Pre-Game Talk: 2020 Qualifiers - Game 2 - Vancouver Canucks vs. Minnesota Wild - Aug 4 - 7:30PM PST - SPAC

[Fatass]

Enough of Green treating this like pre season and sending a message. Virtanen is better than some players playing ahead of him.

Jake has the abilities to be a very impactful player. It’s not his skill level and talent that’s keeping him out of the lineup. It’s his commitment to being ready to contribute.

 

[Bad Goalie]

I've read so much hyperbole about Green and the "Too Many Men" call last night. Totally agree any TMM is a dumb penalty. However, I have to say I've watched every game so far on this day 3, including the Pitt/Montreal contest currently being played, and I have seen at least 1 TMM call in every every game or damned close to it, including TWO on Montreal tonight. It wasn't an oddity for sure based on the # of times it's already been called.

 

[Hit the post]

Jake has the abilities to be a very impactful player. It’s not his skill level and talent that’s keeping him out of the lineup. It’s his commitment to being ready to contribute.

As opposed to some of the trash in this lineup who are trash not because of lack of commitment but simply that they are trash.

 

[Fatass]

As opposed to some of the trash in this lineup who are trash not because of lack of commitment but simply that they are trash.

Which just shows how far from being ready to play Jake was (is).

 

[604]

Speed was a problem last game. Team could use Jake in the line-up.

Hate to say it but PK coverage was also a problem, team could use Eriksson in the line-up.

I'd say Motte and Sutter need to come out.

Ferland - Gaudette - Virtanen
Eriksson - Beagle - MacEwen

should be the bottom-six.

 

[dombrova22]

Who’s fault is it Jake’s not playing? How do you think his teammates feel about his lack of commitment to helping them win?

It's his own fault - but let's face it he learned the lesson the hard way, give the kid a shot to make up for his wrongdoings now. Prove to his teammates he has what it takes and he's here to give it his all. It's next game - or it's too late to even bother.

Why bring him along if all you're going to do is throw him away after the season. Bring along another kid like Lind and let him get the experience if that's the case.

 

[Fatass]

It's his own fault - but let's face it he learned the lesson the hard way, give the kid a shot to make up for his wrongdoings now. Prove to his teammates he has what it takes and he's here to give it his all. It's next game - or it's too late to even bother.

Why bring him along if all you're going to do is throw him away after the season. Bring along another kid like Lind and let him get the experience if that's the case.

If Jake is ready to play he should (and will be) 100% be in the lineup. Green wants to win, and he knows a ready to play at his best Jake helps with winning.

 

[HockeyNightInAsia]

Green won’t dare to take Gaudette out, so hopefully Virtanen gets in for either Roussel or Ferland. We most certainly and importantly have to hope the Toffolis and Pearsons not keep missing passes, but maybe a bottom-six shakeup can help. Motte and Sutter? They actually were the only ones other than Boeser getting 1st period scoring chances, and the 4th line didn’t completely suck, this is not the game to take them out.

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

Green won’t dare to take Gaudette out, so hopefully Virtanen gets in for either Roussel or Ferland. We most certainly and importantly have to hope the Toffolis and Pearsons not keep missing passes, but maybe a bottom-six shakeup can help. Motte and Sutter? They actually were the only ones other than Boeser getting 1st period scoring chances, and the 4th line didn’t completely suck, this is not the game to take them out.

I wouldn’t be so sure. If anyone comes out for Virtanen, I could see it being Gaudette. In Green’s eyes, it’ll be so as not to scratch a veteran and lose their experience. IMO.

 

[604]

Big thing for me is the team needs to remember that the goal is to win puck battles and score goals, not out hit the other team.

Go for big hits but one of the penalties was the direct result of Motte throwing a hit on the half boards which meant he couldn't get out to the defenseman to cover the point...you have to pick your spots when you go to throw a hit and we just totally went for hits over all else last game.

 

[BB06]

What was the final hit count for the game anyways? Pretty sure Canucks had more hits.

 

[mathonwy]

I wouldn’t be so sure. If anyone comes out for Virtanen, I could see it being Gaudette. In Green’s eyes, it’ll be so as not to scratch a veteran and lose their experience. IMO.

Canucks are a union shop.

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

Canucks are a union shop.

In fairness, a lot of NHL teams behave this way. It’s frustrating to watch but it happens. Even our best coaches had this sort of proclivity (Vigneault and his insistence on having guys like Glass and Oreskovich in the lineup over more skilled guys like Tambellini or Hodgson for example)

 

[Hammer79]

If Minnesota gets that type of goaltending I dont see how they dont win.

System, defense, bottom 6 all better. PP and PK could go either way.

Stalock made a nice glove save on Hughes and had a stop on Boeser, but other than that I think it was more a matter of us not breaking the defensive trap than Stalock being stellar. He made the saves when he needed to, but most of the shots were from the perimeter while we gave up prime chances on Markstrom. If we could control it in the offensive zone for some extended period of time....perhaps for 2 mins? Team discipline needs to improve so we get our PP opportunities and make Stalock work.

 

[Fedz]

Speed was a problem last game. Team could use Jake in the line-up.

Hate to say it but PK coverage was also a problem, team could use Eriksson in the line-up.

I'd say Motte and Sutter need to come out.

Ferland - Gaudette - Virtanen
Eriksson - Beagle - MacEwen

should be the bottom-six.

While I don't necessarily disagree with your lineup moves (I'd full on blow it up and create three equally dangerous offensive lines, FWIW) I have to nitpick a bit about the bolded comment regarding our PK.

