Jake Virtanen | #18 | RW

[CRAZY_4_NAZZY]

There are better comparisons is all. Booth wasn't nearly as physical or as fast, bud.

That is the essence of Booth's game speed and physicality. I remember last year he registered 10 hits in one game.

Virtanen is very much the same, if not identical type of player like Booth. But unlike Booth Virtanen was touted to be a natural scorer as Booth wasn't

That is the difference is that Virtanen has that offensive gift, that many others don't have and can put both together.

Edited December 28, 2014 by CRAZY_4_NAZZY

[KJM90]

If anything he kind of reminds me of Jeff carter but more physical. His speed, acceleration, shot look a lot like carter

[DeNiro]

The great thing is his conditioning likely isn't even at his peak level considering he missed a summer of training due to surgery.

I would love to see what this guy can do with his skating ability when he has the stamina to make multiple rushes a shift without getting tired.

[LeanBeef]

Booth did not ever hit like Virtanen. Also, wrong wing. Never understood the comparison. Other than a bit of trolling because we know of Booth.

Only a matter of time before Virtanen was promoted, because Ritchie is a penalty-prone sloth. Soon he'll hopefully be on the power play too.

Booth actually hit pretty hard.

Still remember him running over people in the LA series

[Spotted Zebra]

There are better comparisons is all. Booth wasn't nearly as physical or as fast, bud.

Did you watch the 5 games against LA in the playoffs or did you just erase that from your memory? Booth hit like a truck in that series. Did do it often? No but when he did hit someone he hit them hard enough to rock them.

You seem to have a pretty good grasp though Eh, tell me who is the better comparable? Evander Kane? Who

[LeanBeef]

Did you watch the 5 games against LA in the playoffs or did you just erase that from your memory? Booth hit like a truck in that series. Did do it often? No but when he did hit someone he hit them hard enough to rock them.

You seem to have a pretty good grasp though Eh, tell me who is the better comparable? Evander Kane? Who

Currently, Kreider is the nhl player who reminds me most of Virtanen...

I do think that Virtanen has his own style though

[BanTSN]

Did you watch the 5 games against LA in the playoffs or did you just erase that from your memory? Booth hit like a truck in that series. Did do it often? No but when he did hit someone he hit them hard enough to rock them.

You seem to have a pretty good grasp though Eh, tell me who is the better comparable? Evander Kane? Who

I'll leave it to you to come up with better comparisons, but Booth? Meh. Could be better. For starters, Virtanen is more likely to be Richards than Booth in that scenario you cheerfully referred to.

[Canucks1219]

Here are the highlights of Virtanen's performance in today's game. I kept the clips short so the video is only about 1.5 minutes long. They aren't all positive highlights either. One is a turnover and another is him being rocked pretty good at the blueline.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iXkC7d9D_k

Of note is the play at the 45 second mark. He toe drags, the German defender slides into the boards, Virtanen doesn't pass to either of his linemates who are wide open in front of the net, and tries a shot from a tough angle.

[LeanBeef]

I'll leave it to you to come up with better comparisons, but Booth? Meh. Could be better. For starters, Virtanen is more likely to be Richards than Booth in that scenario you cheerfully referred to.

could go either way.

Was caught with his head down this game and was hit hard.

[Spotted Zebra]

I'll leave it to you to come up with better comparisons, but Booth? Meh. Could be better. For starters, Virtanen is more likely to be Richards than Booth in that scenario you cheerfully referred to.

Read that wrong my bad!

Edited December 28, 2014 by Spotted Zebra

[KJM90]

Currently, Kreider is the nhl player who reminds me most of Virtanen...

I do think that Virtanen has his own style though

looks a bit like Jeff Carter to

[BanTSN]

could go either way.

Was caught with his head down this game and was hit hard.

Didn't do the critical mistake of going into the middle of the ice though, which is the suicide play Booth grew accustomed to doing. It's because Virtanen's a bit faster and is more likely to try to beat defenders up the wing, and he's proven more than capable of that.

As for other guy's post, I'm referring to Virtanen's overall physicality being more Richards than Booth. It's fairly obvious to me, but if you want to persist with the flawed Booth comparison, go ahead. It's pretty meaningless.

I agree with third person that Kreider is even a better comparible. Virtanen's shot is a bit better however.

Edited December 28, 2014 by BanTSN

[LeanBeef]

Didn't do the critical mistake of going into the middle of the ice though, which is the suicide play Booth grew accustomed to doing. It's because Virtanen's a bit faster and is more likely to try to beat defenders up the wing, and he's proven more than capable of that.

As for other guy's post, I'm referring to Virtanen's overall physicality being more Richards than Booth. It's fairly obvious to me, but if you want to persist with the flawed Booth comparison, go ahead. It's pretty meaningless.

I agree with third person that Kreider is even a better comparible. Virtanen's shot is a bit better however.

Misread your post as well. He is more of a Richards in terms of physicality.

