Does anyone worry about the Canucks forwards not having enough size and toughness?

[EdgarM]

4 hours ago, DrJockitch said:

I think the value of “toughness” is really overblown in the current NHL.

Having Ryan Reaves on the Rangers would not have prevented the Chris Simon goon show from running through the bread man.  
The game is too fast, people aren’t out there making changing the decisions they need to make in a fraction of a second based on the size of the goon at the end of the bench. 
Team toughness is not measured by a ruler or scale or related to the country the players came from. It really is almost more the system they play and the leadership group as well as player buy in.  
Do you need to be able to play tighter and fight through checks to survive the playoffs, yes absolutely, but a hobo on skates at the end of your bench doesn’t help that. 

 

4 hours ago, -DLC- said:

We were missing Petey for part of that...have to factor that in.

 

More important than size is heart and hustle.  Guys who outwork others can be as (more?) effective than someone with brute force who maybe doesn't have the energy and applies it in doses rather than anything sustained.  I love the big hits but that can leave players behind as the puck moves up the ice.  So size can't really be at the expense of speed and energy.  "Hockey" strength doesn't just come through size.....core stability is huge in determining fight/compete level.

 

 

 

 

Someone else said its the ability to adapt to what your opponent is throwing at you and if thats speed, you have to be faster, if its work ethic, you have to work harder, and if its toughness, you have to outmuscle them. 

Putting as much ammo in the arsenal the better, especially in a long gruelling grind to the Cup finals. 

I believe its  a balance of "all of the above". So a smallish player with Heart? A bigger player who can and will hit? Put a few of these types of players together and you get a pretty good team IMO. 

[Patel Bure]

Wondering if it would be a good idea for the Canucks to trade for Ross Johnston or Nicolas Deslauriers if they have the cap space?  13th forward that can step into the line-up and act as an enforcer if things get rough.

Edited August 4, 2021 by Patel Bure

[IBatch]

20 hours ago, Patel Bure said:

Wondering if it would be a good idea for the Canucks to trade for Ross Johnston or Nicolas Deslauriers if they have the cap space?  13th forward that can step into the line-up and act as an enforcer if things get rough.

Hoping McEwen and Gadjs can play those roles.   Gadjs to me at least so far, looks like a throwback who will stand up for himself and his teammates every shift.   Hope so.   He's also making AHL D's and goalies lives absolutely miserable.   Not easy making the jump.   That's his best bet though.  If i had his chance, i'd be taking that to another level and making sure every single shift to keep things honest, and not hesitate one bit to drop the gloves at the slightest provocation.   Golden opportunity really. Zack has been ok.  We could do better though.     AR ruined his chance here taking dumb penalties.   Not that type.  We need a couple guys willing to do anything.   Beagle didn't fight but at least he understood to get in every players grill after the whistle in a scrum.   There is a line.   We don't want to be constantly killing penalties, but we do need to show every team in the league not to mess with us either.   For me at least, we should always have one/two D's and a couple forwards that will do this.   Myers and Hamonic will do for now.  Poolman is a total mystery doubt he's the guy though.   Podz isn't a pushover, neither is Miller.  Horvat can be disappointing.   But also has a limit. 

Edited August 5, 2021 by IBatch

[Hairy Kneel]

On 7/31/2021 at 8:39 AM, Jimmy McGill said:

Not that much. Pearson, MacEwan, Bo, Dickie, Brock, Podkolzin are all over 200 lbs. Hoglander and Garland are 'lil but they aren't afraid to play bigger than they are. Dickinson is also supposed to be a hard player to deal with. 

 

Our d group has some OK size to it now as well.

 

I would have liked to add Ritchie for something like 1.25-1.5 x 1 year but not what TO gave him. Having said that, it would be nice to add a bit more size to the 4th line somehow. 

 

I would like to give McEwan a few games centering the 4th line. We need toughness up the middle and the bs that happens in the face-offs can be brutal sometimes. Sutter is ok but too gentleman. 

[JM_]

2 minutes ago, Hairy Kneel said:

I would like to give McEwan a few games centering the 4th line. We need toughness up the middle and the bs that happens in the face-offs can be brutal sometimes. Sutter is ok but too gentleman. 

I wonder if Mac could make the jump to fulll time C? that would be great if thats possible. He has 11 career face offs tho, so it would be something new. Doesn't mean he can't do it tho. 

[Hairy Kneel]

Just now, Jimmy McGill said:

I wonder if Mac could make the jump to fulll time C? that would be great if thats possible. He has 11 career face offs tho, so it would be something new. Doesn't mean he can't do it tho. 

