WCQF: (4) St. Louis Blues vs. (5) Vancouver Canucks

[Nuxfanabroad]

1 hour ago, sassbs said:

 

Market crash?!

[Rush17]

I love Travis' response to Dan Rosen's question 

 

I time stamped it just click to hear the clip.

 

 

[Alienhuggyflow]

7 hours ago, Maniwaki Canuck said:

They should.  We can play their game better than they can play ours.  If we can dictate a speed game half the time, hit their D while we're at it, and hold our own the rest, we'll be alright.

This was the matchup I wanted. We matchup very well against them and they rely on Binnington and their PP as much or more then we rely on Marky and our PP. Our forward group even if you at Vlad, for them still had more then double the amount of guys with 20 goals or had been on pace for it.

Losing Jay B and Edmonson has weakened their D. Best part is, there is zero pressure, nobody outside of Vancouver except Button is giving us much of a chance, we also have momentum while already surviving a real playoff type series.

[Gator]

7 hours ago, luckylager said:

Hard disagree.

Myers needs to play exactly like he did vs Minny to keep the message consistent.

We're not a turn the other cheek playoff team anymore, that mentality brought us nothing but heartbreak. It's time to be assholes and make our opponents skate away with their heads down after getting abused.

 

Myers and his mean streak are key to setting the tone. Green won't be asking him to dial it down at all.

Being disciplined is nothing to do with being physical and stepping up for team mates. Idk why people confuse the 2 as the same thing.

 

I agree with what you are saying. What I'm saying is he needs to stop taking the dumb meaningless penalties. The Blues WILL capitalize a good % on the PP. how will we beat them if Myers has us down a man 3 times a game? 

 

There are such things as big clean hits and fighting to send a message that doesnt put your team down a man against the defending champs

[Gator]

7 hours ago, King Heffy said:

You promised you'd stop moaning about him if he didn't take another penalty after your post in the GDT last game.  He didn't.  Time to pay the piper.

Well you got me there 

 

He did have a trip in the 2nd though but it wasn't called because Wild scored about a half second after it happened. That should count 

Edited August 11, 2020 by Brock Botanen

[spook007]

14 hours ago, luckylager said:

He didn't really do much that usually gets called in the playoffs though.

Crease play is usually just ignored. Maybe that's only vs Canucks, but still, I want to see him come out heavy and mean. Find the line before being afraid to cross it

Agree 100% Lucky... still have bad memories about our players playing 'nice' hockey (while being anything but)....

While needless tripping and hooking pens are of huge frustration, I don't mind a few roughing calls... 

Once Steen and the rest of Blues big boys (especially their massive D-core) starts to hammer Petey and Hughes, shift after shift, and they will try to, pray to god that Myers and Edler doesn't become mice, but make them look over their shoulder all the time...

I fear for the health of our young players, if we revert to 'nice' hockey....

 

We may have beat the Blues during regular season, but this is where size really start to matter....and will be felt...

Edited August 11, 2020 by spook007

[Silent Man]

OK, one more sleep. GCG!

[reyezone]

9 hours ago, lmm said:

Nice job, you've brought this convo around full circle and are starting the second lap

I'm not sure if your being sarcastic or not but ever since Motte was acquired I have been impressed with his all around game and intensity on the puck.

Some have said his puck skills are not there but I would challenge them to watch a little closer- I think he does have puck handling skills and a shot that could lend to a more offensive role. I agree with a previous poster that once signed long term to a bottom six type contract, we may see him played up the lineup, especially with the squeeze on over the next few years with the flat cap looming.

[IBatch]

4 hours ago, Brock Botanen said:

Being disciplined is nothing to do with being physical and stepping up for team mates. Idk why people confuse the 2 as the same thing.

 

I agree with what you are saying. What I'm saying is he needs to stop taking the dumb meaningless penalties. The Blues WILL capitalize a good % on the PP. how will we beat them if Myers has us down a man 3 times a game? 

