[PGT] Vancouver Canucks at St. Louis Blues | Feb. 23, 2023

[Coconuts]

1 minute ago, Elias Pettersson said:

I don’t believe you have as you are a lot younger than me, but I watched Gretzky and Lemieux when I was a kid.  Gretzky is my favourite player of all time. I can tell you with absolute certainty that Gretzky is the most talented player to ever lace them up.  Nobody was even close to him in his prime. We are talking winning the scoring title by like 75 points. McDavid will never come close to that.

 

When we had our hockey pools, we had to separate Gretzky’s goals and assists.  It wouldn’t have been fair otherwise. I won a hockey pool one year picking only Gretzky’s assists. I believe his assists alone would have won the scoring title at least 3 times. It was batsh*t crazy. Gretzky was a God back then.  Canada was in mourning when he was traded. I had to miss school that day, I was so depressed. I still remember the first game when Gretzky came back and played in Edmonton. It was goosebumps. The crowd in Edmonton were on their feet cheering the guy wearing 99 for Los Angeles. It was surreal. I’ll never forget that moment. 

Nahhh, I didn't get a chance to see any of that. I could go back and watch tape of players from the 70's, 80's, and 90's if I really felt like it but it wouldn't be the same. Different eras and different games. I've only been watching since the 2000's on, and only the mid 2000's with any real commitment. 

 

McDavid isn't Gretzky, that'll never be seen again. He is however, likely the closest thing to him in the current game, with speed to boot. Outside of Crosby I've never watched a talent like McDavid's, and him and Crosby aren't similar players. 

[Crabcakes]

1 minute ago, DeNiro said:

Same way I feel.

 

I know it’s an overreaction but these games literally could impact the entire trajectory of this franchise that’s how crucial they are. Like I’ve said before 3 wins in the 2015-16 season was the difference between us drafting Matthews and us drafting Juolevi. Every loss and win do have an impact.

 

I love that we have some seriously elite players now but I feel like if we can get one more truly elite piece up front this team will start to climb, and climb fast. That’s the power that the top 3 in this draft have.

All the players on the teams at the bottom of the standings are trying their hardest.  Canuck management is trying to tank when they play 6/19 AHL players but at the end of the day, the Canucks are going to finish where they should in the standings.

 

Petey is a special player who can clearly carry a team on his back.  There aren't a lot of players who can do that.

 

As frustrating as the Canucks have been this year, they are not an equal of the Arizona Coyotes.  They have been totally under performing for a long time and that is why Boudreau was let go.

 

Tocchet has torn the team down and is in the process of building them back up.  It is all about next year at this point and built up, these guys have got something

[-Vintage Canuck-]

CONDENSED GAME | Canucks at Blues

 

[Canuckfanforlife82]

4 minutes ago, zimmy said:

There ya go. Tanking is a process, not a single event. I’m glad you’ve had a chance to put things into some perspective.

The level of excessive overreaction on these boards is comical. As many posters have pointed out, you can’t lose them all.
 

Players don’t tank.  Canuck players are not tanking nor did the Blues players tank tonight. A proper tank needs months if not years of careful planning. Can’t turn a tank on or off like a light switch.

It is not the expectation to lose them all, just the fear of having de ja vu all over again. I think thats where my mind goes, mostly because that's how it's gone. Right now they just have to have a good draft period. They can't miss on any of their first round picks. No more Virtanens and Juolevis. Imagine how different this team would have been if those picks hadn't turned out so bad. Please just make good picks. One more thing. Do we still have a lot of the scouts that made those picks still in the organization? If so, Why?

Edited February 24, 2023 by Canuckfanforlife82

[-Vintage Canuck-]

 

[Canuck You]

28 minutes ago, TNucks1 said:

lets go seattle, frig marchand

Honestly, F Boston but I'm pretty sure they are cup favs..

[KirkSave]

Boys showed a lot of heart tonight.

