King Heffy Posted April 12, 2015 Share Posted April 12, 2015 Have Dorsett light up the little midget a couple of times. Gaudreau can't score if he can't dress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugor Hill Posted April 12, 2015 Share Posted April 12, 2015 WD line matches all the time.. He rolls 4 lines though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugor Hill Posted April 12, 2015 Share Posted April 12, 2015 The Canucks post season experience will be the difference. The Sedins, Burrows, Edler, Hamhuis, Bieksa, Tanev, and Hansen have accrued enough playoff experience to lead Lack, Horvat, Kassian and the rest of the emerging core past the Flames. Veterans know the dogs of war, greenhorns don't. That's what we said about Chicago in 09, and those greenhorns beat us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down by the River Posted April 12, 2015 Share Posted April 12, 2015 Every single Canuck is bigger than Gaudreau, so you don't need to stick the most physically dominating players on him. Anybody on this team can physically dominate Gaudreau, but they have to catch him first.. You need guys who are agile. Vrbata Bonino Higgins will do fine against that line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dasein Posted April 12, 2015 Share Posted April 12, 2015 Every single Canuck is bigger than Gaudreau, so you don't need to stick the most physically dominating players on him. Anybody on this team can physically dominate Gaudreau, but they have to catch him first.. You need guys who are agile. Vrbata Bonino Higgins will do fine against that line. Pretty much this... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riffraff Posted April 12, 2015 Share Posted April 12, 2015 Hit them early, often and at every opportunity....I actually think it will be pretty easy if the Canucks do this right from the start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BanTSN Posted April 12, 2015 Share Posted April 12, 2015 Every time I see Gaudreau I see a little boy who doesn't belong in a man's league. If he is prevalent in this series, then that is a HUGE fail on our end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VegasCanuck Posted April 12, 2015 Share Posted April 12, 2015 Still think Bonino's line will give them more to worry about, but Horvat's strength, Hanson's skating and Kenins speed and hitting along the boards will wear them down. Maybe a combo of just trying to have one of those lines against them at all times. Should give them a lot to worry about over the course of a long series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grape Posted April 12, 2015 Share Posted April 12, 2015 Is it just me who doesn't really trust the Horvat line defensively on 5 on 5? I know they're all supposed to be defensive specialists but they don't seem to be able to get the puck out of the defensive zone on so many occasions... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I.Am.Ironman Posted April 12, 2015 Share Posted April 12, 2015 I think either the Bonino line or Horvat line would be fine. That cgy first line's biggest asset is their speed. If we put our speed line out there against them it doesn't make them nearly as effective. This could also open up Bonino and Vrbata to more offensive zone time. WD might even alternate which line faces them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maniwaki Canuck Posted April 12, 2015 Share Posted April 12, 2015 Basically any line but the Sedins' is good. They are just too slow and will be vulnerable to counter-attacks. It's not a lethal matchup and isn't something to avoid at all costs, but still isn't the one we want to aim for. Let the Sedins feast on Calgary's bottom 6, like they've always done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dasein Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 Is it just me who doesn't really trust the Horvat line defensively on 5 on 5? I know they're all supposed to be defensive specialists but they don't seem to be able to get the puck out of the defensive zone on so many occasions... No it's not just you - they've been on for a number of goals against in the recent stretch leading up to the playoffs that should not have happened if they cleared the zone and got the change Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackpluto96 Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 Should of had LA, they are ready for the picking. The young Flames will be hard to beat, and you guys will know just how annoying their fan base really is. Remember this one thing, if we lose to the Flames you will regret not playing LA Kings. It seems many of you have forgot 2004, heck I was there and I can't ever forget how annoying the Flames fan base really is. This is the reason I didn't want to play them because of their annoying fan base. Just hope we don't lose. Sorry, this logic really escapes me. Opponents are evaluated on their fan-base over everything else? Do you think the Flames think the Canucks fans are angels from heaven? Nah dude, you will see, you will see im done my mini rant, moving along because I remember 2004 vividly. Maybe move along or fast forward to 2015 dude. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackpluto96 Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 Bonino line, no doubt in my mind. The best balance with both defensive and offensive qualities. Let me post this article again for a better indepth look at Bones. From Sportsnet's Thomas Drance: Vancouver Canucks centre Bonino is essentially the antithesis of the player he was traded for at the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, former Selke Trophy winner Ryan Kesler. Kesler plays hockey like a human fastball, relying on raw speed and an uninhibited physical style to control play. Bonino is smaller in stature, slower of foot and isn’t likely to generate Selke buzz this season, or any other. Stepping into the Canucks’ second-line forward spot that Kesler warmed for half a decade, Bonino has found success by expertly painting the edges of the plate – whether it’s compensating for his lack of size with high hockey IQ, or for his average speed with excellent footwork. On pace to finish the season with fewer points than he managed a year ago, Bonino has still exceeded all reasonable expectations in his first year with the team, mostly as a result of his improved 5-on-5 game. Bonino is producing more, he’s doing more to help control play, and he’s doing it all while handling a much more difficult role than he did a season ago with the Anaheim Ducks. The 26-year-old American has started the lowest ratio of shifts in the offensive zone compared to starts in the defensive end among regular Canucks forwards and he’s also faced the toughest competition, according to the Corsi-relative quality of competition metric found at behindthenet.ca. That he’s been tasked with battling significantly tougher competition this year is corroborated by the head-to-head ice-time. Among the 10 forwards Bonino most frequently matched up against at 5-on-5 last season, you’ll find the likes of David Moss, Ryan Kesler, Brad Richardson, Anze Kopitar and James Sheppard. This year you’ll find