Player Discussion Jake "Big Tuna" Virtanen | XVII Nikolaj Who...?

[Just A Bit Outside]

No offseason stories of Jake to follow this year?

No public trips to Disneyland with sexy actresses?

Has he used twitter at all?

Edit:

Him at a a football game at the end of June... Quick.. we need a body assessment...

And he had a retweet commemorating Bourdon's passing. Life is short.

Playing flag football? I see all that hitting he use to do is now completely out the window...

 

[Wo Yorfat]

By the look of his pal's hat, I'd say Virtanen seems more interested in a hunting/fishing career than the NHL. And sockless? Somebody doesn't care about blisters. Bad attitude.

 

[PRNuck]

By the look of his pal's hat, I'd say Virtanen seems more interested in a hunting/fishing career than the NHL. And sockless? Somebody doesn't care about blisters. Bad attitude.

Barely any striations in those exposed forearms, I'd peg the bodyfat at 13-15%. Extrapolating that to growth curves for his age group and correcting for wind direction reveals...Corsi rel at 45.9.

 

[Rotting Corpse*]

Why is there a new Virtanen thread ? Fux wrong with the old one ?

Because the forums apparently uses a DBMS from 15 years ago.

 

[NoShowWilly]

Do you guys think that Jake skating off the ice numerous times after a shot while the team had offensive pressure would affect his corsi?

Perhaps utica fans could answer this but was he still doing this last season? It drove me insane in his rookie year. Team has the puck down low and Jake would take off to change.

 

[tantalum]

Him at a a football game at the end of June... Quick.. we need a body assessment...

Understand this was probably in jest (and/or frustration) but he looks in better shape than last summer. That's a good thing. I think perhaps last summer he went on the Sopel diet....

 

[Havre]

Looks better than Ovechkin.

 

[Bam19]

I seen him at a hockey fundraiser back in June he looked good then.

 

[Karl Childers*]

Do you guys think that Jake skating off the ice numerous times after a shot while the team had offensive pressure would affect his corsi?

Perhaps utica fans could answer this but was he still doing this last season? It drove me insane in his rookie year. Team has the puck down low and Jake would take off to change.

I think he was tired. Either that or Desjardins may have been screaming at him for him to get off the ice. I for one hope he does well and silences the masses , some of whom I think want him to fail. Make or break year for the pride of Abbotsford.

 

[rune74]

I think he was tired. Either that or Desjardins may have been screaming at him for him to get off the ice. I for one hope he does well and silences the masses , some of whom I think want him to fail. Make or break year for the pride of Abbotsford.

Yep agree with all this. I think he has become the poster child some are using. I'm hoping he has an excellent training camp and makes it hard to send him down. I'm definitely not hoping he fails.

 

[VanJack]

I'd say the time he spent with Green and Utica last year should provide him with a leg-up at this year's training camp....he knows the system they want to play and what the coach expects of him every shift.

Frankly he'll be better equipped to compete for a spot than he ever was when force-fed minutes in that first ill-fated season with Desjardins....And reporting to camp at 210 instead of 230 can't hurt either.

 

[me2]

I think he was tired. Either that or Desjardins may have been screaming at him for him to get off the ice. I for one hope he does well and silences the masses , some of whom I think want him to fail. Make or break year for the pride of Abbotsford.

Nobody wants him to fail, he's one of the 2 best chances we had at rebuildt the forwards. He has to succeed or we get screwed over. The fact he has failed badly the last 3 years is a massive disappointment and people have a right to be annoyed. Hopefully he can be that 1 in 20 long shot that reverses the decline.

 

[The Drop]

Prosthetic Conscience should be the creator of all threads

 

[Catamarca Livin]

Nobody wants him to fail, he's one of the 2 best chances we had at rebuildt the forwards. He has to succeed or we get screwed over. The fact he has failed badly the last 3 years is a massive disappointment and people have a right to be annoyed. Hopefully he can be that 1 in 20 long shot that reverses the decline.

You may be right most here seem to think he has already failed.

 

[me2]

You may be right most here seem to think he has already failed.

More like they think he's well on his way there. That is very fair position, right now he's not even projecting to be a good depth player. Jake will need to overcome history to become the 30-30 guy he was projected to be.

