Pre-Season [GDT/PGT] Seattle Kraken @ Vancouver Canucks/ Thursday, Sept. 29/22 / 6:30pm KONG, NHLN,SN1, SNP, 650AM at Rogers Arena

[Ghostsof1915]

7 minutes ago, VancouverHabitant said:

I knew we would miss him right after he left.  

On the plus side. He might be the head coach of the Flyers by next season.

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, Odd. said:

Same guy who led us to a the worst PK in our history though? Unless I’m mistaken of course.

Brad Shaw was inexplicably NOT in charge of the PK or the defense at the start of last season.  

 

Once Green was fired, Scott Walker was put in charge of the PK.  Only after he got hit in the head, did Shaw take over the PK and that's when our PK started clicking. 

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, Ghostsof1915 said:

On the plus side. He might be the head coach of the Flyers by next season.

While I want nothing to do with Torts here, I have to say that I like him as a coach and as a person.  He's so entertaining and I'm kind of cheering for him to stick with Philly...  it would be such  a good match between the market and the coach's personality.  

 

Philly, Gritty, Torts 

 

[Ghostsof1915]

I'm going to say something massively unpopular.

The Benning belief that skill works over size and speed is just not going to work.

Exceptions are guys like Lockwood who play bigger than their size, and he's more of average size type player at any rate.

I love guys who work their tails off like Hoglander, and Garland. But the bigger, and quicker, and skilled teams will neutralize our smaller guys.

I'm hoping good drafting will improve the team in the long run. So that we can play against anyone, and any type of hockey, and still come out on the winning side.

Even Montreal and Edmonton got the memo and are getting bigger, skilled, fast players.

[DeNiro]

6 minutes ago, VancouverHabitant said:

Brad Shaw was inexplicably NOT in charge of the PK or the defense at the start of last season.  

 

Once Green was fired, Scott Walker was put in charge of the PK.  Only after he got hit in the head, did Shaw take over the PK and that's when our PK started clicking. 

And that highlights everything that was wrong with Benning and Green.

 

Not delegating enough to the qualified people that were hired (Shaw, Brackett etc.)

 

I always thought Shaw was a forced hire because they needed to show that they were trying to improve defensive systems. But to not even put him in the position he specializes in is beyond ridiculous. Green spent too much time trying to shelter his buddy Baumer and not enough time doing what was best for the team.

 

To think there was a time there was actually pressure to re-sign Green out of fear of losing him. 
 

Edited September 30, 2022 by DeNiro

[Ghostsof1915]

2 minutes ago, VancouverHabitant said:

While I want nothing to do with Torts here, I have to say that I like him as a coach and as a person.  He's so entertaining and I'm kind of cheering for him to stick with Philly...  it would be such  a good match between the market and the coach's personality.  

 

Philly, Gritty, Torts 

 

The only redeeming quality I see of him is he loves dogs.

He's a perfect fit for Philly and it's market. But don't think he's the right coach.

[CanucksJay]

1 hour ago, combover said:

I haven’t seen how a lot of others have played a guy like Dickenson who I’d rather see on waivers Than gifted a spot for one. 

Besides I simply stated I though lockwood had a decent game he hit he drove the net he was involved.

 

 

 

 

Yup, I dunno how Dickenson has looked compared to Lockwood. 

I don't think Dicky should be automatically given a spot either. 

He should be in competition for one of 3 final roster spots with Lazar, Dakota, Lockwood and Hogz. 

Our top 9 is pretty defined

 

Horvat, Pettersson, Miller, Pearson, Garland, Kuz, Ilya, Boeser, Podz 

 

Pearson is borderline but he showed well the last 2 years so he's def earned more trust over someone like Dicky who hasn't proven anything in a Canucks uniform. If anyone is going to usurp Pearson's spot, it's Hogz.

There is no doubt Pearson is better than Dickenson and Lockwood so he is still NHL calibre. 

 

 

[Slegr]

There were many bright spots in last night’s game, and I think actually Dakota Joshua was who I was most impressed with. He is exactly what the Canucks need. I loved how one of his legal shoulder to shoulder checks crushed a Kraken to the extent he left the game, and I love his lefty style fighting. He’s going to make our fourth line one of the best.

