Post-Game Talk: Game #20: Ducks 3, Canucks 1 - Petition to move into Metropolitan division

[MS]

We just lost a 2-1 game, on the road, against the best team in the NHL in a game where we outplayed them for the majority of the night. And it was our 3rd game in less than 4 days.

The reactionary negativity here is astounding.

We were the best team on the ice in 3 of the 4 games of this road trip (which was just about the toughest trip imaginable), and were unlucky to not get better results. It happens.

 

[alternate]

not too unhappy with how the road trip went. Would have been nice to find a way to get an extra point from PHX or ANA (felt we deserved more from both games) but overall we hung in with four good teams on home hot streaks when we weren't at our best. As the road trip wore on, we seemed to lose sharpness in our game. Add in that puck luck is against us right now, and there are plenty of positives to take from these games.

Powerplay needs to get figured out. Do that and I see a hot streak of our own coming pretty soon.

 

[vanuck]

Haven't seen many comments about Lack. I can't help but wonder if he's on par with Luongo already. Will need to see more but his technical ability, size and calm demeanor instills a lot of confidence. Wouldn't be surprised to see him match Lou save for save from here on out. Looks like the real deal - certainly better than the guy he used to back up in Jacob Markstrom.

Which is why I hope they get him at least 25 starts this year. Worst-case is that Luongo still wants out at the end of the year - assuming nothing has changed - so I think there has to be some consideration to acclimatizing Lack to NHL play as quickly as possible. Of course, provided we're in a position to make the playoffs.

Pretty funny how bipolar a lot of people are. Most of them had already written off this season as a transitional period as the Canucks were hamstrung by the lowered cap. Suddenly, when we start winning, we're off to the races asking why we haven't signed FAs to expensive contracts to bolster our second line or haven't traded for top liners (while forgetting that they had previously anguished over the fact that we had no one coming up from the farm) when we lose two games in back-to-back in a hard road trip. Literally sharks in water that taste blood of defeat and decide to go on a frenzy. I understand it's frustrating to see our group lose with stretches of poor play in this most recent game but I feel it's better to keep a cool head and to step back and think rationally.

Fact is, unless Gillis decides to go in all in this season (an unwise move in my opinion), we play with what we have and improve internally as a group while exchanging a few inexpensive outside parts with shedding teams like Florida to tweak our team. With the upcoming cap projected to rise, maybe Gillis will throw a shiny new bone at our bipolar fanbase to settle them down for a bit. One can only hope.

This.

There was a ton of Canucks fans at the game and all of them to me atleast were classy. Cheers

Good to hear.

 

[Bertie]

Anyone else think that Kesler's game is not suited to the Sedins?

I feel the Sedins build up and cycling is too slow and studied for Kes. He is being forced into more static situations and that doesn't suit his game.

Kesler's best season was playing with a speedy winger and a big sniper (Raymond and Sammy) and I think he thrives on open space to move in. He's being crowded out most of the time with the twins.

Also I still think a big body in front of the net is the best fit for the twins. If Kassian was anything like consistent I would say he would be worth a try but I'm afraid we will struggle to bring him to anything like first/second line potency.

 

[vanuck]

Anyone else think that Kesler's game is not suited to the Sedins?

I feel the Sedins build up and cycling is too slow and studied for Kes. He is being forced into more static situations and that doesn't suit his game.

Kesler's best season was playing with a speedy winger and a big sniper (Raymond and Sammy) and I think he thrives on open space to move in. He's being crowded out most of the time with the twins.

Also I still think a big body in front of the net is the best fit for the twins. If Kassian was anything like consistent I would say he would be worth a try but I'm afraid we will struggle to bring him to anything like first/second line potency.

I like what Kesler does for the Twins in terms of forechecking, puck retrieval and providing a good shooting option, but I just don't think he reads them as well as Burrows does.

 

[clashed]

Anyone else think that Kesler's game is not suited to the Sedins?

I feel the Sedins build up and cycling is too slow and studied for Kes. He is being forced into more static situations and that doesn't suit his game.

