[PGT]Round 2, Game 7 - Canucks vs Oilers - May 20th, 2024

[-dlc-]

 

[brownky]

1 minute ago, rmok said:

Its amazing what playing in the offensive zone and actually shooting the puck at the net can accomplish in just ten minutes. I for the life of me will not understand why the team refuses to do that for most of the game.. or even 20 mins of the game. 

 

They got farther than people expected.. but the regular season team was better than this oilers team and they had two chances to close it out and laid 2 eggs. At least they didn't get shut out in a game 7 again. 

 

Going forward some big decisions

 

Joshua- I would not be willing to pay a premium for him. He was not good this postseason outside game 1's. Keep him sure but not for the $$$ people were talking about prior to the playoffs. 

 

Hronek - 6.5 max or look to trade him. Scores on a big shot at the end that he has refused to use for like 5 months now. 

 

Cole - I've seen enough. This literally could have been a 4 or 5 game series if not for Cole

 

Myers and Zadorov- I'd take myers current 6 million and Zadorovs current $$ and try to divide it up more equitably going forward based on age etc and bring them both back.  the size on the back end made a huge difference defensively this year. 

 

Blueger - I could take or leave at the same money. May be time for Raty, Karlson etc to have a shot. 

 

Petey - Love the guy.. is my favorite player. He played pretty good the last couple games but he still doesn't seem right. I wouldn't want to trade him.. but I'd entertain potential trades. 

 

Lindholm - If they did trade petey they have to keep lindholm. If not and they don't keep Hronek and/or dispose of mikheyev's money then they should be able to afford him. He would solidify a competent 2nd line. But I'm not keen on committing 8million+ with term to another guy that is 30 years old.  If you can get him for more around 7 that would be good.. He was good in the playoffs. Better than miller and petey to be honest. 

 

Boeser - They need to find out what the deal is with him right away. Blood clots have actually ended careers and they need to know if his money is freed up or not (lindholm no brainer if brock is done) . Or they need to look to sell high on him. They can't afford to be giving him a raise on his next contract with his age and injury history after 1 really good season. Its tough he's a great guy.. but its not in the teams best interest. 

 

Silovs - try to resign so his current contract goes a year or two past demkos. He's the back up next year for sure. 

 

 

Fantasy big move... Consider packaging Peterson, Demko, Hronek and two 1sts to Chicago for Bedard

 

 

 

Hronek can take the first bus to Seattle. He's a classic case of "plays with Hughes, looks good". When Hughes isn't godly, he's pedestrian, and absolutely terrible at defence. He had how many games with 20+ minutes to get points back there? He can take a hike for the money he wants, he's not a driver.

 

Cole's gotta go.

 

Mik's gotta be out.

 

Lafferty's gotta be out.

 

Joshua's a 3/4th liner who got hot. He's worth 3/4th liner money. Somebody will overpay him bad though, I hope it isn't us.

 

Lindholm can stick if he's not pricing himself out. Took him awhile to get going, but once he got in the groove, he got better.

 

Basically anybody who didn't show up or showed up badly in the last 30 games should probably be looking to hit the bricks. We don't want leaf-like players here, we already have the leafs. Regular season performers.

[HarbularyBattery]

1 minute ago, J-23 said:

Bouchard has Ekholm. 
 

Canucks need someone who is elite defensively, I hope we are one of the many many teams in on Pesce. The type of defenceman to change your defensive core.

would like to see us move on from hronek if we can get pesce

 

instead of lindholm we could bring in toffoli to play with petey + hogs

 

keep blueger, pay the cost to move mikheyev out

 

 

[NucksFan]

5 minutes ago, -dlc- said:

 

I bet Petey has a new respect and appreciation for the market after they were cheering his name,  showing support for him in a couple games 

[RWJC]

Just now, Fen1010 said:

 We see Podz in a different light. I don't think he is much better than Laff and that is a low bar.  Mik in the top 6 was questionable as hell.

Yet. Podz needs a full season *playing* with the club to make a real determination. That said, if there is a trade out there that includes him that nets us an upgrade in top 6 I’m all for it. I have high hopes for him but at this point he might have to decide on focusing as a solely defensive side minded specialist if he wants to get solid mins with this club. 
 

I remember watching him intently at camp and quite a few times RT and Gonchar pulling him aside to work on his confidence. That worried me, especially when I saw a kid like Josh Bloom playing his balls off.

 

that said, Joshua was a dud in camp and look what he did this season.