names like Kopitar, Joe Pavelski, Marian Gaborik, Joe Thornton and Ryan Getzlaf – a testament to his being used as an occasional matchup centre by Canucks coaches. As a matchup centre, Bonino has had a borderline astonishing level of success. He’s in the black by both raw and team-relative shot attempt differential (something you can’t say about Kesler), and five of the six forwards with whom he’s logged at least 100 even-strength minutes have a better Corsi For percentage with Bonino than without him. There’s also his notable level of success against the top pivots in the Pacific. Bonino has gone head-to-head with the top-three centremen in California (Thornton, Kopitar, Getzlaf) for nearly 70 combined 5-on-5 minutes this season. In those 70 minutes, the Canucks haven’t surrendered a single goal against. “You always want to be counted on to play important minutes,” Bonino told Sportsnet.ca during a telephone conversation late last week. “It has felt good. “I have more even-strength points than I did last year playing against tougher competition. You’re always improving, and that’s something I’m happy about: that my game in that aspect has improved. It’s fun, it’s fun to matchup against some of the best players and best lines and try to do a good job on them.” That Bonino is comfortable dissecting his production in this manner – separating his inflated power play totals of a year ago from his offensive output at 5-on-5 – speaks to his level of astuteness. His cerebral approach captured the attention of one of the league’s most professorial snipers even before they were teammates and linemates in Vancouver. “He’s a great player and I know that from when he was in Anaheim and I was in Phoenix,” Canucks forward Radim Vrbata said of Bonino. “When the change was made, with the way he plays, it suits the way I play,” Vrbata continued, addressing the chemistry he’s found on Bonino’s wing of late. “It was just a matter of finding (that familiarity).” Bonino’s increasingly well-rounded defensive game is also earning him some praise among NHL pro scouts. “When I watch him play I think he’s a smart two-way player with decent skills. (He’s) probably never going to be a high-end offensive guy, so he’s still kind of finding his niche and what he’ll be long-term – more of a two-way guy, maybe with a little bit more defensive value,” opined a rival NHL pro scout. “He can play against top lines and still has the hockey sense to create offense, which is what you need from a guy playing those types of minutes. You need a player who can punish the opposition’s mistakes.” There was a stretch of the season, though, when Bonino’s ability to punish the opposition’s mistakes abandoned him. Bonino might be outpacing his 5-on-5 production of a year ago, but a hefty portion of that came in a short two-month burst at the start of the year. In 30 games between the end of November and the beginning of March, Bonino managed just four goals and six total points. “It hasn’t been super frustrating,” Bonino said of his extended mid-season cold streak. “It’s a case of if I wasn’t getting chances and wasn’t creating then I think it would be a little more frustrating, but I could look at every game and see four or five scoring chances that just weren’t going in. “Obviously with the hot start that I had it might have (misrepresented) how it usually is, but it’s nice to start like that. Hopefully I can get hot again a little bit here.” Both hot and cold streaks are inevitable in hockey, but they don’t last. Nor do the physical abilities of an NHL player. But Hockey IQ? That’s forever. Link: http://www.sportsnet...d-expectations/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMOTIONAL WRECK Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 None of them are big. Hit them often and hit them hard. Gaudreau's always going to make cheeky plays. Both Gaudreau and Monahan are young and inexperienced. Just grind it out and don't fall asleep on them I agree, a fierce fore check and hard hitting will cause turnovers. If the Canucks play with desire it will come to them easily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tragoedia Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 Higgins - Bonino - Vrbata is are most capable defensive line, with the capability to score at a reasonable rate (that Vrbata guy's got some zazz), so it makes sense to put them out against the Flames top offensive line. Richardson (assuming he is back) and Horvat can split the remaining defensive assignments. The Sedins can focus on scoring and driving the play in the offensive zone. All 4 lines need to work hard on the forecheck and hit as often as possible, even the Sedins (who are capable enough to throw the body). Matthias is a great forechecker for possession, but needs to try to hit the defenesman harder. If he can do that then can become a key playoff performer. We have 4 capable lines and do not require any of them to be "sheltered." That being said, it makes sense to play them to their strengths, so line matching will be important. We just don't have to chase after line matchups, just take advantage of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuckyLuciano Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 Monahan plays like a veteran, it's crazy how composed he is at his age, came in 15lbs heavier and scored 30 goals in his sophmore year, while playing against other teams top lines. This guy reminds me of a Towes lite, everyones focused on Gaudreau/Hudler, we need to make sure Monahan doesn't win any faceoffs or doesn't get any shots off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orka Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck Surfer Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 Although this line is far and away our top line, if you look at our goal breakdown among lines I think its one of the most evenly spread among all NHL teams, we have loads of secondary scoring right down to the fourth line, I believe the Flames are afterall 5th or 6th in goals for this year. Shutting down one line won't neutralize Flames scoring, lucky though is that Vancouver have 2 good checking lines and also have alot of secondary scoring. I think the key to limiting Calgary's chances for Vancouver would be to try to neutralize our defense, Brodie, Russel and Wideman are a huge reason the forward group are scoring in bunches this year, theyve been providing amazing d zone exits and outlet passes, that would be the true key to keeping the Flames at bay. A Calgary fan with as good, if not the best answer in the thread... (honestly) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dasein Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 A Calgary fan with as good, if not the best answer in the thread... (honestly) Of Calgary's 241 goals, 86 are from Hudler, Monahan and Gaudreau = a little over 1/3 of the team total The offence from the backend is quite scary, but I think shutting down the line that accounts for 1/3 of the team's production is still a priority. If we effectively neutralize Monahan's line, I don't see us losing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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