread but now we have people acting like they know what's going on in the dressing rooms?  Give me a break

 

Not wanting to pass to him because of Jealousy?  You have just won the award for worst excuse so far.  

 

IF anything, they aren't passing to him  because he himself is a bad teammate, we have all heard the rumblings of character issues and where there's smoke there's fire.  Go watch his highlights from Calgary before he had "made it" .  He would score a beauty goal and his teammates were never in any hurry to congratulate him.

 

Yeah let's not rip apart Jake because he's just a kid, but we can throw kids from other organizations under the bus and that's okay?

 

 

 

4 hours ago, Conscience said:

Jealousy? Hah he was also playing like $&!# in the tournament and constantly loosing the puck when he had it.

... So teenagers never get Jealous of other teenagers?

They Never try to show another up to look better?

Teenagers are blind to the fact that they do it.

...And you 2 couldn't see that in those games?

Im obviously responding to teenagers.   LMAO 

[J-Dizzle]

11 hours ago, The 5th Line said:

 

Yo I have seen plenty of outlandish remarks and excuses in this thread but now we have people acting like they know what's going on in the dressing rooms?  Give me a break

 

Not wanting to pass to him because of Jealousy?  You have just won the award for worst excuse so far.  

 

IF anything, they aren't passing to him  because he himself is a bad teammate, we have all heard the rumblings of character issues and where there's smoke there's fire.  Go watch his highlights from Calgary before he had "made it" .  He would score a beauty goal and his teammates were never in any hurry to congratulate him.

 

Yeah let's not rip apart Jake because he's just a kid, but we can throw kids from other organizations under the bus and that's okay?

 

 

Calls other posters out for acting like they 'know what's going on in the dressing room', then claims to know what's going on in the dressing room.  

 

 

 

#classic