Canucks News 2.0

[donlever]

Seriously?!

That Bennett Beast couldn't do one pull up?

Sheesh....

[Megaterio Llamas]

It feels like only yesterday that Bennett was 18.

And couldn't do a chin-up.

Well, he did have a torn labrum lol.

[donlever]

Feels to me we are on the precipice, a knifes edge if you will, and this thing could go either way with the current off season being the impetus of impending change.

I don't think they are on a knife's edge. To me, I think the Canucks are building something consistently playoff bubbly--especially if they take the advice of many posters--with limited upside and downside.

on a/the knife-edg

idiom

: in a dangerous or important situation in which two very different results are possible

I am not as rose colored glass as U, W.

I look at the current playoff teams in the West:

Winnipeg
Dallas
Colorado
Edmonton
LA
Minnesota (with mirrors sans Ek and Kaprizov)
Vegas
Blues

...and the up and comers:

Utah
Anaheim

...and I then look at a team with not much in terms of dynamics in the show, (or down below), up front outside of EP, if his game indeed "comes back", a legit but highly questionable (healthwise) starting goalie (we can talk about the wtf is that contract overpaid back-up under separate cover) and, granted some way, somehow, a legit NHL D seemingly out of the blue with solid vets, prime entering quality years and ELC level youth in the fold.

I think the front office has won some and lost some in a robbing Peter to pay Paul scenario (weakening forward group, strengthening D) but, considering the teams listed above, we seem much, much farther from post season success in the current time frame than as recently as Game 7 vs Oilers one year ago when hope reigned Supreme.

I believe this off season to be crucial to the future of the teams as ultimately a kid wearing #43 is watching what they do and if the power brokers miss more than they hit, as distinct a possibility as not, his long term tenure here could potentially be hampered as we know this kid wants to win and he sees his brothers and buddies doing so in other domains.

Hence.

Kniges edge as described as an idiom above.

Two distinctly different end results could transpire as this off season proceeds and progresses.

Two somewhat "iffy" Managers lead the charge overseen by a, at the very minimum, bothersome Ownership Group and, when tip toeing along the lines of honest to goodness concerns, at the precipice of negativy a meddlesome one.

...and we have yet to touch on a lame duck(ish) Coach who may (or may not) even want to be here.

...or the horror show Mangerial process of JT Miller/EP - gate which leaves this fan questioning the judgement of those mandated to lead us forward.

The impact on the future of this incarnation of your Vancouver Canucks, which bloomed with so much hope only 12 - 18 months ago that we can legitimately query, "how did we get here", hangs in the balance.

Or on that knife's edge

If you will.

[Meds]

The entire fucking edge of the knife was the Miller-Scooter-gate.

When the kid decided he wanted a pile of cheddar but couldn't actually churn the butter down the stretch last year, that's when things went off the rails. The team struggled. They went from having 2 top-line pivots to a single one. In the playoffs I think is when Miller finally had enough of the skinny wimp. The kid disappeared completely. Then blamed it on a phantom injury that nobody on the team had heard of. Then when he came back to camp after signing for 11.6 sheets and his fitness was questionable, that was it for Miller. JT should have risen above, but he didn't. He rightly, imho, called the guy out, and instead of getting the response that one would expect from a mano-a-mano in alpha dominated competitive sports, he got a millennial sulker who cried to management and coaching staff. JT then got immature and decided he didn't want to play with an overpaid crybaby.

Game over.

When the head coach, a former warrior of a player, responds to the trade by lamenting the loss of a "heart and soul" guy, but never gives any sort of character endorsement to the overpaid poser that management decided to keep, that speaks volumes to me.

[2Fingers]

Another 1 sided anti EP Mëds post - yeah we get it you don't like him

Actually rumours are that many players had enough of JT and his antics. He probably went on and on and on and wouldn't shut up to the point where QH had to go management to deal with it. Since QH is the future he may have had voiced his opinion on who to keep/go. But then since non of us are in the room or on the ice we have no idea of what is said and done and make our conclusions based upon who we think is wrong.

And what actually is a coach supposed to say?

Players, coaches and management are quoted all the time and you rarely hear anything negative. I am pretty sure he would have said something similar if it was EP that was traded.

For the record, I don't give a shit on who was right or wrong, I long stop caring about the name on the back (except for QH maybe) and only the logo on the front. Give me a competitive team without all the drama.

[Meds]

Another 1 sided anti EP Mëds post - yeah we get it you don't like him

The entire fucking edge of the knife was the Miller-Scooter-gate.

