GDT: Oct 22: Canucks host the Wild - 1pm - SPac

[tantalum]

Ballard was covering Johnson put on the brakes. Ballard put on the brakes a split second later (given he was responding to what the guy was doing), Henrik failed to knock down the pass but the biggest error BY FAR on the play was BIeksa not taking his man out front. That was 90% on Bieksa. But feel free to let your Ballard hate spill over into the play.

[Rumsfeld]

Ballard was covering Johnson put on the brakes. Ballard put on the brakes a split second later (given he was responding to what the guy was doing), Henrik failed to knock down the pass but the biggest error BY FAR on the play was BIeksa not taking his man out front. That was 90% on Bieksa. But feel free to let your Ballard hate spill over into the play.

Beat me to it, tant.

[Hank]

Let's not even mention that whole rush was caused by Bieksa's pinch and fumbling at the point. Hey shit happens during a game.

KB4 is covering Bieksa's side and could not "plaster" Johnson in the numbers. The guy made a good play to slam on the brakes and got the puck past both Ballard and Henrik's stick where Bieksa could have checked Brodzniak just a bit harder. Bad D all around on a 2-on-4. No need to get "angry" there, Marvin Martian.

The guy just doesn't mind embarrassing himself on them hockey boards do he?

The goal

Please notice what the first thing Shorty says in the video, then freeze at the 5-6 second mark to check the players' positioning.

[Southern_Canuck]

By the time the pass occurred, it was a harmless play, well-covered behind the net. It's not like it was an odd man rush created by a poorly timed pinch.

There's no way Johnson should be allowed to wheel and deal from there - it looks like Ballard's plan was to try to steal the puck rather than take the man out.

If he's going to chase him behind the net, he has to eliminate the pass.

S_C

[Scintillator]

I only saw bits and pieces of the game, what's the story with Silent 3? Only 9:08 this game on 9 shifts. Low man was Ebbett and even Weise had 10:17. Was Cody injured at some point, or did he have brain cramp that gave AV reason to "rest" him awhile?

[Listercat]

By the time the pass occurred, it was a harmless play, well-covered behind the net. It's not like it was an odd man rush created by a poorly timed pinch.

There's no way Johnson should be allowed to wheel and deal from there - it looks like Ballard's plan was to try to steal the puck rather than take the man out.

If he's going to chase him behind the net, he has to eliminate the pass.

S_C

So what was Henrik's job on that play??? Ballard's job is first to try and tie up the player. Bieksa had to have better position in front. Henrik is between Ballard and Bieksa. It is his job to ensure that pass does not come in front. Get down and block it with your body if necessary, but block it!!!

I don't mind blaming guys that make a mistake but don't ignore the the person who was in the best position to nullify the play.

[newcanuckfan]

By the time the pass occurred, it was a harmless play, well-covered behind the net. It's not like it was an odd man rush created by a poorly timed pinch.

There's no way Johnson should be allowed to wheel and deal from there - it looks like Ballard's plan was to try to steal the puck rather than take the man out.

If he's going to chase him behind the net, he has to eliminate the pass.

S_C

When I saw it live my first thought was why the 2 guys in front didn't take away the pass or at least have Brodzniak covered. After looking at the replay it's even more clear that's the case. Ballard would've rode him out along the boards had it not been for the quick 180 by Johnson. He made a good move, and Henrik and Bieksa (especially) were caught watching.

Anyway, enough nit-picking. Ballard's playing well and fits in nicely.

[Per]

Sami Salo for the Calder!

I know he has been injured a lot, but I still think he has played too many games to qualify for that...

[Cookie La Rue]

Sami is GOLD, the oldest makes the difference, i love Salo.

[Meds]

Backstrom stood tall for Minnesota in this one and didn't have a chance on any of the goals. Even though I missed the first period it looked to me like we controlled the majority of the play this afternoon. In our end Schneider was solid as well, I thought he could possibly have had the first one, but it was a bang-bang give-and-go by the Wild. No chance on the second one.

Minnesota's second goal is all on Bieksa, and I'm sure he knows it. The scoring play has been analyzed to death already but I just want to rewind it a bit further than that to the other end of the ice. Ballard had just carried the puck up and into the Wild zone, he skated right through everyone and only some sound defensive positioning by the last Minnesota skater kept him to the outside and forced him into a poor shooting angle. So what does Ballard do? He makes the smart play. Minny's skaters are spread out, the defensemen are deep in front of Backstrom and the forwards are high in the zone, Ballard has a wide open passing lane straight across the slot for an easy wing-to-wing dish. He makes it. Low and behold, and in true Vigneault's Canucks' form, there is nobody supporting the weak side. The puck goes straight through the slot to the far boards, Backstrom is down and a bit hampered up by his own defensemen. Bieksa gets the puck just off the boards near the top of the circle, the net is still fairly open, all KB3 has to do is unload a shot and he's got a better than 50/50 chance of putting us in the lead. He doesn't let the shot go, Minnesota recovers, and because we are totally overloaded on the far side of the zone, all he really has is a dump to the corner, I can't remember what he did but the Wild ended up with the puck a few seconds later and it went the other way for the go ahead goal. No matter how you spin this, Bieksa ends up a total goat on that shift. Skaters filling all 3 lanes would have resulted in a goal for us. Hopefully the coaching staff wakes up soon because this is such a minor adjustment that would pay some serious dividends.

