Markstrom Appreciation Thread

[Ghostsof1915]

I thank him and Tanev for their hard work, and ability here. But to Calgary? Really? New Jersey I would have been ok with. Anywhere back East I'd be ok with. 

 

 

[Maniwaki Canuck]

I don't doubt that both Marky and Tanev legitimately wanted to stay here.  In the end, management wasn't willing to give them anything close to what they got elsewhere, and this is the result.  Can't blame either side:  it was just a bad fit between where these guys are in their careers and how our team is shaping up. 

Marky willed us back into respectability as a team, at times almost single-handedly.  We should all be grateful for that.  He may get the upper hand on us for the next couple of years but in the big picture, we will continue to rise and Calgary will decline.  From a hockey standpoint this is ultimately going to hurt him more than it hurts us. 

So I'm happy just to say thanks and "don't be sorry it's over, be glad it happened".  His finest moments as a player will have been with us.

[sockeye]

All the best to Marky our MVP.

[philtbc829]

On 10/10/2020 at 11:09 AM, The Listening said:

Hey everyone,

 

Mods can take this down if not appropriate but with Markstrom signing with the Flames today, I just wanted to give a shout out to him. When we traded for him to send Luongo back to the Panthers, I wasn't expecting much. Markstrom at that point was considered a bust and personally I had no hope for him to ever become more than a fringe NHL goalie. His first few games were a mess, letting in goals on real loose plays and doing 360s in the crease when players were behind him. I was terrified when I saw him in net. Benning decided to ship him down to help him develop, and he never complained once. Markstrom took the demotion, grinded in the AHL and aimed to be better to earn his spot. 

 

And better he got, he gets called back up after standing out in the AHL, and ends up becoming our MVP for two years. The guy stole enough games for us to be considered a legit robber. I never Wyou a chance, but man, I'm so glad you proved me wrong. You deserve the pay day, term and stability in your life for working as hard as you did to become an elite goaltender. I wish nothing but the best for Markstrom, even if he's playing for Calgary. Thanks for some good memories, make some more good ones there.

Great words there, nothing more that I can add, wishing you all the best Marky, gonna hate seeing the Flames jersey on you but that's hockey

[triangulate]

All the best Marky!  Hope you get to take that audi with you.

[Gnarcore]

14 hours ago, Ghostsof1915 said:

I thank him and Tanev for their hard work, and ability here. But to Calgary? Really? New Jersey I would have been ok with. Anywhere back East I'd be ok with. 

 

 

Yup. They can say what they want but was all about the money. Which is fine. I don't expect everyone to feel loyalty to a team with how the business is these days. Go get paid what you can while you can. But they've put on the flaming jersey so &^@# em both. 

[DS4quality]

Peace out Marky, no hard feelings you need to get paid and you deserve it. I wish you nothing but a terrible Goals Against and a below. 850% save percentage. 

Thank you for services

[IBatch]

On 10/9/2020 at 8:42 PM, nergish said:

His role was diminished? He got hurt...

I really don't think it's a ludicrous statement at all, if anything more of a reminder of how weak our organization has been in goal until the last decade or so.

 

Honestly, which Canucks goaltender would you place above Markstrom? 

Dan Cloutier? Cory Schneider? Garth Snow? Bob Essensa? Felix Potvin? Kevin Weekes? Ryan Miller? Andrew Raycroft? Johan Hedberg? Jason LaBarbera? John Garrett? 

 

Just think about it.

 

Luongo, McLean - both runners up for the Vezina, both better sp during their runs to the final, Broduer - one of the better goalies in two leagues for a long time, also the reason we made it to the final the first time.   Gary Smith in Hart trophy voting and the winner, Bobby Clark said during his speech Smith was more deserving (that’s how bad we were and how important he was to that team), then Schneider - Markstrom should be on the list before him but not by much.   18 months of top ten goaltending and 6 months of maybe top 5.   When Schneider was traded he was considered a top five goalie.    One year of .918sp, an average of .911.   Yes he’s looking to be a top goalie right now - but it’s a fickle position.   At least he has time to turn his losing record around, and that was of course no fault to him alone, but for years that first shot or two going in was hard to stomach.   Statistically one could make and argument for Cloutier regular seasons to add him to the list but I wouldn’t dare be so rude ha ha.   IF we kept and Demko went elsewhere, for sure he’d have a decent shot at ending up number two or three on the list .... but he’s definitely not the second best all-time as of right now. 

