Post-Game Talk: Storkout! Santa keeps on giving - Canucks 2-0

[petrishriekandgo]

No. Nobody ever said that who is capable of thinking rationally.

However, plenty of people, myself included, would like to move Kesler if the right deal is available. He's had some injury problems and is getting older. Certainly wouldn't move him for a few picks or B prospects and don't think he's useless or overpaid.

This

 

[vanuck]

Kind of wish Sestito dropped the gloves before McGrattan took out Alberts. McGrattan asked him to go off the faceoff and Sestito looked to decline. Would have been a little bit of preventable policing.

That being said, Sestito held his own in the scrap. He's becoming one of the better scrappers in the league. Can skate fast enough to make a hit and intimidate defenseman on the forecheck, and can stand in there with the best scrappers in the league. Definitely improving in all areas.

I doubt fighting McGrattan would have prevented him from hitting Alberts the way he did.

Kind of wish Sestito wasn't in the lineup all the time. Welsh at 4LW provides better on-ice value I think. Plus there's the extra center who can take faceoffs on their strong side, alternating with Dalpe.

 

[vanuck]

Also, how did Weber look in his minutes? He seems to have been doing alright as of late too.

The last goalie controversy netted us Bo Horvat. So yeah, I hope like hell that there is a controversy.

Haha, exactly. Controversies are a good thing for this franchise, especially in net. I guess we can have one and have nice things at the same time.

Can people please make this a chant whenever Lack makes a big save?

THIS. PLEASE.

 

[member 105785]

Lack for McDavid

 

[Eddy Punch Clock]

Can people please make this a chant whenever Lack makes a big save?

Just one small adjustment though...

Mmm Stork! Stork! Stork! Stork!

It would be impossible to get 18,000 in sync on that chant rhythm wise but it would sure sound as funny as hell listening to them try.

 

[Saturated Fats]

Dan Hamhuis has to be garnering some Olympic talk with how well he has been playing. So impressive in the past 20 or so games.

 

[Grumbler]

Wow Eddie gets another shutout. Damn couldn't make it in time to watch this game.

 

[604]

Yay win!

I fell asleep during the 2nd...this was not a beautiful game but congrats to our guys.

 

[Jimson Hogarth*]

Kind of wish Sestito dropped the gloves before McGrattan took out Alberts. McGrattan asked him to go off the faceoff and Sestito looked to decline. Would have been a little bit of preventable policing.

That being said, Sestito held his own in the scrap. He's becoming one of the better scrappers in the league. Can skate fast enough to make a hit and intimidate defenseman on the forecheck, and can stand in there with the best scrappers in the league. Definitely improving in all areas.

Yes, Sestito deserves a bit of praise for the improvements in his game. He's actually a decent fourth line player.

At first I didn't think the McGrattan hit was that bad, but then on the replay you could clearly see his forearm catching Alberts right on the jaw. Very nasty. I wouldn't be surprised to see him get an additional game...but then I wouldn't be surprised to see him get nothing as well. Nothing surprises me when it comes to the NHL handing out suspensions.

 

[ghostingtaro]

Yes, Sestito deserves a bit of praise for the improvements in his game. He's actually a decent fourth line player.

At first I didn't think the McGrattan hit was that bad, but then on the replay you could clearly see his forearm catching Alberts right on the jaw. Very nasty. I wouldn't be surprised to see him get an additional game...but then I wouldn't be surprised to see him get nothing as well. Nothing surprises me when it comes to the NHL handing out suspensions.

I agree.

It should be a suspension, you are in control of your arms and stick during play, Shanny made that clear in the suspensions of Kassian and Hansen. But you know, anything can happen since it's never consistent.

 

[MS]

Solid performance. Not a ton of offense or quality chances against a Calgary team that battled hard defensively, but dominated possession were rock solid defensively.

Lack is a stud. Honestly, I feel more comfortable with him in net than Luongo. Just keeps getting better and better. Looking forward to see how well he goes during this run of games.

Impressive thing about this 10-1-1 run is that we've done it with the Sedins having possibly their worst offensive stretch in 5-7 years. Brilliant pass by Henrik to create the 1-0 goal but otherwise did little. Very poor on the 5 minute PP.

Kesler-Santorelli-Higgins line continues to be outstanding and dominate possession. Great work by Kesler on the insurance goal.