Sedins put on a clinic again in OT, too bad they didn't generate a decent shot on net.

I will miss Salo's bomb on the point. Either when he gets hurt (it's inevitable), or when he retires (also inevitable at some point). I really like our 5-on-3 and 4-on-3 PP setup right now for Salo, he leaves the zone and drops back half way to center, then comes coasting in for a one-timer that must surely have every sane goaltender (and probably the majority of defenders) shitting their pants. The GWG tonight and his first goal against the Oiler's were shots that can only be described as atomic. (Side note: the one against Edmonton was unloaded from the top of the circles!)

Kesler hasn't missed a beat, we are a much different team with him out of the lineup. His compete level reminds me of a pair of former Canuck captains. Adding Booth to his wing is only going to make him more effective.

Higgins is very good at frustrating opponents, hopefully this continues and he is rewarded. He fits in here the way he did in Montreal before he signed the new deal.

Ballard was again solid, playing like a top 3 guy. His reward? The same minutes as Andrew Alberts, and a whopping 1:27 worth of special teams time. Vigneault needs to get his head out of his ass.

I didn't even notice that Sturm and Samuelsson weren't in the lineup today.

Hodgson had probably his worst game of the year, only logging 9:08 out there today.

Malhotra is doing nothing apart from winning faceoffs, the 4th line center spot is looking more and more like it will be his. He doesn't bring the same grit that Lapierre does. At this rate he is going to be a PK specialist and only out for key faceoffs by the end of the year. It's too bad because it appears to be largely the result of his injury.

Schneider, who I mentioned was solid, is moving much better than he did last year. What I have noticed to be the most improved in his game though is his puck tracking ability. He is finding it through traffic, and following it off of rebounds, redirections, and behind the net on missed shots, all much faster than he did last season.

The team is rounding into form quite nicely 2 weeks into the year. I won't be surprised to see a hic-up over the next couple games as the team adjusts to a new face in the group and the departure of Samuelsson who has been here for 2 years, though it will probably be minimal as Booth is a longtime friend and former teammate of Kesler's.

I'm actually looking forward to this season again.....

[Topper]

A few comments:

Dank and Burr have a new twist that we have seen in the last couple of games, They are rotating Burrows to the high slot for the slap pass. Hasn't rippled the mesh yet, but watch for it.

I imagine that back home in Örnsköldsvik, Tommy and Tora have two pictures at either end of their mantle piece. One picture is of Henrik posing with his Hart and Art Ross trophies, at the other end of the mantle is a picture of Daniel with his Art Ross Trophy. This pisses Daniel off and we can see it in his play.

Something Listercat mentioned after the previous game. Playing as five man units. It is still not happening and it is very evident on the forecheck. Wingers are not getting deep enough soon enough and defenders are not pinching on the off side. In the past the defenceman would pinch on the off side and often deliver a crunching body check to the defender standing along the boards between the hash marks and the blue line as the puck was cleared around the weak side. No deep pressure, no weakside pinch, easy clear. One thing I can't see watching the game on TV, is the defending team keeping forwards high to limit the weakside pinching Vancouver defender?

I saw a couple of Methot hits last night, I await the outcry.....oh wait, the league does not need to send a message that Minni's scrubs need protection. Never mind.

Interesting how AV benches Silent 3 and manages to still rotate five lines
Dan-Hank-Burr
Kesler
Higgins-Hansen
Ebbet-Manny-Fiesta Frozen Mixed Bag of Vegetables
Volpatti-Lappy-Weise

Ebbett out played Silent 3 by a wide margin

Heatly and Setiguchi worked a two on one down low against Salo, Sammy's job is to take away the pass, he didn't, Devon creamed. It was yet another example of the horrendous down low covered by the defence.

Solid backup performance by Cory against a team that deserved nothing better.

Did John Garrett go completely insane during the off season. Maybe Rogers should shift him to fulltime Flame duty and look for some one else to do colour for Shorthouse. Garrett is not even in rookie camp form.

[Potatoe1]

Super boring game that was totally over shadowed by a very exciting trade.

-Sedins play basically 1 period yet manage to produce 2 goals, It's hard to fathom but as offensive players they actually seem to be improving.

