JamesB Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 So preseason is over. As always there are things that made us smile and things that made us frown. But which is which? I tried to list some of the things I saw as positive and some of the negatives and I am curious about how other people saw things. As for the good, I think the obvious positive is Stecher, so I did not include him in the "good" list. In my view Stecher outplayed Larsen, Biega, and Tryamkin but will probably get sent to Utica anyway. I can understand the reasons and I might even agree with them, but I would be happier if he makes the team. But there are some other good stories as well. I have been really impressed by Hutton (and he has meshed well with Guddy). The Canucks did not have a good night on Corsi numbers against Edmonton, except Hutton. (See http://hockeystats.ca/game/2016010098). Hutton is a lot heavier (207 lbs at camp this year) and stronger than he was last year and is playing great. And Baertschi also looks great. I could not put everything on the list of choices for positives. Rodin and Sutter were also possibilities. As for negatives, Etem has obviously been disappointing, and I think Tryamkin and Virtanen have also struggled (possibly because of injury in Virtanen's case). As usual for preseason the Sedins coasted in the games they played, which is absolutely the right thing for them to do. Frankly, I am not sure it made sense for them to play at all in preseason. So at this stage it is too early to say much about their performance. The Canucks did not do as much scoring as I wanted but 19 goals in 7 games is not bad (2.71 goals per game). Goaltending was pretty much as expected (which is pretty good) and there was nothing particularly noteworthy about the PP or the PK so far. Tanev (good) and Sbisa (so-so) were about as expected, as were Hansen and Dorsett. One of the PTOs might make the team (probably Skille), kind of like Cracknell last year, but I do not see that as particularly significant. On the injury front, we can't complain too much. Rodin aggravated his knee, Virtanen hurt his shoulder, and Dorsett got roughed up in a fight. That is about par for the course for preseason. The Rodin situation is probably the most serious and it could be a while before he is 100%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cripplereh Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 so far so good as we have room to keep a couple up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nux4lyfe Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 I agree with everything except I have a feeling that Ruutu will get a contract instead of Skille. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davathor Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 As long as we can still beat the oilers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlwaysACanuckFan Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 First of all I felt this was a very competitive pre-season with alot of surprises like Stecher Gaunce Granlund Labate Skille just to name a few. So far I think Guddy and Huddy are a perfect pairing, playing with Guddy will be a huge benefit which will increase the confidence in Huddy. They are going to be fun to watch once the regular season gets going. I'd like to also point out that I was very impressed with Gaunce this pre-season, I think he played well enough to earn a roster spot. I was very impressed with what I seen from Stecher he sure can move the puck around well and has outplayed others. I seen alot positive things from Eriksson, Sutter, Granlund and Baertschi, especially the play along the boards to set up Virtanen's goal against the Flames. Edler had a pretty good pre-season as well. The negatives , I think Larsen has been outplayed by Stecher particularly in the 5v5. I don't think Burrows had a great pre-season but love him or hate him he will be back as a voice/mentor in the locker room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the harry Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 Special teams! It's funny but nobody seems to realize that the special teams have much improved and will be big this year. Both units at pp and both at pk are looking good, this will make a huge difference to last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocksterh8 Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 Overall 65 point team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canucklehead44 Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 Rodin's play, Rodin's injury is the answer to both. Granlund is a really nice surprise, as is Stecher and Gaunce. Labate was fun to watch and looks like a potential 4th liner. Disappointed Pedan got sent down, Etem's play and potential waiving (although Rodin's injury might buy him some more time). Larsen is exactly what I expected. Good offensively (potential 30 points) but a mess in his own end and very weak. Tryamkin was brutal, I am hoping with practice and coaching he will get better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfstonker Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 Unlike some I thought Biega had a good game. His mazy skate through the Oilers D culminating in a decent shot shows what he is capable of and if Stecher, Hutton or Larsen had done it we would have been lauding it on here. Beiga is a guy who steps up and he is far too easily written off on here. Stecher once more showed he is capable of bringing it at this level and didn't let his mistakes negatively influence his play. He marches to a different drum and that drum just beats faster than many players on our team. Jake MUST be carrying an injury. He looked like Kassian of old out there, which is worrying. He needs a spell in Utica where he can recover and get his game back. Edler as I suspected, looks back on form and so all the haters will have to crawl away and wait for another opportunity. Etem tried hard but I'm afraid he was coming from too far back to make much difference. I would happily risk him on waivers. Hutton is now looking like a young Hammer. Granlund had a real eye opener. If he can keep that up, he has won me over. Gaunce looks like the real deal and I just wonder what he would be like further up the lines. Marky was solid and seems to settle those in front of him. Larsen wasn't bad, he just strikes me as being too lightweight to fulfil his defensive duties. His mistake to swap sides on the forward was worrying and if we are going to have one PP puck mover it has to be Stech for me. Baertschi looked a beast out there and like Stecher sees the game slow in his mind which allows him to operate faster than many of his team mates, fortunately Bo is not one of them. Now for the sad part, the time I never thought would come. - I can't wait for the Sedins to retire. - Don't get me wrong, they still have a lot to offer but I feel their laboured style actually kills our momentum now. They play such a predictable game it is only because they are so good at it that they get away with it. However I do think their days of getting away with it are coming to an end and frankly they just don't play the high tempo game that Willie seems to favour and that's what I mean by killing our momentum. I may be wrong and if I am I will hold my hand up but I saw it in the WC of Hockey and I am seeing the same thing in the Canucks. Can Loui save them, I hope so but I'm not convinced. They will be hard to replace but I would hope that we are not going to look for the same type of player. We need speed, grit, skill and hustle