This and that ducks/Canucks close to a deal Blichfeld in person hearing And Ovie..

[yave1964]

  Fist this

Joachim Blichfeld facing a suspension for targetting the head of a superstar. You just cannot do that.

 

and this

  Superstar Ovechkin to get small fine for targetting the junk of middling forward Trent Frederic. Apparently superstars can do this.

 

  Rumor growing legs according to Elliot Friedman among others is that the Canucks have had enough of Jake Virtanen and are ready to move on from the maddeningly inconsistent forward, the Ducks are ready to move on from Danton Heinen who they got from Boston last year and who is not performng. Holdup is money with the Ducks insisting that Derek Grant be included in the deal to even the money out. Rumors getting louder, may happen any day.

  The Pennguins are wanting a top four defender. Columbus is looking for a middle six center. With them not being in the same division at least for this year I heard Jody Shelley on the radio saying that Savard for Jared McCann has been discussed which is a move which might make sense for both clubs.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

RE: Jake Virtanen

I've been trying to figure out what, exactly, Vancouver is expecting from Virtanen.
Keep coming up with the same answer:
He was 6th overall in 2014 and was basically a point per game player in the WHL and with those two things, they expected similar at the NHL level...... but somehow conveniently glossing over that his rather short stints in the AHL weren't as 'red hot' as they were in Juniors.

Is it really that surprising that his numbers aren't eye popping in the NHL as they were in Juniors when his AHL numbers showed he needed an adjustment for playing with the relative men he was encountering in the AHL as opposed to the 'boys' mostly found in Juniors.
Ahhh, but then again, there is that draft position that CLEARLY dictates he should be better than what he has shown.....

I dunno...maybe the Canucks have a point.
But from where I sit, Virtanen HAS improved his production every year he has played for the Canucks, albeit not as quickly as his damned draft position says it should.

Frankly, in looking over this Canuck team and how it is currently constructed, I would think continued patience with Virtanen and what he DOES do well for the team should be in order.

Vancouver has issues all over the team....mostly stemming from defensive play.... and while Virtanen's relatively slow development can be a source of frustration for the team, seems to me there are lots of areas such as overall team toughness, versatility on the forwards ranks, and perhaps better bottom six foot soldiers that should have just as much attention, if not more so, from the front office, so that the higher end players like Boeser, Horvat, Pettersson, Miller, Hoglander, and yes, Virtanen, could better do what they are supposed to be doing.

Virtanen is a large bodied, aggressive forward with skill, he hits, doesn't take a bunch of penalties doing any of that stuff either, and takes relatively good care of the puck once he has it (I.E. he isn't easily physically relieved of it), and can skate very well for a low gravity centered brick house 6'1 230 pound guy, who at still only 24, has room to improve even further.

I can see if the Vancouver Canucks, top to bottom, were ready to compete and Virtanen's so called slow development were hindering them.
Then yea, the team may want to trade him off for someone else ready to take the team closer to a Cup NOW.
But fact is, the team, while showing flashes of what they can be, they just aren't there, and it feels like a guy like Virtanen is being singled out as an example of  "see, this is why we aren't doing any better than we are".

I get this feeling that if Vancouver and Anaheim make the proposed deal, the Canucks are going to regret it.
He would be a classic case of a guy traded right before he finds his solid footing....and be thorn in the side of the team that traded him for YEARS to come.

Just my take on it of course. What do I really know?
I just know I am not a fan of trading away a young power forward who has shown improvements in many areas of his game since playing regularly in the NHL...particularly impressive because he was allowed to basically skip over the AHL where many of his adjustments should have been taking place.

But then, I am not hung up on draft positions dictating how fast a guy should be developing either unless we are talking about a slam dunk talent like a McDavid, Crosby, Ovechkin, or Stamkos.

At the VERY least, if Vancouver is insistent on trading JV, they best get a nice haul for him and not be happy with Danton Freakin Heinan being the 'prize' return for him.

My 39 cents.

Edited March 4, 2021 by TropicalFruitGirl26

[WordsOfWisdom]

6 hours ago, yave1964 said:

Joachim Blichfeld facing a suspension for targetting the head of a superstar. You just cannot do that.

 

That's a clean check. No penalty. No suspension. He didn't even hit him in the head. (EDIT: His shoulder was targeting his chest and only bumped MacKinnon's head because he was leaning so far forward.) That's a 3/10 on the body check severity scale in my books. What has happened to this game? That's a 100% legal body check. If you ban hits like this, then you ban EVERYTHING in the game. No player can ever be hit to the body without also hitting the head if they just skate with their head all the way down. How do you check someone today and have it be a legal check?  #EndRant.   

Edited March 5, 2021 by WordsOfWisdom

[SaucyJack]

20 hours ago, yave1964 said:

Superstar Ovechkin to get small fine for targetting the junk of middling forward Trent Frederic. Apparently superstars can do this.

 

Yes, I thought this standard got well established back in 2016.

 

I’m starting to like this back-to-back game format.  It’s gonna be a playoff feeling in tonight’s rematch. 

[lynxrattle]

Perhaps the Canucks feel that they can get a good trade getting rid of Virtanen. His high draft pick number might make some GM's willing to take a risk, especially as Virtanen seems to be usable as a 3rd line or 4th grinder if he doesn't make it in the top 6.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

20 minutes ago, lynxrattle said:

Perhaps the Canucks feel that they can get a good trade getting rid of Virtanen. His high draft pick number might make some GM's willing to take a risk, especially as Virtanen seems to be usable as a 3rd line or 4th grinder if he doesn't make it in the top 6.

 

He had a great game last night against the Leafs.
Of course, that fits right into his "maddeningly inconsistent" play...I realize that.

I know the Canucks would love for him to string together games like that regularly.
But then again, the Canucks as a team need to do the same and that just isn't happening this year.

I still would think continued patience with him while the team sorts itself out is in order, but again, if Vancouver does insist on trading him, then I would agree with you that the return best be quite good.
I'm tellin ya, this guy has all the markings of a player who will finally find his consistency and someone will lament giving up on him, while someone else rejoices in having stolen him away!

I'm sure a guy like Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl would LOVE to have a big space making winger like with skill on their line like Virtanen for instance....

[J0e Th0rnton]

23 hours ago, yave1964 said:

  Fist this

Joachim Blichfeld facing a suspension for targetting the head of a superstar. You just cannot do that.

 

and this

  Superstar Ovechkin to get small fine for targetting the junk of middling forward Trent Frederic. Apparently superstars can do this.

 

  Rumor growing legs according to Elliot Friedman among others is that the Canucks have had enough of Jake Virtanen and are ready to move on from the maddeningly inconsistent forward, the Ducks are ready to move on from Danton Heinen who they got from Boston last year and who is not performng. Holdup is money with the Ducks insisting that Derek Grant be included in the deal to even the money out. Rumors getting louder, may happen any day.

  The Pennguins are wanting a top four defender. Columbus is looking for a middle six center. With them not being in the same division at least for this year I heard Jody Shelley on the radio saying that Savard for Jared McCann has been discussed which is a move which might make sense for both clubs.

Yeah spearing to the groin sucks.

 

However are we going to ignore the 2 hard cross checks to the elbow and forearm area this nobody trying to make a pest name for himself gave Ovie?

 

Play with fire and you get burned.

 

I play pickup hockey. If you give me 2 cross checks to the unpadded  forearm,  it hurts and I might punch you in the face with my glove on for it.

[SaucyJack]

10 hours ago, SaucyJack said:

It’s gonna be a playoff feeling in tonight’s rematch.

 
Or not...gawd after 3-0 I was happy to tune to  instead.