GDT - Feb 9, 2012 at Minnesota Wild 5PM S-NET-P

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CorranHorn
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Re: GDT - Feb 9, 2012 at Minnesota Wild 5PM S-NET-P

Post by CorranHorn »

Groovypippin wrote:Best 59 minutes of the season? I saw a sloppy game where we defeated a crappy opponent. A win is a win, but calling that one of our best efforts of the year is giving Minnesota way too much credit. After watching Rome and Alberts flail around for the entire game, I certainly hope Ballard has a real injury. He should be in there.

Take this to the bank: if Ballard is traded to a good, playoff bound team at or before the deadline we are all going to be astonished with his play and wish we had him back. He's a hard hitting mobile defenseman that can pass the puck. Pissing those away for two fucking years is pretty stupid in my opinion.

Fixed that for you...
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Re: GDT - Feb 9, 2012 at Minnesota Wild 5PM S-NET-P

Post by dhabums »

CorranHorn wrote:
Groovypippin wrote:Best 59 minutes of the season? I saw a sloppy game where we defeated a crappy opponent. A win is a win, but calling that one of our best efforts of the year is giving Minnesota way too much credit. After watching Rome and Alberts flail around for the entire game, I certainly hope Ballard has a real injury. He should be in there.

Take this to the bank: if Ballard is traded to a good, playoff bound team at or before the deadline we are all going to be astonished with his play and wish we had him back. He's a hard hitting mobile defenseman that can pass the puck. Pissing those away for two fucking years is pretty stupid in my opinion.

Fixed that for you...
Remind me not to hire you to fix my lawnmower or whatever it is you do for a living.
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CorranHorn
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Re: GDT - Feb 9, 2012 at Minnesota Wild 5PM S-NET-P

Post by CorranHorn »

dhabums wrote:
CorranHorn wrote:
Fixed that for you...
Remind me not to hire you to fix my lawnmower or whatever it is you do for a living.
Don't hire me to fix your lawnmower.
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Hockey Widow
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Re: GDT - Feb 9, 2012 at Minnesota Wild 5PM S-NET-P

Post by Hockey Widow »

I doubt we will piss Ballard away. I think he is being shopped for two reasons. One his cap hit and two he has not shown he has earned the trust of the coach for whatever reasons. If he was paid 2-3 million maybe you can swallow having him on the team under he circumstances but as it stands his 4.2 for the trust he has garnered make him expendable. But, we all know we need to be deep on the back end going into the playoffs so I doubt he will be just pissed away. If, and it is a big if, he is moved it will be because something much better has come along and MG has a trade for him that he can live with.

So the only way I see we dump him is if MG lands a top 4 on the back end and needs the cap space. I just don't see that happening given MG's instance he won't trade for a rental and he won't mortgage the farm. But Mg has to test the waters and if there is huge interest in Ballard or if interest develops closer to the trade deadline and if the right deal is there....but not at the risk of losing depth on D. If we need to move him for cap space the time is in the summer.


As for the game...I thought it was pretty boring but I did think it was a much better effort than we have seen recently. We miss Higgins though.
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Re: GDT - Feb 9, 2012 at Minnesota Wild 5PM S-NET-P

Post by Benjo »

In my earlier post I meant to say it was one of the better efforts in the last few weeks, and not the whole season. Considering how the Canucks usually play in the Xcel centre I was pretty happy with their play last night.
Hockey Widow wrote: As for the game...I thought it was pretty boring but I did think it was a much better effort than we have seen recently. We miss Higgins though.
I agree he brings so much effort and tenacity. I have a feeling if Gillis brings in anyone this deadline it will be one or two unheralded or forgotten guys like Higgins and Lappy to shore up the depth.
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Re: GDT - Feb 9, 2012 at Minnesota Wild 5PM S-NET-P

Post by Meds »

If Ballard is dealt and Rome stays, and all we get back are depth forwards and a bottom pairing defenseman, Gillis needs to be shot for not firing Vigneault, or at least telling him to smarten the F up in regards to playing favorites with shit players. Ballard was doing fine in Florida, came here, started off having to return from surgery, and was never given a fair shake. From day one Ballard was competing with Rome for his spot.

Rome!!!??? Keith Ballard was competing with Aaron Rome!?!!? WTF?!?! :wow:

Ballard has wheels, above average hands, a decent shot, a good first pass, a great hip check, he's a battler, he has pretty good hockey sense, and is a top 4, if not top 3, defenseman on any team in the NHL. Rome is slow, hands of stone, a decent but inaccurate shot, brutal first pass, can hit (but other than Horton I can't remember many big ones), he battles but often gets there too late, below average hockey sense, and is a 5 or 6 man at best on any team in the league.

