Post-Game Talk: Apparently no one else is making one edition.
- Thread starter ProstheticConscience
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Yup, we just gotta relax and hope this washboard road smooths out.
I think the loss of both Kassian and Matthias is significant. Losing their size (especially their size with mobility) and physical play cuts a big hole in the lineup. Jensen is looking more professional, but is still a long way from pushing either Kassian or Matthias out of the lineup.
One player that drives me nuts every year is Higgins. At some point, he gives you that level of play that suggests he just might be a second line player after all. Then he sags down to a level where he is barely holding his position on the club. I wonder if they shouldn't consider putting Matthias with Bonino and place Higgins where he belongs, on the third line.
The first two lines have got to find some way to contribute more. Relying on the third and fourth lines to score is a surefire recipe for an extended losing streak.
I think the loss of both Kassian and Matthias is significant. Losing their size (especially their size with mobility) and physical play cuts a big hole in the lineup. Jensen is looking more professional, but is still a long way from pushing either Kassian or Matthias out of the lineup.
One player that drives me nuts every year is Higgins. At some point, he gives you that level of play that suggests he just might be a second line player after all. Then he sags down to a level where he is barely holding his position on the club. I wonder if they shouldn't consider putting Matthias with Bonino and place Higgins where he belongs, on the third line.
The first two lines have got to find some way to contribute more. Relying on the third and fourth lines to score is a surefire recipe for an extended losing streak.
I am really interested in a Higgins-Horvat-Kassian line. That would have great speed, size, and skill.
I think the easy switch, and I said it numerous times last night, is just throw Bonino between the two rookies and give them soft offensive minutes and let Richardson play between Higgins and Burrows, then at least you have skill sets that match usages and icetimes.
I do like that Horvat got moved up, but I would have left that 4th line alone since it's been very good for us for 10+ games.
BC Ben
Registered User
My take on the Canucks (this game, and beyond).
1) Niklas Jensen has speed, stick-handling skills... but his hands (and feet) seem to be a bit behind his thought process. I believe we have a guy who can create offense for himself and others, but he needs time (and patience). He was lost in the defensive zone.
2) KB3 is a beast... when he wants to be. Otherwise, he is prone to make many mistakes and utterly discombobulates the blue line. His pestering of Galchenyuk that resulted in a retaliation penalty was a thing of beauty.
On a side note, Galchenyuk missed open nets twice last night, but otherwise was a wizard with the puck... this kid is going to be someone special.
3) Sbisa made me either go "WOW - nice hit" or "WTF ARE YOU DOING SBISA?!?" all night long. He seems to have the confidence of the coaching staff... or simply that they are more confident in him being on the ice than Stanton and Weber. I know Anaheim warned us that this would be the case, but I am hoping he can be trained like a dumb dog to do the simple things... his hockey IQ took a hit when he held the puck behind his net until the Montreal crowd started booing and then he passed it straight up the middle to TWO waiting Canadiens players.
4) Miller looks small in the net... all other things Miller/Lack have been discussed to death and I am not interested in rehashing any of those topics. Just that I'd prefer a Ben Bishop sized goalie between the pipes when I see the puck lifted over the shoulder of Miller when I think size (added to athleticism) would have cut down that angle.
5) Bonino has lost his touch... he needs to find it again quickly because our secondary scoring is as good as our primary scoring (which is not good right now).
6) Vrbata... see Bonino.
7) I like Edler again.
8) I noticed a stat flashing across the screen last night about team blocked shots... after a bit of research, Vancouver now sits 10th in the league in this category. It should be noted however that the Canucks are FIRST in blocked shots on the road (27th at home). I would like to thank Johnny T for his hammering in of how to properly block a shot and for Willie D taking that knowledge and actually applying it to an effective game plan.
9) Nice segue into talking about Tanev who was a beast when it came to blocking shots last night. He has been doing this all season and he alone accounts for 17% of the team's blocked shots. Last year, he accounted for 11% of the team's blocked shots so we are either seeing him grow or the team regress (or just a different accountability to blocking shots). Either way, I love what Tanev brings to the rink every night and have since I first watched him play for the Moose.
10) The Canucks will be undone in the playoffs by a single player... most of the time this player is a defenseman (see Zdeno Chara) who targets the Sedins. Last night that player was PK Subban who anticipated the Sedins' cycle so very well and disrupted it effectively. Once the Sedins are shut down and frustrated by ONE PLAYER, any savvy coaching staff will match the lines up to limit scoring opportunities from our second line and we will find success over a seven-game series very difficult.
