The Official 2010/2011 Canucks Thread

[cliffhanger33]

Shud posted this earlier but here is pic of game 2 against SJ
My seats sucked, but still, it was epic

[Iceman_2K]

I wonder if a fight will break out....lol

[Soundy]

Originally Posted by Greenstoner

woah, is this pic for real at the lion's gate ???

That is real - there are a ton of different angles of it if you search Google Images. I went looking after a friend said she saw it yesterday.

[Soundy]

Originally Posted by Noir

However, I see the POV of the apologists in the hazards of chasing out your goaltender like MTL did Roy, but c'mon.... If Lu ever pulled off the same thing, who the hell does he think he is? Does he really already think he's in the same pedestal? I don't think so, and I don't see it happening unless he's actually THAT arrogant.

Funny thing is, for as great as everyone considers Roy to be (or have been, in his day), and like to bring that up as a comparison when they start slagging on WHOEVER we have in net... the fact is, yes he was one of the greatest, but Roy had his share of TRULY SPECTACULAR brain farts as well, and most definitely lost Colorado a few games single-handedly.

[SkinnyPupp]

Originally Posted by Soundy

Funny thing is, for as great as everyone considers Roy to be (or have been, in his day), and like to bring that up as a comparison when they start slagging on WHOEVER we have in net... the fact is, yes he was one of the greatest, but Roy had his share of TRULY SPECTACULAR brain farts as well, and most definitely lost Colorado a few games single-handedly.

The difference being, Roy has won games for his teams single-handedly to go along with the brain farts. Luongo has just been farts.

[Iceman_2K]

I think the main point is "single-handedly". Luongo has yet to be the player that has taken over a game. Others, like Kessler, or the third line, have taken over a game.

[shawn79]

only time luongo has stolen a game was against dallas, his first year here in the playoffs

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[Grandmaster TSE]

we're not gonna trade luongo anytime soon, learn to deal with it and hope that him and the rest of the team play strong against the sharks and whoever wins the east and take the prize home

simple as that

[JesseBlue]

Man there are so many experts here! Cmon, how about just cheering for tomorrow's game... Go Canucks go

[cressydrift]

The San Jose Sharks had 11 power plays. The score was only 4-3. It would have been 7-3 if it weren't for Luongo.

[SkinnyPupp]

Originally Posted by cressydrift

The San Jose Sharks had 11 power plays. The score was only 4-3. It would have been 3-3 if it weren't for Luongo.

Fixed.

[Oleophobic]

I've always thought luongo was overrated. A good goalie for sure, but overrated.
With that said, I have no hate against the guy or anything.

I do wish he would stop letting in those five-hole goals, flopping around whenever there's a scramble in front and letting in those "trickler" goals, and finally losing his stick every fuckin poke check.

Other than that, he's not bad. lol

[Spidey]

Originally Posted by Iceman_2K

I think the main point is "single-handedly". Luongo has yet to be the player that has taken over a game. Others, like Kessler, or the third line, have taken over a game.

Like I said before, if you need ONE person on your team to single handedly take over games, you are in trouble fo the long haul.. Teams that rely on ONE player to take over games, will and can be shut down. Sure Kesler was superb, but he will be the first to admit that he wouldn't have been able to do it without his linemates. He can score 2-3 goals every game, but if his D isn't there stopping backstopping the team, his performance would be all for nothing.

[Spidey]

Originally Posted by SkinnyPupp

FOR 12 FUCKING YEARS dude.

Nobody is saying Luongo is "not good". The point is, he has NOT "won a game for them". He has been "solid in net" at best, and when the team is playing well, that's plenty good enough. When they have an off game (like yesterday), they are guaranteed to lose. If he had not let in that five-hole goal from the point, it would have gone into overtime for instance.

His GAA and SV% are excellent because they played a round against Nashville, who do not have the ability to score non-fluky goals.

