GDT: Nov. 1; Canucks@ Flames; 6:30 pst on TSN

[tantalum]

Hodgson is ready to learn the NHL. The canucks have a spot open for him given the injury to Raymond. I fail to see why Hodgson would be best served going back to the AHL right now. If he wasn't one of the top 12 forwards on the team then sure he should be in the AHL instead of the press box. But he is one of the 12 best and is where he belongs. Certainly he has some struggles. In particular his defensive play can be suspect as he isn't the biggest guy but also because he is learning a new position. He seems to be drawn down too far down in the defensive zone and can't get to the boards or the point when he needs to. Might be his center instincts taking over when that happens. I think offensively he's doing quite well.

Booth has points in back to back games now and has drawn a couple of penalties with his speed and strength. Think back to the Bourque penalty. I don't think anyone but Kesler or Booth can draw that penalty because it was drawn using speed and strength. Maybe a healthy Raymond is fast enough to draw the hook but he is also much weaker and may have just been bodied off the puck. Booth hasn't been great but I'll take OK for now. OK with the intangibles of grit, strength and speed will do just fine until Kesler can get his game back (remember it's going to take 15ish games for Kesler to get to where he needs to be).

[Meds]

David Booth

The window is closing on this guy, the mulligan window for being new to these parts, but serioiusly...it's time for Baby Jesus Booth to start showing why he is getting Keith Ballard money cause so far the guy has been very unimpressive. At this juncture, I'd take Samuelsson back in a heartbeat.

I hope you're joking RD. Samuelsson was as much a threat to turn the puck over as he was to be a threat to the other team. Booth at least has more speed, more grit, and goes to the net harder.

I agree with you about the $$$ though, right now he's not living up to it, but he is head-and-shoulders above Samuelsson.

[RoyalDude]

Booth has points in back to back games now and has drawn a couple of penalties with his speed and strength. Think back to the Bourque penalty. I don't think anyone but Kesler or Booth can draw that penalty because it was drawn using speed and strength. Maybe a healthy Raymond is fast enough to draw the hook but he is also much weaker and may have just been bodied off the puck. Booth hasn't been great but I'll take OK for now. OK with the intangibles of grit, strength and speed will do just fine until Kesler can get his game back (remember it's going to take 15ish games for Kesler to get to where he needs to be).

Booth has to be a lot more noticeable than he has been to be soaking up $4.5 million of our Salary Cap. Those kinds of monies, the guy should be "lights out, game over, roll the highlight reel, this guy is money!"

[Todd Bersnoozi]

Boy, Hansen and Higgy seem to have some great chemistry so far. Hansen was able to find Higgy for a couple of great scoring opportunities in back to back games now and Higgy just buried em. Lap Dawg is playing great too and seems to be really carrying the 4th line. He's playing way better than Manny right now and probably deserves to be on the 3rd, but it may be good to spread out the horses a bit to keep the lines more balanced.

I like the d-pairing of Edler-Salo as well, especially on the power-play. With 2 masta-blastas on the point, teams will cringe in fear. Might be good to move one of them on the 2nd unit PP down the road, to give that 2nd unit a point shot threat presence, but right now, I like the two of them together.

[Potatoe1]

As I said, I have not called him a bust.

If you didn't say it outright, you most certainly implied it.

I don't recall another poster on any board being as critical of Hodgson as you have been over the past 3 years.

You call him a defensive liability

As do you.

No, I said he has weaknesses defenitly, but he also has some strengths and on the whole he hasn't been a liability. Unlike for example Malholtra and Hansen who have both been lit up this season.

Did you miss the fact the Cody's lame attempt lead to a turn over, Henrik's lead to a Canuck scoring chance?

All of our forwards have made poor plays that lead to turn overs, you of course have the "shit coloured glasses" on for Cody and fixate on every mistake. He's made some poor plays just like everyone, but he's also made a ton of excellent plays none of which you have given any credit for.

You are now claiming that he is bringing down Kesler and Booth

Well it certainly is. There are two players who go aggressively on the forecheck and win puck battles along the boards and one player who can not play the wing and can not win puck battles along the boards.

So I guess Hansen and Higgens also brought them down because they were no better with them. Booth doesn't have 1 goal this season after 12 games. Kesler has 1 goal in 7 games and that was on the power play with the 2 best playmakers in the league. That's zero goals at even strength this season but I guess that's Cody's fault.

How long are you folks going to continue to have him coddled and make excuses for him?

Coddled?

Who is Coddling, he earned his spot in Camp and has outplayed a number of our vets over the first 12 games. If he had been given a spot and better players were sitting out for him then you would have a point but this is just pure nonsense.