Kesler's best season was playing with a speedy winger and a big sniper (Raymond and Sammy) and I think he thrives on open space to move in. He's being crowded out most of the time with the twins.

Also I still think a big body in front of the net is the best fit for the twins. If Kassian was anything like consistent I would say he would be worth a try but I'm afraid we will struggle to bring him to anything like first/second line potency.

The problem is if Kes doesn't fit with the Sedins, or any of the other forwards, where are we going to put him?

 

[LiveeviL]

Haven't seen many comments about Lack. I can't help but wonder if he's on par with Luongo already. Will need to see more but his technical ability, size and calm demeanor instills a lot of confidence. Wouldn't be surprised to see him match Lou save for save from here on out. Looks like the real deal - certainly better than the guy he used to back up in Jacob Markstrom.

Läck seems to steam on better than Markström, but Läck ain't at Lou's level - yet at least.

Lou might very well be team Canada's starter, Läck will certainly not come in question for team Sweden. With that said, Canada got better goaltending overall (Sweden one elite goalie, Canada got how many?).

 

[ShouldveDraftedFiala]

I like what Kesler does for the Twins in terms of forechecking, puck retrieval and providing a good shooting option, but I just don't think he reads them as well as Burrows does.

Burrows does all of those things better than Kesler does.

 

[Seatoo]

Cammalleri is a 30-40 goal scorer and Calgary would be reluctant to trade one of their more established NHL'ers (they aren't taking he Oiker route) What do you think it would take? Over priced but actually sounds about right.

Actually they are literally taking the Oilers route, soooo ya. Now remember that he is undersized and a pending UFA with very small chance that he resigns.

Booth + 2nd or Booth + Jensen. Even the most hardcore homer Calgary fans don't expect your type of return.

 

[bminucci]

Generally good effort on the road trip, I don't know what you guys are talking about. Yeah they got manhandled by the Kings, but they finally beat the Sharks, got their point against Phoenix, and this game was close too.

If anything it shows that of the three California teams we can hold our own with at least two of them, and I expect us to be ok versus LA as well since almost everything that could go wrong did against them.

I see once again people wanting trades or something. Lots of the teams in the league are 'one-line teams' in terms of offence. Look at Anaheim. Who do they really have after Getzlaf and Perry?

Anyways, the Canucks continue to play a much more playoff friendly game and it's a lot more fun to watch as well.

Getzlaf was out... but after Getzlaf and Perry they have Penner (playing like he never played in LA), Koivu (who was also out) and Selanne as names you should recognize. They also have a very deep stable of young players. They roll all 4 lines with the 4th line always getting more than 10 minutes of game time per game... Some names to remember that you will probably know in the near future are Mathieu Perreault, Jakob Silfverberg (also out on injury), Emerson Etem, Nick Bonino.

 

[Shareefruck]

You know, this never occurred to me before, but we can actually do this at some point down the road:

Sedin - Sedin - Hansen
Booth - Kesler - Kassian
Higgins - Santorelli - Burrows
Archibald - Richardson - Weise

That's more depth than I thought we had, offense spread around nicely, and with everyone playing where I wanted them to play at the beginning of the year + that great Santo line

I'm officially pushing for it.

 

[bminucci]

The team didn't give up and lose. They outshot ANA by nearly 2:1 margin. Sesito tied the game up late into the 2nd period, in a 1-0 game. Based on the information provided, what is more reasonable: That the Canucks primary scoring failed them or their secondary scoring? The information to me clearly points to the primary scoring not coming through. Sestito did the job for the secondary scoring in a tight game.

Also, you made up something I never said in "subpar 2nd line". I said regular 2nd line + elite 1st line is a good enough combo. Beastmodo has been elite. Check. 2nd line has produced at a 2nd line rate. Check. What you want is a 1st line backing beastmodo. That's the premise of your argument.

Question: Is ANA a cup contender? If so, who do they have on their 2nd line? DSP-Perrault-Selanne? If not, they're doing pretty damned good for not being one. They also stack their top line.

