Pre-Game Talk: WCSF | Game 6 | Vancouver Canucks vs. Vegas Golden Knights | Sep 3 | 6:45PM PST | SPAC

[Jimnastic]

Wow..still cant believe the Canucks pulled that off last night.

Its really irksome to me, that after you draft , and put 5 years of your resources into a player (Demko)..You'll be faced with the reality of having him plucked at the expansion draft...Or, the decision of having to trade him before that...That really bites.

I don't think the Canucks could possibly go into game 6 with the same gameplan as game 5..Getting severely outshot, and getting nothing going on the rush is not a recipe for success...Also, the PP has really gone into the dumpster.

Interestingly enough..against St Louis, we tried to accelerate the tempo, to avoid the Blues setting up in our zone, and playing the heavy ,half court game..Conversely, against Vegas, we're hanging on for dear life, trying to match their pace and speed.

On the whole.. I cant complain..I'm happy the farther we can take this thing...Isn't there a stat, that says that the team that wins game 5..wins the series 78% of the time?

After that game the Canucks will have no choice but to protect Demko. He is 25 and Markstrom is 30. I love Markstrom, but there is no way we can consider keeping him when he is going to cost us a (well deserved) fortune to sign and we have no cap space.

 

[SixtyFour]

What the f***
Does he know what happened recently in the real world

Umh, it's not fake? Because that's very ridiculous talk

 

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

People talk about how cocky and arrogant the 2011 Canucks were but these VGK are something else.

The sad part is..is that they can back it up with their play..

 

[krutovsdonut]

i think there is a mindset revealed there. you don't comment about putting your boot on the throat of an opponent you consider your equal. that's how you talk about an opponent you think is beneath you to the point their resistance is provoking you to an extreme response. it presupposes that you can put the boot on the other team's throat and just crush them, instead of being forced to win a drawn out contest. it's disrespectful.

so lots of karma testing by vegas this series. not sure it will prevent them finishing the canucks but it might just cost them the destiny they seem to assume is theirs.

 

[krutovsdonut]

not buying the racism angle though. that's a very normal expression around for a long time.

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

Okay, folks, let's stay on the topic of the game. No media folks or social media trends have picked up Smith's comments as being related to anything other than hockey, so rather than blow this out of proportion, let's keep the game in perspective and not derail this thread into politics.

 

[Catamarca Livin]

A few select players for the offense and stellar goaltending. We know what this was going to be about before the series started.

The top players, even though Hughes is struggling, are the only reason this team is here. This is despite the weakness of the depth on the roster. (Not just localized to the abysmal bottom6, who are a clear net negative)

I think if you had even just an average performance from the depth of the roster, the Canucks could have secured game #4 and turned the series around. As is, it's just hoping the depth doesn't screw things up before the top players can get back on the ice.

Win or lose, I just want the Canucks to show that they belong in game #6. Right now, they don't. They are there, but they don't belong there.

Get to a relatively even shot total. Have the PP clicking. Scare VGK a little. Gain recognition for ability even if you lose.

I'm very curious as to how they will respond.

You can argue Canucks showed they belong in games 2,3,4. You can argue Vegas got better goaltending in games 3 and 4 and Vancouver could have won either game. Obviously in games 1 and 5 Vegas dominated. The Canucks are full value to be down 3 games to 2. They have played quite similiar to what SJ did last year. The Canucks are a flawed lineup as the have weak puck retrieval. If you cannot get and you cannot keep the puck you will be outplayed. The Canuck count on other team not being able to shoot puck through bodies, it is a loser way to play. However. it matches the Sutter, Horvat, Beagle, Edler etc. personnel. I hope we change personnel to be more active defending.

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

You can argue Canucks showed they belong in games 2,3,4. You can argue Vegas got better goaltending in games 3 and 4 and Vancouver could have won either game. Obviously in games 1 and 5 Vegas dominated. The Canucks are full value to be down 3 games to 2. They have played quite similiar to what SJ did last year. The Canucks are a flawed lineup as the have weak puck retrieval. If you cannot get and you cannot keep the puck you will be outplayed. The Canuck count on other team not being able to shoot puck through bodies, it is a loser way to play. However. it matches the Sutter, Horvat, Beagle, Edler etc. personnel. I hope we change personnel to be more active defending.

I think you can reasonably argue most of that, for sure. I think what people are mostly saying is we can't have the same team effort in Game 6 that we got in Game 5 and reasonably expect our goalie to just continue bailing us out. We knew going into this series that for the Canucks to have a chance, the goalies would have to steal at least one game - which has now happened. The team needs to respond and get another.

 

[mathonwy]

i think there is a mindset revealed there. you don't comment about putting your boot on the throat of an opponent you consider your equal. that's how you talk about an opponent you think is beneath you to the point their resistance is provoking you to an extreme response. it presupposes that you can put the boot on the other team's throat and just crush them, instead of being forced to win a drawn out contest. it's disrespectful.

so lots of karma testing by vegas this series. not sure it will prevent them finishing the canucks but it might just cost them the destiny they seem to assume is theirs.

The fact that the Knights can hit us into the shadow realm and there's not a damn thing any Canuck player can do about it probably played a factor in Smith's verbage.

 

[Szechwan]

Good analysis.

Gaudette is basically a good 4th line C/PP specialist at this point in his career. I'd give him one more year to round out his defensive game to see if he can hold down a 3C role going forward.

