[GDT/PGT] Vancouver Canucks @ Calgary Shames | January 18, 2021 | 6 p.m. PT | SN1, SNP

[bree2]

Just now, CupIsComing said:

Funny that Tkachuk did the exact same thing to Demko (slash to the chest) and no fine? Actually...not funny.

it just seemed in this game, the first period we had control of the game, the guys played hard, then the second period came and the penalties came flying  on both sides , but more on us. it seemed the refs decided to let things go on the flames but called everything the Canucks did a penalty. when you get into penalty trouble ,  it slows the game down and screws with the lines. i have to admit i used to stick up for the flames, but after the diving from a certain puke, and he was allowed to get away with it made me ill. i now hate the flames more than any other team.

[appleboy]

2 hours ago, canuck2288 said:

Yes lets let them play for the fun of the game and maybe award them medals of achievement at the end of the season

 

fun facts, there are 10 teams in the league younger than we are and we pay to the cap. 
 

we sucked for 3 straight games (5% of the season.

 

so yeah i guess there is nothing to worry about 

A lot of the skilled core of our team are young.  The players that we rely on.

 

I am just suggesting that we should give them a little while before we crucify them.

 

This week is big for them and if it doesn't go well we will get the TANKS out. 

[hlinkas wrister]

Montreal are playing a relentless checking pressure game this year, next 3 games have the potential to be ugly. Boys better shake off the training camp rust.

[Nucker 67]

4 minutes ago, EP Phone Home said:

I know Quinn is buddies with the Tkachuk’s but man you can’t be buddy buddies in the heat of the battle when every point matters against divisional opponents. They look like they are partying it up in that scrum.

I hate this picture. C'mon Hughes, fun time with the enemy? 

['NucK™]

5 minutes ago, EP Phone Home said:

I know Quinn is buddies with the Tkachuk’s but man you can’t be buddy buddies in the heat of the battle when every point matters against divisional opponents. They look like they are partying it up in that scrum.

Wtf... looks like they are both shoving the ref out of the way to give each other a hug.. celebrating an imaginary goal together or what?? 

[J.I.A.H.N]

56 minutes ago, SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME said:

Wake me up when we’re ten games in, and I’ll check the results and decide whether or not it’s time for panicky changes to the roster and coaching staff.

 

Just a reminder: the 2020 Presidents’ Trophy winning Bruins lost three in a row twice, four in a row, and five in a row, during the 2019-20 season. The Cup winning Lightning lost three in a row and four in a row. It happens. To good teams, and to bad teams. We don’t know which the Canucks are yet.

 

What I do see: a lot of our forwards look snakebitten and we’ve had some really bad puck luck. A few goals here or there can dramatically change fortunes. Take last game. If we score on those first period chances, we likely blow the Flames out, and possibly chase Marky from the net. Instead, the Flames survive the first period, win the second, and we ultimately lose the game. Just about every NHL game has these storylines. If you don’t score on your chances, you usually lose. And we haven’t been putting the puck in the net. This allows for huge momentum shifts, when opponents score, and we’ve seen opponent having pretty good puck luck. They get a decent chance, they score. We don’t. And the game shifts.

 

That’s not to say that we’ve looked good and deserve a lot better. We’re around where we deserve to be, as far as record. Maybe should be 2 and 2 (last game would’ve been won in the first period on most nights), but 1 and 3 feels about right.

 

But our guys aren’t scoring on “gift” level scoring chances, and you can’t win that way.
 

You also can’t expect that kind of puck luck to last for a whole season. 

Also, Petey just doesn’t look right. He’s struggling to find his game. His passes are inconsistent, his positioning and reads on the flow of play are off, and his shot (when he uses it) isn’t up to his standards yet, for whatever reason. Probably a combination of mental/confidence issues, bad luck, and just rusty. Demko is also off his game. He’s made mental errors that you don’t normally see from him. Again, probably just adjusting to the higher expectations and he needs to settle down. Schmidt has played well, but he’s still feeling his way out with the new team, and at times he seems a little lost reading from his teammates and doesn’t have that comfort and familiarity yet. It’ll come. Horvat hasn’t really dominated yet (other than on faceoffs), but he will. Hughes is playing well, but he looks like he’s the only one sometimes, and he can’t do it by himself. JT Miller had the Covid thing and is just one game back. And overall, the team just looks like they’re still in preseason form, and haven’t clicked yet. 
 

