WWYDW: Picking Second-Favourites

We did it, everybody. We made it to the end of the season. Give yourselves a round of applause.

For the third time in four years, the Canucks won’t be appearing in the postseason. It’s a shame, but it also gives us the opportunity to watch great hockey without being invested in the outcome.

Asking about preferences runs counter to the idea of WWYDW, but the playoffs only come once a year, so I’m going to do it anyway? With the Canucks out of the picture, who will you be cheering for in the playoffs?

keep him here to the end of the season but i hope he sees some ahl playoffs. he needs to get over being hit.

i did see him skate into traffic behind the san jose net in the third period. he wasn’t really using his body but he was in the mix and not fishing with his stick. that is major progress for him.

positionally this guy is sound. offensively and ability wise he is gifted. but he is very shy in situations that can lead to body contact. it’s not laziness because he will do things like back up another canuck who goes to get the puck. he is just playing not to be hit in a way i have rarely seen in a pro hockey player.

i think he is close to having to face this. he has nothing else to fix in his game.

Since the Sedins and Baertschi/Horvat (LW/C) combinations seem set, I would rotate Goldobin, Boeser, Granlund and Eriksson through as RW and see how they play. If they fit in, leave them there until the performance of the line falters. The two wingers left without a seat in the Top 6 when the music stops plays with Sutter on the third line. Would be great if Virtanen could be added to the mix.

Bo already thinks the game good enough to play in the NHL. If he can gain some speed and strength in the off season, he will fit fine in the top 6. It’s good that he’s been successful, but as with most, he’ll have an offensive drought at some point- I suspect he has the mental toughness to handle that as well as Horvat did. I don’t know what he gains in Utica unless he does falter at this level and needs ice time.

Watching Goldie play, it’s pretty clear that he is still ‘thinking’ his role; he hasn’t progressed to the stage of internalizing the system and reacting to game events within that framework. We simply don’t have enough practice time left in the season for him to do so in a protected setting, so we are stuck with either giving him a training regimen & sending him home, or giving him a Viking swimming lesson and letting him learn the game during game time.

Make the best of what you can, at this point; give him sheltered minutes, advantageous starts. See what he does.