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Gaunce and Virtanen again?


hobart16

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Will Green ride the Guance and Virtanen pairing again?  No Sutter/Dorseet and Gaunce/Virtanen looked pretty good together against the top scoring team in the league (credit to Granlund too) and they had a physical presence when they were on the ice.  I suspect Travis will slip Gaunce in with Bo and Boeser from time to time too on the D end instead of Goldobin, say at the end of period if we have the lead or tied.  If Virtanen tightens up in the D end, starts checking hard again, he might find himself getting a bunch more minutes (and maybe more shot attempts) than if he keeps looking for his shot and to release out of the zone.  

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Gaunce is right on the precipice of scoring, he's come so close to burying the puck several times, but it hasn't happened yet. I have a feeling once he gets his 1st, we may see more from him. I like Gaunce and Virtanen together, two young guns trying to make their claim why they belong, I think it's helping them both out playing together. I think they'll find some success. Gaunce is very good defensively, and Jake has the wheels and shot.

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14 minutes ago, beni said:

I like how Gaunce passed instead of his first goal being an empty netter a week or two ago. 

 

Hopefully they can get the scoring going. 

I bet his teammates noticed that pass too.  That's why Gaunce is a leader.  

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I'm over Gaunce.

 

I appreciate the defensive game he brings, but this goalless drought is getting a little ridiculous. And people on here pretend that once he gets once he's gonna make a habit of scoring. There is no evidence to support that.

 

No contending team will have a forward on it that can't score a goal. Until Gaunce is off this team, we won't be a contender unless he massively turns his game around.

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1 hour ago, NUCKER67 said:

Gaunce is right on the precipice of scoring, he's come so close to burying the puck several times, but it hasn't happened yet. I have a feeling once he gets his 1st, we may see more from him. ....

 

1 hour ago, beni said:

I like how Gaunce passed instead of his first goal being an empty netter a week or two ago. 

 

Hopefully they can get the scoring going. 

 

1 hour ago, Fateless said:

I'm over Gaunce.

 

I appreciate the defensive game he brings, but this goalless drought is getting a little ridiculous. And people on here pretend that once he gets once he's gonna make a habit of scoring. There is no evidence to support that.

 

No contending team will have a forward on it that can't score a goal. Until Gaunce is off this team, we won't be a contender unless he massively turns his game around.

Gaunce has been unlucky not to score, but he will need to start scoring soon.

 

Gaunce scored on his second shot in 2015/16. (It was actually a deflection off his skate if I remember correctly). Since then he has had 104 shots on goal without scoring again. That is an amazingly high number, especially for a forward. Even if we count the first one, he has 1 goal in 106 shots in the past 3 seasons.

 

At the other end of the spectrum, Boeser has 17 goals in 109 shots in NHL regular season games. I am not saying Gaunce has to equal Boeser. The league average shooting percentage is 9.3%. For forwards it is higher, roughly 11%. So we would expect Gaunce to have maybe 11 or 12 NHL goals so far, not just 1.

 

The normal conventional wisdom is that some guys are consistently effective shooters (like Stamkos, Crosby, Malkin, Laine, etc. -- and Boeser looks to be in that category) but most guys will converge to something close to the league average over time. Forwards who are consistently way below the league average will a hard time staying in the NHL, but if they are good set-up guys and generate quite a few assists, that can be okay. And of course defensive specialists can be valuable, especially if they contribute to the physical game.

 

I am not sure how much more rope Gaunce has. He is good defensively. He can pass the puck. He is big enough to wear down opponents in puck battles, and he is making hits.

 

Here is an interesting stat. I just calculated hits per minute played so far this year. Here are the Canuck leaders:

 

1. Biega -- 19.4%

2. Virtanen -- 13.0%

3. Dorsett -- 12.7%

4. Gaunce -- 11.7%

5. Gudbranson -- 11.6%

5. Del Zotto -- 10.3%

 

(But I am pretty sure that Guddy has the lead in "impact per hit".)

 

There is a big drop-off after MDZ. The next forward is Sutter at 5.4%.

 

Green has clearly made the decision that Gaunce is better than Burmistrov. And I agree. But if he wants to stay in the line-up when Sutter comes back, I think he needs to start putting the puck in the net at least occasionally.

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12 minutes ago, AbrasiveAjax said:

One bottom 6 player hardly makes a team a contender or non contender in my humble opinion.

