The Erik "Gudzilla" Gudbranson Thread

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Please don't get everyone started on Pouliot.

Too late.

So hold up... Gudbranson played a good bit with Pouliot?

I know Derrick Pouliot. Derrick Pouliot is a very, very, very bad defenseman. Who makes very, very, very bad plays.

Hmm.

 

[SouthGeorge]

If you have a subscription to The Athletic, buckle up for tomorrow. Get a vom bag ready. I got a ton of video for you guys. And it ain't good. This is stuff coaching can't fix.

I dont have. Will you post here? Are you looking at his teammates? A lot of clips I've seen his teammates did him no favors.

 

[DegenX]

Too late.

So hold up... Gudbranson played a good bit with Pouliot?

I know Derrick Pouliot. Derrick Pouliot is a very, very, very bad defenseman. Who makes very, very, very bad plays.

Hmm.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

Too late.

So hold up... Gudbranson played a good bit with Pouliot?

I know Derrick Pouliot. Derrick Pouliot is a very, very, very bad defenseman. Who makes very, very, very bad plays.

Hmm.

Pouliot is a much better dman away from Gudbranson. And I am fully on board with your assessment of Pouliot.

So yeah. I really have no idea why your gm got Gudbranson. Granted, your program over there is far ahead of the gong show we've had going for years now. Maybe you can rehab Gudbranson into playing passable defense...I dunno, strap him down Clockwork Orange-style and make him watch Scott Stevens highlights or something. Whatever happened here it certainly failed.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Pouliot is a much better dman away from Gudbranson. And I am fully on board with your assessment of Pouliot.

So yeah. I really have no idea why your gm got Gudbranson. Granted, your program over there is far ahead of the gong show we've had going for years now. Maybe you can rehab Gudbranson into playing passable defense...I dunno, strap him down Clockwork Orange-style and make him watch Scott Stevens highlights or something. Whatever happened here it certainly failed.

But he DID play with Derrick Pouliot?

Because Derrick Pouliot is a blackhole nightmare of a defenseman.

 

[Motte and Bailey]

You are right, Canuck fans are totally bi-polar when it comes to their players; they can either do no wrong or no right and Guddy was in the latter category. He played a lot of tough minutes there, often with the wretched Pouliot as his partner and he is legit tough.

Bipolar is a good way of putting it. A lot of the rhetoric against Gudbranson seemed truly pathological at times. In the GDT of Literally every game he played this year there were droves of posters chomping at the bit to trash Guddy. I can’t even count the number of times where Guddy was on for a goal against or a bad play but was completely blameless for what happened but a bunch of posters would post without thinking about how bad Guddy is before having to have it explained to them that no, Guddy was in fine position the forward was the one who lost his check. It happened literally every game but most of the time no one corrected them. I’m not saying he’s Bobby Orr but anyone who says that HF Canucks gave the guy a fair shake is wrong. Don’t even get me started on the disgustingly BS narrative they tried to start that Guddy wasn’t tough, wasn’t a good fighter, or didn’t care to stand up for his teammates.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

Pouliot is a much better dman away from Gudbranson. And I am fully on board with your assessment of Pouliot.

So yeah. I really have no idea why your gm got Gudbranson. Granted, your program over there is far ahead of the gong show we've had going for years now. Maybe you can rehab Gudbranson into playing passable defense...I dunno, strap him down Clockwork Orange-style and make him watch Scott Stevens highlights or something. Whatever happened here it certainly failed.

Our GM really doesn't care if he can actually play defense. He is the right size and supposedly is a jolly fellow in the locker room.

 

[DegenX]

Our GM really doesn't care if he can actually play defense. He is the right size and supposedly is a jolly fellow in the locker room.

And put a beat down on Tom Wilson. Let's be honest.

 

[BHD]

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Bipolar is a good way of putting it. A lot of the rhetoric against Gudbranson seemed truly pathological at times. In the GDT of Literally every game he played this year there were droves of posters chomping at the bit to trash Guddy. I can’t even count the number of times where Guddy was on for a goal against or a bad play but was completely blameless for what happened but a bunch of posters would post without thinking about how bad Guddy is before having to have it explained to them that no, Guddy was in fine position the forward was the one who lost his check. It happened literally every game but most of the time no one corrected them. I’m not saying he’s Bobby Orr but anyone who says that HF Canucks gave the guy a fair shake is wrong. Don’t even get me started on the disgustingly BS narrative they tried to start that Guddy wasn’t tough, wasn’t a good fighter, or didn’t care to stand up for his teammates.

