Popular Post DownUndaCanuck Posted May 30, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted May 30, 2021 I really hope we don't ignore OJ and just get excited by Rathbone because we need both to be successful. Juolevi is stronger, bigger and can kill penalties whereas I doubt Hughes or Rathbone will kill many penalties in their career against some big physical Pacific divison forwards. I'm hoping it was just Covid that set him back at the end of the season, because we need him in our top-7 next season for sure. Hughes - Myers Rathbone - Schmidt Juolevi - Hamonic That's a future solid top-6 there with a mix of everything but we need Juolevi on that top unit PK. 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-AJ- Posted May 30, 2021 Share Posted May 30, 2021 I get the feelling we should be careful to judge Olli too much based off this year, particularly the ending after he was ravaged by COVID. That said, his dearth of offense is a big concerning and I hope he picks it up eventually. I'll try to hold my breath for next year in hopes of a noticeable improvement. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alucard Posted May 30, 2021 Share Posted May 30, 2021 (edited) Come on people, he was nucks top 5 pick and had it rough with injuries. he has the talent, give him some love, trust him. and poor boy again got very sick with the covid. he has had it rough. Trust this man,it is the best shot nucks have in having a Top 4 D for years to come. he has the right attitude and personality too. Edited May 30, 2021 by BENN 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kloubek Posted May 30, 2021 Share Posted May 30, 2021 8 hours ago, Captain Canuck #12 said: I have the same impression of OJ. By the end of the season, I had essentially written him off as anything other than a borderline NHL'er. But the statement from Green that OJ was one of the hardest hit by COVID does at least give a ray of hope that that's why his play tailed off so badly near the end of the season. Yeah, Covid did make it challenging for our team in many ways. But somehow I just feel like OJ is in the same boat as Virtanen. High draft pick, lots of patience from the team, but in the end little result. Difference with OJ is that I don't question his commitment... I just question his overall skill. I hope he proves me wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crobar Posted May 30, 2021 Share Posted May 30, 2021 OJ is not in the same boat as Virtanen. Yes Virt has been givin all sorts of opportunities to prove himself at this level and failed miserably. OJ had so many injuries at the start that his progress has been stunted. I think we should give OJ at least 1 full year of NHL playing time before calling him a bust. Hell some of us supported Virt thru it all because of that damned untapped potential. I believe an injury free OJ will be just fine at this level. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewbieCanuckFan Posted May 30, 2021 Share Posted May 30, 2021 7 minutes ago, crobar said: OJ is not in the same boat as Virtanen. Yes Virt has been givin all sorts of opportunities to prove himself at this level and failed miserably. OJ had so many injuries at the start that his progress has been stunted. I think we should give OJ at least 1 full year of NHL playing time before calling him a bust. Hell some of us supported Virt thru it all because of that damned untapped potential. I believe an injury free OJ will be just fine at this level. I'll believe it when Green actually gives him that opportunity vs putting him on a short leash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred65 Posted May 30, 2021 Share Posted May 30, 2021 4 hours ago, NewbieCanuckFan said: I'll believe it when Green actually gives him that opportunity vs putting him on a short leash. Neither of these two players ( OJ + JV )should have been in top 6 slots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewbieCanuckFan Posted May 30, 2021 Share Posted May 30, 2021 Just now, Fred65 said: Neither of these two players ( OJ + JV )should have been in top 6 slots In a mean nothing COVID season, what better time to play such players? You already know what you have in fringe, replacement level players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred65 Posted May 30, 2021 Share Posted May 30, 2021 3 minutes ago, NewbieCanuckFan said: In a mean nothing COVID season, what better time to play such players? You already know what you have in fringe, replacement level players. Alternatively we could have given other players the chance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Locke Lamora Posted May 30, 2021 Share Posted May 30, 2021 13 hours ago, DownUndaCanuck said: I really hope we don't ignore OJ and just get excited by Rathbone because we need both to be successful. Juolevi is stronger, bigger and can kill penalties whereas I doubt Hughes or Rathbone will kill many penalties in their career against some big physical Pacific divison forwards. I'm hoping it was just Covid that set him back at the end of the season, because we need him in our top-7 next season for sure. Hughes - Myers Rathbone - Schmidt Juolevi - Hamonic That's a future solid top-6 there with a mix of everything but we need Juolevi on that top unit PK. I hope for the best for OJ in terms of him helping