Jake Virtanen | #18 | RW

[Alflives]

28 minutes ago, Schmautzie said:

I've heard that Jake played a lot of left wing in Junior. Can anyone confirm this?

 

The Canucks seem to have a lot of right wing depth and Jake may be better off playing the left wing in Utica to help his transition to the big club one day.

Don't know about junior, but Jake IMHAO is a much more effective player on his off wing.  Green played Jake on both wings in Utica.  

[R3aL]

He's really gotta work hard all season and light fire to the AHL this year.. he's gotta be one of the teams top scorers and leaders this season shut the doubters up, pump his scoring confidence or his future looks not so promising

 

[Noble 6]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 29, 2017 by Horvat is a Boss

[MattJVD]

On 19/08/2017 at 8:52 AM, RecklessReilly said:

Love the fat shaming around here! The real shame is we don't know CDC users BMI/weight or we could have a daily user roast. Maybe it would inspire some people the way it "inspired" Jake. I bet there a hipocrit or 500 in here.

Isn't Bo clinicly Obese if you used BMI alone? 

 

Edited August 29, 2017 by MattJVD

[Fantomex]

15 minutes ago, MattJVD said:

Isn't Bo clinicly Obese if you used BMI alone? 

 

Probably... But IMO the BMI is bogus.

[MattJVD]

1 minute ago, Fantomex said:

Probably... But IMO the BMI is bogus.

That's the point I was making. If an athlete as fit and strong as Horvat is clinicly obese by some metric, then that metric is wrong.

 

For the record at 6'0" and 223lbs, Bo's BMI is 30.2. Anything greater than 30 is considered obese. 

 

So the number of pounds Virtanen comes into camp at is largely irrelevant. What matters is that he is light enough to skate like the wind and have endurance, yet heavy enough to be sturdy and hit hard. Whatever that number is.

[Fantomex]

25 minutes ago, MattJVD said:

That's the point I was making. If an athlete as fit and strong as Horvat is clinicly obese by some metric, then that metric is wrong.

 

For the record at 6'0" and 223lbs, Bo's BMI is 30.2. Anything greater than 30 is considered obese. 

 

So the number of pounds Virtanen comes into camp at is largely irrelevant. What matters is that he is light enough to skate like the wind and have endurance, yet heavy enough to be sturdy and hit hard. Whatever that number is.

That's the one. Every frame can hold different weight. Some can play at 6' 190lbs and be slower, others can be 6' 220lbs and fly around the ice. The BMI trys to group everyone in the same body structure, which is completely ludicrous.

[Rob_Zepp]

2 hours ago, MattJVD said:

Isn't Bo clinicly Obese if you used BMI alone? 

 

There are athlete BMIs you can use.   The GENPOP BMI measures put pretty much any professional athlete in a body contact sport in obese/overweight zone unless they are Elias Pettersson.    

[Rob_Zepp]

2 hours ago, MattJVD said:

That's the point I was making. If an athlete as fit and strong as Horvat is clinicly obese by some metric, then that metric is wrong.

 

For the record at 6'0" and 223lbs, Bo's BMI is 30.2. Anything greater than 30 is considered obese. 

 

So the number of pounds Virtanen comes into camp at is largely irrelevant. What matters is that he is light enough to skate like the wind and have endurance, yet heavy enough to be sturdy and hit hard. Whatever that number is.

For Virtanen, the weight below the neck will be less important than what he has going on between his ears.   If he is truly "ready" to be a professional hockey player, he will be a potentially dominant one.

[Western Red]

On 8/27/2017 at 10:47 AM, Fantomex said:

I think that's a good theory. Jim talked lots about "team building". To me, this suggests that he's willing to wait a few years for the new core to be ready. You only have to look to north east one province over to see what happens when you rush young players into the league. As for Jake, I feel like he's made bigger strides than most are willing to give him credit for. With Travis Green as the new HC I think Jake will be ready to step into whatever role is asked of him. Having said that, starting the year in Utica wouldn't hurt him in the slightest.

Exactly. I just fear that Jake will kick ass for 4 games, then have an injury. He has much to prove, I hope he doesn't overreach. 