Edited September 30, 2022 by Slegr

[CanucksJay]

1 minute ago, Slegr said:

There were many bright spots in last night’s game, and I think actually Dakota Joshua was who I was most impressed with. He is exactly what the Canucks need. I loved how one of his legal shoulder to shoulder checks crushed a Kraken to the extent he left the game, and I love his lefty style fighting. He’s going to make our fourth line one of the best.

I believe it was also his hit that produced a turnover leading to a goal last night. Love the pickup.

[Angry Goose]

 

The 3rd pair on defense-what a battle.  JR, LS, TO, KB all have legit arguments to be starting. Not so sure about DDK-his foot speed is going to be an issue.

 

4th line as well. I see CL and DJ as mainstays. If everyone is healthy that leaves Hoagie/JD.  I also really like what Aman brings (although maybe injured) and PDJ s playing hard too.  

 

I wonder if the Canucks try to trade a fwd and defensemen? 

[iceman64]

2 hours ago, RakuRaku said:

Yaaa.. gonna be tough for Bruce to make his final cuts... Rathbone sure is a flashy offensive D-man but if he can't nail down his #1 priority which is the basic defensive work, then it's gonna hurt us more long term... but we are so lack of skilled D-men right now... Dermott and Burroughs are pretty solid but they won't offer much outside their own zone... 

 

I'm more interested in seeing more out of DeKeyser and Poolman in the next few preseason games for sure! 

If we have to depend on D scoring instead of just them focusing on keep the puck out of ours we're seriously in trouble. 

However there's enough fire power up front and that's a non issue. Sounds like someone's been listening to too much sports media in Vancouver again, worst sports media in the entire league, useless beyond belief. 

I'm over been shocked at how bad media is in Vancouver but most of the shock has worn off and I accepted how bush league it truly is but maybe on day it'll change, sadly people fall for it, especially sell the farm for a one and done cup run, lil bit difficult with a roster with no depth when injuries hit in the playoffs and falls flat and no cup AGAIN. 

I wish people would stop listening to their opinions and have the balls to think it through on their own and see how full of shite they really are. 

However hats off to those who don't drink their cool-aid.. 

Anddddd it's not out of JR's scope to pull a trade, it's not like the trade deadline has passed.

If Bruce does his job and the whole team plays a tighter 200' game then that won't be much of a issue, so far BB has done a decent job of getting players to buy in but we're still new as a team with the new faces plus pre-season so I wouldn't go passing judgement just yet..

 

[JM_]

2 hours ago, stawns said:

They didn't in Calgary, they iced a good chunk of their top players against Vans AHL guys.  Why didn't they just pack it in after a couple of goals?

they did?

 

we're just going to have to agree to disagree on the importance of a split squad pre season game. 

[MikeyD]

My takeaway from the game:

 

I'm absolutely pumped! I am ecstatic, and here is why: the team played a system that is finally suited for their play style and the success of this club. Is it perfect? Absolutely not. It requires a lot of intelligence and it requires a lot of good timing and figuring out of when to activate and when to make certain plays, but most importantly, it is a possession style of hockey that most of the elite teams use in the league and it encourages offensive creativity. 

 

Too many years I've been watching this damn team play safe hockey and it is infuriating. Nothing irritates me more than when teams that have talent are always resorting to playing extremely simple, dumbed down hockey. Dump and chases, everything up a wall, north/south hockey is very rarely ever consistently putting teams into elite categories. Usually it's reserved for lesser talented teams that need to beat the better teams with talent. And no doubt, it's gonna burn us and we saw that last night when the effort lacks a bit for a period of time, but at the end of the day you're going to see periods of absolute dominance where you can easily spot 3-5 goals in a period. It's the way the 2011 team played and I hadn't seen that type of good hockey in a real long time with this team. It's refreshing.

