Player Discussion Jake Virtanen | Jake It Or Break It Edition

Status
Not open for further replies.

manroth19

Registered User
May 20, 2015
538
68
There’s reason to be optimistic about jake. His two biggest flaws as a pro imo have been hockey iq and his immaturity. Maturity naturally comes with age/life experiences, I mean just doing what it takes to be a pro and not letting the little bit of fame go to your head. His hockey iq problem is only going to get better. The more you play and are around the game the smarter you are going to become.......I would think so anyway

I like what greens done with jake and I know we all want him to get more ice time and whatever. He never had adversity in his hockey career until last year. Kids been a superstar amungst his peers since he was 10 years old. Stud minor play, 1st oa bantam draft, 40 goal draft year, gifted an nhl spot. Making him earn it more then green does for others is just fine, need to keep him hungry
 

rune74

Registered User
Oct 10, 2008
9,228
552
Brutal game completely unreliable. One game good one game bad thats who he is. Which is better then last year of one game good 15 games bad

Progress i suppose

Painfully slow tho well watching guys like Nylander and Pastaneck just flying out there scoring MOUNTAINS of goals :(

Still waiting on your break down of his game...
 
  • Like
Reactions: BrockBesnar

Intangibos

High-End Intangibos
Apr 5, 2010
7,806
3,370
Burnaby
There’s reason to be optimistic about jake. His two biggest flaws as a pro imo have been hockey iq and his immaturity. Maturity naturally comes with age/life experiences, I mean just doing what it takes to be a pro and not letting the little bit of fame go to your head. His hockey iq problem is only going to get better. The more you play and are around the game the smarter you are going to become.......I would think so anyway

I like what greens done with jake and I know we all want him to get more ice time and whatever. He never had adversity in his hockey career until last year. Kids been a superstar amungst his peers since he was 10 years old. Stud minor play, 1st oa bantam draft, 40 goal draft year, gifted an nhl spot. Making him earn it more then green does for others is just fine, need to keep him hungry

Doesn't the human brain not fully mature until 25? For everyone here who is 25+, how stupid were you at 21? I think my life turned a pretty big corner around 25 too. Jake needs to work harder and get it together, but every year he should get more and more mature especially if he's surrounded by professionals.

Then again it's not like everyone matures significantly. Shane O'Brien was like 25-27 when he was here.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Canadian Canuck

CanaFan

Registered User
Feb 19, 2010
19,887
5,849
BC
Doesn't the human brain not fully mature until 25? For everyone here who is 25+, how stupid were you at 21? I think my life turned a pretty big corner around 25 too. Jake needs to work harder and get it together, but every year he should get more and more mature especially if he's surrounded by professionals.

Then again it's not like everyone matures significantly. Shane O'Brien was like 25-27 when he was here.

It isn’t as simple as brain age. The league is filled with players under 25 who have “gotten it”. The AHL and Europe is littered with guys in their 30’s who never “got it”.

It varies more by the individual player than it does by any age cohort.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MisfortuneCookie

Intangibos

High-End Intangibos
Apr 5, 2010
7,806
3,370
Burnaby
It isn’t as simple as brain age. The league is filled with players under 25 who have “gotten it”. The AHL and Europe is littered with guys in their 30’s who never “got it”.

It varies more by the individual player than it does by any age cohort.

For sure some people just mature and some people don't. I do think that part of the reason lots of under 25 players get it is because of the junior system, I think it's tough on the kids and can make a man out of them and they mature quickly. I don't know if that's a good thing or bad thing for Virtanen, but lots of great players had maturity problems. Even Lemieux wasn't mature until another star told him to wake the hell up.

Horvat on the other hand seems like he's super mature. Constantly working to get better and his effort shows. Imagine what Virtanen could do with the mind of Horvat.
 

M2Beezy

Objective and Neutral Hockey Commentator
May 25, 2014
45,284
30,119
And off the bus...

Painfully slow? Are you referring to his speed? Really?

Canucks army actually said he had a good game considering, lots of hits in the game. He didn't get the goal on the pass, but can you point to me where he was bad out there? Break it down so I understand your mindset.

