Canucks' Hughes-Hronek pairing can become best in NHL — if it remains intact

[Tusk]

3 minutes ago, wai_lai416 said:

lol.. that's a horrible nick name for hronek.. i don't think it's appropriate nor would he appreicate people calling him horny.. 

 

tbh.. QH/Hronek pairing havent given up a goal 5v5 doesn't really mean they have been awesome or one of the best in the league 5v5.. the 2 of them are top 10 in the league in high danger chance against.. so credits should be given to the goalies for stopping those chances..

 

as a pair QH and Hronek have given up the 2nd most high danger chance in the league 5v5 at 19.. by comparison the pair that given up the most high danger chance is theodore/mcnabb at 20.. they taken 43 defensive zone draws vs 16 by qh/hronek

To Be Fair.... Preds 2nd goal Hughes was on the wrong side of the ice, and was playing with Myers. but Myers was on the correct defensive position. Please review.

[RWJC]

4 minutes ago, wai_lai416 said:

lol.. that's a horrible nick name for hronek.. i don't think it's appropriate nor would he appreicate people calling him horny.. 

 

tbh.. QH/Hronek pairing havent given up a goal 5v5 doesn't really mean they have been awesome or one of the best in the league 5v5.. the 2 of them are top 10 in the league in high danger chance against.. so credits should be given to the goalies for stopping those chances..

 

as a pair QH and Hronek have given up the 2nd most high danger chance in the league 5v5 at 19.. by comparison the pair that given up the most high danger chance is theodore/mcnabb at 20.. they taken 43 defensive zone draws vs 16 by qh/hronek

 

its only 5 games in and they are still only a recent pairing. I would like to see them given more time and what comes from that. It’s worth the experiment. 
 

 

[JIAHN]

Well, this is an age old argument, but the simple facts are...........

 

if splitting them up 5 on 5, causes less goals collectively, then you do it..........if having a Hughes/Hronek pairing works, and the second pairing can manage to prevent enough goals to make the 2 pairings a better +/- , then sure...........

 

Defensemen are there to prevent goals..go figure!

 

But is the comparison of the 2 scenarios, and which has a better +/- between the 2 different scenarios (aka Hughes/Hronek or splitting them up)

[wai_lai416]

Just now, RWJC said:

 

its only 5 games in and they are still only a recent pairing. I would like to see them given more time and what comes from that. It’s worth the experiment. 
 

 

i dont mind the experiment.. but to suggest by the article they can be the best in the league i think is a reach.. they have looked OK.. can they improve? maybe but i'm a little skeptical.. Hughes 5v5 over his last few years generally gives up more high danger chance than he generates.. same with Hronek.. i'm just not sure if it's a good idea long term.. i still think a more defensive minded D partner is better for hughes period.. outside the year where he had tanev as his partner the high danger chance against have been steadily going up for hughes.. the pair is looking good on paper anyways.. is due to the abnormally high sv% 5v5 at over .980 when their career average with hughes on the ice 5v5 is .900

[Tusk]

the most improved pairing I have seen is Cole-Myers.

Heronik and Hughes were great but Heronik and Soucy sucked. Hughes and Myers were great till they both got caught on the right side and to be honest, I think Hughes was over-correcting.

Herose actually had more hits than any other defense, per games played. Hoping Soucy can take over that stat with a few more games.

If Myers can get over his fear of being called for a head shot when he checks anyone shorter than 6 foot 3, he will be awesome again.

[RWJC]

2 minutes ago, wai_lai416 said:

i dont mind the experiment.. but to suggest by the article they can be the best in the league i think is a reach.. they have looked OK.. can they improve? maybe but i'm a little skeptical.. Hughes 5v5 over his last few years generally gives up more high danger chance than he generates.. same with Hronek.. i'm just not sure if it's a good idea long term.. i still think a more defensive minded D partner is better for hughes period.. outside the year where he had tanev as his partner the high danger chance against have been steadily going up for hughes.. the pair is looking good on paper anyways.. is due to the abnormally high sv% 5v5 at over .980 when their career average with hughes on the ice 5v5 is .900

 

Who has Hughes played with since Tanev though…..?

That also is a major part of the equation in terms of an increase in high danger chances. 
 

If you think he’d be best fit with a defensive minded partner, I’d go halfway with you on that and suggest he needs a two way partner with wheels. He needs someone who sees the ice offensively in a similar way, albeit cautiously, so as to afford QH the room to play his game. 

[wai_lai416]

1 minute ago, RWJC said:

 

Who has Hughes played with since Tanev though…..?

