Post-Game Talk: Rangers def. Canucks - 5-1 (Bonino)

[yoss]

Fair enough but for me it's not about freaking out, it's bluntly commenting on what should have been a bounce back game after three very poor results. To come out and have that type of game under the circumstances can't be acceptable. Now's the time they should be making adjustments in how they play and tweaking their lineup with the amount of time at home and opportunity for practice they have coming up. I like the coach but if he doesn't tighten things up this could get out of hand. I guess we'll see.

I agree, it was a disappointing performance all around. 5 on 3s/odd man rushes all over the place right off the hop, 2 of them goals. After 3 losses on the road maybe they were anxious to set the tone and score early, I get that but 3 goals against in the first with little push back the rest of the way is not encouraging.

Other games they've gotten down early but come back to win or make a game of it, in this they looked done after the 1st basically.

Maybe a small part of the loss I'll give credit to AV knowing tendencies of some guys on his former team but that's no excuse for the overall performance. Miller not bailing them out on at least one of those first 2 goals didn't help matters. New lines did not look good. The defense is a concern. Hope the team figures it out against Dallas.

 

[Grumbler]

Interesting to see Willie D take responsibility post-game. Hughson was also saying during the broadcast that even with the three days back in Vancouver after the 7 game trip, that the Canucks hadn't gotten what WD would refer to as "real practice time" in a couple of weeks, and that he was noticing "bad habits creeping into their game".

Hopefully he's able to address some of those before Wednesday.

He shouldn't be taking ANY of the blame. We switched two coaches already, the responsibility is all on the players. No system will work if the players aren't executing up to standards. Honestly, I am pissed at this leadership group here. Too many times they crumble under pressure, allows consecutive goals in a span of a few minutes, manages no response and gets STRAIGHT OUT EMBARASSED. I don't know if this is a physical problem or a mental problem , but this cannot continue...

 

[Johnny Canucker]

Zero chance that happens, no point even talking about it.

It's not unlikely at all that we get a top 10 pick. Not at all.

We had an inflated start. This team is back to reality now, we could plummet pretty quick

 

[Hardyvan123]

He shouldn't be taking ANY of the blame. We switched two coaches already, the responsibility is all on the players. No system will work if the players aren't executing up to standards. Honestly, I am pissed at this leadership group here. Too many times they crumble under pressure, allows consecutive goals in a span of a few minutes, manages no response and gets STRAIGHT OUT EMBARASSED. I don't know if this is a physical problem or a mental problem , but this cannot continue...

this has been a problem for years, at certain times the lack of pushback is what has held this team back and now they aren't elite anymore and a playoff spot might slip away due the lack of pushback on this team.

 

[Ryp37]

they have to try biega or Sanguinetti, have had enough of Sbisa playing 20 plus and Weber

 

[MS]

That's the real issue that's concerning with the way the Rangers (and a few other teams that are comfortable stretching the zone with speed) exploited the whole aggressive pinching feature.

There are bad decisions by the defencemen in there (and we're dealing with guys playing above their station right now), but in a lot of these cases...the blueliners appear to be doing the "right thing". Or at least, doing what the staff seems to want them doing. We're not just talking some guys having an "off night" with their reads (though that obviously compounds the issue)...we're talking about some real systematic issues.

I'm really hoping this staff can make some smart, appropriate adjustments soon, as they start to get some more real practice time in.

Disagree - IMO it's a problem isolated to the Sbisa-Bieksa pairing and a reflection of their limitations more than a system thing.

Neither of the other pairings are having issues. Stanton was pinching on the 1-0 goal, yes, but everything should have been fine as Dorsett was in perfect position to cover until he ran out of position trying for a big hit.

Sbisa and Bieksa are both constantly swimming up ice for no real reason on low percentage plays with no support in behind them, and that's what's killing us.

 

[Jimson Hogarth*]

Maybe a small part of the loss I'll give credit to AV knowing tendencies of some guys on his former team but that's no excuse for the overall performance. Miller not bailing them out on at least one of those first 2 goals didn't help matters. New lines did not look good. The defense is a concern. Hope the team figures it out against Dallas.

Its not just that, AV and his staff are amongst the cutting edge leaders in hockey for watching and showing tape of the opposition to their players. AV is a very, very high calibre coach. Easily amongst the tops in the NHL. Proud to say he was once a Canuck

 

[Nucker101]

Disagree - IMO it's a problem isolated to the Sbisa-Bieksa pairing and a reflection of their limitations more than a system thing.

Neither of the other pairings are having issues. Stanton was pinching on the 1-0 goal, yes, but everything should have been fine as Dorsett was in perfect position to cover until he ran out of position trying for a big hit.

