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

[DownUndaCanuck]

Doubled in shots, Spezza walks Edler, our team is collapsing. Other teams know if they take on our defenders and shoot high they'll score. Demko was brutal tonight too, we can't keep protecting him and his inconsistency, that Matthews goal should never happen, stick down and it still goes 5 hole.

 

Our offence is the only thing that's still clicking, we need to reverse that - sacrifice offence for defence, and that's a structure/system thing.

 

Not as many clear cut breakaways tonight but just sloppy players tonight. The boys are packing it in sadly.

 

The season is salvagable but because it's so relentless, I don't see the players just turning things around mid-road trip. We need a big event like a players meeting or coach firing or something to shake everyone up.

[DefCon1]

30 minutes ago, N4ZZY said:

Well, it was Benning and Co., that did let Lawrence Gilman go (the capologist). How idiotic was that? 

 

This has to be mismanagement at its worse. The team isn't playing well. There is suspicion that the team doesn't feel like management has their back. Would explain a lot in terms of their play on the ice. They're not buying into the system that Green has implemented. They're not playing for each other. They don't look like a team right now. Maybe the way that management let go and treated Toffoli, Markström, and Tanev really has affected this young core of players. What else could it be? 

 

And then you have Pettersson who's changed agents a few weeks ago. Is that a shot towards Benning and the rest of the management team? What is he conveying to management with an agent change? 

 

what surprises me is that Virtanen could have been easily traded and Schmidt not signed if we wanted to sign Tanev and Toffoli plus Stecher. Would have given us more depth along with signing Hamonic. I mean we are playing Chatfield who at times struggles and we have Benn trying to play as a top pairing with Hughes. No wonder we are so weak defensively.

[Johnny Garrett]

John Shorthouse has on numerous occasions referred to the Canucks’ play as “casual”.

Isn’t it high time the team officially renamed itself the ‘Vancouver Casuals’?  Heck, they already have the “C” on their chest!

All kidding aside, it’s a lot of fun watching this crew of millionaires implode game after game.  Looking forward to the next Toronto win . . . and yes, it will be forthcoming!

 

 

[DefCon1]

3 minutes ago, DownUndaCanuck said:

Doubled in shots, Spezza walks Edler, our team is collapsing. Other teams know if they take on our defenders and shoot high they'll score. Demko was brutal tonight too, we can't keep protecting him and his inconsistency, that Matthews goal should never happen, stick down and it still goes 5 hole.

 

Our offence is the only thing that's still clicking, we need to reverse that - sacrifice offence for defence, and that's a structure/system thing.

 

Not as many clear cut breakaways tonight but just sloppy players tonight. The boys are packing it in sadly.

 

The season is salvagable but because it's so relentless, I don't see the players just turning things around mid-road trip. We need a big event like a players meeting or coach firing or something to shake everyone up.

Players meeting didnt work for the Flames and we are passed that. The only way to reset everything is to fire Green. He is on the hot seat and if we keep getting blown out, Green will get fired. If not from Benning than from Aqua who might pressure Benning. Time is ticking for Green and his staff

[Junkyard Dog]

1 minute ago, DefCon1 said:

Players meeting didnt work for the Flames and we are passed that. The only way to reset everything is to fire Green. He is on the hot seat and if we keep getting blown out, Green will get fired. If not from Benning than from Aqua who might pressure Benning. Time is ticking for Green and his staff

Flames are not really in as much of a dire situation as us. They actually can play D(least amount of goals against in the division), they just can't score(tied for least amount of goals for in the division).

 

We're the opposite. We can score(1st in goals for in the divsion) but we can't keep the puck out of our net(1st in goals against in the division). Flames just need to find an offensive groove and they'll be good.

 

I can't imagine a coach lasting if we keep playing this bad the rest of the road trip. A coach firing would shorten the leash on JB, he'd be on his final straw.

[deus.ex.makina]

5 hours ago, playboi19 said:

I never saw Schmidt as a good signing. Totally overrated, it felt like we took vegas' leftovers so they could fit in Pietrangelo.

 

I would have rather had Stetcher tbh

Exactly my thought. Great personality for sure but never get the Schmidt>>Tanev hype. Tanev was THE re sign we had to do, and Stetcher was a motor on the ice. Losing both was clearly the recipe for the disaster. 

