[PGT] Coilers at Canucks

[Goal_thecup]

4 minutes ago, Dr. Crossbar said:

 

And this ...

 

I used to live in the West End (in Vancouver for those unfamiliar).

Our apartment looked across the street at a huge high rise apartment building.

Back then (the early 70's), the pimps in the building were all black guys who dressed like this.

Many had toy dogs, and fur coats, hats, et cetera like our man above.

The girls would be out in their skimpy outfits and parasols and it was great (for us).

Cool stuff to look at when you don't even have a TV yet, lol!

 

[Psycho_Path]

3 hours ago, Bure10Kuzmenko96 said:

To be fair Hoglander dived first when Ekholm did it

Not really. He was not ready for the hit. Ekholm was clearly ready for the hit and dove on purpose to draw the even-up call

[Barnstorm]

9 minutes ago, NewbieCanuckFan said:

Tocchet would respectfully tell Frankie to get the eff out of the locker room if he chose to stick his head in there I would guess (and say, just let me do my job & you'll be happy with the results)

Not in a million years would Rick Tocchet tell the owner anything even remotely close to that. Clearly Rick is an intelligent man and that’s not something an intelligent person would do or say. 

[Canuck You]

Giraffe is +10 so far.

[Roger Neilsons Towel]

The dumpster fire in Edmonton burns on. 
 

[RupertKBD]

2 hours ago, Locke Lamora said:

Regarding your #2 point about Hoglander, yet again when asked about Hogz, Tocchet  is very reluctant to heap praise on the kid. Clearly, he is not quite sold on some of his puck managment/decisions and to be fair he is good for a gaff or two every game. But the absolute demon he is on the forecheck, and the fact he is developing into an absolute elite pest to other teams AND the fact he provides an offensive threat from the bottom 6 deserves more praise from the coach I think. But perhaps Tocchet just doesn’t want to Hogz to become complacent with his spot in the lineup. A spot which should be absolutely safe. I’d park Joshua and Bovillyeh before Hogz.

 

2 hours ago, Ralph. said:

This is my preferred theory. Don't get me wrong, the kid has a great work ethic, but don't give him a reason to take his foot off the gas. I've been seeing some Burrows in him lately and it's those qualities that will make him successful.

 

Several years back i was arguing with some of the resident AV haters on CDC. They were trashing him for "throwing Kes and Welly under the bus", while "coddling the twins"....I seem to recall the phrase "Country Club" being a popular refrain....

 

I said back then and I'll repeat it now: One of the things an NHL (or any coach) needs to understand is which if his players need a pat on the back and which need a kick in the butt. Not all players respond to the same approach, which is why you rarely see coaches succeed when they are strictly hard asses, or if they're "player's coaches".

 

Tocchet seems to have figured out which players are which fairly quickly (as we've already see with the benching of Miller) and the team for the most part, has responded as hoped.

[The Arrogant Worms]

[RupertKBD]

2 hours ago, Gurn said:

The whole team, other than the goalie had bad shifts, until the shots were about 19-2, then got it going and earned the win after that.

 Gotta agree there.

 

There were quite a few poor shifts in the 1st period. The only guy I would exempt would be Demmer.

[CanucksJay]

34 minutes ago, Jaimito said:

 

 

What’s driving the Canucks’ best start in franchise history? 10 key performances

It’s the Vancouver Canucks’ world, we’re just living in it.

 

Fresh off of their latest stunning triumph — a 6-2 shellacking of the Edmonton Oilers, which was accomplished after Vancouver was outshot 19-2 in the opening 11 minutes of a kitchen-sink game for the reeling Oilers — the Canucks are sitting pretty. They have the most regulation wins in the NHL, the most goals scored, the best goal differential, the NHL’s leading scorer, the NHL’s leading scorer among defensemen and the starter with the most wins. According to the betting markets, head coach Rick Tocchet is the early season favourite to win the Jack Adams, awarded to the NHL coach of the year.

 

This team can do no wrong. They look faster, tougher and more skilled than just about every opponent they face. On Monday evening, Rogers Arena was rocking as the Canucks reduced a preseason Stanley Cup favourite — who came out with real desperation — to rubble.

 

So what’s driving this hot 9-2-1 start? Let’s identify 10 things that have gone very, very right for the Canucks and have powered their meteoric success in the early going.

 

1. Quinn Hughes has somehow levelled up

Quinn Hughes was already elite. One of the best defenders in hockey, or at the very least, in the 3B tier.

 

Somehow Hughes has gotten even better this season. His defensive game improved significantly last season, and now he’s added a different level of dynamism to his offensive game. Through 12 games, Hughes is attacking with a different type of purpose as a shooter and uncorking all kinds of new weaponry — changing the angle on wrist shots and getting a lot more velocity on them — that he didn’t seem to have at his disposal consistently in years past.

