Canucks News N Notes 23-24 Playoff Edition

[Todd Bersnoozi]

I won’t write off Pettersson yet. I remember people saying Yserman and Sakic would never lead their teams to cups when they were young…until they did. Something has been wrong with Petey since the all-star game. Don’t know if it was physical or mental.

The thing with Burnaby Joe and Stevie Y is that they both still produced offensively even in their early years when their teams were not very good. I thought the Oil were very beatable, if EP40 was producing at his usual ppg pace and a couple goals here and there, we could have taken that series. His .50 ppg and 1G into a yawning cage doesn't cut it.

I guess that wonky knee injury was a factor in his poor play since Jan and I sure hope it was. I just found it kinda odd that Millzy and some other guys got the last regular season game off and some maintenance days, while Petey just kept playing through it. If the injury was that bothersome, maybe they would have given Petey some games off? I mean, the team secured a playoff spot back in like early March? Even early in the playoffs, Tocc was asked if EP40 was playing through an injury. Tocc replied we don't make excuses, there's nothing wrong with him and he'll just agree with what a great Canuck playoff performer said (Trev16's comment that EP40 needs to get into the fight).

[Meds]

Or all of the above?

Possibly.

[Meds]

certain individual's hatred towards a single player has gotten out of hands

time to activate the mute

Are you so afraid that he’s not everything we hoped he would be that you read critique as assessment?

It’s not hate to point out very obvious things.

It’s not hate when detractors want to be wrong and hope the player can actually live up to the massive contract that’s been awarded him.

But hey, you’re allowed to be offended.

[Meds]

$11.6 million scooter boy is a whiny little fuck. Probably sprouts a man bun in the off season. Refuses to take responsibility for his dismal play. This is the guy in the line up with no accountability. Watch him skate, he's knock kneed. Instead of striding from the hips, he strides from the knees. he spreads his feet from the knees. With that unstable base, no wonder he is always knocked down. Maybe if you weren't falling to your knees all the time they wouldn't hurt as much. Go get Forest Gump leg braces and send your mom to get you spot in a power skating school.

I have been consistently calling him out since October as a PP specialist and even strength decoy. Unable to create on his own or make space for himself. Saddled with 4th line wingers because he was playing like a 4th line centre. Those points have been evident for years.

$11.6 million scooter boy brought up the sore knee, Ricky mentioned tendonitis. Neither Ricky nor Robo Swede thought that was an issue. Lack of preparation by many of the players for a long season was the issue cited along with the dismal 4 minute PP (game 7 revisited).

The issue Robo Swede called out was many of the players ignored early season conditioning and preparation for the long haul grind expected of them and the downfall slump post Allstar was a result of that.

Ricky was consistent through all of that stretch, players need to be better, players need to suck it up, everyone is dinged up at this point in the season, players need to be in condition for the long haul.

Hughes, when asked about injury after Nashville targeted him claimed he was just fatigued by the long haul (see Robo Swede's comment).

Robo Swede - "staff was keen on Joshua a couple of years ago and he has really progressed, now they need to find the next Dakota" - Adios muchacho

- called out Hronek's D play, especially in the playoffs, as something that needs to be better if he's back. My take, Hronek suffered most from the attention paid to Hughes, the two were unable to feed off one another both on the breakouts and controlling the blue line in the O zone.

Topper call confirmed in the pressers - Ricky stifled creativity and vowed to loosen up next training camp.

Oh, and fuck me did the hacks ask a bunch of stupid questions.

Log out for a couple of weeks and just try reading the nonsensical drivel posted here. What a cesspool. I spent a couple of weeks posting stats and analysis to stimulate some hockey discussion but fuck all came of it.

Why bother?

You old asshole. Some of us have been missing your day after “few thoughts”…..

The knock kneed observation…..that was my first knock on Pettersson as a rookie when I saw him skate. I don’t know if I posted it here or if it was just conversation with the crew I watch games with. But definitely one of the reasons he falls over all of the time. I’m glad to hear I’m no the only one here who sees that.

He looks like my 7 year old when she put on skates for the first time without the balance cart thing.

I had not noticed what you pointed out about his stride from the knees though. Also Explains why he can’t create separation and space quickly in the O-zone and why his lateral movement and crossover step is nearly nonexistent.

