GDT: Expansion cousins - Van vs Buf - 7pm - Taxpayer TV

[RoyalDude]

Sorry guys, I guess I haven't realized that all the pressure to win and produce goals and offense is solely on the shoulders of Mason '2.5 million dollars' Raymond. Shee-ite Muslim, how the hell did we sign the Superstar/Franchise player that Raymond is so cheaply?

I guess I need to start getting mad at Raymond like the rest of you. I'm in.

[RoyalDude]

Booth scored two goals but made one bad play and you called for his head? You are simply amazing.

But the goals mean diddly squat if he plays direclty in the loss of the game or should I say, screwing up the potential to tie it up. When I last looked, games are about winning, instead of individual stats. I don't think dumb ass Sopel ever made dumb plays like that, that one takes the cake. Shit, even the non-hockey fan knows to get the puck in deep when the goalie is getting pulled for an extra man. How long has David 'dumb ass' Booth been playing hockey for? He should at least know this by now, one would think.

I guess that's what 4.5 million gets ya, brilliance like that.

[dhabums]

But the goals mean diddly squat if he plays direclty in the loss of the game or should I say, screwing up the potential to tie it up. When I last looked, games are about winning, instead of individual stats.

If he doesn't score the goals, we don't bother pulling the goalie.

[Blob Mckenzie]

Some idiots around here can't seem to get over the fact that he is more of a two-way 'Play Making' winger instead of a high end goal scorer.

Ummm that great play making winger has 8 assists in 41 games. He also has eight goals which would suggest he's as bad of a playmaker as he is a sniper. He is Jannik Hansen lite. At least Hansen can throw a hit and gets involved physically once in a while. They are both third line players at best.

I'd like to see for the playoffs

Sedin Sedin Burrows
Higgins Kesler Booth
Hansen Lappierre Kassian
Raymond Pahlsson Weise

Manny, Duco, Bitz, Reinprecht, Schroeder,


Hamhuis Bieksa
Edler Salo
Ballard Tanev

Rome, Gragnani, Alberts, Baumer
Lots of options for Alain Rome

[Zamboni Driver]

But the goals mean diddly squat if he plays direclty in the loss of the game or should I say, screwing up the potential to tie it up. When I last looked, games are about winning, instead of individual stats.

Frankly I'm having a lot of trouble getting even remotely upset about that.
The game was probably a write-off after Luongo going 3-0 on a couple of crappy goals.
We gave 2 points away to our expansion cousins who are desperate to string a few wins together.
I'm actually happier with the Kesler/Booth line scoring 3 goals than I'd be with winning a 1-0 shutout

End of the day, we're still 15 points up on Phoenix to finish no lower than second, and 20 points up on the Avs.
I'm not really worried about getting points, even if they play the rest at .500 they still get top two seed.
For the last 16 games they need to be getting comfortable with the trade deadline pick-ups, and getting tuned up to face the Stars, Sharks or Kings.
We already know the Sharks pretty well, so it'll be a good test against the others.
Besides two games this week against the Habs & Jets, all the remaining games are Western conference teams, so they need to get their game in order and the Sedins going again.

[Fred]

Luongo made one of the worst teams in the league look like offensive dynamos.

I was at the game.... early...and watched the warm up

A point of interest Luongo was hit by a high shot during the warm up, came out and tried to smash his stick against the glass in the corner. He was clearly in a lot of pain....but Schneider immiediatley went in and Hansen hit Schneider around the collar bone with the vest next shot he pulled himself out and again was in real pain. Bottom line Luongo's mind or maybe his body wasn't ready to start the game. And man did it show

[Zamboni Driver]

Ummm that great play making winger has 8 assists in 41 games. He also has eight goals which would suggest he's as bad of a playmaker as he is a sniper. He is Jannik Hansen lite. At least Hansen can throw a hit and gets involved physically once in a while. They are both third line players at best.

I'd like to see for the playoffs

Sedin Sedin Burrows
Higgins Kesler Booth
Hansen Lappierre Kassian
Raymond Pahlsson Weise

Manny, Duco, Bitz, Reinprecht, Schroeder,

Looks like AV would have Pahlsson center the third line...

I'd prefer to see them try:

Sedin Sedin Burrows
Kassian Kesler Booth
Hansen Pahlsson Higgins
Raymond Lappierre Manny

If Kassian doesn't play well enough on the second line then he switches with Higgins.
If MayRay doesn't get his game in order then maybe he sits while Weise or Bitz goes in on the fourth line.
I doubt that they'd sit Manny as they want him for the PK and to take faceoffs

[nyintensity]

He's going to need to get with the program and learn defence or he'll be back in the press box.
AV pairing him with Rome (our weakest D) was a really bad idea though.
Edler & Bieksa had some of these bonehead moments too, it helped pairing them with a responsible partner.
Probably what MAG needs too.
Maybe Luongo was trying to pump your tires.
Without Luongo's first 5 min, Schneider's game was 3 - 1 for Vancouver (obviously no empty net if we aren't behind)
Kinda sucks for Schneider that he has to eat the loss.

