Post-Game Talk: Canucks 2 @ Stars 3 || Quietest GDT Ever but we made it to a shootout.... but lost.

[quat]

I caught the last period and a half driving down Island.

A question that comes to my mind: Why do the Canucks continue to rack up so many "too many men on the ice" penalties?

And: Who in their right mind chooses Higgins in a shoot out over McCann or Bearcheese?

While I do want better picks, I can't stand when the team loses. lol

 

[Peen]

This is when Benning has to fish or cut bait, as they say, and will prove his mettle as a GM....regardless of where the 'Nucks are in the standings, they need to be big-time sellers at the deadline....can't let these veterans walk for nothing....hoping the same broom sweeps out guys like Higgins and Weber...if necessary you have to take a step back to take two steps forward.

yup.

are we in a position to not only not trade our expiring contracts, but also use assets to add to the team and push for a 7-8 seed in the west?

nope to both. simple as that really.

 

[Pip]

Lmao at us becoming Florida if not competitive. Make a poll if fans would rather have a high draft pick or another first round exit. Why only mention the oilers, why not the hawks, lightning, or pens? It's like ppl think wanting to tank doesn't make you a true fan, no one likes to cheer for loses. Just want to be cup contenders and top picks help that.

One way to derail a rebuild is too have a garbage defense and we are set up to have a dreadful defense going forward. No top prospects on the backend, no depth on the NHL team.

 

[VanillaCoke]

9-8-7
18th in league standings

Mediocre seems about right.

Primed for a 1st round exit!

If the division didn't have an oddly terrible start we'd be well out. Still not far from that now.

 

[biturbo19]

Yes, not every rebuild is perfect. But using two recent failures as examples doesn't mean that every rebuild is bad. Toronto also tried taking a shortcut with the Kessel trade and they paid for it.

And yes, I'm very well aware of this team's unsuccessful history, I've experienced a good chunk of it as well. But looking at this roster, it's not built to last a long time. The Sedins are close to retirement with no replacements in sight, goaltending is a huge question mark (Markstrom has yet to prove anything in the NHL, Demko is still just a prospect and not all prospects pan out), the future on defense is looking a bit more promising lately with the rise of a few prospects but it's still very much in question and years away from finding the answer.

I feel like the sooner we rebuild/retool, the shorter the rebuild/retool will be. If we wait too long then assets will lose trade value (Hamhuis/Vrbata/Higgins/etc) or we just lose them for nothing as UFAs. You can still have entertaining hockey with a non-playoff team. I really doubt this team will struggle to sell tickets either if we rebuild (assuming they lower their prices to something more reasonable). Hell, look at how excited this board got with the addition of some young players in the past couple of years. But then again it doesn't help when we have a stubborn coach who refuses to give young players ice time unless they are god-like. (and don't get me started on the coaching staff, our team would likely be better right now with a decent coach)

I've said it before, and i'll probably have to say it again many times...

The bolded reasoning makes no sense.

We are where we are right now, because we have the Sedins right now - Daniel is 4th in the league in scoring, Hank is 15th. This is elite 1st line production. On defence, we've got weak links, like most teams...but we've also got a terrific top pairing with Edler-Tanev who can go toe-to-toe with the leagues best and fare pretty well.

What we need right now, is no different than what a successful rebuild needs. Whether you're getting 1st overall picks or not, your other prospects have to count as well (this is the great lesson the Oilers have made abundantly clear). We need our prospects (not picked 1st overall) to start contributing and panning out (and right now, they are...albeit inconsistently, as prospects do). The Vets can take us within a stones throw of the playoffs on their backs...it's up to the kids Horvat, McCann, Virtanen, Baertschi, Hutton, Markstrom to give it that extra shove into serious competitiveness. Right now, the contributions of young players are helping us hang in there vs any team in the league. If they can improve (as you hope young players do, rebuilding/tanking or competing alike), that's something to get excited about and something positive for the team long AND short term.