 

Great comeback. Special winner from Petey. 

 

Boeser with too many fly bys and could not hit the net with a shot tonight to save his life. Doubt we can move him this deadline. Maybe in the summer?

[Odd.]

5 minutes ago, DeNiro said:

Blackhawks play the Sharks, Ducks, Coyotes, Stars (who they just beat), Preds, and Sens.

 

Coyotes play the Preds, Blackhawks, and Stars before getting into a tougher schedule. But Coyotes have been grinding out the wins against good teams.

 

Sharks play Preds (tonight) Blackhawks, Canadiens, Blues, Capitals.

 

Im starting to feel better about getting back into the bottom 3/4.

Arizona had points in their last 10 games before losing to Calgary in regulation.

 

Anaheim also won against the caps today.

[DeNiro]

1 minute ago, Crabcakes said:

All the players on the teams at the bottom of the standings are trying their hardest.  Canuck management is trying to tank when they play 6/19 AHL players but at the end of the day, the Canucks are going to finish where they should in the standings.

 

Petey is a special player who can clearly carry a team on his back.  There aren't a lot of players who can do that.

 

As frustrating as the Canucks have been this year, they are not an equal of the Arizona Coyotes.  They have been totally under performing for a long time and that is why Boudreau was let go.

 

Tocchet has torn the team down and is in the process of building them back up.  It is all about next year at this point and built up, these guys have got something

Yep and I’m excited for that.

 

I’ll be even more excited if we can add a franchise player that we can build around with the current core that takes us to the next level.

 

A 1-2 of Pettersson and Bedard/Fantilli is what I’ll be hoping for until they draw those lotto balls.

[Canuck You]

Just now, -Vintage Canuck- said:

 

Eat your heart out Ovechkin!

[wai_lai416]

man EP is just piling up the points now playing for his next paycheque.. for all of those that don't care about tanking and getting a top 2-3 pick by finishing worse possible and thinks we can build a winners drafting in the 5-10 slot? yes you can build a contender like carolina etc.. but your chances of building a cup winner is slim.. look at all the past stanley cup winners in the last 14 years. outside of St. louis, every single cup winner featured a own drafted top 3 overall pick on their winning roster. all of those top 3 overall picks played a significant role in winning the cup.. well maybe not boston.. they had seguin that they drafted but he wasn't big yet.. but they technically did have a super old horton that was the #3 overall pick and played a big role in winning the cup. St louis have pietrangelo who was squeezed out of the top 3..

 

obviously not saying drafting top 3 equal winning a cup.. but your odds of winning a cup looks a lot better and your team looking like a contender also significantly increase

[Elias Pettersson]

7 minutes ago, Coconuts said:

I mean, I don't think that matters when you're piling them up at the kind of rate McDavid is.

 

If totals are updated McDavid's up to 105 points in 58 games, if they aren't he's up to 109 points in 59 games.

 

Absurd.  

 

 

Most points 5v5:

 

Elias Pettersson - 58

Connor McDavid - 56

 

If Petey ever gets a sidekick like Draisaitl on the PP, watch out.  If we win the lottery and get Bedard, I can see both of them getting 150+ points on the PP…

[OldFaithfulCap]

3 minutes ago, DeNiro said:

Blackhawks play the Sharks, Ducks, Coyotes, Stars (who they just beat), Preds, and Sens.

 

Coyotes play the Preds, Blackhawks, and Stars before getting into a tougher schedule. But Coyotes have been grinding out the wins against good teams.

 

Sharks play Preds (tonight) Blackhawks, Canadiens, Blues, Capitals.

 

Im starting to feel better about getting back into the bottom 3/4.

Only problem is if the other tankers trade away more assets before deadline (eg kane trade will kill chitown) and sit guys for tank too. Then teams will fall out of therace like the caps and may spiral fast. Caps have so many guys with injuries that they may really tank if they keep stumbling and they have some good playoff guys. Oshie would really help a contender on the lower lines and he's only got 2 years left on his big deal (and his injury history makes him a good ltir for his last years). 

