[PGT] Canucks at Flames - F*** CBC Edition

[DeNiro]

22 minutes ago, Taphouse Canuck said:

OED: Niggling , adjective: trivial, petty or inconsequential

[Gawdzukes]

1 hour ago, Alflives said:

If I could interject. Hogs makes a lot of mental errors. He’s slow to react to his defensive responsibilities. With the puck (in the o zone) he’s great. But that’s only 5% of his time in the ice. What’s he doing the other 95% of the time? IMHAO Tocchet loves Hogs’ potential and is trying to get the player to that ceiling. And that means Hogs must play smart and the right way to get more ice time, including moving up in the lineup. it’s really hard watching games online (TV) and evaluating what a playing is doing off the puck. The camera follows the puck. 

 

That's true. It finally looks like he's starting to get how he can be successful in this league. It might not be best to start throwing him around the line-up and expect he's going to keep it up wherever you play him and with increased expectations. He's playing good where he is. I don't think he's suddenly going to turn into a 40 goal scorer on Petey's line either. He's doing well in limited minutes in a fixed role and we're missing a lot of info like you say.

[iinatcc]

5 hours ago, PistolPete13 said:

So you’re saying, he’s new at hockey and  puts his faith in analytics ? 

 

Well not new. But you could say he uses analytics 

[HorvatToBaertschi]

18 hours ago, CanuckFanForever said:

That was the topic in my Tread what has Tocchet done for this team. For me it is nothing

Do you remember how the last 5-10 years we averaged an ungodly amount of 3on1s, 2on1s or breakaways against? Remember how everyone were singing Markstrom and Demko's praises because of this (and rightfully so)? 

 

That doesn't happen nearly as often anymore, and that's 100% on the coaching system. For you to say he's done nothing is to be so obviously biased against RT that it is beyond facts and logic. With RT there are :

 

- less odd man rushes against

- less 3rd period collapses (we set a NHL record for how bad we were under BB only a year ago)

- better PK stats (we set a NHL record for being under 50% last year for a significant time)

- 6 bottom 6 players that have a clearly defined role and are executing consistently on their game plan (we are unfortunately running thin on depth but that's not on the coach)

 

This is all coaching. This all comes from RT. We are 16-8-1 and 10 points clear of 4th in our division, way past american thanksgiving. Why are you such a debbie downer?

[HorvatToBaertschi]

13 hours ago, spook007 said:

A lot of talk about the Canucks starting on fire, and have settled for a while into a .500 team...

 

It has been mentioned, AHL'ers being inserted into the line up as cover for injuries, and Petey's reduction in production, as reasons for this, but could it also be, that at the same time, other teams slowly got up to speed?

 

Remember the staff/coaches indirectly appealing to the players, to turn up in mint condition to start the season, thus maybe having an early advantage over some of the other teams...?

 

The few roster moves made should also help keeping the team on its toes, and improve the results slightly, but zero doubt that the boys buying into the plans in the off season, has had a positive effect on the season start.

We had the toughest schedule in the league right out of the gate. We basically started with a 5 game eastern swing, and then consistently had back to backs, 3 in 4s, while other teams we were playing were rested and hadn't played a single back to back yet. We only got lucky that in the eastern canada swing, we were playing teams on back ends of back to backs as well. 

 

A lot of teams are about to have terrible schedules, because these kinds of things balance themselves out. We will then be fresh, and accumulate important points there. The fact we even stayed .500 in this tough stretch is something I'm proud of. In prior years, that would be the point of no return. 

[Bob Long]

8 minutes ago, HorvatToBaertschi said:

We had the toughest schedule in the league right out of the gate. We basically started with a 5 game eastern swing, and then consistently had back to backs, 3 in 4s, while other teams we were playing were rested and hadn't played a single back to back yet. We only got lucky that in the eastern canada swing, we were playing teams on back ends of back to backs as well. 

 

A lot of teams are about to have terrible schedules, because these kinds of things balance themselves out. We will then be fresh, and accumulate important points there. The fact we even stayed .500 in this tough stretch is something I'm proud of. In prior years, that would be the point of no return. 

 

^this

 

We are in a position to put a lock on 3rd in the Pacific by Christmas if the boys can get a boost from Zadorov 

[stawns]

14 minutes ago, HorvatToBaertschi said:

We had the toughest schedule in the league right out of the gate. We basically started with a 5 game eastern swing, and then consistently had back to backs, 3 in 4s, while other teams we were playing were rested and hadn't played a single back to back yet. We only got lucky that in the eastern canada swing, we were playing teams on back ends of back to backs as well. 

 

A lot of teams are about to have terrible schedules, because these kinds of things balance themselves out. We will then be fresh, and accumulate important points there. The fact we even stayed .500 in this tough stretch is something I'm proud of. In prior years, that would be the point of no return. 