Gragnani will drive you nuts - just expect offense from him and you'll find yourself less disappointed. I agree that he and Rome are not a good pair - you need a GREAT stay at home guy paired with him.

I think Luongo just had "one of those nights"...as a great goalie, he's allowed to have them once in a blue moon. Also, I'm not spouting off that "we beat the best team in the league" because...well...we're in 10th for a reason, and it's not because we're better than the Canucks.

[Meds]

The debacle that was last night's game against Buffalo began with some seriously flat play and bad communication on the part of Vancouver. It was pretty clear from the first drop of the puck that Buffalo knew they were going to have to work for it, there were at least three occassions in the first couple of shifts where the puck was either chipped into open ice, or poorly passed up by a defenseman, and the forwards closest to the puck hesitated like they weren't sure which one of them was going to take it, in the end a Saber's forward hopped on it and kept the pressure in the Canuck's end. One of them lead directly to the first goal. In all honesty, after we got out of that first period it was pretty clear who the better team was, unfortunately the better team had no puck-luck last night. By the time the second period rolled around, the giant was awake and you could see from the way the Saber's scrambled around their own end that they knew they were fucked if the hockey gods weren't going to look favorably on them and bless them for their early efforts at the beginning of the game. In the end a post, a crossbar, a couple of lucky bounces for Miller, and Aaron Rome's skate, sealed the deal for Buffalo on the scoreboard. But that wasn't what did the Canuck's in.....

The Awesome.....

Kassian. Holy Shit can this kid play some hockey. 9 hits going into the third period! Then he adds a goal and an assist. There was one hit he threw in the third where all I saw was this blue blur fly into the corner and absolutely decimate a Buffalo player. Couldn't believe there was no red cape behind it, was even more shocked to see a Canuck's jersey on the player in question. Final score? Kassian 2 - Hodgson 0.

The Good.....

Booth. 2 goals, worked hard, brought his game, played smart hockey.....right up until his last shift. I have to say though, that empty netter is not, repeat NOT, Booth's fault. That was a terrible time for Vigneault to call Schneider to the bench, and a terrible time for the majority of the team to head off on a line change. Booth should have played it into the Saber's zone, and that was a bit of a screw up, but the team was just out to lunch on that one.

Higgins. Solid effort, turned pucks over, played a tough game.

Malhotra. Nothing to complain about on his part last night. Played well, went to the net after pucks, went to the net and got a good look close in on a turnover and quick out from behind Miller.

Lapierre. Absolutely thriving since the addition of Kassian. He has totally stepped up the intensity and the work on the forecheck and along the boards.

The Average.

Kesler. Good game. Worked like we know he can. Just no results. The one time he should no question try and shoot the puck on a 2-on-1, and he tries to Sedin it through a sprawled defender while Miller is even cheating a little for that attempted pass.

Hansen. Typical game from Jannik, hustle and effort. Could have been better and a bit smarter with the puck, but so could many others.

The Meh.

Luongo. 3 goals on 6 shots and all in the first 5 minutes (yeah whatever, 5:10). The first goal is the only one I think he should have had, and even it was a cannon from just above the circle in a prime scoring position. It was the result of a turnover at the blueling, into the corner and then a quick pass for a one-timer from a WIDE OPEN Ville Leino. Went 5-hole, but was still simply blown through him. The second goal he made a save, lost his goalstick as the Saber's and a defender went into the net, scrambled, made a great save without his stick, scrambled some more, made a good play to get the puck with his blocker, but couldn't stop the rebound that was swept into the open net. If he has his stick on that play, the puck is easily cleared into the corner and out of harm's way. Terrible defense. The third goal, well nobody is getting that rocket that just catches the inside of the corner like that. I don't fault Luongo at all, his team came out and abandoned him to the stampeding herd. Had he turned aside even one of those I would have put him in the "good" category.

The Abysmal.

Rome. A -3 on the night and actually put the ultimate game-winner into his own net with his skate. Not really much you can do about that, but when you start off the way he did, with terrible reads, coverage, positioning, and just sloppy play, you are just asking for the hockey gods to curse you thrice. And they did. You know you suck when you get 11:50 TOI and still end up a -3.

