Post-Game Talk: Game #45: Canucks 1 @ Lightning 4 || Save us Frankie.

[Serac]

Over/under on a too many men call our first game after the break ?

 

[StIllmatic]

Good to get that off my chest.

Btw corrado can legit play, his skating is very smoothe, noticing a decent shot also.

He has a great shot. Over 100mph and pretty accurate too from what I have seen. Could be better than Edler on our top unit.

 

[Pip]

The last couple games I've been impressed with Vey. He seems to be doing a better job of being stronger (or more elusive) with the puck and is generally making smart plays in the offensive zone.

 

[Diogenes92]

Something has to change with this powerplay. Is Gulutzan the mastermind of it?

 

[StIllmatic]

The last couple games I've been impressed with Vey. He seems to be doing a better job of being stronger (or more elusive) with the puck and is generally making smart plays in the offensive zone.

I agree. Honestly with everyone healthy it should be Kassian sitting again. I'd like for him to play through this, but he's playing like the 13th best forward on the team. Desjardins should have done a better of accommodating Kassian's skill and style earlier when he was playing well and carrying his line, but not gelling with his line mates.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

The last couple games I've been impressed with Vey. He seems to be doing a better job of being stronger (or more elusive) with the puck and is generally making smart plays in the offensive zone.

Also agree. He's moving a lot better along the boards; he's learning to use quick pivots and speed to get away from checks instead of trying (and failing) to simply muscle his way out.

Definitely liking him more and more as we go along.

 

[a Fool]

Agreed with you guys on Vey. He's using his agility and puck skills to avoid getting pinned or outmuscled. I like what I'm seeing. Still has work to do to become a reliable player though. I wasn't sold on him at all early in the year.

 

[Jimson Hogarth*]

Such hypocrites the people who rip Kassian to threads while not mentioning Chris top 6 Higgins.

 

[mathonwy]

Not like he has a hard enough shot to do anything with it. But seriously, I agree. Henrik and Daniel constantly cycling it and tossing it back and forth on the PP is so useless. Cover Daniel, and let Henrik pass it back and forth with Edler. The Vrbata backdoor option is gone because it's predictable now. Edler hardly ever shoots. Everything is just to predictable.

And the puck movement is slow as molasses. No one touch passes and the passes are extremely slow giving the goalie all the time in the world to reposition. They need to watch some tape of the Preds game as IIRC, the Pred's first PP was deadly fast.

 

[mathonwy]

I agree. Honestly with everyone healthy it should be Kassian sitting again. I'd like for him to play through this, but he's playing like the 13th best forward on the team. Desjardins should have done a better of accommodating Kassian's skill and style earlier when he was playing well and carrying his line, but not gelling with his line mates.

He's still playing a east west game with the rest of his line mates playing north south.

 

[Zombotron]

Not all in this world is bad, you guys.

 

[Ventana*]

Something has to change with this powerplay. Is Gulutzan the mastermind of it?

Perry Pearn I think

 

[Jack Tripper]

happy to see this gdt open a bit longer than the last ones, as i'd agree with the previous boarder comments regarding gdt's getting closed too quickly...as somebody who lives in australia and doesn't watch games until after work i'd appreciate them being open a bit longer or pgt's being opened instead

on this game...team looked clearly gassed in the third period, especially the sedins which made all of those powerplays look pretty pathetic...it'd be a tough game against tampa bay in any circumstance, but this was one of those games where the only way they'd win is if miller pulled a shutout

always been a big kassian fan, but was fairly disappointed in his play tonight...besides the sedins, no other healthy canuck needs the allstar break as much as him, and hope that desjardins gives him a bit more support (and for ****'s sake actually gives him a winger linemate other than matthias, a player who he has absolutely zero chemistry with)

 

[Orca Smash]

happy to see this gdt open a bit longer than the last ones, as i'd agree with the previous boarder comments regarding gdt's getting closed too quickly...as somebody who lives in australia and doesn't watch games until after work i'd appreciate them being open a bit longer or pgt's being opened instead

on this game...team looked clearly gassed in the third period, especially the sedins which made all of those powerplays look pretty pathetic...it'd be a tough game against tampa bay in any circumstance, but this was one of those games where the only way they'd win is if miller pulled a shutout

always been a big kassian fan, but was fairly disappointed in his play tonight...besides the sedins, no other healthy canuck needs the allstar break as much as him, and hope that desjardins gives him a bit more support (and for ****'s sake actually gives him a winger linemate other than matthias, a player who he has absolutely zero chemistry with)

What other lw on the team do you want him to play with?