[DeNiro]

1 minute ago, Odd. said:

Arizona had points in their last 10 games before losing to Calgary in regulation.

 

Anaheim also won against the caps today.

Yep those are teams that surprise other teams that take them lightly.

 

Gibson and Vejmelka can both steal games for those teams which is good.

[dougieL]

45 minutes ago, 24K PureCool said:

I really wish nhl just switch to an even lottery for picks 1 to 10 for the bottom 10 teams so we don't have to do this cheer for your team to lose thing. 

It's a nice thought, but that might just create a new tank race for teams ranked 8-15 trying to make sure they stay in or get into the top 10 (since being in the top 10 would guarantee a 10% chance at 1st overall).

[hockeyfan-observer]

11 minutes ago, Odd. said:

Our next games are against Boston, Dallas, Minnesota and Toronto.

 

Pretty solid chance that we lose 3 or all 4 of those games.

Normally I would say the same thing - however they are playing with little to no pressure, looser and actually with a lot more enthusiasm right now - they may take 3 out of 4.

 

Lets see what happens by trade deadline and how our team may look.  Maybe they keep most of the players and try this again next year but with a better system.

[Elias Pettersson]

1 minute ago, wai_lai416 said:

man EP is just piling up the points now playing for his next paycheque.. for all of those that don't care about tanking and getting a top 2-3 pick by finishing worse possible and thinks we can build a winners drafting in the 5-10 slot? yes you can build a contender like carolina etc.. but your chances of building a cup winner is slim.. look at all the past stanley cup winners in the last 14 years. outside of St. louis, every single cup winner featured a own drafted top 3 overall pick on their winning roster. all of those top 3 overall picks played a significant role in winning the cup.. well maybe not boston.. they had seguin that they drafted but he wasn't big yet.. but they technically did have a super old horton that was the #3 overall pick and played a big role in winning the cup. St louis have pietrangelo who was squeezed out of the top 3..

 

obviously not saying drafting top 3 equal winning a cup.. but your odds of winning a cup looks a lot better and your team looking like a contender also significantly increase

Petey is the 2nd best player of the 2017 draft.  He may even turn out to be the best.  So it really doesn’t matter that we picked him at 5.  I mean if we had drafted Hischier #1 overall would that have increased our chances of winning a cup because we technically drafted a top 3 player?

 

Also, we drafted TWO players in the top 3 the last time we had a cup contender and still couldn’t win the cup. So it didn’t matter back then. 

[DeNiro]

1 minute ago, OldFaithfulCap said:

Only problem is if the other tankers trade away more assets before deadline (eg kane trade will kill chitown) and sit guys for tank too. Then teams will fall out of therace like the caps and may spiral fast. Caps have so many guys with injuries that they may really tank if they keep stumbling and they have some good playoff guys. Oshie would really help a contender on the lower lines and he's only got 2 years left on his big deal (and his injury history makes him a good ltir for his last years). 

True but those teams also pull out wins down the stretch because teams take them lightly and they have a bunch of young guys and AHLers playing hard to prove themselves.

 

I still think how we manage our goaltending down the stretch will determine everything.

[Iron Man]

49 minutes ago, Odd. said:

First time I’ve seen Petey punch someone, damn. Gave him a good one too

After the Konecny fiasco, Petey was tired of everyone's sh*t

[Coconuts]

4 minutes ago, Elias Pettersson said:

Most points 5v5:

 

Elias Pettersson - 58

Connor McDavid - 56

 

If Petey ever gets a sidekick like Draisaitl on the PP, watch out.  If we win the lottery and get Bedard, I can see both of them getting 150+ points on the PP…

Here's hoping, but if we continue to get Kuzmenko playing spoiler and Pettersson's carrying the team offensively we're going to play ourselves into no man's land..