Canucks need SNIPERS

[RobertKron]

Obviously, we want more spectacular goals. Y'know, the ones that don't have to be scored as own goals from other the teams players.

That's how you score goals when the whistles get put away, though. Unless you've got the top-end guys to make it happen with sheer individual efforts. Everyone remembers the big-time playoff goal where a guy streaks down the wing and goes bar down with it, but forgets the three other goals that game that were scored with shovels rather than sticks.

This team's biggest problem offensively is that for whatever reason they seem to get very little effective pressure to the net. It's a lot of shots from weird spots without a ton of bodies on the way.

Compare it with this video of Kelser vs. Nashville. Sorry it's one of those "I got a computer I make video" montages, but it's the first thing I found.


Goal 1 - Chip deep (what so many people seem to want the team to NEVER do for some reason) gets tangled with the defender, Kesler keeps punching up the middle for it, Raymond drives the net as the follow-up. Goal.

Goal 2 - This one is an individual effort. Just drives up the gut and shoots. But again, he's just taking the puck to the net.

Goal 3 - Hansen is driving the net, misses the pass, Torres is driving the net. Confused, broken play and a shot from a billion feet goes in.

Goal 4 - Hard dump-in, retrieval, Kesler and Daniel push to the crease and Henrik simply throws the puck to the goalmouth because he knows there's going to be bodies and confusion there.

Goal 5 - Drive the net.

Goal 6 - Torres drives the net, brings a man down with him, which later causes confusion in Nashville's coverage up high, which leaves a point uncovered. Meanwhile Kesler, Bieksa (who then fades out to the slot), and Torres drive to the net. Puck to the net, deflection - goal.

Goal 7 - All three forwards crash the net hard. Puck goes out high, gets thrown to the crease - goal.

Goal 8 - There's like 4 bodies going to the crease when the puck gets thrown out there.

Goal 9 - Two bodies to the net on the PP. Point shot and SOB is hanging around trying to be in position to cover both guys on the rebound.

Basically there's like one "gamebreaker" goal in here. Obviously Kelser is a great player and made a lot happen, but it's not like he's dangling guys and going shelf from the dots at the end of some pretty skill play. A lot of these goals are basically grinding it out.

 

[Nucker101]

I think we all know what a gamebreaker (or sniper) is, but thanks.

As for Kesler, If I'm a defender on a one on one with Kesler, I don't break right or left I slow down and wait for the inevitable wrister from just inside the blueline and from there watch the shot go high and wide or see my goalie make the save.

Didn't mean to come off sounding like I'm talking to a non-hockey fan, my bad. Regarding Kesler, as I said he's been consistent with it but he's shown the ability to be that type of a player, just having a few of those types of players that may not even be consistent with it is good enough.

 

[Vankiller Whale]

So your suggestion is Lack as the starter next year? Or you've seagulled a free agent goaltender you think might be a good fit?

Because Luongo has asked for a trade. He won't be returning as the starter, and if he does for some reason it's going to be extremely uncomfortable for everyone involved.

If Schneider weren't here, I highly doubt Luongo would still want to leave. He took it like a pro playing as a backup here, and you think if he could be the starter again he would still demand to be traded?

He signed a lifetime contract with us, and he fully understood the ramifications of that.

Anyways, on-topic, yes, we do need a sniper. Especially since Daniel can no longer hit the wide side of a barn.

 

[Hal 9000*]

That's how you score goals when the whistles get put away, though. Unless you've got the top-end guys to make it happen with sheer individual efforts. Everyone remembers the big-time playoff goal where a guy streaks down the wing and goes bar down with it, but forgets the three other goals that game that were scored with shovels rather than sticks.

This team's biggest problem offensively is that for whatever reason they seem to get very little effective pressure to the net. It's a lot of shots from weird spots without a ton of bodies on the way.

Compare it with this video of Kelser vs. Nashville. Sorry it's one of those "I got a computer I make video" montages, but it's the first thing I found.