And really, if some of our kids can't start rounding into players who can play a solid secondary/supporting role to some top-tier veteran NHLers in the next couple years while riding shotgun en route to playoff aspirations...they're not going to be too important to a "rebuild" anyway. If our "kids" are good enough to start a rebuild, they ought to be good enough to start supporting a solid veteran "core" - and the fact that they're rolling with these kids (through the ups and downs) instead of patchwork bargain bin veterans littered throughout the lineup shows an awareness of that. Personally, i'm hoping they are good enough, and i'm cheering for that...which is no different from hoping for the playoffs. Hoping for wins and competitive games.


Because at the end of the day...the Sedins are eventually going to be gone. If we find some homegrown replacements with savvy late picks and whatever else in the meantime, that's fantastic and we can skip the "bottoming out" phase of things that so many teams have found themselves mired in endlessly. And if we don't have "replacements" for them when we reach that point, then yes, so be it...this team is going to end up drafting high. But what is the ****ing rush here? Can we not just bring some kids along and enjoy the fact that we still have a pair of 1st liners scoring at a rate you'd be lucky to replace with a pair of top-3 picks?

People harp on "shortcuts" and "mediocrity" like we're not keeping our top picks, drafting and developing and giving young players a chance to play. As though we're making some boneheaded Phil Kessel trade like the Leafs to cling to something that's not already there. That's not even remotely the case. There are no shortcuts.

Rebuilding properly is about patience. Not about *****ing about how your team is winning some games and not being horrible fast enough.

 

[Peen]

the issue isn't the top line scoring and top pairing.

it's the fact that our depth on the back end just isn't good enough. we'd need two more top four defensemen, and then another top six forward to really be up with the best. and a goalie not named ryan miller, fwiw

i think this gets forgotten way too much, but benning has said hamhuis and vrbata are going to be re-signed or traded and i don't think he's going to go back on that. if i was a betting man, i would bet that they don't get re-signed because they'll want term which i don't think benning will give them.

so imagine the canucks roster as is minus hamhuis and vrbata the last twenty-one games of the season. unless horvat, and a minimum of one young winger make big leaps by that point, we're going to get killed that final quarter by the west. we only play one game post trade deadline against an eastern conference team.

the key quarter for determining which direction this team is going to go is probably this current one we're in right now. realistically this team needs to go on a big run, and if they want to make the playoffs, it's going to have to be sooner rather than later. By the mid point of the season, most teams outside of a couple will know who they are. key word here is most, because you can have a team like the canucks in 13/14 who were the second worst team in the league the second half of the season, or the senators w hammond who were invincible the final thirty or so games of theirs.

but then again, i'm basing this off of how i feel this season is going to go. never know.

 

[biturbo19]

the issue isn't the top line scoring and top pairing.

it's the fact that our depth on the back end just isn't good enough. we'd need two more top four defensemen, and then another top six forward to really be up with the best. and a goalie not named ryan miller, fwiw

i think this gets forgotten way too much, but benning has said hamhuis and vrbata are going to be re-signed or traded and i don't think he's going to go back on that. if i was a betting man, i would bet that they don't get re-signed because they'll want term which i don't think benning will give them.

so imagine the canucks roster as is minus hamhuis and vrbata the last twenty-one games of the season. unless horvat, and a minimum of one young winger make big leaps by that point, we're going to get killed that final quarter by the west. we only play one game post trade deadline against an eastern conference team.

the key quarter for determining which direction this team is going to go is probably this current one we're in right now. realistically this team needs to go on a big run, and if they want to make the playoffs, it's going to have to be sooner rather than later. By the mid point of the season, most teams outside of a couple will know who they are. key word here is most, because you can have a team like the canucks in 13/14 who were the second worst team in the league the second half of the season, or the senators w hammond who were invincible the final thirty or so games of theirs.

but then again, i'm basing this off of how i feel this season is going to go. never know.

Hardly a guarantee that Hamhuis and Vrbata are moved. That's going to come down to where this team is at in the new year, when management are set to sit down and talk contract with them, based on where this team is at prior to the deadline.