Stop saying Guddy.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

But he DID play with Derrick Pouliot?

Because Derrick Pouliot is a blackhole nightmare of a defenseman.

Yeah, he's played with Pouliot. Not really a lot...he spent most of last year traumatizing Ben Hutton. Then Edler carried him for a bit after he got his new contract but before he was shut down for the shoulder surgery he had needed for months. Then this season Hutton again for a bit, then Pouliot, Tanev for a bit on his off-side before he also got hurt again, lately Sautner and Brisebois (AHL callups getting a baptism by fire, apparently)...so yeah. Pouliot a fair bit in the last couple of months, which everyone hated. For obvious reasons.

But overall, Gudbranson doesn't have the excuse of being dragged down by Pouliot's non-defense play. There's been a fair bit of lively debate on the Canucks board as to who exactly is the worse dman between the two, but honestly even though Pouliot is terrible, he's better away from Gudbranson. Literally everyone he's played with has been. Hutton looked like a write-off last year, now he's actually a useful player. Last night I saw Luke freaking Schenn play his debut for the Canucks and he played the correct way for big sluggish guys and the way you wish Gudbranson would. He made the simple plays, boxed out the crease, stayed in position, didn't try to do too much, made the simple outlet passes, didn't ice the puck 50 times...oh yeah. Icing. Gudbranson loves icing the puck. Don't know if anyone's mentioned that yet. But hey, if Justin Schultz can be rehabbed away from the Oilers, I guess anything's possible.

And oh yeah...you guys also got McCann a while ago too. So weirdly, both big pieces of the trade that brought him here are now over there.

Our GM really doesn't care if he can actually play defense. He is the right size and supposedly is a jolly fellow in the locker room.

Oh. Well, in that case, enjoy.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Man I actually really appreciate the detailed rundown. I'm mostly just being an ass. I'm willing to see what happens (I mean what choice do I have) but I have little hope that Gudbranson is actually going to pan out here. The Defenseman Rehabilitation Center here in Pittsburgh is more than a little overblown. Schultz had a lot more going for him when he came here than old dude does. And it's not like he's some super stud anyway these days. Still has plenty of flaws... just more confidence. Being deployed better.

Gusbranson's work speaks for itself. I know Vancouver has it's problems. I know Derrick Pouliot is a pile of rotten boogers. But Gudbranson is almost certainly going to be very, very mediocre here and that's a best case. The data and film is just too overwhelming. And this team already has issues he'll be walking into. So it's not like this is some well tuned, perfectly oiled piece of Swiss engineering, here.

Either way, I hope things start to turn around over there. Always enjoyed the Canucks fanbase on this site. Was always a huge Bure and Linden fan growing up.

*sigh*

And Näslund.

 

[Captain Hook]

I'll give Gudbranson a chance since we've been able to turn around the careers of numerous other D-Men castoffs but it's hard to see this winding up a good move. I don't like it. I just think he'll end up being harder to move than Pearson because Pearson could at least chip in 12-15 goals or so and someone may have wanted him for scoring depth. I don't see much of a market for Gudbranson.

Maybe this is all part of JR's master plan. He has to justify his terrible Jack Johnson signing and the only way to do it is acquiring one of the few D-Men in the league that might be able to make Jack Johnson look good by comparison.

 

[me2]

But he DID play with Derrick Pouliot?

Because Derrick Pouliot is a blackhole nightmare of a defenseman.

Pouliot has improved but he's still got a lot of those flaws, still only a 7/8D. Pouliot ended up carrying Gudbranson, breathe and then let that sink in.

151 minutes with Pouliot + Gudbranson 5 v 5 (44%). (Pouliot without Gud 52.19%)

554 minutes with Gudbranson + Hutton (42.91% corsi) (Hutton without Gubranson (51.5% 298 mins).

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Well... at least you guys didn't draft him 8th overall with the only top ten pick you were likely to get as a franchise for like 15+ years.

Though I suppose I shouldn't speak so soon, quite yet.

 

[Riptide]

You are right, Canuck fans are totally bi-polar when it comes to their players; they can either do no wrong or no right and Guddy was in the latter category. He played a lot of tough minutes there, often with the wretched Pouliot as his partner and he is legit tough.

