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Jake Virtanen | #18 | RW


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1 hour ago, Boudrias said:

I have complete confidence that Green can coach him in this direction.

HFBoards poster "Bad Goalie" wrote an excellent piece on Green's methodology and the results this approach has had with Utica's young players: http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/showpost.php?p=126866373&postcount=689

 

Green starts out pretty hands off. Gives the player lots of rope to succeed or fail on their own. And lets these experiences of success and failure really sink in with the player before he starts making corrections and pulling back on the rope. 

 

So you see Jake getting used in several different roles and with various linemates, and these conditions all offer different potentials to expose strengths and weaknesses and offer learning experiences.

 

You also see Green throwing Jake back out after he's made a mistake or had a really lacklustre shift. Gives the player the opportunity to erase his mistake, or show whether or not he even recognizes he did something wrong.

 

Ideally this creates a point where the player is extremely receptive to criticism. The player recognizes that he needs help. He sees that he has difficiencies in his game and is eager to learn how to correct them. At that point, the really hands on coaching starts to happen. And the results tend to be dramatic and often can come rather quickly.

 

The player becomes very ready, almost itching, to learn. And the coach has a ton of game observed data to work with. This approach requires a lot of patience from the coach and a development focus from the team. 

 

Utica and Green can provide this for Virtanen, whereas Vancouver and Desjardins could not. Hopefully Jake will become another one of Green's success stories (the other are laid out rather well in the Bad Goalie post linked earlier).

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19 hours ago, DontMessMe said:

https://www.reddit.com/r/canucks/comments/5nwrw6/in_the_last_six_games_demko_has_more_points_than/

 

LOL 

 

Demko has more points than Virt in the last 6 games

Is this not a testament to how good Demko is, not how bad Jake is?

Demko may actually be our top prospect, and likely has been since we drafted him. He's a star in the making.

Him leapfrogging Jake in terms of being a fan favourite is likely a very good thing for this organization.

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1 minute ago, nergish said:

Is this not a testament to how good Demko is, not how bad Jake is?

Demko may actually be our top prospect, and likely has been since we drafted him. He's a star in the making.

Him leapfrogging Jake in terms of being a fan favourite is likely a very good thing for this organization.

Demko also has more points than Boeser in the AHL, clearly Boeser is a bust too, right? 

 

Am I CDC'ing right now? 

 

:bigblush:

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I love what Green is saying about Jake.  I want to see this kid put in a proper off-season of training and come into camp with the mindset of winning a spot. 

 

Whether he cracks the Canucks next year or not I think we see his draft pedigree start to show next season.

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18 hours ago, Alflives said:

For sure JB would want Green's input on Shinkaruk.  

 

We all saw Jake play very effectively last year at this time for an extended period.  Then he went off the rails.  Who know why, but now it's concerning.

For his lifestyle, being drafted by his hometown team may have been not very good for his development. It's 100% a maturity thing

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16 hours ago, droid56 said:

I doubt Jake can be fixed.  Very low hockey IQ can't be fixed.

Maybe he can modify his game to be able to be a third liner who pots a goal once in awhile, and plays physical.

I could be wrong of course.  But the fact he can't score in the AHL says I am not.

 

What were Bo's numbers like down in Utica?

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14 minutes ago, BananaMash said:

No.

 

He smelled like an ownership meddling pick from the get-go. A local boy who can score.

I've always believed it was the meddling owner hiring the rookie GM, who then panders to the meddling owner for giving him his first GM job by making the Virtanen pick.

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Quote

“It has been an adjustment coming from the NHL to here,” Green said of Virtanen. “He’s a still a young guy, and he has lots of things to learn. He is working hard to become a better player.”

“Like a lot of young guys, [he needs to improve] his total game, continue to be direct in his game. There is not one thing that you can put a finger on with Jake. It’s just an all-around game that he needs to develop to be a power forward that Vancouver wants him to be.”

This article from Friday might of been lost in all of the Tkachuk whining around here, but these are Green's recent thoughts on Virtanen (source). By his account he is working hard at improving his game and is not necessarily lacking at anything in particular - just needs to improve his overall game. This probably means having that constant compete level that the pro level requires to be successful that most people here have pointed out. 

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Look at Andrew Ladd's development. He didn't start doing well until 5 years after his draft year. Players take different routes to develop. Just got to be patient with Jake and hope for the best. 

 

I see Jake as a Dustin Brown lite 20-30G scorer. Or at least a Raffi Torres type bottom 6 player

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2 hours ago, ken kaniff said:

Look at Andrew Ladd's development. He didn't start doing well until 5 years after his draft year. Players take different routes to develop. Just got to be patient with Jake and hope for the best. 

 

I see Jake as a Dustin Brown lite 20-30G scorer. Or at least a Raffi Torres type bottom 6 player

I don't think 20 goals is unreasonable for his prime. The problem I think people have with the pick is at picking #6 hockey IQ is the most important skill you look for, and unfortunately Virtanen just doesn't have it and its an unteachable skill.

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