…

JT should have risen above, but he didn't. He rightly, imho, called the guy out, and instead of getting the response that one would expect from a mano-a-mano in alpha dominated competitive sports, he got a millennial sulker who cried to management and coaching staff. JT then got immature and decided he didn't want to play with an overpaid crybaby.

Either read the entire post or shut the fuck up 2Fister.

[donlever]

The coach could have said something like....

"Look, JT Miller is a heart and soul guy, I respect him and wish him the best, BUT, we think we have a great player here in EP and we look forward to him promoting some of those h & s characteristics in his game and leading our group now and into the future.

We think he can do it!"

[2Fingers]

Another 1 sided anti EP Mëds post - yeah we get it you don't like him

The entire fucking edge of the knife was the Miller-Scooter-gate.

…

JT should have risen above, but he didn't. He rightly, imho, called the guy out, and instead of getting the response that one would expect from a mano-a-mano in alpha dominated competitive sports, he got a millennial sulker who cried to management and coaching staff. JT then got immature and decided he didn't want to play with an overpaid crybaby.

Either read the entire post or shut the fuck up 2Fister.

sorry Mëds, missed that.

I am sure RT and crew and all rolling their eyes at the shit that goes on with these younger players as this would have been taken care off in their playing days and not festered like it did.

[UWSaint]

Feels to me we are on the precipice, a knifes edge if you will, and this thing could go either way with the current off season being the impetus of impending change.

I don't think they are on a knife's edge. To me, I think the Canucks are building something consistently playoff bubbly--especially if they take the advice of many posters--with limited upside and downside.

on a/the knife-edge

idiom

: in a dangerous or important situation in which two very different results are possible

I am not as rose colored glass as U, W.

Leves, if there's a knife's edge, then the two very different results are success or failure, right? I don't see a knife's edge because the Canucks seem to be building something destined for 85-97 points a year -- bubbly, not good enough to be dangerous, not bad enough to leave no option but to rebuild. I don't see a knife's edge because I don't see a meaningful upside or downside given the events of the past season ... its purgatory. Which is a better place than hell. But, eh, I feel like what a Flames fan must have felt like all those years with its one star and a sea of skaters defining mediocre. They had a cup run, but that really is just a data point for "if you make the playoffs and have a goalie, anything is possible."

I had a fair amount of optimism after last year, heck, after the BB-to-Tockey season, because it was a core that I thought could be complemented to make a Cup Run. Did I think it was the best positioned? No. But did I think it was better than the random shake of the dice? Yes, totally. To win a Cup, so many things have to go right because (nearly) every one else is trying to do the same thing. I liked keeping Miller because of his upside was better than Horvat's -- and something to go right would be Miller maintaining his better-than-Horvat play even though JT's downsides were lower for a couple reasons ((1) age, (2) bad Horvat is not producing as much as he could, bad JT is an active negative--put differently, bad Horvat doesn't win as many games; bad JT loses them). But it was a gamble, it paid big last year and blew up this year. But the Canucks were NEVER going to get there with Bo taking a bunch of cap and no JT type replacement. And now? Neither. (I don't know whether JT had to be moved, but I get the sense he did and that it wasn't a Petey or JT choice, but a question of whether the declining likelihood of good JT in Vancouver was still worth the collateral effects).

And now it seems management is making safer choices, but what's the "everything right" upside to this? The "sneak in, hot goalie" scenario, lots of 2-1 playoff games, is the only path. Yuck.

As far as robbing Peter to pay Paul, I completely agree that this is what the Canucks have done. To be fair, though, in a cap league, absent major contributions from ELCs or unicorn seasons, every team should have a weakness, and every team pressed against the glass is going to be exchanging a strength for a weakness. But what exacerbates this condition is dead cap and underperformers. And when you use futures to help address weaknesses, you minimize your potential contributions from ELCs in future years.

The same rob Peter to pay Paul (or whack a mole) thing happens with the style of play, too. We aren't tough enough -- get big tough guys. We aren't skilled enough -- lose the big tough guys. We aren't fast enough -- lose the skilled guys for speed. We aren't big enough -- lose the quick water bugs for tanks. And so it goes.

[UWSaint]

JT should have risen above, but he didn't.[/i][/b] He rightly, imho, called the guy out, and instead of getting the response that one would expect from a mano-a-mano in alpha dominated competitive sports, he got a millennial sulker who cried to management and coaching staff. JT then got immature and decided he didn't want to play with an overpaid crybaby.