 

Hughes is the second defender since the butterfly technique became common in the early 1990s to amass 20 points in the first 12 games of an NHL season. With Hughes on the ice, the Canucks have outscored their opponents 18-3 at five-on-five. He’s got the entire game on a string on an every-night basis. He has a level of control over the game that’s incredibly uncommon for any individual to exert at this level.

 

This isn’t just a dominant individual performance. Hughes is currently playing like he’s the single best defenseman on planet Earth.

 

2. Hughes’ partnership with Filip Hronek

For years, there’s been a school of thought that assumed Hughes was best suited to playing on a pair with bigger, prototypical defensive defensemen. Over the years, players like Chris Tanev, Tucker Poolman, Jordie Benn, Luke Schenn and Noah Juulsen have typically been the first-choice Hughes caddies.

 

Just about a year ago, however, something interesting happened. The Canucks started playing Hughes alongside Ethan Bear, a transitional defender whose standout skill was his mastery at puck retrievals, and the results were sparkling. Then the club executed a widely criticized — especially by us — trade for Filip Hronek at the deadline, and the early returns from the Hughes and Hronek pair have been sensational.

 

“Well, I think I am a defensive guy,” was Hughes’ matter-of-fact response when the question of whether he’s better off playing with a puck-mover as opposed to a defensive guy was posed to him on Monday morning.

 

“Me and Filip don’t get scored on a lot,” he continued. “We’re going to have nights when we’re dash-three, but we’ll have a lot more nights where we’re plus.

 

“With Filip, he gets me three or four more touches a game. Like, he has the puck on my stick more. He’s able to open up and slide it to me. So we have the puck a lot, and the more we have the puck, it’s another chance I get.”

 

There’s perhaps something to the way two adept puck-moving defenders are able to amplify the team-level possession game of a pair. Hronek may not have been seen as fit to be Hughes’ partner 10 years ago, but in similar ways to what Devon Toews has brought to his partnership with Cale Makar in Colorado, Hughes and Hronek’s fit has been nearly perfect for Vancouver in the early going.

 

 

Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek have worked senstionally as a pair. (Bob Frid / USA Today)

3. Maximizing J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson in the matchup game

Tocchet and Adam Foote, the Canucks assistant coach who runs the defence, have been doing something pretty interesting in self-matching the Hughes-Hronek pair with J.T. Miller’s matchup line.

 

In the past, we’ve seen the Canucks work to get Hughes and Elias Pettersson out on the ice at the same time at five-on-five, but in the early going this season, Pettersson and Hughes have logged nearly 40 fewer minutes together at even strength (50:46) than Hughes has logged with Miller (90:10). On Monday, for example, Miller and his wingers and the Hronek-Hughes pair were hard-matched against Connor McDavid, almost as a five-man unit. Seventy-five percent of Miller’s ice time was spent with Hughes-Hronek playing behind him.

 

In contrast, Pettersson spent about one minute of five-on-five with the Hughes-Hronek pair, instead logging the bulk of his ice time with Vancouver’s other blueliners.

 

It’s an interesting approach. Instead of utilizing their two-way drivers — Hughes and Pettersson — to enhance what one another can do, the Canucks have instead counted on Hughes to help Miller’s line battle the toughest matchups, while Pettersson helps insulate Vancouver’s still-shallow blue line against secondary matchups.

 

There’s no arguing with the results.

 

4. Thatcher Demko’s outrageous heater

Here’s all you really need to know about Vancouver’s goal prevention in the early going. According to Natural Stat Trick, Thatcher Demko has stopped 82 of the 85 high-danger chances he’s faced so far this season. That means his save percentage isolated solely to inner slot-type shots, the most dangerous types of scoring opportunities for Canucks opponents, sits at an outrageous .965 through 12 games.

 

Regardless of the peripheral data you prefer — including the proprietary data tracked by firms like Sportlogiq and Clear Sight Analytics — Demko has been a brick wall behind Vancouver’s defensive structure this season. On most nights it’s taken something incredibly special, or incredibly illegal, to beat him.

 

This level of dominance isn’t likely to prove sustainable long-term, but Canucks players are going into every single game knowing they have the edge in goal. You can sometimes feel it wearing down their opponents — you certainly could on Monday, when Edmonton had so little to show for its dominance in the opening 15 minutes.

 

5. A bought-in core

Let’s just call it like it is: In previous years, we’ve seen some of Vancouver’s skilled players cheat on occasion for offence.

 

Now there’s no underlying data to measure this, although it does show up in the peripheral data. This is more subjective, but it shouldn’t be controversial. Those bad habits — from body language to lazy shift changes, to the commitment of Vancouver’s star players to being on the right side of the puck in just about every battle — are non-existent in Vancouver’s team game at the moment. This is a team that certainly looks to be playing selfless, bought-in hockey on a nightly basis.

 

Even if we were buying the Tocchet bump, this sort of ephemeral impact is of a different order of magnitude. It’s the sort of thing that suggests the Canucks may have identified the right leader at the right time to lead this team.

