good chance for some of the young players in the organization with all these injuries

If torts plays em properly :fuckthatshit:
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Jensen out there with 3 minutes left with hank and burr. Looks like he's giving the kids the opportunity he deserves.
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Torts: "Kassian needs to earn his way to the top line"
Torts: "Jensen, you're new. Go play on the first line"

:fulloffuck:

Torts logic!

Well... Kassian did play on the first line for a bit when he first got here too.. He needs to earn that spot now because he's not consistent.

Jensen: looks good playing on the top line
Kassian: looked like a clueless monkey playing on the top line

5 goals in 5 games is a clueless monkey?

What the Canucks refused to do (lately) is letting their young guys make mistakes in the role they're looked at to play in. It's very frustrating. Jensen has made some small mistakes, but it's refreshing to see him getting what appears to be a fair shake by the coach.

Torts has nothing but good things to say about Jensen. He's obviously doing something right.

Even-Strength Goals/15 minutes (min. 150 ES minutes played):

1. Chris Higgins (0.220)
2. Zack Kassian (0.215)
3. Shawn Matthias (0.204)
4. Mike Santorelli (0.198)
5. Jannik Hansen (0.182)
6. Ryan Kesler (0.178)
7. Jordan Schroeder (0.154)
8. Tom Sestito (0.147)
9. Zac Dalpe (0.135)
10. Daniel Sedin (0.130)
11. David Booth (0.114)
12. Brad Richardson (0.097)
13. Henrik Sedin (0.091)
14. Alexandre Burrows (0.060)

Daniel + Henrik + Burrows = 0.281 ES goals/game w/ 1st line minutes

Yet, Torts refused to split up what clearly wasn't working. Meanwhile, Kassian is the second most efficient scorer on the team ... that can't score goals ... and gets stuck on the 3rd line all season with Booth and Richardson, neither of which are exactly known for their playmaking abilities.

^lol, so what you're saying is if Mathias centres as line with Higgins & Kassian and plays top line minutes they'll light it up and be the second coming of the West Coast Express?

omg why hasn't torts thought of this? this might just fix our scoring woes :troll:

timeline of henrik's road to 1000 games for those who haven't seen it already:

Henrik Sedin's 1000th Game

Is that what I said? Interesting.

Canucks can get Reinhart if they get top 5 pick

Reinhart will go first overall, so I doubt it unless we win the lottery.

That and the multitude of random freak injuries the last year or so ... sometimes I do feel bad for his luck. Must be hell on him mentally knowing that at any given moment he could get another concussion or break something else.

I've personally been through it, young and brash, going all out without a care.
Then while mountain biking I fell off the track and rolled down a hill; sustained a concussion that lasted over a month.
Now I'm cautious as a cat even when doing less extreme activities because the thought of enduring another concussion subconsciously forces you to second-think yourself.

You can say they are "professionals" and whatnot but they are still human. I'm sure in the back of Booth's mind, he hesitates when reaching for the puck or driving hard to the net. He has to get past that mental barrier.

Good Guy Nathan Horton

The team was in a VERY different place when Kassian had his chance to earn his top line spot. They still thought they were contenders.

The numbers are somewhat telling. But you can't tell me that you believe looking at Kassian's body of work this season, that he is complete enough a player playing with different players in different situations, to be trusted with first line minutes. As mentioned previously, Kassian has shown flashes of brilliance, but also many instances of floating around looking lost, making poor decisions, etc etc. Kassian has looked most complete and consistent playing with Booth and Richardson, for whatever reason. I'd also be curious to see the quality of competition Higgins and Kassian are facing vs. Hank and Dank for example... could very well be some 'Hodgson' effect in play here too.

Wow at being able to show up and just buy 1000 tickets to a game with short notice

I'll buy you a beer if this happens

I doubt he would make it past top 3.

pretty sure defensive lapses, bad penalties and inconsistent work ethic are why Kassian doesn't play on the 1st line atm. as mentioned before, we do see signs of brilliance from the kid. give him some more time to develop.

Blues are stacked as fuck. Reminds of the Canucks team we had back in 2011.

^Minus the goaltending and the Art Ross trophy winner. Looking back, the 2011 Canucks were a juggernaut- first in every statistical category except PK, where they were 3rd I believe. It's really a shame they couldn't cap it all off with a championship. Very Patriots-esque.

That said, they're probably the most "complete" team on paper. Knowing their playoff woes, they won't get past the second round this year. The California teams (or Chicago) will make sure they don't.