Travel wise, sure, but their level of competition hasn't been overly tough

[CanucksJay]

10 minutes ago, HorvatToBaertschi said:

We had the toughest schedule in the league right out of the gate. We basically started with a 5 game eastern swing, and then consistently had back to backs, 3 in 4s, while other teams we were playing were rested and hadn't played a single back to back yet. We only got lucky that in the eastern canada swing, we were playing teams on back ends of back to backs as well. 

 

A lot of teams are about to have terrible schedules, because these kinds of things balance themselves out. We will then be fresh, and accumulate important points there. The fact we even stayed .500 in this tough stretch is something I'm proud of. In prior years, that would be the point of no return. 

 

1 minute ago, Bob Long said:

 

^this

 

We are in a position to put a lock on 3rd in the Pacific by Christmas if the boys can get a boost from Zadorov 

 

I think the saving grace despite the difficult compressed schedule is that our level of competition has been on the easier side relatively speaking. 

Our performance against playoff teams has been mediocre at best. I think we are 4-3-1 against teams that are currently in a playoff position. 

I think we'll see what this team is really made out of after Christmas break when we have a healthy Suter and Soucy in the lineup. 

Also think Petey has been nursing an injury 

[HorvatToBaertschi]

7 minutes ago, stawns said:

Travel wise, sure, but their level of competition hasn't been overly tough

We shut down McDavid and Drai 3 times, something we've been notoriously bad at the past 8 seasons, we got screwed against NYR, and then we've played the florida teams, vegas, dallas (who we dominated), the Avs, Toronto, and Nashville. 

 

Sure, we played SJ 3 times, but a lot of teams are struggling against them recently, they aren't the free win everybody said they were when we dusted them. 

 

This has also been done with a horrendous travel schedule, through multiple time zones, going home for 1 and then leaving again.... the wear and tear isn't to be ignored, it makes the games that much harder to play in, while the other team is relaxing and ready for the game physically. 

Edited December 4, 2023 by HorvatToBaertschi

[CanucksJay]

5 minutes ago, stawns said:

Travel wise, sure, but their level of competition hasn't been overly tough

Agreed. 

I still don't think this is a wild card team though. I think we're better than what you give them credit for. 

I think we can hold off Cgy, Seattle and Edmonton and remain top 3 in the division

 

[Bob Long]

4 minutes ago, CanucksJay said:

 

 

I think the saving grace despite the difficult compressed schedule is that our level of competition has been on the easier side relatively speaking. 

Our performance against playoff teams has been mediocre at best. I think we are 4-3-1 against teams that are currently in a playoff position. 

I think we'll see what this team is really made out of after Christmas break when we have a healthy Suter and Soucy in the lineup. 

Also think Petey has been nursing an injury 

 

True, but that 4-3 record is also a series win 

[HorvatToBaertschi]

Let's wait til the boys are rested to see how they measure up against "stronger" competition. Through tough scheduling and travel, they're 16-8-1. That's a hell of a start to build on. Expecting games to be perfect and pretty with this kind of early wear and tear, is unrealistic. 

[CanucksJay]

1 minute ago, Bob Long said:

 

True, but that 4-3 record is also a series win 

Yeah im hopeful this team will go a couple of rounds this playoffs. I think a first round loss would be disappointing. 

Hopefully we make one or 2 more upgrades and take a run

[CanucksJay]

2 minutes ago, HorvatToBaertschi said:

Let's wait til the boys are rested to see how they measure up against "stronger" competition. Through tough scheduling and travel, they're 16-8-1. That's a hell of a start to build on. Expecting games to be perfect and pretty with this kind of early wear and tear, is unrealistic. 

 

Despite wins or losses, I thought they showed really well against Florida, Colorado st Louis, Dallas, NYR, and NYI. 

 

Only real stinkers against playoff teams were the vegas game and Toronto game. 

 

I'm looking forward to a better rested and healthier team after Christmas with more practice time under their belts to regain their sharpness. All that travel has really eliminated practice time as they have gotten away from their 'staples" as RT puts it. 

I don't think it's a coincidence that we looked really sharp at the beginning of the year after a good training camp and lots of practice time. Even RT commented that the team seems to need practice time to stay sharp. Hopefully this home stand allows that. 

[Bob Long]

22 minutes ago, CanucksJay said:

Yeah im hopeful this team will go a couple of rounds this playoffs. I think a first round loss would be disappointing. 

Hopefully we make one or 2 more upgrades and take a run

 

It's why I hope we stay at 3rd in the Pacific. Hopefully someone upsets and  knocks out Vegas or LA in the first round while we face St Louis or Arizona.

[stawns]

41 minutes ago, CanucksJay said:

Agreed. 

I still don't think this is a wild card team though. I think we're better than what you give them credit for. 

