GDT: GM28 | Vancouver Canucks vs Florida Panthers | Thur. Dec 12th | 7:00pm PST | SNP | JT MILLER *CLAP* *CLAP* *CLAP*

[Vector]

Miller

• Everyone is excited to get him
• One of the best players in the league so getting him back means a lot
• Plays the game with a lot of fire and doesn’t expect anything different
• Miss him being around because he’s a guy who comes up with ideas
• Has been the same as before in the dressing room
• Canucks have been struggling with speed through the middle and him coming back will help
• He puts other teams on their toes
• Will drag guys into the fight
• Doesn’t think he will play him heavy minutes

Florida Panthers

• They play a certain way and don’t care what the other team does
• Lots of dump & chase; lots of rimming the puck off the glass
• Play an aggressive style
• Really wants to see the Canucks put up a really good fight tonight
• Feels they can play with the Panthers if they do the proper things

Line-Up Changes

• Raty will probably come out
• Forbort and Friedman will play
• Lankinen start
• Boeser & Hoglander will play with Miller

Friedman

• Wasn’t in the negative for chances against
• Likes the way he skates
• Has a right-lefty preference for defence pairings
• Adds a little “bite down low”

Boeser

• Can get you a goal out of nowhere
• Him and Miller compliment each other
• Has had some talks with Boeser about the mental side of the game

Brannstrom

• Can rotate the defence
• His defensive stuff has slipped a little bit
• Has had a couple good practices and will get back in the line-up
• Prefers a right-lefty pairing in this game

 

[sting101]

Forbort has generally been pretty solid at making plays and smart positionally but he's just glacial and injury prone and is not a NHL skater at this stage of his career.

I can see why Forbort over Brannstrom vs the Panthers. Florida is known for their heavy forecheck and that's certainly one of Brannstrom's biggest issues. With a long stretch to get healthy hopefully Forbort can keep up...we'll see

First track meet game Brannstrom likely comes back in unless Forbort does well which would be nice

 

[tantalum]

I liked your post and I generally agree ....


.... but one thing I will add is that both the team and the player have marketed JT Miller's personal life. They've done features on it, his super-cool wife has a bit of a profile, they've shown videos of his kids losing their minds when their dad scored an OT winner.

One of the offshoots of letting fans into the personal lives of the players is that when something happens they're now inevitably going to be emotionally involved and want to know. And for this reason I think it's probably better if they didn't do any of that stuff with the players. as much as it's kind of fun sometimes.

But that is in agreement with the player or taking something posted publicly. It isn't something they've done without full approval of the player. If the player all of a sudden says "no. we want to keep x,y and z quiet" they have a responsibility to do just that.

And it's a different type of thing. There is a marketing side with the players but you aren't marketing anything personal that they don't want shared.

 

[MS]

But that is in agreement with the player or taking something posted publicly. It isn't something they've done without full approval of the player. If the player all of a sudden says "no. we want to keep x,y and z quiet" they have a responsibility to do just that.

And it's a different type of thing. There is a marketing side with the players but you aren't marketing anything personal that they don't want shared.

Absolutely, but - again - when you open that door people will get emotionally involved. JT Miller's personal life has been pretty high-profile (probably the highest on the team) and the media stuff they've done has really humanized him and made him a likeable figure/dad/family guy, and I think the fanbase is much more invested in him as a person than they are in, say, Thatcher Demko whose personal life is much more private. And when people are invested in you and something happens, people will want to know. It's the same with all celebrities - opening up your personal life is a very double-edged sword. It can be great for your image and profile but the extra visibility becomes a negative when something like this happens.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Brannstrom

• Can rotate the defence
• His defensive stuff has slipped a little bit
• Has had a couple good practices and will get back in the line-up
• Prefers a right-lefty pairing in this game

i’m not surprised it was on the homestand that brannstrom has come out of the lineup

what he provides, esp with hronek out, is dependable puck moving. without him, we have no one other than hughes. but i think tocchet and staff feel like they can get away with hiding their other pairs at home, whereas on the road without last change, you need to have brannstrom.

so if he was ever going to try out other configurations, and work friedman and forbort into the lineup to see what he has, now is the time.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Absolutely, but - again - when you open that door people will get emotionally involved. JT Miller's personal life has been pretty high-profile (probably the highest on the team) and the media stuff they've done has really humanized him and made him a likeable figure/dad/family guy, and I think the fanbase is much more invested in him as a person than they are in, say, Thatcher Demko whose personal life is much more private. And when people are invested in you and something happens, people will want to know. It's the same with all celebrities - opening up your personal life is a very double-edged sword. It can be great for your image and profile but the extra visibility becomes a negative when something like this happens.

on a practical level, totally agree with you

but the reasoning feels icky to me, rhetorically it feels a little like victim blaming. i mean, if the fans can’t tell the difference between sanitized canuck place-style family photo ops and a player’s real life that they shouldn’t have access to, that’s on the fans, not the team or player. but as they say, the world is the world and you have to protect yourself.

 

[MS]

Forbort is obviously going to get at least 20+ games as a regular to see where he's at as a guy they signed in the summer to be a roster regular. I don't particularly think it's going to go well but that's obviously going to happen.

Brannstrom should be playing on his off side ahead of Friedman, though.

 

[MS]

on a practical level, totally agree with you

but the reasoning feels icky to me, rhetorically it feels a little like victim blaming. i mean, if the fans can’t tell the difference between sanitized canuck place-style family photo ops and a player’s real life that they shouldn’t have access to, that’s on the fans, not the team or player. but as they say, the world is the world.

I'm certainly not saying it's right but it's the way the world works and I do think it's a bit more fair that the public is interested in JT Miller when JT Miller has used his private life to his benefit in the past than for a Pettersson or Demko who has not and can just say 'my private life is a closed book, full stop'.

