Will the Canucks be able to deal with California teams?

[bubbaCHUCK]

going with my gut on this... canucks are gonna give california HELL next year

either on the scoreboard or giving them some body blows.

everyone talks about how big tryamkin is, and say he's a stay-at-home defender. maybe he is. but i think he can play 2-way hockey and help with the offence. throwing big hits to retrieve the puck then pushing the puck up ice to his teammates.... god damn that must be tiring to play against. say hello to vancouvers new big country!!!

[Hortankin]

I think a lot of teams are going to be surprised next year. At worst I think we will finish 3rd in the Pacific and at best I think we will win it. Here is how I see it playing out.

 

SJS

VAN

ANA

LAK

EDM

CGY

ARZ

 

We will be over .500 against the California teams next year. 

 

IT'S ALL UP HILL FROM HERE!!!!

[hearditall]

On 09/07/2016 at 7:42 PM, literaphile said:

Except you didn't list all of the games. Canucks played 15 games against those three teams, not just the 10 you listed, and had a 7-7-1 record over those 15. While I agree that it's not a terrible record, .500 hockey isn't something to brag about.

Not too bad for being the underdog.

[dank.sinatra]

On 09/07/2016 at 6:22 PM, Adarsh Sant said:

The past few years, the Canucks have been getting pushed around by the Bay Area teams. They haven't been able to keep up in speed or size or goaltending or scoring or defense. With the additions of Gudbranson and Eriksson, the return of Sutter, and the help of Virtanen's size, do you think the Canucks will be able to keep up this year? Or are we in for another year of 0-3 road trips against the California teams. Thoughts?

 

San Jose is the only Bay Area team lol 

[hearditall]

On 10/07/2016 at 6:44 AM, nux_win said:

In fact, size, in every contact or combat sport, has always "trumped" skill.  That's why there are weight classes in boxing and that's why you don't see many NFL linemen under 250 pounds (i.e. size is an extra advantage even though in both boxing and football skill is important too).  It works like this: skill will always beat size but for equal skill, size is the tie-breaker.  Speed is important too.  It's fighting ability that is overrated in hockey (though that can be useful at times too).  If our big guys can skate and keep up with the play then that is what is going to be an advantage.  Big slow guys with no skills aren't all that valuable in today's NHL but that doesn't mean that size isn't still valuable in contact sports.  Always has been always will be.

Is that why Gretzky, Dionne, Karlsson, St.Louis, Ronning, Gallagher, T.johnson, Gudreau, Bure, Mogilny, Marchand, Kane, Sakic, Yzrerman, Lefleur, Naslund, Crosby, Drouin, McDavid, Hasek, etc., etc., etc...

Have all Dominated their bigger opponents.  Heart, Determination, Speed, Skill & then size matters...

[bleedblue2017]

Yes, we will fair much better than last year, physically anyways. Scoring could be the down fall for us. Our defence looks poised to strike fear into most of the league, with four of our six dmen being 6'4" and 200+lbs or bigger, looks pretty impossing! The forwards will need to work hard to find twine, Ericson will help more than Vrbata, but still... If Sutter can stay healthy that will bode well. What will help the most is if Horvat and Bertchi continue where they left off from last season, if not it looks like our huge d corp is going to have to beat teams into submission.

[nux_win]

1 hour ago, hearditall said:

Is that why Gretzky, Dionne, Karlsson, St.Louis, Ronning, Gallagher, T.johnson, Gudreau, Bure, Mogilny, Marchand, Kane, Sakic, Yzrerman, Lefleur, Naslund, Crosby, Drouin, McDavid, Hasek, etc., etc., etc...

Have all Dominated their bigger opponents.  Heart, Determination, Speed, Skill & then size matters...

I guess you missed the part where I said that "skill will always beat size, but for equal skill, size is the tie breaker".  No disagreement that Gretzky was a great player, maybe the greatest, even though he wasn't that big or muscular.  However, if you could take the speed and skill (and brain) of Ronning and put it in the body of Momesso, would you still want Ronning over Momesso?  Sure, there are lots of important variables but the point is that size does matter in contact sports, but clearly it isn't the only thing that matters or even the most important. 

