Asian Fever

How about them Canucks?

rlock

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I decided I was not going to comment on the Canucks / Oilers series on PERB until it was done. (This was not out of any respect for Albertans, LOL.)

The Canucks did well, but at times not well enough.
They did well considering they were barely expected to be in the playoffs, not division leaders, and considering they were playing against an Oilers team that has 2 of the league's top 5 offensive players in McDavid and Draisaitl. (Some say 2 of the top 3). #1 penalty kill and #1 power play in the league.

But honestly, Game 6 the Canucks team let that 1% of complacency about "having one more game to finish it" get into their heads, and being less than 100% focused in this series meant losing. If they had played either game 6 or 7 like they did in game 5, the Oilers would be dead. It just seemed like the Canucks were determined to always do things the hard way. Comeback games instead of dominating from the puck drop to the final whistle. Comebacks are great to show you have determination and can be dangerous at any time, but there's only so many times you can do that before your luck runs out, and it finally did. That last game, they still could have won, if they had played the whole game like those last 10 minutes, instead of falling behind by three goals first.



With respect to players, going in I had made my thoughts clear on that: We needed better play from the top guys: Boeser, Miller, Petterson, Quinn Hughes.
Specifically about Petterson, I had one thought which was basically: "Don't make us regret the Bo Horvat trade". And that's exactly what happened.

Well, Boeser and Miller lived it to it pretty well, they stepped up and played hard as they could. The problem with Boeser going down was that the Oilers only had to neutralize Miller to eliminate the Canucks as an offensive threat. (And it greatly reduced the team's shot accuracy too.) Miller had to be the #1 threat AND neutralize McDavid, and that's asking for a lot from one guy. Gee if only there was another top scoring threat on another line ... but there wasn't.

I think the Oilers figured out early on that Petterson was no real threat to them, a secondary or tertiary priority. Knowing this freed them up to just smother Miller's line, and wait for it to get tired so their own top guys would have an opening. Maybe Petterson's linemates bear the responsibility for that line's failings as well, but whatever it was, it was not working. Lindholm, Dakota Joshua and Conor Garland (secondary threats not primary) all seemed to outperform. I know people want to say "well, he did a lot of good back-checking and so on", but he's an 11m dollar 1st line center, not some 3rd or 4th line shut down guy.

As for the Canucks defensemen, that's another issue: Quinn Hughes. Where was the guy who was a supposed Norris trophy contender? 10 points in 13 games is not nothing, but none of those points were goals. Every time the Canucks had a power play, I kept gritting my teeth at all the lost opportunities to generate a point shot. Meanwhile Zadorov was out there hitting, shooting, scoring, blocking and shutting down the enemy forwards.

Sometimes I forget that it was a long time since this team was even in the playoffs, so maybe for some of these guys, they never knew what was really required of them as players until this series.

Okay, overall, the best Canucks forwards were Boeser and Lindholm (not the same level of threat as Miller, but scored quite a bit and great on faceoffs). Best Canucks defenseman was Zadorov, or at least he sure stood out like one.

Best Edmonton forward, McDavid or Draisaitl? Debatable. (Points off McDavid for being a whiner to the refs, which was an unpleasant surprise). More clear is my opinion that Bouchard was the Oilers' best defenseman, clearly the kind of point-shooting artillery piece which the Oilers had and the Canucks did not have.

Well anyways, it is done. The Oilers are the last Canadian team in contention so if the Canucks cannot bring the Cup back to this side of the border, they should.
No matter how testy this series got at time


I know we were chasing a conference title, but fuck me why didn't they rest his ass.

Exactly. It sounds like management-written bullshit. Not that I doubt he had a nagging injury, but as you said, if it was impacting him on ice, they should have rested him, certainly after clinching the playoff spot.

1) Players play with small injuries all the time, especially in the playoffs. They do heroic shit like block 90mph shots and hobble to the bench, then come back for more. And if they can't, they set aside their pride and let someone else take them spot rather than be a liability.
2) You know who did get injured right around that time ? Thatching fucking Demko, our #1 goalie. The team went through all this playoff battle mostly with an untested 3rd string goalie. (And he was great, thank fuck!)



Signing & non-signings for next season will be interesting, maybe frustrating.

Lindholm, Zadorov, Dakota Joshua, they need to keep. Silovs too, he definitely earned it.

I have no opinion on keeping Cole or Hronek. Was not impressed with them in the playoffs.

In general, I do not want them to be keeping the guys who underperformed while trading away the guys who performed well.
 