[Junkyard Dog]

1 minute ago, deus.ex.makina said:

Exactly my thought. Great personality for sure but never get the Schmidt>>Tanev hype. Tanev was THE re sign we had to do, and Stetcher was a motor on the ice. Losing both was clearly the recipe for the disaster. 

Schmidt is a good defenseman but he moved from a top team to a team gives up a lot defensively. In a perfect world I would have liked Schmidt and Tanev on the team since we needed another top 4 D on top of what we had last year.

 

Regardless without Marky this team sucks. He covered up the problems we had defensively hence why he was our MVP. The Vegas series is pretty much how are season went(that we need stellar goaltending to win).We were bad defensively last year too. It's something we need to improve upon. Can't continue to be this bad in front of our goalies.

[DefCon1]

2 minutes ago, Junkyard Dog said:

Flames are not really in as much of a dire situation as us. They actually can play D(least amount of goals against in the division), they just can't score(tied for least amount of goals for in the division).

 

We're the opposite. We can score(1st in goals for in the divsion) but we can't keep the puck out of our net(1st in goals against in the division). Flames just need to find an offensive groove and they'll be good.

 

I can't imagine a coach lasting if we keep playing this bad the rest of the road trip. A coach firing would shorten the leash on JB, he'd be on his final straw.

I dont think the Flames have played that well all season. They beat us twice which is nothing to write about. They beat the jets once out of 4 times and that was in a shootout. They had Marky steal a game against Habs. Remember they now have what we had in Marky to cover up mistakes in their D zone or their lack of offensive ability. Take out Markstrom and the Flames would not be a playoff team.

 

Also there is no other way to have a big reset unless the coach is fired and a new voice comes in to guide the players. When you have let in 5 goals or more in 8 games this season, there are problems beyond what a players meeting could fix.

[D-Money]

5 hours ago, Warhippy said:

I want wins.  but THIS year.  This SPECIFIC year I am ok with mediocre or worse.

 

Why?

 

Lower contracts for those needing them in a year where we'll have serious cap space opening up.  Lower overall numbers ensure lower overall bargaining power but also, covid economy.  Some players will possibly get ridiculously good deals from a cap standpoint

 

Much like last seasons summer playoffs...who cares?  Honestly, it's such an off or weird year and at any point in time any team could see 1-3-10 players off due to covid.  Everything this year is an asterisk.

 

Better, higher draft pick.  Self explanatory.

 

This sucks, hate seeing losses come up.  But if we're going to be mediocre or bad; it's not a bad year to see it happen after such a large retool.

 

I agree with this. There are far more benefits to blowing this season and missing the playoffs altogether, than there would be just missing out getting owned in the 1st round:

 

- A Canadian team is guaranteed to make it to the 3rd round. The ones in the race will want to add at the deadline. But if we’re out of the race, the only teams the remaining 5 teams can trade with (without a 2 week quarantine) are us and Ottawa. Prices should be high for rentals, so we should be able to get decent returns for Pearson, Hamonic, and Sutter.

 

- Because of the above, we might be able to ditch an overpaid player with term remaining, like Roussel or Beagle. If prices are high, and one of the Canadian teams runs into injury troubles, they might be desperate enough to get a player ASAP.

- Potential lottery pick - self-explanatory.

 

- Benning needs to go. He made some good draft choices, but the mismanagement is impossible to ignore. I’m scared of what he might do to try to save his job if the Canucks are still in it. 
 

Edited February 5, 2021 by D-Money

[Junkyard Dog]

3 minutes ago, DefCon1 said:

I dont think the Flames have played that well all season. They beat us twice which is nothing to write about. They beat the jets once out of 4 times and that was in a shootout. They had Marky steal a game against Habs. Remember they now have what we had in Marky to cover up mistakes in their D zone or their lack of offensive ability. Take out Markstrom and the Flames would not be a playoff team.

 

Also there is no other way to have a big reset unless the coach is fired and a new voice comes in to guide the players. When you have let in 5 goals or more in 8 games this season, there are problems beyond what a players meeting could fix.