Before JT decided that he didn't want to play with EP (if that's what he decided), he played badly. Sure, there were still some points, but the loafing, failure to back check, lack of discipline in his game (assignments, pucks-go-through-guys-when-I-pass-right?) -- it was terrible. JT had a habit of barking the loudest and showing the most outward fire when his own play was the worst. For so many around here, his emoting made him the kind of guy the Canucks need -- heart on the sleeve! Passion! But its all for nothing if you don't give 100% and play disciplined and intentionally. The line between leadership and being the problem is often competence.

[donlever]

Of all things I think "wrong" with the direction, perhaps nothing is more indicative of the Lankinen extension. He was never and will never be better than an average NHL starter -- that's his *upside*, him at his best. Most likely he's a decent backup

Ok...discussion 1 over and we remain on separate sides of the room yet somehow also with some form of centered agreement.

^that quote snippet up there^

...could/should be a huge topic of discussion with respect to this team and the choices its Management makes.

Dangler and I batted around, for shits and giggles, the Lankinen thing throughout the year but I doubt even he, a re-sign proponent, was happy with that contract value and term.

I mean what the actual fuck?!

The lack of shock and awe locally I found odd.

The Kid is Alright.

The contract is awful.

Wtf were they thinking?

Another in a series of what feels like panic, knee jerk moves by our (supposedly experienced and beyond flights of folly) power broker team.

Poor, poor choice.

This is the kind of shit that leaves me worrying over what they will do next.

[Cousin Strawberry]

It makes much more sense if the plan is to move/move on from TD and has been since before the signing. Maybe they even have a landing spot for him already.

If this is the case then it's not such an apparent knee jerk move

[Cousin Strawberry]

The entire fucking edge of the knife was the Miller-Scooter-gate.

When the kid decided he wanted a pile of cheddar but couldn't actually churn the butter down the stretch last year, that's when things went off the rails. The team struggled. They went from having 2 top-line pivots to a single one. In the playoffs I think is when Miller finally had enough of the skinny wimp. The kid disappeared completely. Then blamed it on a phantom injury that nobody on the team had heard of. Then when he came back to camp after signing for 11.6 sheets and his fitness was questionable, that was it for Miller. JT should have risen above, but he didn't. He rightly, imho, called the guy out, and instead of getting the response that one would expect from a mano-a-mano in alpha dominated competitive sports, he got a millennial sulker who cried to management and coaching staff. JT then got immature and decided he didn't want to play with an overpaid crybaby.

Game over.

When the head coach, a former warrior of a player, responds to the trade by lamenting the loss of a "heart and soul" guy, but never gives any sort of character endorsement to the overpaid poser that management decided to keep, that speaks volumes to me.

Mëds you seem quite heavily invested in fostering your hatred for the Swedish pipe cleaner. He's a disappointment definitely but come on man...we can only guess what the actual circumstances are behind the scenes. It's never what we as casual observers like to think it is. Who knows maybe his old lady popped his cherry and he just needs a year of concentrated ball draining to get his shit straight.

Just sayin....nooooomsayin?

[Meds]

Could it be, Cuz, that I don’t hate the player, I just hate the contract because I don’t see him as being a guy you build around.

But my beef with the player is the attitude more than anything else. 6 years into his career (starting his 7th) and he’s still showing up to camp having not put the work in during the off-season. Even after getting his payday.

[Meds]

JT should have risen above, but he didn't.[/i][/b] He rightly, imho, called the guy out, and instead of getting the response that one would expect from a mano-a-mano in alpha dominated competitive sports, he got a millennial sulker who cried to management and coaching staff. JT then got immature and decided he didn't want to play with an overpaid crybaby.

Before JT decided that he didn't want to play with EP (if that's what he decided), he played badly. Sure, there were still some points, but the loafing, failure to back check, lack of discipline in his game (assignments, pucks-go-through-guys-when-I-pass-right?) -- it was terrible. JT had a habit of barking the loudest and showing the most outward fire when his own play was the worst. For so many around here, his emoting made him the kind of guy the Canucks need -- heart on the sleeve! Passion! But its all for nothing if you don't give 100% and play disciplined and intentionally. The line between leadership and being the problem is often competence.

That’s why I said JT was immature. He let another player’s lack of buy-in and effort effect his own attitude, and then he couldn’t muster the leadership and character to rise above and just focus on his own game.

An edge has two sides. Pettersson was one side of it and Miller was the other. I don’t absolve either player in this…..and I certainly do not absolve management.