Post-Game Talk: Lightning 3 @ Canucks 2 OT | BoJesus tried to save us but OT wins again.

[SgtToody]

Other points

(hedman) The Swedish National teams defense should be very strong with the likes of him, Karlsson and Edler around

Edler would be a weak No. 5-6 on Team Krona.

 

[Paulinvancouver]

actually come to think about it, not to discount willie because i think that very well could have been a boss former junior coach move by him, but would anyone be surprised if it comes out that before the game henrik pulled willie aside and said "kid's having a rough time. why don't you let him start the game with us?"

That's what I was thinking too. He did have a great first shift for 40 seconds. Didn't see much of him after that.

Still, Canucks games are slowly becoming more exciting to watch.

 

[Hardyvan123]

He makes me happy. He's a ****ing gem for sure.
3 years from now we're gonna be blown away how great a find he is.

Hutton is a good story but I'm not sure on how much better he is going to get and he still has a small frame that doesn't grow any bigger in the playoffs.

From the game tonight, great to see Bo emerging from his horrible 1st half but the Canucks getting outshot 15-5 in the 3rd from a team that played the night before on their home ice isn't a good sign.

getting the single point is just putting off the non playoff spot IMO.

 

[VanillaCoke]

Higgins man. Completely invisible and I was a big Higgins fan even just last season.
Should be a healthy scratch more often than not, if not just waivers and hope he gets picked up.
Definitely do not want come next season.

 

[Hardyvan123]

Virtanen skated well, but he still made a bunch of bonehead plays in the offensive zone (passes to no one, bad angle shots, etc.) that killed the flow of play. I'm not entirely convinced it's because he's afraid to make mistakes, I just don't think the kid has figured it out yet. That said, he deserved to play more in the third, especially with Prust wasting his knees out there every other shift. Jake needs to develop his instincts, and the only way to do that will be to play a lot in offensive situations.

It's weird that the team seems set on keeping him up because it's pretty obvious Willie doesn't really like playing him all that much. I'd understand it more if he was being spoonfed prime minutes a la Vey last year, but the way he's been deployed it's actually just confusing why management thinks he should stay.

Watching him play and I agree more and more with Razor and Valk in that Jake doesn't have good hockey IQ and needs to be a finisher in order to be anything as a top 6 player.

sure he has great size and skating but without the IQ it's looking more and more like a wasted pick at 6th, when other high hockey IQ guys were there.

 

[thedean]

actually come to think about it, not to discount willie because i think that very well could have been a boss former junior coach move by him, but would anyone be surprised if it comes out that before the game henrik pulled willie aside and said "kid's having a rough time. why don't you let him start the game with us?"

I'm in the camp that thinks Willie is a god awful coach but he's good at the relationship stuff with his players, and frankly he's a pretty humble guy when he was asked about it in the post game presser he would have dished if it was another persons idea.

 

[Hit the post]

I'm in the camp that thinks Willie is a god awful coach but he's good at the relationship stuff with his players, and frankly he's a pretty humble guy when he was asked about it in the post game presser he would have dished if it was someone another persons idea.

Sounds like he'd be far better as an assistant coach (much like our current GM)

 

[TruGr1t]

How Vrbata remains so invisible on that streaking Bo-Bae line is ridiculous. Burrows also kills the Sedins effectiveness these days. Move Vrby up to the top line and put one of Etem/Virtanen on Bo's wing. Make Burrows and Higgins the wings on a "checking" (offensively inept) line.

 

[polarbearcub]

I think this is the most invisible vrbata has been in his time here. Just a complete non factor , won't miss him at all. Especially with Sven taking off here.

Also agree burrows dragged the twins down. Hes nearing buyout territory.

The most noticeable players on the team besides the sedins are horvat and bear cheese, Hutton as well.

Gaunce , grenier and shinkaruk should be filling these rolls of the vets soon

 

[Cupless44]

How Vrbata remains so invisible on that streaking Bo-Bae line is ridiculous. Burrows also kills the Sedins effectiveness these days. Move Vrby up to the top line and put one of Etem/Virtanen on Bo's wing. Make Burrows and Higgins the wings on a "checking" (offensively inept) line.

Agree completely

 

[electriccanuck*]

Vrbata know he's just deadline trade fodder at this point, so he's mailing it in. "whatever, i'll be somewhere else come march anyway"

 

[VanJack]

Higgins man. Completely invisible and I was a big Higgins fan even just last season.
Should be a healthy scratch more often than not, if not just waivers and hope he gets picked up.
Definitely do not want come next season.

So tell me again why this guy's been in the line-up night after night, while kids like Virtanen sit and Grenier-Gaunce lanquish on the minors....now they've announced they want to trade him....and posters still claim this coach knows how to bring along younger players.

 

[KeninsFan]

So tell me again why this guy's been in the line-up night after night, while kids like Virtanen sit and Grenier-Gaunce lanquish on the minors....now they've announced they want to trade him....and posters still claim this coach knows how to bring along younger players.

Benning called him a "glue guy" last season. No point in debating what those off-ice intangibles mean or what they bring to the lineup.

 

[Rotting Corpse*]

It actually is very strange that Willie has seemingly forgotten that Vrbata once played with the Sedins. He was only taken off that line to try to "spread the talent" but it's pretty clear that that has failed miserably and now is the perfect opportunity to put him back on that line both to get him and the Sedins going again.

