Post-Game Talk: GM 1 | Vancouver Canucks lost to Calgary Flames | 5-6 (OT) | Sprong, Boeser(2), Garland, & Miller | Not Good Enough

[thecupismine]

My eyes were bleeding watching the Forbort-Desharnais pair turn every single puck over

Matches the eye test. I wanted to give leeway to Alvin on the signings because he hit so much last offseason, but going in this direction after they already had puck moving issues in the playoffs has always been super confusing to me.

 

[Leif Rohlin]

We would be better off with Cole-Friedman as our 3rd pair.

 

[Blue and Green]

I mean, Silovs is what he is really. He's a big athletic guy who didn't have a technical background until he got here, and he lost development time because of the pandemic.

I know people had these big expectations after the playoffs but I didn't really see it. He was a mediocre AHL starter who didn't even play a starter's load to date. A proper development curve was for him to play 50+ games in the AHL with sheltered 10-20 games at the NHL level. IMO he needed to show dominant AHL numbers and tread water at the NHL level.

It was asking a lot for him to be the full time backup this year and I argued that it might mess with his ceiling (see above and feel free to look at my post history). It was ludicrous for him to take on the #1 job this year, so thank god they signed Lankinen.

The hardest thing in the NHL is consistency and he wasn't even consistent in the playoffs to my eye. And he's shown that he can show up and rise to occasion in short tournament-type situations, but now this is the regular season where everyone will have a decent scouting report on him.

Anyways, these issues (tracking, fighting through screens) aren't really surprises to me. He's going to have to learn and adapt to this level. It's not surprising that he will have games like this and as long as he bounces back on a regular basis this is to be expected in his normal development curve. I'm still bullish on his potential overall.

I basically agree with this. I said after the playoffs that he shouldn't be handed the #2 role, that he should have to earn it. I'm not as keen on his potential as you are and I am concerned that the team is perhaps heading into a situation where it has an elite starter who might be wearing out physically, and no one to be a competent successor. Been rolling the dice on late-round goalie picks for quite some time now; that's a tough way to find a starter.

 

[wonton15]

Matches the eye test. I wanted to give leeway to Alvin on the signings because he hit so much last offseason, but going in this direction after they already had puck moving issues in the playoffs has always been super confusing to me.

I can understand the Desharnais one as there’s tools there, but he needs to be paired with someone much more reliable and someone who can move the puck well.
Unless, the master plan was to sign the best filler D we could find with our cap constraints like Forbort to keep afloat until we find the cap space to get that 2LD in a trade while including Forbort going the other way. …Because I can’t see us competing with these pairs for long.

 

[Peen]

My usual mantra is to give things 20 games before we start really talking about patterns for the season.

I felt that shit coming. I said that you couldn’t evaluate anything from the first period, and then said the same halfway through the second. It was a weird game and that we’d benefit to just get out of it - even when it was 4-1 and tilted.

Probably will end up being one of the top 3-5 weird games of the season. They happen.

 

[Flik]

Embrace the Flacid

What a f***ing disappointment tonight.

Just embarrassing for the last two periods of play.

Gotta pick it up for Friday.

 

[David71]

deharnais held onto two flames who went after miller. lol

 

[F A N]

Well that sucked.

 

[sting101]

Was at the game. Looked fantastic to start completely on another level then just went dormant and expected to go for a nice safe non contact skate and get the win. Disjointed break outs coverages and horrible goaltending took over. Team did not look game fit

3rd pair does not look tenable. Forbort looks cooked. Would have done a lot better getting a myriad of available players like Bean Kylington Dermott even who can at least skate and turn and make a pass without having to smash it off the boards. I'll try to bite my tongue for 5/6 games to let him get going but wow that was ugly. Not that Desharnais was much better but either one would be better with Friedman even at this time of year

To be fair none of the pairings played good for what should be expected. Hronek frustrates me. So much talent but he makes a lot of bad reads

Miller looked like he hadn't played much of the pre season and this team is too soft up front especially so without Joshua. Sherwood and Debrusk look like solid additions but Amen Suter Raty Heinen Hoglander Sprong i'm worried they wont put up enough push back for players who are middle six at best. Generally speaking 2 or 3 no biggie but a couple more guys hard to play against would be ideal. Boeser i could care less he's a snipe show again, Garland is almost always stuck in stirring shit. Hoglander is almost there. Pounded someone tonight and is starting to learn to use his strength in more ways. Thought he was one of the most consistent guys with Boeser tonight.

Raty looked like a nervous kid trying hard to not be the one making a mistake. He'll have to be better want the puck in transition or he's going to Abby quickly. Has to be able to play 12-15 minutes and at least get through the neutral zone not being skated off the track. He's smart and good in end zones typically but struggled a bit tonight and the size and faceoffs are plus features. Has to offset his feet with anticipation not chase or he's doomed. He's capable but it's a mental hurdle to get past his physical hurdle if that makes sense.