And you have to keep in mind...the Top Line and Top Pairing on defence are why we are where we are. And right now, we're doing it with Horvat struggling, a pair of teenagers just starting to try to find their way in the league, Baertschi trying to find a niche...and we're missing our de facto #2ish Center in Sutter right now, along with arguably our best offensive defenceman in Hutton. And we're really just scratching the surface of whether Markstrom will sink or swim...who knows, he might even flourish.

Point being, we're hanging in there with everyone we've come up against...and that's with a guy like Horvat playing pretty poorly relative to what we already know he's capable of, and young kids with plenty of "upside" to potentially explore this season.

If Sutter comes back and Bo starts playing like he did down the stretch last year, that's a huge boon to the team behind the "top lines" that are carrying us right now. Point being, playing all these kids isn't just some flippant exercise in throwing young kids into the mix for ***** and giggles - it's because they've shown they can contribute something, and with their youth come mistakes right now...but also a ton of "upside" that's as yet untapped. And if some of these young players can improve as they get more comfortable and more experienced...as Bo did last year, that'd put us in a very different situation later in the year.

 

[kanucks25]

We need our prospects (not picked 1st overall) to start contributing and panning out (and right now, they are...albeit inconsistently, as prospects do). The Vets can take us within a stones throw of the playoffs on their backs...it's up to the kids Horvat, McCann, Virtanen, Baertschi, Hutton, Markstrom to give it that extra shove into serious competitiveness. Right now, the contributions of young players are helping us hang in there vs any team in the league. If they can improve (as you hope young players do, rebuilding/tanking or competing alike), that's something to get excited about and something positive for the team long AND short term.

And really, if some of our kids can't start rounding into players who can play a solid secondary/supporting role to some top-tier veteran NHLers in the next couple years while riding shotgun en route to playoff aspirations...they're not going to be too important to a "rebuild" anyway. If our "kids" are good enough to start a rebuild, they ought to be good enough to start supporting a solid veteran "core" - and the fact that they're rolling with these kids (through the ups and downs) instead of patchwork bargain bin veterans littered throughout the lineup shows an awareness of that. Personally, i'm hoping they are good enough, and i'm cheering for that...which is no different from hoping for the playoffs. Hoping for wins and competitive games.


Because at the end of the day...the Sedins are eventually going to be gone. If we find some homegrown replacements with savvy late picks and whatever else in the meantime, that's fantastic and we can skip the "bottoming out" phase of things that so many teams have found themselves mired in endlessly. And if we don't have "replacements" for them when we reach that point, then yes, so be it...this team is going to end up drafting high. But what is the ****ing rush here? Can we not just bring some kids along and enjoy the fact that we still have a pair of 1st liners scoring at a rate you'd be lucky to replace with a pair of top-3 picks?

People harp on "shortcuts" and "mediocrity" like we're not keeping our top picks, drafting and developing and giving young players a chance to play. As though we're making some boneheaded Phil Kessel trade like the Leafs to cling to something that's not already there. That's not even remotely the case. There are no shortcuts.

The problem is that there's a big gap between our good veterans and our good prospects.

The Horvats, McCanns and Virtanens are too young to support our top players. Because of bad drafting or bad development or trading picks or [insert reason here], we don't have much when it comes to home-grown 23-26 year-olds. If we had these players instead of the 19-21 year-olds, we wouldn't need to tank.

This means that by the time our prospects are ready to support, the Sedins will likely be done. You can see it now; the prospects have potential but on most nights we're a one-line team because those guys that need to push from below just aren't ready to push.

The point of the tank is to realize this and cut our losses and not bleed assets/value. Trade Hamhuis, Vrbata and Edler if possible so that we have a better chance down the road when we can actually compete.

 

[Billy Kvcmu]

I've said it before, and i'll probably have to say it again many times...

The bolded reasoning makes no sense.

