Raymond and Demitra get promotions
From Canucks Nation:
In the Canucks case, that looks like it means the the end of the Steve Bernier-on-the-first line experiment.It was flawed from the start as Bernier's style never meshed with the Sedin twins. Now, the twins get something they desperately need — speed. Mason Raymond skated with the Sedins Wednesday and is expected to join the first line Thursday in L.A. But that's not all. Kyle Wellwood is expected to play with the twins on the power play with Jason Krog dropping out of the lineup in favour of Mike Brown. Raymond is expected to run the half wall on the team's No. 2 PP unit. He had been playing the point but that job will go to Sami Salo who was taken off the first unit.Oh for f**k's sake. The third Sedin saga continues. Do the Sedins really need speed on their line? Bernier had that. Bernier also never really got open enough to receive passes or capitalize on his chances when he got them. Raymond is worth a shot, but I really like the idea of Kyle Wellwood playing with them on the PP for starters, yet think he could be given a shot full time with the enigmatic twins as well.
So the last player that really clicked with the Sedins for any elongated period of time was Anson Carter. What type of player was he? Fast? No. From my recollection he was a a big body presence who could create open space in front of the net and bury the puck when given the chance. Well, see for yourself:
How is Raymond going to create open space with his puny size? How would Wellwood for that matter?
Another scenario: Maybe the Sedins need a few more tricks in their hats than cycling the puck along the boards and then putting the puck out front. You can see that teams are defending against it most of the time. Maybe Carter would be less effective now because of the other teams doing their homework.
It's a tricky scenario, and it has been going on for too long now. Who is going to be the third Sedin? Are we ever going to find him?
Without sounding like I'm panicking, because I'm not, it is a strange time for the twins to dry up offensively while their contract negotiations are ongoing. Shouldn't they be exceeding expectations to earn a raise? At least their effort is there.
Is Mike Gillis going to believe enough in these 2 guys to keep them around and build the team around them?
Even if he doesn't, who could take on their 2 contracts after this season? A trade route would be mandatory.
We'll see. Like I said, I'm not panicking with these guys, because they'll start scoring eventually. But I really am tired of the parade of players getting their shot as the 3rd guy and failing.
7 Comments:
Obviously these 2 weirdos cant play with anyone! Time to cut your losses and send em down to Manitoba.
Sincerely,
Every Flames Fan
Every Flames fan fears the Sedins :)
ship them to atlanta for kovalchuk and a warm body.
Yeah, they have the Flames number for sure. It's like they are mesmerized whenever they are on the ice.
I was actually thinking how much longer the team/Gillis is going to play this Sedin game. Ever since 2003-04 the question has been who is the third Sedin and Carter & Pyatt are the only ones who kinda sorta made it. No one else. Is this team going to go four more years playing the same game?
On a related note: fire Vigneault!
It's not AV's fault. If we played his system of the past 2 years right now we'd be fine. But I get the feeling that he is being pressured from up top to play a more wide open style.
I'm curious as to what will happen if they don't have a 'contract' year this year in the sense of playing above expectations. I would think there would be a good chance of getting a better deal on their new contracts in that case.
There is also another thing to keep in mind if you read this (http://theoryofice.blogspot.com/2008/10/lie-of-averages.html) post over at a theory of ice. Maybe they are simply going to have an off year as it happens to most players at some point. That would of course be bad for the Canucks as a whole, but on the other hand an off year in a contract year has to be an opportunity, albeit a potentially risky one, in terms of resigning them with a mind to team building and cap space.
Another point to consider is the one Sean made about teams defending specifically against them - that may very well be one of the key tests for them as players and the coaching staff this year. If they can't come up with a new approach to attacking, or kick in an extra gear it is clear that they are not long-term first line material. They'd still be a good secondary threat, but you can't have your primary threat effectively neutralized by a 'simple' defensive change and proper homework.
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