He could not platoon the centre position with Manny taking face offs/ Cody playing centre,

Again this is just nonsense, he was fine at centre, in fact he was better at centre.

why ask the best second line centre in the league (that's your line Spud) to platoon the spot with a rookie.

That I agree with. Kesler should stay at centre, Cody needs to shift to the wing. I thought that was going to be a problem a few games back but he's come around the past 2.

Until Cody gets his act together and can fulfil a vacant role on the team, he should be in Chicago.

Again, you are basically the only person I have heard say that he "doesn't" have it together. The general consensus among fans, media, and coaches appears to be that he's been pretty good and is full value for his current spot.

Perhaps if Raymond were healthy and in full swing you might have a point but right now the only spare forward is Ebbet and Hodgson outplayed him in camp and has had a better performance this season then one would expect from Ebbet.

Right now the idea that he shouldn't be playing is just bunk and you are just coming across as a guy with an agenda.

But feel free to keep digging that hole.

[Meds]

I like the d-pairing of Edler-Salo as well, especially on the power-play. With 2 masta-blastas on the point, teams will cringe in fear. Might be good to move one of them on the 2nd unit PP down the road, to give that 2nd unit a point shot threat presence, but right now, I like the two of them together.

The talking heads were also rambling about the bomb that Sulzer has, although we were unable to see it as he lacks alot of confidence with the puck it seems. He had a few passes that were right in the wheel house last night and he didn't pull the trigger on them. He also fumbled the puck at the point a fair amount. I hope they (the commentary folk) are right about him.....and I also hope we get to see it soon.

[Rumsfeld]

Edler tied for second in points by defencemen with 12. Karlsson is first with 13 but has played one more game.

Could Eds make a run for the Norris this year? He's looking pretty Norrisish right now. Incredible passer, great shot, physical, smart, excellent defensively, showing improved instincts on the PP...

I'm thinking he could be a top-5 overall D-man this year for sure. Please stay healthy Alex.

[rats19]

Edler tied for second in points by defencemen with 12. Karlsson is first with 13 but has played one more game.

Could Eds make a run for the Norris this year? He's looking pretty Norrisish right now. Incredible passer, great shot, physical, smart, excellent defensively, showing improved instincts on the PP...

I'm thinking he could be a top-5 overall D-man this year for sure. Please stay healthy Alex.

Might be a tad early rummy but wouldnt that be something..

[Rumsfeld]

Edler tied for second in points by defencemen with 12. Karlsson is first with 13 but has played one more game.

Could Eds make a run for the Norris this year? He's looking pretty Norrisish right now. Incredible passer, great shot, physical, smart, excellent defensively, showing improved instincts on the PP...

I'm thinking he could be a top-5 overall D-man this year for sure. Please stay healthy Alex.

Might be a tad early rummy but wouldnt that be something..

I thought last year he was easily top-10 in the NHL before he got hurt.

It's not too much of a stretch, given his play so far and his age, to think he could finish the season top-5.

[rats19]

Dare to believe.....

[Aaronp18]

Booth has to be a lot more noticeable than he has been to be soaking up $4.5 million of our Salary Cap. Those kinds of monies, the guy should be "lights out, game over, roll the highlight reel, this guy is money!"

Your expectations are already way too high for Booth, or anyone that makes $4.5M these days.

Your talking about a $6-8M a year players, signed to a good deal.

The $4.5M crowd includes the likes of Laich, Hartnell, Leino, Connolly, Lupul, Cole, Malone, etc. And the list goes on, none of which are regulars on the highlight reel.

Give the guy some time to learn how to play in all three zones and gel with his linemates and I think we'll see someone who will fit very well with this team.

If the cap was still $39M then yes we would have to expect that from anyone making that type of monies, but looking around the league $4.5M gets you a decent second liner that is streaky and might show up on the highlight reel once a month or so. May want to curb those expectations just a tad.

[tantalum]

pretty much. Don't forget a guy like Penner as well. Some are better, some are worse. Some are a waste of space completely (Penner) and some can still play a regular shift even if they aren't scoring (I think Booth is that type of guy).

[Strangelove]

Canucks with the blowout win tonight....

Sure glad the Flames suck....

[mathonwy]

Canucks with the blowout win tonight....

Sure glad the Flames suck....

Sure makes up for what's happening in Edmonton.

[BladesofSteel]

Canucks with the blowout win tonight....

Sure glad the Flames suck....

Sure makes up for what's happening in Edmonton.

Ask me what's happening in Edmonton in January and February, when the dog days creep up and energy levels drop. When games begin to mean something and the team scoring dries up while they continue to allow 4,5,6 goals against due to lousy defense and an aging, injury prone ex-con.