WWYDW: The Matheson Incident

Mike Matheson’s hit on Elias Pettersson and the response that followed has been the story on everyone’s mind this week. Travis Green has been insistent that his team’s lack of response was because they missed the play, but many have speculated that there may be some bad blood between the two teams when they meet again in January. How would you like to see the Canucks respond to the Matheson hit in their rematch with the Panthers?

Last week I asked: How would you help Boeser bump his scoring slump?

Change up the PP by moving Boeser from the left half wall to the middle of the slot. It takes too long for the puck to get to him from EP, the shooting lane is shut down by the time Boeser gets the puck. It makes the goaltender worry about immediate threats in the form of a shot from EP, a one-timer from Boeser, or a wrap-around attempt / relay pass from Horvat from below the goal line. If the defensive box collapses to shut down that triad, EP can feed the puck to the point for a quick point shot or a relay pass to the LW for a one-timer.

He’s coming off an injury, he’s got other teams keyed in on him now, and he was bound to hit a slow patch sooner or later. I’d try putting him with Pettersson and Goldobin on a super skilled young line to see how that works, but it’s far from time to panic.

I would Keep him with Horvat and Baertschi. Don’t panic. Baertschi showed again last night that he’s the second best winger on the team. Instill some confidence him with his familiar linemates. If he’s struggling to generate chances in-game, move him with Petterson. I think juggling lines in game is a much better option than creating a bunch of uncertainty and mild panic by scrambling around trying to fix things 24/7

Difficult to answer this question. We don’t really know what the problem is. I assume his back is the issue.

Maybe he should take a game off here and there to work with the physiotherapist and/or the skating coach.Taking time off to focus on stretching, strengthening affected areas and skating could improve his mobility. Plus, it might help reduce the psychological pressure that must be building up.

Sometimes the answer to a problem is to go at the issue from another angle, rather than continuing to bull straight ahead.

He’s too static on the powerplay so get him more mobile not standing waiting for the 50 foot pass thru the box.
I’d like to see him moving in and out of the slot. Alternatively build a second powerplay unit around him.
5 on 5 get him and Horvat working on their D and forget offense. The hard work will pay off. I still think he is muscle bound right now and like Brent Sopel years ago he needs to work it off over the next 40 games. Slows down his twitch reflexes. And can we stop talking about how he burned up Da Beauty league. Like saying a guy leads the scoring at 8 rinks.

Assuming that there is no lingering injury, I would basically stay the course. Let him play out of it. Now, I’m fine with moving him to the EP line for now to get him going as far as confidence goes, but this is all probably more about game-shape. Expect him to be up to speed by end of this month.

Guys, I think it’s fortnite.