Virtanen's shot is much better than Kreider's but the way they burst into the zone and hit is so similar. Watching Kreider in last years playoffs was a treat, wouldn't mind if Virtanen turned out to be like him.

[DeNiro]

Of note is the play at the 45 second mark. He toe drags, the German defender slides into the boards, Virtanen doesn't pass to either of his linemates who are wide open in front of the net, and tries a shot from a tough angle.

I think his idea was to get a shot so that there would be a rebound for his linemates.

It was a tough angle to make a pass from too. If he had tried to dish it and it went to no one, people would be wondering why he didn't shoot. It's just one of those things. He ran out of space.

[snizzle_]

looks a bit like Jeff Carter to

I don't like the david booth comparison either. Just because they can both skate fast doesn't mean they are comparable, just because they both have physicality in their game doesn't mean they are comparable. They way they put it all together is different. Virtanen is a quick, fast skater with explosive speed who is very light of his feet. Booth was fast but strong on his skates and was more of a "lean of you" guy where as Virtanen wants to go through you.

I really like the Jeff Carter comparison, just the way they both look on the ice and the way they play.

[snizzle_]

A couple of thoughts that I accumulated throughout the game:

1. First off, what the fuck was up with him switching sticks/tap jobs 5 or 6 times over the course of the game. You see it when a player goes cold and wants to shake it up between periods. (This is purely observation and really has no meaning to it its just weird that he seemed to alternate every couple shifts haha)

2. Virtanen is so dangerous off the rush. His speed creates so many problems for defenders that it seems to open the ice up so much.

3. I think it was about time Virtanen started getting some recognition as he got to play with McDavid. Although i thought he didn't particularly play well with him to start (some bad breakout passes/decisions), he really settled in after he got a few reps (The nice backhand pass to McDavid in stride), and that's to be expected because they never played together before.

4. Although he got moved up to McDavid's line, I didn't think he was playing all that well AT THE TIME. He had a great start, with a breakaway and some good hits/forecheck but as someone mentioned above, bad habits crept in and he tried to carry the puck too much and he got poked check a few times. We all know he isn't the best at stick handling himself into a better scoring chance but I guess you're gonna have some troubles when your moving as fast as he does haha.

5. One thing no one has really talked about is his board play. He's shown some good things but he's also shown some bad decision making. He doesn't necessarily have great puck protection; he likes to explode into a player rather than leaning on a guy, but he's good at reading the corners and moving it up to the point when necessary.

6. Lastly, I think think his vision and hockey IQ have taken great leaps this year. Yes, he could have passed it to Fabbri and McDavid out front on that one play but what isn't being talked about is his sound offensive positioning and creativity. BobbyMac said it, Virtanen has started to show some good creativity in his game and its creating a lot of chances and his vision has improved in my eyes. I thought he was a floater for much of the Super Series and some Hitmen games that I watched, but in the first 2 games of the tournament I think he's done well to support offensive attacks but get back to be the 3rd guy high when there wasn't a clear chance.

In summary, I like his progression this tournament, and I really hope he continues to play with McDavid. It looks like McDavid is passing more than he's shooting and we all know the shot that Virtanen posses. It could be a match made in heaven.

BONUS: I am so glad that Groulx has realized how bad Ritchie and Gauthier are for this team. Like its a pain to watch Gauthier play, there's no other way to put it. Ritchie, that pilsbury dough boy, is so undisciplined and is out of breath after warm up.

[Webster6]

I think his idea was to get a shot so that there would be a rebound for his linemates.

It was a tough angle to make a pass from too. If he had tried to dish it and it went to no one, people would be wondering why he didn't shoot. It's just one of those things. He ran out of space.

And if he scored people would be praising that as one of the nicest individual effort goals in WJC history. Edited December 28, 2014 by Webster6

[Quaz]

There isn't much to dislike about JVs game, but he needs to take his puck pursuit game

to the next level. I'm liking the Jeff Carter comparison too.

[Canucks1219]

Bobby Mac (and everyone else) a fan of the line shuffling by Groulx.

http://www.tsn.ca/video/wjhc-groulx-tweaks-lines-in-win-over-germany-1.169151

"Full credit to the head coach for team Canada. I thought he did a tremendous job of rearranging the lines in the third period to create more 5-on-5 flow than we'd seen in the first 40 minutes.

... and I thought Connor McDavid, as well as he played on the powerplay, his 5-on-5 play was much better with Jake Virtanen and Robby Fabbri, when they were put together as a trio in the third period. Much more of a speed and skill line for McDavid to feed off of. We'll see where it goes from here -- a day off to contemplate things -- and every game's a little different. But I thought Benoit Groulx did a really nice job of creating offense and momentum 5-on-5, in the third period, by shuffling the lines."

- Bob McKenzie post-game

[Gyllenhaal]

Nick Ritchie where offense goes to die. God he's slow.

So nice to see Virtanen get to play in the top 6 with McDavid. Where he should have been at the start of the tournament imo.