 

6. J.T. Miller and the art of shutting down top lines

Miller has matched up against McDavid’s line in three games. McDavid’s line has yet to score a single goal in 26:06 head-to-head against Miller.

 

Sure, Edmonton’s top line has had looks and on Monday, it dominated the shot clock. But Miller’s line kept McDavid to the outside, which ensured they only narrowly lost the high-danger chances battle. McDavid has rarely had any of his iconic rushes in which he skates through multiple defenders and has you on the edge of his seat.

 

Miller and his linemates deserve full marks for the unbelievable work they’ve done shutting down McDavid. By the third period of Monday’s game, it was enough to drive McDavid crazy.

 

On a long shift where the Oilers had the Canucks on the ropes, threatening to score and get within one, Miller’s hit on McDavid in front of Vancouver’s net completely sidetracked Edmonton’s captain. McDavid took shots at Miller, which sparked a scrum and quietly ended a dangerous Oilers shift.

 

Still rattled, McDavid took a bad roughing penalty on Pius Suter on his next shift that put the Canucks on the power play. Of course, it’s Miller who put the game away on the ensuing man advantage with a rocket one-timer.

 

No doubt about that one. pic.twitter.com/jjud5isn5r

 

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) November 7, 2023

 

It hasn’t just been McDavid, though.

 

Miller played 8:21 head-to-head against the Roope Hintz/Jason Robertson line on Saturday’s game. Dallas’ top line is one of the best in the NHL, yet it mustered just two shots on goal in that matchup. Miller allowed just one shot in 6:42 head-to-head against Mika Zibanejad and the New York Rangers’ top line, which was especially impressive because the Canucks were playing the second leg of a back-to-back.

 

Miller’s been an all-around stud when you combine those types of defensive showings with the 17 points he’s scored in 12 games.

 

7. Brock Boeser’s huge bounceback

Sometimes the best moves are the ones you don’t make.

 

Despite months of trade speculation last season, with the Canucks even granting agent Ben Hankinson permission to speak directly to other teams to seek a move, Boeser remained a Canuck.

 

Boeser has hit the 10-goal mark in just 12 games, less than a month into the season. Last year, it took him until Feb. 9, nearly four months into the season, to reach 10 goals. The six goals he’s scored just against the Oilers are more than any Oilers player has scored for the entire season.

 

Can you imagine how painful it would have been for Canucks fans to see Boeser reel off this bounceback somewhere else?

 

Boeser’s successfully attacking in so many different ways. He’s been excellent at setting screens and hunting rebounds at the net front, both at five-on-five and on the man advantage. We’ve seen him snipe from the slot when his linemates Miller and Phillip Di Giuseppe recover pucks on the forecheck. He’s fired a one-time blast on the power-play flank. Boeser was dangerous in the bumper power-play spot against Dallas as well, generating tons of high-danger chances by intelligently popping up to the high-slot area to get open.

 

Boeser also deserves credit for holding up defensively in a matchup role against top lines. He had a career-worst defensive year last season and has responded by drastically cutting down his turnovers from the defensive half-wall on the breakout. There have been no lackadaisical defensive moments, and in fact, there have been positive flashes like his proactive, high-intensity defensive check in the slot to prevent the Stars from generating a high-danger chance in the third period.

 

8. Canucks’ penalty kill is significantly improved

The Canucks’ penalty kill was dead last in the NHL last season. It’s improved to 77.3 percent so far, which is 19th in the NHL. That probably undersells the improvement too, considering the five-on-three goals they’ve surrendered.

 

The Canucks allowed way too many east-west passes to the slot and backdoor tap-ins in previous years. This season, they’ve been hyper-aware and disciplined about clogging those passing lanes.

 

Kudos for making these gains when the team hasn’t even had the chance to play Teddy Blueger, who’d arguably be the best penalty-killing forward on the roster.

 

9. Key depth pieces stepping up lately

After a slow start, the Canucks have gotten eight goals from the bottom six in the last four games. Sam Lafferty is up to six points in 12 games. Nils Höglander has three goals and five points in 11 games. Suter has scored in three consecutive games.

 

On Monday against the Oilers, Vancouver’s bottom six was a legitimate difference-maker. It cycled the puck down low for heavy, sustained offensive zone shifts, scored a pair of goals and had momentum-changing moments. When Leon Draisaitl scored to cut Vancouver’s lead to 3-2 in the second period, for example, Conor Garland immediately responded on the next shift by drawing a penalty because of his offensive zone maneuvers. The Canucks took over for the rest of the period, as a result.

 

On the back end, Mark Friedman has been a significant upgrade on Juulsen as the club’s No. 6 defenceman. After a rocky start, Tyler Myers hasn’t been on the ice for a five-on-five goal against in six straight games.