 

There are such things as big clean hits and fighting to send a message that doesnt put your team down a man against the defending champs

Myers was called for maybe 1-5 things he did that were technically illegal.   I’m curious to see how the refs start calling it now the official playoffs are starting and am hopeful he does exactly the same thing (constantly cross-checking and hitting/punching everything that moves).    Those calls should go down to 1-8 but it’s hard to predict that.   The penalties were also fairly even in the series - which is another thing to consider .... Myers going to the box also resulted in other guys going to the box.   Retaliation and even up calls.   Myers didn’t hurt us - he helped us big time.   As long as our special teams are up to the task - which for sure they were against MIN, I don’t think the results should be any different playing St Louis.  Hopefully he finds the line and uses it perfectly but that’s impossible.  
 

The only penalties I didn’t like were the two from Pearson game one.   Those are “lazy” or team momentum killers.    Cross-checking and roughing up everything that moved reminds me of how Diduck, Babych and especially Murzyn used to clear the net and keep the defensive zone a horrible place for opposing forwards to play in.   It’s been a very long time since we’ve had anyone willing to do that - Mitchell maybe and Jovo maybe...definitely nothing we had on the Sedin team including KB who was one of my favourites on that team.   Hard to do at 5’11” 190lbs....

 

He’s playing like Chara or Pronger back there - nasty and mean - no thanks to reeling that in one bit.    Even if it costs us some goals we will get the even up calls.   Hard thing to put a price on - but after a decade of whining on this site about team toughness and being the victims out there I for one was absolutely stoked with Myers play - it energized the entire line-up IMO knowing they had a monster back there throwing his weight around at every chance he had.   MIN was/is also a big heavy team.   The only thing that bugs me a little is where was this Giraffe beast mode during the regular season ha ha...

[CanucksJay]

14 hours ago, theo5789 said:

Motte had 56 points in 38 games on the top line in Michigan, albeit with two good linemates. I wouldn't write it off completely that he couldn't mess well with the right linemates in the top 6 and produce (see Burrows).

 

No one thought William Karlsson was anything more than a 3rd/4th liner, then he joined Vegas. You never know.

Yeah can't write anyone off so i took another look at his numbers and compared to Burrows. Burrows  was definitely a late bloomer. When he was 24 turning 25, he was still in the AHL and finally started showing offensive prowess by putting up 30 pts in 33 games. 

Motte had been on a different track from the beginning. He has never shown those types of numbers in the pro league because pretty much as soon as he finished college, he was playing pro hockey between Rockford and Chicago. 

I didn't realize he's only 25 playing in his 4 th nhl season. 

He's always been bottom 6 and fighting to make the team so you are right. 

We don't know what he is capable of. 

When looking with the eye test though, i dont see much creativity on offence, he has good speed, ok puck handling and a mediocre shot and non existent passing. A typical Motte  rush is burying his head and trying to beat the defender wide and then shooting it at the goalie's crest. 

That being said, maybe he's making safe plays in a 4th line role and doing what he needs to stay in the NHL for now. Better a safe play then to turn the puck over and get benched. 

Man, what a stud. This guy plays like a vet and is so dependable. 

[theo5789]

19 minutes ago, CanucksJay said:

Yeah can't write anyone off so i took another look at his numbers and compared to Burrows. Burrows  was definitely a late bloomer. When he was 24 turning 25, he was still in the AHL and finally started showing offensive prowess by putting up 30 pts in 33 games. 

Motte had been on a different track from the beginning. He has never shown those types of numbers in the pro league because pretty much as soon as he finished college, he was playing pro hockey between Rockford and Chicago. 

I didn't realize he's only 25 playing in his 4 th nhl season. 

He's always been bottom 6 and fighting to make the team so you are right. 

We don't know what he is capable of. 

When looking with the eye test though, i dont see much creativity on offence, he has good speed, ok puck handling and a mediocre shot and non existent passing. A typical Motte  rush is burying his head and trying to beat the defender wide and then shooting it at the goalie's crest. 

That being said, maybe he's making safe plays in a 4th line role and doing what he needs to stay in the NHL for now. Better a safe play then to turn the puck over and get benched. 

Man, what a stud. This guy plays like a vet and is so dependable. 

I, by no means, was suggesting Motte was Burrows v2.0. I was simply suggesting that just cause players are pegged into bottom 6 roles doesn't mean they don't have potential to find success in the top 6. It happens and I provided examples. Motte may never be and that's fine too because at the very least, he's good at what he does. However I wouldn't be upset if he's given a look and wouldn't think it's an insane idea. Some players simply mesh with certain linemates and that's what happened to Burrows otherwise he's most likely a career bottom 6 guy. Motte has a pedigree of offensive success to at least corroborate that there is potential for this. So no, he's not going to walk into a top 6 role on his own with the skills that he has, but he's got the work ethic and drive to make a line effective.