To expect miraculous games from Luongo is maybe expecting too much. But how many cup winning teams in the past got the occasional miracle goalie performance or two during their runs? So far, we haven't seen that from Lu. He's been solid at best, mostly 'just good enough', and occasionally pretty bad.

Sorry, but your comments are ridiculously idiotic. You are lucky you don't have a fail button. Did you watch the TB Boston game today? Did you see all the "bad" goals that went in? When an objective viewer watches a game and sees a weird goal go in, they say, "shit that was unlucky"... when a fan that is emotionally involved/doesn't know shit, like yourself sees the same goal, they think "oh fuck what a slut, shut your legs".

It isn't Lu's fault he makes as much money he does. Who the fuck would turn down an offer of 5+ million if it was offered to them. The reason he hasn't stolen a game is because he hasn't really had to. And he hasn't had to make as many miraculous saves like he did when he played for a far inferior Canuck team in the past.

Looking at the top 10 highest paid goalies in the NHL, how many would you actually want in net instead of Lu? Miller Ward and Lundy are great goalies, but only Ward has won a cup, ONCE. Ever since then what has he done? What have any of those goalies done? Nothing. Don't get me wrong, they are all great goalies, but they still haven't done what Lu has done, except Ward. They are great goalies on mediocre-shit teams, and they are all golfing right now. So what does that really say?

Lu made keys saves that you could say "stole" games 1, 2, 3 from Chicago. Those games were a lot closer than most fans think. Game 7 he let in ONE goal. Sure teh Nucks outplayed the Hawks, but he made key saves, especially that PK in OT.

Goals fucking go in, in the game of hockey. It's the god damn playoffs, and the speed of the game is much higher and there are higher chance of mistakes because of increased forecheck and pressure. Hockey players, last I checked were human beings, and human beings make mistakes. If sports were all black and white, where the better team on paper wins all the time, do you think bookies would still be in existence?

Niemi is 1-2 this conference, and has been lit up like a xmas tree in all 3rd periods, this series... Lu is 2-1 and game 3 is the only game he let in more than 3 goals. I wouldn't blame any of the goals on him. Even if you say/think the 4th goal was weak.. they were killing a 5 on fucking 3, and if you know what it is like for the pk unit and the goalie on a 5 on 3, you know you are always moving laterally following the puck and because of that you get tired, so your reaction time isn't quite as fast!

[van19]

^

Exactly ! Everyone needs to stop criticizing & just enjoy the god damn run.
Wish I could thank you 100x times.

[BlackZRoadster]

Originally Posted by jayare604

lol last time I checked, the school system down here had 12 grades which is equivalent to 12 years.

Completely agree with you lol 10 years to finish kindergarten up to gr12 is not normal unless you take summer school or a genius.
Posted via RS Mobile

[SkinnyPupp]

Originally Posted by BlueG2

Sorry, but your comments are ridiculously idiotic. You are lucky you don't have a fail button. Did you watch the TB Boston game today? Did you see all the "bad" goals that went in? When an objective viewer watches a game and sees a weird goal go in, they say, "shit that was unlucky"... when a fan that is emotionally involved/doesn't know shit, like yourself sees the same goal, they think "oh fuck what a slut, shut your legs".

It isn't Lu's fault he makes as much money he does. Who the fuck would turn down an offer of 5+ million if it was offered to them. The reason he hasn't stolen a game is because he hasn't really had to. And he hasn't had to make as many miraculous saves like he did when he played for a far inferior Canuck team in the past.

Looking at the top 10 highest paid goalies in the NHL, how many would you actually want in net instead of Lu? Miller Ward and Lundy are great goalies, but only Ward has won a cup, ONCE. Ever since then what has he done? What have any of those goalies done? Nothing. Don't get me wrong, they are all great goalies, but they still haven't done what Lu has done, except Ward. They are great goalies on mediocre-shit teams, and they are all golfing right now. So what does that really say?

