After 30+ years

[RUPERTKBD]

Just now, TOMapleLaughs said:

At the end of the day it shouldn't have mattered.  They did play well with each other (and Fedorov) for the Red Army, did they not?  At least i vaguely recall on junior tourney or something.  Not sure.

They did and it's hard to figure out why it wasn't the case in Vancity. I suppose it could be that Federov was the glue holding it all together. 

I think the same sort of thing happened with the KLM line. Makarov had some solid numbers in Calgary and Iggy was terrific, but he couldn't save Krutov...

[TOMapleLaughs]

6 minutes ago, RUPERTKBD said:

They did and it's hard to figure out why it wasn't the case in Vancity. I suppose it could be that Federov was the glue holding it all together. 

I think the same sort of thing happened with the KLM line. Makarov had some solid numbers in Calgary and Iggy was terrific, but he couldn't save Krutov...

Who knows.  Maybe their dysfunction here was a product of overall team's dysfunction at the time.  Or maybe it was about money.

 

Makes you appreciate the Sedins a bit more I guess.  Constant professionals throughout.

[alfstonker]

Well I'm not liking what I see but I understand why it is happening. If I didn't, it would be unbearable. It's certainly not anything like all Willie's fault but he is a 2nd year rookie in the NHL and he will no doubt be encountering things that he hasn't before and making some mistakes, do we "hang" him for that?. No he will learn from the experience.

The more I think about our situation the more I wonder just how commonplace it really is. We are an old set of vets bolstered by a couple of decent AHL players, 3 or 3 plodders and completed by rookies who were not top 3 draft picks.

I suppose I couldn't believe the decent start we had but then we started to get the key player injuries and it has all slowly unravelled from there, more or less.

I am now, although I don't like to admit it wondering if there is a difference between a trade assessment and a draft. You see I still think JB drafts well but for the life of me I don't see why we picked up Vey, Bartowski and Baertschi and extended Weber. I'm not saying they are not decent players and in Baertschi's case there is obviously potential to be something special - BUT -  If I were the GM these guys just don't fit the template of where I and I'm sure most of you thought we were heading. i.e. Big, physical/competitive, fast and skilful. 

Now obviously there will be varying degrees of skill but the other 3 attributes I would have cast in stone. You see for me, there are some nights where skill just doesn't get it done and if you have the other 3 qualities you can still likely eek out the win. Certainly you wouldn't be so easy banged up or moved off the puck, it would also be a lot easier not only to stand your ground in the opponents crease but easier to take out the trash in your own.

The anticipation of where we will ultimately head up is exciting though, without a doubt.

[elvis15]

12 hours ago, Vaseline said:

I have never been so ashamed to be a fan of the Canucks!

Willie needs to bag skate the f@#* out of these pillions that we pay millions to each year.

Do not mistake me, I am not down on the rookies who although struggling are not the ones choking out there.  

Weber is this year's Vey but with a ton more turnovers, Bartowski is no better.

Hammy ( get well soon ) was playing sluggish, unmotivated, cough up hockey all year.

Edler has cost how us how many behind the back pass turnovers?

Burrows is slow and takes us off the PP every time he steps a foot out there.

Higgins is doing a lot of nothing.

Vrbata is doing a whole lot of nothing.

Prust and Dorsey are both having identity crisis, neither one knows if there a soft handed superstar or a bruiser. YOU ARE NOT SUPERSTARS, HIT SOMEBODY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

MOVE YOUR REAR'S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SKATE TO THE BENCH, DONT GLIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FINISH YOU BLOODY CHECKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't let the bandwagon door hit you on the way out.

 

Imagine if these kinds of people had a really bad team to support year in and year out, like the Coyotes, Panthers, Oilers, Leafs, Blue Jackets, etc. They'd never watch hockey.

[TheGuardian]

Let's see 30+ years of watching....I am pretty sure anyone would have an idea of "how" a hockey team is run or how to build one.

I haven't seen a university degree for GM's, so they must learn by observation at the very least.

[smithers joe]

2 hours ago, RUPERTKBD said:

I think a lot of people assume that because both Pavel and Almo were Russian (and former linemates) that they were close friends, but a conversation I had with a former Canuck who was on the team at the same time, indicated that this was not the case.