He has had like 10 games in a row good....the whole team did a stinker here, but you found your way to blame him.
Whadya mean found a way to blame him? Its the Virtanen thread. Please try to pay attention. Shameful :shakehead

He had some good hits in the third but floated too much. He cant keep up this in consistency. The excuses have gotta begin to end sooner rather then later
 

rune74

Registered User
Oct 10, 2008
9,228
552
Whadya mean found a way to blame him? Its the Virtanen thread. Please try to pay attention. Shameful :shakehead

He had some good hits in the third but floated too much. He cant keep up this in consistency. The excuses have gotta begin to end sooner rather then later

Where did he float specifically? Break it down for me.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Canadian Canuck

Canucks1096

Registered User
Feb 13, 2016
5,608
1,667
Reading a lot of posts on this forum. A lot people think Virtanen improve a lot. I still dont see it. Sure he is getting more scoring chances. Carrying the puck more and sometimes he does try to take the puck to the net. But all the things he is doing there are very little results. He is pretty much has around the same ppg in 2016 season. This year around half of points came with the Sedins or Horvat. You can make an argument that he got worst. Virtanen is making lot more mistakes out there. He is give away the puck a lot more.

Why don't we ask ourselves. If He getting all the chances and he is not finishing. Isn't that a sign that he just not a natural top 6 forward. So all of sudden once he gets older is he just going to have better hands? Either you have the hands or you don't.

A few posters said he will get 25 to 30 goals. He will lucky to get 25 to 30 points.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: coastal_nuck
Feb 24, 2017
5,094
2,865
Doesn't the human brain not fully mature until 25? For everyone here who is 25+, how stupid were you at 21? I think my life turned a pretty big corner around 25 too. Jake needs to work harder and get it together, but every year he should get more and more mature especially if he's surrounded by professionals.

Then again it's not like everyone matures significantly. Shane O'Brien was like 25-27 when he was here.
I am going on 36 and waiting on that corner.
 

F A N

Registered User
Aug 12, 2005
18,626
5,890
Why don't we ask ourselves. If He getting all the chances and he is not finishing. Isn't that a sign that he just not a natural top 6 forward. So all of sudden once he gets older is he just going to have better hands? Either you have the hands or you don't.

It's more about his "shot" than "hands". Kesler didn't have "the hands" but developed a shot.
 

m9

m9
Sponsor
Jan 23, 2010
25,107
15,229
Reading a lot of posts on this forum. A lot people think Virtanen improve a lot. I still dont see it. Sure he is getting more scoring chances. Carrying the puck more and sometimes he does try to take the puck to the net. But all the things he is doing there are very little results. He is pretty much has around the same ppg in 2016 season. This year around half of points came with the Sedins or Horvat. You can make an argument that he got worst. Virtanen is making lot more mistakes out there. He is give away the puck a lot more.

Why don't we ask ourselves. If He getting all the chances and he is not finishing. Isn't that a sign that he just not a natural top 6 forward. So all of sudden once he gets older is he just going to have better hands? Either you have the hands or you don't.

A few posters said he will get 25 to 30 goals. He will lucky to get 25 to 30 points.

"Half his points came with playing with the Sedins or Horvat" - you say this like it's a bad thing. I have no idea if it's even true, but whatever.

First, 2018 Sedins are nothing special. Second, Horvat and Henrik would be half the centers playing, so getting half his points with those guys would be.. normal? If anything getting half his points with lesser centers is a good thing, no?

This is a bad, low-scoring team.. especially at ES. Virtanen will probably finish with around 20 ES points this year, where even guys eating offensive minutes like the Sedins will finish with around 30 ES points. Yet Virtanen "will be lucky to get 25 to 30 points" ever?
 

coastal_nuck

Registered User
Jun 28, 2006
1,255
128
He seems to be more effective out there. Has a bit more confidence with the puck and plays with more authority (driving to the net, making little plays that contribute to puck possession, etc). I just don't see any indications that he will be more than a 25-35 point player either. That may be OK for a 3rd-4th line player but will not be enough for him to stick in the top 6 in the long run. He's going to have to really show some improvements next year.
 

Canucks1096

Registered User
Feb 13, 2016
5,608
1,667
"Half his points came with playing with the Sedins or Horvat" - you say this like it's a bad thing. I have no idea if it's even true, but whatever.

First, 2018 Sedins are nothing special. Second, Horvat and Henrik would be half the centers playing, so getting half his points with those guys would be.. normal? If anything getting half his points with lesser centers is a good thing, no?

This is a bad, low-scoring team.. especially at ES. Virtanen will probably finish with around 20 ES points this year, where even guys eating offensive minutes like the Sedins will finish with around 30 ES points. Yet Virtanen "will be lucky to get 25 to 30 points" ever?

You can check Virtanen game log and determine if it true or not instead of questioning it. I am not saying it's bad thing while I am trying to say this season he had some opportunities to play with better players and his ppg stay around the same.

