CanucksArmy Presents: The Canucks Fan Roundtable for February

11 years ago

(Editors Note: Last month we debuted the Canucks fan round-table with a "super table" featuring five questions and seven guest writers. It was a massive success and I really enjoyed putting it together and reading the post, so I figured I’d continue on with this feature going forward – but I’ve decided to limit myself to four guests and four questions.

Today’s featured guests are Halston’s bane and mommy blogger Stefan (@boring_as_heck), Tumblr wizard Grainne (@KeithMallard), man about town Don (@TheFalconer) and some guy who makes me laugh on Twitter named @crownroyal22. Here’s the four questions I posed to our esteemed panel:

How would you like to see the Canucks handle "getting back" at Duncan Keith on Friday?
Has Luongo’s strong start to the season changed your mind at all regarding whether or not the team should keep or trade him?
Based on what you’ve seen from the Canucks so far this year, what area of their performance are you most worried about? Most pleasantly surprised by?
Give me five essential Canucks follows that you’d recommend to a Canucks fan, who was thinking about joining Twitter, as a "starter pack"?

My plan with the roundtables are to do one every month, and if you’d like to participate just let me know in the comments section and I’ll consider you! Read on past the jump for the round table!)

Getting even with Duncan Keith

How would you like to see the Canucks handle "getting back" at Duncan Keith on Friday?

Boring As Heck

Look, I consider myself to be a pretty reasonable dude, but I can honestly say if I had to describe my feelings towards Duncan Keith in one word, it’d be "bloodlust." Or "dickhead," he’s also kind of a dickhead. Ideally I think it would be cool as hell to see him get one-punched by Kassian, but what’s probably gonna happen is a few scrums after the whistle. Maybe his feelings will be hurt when he gets booed every time he touches the puck?

Crown Royal

I want to see the Canucks go for the win instead of going full-Bertuzzi. But I wouldn’t mind if a few bottom line guys took runs at Keith, and maybe a Ballard/Bieksa challenge.

Grainne

I don’t really care about getting back at Duncan Keith all that much. I’d rather see the team win. If the Sedins can punish the Hawks on the scoreboard, I’ll be happy. However, I wouldn’t mind seeing Kassian beat Keith handily in a fight. And then scoring. Because Keith was chirping him about being a bad trade deadline acquisition and that’d feel pretty sweet.

The Canucks have some decently physical guys so I wouldn’t mind seeing Keith get knocked down a few times. But really I’d rather they focus on getting a win with no injuries and no suspensions. Keith should fight Kassian, and hopefully Duncan will get knocked around a little bit, but a tiny bit of payback sounds cooler to me than some full blown revenge scheme with elbows and concussions and stuff. Injuries suck.

The Falconer

I think "getting back" at him is a horrid idea. Last time I remember the team being focused on retribution rather than hockey it not only ruined one players life, but came very close to ruining another’s career as well (and may have, depending on who you ask). I’ll go with the team party line and say "the best way to punish him is to beat them on the scoreboard". That being said, I expect to see a "staged" fight at center ice in the first period in order for the situation to be put to rest.

The Goalie Controversy

Has Luongo’s strong start to the season changed your mind at all regarding whether or not the team should keep or trade him?

The Falconer

I never thought trading a perennial all star Vezina nominee who has a Gold medal and two shutouts in a Stanley Cup Final was a good idea… and I still don’t. I love Schneider, and wish there was a way to keep both – but if you’re going to trade someone, you trade the unproven asset with the better return – not the guy who had you 60 minutes from the biggest prize there is. (Is that two really unpopular answers in a row? Crap, I promise I’ll get better)

Grainne

Nope. I liked both goalies and felt confident with both goalies going into the season and that hasn’t changed.

Crown Royal

Nope, I think Luongo will likely be moved at the draft now instead of during the season. Age being the main factor of it all, though I do see a lot of Canuck fans romanticizing the thought of Lu pulling a Tim Thomas 2011.