Sbisa and Bieksa are both constantly swimming up ice for no real reason on low percentage plays with no support in behind them, and that's what's killing us.

Agree with this. Lack of hockey sense in defensemen will really get exposed in this system compared to a more cautious system. I hope Benning realizes this.

 

[Edo]

He shouldn't be taking ANY of the blame. We switched two coaches already, the responsibility is all on the players. No system will work if the players aren't executing up to standards. Honestly, I am pissed at this leadership group here. Too many times they crumble under pressure, allows consecutive goals in a span of a few minutes, manages no response and gets STRAIGHT OUT EMBARASSED. I don't know if this is a physical problem or a mental problem , but this cannot continue...

Vancouver have basically come off a 9 game road trip. Just the perfect time to assess the team and make reasonable decisions.

Not sure what people are expecting with this group. We are not Stanley Cup contenders. We should make the playoffs as a 7th or 8th seed, and these are the results that a 7th or 8th seed will have throughout the season. The entire goal for the season is pretty clear. Success is a playoff spot. 2nd round would be fantastic, anything else is unrealistic.

Really though, Vancouver haven't played in the same city in 9 freaking games. Not sure if people realize how taxing that is on the body. This is an older team, and this happens. Even the younger teams would struggle through this.

Sheesh.

 

[684]

Vancouver have basically come off a 9 game road trip. Just the perfect time to assess the team and make reasonable decisions.

Not sure what people are expecting with this group. We are not Stanley Cup contenders. We should make the playoffs as a 7th or 8th seed, and these are the results that a 7th or 8th seed will have throughout the season. The entire goal for the season is pretty clear. Success is a playoff spot. 2nd round would be fantastic, anything else is unrealistic.

Really though, Vancouver haven't played in the same city in 9 freaking games. Not sure if people realize how taxing that is on the body. This is an older team, and this happens. Even the younger teams would struggle through this.

Sheesh.

Last night wasn't a "they're tired" night. Last night was a defensive implosion, a system malfunction.

 

[polarbearcub]

Last night wasn't a "they're tired" night. Last night was a defensive implosion, a system malfunction.

My thoughts as well. It was shocking actually , to see how many odd man rushes in a row they gave up.

 

[Edo]

Last night wasn't a "they're tired" night. Last night was a defensive implosion, a system malfunction.

Defensive implosion and a system malfunction is pretty clearly a result of not being fully fit, and still recovering from that trip.

What changed from the Montreal game to Yesterday? It was another flight, another game in a different city, and no real chance to rest. They basically had 1 day off.

Hell, in the NFL, we see issues with teams traveling from coast to coast with 5-6 days off. I'm not quite sure how anybody expected a positive result.

 

[y2kcanucks]

It's not unlikely at all that we get a top 10 pick. Not at all.

We had an inflated start. This team is back to reality now, we could plummet pretty quick

While this has been my opinion all season, given the tests the team passed in November I'm willing to sit on it for a little bit and see how they respond. This is this regime's first real taste of adversity. Let's see how they respond.

 

[y2kcanucks]

Defensive implosion and a system malfunction is pretty clearly a result of not being fully fit, and still recovering from that trip.

What changed from the Montreal game to Yesterday? It was another flight, another game in a different city, and no real chance to rest. They basically had 1 day off.

Hell, in the NFL, we see issues with teams traveling from coast to coast with 5-6 days off. I'm not quite sure how anybody expected a positive result.

They had Wednesday, Thursday, Friday off between the Montreal game and Saturday's game. That's a lot in the NHL.

 

[NoShowWilly]

if our reality is that we give up 3 odd man rushes every 5 minutes then yes we are in for a world of hurt.

 

[y2kcanucks]

Sedins havnt looked as dominant lately either, its just a huge trickle down effect from 1 hamhuis injury.

like a bridge with a tension wire cut

What does Dan Hamhuis have to do with the Sedins offensive production? Do people seriously look for any excuse in the book to explain why these guys aren't producing to expectations?

This year seems to be going similar to last year for them, which is a bad sign for their second half.

14 points each in their past 20 games since the end of October (which is actually worse than Daniel's November/December from last year, but slightly better than Henrik's). They seem to be good October players but fade as the season goes on.

Maybe I'm wrong and they come out strong in January/February, but the trend is noticeable. They dominated Edmonton so far this season, and don't play them going forward. Should be interesting.

 

[canucksfan]

What does Dan Hamhuis have to do with the Sedins offensive production? Do people seriously look for any excuse in the book to explain why these guys aren't producing to expectations?

This year seems to be going similar to last year for them, which is a bad sign for their second half.

14 points each in their past 20 games since the end of October (which is actually worse than Daniel's November/December from last year, but slightly better than Henrik's). They seem to be good October players but fade as the season goes on.