Vigneault, and any other Ballard detractors for that matter, have the argument in their favor that Ballard makes bad decisions that lead to turnovers. Sure. I won't argue that he's had his share of screw ups, but I guarantee that he hasn't had as many as Bieksa has. Yet Vigneault continually puts Bieksa out there on the top pairing with Hammer. He may have
coached the Canucks to their highest level of play in team history, and have seen the most wins behind Vancouver's bench, but the guy needs to be smacked around when it comes to some players.

And one more thing, Ballard also is more willing to drop the gloves with opponents. He has 37 bouts on his NHL fight card according to hockeyfights.com. Rome has 8. Ballard has been the league longer, but Rome is supposed to be that "tough", "hard-nosed" blueliner.....isn't he?
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Re: GDT - Feb 9, 2012 at Minnesota Wild 5PM S-NET-P

Post by Jovocop »

Mëds wrote:If Ballard is dealt and Rome stays, and all we get back are depth forwards and a bottom pairing defenseman, Gillis needs to be shot for not firing Vigneault, or at least telling him to smarten the F up in regards to playing favorites with shit players. Ballard was doing fine in Florida, came here, started off having to return from surgery, and was never given a fair shake. From day one Ballard was competing with Rome for his spot.

Rome!!!??? Keith Ballard was competing with Aaron Rome!?!!? WTF?!?! :wow:

Ballard has wheels, above average hands, a decent shot, a good first pass, a great hip check, he's a battler, he has pretty good hockey sense, and is a top 4, if not top 3, defenseman on any team in the NHL. Rome is slow, hands of stone, a decent but inaccurate shot, brutal first pass, can hit (but other than Horton I can't remember many big ones), he battles but often gets there too late, below average hockey sense, and is a 5 or 6 man at best on any team in the league.

Vigneault, and any other Ballard detractors for that matter, have the argument in their favor that Ballard makes bad decisions that lead to turnovers. Sure. I won't argue that he's had his share of screw ups, but I guarantee that he hasn't had as many as Bieksa has. Yet Vigneault continually puts Bieksa out there on the top pairing with Hammer. He may have
coached the Canucks to their highest level of play in team history, and have seen the most wins behind Vancouver's bench, but the guy needs to be smacked around when it comes to some players.

And one more thing, Ballard also is more willing to drop the gloves with opponents. He has 37 bouts on his NHL fight card according to hockeyfights.com. Rome has 8. Ballard has been the league longer, but Rome is supposed to be that "tough", "hard-nosed" blueliner.....isn't he?
:rockin: I have been saying that for a long time. HW mentioned that Ballard did not get the confidence from his teammates but Bieksa, Rome, and Alberts did?? Bieksa has been better lately but he consistently has one+ brain fart each game. I do not even want to talk about Rome and Alberts...
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Re: GDT - Feb 9, 2012 at Minnesota Wild 5PM S-NET-P

Post by Fred »

The unfortunate reality is teams are looking forward to facing Ballard in the play-offs...take away his pass and force him to carry the puck generally results in a brain cramp. Rome IMO is going backwards rather than forward in his game. I don't think he can handle much more than 10-12 mins a game. Albert's has brain cramps to but does make up for it on the PK IMO I can't think of a opposing teams that worry about Ballard. MG has to be concerned about his D, it's unreasonable to believe that all top 4 will make it through to the end of the play-offs without at least one going down..maybe 2 and that will be the 'Nucks achilles heel, playing Alberts, Rome, Ballard and Sulzer to big minutes. IMO
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Re: GDT - Feb 9, 2012 at Minnesota Wild 5PM S-NET-P

Post by Jovocop »

Fred wrote:The unfortunate reality is teams are looking forward to facing Ballard in the play-offs...take away his pass and force him to carry the puck generally results in a brain cramp. Rome IMO is going backwards rather than forward in his game. I don't think he can handle much more than 10-12 mins a game. Albert's has brain cramps to but does make up for it on the PK IMO I can't think of a opposing teams that worry about Ballard. MG has to be concerned about his D, it's unreasonable to believe that all top 4 will make it through to the end of the play-offs without at least one going down..maybe 2 and that will be the 'Nucks achilles heel, playing Alberts, Rome, Ballard and Sulzer to big minutes. IMO
If people are okay with Bieksa's brainfarts once or twice every game, I just can't see why people cannot accept Ballard. The only difference is that Bieksa still get the minutes to make up for his stupidity while Ballard would be sitting at the end of the bench.