[nux_win]

11 hours ago, guntrix said:

High sticks to the face and trips will always be called no matter the team. This isn’t playing with grit, it’s just flat out being undisciplined.

 

One of the biggest things that failed for the Wild in this series was their PP. Had it not been completely ineffective, we could have just as easily lost the series. 
 

Would you be saying the same thing if we were eliminated? 

No disrespect meant but have you actually watched any NHL playoffs before?  High sticks to the face and trips are occasionally called.  I actually wish that they would call penalties the same in the playoffs as in the regular season but that doesn't seem to be the case - ever (despite the NHL always insisting that penalties don't change).  The reality is that penalties are called differently in the playoffs and aggressive play is rewarded and passive play doesn't win much sympathy.  Like I said, I wish they would call the penalties more consistently, but they don't, and so to have any success in the playoffs we have to play more aggressively than we would otherwise.  I'm fine with the way Myers has been playing.  That's what's needed (for better or worse).  For once we're initiating the rough stuff instead of having to respond to it.  That's the way to win in the playoffs.  Now retaliation penalties are another story (and yes we should generally avoid those - but even then it's a war out there and we have to stick up for our guys).  I like these new Canucks.  The young guys seem to be learning playoff hockey fast and the vets know the story already.  Go Canucks Go!

[-DLC-]

This has likely already been posted but I haven't seen it and it's FIRED ME UP.

 

LETTTT'S GOOOOOOOO ALREADDDY!

 

 

[-DLC-]

12 hours ago, guntrix said:

High sticks to the face and trips will always be called no matter the team. This isn’t playing with grit, it’s just flat out being undisciplined.

 

One of the biggest things that failed for the Wild in this series was their PP. Had it not been completely ineffective, we could have just as easily lost the series. 
 

Would you be saying the same thing if we were eliminated? 

This is your opinion.  However, I've pointed out stills/pictures of the many undisciplined plays that went unnoticed by refs that the Wild commited.

 

Playoffs are tough and I prefer if the refs put the whistles away.  They dabbled and that's called being inconsistent.  Some of the penalties were VERY weak.  The Wild grabbed sticks all series long and made it look like they were being held up.  

 

"Had it not been"?  It was.  Don't suggest they could have...they didn't.  Don't them for not beating us, credit us for beating them.  We weren't eliminated so not sure what throwing this into your argument is for except to distract.   Don't feel sorry for the Wild...they tried and weren't successful.  It was a good series and someone has to win/lose.  But dreaming about the "what if's" isn't really something most are doing at this point. 

 

Always be called?  That's a stretch.  

 

The team IS playing with grit and anyone trying to slam them for not doing so is suspect to me, and here's why.  It was a very tough series and the penalties, except for the first game where Sutherland was reffing and wanted to start with a bang, were pretty even.  It wasn't just the Canucks playing "undisciplined" hockey...they were fighting back and the penalties were even for games 2-4.  Our guys fought, blocked shots, cleared out our crease (which is generally part of playoff hockey and where Myers got "caught" doing everyday playoff things and got called for crosschecking..I urge you to check the photo galleries to see, firsthand, what crosschecks look like using Petey as the example).  They started going to their net when perimeter shots weren't working and got under Stalock's skin (effective), Petey went "back" at them rather than whining to the refs (like they started doing).  I'd say we played grittier than they did toward the end because they were looking for calls and we weren't.  They started whining at the refs and that isn't gritty.

 

[UKNuck96]

29 minutes ago, CanucksJay said:

Yeah can't write anyone off so i took another look at his numbers and compared to Burrows. Burrows  was definitely a late bloomer. When he was 24 turning 25, he was still in the AHL and finally started showing offensive prowess by putting up 30 pts in 33 games. 

Motte had been on a different track from the beginning. He has never shown those types of numbers in the pro league because pretty much as soon as he finished college, he was playing pro hockey between Rockford and Chicago. 

I didn't realize he's only 25 playing in his 4 th nhl season. 

He's always been bottom 6 and fighting to make the team so you are right. 

We don't know what he is capable of. 