We are where we are right now, because we have the Sedins right now - Daniel is 4th in the league in scoring, Hank is 15th. This is elite 1st line production. On defence, we've got weak links, like most teams...but we've also got a terrific top pairing with Edler-Tanev who can go toe-to-toe with the leagues best and fare pretty well.

What we need right now, is no different than what a successful rebuild needs. Whether you're getting 1st overall picks or not, your other prospects have to count as well (this is the great lesson the Oilers have made abundantly clear). We need our prospects (not picked 1st overall) to start contributing and panning out (and right now, they are...albeit inconsistently, as prospects do). The Vets can take us within a stones throw of the playoffs on their backs...it's up to the kids Horvat, McCann, Virtanen, Baertschi, Hutton, Markstrom to give it that extra shove into serious competitiveness. Right now, the contributions of young players are helping us hang in there vs any team in the league. If they can improve (as you hope young players do, rebuilding/tanking or competing alike), that's something to get excited about and something positive for the team long AND short term.

And really, if some of our kids can't start rounding into players who can play a solid secondary/supporting role to some top-tier veteran NHLers in the next couple years while riding shotgun en route to playoff aspirations...they're not going to be too important to a "rebuild" anyway. If our "kids" are good enough to start a rebuild, they ought to be good enough to start supporting a solid veteran "core" - and the fact that they're rolling with these kids (through the ups and downs) instead of patchwork bargain bin veterans littered throughout the lineup shows an awareness of that. Personally, i'm hoping they are good enough, and i'm cheering for that...which is no different from hoping for the playoffs. Hoping for wins and competitive games.


Because at the end of the day...the Sedins are eventually going to be gone. If we find some homegrown replacements with savvy late picks and whatever else in the meantime, that's fantastic and we can skip the "bottoming out" phase of things that so many teams have found themselves mired in endlessly. And if we don't have "replacements" for them when we reach that point, then yes, so be it...this team is going to end up drafting high. But what is the ****ing rush here? Can we not just bring some kids along and enjoy the fact that we still have a pair of 1st liners scoring at a rate you'd be lucky to replace with a pair of top-3 picks?

People harp on "shortcuts" and "mediocrity" like we're not keeping our top picks, drafting and developing and giving young players a chance to play. As though we're making some boneheaded Phil Kessel trade like the Leafs to cling to something that's not already there. That's not even remotely the case. There are no shortcuts.

Rebuilding properly is about patience. Not about *****ing about how your team is winning some games and not being horrible fast enough.

Very well said, rebuilding/retooling is about patience. Draft right, develop right and don't start whining just because youngsters aren't producing in their first 1~2 seasons. Especially don't freak out just because your team can't suck to the bottom fast enough.
Rebuilding is not always about getting those top 3 picks for 2~3 straight years. If we sell our UFA at the deadline regardless our position in the standing, replaces those holes with younger players. You bet we are rebuilding, what I'm trying to say is, although the it's be great to get a top 3 picks after 17 seasons since Sedins, there's no point to be freak out if they team finished out of bottom 5.

 

[CherryToke]

I caught the last period and a half driving down Island.

A question that comes to my mind: Why do the Canucks continue to rack up so many "too many men on the ice" penalties?

And: Who in their right mind chooses Higgins in a shoot out over McCann or Bearcheese?

While I do want better picks, I can't stand when the team loses. lol

I think you know the answer to both those questions.

real good.

 

[CherryToke]

and great post turbo. agree completely.

 

[biturbo19]

The problem is that there's a big gap between our good veterans and our good prospects.

The Horvats, McCanns and Virtanens are too young to support our top players. Because of bad drafting or bad development or trading picks or [insert reason here], we don't have much when it comes to home-grown 23-26 year-olds. If we had these players instead of the 19-21 year-olds, we wouldn't need to tank.

This means that by the time our prospects are ready to support, the Sedins will likely be done. You can see it now; the prospects have potential but on most nights we're a one-line team because those guys that need to push from below just aren't ready to push.