They are 12th in least amount of shots against in the league, 2nd in our division(Habs 1st). As it stands, Flames are the 2nd best defensive team 5v5 in the division. Their PK is alright and their PP is trash. Majority of their problems stem from their lack of offensive production. They've only scored more than 3 goals once. One of the Flames biggest issues is secondary scoring. When their top 6 aren't scoring they aren't. 5 of their 10 games have been one goal games.

 

I think they'll eventually be fine since they have been better than everyone but the Habs in their own end but I could see them trying to add scoring.

 

For sure. We definitely need a reset. Not healthy to play like this for long. I don't think a player meeting would do much. I don't think a trade would do anything either. Need considerable change.

 

[N4ZZY]

25 minutes ago, D-Money said:

I agree with this. There are far more benefits to blowing this season and missing the playoffs altogether, than there would be just missing out getting owned in the 1st round:

 

- A Canadian team is guaranteed to make it to the 3rd round. The ones in the race will want to add at the deadline. But if we’re out of the race, the only teams the remaining 5 teams can trade with (without a 2 week quarantine) are us and Ottawa. Prices should be high for rentals, so we should be able to get decent returns for Pearson, Hamonic, and Sutter.

 

- Because of the above, we might be able to ditch an overpaid player with term remaining, like Roussel or Beagle. If prices are high, and one of the Canadian teams runs into injury troubles, they might be desperate enough to get a player ASAP.

- Potential lottery pick - self-explanatory.

 

- Benning needs to go. He made some good draft choices, but the mismanagement is impossible to ignore. I’m scared of what he might do to try to save his job if the Canucks are still in it. 
 

this scares me as well. 

 

[XxS3E3DI2N2SxX]

IMO managment has trickled down through the organization. I've seen it time and time again, nobody puts forth effort for toxic front offices sure Greens a spinless yes man so he will be the corporate puppet the Aqualinis need him to be. but the workers on this team have spoken. I dont think we were this bad under Willie.i for one am embarrassed that Hoglander has to come in to this, he will want out as fast as possible 

[IBatch]

10 hours ago, Pickly said:

@IBatch where ya at homes?

Listened to it on SN650 ... wasn't allowed to play last night given family stuff.   Did you miss me? 

[Seinfeld]

Please fire Benning.

 

It's not because of Benning the person. It's 7 years of little success, mostly failures, and saying "there's always next year".

 

We went from Mike Gillis who was smart/diligent/innovative/cut-throat and set out a clear objective to win the cup every year and was a game away from accomplishing it, to Jim 'I ran outta time' Benning. Lol.....

Edited February 5, 2021 by Seinfeld

[IBatch]

4 hours ago, Junkyard Dog said:

Schmidt is a good defenseman but he moved from a top team to a team gives up a lot defensively. In a perfect world I would have liked Schmidt and Tanev on the team since we needed another top 4 D on top of what we had last year.

 

Regardless without Marky this team sucks. He covered up the problems we had defensively hence why he was our MVP. The Vegas series is pretty much how are season went(that we need stellar goaltending to win).We were bad defensively last year too. It's something we need to improve upon. Can't continue to be this bad in front of our goalies.

 

With Markstrom, Tanev and TT this team sucked against Vegas too....and their price tags went up collectively.  Pay to lose a depth player or 4th liner/third pairing guy to keep them, plus  throw a wrench into any plans mitigating the ED plus cap for EP and QHs gets even tougher.   Sure hope that's why JB did it anyways .... if that's not why then show me the line to the fire JB booth.   

 

The teams not there yet, and won't be until we can replace Edler with prime young Edler, add one more top four D to the existing group (Edler would be fine as a third pairing guy for now) one more top six blue chipper - that's not Pearson, but a Horvat/Miller level guy, and that includes Hogs working out,  a 3C that can play like prime Sutter, and get top ten goaltending.

 

Thats a big ask.   Maybe Podz and Motte can fill the forward requirements (Motte move to center) - maybe not.   Maybe OJ can become a top four D, maybe not - but he doesn't play prime Edlers game so still need that....