 

“He’s been unreal,” Tocchet said about Myers after the Oilers game. “The last five games he’s been one of our best players.”

 

There haven’t been any passengers on the Canucks over the last handful of games. Everybody is contributing.

 

10. Canucks’ power play looks elite

Vancouver’s power play faced a lot of changes this year.

 

This will be the first full season without Bo Horvat in the bumper, who has been by far the Canucks’ leader in power-play goals since 2019-20. Jason King was relieved over the summer with Tocchet taking an active role in handling power-play responsibilities. The new, motion-based power play the club debuted in training camp introduced big philosophical changes.

 

There’s been zero adjustment period. Vancouver’s power play looks absolutely deadly, converting on 32.6 percent of its opportunities.

 

The unpredictability of the Canucks’ power play is a huge asset. Vancouver’s forwards are constantly rotating and scoring in different ways, rather than spamming the same play. On entries, they’ll sprinkle in bank passes off the end boards, stretch passes or Hughes solo entries to combat the repetitiveness of always using the drop pass.

 

When you can get set, attack in so many different ways and boast elite fir

st-unit talent, it’s hard to build a game plan to stop a power play like this.

 

 

 

Thanks for posting this

 

The highlight on Miller and the Hughes Hronek pairing  taking most of the tough matchups while still producing at an insane rate is eactly why we are a top 3 team in the league. RT is so proud of Miller and keeps reiterating to the media how valuable he is. 

We have a great thing going. There will be bumps along the way but I have full confidence in the team and the charcter we have in the locker room to overcome it.

 

Someone else posted this but RT legit turned Miller into a Ryan Kesler in his prime but with size,physicality and snarl that Kesler didnt have. Kesler was an agitator. Miller will just physically beat you up. Thanks Hyman for jumping in for McDiver after he crosschecks Miller in the face.  Now take a punch in the face for your buddy and stay down LOL

 

5 minutes ago, The Arrogant Worms said:

that's a long neck ladies and gentlemen...that's a long neck...

[stawns]

9 minutes ago, Roger Neilsons Towel said:

The dumpster fire in Edmonton burns on. 
 

 

Kenny in his office.

 

Thjough I don't know him well, I know his brother quite well and they are a great family and I wish he were having  better go of it in Edm, but as a Canucks fan, it's pretty sweet

[PhillipBlunt]

27 minutes ago, CanucksJay said:

He tried to come in composed but you can tell the moment he starts to crack when asked about the battle with JT Miller.  His voice goes up a touch and you can tell he has a ton of emotions (confusion, frustration) going through him. It's honestly not his fault he got drafted to Edmonton.  I have no idea what I would do if I was Holland.

Drai contract has 1 more season after this and then hes gonna command a huge raise.

Nurse is locked until 2030.  McDavid has 2 more seasons after this...

Their season is already done this year. 

Do you blow it up now and rebuild or do you trade one of Drais or McDavid  for immediate help to create a more balanced team...

 

Trading all 3 of McDavid, Drais and Ekholm should be a 3 year rebuild... They are stuck with Nurse unfortunately unless they do something like we diid with OEL and buy him out eventually. Nuge and Kane might have some value too but I doubt it...I would take Garland over either of those guys

Part of the problem is that Holland has no idea. Woodcroft is probably gone the moment the Sharts score a goal on the Oilers, but Holland should be canned as well. His inability to give the Soilers a decent and well balanced defense and some remotely competent goaltending should be his undoing. 

[NewbieCanuckFan]

11 minutes ago, Barnstorm said:

Not in a million years would Rick Tocchet tell the owner anything even remotely close to that. Clearly Rick is an intelligent man and that’s not something an intelligent person would do or say. 

Unfortunately Tocchet knows he's dealing a person that was born on third base & walked home when Bonds was hit by a pitch.  He's not going to take being told how to do his job (imho).

[Locke Lamora]

It very well could be that this is the peak the team will achieve in terms of their winning ways….but the thing is, they have banked so many points, so quickly, that even a moderate regression will still mean one hell of a great season with a playoff appearance reward at the end of it.

 

And I continue to find myself unable to get Quinn Hughes off my mind. Where would he get drafted, if we were somehow aware of his progression today, back in 2018? Yes, the ol’ redraft thing…a dumb exercise perhaps, but I think he’s at worst #3 and arguments for him being #1 get easier and easier with each handful of games.  After a quick glance, looks to me that Hughes has the highest Points Per Game of anyone in his draft year, even if his total points are still behind Tkachuk and Svechnikov though he’s played almost a full seasons fewer games in the case of Brady. Quinn is on an absolutely legendary trajectory.

[Goal_thecup]

14 minutes ago, DownUndaCanuck said:

 

Obviously it's so early on and we know there are NHL stars who will surely jump up and steal these, but I think we have some very realistic candidates.

 

Surely Tocchet is front-runner for Jack Adams right now.