[IBatch]

7 hours ago, Gnarcore said:

Yup. They can say what they want but was all about the money. Which is fine. I don't expect everyone to feel loyalty to a team with how the business is these days. Go get paid what you can while you can. But they've put on the flaming jersey so &^@# em both. 

Yes.   Sucks to see them both go,  going to CAL is almost as bad as watching an expansion team in our division snap up him or Demko.   The bright side might be maybe this can re-heat arguably our oldest - and definitely our best - rivalry.   For years watching Otto vs Linden, and Stern (both sides ha ha), Momesso, Antoski, Odjick, Hunter (both sides again ha ha), Diduck, Kruse, Sandy McCarthy, Butcher, et al beat the tar out of each other practically every game .... those games were battles beyond anything we’ve seen since the early WCE years.  
 

Get that fighting is almost gone from the game comparatively but it sure made me look ahead at the schedule at circle certain dates (WNP too).   Maybe on the bright side some of this old hate will filter in.   

[Kevin Biestra]

9 minutes ago, IBatch said:

Luongo, McLean - both runners up for the Vezina, both better sp during their runs to the final, Broduer - one of the better goalies in two leagues for a long time, also the reason we made it to the final the first time.   Gary Smith in Hart trophy voting and the winner, Bobby Clark said during his speech Smith was more deserving (that’s how bad we were and how important he was to that team), then Schneider - Markstrom should be on the list before him but not by much.   18 months of top ten goaltending and 6 months of maybe top 5.   When Schneider was traded he was considered a top five goalie.    One year of .918sp, an average of .911.   Yes he’s looking to be a top goalie right now - but it’s a fickle position.   At least he has time to turn his losing record around, and that was of course no fault to him alone, but for years that first shot or two going in was hard to stomach.   Statistically one could make and argument for Cloutier regular seasons to add him to the list but I wouldn’t dare be so rude ha ha.   IF we kept and Demko went elsewhere, for sure he’d have a decent shot at ending up number two or three on the list .... but he’s definitely not the second best all-time as of right now. 

 

Yeah I've got those top four pretty locked down for now.  Lu, Kirk, Brodeur and Smith.  Longevity gets Markstrom just ahead of Schneider but Schneider's peak was better, both here and in New Jersey.

[IBatch]

2 minutes ago, Kevin Biestra said:

 

Yeah I've got those top four pretty locked down for now.  Lu, Kirk, Brodeur and Smith.  Longevity gets Markstrom just ahead of Schneider but Schneider's peak was better, both here and in New Jersey.

Real question is, where would you put Cloutier? Ha ha.    He does have the all-time NHL record for worst playoff sp for goalies who played 25 or more games and all....875 I think...  Did have two very decent seasons for us otherwise.   And initially I had JM just behind Schneider but then bumped him infront too.   Very close between the two, just that one played infront of a top team, one infront of a rebuilding team and a lot more games.   Schneider was awesome for NJ for several years for sure. 

Edited October 11, 2020 by IBatch

[Kevin Biestra]

1 hour ago, IBatch said:

Real question is, where would you put Cloutier? Ha ha.    He does have the all-time NHL record for worst playoff sp for goalies who played 25 or more games and all....875 I think...  Did have two very decent seasons for us otherwise.  

 

I'm trying to remember from when I did that top 200 Canucks or whatever.  I think for goalies it was something like...

 

Lu - Kirk - Brodeur

Smith

Schneider - Markstrom

Maniago - Cloutier - Hanlon

Garrett - Dunc Wilson - Ryan Miller

Steve Weeks

Charlie Hodge - Auld

 

Something like that...  So I guess in a grouping fighting for 7th.  Cloutier would seem like the obvious 7th but he did poop a lot in the playoffs and Maniago was a 2x team MVP.

Edited October 11, 2020 by Kevin Biestra

[nergish]

3 hours ago, Kevin Biestra said:

 

I'm trying to remember from when I did that top 200 Canucks or whatever.  I think for goalies it was something like...