We need a lucky game with lots of pucks going in, to build confidence, and get the boys feeling good about themselves, and the team rolling. It’ll come. 
 

Will we be a “good” team? That remains to be seen. I agree with the overall roster changes and direction (even if some of it was forced by bad cap decisions earlier into JB’s tenure), but this was always going to be a transition year, due to the glut of overpriced veteran contracts, forced salary reduction from ownership, having to let good players walk, and not being about to move out overpriced contracts, especially in the bottom-six (and taxi squad). We’ve lost some key components and big time leaders and locker room guys. We’ve also added some new ones, and they’re going to help. But we need to gel again, have the new pieces really slot in, our young guys to continue to develop and progress, and for many of our star players to find their games. 
 

We will not be as bad as we’ve looked so far. But at the same time, it’s hard to know exactly how much better we can be. Hopefully better enough to be relevant in the playoff hunt, but it was always going to be a coin flip whether or not we’d have a chance to return to the postseason this year.

 

I think some criticism for the coaching staff is fair, even at this early stage. The boys really haven’t come out looking ready, and that’s on the coaches and preparation, regardless of the challenges of this season, with a delayed start, training camp being different, and no preseason. Every team was in the same boat, and Green looks to have been a step behind other coaches, as far as doing what was needed to really hit the ground running. Even little things like no power play practice during the scrimmages is looking like a mistake right now. Seems like they expected last year’s playoff version of the PP would just magically reappear, without having to actually work on it, which hasn’t panned out too well. But there’s too much talent on the team for the power play to struggle like this. And same goes for the PK. Special teams will eventually come around, and that’s been the different between wins and losses so far.

 

So anyway, sorry for the long rambling post, but I’m just going to wait and see. Ten games in, we can start to look at the results and the trends, and then decide how “good” or “bad” we are. I expect by then, the boys will finally start looking like they’re in regular season form, and we’ll see how well this group can compete, in its current form, or if adjustments need to be made to the roster or coaches (or management eventually, as JB ultimately owns whatever happens with this team, and he’s hardly immune from criticism).

No need to apologize for the length, Sid

Out standing summary and opinion 

[Nucker 67]

Demko's GAA is 4.65 and SV% is 0.883   

 

yuck

[canuck2288]

13 minutes ago, appleboy said:

A lot of the skilled core of our team are young.  The players that we rely on.

 

I am just suggesting that we should give them a little while before we crucify them.

 

This week is big for them and if it doesn't go well we will get the TANKS out. 

I am ok with the players 

 

we have the roster 

 

i am crucifying the coaching staff 

[PhillipBlunt]

15 minutes ago, EP Phone Home said:

I know Quinn is buddies with the Tkachuk’s but man you can’t be buddy buddies in the heat of the battle when every point matters against divisional opponents. They look like they are partying it up in that scrum.

Brian Burke would crucify either Tkachuk or Hughes for clowning it up like that. Truly unfortunate. Totally in agreement, EP.

[PhillipBlunt]

15 minutes ago, hlinkas wrister said:

Montreal are playing a relentless checking pressure game this year, next 3 games have the potential to be ugly. Boys better shake off the training camp rust.

Montreal will crush Vancouver, if the Canucks can't collectively pull their heads out of their asses. 

[J.I.A.H.N]

Every team has a slump, and I honestly don't think 3 games is that big

As long as we work our way out of it, we will catch up when other teams have theirs

We are a young team, with alot of new faces in key positions

It will take time for new voices to emerge with in the group, but we have Horvat and Miller

and I think Holtby and Schmidt will gain respect

Adversity builds strength

[Darius]

i think what makes the losses really hard to take is that they are against a division rival (which i dont think is any better than the Canucks) and they beat us with 2 long time players that were critical players here.

