Canucks Acquire David Booth & Parts + Various Rumours

[wienerdog]

LOL why not throw in Alberts, Ballard, Rome,Raymond, Hodgson, Weise and Volpatti why don't you ?

Well Blob, judging on AV's mancrush on him, I think Romer's a made man.

The only way to get him outta here is if someone gives him the Long Dirt Nap.

[RoyalDude]

LOL throw in Alberts, Ballard, Rome,Raymond, Hodgson, Weise and Volpatti why don't you ?

The kind of Carte Blanche that do-nothing Weise gets around here, I wouldn't be surprised that he is an untouchable.

[RoyalDude]

Pavel Bure had problems burying chances in his first game.

Bahahahahahaha, shit you kill me, dhafecalfetish.

[ukcanuck]

RD enjoys playing devil's advocate and being a counter voice. I think most of what he says is tongue in cheek because it knows it will stir the hornet's nest. He gets a rise out of people which is really all he intends to do. Too bad because lost in his negative tirades is usually some sound analysis.

in other words a troll who relies on the law of averages.

[Island Nucklehead]

According to Dan Murphy, Kevin Porter is suspended four games for knee on knee hit with David Booth.

If true this is too long for an accidental knee from a first time offender. We have all seen much worse, like OV's deliberate spear on Neil. Or Thornton's deliberate slash to Burrows. These were far more egregious IMO as they were repeat offenders and very deliberate. Porter's knee was bad but not deliberate in the same sense. I just think 4 games is too harsh but it allows Shannahan to keep up the appearance of being tough by suspending no body.

How many games is Neil going to miss due to OV's spear? How many games did Burr miss due to the slash?

Porter's knee was very dangerous and deliberate. He led with his knee and it was not accidental IMO.

Knee injuries are serious and career limiting. I think the suspension is warranted.

I agree Herb. Call me tainted because I loved watching Cam Neely growing up, but the knee-on-knee has no place in the game and it should be suspended every time. The fact that Porter is a first time offender shouldn't matter. He led with the knee, Booth had established his lane and didn't move into the hit, and Porter didn't instinctively move to try and connect... he had the knee out and followed through knowing he'd get a piece.

Kerry Fraser had a half-decent blurb on the Neil-OV incident. Basically said that because Neil looked at the ref before sprawling on the ice it looked to him like he was trying to draw a call. He also said OV should have been kicked out of the game.

[Meds]

I wanted 5, he got 4. All things considered I'm pretty satisfied with that.

[Fred]

Krys Barch to Florida

First play made by Barch was he drilled Paille and challenged the Bruins and he and Thorton dropped the gloves and went at it. Any way Florida beat the Bruins 2-0 in Boston and no Barch didn't have any points in the game......but

[herb]

Krys Barch to Florida

First play made by Barch was he drilled Paille and challenged the Bruins and he and Thorton dropped the gloves and went at it. Any way Florida beat the Bruins 2-0 in Boston and no Barch didn't have any points in the game......but

Hopefully Florida can take out the Bruins in the playoffs this year so we don't have to deal with them...

[Fred]

I was watching Sportsnet with Kipreos, first of all he stated when "we scored that third goal I thught, we've won !!" ie Mtl but then he said some thing funny. Can you imagine the SC being Minny against Florida

The beauty of Florida as I've mentioned before they're loaded up with prospects and are going to be a force in the future....just earlier than I expected

Florida certainlty threw down the gauntlet last night

[Jovocop]

One less defenseman for this coming summer.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=383970

The Montreal Canadiens have signed defenceman Josh Gorges to a six-year contract extension.

The 27-year-old defender will earn an average salary of $3.9 million per year over the six years of the deal.

Gorges, who is one of the Canadiens assistant captains, has a goal and nine assists in 39 games this season while leading the team with a +6 plus/minus differential.

[dbr]

Yeesh. Seems like one of those deals where a player gets a generous cap hit and a long term to boot - although if the cap continues to increase like it has the Habs won't have any trouble with that deal.

[Potatoe1]

8 goals and 14 points in his last 17 games.

[herb]

Booth won't be missed. With Raymond back now, the emergence of Hodgson and the improving offense of Hansen, the slowly improving Malhotra. You won't even know the Low IQ Evangelist is missing.

Hmmmmm.....if it weren't for Booth the Canucks may not have won the last two games. Seems like DB is becoming a big contributor to the lineup.

This trade looked pretty good from the get go, but now it's looking like it could be a home run. The Kesler line is going to give teams fits, and a one-two punch of the Sedin and Kesler lines in the playoffs is going to be a chore to defend against. I'm sure glad that's not our problem.

[coco_canuck]

I posted this in the GDC thread, but it should be in this discussion also/

Booth's stick-handling is fine by the way.

It's obviously not at an elite level, and certainly not up to par compared to his line mate and fellow American Kesler, but I don't see a player who has trouble carrying the puck through the neutral zone, nor does he have many issues driving to the net with the puck on his stick or even making a move or two to get a shot off.

Booth is looking like the player the Panthers signed to that big extension, and by the summer, people will laugh when reminded that we gave up only Sturm and Samuelsson and somehow ended up coming away with a 3rd round pick as well.

I don't think we should expect Booth to be a flashy player who carries the puck on a string, because he's never been that type of player. He's an incredibly strong and determined player who flourishes in the corners, in-front of the net, backs off defences with his speed, drives the net and has a good, hard shot. He's basically everything the Canucks were lacking in their top 6.

For all the concerns about his defensive game, he's come a long way since he first joined the team. Last night, there were a few instances where he jumped passing lanes, back-checked hard and picked-up the open man on the wing to take away the cross-ice pass. These are little things that make players reliable in their own end, and Booth is improving in that aspect. The Canucks system that's often described as consisting of a "tight five-man unit" is beneficial for fast and aggressive forwards. The back-check and play in their own zone allows the speedy wingers to pick up speed through the neutral zone instead of just hanging back in the neutral zone and waiting for a pass from their own end.

I was getting extremely excited with the Booth-Kes combo before prayer boy decided to cut to go into the slot with his head down, but since returning they've picked up where they left off. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but seeing how well he fits this team and that 2nd line, there's no reason why he shouldn't be a consistent +30 goal scorer here.

What I think that 2nd line needs to work on is reading off one-another a bit better, and that will come with more familiarity. The more Booth keeps succeeding in-front of the net, the more the opposition will focus on preventing that from happen. Kesler has a wicked wrister, but so far this season it's been taken away with aggressive close-outs and convergence on Kes as he gets into the offensive zone in areas where his shot was effective last year, i.e. the high-slot, or just outside of it. What that's done is allow Booth to find seams to the net and has been able to win battles down-low. Once the defences start shifting back a bit, Kesler needs to find openings in that area and get his shot off more often.

We're still in the early stage of this 2nd line playing together, and all signs point to them being even much better down the road.

[Fred]

I watched some of the Abbotsford-Chicago game last night ...I believe they play again tonight ?? but Reinprecht looked pretty solid might be a player that might surface come the play-offs.

Booth to be honest was not a guy that I had focused on prior to his arrival here so I didn't know what to expect. How many times did you watch him with Florida ? any way he's playing above average now which is great and fits in well with Kesler and Higgins ( I really like the way Higgins plays ) but he played lousy when he first arrived. You can only judge on what you've seen or been told by some one better placed than your self. Lets hope Booth keeps it up we need it. because man the Sedins sure ain't finding the back of the net to often these days