Boring as Heck

I would like to take this opportunity to tell you that I own a Dan Cloutier jersey, so I feel as though the "problem" of having two really good goalies isn’t really that much of a problem. If Luongo keeps this up, either he’s playing well for the Canucks, or he raises his trade value to the point that his return is impossible to turn down. Win/win.

Surprises and Disappointments

Based on what you’ve seen from the Canucks so far this year, what area of their performance are you most worried about? Most pleasantly surprised by?

Boring as Heck

Uh well they are dominating the category of "Two Goal Leads Blown," so it would be nice to see some improvement there. Their physical play so far has been refreshing. Not sure if having Kassian on the ice is what’s prompted this change, but it seems as though they aren’t being pushed around as often. Seeing as I live vicariously through these dudes, it’s nice to see some fight in ’em.

CrownRoyal

I don’t think I’m alone in my concern about the teams defensive play. What was thought to the be a strength of the team with the addition of Garrison has looked like its biggest weakness. Bieksa and Hamhuis look like they’ve never played together while Edler has been on and off. The biggest surprise has got to be Keith Ballard, he no longer looks like the guy Chris Tanev baby-sits and more like the guy GMMG acquired back in 2010.

Grainne

I’ve like Raymond’s play, and Zack Kassian’s active offseason seems to be paying off. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the play of Tanev and Ballard and I’m mostly worried about the fact that Tanev hasn’t scored yet.

No seriously my main worry is the play of the top 4 defensemen, but I still think they’ll sort themselves out. I’ve liked some things about their game. Also worried that Chris Higgins seems to have become invisible.

The Falconer

I think it’s too early to tell. The power play looks horrendous for the most part, but I think a lot of that is timing. Passes aren’t quite as crisp and quick as they need to be to keep the opposing goalie moving. Most of that comes from a certain set of twins who don’t seem to quite have their game back yet, though, and I don’t think it will be long.

I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the play of the defense, oddly enough… Tanev looks like he put on a few pounds and got meaner over the summer. He looks like a grown up, and his pairing with Ballard has made me almost forget that we’re without Salo. Also very pleasantly surprised by the secondary scoring. With Booth and Kesler out I thought the Sedins would have to shoulder a lot more of the load, so it’s nice to see others stepping up.

Twitter

Give me five essential Canucks follows that you’d recommend to a Canucks fan, who was thinking about joining Twitter, as a "starter pack"?

The Falconer

@PassItToBulis – These guys give humorous yet informative takes on Canucks news and happenings. I almost always learn something from them, and usually laugh…. Mostly with them, sometimes at them.
@Botchford – Canucks beat writer for the Province, Team1040 Morning co-host, all around funny and informative guy with just enough of a snarky side to keep things interesting. Very obviously not on the team payroll.
@MarioMontega – Gotta represent the #shapcrew in here, and this guy is one of the leaders. Mario questions everything the Canucks do, and everyone on their payroll, but he does it from a place of love, and he makes twitter a better place. He’s the anti-Milt.
@SportsNetMurph – Dan Murphy from Sportsnet is usually one of the first for "breaking" Canucks stories as he travels with the team and is pretty tight with most of the players.
@Strombone1 – I don’t think I need to put the reasons, but this is maybe (?) Roberto Luongo, and he’s hilarious, timely, and gives you a great look into the mind of the goalie you thought you knew, but didn’t.

Grainne

Only 5? So difficult cause I’m pretty sure the Canucks have the most interesting fans on twitter.

And also the account listed at the end of this article.

Crown Royal

@Botchford– Interactive Province writer who engages in shap
@ThomasDrance and @CamCharron– do alot of great work in advanced stats and covering hockey in general
@Taj1944– One of the few must follows for Canucks fans, usually will be the first to retweet breaking news on your feed.
@Strombone1– Bobby Lu on twitter, he might’ve been the sacrificial goat in Vancouver but he is the GOAT athlete on twitter.