Pre-Game Talk: GM 39: Vancouver Canucks vs. Phoenix Coyotes - Apr 8 - 7:00PM PST - TSN

[Virtanen2Horvat]

Luo should get the start on Wednesday, and my guess is Kesler will be back.

 

[Bourne Endeavor]

I didn't truly believe in the scapegoating stuff until the Ebbett treatment this year.

He's a 13th forward who's solid in that role and has more icetime/responsibilities because of all the injuries and he's more of a veteran than guys like Schroeder/Kassian in PK situations.

He's also worse than both of them on a given average. Some of the hate is intentional satire because, why not? But it isn't without warrant. No one faults the guy for being overused - that's AV. Alas, it does not change when asked to do anything above the 13th forward role, he is underwhelming at best. Granted, he has played better during this stretch. So I'll give him that.

If you're looking for the scapegoat. That would be David Booth. Scapegoat usually refers to a player who is good, yet attracts a surprising amount of dislike and has every play scrutinized as a result. Edler is a lesser extent might count too.

 

[keslerburrows]

St. Louis was being out shot last year? What?

30.6 S/GP, 26.7 SA/GP

Yeah, from what I can remember.. They were limiting opponents to like 9 shots a game.. Leading to everyone thinking Elliott was an elite goalie. As he had something like 5 SO's with under 20 shots against.

 

[PG Canuck]

Luo should get the start on Wednesday, and my guess is Kesler will be back.

Nope, Schneider deserves to keep playing, unless he has a breakdown against PHX.

 

[me2]

Nope, Schneider deserves to keep playing, unless he has a breakdown against PHX.

Nope. Don't overplay him, the season is overcrowded as is, let's not have him come into the playoffs exhausted. He gets the majority of the games but he needs a break or two. Besides which Luongo is going to need 2 or 3 games before the playoffs just to stay sharp.

 

[Verviticus]

you forgot the

no he didn't. it's not funny if he has to tell you its sarcasm

 

[Dado]

If you're looking for the scapegoat. That would be David Booth. Scapegoat usually refers to a player who is good, yet attracts a surprising amount of dislike and has every play scrutinized as a result. Edler is a lesser extent might count too.

The reason every play of Booth's gets scrutinized is because there are so few of them because he's injured all the damn time.

 

[Wheatley]

He's also worse than both of them on a given average. Some of the hate is intentional satire because, why not? But it isn't without warrant. No one faults the guy for being overused - that's AV. Alas, it does not change when asked to do anything above the 13th forward role, he is underwhelming at best. Granted, he has played better during this stretch. So I'll give him that.

I actually like how AV's spread the ice time around and not completely burned out the Sedins during this extremely compacted schedule. Given our roster this year, I bet it's pretty tough not to have the first line out there for 25 minutes a night.

And somehow we're still sitting third in the conference. Props to our amazing coach!

 

[Angry Little Elf]

Raymond says hi

 

[Virtanen2Horvat]

Nope. Don't overplay him, the season is overcrowded as is, let's not have him come into the playoffs exhausted. He gets the majority of the games but he needs a break or two. Besides which Luongo is going to need 2 or 3 games before the playoffs just to stay sharp.

Exactly.

 

[Bourne Endeavor]

I actually like how AV's spread the ice time around and not completely burned out the Sedins during this extremely compacted schedule. Given our roster this year, I bet it's pretty tough not to have the first line out there for 25 minutes a night.

And somehow we're still sitting third in the conference. Props to our amazing coach!

It's also why we are among the lowest offensive and have been saved by stellar goaltending. I would prefer the Sedins average closer to 20-22 minutes than what they do now. If Chicago, Pittsburgh and Anaheim can get away with it, we can.

 

[Tanevian*]

Before Sportsnet, there were very few Canucks games on TV. I remember being at Dairy Queen with my middle school hockey team after one of our games and there was a Province article saying that 50 Canucks games would be televised on Sportsnet. That seemed like Christmas back then. Before that, CBC had a few games and I think there were some on BCTV and CHEK.

8pm on Wednesday night!

 

[Shareefruck]

He's also worse than both of them on a given average. Some of the hate is intentional satire because, why not? But it isn't without warrant. No one faults the guy for being overused - that's AV. Alas, it does not change when asked to do anything above the 13th forward role, he is underwhelming at best. Granted, he has played better during this stretch. So I'll give him that.

If you're looking for the scapegoat. That would be David Booth. Scapegoat usually refers to a player who is good, yet attracts a surprising amount of dislike and has every play scrutinized as a result. Edler is a lesser extent might count too.

The other two scapegoats, Glass and Rome were actually arguably being used in situations that they shouldn't have been. Glass on the 3rd line when we had better healthy players, Rome over Ballard. Both were regulars in the lineup whenever we were fully healthy despite there being better options.

Ebbett is a 13th forward who is only given a bigger role because this team is decimated by injuries, and is only getting PP/PK time because he's a more experienced veteran than guys like Schroeder or Kassian. He's a guy who is rightfully kicked out of the lineup whenever the team gets healthy.

I don't see any misusage personally. Venting frustrations out on him is just projecting your frustration over unfortunate situations that are beyond his or the coach's control.

And for all the complaining we've done, he's been an even player on a better offensive pace than Lapierre or Weise, while being on a 27 point pace last season.

For the limited role he has and the limited ability he has, he's done a fairly admirable job filling in short term both this season and last, IMO.

18gp, 5g, 1a, 6pts, +2
18gp, 1g, 3a, 4pts, +0

Weise: 32gp, 3gm 3a, 6pts, -3
Booth: 12gp, 1g, 2a, 3pts, -3

Looks fine to me, especially given that he's expected to do far less than these other guys and is given more difficult minutes due to circumstance.

The only thing you can argue is that Schroeder should be in ahead of him at all times, but the reason he isn't has more to do with developmental strategies rather than being unfairly considered less of a favorite.

Also, I see no reason/evidence a scapegoat is supposed to follow your definition.

And for the guys complaining that he doesn't excel in any one area, he's less of a liability/isn't incompetent in any one area, either. His shot is fairly adequate, his hockey sense is fairly adequate, his playmaking is fairly adequate, his defensive awareness is fairly adequate, and he isn't a twig that gets easily pushed around.

Pretty decent 13th forward who was only awful for a short stretch at the beginning of the year (when everyone was awful), IMO.

 

[Wheatley]

It's also why we are among the lowest offensive and have been saved by stellar goaltending. I would prefer the Sedins average closer to 20-22 minutes than what they do now. If Chicago, Pittsburgh and Anaheim can get away with it, we can.

Weird, I could have sworn those guys were way younger than the Sedins. And you don't think the fourth line will play a little less in the playoffs?

 

[PG Canuck]

Nope. Don't overplay him, the season is overcrowded as is, let's not have him come into the playoffs exhausted. He gets the majority of the games but he needs a break or two. Besides which Luongo is going to need 2 or 3 games before the playoffs just to stay sharp.

The reason I said what I said, was because our April schedule isn't as compressed as past months. Except for one remaining back-to-back situation, Schneider would have at least one day minimum to rest for the next game. Just for the record, I'm not saying Schneider should play all of those games, I'm saying let him keep playing right now, then once it hits that back-to-back situation, give Luongo a few games.