with the young teams that were at the u-18 it feels like benning wanted the opportunity to see the 2016 class multiple times. the american, and finnish team have a lot of good prospects for next year, while canada and sweden had a few as well. of course he got to see white, erikkson ek, etc as well who should be around our pick
the draft really isnt that good in the 2nd or 3rd rnd, unless its early 2nd round. so i dont really see him targeting this year unless someone overpays for an expendable part. next years 2nd and 3rd round are much better.
as for blockbusters, i dont see it. moving up a couple spots in the first i can see, or ditching a goalie/prospects for picks next year... but thats about it.

Well played sir, wellllll played :)

This was pretty exciting too

Not sure what our definitions on huge bet is, but I had some decent money on it too LOL.

yeah, I was ecstatic when he assisted that empty netter.

Nerve racking but Subban is clutch. I had a small bet last year and he was clutch then so placed a bigger bet this year. Not too shabby, almost all my bets won or tied/voided.

Now on to next round of betting!

P.S. I still have john torts not becoming a coach and blackhawks to place and Rangers to place. But looking at the teams, I'm starting to think Anaheim is going to take the cup. Ryan Kesler for Conn Smyth Lol.

So hammer is going to play for Canada at the worlds. I guess he's not hurt after all

Live exit Q&A's going on right now;

If they resign Matthias... I'm throwing in the towel lol.

It'd be like Kassian. Big guys but aren't really entirely effective.

true but it's better to have some picks than no picks in these rounds no matter how much of a hit and miss they are. No one can positively or even conclusively state that a draft is good or bad in the 2nd or 3rd round. That judgement doesn't usually come out until years after the draft.

how do you know 2nd and 3rd round next year are better? lol there's only speculation on the 2016 first rounders and even that's gonna change by mid season ranking next season so to suggest that 2nd and 3rd round next year will be better is pretty much like saying April next year will be nice and sunny with temperature ranging in the mid to early teens.

i'm ok with them re-signing Matthias as long as they don't overpay
he had a pretty shitty last 20 games and was pretty invisible in a physical series so to be honest if he walks, it's not like we'll miss out on a lot.
tbh, i'd take my chances with a prospect in his spot if they play good enough in training camp.

lol prepare for some fails though, some people here go apeshit and go on the defence when the topic of releasing big bodies who can skate and score some goals comes up.


Overall, this year has been a booming success compared to last season. Made the playoffs and developed a few good prospects but there's clearly a lot of work to be done.

I think this season went well is that we know we have what kind of player in Bo Horvat and what kind of player we have in Ronald Kenins.

Before, management seems to be reluctant to inject any youth in the line up thinking veterans would bring you to the cup finals.

This season and this particular playoffs show that you don't need a lineup full of veterans to win. Hard work and younger players can win games for you too.

I'm hoping to see some younger guys come up next year but it's hard to expect any results close to what Bo had. I think Bo had a more mature game and mentality than most.

I think management is still reluctant to inject youth...if they're not, then at least WD still is.

Which i find pretty fucking stupid. This was coming from a stubborn rookie coach who favored useless Tigers alumni *coughcoughfuckingVEY and was quoted at the beginning of the year that he was unsure of having a 19 yr old on the roster. The same coach who completely forgot how to coach in the first couple of games in the series.

That puzzled me, and its something that's gonna follow him around his time in Vancouver. So what if you have a 19 year old in your roster? Even if he was 18 (inb4 Bennett jokes), it shouldn't matter. It's a results-oriented business and sport. That kind of mentality along with his favoritism seems like a recipe for disaster when the franchises's best option is to open up more spots to the youngsters next season.

Hopefully, he learns from the fumbles and the complete rook mistakes. If he goes on with the whole stubborn routine next season, I hope Travis Green is building a good case to be promoted to the big club.

Whenever I think of "refusing to inject youth into the line up", I think of this


dat look of disgust on AV's face, tho

Judging by his comments to the media, sounds like he's going to take free agency cash.

http://i.imgur.com/9T1kgIr.gif

^ thanks for the laugh :lol

That and the fact the Canucks only have 4M in cap space to re-sign 5-6 guys, him being non-existent in the last 20 games + the playoffs...

.. He likely won't be back :lol

Most likely a mutual agreement that he's walking who knows

Here's the Horvat move from game 6

I like Matthias, but he played small in the playoffs. Needed him to step up and be physical and, if anything, he was less physical than he was in the regular season.

Given the $$$ he wants, no thanks

Wow, what a sick goal by Kuznetsov!

Go Washington. -wanna see the Reds eliminate AV and the Blueshirts. :accepted:

IIHF World Championship bets online now, I know Canada typically hasn't really done well in this tourney but this years team looks pretty good compared to the other teams.

