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Jake Virtanen | #18 | RW


avelanch

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Am I the only one who was pulling my hair out watching this kid play today?

I'm a huge Virtanen fan, think we made the right choice and supported him all the way up to the draft

But let's not sugarcoat it. The play died on his stick tonight, he looked so lost out there, and he was floating more than he was engaged.

Looking for him to bounce back next game

he made the third goal possible.

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Felt his game play was more or less okay today, liked whenever he uses his body.

His speed is always great, but the only lacking part I find is that I don't seem to see he and his linemates connect on each other's passes too much...(Ignoring the Lazar goal, of course)

Overall, a good game!

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he made the third goal possible.

Admittedly that was a great play, but his overall game was hard to watch.

He was on a 3 on 2 with mcdavid and lazar and shot it off the half boards into demkos chest. He missed atleast 4 passes and stick handled his way into the defensemans skates atleast twice more.

As I said, huge Virtanen fan but he was not good tonight in his role

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Admittedly that was a great play, but his overall game was hard to watch.

He was on a 3 on 2 with mcdavid and lazar and shot it off the half boards into demkos chest. He missed atleast 4 passes and stick handled his way into the defensemans skates atleast twice more.

As I said, huge Virtanen fan but he was not good tonight in his role

That was hardly a 3-2. Plus, Rishaug had just finished talking about how the coach wanted the players to shoot earlier off of the rush. Virtanen was listening to his coach. The execution was off, but he was simply trying to heed his coach's instructions.

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Admittedly that was a great play, but his overall game was hard to watch.

He was on a 3 on 2 with mcdavid and lazar and shot it off the half boards into demkos chest. He missed atleast 4 passes and stick handled his way into the defensemans skates atleast twice more.

As I said, huge Virtanen fan but he was not good tonight in his role

I sorta have the same thoughts.

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Am I the only one who was pulling my hair out watching this kid play today?

I'm a huge Virtanen fan, think we made the right choice and supported him all the way up to the draft

But let's not sugarcoat it. The play died on his stick tonight, he looked so lost out there, and he was floating more than he was engaged.

Looking for him to bounce back next game

You're not the only one. I felt the same way...

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Am I the only one who was pulling my hair out watching this kid play today?

I'm a huge Virtanen fan, think we made the right choice and supported him all the way up to the draft

But let's not sugarcoat it. The play died on his stick tonight, he looked so lost out there, and he was floating more than he was engaged.

Looking for him to bounce back next game

Felt the same way. Honestly I feel like he plays better with less skilled players since he's so used to doing everything himself in jr. His speed and physical play was good today though.

He needs a skill coach to help him with his hands and 1 on 1 play and he will be a force.

I just don't think him and McDavid are a good fit. They both like to have the puck and I have no idea what's up with Lazar. Maybe it's a good thing Horvat didn't go, I feel like the same thing would happen with him too.

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Admittedly that was a great play, but his overall game was hard to watch.

He was on a 3 on 2 with mcdavid and lazar and shot it off the half boards into demkos chest. He missed atleast 4 passes and stick handled his way into the defensemans skates atleast twice more.

As I said, huge Virtanen fan but he was not good tonight in his role

He was positionally good all game in all the zones, closed gaps turned over pucks played physical. Hockey is not only about scoring but playing a complete game. His play in the d-zone and neutral zone have impressed me for a young kid..3rd youngest on the team. He was put on the line with McDavid because he can play with pace and create space.

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Lol, c'mon guys he is young...........unwatchable?????

He has a great combination of speed, balance, grit and skill. He is playing in a very short tourney with linemates he has never played with before the tournament.

I think if you polled the montreal fans that were in attendance at this game what they thought of Virtanen, you would get an answer of "I wish the habs had drafted him". When you can finish checks the way he does and display the speed he brings, he will easily become a fan favorite.

Then again, this is just my opinion.

Consumate team player......had McDavids back the whole game. All his teammates for that matter. The combination of taking the body heavily and his speed will wear you down.

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Here's Virtanen vs USA. Quality is bad and stuff, you guys know the deal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-F_SPYZhz0

EDIT: Sorry it's so dark. I didn't notice that during editing.

EDIT2: Sorry, forgot to make it Public.

Love the videos. Thanks for all the work.

One thing you notice is that while the Ritchie-McDavid-Lazar line was in their own zone often, the Virtanen-McDavid-Lazar line was in the opposing zone often. Night and day difference.

While it is clear that Virtanen still needs to work on slowing the play down a bit rather than firing the puck all over the place, there are still some great aspects to his game that we need to get excited about. Basically, all the things you cannot teach, speed, size, aggressiveness, physicality, willingness to pay the price etc., are all there. It's the teachable things that he needs to work on, understandably.

Loved the power he showed when he made a couple guys just bounce off him on hit attempts. This actually happens quite often. Very, very nice aspect to his game.

On the Lazar goal I particularly enjoyed the fact that Virtanen's heads-up defense and elite speed directly led to his pass interception in the neutral zone that caught all of Team USA off-guard. The McDavid line is now something that works; Quick, physical power winger that pays attention to defense, speedy skilled centerman, and another winger who's willing to go to the net. Only thing I'd like is McDavid making a few more passing plays and some better faceoff ability, although he wasn't horrible there today. I guess if McDavid is allowed to make mistakes because he's a young prospect, so is Jake.

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Guest Dasein

Well he fits better than Ritchie (not exactly a compliment), but Virtanen hasn't exactly impressed in terms of showing chemistry. Virtanen is impressing with his speed and physicality, but those are things that he does individually, not with his linemates. Jake seems to sit around a lot and wait for the puck - reminds me of Kassian here with the Canucks. Would like to see him use his linemates more, but at the same time, be selfish when he has the better chance and shoot. Basically, I think there's room for improvement in his decision making and cycling game.

I don't think the onus is entirely on Jake, but that line as a whole. Virtanen, McDavid and Lazar just don't seem to have any cycling game - they are one and done most of the time on the rush and that's frustrating. Reinhart and Petan's line (even Gauthier's at times tonight) are able to get in and establish themselves with the cycle to create chances and zone time, but McDavid's line has yet to show that.

Would like to see:

Domi - Reinhart - Duclair

Fabbri - McDavid - Lazar

Paul - Petan - Virtanen

Crouse - Gauthier - Ritchie

I think McDavid and Lazar need another skill guy on their line that can create plays.

On the 3rd line, I think Virtanen can bring the initial danger on the rush and then Paul and Petan can retrieve and sustain pressure with the cycle while Jake can try and get open for the shot or get in on the cycle.

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Admittedly that was a great play, but his overall game was hard to watch.

He was on a 3 on 2 with mcdavid and lazar and shot it off the half boards into demkos chest. He missed atleast 4 passes and stick handled his way into the defensemans skates atleast twice more.

As I said, huge Virtanen fan but he was not good tonight in his role

Meh. Lazar made the same play twice, but missed the net. If you attempt a pass in that scenario and it results in a turnover, that helps the other team. Shooting not as pretty as a nice feed through traffic, but safer.

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  • -Vintage Canuck- changed the title to Jake Virtanen | #18 | RW
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