Post-Game Talk: Sens def. Canucks - 2-1 (Juolevi)

[Bougieman]

Why are so many people surprised they don't have energy?

Are they surprised? I don't see a lot of shock. They're just discussing the facts.

 

[Frank Garrett]

Third game in a row against Ottawa as the changed up schedule continues since the season started up again. Havent watched a whole lotta the last few games so these lines could be right or wrong. Probably wrong. Its in Ottawa so remember EARLY start time of 4pm

Hoglander Miller Virtanen
Pearson Horvat Macewan
High-More Boyd Brock Boeser
Clamato Sutter Hawrluyk

Hamonic Myers
Edler Schmidt
Hughes Juolevi

Holtby
Siloves

LBL called up maybell play maybe not, probably not

Scratches include:

Apparently this guy is injured

The GM is still:

This guy plays some really good music:

And heres a goal from a few years ago that we all like

Liked for Mark Knopfler.

 

[VanJack]

In less than a half a season, the Sens have caught up to the Canucks and will pass them easily by early next season. Meantime, seven years into the Benning rebuild, this team continues to bleed high quality scoring chances. And the worst culprits are some of the overpaid veteran players.

I don't think I've ever seen a team mishandle the puck in danger situations as badly as this one. Hoper passes, neutral zone turnovers, failure to get pucks in deep on line changes; and endless cycles by opposing teams in the Canuck zone. At times it looks like a 5 on 5 pp out there.

I know the apologists on Sportsnet were blaming COVID and player fatigue. But this has been happening for three seasons now.

And it doesn't seem to matter who they bring in.....they quickly descend to playing 'Canuck hockey'. Makes you think it has to be more than a little bit about coaching.

 

[Ozone]

I'm just watching more highlights from tonight's games;
Tyler Toffoli scored his 25th. hmmm...

I am wondering if anyone remembers anytime ever when a GM just gave away this many assets during his reign - over and over?

I'm stumped.

 

[orcatown]

Ottawa thoroughly outplayed us and we couldn't ride hot goaltending or get late goal to bail us out. Lots of games this season we have been out played but somehow got a late one and then an OT winner to get points when we actually didn't deserve any.

Good -

Myers - still liking the way he is going. Most any problems he is having have a lot more to do with the forwards than they do with him. Get the puck up to the forwards and they can't get it out of the zone. So the puck is back in and he is back to trying to fight it out. In time everything breaks down and the team gets trapped in their zone with constant pressure on the defense. This is a prescription for disaster for any defense. Forwards get even more tired and ragged (often other team gets a shift change in) and then play is all around your net. Defense often gets the blame but really the forwards are more at fault.

Miller - mishandling the puck some (seems a constant with him) but only forward able to create consistent pressure. Be real ugly if the team lost this player.

Hughes - starting over staying shifts and , at times, trying to do to much but he was the only other Canuck creating much offense. He has played much better in his zone since the covid break. Lot better at skating himself out of trouble.

Holtby - made some terrific saves to give the team a chance when they hardly deserved it.

Bad

Schmidt - started bad and didn't get much better. Still probably overcoming the covid situation. Was slow through out and with Edler was out for both goals against. Looked totally winded on the second.

Vesey - stunk. Can't stick handle well enough to provide any offense and bad in his own end. Looked like he was benched as game went on. If he wasn't he should have been. Might as well put him back on waivers.

Boeser - - very little spark in his play. More or less a body out there.

Others

Joulevi - most pleasant thing about this game was play of Joulevi. Wasn't any star but looked competent throughout. Moved puck well and again worked off puck to get space to make a play. Him and Myers were mostly able to get puck out of the zone quickly and, out side of the second, didn't get as bogged down playing strictly defense. Kind of seeing eye goal but he was putting his shots were they might be deflected. Needs to finish out the season with Myers no matter how he plays.

Motte - game is picking up but still not back to level it was earlier.

Pearson - kind of blaa game Pearson often plays. Guy is a decent 3rd liner on a good team and that creates something of an issue with his contract.

One tendency this team has (as other poor teams often seem to have) is attempting to make little passes around their own net. Try to make the cute little pass from behind their net or beside their net to the forward in the slot. If gets picked off other team has a wide open chance. Happens way too much with this team.

I think, right now, you have to wonder if we are, in fact, the worse team in this division.