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thevalleydude

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People like to point this shit out, but understand that professional sports teams are PAID MERCENARIES.
If you want to watch people playing for their country instead of $$$, you watch the Olympics (which Bettman hates, not surprisingly).
We all are aware but as pointed out upthread.....most of the players on Edmonton, unlike Vancouver are Canadians and with the exception of a few players who write it into their contract, NHL players are not paid for playing in the playoffs.
 

grusse

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We all are aware but as pointed out upthread.....most of the players on Edmonton, unlike Vancouver are Canadians and with the exception of a few players who write it into their contract, NHL players are not paid for playing in the playoffs.
They get paid once their team is eliminated.
 

thevalleydude

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They get paid once their team is eliminated.
Well ok, but its a pittance compared to what they get in the regular season. First round elimination gets you approximately $10000 per player and you might have played 7 games.. They do it for the love of the game, not the money is the point.
 

rlock

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We all are aware but as pointed out upthread.....most of the players on Edmonton, unlike Vancouver are Canadians and with the exception of a few players who write it into their contract, NHL players are not paid for playing in the playoffs.

Playoff wins still help their endorsement & merch marketability and negotiating position.
 

Mrmotorscooter

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Dec 19, 2017
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People like to point this shit out, but understand that professional sports teams are PAID MERCENARIES.
If you want to watch people playing for their country instead of $$$, you watch the Olympics (which Bettman hates, not surprisingly).
Actually I do want to watch people playing for our country, nothing would be sweeter than a group of Canadians bringing our Stanley Cup back home to Canada, GO OILERS!🇨🇦
 
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rlock

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Yeah, watching the recent signings, I agree with what many said about needing to keep Zadorov. Even if they are already keeping Myers too.

Blueger ... meh ? I don't know. IF he had any major impact on their playoffs, I didn;'t see it.

As for Lindholm, so many people have said "he's just a rental player for the playoffs".
Yeah, and he was their best faceoff guy in it, and near the top in terms of bring energy to their game, so rent-to-own ! :sneaky:
 
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sexpanther69

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Bluegar joshua and garland were a top 5 3rd line.... Solid contract for both to keep that line together


Yah lindholm had a solid playoffs but his contract won't age well, like huberdeau in Florida, his #s were skewed by playin with Barkov, just like Lindholm #s were skewed playing with Tkachuk (look how far Gaudreau has fallen since abandoning Calgary)

Let lindholm walk, he's a, 3rd line centre on nux barring i jury to Petey or JT

Can't pay a guy 6+mill to centre ur 3rd line.... Take that money and go get Guentzel.... Petey gets his top 6 winger who can score and set up too
 

Real Sonny Burnett

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I’m not the grammar police but it’s amazing how adding or omitting a simple - can have opposite meanings and could probably have drastic consequences if the right situation arose (resigned vs re-signed).
Canucks have announced that talks with Zadorov have ended and he will most likely head to free agency. I guess that is more of resigning than a re-signing? 😀
 

sexpanther69

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This is shaping up to be an ugly Canada Day for the nux.... Lose out on guentzel and Reinhart

Lindholm and Zadorov off to Boston, the stig er here is 5mill average for Zadorov but bruins give him 6years... Tough pills to swallow considering nux offered same average but less term
 

Equity Market investor

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JUST IN.... v


1) General Manager Patrik Allvin announces that the #Canucks have agreed to terms with forward Jake DeBrusk on a 7-year contract with a $5.5M AAV.

2) General Manager Patrik Allvin announces that the Canucks have agreed to terms with forward Danton Heinen on a 2-year contract with a $2.25M AAV

3) General Manager Patrik Allvin announces that the Canucks have agreed to terms with defenceman Derek Forbort on a 1-year contract worth $1.5M.
 
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grusse

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Brian Burke was quoted as saying 1st day of free agency was when many gm's collectively lost their minds,lol.
Lou Lamoriello(sp?) said something like every free agent signing is for 1 million too much and 1 yr too long.

that's not meant as a comment on Allvin's signings, hope they work out well.
 

pervypervison

till i find the one...gonna have some fun
Sep 18, 2013
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i'm not too familiar with all the players we just signed, but definitely looking forward to what next season brings. The Predators seem like they just vaulted themselves in the West with their big signings.

pretty amazing that Big Z's short stint with the Canucks has helped net him such a big contract. good on him for making the most of outta things. he was a lot more exciting to watch than Hronek during the playoffs :LOL:
 
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sexpanther69

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News of Demko having to learn to play with his injury now is quite troubling....

But heck yes excited for the season
 
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