 

[Horrorshow]

I was at the game and I could honestly say outside of horvat and maaaaaaybe kucherov, Virtanen was the most exciting player on the ice. He played very well and that one pass to nobody was a bobbled puck that got knocked away from him, he played with some real confidence tonight

I was also at the game, and yes, he played with confidence, that's not the issue. It's exciting to see him skate really fast down the wing on his backhand, but he didn't really know what to do once he actually found himself getting around the defenseman. Once, he successfully drove it to the net (was a little too close to get it over the goalie, but still a strong play), another time he got around the d-man and threw it into the slot directly to the TB player, and two more times he went around the net and either had his pass blocked or intercepted because didn't put himself in a good position to make a play.

I'm not trying to crap on him in any way, but I wouldn't qualify this as a great game by him or anything either.

 

[VanJack]

Vrbata know he's just deadline trade fodder at this point, so he's mailing it in. "whatever, i'll be somewhere else come march anyway"

This is what drives you nuts about Willie....Vrbata was invisible on the team's best line, and Virtanen was arguably their best forward in the first period.....so why not shift Vrbata with the Sedins and move Virtanen on to the kid line?...worked wonders in the pre-season, why not try it again?....but this hidebound coach just can't bring it upon himself to make any in-game adjustments....and when he does, it's to shorten the bench and overplay his veterans.

 

[JanBulisPiggyBack]

I was also at the game, and yes, he played with confidence, that's not the issue. It's exciting to see him skate really fast down the wing on his backhand, but he didn't really know what to do once he actually found himself getting around the defenseman. Once, he successfully drove it to the net (was a little too close to get it over the goalie, but still a strong play), another time he got around the d-man and threw it into the slot directly to the TB player, and two more times he went around the net and either had his pass blocked or intercepted because didn't put himself in a good position to make a play.

I'm not trying to crap on him in any way, but I wouldn't qualify this as a great game by him or anything either.

It was a great statement game and good to see the organization behind him, I was careful to say "exciting" over best player on the ice. After such a public beating he received after the world juniors this was basically a best case scenario for him, realistically you can't expect him to play a good team game being away for the practices and such for the duration of his injury, conditioning stint and juniors

 

[beachcomber]

Watching him play and I agree more and more with Razor and Valk in that Jake doesn't have good hockey IQ and needs to be a finisher in order to be anything as a top 6 player.

sure he has great size and skating but without the IQ it's looking more and more like a wasted pick at 6th, when other high hockey IQ guys were there.

The kid is 19 and playing in the NHL. He can affect a game in ways that other guys like nylander won't be able to. That is what he was drafted for but some here will never understand that. Maybe, let him finish the next month before declaring him a "bust" . I hope next draft the nucks pass over the other nylander as well. These boards would explode.lol.

 

[StrictlyCommercial]

I was also at the game, and yes, he played with confidence, that's not the issue. It's exciting to see him skate really fast down the wing on his backhand, but he didn't really know what to do once he actually found himself getting around the defenseman. Once, he successfully drove it to the net (was a little too close to get it over the goalie, but still a strong play), another time he got around the d-man and threw it into the slot directly to the TB player, and two more times he went around the net and either had his pass blocked or intercepted because didn't put himself in a good position to make a play.

I'm not trying to crap on him in any way, but I wouldn't qualify this as a great game by him or anything either.

That's not accurate. One time he went behind the net and cycled it to Vey.

 

[JuniorNelson]

The Higgins announcement shifts focus away from the Sedins in OT last night. That is all.

 

[KeninsFan]

The Higgins announcement shifts focus away from the Sedins in OT last night. That is all.

Do you really feel that way?

Canucks PR has done similar things before. Waiting to announce the Sbisa/Dorsett extensions (both viewed negatively) the day after the Canucks clinched a playoff berth.

Personally I don't think the fans really care that Hank messed up. We know they suck at 3 on 3.

 

[Rotting Corpse*]

Hank had zero chance of catching Kucherov even if he burns it.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

How Vrbata remains so invisible on that streaking Bo-Bae line is ridiculous. Burrows also kills the Sedins effectiveness these days. Move Vrby up to the top line and put one of Etem/Virtanen on Bo's wing. Make Burrows and Higgins the wings on a "checking" (offensively inept) line.

I think this is the most invisible vrbata has been in his time here. Just a complete non factor , won't miss him at all. Especially with Sven taking off here.

Also agree burrows dragged the twins down. Hes nearing buyout territory.

The most noticeable players on the team besides the sedins are horvat and bear cheese, Hutton as well.

Gaunce , grenier and shinkaruk should be filling these rolls of the vets soon

It actually is very strange that Willie has seemingly forgotten that Vrbata once played with the Sedins. He was only taken off that line to try to "spread the talent" but it's pretty clear that that has failed miserably and now is the perfect opportunity to put him back on that line both to get him and the Sedins going again.

bo and vrbata to start OT when bo and sven were basically our entire team last night was... i don't even

 

[damack]

Hutton is a good story but I'm not sure on how much better he is going to get and he still has a small frame that doesn't grow any bigger in the playoffs.

surely you can't be serious...

A 22 year old rookie that comes in at takes a top 4 defensive spot out of nowhere in his first sniff at the NHL

and you don't know how much better he's going to get?

wow

and he's 6'2", lots of room to pack on some muscle

 

[beachcomber]

surely you can't be serious...

A 22 year old rookie that comes in at takes a top 4 defensive spot out of nowhere in his first sniff at the NHL

and you don't know how much better he's going to get?

wow

and he's 6'2", lots of room to pack on some muscle

This kid is going to be a ridiculously good player. His ability to wheel around out there and skate out of trouble with the ability and imagination that not many other players possess is a joy to watch. Top pairing, PP quarterback in the near future.