The team does not revolve around kassian and so far your options are likely matthias or higgins, i dont want dorsett or hansen coming off the horvat line just for kassians sake, thats been a good line for us. I keep reading that its matthias or richardsons fault for his play. And if you choose higgins over matthias tonight then we have the dreaded higgins bonino combination people dont want either. Maybe you could move burrows to LW but richardson is apperantly going to be back next game and the Richardson, higgins, burrows line played well defensively as a shutdown line.

 

[Reckage]

Once again, a team coming at the Canucks with speed creates issues. I know Tampa is creating issues for a lot of teams, but if it weren't for Miller this game would have finished with a very ugly score.

The positives in this game, besides Miller, were Vey and Corrado.

No idea what Vey's ceiling is. He has improved so dramatically from early on, it is tempting to suggest he can continue to improve with experience. Not sure if the team should be looking at him as a centre or a winger.

Corrado is exactly what this team needs, a young defenceman. Don't think there is any question he has pushed Bieksa out of the top four. With two young players on our defence, Tanev and Corrado, other young prospects in the system can fully develop in the AHL until they are ready for prime time.

All in all a good road trip. Beat the teams that could be beat and lost to teams that are clearly better.

 

[Scurr]

Such hypocrites the people who rip Kassian to threads while not mentioning Chris top 6 Higgins.

They are not hypocrites at all. Higgins is a reliable pro that plays well defensively and is responsible with the puck even when he's not scoring. Kassian does those things sometimes. There is a mountain between the players in terms of effectiveness with production aside... and Higgins has a history of producing.

If you can't see the difference.... you should be asking more questions and making less comments.

 

[arsmaster*]

Such hypocrites the people who rip Kassian to threads while not mentioning Chris top 6 Higgins.

To me it just looks like they got it all wrong. The "tough love" approach to Kassian has further degraded his game. He's caught between being fast on the forecheck and being in good defensive position and the middle ground is killing him.

It was almost a guarantee this would happen.

I wouldn't say its hypocritical. Kass is struggling. Especially last night, but I do believe there is an overanalysis happening, and it seems to happen both good and bad for different players.

I try to watch for the things people are raving about Vey about and I just find myself dissappointed that he seems weaker than Mason Raymond ever did.

Once again, a team coming at the Canucks with speed creates issues. I know Tampa is creating issues for a lot of teams, but if it weren't for Miller this game would have finished with a very ugly score.

Totally agree. Didn't care for the 3rd goal against, but there were enough stops preceding that goal and after that goal that I could live with it. Surprise they didn't hang 6 on us after the PP sunk us again in the 3rd.

 

[Scurr]

To me it just looks like they got it all wrong. The "tough love" approach to Kassian has further degraded his game. He's caught between being fast on the forecheck and being in good defensive position and the middle ground is killing him.

It was almost a guarantee this would happen.

Now that he has been given an opportunity with Bonino... this is the new excuse?

He does over-skate the play a little bit because he's not used to trying so hard. I'd like to see him keep going and try to get used to it.

 

[tantalum]

If it wasn't already clear, it should now be abundantly clear the canucks are stuck in some sort of time warp.

This time warp puts the team in need of a dangerous second line nearly every season. Simply put, and especially with the aging process, the Sedin line needs at least another line to be a consistent threat every game. While I don't really like the blueline, the team desperately needs to add another very good top 6 winger. If not two.

They need to be able to bridge the gap between now and when hopefully Virtanen and another winger come to the forefront in 2-3 years. The other winger, is likely not Jensen IMO.

 

[arsmaster*]

Now that he has been given an opportunity with Bonino... this is the new excuse?

He does over-skate the play a little bit because he's not used to trying so hard. I'd like to see him keep going and try to get used to it.

No I don't think it's an excuse. It's between the ears for Zack. If you see a confident player out there in #9 let me know.