us win games in the future, but in MY OPINION there is zero doubt Rathbone is the better prospect - better PLAYER - even just based on Jack’s short sample in Utica and here in Van. And I wouldn’t be sure about OJ being stronger - Jack is a beast in the gym apparently. Dude is BUILT. Haven’t heard anyone say that of Juolevi. Sami Salo’s concerns about OJ’s dedication to conditioning when he had him back in Finland come to mind. There has, at various times since his draft, been some behind the scenes chatter about OJ commitment to fitness. It’s not about “rooting” for one prospect against the other. We need OJ to become a player every bit as much as we need Rathbone to. It’s just that one prospect has had difficulty living up to his expectations as a 5th overall and some of us are realistic about it. The fact that Rathbone feels a bit like “found money” as a 4th rounder, and is the “shiny new” toy explains the excitement around him too. I wonder how much better Rathbone will look like after his first full training camp and preseason next year. So exciting. Do agree that if OJ can develop into a good PK’er that would be huge. This is actually the first I’ve about COVID hitting OJ hard…so perhaps I should temper some of my concerns I had about his play at the end of the year. But we need him to be better than he showed, COVID effects or not. I think we all agree that this off season is probably the most important one in OJ’s career in terms of him becoming an everyday player for us. If he can, this will be HUGE. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrCanuck94 Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 On 5/30/2021 at 3:46 PM, Locke Lamora said: I hope for the best for OJ in terms of him helping us win games in the future, but in MY OPINION there is zero doubt Rathbone is the better prospect - better PLAYER - even just based on Jack’s short sample in Utica and here in Van. And I wouldn’t be sure about OJ being stronger - Jack is a beast in the gym apparently. Dude is BUILT. Haven’t heard anyone say that of Juolevi. Sami Salo’s concerns about OJ’s dedication to conditioning when he had him back in Finland come to mind. There has, at various times since his draft, been some behind the scenes chatter about OJ commitment to fitness. It’s not about “rooting” for one prospect against the other. We need OJ to become a player every bit as much as we need Rathbone to. It’s just that one prospect has had difficulty living up to his expectations as a 5th overall and some of us are realistic about it. The fact that Rathbone feels a bit like “found money” as a 4th rounder, and is the “shiny new” toy explains the excitement around him too. I wonder how much better Rathbone will look like after his first full training camp and preseason next year. So exciting. Do agree that if OJ can develop into a good PK’er that would be huge. This is actually the first I’ve about COVID hitting OJ hard…so perhaps I should temper some of my concerns I had about his play at the end of the year. But we need him to be better than he showed, COVID effects or not. I think we all agree that this off season is probably the most important one in OJ’s career in terms of him becoming an everyday player for us. If he can, this will be HUGE. Solid post, like you said, we shouldn't be rooting for one against the other. Can't hit on every pick but if OJ can fill a key role, that would be huge. I see Rathbone's ceiling like Vancouver version Ehrhoff and OJ as an Edler type. Two completely different types of dmen but both crucial to building a cup team. Here's hoping both can reach their potentials! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrCanuck94 Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 On 5/29/2021 at 6:01 PM, vinny_in_vancouver said: "Solid"? "NHL"? "Top 6"? You can't honestly give somebody any of those unless they've played enough games. What are you basing it on - eye-test? OJ was playing very well before he was scratched for a veteran in Benn. Green already mentioned that he likes him and they couldn't play him due to cap reasons. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinny in Vancouver Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 8 hours ago, MrCanuck94 said: OJ was playing very well before he was scratched for a veteran in Benn. Green already mentioned that he likes him and they couldn't play him due to cap reasons. I guess your standards are different from mine. I'd prefer a larger sample size before anointing him as a "solid NHL top 6". Ben Hutton looked pretty good his rookie season with a bigger sample size. I'm hoping this was because of COVID, but this play right here was one of the major concerns with him making the NHL permanently: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeremyCuddles Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 I feel like I am watching different games than most, but I genuinely believe Juolevi was a top 6 player this season. It made me very upset that we didn't see him get more looks. He looked head and shoulders better than Benn. And I'd argue he looked better than our top 4. Simple, defensively sound. Which is saying something given how much of a sieve our team defense was this past season. I dunno, feel like our coaching staff just leans on the safe players too much. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alflives Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 4 minutes ago, N7Nucks said: I feel like I am watching different games than most, but I genuinely believe Juolevi was a top 6 player this season. It made me very upset that we didn't see him get more looks. He looked head and shoulders better than Benn. And I'd argue he looked better than our top 4. Simple, defensively sound. Which is saying something given how much of a sieve our team defense was this past season. I dunno, feel like our coaching staff just leans on the safe players too much. I liked OJ too, but he missed games for cap reasons, and then he got really sick with Covid. Like you say though, OJ is in our top six next year, and on our PK. He’s going to take a lot of the Edler minutes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junkyard Dog Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 His feet need to catch up with the rest of his game. Needs a solid off-season to get a little faster and a quicker first few steps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmm Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 37 minutes ago, Junkyard Dog said: His feet need to catch up with the rest of his game. Needs a solid off-season to get a little faster and a quicker first few steps I thought Oli played pretty good this season then Petey Boi said that he couldn't turn last game I remember him playing he got beat turning to his right he looked like his right leg was in a splint and the knee did not bend at all I only saw it once, but it did not look good any confirmation that Oli can or cannot turn right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alflives Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 1 minute ago, lmm said: I thought Oli played pretty good this season then Petey Boi said that he couldn't turn last game I remember him playing he got beat turning to his right he looked like his right leg was in a splint and the knee did not bend at all I only saw it once, but it did not look good any confirmation that Oli can or cannot turn right? I saw that play too. And it was an ugly one for sure. But every NHL D man gets beat wide. Some just look better while getting turned. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadcanucks Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 6 minutes ago, lmm said: I thought Oli played pretty good this season then Petey Boi said that he couldn't turn last game I remember him playing he got beat turning to his right he looked like his right leg was in a splint and the knee did not bend at all I only saw it once, but it did not look good any confirmation that Oli can or cannot turn right? IMO, he turns just fine. Hughes got caught on more than one occasion, but you don't hear Petey Boi talking about Quinn's inability to turn one direction or another. The Juolevi that I saw this season was similar to what N7Nucks saw. The kid played with poise and swagger that you would expect from a fifth overall pick. Like all rookies, I saw him struggling at times with the pace of the NHL at times. I've seen Quinn Hughes, Rasmus Dahlin and Miro Heiskanen struggle with the same. From what I've seen, Olli plays with his head on swivel, uses his teammates well, has a seeing eye-dog shot that gets through, makes a great first pass and defended pretty well for a first year NHL player. Give the kid a full half season and he'll be in the top 4 playing in ALL situations, including PP. I have no doubts he'll iron out the kinks in his game. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmm Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 32 minutes ago, bigbadcanucks said: IMO, he turns just fine. Hughes got caught on more than one occasion, but you don't hear Petey Boi talking about Quinn's inability to turn one direction or another. The Juolevi that I saw this season was similar to what N7Nucks saw. The kid played with poise and swagger that you would expect from a fifth overall pick. Like all rookies, I saw him struggling at times with the pace of the NHL at times. I've seen Quinn Hughes, Rasmus Dahlin and Miro Heiskanen struggle with the same. From what I've seen, Olli plays with his head on swivel, uses his teammates well, has a seeing eye-dog shot that gets through, makes a great first pass and defended pretty well for a first year NHL player. Give the kid a full half season and he'll be in the top 4 playing in ALL situations, including PP. I have no doubts he'll iron out the kinks in his game. there once was this guy named Bobby Orr, maybe you've heard of him. He was pretty good at hockey.Here is a list of his awards 1966-67 NHL Calder Memorial Trophy 1967-68 NHL James Norris Trophy 1968-69 NHL James Norris Trophy 1969-70 NHL Art Ross Trophy 1969-70 NHL Hart Memorial Trophy 1969-70 NHL Conn Smythe Trophy 1969-70 NHL James Norris Trophy 1970-71 NHL Hart Memorial Trophy 1970-71 NHL James Norris Trophy 1971-72 NHL Hart Memorial Trophy 1971-72 NHL Conn Smythe Trophy 1971-72 NHL James Norris Trophy 1972-73 NHL James Norris Trophy 1973-74 NHL James Norris Trophy 1974-75 NHL Art Ross Trophy 1974-75 NHL James Norris Trophy he played 36 games after that 74-75 season when he won the Norris and Art Ross trophies. He had knee problems. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now