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Mental laziness at the root of Canuck's problems


*Buzzsaw*

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I realize this is a team in transition, I realize they probably won't be storming the league standings.

But right now the Canucks are not losing their games because they are being outplayed... they are losing them due to silly mental errors and lack of confidence.

It's all about the unforced giveaway right now...  how many times have you seen a Canuck's player, not under pressure, not being forechecked, make a poor pass, or a poor clearing attempt that results in a turnover?

This is Junior B stuff I'm talking about...  the type of issue coaches in Midget spend their time coaching about.

Almost every time, the Canuck player has the opportunity to take a little extra time, size up the positioning of their team-mates and the opposition, and make a clean, safe pass.  But instead they rush it... and Bingo!   Giveway.

Willie really needs to get through to these guys, and lay down the law... the team needs to understand... take that extra fraction of a second, and think before you get rid of the puck.

The good news is, they still could have won another 6 games easily if they weren't handing them to the opposition on a silver platter.

But they do need to turn this around... or this kind of sloppiness is going to be a permanent part of team psychology, and that is not good for young developing players.

 

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Another "point out the obvious thing we've already mentioned a bunch of times" thread from Buzzkill - I mean Buzzsaw. Uh, I'm pretty sure they're already reviewing game tape and point out those giveaways. Maybe it's just not so easy when you have a team in transition with several rookies in the lineup any given night and a 2nd year player handling some of our toughest assignments.

If only Vrbata was scoring more, if only our PP was working, if only we didn't have to ride Miller every game that Markstrom was out...

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As Babcock says "winning is in the details".  The Nucks are not sharp.  They are missing assignments, making numerous unforced errors and ill-advised passes. These are resulting in untimely goals and momentum shifts and ultimately losses where they were in a position to win.

For the most part, these are being made by our vets which was unexpected and is compounded by the way WD seems to address  this by reducing ice-time for the kids and play those same vets more.

WD appears lost with how to manage this revolving door of players and it looks like he is using a dart board to create line combinations.  The vets look disinterested.  The rookies are all playing as though they are terrified to make a mistake.  Not a pretty picture.

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Don't blame the youth. They're bringing it every night and have a lot of speed. It's the vets who are the anchor and lets be honest JB hasn't built a great defensive corp. Hamhuis this season is Bieska last season, Bartkowski plays never have a good ending  I'm not sure about taking a little extra time I think they just don't react well to being pressured...probably look good in practise ... but game play... not so much. There maybe some fans crying for the return of Sbisa but he's the worst at screwing up when under pressure. It might also be WD instructing players to move it quickly and our group can't do it. Your tactics have to taken in account the players on the roster We often hear talk about the best 4 D in the league...well we have to have the worse 6 D in the league. Millers/Markstrom kept games closer than they should. Tanev might not be having a banner year he's now clearly the #1 at the back...he wouldn't be on most teams. Edler seems to be stumbling and I think that's WD trying to chnage his game. He's hesitant and lacking any form of confidence....he's a player you best leave alone...chnage does not help his game...just ask Torts

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1 hour ago, DIBdaQUIB said:

As Babcock says "winning is in the details".  The Nucks are not sharp.  They are missing assignments, making numerous unforced errors and ill-advised passes. These are resulting in untimely goals and momentum shifts and ultimately losses where they were in a position to win.

For the most part, these are being made by our vets which was unexpected and is compounded by the way WD seems to address  this by reducing ice-time for the kids and play those same vets more.

WD appears lost with how to manage this revolving door of players and it looks like he is using a dart board to create line combinations.  The vets look disinterested.  The rookies are all playing as though they are terrified to make a mistake.  Not a pretty picture.

Yes, but maybe that's WDs only motivator - ice time? 

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Yes, the guys don't care other than the young guys. They know they won't be winning anything so they'll just collect their paychecks and go enjoy home life until they retire. I'm sure theyd like to win but to them it's not the end of the world if they lose, they don't hate losing and they dont have the passion to compete anymore.

