Tribute What would your all time Canucks team look like?

[Horse McHindu]

Courtnall’s got a good argument for being one of the better playoff performers this team ever had. 61 points in 65 Vancouver Canucks post season games is impressive. Adams scored some watershed goals in team history, but Courtnall was the superior - and more consistent - player, IMO.

My all time roster would have Mogilny on it over Tanti, but I admit to not being able to see much of Tanti’s play - and none of it in his prime. I think it’s kind of tough to overlook the only other 50 goal scorer in the franchise’s history other than Bure, but Tanti was definitely a bright spot in a barren time for the franchise.

Mogilny just might be the most under appreciated Canuck of all-time. His performance in 1995-1996 was one of the single best Canuck performances of all-time and if it wasn’t for grossly incompetent management at the time, we likely would have seen a few more tremendous seasons from Almo.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Patrick Roy said the same thing. He was cut in favor of three non-Francophone goaltenders. Ron Lapointe defended it as a butterfly thing: “The other three goalies didn’t do any better than he did, but they stay on their skates and are more in tune with the style of team we’re trying to build.”

Roy’s response was “I think I’ve just realized why Mario Lemieux didn’t want to have anything to do with Junior Team Canada last year... Why cut me instead of a guy from Ontario who let in 6 goals? We Francophones are at a disadvantage. I thought Ron Lapointe could hold his own, but on the other hand, he’s by himself and the further we went, the more we could see that the players from the West and from Ontario had an edge.”

Should be noted there were rules:

□ Team: two goalies, six defencemen, 12 forwards and one foundational player
□ Members must have played at least 225 games with the Canucks
□ At least one member of the all-time team must be from the 2019-20 Canucks
□ Players are slotted in positions they played with the Canucks
□ One line must be comprised of defensive standouts, aka a checking line
□ One pair must be comprised of suffocating defenders, aka a shutdown pair
□ Lines and pairs are put together because they fit together, not because they are necessarily the first, second and third best at their positions
□ Foundational players are defined as players part of the fabric – the DNA – of a franchise
□ Last cuts by position are exactly as advertised, the players who just missed selection to the all-time team

by the rules i would go

sedin sedin linden
bure gradin mogilny
burrows kesler smyl (checking line)
naslund horvat (current) bertuzzi

ohlund snepsts
hamhuis jovanovski
mitchell diduck (shutdown pair)

luongo
mclean

foundational player: ronning

quinn as coach
gillis as GM
brackett as head scout

 

[MS]

Thoughts on TSN’s roster?

It’s actually a surprisingly good effort.

Forwards I’d probably find a way to get Mogilny in there over Tanti, although it’s hard to argue with Tanti’s stretch of 200 goals in 5 years.

Defense it’s a bit shocking that neither Snepsts nor Hamhuis even make the last cuts. Would not have Bieksa on the team.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

It’s actually a surprisingly good effort.

Forwards I’d probably find a way to get Mogilny in there over Tanti, although it’s hard to argue with Tanti’s stretch of 200 goals in 5 years.

Defense it’s a bit shocking that neither Snepsts nor Hamhuis even make the last cuts. Would not have Bieksa on the team.

actually, now come to think about it, bieksa is not a bad choice for foundational player

 

[Burke's Evil Spirit]

Prime Ehrhoff is getting underrated around here, guy was money on the PP (along with Salo)

Ehrhoff wasn't eligible for the list, but I do think that before Quinn Hughes, the two best seasons by a Canucks defensemen ever were the two Ehrhoff spent here.

 

[ziploc]

It’s actually a surprisingly good effort.

Forwards I’d probably find a way to get Mogilny in there over Tanti, although it’s hard to argue with Tanti’s stretch of 200 goals in 5 years.

Defense it’s a bit shocking that neither Snepsts nor Hamhuis even make the last cuts. Would not have Bieksa on the team.

I agree about Hamhuis. I would definitely have him (or Mitchell) in over Bieksa, especially for a shut down pairing. Snepts was a character but I don’t think he’d make my all time team.

 

[Horse McHindu]

I’m sorry, but anyone who has the twins and Bure playing on the same line together, clearly does not understand who these players truly are and why their contrasting styles of play would NOT be a natural fit with one another.

The twins with Bertuzzi...... NOW you’re getting somewhere. Bure with Ronning, Morrison, or Larionov......now you’re using good hockey IQ.

 

[ziploc]

I’m sorry, but anyone who has the twins and Bure playing on the same line together, clearly does not understand who these players truly are and why their contrasting styles of play would NOT be a natural fit with one another.