I would say your correct, but usually it is an unlikely hero that comes up clutch and scores that tying or game winning goal. They're usually bottom 6 guys. Solid 3rd and 4th lines are the reason why teams win championships. 

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32 minutes ago, Camel Toe Drag said:

I would say your correct, but usually it is an unlikely hero that comes up clutch and scores that tying or game winning goal. They're usually bottom 6 guys. Solid 3rd and 4th lines are the reason why teams win championships. 

Totally agree

 

I forgot to hit the quote when i replied. I was replying to Fateless post

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1 hour ago, Fateless said:

I'm over Gaunce.

 

I appreciate the defensive game he brings, but this goalless drought is getting a little ridiculous. And people on here pretend that once he gets once he's gonna make a habit of scoring. There is no evidence to support that.

 

No contending team will have a forward on it that can't score a goal. Until Gaunce is off this team, we won't be a contender unless he massively turns his game around.

Personally, I don't really care if Gaunce scores or not. I picture him as a player who is here to develop into a player that can do all of the small things. It's easy to want every player to score, but if teams were that simple-minded, there would be no strategy. Instead you also have your grinders, the players that wear the opposition down and allow for the players who can score to recoup. That's what I picture Gaunce as more than anything.

 

That being said, if there ends up being better options for us later on, then I say we pursue those options instead.

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2 hours ago, SILLY GOOSE said:

I suspect he will keep them together couple of games.  They are a quick, physical and hard forechecking line.  But they need to start producing or it might not last much longer.  Like you say defensively they HAVE to be good.

No, actually they don't.

Gaunce is hovering in around - actually below - Manny Malhotra territory - at 13% offensive zone starts.

No coach expects a player to produce in that kind of a role - let alone a rookie shutdown guy stepping up in the absence of guys like Sutter and Dorsett.

Likewise with Jake - when he's with Gaunce in that role -as they were last game - there is no 'need to start producing'.

Last game they had the best underlying numbers on the team - very low ozone starts, break even corsi - and they're generating positive territory for the other lines to take advantage of.  As long as they're playing like that and producing that kind of possession and territorial results, they are more than doing their job and it's on the other lines to actually do the producing.

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Gaunce is a very good example for all young players.  He's defensively reliable and he's coachable.  

It's one thing if he's given a top-6 role and not scoring, but he isn't brought into score, although it would be nice if he does.

He's in the lineup to free up defensive minutes from guys like Horvat, Baertschi, etc.  To allow those players who are running the Canucks offense to focus on scoring.  

 

To put things into perspective.... Sutter has 6 points, Granlund has only 5 points.... and they both played most of the season.  Not sure why Gaunce seems to get hate from some posters... he was drafted as a strong 2-way forward (at least now he's good defensively), who is good postionally, and is a big body.  He's already being trusted by Green to protect leads and from what I remember, on the ice for the final minute against the Leafs and Kings to protect the win.  

 

Remember when Burrows played 81 games one season and only got 9 points.... I bet tons of people wanted him off the team.  

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Gaunce has shown he can score when deployed in such a role, granted it was the AHL. He is taking on a very different role on the Canucks and starting to find his footing and doing all the right things a young player should. It's a little early to just give up on his offensive game. It's not like he didn't have any scoring chances. With his extremely low Ozone starts, he's getting more than his fair share of scoring chances. 

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They're both big, fast and create havoc. I'd like to see them with Sutter when he comes back. In the mean time, it appears Green is comfortable playing that line against any of the opposing team's lines. 

 

As for the Gaunce hate, yes he badly needs to score, but he is also one of our more effective defensive forwards. With Dorsett and Sutter out, you can see how valuable it is for a guy like Gaunce to step up. I'm not sure that one goal will lead to many more, but if he start producing something that should satisfy you haters. 

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Theres no chance gaunce plays with bo and brock and tbh i dont wanna see it

 

gaunce is just a defence first cautious type player with no comparison to jake as jake has speed and scoring upside something gaunce wont ever have 

 

hes a good injury filler on the depth chart

and thats a positive for the team as we need responsible guys to plug holes throughout the injury bugs along the way  

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@bree2

You don’t think Gaunce is a leader?  Do remember during his and Tryamkin’s prospect’s camp, how Gaunce literally pushed Try up this last bit of the Grouse Grind.  Do you remember Gaunce blocking a shot with his face, and staying out and finishing his shift bleeding?  He’s been a captain on many of his teams too.  Explain why Gaunce is not a leader.  

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