That also is a major part of the equation in terms of an increase in high danger chances. 
 

If you think he’d be best fit with a defensive minded partner, I’d go halfway with you on that and suggest he needs a two way partner with wheels. He needs someone who sees the ice offensively in a similar way, albeit cautiously, so as to afford QH the room to play his game. 

his best result in terms of high danger chances against since tanev was with schenn.. everyone else have been pretty bad

[Tusk]

1 minute ago, RWJC said:

 

Who has Hughes played with since Tanev though…..?

That also is a major part of the equation in terms of an increase in high danger chances. 
 

If you think he’d be best fit with a defensive minded partner, I’d go halfway with you on that and suggest he needs a two way partner with wheels. He needs someone who sees the ice offensively in a similar way, albeit cautiously, so as to afford QH the room to play his game. 

Yeah. an Ian Cole but a righty.

I think Myers would be a good fit if he can learn to crouch when he wants to hit a guy. like a crouching dragon? instead of a bumbling giraffe?

[PhillipBlunt]

1 hour ago, Tusk said:

And Iain MacIntyre is an idiot to not see that. I wish fans would stop listening to him, he is one of the most negative media people bugging the canucks. That kate petterson is actually smart and asks the right questions.

MacIntyre is actually one of the best writers regarding the Canucks. By the way, Kate works for the Canucks so she asks the approved questions. 

[Tusk]

Myers issue is he cant play like Zdeno Chara because Chara could hit anyone and get applause instead of a penalty. Myers cant use his size currently due to the team he is playing for.... a canadian team.....

[Tusk]

3 minutes ago, PhillipBlunt said:

MacIntyre is actually one of the best writers regarding the Canucks. By the way, Kate works for the Canucks so she asks the approved questions. 

And she has a sweet voice... mayby that is my bias. I wish she would cut Ian off in the media questions. 

[TopCheese]

Small sample size but it looks good so far

 

problem is if the low 4 pairings go cold and theres no chem they will have to split them up

[coolboarder]

4 hours ago, Tusk said:

The problem is they can only play 1/3 of the minutes. What do you think the other teams will do when they are out? yeah, thats right, mcdavid, matthews, crosby and ovetchkin are back on the bench, let those two get worn out.

Not just 1/3 but close to 1/2 of the game if they are averaging 25 minutes a game, they're playing against other team's top line and still controlling the puck, that is taking out their own offense for extended period of time.  Other teams don't even have the luxury of having their best 2nd or 3rd line out there.  Only Cup contenders have their top 9.  When opponents top line don't have the puck, they cannot even do anything about it.  Keeping in mind, they're playing on the road against cup contenders with the last line change and Hughes/Hronek still come out with this type of stats, it's insane.   Wait until they are back home with last line change and they'll control the game more often, dismantle their top line playing the whole game without the puck.  That is a lot of pressure.  Saturday's game was a glimpse of the whole potential.  22-10 in term of shots difference is nothing to sneeze at.

[spook007]

5 hours ago, higgyfan said:

Hopefully the Canuck media circus doesn't drive him away when it's time for a new contract.

He's obviously a very reserved and introverted guy who really hates being in the spotlight.

They need to back off for awhile and let him get used to playing in a frenzied Canadian market.

If he hates being in the spotlight, a Canadian market is probably not the place to be....

The media is like a pack of hungry wolves... 

 

Hope it won't ruin it for him and us....

 

 

 

[GrammaInTheTub]

3 hours ago, Tusk said:

Myers issue is he cant play like Zdeno Chara because Chara could hit anyone and get applause instead of a penalty. Myers cant use his size currently due to the team he is playing for.... a canadian team.....

Chara also didn’t just hit dudes in the skates when way out of position to warrant drawing applause instead of penalties 

[IBatch]

12 hours ago, fanfor42 said:

When? When have we seen this before?

 

When have we seen a potential Norris candidate paired with a guy we traded for, who was the other team's best defenseman?

 

We have not seen this before.

 

And this is gonna be sweet.  Listen to the comments they say about each other.  Watch them on the ice.

 

We are witnessing something special blossoming here partner.

 

 

 

 

Ohlund would have been on a Norris arc if it wasn't for almost losing an eye, and Jovo was one of the best young D's in the league, a first overall pick that had an amazing coming out party during the Panthers miracle run to the final.  Jovo was 6th in Norris voting I think twice for us, and regularly got votes,  one of Canada's better defenseman for a decade or so, a key part of Salt Lake, made the play to Sakic for the cup winning goal ... also was supposed to go to Torino but was injured ... who knows, if he wasn't maybe Canada would have faired better.     Who was on that team though?  Ohlund.   A calder runner up, who even with his eye injury, did get a few Norris votes a couple times.   So far, Jovo is the guy to beat - and QHs looks to be well on his way.     Eastern bias, well suppose Jovo had that going against him back then too.  