-Sami Salo has probably been our 3rd best player this season. His defensive play has been excellent and he is totally bringing it offensively as well. I wonder if sitting out the majority of last season set his clock back a bit because he looks as good at 37 as he ever has.

-Kevin Bieksa on the other hand looks fat and Happy.

-Cody Hodgson has totally lost the confidence he built over the first 5 games. His game has deteriorated since being moved to wing and he now looks total crap. His only good shift was while playing centre on the power play where he is obviously more comfortable. I don't know what the canucks can do here, he's not really a fit for the 3rd line especially on the wing and a quality defensive centre on the 3rd unit is a key part of our forward rotation.

-Hansen had his second good game in a row and looks to have shaken out of his early season funk my guess is someone from the coaching staff lit him up a few games back because his effort level has been night and day better. Malholtra looked crap again and while Ebett had a solid night he really isn't a fit for that line.

-Weiss and Lappy with another excellent game. Right now the 3rd line should be Weiss with Lappy and Hansen. 4th line should be Manny with Volp and Hodgson.

PS. SC you would be 100x more popular around here is you just didn't bother commenting on Ballard. Even when you make fair points about him people are so annoyed over the way you dogged him relentlessly last season that no one cares what you say they just instantly see red.

[coco_canuck]

-Cody Hodgson has totally lost the confidence he built over the first 5 games. His game has deteriorated since being moved to wing and he now looks total crap. His only good shift was while playing centre on the power play where he is obviously more comfortable. I don't know what the canucks can do here, he's not really a fit for the 3rd line especially on the wing and a quality defensive centre on the 3rd unit is a key part of our forward rotation.

He's only played 3 games on the wing, and that's not enough time to get comfortable and acclimated to a new position. It really amazed me how many people thought he would make an easy transition to the wing, citing his ability and the Canucks system. I'm not saying he won't figure out how to play the wing in the NHL, but it's not going to happen overnight and it will be a tough road for him. Unfortunately for Cody, the Canucks aren't a team that can simply let him play on the wing indefinitely until he figures it out.

With Booth's acquisition I'm having a hard time finding a fit for him in the top 6 not only this year but for the foreseeable future. Jensen is our best winger prospect and he'll likely find his way onto that 2nd line at some point in the next 2-3 years, and then Cody is strictly limited to being a bottom 6 player, something he's not best suited for.

PS. SC you would be 100x more popular around here is you just didn't bother commenting on Ballard.

Very true, but as someone who has defended Ballard and thinks his game has improved this season, I can see why AV and the coaching staff have concerns. It has nothing to do with his high risk/high reward play in terms of rushing the puck and making offensive mistakes, the coaching staff will live with that just like they do with KB, Edler and how they did with Ehrhoff.

The problem is Ballard's positioning, defensive reads and controlling the gap between him and the opposition's forwards in his own end. Those things can be badly exposed late in tight games and in the playoffs, and until Ballard improves that area of his game, he'll be a 14-17 minute player and will likely be even more squeezed in the playoffs.

[Meds]

The problem is Ballard's positioning, defensive reads and controlling the gap between him and the opposition's forwards in his own end. Those things can be badly exposed late in tight games and in the playoffs, and until Ballard improves that area of his game, he'll be a 14-17 minute player and will likely be even more squeezed in the playoffs.

Oddly enough, compared to Bieksa, Alberts, and occassionally Edler and Salo, Ballard has been the best all-around on our blueline. I haven't seen him get exposed for poor positioning the way some of the other guys have. Obviously I'm talking about games this season.....

Also, considering that he has been in Vigneault's doghouse from the time he arrived, and has had fairly minimal game experience with Vancouver (compared to what he was used to in Florida), I would say that his learning curve is par for the course. You can only learn so much in practice when the guy coming at you is someone you know and you know exactly what he, and his linemates, are going to do and he knows exactly the way you are setting up too.....

As for the playoffs, you are right, any liabilities in a players game result in a squeeze on his playing minutes once all 82 games are in the bank. Fortunately for Ballard, and the Canucks, he still has almost a full season ahead of him to focus on the areas he needs to focus on, and with his skating ability it will be a relatively easy adjustment for him. I for one love that we have a guy on our blueline that every attacking forward has to worry about because he's so proficient at throwing a hip check.

[dhabums]

The problem is Ballard's positioning, defensive reads and controlling the gap between him and the opposition's forwards in his own end. Those things can be badly exposed late in tight games and in the playoffs, and until Ballard improves that area of his game, he'll be a 14-17 minute player and will likely be even more squeezed in the playoffs.

Oddly enough, compared to Bieksa, Alberts, and occassionally Edler and Salo, Ballard has been the best all-around on our blueline. I haven't seen him get exposed for poor positioning the way some of the other guys have. Obviously I'm talking about games this season.....

I agree. What I've not liked about Ballard is how often he loses battles along the boards, even if he is the one with the puck. He sometimes seems worried about taking a hit.