aGENT Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Isn't Higgins LW? Everything I'm hearing is that management wants Jake to make the big team and will give him every oportunity. In that sense it's his to lose. If Virtanen plays equally good as or close to as say Hansen , do they keep Virt up and trade Hansen? I think so I don't. Hansen has speed, just as good of a 2 way game as Higgins and is younger. Higgins goes first. Still I doubt that happens until the deadline. My guess is that Prust, Virtanen and Vey do some rotating in/out of the 4th line for the majority of the season. When injuries strike and Vrbata and Higgins get moved at the deadline, they'll see more consistent play time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Van bc Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Virt looks like the next Bert, Could he even one be better? mYBE but thats up too him. Looking forward to watching him this off season. Good young stars so far! Except Bert scored goals and contributed offensively.Bust Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edlerberry Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 He's pretty good, but not the physical beast Lucic is... Lucic has scheurmann's disease, so basically he's a 6'4 guy with the reach of someone who's 6'6... Also Lucic used to box as a teen. Lucic can at least hang with top heavyweights as well. Then again, Virtanen smaller so I won't expect him to be dropping em with goons to make the big league like Lucic did. well evander kane thinks he's a 50 goal scorer so... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post -SN- Posted September 15, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted September 15, 2015 Except Bert scored goals and contributed offensively.Bust Banned. 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaudette Celly Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Well-played, sir. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigturk8 Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Was that guy a troll or something? I'm not familiar with him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeNiro Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Banned. Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.53 Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 (edited) Something Benning said in his post tournament interview really stuck with me. he talked about how Virtanen worked on his conditioning this summer, lost some weight and is seeing crazy dividends. This goes to more of why he produced the way he did in Calgary. Basically, as we all know the kid is crazy big, crazy strong, crazy fast, and plays with a crazy high wrecking ball of a motor. As much as it would be awesome to have him be an all around super athlete, he's still a kid. His endurance was just not up to par. Benning talked about how he could do incredible things on the ice, but he was limited to taking short 25-30, maybe 35 second shifts. I mean think about it. The man is constantly moving his legs to move around what was a 215-220 pound body last year with the hitmen. It has to be exhausting. That goes to a reason why he didn't play on the top line in Calgary. There 3 top liners had great chemistry and could sustain elongated periods of play. Jake on the other hand, while he could dominate on the second line, he couldn't do it for long periods of time. However, Virtanen has done a lot of work in the physical department to lose weight and maintain his strength this summer. Now, at I think is was around 205 currently, he is able to continue his high motor play style, but for a full 40-45 maybe 50 second shift. I think it'd really important Benning highlighted that as that is serious improvement to your physical endurance. Jake has worked on a lot of elements of his game over the year that will make him dangerous. As we have seen, he has a full complete offensive toolset. Laser shot, good passing, soft hands, game shifting speed, strong body to shrug off defenders, good IQ, good vision, etc. I honestly think Jake has a very good chance at making the team this year. He's a scoring threat whenever he is on the ice, and when he's not he contributes in a number of ways including pushing the pace of play. As we could see during the tournament. When Virtanen is out there and constantly speeding into people's faces, they move the puck quicker to avoid getting layed out, helping the rest of the team pick off their passes and create early turnovers. He provides much needed grit, spark, and energy. With his skillset, he could provide something to any line he plays on. I think Virtanen will make the team. With some NHL structure taught into his game preseason, he can be lethal come regular season. Edited September 15, 2015 by TheLiveWire 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeNiro Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Jake was at 228lbs when he got to Utica, so ya that's alot of extra weight to carry especially if you're conditioning level isn't where it needs to be. I think he said he's aiming to play at 210-215lbs though. He's gonna have to find the balance between going all out and trying to hit everything, and saving enough energy that he can still go hard to the net at the end of a shift. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhillipBlunt Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 I don't. Hansen has speed, just as good of a 2 way game as Higgins and is younger. Higgins goes first. Still I doubt that happens until the deadline. My guess is that Prust, Virtanen and Vey do some rotating in/out of the 4th line for the majority of the season. When injuries strike and Vrbata and Higgins get moved at the deadline, they'll see more consistent play time. The way Benning was talking, it sounds like if a rookie impresses during training camp, a vet will be moved. I'd think Higgins would be the first to go due to his age, and his place on the team. He doesn't really have a huge amount of trade value and can tend to disappear at times, most notably during the last playoff run. Don't get me wrong, I like Higgins. His check on Chara in Game 7 was to me, the only highlight in what was the worst game I've ever seen the Canucks play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuckledraggin Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 