Canadian Canuck
Hughes4Calder
Id rest McCann and Virtanen tonight and put in Gaunce+Cracknell. Play McCann and Virts against the Yotes
Jake Virtanen - Part 08
- Thread starter mrmyheadhurts
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This is very accurate, and I don't think anyone would be skeptical if Virtanen was the conensus BPA. Bryan Allen was underwhelming for 4th overall in 1998, but every list had him there (it was considered a weaker draft after the top 3, or arguably top 1) and there wasn't much to do about it. For Virtanen, though, the opportunity cost (namely Nylander/Ehlers/Ritchie) is always going to be at issue, and it's not a question of hindsight in this case. It's pretty justifiable to be angsty about it, because a lot of people were nervous he was being picked for the wrong reasons.
To add to this, many people here like the player, and were happy with him, but liked other more. This seems to be an issue people can't seem to grasp. I can like player A, but want player B more. It bugs me, cause I don't mean to be overly critical of some players, but you almost have to be so people understand your point.
Well your expectations are your business but I disagree that that would be "disappointing". As another poster said, at 6th you aren't drafting elite talent anymore and getting an NHLer who can provide the scoring and forechecking dimensions of Kreider is a solid outcome.
Sure if Ehlers and Nylander become 60-70 pt scorers it will look like the Canucks left some money on the table but at some point you have to focus less on what you didn't draft and focus on the value of what you did draft.
I mean I guess you don't "have" to but at some point it'll get tiring to hear for the 1,000th time how someone preferred Ehlers at the draft.
Rex Banner
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- Aug 22, 2013
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It's fine to want other players more than Jake. But the fact of the matter is that it's done. It's been over a year since he was drafted and people are still complaining about the pick as though it's going to change anything.
Same goes with Horvat. People can complain about wanting Domi or Nichushkin more, but at the end of the day, all they're doing is complaining. Nothing will change.
Jake is our guy. Horvat is our guy. Bringing up other players is just childish whining. It's almost like people want Jake to fail just so they can complain about it even more.
There is an entire thread dedicated to bad drafting. The point being it is a hot topic. If someone wants to claim somehting I think is false or wrong, I will reply. So yes when people either talk like a guy is a goldenboy, its going to come up. The flip side is you still get the i told you so crowd in here. Look at the Sutter thread. What 8 games in and people are saying I told you all he needed was X.
You are going to have that for a forever.
Rex Banner
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- Aug 22, 2013
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No doubt. I have no problem with criticizing the player. That's absolutely fine. It's just that it always seems to go back to the draft for some reason.
It's cause you have too many people on both sides too eager to say I told you so.
Great post. People need to move on. Speculating who has drafted the better player 9 games into their rookie season is just silly at this point. May as well go back to the Nucks taking Dale Tallon over Sittler way back when. Now those were some great draft whiffs.lol.
Yep, these are mostly 19 year old players. For the majority of them, offence will take a while to develop fully. The four forwards taken ahead of Jake have a total of 3 goals this season and Draisatl and Dal Colle aren't even in the NHL.
mathonwy
Positively #toxic
- Jan 21, 2008
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mathonwy
Positively #toxic
- Jan 21, 2008
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Intangibos
High-End Intangibos
He panics or defers too much when he gets the puck on his stick. On more than a few occasions, he'll make a drop pass at the offensive blue line to a teammate outside of the zone and then put himself offside. It's either he's too jittery, doesn't have the confidence yet, or its too quick for him still. He's got great skill but isn't there mentally at this point. My concern is that he'll lose even more confidence as the season goes on.
I personally think he'd learn a lot more going back to junior this year to get himself going again.
I personally think he'd learn a lot more going back to junior this year to get himself going again.
Agreed. Duck them out from playing a high quality team then get them to feast on the bottom dwelling Yotes to pad their totals.
WTG
December 5th
OttMorrow
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- Sep 18, 2003
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Best hit I've seen this year. Vicious, clean, and dropped a big dude with it too in Val Nichushkin. Virtanen is a dying breed. Man can he hit. Let's hope the league let's him.
Best thing about that hit is it didn't result in a line vs line scrum. It's upsets me when after a big clean hit like this, a team mate of his jumps the hitter causing a line brawl. Hitting is part of the game, it just disrupts the flow of the game when a 2 minute scrum ensues after a big hit. But maybe the coaches are teaching this to try and limit any momentum/energy the other team receives from the hit.
So far he's been very good at throwing clean hits. Even in junior I watched him quite a bit and his hits are very commonly clean and devestating. He has it down to a science. However that did not stop the NHL previously. Alex Edler comes to mind, he threw some massive body checks a few years ago regularly, then the NHL decided to suspend him for touching Mike Smith and a perfectly clean hit on Tomas Hertl. Now Edler is afraid to throw a hit. So you're right, as clean as he is and aware of the rules, the NHL could still hammer him anyway at some point.
Although Edler had more hitting in his game early on (ie best one on Doughty in the playoffs and stepping up to Kane at the blueline), Virtanen's hitting is on a whole new level. It's closer to Torres where you can really injure someone. It's closer to what Torres did to Thornton in the playoffs, but much cleaner and targets shoulder to shoulder. He can also hit guys much bigger than him (Nurse) and still leave with an impact.
Don't forget, he's already leading our team in hits with less than 10 games into the season. His hits are clean with perfect timing. I expect him to lead the league in hits by next year when he routinely gets 15 minutes a game.
Yeah, it's impressive how Virtanen manages be such an effective hitter without crossing the line. He rarely looks like he's taking a run at his target and he keeps his feet on the ice. His talent for skating lets him glide into hits at a speed most guys would have to pump their legs to attain.
This is what I noticed too. It's not like he turns on the jets to target someone. He naturally glides into the player and then explodes into him. When you watch Torres, he skates really hard into the guy. Virtanen gets close and then boom!
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