We successfully killed 3 penalties and gave up 2 PK goals.

One of which was a point shot off a faceoff that Markstrom should have had..I guess Beagle could have won that faceoff, but that can't be blamed on coverage.

The other was definitely a coverage issue but more or less with one player getting puck focused, Tyler Motte. While I agree he slipped up on that PK, Markstrom likely should have had that shot too.

I think lineup changes need to be made but I don't think they need to be made because PK coverage wasn't good enough. We need to make changes to create three somewhat dangerous offensive units..Otherwise we will continuously see our Top 6 get eaten alive by Dumba-Brodin and Spurgeon-Suter. We need to get skilled players out against Hunt-Soucy or we aren't going to create enough offense 5vs5 to get through this series.

EDIT: Would also be nice to see Green focus a bit more on getting our best players away from those defensive matchups, especially when we have last change. Evason won the matchups in GM1; just ask Pettersson who saw Hunt-Soucy for all of 25 seconds.

 

[Fedz]

What was the final hit count for the game anyways? Pretty sure Canucks had more hits.

40-28 VAN.

 

[wonton15]

I think taking Gaudette out would be the best move tbh. I'd run with:

Miller Pettersson Boeser
Pearson Horvat Toffoli
Ferland Sutter Virtanen
Motte Beagle Macewen

You can run with Beagle/Motte and Miller/Sutter for the PK. Could also slot Gaudette in for Mac and maybe he'll be a bit better on the wing

 

[xtra]

Where is this jakes not ready to play narrative coming from suddenly?

 

[BB06]

Horvat: Lets go I'm ready to play these games


Horvat when the games start and it's a lot harder than he expected:

 

[Teflon Jim]

Where is this jakes not ready to play narrative coming from suddenly?

The coach clearly said the players he went with gave the best chance to win and Jake was not part of that group so was not ready to contribute up to a nhl level .

 

[xtra]

The coach clearly said the players he went with gave the best chance to win and Jake was not part of that group so was not ready to contribute up to a nhl level .

Oh if that’s what he said I’d take it as he thinks the players he put out there are better than Jake not that hakes not ready to play. Seems like those are different things.

 

[tyhee]

...an established 3rd line forward (2nd PP unit) gets bumped for a bad scrimmage? ...

Is there any reason to believe it was just one bad scrimmage?

I'd understood he'd crapped the bed for most of the training camp.

When Sean Warren of Canucks Army wrote about Jake's benching in the exhibition game he wrote, at Why Travis Green’s decision to scratch Jake Virtanen was the right move:

"After floundering through his second training camp this season, Jake Virtanen finds himself back in the doghouse with Vancouver Canucks head coach Travis Green."

The words "through his second training camp this season" certainly suggests more than just one bad scrimmage.

Further:

"First, Virtanen really didn’t earn his way into the lineup. Especially for a camp where his job was considered to be on the line despite his 18 goal campaign. It’s a remarkable feat to arrive at camp out of shape twice in a season but to do so when Zack MacEwen and Micheal Ferland are looking to punch tickets into the opening night lineup is a bold kind of negligent."

This, too, speaks of much more than one bad scrimmage.

It wasn't just Sean Warren. Still sticking to CA, Faber wrote ( The Last Dance: Hughes shines, Ferland rips twine and Virtanen just falls behind in Canucks final scrimmage) after the final scrimmage:

"Jake Virtanen was not very good

Tonight was a great night for a lot of Canucks. Jake Virtanen was not one of them.
Virtanen looked out of place in the scrimmage, was slashing around with teammates like MacEwen and Alex Edler and looked like a player who had packed it in and decided to let the cards fall where they may and accept his fate." ... "He didn’t bring any extra intensity like MacEwen, Beagle or Ferland and he just looked disinterested at times."

Now, don't get me wrong. I didn't see the workouts nor the scrimmages at training camp. I'm going entirely by what I've read in various places. Warren, Faber and others may be overstating the situation. Otoh, I haven't seen any credible report that Virtanen had only one bad scrimmage and was otherwise better than Ferland, Eriksson or MacEwen.

Though I was outside the mainstream feeling on this forum about accepting Virtanen's benching for the exhibition game, the actual Game 1 lineup was a real surprise. I'm not around the team enough to know all the factors that go into lineup decisions but it appears to this outsider that it is time (or perhaps past time) to get Virtanen back in the lineup.

 

[David71]

Scoring first is critical against the wild. That bad first ten minutes let the wild settle into their game plan. I have no faith the Canucks will start strong though considering green rarely has the team ready to go. I could probably count the number of times I was impressed by a Canucks first period this season.

canucks Need to score first and make minnesota feel uncomfortable playing a more wide open style. Otherwise this series will likely snowball in a hurry and be over before the weekend.

excatly! weather the storm make the wild play "vancouvers" game style of play. not the other way around van won't win at all. hoping for a boeser/petterson breakout game. toffoli and pearson too.

 

[Aphid Attraction]

Is this a good idea or is it gross ?

Pettersson Horvat Boeser
Pearson Miller Toffoli
Ferland Sutter Virtanen
Motte Beagle Macewen

 

[Teflon Jim]

Oh if that’s what he said I’d take it as he thinks the players he put out there are better than Jake not that hakes not ready to play. Seems like those are different things.

Something clearly is happening between Jake and Green that we don't know the whole story to yet.
If Jake was good to go then he would've played but green obviously doesnt think hes playable and hasn't elaborated on his sitting In the press box.