Akito Hirose | #41 | LD

[higgyfan]

1 hour ago, Diamonds said:

20-25lbs in an offseason is incredibly unrealistic for anyone unless they follow the Jake Virtanen offseason special. 5lbs should have been doable though even with a stringier build. Of course we're all just speculating and who knows what Tocc actually meant.

 

Loved the JV offseason special comment.

 

Like you have said, there's no way a guy of Akito's stature is going to put on 20-25lbs in  a summer.

His brother is 27yrs old and has an even smaller stature. 

 

Probably the best he can do is work with the Sedins and put on another 10-12lbs of muscle.  If he can be

one of those strong, wiry guys like the twins, he'll do just fine.

 

 

[flat land fish]

56 minutes ago, higgyfan said:

 

Loved the JV offseason special comment.

 

Like you have said, there's no way a guy of Akito's stature is going to put on 20-25lbs in  a summer.

His brother is 27yrs old and has an even smaller stature. 

 

Probably the best he can do is work with the Sedins and put on another 10-12lbs of muscle.  If he can be

one of those strong, wiry guys like the twins, he'll do just fine.

 

 

It’s pretty common for those of Scandinavian descent to grow for height a little later

and then add the mass through their early to mid 20’s.  Hirose I just don’t think has the frame to add weight.  As others have commented they can task him with building strength Petey has shown you can be a lighter guy and still improve strength.  Hopefully they are working on solutions for Hirose as I think there’s a player there.

[Jess]

Sent back down to Abbotsford.

[cripplereh]

Hope he gets the call up ASAP.

[5forFighting]

7 hours ago, cripplereh said:

Hope he gets the call up ASAP.

He hasn't been great in Abby, Wolanin has been much better and has chemistry with Myers. 

[Jess]

Called up. I would've preferred Wolanin, but I like Hirose too. Guess the team wants to give the younger guy a chance.

[canucks curse]

Beau V + Hirose + Podkolzin + 2025 1st with protection for Rasmus Andersson and 2024 3rd 

[JamesB]

4 hours ago, 5forFighting said:

He hasn't been great in Abby, Wolanin has been much better and has chemistry with Myers. 

 

57 minutes ago, -AJ- said:

Called up. I would've preferred Wolanin, but I like Hirose too. Guess the team wants to give the younger guy a chance.

 

I don't get it. I am impressed with the management group and the coaching staff in both Abby and Vancouver, so I am not going to complain. But I really have trouble understanding how Hirose gets the call instead of Wolanin.

 

I guess they want a guy who will be reliable defensively and are not expecting any scoring. But it still seems weird to me.

[Wiggums]

1 hour ago, -AJ- said:

Called up. I would've preferred Wolanin, but I like Hirose too. Guess the team wants to give the younger guy a chance.

 

Gotta feel for Wolanin though.  Hirose 0 points in 11 games, Wolanin 14 points in 13 games and the reigning best defenceman of the year and trending towards that again.  6'2 200 pounds and has looked solid in most his Canucks outings.

[OldFaithfulcap]

Let's go hirose

 

[cripplereh]

1 hour ago, -AJ- said:

Called up. I would've preferred Wolanin, but I like Hirose too. Guess the team wants to give the younger guy a chance.

Way I see it is this.Wolanin is older has had his chances yet never stuck on a big club.Hirose is at the age he needs the push to see what he is made of.I agree Wolanin should get the call.But management of the team is key right now and Hirose should get the chance.

[J-23]

1 hour ago, JamesB said:

 

instead of Wolanin.

 

 

Sounds like he has an injury, Rick's interview today.

[Jess]

It just also occurred to me that Wolanin would require waivers, so perhaps the team is worried about losing him there.

[112]

2 hours ago, -AJ- said:

It just also occurred to me that Wolanin would require waivers, so perhaps the team is worried about losing him there.

 

Would it for an emergency call-up? I thought there was a window to send them back down upon return of the original player.

[AK-19]

3 hours ago, J-23 said:

 

Sounds like he has an injury, Rick's interview today.

Well that solves that mystery. I thought it was ridiculous to call up Hirose over Wolanin. 

[Curmudgeon]

22 minutes ago, AK-19 said:

Well that solves that mystery. I thought it was ridiculous to call up Hirose over Wolanin. 

 

And you'd be correct. Wolanin has been a big part of Abbotsford's success this season and Hirose hasn't really done anything to stand out, either positively or negatively. He has good instincts though, but I'm not sure he's ready for the speed of the NHL quite yet.

[Googlie]

1 hour ago, 112 said:

 

Would it for an emergency call-up? I thought there was a window to send them back down upon return of the original player.

 

Wouldn't be emergency as they have 6 healthy D

 

Hughes, Hronek, Myers, Cole, Juulsen & Friedman

[Juice]

2 hours ago, Curmudgeon said:

And you'd be correct. Wolanin has been a big part of Abbotsford's success this season and Hirose hasn't really done anything to stand out, either positively or negatively. He has good instincts though, but I'm not sure he's ready for the speed of the NHL quite yet.

 

Wolanin is like Goldobin. AHL all-star but never really able to make the NHL game work.

 

Hirose has a high hockey IQ, cool and calm under pressure, and much  younger. He's the kind of guy you want to reward.  

 

I understand people are high on Wolanin, but when Tocchet talked about him he didn't sound too impressed. "Hes 27 or 28? Older guy in the minors... oof."

[Artemus]

23 hours ago, -AJ- said:

It just also occurred to me that Wolanin would require waivers, so perhaps the team is worried about losing him there.

 

Would Wolanin require waivers to return to Abbotsford?

He cleared waivers on his way down.

I believe that he could be recalled for either a limit of 10 games or 30 days, whichever comes first, before he would require waivers to return to Abby.

[Jess]

6 minutes ago, Artemus said:

 

Would Wolanin require waivers to return to Abbotsford?

He cleared waivers on his way down.

I believe that he could be recalled for either a limit of 10 games or 30 days, whichever comes first, before he would require waivers to return to Abby.

 

Possibly, though that may be limited to "emergency call ups" or something like that. Either way, even if you are correct and that rule always applies, we could then only have Wolanin for about half the time Soucy will be out, unless we risk him being claimed.

[Jess]

Back down.

[robr1can2]

Any news on Akito? I haven't seen anything about him since November.

[Hammertime]

On 11/14/2023 at 5:58 PM, Curmudgeon said:

 

And you'd be correct. Wolanin has been a big part of Abbotsford's success this season and Hirose hasn't really done anything to stand out, either positively or negatively. He has good instincts though, but I'm not sure he's ready for the speed of the NHL quite yet.

He seemed to handle himself quite well last year. He wasn't sheltered at all. Played mostly defensive zone starts and kept the puck out of our net. 

[kettlevalley]

Why do I feel like Hirose is one of those dmen who we don't notice, don't promote, moves on and gets a shot somewhere else and proves he was a solid low event dman we passed on.  

 

Just my instinct on this one.  

[AK-19]

2 hours ago, kettlevalley said:

Why do I feel like Hirose is one of those dmen who we don't notice, don't promote, moves on and gets a shot somewhere else and proves he was a solid low event dman we passed on.  

 

Just my instinct on this one.  

I mean he's only played 13 games in the AHL, not a single point, and relatively small size (he's lighter than Quinn Hughes). I'll take my chances that isn't going to happen. Wolanin and Irwin should be more likely to be called up.