Vancouver Canucks Messageboard

Okay, after watching tonight's Ottawa/Toronto game, can you please never again suggest that the Canucks should have signed Gerber?

Why, he's gonna have a fine season.

MacNews wrote:What else are you going to do though? Have 2 mediocre goalies?

Been there, done that. I'd sooner have Luogo any day. Do you really think the score would be3-1 Nucks with either of Cloutier or Auld playing tonight? I doubt it. You build from the goalie out.
If it takes a year or so to get all the pieces, so be it, just as long as they work as hard as they are tonight, I will be entertained.

sk8er wrote:Been there, done that. I'd sooner have Luogo any day. Do you really think the score would be3-1 Nucks with either of Cloutier or Auld playing tonight? I doubt it. You build from the goalie out.
If it takes a year or so to get all the pieces, so be it, just as long as they work as hard as they are tonight, I will be entertained.

I agree totally sk8er. Luongo is pricey, but look what you get when he's healthy. You get game-winning goaltending. If Brodeur gets hurt then the Devils are sunk, too.

The one thing that seemed to carry over from pre-season was penalties. OMG, they have to stop taking so many. To be fair, the team look great killing off all PP time Detroit had, but you can't always dig such a deep hole. If that keeps up, we've got issues.

What bugs me about this season is that there are, with the possible exception of Boudron, no young guys with huge potential in the mix. Seems everyone else has a few young hot-shots in their system or up with the big club. Where are the Canucks hotshots? Why don't we have any? Just a reminder that drafting in the past ten years has been nothing short of abysmal.

Sid Dithers wrote:What bugs me about this season is that there are, with the possible exception of Boudron, no young guys with huge potential in the mix. Seems everyone else has a few young hot-shots in their system or up with the big club. Where are the Canucks hotshots? Why don't we have any? Just a reminder that drafting in the past ten years has been nothing short of abysmal.

Kesler? And we have Bourdon like you mentioned. And on the Moose there is Hansen, Edler and Coulombe. And Grabner in juniors and Koltsov in Russia. I think we'll see more of these players next year.

Harold wrote:

Sid Dithers wrote:What bugs me about this season is that there are, with the possible exception of Boudron, no young guys with huge potential in the mix. Seems everyone else has a few young hot-shots in their system or up with the big club. Where are the Canucks hotshots? Why don't we have any? Just a reminder that drafting in the past ten years has been nothing short of abysmal.

Kesler? And we have Bourdon like you mentioned. And on the Moose there is Hansen, Edler and Coulombe. And Grabner in juniors and Koltsov in Russia. I think we'll see more of these players next year.

Yeah, but....

1. Coulombe wasn't drafted by Vancouver. The Canucks invited him to training camp and he impressed despite his very small size.

2. Koltsov is a flake and he probably won't come back to Canada.

I agree that the Canucks have guys like Kesler, Schneider and Bourdon, but let's not stretch it here.

dp

Sid Dithers wrote:What bugs me about this season is that there are, with the possible exception of Boudron, no young guys with huge potential in the mix. Seems everyone else has a few young hot-shots in their system or up with the big club. Where are the Canucks hotshots? Why don't we have any? Just a reminder that drafting in the past ten years has been nothing short of abysmal.

After the past few games, what bugs me is:

1. our depth on 'D'. Bourdon isn't quite ready, Fitzpatrick is strictly a depth player. No Baumgartner/Allen/Jovo as well as Carney, Weinrich, Brown and instead Mitchell, Krajicek, Fitzpatrick, Bourdon is a downgrade. Weinrich, of course, is no loss, but the defense bothers me more than the forwards up front.

2. a one-line team. Right now Brendan Morrison needs Markus Naslund. The twins can play with Bulis. I was a big proponent for an all-Swede line, but am starting to have my doubts that it's good for the overall makeup of the team.

dp

I think we're getting exactly what we thought we would get so far. Luongo has been stellar, and if we make the playoffs he'll win the Vezina.

The Ikea line has been doing as well as expected, all three guys could easily hit 90 points (and will probably HAVE to if we have any chance)

The second line is dysfunctional, probably due to new line mates. Another 10 games and we'll know for sure if they're bonafide second liners or third liners with minutes.