 

It was awesome to see Quinn Hughes resort back to rookie year where he wasn't just snapping the puck up ice to load up on assists and to try to make quick outlets, but he was carrying it, entering the zone and pushing back the defense to allow for easier entries. There's a time and place for quick ups, and we saw a few of them last night, but when your system relies upon it, it is incredibly easy to defend because it ends up being predictable and when your team isn't in sync, it creates for a huge gap between forwards and defense to take advantage of and it also leads to forwards ending up standing still at the blue line or center ice line and completely ruining the transition if the timing is off and you have zero speed to enter a zone and suddenly the rush is gone. 

 

I love that we are seeing more east/west play, especially when it comes to passing. I love that the puck is being transitioned to behind the net because it eventually opens up the most dangerous scoring spot in the slot and I love that guys are now starting to make plays in the offensive zone instead of just launching low success shots on net. We are forcing the goalies to move which is always best. 

 

Now yes, the caliber of competition was low, but a lot of the plays we did will work against good teams because they're difficult to defend. The cycle won't be as easy and some of the passes won't get through, but also our shooting percentage won't be that abysmally bad as it was last night either. Guys will get into their rhythm and our timing on plays will only improve. We didn't get great goaltending from Silovs unfortunately and I ultimately think we win that game if he performs averagely. 

 

I am absolutely pumped. I hope they continue playing this possession style of hockey. The creativity is not only fun but it should be successful with this team as long as our defenders don't play like idiots and decide not to support the puck. 

[MikeyD]

7 minutes ago, iceman64 said:

If we have to depend on D scoring instead of just them focusing on keep the puck out of ours we're seriously in trouble. 

However there's enough fire power up front and that's a non issue. Sounds like someone's been listening to too much sports media in Vancouver again, worst sports media in the entire league, useless beyond belief. 

I'm over been shocked at how bad media is in Vancouver but most of the shock has worn off and I accepted how bush league it truly is but maybe on day it'll change, sadly people fall for it, especially sell the farm for a one and done cup run, lil bit difficult with a roster with no depth when injuries hit in the playoffs and falls flat and no cup AGAIN. 

I wish people would stop listening to their opinions and have the balls to think it through on their own and see how full of shite they really are. 

However hats off to those who don't drink their cool-aid.. 

Anddddd it's not out of JR's scope to pull a trade, it's not like the trade deadline has passed.

If Bruce does his job and the whole team plays a tighter 200' game then that won't be much of a issue, so far BB has done a decent job of getting players to buy in but we're still new as a team with the new faces plus pre-season so I wouldn't go passing judgement just yet..

 

I agree. The media is pretty brutal for Vancouver. 

 

One thing that irritates the piss out of me is when they get so gung ho about the marketing and the capitalization of everything. They went on to support the ads on jerseys, the cap going up astronomical amounts and unproven players getting ridiculous deals. 

 

I like Sat Shah's take on the game of hockey but I hate his takes on the cap and advertising and whatnot. It seems like most of the media guys are some good some bad. Most of them are completely outrageous with their takes though just to create talking points. 

[IBatch]

We keep losing pre-season games. 

 

 

First one ever to do this ... so remember this CDC.

 

Just so i feel really important when the time comes:

 

"FIRE  BRUCE!!"

 

Also:

 

"FIRE ALLVIN"

 

and ...

 

"Who killed JR?"

 

That's an 80's reference for those who don't know.   But for those that do, yep, probably going to be old age. 

[IBatch]

11 minutes ago, MikeyD said:

My takeaway from the game:

 

I'm absolutely pumped! I am ecstatic, and here is why: the team played a system that is finally suited for their play style and the success of this club. Is it perfect? Absolutely not. It requires a lot of intelligence and it requires a lot of good timing and figuring out of when to activate and when to make certain plays, but most importantly, it is a possession style of hockey that most of the elite teams use in the league and it encourages offensive creativity. 

 

Too many years I've been watching this damn team play safe hockey and it is infuriating. Nothing irritates me more than when teams that have talent are always resorting to playing extremely simple, dumbed down hockey. Dump and chases, everything up a wall, north/south hockey is very rarely ever consistently putting teams into elite categories. Usually it's reserved for lesser talented teams that need to beat the better teams with talent. And no doubt, it's gonna burn us and we saw that last night when the effort lacks a bit for a period of time, but at the end of the day you're going to see periods of absolute dominance where you can easily spot 3-5 goals in a period. It's the way the 2011 team played and I hadn't seen that type of good hockey in a real long time with this team. It's refreshing.