Lu made keys saves that you could say "stole" games 1, 2, 3 from Chicago. Those games were a lot closer than most fans think. Game 7 he let in ONE goal. Sure teh Nucks outplayed the Hawks, but he made key saves, especially that PK in OT.

Goals fucking go in, in the game of hockey. It's the god damn playoffs, and the speed of the game is much higher and there are higher chance of mistakes because of increased forecheck and pressure. Hockey players, last I checked were human beings, and human beings make mistakes. If sports were all black and white, where the better team on paper wins all the time, do you think bookies would still be in existence?

Niemi is 1-2 this conference, and has been lit up like a xmas tree in all 3rd periods, this series... Lu is 2-1 and game 3 is the only game he let in more than 3 goals. I wouldn't blame any of the goals on him. Even if you say/think the 4th goal was weak.. they were killing a 5 on fucking 3, and if you know what it is like for the pk unit and the goalie on a 5 on 3, you know you are always moving laterally following the puck and because of that you get tired, so your reaction time isn't quite as fast!

Since you can't reply without calling me an "idiot" and "threatening" that you would "fail" my post, I am not going to bother to read past the first sentences. Instead, you

I've only ever made one point about Luongo, not even a criticism of his play, but a point about the results so far. I am willing to bet you didn't bother to notice that, and didn't reply to it.

Just blindly cheer them on and hope for the best I guess.

[scottsman]

The San Jose Sharks had 11 power plays. The score was only 4-3. It would have been 0-3 if it weren't for all of Vancouver's penalties.

Fixed.

What is the point of saying if Lu hadn't let in that 4th goal that the game would have been tied after the 5 on 3. If the 4th goal never happened then it is possible the 5 on 3 might not have happened and the game could have ended at 3 - 1 for SJ. Too many what ifs to make comments like that.

[kristianhay]

SAN JOSE — Keith Ballard has been a good and loyal, if well-paid servant of the Vancouver Canucks this season, but on the eve of the biggest game he'll play for this team so far he was overcome with a bout of honesty.

With the injuries to Christian Ehrhoff and Aaron Rome Friday night, Ballard is expected to draw into the lineup along with Andrew Alberts unless the Canuck coaching staff pulls a total phantom move and goes with young Chris Tanev, a highly unlikely possibility. Still not having been officially told he's playing, Ballard was asked Saturday whether he felt he had the confidence of his coach Alain Vigneault.

“I don't know,” he responded honestly, when normally one would expect a yes from that question. “I can't tell you.”

He then went on beating himself up about how he hasn't played very well when he's been given the opportunity and hasn't been "as consistent as I need to be in the situations when I play."

For his part, Vigneault sang from the songsheet claiming confidence in Ballard and that the highly paid defender at $4.2 million hadn't played as much as he might have liked all season because there were better players ahead of him.

That's all very well, but it doesn't explain the differences in the way players have been treated. As soon as Ballard makes a mistake it's been the end of the world and he comes out whereas any number of others, most notably Rome, can make mistake after mistake with total impunity.

“Fair or unfair, that's the reality I'm faced with on mistakes,” he says. “Some guys like Hank and Danny can turn the puck over but because they're putting up 100 points they're obviously going to get more room and mistakes may not affect them as much. There's not a lot of room for error for me, that's the bottom line.”

Everyone can see it's been a stacked deck against Ballard for most of the season and it has seemed that every time he's been taken out of the lineup, he's come back and played even worse. Whereas the Canucks had hoped to bring him along from his surgery on his hip this past summer to a point where he'd be constantly improving by this point, instead it's been a season of further erosion in his game.

Last year, Ballard had a couple of severe shouting matches replete with 'bleep yous' exchanged at the top of the lungs with his coach Peter DeBoer in Florida but this season he claims to have gone the total Mahatma Gandhi route, not even meeting with Vigneault all season to discuss his shortage of playing time.

