OrrFour Posted December 26, 2014 Share Posted December 26, 2014 Good stuff here. I agree that if he doesn't slot into the 4th he absolutely should go for a stint in Utica. I really don't agree with him playing inconsistent hockey and then bouncing up to the 2nd line "because he deserves a chance". He deserves a chance how exactly? My interpretation of the way Benning has brought in assets is he wants players who play hard, every night. I just havent seen that from Kassian on a consistent basis. Before he broke his finger Kass was on the first unit power play because Willie thought he deserved the chance. He deserved the chance because Vey wasn't doing the job. He deserved the chance because he was working hard. The points weren't coming but the third line was on the verge of busting out when he got hurt. Kass was second on the team in hits behind dorsett so he was involved. People give matthias credit for improved play but he only has 38 hits to Kass's 33 in 14 more games. Guys like higgins, matthias, bonino, burrows have all been inconsistent this yr. It's a tough league. He'll need a few games to get his timing so he probably won't be on the pp or the second line but this team needs him to be more prominent if we are to have success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hlaevang Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 Before he broke his finger Kass was on the first unit power play because Willie thought he deserved the chance. He deserved the chance because Vey wasn't doing the job. He deserved the chance because he was working hard. The points weren't coming but the third line was on the verge of busting out when he got hurt. Kass was second on the team in hits behind dorsett so he was involved. People give matthias credit for improved play but he only has 38 hits to Kass's 33 in 14 more games. Guys like higgins, matthias, bonino, burrows have all been inconsistent this yr. It's a tough league. He'll need a few games to get his timing so he probably won't be on the pp or the second line but this team needs him to be more prominent if we are to have success. I 100% agree with you on this. He needs the time to get back into game shape. Playing him on the 3rd/4th line isn't going to hurt him at all. Once he has hit his stride though, I would not be surprised to see him eventually crack the top six. He has all the tools to be effective there. And who knows, if he can strike some magic with Horvat maybe they will both move up as a unit.. Would be awesome to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coastal.view Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 i don't know why people think kassian has earned a spot at all right now the rest of the team is playing well let him practise for a bit or send him down for a conditioning stint his performance has been subpar this season he deserves no breaks he should be required to earn everything unless another player slips or is injured sestito played well and i'd put him back in the line up if there is an open spot before i'd put kassian back in sestito has worked hard and showed pretty well there is not entitlement on this team the depth should ensure that game time roles are earned Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StarGirl Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 Anyone else think that they might send Kassian down to Utica for a conditioning assignment? No one really deserves to sit right now and Kassian likely will need at least a few games to get his timing back. Yeah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pimp C Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 Bench Kassian cause he's not from medicine hat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrrFour Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 Robongo, on 24 Dec 2014 - 12:12 AM, said: Anyone else think that they might send Kassian down to Utica for a conditioning assignment? No one really deserves to sit right now and Kassian likely will need at least a few games to get his timing back. No. He's been able to skate hard and keep his conditioning up. His timing will not be good, but we need him to play in three of our roughest, toughest games of the season. Most importantly, he's an nhl vet that deserves respect. It's a slap in the face to ask a vet to go to the A for a conditioning stint. Most will say no unless there are extenuating circumstances. Plus there are a few guys that could use a wake up call. higgins has disappeared. Vey is as soft as freshly fallen snow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostsof1915 Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 Robongo, on 24 Dec 2014 - 12:12 AM, said: No. He's been able to skate hard and keep his conditioning up. His timing will not be good, but we need him to play in three of our roughest, toughest games of the season. Most importantly, he's an nhl vet that deserves respect. It's a slap in the face to ask a vet to go to the A for a conditioning stint. Most will say no unless there are extenuating circumstances. Plus there are a few guys that could use a wake up call. higgins has disappeared. Vey is as soft as freshly fallen snow. Funny, it did wonders for Sestito. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DollarAndADream Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 Robongo, on 24 Dec 2014 - 12:12 AM, said: No. He's been able to skate hard and keep his conditioning up. His timing will not be good, but we need him to play in three of our roughest, toughest games of the season. Most importantly, he's an nhl vet that deserves respect. It's a slap in the face to ask a vet to go to the A for a conditioning stint. Most will say no unless there are extenuating circumstances. Plus there are a few guys that could use a wake up call. higgins has disappeared. Vey is as soft as freshly fallen snow. Funny, it did wonders for Sestito. Yeah, exactly. He's a veteran too just like Kassian. Kassian probably needs a "slap in the face" anyways. The guy is so inconsistent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfstonker Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 Prefer a player who is "bringing it" all game against West Coast teams than a big guy who spends half his time making faces and the other half, looking on at the action. So it's Vey over Kassian any day for me, until Kassian gets his mind in the game and ramps up his physical effort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrrFour Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 Funny, it did wonders for Sestito. I'm sure sestito was absolutely