[Article] Canucks: Pre-season blowouts don't mean anything ... most of the time

[RWJC]

Canucks: Pre-season blowouts don't mean anything ... most of the time

 

Sure, Sunday’s 10-0 loss by the Vancouver Canucks to the Calgary Flames was just pre-season.

 

And, sure, the Canucks sent a lineup filled with youngsters and depth players while the Flames had a lineup that featured a number of big names.

In many respects the Canucks sent out an AHL roster against an NHL squad.

 

The talent disparity does need to be put into consideration — but it’s still hard not to sit back and contemplate what such a score line means. Losing by 10 in any game is a rarity. The Canucks haven’t lost by double-digits since 1984.

 

Their worst loss since then was by nine in 1996; John Tortorella’s Canucks lost by eight in January 2014.

The Canucks’ kids on Sunday are in special company. Should head coach Rick Tocchet have dressed a stronger lineup on Sunday? Probably. But he also would have expected more from the players who did dress.

 

Instead of strong performances, even in defeat, there were a lot of concerning signs, players who either weren’t prepared or truly aren’t up to snuff. Whichever it was, neither can become a trend, for player or coach.

Here’s a few things to really think about that came out of Sunday’s loss:

 

Šilovs’ reality

 

Their goalie — Arturs Šilovs — faltered badly giving up unlucky goals but also goals he made mistakes on or didn’t see at all. Did he deserve to stay in net for seven goals against? Maybe not, but in the first game of the pre-season a coach has a plan and that’s mostly centred on players just getting up to game speed, results be damned.

But, again, these results are hard to ignore.

 

Šilovs’ game was a far cry from the heroics he pulled off the last time he was on the ice, when last spring he guided the Latvian national team to glory, winning bronze and being feted as a national hero.

 

Is Šilovs the goalie who looked lost on Sunday? Almost certainly not. But the skeptic would note that it’s also very possible he’s not quite the goalie who performed so admirably in his national colours.

 

He’s still a good prospect. One game doesn’t make a future.

 

Defensive depth

 

On the other hand, there’s the pairing of Jack Rathbone and Jett Woo. Neither had a good night.

 

• Rathbone has already fallen well down the left-side depth chart. And as good a character as he is, his on-ice performance is what the Canucks’ coaching staff need to assess, And, going back to his five-game cameo late last season, what Tocchet and his assistants, Adam Foote and Sergei Gonchar, have seen is a blueliner who struggles to defend and make puck decisions at an NHL pace.

 

He’s been good in the AHL. It more and more looks likely he just isn’t up to NHL snuff. Rathbone was one of the Canucks’ more experienced defenders on the night. He didn’t look like it.

 

• Woo’s statistics line was ugly on Sunday, going minus-four (not the minus-five listed on the scoresheet, because the scorekeeper wrote down 44 when it was Akito Hirose, No. 41, on the ice for the sixth goal against). Woo struggled with positioning at times and was burned badly defending Nazem Kadri on a neutral zone rush, leading to a goal.

Woo has dreams of playing in the NHL this season, but, on this performance, he has a long way to go.

 

• A third blueliner on the roster bubble who did little to help his case was Noah Juulsen. The veteran right-shot defenceman got first crack to skate with Quinn Hughes in training camp, but he’s far from the front-runner and, after Sunday, he’s got a lot of work to do to keep himself in the mix.

He got beat badly by Jonathan Huberdeau and Kadri on goal-scoring plays for each — and if he’s going to make the NHL squad it’s likely as Hughes’ partner, and he would be facing forwards of this quality all the time.

 

 

Penalty killing

 

It’s an old refrain now, but the Canucks have got to find a way to kill penalties with consistency.

 

However on first blush, the Canucks have a lot of work to do. Now, most of the players in the lineup on Sunday won’t be NHL regulars this season, but outside of Woo, the guys deployed to kill penalties last night did all play in the NHL last year.

 

Dakota Joshua and Pius Suter should have fairly prominent roles on the penalty kill this season, Juulsen, Matt Irwin and Nils Åman maybe too.

This is to say: They should have had some sense of what they were doing Sunday night. They shouldn’t have looked as hapless as they did in trying to keep the opposing power play to the outside.

 

They gave away seven shots in 5:11 of power play time, two of those for goals.

 

Their defensive scheme struggled to stay stable.

 

 

At least there’s Höglander

 

Nils Höglander was just about the lone bright spot Sunday and his chances of starting the season as the left-winger on Elias Pettersson’s line — Andrei Kuzmenko on the other wing — remain strong.

 

He was the best player on the Abbotsford Canucks at the end of last season and his task is clear: work hard, be aggressive on the forecheck and be responsible in his own end.

“He’s just got to learn that you can’t try to stickhandle through,” Tocchet said Sunday. “Don’t get frustrated and try to stickhandle through guys, you’ve just got to stay in yourself. That’s the next level for him but I do like his effort.”

 

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[-dlc-]

A pretty good overall assessment I'd say.

 

I'm not worried, but I was disappointed. As fans, we've seen enough garbage to last a lifetime and we deserve a better showing. A pretty lacklustre effort overall. 

 

These guys are battling for jobs but it looked like they were lost at times. The NHL speed and intensity might've shellshocked them a bit. There's a long way to go for some of these guys by what we saw last night.

