Post
by Meds » Sat Jan 26, 2013 5:02 pm
A few thoughts on some of the generally held opinions on the game....
Higgins-Burrows-Hansen were brutal.
Agreed, but if you watch Burrows play out there, he is like a mini-Hank. He has been the third Sedin for so long he thinks offensively like them. He was routinely making, what would have been, great passes and awesome setup plays all night. The problem was Higgins and Hansen were never there. The Sedin game is organic, it is structured, but organic. They just find each other and Burrows gelled with them and learned how to find them and be where they needed him to be. Hansen has had minimal time with the Twins, Higgins has had next to none. They are support players and are used to playing with centers who can't distribute the puck like Henrik, and so they don't think outside the box as readily, consequently they go first to the places where a safe play can be made that helps maintain puck possession rather than to a scoring area where the average center won't be able to hit them easily with a pass and so won't even try. Burrows is also at the center position for the first time ever, he's not an elite passer, but he will still try and make those plays because that's what the brothers do, and defenders aren't expecting that kind of stuff from a line with Hansen and Higgins on the wing and Burrows a first time center. But for now that line will struggle and take some time to get traction and chemistry. As an aside, Burrows with Raymond works well. If not for the defficiency at center right now I would like to see Vigneault use Schreoder between Bur and MayRay and see what transpires.
The Ducks were horrible.
True, but they were good in the first period and the Schneider had to be better to let the Canucks get their skates under them. Then once Vancouver was skating Anaheim took a penalty, then they took another, and another, and another. All of their penalties were the result of playing undisciplined hockey, and Bruce Boudreau is going to be having fits as he works with this roster that is full of Carlyle coached thugs. Every youngster that played in Anaheim under Carlyle's tenure has grown as a player into a short fused poor sport. Many of the penalties Vancouver didn't even have to work to draw. If the NHL is keen on policing games the way the rulebook writes them, then teams like Anaheim are in trouble and teams like Vancouver will really benefit. Alos, Anaheim has a nucleus of Getzlaf, Perry, Ryan, Selanne, and Koivu. After that they thin out somewhat, and their defense is nothing to write home about. Vancouver moved the puck well all night, they are quite capable of doing what they did to the Ducks to at least half the teams in the league, especially if the officiating we've seen so far this year stays the course.
Vigneault sending Schreoder home after the first rookie mistake.
Normally I'm death on AV and his coaching philosophies, but in this case I would like to point out that Schreoder has already made several "rookie mistakes" out there. His ice time hasn't been cut. This is the same for Kassian. Both guys are the prototypical player for AV to hammer the confidence out of, both have played well, but they haven't been perfect by any stretch of the imagination. My only complaint about AV's handling of these guys is on special teams. Kassian is clicking so well with the Sedins right now, and he's such a big, strong, guy, that I think having Hansen on the PP with the Twins is a big mistake. Burrows saw PP time with the first unit last night, but I think Kassian should be getting more with them. Schreoder should be centering the second unit at this point, especially at times like late in the game last night. Other than that I got nothing bad to say about that part of AV's coaching method. Shocking, I know.