The point of the tank is to realize this and cut our losses and not bleed assets/value. Trade Hamhuis, Vrbata and Edler if possible so that we have a better chance down the road when we can actually compete.

It's an issue they tried to remedy...but it's tough, as teams aren't lining up to give away prime supporting players in that 23-26 year old "prime" years range. They're projects and niche guys mostly...which is what we've got out of it, and are still really finding out what we've got with some of them.

But the thing is...what's the harm here in seeing what these 19-21 year olds can do behind the Vets carrying us? What's the rush? The Sedins, Edler, Tanev aren't going anywhere...and frankly i'm happy about that because i enjoy watching this team win games. Especially if it means these kids are going to be 3-4 year Vets in the NHL with some possible playoffs under the belts and having watched what it takes to get there or at least make a wholehearted push for it, by the time the Sedins contracts are up? Even if the kids are just great "support players" for the future...if that's it, we'll sink to the bottom without a "top end" and the high picks and "franchise changers" will happen.

The only risk, is that our young players we're already integrating end up "too good" and carry our team out of the cellar themselves when the Sedins move on. Which is, the most stupid thing in the world to worry about imo. Young players who are "too good" to tank.

 

[kanucks25]

It's an issue they tried to remedy...but it's tough, as teams aren't lining up to give away prime supporting players in that 23-26 year old "prime" years range. They're projects and niche guys mostly...which is what we've got out of it, and are still really finding out what we've got with some of them.

But the thing is...what's the harm here in seeing what these 19-21 year olds can do behind the Vets carrying us? What's the rush? The Sedins, Edler, Tanev aren't going anywhere...and frankly i'm happy about that because i enjoy watching this team win games. Especially if it means these kids are going to be 3-4 year Vets in the NHL with some possible playoffs under the belts and having watched what it takes to get there or at least make a wholehearted push for it, by the time the Sedins contracts are up? Even if the kids are just great "support players" for the future...if that's it, we'll sink to the bottom without a "top end" and the high picks and "franchise changers" will happen.

The only risk, is that our young players we're already integrating end up "too good" and carry our team out of the cellar themselves when the Sedins move on. Which is, the most stupid thing in the world to worry about imo. Young players who are "too good" to tank.

The harm is what I said in my post prior to this one: the longer we wait the more value we lose in assets we should be trading.

I don't believe in Cinderella teams because there's no evidence in these kinds of teams winning the Cup.

We could stay the course, not win the cup, and let Hamhuis and Vrbata go for nothing.

Or we could accept this is not our year and get perhaps at least a 1st and 2nd combined for those two guys at the deadline (and that's excluding possible trades for guys like Edler, Higgins, etc.).

Need to have smart asset management instead of chasing a pipe dream.


I don't doubt that playoff experience (if we even make it) would be good for the young kids but I don't think a quick 1st round exit outweighs the positives of bringing in a heap of prospects/picks through trade.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

Okay.

Edler and Tanev are bloody well not a top pairing on a contending team, period. Edler remains far, far too inconsistent. He manages to sneak in the points, but he (like most of our dmen) still makes eye-wateringly bad giveaways on a regular basis. I counted about four totally unforced errors before I started fast-forwarding the game today. He's big and strong, but almost never actually uses his size or strength to his advantage. His shot has almost completely deserted him. Like in ot: puck goes back to him...he slowly winds up, of course fires into the defender's shinpad, puck goes the other way forcing him into desperation mode. Tanev's got great instincts, good skater, good passer, but has no offense. No shot. Not big, not strong, not tough. Neither are remotely tough or intimidating. Both absorb a lot more hits than they ever throw. If they were just a shutdown pair and that was that, they'd be great.

But let's get real. They're a top d pair the same way Tyler Bozak is a #1 centre. This particular NHL team just doesn't have anyone better.