 

[JAK]

dropping 2 games versus Sens, unacceptable IMO.
At least claw the games to OT if you are going to lose.

It is what it is

 

[The Iron Goalie]

So...there's no way Lind doesn't get a shot next game now...right? Vesey/MacEwen/Michaelis have all been tried, and Green clearly doesn't trust them, so why not give Lind a go?

Pearson, Horvat, Boeser
Höglander, Miller, Lind
Same bot 6

 

[604]

Feels like not doing better against OTT ends our season.

Full tank on!!!

 

[Grulemieux]

Drives me mental how Hughes is constantly fidgeting with his jersey and helmet. Just *****in play
Schmidtt is nowhere near the player Tanev is, big downgrade, never mind should have had both
Hoglander needs a Kesler like shooting improvement. 100 pucks a day on net, start from 0 after each miss.
Virtanen is not good..

Been done with the coaches for a long time. PP is horrible. The entire team refuses to push the play forward, always circling back, stopping to look for a point pass, behind the net to D partners. Always garbage passes to the back hand that cause turnovers or at best slow any momentum. Just skate forward, with some purpose, score on the rush FFS.

saw hughes pulling up his pants while handling the puck today lol. Maybe he as a problem getting the right size for his gear?

 

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

dropping 2 games versus Sens, unacceptable IMO.
At least claw the games to OT if you are going to lose.

It is what it is

It would have been in February..They are as good as any team in the division now..

 

[mathonwy]

Tanev has like close to 0 bad games played in a season and these so called Canucks managers let him walk.

 

[JAK]

Tanev has like close to 0 bad games played in a season and these so called Canucks managers let him walk.

Seriously? We going back to that discussion?

 

[tantalum]

Yeah, MacEwen looks like a guy with zero confidence right now. Which is too bad, as I think he brings a lot of elements we lack and if Green would give him a bit of leeway, I think he could be really effective for us.

MacEwan is a player that looks good the final 20 feet in the o-zone but it’s the other 180 feet is what coaches care about. In that department he isn’t going to win many coaches over. Still rather see him than several others but I understand why Green doesn’t use him.

Vesey...not often you say a guy wasn’t even worth the 5 minutes to do waiver paperwork to give a look see but Vesey is that guy. Dreadful player who has already worn out his welcome.

 

[Fatass]

Tanev has like close to 0 bad games played in a season and these so called Canucks managers let him walk.

And how many goals does Toffoli have? Watching us struggle both defensively and offensively last night, and it’s clear Miller knew exactly what was going on when he made his “shocking” comments about losing our top UFAs.

 

[Lupuls Grit]

Don’t really understand Green’s issue with MacEwen. He was effective last year in a 3rd/4th line energy role down the stretch, then got press boxed when the playoffs began and never seemed to recover in the coaches’ eyes.

Vesey, yeah. Cheap depth, but definitely seen enough of him near the top of the lineup.

The issue with MacEwan? Let's start with the fact he has been completely invisible, ineffective and one of the biggest disappointments in this cursed season. Roussel has been a more valuable player. I really hope he turns it around because he's the kind of cheap depth they need but let's not kid ourselves - he's been awful.

 

[NoName]

The packed schedule is already wearing down this team. It sucks, because it means they are very unlikely to be able to go on a run and push for a playoff spot just due to mounting fatigue.

 

[SeawaterOnIce]

The packed schedule is already wearing down this team. It sucks, because it means they are very unlikely to be able to go on a run and push for a playoff spot just due to mounting fatigue.

Fatigue is an attributing factor.

Boyd, Vesey, Sutter, Hawylruk, Virtanen, Roussel, Highmore.

You can have an amazing top 6...however a bottom 6 like that will sink any team. This team gets no scoring or offense from the bottom 6. The bottom 6 is not useful on the PK or in defensive situations. The bottom 6 just eats up ice time and that's it.

 

[VanJack]

MacEwan may have had a bit of a down year, but at least he's actually playing and earning around the league minimum. Roussel has been no more effective imo, and is earning three times as much for basically killing penalties.

If you're looking for reasons why the Canucks are floundering, guys like MacEwan who only get eight minutes or so on their best nights, are the least of your worries.

Now the $9m in cap space they have tied up in 'taxi squad Louie' and 'top Comet Sven Baertschi, now that's a different story.