on the top line and we don't need to replicate the twins game, we need to change direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drsofthands Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 I'm pretty sure i was the only person on these boards saying how granlund was going to have a good season, Im always right Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathew Barzal Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 Yeah, I remain firm in my pessimism for Larsen. But I had no idea Granlund had this in him, I really hope he can bring this in the regular season because it would bring some much needed skilled depth. I had him misconstrued as some lame jack of all trades, master of none type player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlanB Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 17 minutes ago, alfstonker said: Now for the sad part, the time I never thought would come. - I can't wait for the Sedins to retire. - Don't get me wrong, they still have a lot to offer but I feel their laboured style actually kills our momentum now. They play such a predictable game it is only because they are so good at it that they get away with it. Predictable - yet no one has been able to effectively stop them for over a decade. They have nothing to do with 'killing our momentum' - that was the former management's fault by not obtaining/acquiring the proper assets along the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cramarossa Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 Hard to choose just one for each category. Of course I picked the evolution of my boy Markus Granlund as the "good"; he's been a point per game player in the preseason so far, similar to his AHL days. Edler's quiet offensive production (7 points, I think?) pleasantly surprised me too, especially since he's coming off a pretty major injury. Also like Sutter's game now that he's back in the swing of things. Skille was my favorite PTO. As for the bad, I wasn't expecting much from Etem either way, but it's disappointing that he's basically been a ghost this preseason (comical slips and falls notwithstanding). I really wish Tryamkin was willing to stay in the US and develop in the A as opposed to the KHL; his conditioning, positioning, and English all obviously still need some work, and the KHL isn't goingto help him with any of it. I don't even know where to start with Larsen... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfstonker Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 17 minutes ago, PlanB said: Predictable - yet no one has been able to effectively stop them for over a decade. They have nothing to do with 'killing our momentum' - that was the former management's fault by not obtaining/acquiring the proper assets along the way. Firstly, I dispute that statement. Recently they have been quite effectively stopped by quite a few teams. Calgary for one comes to mind. If you had understood my post I was talking about NOW not the 4 years Gillis failed to support them properly. I stand by what I said. It is my opinion on the basis of what I have seen in the last season or so that they are not playing the style we are moving to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainKool Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 Yesterday against the Oilers, that 2nd period was ugly, especially the shift when we got "sedined" by the Oilers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickels Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 Agree with most said here already.... Loui's a HUGE addition....not only for what he brings,but how he should elevate the twins(and others) Granlund was a nice surprise...our winger line up would be a mess w/o him stepping up. To me Jake's play was the biggest disappointment. Also, there was no question that Stetcher beat out Larsen for the #3 RHD spot. Larsen however seems to be getting job, and whether it matters at all seems to be the twins choice to run the PP. Giving Larsen the benefit of the doubt, and saying the PP play is a wash, Stecher is far better defensively and rounds out our D much better than Larsen. Larsen/Sbisa will be a disaster. Giving Stecher and Sbisa 3rd pairing D mins will be fine, and spotting Stecher up w/Edler, and Sbisa w/Tanev gives us 3 real solid pairings to roll when needed. Hope Rodin's ok....real need another middle 6 winger to round out fwd group. Really liked some of the new looks on the PP (apparently via the Sedins) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alflives Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 2 minutes ago, nickels said: Agree with most said here already.... To me Jake's play was the biggest disappointment. Also, there was no question that Stetcher beat out Larsen for the #3 RHD spot. Larsen however seems to be getting job, and whether it matters at all seems to be the twins choice to run the PP. Giving Larsen the benefit of the doubt, and saying the PP play is a wash, Stecher is far better defensively and rounds out our D much better than Larsen. Larsen/Sbisa will be a disaster. Giving Stecher and Sbisa 3rd pairing D mins will be fine, and spotting Stecher up w/Edler, and Sbisa w/Tanev gives us 3 real solid pairings to roll. Hope Rodin's ok....real need another middle 6 winger to round out fwd group. The whole Larsen v Stecher issue actually has me feeling a bit sorry for our coach. The guy's job is clearly on the line, and he knows Larsen hurts their chances of winning. He also knows he needs Stecher to have a better chance of winning. I wonder if .WD (PUBLICLY) praises Stecher so much, because he's trying to force management to keep Stecher? What's WD got to lose at this point by publicly contradicting JB position on Larsen? WD is fighting for his job, and deserves to have the roster HE FEELS is best, without management getting involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynwa Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 No question in my mind that Stecher deserves a spot, Larsen at best was average as was Tryamkin. I thought Ruutu showed his class on occasion, but not consistently (age?). The most promising sign was how some of the younger players are starting to put it together. I think it bodes well for the future—2 seasons away maybe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danaimo Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 The thing that I like most about the pre season has not been who is the 4th line LW or who mans the blueline on the second unit PP. It has been the number of hits that this team is laying each game. In most games we have out hit our opponents and this has directly led to better offense and less time on defence. The addition of Gudbranson, Ruutu and Skille and the development of Tryamkin, Guance and Etem should see an increase in hits over the season. This franchise is consistently amongst the lowest in terms of hits each year. I predict that they will be in the top 10 for the first time this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hlinkas wrister Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 6 minutes ago, ynwa said: No question in my mind that Stecher deserves a spot, Larsen at best was average as was Tryamkin. I thought Ruutu showed his class on occasion, but not consistently (age?). The most promising sign was how some of the younger players are starting to put it together. I think it bodes well for the future—2 seasons away maybe? go reds! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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