For those who don’t see it…..compare Pettersson’s stance and skating stride to Crosby, MacKinnon, McDavid, or even Hughes.

[Meds]

@ Weibo Ludwig…..And you were dead wrong about Pettersson being a powerplay merchant. You make some good points, then shit your filthy linen gown.

I don’t like Peter’s skating style either but it’s mostly worked till now. I was a bit of an ankle skater. Look at Matt Tkachuk, not a real pretty stride and lumbers a bit. He gets there though. Or are you still glad we didn’t pick him? JT has good speed and power but he isn’t graceful at all. There’s only so many guys that have the perfect edges, pins and acceleration like McJesus, Nathan, Hughes, Barzal etc.

None of the guys you just mentioned are knock kneed. Sure they may look choppy or lumbering, but they are sturdy with a wide stance and have power to stay on their feet regardless of where they rank in terms of foot speed.

One thing I do know is the current administration has instilled a bit of juice back in the franchise after a boozer and his cronies damn near killed the team.

The entire team has done this. As Tocchet said, they put pride back in the jersey. That much is true. As bitter as I am about the lack of intensity and effort from some of the players in games 6 and 7, the season was a success.

[Meds]

I can recall when a pair of Swedish twins in their 20s were said to have "Bambi legs".

They still had them in their 30’s. Pettersson’s stance and stride looks the same as the Sedins, he’s just skinny and faster.

[Meds]

Lol yes Daniel really stood up to Marchand. Fuck me.

I meant with the media.....

...fuck me back at ya.

Media aside Donny…..

By the time they were in their mid-late 20’s, the Sedins were not getting pushed over by every defenseman who skated by them. They were sturdy in their feet. Fleet of foot? No. Punching bags? Sometimes. But the only one that was regularly on his ass or knees was Henrik when he tried to shoot…..but that wasn’t because he was getting knocked over.

[Meds]

Petey looked injured to me, he didn’t look the same, his skating was off and he looked weak. He’s an excellent player and will return to form. The tendinitis Chef had lasted months was brutal but I managed to work through it but still brutal so I don’t get why some downplay its effects, especially for an athlete in a game that’s hard on thd bod. I sympathize with Petey.

Topper and Mëds are obsessed with tearing him a new one.

Ummm…..nobody is downplaying its effects.

I’m saying that it doesn’t add up because the only treatment for tendinitis is rest. It doesn’t just go away with some special pills and magic massage therapy.

What does add up is that the team is unhappy that his performance went over a cliff in a major way after he signed the extension and so they are saving face on that with fans and trying to repair his damaged rep. An injured and easily recovering Petey has trade value…..a brain case no show does not.

Topper is bang on about the skating. Tendinitis would fit with the slow down we saw. It doesn’t fit with the bad decisions and lack of what was once a lethal shot.

[Per]

Or all of the above?

Or none of the above and he's a warrior who plays through pain and the coaches had to respect that.

Yeah, lots of athletes' first instinct is to just grin and bear it and play through an injury. Especially when nothing is broken and they feel they just need to somehow ignore the pain.

The team doctor/physiotherapist, or coaching staff, should step up and intervene. Tendinitis can be fixed, but usually needs rest to go away.
It can be a chronic problem that comes back, but it isn't necessarily so. I have had tendinitis issues that have gone away.
But of course strenous exercise with repetitive movement is not ideal for that.

If they had benched Petey early on and addressed the issue he would probably have had a better playoff performance.
Hopefully he can get some rest in the off season and come back stronger and better.

And when I say rest and get stronger - yeah, it's possible. There are typically exercises that you can do that allows the specific tendon involved to rest while you strengthen other nearby muscle groups that will help offset the strain in the area affected.

[Topper]

@ Weibo Ludwig…..And you were dead wrong about Pettersson being a powerplay merchant. You make some good points, then shit your filthy linen gown.

Peter was a fierce competitor all his career and he hit a rough patch- due to injury perhaps and or contract bullshit. I don’t like the Bambi legs myself but the guy is a good player and his points that come on the PP are right in line with the other top forwards. Weak take.

He was once a fierce competitor but when was the last time you saw the disappointment of a bad play transfer into anger at himself for the fuck up? He has become a floater.

Now get up off your Gillis garbaged couch, go in the house and like you say to your kids, "Put down the bottle of CC and do your homework." Show me how $11.6 million scooter boy is as dominant 5 on 5 as his payroll peers.

Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Now pinch your knees together and try to run. Lots of power in those first couple of stride wasn't there.

Now stand in that same position and have someone bump you from behind. I bet your knees hurt when they smashed into the floor.

If his knee was so debilitating he would have been off the PP. If his contract status was such a worry, why did he repeatedly choose to delay negotiations. He could have gotten it done last off season. Once again he chose to take his contract decision to the wire.

Does Vancouver need to move him permanently to wing for him to be more effective?

While Robo Swede tried to eat the blame on the ex leaf playing top six minutes, he's also the guy who signed him to a top six contract of $4.75 million per with a modified NTC.

[UWSaint]

Tendinitis can be managed in the short term with drugs.

Sure, it probably hurt, and sucked to go through - but with ice, drugs and a medical team managing it - it shouldn't have affected his performance that badly.

Kind of was hoping it was something a bit more serious, FFS, my Mom used to play tennis through some bad tendinitis in her elbow. I mean come on Petey. Disappointing.

I had tendinitis in my elbow once. For 3 months, it was painful to lift a coffee cup. Rested for 6 months before I played hockey again, and reaggravated it and was out again for 6-7 more months. (I could skate around of course, and coached during this time, but shooting was impossible to do without pain and setbacks, and handling in the puck was tough given the it was in my top hand arm). And of course, it also affected workouts. Weights were more or less out.

One tendinitis is not all tendinitis. Sometimes its gone in a couple weeks, sometimes its lingering discomfort for months, and sometimes it is debilitating. We don't know where Petey was with it, but far from being a wimp, my guess is that he was determined to play through pain and discomfort -- he, like your mom, "played through it." Unlike your mom (I'm guessing), he played through it against the best players in the world in a violent and fast sport.

[Chef Boi RD]

Tendinitis can be managed in the short term with drugs.

Sure, it probably hurt, and sucked to go through - but with ice, drugs and a medical team managing it - it shouldn't have affected his performance that badly.

Kind of was hoping it was something a bit more serious, FFS, my Mom used to play tennis through some bad tendinitis in her elbow. I mean come on Petey. Disappointing.

I had tendinitis in my elbow once. For 3 months, it was painful to lift a coffee cup. Rested for 6 months before I played hockey again, and reaggravated it and was out again for 6-7 more months. (I could skate around of course, and coached during this time, but shooting was impossible to do without pain and setbacks, and handling in the puck was tough given the it was in my top hand arm). And of course, it also affected workouts. Weights were more or less out.

One tendinitis is not all tendinitis. Sometimes its gone in a couple weeks, sometimes its lingering discomfort for months, and sometimes it is debilitating. We don't know where Petey was with it, but far from being a wimp, my guess is that he was determined to play through pain and discomfort -- he, like your mom, "played through it." Unlike your mom (I'm guessing), he played through it against the best players in the world in a violent and fast sport.

Same here UW, mine lasted 3-4 months and at times couldn’t even lift a coffee cup. I got mine from using steel shaft hammers, moved to the wood hammer and went away…eventually. But it was painful, so if tendinitis is anything like that in the knee then not sure how he could even play hockey at that level?

[donlever]

Summer has officially arrived once the infighting over Cheeseburger Nonis, Eyebags Gillis and Elmer Benning begins once again.

This year we are adding scooter McBeanpole to the lineup! Should be entertaining

...or not.

[5thhorseman]

I'm a bit of a Petey fanboi myself and believe that he still has it in him to be a bonafide franchise player, knock (knees) on wood. However, after reading the many comments I agree the tendonitis story has some holes in it, the main one being the fact that the team didn't put him on LTIR and use the cap room for another acquisition such as Toffoli. The Lindholm acquisition provided the perfect opportunity for the team not to miss a step while giving him that rest.

I suspect that either (a) it was a nagging injury that the medical staff thought would go away, but instead slowly worsened through the season, though this still leaves open the question of why he wasn't rested toward the end. Or, (b) the team was on track to win the division, if not the conference, and they were reluctant to give up that goal and possibly settle for a wild card spot. Reasonable, as we may have exited in the first round in this scenario.

We'll have to see how long it takes him to heal up and if it affects his offseason preparation. If he ends up missing some games at the start of next season then the story becomes more believable.

[Cornuck]

But the drop off in production should have told everyone that he needed the rest.