Post-Game Talk: GAME #52: Canucks 5 @ Avalanche 1 (Boeser, Virtanen, Goldobin, Roussel, Motte)

[Fire Benning]

Honestly, when you give a 30 y/o pest a $12 million deal for 4 years with a NTC coming off a season where he finished it with 50 games without scoring ... and then promptly has the best offensive season of his career, it’s probably just dumb luck.

Have said a million times that basically everything Benning does is betting on a low-percentage outcome. And when you make 10 moves that all have only a 10% chance of working out but one of those 10 does hit (as numbers will dictate probably happens) ... it doesn’t mean it was a good move grounded in sound logic.

Oh for sure, there was reason to be skeptical about the signing when it happened and saying there wasn't is revisionist history. Their overall pro scouting track record is still complete dogshit and if you throw enough spaghetti at the wall eventually some of it will stick.

 

[GetFocht]

Is Markstrom this season's Canucks MVP? You could make that argument.

without a doubt, Markstrom and Pettersson are the Canucks backbone right now. If he can carry on this play for a couple of seasons, he may retain some value when Demko steps in.

 

[BROCK HUGHES]

Roussell and Virtanen were probably the best Canucks unit in that game. Markstrom was fantastic again.

Jake was fantastic I thought.Lots of jump from the team..great effort.
imagine if we had another sniper and replacements for Guddy and Poo.

 

[Ainec]

we are firmly in the wild card #2 spot


what the f*** is this shit

 

[GetFocht]

Haha, nah I was hacking on him as he hacked on me for being critical of management using that same logic. My comment was in jest.

you actually believe you are using the same logic? Again, I find two things hilarious, you read my comment as some sort of negative, in angst voice that YOU read through your head with your own perception, must be stressful to be you. Second, you really can't differentiate overall attitude vs criticism, can you? Anyways, I've spent enough time wasting on you.

 

[orcatown]

Thought they were outplayed for big chunks of the game, but with the goaltending the Canucks are getting they turned this one into a one -sided affair on the scoreboard

Good

Markstrom - needs to start getting some recognition around the League. Making tough saves look easy with great positioning. You wonder where Demko fits in.

Sutter - guy can't make a pass to save his life but played a smart, effective game.

Edler - lots of times this season has been the best defenseman on the ice on either team. Was in this game as well.

Tanev - another good effort. Wheels allow him to make it look easy. Very good at taking players off the rush. You just wish he had more of an offensive side

Roussel - showed good skill on both his goal and assist. Under-rated in the skill area. Having a very good season

Virtanen - good game. You wish he would do more in the offensive end when he gets space (mostly just throws it to the point) but nice touch on goal and hard working in every zone

Horvat - solid two way effort

Motte - excellent game. Very good in shut down role and created chances offensively. Break seems to have rejuvenated him. Maybe the 2nd star after Markstrom

Others

Levio - came on late but was pretty bad with the puck in the early going. Think he got sat for a bit after that

Goldobin - more spirited effort but had chance to do more than he actually accomplished. Still too random with the puck

Pettersson - what class with the puck. On another level at times. Overall did not get much done but looked good even with that

 

[mathonwy]

Canucks gave Avs top line absolutely nothing tonight.

Usually when the Nucks play the Avs it's the McKinnon versus Marky game within the game.

Not tonight.

A 5-1 win in Colorado. So weird. Wtf.

 

[Horse McHindu]

We really didn't need Ryan Miller... we really didn't.

Yes we did. Markstrom clearly wasn’t an NHL caliber goalie at the time (even as a backup), and Lack was still an unproven starter that needed time to develop. Lack’s performance at the end of the 2014 season when Luongo got dealt didn’t exactly inspire confidence.

 

[Horse McHindu]

Yeah he looked totally washed and seemed like a high risk signing but so far it's hard to argue he isn't earning his pay. One Benning acquisition I haven't minded so far.

That’s where having a smart GM like Benning comes into play.........and why being dependent purely on “the numbers” is a bad way to make player projections.

Roussel (29) is clearly too young to be considered washed up.....and so a deeper analysis was required to see as to why he struggled so much in Dallas during his final year. As Benning suspected, it was largely due to Roussel being incompatible for Hitchcock’s system.