[Reg]

My take was not to be to concerned about the outcome of this first pre-season game. It was more disappointment as we didn't seem to compete at the same level as the opposition.

 

I still believe with the changes made during the off season our team will be better both on offense and defense this season. That said it is difficult to imagine we could be much worse. I like to think, like Rutherford said, if everything goes right the Canucks should be good enough to be playoff bound next year.

[Ghostsof1915]

Letting in 10 goals, even by AHL standards, hurts.

What hurts more was the lack of scoring in return.

The missed passes, assignments.

Is it the end of the world? No.

But I really want to see a better effort next game.

[Canuck You]

Meh, Men vs boys , The lads got someone good experience and a good lesson. Hopefully it motivates them to step their game up.

[Barn Burner]

44 minutes ago, -dlc- said:

A pretty good overall assessment I'd say.

 

I'm not worried, but I was disappointed. As fans, we've seen enough garbage to last a lifetime and we deserve a better showing. A pretty lacklustre effort overall. 

 

These guys are battling for jobs but it looked like they were lost at times. The NHL speed and intensity might've shellshocked them a bit. There's a long way to go for some of these guys by what we saw last night.

Yeah, and Hoglander wasn't the only bright spot, either. Suter played well and showed that he's going to be a great addition to the team. 

 

Raty is also showing, even at only 20, that he is very composed and pretty slick. Great pickup.  

 

Overall, I'm not concerned. It was basically our farm team against most of their main roster. 

 

Just disappointed that others didn't step up to the plate. 

[QuantumBunk]

2 hours ago, RWJC said:

Canucks: Pre-season blowouts don't mean anything ... most of the time

 

 

I'd say it matters for a team that never really got over its pre-season failures last year. 

 

They have one job. Have a good start. They should just ice the NHL roster for the rest of the preseason. These kinds of drubbings aren't good for anyone. 

 

Im in Edmonton. Do I go to the pre season game ? $34 for bad seats. $160 for good ones

Edited September 26, 2023 by QuantumBunk

[RWJC]

12 minutes ago, QuantumBunk said:

I'd say it matters for a team that never really got over its pre-season failures last year. 

 

They have one job. Have a good start. They should just ice the NHL roster for the rest of the preseason. These kinds of drubbings aren't good for anyone. 

 

Im in Edmonton. Do I go to the pre season game ? $34 for bad seats. $160 for good ones

 

A good start begins at puck drop at game 1 of the season.

Preseason is not a strong  indicator of very much historically, and that applies league wide.

 

Go to the game for sure! Buy the cheap seats and squeak into the good ones. It's pre-season...likely much less chance you'll be disturbed by arena security.

[RawkDrummer]

Our young'uns getting a collective face wash isn't doin' a damn thing to develop them.

 

 

[BCNeil]

Oilers just lost their first game 5-0 and it was a home game.  

[Mikeyman109]

Like last season the goaltending makes such a difference especially at the NHL level. Silovs was not very good. The Kadri goal was brutal. 7 goals in half a game.Never really stopped on chance you thought would go in. Deflating.

 

Woo had an absolutely awful game.

None of the D looked good even Irwin looked over his head playing as much as he had to.

Up front there was no one to settle the game down. We didnt ice one player we should expect to have over 10 goals this year.

I know there are people here high on Hoglander and Podkolzin but they showed about what I expected from them. Sometimes hard working players are not NHL stars.

Raty and Suter were the best players on the ice as many have said. I look forward to seeing what they do when they are in the proper roles rather than being on the ice for longer stretches than normal.

 

Pre season is about seeing what the youngsters can do. The game got away from them but playing their NHL lineup against what is most likely 4 of our roster is never a good opportunity for a win.

As for changing the PK what we saw was not what we will get once the season starts.

Starting against the OIlers we need to see what our NHL calibre lineup can do against a great PP. Can our D handle 97 and 29.

 

Lastly everything this season depends on a healthy Thatcher Demko. He will be the hero if we make the playoffs. He will be the reason if we dont. With the changes at D in front of him we should see a better performance.

Cant wait to get the ball rolling on the regular season. Go Canucks Go!

 

[Sativika]

On 9/25/2023 at 9:13 PM, RawkDrummer said:

Our young'uns getting a collective face wash isn't doin' a damn thing to develop them.

 

 

It was only a preseason game and as mentioned, we were out matched by an NHL Flames roster.

 

I had hope for better efforts from Woo and Pods. However, it saddened me somewhat to witness not much from those two. Especially Woo. I dunno. I'm still hopeful, but time isn't on Woo's side.

 

 I think I'm officially off the Rathbone bandwagon. Kid needs a change of scenery. Maybe move him as a sweetener on a trade for a RD at deadline.

 

Yea. Raty does look good. Maybe not NHL 2nd line centre good, but good nonetheless. And Silovs? Rust. Plus defensive blunders in front of him didn't help much either. I'm not worried about him. He's still just a kid.

 

My guess is that the blowout will give the players added motivation to play better next time out. 

[AatuD2]

 

 

[Inkidu]

We iced what was basically a pick-up team that had never played together before. Sure, fragments had some familiarity with each other but as a whole, it was almost all played on the fly---against a well-oiled, experienced NHL team.