[PGT] Hurricanes at Canucks, Dec.9th

[HKSR]

17 minutes ago, stawns said:

 

Depends if it's a slump or closer to the norm.  The next month will tell us a lot about which way this team will go 

Considering one of our top players in EP40 is/was slumping for almost the exact time period when we've been playing closer to .500 hockey, our top goal scorer last year in Kuzmenko is cold as ice, our #1 goalie was playing poorly, and our 3C was/is injured, I'm gonna lean towards a slump.  When this team was healthy and Ep40 was playing like he SHOULD, this team was bulldozing their way through teams.

 

I'm not interested in next month, I'm interested to see how things look once Petey is playing like Petey again.

[I.AM.THE.WALRUS]

9 hours ago, Hairy Kneel said:

That's what she....nvm. I'll go now.

[I.AM.THE.WALRUS]

11 minutes ago, HKSR said:

Considering one of our top players in EP40 is/was slumping for almost the exact time period when we've been playing closer to .500 hockey, our top goal scorer last year in Kuzmenko is cold as ice, our #1 goalie was playing poorly, and our 3C was/is injured, I'm gonna lean towards a slump.  When this team was healthy and Ep40 was playing like he SHOULD, this team was bulldozing their way through teams.

 

I'm not interested in next month, I'm interested to see how things look once Petey is playing like Petey again.

If tocchet can get through to Kuzzy and get him playing a two way game and elevate his production like it was last year that would be amazing 

 

In addition to Petey getting out of his slump, when add a healthy Soucy and Suter back into our lineup our team will begin to rip it up…

 

but it’s clear we need better depth 

[-dlc-]

4 hours ago, Devron said:

Hopefully people are still making excuses about why we are awesome.

 

Let the hate flow 

When we lose and offer "reasons" (like scheduling, injury, horrible officiating), we're told "good teams find a way to win".

 

When we "find a way to win" we're not a good team according to those same people. Then they give reasons because [insert here...."the other team just played and is tired", "they have injured players", etc.]

 

Funny how double standards work.

[Silent Man]

1 hour ago, TheGuardian said:

Lot's of good and bad.

 

The Good,

There were many times the team dominated for awhile.

Myers and Zadorov continue to dominate other teams still allowing one single goals against and limiting the other teams to 5 to 7 total shots against since playing together.

Kuzmenko played a flawless game with no mistakes, hard on the forecheck winning board battles, fast on the back check and driving his line.

Pettersson finally had the shoot first instead of the hit first mentality and used is higher than average skill for scoring.

Miller had a strong game.

Demko played better than his last game

 

The Bad,

First off it is a game of mistakes but there are some that are just an oops and some that are brain dead ugly. Unfortunately it is much easier to see a mistake than a good secondary pass or work.

Okay, now if Hughes was Kuzmenko he would have had his arse "stapled" to the bench for any of Hughes 4 really big goofs this game.

Twice ha wasn't paying attention and cause TWO too many men penalties and TWICE he was way out of position, once there was 3 things he did wrong, it started with a low percentage pinch with his team holding a lead, losing that board battle, then not using his "vaunted" skating on the ensuing back check resulting in a goal that was his error all by itself. The two penalties. And then the second goal, he left his check and stopped playing to watch the puck while his check snuck up and scored while he was standing still, he totally left his check wide open in a danger area.

Cole and Juulsen are definitely 5/6 guys or lower. Hronek is starting to play with too much risk and losing board battles.

 

They broke their current cycle of win one, lose one.

 

They win BUT their opposition s another team in turmoil, Carolina is a train wreck.

 

It's 2 points

The Good news is that there was no “The Ugly “

[Devron]

1 minute ago, -dlc- said:

When we lose and offer "reasons" (like scheduling, injury, horrible officiating), we're told "good teams find a way to win".

 

When we "find a way to win" we're not a good team...it's because [insert reason a and b here...."the other team just played", "they have injured players", etc.]

So true Deb, it really is the same people though. I think they probably have the same perspective in life in general. 
 

I have been through Depression and Anxiety and that’s where those things want to take me too, always the negative. But I fight through it day in and out. Being positive in everyday life is important and important in the things we love too like hockey. 
 

I just can’t see much negative about this team. Sure it’s not the best in the league but it’s pretty damn good. We’ll be seeing playoffs for the first time in a long time and that damn exciting 

[Hairy Kneel]

We're they given the day off today?

[PistolPete13]

1 hour ago, CanuckFanForever said:

You really do jump to that conclusion from no bases of what I am saying so here I will explain it

 

I think Vigneault is a great coach and he never won a Cup as a Coach

 

what we have seen is that coaches take time to become great coaches. Allan is a prime example of it and Tocchet seems to be following the some projection. Allan won the Jack Addams his first year with the Canucks only to miss the Playoff the next year. It would than be 3 more years to get to the Cup final. Prior to that He coached MTL and had a terrible record and at 1 point was not even coaching in the NHL sounds like Tocchet as well. Problem is this Core is already in it's prime and the window is NOW.

