★[PGT] Vancouver Canucks vs Florida Panthers • Dec 14, 2023 • (Roberto Luongo Night ROH Induction)★

[coolboarder]

2 hours ago, Jester13 said:

Dominated all game; and yes, even the 3rd.

 

The Nucks now know how to play a stingy game in the 3rd to protect a lead. Chip it out, break up entries, not bother risking any offensive turnovers and just play stingy D. Panthers had some shots in the 3rd, but I don't recall any grade A ones, and Demko has our back anyways. It's ugly, boring hockey in the 3rd when protecting the lead, but it's also beautiful to still be undefeated when leading after 2.

Agreed.  It's better style that way, conserve their energy for upcoming 4 road games as much as possible.

[spook007]

10 hours ago, IBatch said:

Yes.   We had this same trickle effect when Myers first came in.   It's amazing what adding a legit player does to a team.    Myers five years ago > Del Zotto.   Gave us 3 guys to work with the bubble year.    In the last year OEL and Schenn out,  both legit players,  but Hronek >>  OEL (and a RHD),  Cole > Schenn (sorry Schenn, would have like to keep you too!)   Soucy >>> Stillman/ AHL player insert here  ... And then Zadorov >>>> AHL player insert here, and Juulsen > Burroughs.   

 

Juulsen is found money.    In one calendar year, we've gone from having one legit top four guy, to a top pairing guy, and a pile of 4/5's.   That trickle down effect is way bigger than our bubble season.    

 

NHL.com was one of the few supporters entering this season, naming us the dark horse in the West.    If the team can keep this going until the All-Star break, feel we will start getting a lot more respect.    We've already got some, getting named Canada's best hope for a cup after our start.    

 

Soucy coming back is great.    Gives the team another boost.     Nice thing is there isn't a rush anymore.   Juulsen keeps showing the coaching staff and then organization, he's too valuable to send down.    Depth.   Our D depth last season was loaded with 7-8ths.    That also hasn't changed. 

Yes I just love the fact, we now have defenders that doesn't call for cardiac arrest every time they enter the ice...

Legit top pair, and I'd suggest a bunch of 4-6 especially when Soucy comes back. But more importantly this is a D core that makes the opposition play with their heads up, instead of taking us for granted... there has already been more punishing hits this season than all of last season combined...

I'd like to se players like Le Rat try his bullshit and get away with it this season... 

This team is going places... 

As @stawns said they may need another top 4D (rhd) at some stage, but if this D continues to perform like this, they may save themselves a few bobs till its really needed.

Edited December 16, 2023 by spook007

[coolboarder]

2 hours ago, IBatch said:

Felt we were missing 3 pieces to be a championship team.   Acquired one, and the most critical piece.   The next one, a legit middle six C, who can move up when needed and not hurt you much (offensively).   Preferably a big body.   And the last, some truculence in the forward group that's also an upgrade on something.    Somewhat recently, think Lowry a few years ago, and Jeannott type (hard to find).   

 

Teams close right now, to turning the corner.  Actually feel they have already.    Not into rentals this year, but for sure would be ok with giving them a little more at the cost of some futures too. 

Keep in mind, other teams are looking for one as well so may save your breathe and enjoy this season.  Not at cost of our prospect pool.  They are close to making the team and more likely will next season or two.  

[CanucksJay]

19 minutes ago, KoreanHockeyFan said:

 

Agree for the most past, as long we don't shit the bed all the sudden next season. 

 

Interested to see what roster decisions will be made though. Got a lot of expiring contracts and a handful of prospects and players in Abby chomping at the bit. All that to say, I'm optimistic, Allvin's maneuverings from Beauvillier to Zadorov was master class.

 The OEL penalty will hurt for sure but I'm just thankful we have Podz, Raty Bains Karlsson, Willander, D Petey and Hirose waiting with low cost contracts. All we need is a couple of them to outplay their contracts and OEL penalty is essentially nullified. 

ORRR

Petey could just take 8.5-9m instead of 12 and problem solved... 

 

[coolboarder]

1 hour ago, Mikeyman109 said:

Last night the first two periods the Canucks were dominate. They sat back in the third trying to preserve the shutout for TD.  

 

It hard to argue with the success the team is having. They score. They can defend and get great goaltending. The power play seems to be coming alive again after a couple weeks of sleepwalking. If we can get it going as it was to open the season they are a dangerous team and could do some damage in the playoffs. 