 

EP and QHs are both still babies ... not worried about them at all - both have shown they can do it against the best in the world as teenagers.   Rare.  Extremely rare.     Don't have a crystal ball, but do know that our fate would have been sealed signing those guys, and it would all be 100% on the hope that our core has a lot more to offer, aside from one more blue chip UFA possibility - we'd be stuck, in what i'm pretty sure, a mediocre cycle - still relying on Markstrom to bail us out.

 

At least this way there is still hope we can go a few steps past that - which includes some lumps we as fans will have to take on the chin.   Sure COL loves having Rantanen, Makar, Girard and Byram in their system.     If we could add two of those, Horvat playing Landeskog's role, EP McKinnon etc - maybe this team will contend with the current core.   We most definitely were not going to be anything but a dark horse by staying exactly the same. 

 

 

 

[CanucksForever2]

Most people have us as a down year anyways. I rather have a setback for 1-2 years and then really contend for the next 7-8 years

 

If we re-sign Marky, tanev, tofu... We might be good for 2 years. Then we will lose demko in the expansion, very difficult to re-sign brock, Bo, Petey, Hughes or can't add any other key players. 

 

Tanev, tofu, Marky will likely all slow down significantly in the 3rd and fourth years of the contract and really impede the team. Just think long term. 

[canuck2288]

Not that Green has a message to give, but the team has tuned him out 

 

its been 4 years and zero success 

 

The team caught lightning in a bottle for a whole 2 playoff rounds and we all know we did it with insane goaltending and Bo 

 

the Green experiment has failed, just like the Willie experiment failed 

 

JB needs to go as well 

 

 

[IBatch]

16 minutes ago, Seinfeld said:

Please fire Benning.

 

It's not because of Benning the person. It's 7 years of little success, mostly failures, and saying "there's always next year".

 

We went from Mike Gillis who was smart/diligent/innovative/cut-throat and set out a clear objective to win the cup every year and was a game away from accomplishing it, to Jim 'I ran outta time' Benning. Lol.....

We went from " Insert anyone's name" to JB.   JB would have done great in his place with that team, any GM would except maybe Milbury.  We'd have at least come out of that five year period with some good young players via drafting (MG drafting was some of the worst ever - even without all the picks) ...

 

Do agree JB shelf life could be at a point where he loses his job.   That said it's not a written rule anywhere that GMs only get 5 years etc.   He's done an above average job.   Not great no terrible.   Sure it will come down to Aquaman's stomach for some more rebuilding - the teams not a contender.   Playoff revenue was always impossible this year - if there ever was a year to give this team one more marquee player via the draft this was it.   

Edited February 5, 2021 by IBatch

[canuck2288]

Its such a joke have to listen from the “Sportsnet” reporters that cover the Canucks like IMac

 

everything has to be indirect comments and never calling out any specific person. Media scrum questions are softball ones. 
 

let the TSN crew at them 

 

who would pay hard earned money to watch this crap team? Ask them that media 

[IBatch]

23 minutes ago, CanucksForever2 said:

Most people have us as a down year anyways. I rather have a setback for 1-2 years and then really contend for the next 7-8 years

 

If we re-sign Marky, tanev, tofu... We might be good for 2 years. Then we will lose demko in the expansion, very difficult to re-sign brock, Bo, Petey, Hughes or can't add any other key players. 

 

Tanev, tofu, Marky will likely all slow down significantly in the 3rd and fourth years of the contract and really impede the team. Just think long term. 

This is wise wish i read more of this on here.   Get the frustrations too - most are valid.   I am concerned mostly on does JB have the stomach to see it through - and what his plans are for the 8.5 million in savings which opens up if Holtby is picked or after he's done - plus the 9 million in the bank for LE and Luongo.   Hamilton is a pipe dream - if he pulled that out of his hat i'd be shocked ... CAR has said many times they are signing him long term - but it does happen (AP last year)....point is its very hard to predict the quality of players that will become available when the money comes out and there for sure is a lot of holes left to fill, especially on D.   Speaking of which maybe it's time to give OJ some more games - the season isn't over yet - not even close (14 games).... if things aren't different by the TDL then sell what we can, play the kids and look forward to the draft.   On that note for this to work out with this core we still need a couple more blue chippers... 

 

Would be great to have the inside knowledge and find out if this was the plan all along .... no playoff games best time to tank it hard for ownership at least..