 

Lu - Kirk - Brodeur

Smith

Schneider - Markstrom

Maniago - Cloutier - Hanlon

Garrett - Dunc Wilson - Ryan Miller

Steve Weeks

Charlie Hodge - Auld

 

Something like that...  So I guess in a grouping fighting for 7th.  Cloutier would seem like the obvious 7th but he did poop a lot in the playoffs and Maniago was a 2x team MVP.

I (somewhat foolishly) started this discussion, but I do mostly agree with your ranking.

 

Just entertain this thought for a moment...it’s gameday, puck is about to drop, your team needs a win - you teleport any of those guys (in their primes as Canucks) into the crease. 
Who is the best athlete for the job? Who stops the most pucks? Who gives you most confidence in their: stance, positioning, body language, controlled movements, skating?

 

It’s not like I’m a Gen Z or something, I’m 30 years old... but I have a difficult time trying to justify putting an elite physical specimen like 6’6 Markstrom under tutelage of Ian Clark behind a standup goaltender from the early 80s. Even Kirk McLean would be lit up in today’s game. 
 

As a goalie myself, I have to honour and respect the evolution of the position. I still think the game is MOSTLY mental, and somebody like Terry Sawchuk for example simply transcends era with his willingness to lay everything on the line to stop a puck.
But we didn’t have a Sawchuk in our team’s history, sorry guys. The closest we’ve had is Luongo, and he’s number 1 by a LARGE margin.

 

Marky is the next best overall athlete to tend our crease. 
 

But Demko is just entering the age Bobby Lou was when we arrived here. He has the makings of the next big goaltender in our team’s history. Maybe Holtby even sneaks his way in there?

 

[IBatch]

5 hours ago, nergish said:

I (somewhat foolishly) started this discussion, but I do mostly agree with your ranking.

 

Just entertain this thought for a moment...it’s gameday, puck is about to drop, your team needs a win - you teleport any of those guys (in their primes as Canucks) into the crease. 
Who is the best athlete for the job? Who stops the most pucks? Who gives you most confidence in their: stance, positioning, body language, controlled movements, skating?

 

It’s not like I’m a Gen Z or something, I’m 30 years old... but I have a difficult time trying to justify putting an elite physical specimen like 6’6 Markstrom under tutelage of Ian Clark behind a standup goaltender from the early 80s. Even Kirk McLean would be lit up in today’s game. 
 

As a goalie myself, I have to honour and respect the evolution of the position. I still think the game is MOSTLY mental, and somebody like Terry Sawchuk for example simply transcends era with his willingness to lay everything on the line to stop a puck.
But we didn’t have a Sawchuk in our team’s history, sorry guys. The closest we’ve had is Luongo, and he’s number 1 by a LARGE margin.

 

Marky is the next best overall athlete to tend our crease. 
 

But Demko is just entering the age Bobby Lou was when we arrived here. He has the makings of the next big goaltender in our team’s history. Maybe Holtby even sneaks his way in there?

 

Your youth is showing ha ha ... that’s ok.   Like to see Markstrom try and stand-up and make saves like guys used too.   The athleticism required to put pucks in the corner with a rebound isn’t something you see much anymore.   When the chips were down McLean did something Markstrom hasn’t done yet - standing up.   In an era where athletes were just as good or better.   Won’t argue that other then you can trace it back from Iginla, Jagr and Thornton... who played against the best from guys in the 80’s and 90’s ... 

 

Luongo was and is by far the superior goalie.   What he was doing in Florida before he came here was unbelievable.  Markstrom 18 months weren’t even Luongo’s average seasons. 

Edited October 12, 2020 by IBatch

[The Listening]

10 hours ago, IBatch said:

Luongo, McLean - both runners up for the Vezina, both better sp during their runs to the final, Broduer - one of the better goalies in two leagues for a long time, also the reason we made it to the final the first time.   Gary Smith in Hart trophy voting and the winner, Bobby Clark said during his speech Smith was more deserving (that’s how bad we were and how important he was to that team), then Schneider - Markstrom should be on the list before him but not by much.   18 months of top ten goaltending and 6 months of maybe top 5.   When Schneider was traded he was considered a top five goalie.    One year of .918sp, an average of .911.   Yes he’s looking to be a top goalie right now - but it’s a fickle position.   At least he has time to turn his losing record around, and that was of course no fault to him alone, but for years that first shot or two going in was hard to stomach.   Statistically one could make and argument for Cloutier regular seasons to add him to the list but I wouldn’t dare be so rude ha ha.   IF we kept and Demko went elsewhere, for sure he’d have a decent shot at ending up number two or three on the list .... but he’s definitely not the second best all-time as of right now. 