“I've just felt that coming to a team here, as deep as it is with this opportunity, I would put all things personal aside and just concentrate on doing what I could for the team in the role I've been given,” said Ballard.

And that's what he's done, but has that really served the needs of the team? Clearly if they go on to win the Cup and he's able to be a contributor in these crucial final games that will certainly have been the case. But if he struggles or the coach simply won't use him enough to the point where it impacts the play of the top four by virtue of fatigue, that passive stance will not have served anyone well, least of all Ballard and Vigneault.

For as long as Ehrhoff is out, at least, he'll have to play — and knowing that should help the player. But it's clear he is having all kinds of trouble making the transition from a guy who plays 22 minutes or so a night, like he has his whole career, to a fifth or sixth guy getting 12 minutes.

And the Canucks have had trouble with this in the past.

Mathieu Schneider came to Vancouver thinking his minutes would be a lot higher than they were, and in the end he simply told Vigneault he wasn't the guy the coach was looking for because he simply wasn't suited to that 12-minute role.

Next year, with a full summer of training and perhaps one of Ehrhoff or Kevin Bieksa having departed, things are likely to be completely different. But that's not what matters now. The question is can he play well enough to help the team and keep the heat off the top four, which now includes a 36-year-old Sami Salo, doubtless the next target in Jamie McGinn's sights?

“I'm a better player than I was in Florida,” says Ballard. “I'm sure I can still play very well in this league. My confidence . . . it's the one thing I haven't lost.”

http://www.theprovince.com/sports/Ba...268/story.html

Poor Ballard man, I've always liked him since we acquired him. He seems like a good teammate and person, and his play has always been up there. He's a much better player than Rome, and if AV didn't have such a hard on for Rome he would likely have played the entirety of the playoffs. Here's hoping for him having a good game provided he plays tomorrow!

[Noir]

Originally Posted by BlueG2

Sorry, but your comments are ridiculously idiotic. You are lucky you don't have a fail button. Did you watch the TB Boston game today? Did you see all the "bad" goals that went in? When an objective viewer watches a game and sees a weird goal go in, they say, "shit that was unlucky"... when a fan that is emotionally involved/doesn't know shit, like yourself sees the same goal, they think "oh fuck what a slut, shut your legs".

It isn't Lu's fault he makes as much money he does. Who the fuck would turn down an offer of 5+ million if it was offered to them. The reason he hasn't stolen a game is because he hasn't really had to. And he hasn't had to make as many miraculous saves like he did when he played for a far inferior Canuck team in the past.

Looking at the top 10 highest paid goalies in the NHL, how many would you actually want in net instead of Lu? Miller Ward and Lundy are great goalies, but only Ward has won a cup, ONCE. Ever since then what has he done? What have any of those goalies done? Nothing. Don't get me wrong, they are all great goalies, but they still haven't done what Lu has done, except Ward. They are great goalies on mediocre-shit teams, and they are all golfing right now. So what does that really say?

Lu made keys saves that you could say "stole" games 1, 2, 3 from Chicago. Those games were a lot closer than most fans think. Game 7 he let in ONE goal. Sure teh Nucks outplayed the Hawks, but he made key saves, especially that PK in OT.

Goals fucking go in, in the game of hockey. It's the god damn playoffs, and the speed of the game is much higher and there are higher chance of mistakes because of increased forecheck and pressure. Hockey players, last I checked were human beings, and human beings make mistakes. If sports were all black and white, where the better team on paper wins all the time, do you think bookies would still be in existence?

Niemi is 1-2 this conference, and has been lit up like a xmas tree in all 3rd periods, this series... Lu is 2-1 and game 3 is the only game he let in more than 3 goals. I wouldn't blame any of the goals on him. Even if you say/think the 4th goal was weak.. they were killing a 5 on fucking 3, and if you know what it is like for the pk unit and the goalie on a 5 on 3, you know you are always moving laterally following the puck and because of that you get tired, so your reaction time isn't quite as fast!

