Post-Game Talk: Canucks Lose By A Lotz.

[biturbo19]

No surprises. Also, Lotz, Valk and Humphries are headed to main camp. A little surprised about Humphries, I thought he was awful.

Interested to see how Valk fares at big boy camp. Obviously generated offense here which was good and much needed, doesn't hurt to throw him a bone. But i really didn't like much of his play defensively. Saw a lot of stuff that will get him eaten alive vs real Pro players in a more "structured" environment. In general, really didn't think he did a good job at all of supporting his (bumbling) defencemen in own zone play, often seemed to find himself on the wrong side of the puck offensively as the 3rd man, too often the last man back through the neutral zone (and don't try to tell me it's a lack of speed), seemed far to willing to let others do a lot of the "dirty work". Just seemed to do a lot more "cheating" than guys like Horvat and Gaunce, and even a lot of the Wingers throughout the tournament, including tonight.

We'll see how he fares at main camp though. Might still be worth a Utica deal or something. And if guys like Humphries are going, might as well bring Valk too.

 

[biturbo19]

Thought Zalewski had a pretty solid game. Strong along the boards and was impressive on the forecheck.

Agreed. Much like his very brief stint with the Canucks...he just seems like a who works up and down the ice, does his job, forechecks well, can work a cycle play decently enough. Nothing flashy but there's some potential there as a nice bottom-six guy eventually.

 

[DCantheDDad]

I watched 2 periods last night and finished the game this morning. That third period just got uglier and uglier.

 

[DCantheDDad]

Good to hear that Valk and Lotz got an invite to the main camp. Im surprised about Humphries, though. I didnt think he played that well. Im looking forward to seeing how these guys do with the big boys.

 

[God]

Not counting the awful game tonight, I thought Humphries was quite decent. I mean, he seemed more like a 22 year old against this competition than Jensen, who probably should've dominated this tournament. Yet we saw the same inconsistent player.

Also a tad disappointed in Corrado...at least in the Winnipeg game, there were some poor reads on his part. Guess he is trending towards being the next Bieksa.

 

[jigsaw99]

i gotta say none of the defense prospect at the tourney had a good showing.

 

[NoShowWilly]

After just watching the game with a big microscope on Horvat, **** you guys! His game was very solid. Offensively he looked fine too. had some chances and setup a couple. Just didn't finish.

he was on for 2 PK goals against. Feel free to tell me what he did wrong on those plays. He had a guy's stick tied up on one and happened to have a puck bounce off his foot. The other one he committed to the point and saw a wrister somehow get through and in.

This team's offence died from the defence. what frustration! if the puck wasn't on Corrado's stick, nothing was attempted in way of transition. Just dumped back to the Flames. The flames defence actually worked the puck to their forwards and it showed.

Shinkaruk takes some really dumb Kesler-esque shots at very inopportune times that just ended up going the other way for odd man rushes.

Gaudreau had a strong final two periods for the Flames.

 

[tantalum]

that's why you can't conclude from these 3 games, but it certainly factors in the analysis of a player. IE not meaningless.

why does it have to be extremes? its either 100 % meaningless or its the only 3 games to decide the future of a prospects.

It clearly isn't conclusive, but its definitely part of the evaluation, anyone saying its 100% meaningless is just trying to sugar coat it.

No sugar coating at all. The indoor pond hockey will not register as part of the evaluation for anybody at the main camp. It will all be about the main camp. Lighting up the prospects tournament doesn't make a coach say "he's been terrible in camp but he had really good prospects scrimmages" or "he has been really good in camp but geez he was not good in prospects camp". Each instance begins and ends with the first part of the sentence.

Again for the guys looking to earn a contract or invite it means far more andthey undergo evaluation to get that invite, but for the guys with deals this tourney is meaningless. It does nothing to displace all those other games they've played and why they have a contract in place.

 

[DCantheDDad]

The only people it had a real impact on are the invites. Valk, Lotz and Humphries now have a chance to play for a contract. All the guys who are Canucks property will continue on the same as they would without the tournament and the other invites will do the Charlie Brown sadness shuffle back to their real lives.

 

[biturbo19]

No sugar coating at all. The indoor pond hockey will not register as part of the evaluation for anybody at the main camp. It will all be about the main camp. Lighting up the prospects tournament doesn't make a coach say "he's been terrible in camp but he had really good prospects scrimmages" or "he has been really good in camp but geez he was not good in prospects camp". Each instance begins and ends with the first part of the sentence.

Again for the guys looking to earn a contract or invite it means far more andthey undergo evaluation to get that invite, but for the guys with deals this tourney is meaningless. It does nothing to displace all those other games they've played and why they have a contract in place.

Yeah, pretty much.

I mean, it's nice to make a good impression on the new GM and whatever else, and a good way to ease into main camp with a bit of game action...but by day 1 of "Real Training Camp", nobody is going to remember or care what a prospect did back in a rookie scrimmage.

 

[MrGameAndWatch]

If Corrado keeps playing anything like he did in this entire tourney during camp, I doubt he makes it to the Calgary pre-season game before getting cut... he needs to pull up his socks.

Good thing we got Sbisa

He'll be scratched anyway unless they want to carry him out on a stretcher, Ferland looked ready to rip his head clean off.

 

[Fat Tony]

Not Ferlund!

 

[ahmon]

Yeah, pretty much.

I mean, it's nice to make a good impression on the new GM and whatever else, and a good way to ease into main camp with a bit of game action...but by day 1 of "Real Training Camp", nobody is going to remember or care what a prospect did back in a rookie scrimmage.

Thats just because it is already past.

Using that logic, by day 1 of the regular season, no one cares who won how many games last season. I guess an entire season of hockey is meaningless?