Have had doubts about the Heinen signing and tonight didn't dispel any of them. Very vanilla player from my viewings over the years. Love the hometown story he's a great guy but hopefully he levels up or i've just missed a lot of his best stretches

What's with the Pettersson roast jeesh. Yes had some poor play late and looked a little out of game shape but also looked good early. I'm sure he regrets looking for the easy tap in goal instead of shooting but he was also really good defensively. Played too many minutes due to not having options and that led to some flat play and turnovers later in the game but i'm not as worried as most here it seems. Hardly worth lighting him up after 1 game

I'm also not sold on Sprong in the top6 long term. Some brutal coverages anticipations off puck and likes to cheat. For his salary i guess you cant complain and he wasn't bad tonight as he was able to score and sneak behind the D for a couple chances. Just not sold on his overall play helping Debrusk Pettersson and continuity

Silovs looked really bad. Like just shoot and you will score bad. He's better than this but that game was trash.

Onward and Upward

 

[God]

I'm not worried about Desharnais, who looked good in pre-season, but Forbort hasn't looked good at any point in a Canuck uniform. Definitely a pro scouting miss, and I actually wonder if Brannstrom looks better there if the coaches don't like the off-hand pairing.

On the other hand, I've been worried about Silovs since he was getting exposed by those long point shots against Edmonton, and this is a terrible game to have these issues show up again after a fairly solid pre-season. I can't see them trading Lankinen when Demko's healthy.

Re: Pettersson, I actually thought he had a lot more pop in the first period and looked like his old self. After he passed up that glorious slot opportunity by passing the puck to a heavily covered DeBrusk, he was a non-factor to bad - didn't like his play in the last half of the 3rd when we were down.

With all that said, I like that Ray emphasized October is sloppy hockey.

 

[HockeyWooot]

I only caught watched the first live but man they completely tilted the ice, looking like they were in a different league than the Flames.

The Rooney hit probably galvanized the Flames to fight their way back into the game.

Lots of work to do but lots of promise too, fortunately the season isn’t over after game 1 of the regular season.

 

[Jack Burton]

Ahhhhhhhh calgary.

 

[VanJack]

October hockey is October hockey. Everybody's 'Cup favorite Edmonton is waxed 6-0 by the Jets; and the Av's lose to Knights by a touchdown and a two point conversion.

But until the Canucks dispel the naysayers, the dialogue is going to continue about goaltending and their defense. Silovs was ventilated in this game, but the Canucks triple towers of Myers, Desharnais and Forbort just looked 'slooow' in this one.

Tocchet was surprising calm in the post-game presser. Says his team surrendered the middle of the ice and were slow to cover the points.

Not sure whether it's noteworthy or not, but after scoring in the first period; Sprong was stapled to the pine for most of the third......the continuation of a trend with this player?

They'll need to be a ton better against Philly on Friday. Time for Lankinen to get the start .

 

[alicia]

Well.. we lit them the f*** up in the first period, and then we reverted back to 2023 Canucks, who decided one period of 100% energy was enough and we got burnt for it. This is becoming a common issue.. coaching? It was most prevalent in the playoffs when we needed to go 100% for all 3 periods or be burnt..

First game though, we shall see. At least the Soilers lost 6-0, some asshole at the bar tried to hit me because I was wearing a Canucks jersey and he thought he had it all figured out that the Oilers were going to win the Cup. Was super nice to point out that his savior scored 0.

Apparently I'm not a real fan though, because I was wearing my Hughes skate jersey, even though my favorite player for the last decade was Horvat (and owned his rookie jersey )

Ugh.

 

[Big zZz]

Well.. we lit them the f*** up in the first period, and then we reverted back to 2023 Canucks, who decided one period of 100% energy was enough and we got burnt for it. This is becoming a common issue.. coaching? It was most prevalent in the playoffs when we needed to go 100% for all 3 periods or be burnt..

First game though, we shall see. At least the Soilers lost 6-0, some asshole at the bar tried to hit me because I was wearing a Canucks jersey and he thought he had it all figured out that the Oilers were going to win the Cup. Was super nice to point out that his savior scored 0.

Apparently I'm not a real fan though, because I was wearing my Hughes skate jersey, even though my favorite player for the last decade was Horvat (and owned his rookie jersey )

Ugh.

Horvat is one of my all time favorite Canucks. As of now, I'd much rather Bo and his dollars than what Petey is bringing to the table in the last 60 games.

 

[DarrenX]

How the f*** did we get here? I had to stop watching just after the first...

Yep... i went to bed after the first period, woke up and .... wtf?

 

[JT Milker]

My eyes were bleeding watching the Forbort-Desharnais pair turn every single puck over

Almost like Forbort made the team despite being outplayed by several young players in camp, but we cut or sat those guys because experience or pk or something.

 

[Dolemite]

Wait…what? They lost? This game was in the bag. Gonna have to watch the 2nd and 3rd later today.

Wow…just…wow.