Without injuries their second line would be Silfverberg, Perrault, Selanne. This Ducks team has 3rd most man games lost in the league due to injury. Over the season this includes all players from the top 2 lines except Perry. If you think they don't have depth, think again.

 

[Karl Hungus]

Without injuries their second line would be Silfverberg, Perrault, Selanne. This Ducks team has 3rd most man games lost in the league due to injury. Over the season this includes all players from the top 2 lines except Perry. If you think they don't have depth, think again.

Yup. All that drafting the Ducks did a few years back is paying off for them now. Guys like Palmarri, etc aren't producing enough yet for people to notice them league wide, but the Ducks have a good group of guys that skate and compete and can find the net behind their well known top line. Also, their defense is quite nasty.

 

[canuck4life16]

Hope twins are split up
Higgins/burrow with henrik
Daniel/kesler with santorelli

It works wonder for hawk to break up JT and PK

 

[NuxFan09]

I think the reason there's an extra bit of fuss about these recent losses is because they came at the hands of these tough division rivals. It's early, so you can't jump to conclusions, but the early indication is the Canucks don't measure up to those teams as of now and that's what has some folks a bit disappointed. Nothing to do losing two in a row, everything to do with trends. The team is 1-4-1 against the Pacific and the Sedins have a combined 4 assists in those 6 games. Can't just chalk it up to a loss is a loss. You have to observe the trends going on here. They're just a bit troubling.

To all you high and mighty, self-righteous folks, please remember one thing: everyone is entitled to their opinion about this team. Stop attacking those that are maybe a bit more pessimistic or critical. Most of us who lean that way are watching every game and here commenting, good game or bad. We all have the right to say what we want about the team so let's stop attacking others for how they choose to analyze them. The only ones who it would fair to attack are those who choose to only show up here when the team is doing bad. Now those are trolls.

Are the mods in agreement with me here?

 

[Taelin]

Both the Phoenix and Anaheim games were close, and we have an entire line missing from our forward ranks (and playing Weber on the fourth, and Sestito on the third..), so I'm not ready to cry Chicken Little instead.

 

[Taelin]

I think the reason there's an extra bit of fuss about these recent losses is because they came at the hands of these tough division rivals. It's early, so you can't jump to conclusions, but the early indication is the Canucks don't measure up to those teams as of now and that's what has some folks a bit disappointed. Nothing to do losing two in a row, everything to do with trends. The team is 1-4-1 against the Pacific and the Sedins have a combined 4 assists in those 6 games. Can't just chalk it up to a loss is a loss. You have to observe the trends going on here. They're just a bit troubling.

To all you high and mighty, self-righteous folks, please remember one thing: everyone is entitled to their opinion about this team. Stop attacking those that are maybe a bit more pessimistic or critical. Most of us who lean that way are watching every game and here commenting, good game or bad. We all have the right to say what we want about the team so let's stop attacking others for how they choose to analyze them. The only ones who it would fair to attack are those who choose to only show up here when the team is doing bad. Now those are trolls.

Are the mods in agreement with me here?

We could easily be 3-3-1; some close games in there. Plus, teams will start coming down to Earth when more interdivisional play happens instead of everyone beating up the East.

Sorry for the optimism.

 

[opendoor]

I think the reason there's an extra bit of fuss about these recent losses is because they came at the hands of these tough division rivals. It's early, so you can't jump to conclusions, but the early indication is the Canucks don't measure up to those teams as of now and that's what has some folks a bit disappointed. Nothing to do losing two in a row, everything to do with trends. The team is 1-4-1 against the Pacific and the Sedins have a combined 4 assists in those 6 games. Can't just chalk it up to a loss is a loss. You have to observe the trends going on here. They're just a bit troubling.

To all you high and mighty, self-righteous folks, please remember one thing: everyone is entitled to their opinion about this team. Stop attacking those that are maybe a bit more pessimistic or critical. Most of us who lean that way are watching every game and here commenting, good game or bad. We all have the right to say what we want about the team so let's stop attacking others for how they choose to analyze them. The only ones who it would fair to attack are those who choose to only show up here when the team is doing bad. Now those are trolls.