This is the problem with apologists.

If you're never going to put the blame on him, who does it fall under? His highly touted defensive corp, or maybe his all star forwards that can buy 3 goals per game; or how about a Selke calibre shut down line for 2 years running. Seriously, the only thing better than what Luongo has in front of him is a Team Canada roster where Sidney Crosby is a plug and Pronger as a depth defensemen.

As a longstanding Canuck fan, there's nothing more disheartening than to see your team get repeatedly thrown under the bus just because 1 player seems like he should be exempt from criticism.

[Soundy]

Originally Posted by SkinnyPupp

The difference being, Roy has won games for his teams single-handedly to go along with the brain farts. Luongo has just been farts.

Perhaps someone would care to quantify how a goaltender "steals a game". Does it require a 1-0 win with his team being outshot 56-12? Or does it just take that one key save in the late stages or in overtime? Or is there a set number of "key saves" that must be made to qualify as having "stolen the game"? Or does EVERY save have to be an amazing, stand-on-one's-head, highlight-of-the-week save? Let's have some hard numbers here, shall we, that can be backed up by the stats rather than just a bunch of haters' opinions.

BTW, G2 didn't call you an idiot, he said your comment was idiotic. There's a subtle but distinct difference. But you know, way to use that to duck his point - I'd say that was a key save right there. Stole the game and everything.

[DanHibiki]

Originally Posted by Noir

This is the problem with apologists.

If you're never going to put the blame on him, who does it fall under? His highly touted defensive corp, or maybe his all star forwards that can buy 3 goals per game; or how about a Selke calibre shut down line for 2 years running. Seriously, the only thing better than what Luongo has in front of him is a Team Canada roster where Sidney Crosby is a plug and Pronger as a depth defensemen.

Seriously as a longstanding Canuck fan, there's nothing more disheartening than to see your team get repeatedly thrown under the bus just because 1 player seems like he should be exempt from criticism.

Actually yes. You do put the blame on the likes of the forwards such as the Sedins who were invisible in the first two series. Or even Kesler, who despite played an excellent shut down role in the 1st series was unable to score a single goal and is now being totally outplayed by Joe Thornton.

And yes, even our highly touted defencemen's can be blamed. Edler and Ehrhoff had some noticeable bad games in both Chicago AND Nashville.

In 2007, it was all on Luongo. We went as far as Luongo playing like a god and stopping everything.

But now we have a good team with many different players contributing and stepping up each game when others have gone quiet. We are so deep on D that we have 9 defencemen's that can step in and play well. We don't need to rely on Lu alone.

Lets not forget the motto "play as a team, lose as a team."

This year it feels like it has finally sunk into the heads of the players and they are playing as a collective bunch.

[MarkyMark]

No goalies that are left right now are stealing any games. Roloson got pulled today, and then Thomas proceeded to get lit up for the loss. Niemi is making some good saves and then blowing the lead in the 3rd everytime it seems. Let's face it, the cup very well may not be won because one goalie was playing awesome.

[SkinnyPupp]

Originally Posted by Soundy

Perhaps someone would care to quantify how a goaltender "steals a game". Does it require a 1-0 win with his team being outshot 56-12? Or does it just take that one key save in the late stages or in overtime? Or is there a set number of "key saves" that must be made to qualify as having "stolen the game"? Or does EVERY save have to be an amazing, stand-on-one's-head, highlight-of-the-week save? Let's have some hard numbers here, shall we, that can be backed up by the stats rather than just a bunch of haters' opinions.

BTW, G2 didn't call you an idiot, he said your comment was idiotic. There's a subtle but distinct difference. But you know, way to use that to duck his point - I'd say that was a key save right there. Stole the game and everything.

If you need to have someone explain to you how a goalie steals a game for his team, then maybe you need to watch a bit more hockey. And not just Canucks games.

[Oleophobic]

so excited for game 4