Goal 1 - Chip deep (what so many people seem to want the team to NEVER do for some reason) gets tangled with the defender, Kesler keeps punching up the middle for it, Raymond drives the net as the follow-up. Goal.

Goal 2 - This one is an individual effort. Just drives up the gut and shoots. But again, he's just taking the puck to the net.

Goal 3 - Hansen is driving the net, misses the pass, Torres is driving the net. Confused, broken play and a shot from a billion feet goes in.

Goal 4 - Hard dump-in, retrieval, Kesler and Daniel push to the crease and Henrik simply throws the puck to the goalmouth because he knows there's going to be bodies and confusion there.

Goal 5 - Drive the net.

Goal 6 - Torres drives the net, brings a man down with him, which later causes confusion in Nashville's coverage up high, which leaves a point uncovered. Meanwhile Kesler, Bieksa (who then fades out to the slot), and Torres drive to the net. Puck to the net, deflection - goal.

Goal 7 - All three forwards crash the net hard. Puck goes out high, gets thrown to the crease - goal.

Goal 8 - There's like 4 bodies going to the crease when the puck gets thrown out there.

Goal 9 - Two bodies to the net on the PP. Point shot and SOB is hanging around trying to be in position to cover both guys on the rebound.

Basically there's like one "gamebreaker" goal in here. Obviously Kelser is a great player and made a lot happen, but it's not like he's dangling guys and going shelf from the dots at the end of some pretty skill play. A lot of these goals are basically grinding it out.

I agree that we need hard earned, net grashing goals. The fact is; you still need the players to do that. As it is; we're not getting either type of goals. We're not sniping goals and we're not going to the net, nor are we getting rebounds - We're barely getting the puck to the net - let alone players.

 

[solitary]

what we need is someone whod fit nicely with Hansen+ Higgins like Couturier or Henrique.

And someone who'd fit with Kesler like Weiss.

Those Henrique/Couturier and Weiss fit our 2nd and 3rd lines playing styles.

How do you know those players would "fit" with the current players. This is just pure speculation based on nothing really.

 

[Lundface*]

We drafted 2 very good shooters and traded them both off. With this coach its more important to have grinders in the system than offensive players.

 

[RobertKron]

I agree that we need hard earned, net grashing goals. The fact is; you still need the players to do that. As it is; we're not getting either type of goals. We're not sniping goals and we're not going to the net, nor are we getting rebounds - We're barely getting the puck to the net - let alone players.

Agreed. I guess my point is that unless we're talking a one-man-army type of elite player, they've got other problems that need to be adressed before personnel is going to really effectively fix things. If you address them simultaneously, great, but talking like dropping in a guy with a wicked snapper is going to somehow fix things is really simplistic.

Guys like Higgins, Hansen, Booth, Kassian, Raymond, Lapierre, Burrows, etc. Should be no less effective at pushing pressure and creating havoc than Raffi ****ing Torres. This team was unreal at that in 2010-11, and somehow with mostly the same personnel, they're like a totally different team. It's on coaching, yes, but they also just look like a scared team. They look anxious, and afraid to go for it like they used to for fear of it not working again. I have no idea how you fix that.

 

[solitary]

I definitely think that the Sedins and the defense are the biggest problem.

XX - XX - Kesler
XX - XX - Burrows
Higgins - XX - Hansen
XX - Lapierre - Kassian

Hamhuis - XX
Garrison - Tanev
XX - Corrado

Schneider
XX

are the only pieces I'm interested in keeping.

I don't think we need snipers, we just need more well-rounded players.

I would trade the Sedins, Edler, and Luongo for 3-4 well-rounded 60 point forwards.

Trading the Sedins is not an option. They won't waive their NTC.

 

[jigsaw99]

Jensen will hopefully become a sniper for us.

I heard Archibald has a good shot.

There's always Clarkson in UFA this offseason.

 

[RobertKron]

I wonder if what happened is either that this team got to game 7 in 2011 and then was like "oh ****, that didn't work, we got killed, time to change everything" when realistically they should have looked at things and said "we'll get em next year." Or if it's that they bought into their press clippings. Or, I guess, a combination of both.

