[GDT/PGT - Page 136] Vancouver Canucks @ Edmonton McDavids | January 13, 2021 | 7 p.m. PT | SN, SN1

[PhillipBlunt]

1 hour ago, NUCKER67 said:

I recorded and just watched that TSN Season Preview they aired last night. Of course they boasted about the Leafs, thinking their off season moves were genius. When it got to the Canucks, the panel really gave them little chance of making the playoffs this season, saying the loss of Markstrom and Tanev are too great. Button even said that Stecher and Schmidt are basically the same player, so not really an upgrade. They gave Hamonic zero credit. I'm not sure why I even bothered to watch, same ignorance from TSN every year. 

 

 

I thought Button was smarter than that. TSN is rife with morons. 
 

Toronto added a bunch of has beens. TJ Brodie? Joe Thornton? Please. Screw Toronto. 

[ForzaTikare]

Sweden biggest NHL reporter has this as hus predictions for the year and Canucks as The wild card outside The big 4 favourites 

 

['NucK™]

30 minutes ago, Bure_Pavel said:

Homerism is strong with those ones, 3 out of 4 have Toronto and Montreal 1 and 2.

It is.. which is why I always wonder why everyone is always reading Canadian media when there are so many other sources online? 

 

Yeah most of us have to watch Sportsnet, but we don't have to look at and talk about these homer rankings here, do we? 

 

NHL.com staff - 4/15 writers voted us to finish first overall. 14/15 say Canucks will finish top 4.

 

So can we please stop posting these ridiculous rankings from the tunnelvisioned Canadian media?? 

[Alienhuggyflow]

2 hours ago, MikeyD said:

That's where I disagree. I think Edler is too inconsistent to be labeled a 3, I have him at a 4 or 5 on a good team (though I think he will have a good year this year if he stays with Schmidt), Myers is a 5, Hamonic is a 6 that can be a 5 and Juolevi is a 6. 

 

We have one of the weaker d cores in the league. That's what I'm comparing it to. It's better than Edmonton's but our D still sucks. Lower half in the league in my opinion. It will however be a really strong D core in a couple years though, I believe. Just lacks the defensive side of the game right now. Schmidt is our best defensive player but guys like Edler, Myers, Hamonic, Hughes and with Juolevi being a wild card our D is too inconsistent in their own end. With Hughes getting another year under his belt I anticipate him becoming a lot more consistent than last year though. He's definitely the best defensively in my opinion after Schmidt. Edler can either play amazing defensively or is a dumpster fire, depends on his engagement but over the past 3 years I find about every 3rd game we get his outstanding defense and the other 2 games he lacks the engagement. However like I said I think Schmidt will be the perfect partner for him. Also helps that Edler usually starts out every season extremely well so hopefully that's the case again this year. 

The last 2 seasons Edler has average over a .5ppg pace while playing top minutes and the top PK unit. He was +16 on a team that was not great 5\5 and had the most points even strength out of our Dcore.

He was are best D all around regular and post season. Tell me a team he's not a top 4?

You prefering Raff is great but ill take the coaches decision the guys who are paid to win and do this for a living.

Joulevi was head and shoulders better than any other rookie D that's why he's on the team. Playing it safe? Really? Joulevi has always been a great puck mover even in Utica, his stretch pass is outstanding, his skating was off but not anymore, I think he will surprise you.

[Patel Bure]

24 minutes ago, nux_win said:

... and we're even better this year.  The thing is that the media is stuck on their own narrative that we have "taken a step back" and no amount of reality will push them off their own BS.  It's so nice that we get to see the real thing soon and don't have to put up with the media's alternate reality much longer.  I'm confident that we're going to have a good season even without Miller to start.  Let's show TSN and the media muffins what they're worth out on the ice.   Go Canucks Go!

The Canucks will definitely surprise a lot of pundits this year IF our forwards can hang.   A lot of this will depend on how much guys like Gaudette, Virtanen, MacEwen, and Hoglander have grown (or surprise).

 

On the backend, our defense is way better than last season.  I feel like many hockey pundits are really underrating us in this regard.   Schmidt is legitimately one of the best dmen in the league and Hughes is up there as well.  
 