Surely Hughes is front-runner for the Norris. Fox and Makar will make it interesting surely, but Quinn is doubling their point totals right now.

Surely McDavid turns it on at some point and steals the Art Ross, I doubt Petey remains in the lead all year.

Selke is all Petey's no one else is close IMO this year.

Rocket is going to Matthews.

Vezina is really interesting, if Demko stays healthy he's got it in the bag. Already leading the league in wins and shutouts and his save numbers are right up there. Any goalie from a top team like Boston or Vegas are in the running but they have more tandems whereas I think Demko will play more so is IMO the favourite so far.

Jennings is tough, Boston are just edging us right now on GAA but we're in the mix.

Top GM award surely goes to whoever wins the President's trophy but if we're up there, again he does deserve consideration but doubt he wins it.

 

So on the whole yeah, I think realistically we could clean up with the big ones - Selke, Norris and Vezina for sure.

You did not list my favorite trophy (besides The Cup, oc), The Lester B. Pearson Award, now called The Ted Lindsay Award.

 

The voters are what makes this Most Outstanding Player award the most valuable (individual player) award.

It is awarded to the Most Outstanding Player as voted on by the players themselves, specifically members of the Players Association.

 

I would much rather own an award that my peers voted for me to receive, than one from the 'sportswriters'.

We all know who these schills are, and most of them are focused on the East and many hate the Canucks).

 

The thing with the Canucks is that we have so many good candidates for it: QH, EP, TD, JT, etc.

Dear NHL: WE NEED MORE TROPHIES!  The Canucks have all these ones sewed up.

[RupertKBD]

2 hours ago, stawns said:

And one thing only old folks know is how truly bad skates (and sharpening) was back then.  For Orr to skate like he did on those blades was something that will probably never be replicated

 

The one advantage we had was that we didn't have to worry about our blades falling off, because the plastic holders got broken....

[Nucker67]

A few times I've noticed this season, when other teams start trying to take liberties with the Canucks, they get pushback. I don't think McDavid was expecting Miller to push him back like that and get in his face, but Connor declined any further interaction. Then, you might say, Miller broke the Hyman. 

 

I'm still replaying that Cole hit on Douchene last game, in my head. Fantastic hit. The Canucks are a different team, tougher, and if you blink they'll make you pay on the scoresheet. 

 

Best Dman in Canucks history is Quinn Hughes. Hands down, no question. They'll be retiring #43 one of these days. And if he wins a Cup, maybe he'll get a statue.

 

Demko. He's been incredible. That second Oiler goal was bullshit IMO. Forget goaltender interference, not even a tripping call? Watching Demko after that was like it didn't bother him one bit. So calm and cool, doesn't get emotional and let things get to him. He's so solid, and with him the Canucks have a chance to do some damage.

 

Buckle up Sens, the Canucks are coming for you next. 

 

 

 

[DownUndaCanuck]

28 minutes ago, CanucksJay said:

He tried to come in composed but you can tell the moment he starts to crack when asked about the battle with JT Miller.  His voice goes up a touch and you can tell he has a ton of emotions (confusion, frustration) going through him. It's honestly not his fault he got drafted to Edmonton.  I have no idea what I would do if I was Holland.

Drai contract has 1 more season after this and then hes gonna command a huge raise.

Nurse is locked until 2030.  McDavid has 2 more seasons after this...

Their season is already done this year. 

Do you blow it up now and rebuild or do you trade one of Drais or McDavid  for immediate help to create a more balanced team...

 

Trading all 3 of McDavid, Drais and Ekholm should be a 3 year rebuild... They are stuck with Nurse unfortunately unless they do something like we diid with OEL and buy him out eventually. Nuge and Kane might have some value too but I doubt it...I would take Garland over either of those guys

 

If I were them I'd trade one of them for depth. These top-heavy teams just don't win these days. Look at the last cup winners - they all have great depth. I'd trade whoever can bring in more value. Not a rebuild, a retool. McDavid probably brings in more value but I think a team like Boston would be pretty happy with Draisaitl as a top line center.

 

They need a goalie and a defenceman and I'm sure they can get that from McD or Drai. Straight up to Boston for Carlo + Swayman + 1st? Can they get Lindholm instead of Carlo?

 

Win-win. Boston have Ullmark and such a good defence that they could plug any goalie in there (maybe they get Skinner back in the deal?). They have so many good defencemen that losing Lindholm or Carlo isn't the end of the world and McAvoy will just have to log bigger responsibilities. However, they have no true top line center. Doesn't seem to bother them now but it was and will be their undoing in the playoffs again. You plug big, strong Draisaitl into that 1C spot next to Pastrnak and Marchand and suddenly you have an All-star top line.

 

Meanwhile, Edmonton roll with McDavid as 1C, RNH as a pretty decent 2C and then have a Canucks-like bunch of average 3C and 4C. The goaltending upgrade is huge but also plugging a real defenceman into that team will make all the difference.

