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Vancouver Off-Topic / Current EventsThe off-topic forum for Vancouver, funnies, non-auto centered discussions, WORK SAFE. While the rules are more relaxed here, there are still rules. Please refer to sticky thread in this forum.
I've said it before, but I really hope we don't get Torts. The players on the Rangers went to Sather and asked that Torts be removed as the headcoach, as well as multiple tweets about it from guys like Gaborik, Lundqvist, etc. Is that really the kind of guy you want to bring into a struggling Canucks team? I don't think so. I'm all for changing the culture of the room and team, but not like that.
AV to the Rangers is official.
That's coming from a couple cocky players that they think they are better then everyone else. Torts maybe a hard ass but he treats everyone equal which they didn't like. The Canucks players need a fire lit under their ass and I think Torts is the right guy for the job.
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Originally Posted by Not really racist!
Just watch NYR do good next year... and go far
They will no questions asked, a new coach always has a good effect on the players especilly a coach like AV. I hope they do as well cause AV deserves it since he is a great coach and I know he will do well.
IMHO, im not overly worried about who we hire as our next head coach. The issue isn't with coaching, the issue is with the personnel we've got at the moment. The team as we speak lacks the horses to go deep in the playoffs. The Sedins just haven't been at that same dominant level the last two years. I hate to say it, but its like age has caught up to them and they are now past their primeand quite frankly were stuck with them until they're contracts are up. Kesler was in beast mode the year we went to the cup finals and ever since he's been hampered by injuries. I fear were nearing a situation similar to that of Sami Salo where had we looked at perhaps moving him a couple seasons prior, we would've gotten alot more in return, instead he was let go through free agency. If injuries continue to plague Kesler, watch how quick his stock drops..Edler's season was highlighted by one blunder after another. Going into his 5th season, can we expect a season similar to that of 2011-12 where he finished with 49pts or another lack lustre performance?
I've chosen to comment on these players since they are our highest paid. When these guys aren't going, things don't look promising.
In the end, im just another frustrated nucks fan who resents Mike Gillis. I don't agree with the firing of AV, instead Gillis should've gotten the ax. He's really hasn't done much to bolster this team and make the necessary changes.
Hawks getting away with a ton of calls, but I kind of agree with this one. Would kind of be bullshit to lose a game due to a fluke puck going over the glass
The game was SO intense! The skill level was amazing!... makes the Canucks look inferior ... at least we know that even if we snuck by the Sharks we would eventually get crushed by these other teams
The game was SO intense! The skill level was amazing!... makes the Canucks look inferior ... at least we know that even if we snuck by the Sharks we would eventually get crushed by these other teams
People got really mad at me for saying that before the playoffs started.. I think it was pretty easy to see if you'd watched games during the season
But let's not go back to that.. just enjoy the good hockey we're getting, and hope they sign some good players and a coach to turn things around. Because with the realignment, the free tickets to the playoffs in the last 2 years will be gone.
He was a surprise late entry to the group, but John Tortorella brings what fans and media in this town have wanted for so long. He's a brash personality that holds players accountable. He has Stanley Cup experience. He has a grizzled, no-nonsense attitude and he doesn't speak French. Clearly, everything fits.
You got the sense in the Eastern Conference this year that the New York Rangers, Torts' old team, weren't really into it. After the big offseason acquisition of Rick Nash, the Rangers stumbled out of the gate, kept stumbling through midseason, stumbled into the playoffs and tripped over their own sticks in a seven-game playoff win over the Washington Capitals. Their only post-first round victory came thanks to Tuukka Rask stumbling all over himself and letting in the reelist blooper you'll ever see.
So the Rangers weren't good last season. The Rangers have banked on their goaltender and their goaltender alone for two straight playoff runs, winning three rounds in two seasons, but that ultimately resulted in John Tortorella getting fired... Read past the jump for more.
Credit to Glen Sather—he's been in hockey for so long that occasionally you have to invent the occasional accomplishment—he got rid of Torts despite some modest post-season success with a roster that had no business winning playoff rounds. The Rangers played ugly hockey. They were tight and defensive, collapsed in front of the net and let NHL statisticians record blocked shot after blocked shot. Their offence was opportunistic.
In short, the whole thing was a mess. Tortorella had about five competent NHL forwards to work with by the end of his tenure and ended up getting a lot out of them. At 5-on-5 Tied, the Rangers' Corsi % was 51.8%, good for 12th in the NHL. He had Derrick Brassard in his Top Six and was under organizational pressure to give Ryane Clowe ice-time based on what Sather paid for him at the deadline.