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1 hour ago, Alflives said:

Yes, but maybe that's WDs only motivator - ice time? 

Could be but how do you motivate players by awarding ice-time to those who aren't delivering?  I would say his ice-time management and OT line combinations are a de-motivator and could be why the team is trending downward. 

This league is about speed and generating offensive chances in a tough defensively coached environment.  Playing plugs for 16 minutes a game in the hopes you can prevent the other team from scoring after building a lead is counter-intuitive and the players can see that.

Putting a player like Shinkaruk on the ice with plugs with a 4th line mandate and then playing him 2 minutes a period is hardly setting the kid up to show what he can do.

Willie seems happy to live and die by the vets and role players and would rather lose with them playing big minutes than risk losing with the kids.  Long leash for the vets, short one for the kids...unhappy dressing room.

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in all the yrs ive never seen so many line swapping how do you get team chemistry if every shift your on a new line. Willie is a bad coach this is the bigs not juniors stop making rookie mistakes. To many men penalties, 4 players on pp when there should be 5 thats bad coaching  that is costing us games as are 4 shorties in 7 games. 

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18 minutes ago, canuktravella said:

in all the yrs ive never seen so many line swapping how do you get team chemistry if every shift your on a new line. Willie is a bad coach this is the bigs not juniors stop making rookie mistakes. To many men penalties, 4 players on pp when there should be 5 thats bad coaching  that is costing us games as are 4 shorties in 7 games. 

I guess you weren't paying attention to the AV years. Sometimes you were lucky to get one shift to get any chemistry with your line mates. It's not just a WD or AV 'problem' anyways, all coaches play musical chairs shift to shift, period to period and game to game.

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49 minutes ago, canuktravella said:

in all the yrs ive never seen so many line swapping how do you get team chemistry if every shift your on a new line. Willie is a bad coach this is the bigs not juniors stop making rookie mistakes. To many men penalties, 4 players on pp when there should be 5 thats bad coaching  that is costing us games as are 4 shorties in 7 games

Those aren't head coach problems though.

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Here's a list of the type of clear Brainf*rts in the Winnipeg game which killed the Canucks chances of winning:

1.  On Winnipeg's first Power Play, Bo Horvat has the puck on his stick, with plenty of time to clear the zone.  Instead he rushes the clear, partially fans and the Jets get control again... 15 seconds later the puck is in the net.

2.  16:00 of 2nd period, Edler, with the puck clearly under his control, hands the puck to a Winnipeg player in the slot... leaves Miller facing 2 Winnipeg players alone... fortunately Miller is up to the task and bails Edler out.

3.  2nd Jets PP, loose puck in front of the net... Bartkowski has it on his stick, can put it to the boards or clear it, instead he fans on the puck and overscates it... 10 seconds later it is in the net.

4.  3rd Period, last 3 minutes, score 2-1, Bartkowski gets a great pass onto his stick in the slot, with plenty of time to shoot... instead he tries to stick handle in traffic and gets nothing.

Could mention more... but its clear the problem with this team is a mental one.

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buzzsaw what you mentioned is true, but my question to you is what about against the Calgary Flames in the playoffs; is this not the same team we are seeing? Fragile "YES!" giving up 3 goal leads "YES" what is this telling us? hmmmmmmmmm

 

 

 

that's not a first time thing with this core, just that this year they are showing these colors early; whereas, normally they breeze through the season because of their special teams, and in playoffs become like this but this year its happening early.

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On 2015-11-18, 1:14:25, canuktravella said:

in all the yrs ive never seen so many line swapping how do you get team chemistry if every shift your on a new line. Willie is a bad coach this is the bigs not juniors stop making rookie mistakes. To many men penalties, 4 players on pp when there should be 5 thats bad coaching  that is costing us games as are 4 shorties in 7 games. 

Yeah the guys are squeezing their sticks too hard and can even hit a wide open net. The team is outta sinc.

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