 

7 times he was in the Norris voting, twice in PHX, as a rookie, also a calder finalist, and four times in a row for us, two of those 6th which is still the bar.   QHs will surely do that, probably this year.    People forget about guys.   Reinhardt we had for two years as well, and he had a monster playoff for us. 

 

As for Hronek...well like Jovo and Ohlund, maybe we'd fair better if we split them up?    After all, look at how well QHs did with Schenn last year 

Edited October 24, 2023 by IBatch

[Optimist Prime]

6 hours ago, spook007 said:

If he hates being in the spotlight, a Canadian market is probably not the place to be....

The media is like a pack of hungry wolves... 

 

Hope it won't ruin it for him and us....

 

 

 

media? more like the fans, hehehe. I didn't see the media rioting after we lost the stanley cup. 

I wonder who budy in the red jersey is and what he has to say for himself a dozen years later. 

[spook007]

3 hours ago, Optimist Prime said:

media? more like the fans, hehehe. I didn't see the media rioting after we lost the stanley cup. 

I wonder who budy in the red jersey is and what he has to say for himself a dozen years later. 

Well the media are the first to fuel the fire... They sell papers so its understandable. 
 

As for the bloke in the red shirt (i actually loved the top. Have one myself), I think he will be massively embarrashed. 
Or he could be a donkey who runs around and tell everyone, he was part of the riot... as a badge of honour...

Regardless, what an embarrashment. 

Edited October 24, 2023 by spook007

[Rekker]

I think it's right up there and on par with Fox and Lindgren. Maybe better, but will see how it plays out. Realistically we will be better if we can find a cheaper fit with Hughes and Hronek captains his own second pairing. 

[Dr. Crossbar]

It really underscores how we need another elite Top 4 Dman if we're serious about competing. We want to have the option of keeping Hughes/Hronek together without being forced to separate them out of depth desperation. 

[The Duke]

17 minutes ago, Dr. Crossbar said:

It really underscores how we need another elite Top 4 Dman if we're serious about competing. We want to have the option of keeping Hughes/Hronek together without being forced to separate them out of depth desperation. 

This is the bottom line.  
 

Hughes, Hronek and …?  Willander is on the way but too long away to be counted on for top 4.

 

Need 2 very good pairs to take the next step.

[Dr. Crossbar]

1 minute ago, The Duke said:

This is the bottom line.  
 

Hughes, Hronek and …?  Willander is on the way but too long away to be counted on for top 4.

 

Need 2 very good pairs to take the next step.

 

Exactly this. We need two really good pairs.

Yeah, we can't look to Willander for the short term. 

 

It'll likely be another situation of we'll need to give up to get in a trade or FA. 

 

We just need to figure it out and put money into our D.

 

We'll need to sacrifice $ from the forwards. Boeser's money really should be going to D. 

 

 

[Jeremy Hronek]

On 10/24/2023 at 10:37 AM, wai_lai416 said:

l

 

tbh.. QH/Hronek pairing havent given up a goal 5v5 doesn't really mean they have been awesome or one of the best in the league 5v5.. the 2 of them are top 10 in the league in high danger chance against.. so credits should be given to the goalies for stopping those chances..

 

as a pair QH and Hronek have given up the 2nd most high danger chance in the league 5v5 at 19.. by comparison the pair that given up the most high danger chance is theodore/mcnabb at 20.. they taken 43 defensive zone draws vs 16 by qh/hronek

 

This post wins the thread and is the correct answer.

[Dr. Crossbar]

We finally have an elite top pairing and partner for Quinn, one that Hughes not only so desperately needed but also one that he instinctively knows is right. I mean, it's huge that Hughes actually said that Hronek is the best Dman he's played with. Management and Tocchet need to keep that pairing intact and build the second and third pairing.

 

The thing is about elite guys like Hughes - also Petey - they need to play with higher skill, higher IQ guys or they're playing below their talent, wasting their skill, spinning their heels so to speak. You can see how Hughes is over the moon that he has the right partner. 

 

It's imperative we get another get another top Dman sooner than later now that we have a legit contending top pair.

[sxqhfeh]

Everything will be fine once we trade for Pesce this month... hopefully