 

I'd love to see Virtanen become a legit presence, he need only pace himself. He'll be on the team and work his way up from the 4th, like many a elite player before him. 

 

No place for ego in much nowadays. Do what you're asked and WORK for a higher achievement, goes for everyone.

[stawns]

24 minutes ago, Rob_Zepp said:

For Virtanen, the weight below the neck will be less important than what he has going on between his ears.   If he is truly "ready" to be a professional hockey player, he will be a potentially dominant one.

He Did a lot of growing up last year.  I'm not worried about that at all.

[Rob_Zepp]

30 minutes ago, stawns said:

He Did a lot of growing up last year.  I'm not worried about that at all.

For his sake, and sake of the Canuck organization, I hope you are correct.   I think he has all the skill to be an incredibly successful player and in the top 6 - only thing is the mental hurdle.   He clears that, he can be like he was in junior - a men among boys exerting his will to great advantange.

[Putgolzin]

59 minutes ago, Western Red said:

Exactly. I just fear that Jake will kick ass for 4 games, then have an injury. He has much to prove, I hope he doesn't overreach. 

 

I'd love to see Virtanen become a legit presence, he need only pace himself. He'll be on the team and work his way up from the 4th, like many a elite player before him. 

 

No place for ego in much nowadays. Do what you're asked and WORK for a higher achievement, goes for everyone.

I like this thinking.

It seems that people can only think Bust or Top 6. 

Bo has done a delightful job of working himself from 4th line deployment to all-of-a-sudden being pencilled into Top 3 status (which I think is entirely premature)

People still think of Gaunce as an almost-bust, but I'm ok with him slowly working into Top 9 deployment, and then hopefully Top 6 after a year or two.

Same with Virtanen...if he could be real steady as a 4th liner (or perhaps 3rd liner) over the next season and a half, maybe he could keep developing into one day becoming the force we all hoped he would be...perhaps in 4-5 years he could still become a force if we let him slowly work himself into that role.

[gameburn2]

On ‎8‎/‎18‎/‎2017 at 4:29 PM, Alflives said:

Here's another three word description, and BY FAR most important: "Thirty Pounds Lighter".  The kid is FINALLY a proper playing weight, and fit.  No we will see what we have.  

I agree.  Will be interesting to see if he understands what he has to do to be successful: better in the cycle game, stop head-hunting.  Control the puck and make plays.  I think he can do it.

 

Being in shape is huge for him.  Will make him more agile, even faster, and more than anything: tell his coach and fellow Canucks that he is committed to becoming a hockey player.   A very good sign. 

[cyoung]

2 hours ago, nzan said:

I like this thinking.

It seems that people can only think Bust or Top 6. 

Bo has done a delightful job of working himself from 4th line deployment to all-of-a-sudden being pencilled into Top 3 status (which I think is entirely premature)

People still think of Gaunce as an almost-bust, but I'm ok with him slowly working into Top 9 deployment, and then hopefully Top 6 after a year or two.

Same with Virtanen...if he could be real steady as a 4th liner (or perhaps 3rd liner) over the next season and a half, maybe he could keep developing into one day becoming the force we all hoped he would be...perhaps in 4-5 years he could still become a force if we let him slowly work himself into that role.

Did you just say gaunce as a top 6. Hmm what part of his game makes you think that he will be a potential top 6? Genuinely curious. 

[JeremyCuddles]

Anyone know if Jake played on the PP at all in Utica? I noticed he had no points on the PP so I am assuming he didn't. Did he get any special teams time in Utica? I know people like to throw his 20 points around like he was bad but I'd like to have some context. If he was just a 3rd/4th line guy I don't think his point totals are as bad as they seem. A full year in the top 6 (Hopefully) with PP time and his numbers might hit that "2 points a game" (Sarcasm) super stars normally hit before making the jump. I think if he had any sort of PP time last year he probably has 30ish points, which isn't game changing but it's not as bad as it seems. I'd like to see him deployed a bit more offensively next season, I appreciate the need to be good in all areas but I don't want him to "forget" how to score.

