terp Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 The sad part is, Burke picked those players. To be truculent! LMFAO!Raises a question as to whether Burke himself understands the meaning of the word. For example, if he wanted a "truculent" team, why did he trade for the soft, un-trucuent Phil Kessel? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 @canoli Ya, that pretty much sums up my feelings on him. Although I want more than Marty Reasoner for him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 Right. And that brings up the question, how many games are you willing to tolerate - at $4.25 cap hit - of Mr. Invisible JVR? The early returns aren't good - I'd say about 72 games / season he's invisible, and a handful where you say "Hey that guy's pretty good." And then there's last year's POs where he actually stood out as the best player on the ice for many of those games.Let's face it he's not the type to "want it" more often than is necessary. Just enough to earn the big payday and play in the NHL. Well that's how he strikes me anyway. I still remember him in the WJs against Canada. They were two of the best teams (as usual) and he was supposed to be THE guy on the US. He racked up a bunch of points against Borneo and Paraguay. Then Canada came along with their "Simmonds/Hartnell type game, and JVR became Mr. Invisible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 Raises a question as to whether Burke himself understands the meaning of the word. For example, if he wanted a "truculent" team, why did he trade for the soft, un-trucuent Phil Kessel? The million dollar question in these parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canoli Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 Ha, yeah, that would be stretching it. Or Souray or any of those over-the-hill types - no thanks. But, some middle-of-the-pack D help would be okay with me. He won't fetch any marquee types obviously unless we start dealing our rookies with him. Screw that.Looks like Jack Johnson has found a home and the change of scenery worked (I knew it would). Wish we would've gambled on him, minus 84 and all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canoli Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 I still remember him in the WJs against Canada. They were two of the best teams (as usual) and he was supposed to be THE guy on the US. He racked up a bunch of points against Borneo and Paraguay. Then Canada came along with their "Simmonds/Hartnell type game, and JVR became Mr. Invisible.I remember you posting about that - you and a couple other guys. That's how I learned about him so I looked for that Disappearing Act when he joined the Flyers and sure enough I found it - we all found it, seen it 2 years running now. I highly doubt it's ever going change. The only shot is - like someone said (you?), when he comes back maybe he elevates his game permanently because of the competition now. He's going to have to earn his ice time (i hope). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Podein25 Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 @canoli - yeah I realize it's relative, but other teams couldn't contain him, so he was doing something right. Like @flyercanuck said, you'd wish to see it more often. Maybe he's like Briere and saves it for the POs. I can live with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canoli Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 Maybe he's like Briere and saves it for the POs. I can live with that.Good point. He could be another Briere type and save all his offense for the post season. But goddamn at least Briere has a good excuse, he's tiny. JVR is not. There is no earthly reason JVR should be - for all intents and purposes - invisible in any NHL game. He doesn't have to "wow" everyone every night but how about showing some frggn effort every night please?It's like JVR's default position is GLIDE. And that sucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanflyer Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 @canoliI think with JVR, for whatever reason, allot of his mojo comes from who is playing with (much like Briere). I dont know why it is. However, when he played with Schenn and Simmonds, I saw a line that was dominating and him showing much of the flash he did in the PO's. Not sustained enough to my liking, but enough for me to scratch my head with intrigue and wonder if that was the magic combination for him. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radoran Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 "Truculence" is one of my favorite words. Brian Burke turned me onto it and I think it's a great word to slip into pep talks a few times to get the guys revved up ("Get out there and go truculent on their arses!!" or "We need to raise our truculence level against these guys!!"). My use of the word was in fact a Burke reference, for sport. I believe he used it when he first joined the organization to describe the future character of his team. Looks like the "truculent" experiment has been a flop, perhaps because the players didn't know what Burke was talking about.Phaneuf: "Truck I leant? I don't even own a truck!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mojo1917 Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 @Vanflyeri saw that too, that line was beginning to gel and really grind teams, they were nasty on the cycle and were justthisclose to putting some serious points on the board. maybe Daniel Briere's injury opens that spot up for JvR and Schenn slides back to his natural center position and we see them put it together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canoli Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 Hey Van, Mojo - interesting what you guys said about the line combos. It stands to reason; they're all about the same age, maybe similar personalities off the ice, whatever. In any case it should only be better when JVR returns now that Schenn is skating with confidence and not taking sh--. Simmonds of course has been on fire most of the year...JVR will have to skate with a purpose just to keep up.It's hard to imagine how a guy makes it to the NHL while shying away from the game ... it makes no sense but that's kinda the book on JVR. He's your basic slacker.Anyone know his target date to come back? I guess he got the boot off the other day so maybe he's skating now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanflyer Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 @canoliI also wonder if JVR isn't one of those Carter / Malkin types. Meaning that when Crosby goes down or when Richards was hurt Maklin and Carter would elevate their games. Does JVR get "lost" on the Flyers because their are so many good players? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearOnIce Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 JVR has been out for half the season. He has played a fairly vanilla game (aside from his performance last postseason and a handful of shifts in a handful of games) for the first 3 years of his career. He has shown us a taste of what he's capable of when he puts his mind to it, but for the most part, at least IMO, he leaves a lot to be desired. The guy has skill, speed and size. He just doesn't seem to have a hockey brain. What I mean is, he doesn't seem to go hard very often. Doesn't want to get dirty.So over the last half of the season, have you missed JVR from the team? Giroux has stepped up big time. Voracek, Simmonds, Couturier, Read, Hartnell, Jagr, Talbot have all done all you could ask for and more. Schenn is a work in progress (and I know JVR is too) that seems to be coming around. And Schenn certainly doesn't lack in effort. Wellwood is really catching my eye as a guy I'd thought would take longer to be NHL ready, and Rinaldo has been neutered in a good way. Briere we all hope is going to break out in the playoffs, but his best days are likely behind him.JVR spent the first half of the season as he's spent most of his career. For most of his shifts, you didn't even know he was on the ice. He's been hurt but honestly, I don't see much difference in his game when he's NOT playing. I know this guy has a huge upside.(he was on pace to increase his point total yet again) I know if we traded him, he may just reach it. But looking at the roster we have right now, with all those young guys, does this make JVR expendable before that 6 year contract kicks in? (of course this may not look good on Holmgren, but if it improves the team...) Or do you think it ends up being a worthwhile contract? He's still got a lot of value as a 2nd overall pick. Alone, or in a package he could bring in a valuable asset. Or is he worth more just to keep? Cause honestly, I'm not missing this guy one bit at this point, and I've never really wanted to trade him before. But with all the offence this team has, if we could package him with a Dman for a better one, I'm in.Of course all this would change if healthy JVR is also angry JVR.He is gone without a good playoffs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 @canoliI think with JVR, for whatever reason, allot of his mojo comes from who is playing with (much like Briere). I dont know why it is.However, when he played with Schenn and Simmonds, I saw a line that was dominating and him showing much of the flash he did in the PO's. Not sustained enough to my liking, but enough for me to scratch my head with intrigue and wonder if that was the magic combination for him. If you can't get pumped playing with those two maniacs you have no soul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terp Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 Phaneuf: "Truck I leant? I don't even own a truck!"My motto is truculence isn't everything. Phanuef is mindlessly truculent. He'd do better by being selectively truculent or perhaps semi-truculent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blocker Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 Flyers are relatively rich in young talent. Other teams need what Philadelphia already owns. If I was Homer, I'd sit back and see what someone else offers. I wouldn't be quick to dump JVR. He's still a work in progress. But, I think he's getting to the point in which his value is diminishing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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