Speculation: Opening Day Lineup

[rune74]

My issues with Horvat are that he is a Granlund type. Doesn't use his teammates well, doesn't battle hard, doesn't play good defence. His dangles/60 will keep him out of the doghouse with fans but shouldn't with the coach.

What is a Granlund type? I'm hoping this year he will change this mentality.

 

[mossey3535]

If you're interested in losing brain cells, here's some material for that:

http://theprovince.com/sports/hocke...-face-of-canucks-whats-his-future-as-a-player



Yeah, makes a lot sense considering last season.



Wait what?



Umm what's going on here? Is this the opposite day? Or Willie forgot his meds?

.....and bo is on 4th line in todays practice...

 

[Biggest Canuck Fan]

Willie D should be fired alone on putting Horvat on the 4th line. It is an absolute crime! Why he would do this? This makes it so hard to be a Canucks fan.

 

[Boose Brudreau]

Willie D should be fired alone on putting Horvat on the 4th line. It is an absolute crime! Why he would do this? This makes it so hard to be a Canucks fan.

it's a wake up call and Bo will force his way back up the line-up in no time.

 

[Hollywood Burrows]

My issues with Horvat are that he is a Granlund type. Doesn't use his teammates well, doesn't battle hard, doesn't play good defence. His dangles/60 will keep him out of the doghouse with fans but shouldn't with the coach.

oooh now this is a spicy take, thanks for at least making an effort in your attempt to provoke people.

I see a bit of what you mean, but it hardly puts him at Granlund level. His defensive work can be improved, common for a young player. I don't agree that he doesn't battle hard. He has the ability to make skilled plays at the NHL level, and he led the team in scoring in the second half of last season. Yes, the team was a complete disaster, but he was an effective player and racked up 24 assists. He's a 2/3 line tweener right now, not an elite playmaker. There will probably always be questions about his game, but he's obviously a bright spot for this team right now.

 

[Eddy Punch Clock]

Sedins-Eriksson
Baertschi-Granlund-Skille
Gaunce-Sutter-Hansen
Burrows-Horvat-Dorsett
Virtanen

Edler-Tanev
Hutton-Gudbranson
Sbisa-Larsen

Miller/Marky

That is just ugly.

I could have come up with better lines, save the first, picking names out of a hat.

 

[Billy Kvcmu]

#Canucks practice lines:

22-33-21
50-20-36
47-60-18
14-53-15

23-8
27-44
5-63
88-55

 

[Evolu7ion]

Tank commander Desjardins checking in for duty.

 

[iceburg]

#Canucks practice lines:

22-33-21
50-20-36
47-60-18
14-53-15

23-8
27-44
5-63
88-55

Poor Horvat. It looks like this is more than just "trying different things". 14-53-15 isn't even a defensive line. It's an offensive black hole, slow, and lacking talent.

 

[thecupismine]

#Canucks practice lines:

22-33-21
50-20-36
47-60-18
14-53-15

23-8
27-44
5-63
88-55

Not a surprise when our coach thinks Horvat's greatest ability is the penalty kill, when by all measures he was easily one of the worst last year. This notion that Horvat is a defensively responsible, two-way player at this point in his career needs to stop. His strength is his offence, he might develop into a two-way player at some point, but he's not even close to being there yet. The only reason he gets mentioned as a two-way player was because that was what his junior scouting report said (it also said it about Hodgson too, and we all know how that turned out).

Using Sutter as an offensive player because he's solid in his own end, and using Horvat as a defensive player because his offensive game is good, is some real questionable deployment. Sutter's sole purpose should be to eat hard minutes and let the offensive players do their thing. The only thing he's good at is getting pinned in his own end, but being good enough defensively that teams still somehow don't score much while he's there. Giving him soft offensive minutes isn't going to change the fact that he has no possession game to speak of, and is just going to result in the other team's weaker lines also pinning us in our own end. With deployment like this (if it stays this way, or something similar, which Willie has done in the past), the team will easily be bottom 5 in the league by all possession metrics.

 

[PM]

Worst second line in the NHL. I don't care which of those bottom-3 lines is technically the second line, they are all terrible second lines. They don't even really look like good third lines.

Unless they stack up the second line offensively it's going to be another year of the top line producing and then the other 9 doing almost nothing. I thought our lack of depth on defense would be our achilles heel this year but with forward lines like that I doubt we score much either. Just match your best defense agains the Sedins and laugh at the rest of our team. The beauty is teams can also do that against us in our own barn because Willie doesn't understand having the last change.

 

[andyJH]

 

[Biggest Canuck Fan]

Hahahaha that's awesome

 

[BROCK HUGHES]

haha cant come quick enough

 

[BROCK HUGHES]

22-33-21
50-20-36
47-60-18
14-53-15

23-8
27-44
5-63
88-55
why should we expect anything better,This idiot coach should not be anywhere in the NHL,this is where the big boys play,,go back to your Jr players.

 

[turkulad]

I have to admit I've been a bit in the dark this preseason, but.... what the actual **** are those lines?

I've tried to be supportive before but this stuff has to end. Sack Desjardins, bring in Green and be done with it.....

 

[Rotting Corpse*]

Does Willie still think it's pre-season?

 

[Blueangel1891]

**** you Desjardins

 

[y2kcanucks]

LOL at Horvat on the 4th line.

Just trade the kid before you ruin his career.

 

[BROCK HUGHES]

LOL at Horvat on the 4th line.

Just trade the kid before you ruin his career.

Yeah thats what i think,,,omg i cant wait for this coach to be fired

 

[Biggest Canuck Fan]

LOL at Horvat on the 4th line.

Just trade the kid before you ruin his career.

This is the first time I agree with you. I mean for Christ's sake just last year they were talking as if he was the next captain... now he's only good enough for the 4th line. What a F&^%$#@ idiot!!

 

[Mofletz]

No wonder young players demand trades.

 

[canwincup]

Well **** this team must have improved by a lot over the off season if they're now in a position to put their third highest scorer from last year on the fourth line. Stanley Cup or bust .

 

[PM]

Jimbo is just trying to recreate his fourth line from the Bruins. Dorsett can be a weaker Thornton, Burrows at this stage in his career is sort of like Paille, and Horvat can blossom into the player we all want and need him to be, Gregory Campbell, without the referee influencing father.

 

[vcanuck]

WD could be the dumbest coach this franchise has ever had.