This team in 2010-11 was awesome because they played like ultra-grinders. They hounded the puck, they drove the net, they won battles, and they pressured the puck. When they chipped it in, they busted ass and retrieved it. When they put the puck to the net, they had guys charging hard to create chaos. When the D pinched, they charged headlong down the wall and didn't care who or what was in their way. If you watch that video, you can really see it. When that team did something, they committed to it. I don't know that you really saw that to the same degree this year. There was a lot more anxiety and tentativeness to their game, IMO.

 

[biturbo19]

That's how you score goals when the whistles get put away, though. Unless you've got the top-end guys to make it happen with sheer individual efforts. Everyone remembers the big-time playoff goal where a guy streaks down the wing and goes bar down with it, but forgets the three other goals that game that were scored with shovels rather than sticks.

This team's biggest problem offensively is that for whatever reason they seem to get very little effective pressure to the net. It's a lot of shots from weird spots without a ton of bodies on the way.

Compare it with this video of Kelser vs. Nashville. Sorry it's one of those "I got a computer I make video" montages, but it's the first thing I found.


Goal 1 - Chip deep (what so many people seem to want the team to NEVER do for some reason) gets tangled with the defender, Kesler keeps punching up the middle for it, Raymond drives the net as the follow-up. Goal.

Goal 2 - This one is an individual effort. Just drives up the gut and shoots. But again, he's just taking the puck to the net.

Goal 3 - Hansen is driving the net, misses the pass, Torres is driving the net. Confused, broken play and a shot from a billion feet goes in.

Goal 4 - Hard dump-in, retrieval, Kesler and Daniel push to the crease and Henrik simply throws the puck to the goalmouth because he knows there's going to be bodies and confusion there.

Goal 5 - Drive the net.

Goal 6 - Torres drives the net, brings a man down with him, which later causes confusion in Nashville's coverage up high, which leaves a point uncovered. Meanwhile Kesler, Bieksa (who then fades out to the slot), and Torres drive to the net. Puck to the net, deflection - goal.

Goal 7 - All three forwards crash the net hard. Puck goes out high, gets thrown to the crease - goal.

Goal 8 - There's like 4 bodies going to the crease when the puck gets thrown out there.

Goal 9 - Two bodies to the net on the PP. Point shot and SOB is hanging around trying to be in position to cover both guys on the rebound.

Basically there's like one "gamebreaker" goal in here. Obviously Kelser is a great player and made a lot happen, but it's not like he's dangling guys and going shelf from the dots at the end of some pretty skill play. A lot of these goals are basically grinding it out.

I'm not quite sure what your point is here...

Basically, yes...the goals we score are greasy 'crash the net' and 'hope for a lucky bounce' type goals. Nobody is saying we should stop trying to score those goals...but the problem is, those are, as you're essentially suggesting...the only sort of goals this team can score in the playoffs (if at all).

Obviously the dirty 'playoff goals' generated by getting pucks to the net with traffic and confusion are going to be a huge part of success for a team (even in the regular season really). But i think you're looking at the fact that all the goals we score seem to be those dirty smash mouth types as a cause, rather than effect. The bigger issue (and where that extra 'standalone' offensive player comes in), is that we have precious few players capable of scoring goals in other 'skilled' ways come playoff time. The Twins and Kesler...and they're both extremely inconsistent at it when it comes to playoffs.

Just look at the last Cup winner, the Kings...they scored a lot of greasy goals, sure. But look at the goals scored by guys like Kopitar, Carter, even Richards and Brown, Williams, and you'll see...they're also getting the 'skilled goals' from their top talents. That's the difference in a series.

 

[Tom.H]

Big RWer For Sedins

Seeing how the twins have no trade clauses; it probably means they have to stay with the team.
If they are to be our core players, then it stands to reason that if Burrows or any other player we currently have remains on their line, then we can't expect a different result once play-offs come around.
In my way of thinking with those things in mind, it is imperative to go out and get them a RWer who can create room for them to work their wizardry.
The Sedins are players that when they are given room, they are among the best players in the league. However, the secret to playing the Sedins is to be both physical and give them no room to work their magic.
No, this will not be easy; but looking at all the option, I think it makes the most sense.

