Sunday Practice - Return of injured, no pizzas

[ThaManbeast]

Oh ya there's still Ronalds Kenins and Alex Grenier as well. I agree that a winger needs to be moved for a defensman.

[theminister]

Holy crap!!!

We actually have upward pressure, at least at forward. Isn't that a nice change?

I have no problem with the players jockeying for ice time. It's a blessing. Some guys will have to sit, practice, and be ready. The guys in Utica must see this too. It isn't disincentivizing, it should be a motivator. 

Higgins is too good to keep out much longer and we need him to play if we do want to trade him. It's a great message to Baertschi, Virtanen and McCann that they can't get complacent. They have to earn their spots by being better. If they aren't, then possibly no one will be traded to free up a spot. They need to force our hand  

Now we just need some of that action on D. JB is looking at that, I'm positive. 

[falcon45ca]

Not sure what Gaunce and Shinkaruk have to do to crack this lineup. Shink scores a goal a game in the AHL, Gaunce scores 1 in 2 games as a Canuck while playing great defensively and physically and they end up sitting out. Cracknell's been a surprise though and WD isn't going to bench Virtanen or McCann so quickly either. With Higgins close and Prust coming in a couple of weeks, looks like another year in Utica for Gaunce and Shinkaruk when they really should be playing half a season in the NHL at least. They're ready to put up numbers in the big league.

Not a bad problem to have.

In my opinion though, I think Shinkaruk and Gaunce belong in the NHL over Baertschi and Virtanen but that's just me. Nice to see Baertschi's getting another chance though, but Shinkaruk > Baertschi and Gaunce > Virtanen right now.

Shink will get his chance, it's a long season...lots of injuries still to come I imagine.

Jake is a player all his own, his finish around the net will come, but hot damn he plays with passion & has a great work ethic that just can't be taught. V > G

[Cocolocci]

Shink will get his chance, it's a long season...lots of injuries still to come I imagine.

Jake is a player all his own, his finish around the net will come, but hot damn he plays with passion & has a great work ethic that just can't be taught. V > G

This!

[tyhee]

I agree that Gaunce has played well. I would favor playing him for another game or two. I also agree that it is hard to keep Higgins out of the line-up if he is healthy. I know that a lot of people think Higgins was not good enough as 2LW last year, and I agree. But as a bottom six LW he is very good.

The relative ranking of Baertschi, Virtanen, and Gaunce is not clear to me. I think Gaunce is better defensively than either Virtanen or Baertschi. He does not hit like Jake but he is big, strong, and contributes to the physical game. His goal against Arizona was all about physical strength in front of the net -- something neither Baertschi or Virtanen has shown enough of. Gaunce suffers because he is waiver-exempt (unlike Baertschi) and can go up and down to Utica (unlike Virtanen).

I admit that Baertschi and Virtanen are both faster skaters than Gaunce and that the speed game matters. But I would like to see Gaunce get more of a chance right now.

And Cracknell is also in the mix. He has size, strength and plays well defensively.

 

Sorry to go off-topic,but this post made me think about LW for next season.

As things stand now, there's Daniel, Baertschi, Higgins, Prust, Gaunce, Kenins and Shinkaruk, plus others such as Burrows, Cracknell, Dorsett, Virtanen and Jensen who also play other positions but can play LW.  With Shinkaruk's good start to this season, one could argue that next season-and perhaps even this season-Canucks (will) have more NHL-ready left wingers than they need.

Baertschi, Prust, Cracknell, Kenins and Jensen are on the final years of their respective contracts.

Between trades and players not being re-signed it will be interesting to watch how the team management deals with the LW position over the next 12 months.

[Crabcakes]

Sorry to go off-topic,but this post made me think about LW for next season.

As things stand now, there's Daniel, Baertschi, Higgins, Prust, Gaunce, Kenins and Shinkaruk, plus others such as Burrows, Cracknell, Dorsett, Virtanen and Jensen who also play other positions but can play LW.  With Shinkaruk's good start to this season, one could argue that next season-and perhaps even this season-Canucks (will) have more NHL-ready left wingers than they need.

Baertschi, Prust, Cracknell, Kenins and Jensen are on the final years of their respective contracts.

Between trades and players not being re-signed it will be interesting to watch how the team management deals with the LW position over the next 12 months.

Faster, harder to play against, great shot.....who from the above list has the goods?  Next years camp is going to be very interesting.

As for this year, Higgins is back soon and someone will have to move.  Since Gaunce can go down, he will. 

Trades?  I don't think Higgins is very marketable because he has term on his contract and a limited NTC which other teams don't like.  There's an awful lot of players whose contracts are running out.  They are the candidates to move.  Benning did his best to create this situation.  Return on prospects are pretty limited.  I think JB is waiting until the trade deadline to take his next steps towards the rebuild.  He is well aware that he needs to add D prospects.

[ice orca]

I would call that pairing the Swiss Cheese pairing because there's so many holes in their defensive game.

More like Limburger.

[Canucksfor2012]

Just like the coaching staff did with Horvat last year,I dont think that they're putting any pressure on Virtanen to score...I think that they're impressing on him to play a 'responsible' NHL game first...Points be damned...Virtanen is a gifted player,the points will follow.

Not pressure to score, but they're certainly trying to give him some linemates who can get him some points and get his confidence up. It's less of a "we expect Virtanen to score 20 goals" and more of a "let's help Virtanen get a couple to boost his confidence and keep him playing the way he is".

Remember how Kenins started off playing extremely physical and his confidence was buoyed by the points he put up early on. Eventually he started to seem a little tired of just hitting everything in sight and I believe he ended up in the pressbox.

I guess my point is that, like Benning said, it might a little easier to play as a winger than a centre, so as much they're probably trying to get him to a play a responsible game, they're also probably hoping that he starts using his strength and speed a little more with the puck near the net.

[Ossi Vaananen]

Well Pizza is out for a while... shame he was playing great.