I think we can hold off Cgy, Seattle and Edmonton and remain top 3 in the division

 

 

As long as they beat teams below then on a regular basis, I think they'll be ok.  Edmonton is the team we should be concerned about.  There's a lot of hockey left to play and they seem to have sorted their game out

[stawns]

46 minutes ago, HorvatToBaertschi said:

We shut down McDavid and Drai 3 times, something we've been notoriously bad at the past 8 seasons, we got screwed against NYR, and then we've played the florida teams, vegas, dallas (who we dominated), the Avs, Toronto, and Nashville. 

 

Sure, we played SJ 3 times, but a lot of teams are struggling against them recently, they aren't the free win everybody said they were when we dusted them. 

 

This has also been done with a horrendous travel schedule, through multiple time zones, going home for 1 and then leaving again.... the wear and tear isn't to be ignored, it makes the games that much harder to play in, while the other team is relaxing and ready for the game physically. 

 

They've had a moderately easy schedule in terms of quality of competition, especially during the last 10 games.  They've given away far too many points against teams they should be beating and they need to correct that.  It's reasonable to expect .500ish hockey against the legitimately good teams in the league going fwd, but they need to pick up points against the weaker teams.

 

I know there's "parity" in the league and no easy games, but there are certainly "easier" games and they need to get points nts out of those games.......they didn't even pick up loser points.

 

I liked their game against Seattle and that's how they need to play against teams that are chasing them.

[CanucksJay]

10 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

 

It's why I hope we stay at 3rd in the Pacific. Hopefully someone upsets and  knocks out Vegas or LA in the first round while we face St Louis or Arizona.

How good is LA? 

Im interested to see where we measure up against them. 

[IBatch]

53 minutes ago, stawns said:

Travel wise, sure, but their level of competition hasn't been overly tough

EDM was supposed to be a contender.   We played a big part in their rough start.   IF you swap that lens and consider that they were supposed to be contenders, by virtually every pundit out there ... that's 3 more games  in the Dallas, COL, Florida, TB, Boston range.   They've still got time to turn it around.   Invalidation is just that.   Not sure why we should be picking on a team, with 4 guys in the top 30 in scoring, who under the old rules, at this point, would be sending 5 guys to the all-star game.    That's something in our entire history, we can't say. 

 

Yes they've had it tough the past ten games.   Let's see how it goes during the month of December.   IF they are a .500 team this month, then sure we can start piling on.      

[stawns]

Just now, CanucksJay said:

How good is LA? 

Im interested to see where we measure up against them. 

 

Right now, I'd say not very well.

[stawns]

1 minute ago, IBatch said:

EDM was supposed to be a contender.   We played a big part in their rough start.   IF you swap that lens and consider that they were supposed to be contenders, by virtually every pundit out there ... that's 3 more games  in the Dallas, COL, Florida, TB, Boston range.   They've still got time to turn it around.   Invalidation is just that.   Not sure why we should be picking on a team, with 4 guys in the top 30 in scoring, who under the old rules, at this point, would be sending 5 guys to the all-star game.    That's something in our entire history, we can't say. 

 

Yes they've had it tough the past ten games.   Let's see how it goes during the month of December.   IF they are a .500 team this month, then sure we can start piling on.      

 

Why pile on at all?  

[NewbieCanuckFan]

4 minutes ago, IBatch said:

EDM was supposed to be a contender.

 

[HorvatToBaertschi]

26 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

 

It's why I hope we stay at 3rd in the Pacific. Hopefully someone upsets and  knocks out Vegas or LA in the first round while we face St Louis or Arizona.

3rd in the Pacific faces one of Vegas or LA in the 1st round. Tough matchup but you gotta beat the best to be the best. 

[CanucksJay]

10 minutes ago, stawns said:

 

Right now, I'd say not very well.

To be honest, I'm glad we don't play them for a while. 

I think when we are playing well, we can run with any team. 

Its true. We have been in a funk lately and not playing our best hockey. 

I think opinions will change after christmas. We'll get healthy bodies back, Petey will go on to look like an art Ross contender again and we'll go on another run. 

 

[IBatch]

45 minutes ago, stawns said:

 

Why pile on at all?  

You bet.   EDM is 7-3 last ten games ... won the last four.   Winning all 6 of a possible 6 points against them can't be swept into, they "aren't a playoff team".   Their past four years says otherwise.   Like saying Vegas was "done for" because they spent half the season with their best players the year before they won a cup, in the infirmary.    EDM is not an "easy" win, because they are lower in the standings.    

 

Do agree we have struggled since Soucy went down.   Our D depth got a big boost.    Literally and figuratively. 

 

As for LA   Nobody had us ahead of them to start the year.   They did exactly what JB should have tried harder to do but couldn't accomplish.   This is their rebuild/re-tool "bump".   Did they do enough for it to last post Doughty and Kopitar?   Don't think so, but they aren't a team to ignore either.   

Edited December 4, 2023 by IBatch