[RJCF96]

32 minutes ago, Jaimito said:

I think having a healthy Demko and BB, they could have won this series.  

it was a close series.  

 

Territorial play oils had the edge, but it is tough to contain 2 of the best players in the world every game.  

I agree, with Demko in net, we probably could've stolen one of Game 2 or 4, and the series would've been over in 5.

[KoreanHockeyFan]

Lol all this criticism of Petey reminding me about how this city almost ran the Twins out of town...

 

 

[-dlc-]

1 minute ago, NucksFan said:

Agree, Miller was just gushing about how much he loves this team . 

It's why he signed here long term...he saw something in these guys. He loves it here.

 

Some people were SO convinced that he was outta here...and they still try to cut him down at every opportunity to prove a point that's been long put to bed.

[Canuck You]

5 minutes ago, -dlc- said:

Damn I missed it.

 

Turned it off. Too much Oiler happening.

Shit, I did too...I couldn't watch all that McBaby bullshit.

[BarneyKook]

Just now, brownky said:

 

Hronek can take the first bus to Seattle. He's a classic case of "plays with Hughes, looks good". When Hughes isn't godly, he's pedestrian, and absolutely terrible at defence. He had how many games with 20+ minutes to get points back there? He can take a hike for the money he wants, he's not a driver.

 

Cole's gotta go.

 

Mik's gotta be out.

 

Lafferty's gotta be out.

 

Joshua's a 3/4th liner who got hot. He's worth 3/4th liner money. Somebody will overpay him bad though, I hope it isn't us.

 

Lindholm can stick if he's not pricing himself out. Took him awhile to get going, but once he got in the groove, he got better.

 

Basically anybody who didn't show up or showed up badly in the last 30 games should probably be looking to hit the bricks. We don't want leaf-like players here, we already have the leafs. Regular season performers.

 

100% agree with Joshua, im not as sold as some others

[DeNiro]

4 minutes ago, BarneyKook said:

was it the second we were coming on and Lafferty got that penalty that killed us?

Yep.

 

Love Toc and what he’s done for this team but he made some bad calls this playoffs.

 

Putting in plugs like Mik and Lafferty just to try and grind out another game was a poor move.

 

He talked about not being afraid to swing for the fences. I’d rather have seen Raty or Bains in there.

[-dlc-]

Just now, Canuck You said:

Shit, I did too...I couldn't watch all that McBaby bullshit.

Me either.

 

I hope someone posts it. Pleeease.

[Jaimito]

 

 

 

[Plsdontdoit]

This team gonna be more hungrier next season now that they got to experience Rogers arena in its full glory. 

[canuck73_3]

No one happier tonight than @stawns

[Coryberg]

17 minutes ago, -dlc- said:

I think that's the consensus here. Most seem to be in the Stars' corner.

Stars are gonna wipe this oilers team out. We exposed their lack of depth and dallas is the deepest team in the league. I'm calling stars in 5 and then off to the finals to beat the Rangers in 6

[BarneyKook]

1 minute ago, DeNiro said:

Yep.

 

Love Toc and what he’s done for this team but he made some bad calls this playoffs.

 

Putting in plugs like Mik and Lafferty just to try and grind out another game was a poor move.

 

He talked about not being afraid to swing for the fences. I’d rather have seen Raty or Bains in there.

Pods at least, he can at least see the ice and make some passes here and there, everything generally goes to the net with him as well

Edited May 21 by BarneyKook

[Kinsella]

5 minutes ago, hockeyfan-observer said:

WOW - Those final 10 minutes  - you could not ask for more from those players - refusing to give up till the final seconds.  Thanks to the Canucks management and ALL the players for a wonderful and memorable season.  I'm very proud to be one of many fans in Canuck nation.

 

It hurts a bit now but sometimes it takes a few tries - look at Colorado and even Chicago from a while back.  Hopefully the team can continue with this forward progression in the next 3-4 years.

 

Go Canucks Go.

 

 

Yeah, well that's what happens when you give up on the genius strategy of short shifts. (Get the puck in their zone and let one guy chase it while the other 4 change)

[-Buzzsaw-]

Here's my observations on this game:

 

-  Tocchet loses Boeser, the team's #1 goalscorer, you'd think he'd replace him with someone who could put the puck in the net... but instead he brings back (hands of stone) Mikheyev, who by my count, missed two golden opportunities in this game.  He also brings back Lafferty... who was alone in the slot and whiffed.  Why would you bring back two guys who can't score to replace Boeser?  Why not take a chance and bring in Linus Karlsson, who I thought showed offensive flashes when he played and who we know is a goalscorer?  Or maybe even Jonathan Lekkermaki, who also has offensive skills?  I don't know why he replaced Podkolzin, who I thought played well defensively and was generating some offense.