Further to that, not every team we face will have the one defensive stalwart, but this seems to be one of the very few tactics that will nullify the effectiveness of the twins. I once heard that Zdeno was Sedin Kryptonite... I present that any defenseman with (i) size and reach, (ii) quickness and anticipation, and/or (iii) great stick skills have the ability to put a little Kryptonite into the shorts of the Sedins.
/gets off soapbox and ends diatribe
1) Niklas Jensen has speed, stick-handling skills... but his hands (and feet) seem to be a bit behind his thought process. I believe we have a guy who can create offense for himself and others, but he needs time (and patience). He was lost in the defensive zone.
2) KB3 is a beast... when he wants to be. Otherwise, he is prone to make many mistakes and utterly discombobulates the blue line. His pestering of Galchenyuk that resulted in a retaliation penalty was a thing of beauty.
On a side note, Galchenyuk missed open nets twice last night, but otherwise was a wizard with the puck... this kid is going to be someone special.
3) Sbisa made me either go "WOW - nice hit" or "WTF ARE YOU DOING SBISA?!?" all night long. He seems to have the confidence of the coaching staff... or simply that they are more confident in him being on the ice than Stanton and Weber. I know Anaheim warned us that this would be the case, but I am hoping he can be trained like a dumb dog to do the simple things... his hockey IQ took a hit when he held the puck behind his net until the Montreal crowd started booing and then he passed it straight up the middle to TWO waiting Canadiens players.
4) Miller looks small in the net... all other things Miller/Lack have been discussed to death and I am not interested in rehashing any of those topics. Just that I'd prefer a Ben Bishop sized goalie between the pipes when I see the puck lifted over the shoulder of Miller when I think size (added to athleticism) would have cut down that angle.
5) Bonino has lost his touch... he needs to find it again quickly because our secondary scoring is as good as our primary scoring (which is not good right now).
6) Vrbata... see Bonino.
7) I like Edler again.
8) I noticed a stat flashing across the screen last night about team blocked shots... after a bit of research, Vancouver now sits 10th in the league in this category. It should be noted however that the Canucks are FIRST in blocked shots on the road (27th at home). I would like to thank Johnny T for his hammering in of how to properly block a shot and for Willie D taking that knowledge and actually applying it to an effective game plan.
9) Nice segue into talking about Tanev who was a beast when it came to blocking shots last night. He has been doing this all season and he alone accounts for 17% of the team's blocked shots. Last year, he accounted for 11% of the team's blocked shots so we are either seeing him grow or the team regress (or just a different accountability to blocking shots). Either way, I love what Tanev brings to the rink every night and have since I first watched him play for the Moose.
10) The Canucks will be undone in the playoffs by a single player... most of the time this player is a defenseman (see Zdeno Chara) who targets the Sedins. Last night that player was PK Subban who anticipated the Sedins' cycle so very well and disrupted it effectively. Once the Sedins are shut down and frustrated by ONE PLAYER, any savvy coaching staff will match the lines up to limit scoring opportunities from our second line and we will find success over a seven-game series very difficult.
Further to that, not every team we face will have the one defensive stalwart, but this seems to be one of the very few tactics that will nullify the effectiveness of the twins. I once heard that Zdeno was Sedin Kryptonite... I present that any defenseman with (i) size and reach, (ii) quickness and anticipation, and/or (iii) great stick skills have the ability to put a little Kryptonite into the shorts of the Sedins.
/gets off soapbox and ends diatribe
vanuck
Now with 100% less Benning!
- Dec 28, 2009
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Thanks for that. It'd pretty hard to determine exactly what he means - and probably deliberately vague too TBH - by the part you bolded and this part as well:
Though it slightly sounds to me like he's not quite sure if they're using him or not, which might just make this blurb his own speculation.
PM
Glass not 1/2 full
- Apr 8, 2014
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I know it was a long road trip but I still think it's pretty troubling that we looked that gassed this early in the season. We haven't exactly been force-feeding minutes to any of our forwards this year and the travel between Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal is pretty short. Surprisingly the two players who looked fine last night were Edler and Tanev who should probably be the most exhausted guys on the team since Hammer went down.
And can people stop comparing us to the Kings or Blackhawks when they bring up losses? When we win a cup or two we can start using those comparisons but either way the Kings should never be used in any regular season comparisons, ever. I've never seen a hockey team be so mediocre during the regular season but then turn the unstoppable switch on the second they hit the playoffs. We should know by now that our team does not have that extra gear for playoffs that magically gets switched at the end of the season like the Kings.