 

[David Bruce Banner]

Nobody wants him to fail, he's one of the 2 best chances we had at rebuildt the forwards. He has to succeed or we get screwed over. The fact he has failed badly the last 3 years is a massive disappointment and people have a right to be annoyed. Hopefully he can be that 1 in 20 long shot that reverses the decline.

Actually, I'm pretty sure a number of posters here want him to fail. A few just because they want everything to fail in the hopes that it will somehow finally rid us of Benning and Linden... a few because it furthers their "we picked the wrong guy" agenda and would make them look smart on the internet... and a few because of some unfathomable hatred of all things Virtanen.

I see a player that wasn't the best pick in hindsight... and probably wasn't the best pick at the time. He was arguably the 4th best guy in a pack of 4 similarly ranked players (for the record, I wanted Ritchie). And since then he's constantly had about the worst decisions possible made for him (and by him)... until around Christmas last year.

At that point, the Canucks seemed to go back to the drawing board with him in an attempt to rebuild a decent player from scratch. He's got one last shot and I really hope he finally manages to put it all together. I think he would be a really fun player to have on our team, if only he can get his game back. And I'd really like to see some posters here eat some crow. But I'm officially not holding my breath for either Good Virtanen or people eating crow if he turns into Good Virtanen.

No matter what, he will never be Ehlers or Nylander... but he could still be Ritchie.

 

[BROCK HUGHES]

Actually, I'm pretty sure a number of posters here want him to fail. A few just because they want everything to fail in the hopes that it will somehow finally rid us of Benning and Linden... a few because it furthers their "we picked the wrong guy" agenda and would make them look smart on the internet... and a few because of some unfathomable hatred of all things Virtanen.

I see a player that wasn't the best pick in hindsight... and probably wasn't the best pick at the time. He was arguably the 4th of in pack of 4 similarly ranked players (for the record, I wanted Ritchie). And since then he's constantly had about the worst decisions possible made for him (and by him) until around Christmas last year.

Since then the Canucks seemed to go back to the drawing board with him in an attempt to rebuild a decent player from scratch. Next year will be the make or break one and I really hope he finally puts it all together. I think he would be a really fun player to have, if he can get his game back. And I'd really like to see some posters here eat some crow. But I'm officially not holding my breath for either Good Virtanen or people eating crow he turns into Good Virtanen.

No matter what, he will never be Ehlers or Nylander... but he could still be Ritchie.

I am really suprised also,,and i am still not giving up on the kid.i am rooting for jake.hope he makes the team this year

 

[lawrence]

Actually, I'm pretty sure a number of posters here want him to fail. A few just because they want everything to fail in the hopes that it will somehow finally rid us of Benning and Linden... a few because it furthers their "we picked the wrong guy" agenda and would make them look smart on the internet... and a few because of some unfathomable hatred of all things Virtanen.

I see a player that wasn't the best pick in hindsight... and probably wasn't the best pick at the time. He was arguably the 4th of in pack of 4 similarly ranked players (for the record, I wanted Ritchie). And since then he's constantly had about the worst decisions possible made for him (and by him)... until around Christmas last year.

At that point, the Canucks seemed to go back to the drawing board with him in an attempt to rebuild a decent player from scratch. He's got one last shot and I really hope he finally manages to put it all together. I think he would be a really fun player to have on our team, if only he can get his game back. And I'd really like to see some posters here eat some crow. But I'm officially not holding my breath for either Good Virtanen or people eating crow if he turns into Good Virtanen.

No matter what, he will never be Ehlers or Nylander... but he could still be Ritchie.

or a sam Bennet. Had a pretty ****** year for a guy that was suppose to be a Reinhart tier player.

 

[BobbyJazzLegs]

i hope jakes play merits a spot on the nhl roster, but i dont see it to start the year

 

[Disappointed EP40]

Actually, I'm pretty sure a number of posters here want him to fail. A few just because they want everything to fail in the hopes that it will somehow finally rid us of Benning and Linden... a few because it furthers their "we picked the wrong guy" agenda and would make them look smart on the internet... and a few because of some unfathomable hatred of all things Virtanen.