Thought Booth and Kassian both skated well, and that line was solid if not dynamic.

Still not a huge Sestito fan or a fan of dressing a goon, but willing to grant that as 5 minute/game goons go, he's becoming a pretty decent one. Going toe-to-toe with McGrattan like that is impressive.

Hope Alberts is OK, but as injuries go, this was the least consequential one in NHL history.

Top 4 defenders were all excellent, especially Hamhuis who is playing exceptionally well right now.

Weber played 14 minutes and continues to hold his own.

 

[GPNuck]

Solid performance. Not a ton of offense or quality chances against a Calgary team that battled hard defensively, but dominated possession were rock solid defensively.

Lack is a stud. Honestly, I feel more comfortable with him in net than Luongo. Just keeps getting better and better. Looking forward to see how well he goes during this run of games.

Impressive thing about this 10-1-1 run is that we've done it with the Sedins having possibly their worst offensive stretch in 5-7 years. Brilliant pass by Henrik to create the 1-0 goal but otherwise did little. Very poor on the 5 minute PP.

Kesler-Santorelli-Higgins line continues to be outstanding and dominate possession. Great work by Kesler on the insurance goal.

Thought Booth and Kassian both skated well, and that line was solid if not dynamic.

Still not a huge Sestito fan or a fan of dressing a goon, but willing to grant that as 5 minute/game goons go, he's becoming a pretty decent one. Going toe-to-toe with McGrattan like that is impressive.

Hope Alberts is OK, but as injuries go, this was the least consequential one in NHL history.

Top 4 defenders were all excellent, especially Hamhuis who is playing exceptionally well right now.

Weber played 14 minutes and continues to hold his own.

Wow thats pretty harsh poor AHLberts

Aside from that I agree. .. Sedins look awful.. The pass was great but they really need to start creating some sustained pressure in the offensive zone.. I'm not sure the last time I saw them do it 5 on 5 was before the big contract thats for sure

 

[VanCanucks53]

Was at the game. There were some 'Eddie' chants near the end of the game too. He was solid, can't say enough good things about him. I thought the Kesler line was definitely our best line once again. Sedins had a couple of good shifts but overall they are still not performing at the level we're used to. I thought Kassian had a strong game as well. Loved that Bertuzzi like power move by him early on.

 

[Hollywood Burrows]

I don't have much to say about this game except McGrattan is a disgusting creep, and I'm very much looking forward to him no longer pretending to be a legitimate hockey player once his contract is over (surely he won't sign another?) I have a lot of respect for how Sestito handles himself, he has not backed down this season and has defended his teammates. Well done.

 

[shottasasa]

The Stork was very good with his rebound control, he seems to be in the zone right now but I am not sure if this is sustainable for a rookie goalie. There is no controversy yet, if Lack keeps up a high level of play for 30-40 starts, they'll probably trade him for some nice assets rather than go down the road they went with schneider. That is if Ericsson has played a couple of seasons in the AHL and proven himself capable, which I have high hopes that he will. I just can't see a Luongo trade in the next year or two. Contract is too big and ownership will not buy him out. From their perspective: why would you by out a player that is still giving you decent value for money when you can just trade the other one for assets?

Good defensive game overall as well and was impressed by Kassian and Booth, Santa and Kelser. I think Higgins has lost a bit of form at the moment and is not making quite the same impact but hopefully he'll turn that around. He just seems to be skating down a couple of blind alleys with the puck recently.

 

[Saturated Fats]

I'm curious as to who we'll call up to replace Alberts. Corrado seems the natural choice, but Utica scuttlebutt says he has been mediocre for some time now. Their best defenseman of late seems to be Henrik Tommernes.

 

[ddawg1950]

Be fun to see what will happen on this board if Eddie manages to keep his streak going right through the Flyers.

Boom.

 

[BeardyCanuck03]

The Sedins had a couple good shifts in the offensive zone but Hansen isn't a good net pressence, he isn't creating the room needed for the Sedins to move off the boards with the cycle. They need a legitimate scoring threat there otherwise the opponents just let the Sedins cycle on the outside.

Kesler and Santorelli both looked great tonight, loved the way they played. Higgins looked a bit behind. The Richardson, Booth, Kassian line is a solid line that can eat up minutes grinding away in the offensive zone, but does struggle at times in the defensive zone.