Hence today. Fans that aren’t obsessed with advanced analytics saw this bounce back from Roussel coming from a mile away.

 

[MS]

Yes we did. Markstrom clearly wasn’t an NHL caliber goalie at the time (even as a backup), and Lack was still an unproven starter that needed time to develop. Lack’s performance at the end of the 2014 season when Luongo got dealt didn’t exactly inspire confidence.

His first season he was handily outplayed by Lack and we probably miss the playoffs if he doesn’t get hurt and Lack carries us there.

His last 2 seasons he was matched in performance by Markstrom and helped the team be the worst in the NHL over that span.

Complete waste of $18 million. Team would’ve been miles better off getting a cheap Greiss or Halak and spending $6 million on a defender.

That signing took us from having average goaltending to having ... average goaltending while blowing the budget that could have been spent on better defenders than the likes of Sbisa/Bartkowski/Larsson/Weber. Oops.

 

[MS]

That’s where having a smart GM like Benning comes into play.........and why being dependent purely on “the numbers” is a bad way to make player projections.

Roussel (29) is clearly too young to be considered washed up.....and so a deeper analysis was required to see as to why he struggled so much in Dallas during his final year. As Benning suspected, it was largely due to Roussel being incompatible for Hitchcock’s system.

Hence today. Fans that aren’t obsessed with advanced analytics saw this bounce back from Roussel coming from a mile away.

So it was a great signing when Detroit signed Tootoo a few years ago, then? When St. Louis picked up Steve Ott?

 

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

Markstrom, Horvat, and Pettersson (+maybe Tanev) are the reasons for this. Horvat was a 2 way monster when Sutter and Beagle went down which cannot be understated.

Horvat was unreal when Sutter and Beagle went down...It wasn't enough to save the team though..we went 1-13-0.

 

[Horse McHindu]

His first season he was handily outplayed by Lack and we probably miss the playoffs if he doesn’t get hurt and Lack carries us there.

His last 2 seasons he was matched in performance by Markstrom and helped the team be the worst in the NHL over that span.

Complete waste of $18 million. Team would’ve been miles better off getting a cheap Greiss or Halak and spending $6 million on a defender.

That signing took us from having average goaltending to having ... average goaltending while blowing the budget that could have been spent on better defenders than the likes of Sbisa/Bartkowski/Larsson/Weber. Oops.

1) Agreed that Lack outplayed Miller, but a big risk (gamble) would have been associated in starting the 2014-2015 season with Lack and Markstrom. Kudos to Lack for having a very good 2014-2015 season, but he did NOT inspire confidence as a #1 at the end of the 2014 season when Luongo was moved. Benning needed to address this area.

2) Miller was already interested in being on the West Coast, while I have no idea what the status of those other goalies (Greiss/Halak) was. Did they express an interest in playing here? Why would they choose a downtrending Vancouver at a cap friendly cap hit as opposed to a team that wasn’t trending down?

3) My memory is fading, but what UFA defensemen were available during the Summer of 2014?

 

[kanuck87]

Amazing that this team is in a playoff spot with Gudbranson and Pouliot as regulars. Gotta keep bringing this up, but you really have to wonder how good this team would be if they just made the easy moves and replaced both of them. The team actually plays really well when these two aren't on the ice.

 

[Hit the post]

we are firmly in the wild card #2 spot


what the **** is this ****

I'm waiting for M2B to get promoted to Mod and I know the world has really gone #%$#$ crazy.

 

[MS]

1) Agreed that Lack outplayed Miller, but a big risk (gamble) would have been associated in starting the 2014-2015 season with Lack and Markstrom. Kudos to Lack for having a very good 2014-2015 season, but he did NOT inspire confidence as a #1 at the end of the 2014 season when Luongo was moved. Benning needed to address this area.

2) Miller was already interested in being on the West Coast, while I have no idea what the status of those other goalies (Greiss/Halak) was. Did they express an interest in playing here? Why would they choose a downtrending Vancouver at a cap friendly cap hit as opposed to a team that wasn’t trending down?

3) My memory is fading, but what UFA defensemen were available during the Summer of 2014?

Greiss signed a 1 year/$800k deal that summer. He was signing for anyone who put $1 million in front of him.