I see a player that wasn't the best pick in hindsight... and probably wasn't the best pick at the time. He was arguably the 4th of in pack of 4 similarly ranked players (for the record, I wanted Ritchie). And since then he's constantly had about the worst decisions possible made for him (and by him)... until around Christmas last year.

At that point, the Canucks seemed to go back to the drawing board with him in an attempt to rebuild a decent player from scratch. He's got one last shot and I really hope he finally manages to put it all together. I think he would be a really fun player to have on our team, if only he can get his game back. And I'd really like to see some posters here eat some crow. But I'm officially not holding my breath for either Good Virtanen or people eating crow if he turns into Good Virtanen.

No matter what, he will never be Ehlers or Nylander... but he could still be Ritchie.

I don't see many feeling this way. Maybe a couple, but not many.

I did not want Virtanen. I would love to be proven wrong. Being right in the face of jerks that cited "agendas" and "negativity" for my reasons for not wanting Virtanen -- sure, they can eat it, but that in no way supersedes my want for this team to just not being ridiculously hard to cheer for.

You are right, this is essentially his last shot of living up to where he was picked, but yea, until I see a dramatic increase in production, he's kinda of dead to me.

 

[iceburg]

i hope jakes play merits a spot on the nhl roster, but i dont see it to start the year

Seems like he will have to really earn a spot f he's going to start the year in Vancouver. The team really needs more grit in the forward group but it won't be gifted to him. So, I think you're right.

 

[valkynax]

Actually, I'm pretty sure a number of posters here want him to fail. A few just because they want everything to fail in the hopes that it will somehow finally rid us of Benning and Linden... a few because it furthers their "we picked the wrong guy" agenda and would make them look smart on the internet... and a few because of some unfathomable hatred of all things Virtanen.

Nobody wants to see him fail, even if it means it'll allow us to tell Linden and Benning to officially to **** themselves.

The problem is, compare with other picks made after him, it makes it incredibly frustrating to think what could've been and what we have now.

 

[iceburg]

Nobody wants to see him fail, even if it means it'll allow us to tell Linden and Benning to officially to **** themselves.

The problem is, compare with other picks made after him, it makes it incredibly frustrating to think what could've been and what we have now.

Ehlers and Nylander are clearly better picks and, as many posters wanted, could have been selected instead of Virtanen. Larkin was a win but was passed on by many teams. A couple of years is needed before a proper assessment can be made on the rest of the top 20.

 

[xtra]

Actually, I'm pretty sure a number of posters here want him to fail. A few just because they want everything to fail in the hopes that it will somehow finally rid us of Benning and Linden... a few because it furthers their "we picked the wrong guy" agenda and would make them look smart on the internet... and a few because of some unfathomable hatred of all things Virtanen.

I see a player that wasn't the best pick in hindsight... and probably wasn't the best pick at the time. He was arguably the 4th of in pack of 4 similarly ranked players (for the record, I wanted Ritchie). And since then he's constantly had about the worst decisions possible made for him (and by him)... until around Christmas last year.

At that point, the Canucks seemed to go back to the drawing board with him in an attempt to rebuild a decent player from scratch. He's got one last shot and I really hope he finally manages to put it all together. I think he would be a really fun player to have on our team, if only he can get his game back. And I'd really like to see some posters here eat some crow. But I'm officially not holding my breath for either Good Virtanen or people eating crow if he turns into Good Virtanen.

No matter what, he will never be Ehlers or Nylander... but he could still be Ritchie.

This is utter crap, no fan of this team, no one that spends time on this board like most of us do want him to fail. The fact that we think he was the wrong pick, and that he is on the way to busting doesn't mean we want to have him fail. If he succeeded and I looked like a fool I and most loyal Canuck fans wouldn't care.

 

[Wo Yorfat]

I don't think he's completely wrong. Spite and validation are strong feelings. Just like when you saw Linden/JB looking like their dog had died when Kassian scored, I think there's some groans/eyerolls if Sutter or Granlund pops a couple in garbage time. And I'm not saying people would choose Virt to fizzle out vs becoming a good player on the whole, but I'm sure there's folk who in some way like seeing him stink in the AHL.