 

Just wondering if someone could get Ray Ferraro a copy of the standings as he obviously missed the first couple weeks of the season.

 

Garland has been playing some of his best hockey on the third line. He stirs the drink there for sure.

Suter coming back has been a big help,

 

Soucy coming back will be a great problem to have. Depth at D is never a bad thing. Having three capable pairings means no one has to play 30 minutes a game which should help keep Hughes/Hronek fresh.

 

Healthy this team can compete with anyone in the league and being able to roll 4 lines on the road will result in keeping the energy levels up. 

 

Not liking the back to back Matinees but other teams know we havent had success playing early. They schedule it on purpose. Nothing wrong with that we just have to learn to play well in them. Minny and Chicago are two teams we should beat.  Lets go get the wins. Go Canucks Go

 

 

 

I wouldn't mind a few of matinees because in the playoffs, they might schedule us in a matinee so might as well prepare those routines to be successful.  We have few of those on the schedule, including three home games in matinees.  

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

3 hours ago, stawns said:

Here's his official photo for the HoF.  So, maybe not technically, but I'm sure we can all agree that Luongo sees himself as a Panther first.  It's not a knock on luongo, but I wouldn't want a jersey of a player who doesn't see himself as a Canuck, primarily.

 

 

 

I think he views himself as a complex beast, not entirely Panther, not entirely Canuck - but I think he deems both equally important.  And, as he stated last night, the most important years of his career were in Canuck colours.  So I wouldn't be so quick to claim that he views himself as a Panther first.  Maybe chronologically, maybe because they're now paying him as a special consultant, but not as a player looking back at their body of work.

[Jaimito]

 

 

 

[Nucker67]

You know the D is good when Hughes isn't that noticeable in a 4-0 win. Zadorov was a great trade, really great. Juulsen is improving every game, and I love how he throws a big hit early to set the tempo. Cole also has some bite in his game. This D could be outstanding once Soucy gets back. This season feels kind of magical. 

 

Edited December 15, 2023 by Nucker67

[KoreanHockeyFan]

14 minutes ago, CanucksJay said:

 The OEL penalty will hurt for sure but I'm just thankful we have Podz, Raty Bains Karlsson, Willander, D Petey and Hirose waiting with low cost contracts. All we need is a couple of them to outplay their contracts and OEL penalty is essentially nullified. 

ORRR

Petey could just take 8.5-9m instead of 12 and problem solved... 

 

 

I'm thankful  as well because all of these missing pieces people are referring to won't be coming from trades. Those guys you highlighted will be the ones to fill that gap, and honestly, I prefer this approach. Even if we decided to acquire through trade/FA, we'd probably have to lock up those players to multi-year contracts. Canucks have so much more cost control by just building depth through Abby. 

 

And regarding Petey, sorry, but no way he comes in under 10 million. 

[CanucksJay]

4 minutes ago, KoreanHockeyFan said:

 

I'm thankful  as well because all of these missing pieces people are referring to won't be coming from trades. Those guys you highlighted will be the ones to fill that gap, and honestly, I prefer this approach. Even if we decided to acquire through trade/FA, we'd probably have to lock up those players to multi-year contracts. Canucks have so much more cost control by just building depth through Abby. 

 

And regarding Petey, sorry, but no way he comes in under 10 million. 

Lol wishful thinking that Petey signs under 10 but I dunno.

If all jerseys were blanked out, how would you have ranked the forwards yesterday? Or in this recent stretch?

Its hard to really compare because performance depends on quality of opposition and our bottom 6 have been feasting on the lesser competition. 

 

If our top forward is JT and he makes 8m?

Where does that put Petey? 

I dunno if he's playing like 2m better than Miller let alone a lot of the other forwards. 

 

The way he is playing right now, he is a legit 9m guy on a bridge deal. 

He's not playing better than Miller, Boeser but paying him slightly more is hoping he out plays Miller in 1 or 2 years. 

A 9m x 4 years is actually a fair deal for Petey for where he's at right now 

 

 

[I.AM.THE.WALRUS]

39 minutes ago, coolboarder said:

Agreed.  It's better style that way, conserve their energy for upcoming 4 road games as much as possible.

Exactly 

[CanucksJay]

1 hour ago, RJCF96 said:

Brock is like a silent sniper and by the time you notice him, the puck is already in your net. He just goes to the right areas and put the puck home.

