Jake Virtanen | #18 | RW

[VC420]

At least Jake is starting to pick it up in the AHL, he had a slow start there. I dont think he had a point through his first 7games in the AHL.

He still is not producing at an acceptable level but he has a ways to go to recover from the damage dealt to him by the big club.

Expecting a 19/20yr old kid, a 6th overall pick no less to be the hit leader on your team is ridiculous.

 

Hopefully he keeps building confidence and gets it together by the end of the year. My only concern is that Utica has no one with any real skill for him to play with, it will make it harder to find his offensive game.

He has the talent to be a 20-30 goal scoring top 6 power forward if they can help him develop his offense in Utica.

I still believe  Jake will be a good player, but this year is going to be important for his development. We cant screw it up/let him screw it up.

 

go Jake go! Im still rooting for you.

 

 

[Phat Fingers]

4 hours ago, coryberg said:

Not to mention size, speed and 2 way play.

 

His legs aren't stumps either. Cody should have played rugby, he has the legs of a front rower. 

[Phat Fingers]

37 minutes ago, VC420 said:

At least Jake is starting to pick it up in the AHL, he had a slow start there. I dont think he had a point through his first 7games in the AHL.

He still is not producing at an acceptable level but he has a ways to go to recover from the damage dealt to him by the big club.

Expecting a 19/20yr old kid, a 6th overall pick no less to be the hit leader on your team is ridiculous.

 

Hopefully he keeps building confidence and gets it together by the end of the year. My only concern is that Utica has no one with any real skill for him to play with, it will make it harder to find his offensive game.

He has the talent to be a 20-30 goal scoring top 6 power forward if they can help him develop his offense in Utica.

I still believe  Jake will be a good player, but this year is going to be important for his development. We cant screw it up/let him screw it up.

 

go Jake go! Im still rooting for you.

 

 

 

 

All the more reason to send Gaunce down. He produced well at the AHL level. 

[Jock Cousteau]

What if Virtanens ceiling is a gritty physical pest like Dustin Brown...

 

is that so bad?

 

last time I checked Brown has two Stanley cup rings and was a big part of the leadership of those LA teams.

 

i would be happy with that.

 

Stop listening to those clowns in Van media, they are a disgrace throwing our players under the us for ratings to save their jobs.

 

so much negativity, it's like the media and fans wAnt our players to fail, and free agents to stay away.

 

 

[Sean Monahan]

11 minutes ago, Jock Cousteau said:

What if Virtanens ceiling is a gritty physical pest like Dustin Brown...

 

is that so bad?

 

last time I checked Brown has two Stanley cup rings and was a big part of the leadership of those LA teams.

 

i would be happy with that.

 

Stop listening to those clowns in Van media, they are a disgrace throwing our players under the us for ratings to save their jobs.

 

so much negativity, it's like the media and fans wAnt our players to fail, and free agents to stay away.

 

 

If he's as good while being half as dumb I'll take it.

[Zhukini]

23 minutes ago, Jock Cousteau said:

What if Virtanens ceiling is a gritty physical pest like Dustin Brown...

 

is that so bad?

 

last time I checked Brown has two Stanley cup rings and was a big part of the leadership of those LA teams.

 

i would be happy with that.

 

Stop listening to those clowns in Van media, they are a disgrace throwing our players under the us for ratings to save their jobs.

 

so much negativity, it's like the media and fans wAnt our players to fail, and free agents to stay away.

 

 

The problem is for every supposed Dustin Brown you get in your bucket of gritty physical pests, you have much higher odds of ending up with a Zack Kassian or Steve Bernier, and Raffi Torres on a good day.

[messier's_elbow]

I talked to Jake the other day and he said he's really enjoying his time in Utica. He looked skinnier too. 

[shiznak]

On December 22, 2016 at 9:28 PM, TheSnipeshow91 said:

That's just an absolute terrible comparison. Bo has the maturity and character that cody never had.

Love how people like to s**t on Hodgson, just because of what happened, but pre-draft Cody was highly regarded as a future captain material by every scout. He was captain in Brampton, the under-18 team for Canada, and was an assistant captain for the under-20. 

