Canucks News and Notes

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Hockey Widow
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Re: Canucks News and Notes

Post by Hockey Widow »

Aaronp18 wrote:
Hockey Widow wrote:On Virtanen.
So in less than 5 games he's up to the second line, possesses good speed, skill, intensity and physicality, last night he grabbed his first assist and took a coincidental roughing penalty in the first. He's bowling over guys bigger and with more pro experience than him..... :mrgreen:

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Yes, but there are two things working against him. First it is Canucks or junior, Utica is not an option. So like Bo they have to decide if staying with the big club better suites his development better than finishing junior as a top six, go to the World juniors and work on his fitness vs practicing everyday with the Canucks, sporadic playing time on the third/fourth line, the ability to work on his physical fitness at a pro level.

The second is his physical fitness. They want him to be able to have 40-45 seconds shifts without being gassed. This he has to work in over the summer. I think if he succeeds in increasing his aerobic fitness he stands a good chance to make the tea. If not, he will go back to junior.

The fitness issue by the way is what I was told is the Kassian problem. He blows his wad on 25 second shifts and then is a liability until he gets off the ice. This is what they were pushing him for last year. They saw his defensive lapses and poor decisions with the puck, the mJority of the time, happening in the last 10-15 seconds of his shifts.
The defensive coverage, playing away from the puck they see too as mostly a fitness issue.

I was heartened to hear that was what they saw as his weakness because that can be corrected. He has to learn to be a pro and prepare as an NHLer. Easily done if he has the desire. This was also why they didn't trade him. They think he gets it so how he shows up to camp could be his last chance to show it. Of course like everyone else he too could be traded but from what I hear they haven't given up on him. I guess we need to wait out the next two to three weeks to what decisions have been made.
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Aaronp18
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Re: Canucks News and Notes

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Hockey Widow wrote: The second is his physical fitness. They want him to be able to have 40-45 seconds shifts without being gassed. This he has to work in over the summer. I think if he succeeds in increasing his aerobic fitness he stands a good chance to make the tea. If not, he will go back to junior.
Anaerobic ;)

What excites me is that he clearly has the skill, strength, intensity and physicality we need. If it's simply getting his physical capacity up to NHL standards I don't see that as a problem. Not being able to attend an NHL camp last year hurt a bit.

The fact that he's been bumped up to the second line in Utica seems to show he's pretty close when is comes to endurance levels.

I know he can't play in Utica next year but that's not too big of a deal. He can still learn in junior if need be, if not than he makes the Canucks - nothing wrong with that either!

I'm simply enjoying the excitement over some of these prospects is all. Nothing much else to do as a Canucks fan these days. :thumbs:
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herb
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Re: Canucks News and Notes

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I believe aerobic and anaerobic conditioning are both critical.

Anaerobic conditioning is required for the explosive bursts and high intensity of shifts. Aerobic conditioning is required due to the length of the game and need to recover between shifts.
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Re: Canucks News and Notes

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Hockey Widow wrote: He is still pissed off at losing to Calgary. He said one day he will get over it but it won't be today. This will be one guide he uses in moving forward. Felt a number of players didn't show up for the playoffs and is still at a loss to explain why we didn't get the job done. One thing he has taken away from the loss is that we play to another team's game and moving forward he wants a team that dictates the play, sticks to their game plan and forces teams to play to their game.
Any of us could have told him that. After 2011, we have a bunch of guys who cannot deliver in the playoffs (like 3 attempts now). They're OK in the regluar season, but when the playoffs rolls around, they tend to become very average, cannot elevate their game or simply cannot handle the pressure.
Got the sense that he is ready to let more of the core go but it is highly highly dependent upon the kids being ready. Will not rush them or put them into positions to fail. They just have not made final decisions on their roster yet. There is always someone in the organization watching Utica live right now. If not him, WD, Henning. They are watching specific players and looking for specific things. I got the feeling that as soon as Utica is done they will do the postmortem and make their decisions on a lot of things. He seems ready to pull the trigger once that process is complete.
I sure hope so. He really needs to continue to move out some of the older players and bring in younger legs.
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Hockey Widow
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Re: Canucks News and Notes

Post by Hockey Widow »

herb wrote:I believe aerobic and anaerobic conditioning are both critical.

Anaerobic conditioning is required for the explosive bursts and high intensity of shifts. Aerobic conditioning is required due to the length of the game and need to recover between shifts.

Thanks Herb.
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Re: Canucks News and Notes

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Don't hold your breath.
Over the Internet, you can pretend to be anyone or anything.

I'm amazed that so many people choose to be complete twats.
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Re: Canucks News and Notes

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Who knows where this goes. Cole Casells and Oshawa win the Memorial Cup. Gets to start his pro career a winner!!

Congrats. Nice to have winners join the organization.
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Re: Canucks News and Notes

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Hockey Widow wrote:Who knows where this goes. Cole Casells and Oshawa win the Memorial Cup. Gets to start his pro career a winner!!

Congrats. Nice to have winners join the organization.