 

A trade like that is a win-win for both teams but it'd never happen, Edmonton are far too proud.

[RupertKBD]

2 hours ago, PhillipBlunt said:

Keith and John. Two of the greatest drummers taken too soon.

 

2 hours ago, Barnstorm said:

Countless hours of sheer joy from

listening to them. 

 

TBH, I've never been much of a fan of Keith's drumming. Love the attitude he played with, but for technical ability, give me Peart or Bruford any day....

 

Bonzo is definitely up there, though.....

[Locke Lamora]

16 minutes ago, The Arrogant Worms said:

 

I’m really happy for Myers. Finally, it appears a “less is more” message finally got through to him. He’s letting the play unfold in front of him and reacting, instead of doing things that are not only unnecessary but often have hurt the team.  Not to say that he didn’t deserve criticism for his play at various times, but it really descended into the mob mentality piling on at certain point. Here’s hoping he can keep up some semblance of his current play for the rest of the season.

[Bane]

[Bane]

20 minutes ago, The Arrogant Worms said:

 

I would actually love to bring him back next season for another year at 2.5-3 million, 1 year contract to play the third pairing while Willander still cooks. 

[Rip The Mesh]

Let me be bold enough to add; Heaven forbid the injury bug hits; I think I can finally say Hoglander is at the point he can take on a significantly

Larger role. Rick is the one coach who's been able settle the kid down to the point he instinctively seems to know what to do in almost any circumstance.

 

[Roger Neilsons Towel]

14 minutes ago, stawns said:

 

Kenny in his office.

 

Thjough I don't know him well, I know his brother quite well and they are a great family and I wish he were having  better go of it in Edm, but as a Canucks fan, it's pretty sweet

[tas]

2 hours ago, PhillipBlunt said:

Keith and John. Two of the greatest drummers taken too soon.

it's a good life lesson not to have 16 shots of vodka for breakfast. 

[Gawdzukes]

1 hour ago, Jaimito said:

 

 

What’s driving the Canucks’ best start in franchise history? 10 key performances

It’s the Vancouver Canucks’ world, we’re just living in it.

 

Fresh off of their latest stunning triumph — a 6-2 shellacking of the Edmonton Oilers, which was accomplished after Vancouver was outshot 19-2 in the opening 11 minutes of a kitchen-sink game for the reeling Oilers — the Canucks are sitting pretty. They have the most regulation wins in the NHL, the most goals scored, the best goal differential, the NHL’s leading scorer, the NHL’s leading scorer among defensemen and the starter with the most wins. According to the betting markets, head coach Rick Tocchet is the early season favourite to win the Jack Adams, awarded to the NHL coach of the year.

 

This team can do no wrong. They look faster, tougher and more skilled than just about every opponent they face. On Monday evening, Rogers Arena was rocking as the Canucks reduced a preseason Stanley Cup favourite — who came out with real desperation — to rubble.

 

So what’s driving this hot 9-2-1 start? Let’s identify 10 things that have gone very, very right for the Canucks and have powered their meteoric success in the early going.

 

1. Quinn Hughes has somehow levelled up

Quinn Hughes was already elite. One of the best defenders in hockey, or at the very least, in the 3B tier.

 

Somehow Hughes has gotten even better this season. His defensive game improved significantly last season, and now he’s added a different level of dynamism to his offensive game. Through 12 games, Hughes is attacking with a different type of purpose as a shooter and uncorking all kinds of new weaponry — changing the angle on wrist shots and getting a lot more velocity on them — that he didn’t seem to have at his disposal consistently in years past.

 

Hughes is the second defender since the butterfly technique became common in the early 1990s to amass 20 points in the first 12 games of an NHL season. With Hughes on the ice, the Canucks have outscored their opponents 18-3 at five-on-five. He’s got the entire game on a string on an every-night basis. He has a level of control over the game that’s incredibly uncommon for any individual to exert at this level.

 

This isn’t just a dominant individual performance. Hughes is currently playing like he’s the single best defenseman on planet Earth.

 

2. Hughes’ partnership with Filip Hronek

For years, there’s been a school of thought that assumed Hughes was best suited to playing on a pair with bigger, prototypical defensive defensemen. Over the years, players like Chris Tanev, Tucker Poolman, Jordie Benn, Luke Schenn and Noah Juulsen have typically been the first-choice Hughes caddies.

 

Just about a year ago, however, something interesting happened. The Canucks started playing Hughes alongside Ethan Bear, a transitional defender whose standout skill was his mastery at puck retrievals, and the results were sparkling. Then the club executed a widely criticized — especially by us — trade for Filip Hronek at the deadline, and the early returns from the Hughes and Hronek pair have been sensational.

 

“Well, I think I am a defensive guy,” was Hughes’ matter-of-fact response when the question of whether he’s better off playing with a puck-mover as opposed to a defensive guy was posed to him on Monday morning.