 

It sucks, how he departed, but to say he never had character is false.

[Phat Fingers]

2 hours ago, shiznak said:

KiLove how people like to s**t on Hodgson, just because of what happened, but pre-draft Cody was highly regarded as a future captain material by every scout. He was captain in Brampton, the under-18 team for Canada, and was an assistant captain for the under-20. 

 

It sucks, how he departed, but to say he never had character is false.

 

 

Actually I would say he had false character. LOL. 

 

I've seen guys like that all the time. Act pious and good, but have alterior motives.  The signs where there. He refused to go to the OHL team that drafted him.... Had issues with the coach of one of the best teams in the NHL, demanded ice time over a Olympian and Selkie winning center etc etc etc.  Made a fool of himself by ordering milk while out with the guys, according to KB3. He also angled for a contract that he seriously failed to live up too and was out of professional hockey at the age of 24 or so. 

 

Really, Cody was about Cody.  That's not a leader. That's not character.  IMO. 

 

 

Edited December 25, 2016 by Eastcoast meets Westcoast

[AB72]

2 hours ago, Eastcoast meets Westcoast said:

 

 

Actually I would say he had false character. LOL. 

 

I've seen guys like that all the time. Act pious and good, but have alterior motives.  The signs where there. He refused to go to the OHL team that drafted him.... Had issues with the coach of one of the best teams in the NHL, demanded ice time over a Olympian and Selkie winning center etc etc etc.  Made a fool of himself by ordering milk while out with the guys, according to KB3. He also angled for a contract that he seriously failed to live up too and was out of professional hockey at the age of 24 or so. 

 

Really, Cody was about Cody.  That's not a leader. That's not character.  IMO. 

 

 

Agree with everything but the milk. if only shane o'brian and kassian drank milk.

[shiznak]

2 hours ago, Eastcoast meets Westcoast said:

 

 

Actually I would say he had false character. LOL. 

 

I've seen guys like that all the time. Act pious and good, but have alterior motives.  The signs where there. He refused to go to the OHL team that drafted him.... Had issues with the coach of one of the best teams in the NHL, demanded ice time over a Olympian and Selkie winning center etc etc etc.  Made a fool of himself by ordering milk while out with the guys, according to KB3. He also angled for a contract that he seriously failed to live up too and was out of professional hockey at the age of 24 or so. 

 

Really, Cody was about Cody.  That's not a leader. That's not character.  IMO. 

 

 

 

According to Bob Mckenzie and the people he has talked to, you're incorrect.

[Phat Fingers]

22 minutes ago, shiznak said:

 

According to Bob Mckenzie and the people he has talked to, you're incorrect.

 

 

So GMMG was not the only one who got it wrong. Sure at the time I loved the pick. Time later gave us a different picture of Cody. 

 

So your right if you are only talking about his draft day to draft year plus 1. After that the real Coho started to emerge and his faults became far more apparent.   

 

So I am right if we look at his complete career. 

 

Split the difference, call it a draw.  Either way we are debating history. 

[bobbyg43]

22 minutes ago, Eastcoast meets Westcoast said:

 

 

So GMMG was not the only one who got it wrong. Sure at the time I loved the pick. Time later gave us a different picture of Cody. 

 

So your right if you are only talking about his draft day to draft year plus 1. After that the real Coho started to emerge and his faults became far more apparent.   

 

So I am right if we look at his complete career. 

 

Split the difference, call it a draw.  Either way we are debating history. 

The CO-HO business case study is an interesting one.Lessons to taken away for sure especially for young players.

I am sure if he had to do it all over again Cody would change up a few things post draft.

Edited December 25, 2016 by bobbyg43

[Tomato Pajamas]

Surely there are repercussions for derailing a thread this hard, aren't there?

[messier's_elbow]

5 hours ago, Eastcoast meets Westcoast said:

 

 

Actually I would say he had false character. LOL. 

 

I've seen guys like that all the time. Act pious and good, but have alterior motives.  The signs where there. He refused to go to the OHL team that drafted him.... Had issues with the coach of one of the best teams in the NHL, demanded ice time over a Olympian and Selkie winning center etc etc etc.  Made a fool of himself by ordering milk while out with the guys, according to KB3. He also angled for a contract that he seriously failed to live up too and was out of professional hockey at the age of 24 or so. 