 

It was awesome to see Quinn Hughes resort back to rookie year where he wasn't just snapping the puck up ice to load up on assists and to try to make quick outlets, but he was carrying it, entering the zone and pushing back the defense to allow for easier entries. There's a time and place for quick ups, and we saw a few of them last night, but when your system relies upon it, it is incredibly easy to defend because it ends up being predictable and when your team isn't in sync, it creates for a huge gap between forwards and defense to take advantage of and it also leads to forwards ending up standing still at the blue line or center ice line and completely ruining the transition if the timing is off and you have zero speed to enter a zone and suddenly the rush is gone. 

 

I love that we are seeing more east/west play, especially when it comes to passing. I love that the puck is being transitioned to behind the net because it eventually opens up the most dangerous scoring spot in the slot and I love that guys are now starting to make plays in the offensive zone instead of just launching low success shots on net. We are forcing the goalies to move which is always best. 

 

Now yes, the caliber of competition was low, but a lot of the plays we did will work against good teams because they're difficult to defend. The cycle won't be as easy and some of the passes won't get through, but also our shooting percentage won't be that abysmally bad as it was last night either. Guys will get into their rhythm and our timing on plays will only improve. We didn't get great goaltending from Silovs unfortunately and I ultimately think we win that game if he performs averagely. 

 

I am absolutely pumped. I hope they continue playing this possession style of hockey. The creativity is not only fun but it should be successful with this team as long as our defenders don't play like idiots and decide not to support the puck. 

Not to be a buzz kill.   But this team hasn't had the skill to play anything but a dump and chase game since maybe two years ago.    Can't blame 3 other coaches for that.  

 

Edit: But i do agree - we should be excited.  

Edited September 30, 2022 by IBatch

[MikeyD]

47 minutes ago, DeNiro said:

And that highlights everything that was wrong with Benning and Green.

 

Not delegating enough to the qualified people that were hired (Shaw, Brackett etc.)

 

I always thought Shaw was a forced hire because they needed to show that they were trying to improve defensive systems. But to not even put him in the position he specializes in is beyond ridiculous. Green spent too much time trying to shelter his buddy Baumer and not enough time doing what was best for the team.

 

To think there was a time there was actually pressure to re-sign Green out of fear of losing him. 
 

Honestly though how do we even know this? I see posts like this all of the time but do we actually know what goes on with the coaching and delegations? 

[MikeyD]

1 hour ago, -DLC- said:

The other thing for me is...Bruce, himself, talked about "protecting the lead" but I don't know that it works because you start playing differently. The tempo and attack mode had Seattle behind a step....we started focusing more on preventing goals than scoring them in the third. Shift in gears and Seattle jumped on that.

 

I do agree that some of the breakdowns (like a guy wide open in the slot) have to be corrected. But go for the jugular. Seattle also saw Demko out in the third and started crashing the net.

 

"It is what it is"

 

If you only take away negatives due to a loss, you're missing a lot of good things that happened. Stumbled/fell, but that wasn't the whole story.

Yep! It's the classic Alain Vignault game. Dominate playing a specific style until the third period and then change it up to shelter against losing a lead.

[IBatch]

1 minute ago, MikeyD said:

Yep! It's the classic Alain Vignault game. Dominate playing a specific style until the third period and then change it up to shelter against losing a lead.

Protect the "zero-zero tie" insert GIF. 

[stawns]

24 minutes ago, JM_ said:

they did?

 

we're just going to have to agree to disagree on the importance of a split squad pre season game. 

Again, it's not the importance of the games, bit of how those games are played.

 

Have you heard the phrase you play how you practice?  Are you happy with the team being outworked in three consecutive games?  Teams with inconsistent effort levels don't go very far.  There's no panic, but if I'm PA and BB, of certainly have some concerns