LMAO, Luongo got absolutely robbed in 2007 for the Hart/Vezina. Luongo was by far our most valuable player on the team, he literally dragged our mediocre team that we iced that year into the second round of the playoffs. 47 wins, sat out like 5 games. And isn't the Hart trophy supposed to be the player most valuable to a team?  Just Bettman and co. screwing us over again per usual.

[IBatch]

1 hour ago, The Listening said:

LMAO, Luongo got absolutely robbed in 2007 for the Hart/Vezina. Luongo was by far our most valuable player on the team, he literally dragged our mediocre team that we iced that year into the second round of the playoffs. 47 wins, sat out like 5 games. And isn't the Hart trophy supposed to be the player most valuable to a team?  Just Bettman and co. screwing us over again per usual.

Yes.   He’s likely headed to the HHOF and a large portions of his career with us is a big part of the reason why.  Only McLean (twice), and Markstrom this year made us much impact as he did on a year to year basis for us.   Between McLean and Luongo was tough ...

[The Listening]

27 minutes ago, IBatch said:

Yes.   He’s likely headed to the HHOF and a large portions of his career with us is a big part of the reason why.  Only McLean (twice), and Markstrom this year made us much impact as he did on a year to year basis for us.   Between McLean and Luongo was tough ...

And people still try to find a way to tarnish what Luongo did here. The first two years he was here, he was literally our entire team. People just remember all the bad times, never the good with Luongo.

[Kevin Biestra]

11 hours ago, nergish said:

I (somewhat foolishly) started this discussion, but I do mostly agree with your ranking.

 

Just entertain this thought for a moment...it’s gameday, puck is about to drop, your team needs a win - you teleport any of those guys (in their primes as Canucks) into the crease. 
Who is the best athlete for the job? Who stops the most pucks? Who gives you most confidence in their: stance, positioning, body language, controlled movements, skating?

 

It’s not like I’m a Gen Z or something, I’m 30 years old... but I have a difficult time trying to justify putting an elite physical specimen like 6’6 Markstrom under tutelage of Ian Clark behind a standup goaltender from the early 80s. Even Kirk McLean would be lit up in today’s game. 
 

As a goalie myself, I have to honour and respect the evolution of the position. I still think the game is MOSTLY mental, and somebody like Terry Sawchuk for example simply transcends era with his willingness to lay everything on the line to stop a puck.
But we didn’t have a Sawchuk in our team’s history, sorry guys. The closest we’ve had is Luongo, and he’s number 1 by a LARGE margin.

 

Marky is the next best overall athlete to tend our crease. 
 

But Demko is just entering the age Bobby Lou was when we arrived here. He has the makings of the next big goaltender in our team’s history. Maybe Holtby even sneaks his way in there?

 

It works both ways.  If you want to send Jacob Markstrom back in time to compete with Gary Smith and Richard Brodeur, you can also make him play stand up with waterlogged backcatcher equipment, 1970s physical training and less developed defensive systems.  If you want to bring Dunc Wilson, Cesare Maniago and John Garrett into 2020, give them modern physical training, modern dedicated 24/7 goalie coaching, Michelin Man equipment that weighs less than a dragonfly's wings, etc.

 

You asked the following... "Just entertain this thought for a moment...it’s gameday, puck is about to drop, your team needs a win - you teleport any of those guys (in their primes as Canucks) into the crease."

 

Well, if you control for the changes in the game, technique, coaching, training, equipment.  Hell, I'll take Richard Brodeur who got to the Stanley Cup Final, won the WHA's Stanley Cup, and got to the WHA final an additional time.  How many ultra high stakes games do you have to win to do that?  And that's not even starting on Kirk McLean or Roberto Luongo.

