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[PGT] Los Angeles Kings at Vancouver Canucks | Dec. 06, 2021

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-Vintage Canuck-

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52 minutes ago, mll said:

Toffoli wasn't supposed to be a rental. Benning himself talked about how they were hoping to get him extended and that's why they were willing to pay that cost.  They even contacted his agent after the trade to talk about staying long term.  He was expecting a few players to be dealt in the off-season - talked of recouping that 2nd round pick but it never materialised.  Once they qualified Virtanen they couldn't fit him in anymore because teams can't walk away from an arbitration award if under circa 4M.

   

Virtanen? Du’oh!! 
 

That’s the biggest blunder, here.
 

Intelligence - very questionable.

Immaturity - for life! 
Character - oye vey! 

 

Can’t be gamblin’ on all of those very important intangibles, when it comes to your 1st round draft picks. This now infamous ex-Canuck was not cut lose, soon enough.


I think their dressing room even gave management all of the signs that this guy was not a great fit -  several times. Bo yelling & getting all up in Jake’s grill at practice, is but one instance that comes to mind.
 

Could have had Toffoli as a very productive & contributing Canuck - if only JB was objective enough & humble enough to own-up to this colossal mistake, sooner. 
 


 


 

 

Edited by viking mama
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2 minutes ago, wallstreetamigo said:

The Virtanen situation was a perfect case in point that Benning had lost his objectivity because he drafted Virtanen. His weaknesses and character flaws were or should have been evident at that point to any GM willing to see them.
 

If Virtanen was seen by Benning as how you describe then they didn’t have to not qualify him. They could have traded him for a good return. That they couldn’t says everything we need to know about that loss of objectivity. 

Idk i just think it wasnt that simple or clear at the time. I honestly don't think Benning was the worst GM. Sure it took a while, but he ended up giving us a pretty good roster in the end.

We've got some issues on defense, but he's built a really great top-9, and has 2 excellent top-4 defensemen (Hughes and OEL). 

A new GM can absolutely work with what Benning has built and probably will have a lot of success with it (or so I hope)

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10 minutes ago, 48MPHSlapShot said:

In regards to Toffoli, Benning's mistake was trading for him in the first place.

Hard to say.  They might've needed Toffoli if the season didn't get cut short by COVID.  They were fighting for a playoff spot at the time.  Personally I liked the trade at the time.  Just wish he had been healthy for the whole bubble playoffs.

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Green should have been fired a long time ago but here we are anyway.

 

Great idea by Bruce to put Petey with two high-energy kids in Garland and Podz, it really showed out there and gave him some buzz. Hopefully they'll generate more good grinding shifts together, that goal today by them was an example of relentless energy - all 3 guys were buzzing around the net for their goal.

 

Look at the ice-time for all the players - Bruce kept it almost exactly even with a nice even split of time for almost all the forwards except for the 4th line, and defencemen too. He's sussing out who we have really and who works well. I think he's going to let the players dictate who this team's 1st line is over the next few games by how well they play rather than their pedigree. 

 

Boeser getting a goal and Demko getting a shutout in as long as anyone can remember may be the perfect way to start this new era. We're 6 games now below .500, and realistically need to play 0.600+ hockey to make the playoffs. I'm not going to bother doing the maths but the only way we get in is by either going on a mad 10 game winning streak (which has been done before) or playing consistently at around 0.800 hockey.

 

Crazier things have happened but if we're the best team in the league for the rest of the season the way the Blues were we may make it to the playoffs, but I'd just be happy if we can play this well and compete each night, build and build and next season become a bit of a force. Let's aim for .600-.700 hockey under Bruce and I think this season is a success.

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4 minutes ago, DownUndaCanuck said:

Green should have been fired a long time ago but here we are anyway.

 

Great idea by Bruce to put Petey with two high-energy kids in Garland and Podz, it really showed out there and gave him some buzz. Hopefully they'll generate more good grinding shifts together, that goal today by them was an example of relentless energy - all 3 guys were buzzing around the net for their goal.

 

Look at the ice-time for all the players - Bruce kept it almost exactly even with a nice even split of time for almost all the forwards except for the 4th line, and defencemen too. He's sussing out who we have really and who works well. I think he's going to let the players dictate who this team's 1st line is over the next few games by how well they play rather than their pedigree. 

 

Boeser getting a goal and Demko getting a shutout in as long as anyone can remember may be the perfect way to start this new era. We're 6 games now below .500, and realistically need to play 0.600+ hockey to make the playoffs. I'm not going to bother doing the maths but the only way we get in is by either going on a mad 10 game winning streak (which has been done before) or playing consistently at around 0.800 hockey.

 

Crazier things have happened but if we're the best team in the league for the rest of the season the way the Blues were we may make it to the playoffs, but I'd just be happy if we can play this well and compete each night, build and build and next season become a bit of a force. Let's aim for .600-.700 hockey under Bruce and I think this season is a success.

I'm not overly optimistic about playoffs, but a win is a start.  On to the next game with the positive momentum and let's see what happens.

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2 hours ago, Smashian Kassian said:

Bruce is such a gem

 

I remember watching this at the time & being blown away (when 'behind the scenes' type shows were in their infancy)

 

Now I can't stop laughing, he's just blunt in a very honest & endearing way. Its so awesome.

 

 

Lets go Bruce! The kick in the pants we need!

BRUCE THERE IT IS!!!!!!!!!!! 

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I've been saying for the last 10 games that Green should put Podz/Petey/Garland together... he never did.  But what did Boudreau do in the first shift for Pettersson, he put them together and they worked well... with a goal produced... I thought they had multiple excellent chances.

 

He also added Podkolzin to the PP units... again what I suggested.  No goals by Podz, but he looked good for the limited time he was there.

 

Overall I thought the offensive play was much more fluid... there was better puck support and better timing on the forecheck.  In one game I thought the Canucks generated far more genuine scoring chances in the slot area than they have typically done in 3 Green coached games.

 

This team has to keep the puck in the opponent's zone, they have to keep puck possession... and that means they need to be harder on the puck and keep driving forward.  They do not have the best defense in the league and the more they can avoid having the puck in their own zone, the better.  Green's defensive minded game, with so much collapsing to the net was exactly the wrong recipe with the roster this team has.  I am glad Boudreau understands that.

 

I am really hopeful this team can win the majority of its remaining games... that will be a good start for next season.  Even though they probably won't make the playoffs, if they can prove they are a winning team from this point, the season will be a success... and they'll get a decent draft choice too.

 

Overall, the game versus the Kings was the best possible start of this 'new' season.  I am very happy.

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@DownUndaCanuck,

 

Love your analysis in this thread.  I also love the Podkolzin-Pettersson-Garland line that Boudreau threw and can’t fathom as to why Green didn’t put these guys together much earlier.  Just mind boggling.

 

I didn’t watch tonight’s game but I’m hoping that we see Miller and Horvat play together at some point with Hoglander and Boeser rotating on that right side (preferably Boeser as I think Hoglander would find a way to still be useful on a 3rd line).

 

 

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