I don't even know if he overskates, he gets caught between overskating and not getting there. He's stuck in the middle.

His play looks considerably worse as he's coming back from being questioned via the media. I remember when AV got lambasted for doing what Benning did for Kassian via the media.

I'm not excusing Zack, because it's his job, but I think there is definitely something behind what I'm saying.

Even still I think his game is being hugely overanalyzed. He had less shots on goal than 3 other forwards. Daniel Sedin was out for 3 goals against and crickets.

I think he's just too passive right now. I thought he had shifts where he did good things last night, but way too many where he was passive, and I'm not talking about turning up opportunities for a hit, because everybody did that last night. I'm just talking about him always going to the side or behind the net in a attack and not being swift enough to the wing when trying to clear the zone.

I think we're looking at a kid lacking confidence who will need to play himself out of this funk, but we're deep enough that he won't get into the lineup when everyones healthy.

 

[BoHorvat 53]

Can someone go make a thread in the Trades, Rumours and Signings section? Surprised it went unnoticed but Pierre LeBrun said at the intermission of a game that Canucks are looking for a top-6 winger, and they want him sooner rather than later.

 

[VC]

Something has to change with this powerplay. Is Gulutzan the mastermind of it?

Gulultzan is taking care of the PK

 

[Scurr]

No I don't think it's an excuse. It's between the ears for Zack. If you see a confident player out there in #9 let me know.

I don't even know if he overskates, he gets caught between overskating and not getting there. He's stuck in the middle.

His play looks considerably worse as he's coming back from being questioned via the media. I remember when AV got lambasted for doing what Benning did for Kassian via the media.

I'm not excusing Zack, because it's his job, but I think there is definitely something behind what I'm saying.

Even still I think his game is being hugely overanalyzed. He had less shots on goal than 3 other forwards. Daniel Sedin was out for 3 goals against and crickets.

I think he's just too passive right now. I thought he had shifts where he did good things last night, but way too many where he was passive, and I'm not talking about turning up opportunities for a hit, because everybody did that last night. I'm just talking about him always going to the side or behind the net in a attack and not being swift enough to the wing when trying to clear the zone.

I think we're looking at a kid lacking confidence who will need to play himself out of this funk, but we're deep enough that he won't get into the lineup when everyones healthy.

Players like Chris Higgins and Daniel Sedin have earned some slack. These players have been reliable players on this team for years. There is no comparison to Kassian. They produce more as well as doing everything else better. Regularly.

I thought he overskated the play a couple times on the forecheck and then again on the backcheck. The effort has been better but he needs to do a better job reading the play at both ends. He gets some slack because he's been out so much... but it's not something he has a great history with, either.

His play on the half wall in his own end doesn't look like someone that is struggling with confidence.... it looks like someone that really doesn't give a ****.

 

[arsmaster*]

Players like Chris Higgins and Daniel Sedin have earned some slack. These players have been reliable players on this team for years. There is no comparison to Kassian. They produce more as well as doing everything else better. Regularly.

The comment about Daniel Sedin was playing off of the over analysis that is occurring with some of these polarizing players we have ie. Kassian.

I'm not saying they haven't earned the right to bad games, I'm saying that nobody rags on them like they do to Kassian, when they all had crap games. 7.5 minutes on the PP with nothing is an abomination.

I thought he overskated the play a couple times on the forecheck and then again on the backcheck. The effort has been better but he needs to do a better job reading the play at both ends. He gets some slack because he's been out so much... but it's not something he has a great history with, either.

His play on the half wall in his own end doesn't look like someone that is struggling with confidence.... it looks like someone that really doesn't give a ****.

I don't think he cares that much either, but I think that's a function of confidence. To each their own.

I don't care to debate Kassian much further.

-----

You know who I want to talk about, #5 on Tampa. What a stud game from him.

 

[Jimson Hogarth*]

They are not hypocrites at all. Higgins is a reliable pro that plays well defensively and is responsible with the puck even when he's not scoring. Kassian does those things sometimes. There is a mountain between the players in terms of effectiveness with production aside... and Higgins has a history of producing.

If you can't see the difference.... you should be asking more questions and making less comments.

WTF has Higgins done with his ample opportunity and top 6 time