The key point is not whether the young stars tournament allows 1st rounders like Horvat, Shinkaruk, Jensen, etc to earn a spot at "main camp".

The key point is whether it 'can' be used to evaluate their play.

Unless you believe the prospects didn't "try", then I take it as info to evaluate them.

Just like how I evaluate any hockey player nevermind prospect.

 

[Nona Di Giuseppe]

Not really...lot of the usuals freaking out. That's not rationale that's the norm...don't confuse the two.

Anyone judging our prospect pool, any prospect's overall game/potential or the Canucks management from this tournament needs to understand this is nothing.

 

[Huggy]

I'm not sure how anyone can say Horvat is the next Bergeron. Maybe defensively they are similar but offensively they're nothing alike.

Bergeron is quick and shifty and an offensive catalyst when he has the puck. Horvat appears to be a good passer but I don't see any Bergeron level plays being made, ever.

He's really shifty, just hasn't had enough exposure past 2 years, especially playing a two way role in London last year.

 

[Jimson Hogarth*]

Thats just because it is already past.

Using that logic, by day 1 of the regular season, no one cares who won how many games last season. I guess an entire season of hockey is meaningless?

The key point is not whether the young stars tournament allows 1st rounders like Horvat, Shinkaruk, Jensen, etc to earn a spot at "main camp".

The key point is whether it 'can' be used to evaluate their play.

Unless you believe the prospects didn't "try", then I take it as info to evaluate them.

Just like how I evaluate any hockey player nevermind prospect.

This tournament should be the last evaluation tool to decipher whether a prospect is NHL ready or not. Those games didn't resemble NHL hockey. I can't even list 3 things that those pond-shinny games have in common with NHL hockey. That was the antithesis to NHL hockey.

 

[IntangiBo]

Using that logic, by day 1 of the regular season, no one cares who won how many games last season. I guess an entire season of hockey is meaningless?

I sure hope nobody cares "who won how many games last year" when this season starts.

 

[crazyforhockey]

Remeber Nurse last year....he looked slow and terriblr at the prospect games.
I thought he was defintly going back.
At the nhl preseason I thought he was one of their better dmen.he should be on their team....they sent him back.

As for Horvat he definitely has two way hockey concepts down pat and seem to be aleays on the right side defensivly.
Thats a skill it takes alot of forwards a few years to aqui re. Does he make the team? Can he play at the Nhl level?

We will see.
But hes got the key elements defensively to stay up.

 

[crazyforhockey]

Also has the size and strength to stay...is it enough?
Esp vs big Nhl players.and is his skating strong enough

 

[VanJack]

Hockey is still a team game....having a few flashy forwards isn't going to translate into a full 60-minute effort...let's face it the 'Nucks 'young-stars' defense just didn't cut it. If there's no systems play, break-outs or decent stretch passes, nobody can look good....biggest disappointment to me was that the B.C.- based NHL team sent such a weak team to this tournament. But I guess you can't do much about injuries or absences of your entire 2014 draft class.

And before getting too carried away the results, take a good look at the Flames roster and the number of 'veterans' they had....Jooris, Granlund, Ramage, Ferland, Wotherspoon, Kulak, and Turner Ellson all played in the AHL last year.....Gaudreau, Arnold and Agostino were seniors coming out of the NCAA....stacked team that should have dominated this tournament. With the exception of maybe Gaudreau and Granlund, career AHL'ers most of them....bring on the main camps, the true test of where prospects are really at in their development

 

[denkiteki]

i gotta say none of the defense prospect at the tourney had a good showing.

That's what i thought would happen and did happen. Of course we do have a few prospects in NCAA who might (and probably are) higher in the depth charts than the Ds that played (not counting Corrado). McNally and Hutton both likely would be #2/#3 on the team if they were there.

Corrado's play is a bit bigger concern but then again its only a prospect tournament so its not all that meaningful. He did not look good and only stood out for the wrong reasons (like pretty much every other D prospect we had). In the big picture, it doesn't matter but without a doubt, he has a bigger spot light on him now going into main camp (where his play will matter a lot more). If Corrado continues playing like this, i think Andersson would pass him in the depth chart as the #8 or #9 dman on the team (aka odds of playing in the NHL are slim to none).

 

[me2]

After just watching the game with a big microscope on Horvat, **** you guys! His game was very solid. Offensively he looked fine too. had some chances and setup a couple. Just didn't finish.

he was on for 2 PK goals against. Feel free to tell me what he did wrong on those plays. He had a guy's stick tied up on one and happened to have a puck bounce off his foot. The other one he committed to the point and saw a wrister somehow get through and in.

This team's offence died from the defence. what frustration! if the puck wasn't on Corrado's stick, nothing was attempted in way of transition. Just dumped back to the Flames. The flames defence actually worked the puck to their forwards and it showed.

Shinkaruk takes some really dumb Kesler-esque shots at very inopportune times that just ended up going the other way for odd man rushes.

As I said the pros would look at that, fans at dangles.

Gaudreau had a strong final two periods for the Flames.

I thought he looked great in the games when the systems broke down and it was pond hockey level of defensive chaos, less so when teams were operating well. This could be an issue at NHL level against certain teams, but he only needs an instant work his magic.

 

[BeardyCanuck03]

Quick thought on Corrado, may be completely off base. Does anyone think Corrado was trying to do too much, and was trying to cover for his D partner too much?

 

[BobbyJazzLegs]

Quick thought on Corrado, may be completely off base. Does anyone think Corrado was trying to do too much, and was trying to cover for his D partner too much?

I don't think Frankie, Bo, Brendan or Nick were comfortable at all. Couldn't get into any rhythm.

All guys that are probably used to being in the right place. While everyone else was scrambling they were hung out to dry and it just manifested in different ways.

That being said, I was really disappointed in what I saw from Gaunce.