 

Really, Cody was about Cody.  That's not a leader. That's not character.  IMO. 

 

 

I agree with you except for the milk thing. A pro athlete that doesn't drink is a good thing. It's funny though. 

[The Rattler]

On 12/22/2016 at 9:35 AM, Ronaldoescobar said:

Completely disagree. Horvat is probably the best all around player on the Nucks this season and looks to be the only one who cares night in night out. He is probably one of the best players in the league in his roll at his age and I think would garner far far above average interest to most teams if he were ever on the block. Unfortunately the Canucks have little residual talent these days (although his line mates have been producing lately), just imagine if he was playing with highly skilled players found on pretty much any other team.

 

While I am a Linden fan (as a player) I would consider him average while Horvat will be a far superior player. 

You didn't see Linden play, otherwise, you wouldn't be saying that.  You didn't see things like Linden in his rookie year taking a D zone faceoff with one minute left to play, protecting a one goal lead, and directing veteran players on where to position themselves.  Trust me, Linden was well above average right from the start.

 

 

Edited December 25, 2016 by The Rattler

[Alflives]

52 minutes ago, The Rattler said:

You didn't see Linden play, otherwise, you wouldn't be saying that.  You didn't see things like Linden in his rookie year taking a D zone faceoff with one minute left to play, protecting a one goal lead, and directing veteran players on where to position themselves.  Trust me, Linden was well above average right from the start.

 

 

Trevor won back to back Mem Cups too.

[Phat Fingers]

5 hours ago, bobbyg43 said:

The CO-HO business case study is an interesting one.Lessons to taken away for sure especially for young players.

I am sure if he had to do it all over again Cody would change up a few things post draft.

 

 

Iike fire his agent and not let his father do the talking. 

 

Coho was a great junior star who's ego was much bigger than his talent. In retrospect we could have seen that coming too. The kids helmet was huge. Lol. 

 

Coho lacked humilty, yet wasn't brash or able to back things up. So he did what many priveldged kids too, got daddy involved. That's likely a parenting issue, but it also speaks loudly about personal strength and character. 

 

He he a back injury, whether he tried to hide it, or AV was

mean to him, I have no idea.  Cannot see a franchise in the modern era being cavalier with a top ten pick as valued as Coho was. This was the GMMG team with all the extras to max out player production.

 

Coho started to sour on everything in Vancouver after that.  He was entitled and it showed.  That entitlement is what did him in. He had everything on a silver platter and when things got tougher, he whinned instead of worked. IMO. 

 

Hopefully we never pick a guy like that again.  Really hard to blame GMMG for this. Coho was highly touted. We had just lost Lic Bourdun and the franchise had just changed GM's. Things were in turmoil. Still it would have been nice to have a Karlsson or Myers. GMMG did not make the same mistake with Horvat, thank god. 

 

EW

[Phat Fingers]

2 hours ago, The Rattler said:

You didn't see Linden play, otherwise, you wouldn't be saying that.  You didn't see things like Linden in his rookie year taking a D zone faceoff with one minute left to play, protecting a one goal lead, and directing veteran players on where to position themselves.  Trust me, Linden was well above average right from the start.

 

 

 

 

I think they were very similar. Both big strong farm boys with incredible work ethic, committed to team play, clutch and willing to do it all without having to be the center of attention. 

 

Hard to say who was better as the game and league have changed so much. Linden was coached by Quinn in an era where rookies were thrown into the fire. Quinn was a gambler and coached with instincts. Far far different from Willie. Horvat is getting held back IMO, and I am not sure if this is a good or bad thing development wise.  Horvat also has a couple of Art Ross/Lindsay award winners in front of him on the depth chart. Linden was clearly the best player on the team when he arrived.  

 

EW

[Tre Mac]

11 hours ago, shiznak said:

 

According to Bob Mckenzie and the people he has talked to, you're incorrect.

Just shook hands with his dad, kinda sad.