And yeah, the team's mediocre. The forward lines have a good enough mix of vets and kids for now, I'm really liking McCann and Virtanen, I think they'll be really, really good players in the future, but it's the d corps I'm worried about. It's just plain not bloody good enough. Edler and Tanev I just said my piece on. Hutton's obviously a good piece moving forward but after that? Hamhuis is small and slowing down. Bartkowski's a good skater but does literally nothing else well. Sbisa's got a good physical game, but does literally nothing else well. Weber's the only guy with anything resembling a good shot, but he's a 6/7 pp specialist on a good team. And this is a lesser defense than the one that got chewed up and spat out last playoffs. Nobody's tough. Nobody's intimidating. Nobody even tries to clear the crease. Nobody even tries to protect the goalie. And a hell of a lot more often than not, the goals against around here are preceded by dmen ****ing up. They're small, soft, and mistake-prone. And who's in the pipes coming up? We better hope one of our Russian Redwoods turn out to be serious players.

IMHO, if this team is going to ever be a serious threat while the Sedins are still on it, there have to be some pretty big changes to the complexion of the team, particularly on the back end.

 

[fancouver]

Okay.

Edler and Tanev are bloody well not a top pairing on a contending team, period. Edler remains far, far too inconsistent. He manages to sneak in the points, but he (like most of our dmen) still makes eye-wateringly bad giveaways on a regular basis. I counted about four totally unforced errors before I started fast-forwarding the game today. He's big and strong, but almost never actually uses his size or strength to his advantage. His shot has almost completely deserted him. Like in ot: puck goes back to him...he slowly winds up, of course fires into the defender's shinpad, puck goes the other way forcing him into desperation mode. Tanev's got great instincts, good skater, good passer, but has no offense. No shot. Not big, not strong, not tough. Neither are remotely tough or intimidating. Both absorb a lot more hits than they ever throw. If they were just a shutdown pair and that was that, they'd be great.

But let's get real. They're a top d pair the same way Tyler Bozak is a #1 centre. This particular NHL team just doesn't have anyone better.

And yeah, the team's mediocre. The forward lines have a good enough mix of vets and kids for now, I'm really liking McCann and Virtanen, I think they'll be really, really good players in the future, but it's the d corps I'm worried about. It's just plain not bloody good enough. Edler and Tanev I just said my piece on. Hutton's obviously a good piece moving forward but after that? Hamhuis is small and slowing down. Bartkowski's a good skater but does literally nothing else well. Sbisa's got a good physical game, but does literally nothing else well. Weber's the only guy with anything resembling a good shot, but he's a 6/7 pp specialist on a good team. And this is a lesser defense than the one that got chewed up and spat out last playoffs. Nobody's tough. Nobody's intimidating. Nobody even tries to clear the crease. Nobody even tries to protect the goalie. And a hell of a lot more often than not, the goals against around here are preceded by dmen ****ing up. They're small, soft, and mistake-prone. And who's in the pipes coming up? We better hope one of our Russian Redwoods turn out to be serious players.

IMHO, if this team is going to ever be a serious threat while the Sedins are still on it, there have to be some pretty big changes to the complexion of the team, particularly on the back end.

It certainly looks good so far. Pedan and Tryamkim are tracking well in their respective leagues.

 

[VanillaCoke]

Sounds like byfuglien PC

 

[StrictlyCommercial]

I don't mean you necessarily, I mean the doom and gloom threat of "constant mediocrity". We've had two mediocre (if you count this season) years since 2010. Yes our assets aren't as shiny as the teams that truly tanked but that doesn't mean anything. There are benefits to drafting high, absolutely. There are also benefits of trying to remain a competitive team.

I think we will dip in and out of the playoffs the next few years, after that who knows. I won't call this team mediocre until there's more than one season of barely missing the playoffs and drafting just outside the top 10.

Mediocrity doesn't mean bad, it means middling. A.k.a perenially in the 7-10 slot in the conference. Not bad enough to pick Top 5, not good enough to go more than 1 playoff round.

 

[me2]

IMHO, if this team is going to ever be a serious threat while the Sedins are still on it, there have to be some pretty big changes to the complexion of the team, particularly on the back end.

And better supplementary top 6 forwards (winger and 2C). Oh and an NHL starter. All before the Sedins fade.