The Sedins. Our worst forwards last night. They actually killed the team. After the team woke up and got going, the push was on, Booth scored twice, the second and third line had some good chances and really took over with some great energy. The 4th line was flying out there. Can't say enough about what Kassian did on multiple lines. But every time the twins came over the boards the energy just went the way of a fart in the wind. They would settle down the play, try and setup shop, work it around the outside, never get a real shot at the net, let Buffalo recover from the mad scramble they had been forced into by the quick movement of the Canuck's other lines, and then ultimately get nothing going and the Saber's would clear the puck. Henrik needs to be benched if he won't start shooting. The one shot he takes last night is the weakest shot I have seen from an NHL player in all my years of watching hockey, I'm not even kidding, Luongo could have gotten more on that. Miller probably thought he was back in Atom or Midget for a second, until he realized that the puck was moving so slow it belonged in a TimBits camp. I'm not even kidding when I say that Henrik could probably score 20 goals between now and the end of the year by surprising the goalie if he would just shoot the puck even one out of every four times he see's the net. The way the Sedins were nullified, and then nullified the Canucks, last night has me very worried come playoffs.

The PP. The first unit anyways. Unreal how bad the Sedins look on the man advantage right now. They've gone back to the stand still, move the puck up and down the boards, and wait for something to happen, style of hockey that stagnated the team a few years ago. You want to talk dead-puck hockey, look no further than Henrik and Daniel on the powerplay of late.

Raymond. Other than managing to be in front of Miller (for once) on Booth's first goal (a beauty of a setup by Burrows btw) MayRay did nothing other than fall over. The guy needs to sit for a while, it has classically been what he has responded to. Every time Vigneault has demoted or scratched Raymond, the guy responds with some inspired play. Looks like we are there again with him.

I'm going to simply be content with the fact that I got watch Kassian absolutely dominate his old team.

[Meds]

The game was probably a write-off after Luongo going 3-0 on a couple of crappy goals.

Which two goals were crappy?

If you mean crappy on the part of the team in front of Luongo, then yes, but only one of those can be put on Luongo.

[Strangelove]

He's the whipping boy now to some fans, when they lose, 'blame Raymond'. It don't matter that he played a decent game, just blame Raymond when things go sour for the team.

... says the guy who just blamed 2-goals +2 Booth.

What I wanna know is why no one is pointing a finger at AV.

It was obvious Lou shoulda been pulled after the 2nd goal and how about this:

He pulls Schneids while a completely gassed line is desperately trying to get off the ice!

[Strangelove]

I was at the game.... early...and watched the warm up

A point of interest Luongo was hit by a high shot during the warm up, came out and tried to smash his stick against the glass in the corner. He was clearly in a lot of pain....

Bottom line Luongo's mind or maybe his body wasn't ready to start the game. And man did it show

That was RD's lil buddy Raymond that hit him with that shot.

[Fred]

Can't imagine this being the line up come the play-offs when you can carry a larger roster. What I've seen of Pahlsson he' maybe past his best before date. Raymond will keep going around in circles trying to avoid the opposition and will finally disappear up his own butt. Hansen better start hitting a la Lapierre or he might slip out the play-off picture to and replaced by Bitz...assuming he's healthy. I see a shift in style, maybe forced because at long last oppositions are figuring the Sedins out...because like others their game is has vanished.

I hope this is just a matter of nothing to play for. But they looked tired and uninterested IMO

[RoyalDude]

Booth. 2 goals, worked hard, brought his game, played smart hockey.....right up until his last shift. I have to say though, that empty netter is not, repeat NOT, Booth's fault. That was a terrible time for Vigneault to call Schneider to the bench, and a terrible time for the majority of the team to head off on a line change. Booth should have played it into the Saber's zone, and that was a bit of a screw up, but the team was just out to lunch on that one.

Another comical David Booth rescue. Dude, its been written on the walls of hockey rule since the game born that when gaining the other teams zone with a minute to go when down by a goal, the puck goes deep, always. Booth or any NHL'er has to know that Schneider is gonna be making a mad dash to the bench to get the extra man on. Holy shite.

[RoyalDude]

But the goals mean diddly squat if he plays direclty in the loss of the game or should I say, screwing up the potential to tie it up. When I last looked, games are about winning, instead of individual stats.

If he doesn't score the goals, we don't bother pulling the goalie.

Like I said, too bad for Booth really, cause he was having a good game but he really can't help his dumbassness sometimes. He's as blonde as they come. It's a 'what have you done for me lately, world we live. Nobody remembers the two goals except you Jesus Booth Lovers. All I remember is saying, "fuck are you an idiot, Booth" when that play happened, not "oh, well you did manage to get us back into the game, scoring two goals..."