[GDT/PGT] Vancouver Canucks @ Toronto Maple Laffs | February 4, 2021 | 4 p.m. PT | SNP

[Roger Neilsons Towel]

31 minutes ago, canuck2288 said:

Malhotra is coaching the top powerplay in the league 

 

the franchise that gave him up must have a killer powerplay to let him leave 

 

..... wait 

[24K PureCool]

I blame OEL for all of this. Had he not put us on his trade list, we would not have JB dicking around with Arizona. 

[CanucksJay]

Just now, oldnews said:

I think the good news is that there's hockey to watch, period.

Maybe not very good hockey - but I have lowered expectations, so.....it beats tennis.

LOL yes, we still get to watch hockey except now, I start skipping forward everytime opposition goes up by 2 or more

[Angry Goose]

12 minutes ago, killerjonan said:

Why do I always hear the same excuse that noone is to be blamed but the players because they cant execute on their chances.

 

I think the main concern here is our defensive system is just sloppy. If we keep getting outshot every game while our opponents scores 5 goals or more, even if the canucks can execute properly, they still won't win any games.

 

 

 

Forget chances, if you can't make the simple play in the d zone to break out or the one you need to, it won't matter what system you have-you ain't going to have much success managing the puck.

 

Sorry Tyler Myers, but if I had the power to swap you and Tanev right about now...

 

 

[Roger Neilsons Towel]

1 minute ago, 24K PureCool said:

I blame OEL for all of this. Had he not put us on his trade list, we would not have JB dicking around with Arizona. 

Yeah, spending so much time on trying to make that trade work really hurt us with our own UFAs. You gotta respect JB swinging for the fences though. OEL on this team would have been an amazing add. However, Jim should have set an internal deadline and walked away when we still had time to resign Toffoli. I wouldn’t have signed Marky or Tanev to the term Calgary gave them, but losing TT hurts. The chemistry and fit was undeniable. 

[NewbieCanuckFan]

29 minutes ago, oldnews said:

I think the good news is that there's hockey to watch, period.

Maybe not very good hockey - but I have lowered expectations, so.....it beats tennis.

I dunno.  I like watching women’s tennis.  Especially all the grunting and groaning during a prolonged rally for errrrr reasons.

[Herberts Vasiljevs]

1 hour ago, JoshuaGuy said:

Talk about misplaced anger. He was far from being the problem. Usually is. You sheeple just keep piling on him. 

Spin your own narrative if you wish... Whether or not I think it was his fault what happened tonight (spoiler: I don't), I still don't like him.

 

Don't like it? Too bad.

Edited February 5, 2021 by Herberts Vasiljevs

[13231]

28 minutes ago, mll said:

Fwiw Barry Trotz says he couldn’t care less about the amount of shots they face.  He says he’s fully confident in their system and won’t give them anything.  A rival coach says they let you shoot but dictate from where.  

 

Unlike NYI, the Canucks don’t seem to limit high danger scoring chances.

 

Last season the Canucks were bottom-5 in mid-to-high danger scoring chances allowed per CSA but Markstrom was the best goalie in saves above expected.  By January they had him winning 8 games above expected based on the type of shots exchanged.  Kevin Woodley often cites them in his segments.

 

CSA defines mid-to-high danger scoring chances as plays that have an expected conversion rate of 10% or more.  CSA is probably the most elaborate tracking out there because they capture the full context of the play that leads to a shot on net - number of screens, passing play, etc.

 

Before this game CSA had the Canucks ranked 30th in high danger expected goals against per 60 so far this season.

 

Thanks, this is a really informed and thought provoking reply. I truly believe our team's struggles lie within this realm of defensive fallacies, and the numbers clearly back it up. 

[Rush17]

I hope I wake up to an Adam Gaudette of Jake Virtanen trade. 

 

Something has to give. We don't have the manpower. Do we know hamonic's return date? If we can get him back at last season form maybe we can stop the blowouts. I don't care about the losses I just don't want to be blown out in 3 game sets all season.

[Zhukini]

Toronto Montreal in the second round will be a must watch blood bathe for the ages.

 

It’s a travesty there probably won’t be fans in the stands to watch

 

Hell get me to playoff hockey, idc if the Canucks are in or not, they were never winning the cup this year anyways 

[Phil_314]

22 minutes ago, FaninMex said:

Like your review.

 

Another thing is that the D is forcing passes that don't need to be made.

The team does not seem to have any emotion in the games. They just seem to be there. In the playoffs they were facing giants it was hard hitting and the Canucks rose to the occasion. These Canucks seem stuck in the mundane. If that is the case, we need the leadership group to step up.

Tough to blame Horvat (still strong and bullish), Boeser (been productive before today), Pettersson (he plays hard), Hughes (as much as he's on the ice for goals against, it's tough to blame him when he does so much on the other end), Pearson (liking his compete level) or Hoglander (I think his compete level warrants his inclusion in the group). 

