Rollieo Del Fuego Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Well, if Canucks management agree that Hitmen are not the best fit for him next season, that could be pretty interesting. What can happen? A. Canucks will keep him for the season (will he be ready?) B. Canucks will try to push Hitmen to trade him (how possible is that?) Is there any other option? Nope... the way I see it is that if Horvat can increase his speed and conditioning so much in just one summer/fall then Virtanen can tweak his game enough, with the right help, in that same timeframe. It's up to Jake really...just needs to focus on the little things to improve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaudette Celly Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 It may just come down to the status game of necessity. Like Vey stayed up this year for waiver reasons, so will Baertschi and Clendening be next year. If that means there's no spot available or he doesn't clearly beat out a vet, he'll go back down "because he can". Regardless, Canucks are going to continue to get younger next season by attrition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeNiro Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Viranen with his first point in the playoffs. It was a secondary powerplay assist, but at least it's a start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueShark Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 (edited) Sorry, wrong thread! Edited April 1, 2015 by BlueShark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derp... Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Sorry, wrong thread! And I thought he did something good... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BanTSN Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Over quick in OT. Hitmen win a tough one. Sanheim is a BEAST. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baumerman77 Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Over quick in OT. Hitmen win a tough one. Sanheim is a BEAST. Dammit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeNiro Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Virtanen with a couple roughing penalties and an assist. At least it looks like he's getting involved physically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
people please Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Needs to step up for his team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesB Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Virtanen with a couple roughing penalties and an assist. At least it looks like he's getting involved physically. Let's face it, Jake has had a disappointing end to the season. And getting exactly 1 assist (to go along with 2 penalties and -1) in a game where Calgary scored 8 goals is not exactly a big plus. It is a striking contrast to McCann, who has been red hot in the second half of the season and the playoffs (and had 2 more assists tonight). 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baumerman77 Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Let's face it, Jake has had a disappointing end to the season. And getting exactly 1 assist (to go along with 2 penalties and -1) in a game where Calgary scored 8 goals is not exactly a big plus. It is a striking contrast to McCann, who has been red hot in the second half of the season and the playoffs (and had 2 more assists tonight). I agree a very disappointing season. I wasn't expecting his goals per game to be at the same level of his draft year but I expected much higher point production. This isn't to say he was the wrong pick. We all know that he started the season hurt, his deployment could have been mismanaged, he is very young, etc. I would like to see him go to Utica for a few games at the end of the Hitmen season. I think there is very little downside to giving him one more year of junior to develop. He could gain confidence and hone in his offensive skills, he could take on a leadership role on the Hitmen and at the WJC, he could work on his defence and his discipline. I know everyone wants the Canucks propsects to develop fast but Virtanen should take the slow route at least for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gstank29 Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Let's face it, Jake has had a disappointing end to the season. And getting exactly 1 assist (to go along with 2 penalties and -1) in a game where Calgary scored 8 goals is not exactly a big plus. It is a striking contrast to McCann, who has been red hot in the second half of the season and the playoffs (and had 2 more assists tonight). But But he was in his 15% of his team offence I swear it's all in his head now, and couple of bounces here and there would help him gain his confidence back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSnipeshow91 Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 It's not his talent. He's the most talented Canuck property since Pavel Bure. The things he can do at his age is unbelievable. It's all mental for Virtanen. He needs to focus on his positioning away from the puck. And when he does get the puck, he needs to use his speed to create space rather than just coast with the puck. Hopefully he can go find that next gear and start taking charge offensively sooner than later. We've seen flashes of this throughout the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derp... Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 We could trade him to Calgary for a second? Or we could be patient and see what happens when he turns pro. What ever floats your boat I guess 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
messier's_elbow Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 The sky isn't falling. He could play better but at least he can contribute in other ways other then points. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ihatetomatoes Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 The sky isn't falling. He could play better but at least he can contribute in other ways other then points. I have a feeling this is going to be a theme of Jakes career. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saucypass Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 It's not his talent. He's the most talented Canuck property since Pavel Bure. The things he can do at his age is unbelievable. It's all mental for Virtanen. He needs to focus on his positioning away from the puck. And when he does get the puck, he needs to use his speed to create space rather than just coast with the puck. Hopefully he can go find that next gear and start taking charge offensively sooner than later. We've seen flashes of this throughout the season. I support Jake and I think he's a really talented hockey player, but he is definitely NOT the most talented Canuck property since Pavel Bure. I mean c'mon man, I like Virtanen too but let's not get ahead of ourselves here. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
messier's_elbow Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 (edited) I have a feeling this is going to be a theme of Jakes career.It might be but no one knows at this point. He's young and has all the tools. He might end up a third liner or a first liner. Depends mostly in development. That's why I think they will keep him for the 9 games at least next year. His development on the hitmen seems to be going slower then it should be. He's by no means a bust or anything. Anyone saying that is an idiot. Edited April 1, 2015 by messier's_elbow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedman Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 It's not his talent. He's the most talented Canuck property since Pavel Bure. The things he can do at his age is unbelievable. It's all mental for Virtanen. He needs to focus on his positioning away from the puck. And when he does get the puck, he needs to use his speed to create space rather than just coast with the puck. Hopefully he can go find that next gear and start taking charge offensively sooner than later. We've seen flashes of this throughout the season. Ever heard of the Sedins? They're pretty good. They even went 2nd and 3rd overall.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snizzle_ Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 i don't know if its the Hitmen defensive zone system but every time Virtanen is on the ice for a goal it looks like he's playing someone else's position. I don't watch enough Hitmen games to comment but I always see him on the right side, left side and even playing in the middle when they are breaking out/back checking. It's not a bad thing if he's covering for a center but boy he is not engaged enough to be solid defensively with center responsibility. This happened earlier this season with McCann, where the greyhounds would beat teams 8-2 and 10-1 and McCann would get a measly 1 assist. Virtanen has definitely been on a slump since early March and hopefully he turns it around and the Hitmen go deep or they get knocked out early so he can go learn parts of the pro game. He didn't participate in training camp. Yes he was around the team, but being around the team and being on the ice with them is completely different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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