Torts, unfortunately, is a coach that also shares Mike Gillis' philosophy about size over talent in the Bottom Six. In the game that saw the Rangers eliminated, Brad Richards sat in favour of Derek Dorsett, Kris Newbury and Micheal Haley. He seems like a natural fit for a team that re-upped Tom Sestito for two years, presumably with the interest of having him play live hockey games with the organization.
Which is why it shouldn't be too much of a surprise that John Tortorella was spotted wandering around Rogers Arena on Tuesday, as first reported by Canucks Army's own Dimitri Filopovic. It seems like an odd match at first. Both the Canucks and Torts are drifting, with another year or two before an eventual fall from grace. Torts does share lots in common with Gillis, however. Not only are they committed to the (false) ideal that size and not skill wins hockey games, but neither Gillis nor Torts are in this business to make friends.
By the end of Alain Vigneault's tenure in Vancouver, him and Gillis didn't see eye-to-eye on much of anything. Tortorella could be an option simply because Gillis wants a voice to help him confront the local media. That doesn't mean Torts is a poor coach. He won a lot of games in the last two years for a reason with a roster built by Glen Sather.
The best thing that happened to the Canucks in recent years was the advent of specific player roles. We know that the Sedin twins played in the offensive zone and that Manny Malhotra took faceoffs in the defensive zone. This principle, made two years before the NHL caught onto zone matching and coaches began doing it regularly, extended the prime of Henrik and Daniel Sedin by two years.
Torts was on Vigneault's page. Check this year's Rangers' usage chart. The team's top offensive players: JT Miller, Chris Kreider, Brad Richards, Rick Nash and Derek Stepan are all hovering around a 60% offensive zone start rate. The team's top defensive forward Carl Hagelin faces the best competition. A season ago? Just as spread out, with Torts worrying more about his forwards' commitment to offence and defence rather than line matching.
Generally, Torts knows which of his players can score and how to get them into those positions. I prefer zone matching to line matching except in rare situations, but it still takes a keen eye for the game to note when an offensive zone faceoff is coming, or how to not burn both of your scoring lines during an extended period of game time.
What's most impressive about Torts though is his development of Dan Girardi and Ryan McDonagh, and how in 2012 they became one of the best pairings in the NHL.
In the upper left, you can see two blue circles representing Girardi and McDonagh. In contrast to how difficult those minutes were, McDonagh and Girardi had a positive Relative Corsi. It's outstanding that they came out ahead in such tough, tough minutes, but Torts would do the right thing and give them ample help to succeed. He was very committed to the matchup that not only shut down opposing top lines, but also gave more offensive zone opportunities to Anton Stralman and Michael Del Zotto, two defensively limited rearguards.
The whole thing isn't as crazy as it sounds. Tortorella and the Canucks do have an awful lot in common. As for Torts' apparent belief in a total defensive system, remember the 2004 Tampa Bay Lightning as a beacon of offensive hockey in a dead era. He will do what he has to with the tools he is given.
Wait, that makes him just like most other coaches...
wtf? so the league did NOT catch onto zone matching prior till now?
correct me if i am wrong, but i have a feeling that statement is horseshit
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[23-07, 02:03] shawn79 i find that at vietnamese place they cut ur hair like they cut grass
[23-07, 02:03] shawn79 do u go to vietnamese places for haircuts
This is interesting, would be good for us hockey fans in Vancouver, a quick trip down the I5. Also, kinda makes sense now why when Roenick was on team 1040 a couple weeks ago, he refused to answer any questions regarding the Coyotes and Phoenix.
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Report: NHL has Seattle plan ready for Coyotes
Joe Yerdon Jun 16, 2013, 9:59 AM EDT
CBC’s Hot Stove panel dropped a few bombs last night but one the biggest may concern the future of the Phoenix Coyotes.
Elliotte Friedman of CBC reported the Vancouver Canucks wanted to move their AHL farm team to Seattle and Key Areana but were rebuffed by the NHL because the city was not available to them. Instead, they announced the team’s move to Utica, NY.
Why wasn’t Seattle available?
Glenn Healy reports that should Renaissance Sports & Entertainment unable to close a deal with the City of Glendale by July 2, the Coyotes would be sold Ray Bartoszek and Anthony Lanza for $220 million and they would move the team to Seattle. If that group winds up purchasing the team, Jeremy Roenick will also be part of hockey operations.
Bartoszek and Lanza are no strangers to ownership rumors as two years ago they were close to buying part of the New York Mets.
As we know with the Coyotes situation, nothing is ever final until it’s signed off on, but it’s clear the league’s endgame with the franchise is coming, the only question left will be if it’s in Glendale or Seattle.
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