 

[DarrenX]

I don't doubt that playoff experience (if we even make it) would be good for the young kids but I don't think a quick 1st round exit outweighs the positives of bringing in a heap of prospects/picks through trade.

Aquilini's accountant has crunched the numbers, and disagrees with you.

If we're clearly out of contention (10+ pts) at the TDL, I have no doubt that players who aren't part of the plan going forward will be traded. If we're in the thick of the playoff race, the Canucks will not be trading away this year's success for some nebulous future benefits. No team does that, and Benning and co have made it extremely clear that we're not going to be the first.

Anyway, I thought there was a tank thread for this discussion. I think there was a game last night... did anyone watch it?

 

[Tiranis]

Edler and Tanev are bloody well not a top pairing on a contending team, period. Edler remains far, far too inconsistent. He manages to sneak in the points, but he (like most of our dmen) still makes eye-wateringly bad giveaways on a regular basis. I counted about four totally unforced errors before I started fast-forwarding the game today. He's big and strong, but almost never actually uses his size or strength to his advantage. His shot has almost completely deserted him. Like in ot: puck goes back to him...he slowly winds up, of course fires into the defender's shinpad, puck goes the other way forcing him into desperation mode. Tanev's got great instincts, good skater, good passer, but has no offense. No shot. Not big, not strong, not tough. Neither are remotely tough or intimidating. Both absorb a lot more hits than they ever throw. If they were just a shutdown pair and that was that, they'd be great.

But let's get real. They're a top d pair the same way Tyler Bozak is a #1 centre. This particular NHL team just doesn't have anyone better.

Too bad all of that is completely irrelevant. They get top pairing results, some of the best in the league.

 

[banme*]

But let's get real. They're a top d pair the same way Tyler Bozak is a #1 centre. This particular NHL team just doesn't have anyone better.

Incoming condescending, obscenity-laced K2B rant (although admittedly, I'm not sure how one could watch these players play, understand the results they produce, and then make this comparison).

 

[JuniorNelson]

Canucks played as well as they can, last night. They are not an elite team in this configuration. I feel they are making active, ongoing mistakes as well.

When the top pairing is playing badly, the Canucks lose. When the goaltending is anything less than stellar, they lose. When the core forwards work too hard in the first and second periods, they run out of gas and they lose. They play to overcome their deployment most nights and this doesn't help at all.

Canucks are using worn out parts in a rebuild. The time to swap them out was last Summer. The halfassery that they did do is working pretty well but they needed to go further. This cannot be overcome during the season, not even at the deadline unless some act of god trade occurs. Remember players do not clamor to join a team in this state.

 

[Huggy]

Like someone said, Sakic didn't see the playoffs for 5 years from his rookie season.

This "our young players need a taste of playoff hockey" is nonsense.

MCCann isn't Joe Sakic.

Playoff experience is invaluable

 

[CanaFan]

MCCann isn't Joe Sakic.

Playoff experience is invaluable

What does that even mean? Sakic was so good he didn't "need" playoff experience but lesser players do? Because ... why?

What exactly is McCann going to "learn" in 4 or 5 games that he hasn't learned in 70-80 games?

Will he skate better?
Shoot more accurately?
Think the game better?

I'd honestly like to know "what" this playoff experience teaches that then translates into a player becoming so much better.

Any concrete examples?

 

[groov2]

What does that even mean? Sakic was so good he didn't "need" playoff experience but lesser players do? Because ... why?

What exactly is McCann going to "learn" in 4 or 5 games that he hasn't learned in 70-80 games?

Will he skate better?
Shoot more accurately?
Think the game better?

I'd honestly like to know "what" this playoff experience teaches that then translates into a player becoming so much better.

Any concrete examples?

Perhaps not concrete enough for you, but I can tell you from personal experience that for every level I played at, I learned a lot from playoff experience and I grew a lot as a player. I can also speak for a few of my buddies who have played in the NHL that they feel the same way.