In net, I don’t think Demko is that far off from Markstrom if the playoffs were of any indication.   Furthermore, we now have two legit goalies that can start on any given night which will allow both goalies to be well rested.  By contrast, Markstrom had been under fire and overworked for the two seasons prior.   
 

The key to this season will be as follows:   IF Virtanen, Gaudette, MacEwen, and Hoglander are for real, then this Canucks team is going to shock hockey pundits for a second time in a row.

[SergioMomesso]

I don't care where the so called experts have us ranked. I know in my mind that we did not regress. This is the best lineup we have had since the 11-12 season imo. Everyone thinks we blew it by not re-signing Marky, Tanev and Toffoli. Marky would have handcuffed us in the future and we would have lost Demko for nothing to Seattle. Tanev was a warrior but injury prone and a complete dud in the offensive zone. Toffoli put up a point per game in his short stint with us but bear in mind we lost 6 of the last 10 games of the reg season with him in the lineup. So the loss of Toffoli isn't as large as those meatheads make it out to be. Makes me laugh when they forget that we have 2 of the most exciting young players in the game that are getting better not worse. And to rank MTL to finish ahead of everone except TOR is comedic. Yes defense wins championships, but having strong players up the middle is just as important. Suzuki and Danault are probably the worst one two punch in the north div.

[Petey Castiglione]

Rather be the underdog then the favorite going into this season.   All that matters are W's.  Go Canucks Go!!!! 

[Amebushi]

4 minutes ago, DarkIndianRises said:

The Canucks will definitely surprise a lot of pundits this year IF our forwards can hang.   A lot of this will depend on how much guys like Gaudette, Virtanen, MacEwen, and Hoglander have grown (or surprise).

 

On the backend, our defense is way better than last season.  I feel like many hockey pundits are really underrating us in this regard.   Schmidt is legitimately one of the best dmen in the league and Hughes is up there as well.  
 

In net, I don’t think Demko is that far off from Markstrom if the playoffs were of any indication.   Furthermore, we now have two legit goalies that can start on any given night which will allow both goalies to be well rested.  By contrast, Markstrom had been under fire and overworked for the two seasons prior.   
 

The key to this season will be as follows:   IF Virtanen, Gaudette, MacEwen, and Hoglander are for real, then this Canucks team is going to shock hockey pundits for a second time in a row.

I agree with pretty much all of this.  The defence is definitely better than last year and I would easily say above average league wide. Goaltending could be debated until we see what Clarke can do with Holtby and how Demko handles more starts. 
 

     One comment to add is how the changes to D can effect both goalies and forwards. In our own end, less chances and fewer odd man breaks (likely scenarios given a better defence) puts less pressure on goalies to steal games. Our forwards can look to receive good outlet passes, quality zone exits and entrances become possible when you have a mobile defence. We don’t have to match up skill for skill with the big 4 in Toronto when we can $&!# them down with our second and third lines, then light them up with Petey, Brock and JT (Virtanen tonight). This is a team sport and a good chunk of our weakness has been improved. Just think how many goalies the Canucks have made look like all stars over the years. 

[aGENT]

26 minutes ago, Alienhuggyflow said:

The last 2 seasons Edler has average over a .5ppg pace while playing top minutes and the top PK unit. He was +16 on a team that was not great 5\5 and had the most points even strength out of our Dcore.

He was are best D all around regular and post season. Tell me a team he's not a top 4?

You prefering Raff is great but ill take the coaches decision the guys who are paid to win and do this for a living.

Joulevi was head and shoulders better than any other rookie D that's why he's on the team. Playing it safe? Really? Joulevi has always been a great puck mover even in Utica, his stretch pass is outstanding, his skating was off but not anymore, I think he will surprise you.

Appreciate the effort, that take was to hot for me to even bother! 

[Jack Fig]

32 minutes ago, PhillipBlunt said:

I thought Button was smarter than that. TSN is rife with morons. 
 

Toronto added a bunch of has beens. TJ Brodie? Joe Thornton? Please. Screw Toronto. 

Blunt ... any post that successfully uses the word 'rife' gets 9/10 with me. 