 

“Me and Filip don’t get scored on a lot,” he continued. “We’re going to have nights when we’re dash-three, but we’ll have a lot more nights where we’re plus.

 

“With Filip, he gets me three or four more touches a game. Like, he has the puck on my stick more. He’s able to open up and slide it to me. So we have the puck a lot, and the more we have the puck, it’s another chance I get.”

 

There’s perhaps something to the way two adept puck-moving defenders are able to amplify the team-level possession game of a pair. Hronek may not have been seen as fit to be Hughes’ partner 10 years ago, but in similar ways to what Devon Toews has brought to his partnership with Cale Makar in Colorado, Hughes and Hronek’s fit has been nearly perfect for Vancouver in the early going.

 

 

Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek have worked senstionally as a pair. (Bob Frid / USA Today)

3. Maximizing J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson in the matchup game

Tocchet and Adam Foote, the Canucks assistant coach who runs the defence, have been doing something pretty interesting in self-matching the Hughes-Hronek pair with J.T. Miller’s matchup line.

 

In the past, we’ve seen the Canucks work to get Hughes and Elias Pettersson out on the ice at the same time at five-on-five, but in the early going this season, Pettersson and Hughes have logged nearly 40 fewer minutes together at even strength (50:46) than Hughes has logged with Miller (90:10). On Monday, for example, Miller and his wingers and the Hronek-Hughes pair were hard-matched against Connor McDavid, almost as a five-man unit. Seventy-five percent of Miller’s ice time was spent with Hughes-Hronek playing behind him.

 

In contrast, Pettersson spent about one minute of five-on-five with the Hughes-Hronek pair, instead logging the bulk of his ice time with Vancouver’s other blueliners.

 

It’s an interesting approach. Instead of utilizing their two-way drivers — Hughes and Pettersson — to enhance what one another can do, the Canucks have instead counted on Hughes to help Miller’s line battle the toughest matchups, while Pettersson helps insulate Vancouver’s still-shallow blue line against secondary matchups.

 

There’s no arguing with the results.

 

4. Thatcher Demko’s outrageous heater

Here’s all you really need to know about Vancouver’s goal prevention in the early going. According to Natural Stat Trick, Thatcher Demko has stopped 82 of the 85 high-danger chances he’s faced so far this season. That means his save percentage isolated solely to inner slot-type shots, the most dangerous types of scoring opportunities for Canucks opponents, sits at an outrageous .965 through 12 games.

 

Regardless of the peripheral data you prefer — including the proprietary data tracked by firms like Sportlogiq and Clear Sight Analytics — Demko has been a brick wall behind Vancouver’s defensive structure this season. On most nights it’s taken something incredibly special, or incredibly illegal, to beat him.

 

This level of dominance isn’t likely to prove sustainable long-term, but Canucks players are going into every single game knowing they have the edge in goal. You can sometimes feel it wearing down their opponents — you certainly could on Monday, when Edmonton had so little to show for its dominance in the opening 15 minutes.

 

5. A bought-in core

Let’s just call it like it is: In previous years, we’ve seen some of Vancouver’s skilled players cheat on occasion for offence.

 

Now there’s no underlying data to measure this, although it does show up in the peripheral data. This is more subjective, but it shouldn’t be controversial. Those bad habits — from body language to lazy shift changes, to the commitment of Vancouver’s star players to being on the right side of the puck in just about every battle — are non-existent in Vancouver’s team game at the moment. This is a team that certainly looks to be playing selfless, bought-in hockey on a nightly basis.

 

Even if we were buying the Tocchet bump, this sort of ephemeral impact is of a different order of magnitude. It’s the sort of thing that suggests the Canucks may have identified the right leader at the right time to lead this team.

 

6. J.T. Miller and the art of shutting down top lines

Miller has matched up against McDavid’s line in three games. McDavid’s line has yet to score a single goal in 26:06 head-to-head against Miller.

 

Sure, Edmonton’s top line has had looks and on Monday, it dominated the shot clock. But Miller’s line kept McDavid to the outside, which ensured they only narrowly lost the high-danger chances battle. McDavid has rarely had any of his iconic rushes in which he skates through multiple defenders and has you on the edge of his seat.

 

Miller and his linemates deserve full marks for the unbelievable work they’ve done shutting down McDavid. By the third period of Monday’s game, it was enough to drive McDavid crazy.

 

On a long shift where the Oilers had the Canucks on the ropes, threatening to score and get within one, Miller’s hit on McDavid in front of Vancouver’s net completely sidetracked Edmonton’s captain. McDavid took shots at Miller, which sparked a scrum and quietly ended a dangerous Oilers shift.

 

Still rattled, McDavid took a bad roughing penalty on Pius Suter on his next shift that put the Canucks on the power play. Of course, it’s Miller who put the game away on the ensuing man advantage with a rocket one-timer.

