Right now team appears to be able to hang with any team in the League. Thought they were unlucky not to beat Vegas and throughly shut down the Stars in this one. You have to wonder how the sad sack team of the first part of the year has come so far. Would say, among other things, this involves
- getting more structure. Now appears Rutherford's comments about the Boudreau era had some truth. Hopefully it's not all new coach bounce but Tocchet seems to have made a big difference
- getting the real Demko back. Might be the key factor. Goal tending was, at many points this year, a bad joke.
- allowing newer players to get in sync. Canucks added a lot of new players (Joshua, Stillman, Bear, Aman, Kuzmenko, etc) at or near the beginning of the season and you had to expect some dysfunction as a result.
- cleaning up the PK. Source of many losses - a complete fiasco much of the time. Some may not want to hear this but biggest change here has been the removal of Horvat. Always felt it was suicide to have him out there and evidence for that opinion now seems pretty solid.
- having guys come up from Abby and seamlessly fit in. Hiring Colliton now seems an excellent move.
- Miller's stepped up efforts. Times early in the year when you were getting convinced Miller just couldn't play center and needed to be back on the wing. Also, you wondered if he should be on the PP given all the muffed passes.. Now he has become a two way horse and basically the team leader. Pettersson has been great but Miller has been clearly the best player over the last month.
Probably more things you can identify but changes are obvious. What we have to see is just how permanent these changes are. Had our teeth kicked in before (actually on several occasions) when raised expectations have been trashed and most we'll only be convinced when we see the same play next October.
In this game
Good
Miller - again thought he was the best player on the ice. Has taken on the role of providing physical push back as well as just about everything else. Plays like this and his contract looks excellent.
Joshua - love the way he is putting away his chances. Work on the PK continues to improve.
Kuzmenko - lots of excellent little plays to create offense. Starting to play better when he is away from Pettersson
Hughes - defensive game might have been better than his offensive game in this one.
Demko - play down low around his net was very good. That's where Dallas thrives and Demko took most of this away
Hronek - guy plays with economy of effort. Does not get himself out the play by getting himself tied up with some player. Everything is quick and efficient. Can see he has very good anticipation and has the next play figured out before he gets the puck on his stick.
Myers - he's an easy off season trade for something decent if he plays like this. Playing big and a little mean.
Burroughs - go back and forth on whether he is a bona vide NHL defenseman. Looked like one in this game. Canucks got a decision to make here.
Di Guiseppe - lot about playing hockey is just about doing the say things again and again. That's especially true if you are a checking line player. Just stay in the structure, positionally strong and play from the inside out. Di Guiseppe is showing that the years of playing pro hockey have rubbed off on him. Continues to contribute heavily on the forecheck, the back check and in getting the puck up the boards and out of his end. Don't see how he doesn't make the team next year. Too bad he missed the open net - he deserved a goal.
Others
Boeser - no doubt the effort is better. However, he is be given prime time on things like the PP and is not coming thru like he probably should. I think that Kuzmenko would have done a lot better on the two man advantage and on the other PPs than Boeser did. Indeed, he wasn't very good there. I'm thinking maybe the team is hoping Boeser breaks out and scores a bunch making him easier to move. Still, he is more involved in the general run of play and actually is even blocking shots. More hustle, but still lacks the speed to be the threat he should be, given his pay cheque.
Podkolzin - lots of hustle and helped his line. Still there is a lack of ability to finish in his plays (such as making the good pass). Thought Kravtsov had better game and is getting more into the flow of the game. Both of these players need to gain more confidence and develop a more NA style game. There is still a stiffness and a good measure of indecision in their play.