 

It's not just my opinion that size matters, there is evidence.  If size wasn't important then hockey players or football players would be the same size as the general population.  The fact that football players are so much bigger would suggest that it is even more important in football than hockey but the fact that NHL hockey players are significantly taller than average with more lean body mass means that size is also important in hockey.

[steviewonder20]

50 minutes ago, bleedblue2017 said:

Yes, we will fair much better than last year, physically anyways. Scoring could be the down fall for us. Our defence looks poised to strike fear into most of the league, with four of our six dmen being 6'4" and 200+lbs or bigger, looks pretty impossing! The forwards will need to work hard to find twine, Ericson will help more than Vrbata, but still... If Sutter can stay healthy that will bode well. What will help the most is if Horvat and Bertchi continue where they left off from last season, if not it looks like our huge d corp is going to have to beat teams into submission.

Looking at our starting D roster, I only see two guys at 6'4" or bigger: Gud and Tree. Who are the other two (it's not Edler, Hutton, Sbisa or Tanev)?

[Jam126]

1 minute ago, steviewonder20 said:

Looking at our starting D roster, I only see two guys at 6'4" or bigger: Gud and Tree. Who are the other two (it's not Edler, Hutton, Sbisa or Tanev)?

Yeah, but none of the 4 are 6'2" or shorter.

[bleedblue2017]

Edler, Pedan, Tree, Gudbranson? Pretty obvious, they are all trees (Edler 6'4" 220lbs, Pedan 6'5" 230lbs, Gudbranson 6'5" 216lbs, and Tryamkin 6'8" 240lbs) if all four of these guys are on the starting roster that is scary!

[-Vintage Canuck-]

For the first time in a while, I'm not worried about our team not man-handling the opposing players. I believe with the recent additions of Tryamkin, Pedan, Gudbranson, we shouldn't worry about the lack of physicality and size of the team. A piece that is missing is a second line winger, that can score, pass, hit and take pressure off of the first line to pitch in for some secondary scoring.

[Salacious Crumb]

1 hour ago, bleedblue2017 said:

Yes, we will fair much better than last year, physically anyways. Scoring could be the down fall for us. Our defence looks poised to strike fear into most of the league, with four of our six dmen being 6'4" and 200+lbs or bigger, looks pretty impossing! The forwards will need to work hard to find twine, Ericson will help more than Vrbata, but still... If Sutter can stay healthy that will bode well. What will help the most is if Horvat and Bertchi continue where they left off from last season, if not it looks like our huge d corp is going to have to beat teams into submission.

Looks like we can look forward to lots of 2-1 games this season. We are built to trap at the moment. Hopefully our young guys can learn how to win the tight ones.

[bleedblue2017]

1 minute ago, Salacious Crumb said:

Looks like we can look forward to lots of 2-1 games this season. We are built to trap at the moment. Hopefully our young guys can learn how to win the tight ones.

I believe that they can and will, i am not to sure that we are giving these young guys enough credit, they are big, fast, strong, and talented, it is just a matter of time. As for trap hockey, i think we are built more for north south hockey, we have speed up front and size on the d end, not to mention like three big shots now from back there to (Edler, Gudbranson, Trymakin, Pedan has a big shot to) lots of potential goals from the d. I think we are in for a suprise, this team is better than it looks right now.

[bleedblue2017]

20 minutes ago, -Vintage Canuck- said:

For the first time in a while, I'm not worried about our team not man-handling the opposing players. I believe with the recent additions of Tryamkin, Pedan, Gudbranson, we shouldn't worry about the lack of physicality and size of the team. A piece that is missing is a second line winger, the can score, pass, hit and take pressure off of the first line to pitch in for some secondary scoring.

I agree, but i think Virtanen could be that second line guy if given the chance, size, speed, skill, and loves to hit, perfect fit on second line with Horvat and Bertchi. We haven't had a kid line for while, might be nice to try that out, if nothing else it could be fun to watch.