[Nucker 67]

A little iffy about the 4th line:

 

MOTTE - BEAGLE - SUTTER

 

I was actually hoping Motte would get a bit of a promotion to the 3rd line this year. Beagle and Sutter are veterans, but are they fast and physical enough? The bottom 6 wasn't very good in the playoffs and this still needs to be fixed IMO. An improvement with Loui eating popcorn in the rafters, anyway.

[ruilin96]

8 minutes ago, SergioMomesso said:

I don't care where the so called experts have us ranked. I know in my mind that we did not regress. This is the best lineup we have had since the 11-12 season imo. Everyone thinks we blew it by not re-signing Marky, Tanev and Toffoli. Marky would have handcuffed us in the future and we would have lost Demko for nothing to Seattle. Tanev was a warrior but injury prone and a complete dud in the offensive zone. Toffoli put up a point per game in his short stint with us but bear in mind we lost 6 of the last 10 games of the reg season with him in the lineup. So the loss of Toffoli isn't as large as those meatheads make it out to be. Makes me laugh when they forget that we have 2 of the most exciting young players in the game that are getting better not worse. And to rank MTL to finish ahead of everone except TOR is comedic. Yes defense wins championships, but having strong players up the middle is just as important. Suzuki and Danault are probably the worst one two punch in the north div.

Only real stinger this off season is losing Toffoli. I agree with your take on Markstrom and Tanev, it is a mistake to give those guys their current contracts given the team's direction going forward. However, losing Toffoli is a direct result of JB mis-managing the cap in previous free agency. What's done is done, we can't duel on the past. We hope Hoglander can step in and provide the offense that we needed.

 

Also, losing JT to quarantine hurts. If he really has to sit for 2 weeks, we will be without argubly our best forward for 1/7 of the season when we are only playing against Divisional match-ups. This is a huge blow.

[J.I.A.H.N]

Game Day! Woooooo!

 

Well, screw TSN

 

Games are played to determine the outcomes

 

I love our Roster and as it gets younger, it gets even more talented

 

I am not saying we will be the top team in our Conference, but we have a competitive team

 

And have a real chance to win and be in the playoffs

 

Let the Games begin!

 

 

Edited January 13, 2021 by janisahockeynut

[Nucker 67]

1 minute ago, ruilin96 said:

Only real stinger this off season is losing Toffoli.

who? what? we had Toffoli? Never noticed.

 

but seriously, he only played 17 games as a Canuck, including playoffs. He was never really here. 

[PhillipBlunt]

7 minutes ago, Jack Fig said:

Blunt ... any post that successfully uses the word 'rife' gets 9/10 with me. 

Thank you, Fig. I aim to please.

[ruilin96]

Just now, NUCKER67 said:

who? what? we had Toffoli? Never noticed.

 

but seriously, he only played 17 games as a Canuck, including playoffs. He was never really here. 

I get that narrative, but you can't deny that adding an other proven goal scoring winger to the top 6 doesn't booster the team's offense. I would much rather have Toffoli than any one of Beagle, Roussel and Sutter if you ask me.

[Squamfan]

 

[gizmo2337]

These people forgot this is a totally different season, and ignored the intangibles. This season won't proceed based on stats on paper?!!?
Soo... I fixed it. They forgot the second half season TOR tank (most likely due to covid)

[Wolfgang Durst]

Matthew Sekeres: “My understanding is that due to COVID-19 concerns, D Jordie Benn and F JT Miller will not be with the #Canucks for a couple of weeks. Both players are quarantining. Miller had been staying at Benn’s Vancouver residence”

 

out for a couple of weeks  - holy $&!# - / Question: Why isn't it possible to vaccinate NHL players first and then other people?

 

 

['NucK™]

1 minute ago, Wolfgang Durst said:

Matthew Sekeres: “My understanding is that due to COVID-19 concerns, D Jordie Benn and F JT Miller will not be with the #Canucks for a couple of weeks. Both players are quarantining. Miller had been staying at Benn’s Vancouver residence”

 

out for a couple of weeks  - holy $&!# - / Question: Why isn't it possible to vaccinate NHL players first and then other people?

I thought the NHL was going to purchase vaccines privately for the players? This was nearly a month ago now and haven't heard anything about it since though..