Canucks Central

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Vancity

Under Burke's regime: (on current roster)
- D. Sedin, H. Sedin
- Edler
- Burrows
- Kesler
- Bieksa

Sure Burke drafted or picked up these players, but Gillis has re-signed them. You could argue every one of them re-signed below market value. Particularly Burrows and the Sedins. That's huge!

I didn't like the Hodgson deal when I heard about it, but the Canucks need to get bigger and tougher. That was the blueprint for beating them last year, and you can bet every other team in the West they need to go through knows that now.

The other thing to consider was that it was hard to get anything done yesterday. It looks like they shopped Raymond around and didn't get any takers. Being able to potentially dress Kassian, Bitz and Weise in the bottom 6 should help against any teams that try to goon the Canucks.

[incognism]

Originally Posted by Vancity

Under Burke's regime: (on current roster)
- D. Sedin, H. Sedin
- Edler
- Burrows
- Kesler
- Bieksa

Under Gilli's regime: (current roster)
- Booth
- Higgins
- Lappiere
- Hodgson (no longer with team)
- Bitz
- Rome (not quite sure if this was under Gillis or Burke)
- Ballard (bad trade)
- Gragnani
- Kassian

Hamhuis, Tanev, Malhotra, Pahlsson are all Gillis acquisitions as well.

Burke's legacy in Vancouver was that he was unable to find a suitable goaltender over his 6 seasons as GM. You don't need to look any further than the state the Leafs are in right now to see that hasn't changed much.

Under Mike Gillis, the Canucks have won 3 division titles (a 4th one is all but certain), made it to the 2nd round twice, and were one game away from winning a Stanley Cup. Compared to the past 40 seasons, this is by far the most successful tenure by a Canucks GM.

[McPaul]

Brian Burke in my mind is one of the best hockey minds in the game. That's perhaps an understandable but perhaps not completely fair comparison. I still think Gillis trades well, but doesn't draft that well. Should be a Breyer interesting playoff run. I'm excited for Saturdays game now tho!!

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by McPaul

Brian Burke in my mind is one of the best hockey minds in the game. That's perhaps an understandable but perhaps not completely fair comparison. I still think Gillis trades well, but doesn't draft that well. Should be a Breyer interesting playoff run. I'm excited for Saturdays game now tho!!

Who drafted Hodgson? He was the best Canuck draft since Neely. Burke's drafting while he was here was abysmal.

He's had 5 years to get the Leafs in the playoffs and has failed every time. He's just a big gasbag.

[Zassk]

You guys sure are hard on Kassian.

He was almost the same draft position as Hodgson.
He had better AHL numbers than Hodgson.
He's won championships just like Hodgson.
He has more experience than Hodgson had a year ago.
He doesn't have the injury history of Hodgson.
He plays like Lucic.

We should be excited over this guy. I have high hopes for him, and look forward to watching him tonight.

[Vancity]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Who drafted Hodgson? He was the best Canuck draft since Neely. Burke's drafting while he was here was abysmal.

He's had 5 years to get the Leafs in the playoffs and has failed every time. He's just a big gasbag.

I think Burke is overrated, and yes, his drafting was atrocious. Don't need to look very far in the Leafs to see that.

I'm glad that we have Gillis as GM. I'm just not convinced, mainly because Kassian hasn't proven much in the NHL yet. 7 points in 27 games? Let's see what he can do with the top team in the NHL. of course this depends on where he plays in the line-up.

[Vancity]

Originally Posted by Zassk

You guys sure are hard on Kassian.

He was almost the same draft position as Hodgson.
He had better AHL numbers than Hodgson.
He's won championships just like Hodgson.
He has more experience than Hodgson had a year ago.
He doesn't have the injury history of Hodgson.
He plays like Lucic.

We should be excited over this guy. I have high hopes for him, and look forward to watching him tonight.

That's all good. But Hodgson has 16 goals, 17 assists in 63 games in the NHL. Kassian has 3 goals, 4 assists in 27 games in the NHL. That's why, at least, I'm hard on Kassian, until he proves otherwise. He's in the line-up tonight against the Coyotes. Going to watch that game, and see his first game what he's like.

[Zassk]

Originally Posted by Vancity

That's all good. But Hodgson has 16 goals, 17 assists in 63 games in the NHL. Kassian has 3 goals, 4 assists in 27 games in the NHL. That's why, at least, I'm hard on Kassian, until he proves otherwise. He's in the line-up tonight against the Coyotes. Going to watch that game, and see his first game what he's like.

