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[Signing] Jake Virtanen signs with HC Spartak Moscow (KHL)


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2 hours ago, N4ZZY said:

I want to think that going to the KHL would be a wake up call for Virtanen. 

 

But I'm not so sure about it. Worse case scenario is that he bumbles his way throughout the KHL and gets cut even there, and then bumbles his way across various other hockey leagues around the world. 

 

I think an NHL team does eventually pick him up for dirt cheap, and for cheap depth. He can still skate which is always a bonus, he just can't do anything else very well. He doesn't hit, he doesn't shoot much, and if he does, he seems to always miss the damn net. His hockey IQ isn't very high, so I'm not sure where he would slot in other than for injury or depth for a team. And even then, it might be suspect. I think eventually, he makes it home back to Abbotsford and plays for the Abby Canucks. 

 

At least, at that time in his career, he can say he's still a Canuck :bigblush:

He will

never play for the Canucks, or the baby Canucks, ever again.

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12 hours ago, N4ZZY said:

I think eventually, he makes it home back to Abbotsford and plays for the Abby Canucks. 

 

At least, at that time in his career, he can say he's still a Canuck :bigblush:

Here's the thing.  I'm a big believer of innocent until proven guilty of course, but if Virtanen's character was such that the accusations was less believable, the Canucks would have stayed by his side......even at a distance.  But his history and actions over time have created the situation where it's even more difficult to defend him.  Even if he does end up being deemed innocent, the Canucks have already showed their cards in terms of their assessment of his character.  They've cut the cord and they won't be allowing him back into the organization in any capacity now.  At this point, "We're all Canucks" won't ever include him.  Not in the AHL or NHL.  No way!

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6 minutes ago, NHL97OneTimer said:

Here's the thing.  I'm a big believer of innocent until proven guilty of course, but if Virtanen's character was such that the accusations was less believable, the Canucks would have stayed by his side......even at a distance.  But his history and actions over time have created the situation where it's even more difficult to defend him.  Even if he does end up being deemed innocent, the Canucks have already showed their cards in terms of their assessment of his character.  They've cut the cord and they won't be allowing him back into the organization in any capacity now.  At this point, "We're all Canucks" won't ever include him.  Not in the AHL or NHL.  No way!

Plus, he sucked at hockey last year.

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On 9/7/2021 at 9:35 AM, higgyfan said:

https://en.khl.ru/clubs/spartak/team/

 

He shouldn't have any problem being the best player on this team. 

 

Alone in Russian; no family or friends.   :shock:

 

 

He’s got Petey’s brother.  Ex Canucks dynamo Shirokov and Dansk as buddies.  Also isn’t Linden Vey the KHL Hart trophy winner?  They go wayyyyy back to the Willie daze.

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On 9/9/2021 at 9:43 PM, NHL97OneTimer said:

Here's the thing.  I'm a big believer of innocent until proven guilty of course, but if Virtanen's character was such that the accusations was less believable, the Canucks would have stayed by his side......even at a distance.  But his history and actions over time have created the situation where it's even more difficult to defend him.  Even if he does end up being deemed innocent, the Canucks have already showed their cards in terms of their assessment of his character.  They've cut the cord and they won't be allowing him back into the organization in any capacity now.  At this point, "We're all Canucks" won't ever include him.  Not in the AHL or NHL.  No way!

i'm still curious to see how his KHL career is going to go. Is he going to be a rock star in the K, or is he going to flounder just as much there? If this situation isn't a wake up call for Jake, I'm not sure what will be. 

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On 9/8/2021 at 12:34 AM, bigbadcanucks said:

After seven failed seasons as property of the Vancouver Canucks, I was trying to think about something positive about Virtanen...this is all I've got:

 

 

Virtanen in Moscow where vodka is cheaper than water...yah, that's not a disaster in the making.  Kevin Epp will be cleaning up yet another car wreck with Jake at the wheel.

Too bad he only did this 1% of the time… per month!  

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  • 2 weeks later...
3 minutes ago, Boudrias said:

A bit of a joke that many months after the original allegation and still no charges yet Jake is drummed out of the NHL. If no charges then I expect he returns. Maybe not the smartest kid but I hope he does well.

He actually looks pretty lean. I think need to also look at his play as to reasons he is out of the league. He also didn’t help himself with his social media showing off his flouting of many of the COVID rules. 

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4 minutes ago, Boudrias said:

A bit of a joke that many months after the original allegation and still no charges yet Jake is drummed out of the NHL. If no charges then I expect he returns. Maybe not the smartest kid but I hope he does well.

He’s a 25 year old marginal NHL player. Nobody’s going to touch him as long as those allegations are looming. Even if he is cleared he may not find himself another NHL job unless he really finds his groove in Russia. 

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31 minutes ago, Boudrias said:

A bit of a joke that many months after the original allegation and still no charges yet Jake is drummed out of the NHL. If no charges then I expect he returns. Maybe not the smartest kid but I hope he does well.

kid isn't good enough for the bigs anyway. 

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25 minutes ago, Filthy McNasty said:

If jake is successful there and becomes a goal scoring hard hitting top six forward is it fair to say coaching mishandled him

no, it's fair to say that he didn't have what it takes to play in the NHL. 

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13 minutes ago, tas said:

no, it's fair to say that he didn't have what it takes to play in the NHL. 

317 games in the NHL, shows he has what it takes, to be 3rd line/4th line winger.

Almost any other hockey players brain, in Jake's body would be a 1 or 2 line winger.

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44 minutes ago, Filthy McNasty said:

If jake is successful there and becomes a goal scoring hard hitting top six forward is it fair to say coaching mishandled him

I don't think that's necessarily true. Jake was given ample time playing top 6 minutes and wasn't able to succeed. Playing him in a bottom 6 role was to help him focus more on his away from the puck play.

 

If Jake turns it around, I think it's more to do with hitting rock bottom. His face has been plastered all over his home town due to his sexual assult allegations. The team he grew up cheering for, and drafted him, litterally paid money for him not to play for them. Then no one in the NHL would give him a job and he had to sign with a lesser league across the world. You don't have to be a rocket science to see you are on very thin ice at that point and you may not have many opportunities left.

 

I doubt Jake did a lot of saving in his years in the NHL. I bet he really wants to be making an NHL pay cheque for the next few years.

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