[PGT] Canucks @ Oilers (i.e., the DeSmith apology thread)

[Hairy Kneel]

5 hours ago, spook007 said:

If Mika worked as hard as Hansen, he would be hailed here. he was a proper 3rd liner with speed. 

4th liner

[Rip The Mesh]

32 minutes ago, higgyfan said:

 

I would think that moving Mik is at the top of Alvin's to do list and I highly doubt he would offer Lindholm

$6.5m-7.5m.  Like you said, that would be crazy.  Along with Myers + Cole that is $18.6m and there are

other UFAs that will likely leave, as well as the carry over of Mr. LTIR.  We have a savvy management

team now, so I am confident they will make improvements on our team.  Hopefully we will see a couple

of Abby guys stepping up at next season's training camp.

There's time to get a look at Lindholm in a different venue, meaning the Playoffs. Like some others too. What to do about Mik, that's tough.

He's a beautiful skater and that's where it seems to end. Toughness he avoids, passing could be much better, No nose for the net and often 

throws the puck into dangerous areas. Other then 3 or 4 games early, I've yet to see a solid performance from puck drop to final whistle.

Even scarier, Tocchet has had all year to work with him. Like I said to someone last night upon taking a look at our Cap situation, we in a wee bit of dog 

poop next year. / If Alvin can move Mik and find a replacement of what he was meant to be, and come to a reasonable price for Zadorov, perfect !!

[Sooey Steamer]

10 minutes ago, Steamer4GM said:

Hey!

 

I said it was a goofy post!!

 

Just having some silly fun with numbers and am now determined to run with it until I can't

 

Canucks over Flames on Tuesday night 4-0

 

Bank it!!

Didn't Miller get his 400th assist last night?

[Alflives]

3 minutes ago, Hairy Kneel said:

We'll see, especially if he goes and gets 39 goals again. 

Cruise Missike could score 50, and his team will still be losing. We were able to dumperoo his contract for next season and all it cost was a late first and a third. 

[Pears]

People are lying to themselves if they think Kuzmenko is seeing more than one or two shifts in the third in a one goal game. Again, he was fun and I loved the guy, but Lindholm was what this team needed more. 

[Hogs and Podz]

2 minutes ago, Hairy Kneel said:

So many plays their players staring directly at the refs after the whistle, LOOKING for a call. 

Ridiculous. 

That's a problem... That is coached INTO the culture of the team.  I get it... It gives an advantage.  BUT it also creates a victim mentality, poor attitude, dirty cheap shot retribution culture.  Other teams and fans of other teams hate that and won't support teams like that.  Every team does it to a point of course... But when it's pretty well every player, it's ugly and a problem.

[Gawdzukes]

10 hours ago, JamesB said:

Great to get the win. Just one more point or Edmonton loss clinches the Division. Edmonton had gone 12 home games in a row without a regulation loss before tonight.

 

1. I have to start with another common goalie adage: "They call it hockey. They should call it goaltending." DeSmith was excellent tonight. If he played like he did in his last couple of starts he probably would have given up a couple more goals, the Canucks would have lost and we would all be talking about what is wrong with team. Instead we can focus on all the positives that came out of tonight's game.

 

2. DeSmith has shown all season that he is good as a backup. But playing him every game for an extended period was too much. After a couple of games off, tonight he seemed focused. The rest and the ability to go through his usual practice reps probably helped a lot.

 

3. Speaking of positives, it is nice to see some of the recent acquisitions coming through. Lafferty and Suter both scored and played well. Lindholm was matched up against Draisaitl and was able to shut him down. And his line picked up a nice empty goal (Joshua from Lindholm and Garland). And Cole and Z. were very good -- with the best underlying stats of the three defensive pairs despite getting their share of time against the Draisaitl line.

 

4. I like the lines. Lindy with Joshua and Garland are a very good "third line" that can play shutdown and provide an offensive threat. I like putting Miller and Boeser back together again and those two with Suter have been the best Canucks line this season in the underlying stats. (And they have looked good at both ends of the ice.) Putting Petey with Mik and Hoglander makes sense to me, although the risk is that Mik's hands of stone will waste a lot Petey's skill. Tonight Mik again played well in the sense of getting good chances but could not finish. In the first over a few shifts he had his stick break on a good chance, had the puck just bounce off his stick on another chance, and had a great chance in front but some combination of a good save and not putting his shot in the corner prevented a goal. And a 4th line of Blueger, Lafferty and Podz is a good 4th line.