[Alflives]

9 minutes ago, N7Nucks said:

Anyone know if Jake played on the PP at all in Utica? I noticed he had no points on the PP so I am assuming he didn't. Did he get any special teams time in Utica? I know people like to throw his 20 points around like he was bad but I'd like to have some context. If he was just a 3rd/4th line guy I don't think his point totals are as bad as they seem. A full year in the top 6 (Hopefully) with PP time and his numbers might hit that "2 points a game" (Sarcasm) super stars normally hit before making the jump. I think if he had any sort of PP time last year he probably has 30ish points, which isn't game changing but it's not as bad as it seems. I'd like to see him deployed a bit more offensively next season, I appreciate the need to be good in all areas but I don't want him to "forget" how to score.

Someone posted earlier a recent comment from Jake.  Jake said that he spent a lot of time going over video with Green.  Seems, from that comment, Green was teaching Jake how to play, and less focussed on points.  I watched a lot of Utica games last season, and Jake got some PP time, where he played on the left side.

[mll]

14 minutes ago, N7Nucks said:

Anyone know if Jake played on the PP at all in Utica? I noticed he had no points on the PP so I am assuming he didn't. Did he get any special teams time in Utica? I know people like to throw his 20 points around like he was bad but I'd like to have some context. If he was just a 3rd/4th line guy I don't think his point totals are as bad as they seem. A full year in the top 6 (Hopefully) with PP time and his numbers might hit that "2 points a game" (Sarcasm) super stars normally hit before making the jump. I think if he had any sort of PP time last year he probably has 30ish points, which isn't game changing but it's not as bad as it seems. I'd like to see him deployed a bit more offensively next season, I appreciate the need to be good in all areas but I don't want him to "forget" how to score.

4 of his 9 goals came on the PP - he also has one PP assist.  

Virtanen had 142 shots on net.  It's not like he isn't shooting - he just hasn't quite figured out how to beat the goalies just yet.  

[JeremyCuddles]

18 minutes ago, Alflives said:

Someone posted earlier a recent comment from Jake.  Jake said that he spent a lot of time going over video with Green.  Seems, from that comment, Green was teaching Jake how to play, and less focussed on points.  I watched a lot of Utica games last season, and Jake got some PP time, where he played on the left side.

He had PP time eh? That's kinda not so bueno. I appreciate the hands on approach of Green, and from all reports it helped Jake's game. His speed and scoring is what I fell in love with when we drafted him though. So those are parts of his game I had hoped he'd bring to the NHL. I still feel his ceiling is top 6 and his floor is bottom 6er that can score. He should have no problem being an NHLer. It's just a matter of hitting his potential or becoming bottom 6. 

 

2 minutes ago, mll said:

4 of his 9 goals came on the PP - he also has one PP assist.  

Virtanen had 142 shots on net.  It's not like he isn't shooting - he just hasn't quite figured out how to beat the goalies just yet.  

Really? I guess the NHL site is being weird. It doesn't show his PP points/goals so I assumed he didn't get PP time. I guess I didn't look hard enough cause it also doesn't show his shots/shot percentage either so that should have told me the site is being weird. Guess he's just gotta keep working on his game. Hopefully his fitness isn't an issue this season, one less thing for him to focus on. He can just focus on getting better.

[mll]

19 minutes ago, N7Nucks said:

He had PP time eh? That's kinda not so bueno. I appreciate the hands on approach of Green, and from all reports it helped Jake's game. His speed and scoring is what I fell in love with when we drafted him though. So those are parts of his game I had hoped he'd bring to the NHL. I still feel his ceiling is top 6 and his floor is bottom 6er that can score. He should have no problem being an NHLer. It's just a matter of hitting his potential or becoming bottom 6. 

 

Really? I guess the NHL site is being weird. It doesn't show his PP points/goals so I assumed he didn't get PP time. I guess I didn't look hard enough cause it also doesn't show his shots/shot percentage either so that should have told me the site is being weird. Guess he's just gotta keep working on his game. Hopefully his fitness isn't an issue this season, one less thing for him to focus on. He can just focus on getting better.

You have to select the expanded view under player stats.  If you go to his page you also have access to the boxscores of the different games.