GDT: Canucks @ Blues 5pm PST

[Nuckertuzzi]

Agree with Coco.. got to cut the Canucks, especially the defensive players , a little slack.. They have played a lot of hockey against some very good teams with not much rest

Gotta believe the team's brutal play of late (including the Boston game) is directly linked to fatigue. I don't remember seeing as many turnovers, brainfarts and odd-man rushes in a four game span as I have on this road trip...not in a very long time anyway.

In addition to what my old friend Coco laid out, not only did this team play more games than any other team in the past calendar year, and most of anybody so far this season, they're doing a lot of it in the midst of many lengthy and compact road trips. 26 of the 45 games they've played so far have been on the road and they've had to take four long journeys:

1. a 4-gamer (4 in 6 nights) with longest flight(s) out east
2. a 6-gamer (6 in 11 nights) with longest flight(s) out mid-east
3. a 5-gamer (5 in 10 nights) with longest flight(s) out east
4. a 4-gamer (4 in 6 nights) with longest flight(s) out east
(not to mention two other 3-gamers, both 3 in 4 nights)

In comparison, this is the extent of what our old (or should I say NEW) foes in Boston have had to deal with in way of travel so far in their 40 games, 16 of which were on the road:

1. a 3-gamer (3 in 5 nights) all in their time zone
2. a 3-gamer (3 in 8 nights, plus a 4-day break before) with longest flight(s) out mid-west


So it's nice to be at the top of the standings considering. But that said, the turnovers and defensive zone errors are not a new thing as they've been guilty of it pretty much throughout the year..and it's something that has to be corrected or it's going to catch up to them in a big way somewhere down the line. We've been lucky...we can't kid ourselves.

[Cornuck]

Valid points - and welcome to the site!

[wienerdog]

No way did Burrows dive. That part makes me crazy. He went down and got back up. I don't think he was expecting a penalty either. It was a reputation reaction. Whenever someone takes a penalty on Burrows they immediately react like he dove. Backes took a penalty at the wrong time of the game and Oshie made a horrible decision on the PK and those things resulted in a goal.

I get so tired of seeing players on the ice overreact every time they get called for an infraction against Burrows and Kesler. They want everyone to believe that those two never get legit penalty calls and it seems that the next day thats all you hear, about how they dove and that cost the other team.

Agreed, it's 100% a reputation reaction. Anyone who is upset about it (*looks at Strickland*) should watch the replay closely. I also agree that even Burrows didn't think there was a penalty coming.

Strickland is taking a dumb line in that article, I challenge him to intentionally dive like Burrows allegedly did, head first 5 feet from the boards with a monster like Backes steaming into your numbers.

Who the fuck would do that? Try and draw a penalty through crippling themselves? A call is worth serious injury? I mean, hey, Burrows can dive with the best of them but pure common freaking sense tells you it's not a sell job. It's simply a big body pushing a tired smaller body.

Really, it's a poor decision by Backes, who should have just corralled and ridden AB into the boards to separate him from the puck, instead of lazily pushing him from behind.

This is a classic example of bitching about something that "cost the game" when in reality, they had plenty of chances to put it away. The Blues should instead be crying about not being able to score on two (!) back to back (!) shorthanded (!!) breakaways.

Nonetheless, they are a very good team, and I don't want to meet them in the playoffs.

[wienerdog]

This team is dog tired, yet they've been trucking along just fine.

Remember the good old days when a road trip like this meant .250 hockey (if we were lucky) and the media was explaining that we just had no chance on gruelling runs like that?

Good times.

[RoyalDude]

Ballard might be small but he can skate and pass a lot better than Sulzer. If money is not a factor, you can argue all you want but I am sure the other 29 GMs would take Ballard over Sulzer any time any day.

So, in short, AV is an idiot for not dressing Ballard? Even though we are what, the best team in the NHL?

[BladesofSteel]

I get so tired of seeing players on the ice overreact every time they get called for an infraction against Burrows and Kesler. They want everyone to believe that those two never get legit penalty calls and it seems that the next day thats all you hear, about how they dove and that cost the other team.

The fact of the matter is, and only a Canuck fan can argue, that these are two of the hardest working two-way players on the team since they arrived, and they are among the elite two-way players in the game. As 3rd/4th liners, they cut their teeth by showcasing their relentless checking ability. They consistently out-battled players night in and night out to gain control of the puck, resulting in many, many penalties drawn out of sheer determination. Several years pass and their respective skills caught up with them as they inched up the depth chart.