Man wouldn't that be something?! Love Mac's in your face game. If someone slashes Petie on the dot send out Mac the next face off. This is wgere Bo could really help Mac. 

[JM_]

1 minute ago, Hairy Kneel said:

Man wouldn't that be something?! Love Mac's in your face game. If someone slashes Petie on the dot send out Mac the next face off. This is wgere Bo could really help Mac. 

Sutter could be a good mentor for him too on the dot, and likely very willing to take on that role. Motte-Sutter-Mac could be a very effective 4th line even with Mac's face off learning curve. 

 

Lets send a memo to Travis. 

[PhillipBlunt]

I think the forward corps is solid. There are some players who're more than comfortable with playing a physical game. MacEwen strikes me as a particularly tough hombre who has shown zero issue with stepping up for his team from a pugilistic standpoint. 

For the team, it's far more important that the entire group shows a resilience and pack like mentality. This permeates throughout the lineup and makes the entire team harder to deal with. Adding players like Garland, Dickinson, and Podkolzin will only help to solidify that. 

[Drop Em]

On 8/4/2021 at 11:22 AM, Patel Bure said:

Wondering if it would be a good idea for the Canucks to trade for Ross Johnston or Nicolas Deslauriers if they have the cap space?  13th forward that can step into the line-up and act as an enforcer if things get rough.

YES PLEASE to Ross Johnston.....won't hold my breath on it happening though.

[cocanuck]

I wouldnt say fighters is what we need just more aize and team toughness.  Everybody says tampa has skill and they do,,, check the size of their defenseman

[IBatch]

On 8/5/2021 at 12:08 PM, Jimmy McGill said:

I wonder if Mac could make the jump to fulll time C? that would be great if thats possible. He has 11 career face offs tho, so it would be something new. Doesn't mean he can't do it tho. 

I thought - before JB big cap clearing move, that Motte would be moving to the fourth C spot.   I do like that JB has kept C as a team strength.   Winning the most face offs in the league during the bubble was nice - what wasn't nice was constantly losing possession against Vegas soon after lol.   He's  managed to keep that team strength, to a degree, and hoping the new additions help fix the possession and transition game too. 

[-Moose]

Haven't we been having this conversation since 2011?

[UKNuck96]

People put to much stock in toughness being a goon on ice, just as they put to much stock in points/goals and overlook that there are other types of players who don’t get points to show their worth.

 

for me it’s not about individual toughness it’s about the team ability to make it difficult to play against. Having Dickie in the lineup really helps that, Hoglander and Motte are absolute pests buzzing around and making life difficult, Garland is in the same mould but with a higher end play. 
 

by taking teams time and space away on the puck it makes it hard for them to play, makes them frustrated. This is more important than someone who can throw haymakers after an event has happened. 
 

Plus the best time to turnover the puck is right after a player has recieved the puck whether from a turnover themselves or a pass. By pressing quickly rather than sitting off you get a better chance of disrupting the play. We now have a few players with the motor who can play that game.

[Bad_BOI_pete]

Our team got better I think everyone can agree on that. We changed. We have to wait and see how well they perform before we make further changes

[JM_]

4 hours ago, IBatch said:

I thought - before JB big cap clearing move, that Motte would be moving to the fourth C spot.   I do like that JB has kept C as a team strength.   Winning the most face offs in the league during the bubble was nice - what wasn't nice was constantly losing possession against Vegas soon after lol.   He's  managed to keep that team strength, to a degree, and hoping the new additions help fix the possession and transition game too. 

depending on how things shake out with the RFAs, I could see a PTO for one more experienced veteran C at camp as well to shore things up. 

[BigTramFan]

4 hours ago, Jimmy McGill said:

depending on how things shake out with the RFAs, I could see a PTO for one more experienced veteran C at camp as well to shore things up. 

Same. I'd like to see Zajac. I think he would be an excellent 4C or 13th forward in our lineup. Very similar player to Sutter in terms of his defense, but with better offense. Should be available for around $1m

[JM_]

26 minutes ago, BigTramFan said:

Same. I'd like to see Zajac. I think he would be an excellent 4C or 13th forward in our lineup. Very similar player to Sutter in terms of his defense, but with better offense. Should be available for around $1m

is he still available? I wonder if he'd want to come back to Canada to wrap up his career. 

[Chris12345]

Who was that tiny puke playing for Calgary maybe 2 years ago that actually pushed the Canucks around?

 

Was it Lindholm? If I remember correctly that's the kind of trash that sucks.