Lack was solid, he didn't need to be superb but he can up big when the Flames did have good chances. I like how calm and positionally solid he is in the net.

 

[ugghhh]

I guess Quick is expendable in LA too? I guess the Rangers can get rid of Lundqvist now too?

Lack would need to go:

9-7-6, .863 SVP, 2.5 GAA in his next 20 games to have the same stats as Luongo has after 32 games.

That is while being paid 4.5M less, and having two more years signed where he is $4M cheaper than Luongo.

I think it's quite clear that goalies in the NHL right now are more even than ever.. which makes sense, since there's such a large pool of them and only 30 starting jobs. In the past I would be much more hesitant, as there are lots of goalies who have flash in the pan type starts but fail to keep that up. And that may well be the case with Lack.. but there's no shortage of other options that could provide comparable goaltending to Luongo without the long term cap implications, imo (and at a cheaper rate).

I don't know if paying excessive $ for a goalie is really necessary unless that goalie is proven to give the team something more than the average goalie -- i.e. clutch past performances, mental stability, etc... which are the opposite of what Luongo offers right now. I just don't see a goalie who is giving his team more confidence when he is in net.

I'm a huge fan of Luongo -- and if his contract wasn't so bad, this wouldn't even be a topic for discussion imo. However, his contract is going to have long term implications on this team moving forward.

I don't think the Lundqvist signing was a good one for New York, personally.
And I think the performance of LA's goalies and Talbot, as well as Lack, are showing that maybe these goalies aren't that far ahead of the pack. Quick had one of the most dominant playoff showings of all time, so that deserves some compensation, imo. I don't know if he's that good of a goalie, but he definitely inspires confidence in his team when it counts (aside from the occasional very bad goal).

 

[Blue Suede Shoes]

The last goalie controversy netted us Bo Horvat. So yeah, I hope like hell that there is a controversy.

They told Gillis

"You can either trade all your star players and rebuild, or you can compete until the team gets old and starts sucking, and then you'll be drafting high picks anyways."

"And those are the only two ways to get top-10 picks?"

"Yes."

"We'll see."

[Turns around] "LARS! Find me all the undrafted Swedish goalies!"

 

[vanuck]

Good defensive game overall as well and was impressed by Kassian and Booth, Santa and Kelser. I think Higgins has lost a bit of form at the moment and is not making quite the same impact but hopefully he'll turn that around. He just seems to be skating down a couple of blind alleys with the puck recently.

Interesting because I'd been thinking the same thing about Higgins lately too, particularly on odd-man rushes where he's looked a little slow to make decisions with the puck and skating himself into tight corners as a result. Hopefully it's just a minor funk that he gets out of soon.

 

[LiquidSnake]

Dan Hamhuis has to be garnering some Olympic talk with how well he has been playing. So impressive in the past 20 or so games.

It's doubtful because the media has their agenda in place already with Vlasic and Bouwmeester.

I also think a pairing of Hamhuis and Weber makes too much sense

 

[shottasasa]

Interesting because I'd been thinking the same thing about Higgins lately too, particularly on odd-man rushes where he's looked a little slow to make decisions with the puck and skating himself into tight corners as a result. Hopefully it's just a minor funk that he gets out of soon.

Yeah, agreed. I think it is just the ebb and flow of form. On the bright side Kassian and Booth seem to be riding a wave of decent form so it kind of makes up for it.

Hansen is also looking better now but still not quite the right fit with the twins. They cycle to the preimeter a lot with him on the line with no net or slot presence. It frustrated the hell out of me when a Sedin would have the puck behind the net looking for a pass out front and nothing would come of it, not even a shot on net.

 

[BassMason]

Thought Dalpe had his best game as a Canuck tonight. Very noticeable. He has been improving game by game lately. I would like to see him given a chance between Booth and Kassian. I think Richardson is fine there but really limits the offensive potential of that line.

 

[Addison Rae]

It's doubtful because the media has their agenda in place already with Vlasic and Bouwmeester.

I also think a pairing of Hamhuis and Weber makes too much sense

Not understanding this Vlasic obsession at all, before this season the vast majority of people preferred Hamhuis to him, but now a 30 game sample size where Vlasic has been only slightly better is refuting that? Makes no sense to me.