Today, their work ethic speaks for themselves, and they deserve to be where they are among the leagues best two-way players. They've never strayed from their roots, as evident from being front line penalty killers and top six shut-down players. Teams hate playing against them because they give you absolutely no space, players hate them because they yap and chirp and stick and whack. They play to the edge to gain an advantage, and they've had nothing but success as a result.

But when you sprinkle in the head-snaps, dives, bites and pulls, that is all anyone else sees, and that is all anyone else will give them credit for.

Players involved aside, you have to call that penalty because the player had his back turned to the checker and was several feet from the boards. Its a dangerous play to even lean on a player, let alone body check him. It was the right call.

[dhabums]

Ballard might be small but he can skate and pass a lot better than Sulzer. If money is not a factor, you can argue all you want but I am sure the other 29 GMs would take Ballard over Sulzer any time any day.

So, in short, AV is an idiot for not dressing Ballard? Even though we are what, the best team in the NHL?

Are you weakly trying to imply that AV is perfect?

[dhabums]

This is a classic example of bitching about something that "cost the game" when in reality, they had plenty of chances to put it away.

Nothing wrong with putting doubt in the officials minds though. It may pay off at some other time. Every team saw that the penalty calls disappeared in the SCF when playing Vancouver, might has well get a head start on petitioning.

[RoyalDude]

Ballard might be small but he can skate and pass a lot better than Sulzer. If money is not a factor, you can argue all you want but I am sure the other 29 GMs would take Ballard over Sulzer any time any day.

So, in short, AV is an idiot for not dressing Ballard? Even though we are what, the best team in the NHL?

Are you weakly trying to imply that AV is perfect?

Well dhacling-ons, the record shows that whatever AV is doing he seems to be doing the right thing with this club, I mean shi-ite, how can argue his game time line-up decision making? It's picture perfect wouldn't ya say? Baltard sucks, you know it, we know it, the world knows it. The proof is in the pudding dha-poo-pusher.

[Blob Mckenzie]

Baltard sucks, you know it, we know it, the world knows it. The proof is in the pudding dha-poo-pusher.

He's still better than Alberts, Sulzer and little AV (Rome) . Is he a 4.2 million per year player.........? Absolutely not, but for whatever reason he is being sandbagged by the coaching staff here and is held to a different standard than the rest of the defence corps. The way AV and co are fucking with this guy is pretty piss poor asset management to say the least.

Don't get me wrong I THINK Ballard is a bad fit for this team and I'd like to see him dealt. That said anyone who says he is getting a fair shake from AV is a liar.

[dhabums]

Well dhacling-ons, the record shows that whatever AV is doing he seems to be doing the right thing with this club, I mean shi-ite, how can argue his game time line-up decision making? It's picture perfect wouldn't ya say? Baltard sucks, you know it, we know it, the world knows it. The proof is in the pudding dha-poo-pusher.

I wouldn't say it's picture perfect, no.

[Reefer2]

He's still better than Alberts, Sulzer and little AV (Rome) . Is he a 4.2 million per year player.........? Absolutely not, but for whatever reason he is being sandbagged by the coaching staff here and is held to a different standard than the rest of the defence corps. The way AV and co are fucking with this guy is pretty piss poor asset management to say the least.

Don't get me wrong I THINK Ballard is a bad fit for this team and I'd like to see him dealt. That said anyone who says he is getting a fair shake from AV is a liar.

Agree 100%, AV didn't learn from last season about fucking with players minds that HE does not like (for what ever reason) I was hoping MG would step in once in a while and speak to AV about the good of the team and not his ego but it does look like it will not happen and we will see what occurs in the playoffs this season.

[RoyalDude]

Well dhacling-ons, the record shows that whatever AV is doing he seems to be doing the right thing with this club, I mean shi-ite, how can argue his game time line-up decision making? It's picture perfect wouldn't ya say? Baltard sucks, you know it, we know it, the world knows it. The proof is in the pudding dha-poo-pusher.

I wouldn't say it's picture perfect, no.

Not surprising, you are one of the reputable lesser intelligent hockey minds around here filling these boards with uninteresting drivel on a consistent basis.

[Farhan Lalji]

Not surprising, you are one of the reputable lesser intelligent hockey minds around here filling these boards with uninteresting drivel on a consistent basis.

Why you don't tell him what you REALLY think about him?

[ukcanuck]

Not surprising, you are one of the reputable lesser intelligent hockey minds around here filling these boards with uninteresting drivel on a consistent basis.

Why you don't tell him what you REALLY think about him?

as my old grandma used to say, 'If you cant play nice
don't take someone's eye out instead......words to live by