 

5. The first Canuck goal was similar to a couple of goals the Canucks have given up in recent games. Lafferty was able to skate to the right face-off dot and get a good shot away thanks to poor gap control by Nurse. Gap control is often overlooked when watching a game but it is a very important part of being a good D. Hughes has great gap control, aided by his exceptionally good skating.

 

6. Even without McDavid, the Oilers are a good team, but not a scary team. The McDavid injury is obviously the key for them.

 

7. Overall, the Oilers were the better team in the underlying stats. The all-strength expected goals differential was 3.69--2.38. But most of that edge came late in 3rd period when the Oilers were the chasing team along with early in the first when the Oilers came out strong. But I would say that the Canucks played a good game, not giving up much defensively after opening up a 2-0 lead. They got a solid win without undue expenditure of energy. I was glad to see the Canucks avoiding scrums and turning down potential fights or pushing matches. Joshua, Zadorov, Soucy and others showed a lot of discipline tonight.

 

A satisfying win on a Saturday night, finishing off a 4-game sweep of the Oilers this season.

 

Hey James, I really enjoy your synopsis of the games. I'm not into advanced stats but I do enjoy your analysis of them cross referenced with your own eye test. You make some interesting and subtle observations as a result.

 

One thing I've noticed though is that the expected goals never seem to actually match the actual goals. I find a lot of those stats pretty flawed in what they're actually attempting to measure. Is this common or am I just noticing the odd contradiction? It seems as if you say a lot that one team had the advanced stats edge but often they didn't win the game.

[Hairy Kneel]

Just now, Alflives said:

Cruise Missike could score 50, and his team will still be losing. We were able to dumperoo his contract for next season and all it cost was a late first and a third. 

We need to dumparoo 5M Mik

[Dr. Crossbar]

13 hours ago, HKSR said:

We just made them look extra soft because our big defencemen ragdolled them all night.

 

Lol ... this! Especially the ragdoll part. That will come in handy in the playoffs. 

[Alflives]

1 minute ago, Rip The Mesh said:

There's time to get a look at Lindholm in a different venue, meaning the Playoffs. Like some others too. What to do about Mik, that's tough.

He's a beautiful skater and that's where it seems to end. Toughness he avoids, passing could be much better, No nose for the net and often 

throws the puck into dangerous areas. Other then 3 or 4 games early, I've yet to see a solid performance from puck drop to final whistle.

Even scarier, Tocchet has had all year to work with him. Like I said to someone last night upon taking a look at our Cap situation, we in a wee bit of dog 

poop next year. / If Alvin can move Mik and find a replacement of what he was meant to be, and come to a reasonable price for Zadorov, perfect !!

What about this year? We just completed the season sweeparoo of the Coilers and are heading to the playoffs as the 2 seed in our Conference. Pretty damned good considering the mess Benning (the moran) left. 

[Dr. Crossbar]

14 hours ago, Ghostsof1915 said:

Reminder.

2023-24 Season: 80 games, 107 Points,  49 Wins.

2022-23 Season: 82 games, 83 Points, 38 Wins.

 

Pretty darn good turnaround.

 

The stuff of legend. And they said we couldn't do it. Such a good team and turnaround. 

[-dlc-]

2 hours ago, Sooey Steamer said:

Didn't Miller get his 400th assist last night?

I think it was the game before.

 

(He's probably at 500 now)

[Hairy Kneel]

4 hours ago, Ghostsof1915 said:

Great points. I did notice Myers had less chaos that usual last night. He and Zads seemed to know just how far to push it last night. But Edmonton just dives and embellishes everything, it's pathetic. Even Soucy had a more bounce back and solid game last night. Hughes looks like he's a kid in a candy store with Playoffs looming. At times he was like a Ferrari and everyone else was Skoda's. Because it's been a while since we've been in the playoffs. Traditionally the refs sort of tuck the whistles away in the playoffs yes? Great game for the players to get back to good habits. And a great win. Oh and yes. Lindholm was noticeable for all the right reasons last night. Tocc seems to trust him with the important face offs, along with Miller.

It was great when Miller double clutched that layer for embellishment on that early call. You know that was coached into the team to draw the early call. Any scouting report would know that. Miller called him out.

[Alflives]

2 minutes ago, Hairy Kneel said:

We need to dumparoo 5M Mik

Why? Very similar player to Bob Gainey. Big, fast, plays the defensive role (while still providing offence) in the top six. Hugely valuable player to a winning club. 