 

-  Silovs was outstanding.  Two of the goals that beat him were deflections which unless you are a really big goalie, don't get stopped.  The 3rd goal was not really preventable... Nugent-Hopkins made a perfect shot... even then Silovs got a piece, but it deflected in.

 

-  Pettersson was the best Canuck forward on the ice, he set up multiple chances which in the hands of someone like Boeser or Miller... or even Hoglander, would have been in the back of the net... unfortunately the guys who got those chances were the guys who don't have goalscoring skills.

 

-  I thought the D played well for the most part.  The first two goals were fortunate tips, hard to prevent.  The 3rd goal was a power-play.... you can't stop Edmonton for 11 in a row.  I thought the D was physical and did a good job of keeping the Oilers to the outside for the most part.

 

-  Key to the game was the complete lack of production on the powerplay.  I put this on the coaches.  They have been watching Edmonton and their PK for the last 7 games... you would have thought they could have figured out a zone-entry.  But I didn't see any difference in the technique for gaining the zone from Game 1 to Game 7.  Maybe a few shootin's on the very last PP the team had.  That is just not good enough.  The Canucks should have at minimum, scored one goal on the two man advantage.  They didn't and they lost the game.

 

-  Overall, there are certain deficiencies in Tocchet's coaching which work to nullify the advantages of his system.  Yes, he has created a good defensive structure for the team and coached them well in how to play within that structure... Its clear Defense is his focus... look at who he hires...  Foot and Goncharev... but at the same time he shows a lot of rigidity in how he puts together his forward lines, and seems unable to compensate and adapt when they are not producing.  (notice there are no offensive specialist coaches)  At the end of the 3rd period of this game he finally started to try some new combinations...  Garland with Pettersson and Miller, and it paid off.  But he should have been doing that throughout the series.

 

Conclusion:

 

This was a first year playoff team... and it is not unusual for first year teams which did well in the regular season to get eliminated in the first round.  This team made it to 7 games in the 2nd round, which is a decent achievement.  Personally I think they could have won the series with some more pro-active coaching.  I also think they would have won the series if they had Demko... Silovs played well, but didn't have the GAA/Save percentage which Demko is capable of.  They were also unlucky in losing Boeser for the critical 7th game for something as strange a blood clots.  If Boeser had the puck on his stick in the position Mikheyev was in, the Canucks would have had a goal.

 

So the team has taken a great step forward, but at the same time, in my opinion, they underachieved considering how good their lineup was.

 

It will be a challenge to put together a better team for next year.

[PureQuickness]

7 minutes ago, BarneyKook said:

was it the second we were coming on and Lafferty got that penalty that killed us?

 

It was an absolutely brutal penalty to take on multiple levels. We were down 2-0 and for a change, our momentum was building. Then Lafferty takes that penalty after doing fuck all this series, which led to 3-0. Though we scored 2 goals near the end, Lafferty's penalty (and Edmonton's ensuing PP goal) was the difference.

[gwarrior]

Hey Oilers, keep patting yourselves on the back, you might just break your spines.

[Joshua.Guy]

1 minute ago, canuck73_3 said:

No one happier tonight than @stawns

[Canuck You]

At the end of the day, Edmonton fans.....Have to live in Edmonton.

[brownky]

4 minutes ago, hockeyfan-observer said:

WOW - Those final 10 minutes  - you could not ask for more from those players - refusing to give up till the final seconds.  Thanks to the Canucks management and ALL the players for a wonderful and memorable season.  I'm very proud to be one of many fans in Canuck nation.

 

It hurts a bit now but sometimes it takes a few tries - look at Colorado and even Chicago from a while back.  Hopefully the team can continue with this forward progression in the next 3-4 years.

 

Go Canucks Go.

 

 

I could ask for more. And I do. I'd have preferred 'those final 60 minutes'. Or 'those final 120 minutes'. Those "final 10 minutes", out of two games to close out a series, particularly in the second round is nowhere near good enough for any team.

 

They look so good when they play more than half of one period per game. I'm asking for that. And if the players aren't up for that, then they should go play for San Jose or Anaheim.

[DarthMelvin]

I was surprised to see DJ take a couple bad penalties.  

 

You take penalties on purpose, it drains the the team spirit. 

 

He seems to have lost his edge.