 

The Canucks can't afford to let a inexperienced coach go through the learning curve The Canucks can't afford 5 years.

 

Who is the appropriate coach for this team? Who would you hire then? 

[Dr. Crossbar]

6 minutes ago, -dlc- said:

When we lose and offer "reasons" (like scheduling, injury, horrible officiating), we're told "good teams find a way to win".

 

When we "find a way to win" we're not a good team according to those same people. Then they give reasons because [insert here...."the other team just played and is tired", "they have injured players", etc.]

 

Funny how double standards work.

 

Carolina was so good they lost the last four straight and last six out of ten. 

[AlwaysACanuckFan]

1 hour ago, PhillipBlunt said:

I hate it too. I have family who’ll send out an email and preface it with “Hi Y’all.”
 

It annoys the hell out of me.

Care to have a drink of this...?

[Chicken.]

5 minutes ago, AlwaysACanuckFan said:

Care to have a drink of this...?

Pretty tasty tbf. Don’t y’all agree?

[Barnstorm]

8 minutes ago, Hairy Kneel said:

We're they given the day off today?

Optional skate at noon. Not sure who attended.

[AlwaysACanuckFan]

1 minute ago, Chicken. said:

Pretty tasty tbf. Don’t y’all agree?

You get wasted pretty quick because you go through them so quick 

[Barnstorm]

1 minute ago, Chicken. said:

Pretty tasty tbf. Don’t y’all agree?

[-dlc-]

 

[Dr. Crossbar]

38 minutes ago, HKSR said:

Considering one of our top players in EP40 is/was slumping for almost the exact time period when we've been playing closer to .500 hockey, our top goal scorer last year in Kuzmenko is cold as ice, our #1 goalie was playing poorly, and our 3C was/is injured, I'm gonna lean towards a slump.  When this team was healthy and Ep40 was playing like he SHOULD, this team was bulldozing their way through teams.

 

I'm not interested in next month, I'm interested to see how things look once Petey is playing like Petey again.

 

Rest, rejuvenation, a healthy team, and this team looks different and more confident. 

[Snoop Hogg]

14 minutes ago, Hairy Kneel said:

We're they given the day off today?

You talkin’ about practice?

[Snoop Hogg]

13 minutes ago, Dr. Crossbar said:

 

Carolina was so good they lost the last four straight and last six out of ten. 

To be fair, their fans are very concerned.

[VegasCanuck]

4 hours ago, Devron said:

Hopefully people are still making excuses about why we are awesome.

 

Let the hate flow 

The team is playing well, but that's not to say that we are a "Cup" team yet. We should be really happy with where we are as a team, but that doesn't mean that we should be content and not looking for the step or the transaction that will take us from being really, pretty good to being Really, pretty exceptional and one of the front runners for the cup.

 

So, what I'm going to say next, please don't take as me being negative, but it's what any GM should be doing in relation to being objective and looking for how to get a team to the next step.

 

If we look around the league at the teams that should be considered the front runners for the Cup this year, Vegas, Colorado, NYR, Boston, Florida, Los Angeles, we need to ask ourselves if we are good enough to win a 7 game series against one of those teams. If the answer is NO, which I believe it is, what changes do we need to make to get us to that next level where we can beat those teams.

 

Here's an overview of the questions that I'm asking and how I'm seeing the team:

• I think we've exposed this year that we came into the season with too many finesse guys. Beauvillier and Kuzmenko, for me, fall into that category and not enough Burrows type of players. Guys who will get into the corners and on the forecheck like Lafferty has been doing for Pettersson and disrupt the opposition's defensive structure and cause turnovers.
• Do we have enough grit and strength in our bottom 6 group and if not, do we have the guys in Abbotsford who are a few months away and able to fill those positions or do we need to go find them via trade?
• Past Hughes and Hronek, if we look at them as our top pairing, and if we look at Zadorov and Myers as our 3rd pairing, is our middle pairing good enough with Cole and Juulsen (and Soucy when he's back) to carry us through a really grinding playoff series against a really big opponent and to give our 1st pairing enough time off the ice to not leave them exhausted? This is where we really lost against Boston in 2011, we didn't have enough size on defense, we started losing guys when they were dealing with Lucic and other big forwards.

I'm enjoying watching the team right now, they are playing a fun style of hockey and Tocchet has them playing with more creativity in the offensive zone while maintaining a better overall structure in the defensive zone, but we are still giving up FAR too many prime opportunities and rely on our goaltending to bail us out in my opinion.

