The best backside award goes to Jake Allen.
Alex had a really good discussion about Marky's performance in the last 6 games on the post-game show. It really struck a cord, after reading about a young Hasek and - oddly enough - playing ministix in a tiny alcove with ohsix.Marky deserves a star in this one. First period was the game.
When baertschi is healthy I’d like to see
Bae-petey-leivo
Godly-horvat-boeser
Swap Goldobin and Baertschi and I’m in.
Put pre-concussion Baertschi on a line with Petey and Brock and I think he gets at least 60-70 pts. We will see if he comes back the same player.
Baertschi is the forward version of Chris Tanev (injury prone), except Baertschi will just be a temporary filler on wing until we can find someone more capable. He was off to a good start this year, but he's been a 30-35 point player who can't stay healthy, for the last 3 seasons. Now with the concussions, he'll be lucky to play over 70 games probably.
Carcone has been a healthy scratch w. Marlies.
Hows this even a debate still that this was a good trade
Svens skill level is undeniable. He was pacing 45 pts last yr not 30-35. I think he would work really well with Petey but that’s speculation on my part not a guarantee. We can only hope his concussion wont change his skills
Some people are very unwilling to say anything unabashedly positive about anything to do with Benning; there must always be reservations...
Seems like Blues fell off a cliff.
Tarasenko was a scoring machine, and Allen was thought to be their goalie for the next run. This was all just a year ago wasn't it?
I think the Blues were expected to be better with their summer acquisitions, but they did miss the playoffs last season.
I was never a fan of Jake Allen. When he was sharing the net with Brian Elliot, I thought Elliot was better.
When baertschi is healthy I’d like to see
Bae-petey-leivo
Godly-horvat-boeser
Interesting.... Boeser and Petterrsen have been a little stagnant of late but they undoubtedly work really well together
What is a top 4 dman exactly? Tonight he had the highest ice time among defensemen, almost 24 minutes and looked good in a convincing 5-1 victory over a team that was expected to be a cup contender before the season. I'd be lying if I said I don't think Gudbranson can still be a top pairing defenseman with the right partner because I think he has shown that ability when healthy.
Nice summary, I would like to ask though do you think you are being a bit too hard on Josh.Man, we should play these guys all the time. Nice when other team has a crappy goaltender.
Good
Horvat - glad we don't have to play against this player.
Edler - playing big and a little mean
Tanev - upper level d-man when he is on his game like he is now
Virtanen - is making the right play so much more often. Coming into his own as legit player at this level and showing he can think with the puck on his stick.
Markstrom - providing good NHL goaltending. Do the Canucks really need to pursue a supposed elite goaltender in the off season??? Markstrom looks pretty near to that this season.
Gudbranson - alternates b/w good and bad games. He is always likely to make a couple of coverage areas mistakes but I thought he was on the good side of the ledger in this one. One player that was moving people off the puck and taking people right out of the play. Strong on some crucial early PKs
In spite of score there were some poor performances in this game (lots of times when Blues did dominate and couldn't get the puck by Markstrom). These included:
Boeser - lugged badly in this game and mishandled the puck way too much. Seems to me that Boeser is going to need to have a thorough off season training regimen to get weight down (and he looks like a type that may have to worry about weight) and get in top end playing shape. Right now he is, in spite of getting some points, struggling
Pouliot - whatever ... just flat out not good enough.
Others
Gaudette - nice that he scored but he got schooled on the only goal against. Play in his own end was shaky
Levio - IMO not enough in the play. Just MIA for too much of the time. Can make a play here and there but overall he doesn't do much.
Pettersson - needs to get a second wind. Struggling with the size and strength of NHL players again. But he can make the magical play to turn a game around.
Hutton - like a few others I think the amount of playing time and the schedule is catching up with him. Didn't have much jump in this game.
Goldobin - could easily see where some would question his performance in this game. Did like the way he tried to stay hard on his check.
Eriksson - playing well on the defensive side of the puck and is getting offensive chances. If he was making 1.5 to 2.0 you'd be OK with how he is playing.
Canucks beat the Jets next game and I think you have to call them playoff contenders.
True, but Boeser has also worked quite well with Horvat before.
I would personally do either...
Bae-Bo-Boeser
Leivo-EP-Goldy
(Reunite the previous chemistry, idk if Goldy plays right wing? Maybe put Leivo there?)
Or
Bae-EP-Boeser
Leivo-Bo-Goldy
(Try a swap, see what happens?)
Ok yes you pretty much proved my original point. Love the optimism - I'm all for it and nothing would make me happier than Jake scoring 30 and Gudbranson being more than someone who looks good in blue jeans and has nice hair.......I just tend to be a little more grounded in reality...........but hey keep it up!
Sure there are times when Gudbranson looks like he could be a top 4 guy. Unfortunately there are also times when it looks like he should be a 3rd pairing D-man in the AHL. Overall I think he can be a solid 5/6 guy - if he's in our top 4 our team just isn't that good.