Actually I wasn't that impressed with Cassels tonight. Oshawa was very lucky to win the cup. Their goalie made some very lucky saves and Driseadl owned Cassels during the championship game.
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Re: Canucks News and Notes

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No
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I'm amazed that so many people choose to be complete twats.
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Re: Canucks News and Notes

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What? Kelowna could have been easily up by 3-1 if it weren't for their goalie. Cassels had little to do with that win
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Re: Canucks News and Notes

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okcanuck wrote:What? Kelowna could have been easily up by 3-1 if it weren't for their goalie. Cassels had little to do win that win
This is what happens in single-elimination games. But Oshawa did go undefeated in that tournament and they beat Kelowna twice. Cassels was a huge part of that team that lacked the star-power of the Rockets, but managed to get it done.

Excellent way to end his Junior career.
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Re: Canucks News and Notes

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Island Nucklehead wrote:
okcanuck wrote:What? Kelowna could have been easily up by 3-1 if it weren't for their goalie. Cassels had little to do win that win
This is what happens in single-elimination games. But Oshawa did go undefeated in that tournament and they beat Kelowna twice. Cassels was a huge part of that team that lacked the star-power of the Rockets, but managed to get it done.

Excellent way to end his Junior career.

Did you actually watch the game? Their goalie didn't see half the Kelowna shots that luckily hit him. Kelowna deserved at least a 3 goal win and Cassels ( the great) was quite invisible.


The shots were 38-26 that tells you everything about that game. The Rockets actually dominated the game.
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Re: Canucks News and Notes

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okcanuck wrote:
Island Nucklehead wrote:
okcanuck wrote:What? Kelowna could have been easily up by 3-1 if it weren't for their goalie. Cassels had little to do win that win
This is what happens in single-elimination games. But Oshawa did go undefeated in that tournament and they beat Kelowna twice. Cassels was a huge part of that team that lacked the star-power of the Rockets, but managed to get it done.

Excellent way to end his Junior career.

Did you actually watch the game? Their goalie didn't see half the Kelowna shots that luckily hit him. Kelowna deserved at least a 3 goal win and Cassels ( the great) was quite invisible.


The shots were 38-26 that tells you everything about that game. The Rockets actually dominated that game.
Actually, I did watch the game. As I said, in a single-game format anything can happen. It doesn't mean the better team won, only that Oshawa scored more goals than Kelowna in this game, so they win. Shot totals don't win games.

The point is that Cassels is a huge part of the team that just won the Memorial Cup. Sucks for Kelowna fans, but despite their best effort they didn't win the game. Looking at it from more than your limited single-game viewpoint, you'd realize that Oshawa might not even be in the tournament if it wasn't for Cassels shutting down limiting the likes of McDavid. That's why he deserves praise.
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Re: Canucks News and Notes

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Island Nucklehead wrote:
okcanuck wrote:
Island Nucklehead wrote:
okcanuck wrote:What? Kelowna could have been easily up by 3-1 if it weren't for their goalie. Cassels had little to do win that win
This is what happens in single-elimination games. But Oshawa did go undefeated in that tournament and they beat Kelowna twice. Cassels was a huge part of that team that lacked the star-power of the Rockets, but managed to get it done.

Excellent way to end his Junior career.

Did you actually watch the game? Their goalie didn't see half the Kelowna shots that luckily hit him. Kelowna deserved at least a 3 goal win and Cassels ( the great) was quite invisible.


The shots were 38-26 that tells you everything about that game. The Rockets actually dominated that game.
Actually, I did watch the game. As I said, in a single-game format anything can happen. It doesn't mean the better team won, only that Oshawa scored more goals than Kelowna in this game, so they win. Shot totals don't win games.

The point is that Cassels is a huge part of the team that just won the Memorial Cup. Sucks for Kelowna fans, but despite their best effort they didn't win the game. Looking at it from more than your limited single-game viewpoint, you'd realize that Oshawa might not even be in the tournament if it wasn't for Cassels shutting down limiting the likes of McDavid. That's why he deserves praise.


The fact is Oshawa's goalie was unbelievably lucky in that game and if Kelowna would have capitalized on their incredible chances nothing would be said about Cassels "great" ability to shut down future star offensive players.

Like I said before Cassels had little to do with their win tonight
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Re: Canucks News and Notes

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Kelowna out played Oshawa for the first two periods. Oshawa had a strong third and could have won it in the third. Overall, Kelowna was the better team, except on the scoreboard.

Cassels perhaps did not have his best game and I too was impressed with the big German. I didn't think Cassels had a bad game, he held his own and did a good job limiting the kraut. But I also agree that Cassels was not overly impressive.

Over all throughout the season he was a huge part of the General's success. That can't be denied. And he has been impressive in helping to shut down top players.As a Canuck fan I'm ok with having a prospect that is good on the draw. Has an asshole edge and can play a shut down role. Key types of players every organization needs. If he can play the pro game and get half the assist his old man got we will have a winner. Next year we will see what he does in Utica.

As for Applebee (sp) I think he is an average CHL goalie. He made some good saves, some key saves, and had puck luck to boot. I didn't see an NHL caliber prospect in him at all. But he was good enough to get the win and good enough to get the Memorial Cup. Without him Kelowna wins that game. Kelowna has a lot of skilled guys and can score but they only got one by him tonight. I still don't see him as NHL material though.

The guy that impressed me was the big German. I like his size, speed and skill with the puck. Didn't see much from him defensively though. Would love to get him from Edmonton.
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