Are the mods in agreement with me here?

3-4-1 actually, and 6 of the 8 have been on the road which is kind of a big deal given that the Pacific division has a .750 or so record at home.

And talking about players' trends over a 6 game sample is just about pointless. In fact it's less than pointless because it's misleading. The Sedins have never had trouble producing against top teams so I don't see why you'd assume a sliver of evidence from this season is going to change that.

 

[Hielo Grande]

I think the reason there's an extra bit of fuss about these recent losses is because they came at the hands of these tough division rivals. It's early, so you can't jump to conclusions, but the early indication is the Canucks don't measure up to those teams as of now and that's what has some folks a bit disappointed. Nothing to do losing two in a row, everything to do with trends. The team is 1-4-1 against the Pacific and the Sedins have a combined 4 assists in those 6 games. Can't just chalk it up to a loss is a loss. You have to observe the trends going on here. They're just a bit troubling.

To all you high and mighty, self-righteous folks, please remember one thing: everyone is entitled to their opinion about this team. Stop attacking those that are maybe a bit more pessimistic or critical. Most of us who lean that way are watching every game and here commenting, good game or bad. We all have the right to say what we want about the team so let's stop attacking others for how they choose to analyze them. The only ones who it would fair to attack are those who choose to only show up here when the team is doing bad. Now those are trolls.

Are the mods in agreement with me here?

That's your opinion, to which of course you are entitled. The truth is that much of the pessimism comes from posters who are constantly heralding the sky is falling or we are top contenders. It gets tiresome. Usually they are not being constructively critical but are moaning and whining. That accomplishes nothing except to annoy readers who want to be informed or engage in reasonable discussion.

The Canucks lost a couple of games in which they outplayed the opponents, but had really bad puck-luck and were going through a gruelling schedule.

As an aside you are defending the right of pessimists to post while complaining about others' posts.

 

[strattonius]

Actually they are literally taking the Oilers route, soooo ya. Now remember that he is undersized and a pending UFA with very small chance that he resigns.

Booth + 2nd or Booth + Jensen. Even the most hardcore homer Calgary fans don't expect your type of return.

Booth and Jensen is your best offer? okay perhaps my offer was steep, but it was still closer than this.

Do you really think a mid 40's pick/Jensen and David Booth is enough to acquire a 30 goal scorer? We have fans in here that believe Booth would clear waivers, and you add him as a key piece centering Cammalleri.

You are simply WAYYY off. Typical over value own assets (like Jensen) and undervalue your opponents. Jensen isn't even that valuable. We all hope for the best with him but EVERY team in the NHL has an asset like that - they aren't exactly sought after. He's not a blue chip.

 

[NuxFan09]

We could easily be 3-3-1; some close games in there. Plus, teams will start coming down to Earth when more interdivisional play happens instead of everyone beating up the East.

Sorry for the optimism.

I don't mind optimism at all. What I do mind is people making snarky comments, like the bipolar comments, and insulting the more pessimistic posters. It sounds so annoying and self-righteous, as if those who have a less than rosy feeling about this team are inferior. It's my opinion that the mods have to pay as much attention to posters like that as they do the trolls. Those kind of posts are what usually start arguments because some of you can't just let other people say their opinion.

A poster like Johnny Canucker, for example, is not disruptive at all. You people just choose to get your panties in a knot with him.

 

[vanarchy]

Not a big fan of the fact that we've played 3 more games than LA and they're 2 points behind us.

 

[deadinthewater]

Not a big fan of the fact that we've played 3 more games than LA and they're 2 points behind us.

Well that usually evens out in the end. Unless there's a huge disparity between the teams to begin with.

 

[canuck4life16]

Not a big fan of the fact that we've played 3 more games than LA and they're 2 points behind us.

did you notice we played the most game out of the entire league.....we have 20 everyone else is 19 and below

 

[vanuck]

Burrows does all of those things better than Kesler does.

They're on par with each other in the first two, I think. As an actual shooter though Kes is better.