I pushed for signing him at the time and said that both he and Lack were as likely to deliver average goaltending as Miller and was absolutely correct ... so I don’t have a lot of time or sympathy for the notion that we absolutely HAD to have Miller.

Stralman and Niskanen were the biggest names and both have been home runs for their teams on friendly deals. I really wanted Stralman and the Sedins probably would have had some pull there. Plus there was the trade market.

 

[JAK]

Amazing that this team is in a playoff spot with Gudbranson and Pouliot as regulars. Gotta keep bringing this up, but you really have to wonder how good this team would be if they just made the easy moves and replaced both of them. The team actually plays really well when these two aren't on the ice.

While it could be great, making a trade may lock the acquisition on the third pairing for years.

I think its smart to have the roster spot to be vulnerable to be taken by our stock of young D, they can see it, and if one or two of them wins the spots next year, it would be better for the long term.

 

[Paulinvancouver]

I fell sleeps! Wha hoppen?

 

[kanuck87]

While it could be great, making a trade may lock the acquisition on the third pairing for years.

I think its smart to have the roster spot to be vulnerable to be taken by our stock of young D, they can see it, and if one or two of them wins the spots next year, it would be better for the long term.

It doesn't have to be locked down for years. You could find waiver-wire defensemen better than Gud and Pouliot. We currently have one in Biega that sits in the pressbox, and we traded one earlier in MDZ for almost nothing. MDZ-Biega pairing would be miles ahead of a Gud-Pouliot pairing.

 

[Ainec]

I'm waiting for M2B to get promoted to Mod and I know the world has really gone #%$#$ crazy.

we have a m2b esque mod already

m2b would be a great mod

 

[VanJack]

Another 'bend but don't break' game by the Canucks tonight, who are riding Markstrom big time. Frankly they were lucky at times in this one as the Avs carried most of the play all night long.

But given that it was their first game back after the break and playing at altitude, you take it. Now on to Philly who are red-hot. Motte in beast-mode tonight. Might have been their best forward. Absolutely relentless on the puck.

Most Canuck posters had two thumbs down on the deal that brought Motte from Columbus for Vanek. But hard to argue that he's a perfect bottom-six forward at this point.

 

[DonnyNucker]

Absolutely.

I figured he was done after the 50-game goalless streak to end last year. Pests do not generally age well and the fact that he’s having the best offensive season of his career at age 30 has come out of nowhere.

It will probably be a blip and I’m still not looking forward to what his contract will look like 4 years from now but he’s been good.

Did you watch him play last year? He played well and was fairly snake bitten. Glad you are willing to admit when you are wrong

 

[kanuck87]

Another 'bend but don't break' game by the Canucks tonight, who are riding Markstrom big time. Frankly they were lucky at times in this one as the Avs carried most of the play all night long.

But given that it was their first game back after the break and playing at altitude, you take it. Now on to Philly who are red-hot. Motte in beast-mode tonight. Might have been their best forward. Absolutely relentless on the puck.

Most Canuck posters had two thumbs down on the deal that brought Motte from Columbus for Vanek. But hard to argue that he's a perfect bottom-six forward at this point.

Perfect bottom-6 forward is over-selling it a bit. He's best when he plays 4th line minutes. I don't think it's a coincidence that he played one of his best games of the season after a 10-day break. Really doubt his body can sustain that kind of physical play in the middle of the grind.

 

[Peen]

Did you watch him play last year? He played well and was fairly snake bitten. Glad you are willing to admit when you are wrong

It's not really a terrible way to look at things. If a player scores his goals in a small cluster of games, while remaining ineffective in a large minority or possibly even majority, it is usually a good indicator of slowing down or being unable to sustain consistent play.

Perfect example: Schaller. Dude is trash.

Relatively similar examples: Virtanen can never string together a good 20-30 game stretch, but will have 5-10 game stretches where he looks great and then periods of ineffectiveness after.

Gudbranson had one good stretch lasting more than 10 games in his career - the playoffs before we traded for him when he was playing 26 minutes a night. (Although, some may argue he wasn't even good while playing those minutes)

But you get my point.

 

[Ben White]

When EP looks the way he did tonight you realize he could become the best player in the league.