The twins with Bertuzzi...... NOW you’re getting somewhere. Bure with Ronning, Morrison, or Larionov......now you’re using good hockey IQ.

I definitely thought Twins and Bertuzzi would be a good mix, but I understand not wanting to completely break up the WCE, the second most dominant line we have ever had (obviously subbing Linden for Morrison). I kept coming back to just keeping Burrows with the Twins, though according to their criteria it makes sense to use Burrows on the checking line. Larionov is a good point, though it's hard to see him supplanting Kesler, Linden, Sedin or Gradin. All that being said, Bure with the Twins at all of their peaks would be awkward, but it would still work in a way. Bure would have 18 breakaways a game and would also get a fair few open slap shots. It just isn't a natural fit.

 

[Horse McHindu]

I definitely thought Twins and Bertuzzi would be a good mix, but I understand not wanting to completely break up the WCE, the second most dominant line we have ever had (obviously subbing Linden for Morrison). I kept coming back to just keeping Burrows with the Twins, though according to their criteria it makes sense to use Burrows on the checking line. Larionov is a good point, though it's hard to see him supplanting Kesler, Linden, Sedin or Gradin. All that being said, Bure with the Twins at all of their peaks would be awkward, but it would still work in a way. Bure would have 18 breakaways a game and would also get a fair few open slap shots. It just isn't a natural fit.

I would never break up the WCE either in this hypothetical. I was just using Bertuzzi with the twins as a stylistic example of what would be conducive for the twins. Prime Linden would also be an excellent fit for the twins.

 

[ziploc]

I would never break up the WCE either in this hypothetical. I was just using Bertuzzi with the twins as a stylistic example of what would be conducive for the twins. Prime Linden would also be an excellent fit for the twins.

That is an interesting thought. Their best wingers were smart enough to know where to go, able to hang in or near the crease, and good puck retrievers. Linden fits the bill and was tough as nails (not fighting but everything else).

 

[Horse McHindu]

Mogilny-Linden-Bure
Sedin-Sedin-Burrows
Naslund-Morrison-Bertuzzi
Cooke-Kesler-Hansen (shut down)



Edler-Bieksa
Ohlund-Salo
Mitchell-Lidster (shut down)

Jova

Luongo
McLean

I’m going to change my D a little as I don’t like the lack of puck movers on that D.

Mogilny-Linden-Bure
Sedin-Sedin-Burrows
Naslund-Morrison-Bertuzzi
Cooke-Kesler-Hansen (shut down)

Ronning

Lumme-Bieksa
Ohlund-Salo
Edler-Tanev (shut down pair)

Jovanovski

Luongo
Mclean

The defense is quite difficult for me because how on earth do you leave off Jovocop as your PMD, and not even have Hamhuis or Mitchell as one of your shut down pairings.

I ultimately chose Lumme over Jovo because Lumme is a bit steadier than Jovo. I selected Bieksa over Reinhart and Brown because Bieksa brings a bit more defensive savvy and physicality to that line (again, this is prime Bieksa, not the guy we saw in 2015).

I went with Edler over Hammer and Mitchell because Edler is better overall. He can shut down like the aforementioned, but also brings more offensively.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

I definitely thought Twins and Bertuzzi would be a good mix, but I understand not wanting to completely break up the WCE, the second most dominant line we have ever had (obviously subbing Linden for Morrison). I kept coming back to just keeping Burrows with the Twins, though according to their criteria it makes sense to use Burrows on the checking line. Larionov is a good point, though it's hard to see him supplanting Kesler, Linden, Sedin or Gradin. All that being said, Bure with the Twins at all of their peaks would be awkward, but it would still work in a way. Bure would have 18 breakaways a game and would also get a fair few open slap shots. It just isn't a natural fit.

yeah, can you imagine the bank passes off the end boards? they would have had to change the icing rules.... wait

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

my thing with bure is sure, the conventional wisdom is you just need a puck moving defenceman and everyone else to clear out of the way. but then at the end of his career, he finally gets to play with another player as good as him, lindros, and we all learn that upper echelon superstars will find a way to work together and destroy the competition.

in those rangers games, bure scored 12 goals and added 8 assists in 12 games. lindros had 9 goals and 16 points. also interesting to note that even though it's a small sample, those 8 assists in 12 games would have put him on pace for 55 assists over the full 82 games. that would have tied him for second in assists that year, behind only adam oates.