I am amazed by all his greasy goals this year. 

He still has the occasional snipe from the soft spot of the ice on the PP but a lot of his goals are coming in tight off rebounds etc. 

 

Boeser has finally become a complete player. 

The goals he's getting now are the ones that'll continue to go in for him during playoffs. 

[Johnny]

3 hours ago, JayDangles said:

I think this was mostly intentional. With a 4-0 lead your mostly safe. With exceptions like the TOR game I know. But if you're playing the right way it should be safe.

What I saw in the 3rd was a lot of unselfish plays. The D stopped pinching, way less forecheck to conserve energy.

Two penalties to kill off.

I think Tocc made it clear that defense takes priority and to slow things down. It was really good for them to just practice playing with the lead. 

Although canucks only put up 2 shots, they still only allowed 11 shots I think the whole period, or at least until there was only 4 min left. Something like that.

Never felt like the 3rd was in doubt.

 

Every player wanted the game to end 4-0, and not 5-1

I totally agree with you

 

looking at who was getting the ice time is also telling of this strategy 

 

last road trip the team got tired, Tocchett is adjusting how to conserve energy. Last night it was giving more minutes to the depth. Zadorov and Myers were the big minute guys and rolling the forward lines with not much discrepancy in their time aside from the players that got power play time.

 

this road trip we should see a more even spread of minutes and a bit more hands on in game management/coaching to keep energy levels up

[CanucksJay]

1 minute ago, Johnny said:

I totally agree with you

 

looking at who was getting the ice time is also telling of this strategy 

 

last road trip the team got tired, Tocchett is adjusting how to conserve energy. Last night it was giving more minutes to the depth. Zadorov and Myers were the big minute guys and rolling the forward lines with not much discrepancy in their time aside from the players that got power play time.

 

this road trip we should see a more even spread of minutes and a bit more hands on in game management/coaching to keep energy levels up

 

It's fun watching the coaching staff adjust as the season progresses. There's a lot of confidence in this management and staff right now

[spook007]

3 hours ago, HKSR said:

I'd be really worried about disrupting the team chemistry right now...

Yeah definitely a worthy consideration. 
Don't rock the apple cart too much. 

[Gawdzukes]

1 hour ago, 6of1_halfdozenofother said:

 

I think he views himself as a complex beast, not entirely Panther, not entirely Canuck - but I think he deems both equally important.  And, as he stated last night, the most important years of his career were in Canuck colours.  So I wouldn't be so quick to claim that he views himself as a Panther first.  Maybe chronologically, maybe because they're now paying him as a special consultant, but not as a player looking back at their body of work.

 

I couldn't really care any less. He's an odd duck lol. A really awesome guy though.

 

Great little ceremony yesterday. It brought a little tear or two to my eyes going down memory lane. You could tell he really cared about the time and the hockey he played in Vancouver.

 

I agree with @stawns he is a Panther first, although maybe this honor changes the perspective a bit. Either way he screwed us on his retirement. I'm not really overly bitter but it was a pretty crap decision that I'm sure involved his ego, and the way everything played out. He didn't show any allegiance to us whatsoever though in that situation. I can understand he probably felt jilted at the contract he signed, blaming the Canucks, and I get it. It was more so that everyone got caught trying to circumvent the cap. It's too bad the Canucks were the only ones to really pay the price.

 

Anyways it's all water under the bridge. Great night, great game, great goaltender.

Edited December 15, 2023 by Gawdzukes

[I.AM.THE.WALRUS]

2 hours ago, Crimson JH said:

But and again, we don’t want that cursed president trophy either…  

Actually the thing is most presidents trophy winners win the Stanley Cup

 

It’s actually been a thing over the last 20 - 40 years…

But we just have to be super duper banged up in 2011… our roster was decimated by the time we made it to the finals and then we lose Hammy and Rome  and Salo - our forwards didn’t show up at all - Luongo is only human -

he wasn’t Godlike like he was for the first few years in Vancouver…

Obviously with a healthy squad we would’ve taken Boston in five…

They wouldn’t have been let into the series at all…

[CanucksJay]

24 minutes ago, Nucker67 said:

You know the D is good when Hughes isn't that noticeable in a 4-0 win. Zadorov was a great trade, really great. Juulsen is improving every game, and I love how he throws a big hit early to set the tempo. Cole also has some bite in his game. This D could be outstanding once Soucy gets back. This season feels kind of magical. 