 

 

Edited October 12, 2020 by Kevin Biestra

[IBatch]

23 hours ago, Kevin Biestra said:

 

I'm trying to remember from when I did that top 200 Canucks or whatever.  I think for goalies it was something like...

 

Lu - Kirk - Brodeur

Smith

Schneider - Markstrom

Maniago - Cloutier - Hanlon

Garrett - Dunc Wilson - Ryan Miller

Steve Weeks

Charlie Hodge - Auld

 

Something like that...  So I guess in a grouping fighting for 7th.  Cloutier would seem like the obvious 7th but he did poop a lot in the playoffs and Maniago was a 2x team MVP.

Cloutier looks to have pooped a lot at coaching considering what Clark is doing/did with Markstrom and Demko, and how Holtby can’t wait to work with him too ha ha.   Think you nailed it although I’d switch Schneider based on Markstrom mvp season ... and one of the best runs we’ve had.   Hard to believe but Markstrom with more games played then Cloutier... fourth in GP and fifth in wins ...

Edited October 12, 2020 by IBatch

[IBatch]

7 hours ago, Kevin Biestra said:

 

It works both ways.  If you want to send Jacob Markstrom back in time to compete with Gary Smith and Richard Brodeur, you can also make him play stand up with waterlogged backcatcher equipment, 1970s physical training and less developed defensive systems.  If you want to bring Dunc Wilson, Cesare Maniago and John Garrett into 2020, give them modern physical training, modern dedicated 24/7 goalie coaching, Michelin Man equipment that weighs less than a dragonfly's wings, etc.

 

You asked the following... "Just entertain this thought for a moment...it’s gameday, puck is about to drop, your team needs a win - you teleport any of those guys (in their primes as Canucks) into the crease."

 

Well, if you control for the changes in the game, technique, coaching, training, equipment.  Hell, I'll take Richard Brodeur who got to the Stanley Cup Final, won the WHA's Stanley Cup, and got to the WHA final an additional time.  How many ultra high stakes games do you have to win to do that?  And that's not even starting on Kirk McLean or Roberto Luongo.

 

 

With apologies to Luongo he’d be my second or third pick...Some players elevated more then others - to me game one against the NYR was one of the best goalie performances I’ve ever seen ... Luongo vs Turco and three Demko games the others.   If McLean didn’t win for us, and we were for sure undeserving, no chance for us to settle down and realize we could beat these guys, no come back.   Luongo was awesome/still good for us  against Boston, two shutouts and we scored 7 goals or was it 8 in a seven game series, definitely not Cloutier bad in any games and more then did enough for us to win the series. Gets a bad rap.   Still stats are stats and McLeans sp went up .900- .925 or so, plus “the Save”, I’d have to go with peak McLean with one game on the line.   And he was fun to watch too - not dropping every time a player is in a position to shoot requires a heck of a lot more skill IMO.  Punting rebounds to an open defender....don’t see that much at all anymore. 

 

Back gets up a little when younger fans say the goalies are so much better now. Thankfully they’ve gone back to around 1950 and done save percentages for era to era comparisons...bet a lot of fans don’t know guys like Hall, Esposito, Bower would be above average even by today’s standards, and Plante, Dryden, Parent (PHI and on), Sawchuk would be elite, better then Luongo and Lundqvist and in Hasek range... aside from Hall these guys stood up and made saves ... huge goalies equipment and the butterfly especially might have created a surge in goalies ability to save pucks, but to say they weren’t as good athletes is both naive and ignorant.   Bower for example is the only goalie other then Broduer to have 600 career wins...and didn’t come to the NHL until well into his 30’s, and was always won the  best fitness testing right until he retired.   Sawchuk still ranks number one after all these years .... over 100 shutouts and around 420 games .... literally one shutout for every four games...must make Broduer blush.   Glad Markstrom finally got that monkey off his back ... was close to setting an all-time record.   Sucks we developed him and now he’s gone.   Cap has changed the league in ways I’m not too sure I really like.   Glad it’s fiscally healthy for sure and get it’s required..but Demo/Markstrom could have turned into one of the best tandems we’ve ever had. 

Edited October 12, 2020 by IBatch