And can people stop comparing us to the Kings or Blackhawks when they bring up losses? When we win a cup or two we can start using those comparisons but either way the Kings should never be used in any regular season comparisons, ever. I've never seen a hockey team be so mediocre during the regular season but then turn the unstoppable switch on the second they hit the playoffs. We should know by now that our team does not have that extra gear for playoffs that magically gets switched at the end of the season like the Kings.
Montreal is probably the fastest team in the league. We are not a fast team. Even a well rested Canucks team would look like slugs compared to the Habs. We looked slow when we beat them in Vancouver too.
DL44
Status quo
I hate when things like this get highlighted because that is the trend for EVERY PLAYER IN THE DAMN LEAGUE.
Completely disingenuous.
Now i wait for his "omg Henrik has just 6 pts in the 11 losses!" tweet.
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I knew thats what he was thinking!
Bo looked fine between Higgs and Burr, but they just aren't firing right now.
Not going to make a big deal out of this game.
Key to beating fast team like Montreal is puck movement....unfortunately too often im the last two games the Canucks have been completely discombobulated....can't complete a six-foot pass and too often their d-men are just hoisting it out of their own zone in desperation....I know the Sedins are magical with the puck but those cross-ice passes to no one in particular...yikes!....what this team needs is three consecutive practices working on nothing more than breakouts..and having Kassian-Mathias back would be a big help.
These last three games, nearly everything has been against our boys. It stinks, the performances were lousy in general, and everything from the refs to physics seemed to want us to lose...but it's three games, at the end of a road trip, in four nights, with multiple injuries to key players. We will be alright.
Key to beating fast team like Montreal is puck movement....unfortunately too often im the last two games the Canucks have been completely discombobulated....can't complete a six-foot pass and too often their d-men are just hoisting it out of their own zone in desperation....I know the Sedins are magical with the puck but those cross-ice passes to no one in particular...yikes!....what this team needs is three consecutive practices working on nothing more than breakouts..and having Kassian-Mathias back would be a big help.
Maybe add a couple of days of proper sleep
PM
Glass not 1/2 full
- Apr 8, 2014
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With regards to all the talk of exhaustion. Although we just finished off a very long road-trip we are actually in the midst of our least gruelling month scheduling wise. My math may be a bit off but here is the breakdown I found month-by-month. If this team is having exhaustion issues this early in the season then we are in serious trouble once February hits.
October - 10 games in 23 games (43.48%)
November - 14 games in 30 days (46.67%)
December - 11 games in 31 days (35.48%)
January - 12 games in 31 days (38.71%)
February - 14 games in 28 days (50%)
March - 16 games in 31 days (51.61%)
April - 5 games in 11 days (45.45%)
October - 10 games in 23 games (43.48%)
November - 14 games in 30 days (46.67%)
December - 11 games in 31 days (35.48%)
January - 12 games in 31 days (38.71%)
February - 14 games in 28 days (50%)
March - 16 games in 31 days (51.61%)
April - 5 games in 11 days (45.45%)
Don't think that tells the proper story though
Despite March having over 51% it doesn't worry me as much
Same with February at 50%
PM
Glass not 1/2 full
- Apr 8, 2014
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Why doesn't it tell the proper story? I'm just curious honestly, not trying to be snarky or anything. Seems like a lot more games crammed in the months down the stretch run then the first half of the season.
Travel mostly
Where we play
Not looking at your fancy, smanshee percentguages and whatnots
Just looked at the schedule and saw where we play and when, and okay, January and February are scary
Where did you find these quotes? I don't know how you can blame any one guy on that line, they're all playing like crap and have been for 10+ games, even the one they padded their stats on against Columbus wasn't a great game.
thepuckmonster
Professional Winner.
I really think Bonino is injured or at least pretty banged up, he looks completely 180 from earlier and that drop off doesn't happen for no reason.
I hope a couple days of good sleep, PT and proper practices will help.
Or he was on a hot streak? He could be banged up for sure, but I just think we got so excited he was on pace to score 70 that we forgot he's a 45-55 point guy.
vadim sharifijanov
Registered User
- Oct 10, 2007
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maybe it's just my sentimentality, or maybe it's all those slow-mo videos of #4 weaving mario-style through defenders that look like pylons everyone's been showing all week, but i have to think that habs fans are watching galchenyuk and thinking about beliveau.
#10 is less relevant this year than in any year in recent history. This team got scoring depth. We didn't see it last game but that is no excuse to neglect the fact. Otherwise, good points.
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