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2023-24 Training Camp Thread

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GasThomas Minor Leaguer

GasThomas

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19 hours ago, RWJC said:

I just spoke with GM Allvin about CDC. He was not aware the site was being shut down and seemed a bit surprised by that. I explained the importance of it to the fan base, that many long time supporters of the franchise utilized it as their primary point of interaction with the club. I also explained that the official admins/mods were also long serving and due to the shutdown have taken it upon themselves to establish this private forum. He seemed impressed by that and the number of users.

He was very attentive. 
I then asked if, assuming liability is not an issue, himself or the team could potentially address the new forum and even endorse in some manner.

 

He explained that he’d need more information and that to submit communication through the Canucks PR team and he will review. 

 

At any rate, it’s been directly brought to his attention now.

 

 

Your are a genius...

If you propose you are ready to conquer the world!!!

 

Thank you!!!

 

image.png.d365fc1ac3c2b7468601cfdc7967dcaa.png

 

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PeteyBOI All-Star

PeteyBOI

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Reading way too much into Canucks lines at training camp - Vancouver Is Awesome 

 

From Höglander and Podkolzin getting a real chance in the top-six to shuffling partners for Quinn Hughes.
J.T. Miller, Quinn Hughes, and Akito Hirose rest between drills at the Vancouver Canucks 2023 training camp.Canucks/Twitter

On Wednesday, Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet warned against reading too much into the forward lines and defence pairs at training camp.

“To me, it’s a fluid thing,” said Tocchet. “There’s nothing set in stone right now. That’s what training camp is for. You want to give everybody an opportunity but you also want your main guys ready too, so you’ve got to find that sweet spot.”

In other words, things could change significantly in the coming weeks ahead of the Canucks’ first game of the 2023-24 season on October 11. He’s looking to develop some chemistry in his lines but also wants to mix things up to give players a chance to prove themselves.

At the same time, it’s hard not to read into things. The lines at the Canucks’ first two days of training camp seem to pretty clearly show some of the combinations we’re likely to see during the season.

Pairs of forwards

It’s become standard around the NHL for forward lines to feature a set duo with a rotating third member of the line depending on who’s hot at any given time.

 

“Scotty Bowman was a big ‘pair’ guy,” said Tocchet. “I like putting pairs together and then you can put people with them. We’ll see how that shakes out.”

The Canucks initial forward lines at training camp seem to feature some distinct forward pairs. The following four lines remained unchanged from day one to day two of camp:

Andrei Kuzmenko - Elias Pettersson - Nils Höglander
Vasily Podkolzon - J.T. Miller - Brock Boeser
Anthony Beauvillier - Teddy Blueger - Phil Di Giuseppe
Arshdeep Bains - Pius Suter - Conor Garland

The pairings seem clear: Pettersson and Kuzmenko, Miller and Boeser, Blueger and Beauvillier, and Suter and Garland.

If those pairings stay the same while the other wingers rotate, then it looks like the Canucks’ intention this year is to roll four lines, rather than having a distinct top-six/bottom-six or even top-nine/fourth-line approach. At least, that’s the impression given when two top-six wingers in Garland and Beauvillier are matched with two bottom-six centres in Blueger and Suter.

Another possibility is that the bottom-six pairings are actually Blueger and Di Giuseppe and Suter and Bains, which would definitely be more of a bottom-six look. That would also allow the top-six wingers in Beauvillier and Garland to rotate onto lines with Pettersson and Miller. That seems less likely, but I don’t want to discount the possibility, because Beauvillier and Garland are certainly players likely to play higher up in the lineup at some point.

A major opportunity for Höglander and Podkolzin

Tocchet talked about giving young players a real opportunity to play higher up the lineup than just the third and fourth-line roles that might typically be available. His lines on the first two days of training camp show that wasn’t just talk.

Höglander and Podkolzin spent a big chunk of last season in the AHL after seemingly already establishing themselves as NHLers previously. It was an opportunity to press the reset button on their development and get them back on track to becoming impactful players in the NHL.

Now, at this year’s training camp, they’re getting a major chance to take hold of top-six spots in the lineup. Höglander has lined up with Pettersson and Kuzmenko on the top line, while Podkolzin has skated with Miller and Boeser on the second line.

 

While the return of the injury-rehabbing Ilya Mikheyev will likely take one of those spots away, this is still a great opportunity for Höglander and Podkolzin to prove that they belong in a top-six role.

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Gawdzukes All-Star

Gawdzukes

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11 hours ago, Jester13 said:

@Ribs, please make this so. Time to move on from Loui? New forum, new year, etc.

 

Ummm Jester, Loui is the "wat" emoji ..., not the "confused" emoji.

 

Yes this is a very important distinction. 😏 Haha, just joking I agree on moving on. Might be a good time to cut Loui loose. I do love the idea of making the Kuz and emoji though. He's priceless.

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Jester13 Franchise Star

Jester13

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7 minutes ago, Gawdzukes said:

 

Ummm Jester, Loui is the "wat" emoji ..., not the "confused" emoji.

 

Yes this is a very important distinction. 😏 Haha, just joking I agree on moving on. Might be a good time to cut Loui loose. I do love the idea of making the Kuz and emoji though. He's priceless.

 

I figured wat equals confusion hahaha

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Crabcakes Top 6

Crabcakes

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14 hours ago, RWJC said:


I mostly recall them being much more casual. More like a loosening up prior to season and brush up on coordination. Loose atmosphere, lots of chatter on the ice, guys taking some drills quite passively, almost as though just going through the motions. Obviously a bit different with respect to the younger players/prospects who wanted to put in a good showing, but even they weren’t worked as hard as everyone has been as this camp so far.
 

This year, the players are are fully immersed in the expectation/pace of the drills. Almost every variety focuses on a serious amount of backcheck and re-engaging the play, sometimes on the fly/ zone transition. A lot of concentrated effort on understanding/anticipating how the play may pan out and reinforcing responsible man/line coverage. 
 

Noticed many of the drills on each side of the ice called dead as offense just setting up. I think that’s on purpose to psychologically implement some conditioning to reiterate how much he wants the team to buy in to the defensive responsibilities leading into their transition game.

 

Tocchet really applying that strong defensive component to almost every one of the drills. More focus on that than driving offense and the results of it at this time, imho.

 

 

I think that the performance in this camp goes back to the exit interviews at the end of last season.  And this is a good reason why the new coach, the choice of present management was brought in mid season.  Tocchet laid down the expectation that players work on their deficiencies and to also show up to camp in the best shape of their lives and also to arrive early to skate with the other players.  So all of the social aspects of getting back together with team mates has been done and they worked out a lot of the timing issues etc that come after a layoff BEFORE camp started.  Don't get me wrong, the social part of being on a team is important but now, as camp begins, they're down to business.

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