One thing I will say is that when someone posted all the WOWY numbers... Gud didn't seem to drag down people's numbers (other than young EPs) as much as I was expecting given how much shit he's received. No I'm not expecting wonder's out of him, but that alone gives some hope that if put in the right situation and with the right partner that things won't be "that" bad.

 

[Disappointed EP40]

What most Canucks fans won’t tell you is how Gudbranson has gone through long stretches of good top 4 level play and a stretch this season where he looked like he could be a top pairing minute muncher who defends well. Yes he gets derailed by injury and his confidence is shot by now but do not listen to what most Canucks fans are saying about Gudbranson. Watch him play for the Penguins and judge for yourself. If Guddy keeps it simple he can be a damn good player who fights as good as or better than anyone in the league.

Don't listen to this poster.

There's reasons 99.9% of Canucks fans have said what they have said. There's no basis in reality for what he's saying.

But he DID play with Derrick Pouliot?

Because Derrick Pouliot is a blackhole nightmare of a defenseman.

He barely played with Pouliot. Mostly he played with Hutton and almost single handedly ruined his career. He also was babysat by Tanev a bunch and made him look horrible too.

EDIT: Tanev / Gud pairing is why WOWY #s aren't the worst.

45.3	GUDBRANSON,ERIK - HUTTON,BEN
25	GUDBRANSON,ERIK - TANEV,CHRISTOPHER
7.8	GUDBRANSON,ERIK - POULIOT,DERRICK
6.3	DEL ZOTTO,MICHAEL - GUDBRANSON,ERIK

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[SHOOTANDSCORE]

Not every injury, but that one was

I didn't insist, put him on D, or pay him $4 million. But who cares? We had a very solid physical D man/enforcer in Engelland. People couldn't wait to get rid of him cause 'speed'. Cole was very good. He had to go too. Reaves. Oleksiak. Let's face it, anyone bigger than Nathan Gerbe or more physical than Marcel Goc isn't wanted around here by most 'fans'

Wrong.
We let him go because we didn't want to pay him 3 million per year.

 

[Turin]

I’ll give him 10 games. I’m open to him being his mostly ok Florida self. I highly doubt it happens, but we’ll see if he can be Oleksiak last year, which is to say a severely limited player insulated enough to not totally hurt you. For 4 million..

 

[SHOOTANDSCORE]

Yeah, now that I got it out of my system I'm going to keep the positive vibes going as long as possible.

 

[EightyOne]

Bipolar is a good way of putting it. A lot of the rhetoric against Gudbranson seemed truly pathological at times. In the GDT of Literally every game he played this year there were droves of posters chomping at the bit to trash Guddy. I can’t even count the number of times where Guddy was on for a goal against or a bad play but was completely blameless for what happened but a bunch of posters would post without thinking about how bad Guddy is before having to have it explained to them that no, Guddy was in fine position the forward was the one who lost his check. It happened literally every game but most of the time no one corrected them. I’m not saying he’s Bobby Orr but anyone who says that HF Canucks gave the guy a fair shake is wrong. Don’t even get me started on the disgustingly BS narrative they tried to start that Guddy wasn’t tough, wasn’t a good fighter, or didn’t care to stand up for his teammates.

He's gonna get reamed around here.

We did that to Letang last year.

Letang.

Gudbranson stands no chance.

 

[HandshakeLine]

 

[HandshakeLine]

The idea of getting a warty-yet-physical bottom pairing guy has merit, I'm just not sure why it had to be now, why it had to be Gudbranson, or why we're not doing more/less of an overhaul, to be honest. Seems like these moves would have been better to make, say in the off-season?

 

[Empoleon8771]

I'm just hoping Gudbranson can do what Johnson has done since Pettersson was acquired. In those 38 games, Johnson has an EV GF% of 55.4% (+6 goal differential overall), which is really good overall. Sure, his possession stats still suck and he hasn't been all that good based on the eye test, but he's at least not getting out-scored. I'd be completely fine with Gudbranson if he's just not getting outscored.

 

[EightyOne]

Ya know what...this is actually a really gud video...

He might actually be really good for the room and a change of scenery might work.

He appears to understand where he's supposed to be (although always taking middle is the lazy defenseman spot lol). That alone is more impressive than our usual chicken without head defensive zone positioning.

f*** me. Well. Don't f*** me, but you get it.