Canuck MVP and Pleasant Surprise

[combover]

I went with Demko for mvp 

Without him we would would have been blown out in 3/4 of the games we played.

no goalie this season has faced as many shots as him.

he’s bailed out the atrocious D nightly. 

Podz has been a present surprise even In his limited minutes he’s noticeable every shift and get involved. 

 

[nux_win]

If it weren't for Demko we would have even fewer wins.  He has single handedly saved some games for us and kept some close that shouldn't have been.  Can that be said about anyone else?

 

Garland is the most exciting player on the team right now and that's a pleasant surprise.  I heard good things about him before he arrived but he's even better than expected in my book.  He plays with speed, skill and aggression.  If we could just get more players playing like that.  GCG!

[kanucks25]

MVP - Demko, but Miller and Garland are pushing now

 

Surprise - OEL, mainly how steady he's been defensively

[John_Guest]

For me the biggest surprise is the Canucks team in general.

I mean, we're such an improved team on paper from the one that went deep in the playoffs a couple years ago but we're still deep in the basement.

 

It's a surprise. Not a positive one but a surprise. Somebody up there must be playing a trick on us. These guys are just not that bad.

[John_Guest]

Wait...I changed my mind.

 

I think my biggest surprise is what a difference maker it's appearing that Brandon Sutter was.

 

So, if I could change my vote to 'other,' I would.

[Devron]

With Garland and OEL, how well they’ve been for us. Hughes playing like a stud both ways. If you told me those things at the beginning of the year I’d be shocked to see our record where it is now.

 

It’s been a WEIRD season. Hell maybe they do turn it around. WEIRDER things have happened 

[nergish]

Mine would be the same as pretty much everyone here:

MVP - Demko, with honourable mention to JT Miller for still producing like a first-liner despite everything going on.

Surprise - Who else but Conor Garland? The guy is the exactly the secondary scoring piece we thought we were getting, but because our star forwards are massively underperforming, he's often looked like the most skilled finesse player in our lineup. 

[Fred65]

8 minutes ago, nergish said:

Mine would be the same as pretty much everyone here:

MVP - Demko, with honourable mention to JT Miller for still producing like a first-liner despite everything going on.

Surprise - Who else but Conor Garland? The guy is the exactly the secondary scoring piece we thought we were getting, but because our star forwards are massively underperforming, he's often looked like the most skilled finesse player in our lineup. 

With Garlands quick turn about he's going to break some poor oppoent ankles just trying to keep up  

Edited December 2, 2021 by Fred65

[JeremyCuddles]

MVP is Demko, surprise is probably Garland. I knew he'd be good for 40+ points but he's been the 2nd best player on this team and it's not even close.

[JeremyCuddles]

3 hours ago, John_Guest said:

Wait...I changed my mind.

 

I think my biggest surprise is what a difference maker it's appearing that Brandon Sutter was.

 

So, if I could change my vote to 'other,' I would.

I'd throw in Beagle as well. Our PK is absymal with both Sutter injured and Beagle gone. Beagle was the only part of the trade I was sad to see go. 55-60% faceoff guy. I think he got a lot of unnecessary negative attention here. They are both faceoff monsters. And we replaced them with 2 guys that can't win faceoffs to save their life. I liked the Dickinson trade, but now it's looking more like he should be playing wing and not center.

[IBatch]

If Miller didn't make some stupid low percentage plays every game id say he's this years MVP.   But he's not - and it's not Demko either so far either.   He hasn't really stolen a game like MAF did in CHI against us, but worthy of some props.  It's 100% Garland in both categories for me.   He's been our best forward, makes any line better, draws penalties and has equal intangibles if not more then Miller so far this season.   Doesn't make stupid plays but always plays with extreme skill and intensity, and last night watching live, was absolutely the most noticeable player, even with Miller's awesome goal and QHs points.   So i went with him on both fronts.   He's a freaking gem so far.   Early days yet ... imagine if EP was our MVP and the others were the same?  We'd be stoked as a fanbase. 

[VegasCanuck]

For me, MVP was really a toss up between Demko and Garland. What gave it an edge for me was that without Garland, I think we would be dead last, no matter how well Demko has been playing. 

 

Garland is also my pick for Pleasant Surprise, I knew he would be good, but he looks REALLY good. If we can get a couple of our other guys going (Pettersson and Boeser), it's scary to think that no matter how bad we've been on the penalty kill, we're only 6 points out of the last Wild Card spot.

 

[Coconuts]

31 minutes ago, N7Nucks said:

I'd throw in Beagle as well. Our PK is absymal with both Sutter injured and Beagle gone. Beagle was the only part of the trade I was sad to see go. 55-60% faceoff guy. I think he got a lot of unnecessary negative attention here. They are both faceoff monsters. And we replaced them with 2 guys that can't win faceoffs to save their life. I liked the Dickinson trade, but now it's looking more like he should be playing wing and not center.

Beagle was a bit overpaid, but I thought he was fair value. If he'd been paid 500k-1M less people wouldn't have probably fussed so much, but that's what it cost to bring in a player like Beagle coming off a cup win. 

 

It was likely assumed Sutter would be healthy as demonstrated by his signing, but that went sideways. We never brought in a viable replacement for Beagle though, and we're seeing what we're missing now that he's gone. Dickinson presented as a good PK piece who played in Dallas's top six at times, but he's not Beagle. 

[Canuck Surfer]

13 hours ago, Coconuts said:

Burroughs is probably the biggest surprise despite his being a depth guy.

Plus one comment for sure!

[Canuck Surfer]

Plus one also to @-AJ- for having a positive spin thread!  

 

So much doom and gloom, nice to talk about the positive side of life & our Orca, well done! 

[RU SERIOUS]

Imagine if we had 4 lines of Garlands !

 

[IBatch]

15 hours ago, Nave said:

Boeser has been hard to watch this season, but don't forget he was arguably our MVP last season.

Absolutely ... early days yet 

[Steamer4GM]

23 minutes ago, RU SERIOUS said:

Imagine if we had 4 lines of Garlands !

 

I used to say, constantly, ‘If only coach would assign Jake to shadow Petey for a week and take notes, could you imagine how his game works ld turn around?’

 

Now I just wish Petey would shadow Garland. 

 

I’d like to see Garland Motte and Hoglander take a few shifts together just to make the other team dizzy
 

Cruel hockey world

 

Snatcher for MVP

Garland for Priemier

Edited December 2, 2021 by Steamer4GM

[Duodenum]

MVP - Hughes and Garland can share this award, One forward and one defenseman. Very happy with Hughe's improvement in his defensive play this year. 

 

Surprise - Garland for sure. One for his production but also his production relative to Petey and Boeser. 

[canuckleheads fan]

MVP: Demko, honorable mention, Miller.

Pleasant Surprise: Myers.  He has retooled his game, and yes he still struggles at times, but he has looked like a completely different player this season in a good way.  Honorable mention, OEL, he is much better than I expected.  He moves with such ease and grace, handle the puck so deftly, he is nowhere near the end of his career.