In the meantime the Canucks have a hole at 3C - Sutter doesn't bring enough offense, Gaudette doesn't bring enough two-way ability, and Beagle doesn't bring enough anything. We've been compensating by having Horvat play some of the hardest minutes of any center in the NHL, but that isn't a good long-term strategy.

We need to find a 2011 Bonino

 

[mathonwy]

We need to find a 2011 Bonino

I’d be fine with a 2014-15 Bonino.

 

[VanJack]

I know hindsight is 20/20, but I wonder if Green is now regretting riding Markstrom on the back to back games over the weekend? Maybe if Demko had got one of them, Markstrom might not have broken down. And they lost both games anyway.

I suppose if this was the regular season, you might have justified going with Markstrom in a back-to-back. But in both games against the Knights, the Canucks were badly out-shot and surrendered some serious defensive zone time. And the Canucks are routinely surrendering 36-40 shots every single game.

But it is what is is. And barring a miracle recovery by Markstrom, the Canucks are riding Demko in net for game six, and game seven, if necessary. And they're both back-to-backs. Yikes!

 

[Szechwan]

I’d be fine with a 2014-15 Bonino.

Thank you, gapped out on the year he was here.

 

[krutovsdonut]

i think you can reasonably argue that green has concluded they can't beat vegas straight up strength to strength, and adapted what they did with st louis. the prolonged vegas ozone possession looks just like the prolonged blues ozone possession. it would be demoralizing as hell unless that was the plan.

so i am not saying the games are not lopsided, but the games make the teams more lopsided than they are.

 

[Zombotron]

except we're minnesota

 

[Zombotron]

wait, wait — do i have this right? cliff ronning was a part of four 3 - 1 comebacks? 1992, 1994 canucks, 2003 wild x2?

edit: oh, i'm screeching @ game 6 of this series — jovanovski scores to put vancouver on the board before 37 and a half year old ronning sets up 2 goals in 2 minutes after that to bury vancouver lmfao

and MN getting a goal from darby hendrickson, who they claimed from vancouver in the expansion draft, and who would score another one (the series winner) in G7. this would be like if VGK claimed derek dorsett instead of luca sbisa and he scored the series winner tomorrow

edit 2: if vancouver had connected on the 5-on-3 to end G6, darby hendrickson the former canuck would have had the GWG in G6 and G7

edit 3: i couldn't tell from the grainy video above, but ronning had a touch on the hendrickson goal, too LOL. vancouver was sunk by 37-year-old cliff ronning putting up 3A in about 4 minutes

@Bazeek @TaLoN

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

wait, wait — do i have this right? cliff ronning was a part of four 3 - 1 comebacks? 1992, 1994 canucks, 2003 wild x2?

Yep.

Came oh, so close to it being 5, with the '94 Final.

 

[VanJack]

i think you can reasonably argue that green has concluded they can't beat vegas straight up strength to strength, and adapted what they did with st louis. the prolonged vegas ozone possession looks just like the prolonged blues ozone possession. it would be demoralizing as hell unless that was the plan.

so i am not saying the games are not lopsided, but the games make the teams more lopsided than they are.[/QUOTE]
I now have no idea what the term 'lopsided' really means. Canucks were outshot 43-17 and didn't even have 10 shots on goal through two periods. I counted at least six for seven scoring chances where the Knights forwards skated right into the slot an unleashed point-blank shots from 15 feet. Then there were the tips. deflections and crease-crashing.

Sure Demko was a stone wall. But there's no sugar-coating the fact that the Canucks have been badly outplayed so far in this series. And unless they miraculously find another gear in the next two games, it's impossible to see how they can win both and move on.

But I guess that's why they play the games.

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

Frick, would be nice to have that sort of breathing room! Feels like we are going to have to scratch and claw for every inch.

 

[Jimnastic]

What the f***
Does he know what happened recently in the real world

I would expect that from an inbred southern white trash, but from a 29 year old Canadian? That is incredibly tone deaf to the 2020 situation.

 

[supercanuck]

Frick, would be nice to have that sort of breathing room! Feels like we are going to have to scratch and claw for every inch.

I have no recollection of that series. How did that team go down 3-1 in the first place, if they can dominate like that in G5-7?

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

I have no recollection of that series. How did that team go down 3-1 in the first place, if they can dominate like that in G5-7?

The early 90s Canucks were actually a really, really strong team that did quite well in the regular season, but had a reputation for being playoff underachievers at that time. They were certainly capable of turning it on and being amongst the best in the game, but in '92 and '93 they had way more trouble than they should have with Winnipeg and then bowed out to Edmonton and Los Angeles in 6 games apiece.

Conversely, in '94, they underachieved in the regular season before pulling everything together in the playoffs for that incredible run.

 

[David71]

We desperately need a goal from the bottom six if we want to push this to a seventh game. Motte has been the catalyst for the bottom six. Hoping for a goal from him or one of Roussell or Virtanen.

jake has been talked about too much. need a gaudette/roussel sutter beagle goal. to really reel it in and to tie it UP

 

[Zombotron]

i'm thinking... this one goes to OT and VGK scores a heartbreaker, getting one from smith or marchessault because... because.

 

[EpochLink]

I have no recollection of that series. How did that team go down 3-1 in the first place, if they can dominate like that in G5-7?

I’ll take over here.

John Paddock was the coach for the Jets and played some solid defense going up 3-1 in the series. Pat Quinn adjusted and the Jets did. It, exposed the defense and Rick Taberraci was a sieve.