 

[Killer Orcas]

We're a slow team coming back from the Covid outbreak. We won a couple to start but were expected to get blown out by the Leafs. It raised expectations however now with the games piling up played condensed we're gonna see them look even slower. We need to temper our expectations and just let the kids play to see what we have but these idiots running the show still think we're a playoff team sadly. Get ready to watch some ugly games as the back-to-backs start soon.

 

[Breakers]

Tanev has like close to 0 bad games played in a season and these so called Canucks managers let him walk.

Tanev can't flourish under Green's system
There is a reason his defensive numbers dropped consistently every year under green, and they were dropping before Hughes.

 

[Blue and Green]

The packed schedule is already wearing down this team. It sucks, because it means they are very unlikely to be able to go on a run and push for a playoff spot just due to mounting fatigue.

Yes, after last night's loss combined with Mtl win my guess is that they have less than 5% chance of making the playoffs. Some models show higher probabilities (8-10%) but I think it's less likely.

 

[Burke's Evil Spirit]

The Canucks legitimately dressed 7 fourth line forwards last night. Incroyable.

 

[VanJack]

Even if this team had the horses to launch a late-season playoff push (they clearly don't), this compressed schedule has made it virtually impossible. The only way this team ever wins is with high energy and superlative goaltending.....and you can't ride that night after night, and expect a major win streak.

The best thing that could happen right now would be for the Canucks to go 'ofer' on this road-trip, basically ending this ridiculous playoff fantasy. Then they can empty the taxi squad, get some minutes for guys like Lind, Rathbone, Rafferty etc. Hell, I'd even play Silovs for a game or two. Just a real shame they've already sent DiPietro to Utica.

The most interesting thing about this current edition of the Canucks will be what happens after the last whistle blows....at which point management and ownership have to sift through the wreckage of this awful year.

 

[iceburg]

He says this things in very obnoxious ways, but:
1 Hughes has been very weak defensively this season.
2 Petey has been hurt a lot.
3 Horvat is very good (IMO), but he is very inconsistent.
4 Thatcher has a history of injuries every season since he turned pro.

These things may not be pleasant to accept, but hey are facts. If these things remain constants, they will have a negative effect on the outcome of the Canucks future.

1a Will they be able to find another defender who can help make Quinn appear to be a solid NHL defender as Tanev did and no one since has?

2a Can Petey put on some muscle and get physically stronger or is he one of those guys that just seems to have a plastic skeleton? There have been and still are many of them throughout the league.

3a Can Horvat find a way to be the same basic player every night? Not one to score a goal every night, but to be a threat to while helping his line mates be productive as well. He is a center and that 2nd piece is very important. If the whole line is a threat every time they take a shift that makes the Canucks much more dangerous as the opponent has to plan to defend them. If the first line is even more dangerous that's 2 lines that have to be stopped. Now a 3rd line that is also dangerous makes the Canucks a very serious foe to contend with.
These 3 lines are not yet a part of the every game Vancouver lineup.

4a Can the Canucks develop or acquire a 2nd keeper that can come close to matching Demko's game results the way Thatcher and Jacob did. The way Holtby has played of late vs the other half of the season. Thatcher's history says he will likely have the mishaps along the way every season. Someone has to be capable of replacing him when he's out or partnering with him to possibly lessen the possibilities of injury.

Theses 4 issues 1st need to be recognized by management which I'm not sure Benning/Aqualini and Co. do. Once recognized, they need to be addressed by management and coaching in team construction and the systems they play as well as backup systems to utilize when issues arise that cause the team to have deficiencies they can't atone for with roster they have because of them.

While I could quibble with point 1,2, and 4, I mostly agree.

I disagree that Horvat is inconsistent. What is consistent is that he matches up against the opposing team's top line most nights. He consistently leads the team in faceoff%. His 82 game pace for points per year in his career are as follows:

y/g/a/pts
14/15 16g 15a 31pts
15/16 16g 24a 40pts
16/17 20g 32a 52pts
17/18 28g 28a 56pts
18/19 27g 34a 61pts
19/20 26g 37a 63pts
20/21 31g 31a 62pts

If anything he is the model of consistency. Sure he has off games. Everyone does. And, again, he is typically up against the opposing team's best players. That is a significant factor.

 

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

Since February 26th, the Canucks have gone 11-6-1 (.639), and their playoff odds are just as low today, as they were then...Just goes to show how tough it is, to make up ground in this division.