 

 

Z seems to have a solid hit or two every game. 

There was a play yesterday when I realized that these guys are playing with tenacity that we haven't seen previously. Juulsen launching Cousins on to our bench and Cole coming in for a big hit. He saw a Panther forward  coming into our zone already engaged with one of our players but Cole read that he was gonna do a button hook. Came in hard and as soon as the Panther stopped to make a turn, Cole laid him out. 

Not as hard as that hit on Duschene in Nashville but Cole looks to make hits that impact the game and keep opposing forwards honest. 

 

We no longer hit to just put a body on a guy. We hit to hurt. That's the difference that results in opposition dumping it in and giving up possession rather than trying to do something with the puck. That's also the reason why we are creating turnovers on the forecheck and along the walls. 

We're finally playing with that wolf pack mentality. Each player on our team is playing bigger because the team as a whole plays big. This is very much the type of stuff we see in a Bruins or Philly team. I love it. 

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

2 minutes ago, Gawdzukes said:

Either way he screwed us on his retirement.

 

No, as I mentioned on other threads, he didn't screw us - the league did.

 

If anything, his choice to retire shows integrity.  If he goes on LTIR, he'd probably be expected to file an insurance claim.  But for what?  For being out of shape?  And if he does, the insurance company can sue him for insurance fraud.  If he doesn't go on LTIR, he'd be on the active roster - and then what?  Play like a sack of potatoes because he's out of shape?  Nobody wants to ruin their legacy by not performing up to their own standards.

 

I don't begrudge him his decision to retire.  The circumstances pretty much dictated that.  What I do hate though is the league's insistence to retroactively apply the penalty to contracts that were accepted by the league as legitimate at the time they were signed.

[Nucker67]

How 'bout that Miller reverse hit on Montour behind the Panthers net - such a solid unexpected hit, it took Montour's helmet right off. 

[Gawdzukes]

45 minutes ago, Jaimito said:

 

 

 

 

I like how he addresses this tweet to people at the end. That's good since his usual audience is imaginary friends, teddy bears, and the animal kingdom.  

[Moeknows]

1 hour ago, SV. said:

Another top forward (maybe a high-end, two-way C to ease on the defensive duties of Miller and Pettersson - give us something equivalent to Kopitar/Danault/Dubois)
Maybe another RHD, as well. 
It never hurts to add scoring depth, too.

Players like Juulsen, Friedman, PDG, etc. all fill in nicely, but you need quality to compete at the highest level and you need to be prepared for injuries.

Also, we're not 2nd in point percentage.  High up the standings, of course, but only in "2nd" because of GP (for the time being).

Ah the glass iis half full perspective...whatever floats your boat

[nobigneil]

7 minutes ago, Nucker67 said:

How 'bout that Miller reverse hit on Montour behind the Panthers net - such a solid unexpected hit, it took Montour's helmet right off. 

I LOVED that hit, caught him by surprise and Miller was bracing for contact to protect himself as well thinking he'd get hit by Montour. That type of thinking will help preserve themselves

[Dr. Crossbar]

It's funny seeing people trying to rationalize and adjust that this is a good team. The hot start wasn't an anomaly. We were a good team from the get go.

 

It's like all the Hronek skeptics ... the guy was a good Dman all along before he even got here.

 

The slump over the past month wasn't the norm. We had injuries and those struggles were bound to occur. Some were too eager to pounce on the negative.

 

Facing and overcoming adversity early in the season will pay off later in the season.

 

We're now seeing how good we are when we stay healthy but we're also seeing - although not perfect - that we do have the depth to not fall of a cliff if we do get hurt.

 

Suter is more of a key piece defensively responsible wise than we thought, also on the PK. Zadorov is feeling more comfortable and Juulsen is growing into his potential.

 

That was a smart decision by Tocchet to up the ice time of the depth guys. 

[Chicken.]

12 hours ago, WHL rocks said:

Not correct 

Myers also had over 20 mins

 

Myers and Zadorov pair had most toi. Our very own twin towers shut down pair. 

 

Zadorov  21:18

Myers.     21:27

Hughes.  19:43

Cole.       19:45

Hronek.   19:10

Juulsen.  16:32

That is just fantastic to see, and it resulted in a shutout too.

 

A rested Huggy is so key for later in the season.