 

[RobertKron]

I'm not quite sure what your point is here...

Basically, yes...the goals we score are greasy 'crash the net' and 'hope for a lucky bounce' type goals. Nobody is saying we should stop trying to score those goals...but the problem is, those are, as you're essentially suggesting...the only sort of goals this team can score in the playoffs (if at all).

Obviously the dirty 'playoff goals' generated by getting pucks to the net with traffic and confusion are going to be a huge part of success for a team (even in the regular season really). But i think you're looking at the fact that all the goals we score seem to be those dirty smash mouth types as a cause, rather than effect. The bigger issue (and where that extra 'standalone' offensive player comes in), is that we have precious few players capable of scoring goals in other 'skilled' ways come playoff time. The Twins and Kesler...and they're both extremely inconsistent at it when it comes to playoffs.

Just look at the last Cup winner, the Kings...they scored a lot of greasy goals, sure. But look at the goals scored by guys like Kopitar, Carter, even Richards and Brown, Williams, and you'll see...they're also getting the 'skilled goals' from their top talents. That's the difference in a series.

My point is that even a lot of the "skill" goals happen in the playoffs because other guys are charging hard to the net and doing other icky "grinder" things. Especially when we're not talking about adding a Kovalchuk or Datsyuk level player.

 

[JuniorNelson]

Seeing how the twins have no trade clauses; it probably means they have to stay with the team.
If they are to be our core players, then it stands to reason that if Burrows or any other player we currently have remains on their line, then we can't expect a different result once play-offs come around.
In my way of thinking with those things in mind, it is imperative to go out and get them a RWer who can create room for them to work their wizardry.
The Sedins are players that when they are given room, they are among the best players in the league. However, the secret to playing the Sedins is to be both physical and give them no room to work their magic.
No, this will not be easy; but looking at all the option, I think it makes the most sense.

Agree Sedins return.

I am thinking Kassian on RW with the Sedins, all year, all game, every shift. He just needs to grow into the role. He has shown he can handle it, in spurts. Let him be the guy. I do not think Horton wants to come here, anyway, even if there was room for him under the cap.

Another Kassian advantage; cheapness of contract. The team may have to economize like crazy next season. One way to do that is to develop kids in the NHL. I think Gillis even mentioned this. It's not crazy to think the bottom six might be half ELCs. Adding Kassian's contract to the top six is an awesome bonus in terms of cap management.

 

[putridgasbag]

I agree with most of your post. Gillis' comments really concern me. I hope he's not looking to add more Steve Berniers to this team

We need somebody who can score anywhere inside the blueline. Right now it's only Kesler and his one move has been figured out by everyone in the league, so his shot rarely gets through. We need someone with offensive creativity. The Sedins have that in spades but it's more from the passing/playmaking side. We need someone who can do it himself. Not easy to find though. For all the hate Kessel gets, I would take him in a hearbeat for Edler.

Just out of curiosity what the heck is that supposed to mean? The team needs some one who can score in the offensive zone? So are there guys out there who score from the neutral zone who just don't fit the bill?!?!

 

[echlfreak]

This is the start to my somewhat but not really real Canucks make over:

Buyout Booth and Ballard

Trade Sedins to NYR for Richards and Staal

Trade Edler and Luongo to Philly for Couturier, Simmonds and Read


FORWARDS
Wayne Simmonds ($3.975m) / Brad Richards ($6.667m) / Alexandre Burrows ($4.500m)
Chris Higgins ($2.500m) / Ryan Kesler ($5.000m) / Jannik Hansen ($1.350m)
Sean Couturier ($1.375m) / Matt Read ($0.900m)
Zack Kassian ($0.870m)
DEFENSEMEN
Marc Staal ($3.975m) / Kevin Bieksa ($4.600m)
Jason Garrison ($4.600m) / Dan Hamhuis ($4.500m)
GOALTENDERS
Cory Schneider ($4.000m)

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