Rip The Mesh

Creativity is fast around here....

HNIC has finally improved the intro music...

Do something Dallas!

Rick is all those things and more; What about the assistant's role which is currently not a done deal; Would this be acceptable?

When it comes to bang for your buck; Hoglander is it. I'd keep this kid around if the finances allow for it. Best part is; He's only going to get better; One of many highlights;

Yah gotta watch this till the end.

Pettersson was thicker this year. In better condition as well. Doesn't mean the puck's going to go in more. He does have a bit of a mean streak too. Threw his weight around and got into some pretty intense pushing and shoving. Don't know about anybody else, but I appreciated the upgrades. At the end of the team's year he reveled the injuries he played through. Considering that, and the fact he played so much of the campaign Before Lindholm arrived, it wasn't a bad year for him at all. I'd bet Pete was already 185lbs or very close to it.

You give it, Vlad!

For the second time in his young career, Nils Höglander announced his arrival in the National Hockey League. The hope now has to be that the 24 goals he scored this season will serve as a springboard to bigger and better things in the years to come. The 23-year-old Swede finished the season with 24 goals and 36 points in 80 games. Höglander was seventh on the Canucks in regular season scoring despite being 20th in overall ice time. And all of his goals came at 5-on-5 where he finished tied for 10th in the league and was four better than JT Miller for the Canucks team lead. Höglander serves as the poster boy for the Canucks player development department. As a raw rookie and a 20-year-old finding his way to the best league on the planet during a global pandemic, Höglander scored 13 goals in his first NHL season in the All-Canadian division in 2021. Despite the offensive prowess he showed, however, Höglander had trouble winning over then-head coach Travis Green, who saw warts in his play away from the puck. Höglander didn’t fare much better under Green’s replacement, Bruce Boudreau, and was sent to the American Hockey League 25 games into the 2022-23 season. The Canucks believed in the offensive traits and the fierce forechecking that made Höglander a second round draft pick in 2019, however there were concerns about his defensive instincts and his play below the tops of the circles in his own zone.. To his credit, Höglander embraced the demotion to Abbotsford and worked on areas of his game that would allow him to return to the NHL on a full-time basis. And this season, he made the most of his opportunities. Starting in a fourth-line role, Höglander scored on 10 of his first 42 shots and had 10 goals in 33 games at Christmas time. It was around then that he earned a promotion to play higher in the line-up and continued to produce for the Canucks. The two halves of Höglander’s season showed remarkable balance – 12+5=17 in the first half and 12+7=19 in the second – and he scored 10 goals in his final 33 games, just like he had in his first 33. So there was a consistency to Höglander’s production regardless of where he was in the season or where he found himself in the line-up. And those concerns of past head coaches over Höglander’s defensive deficiencies? The underlying numbers this season show a player that controlled play by almost any metric. His individual Corsi was 53.3%, the Canucks held a 54.5% edge in expected goals and outscored opponents 52-29 with Höglander on the ice at 5-on-5. It was a highly productive season for Höglander who sits seventh from his 2019 NHL Draft class with 50 goals and is 11th with 90 points in 221 career games. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Keep the Hog !!!!! says Rip.

Wonder how the MLB stacks up vs NHL in fitness? ? Even? Sure, why not...