Pre-Game Talk: [GM35] Vancouver Canucks vs Seattle Kraken | Sat. Dec 28th | 1:00pm PST | SNP | Aquatic Nightmare

[TruGr1t]

 

[Quinning]

Nobody has more points than Hughes since November 25th. The guy is simply on another level.

 

[ManVanFan]

Hughes will probably play, but Pettersson does not look like he’s going to. Yikes.

Waiting it out till him or Miller is traded.

 

[SeawaterOnIce]

Oh god that's a lottery level lineup.

I've avoided all reactionary takes but Jim Benning HAS TO GO!

 

[racerjoe]

Hughes will play, but if he was actually out that has to be one of the worst bluelines to play a NHL game in the past decade.

I think the last time it was that bad was that brief time when Baumgartner ended up playing as our #1 dman.

 

[wonton15]

Fire Roger Takahashi

 

[VanillaCoke]

Yikes

 

[Soups On]

1 top 4 D man who's been teetering, the Chaos Giraffe, and a bunch of 6/7s. By gawd

 

[Canucks LB]

Like i said last game, no matter how amazing he was, Quinn Hughes should never have played that game

 

[CpatainCanuck]

Forbort on the first pairing? Yikes. Even during the worst Benning years the Canucks at least had Edler and Tanev back there...

 

[rypper]

Hockey (and the Canucks) can be weird. With that kind of lineup, you'd think guaranteed loss but I bet some of guys playing up the lineup will rise to the occasion and the team will win.

 

[racerjoe]

Forbort on the first pairing? Yikes. Even during the worst Benning years the Canucks at least had Edler and Tanev back there...

Despite bennings best efforts…

 

[valkynax]

That defense, sweet merciful crap...

To quote Heisenberg: so...it's grade school tee ball vs. the New York Yankees.

Demko or Lankinen, I hope God have mercy on them.

Seriously without Hughes this team's defense is basically Simpsons level bad. The only difference is that our goalie isn't passed out and tied to the net with ropes.

 

[ihaveyuidonttouchme]

I did not have Myers as our #1 defence in my bingo card

 

[Nuckles]

This season has been so cursed, and yet the team is still in the top half of the league standings...but we'll see for how long if Hughes and Pettersson are out for any period of time...

 

[Flik]

The year of hell continues!

 

[Kryten]

This game is going to be one for the record books just for the lolz

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

@Vector low key showing off his ESP abilities with the thread title only for us to find out Hughes and Petey are both likely to miss this one.

Hope the rest of the guys can band together. But man, hopefully Demko remembers to wear a cup.

 

[VanJack]

Like i said last game, no matter how amazing he was, Quinn Hughes should never have played that game

I can see now why they recalled Sasson and Brisebois, along with Di Giuseppe.

Without Pettersson and Hughes, are we ready or Myers in the top-two; or Forbort in the top four; or Sasson as the second line center?

Looks like the Kraken might be catching a big break.

 

[Just A Bit Outside]

Just saw the line up.

Oof.

Chalk up another loss unless the goaltending is spectacular.

 

[Just A Bit Outside]

Nucks looking at the WJC and already trying to tank for Hagens or Schaefer.

 

[ghostingtaro]

myers and forbort as the 1st pairing

gameover oof

 

[SeawaterOnIce]

I said this a few weeks ago....you can sense when the wheels are about to come off and when a season is lost. This most definitely feels like a point where you should realize it is simply not going to happen this season. Nagging injuries are hard enough but it becomes even more bothersome when you are still trying to find balance and chemistry on all lines.

This really feels like that 07-08 season when so many things went so horribly wrong in the early going.

 

[BoHorvat 53]

Feel like Hughes' injury is going to be short term, but concerned about Pettersson.

 

[Vector]

Practice After a Break

• Bit of a reset and a pretty good practice
• Some guys were anxious to get back on the ice and get started
• Hockey players and coaches live by schedules; when you have 3 days off, you get antsy
• Have 44 days, 21 games, and 15 practices before the 4 Nations Tournament
• Every day matters

Hughes & Pettersson

• Hughes is getting evaluated today
• Pettersson will get looked at later today
• Both are doubtful for tomorrow
• Hard to speculate on the severity; doesn’t know if it’s day-to-day or week-to-week
• Won’t put players in the situation where they will get hurt further
• Hold the fort and next-man-up mentality
• Have to play as a team and get 5% more from everyone

Seattle Kraken

• A fast team
• Haven’t watched them so isn’t sure why they are slumping

Hronek

• Has been skating
• Canucks’ athletic trainers are pleased with his progress
• Not going to rush him
• Thinks he’s on course

Defensive Group

• Would like to have pairs
• 25% of the time, Foote will have to switch the pairings up; will be situational
• Mentions using Brannstrom more on offensive zone draws
• Can’t switch up the pairings all the time
• Have to play more predictable without Hughes & Hronek

Brannstrom

• Message to Brannstrom is to relax; don’t press the envelope and just play a simple game
• Wants him to shoot the puck
• Sometimes players overlook their shots
• Doesn’t need to create too much on the blueline

Starting Goalie

• Demko will start

Brisebois

• Rely on Ryan Johnson to pick the call-ups
• Needed another defencemen and he’s played really well
• Smart player that doesn’t get beat; system guy

Place in the Standings

• Not content with their place in the standings
• Proud of the way they team has handled everything
• A lot has been thrown at this team; lots of noise
• To be where they are at in the standings is a positive
• Still need to play better and they know the process has to get better
• Throwing pucks away too much
• Guys are too tentative and not making plays under pressure
• Need to play to their team identity
• Can’t go shift-for-shift trying to outscore the other team

Goalie Tandem

• Demko is a top 2-3 goalie in the league and is starting to round into form
• Lankinen has been one of the best goalies in the 1st half of this season
• Lankinen’s road mentality has given them some games
• Having both is a luxury
• Need to play better in front of them so they don’t have to go post-to-post so much
• Demko is going to get his starts