Maybe I'm wrong and they come out strong in January/February, but the trend is noticeable. They dominated Edmonton so far this season, and don't play them going forward. Should be interesting.

First 10 games they each had 12 points. Last 10 games they each had 6 points.

 

[JuniorNelson]

There is a myriad of issues. This team is old. This team is very slow. This team is suffering key personnel losses. Goaltending is iffy every night, lately. A rookie coach is trying to herd a bunch of cats who have been in the league for ten or more years. The barn has turned into a Starbuck's location. The radio guys are jerks. Gallagher is bringing them down.

It's the age thing that underpins everything else. Sedins are older players and cannot hustle every night. This can be mitigated by adding hustle to their line (unless it's old hustle!) but there isn't really any available. Desjardins must have been pretty desperate to try Hansen!

Canucks are simply caught in a bad position. Their prospects are not ready and their vets are past it. There is nobody to carry the load. A second line cannot be assembled out of the pieces Desjardins has. Two third lines didn't fool anybody. When the first line is slow you can check them to a standstill. Or, you can take the puck and handily outrun them for a three on one. This has been demonstrated amply.

Benning assembled as good a team as he could given the circumstances. The Canucks were a joke last season and did not attract a lot of free agents. Ehrhoff, for one, admits he was approached but chose to go elsewhere. It can be assumed Benning was active but could not sell players on the package. I would argue that he is in a better position now but that is not going to be helpful for this season.

What I came to say is that the team is going the right direction. Benning is shrewd. He might be shrewd enough to let the Sedins wither. Think about it. He is given a team with two untouchables on four year contracts. Ownership has their backs. What to do? Add a showy winger and an uptempo system and let them fade away seems to be the plan. The twins did say that another disappointing season would be their last in the league. They also said they'd be signing one year deals at this age, so...?

 

[Huggy]

Canucks are simply caught in a bad position. Their prospects are not ready and their vets are past it. There is nobody to carry the load. A second line cannot be assembled out of the pieces Desjardins has. Two third lines didn't fool anybody. When the first line is slow you can check them to a standstill. Or, you can take the puck and handily outrun them for a three on one. This has been demonstrated amply.

Bingo

 

[PG Canuck]

I'm officially worried.

 

[yoss]

Its not just that, AV and his staff are amongst the cutting edge leaders in hockey for watching and showing tape of the opposition to their players. AV is a very, very high calibre coach. Easily amongst the tops in the NHL. Proud to say he was once a Canuck

Yeah one of the best coaches this team has had imho. Was definitely a fan of AV with good memories of his time here. Wanted him to get his cup last season in the finals. Not surprising that he's on top of scouting other teams w/ tape and all of whatever that consists of.

WD was at a disadvantage somewhat in that respect without similar resource to draw upon, AV may have had success exploiting weaknesses in the the guys from Van he's so familiar with.

Despite this recent funk I am still more optimistic about this team than last years. Get a win and back to playing in earlier season form. They've beaten tough teams already so you know they're capable which makes games like this all the more aggravating. Not saying they're the best ever, but knowing they have another gear or two is a glimmer of hope.

Just get the win vs. Dallas. Find a way, I'll take an ugly win happily, just get it done somehow. Go back to what worked, find that rhythm again. If they play run and gun fine but pick your spots to some degree or you're gonna get burned by top lines that have guys that can finish. Especially when you hand out 3 & 2 on 1s like candy.

 

[684]

I said it while we were winning.. This team wont last long if they keep allowing this many odd man rushes and playing abismal defense. Even when Hamhuis was healthy, people were complaining about his play and he was a prime culprit for those terrible pinches we all love. Our D consists of two legit defensemen and four 5-6-7 D-men

Our top line is nowhere to be seen and they are frequently turning the puck over. Our 'second' line doesn't have second line players (except Bonino).

Also, how long did we expect to win games purely by the play and over achievement of our 3rd and 4th lines?

Miller's been terrible, but as previously stated the D is equally as bad. The kicker is that we're getting below average goaltending for $6.

 

[damack]

I think everything said at the beginning of the season is holding true, they will fight to be a playoff team. They weren't as good as they looked at the beginning of the season, but they aren't as bad as we saw last night.

 

[a Fool]

I think everything said at the beginning of the season is holding true, they will fight to be a playoff team. They weren't as good as they looked at the beginning of the season, but they aren't as bad as we saw last night.

Agreed. My expectations haven't changed from the beginning of the year: anywhere from 7th to 9th place in the West.

Really tough stretch of games the last 2 weeks.

 

[EpochLink]

Still peeved about last night, the defense is putrid, Lidster do your work