delighted to go to the A. He would've been much happier to play his way into game shape in the nhl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maniwaki Canuck Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 Since OP asks about the lineup for our next game, I'm going to come up with something California-specific: Sedin-Sedin-Vrbata Matthais-Bonino-Kassian Sestito-Richardson-Hansen Burrows-Horvat-Dorsett That leaves Higgins and Vey out, the former because he's been cold and the latter because he's not well suited to a physical game at this point in his career. This is a size and grit lineup, not the most skilled one we could ice or one that keeps established lines intact in the middle six. But it is a look that we can put out there with the forward depth we've got this year, and I'd like to see what would happen if we tried to match the California teams with size and grit. I realize it's not going to happen. WD seems to work on a pretty strict seniority system and isn't interested in lots of line juggling. There are good reasons for both of those approaches, particularly when we've recently come off a losing streak in which poor system play was a factor. But the down side is that we don't take full advantage of the versatility our forward depth gives us. I'd like to see a little more situational flexibility, particularly against teams that have over-matched us physically in recent years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borvat Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 Jensen is a right winger. Shoots left Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borvat Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 Prefer a player who is "bringing it" all game against West Coast teams than a big guy who spends half his time making faces and the other half, looking on at the action. So it's Vey over Kassian any day for me, until Kassian gets his mind in the game and ramps up his physical effort. Vey is invisible and weak lately. If he is trying that doesn't bode well for him. He can't play against bigger faster teams. Read any of the sports writers that know this team. They pick kassian over vey too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrrFour Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 Shoots left plays right Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewmaster12 Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 Vey is invisible and weak lately. If he is trying that doesn't bode well for him. He can't play against bigger faster teams. Read any of the sports writers that know this team. They pick kassian over vey too. invinsible and weak? Matthias and Vey are actually doing good together, Matthias works hard on the boards then gives it to Vey and they cycle pretty well controlling the boards that creates opportunities. The third line for me with Matt, Richie and Vey is a good mixture of defense,skill,size, offense. If you are actually watching games their line holds the puck in the offensive line longer than the second line does Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewmaster12 Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 Since OP asks about the lineup for our next game, I'm going to come up with something California-specific: Sedin-Sedin-Vrbata Matthais-Bonino-Kassian Sestito-Richardson-Hansen Burrows-Horvat-Dorsett That leaves Higgins and Vey out, the former because he's been cold and the latter because he's not well suited to a physical game at this point in his career. This is a size and grit lineup, not the most skilled one we could ice or one that keeps established lines intact in the middle six. But it is a look that we can put out there with the forward depth we've got this year, and I'd like to see what would happen if we tried to match the California teams with size and grit. I realize it's not going to happen. WD seems to work on a pretty strict seniority system and isn't interested in lots of line juggling. There are good reasons for both of those approaches, particularly when we've recently come off a losing streak in which poor system play was a factor. But the down side is that we don't take full advantage of the versatility our forward depth gives us. I'd like to see a little more situational flexibility, particularly against teams that have over-matched us physically in recent years. we lose skill in this Idea and are weaken defensively and lose a bit of the speed in play. I still am not convince that size is the reason we lose, 2011 but bias Reffing and BS Bettman and crap suspension, if the 2011 Boston and Canucks play against healthy with each other we have win 70% of the time. Size is a skill, sestito and Matthias example Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VegasCanuck Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 As much as I like Hansen with Horvat and Dorsett, Burrows playing with Horvat and Dorsett looked dangerous, pretty much every time they were on the ice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maniwaki Canuck Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 we lose skill in this Idea and are weaken defensively and lose a bit of the speed in play. I still am not convince that size is the reason we lose, 2011 but bias Reffing and BS Bettman and crap suspension, if the 2011 Boston and Canucks play against healthy with each other we have win 70% of the time. Size is a skill, sestito and Matthias example I'm not saying size is necessarily why we have matched up poorly with the California teams recently: it's only one factor. But one way to put it to the test would be to ice the largest forward group we can and see what happens. Actually, I don't think we're that much worse off skill-wise by sitting Higgins and Vey for Sestito and Kassian. Usually I want the most skill possible in the lineup, but for one or two of these games it would be interesting to emphasize size a bit more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borvat Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 Can play left Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borvat Posted December 28, 2014 Share Posted December 28, 2014 Yup I actually watch games. Because we don't agree isn't a bad thing. I'll gladly line Kassian up against Vey in the playoffs. Vey - 9 even strength points in 31 games - none lately / 14 min avge ice time / 4 hits / avge skater / 6' 189lbs Kassian - 5 even strength points in 17 games / 12 min avge ice time / 33 hits / 6'3 214 lbs / better skater Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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