Duchene - Crosby - MacKinnon
Hall - Giroux - Seguin
Toffoli - Spezza - Eberle
O'Reilly - Couturier - Schenn
Ennis
Eakins

Barrie - Hamhuis
Ekblad - Burns
Savard - Muzzin

Smith
Jones

Perhaps a question mark in goal with Smith and Jones, but at 3.60x, I'll take that shot. Russia is currently listed as the favorite.

Also parlayed Canada IIHF WC champs with Tampa and Washington winning tonight on another ticket, so that ticket is looking good so far.


Caps/Isles was IMO the best series of round 1, really physical, hard hitting and intense.

Because that would mean that Canucks fans were right, and it always was the coach's fault. Just like it was with Torts and it is now with Willie. :thumbs:

It has nothing to do with AV. I wanna see Ovie hoist a Cup! Although Trotz has the Capitals playing a more physical, defensive style game, this team is exciting to watch. They have plenty of firepower.


As for AV, I do not put all the blame on what happened at the end of the 2011 cup run on him. He shares some responsiblity for what happened during that playoff run.

So today's TSN1040 poll question is did the Canucks have a successful season or was it a disappointment?

My answer ties in with these 2 comments about AV, Torts, and WD.

AV could have and should have done a few things differently in game 7 of the final.

The Canucks core last year was a playoff team. They should have been in the playoffs, but Torts is great of a coach that he managed to make a playoff team miss the playoffs.

Is WD a good coach and was this year a successful year? Sure you could say that. But again, the team should have been a playoff bound team with the players that we had.

Look at the Rangers. Torts made the playoffs but didn't go too far. With basically the same core, AV was able to take the team to the finals in his first year. This year, with Lunquist out for a good period of time, the Rangers were still able to win the President's trophy.

Going back to the poll question question. I view this as neither a successful nor a disappointment of a year.
It's great that the team made the playoffs, but this loss showed everyone the short comings of the team.
D guys don't help much producing points. Hammer and Bieska are getting old and no longer the same guys that help take the team to the Finals in 2011.
Edler is still Edler. Has some good moments, and a lot of bad moments.

Twins are still the twins. Yes they had a lot of puck possession time in the FLames end, but it was the Flames that allowed them to maintain that puck possession because it is hard to score from the perimeter.

Burrows isn't getting the same offensive output he did 2 years ago playing with the twins.

Bonino is no where near Kesler's dominance and the second line's lack of production really hurt us. I'm on the fence about him being our second line center going into the future.

Mathias played the same game in Vancouver as he did in Florida. He has a big body but plays a very small game. As a 27 year old player, he admits he still watches youtube video's to help him be a better power forward.

Higgens is a bandaid solution to the Nucks missing top 6 forwards. He is a great PK/third liner. He did show some chemistry playing with BoHo, or Boho is that great and is able to play with many different guys.

Vrbata was a great signing but he alone isn't enough to help jumpstart the second line and WD really should have had him on the top line with the twins.

Hansen is Hansen. He will always be a great third/fourth line winger and PK guy. Nothing more. To put him on the top or second line is really asking a lot out of him, especially since he plays a different game from the twins.

Dorset isn't bad, but again he is a little undersized for what he is supposed to do, which is hit and fight. He is good defensively and has some offensive upside so it doesn't hurt the team by having him.

Vey, McMillan, I don't understand why these 2 guys are part of the team. They need a lot of development but right now they look like 3rd/fourth line guys at best.

The PK was good in the regular season but stunk it up in the playoffs.
The team needs to take a look and see what can be done to take less penalties next season. Even if the PK is running at 90%, they are still letting 1 goal in every 10 penalties.

The PP needs a lot of help. Off the rush, the PP scored a few goals, but when it comes to set plays in the offensive zone, the passing is too slow and there is no one in front of the net. Henrik never leaves his office which is around the right side faceoff dot.
Weber needs to position himself better for the one timers.
If they are going to go with the big shot from the point, then they will need a grinder in front of the net to get the rebounds.
Vrbata and Edler should not be on the top PP line if they do go with Weber's shot. In fact, they can't play Edler on the PP because he is a lefty and no one is a play maker from the left half boards. They need to address this issue.

Hammer and Tanev on the PP, now you know the team has nothing.

But the biggest issue I see, is the coaching will not change and WD's lack of willingness to play youth or anyone that isn't from Medicine Hat. :rukidding:

http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2015/04/c...s-not-leaving/

If JT and Stamkos join the WHC, it's going to be easily the most stacked WHC team ever.