When looking with the eye test though, i dont see much creativity on offence, he has good speed, ok puck handling and a mediocre shot and non existent passing. A typical Motte  rush is burying his head and trying to beat the defender wide and then shooting it at the goalie's crest. 

That being said, maybe he's making safe plays in a 4th line role and doing what he needs to stay in the NHL for now. Better a safe play then to turn the puck over and get benched. 

Man, what a stud. This guy plays like a vet and is so dependable. 

Didn’t realise he was only 25. Plays like an old timer bottom 6, dependable, gritty and sensible. 
 

Bit I agree there may be a bit more upside we may yet see from him. Remember when Janick Hanson was ‘stone hands’ I think motte will be more like honey badger than burrows if we are talking similar players. Useful up and down the line, and willing to do any role he is given for the good of the team 

[UKNuck96]

6 minutes ago, debluvscanucks said:

This has likely already been posted but I haven't seen it and it's FIRED ME UP.

 

LETTTT'S GOOOOOOOO ALREADDDY!

 

 

Shame it’s plexi and not seamless glass anymore 

[HKSR]

1 hour ago, IBatch said:

Myers was called for maybe 1-5 things he did that were technically illegal.   I’m curious to see how the refs start calling it now the official playoffs are starting and am hopeful he does exactly the same thing (constantly cross-checking and hitting/punching everything that moves).    Those calls should go down to 1-8 but it’s hard to predict that.   The penalties were also fairly even in the series - which is another thing to consider .... Myers going to the box also resulted in other guys going to the box.   Retaliation and even up calls.   Myers didn’t hurt us - he helped us big time.   As long as our special teams are up to the task - which for sure they were against MIN, I don’t think the results should be any different playing St Louis.  Hopefully he finds the line and uses it perfectly but that’s impossible.  
 

The only penalties I didn’t like were the two from Pearson game one.   Those are “lazy” or team momentum killers.    Cross-checking and roughing up everything that moved reminds me of how Diduck, Babych and especially Murzyn used to clear the net and keep the defensive zone a horrible place for opposing forwards to play in.   It’s been a very long time since we’ve had anyone willing to do that - Mitchell maybe and Jovo maybe...definitely nothing we had on the Sedin team including KB who was one of my favourites on that team.   Hard to do at 5’11” 190lbs....

 

He’s playing like Chara or Pronger back there - nasty and mean - no thanks to reeling that in one bit.    Even if it costs us some goals we will get the even up calls.   Hard thing to put a price on - but after a decade of whining on this site about team toughness and being the victims out there I for one was absolutely stoked with Myers play - it energized the entire line-up IMO knowing they had a monster back there throwing his weight around at every chance he had.   MIN was/is also a big heavy team.   The only thing that bugs me a little is where was this Giraffe beast mode during the regular season ha ha...

I'm with you 100% on this one.  The way Myers is playing is EXACTLY what we want.  I don't care if he takes penalties because the refs won't call him for every single infraction.  The more nasty he is, the better.  He has the size to back it up too. 

Too bad Tryamkin didn't come back for the playoffs to do the same thing.  Would have been a nasty defence with both of them back there lol

 

[UKNuck96]

Unfortunately he would needed to have signed before December I believe to be eligible, but having both of them in the line up would be intimidating 

[Nucker 67]

Playoffs start today, so excited. Hopefully the Canucks are focused and ready for tomorrow. Forget about the MIN series, it's done. Bigger task ahead, but I think they can do it. Miller, Roussel, Sutter, Eriksson, Edler, Tanev, Myers, those veterans are giving their all right now, they want to win. Pettersson has really impressed. He's not afraid of anyone. Hughes is a phenomenal skater and has incredible vision. STL better try and be ready for him. Boeser looks better than he's ever looked, and faster. I think it may come down to Markstrom and how solid he can play. No more softies under the arm Marky.

[JM_]

14 hours ago, PhillipBlunt said:

Exactly. The Wild were embarrassing. I’d take Tyler Myers and his willingness to use his size any day over Ryan Hartman and his wreckless gutless play. 

I got the impression that the series was disappointing for those that don't want to see pushback. Myers set a great tone, and I have no doubt it rubbed off on Petey. It was awesome to watch Petey find his 'angry Petey' mode. If Green shuts down the aggressive play I don't think we see that progression in Petey.