 

It would suck if we lost 2 in a row to the NY Islanders, but it wouldnt suck this much.

 

Not to mention that Flames fans are the worst of the worst, awfully smug in light of the fact that their team has made it past the first round only 2 times in 32 years.

 

 

 

 

[Nucker 67]

I'm sure this isn't what Schmidt was hoping for when he got traded to VAN. Seeing them play such inspired hockey in the bubble, he may have thought he got traded to the next up and coming contender. All smiles and jokey jokey, good times during camp. He doesn't seem too jovial these days. Playing on a very good Capitals team with Ovie, then being traded and going straight to the Cup finals in Vegas' first year,. then another really successful season there, and then another. He may be experiencing losing on a mediocre team for the first time.

 

I also wonder about Benning. Did he make a major blunder by not re-signing Markstrom? 

[McBackup]

6 minutes ago, Darius said:

 

Not to mention that Flames fans are the worst of the worst, awfully smug in light of the fact that their team has made it past the first round only 2 times in 32 years.

 

 

 

 

Its their hypocrisy that gets me. They whined about guys like the Sedins diving yet they cheer on Giordano, Gaudreau and are ready to christen Tkachuk as their next captain, which tells you all you need to know.

[Darius]

Just now, Bitter Melon said:

Its their hypocrisy that gets me. They whined about guys like the Sedins diving yet they cheer on Giordano, Gaudreau and are ready to christen Tkachuk as their next captain, which tells you all you need to know.

yup.  the best is how they mocked the sedins for years for their supposed lack of toughness, yet their first line is composed of two guys that make the Sedins look like Gary Roberts and Jim Peplinski by comparison.

[McBackup]

1 minute ago, Darius said:

yup.  the best is how they mocked the sedins for years for their supposed lack of toughness, yet their first line is composed of two guys that make the Sedins look like Gary Roberts and Jim Peplinski by comparison.

The Sedins weren't tough. We all know toughness is about deliberately cheapshotting your opponents in the hopes of hurting them and then hiding from retaliation. The Sedins just took torrents of physical and verbal abuse full on and performed anyway, which is the mark of a wuss.

[EmilyM]

28 minutes ago, NUCKER67 said:

I'm sure this isn't what Schmidt was hoping for when he got traded to VAN. Seeing them play such inspired hockey in the bubble, he may have thought he got traded to the next up and coming contender. All smiles and jokey jokey, good times during camp. He doesn't seem too jovial these days. Playing on a very good Capitals team with Ovie, then being traded and going straight to the Cup finals in Vegas' first year,. then another really successful season there, and then another. He may be experiencing losing on a mediocre team for the first time.

 

I also wonder about Benning. Did he make a major blunder by not re-signing Markstrom? 

No, we need the cap space for the coming off season. The fact that we didn't have cap space to sign Markstrom is his major blunder.

['NucK™]

12 minutes ago, EmilyM said:

No, we need the cap space for the coming off season. The fact that we didn't have cap space to sign Markstrom is his major blunder.

Exactly. The mistake unfortunately was made long ago so it's just not worth even talking about now. Markstrom Tanev Toffoli vs. Holtby Eriksson Sutter/Beagle 

 

Edited January 19, 2021 by 'NucK™

[VforVasili]

12 minutes ago, EmilyM said:

No, we need the cap space for the coming off season. The fact that we didn't have cap space to sign Markstrom is his major blunder.

I respectfully disagree. The reason we couldn't sign Markstrom is that we would have lost Demko to Seattle in the expansion draft. I am glad he did not give up on our longer term asset in Demko, even if that means some growing pains.

[bree2]

32 minutes ago, EmilyM said:

No, we need the cap space for the coming off season. The fact that we didn't have cap space to sign Markstrom is his major blunder.

Who made Markstrom what he is today? of course the Canucks did. sorry but i am pissed that Markstrom didn't pay it forward by not taking  a discount during covid times, when many players did. i find it quite selfish of Markstrom and Tanev, especially going to a rival team. it was was all about the money with the both of them. i am glad we let them both go and kept Demko and getting Smidt. both will end up being better as time goes on!