Team1040 made some interesting observations today:

- Kassian has 3 goals, 4 assists in his first 27 NHL games.
- Milan Lucic had 2 goals, 4 assists in his first 27 NHL games.
- Lucic went on to score 8 goals that season.
- Lucic averaged 2 goals per playoff series in his first playoffs.

I don't think anyone questions Lucic's value (vs. Hodgson).

I think the trade will look very good if the Canucks can get 2 goals per playoff series from Kassian, as Lucic did.

[Vancity]

Originally Posted by Zassk

Team1040 made some interesting observations today:

- Kassian has 3 goals, 4 assists in his first 27 NHL games.
- Milan Lucic had 2 goals, 4 assists in his first 27 NHL games.
- Lucic went on to score 8 goals that season.
- Lucic averaged 2 goals per playoff series in his first playoffs.

I don't think anyone questions Lucic's value (vs. Hodgson).

I think the trade will look very good if the Canucks can get 2 goals per playoff series from Kassian, as Lucic did.

That's a big IF. Canuck management, and fans alike are hoping that Kassian turns out to be like Lucic. We'll have to see, though. I'd give it 2-3 years of development. With this being said, Lucic does have a spot in the top 6 in Boston. Does Kassian have such a role here in Van? Because tonight, he was playing on the 4th line (against Phoenix). If the Canucks are going to develop Kassian into a top six role kind of player, he needs to be playing in the top six, not on the fourth line.

I have high hopes for Kassian, and hope that for the sake of the organization, he turns out well.

This is what I would put as the lines, if I were AV:

Sedin-Sedin-Burr
Booth-Kes-Kassian
Higgins-Pahlsson-Hansen
Malhotra-Lappiere-Raymond/Bitz

I'm not certain where Raymond fits now in the line-up. He's not a guy who fits on the fourth line, but I hate to see Kassian placed there.

[invisibleairwaves]

^ I wouldn't worry too much about Kassian playing on the fourth line. Kesler and Burrows both spent plenty of time in the bottom six as they developed. And Kassian did play a few shifts up with Kesler and Raymond.

I thought he had a great first game today. Made some excellent defensive plays and nearly scored on a glorious chance. I'm definitely not sold on him being worth Hodgson, but I'm cautiously optimistic. Pahlsson also looked pretty comfortable, and fit in well on the PK (something Hodgson was never trusted with in Vancouver). Of course, it's only one game, so we'll see how they do down the stretch run.

[Zassk]

Kassian played on lines 2, 3, and 4 at various times.

I was surprised and impressed with his speed and puck handling. This is no thug or goon.

[LotusLand]

Looks like Luongo is going to Toronto. Posted by your guys favourite blog
http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2012/05/c...-to-the-leafs/

[Pinion]

Oh hey look LA actually killed a riot before it happened by being prepared


(latimes.com)

Pretty bad when the LAPD is more competent than your local police.

LAPD fires less-than-lethal rounds at rowdy Kings fans downtown

Los Angeles police fired less-than-lethal rounds at a rowdy crowd of Kings fans Monday night as they were trying to rock an MTA bus, police at the scene said.

...

Bottles were thrown at some officers before the less-than-lethal rounds were used. An officer at the scene said the weapons are specifically designed for crowd control.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lano...ley-cup-1.html

[WaxItYourself]

Originally Posted by Pinion

Oh hey look LA actually killed a riot before it happened by being prepared


Pretty bad when the LAPD is more competent than your local police.

They probably learned from the last riots they had in 2010 when the Lakers won

http://newsfeed.time.com/2010/06/18/...ual-continues/

[Pinion]

That's my point. 1994 should've been the first thing on everyone's mind when we got to the finals again. Anyone over 30 years old remembers it well.

[Vancity]

Originally Posted by Pinion

That's my point. 1994 should've been the first thing on everyone's mind when we got to the finals again. Anyone over 30 years old remembers it well.

Yep. But our government (Robertson) didn't think it was necessary. no vision, no lessons learned from the past. That's what holds this city back, i feel at times.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Vancity

Yep. But our government (Robertson) didn't think it was necessary. no vision, no lessons learned from the past. That's what holds this city back, i feel at times.

The 2011 cup run was a wild success, until it wasn't. They were looking at the example of what happened in the city during the Olympics 1 year earlier.

The lesson learned was that you can't underestimate the number of douchebags in the lower mainland...

[dreambrother808]

Hopefully the Luongo haters are having a bit of a wake up call tonight.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by dreambrother808

Hopefully the Luongo haters are having a bit of a wake up call tonight.

Luongo's regular season performance was never the issue...

[Pinion]

Yes, plus calling an .833 save percentage a wake up call for Luongo haters is pretty rich.