At this point, I'm still favoring Virtanen to go back to junior. However, like most of you, I have some reservations about sending him to Calgary (for the record I would guess that he'd be traded to a contender in December). I think 90% of the development argument favours him going back to junior. However, I would say that I am a little concerned of his development defending away from the puck in the neutral zone -- he floats a bit. I'm not too worried because this is a very common junior habit that is often easily broken (perhaps one of the most common junior habits). So in this regard, I think NHL development would be better, but I don't think it would out-weight the other benefits of going back to junior. It will be interesting to see how he does in pre-season/ first 9 reg season games. I'm curious as to what you think the benefits of returning to junior would be for JV this year? Ice time is the obvious one. He'd get top line minutes and hopefully find improved scoring. Also we wouldn't burn a year off his ELC. On the NHL side he gets world class training and can possibly get stronger and faster. The team has it's own chef so it's more likely he's eating the right way. Both of those factors are the reason Bo got faster and bigger last year. Then there's the coaching. If you want him to stop the bad habits he's acquired in junior, going back to junior is not the way to fix them. The current Canucks are filled with a bunch of 2-way players that can show JV the right way to play the game first hand. I'm not worried about him not playing every game either. I think he'd learn more in a Canuck's practice than a Hitmen game. Being at home might be a distraction for him, but it's just as likely that with a support system behind him, he doesn't struggle living away from home in his first year of pro. To me all signs point to the NHL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spook007 Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Banned. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seven pounds soft Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Jake was at 228lbs when he got to Utica, so ya that's alot of extra weight to carry especially if you're conditioning level isn't where it needs to be. I think he said he's aiming to play at 210-215lbs though. He's gonna have to find the balance between going all out and trying to hit everything, and saving enough energy that he can still go hard to the net at the end of a shift. From the limited amount of times I've been lucky enough to watch Jake in game action it didn't seam like he was running around trying to hit everything that moves. I think he picks his spots fairly well for young man. If that overtime goal against Calgary is any indication looks like the extra work is paying off. He had lots of energy in the 4 th period to use his speed and "float" the winning goal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seven pounds soft Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Being at home might be a distraction for him, but it's just as likely that with a support system behind him, he doesn't struggle living away from home in his first year of pro. To me all signs point to the NHL. Yea I've been on the " play in the NHL" side since the beginning. My reasons were selfish to begin with but its seams more and more like a distinct possibility and I'm quite pumped about it to be honest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stawns Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Banned. beauty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyoung Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 At this point, I'm still favoring Virtanen to go back to junior. However, like most of you, I have some reservations about sending him to Calgary (for the record I would guess that he'd be traded to a contender in December). I think 90% of the development argument favours him going back to junior. However, I would say that I am a little concerned of his development defending away from the puck in the neutral zone -- he floats a bit. I'm not too worried because this is a very common junior habit that is often easily broken (perhaps one of the most common junior habits). So in this regard, I think NHL development would be better, but I don't think it would out-weight the other benefits of going back to junior. It will be interesting to see how he does in pre-season/ first 9 reg season games. I felt the same originally but after watching him closer, i realized the part of his game that needs work is his mental toughness and discipline. His mental maturity isn't quite where his physical maturity is. Going back to junior will only have him playing with kids, this will not help him become the player he needs to be. He needs older players showing him how to respond to certain situations, how to carry himself on and off the ice, how to deal with training and eating habits etc. (he would get it in junior but nowhere near as good as the NHL). I'm excited either way to see how he responds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alflives Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 From the limited amount of times I've been lucky enough to watch Jake in game action it didn't seam like he was running around trying to hit everything that moves. I think he picks his spots fairly well for young man. If that overtime goal against Calgary is any indication looks like the extra work is paying off. He had lots of energy in the 4 th period to use his speed and "float" the winning goal. I agree 100%. He has a really good hockey IQ, when evaluating him on his skill set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshuaGuy Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Banned. Oh thank God. ❤️️ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YOWnuxFAN Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 Banned. Really? For having an opinion (allbeit stupid)? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uselessstats Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 Really? For having an opinion (allbeit stupid)? He/she could have given their opinion in a way that wasn't trolling/inflammatory and nothing would have happened. Chose not to. No big loss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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