[Boudrias]

51 minutes ago, Hairy Kneel said:

Podz biggest deficiencies:

CONFIDENCE and KILLER INSTINCT 

Podz is doing jut fine on the 4th line. 'Killer instinct'? He plays a heavy forecheck and works the boards pretty well. We haven't seen his shot much but he has a heavy one. I can't remember which Oiler d-man it was but he gave Podz a bit of a shot after a whistle and Podz looked him down. He is a playoff unknown and could surprise us. 

[Hairy Kneel]

1 minute ago, Alflives said:

Why? Very similar player to Bob Gainey. Big, fast, plays the defensive role (while still providing offence) in the top six. Hugely valuable player to a winning club. 

We have enough 3rd line checkers, we don't need those we need someone who scores.

5M checker? He'll na

[Dr. Crossbar]

3 minutes ago, Pears said:

People are lying to themselves if they think Kuzmenko is seeing more than one or two shifts in the third in a one goal game. Again, he was fun and I loved the guy, but Lindholm was what this team needed more. 

 

Exactly this. This team is a lot better with him in the lineup. Also more valuable in gaining possession when games are on the line. We need what Lindy brings rather than feel good feels. 

[Hairy Kneel]

1 minute ago, Boudrias said:

Podz is doing jut fine on the 4th line. 'Killer instinct'? He plays a heavy forecheck and works the boards pretty well. We haven't seen his shot much but he has a heavy one. I can't remember which Oiler d-man it was but he gave Podz a bit of a shot after a whistle and Podz looked him down. He is a playoff unknown and could surprise us. 

I find that aggressive angry shooters to score more. Killer instinct towards the net. Podz has made passes when he should have shot. He needs to punch that shii in.

[Dr. Crossbar]

3 minutes ago, Boudrias said:

Podz is doing jut fine on the 4th line. 'Killer instinct'? He plays a heavy forecheck and works the boards pretty well. We haven't seen his shot much but he has a heavy one. I can't remember which Oiler d-man it was but he gave Podz a bit of a shot after a whistle and Podz looked him down. He is a playoff unknown and could surprise us. 

 

Great points about Podz! The playoffs bring out the best in players. He could very well surprise ... and I wouldn't be surprised.

[Alflives]

2 minutes ago, Hairy Kneel said:

We have enough 3rd line checkers, we don't need those we need someone who scores.

5M checker? He'll na

Bob Gainey was on many Cup teams. HHOF player. Mik plays a very similar role for us. 

[Hogs and Podz]

1 minute ago, Boudrias said:

Podz is doing jut fine on the 4th line. 'Killer instinct'? He plays a heavy forecheck and works the boards pretty well. We haven't seen his shot much but he has a heavy one. I can't remember which Oiler d-man it was but he gave Podz a bit of a shot after a whistle and Podz looked him down. He is a playoff unknown and could surprise us. 

Yup... If the management decide to keep him up with the big club.  Mark my words.... He'll have meaningful impact as a gritty, energy 4th liner that doesn't make many mistakes.  If the team goes deep enough in the playoffs... Podz will have a career defining goal, hit or steal (maybe all three?) That allows the team to go even deep towards Lord Stanley's Cup.

[Hairy Kneel]

4 minutes ago, Alflives said:

Bob Gainey was on many Cup teams. HHOF player. Mik plays a very similar role for us. 

So he's Bob Gaiey now? ok..

Alf are you day drinking again. Where are you I want some.

 

 

Edited April 14 by Hairy Kneel

[Pears]

5 minutes ago, Dr. Crossbar said:

 

Exactly this. This team is a lot better with him in the lineup. Also more valuable in gaining possession when games are on the line. We need what Lindy brings rather than feel good feels. 

Feel goods were for teams of the previous 3-4 years, we're a contender now and don't have time for any of that. 

[Guntrix]

13 minutes ago, Pears said:

People are lying to themselves if they think Kuzmenko is seeing more than one or two shifts in the third in a one goal game. Again, he was fun and I loved the guy, but Lindholm was what this team needed more. 

He hasn’t been worth what we gave up for him imo.

 

People seem to forget we gave up a lot more than Kuzmenko for Lindholm. 

[Dr. Crossbar]

Just now, Pears said:

Feel goods were for teams of the previous 3-4 years, we're a contender now and don't have time for any of that. 

 

Exactly. It's pretty obvious, too. Especially given our success.

 

That's been a huge problem for years here.