Seriously, I hate Rome when he overhandles the puck in his own zone. He just does not have the skills. Perhaps the three goals that he had at the beginning of the season gave him the confidence now...
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Re: GDT - Feb 9, 2012 at Minnesota Wild 5PM S-NET-P

Post by dbr »

If nothing else, Ballard is stuck behind two great left side defenseman; Bieksa has no such competition - obviously Salo is great when healthy but I can't imagine what juice would have to do to get busted down to the third pairing, let alone right out of the lineup.
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Re: GDT - Feb 9, 2012 at Minnesota Wild 5PM S-NET-P

Post by CorranHorn »

dbr wrote:If nothing else, Ballard is stuck behind two great left side defenseman; Bieksa has no such competition - obviously Salo is great when healthy but I can't imagine what juice would have to do to get busted down to the third pairing, let alone right out of the lineup.
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Re: GDT - Feb 9, 2012 at Minnesota Wild 5PM S-NET-P

Post by BladesofSteel »

HW, now that Ballard is on his way back to Vancouver, what of the rumblings you've offered surrounding him not being injured and the team not happy with him?
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Re: GDT - Feb 9, 2012 at Minnesota Wild 5PM S-NET-P

Post by Hockey Widow »

BladesofSteel wrote:HW, now that Ballard is on his way back to Vancouver, what of the rumblings you've offered surrounding him not being injured and the team not happy with him?

Hard to know what to make of it. I think he does have some type of injury but if he was a top 4 and relied upon I think he would be playing through the problem. I did hear today that the injury may be more serious than was previously thought and his return is for precaution and examination. Really they are keeping him out of the Calgary games so coming back to Vancouver made sense.

He has played better lately but like Bieksa couple of seasons ago he has not earned the confidence of all of his teammates. It wasn't that long ago that Luongo stormed off the ice after a nasty loss and demanded Bieksa be traded. Well, demanded is harsh but he was over heard saying he didn't want the guy on the ice in front of him anymore. Bieksa was on the trade block that summer until Salo got hurt and then we know the rest of the story.

I think ballad is in a similar situation. Every mistake is magnified and over blown and if some of your teammates don't trust you it is a feeling of here we go again. I think if he recovers from whatever is ailing him and continues to play sound aggressive hockey he will earn his keep. The problem is the 4.2 cap hit. At 2-3 million few would be complaining but the 4.2 stings since the guy was supposed to be in our top 4. I think now that he has shown a willingness to drop the gloves and play some smash hockey he will earn the confidence of the rest of the teammates and they will start playing for him too.

He was over hyped when he arrived and at 4.2 everyone expected a lot more. I still think he an Tanev in the 5-6 slot make us stronger than Alberts and Rome but we need to carry guys like Alberts and Rome for a long playoff stretch.

So if a deal is presented to MG you know he will pull the trigger but he won't make any deal unless he knows he has a top 4 coming from somewhere else. It would be suicide which Is why I think it will be done in the summer.

Suter has already announced he will not negotiate any contract until July 1, he wants to be UFA. My money says MG uses Hamhuis and everything else at his disposal to make an offer to Suter, if that is successful then Ballard will be toast. Although I think unlike Hamhuis, Suter does not have one destination in mind that he wants to go to. I think he will look at the top 10 contenders, probably the US teams and put himself on the market. Detroit with Lidstrom nearing the end, Philly with an ailing Pronger, NYR. He will look for a big market team that spends to the cap or is not restrained by a team imposed cap. So he will go to a contender first and the money will be secondary, but he will want big coin or long term.The question I have is how close is he to Hamhuis and have they talked? OK, thats two questions.
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Re: GDT - Feb 9, 2012 at Minnesota Wild 5PM S-NET-P

Post by Chef Boi RD »

I
Hockey Widow wrote:
BladesofSteel wrote: Suter has already announced he will not negotiate any contract until July 1, he wants to be UFA. My money says MG uses Hamhuis and everything else at his disposal to make an offer to Suter, if that is successful then Ballard will be toast. Although I think unlike Hamhuis, Suter does not have one destination in mind that he wants to go to. I think he will look at the top 10 contenders, probably the US teams and put himself on the market. Detroit with Lidstrom nearing the end, Philly with an ailing Pronger, NYR. He will look for a big market team that spends to the cap or is not restrained by a team imposed cap. So he will go to a contender first and the money will be secondary, but he will want big coin or long term.The question I have is how close is he to Hamhuis and have they talked? OK, thats two questions.
I can't help but think that Suter will be the most sought after UFA D-men we have seen in a long while. I think teams will be lining up for him and throwing ridiculous numbers at him and his agent and I honestly feel that the Red Wings will be one of those teams and would not be surprise that he ends up a Wing. I say, good luck Nashville, you will need it.
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