And to be clear, I'm saying that this explains normal curiosity about a player/person you're invested in, not ghoulish speculation from trolls.

 

[thecupismine]

The king has returned! Super pumped to see Miller back. His reception tonight is going to be awesome.

His first few interviews are going to be awkward because he clearly doesn't want to talk about it and the media is going to do everything they can to get even a few snippets, but as a fan all I care about is that he feels good enough to be out there and play again.

On the negative, Tocchet needs to get over his right/lefty preference. With Hronek out, they absolutely need Brannstrom in the lineup. The puck moving last game was abysmal even by this year's standards. Prior to this year, Brannstrom was mainly a LS RD.

They're going to give Forbert some rope (you don't cut a guy after 4 games), and Soucy/Hughes ain't coming out, so something has to give unless they want to continue looking like a contender for Hagens when Hughes is on the bench.

EDIT: Also looking at the lines, Hoglander is pretty clearly being showcased now. They need him to get some points soon so they can ship him out for something.

 

[sting101]

Re Miller : just the risk someone takes when they let fans get more involved/invested into your lives.

Agree on Brannstrom over Friedman. Brannstrom has shown capable of 20pts and holding his head above water. Has some deficiencies but he's a good player once we get turned forward and he can support play. Friedman has never made any offensive traction at the NHL level

 

[SopelFanThe3rd]

I don't like Brann being out but happy Friedman gets another game.

 

[Nick Lang]

Yep.

Let me put it this way....

People on this board and others are responsible for your livelihood. We are the ones who buy the products and services the company you own/work for provides. We are the reason you get a paycheque.

To say Miller owes us something because we are paying to see the product/company he is a part of and paid by is the same as anyone demanding the same from, well, anybody. It doesn't make sense. I'm not entitled to know your business just because I support your livelihood and I am not entitled to know MIller's business for the exact same reason.

Yeah Exactly.

I pay for my power bill, buy gas, and bought $400 of groceries this month. Tell me all of your inner thoughts and problems. NOW. I demand it.

 

[sting101]

Really excited to see Hoglander with Miller/Boeser. Adds a dynamic element if he's dialled up to 10 on the attack and this should add another legit scoring threat line

 

[Billy Kvcmu]

Fire Tocchet

Sitting Brann for Forbort when Hronek is out is a crime

 

[MS]

Fire Tocchet

Sitting Brann for Forbort when Hronek is out is a crime

Literally every organization/coach in the NHL that has ever existed would be giving Forbort a run of games after he was a significant summer signing. It would actually be worse if they relegated him to a healthy scratch after seeing him play 4 games while his dad was dying.

Friedman over Brannstrom is less defensible but Brannstrom has been on a run of poor play and this notion that he was our '3rd best defender' was also always rubbish. As soon as his leverage was amped up his play went downhill.

 

[Josepho]

Brannstrom and Friedman are never going to be in the lineup at the same time because at that point we only have 3 regular PK guys (Juulsen, Soucy, Myers) and if one of those 3 players goes to the box then the team is f***ed.

They unfortunately will have to continue trotting out Desharnais or Forbort until they find a more mobile player that can also kill penalties.

 

[VanillaCoke]

Friedman is a better choice against Florida.

 

[credulous]

people got ahead of themselves on brannstrom because he didn't look completely out of place when he was forced into the lineup. he's not a good player tho and has no place in a winning lineup

 

[Just A Bit Outside]

I'm curious to see how EP plays with JT back.

Does he keep it up or revert back to how he was playing before took some time away.

Best case scenario, EP stays with DeBrusk and Sherwood and they continue to produce.

JT comes back with Suter and Boeser and rekindle the previous chemistry.

Fingers crossed.

 

[God]

Brannstrom's transition game is better than Friedman's, but I don't know that he'll be better than Friedman against Florida's forecheck.

Plus I kinda love watching Friedman draw penalties.

 

[SelltheTeamFrancesco]

Brannstrom and Friedman are never going to be in the lineup at the same time because at that point we only have 3 regular PK guys (Juulsen, Soucy, Myers) and if one of those 3 players goes to the box then the team is f***ed.

They unfortunately will have to continue trotting out Desharnais or Forbort until they find a more mobile player that can also kill penalties.

They really miss Hronek on the pk. Getting Forbort back helps the left side on the pk because Soucy has been atrocious but they have had no one else. Hronek was playing the left side on the pk before he got hurt.

 

[TruGr1t]

Defense still looks disgusting.

 

[Canucker]

Absolutely, but - again - when you open that door people will get emotionally involved. JT Miller's personal life has been pretty high-profile (probably the highest on the team) and the media stuff they've done has really humanized him and made him a likeable figure/dad/family guy, and I think the fanbase is much more invested in him as a person than they are in, say, Thatcher Demko whose personal life is much more private. And when people are invested in you and something happens, people will want to know. It's the same with all celebrities - opening up your personal life is a very double-edged sword. It can be great for your image and profile but the extra visibility becomes a negative when something like this happens.

I think part of the reason they do these "feel good" profiles on players is when they are surly, like Miller, and have some attributes that can come across as negative or "off-putting" to fans...they try to bring back the human element and show off their home life...as you said, it really is a double-edged sword. Invite the public in for a glimpse and its hard to get them back out again.

 

[Leif Rohlin]

Fire Tocchet

Sitting Brann for Forbort when Hronek is out is a crime

He's sitting for Friedman, not Forbort. It makes a lot more sense than it did last game when Friedman came in to play his off side with Desharnais.

 

[kanucks25]

@Vector bro the title is missing 2 claps what you doin