Third and fourth lines are playing good thus far, eating some minutes and not getting scored on too much.

Defence is thin, as we expected. Ohlund has to step up and start producing some points. Kracijek has been very mobile and contributed a lot. Salo better be healthy soon.

The consensus pick around here was the 'Nucks sneaking in between 6-8th spot. Right now, it looks like that's not such a far out idea.

Island Nucklehead wrote:I think we're getting exactly what we thought we would get so far. Luongo has been stellar, and if we make the playoffs he'll win the Vezina.

The Ikea line has been doing as well as expected, all three guys could easily hit 90 points (and will probably HAVE to if we have any chance)

The second line is dysfunctional, probably due to new line mates. Another 10 games and we'll know for sure if they're bonafide second liners or third liners with minutes.

Third and fourth lines are playing good thus far, eating some minutes and not getting scored on too much.

Defence is thin, as we expected. Ohlund has to step up and start producing some points. Kracijek has been very mobile and contributed a lot. Salo better be healthy soon.

The consensus pick around here was the 'Nucks sneaking in between 6-8th spot. Right now, it looks like that's not such a far out idea.

I don't disagree with much of what you are saying. I'm not suggesting doom and gloom for the Canucks. Luongo will be great despite the other night against San Jose. The third and fourth lines are better than last year. I still think Vigneault should evenly spread the lines around and have Naslund jump-start Morrison. My biggest concern is the defense. If Salo, Ohlund or Mitchell go down....it's over. Actually, if Luongo went down, it would really be over.

dp

Island Nucklehead wrote:If Kipper is hurt, Calgary is in nearly the same situation we are.

**Winner** - Understatement of the year.

Yes, according to the brilliance that is Ray Ferraro, the Canucks have a problem with only "4 top 6 forwards", but that's still twice as many as Calgary has.

The point was: Calgary's D is better than ours...I do think they are better off if their #1 goalie goes down.

Island Nucklehead wrote:The point was: Calgary's D is better than ours.

Since when? They have a better team defense (or at least did last season, this one remaining to be seen), but how is Mark Giordano or Andrei Zyuzin that much better than Kevin Bieksa? Phaneuf will be good, but he's no Matty Ohlund today. Regehr or Mitchell? Robyn's a pussy comparatively. What does that leave? Hamrlik & Ference? I'd rather have Salo.

But that's not really the point anyway, because Calgary's problem isn't defense, it's scoring with their pathetic forward corps.

Island Nucklehead wrote:I do think they are better off if their #1 goalie goes down.

Well, you're entitled to your opinion. To me what it means is mostly this: Is McLennan better than Sabourin or Flaherty?

By almost every measurable quantity the Flames suck.
They are smoke & mirrors, with almost all of their success of the past 2 seasons coming at the expense of the Canucks. Not this year.

SRsez wrote:

Island Nucklehead wrote:The point was: Calgary's D is better than ours.

Since when? They have a better team defense (or at least did last season, this one remaining to be seen), but how is Mark Giordano or Andrei Zyuzin that much better than Kevin Bieksa? Phaneuf will be good, but he's no Matty Ohlund today. Regehr or Mitchell? Robyn's a pussy comparatively. What does that leave? Hamrlik & Ference? I'd rather have Salo.

But that's not really the point anyway, because Calgary's problem isn't defense, it's scoring with their pathetic forward corps.

Island Nucklehead wrote:I do think they are better off if their #1 goalie goes down.

Well, you're entitled to your opinion. To me what it means is mostly this: Is McLennan better than Sabourin or Flaherty?

By almost every measurable quantity the Flames suck.
They are smoke & mirrors, with almost all of their success of the past 2 seasons coming at the expense of the Canucks. Not this year.

I agree.
Vancouver has a superior top 3 (Ohlund, Salo, Mitchell) to Calgary, and the only question marks heading into the season was how Krajicek and Bieksa would do in spots #4 and 5. With their excellent play so far I think it is very clear that Vancouver's D is better than Calgary's.