 

In addressing this, there are going to need to be strategic shift, changes and trades. I like Kuzmenko's game, but I'm really not sure that he fits our team structure right now. He is really lacking confidence right now and I think he's really overhandling the puck, looking for the really good pass instead of just shooting. We have enough finesse guys, but we could really use another Lafferty (I think of him as a Burrows type of player) and maybe someone we could consider a Miller Light (Lite?).

 

In the current trade market, answering these questions aren't easy, although Allvin has done a really good job addressing team needs and finding ways to make trades that improve us. I still maintain a unpopular opinion that this is our year to make the playoffs, but it's not our year to win the cup. I think we can go a round or two, but as soon as we have to play a Los Angeles, Colorado or Las Vegas, we don't have the team balance to stay with them through a 7 game series. 

 

IMO, we ride this team as much as possible this year without ransoming our future by giving away too much for improvements and wait till next summer when the teams get that 4 million projected increase. Make the right strategic upgrades and changes for the 24/25 season and I think we have a realistic chance of challenging for a Cup again.

 

We should consider our status as our window is just opening and as long as we are careful, we should be good to challenge for a number of years.

 

Just my take on where the team sits right now.

[Dr. Crossbar]

3 minutes ago, Snoop Hogg said:

To be fair, their fans are very concerned.

 

"Some" fans.

 

Blanket + water

[Ballisticsports]

1 hour ago, CanuckFanForever said:

I'm always me.

 

I give Credit when credit is due and I give criticism when it is due. Tocchet is on a short leash because our window is now. Our core is in their prime. When I see a good game I will give Tocchet is due He had them prepered for this game and now he has to have them prepared for the next 

You played the game apparently and know the players play - not the coach

They are professionals not pee wees !

Do you think getting pom pom's out gets them ready?

 

A coach has to know when to step in he can't be harping all the time and know when and how to react

RT is a players coach and fair with them (something everyone appreciates)

Even Garland saying it is the happiest he has EVER been in his NHL career

 

I get the feeling you just are just as happy to see a loss these days, just so you can post your stuff and feel good about it

The best you can do is backhanded compliments after your post of being a troll 

 

You say you won't put down players and yet that is exactly what you are doing

You have said they win in spite of RT, but they don't lose that way either?

Obviously no changing your mind to relax in life

They are not kids and RT isn't the one out there playing

 

If this management and RT had this team 2 years earlier I wonder if you would still be the same cynical person, In the short time this team has changed for the better 

 

We have something good going right now with direction at all levels of the team and beyond me why you choose to ignore it and enjoy the ride now

To each his own, I guess you are one to enjoy doom and gloom for no reason

 

 

[Goal_thecup]

1 hour ago, HKSR said:

 

I'm not interested in next month, I'm interested to see how things look once now that Petey is playing like Petey again.

 

[Grandmaster]

1 hour ago, CanuckFanForever said:

The great one won many Cups as a player how his coaching career go. Even he said afterwards he found it hard to coach what he knew.

 

Their are tons of assistant coaches that have won stanley cups and yet they are ofter over looked for head coaching jobs by guys who win as AHL head coaches I wonder why.

 

I never said Tocchet can't be a head coach or a great one at that. I have called him Inexperienced the team he coached was the Yotes what experience are you going too get from that. Just like when Allan Coached MTL those where bad years for them. Allen took 3-4 years to finally get it right with the Canucks 

You can’t go off on the team in Arizona. That franchise was doomed from the start! Never close the to Cap and no one in the rinks. 
 

This is RT’s true chance at showing us his abilities and he has flourished beyond everyone’s expectations. 
 

RT is a boss

[Goal_thecup]

1 hour ago, EdgarM said:

This has been a key ingredient that has been missing in our top line for awhile now. This need is key in all lines but past regimes were not successful in accomplishing this. Many fails such as Ferlund, Virtanen,Motte and Roussel but we never concentrated on this part of the game and so we lacked it for the most part. I remember consistently being bottled up in our own zone and no way to get out of it. Very frustrating times. 

We now have guys on all lines and most of them are interchangeable, a very nice thing to have and most of us are comfortable with all of them for the most part.

Many of these players, PDG, Laff,Blue,Joshua,Suter,Mik and Aman have complemented our star players quite nicely.

I get your point but must object to Motte being an example of a failure.

Structure, systems, and capable bodies now and this is still just the first real season for the new management.

[Grandmaster]

42 minutes ago, Devron said:

So true Deb, it really is the same people though. I think they probably have the same perspective in life in general. 
 

I have been through Depression and Anxiety and that’s where those things want to take me too, always the negative. But I fight through it day in and out. Being positive in everyday life is important and important in the things we love too like hockey. 
 

I just can’t see much negative about this team. Sure it’s not the best in the league but it’s pretty damn good. We’ll be seeing playoffs for the first time in a long time and that damn exciting 

Hang in there brother. Keep up your good takes. All these negative clowns can suck it