Your argument doesn't make much sense yes Horvat and H Sedin are playing half of the the time but it doesn't mean Virtanen is playing with them half of the time. The fact is Green gave Virtanen some opportunity with top 6 guys and his ppg stay close to the same in 2016 is not a good sign. Sedins are not as special as before but in terms of offensively they are both legit top 6 forwards.

Again your argument doesnt make much sense. Second paragraph you are positioning your Sedins argument as there nothing special to defend Virtanen ppg. Third paragraph you are positioning the Sedins as better players to defend Virtanen 20 esp so it doesn't look that bad considering Sedins have about 30 esp

Also most players don't get over 70% offensive zone starts. It's a worth less point to bring up because mostly he will never get that many offensive zone starts. Also there no Gurantee his points total will go up if given that so many offensive zone starts. Just like there is no guarantee ppg will come if he plays with better player.

Lot of players that don't make it as a top 6 forward. Don't usually improve that much later on. Ex Kassian and Bernier. As of now Virtanen has shown nothing that he capable of scoring more than 25 to 30 points
 
Last edited:

rune74

Registered User
Oct 10, 2008
9,228
552
You can check Virtanen game log and determine if it true or not instead of questioning it. I am not saying it's bad thing while I am trying to say this season he had some opportunities to play with better players and his ppg stay around the same.

Your argument doesn't make much sense yes Horvat and H Sedin are playing half of the the time but it doesn't mean Virtanen is playing with them half of the time. The fact is Green gave Virtanen some opportunity with top 6 guys and his ppg stay close to the same in 2016 is not a good sign. Sedins are not as special as before but in terms of offensively they are both legit top 6 forwards.

Again your argument doesnt make much sense. Second paragraph you are positioning your Sedins argument as there nothing special to defend Virtanen ppg. Third paragraph you are positioning the Sedins as better players to defend Virtanen 20 esp.

Also most players don't get over 70% offensive zone starts. It's a worth less point to bring up because mostly he will never gret thst many offensicr zone starts. Also there no Gurantee his points total will go up if given that so many offensive zone starts. Just like there is no guarantee ppg will come if he plays with better player.

Lot of players that don't make it as a top 6 forward. Don't usually improve that much later on. Ex Kassian and Bernier. As of now Virtanen has shown nothing that he capable of scoring more than 25 to 30 points

He has spent the majority of the season not playing with offensive line players. He is definitely not going to score as many points where he is playing.

No one is scoring on this team right now....literally two shut outs in a row. I think a lot of this is on the moral of the team being probably rock bottom right now.
 

Canucks1096

Registered User
Feb 13, 2016
5,608
1,667
He has spent the majority of the season not playing with offensive line players. He is definitely not going to score as many points where he is playing.

No one is scoring on this team right now....literally two shut outs in a row. I think a lot of this is on the moral of the team being probably rock bottom right now.

Virtanen played with Sedins back in Oct/Nov. Probably about 1/4 of the season. The point I am trying to make is a lot of poster said Virtanen improve. I disagree with that. This season Canucks bad team and 2016 Canucks were a bad team. His ppg is almost the same. So I don't see the improvement
 

Cupless44

Registered User
Jun 25, 2014
7,154
3,298
Where did he float specifically? Break it down for me.

I really dont have much problem with Jake's effort level anymore. He has come a long way there. Better defensively, back checks, has been playing the body more when hits are there, skating miles. He needs a bit more finish around the net right now.
 

Canadian Canuck

Hughes4Calder
Jul 30, 2013
14,223
3,972
Kamloops BC
Virtanen has improved drastically since last season. Saying otherwise is flat out wrong. He’s been a threat whenever he has the puck and has FINALLY started taking the puck hard to the net which made him so successful in junior. He’s getting more hockey sense as wel.
 

rune74

Registered User
Oct 10, 2008
9,228
552
Virtanen played with Sedins back in Oct/Nov. Probably about 1/4 of the season. The point I am trying to make is a lot of poster said Virtanen improve. I disagree with that. This season Canucks bad team and 2016 Canucks were a bad team. His ppg is almost the same. So I don't see the improvement

There is nw way he played 1/4th the year with the sedins....can you prove that? I would be totally surprised if that was the case.
 

rune74

Registered User
Oct 10, 2008
9,228
552
I really dont have much problem with Jake's effort level anymore. He has come a long way there. Better defensively, back checks, has been playing the body more when hits are there, skating miles. He needs a bit more finish around the net right now.

I was trying to get a poster who does those blanket statements to actually show me his work.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

-->