Bertchi, Horvat, Virtanen Defence Edler, Gudbranson. You never know what will work until you try.

[Salacious Crumb]

5 minutes ago, bleedblue2017 said:

I believe that they can and will, i am not to sure that we are giving these young guys enough credit, they are big, fast, strong, and talented, it is just a matter of time. As for trap hockey, i think we are built more for north south hockey, we have speed up front and size on the d end, not to mention like three big shots now from back there to (Edler, Gudbranson, Trymakin, Pedan has a big shot to) lots of potential goals from the d. I think we are in for a suprise, this team is better than it looks right now.

As Canucks fans we gotta hope so. 

 

JBs rebuild on the fly probably requires a couple of long shots to win or place. I would love to see if this is the place Kane tries to show he wants another contract in 2 years. Yes he's dragging around some negatives but if the light has gone on for him he would add some balance to the forwards. Having said that my dream sees Sbisa for Kane straight up.

[bleedblue2017]

2 hours ago, bubbaCHUCK said:

going with my gut on this... canucks are gonna give california HELL next year

either on the scoreboard or giving them some body blows.

everyone talks about how big tryamkin is, and say he's a stay-at-home defender. maybe he is. but i think he can play 2-way hockey and help with the offence. throwing big hits to retrieve the puck then pushing the puck up ice to his teammates.... god damn that must be tiring to play against. say hello to vancouvers new big country!!!

Please, let's not mention that guy (Big Country) could never understand the jiberish that came out of that guy! As far as Trymakin goes, i see him being like Gudbranson, really physical, ultra reliable in front of the net clearing rebounds and punishing anyone who looks at the goalie the wrong way, and chipping in offensively with maybe 15-20, 25 pts per season, his best quality is how imposing he is, he is HUGE!

[bleedblue2017]

2 minutes ago, Salacious Crumb said:

As Canucks fans we gotta hope so. 

 

JBs rebuild on the fly probably requires a couple of long shots to win or place. I would love to see if this is the place Kane tries to show he wants another contract in 2 years. Yes he's dragging around some negatives but if the light has gone on for him he would add some balance to the forwards. Having said that my dream sees Sbisa for Kane straight up.

Sbisa for Kane, there is not a hope for that, maybe Sbisa and a 2nd round pick for Kane, i highly doubt JB would give up that high of a pick. Above all that Kane is a wildcard, he loves the night life, as I recall so did Kassian, where is he?

[Jam126]

8 minutes ago, bleedblue2017 said:

Please, let's not mention that guy (Big Country) could never understand the jiberish that came out of that guy! As far as Trymakin goes, i see him being like Gudbranson, really physical, ultra reliable in front of the net clearing rebounds and punishing anyone who looks at the goalie the wrong way, and chipping in offensively with maybe 15-20, 25 pts per season, his best quality is how imposing he is, he is HUGE!

Tryamkin has a more finesse game than Guddy.

[bleedblue2017]

2 minutes ago, Jam126 said:

Tryamkin has a more finesse game than Guddy.

Mabey, we will see. It seems that way, but he has not played an entire season yet, and he did look a little awkward with the speed of the game, i am thinking that they will try to have him sit back abit more so that he does not get caught so much. This might dull down his offensive side a bit.

[IBatch]

On 7/9/2016 at 9:22 PM, Adarsh Sant said:

The past few years, the Canucks have been getting pushed around by the Bay Area teams. They haven't been able to keep up in speed or size or goaltending or scoring or defense. With the additions of Gudbranson and Eriksson, the return of Sutter, and the help of Virtanen's size, do you think the Canucks will be able to keep up this year? Or are we in for another year of 0-3 road trips against the California teams. Thoughts?

 

The more I think on this the more I like our chances.  ANA lost a good goalie and that will impact their ability to produce points (a good back-up is obviously vital in getting your points) LA whom already sucks, lost Lucic...leaving SJ who we traditionally do alright against though not so much as of late...they might be our biggest challenge.    I think we got younger this year which is going to help play these teams as we continue to develop.  We should expect at least a .500 showing against them - and continue to beat up on our easier divisional opponents.