 

No doubt about that one. pic.twitter.com/jjud5isn5r

 

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) November 7, 2023

 

It hasn’t just been McDavid, though.

 

Miller played 8:21 head-to-head against the Roope Hintz/Jason Robertson line on Saturday’s game. Dallas’ top line is one of the best in the NHL, yet it mustered just two shots on goal in that matchup. Miller allowed just one shot in 6:42 head-to-head against Mika Zibanejad and the New York Rangers’ top line, which was especially impressive because the Canucks were playing the second leg of a back-to-back.

 

Miller’s been an all-around stud when you combine those types of defensive showings with the 17 points he’s scored in 12 games.

 

7. Brock Boeser’s huge bounceback

Sometimes the best moves are the ones you don’t make.

 

Despite months of trade speculation last season, with the Canucks even granting agent Ben Hankinson permission to speak directly to other teams to seek a move, Boeser remained a Canuck.

 

Boeser has hit the 10-goal mark in just 12 games, less than a month into the season. Last year, it took him until Feb. 9, nearly four months into the season, to reach 10 goals. The six goals he’s scored just against the Oilers are more than any Oilers player has scored for the entire season.

 

Can you imagine how painful it would have been for Canucks fans to see Boeser reel off this bounceback somewhere else?

 

Boeser’s successfully attacking in so many different ways. He’s been excellent at setting screens and hunting rebounds at the net front, both at five-on-five and on the man advantage. We’ve seen him snipe from the slot when his linemates Miller and Phillip Di Giuseppe recover pucks on the forecheck. He’s fired a one-time blast on the power-play flank. Boeser was dangerous in the bumper power-play spot against Dallas as well, generating tons of high-danger chances by intelligently popping up to the high-slot area to get open.

 

Boeser also deserves credit for holding up defensively in a matchup role against top lines. He had a career-worst defensive year last season and has responded by drastically cutting down his turnovers from the defensive half-wall on the breakout. There have been no lackadaisical defensive moments, and in fact, there have been positive flashes like his proactive, high-intensity defensive check in the slot to prevent the Stars from generating a high-danger chance in the third period.

 

8. Canucks’ penalty kill is significantly improved

The Canucks’ penalty kill was dead last in the NHL last season. It’s improved to 77.3 percent so far, which is 19th in the NHL. That probably undersells the improvement too, considering the five-on-three goals they’ve surrendered.

 

The Canucks allowed way too many east-west passes to the slot and backdoor tap-ins in previous years. This season, they’ve been hyper-aware and disciplined about clogging those passing lanes.

 

Kudos for making these gains when the team hasn’t even had the chance to play Teddy Blueger, who’d arguably be the best penalty-killing forward on the roster.

 

9. Key depth pieces stepping up lately

After a slow start, the Canucks have gotten eight goals from the bottom six in the last four games. Sam Lafferty is up to six points in 12 games. Nils Höglander has three goals and five points in 11 games. Suter has scored in three consecutive games.

 

On Monday against the Oilers, Vancouver’s bottom six was a legitimate difference-maker. It cycled the puck down low for heavy, sustained offensive zone shifts, scored a pair of goals and had momentum-changing moments. When Leon Draisaitl scored to cut Vancouver’s lead to 3-2 in the second period, for example, Conor Garland immediately responded on the next shift by drawing a penalty because of his offensive zone maneuvers. The Canucks took over for the rest of the period, as a result.

 

On the back end, Mark Friedman has been a significant upgrade on Juulsen as the club’s No. 6 defenceman. After a rocky start, Tyler Myers hasn’t been on the ice for a five-on-five goal against in six straight games.

 

“He’s been unreal,” Tocchet said about Myers after the Oilers game. “The last five games he’s been one of our best players.”

 

There haven’t been any passengers on the Canucks over the last handful of games. Everybody is contributing.

 

10. Canucks’ power play looks elite

Vancouver’s power play faced a lot of changes this year.

 

This will be the first full season without Bo Horvat in the bumper, who has been by far the Canucks’ leader in power-play goals since 2019-20. Jason King was relieved over the summer with Tocchet taking an active role in handling power-play responsibilities. The new, motion-based power play the club debuted in training camp introduced big philosophical changes.

 

There’s been zero adjustment period. Vancouver’s power play looks absolutely deadly, converting on 32.6 percent of its opportunities.

 

The unpredictability of the Canucks’ power play is a huge asset. Vancouver’s forwards are constantly rotating and scoring in different ways, rather than spamming the same play. On entries, they’ll sprinkle in bank passes off the end boards, stretch passes or Hughes solo entries to combat the repetitiveness of always using the drop pass.

 

When you can get set, attack in so many different ways and boast elite fir

st-unit talent, it’s hard to build a game plan to stop a power play like this.

 

 

 

 

The power play has been a joy to watch. It was so static last year the movement is what good teams do and even when they don't score it leaves the other team feeling scared and defenseless. Love it.