Bure had a circle of teammates who he was close with and they formed a clique, which Almo was not part of. FWIW, the player I talked to said that Mogilny was one of the hardest working guys on the team and the consummate teammate. (Thus implying that Pavel was not)

It isn't like Bure and Mogilny didn't like each other. They just weren't the "comrades" that many people assume.

bure was increditably selfish...larinov was the consumate team player and my favourite russian born player mogilny was good too...

bure and gino were very close...i don't know who else was in this clique....maybe, nobody...bure would not pass to his line mates if he thought he even had a 1% chance to score...to get his scoring record, keenan would double shift him every game...

you could see the players coming to the bench, shaking their heads because they were wide open in front of the net, while bure would circle the net and go back out to the blue line and try to stick handle back to the goal...i've always preferred guys like smyl, larinov and linden to bure.

[JoGuitar]

The pain never stops, it just keeps going, and going. Eventually you just resign yourself to the fact that you are a Canucks fan and every iteration that shows promise is inevitably doomed to under achieve under perform. Look forward to the next core whose potential will be wasted and unsupported and unrealized as we go round and round in the circle game.

[Vaseline]

4 hours ago, elvis15 said:

Don't let the bandwagon door hit you on the way out.

 

Imagine if these kinds of people had a really bad team to support year in and year out, like the Coyotes, Panthers, Oilers, Leafs, Blue Jackets, etc. They'd never watch hockey.

I believe my tenure as a Canucks ONLY fan, rules me out as a Bandwagon'r.

If you so kindly look at my post count ( most of which are in the gaming section ) and my join date you may get a indication on how often I feel so frustrated with this team that I need to vent on here and voice it. But you and yourself with that 17k post score must be a model fan who has never spoken ill about the team even once eh?

What my entire point is, they are just playing bad hockey. Bad hockey sense, bad hockey positioning, bad fore-check, bad back check, bad team work and bad work ethic. It is in know way a dig on any ones ability out there, well besides maybe Weber and  Bartowski. When I call for the heads of the guys like Burrows, Higgy and Vrbata it is more to the point of the locker rooms culture needs a culture shock to break the complacency and bad habits that are being shown out there night after night.

 

[JamesB]

18 hours ago, Vaseline said:

I have never been so ashamed to be a fan of the Canucks!

Willie needs to bag skate the f@#* out of these pillions that we pay millions to each year.

Do not mistake me, I am not down on the rookies who although struggling are not the ones choking out there.  

Weber is this year's Vey but with a ton more turnovers, Bartowski is no better.

Hammy ( get well soon ) was playing sluggish, unmotivated, cough up hockey all year.

Edler has cost how us how many behind the back pass turnovers?

Burrows is slow and takes us off the PP every time he steps a foot out there.

Higgins is doing a lot of nothing.

Vrbata is doing a whole lot of nothing.

Prust and Dorsey are both having identity crisis, neither one knows if there a soft handed superstar or a bruiser. YOU ARE NOT SUPERSTARS, HIT SOMEBODY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

MOVE YOUR REAR'S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SKATE TO THE BENCH, DONT GLIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FINISH YOU BLOODY CHECKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

17 hours ago, TheHitman said:

Bag skates don't do anything for anybody. 

The OP is much too negative. Yes, the Canucks are struggling. However, they are now about where most of the external experts thought they would be at the beginning of the season -- and still with a decent (although rapidly shrinking) chance of making the playoffs.

Bag skates are negatives. The better teams have increasingly realized that fatigue is a big issue and keeping the workload light is helpful.

And there is no point in punishing players for lack of talent. You can't coach talent and you can't acquire talent with hard work. Good coaching and hard work can help a player get the most out of his talent.

But the Canucks' problem right now is lack of talent. With Hammer out, they have only 2 legitimate top 4 D-men. And they do not have a legitimate second line.

At their age, Burrows and Higgins are now only borderline NHLers. Prust, Dorsett and Cracknell were never more than borderline NHLers. Horvat and McCann have been asked to do too much and now look lost and overmatched, although they are still good prospects. Baertschi has not shown he belongs in the NHL yet.

On D they have 3 guys in their top 6 who would be 7th man (and therefore in the press box) on most teams -- Bartkowski, Biega, and Weber. And Hutton is a good young prospect who is also being asked to do too much.

And of course the injuries to Sutter, Hammer, and Sbisa don't help.

But all these guys are trying hard --  maybe too hard, leading to more mistakes.

There are no easy fixes, no rebuilds on the fly. The Canucks need to trade vets for picks at the deadline, have a good draft, and continue to develop their good young players.

[samurai]

In the 70s and until Pat arrived the Nucks were a complete afterthought in the league.  There was no now or no future.