Schmidt (probably not integrated enough yet to fit a leader role), Miller (hit or miss lately), Edler and the goalies have some blame to take (and the bottom 6 needs to make something of the dead weights).   

[4petesake]

7 minutes ago, NewbieCanuckFan said:

I dunno.  I like watching women’s tennis.  Especially all the grunting and groaning during a prolonged rally for errrrr reasons.

 

[singing chef]

41 minutes ago, Phil_314 said:

Full credit to the Leafs but, whether it's motivation or fatigue, the team needs to find another gear.

Goal
1 (Matthews): Miller basically stopped skating 
2 (Matthews): credit to Marner for the smart pass, knowing where Matthews was going to be and tough to blame Demko for not hugging a post 
3 (Spezza): Edler screened Demko
4 (Spezza): Gaudette probably needed to get back/ Hughes might've needed to cover the recipient of the pass instead of boxing out Engvall(?)
5 (Tavares): rarity to see Motte get caught out of position but needed to box out the Leaf captain
6 (Spezza): tough to say, when you're hot you're hot, Sutter pulled out a similar move 
7 (Marner): line got trapped out there, can hardly blame Sutter for not retrieving the puck, but I wonder if Edler again screened Demko or if he would have stopped it 

Good effort on the offensive end with the top-6 generating the offense we had (grinding out a goal in front, then Miller sniped one and Horvat the other in a timely response), but they need to find that extra gear (and Edler, please stop screening the goalie).  Hope Benn's fight can somehow spark them for the next couple.

RE: #2 above - Hughes was skating alongside Matthews, admiring his technique;  should have either tied up his stick or laid the body on him.  Matthews should never have been allowed to touch that puck.  Bottom line - Hughes is neither big enough nor heavy enough to be effective in situations like that.  The team needs some BIG defenders with mean streaks, and I mean SEVERAL big defenders.

[DS4quality]

Some of the guys look really lost out there. Edler looked like confused so many times today. It's like they forgot how to play any defense 

[oldnews]

37 minutes ago, Lazurus said:

And once upon a time the Vancouver Canucks were the best team in Canada and won the presidents trophy twice as the best team in the NHL

 

Benning has never had more 20 year olds, one every 2nd year with this losing season an exception forced on him because the bank shut the doors

 

TO fans are upset because the team gets bounced learning how to win in the playoffs

Vancouver fans almost pee themselves thinking the team might make the playoffs once again in 7 years

 

One fan base expects better playoff performances the other hopes for a playoff performance.

wut?

[Law of Goalies]

4 hours ago, crunch55 said:

Bailey and Zach in..Jake and Roussel out..Rathbone in Chatfield out...please

Umm, I rather keep Jake. Gauds and Rooster out instead

[Law of Goalies]

4 hours ago, Herberts Vasiljevs said:

Hey Virtanen, get of the ice!!!!!

Do you people just comment that just for fun or just as a routine thing without thinking? 

[CanucksJay]

I don't know what is wrong with this team. Did the playoff success get to their heads? 

They were a team that had no quit last year. They are a team that throws in the towel this year. 

They are on the losing end of most of the puck battles while Hogs is playing like the only one that cares / comes out with the puck. 

I don't know if a shakeup trade does anything these days. 

Normally a coach gets one trade before he is canned. However, I don't want to give up on JV or Gaudette. 

Do we ship out a vet like beagle or Sutter to make a statement? Or do we wait until the dust settles this year and make offseason changes? 

 

I'm thinking the latter

 

[khay]

1 hour ago, rychicken said:

Unpopular take: 

 

Our current lineup has...

 

1 top pair Dman

1 2nd pair Dman

1 2nd/3rd pair Dman

1 6th Dman

2 7th/8th Dmen

Who is the top pair Dman?

 

For Hughes to be in that #1 pairing category, he has to possess the puck for the majority of the time he is on the ice. For whatever reason, that's not happening consistently enough. If we don't have the puck and Hughes in out on the ice, he is far from #1 pairing in terms of defensively abilities like breaking up plays.

 

QH: offensive/PP specialist.

Edler: #2/3 very well balanced player.

Schmidt: #3 dman with better puck moving abilities than defensive abilities.

Myers: #3/4 dman, similar as Edler with slightly better offensive instincts but poorer defensive abilities.

Hamonic: #6 dman. Out with injury.

Juolevi/Benn/Chatfield: #6/#7

 

The lower end of our defence is getting punished over and over again. Chatfield and Benn looked good for a bit but they have had trouble catching up to the speed at which the Leafs and the Habs play with. 

 

IMO, there's no quick fix. We need QH to rise up to the challenge and we need another top 3 defender.

 

[khay]

11 minutes ago, Law of Goalies said:

Do you people just comment that just for fun or just as a routine thing without thinking? 

It's probably the latter. Ignore them.