Sorry. I know you like him and credit a lot of the lines success to him but I happen to disagree. To me he does not add much to the line that cannot be replaced by a possible more skilled player.
I would rather try Cogs there for a while and see how it works. At this point in their careers, IMO Cogs is more skilled and capable than Blake.
God forbid the guy is responsible for at least half of Masterson's possession. Did all you Blake haters watch the playoffs? The guy was on fire just like Koivu and Selanne. So what if he doesn't snipe the puck everytime he takes a shot, oh well. He brings everything that's needed for the Masterson to succeed. If Blake wasn't on that second line, we don't make the playoffs.
I agree that Blake filled a purpose on that line, and even though he is small and no longer an offensive dynamo, he hustles as hard as anyone. But some here are acting like he couldn't be replaced and that Koivu and Selanne couldn't find chemistry with anyone else, when Blake in my opininon, is a 3rd liner playing on our 2nd line. Not to mention that he is 38 and declining, chances are that he's only going to be a 25 point winger this season.
^Duco's a tough one for me. I get that he's an agitator, and he's a surprisingly effective one...but players in that role can sometimes be more trouble than they're worth. The one upside to Duco is that he appears willing to fight his own battles (stand up for the messes he creates) whereas someone like Matt Cooke would cower and run from a fight.
But even then, I'm not sure as a Canuck fan that I want him on our roster. He could cause someone to take a run at one of our own stars.
Agree that once it could come back. But doubt it would be something dangerous, although there`s a possibility. Now with Shanahan`s new system more will be scared to make big, dirty hits..
PS
Watched Rangers - Flyers 1st period few days ago. Wow, Avery totally got Simonds out of the game, at least in 1st.
God forbid the guy is responsible for at least half of Masterson's possession. Did all you Blake haters watch the playoffs? The guy was on fire just like Koivu and Selanne. So what if he doesn't snipe the puck everytime he takes a shot, oh well. He brings everything that's needed for the Masterson to succeed. If Blake wasn't on that second line, we don't make the playoffs.
What a ridiculous claim. Blake is a dime a dozen player. You act like he's the one who makes the second line work while in reality the 2nd line would be so much better with a more skilled player. Hard workers with tunnel vision belong in the 3rd and 4th lines.
Quote:
Did all you Blake haters watch the playoffs?
I watched 80 regular season games and all 6 playoff games.
^Duco's a tough one for me. I get that he's an agitator, and he's a surprisingly effective one...but players in that role can sometimes be more trouble than they're worth. The one upside to Duco is that he appears willing to fight his own battles (stand up for the messes he creates) whereas someone like Matt Cooke would cower and run from a fight.
But even then, I'm not sure as a Canuck fan that I want him on our roster. He could cause someone to take a run at one of our own stars.
Having Duco added to Lapierre (and Burrows if he reverts to previous years' form) seems to me like when Dallas added Avery to Ott. The rest of the team is going to be dragged into a lot of stuff those two start. And unlike Dallas the Canucks don't have the team toughness to deal with it, and it wore thin in Dallas pretty quickly regardless.
What a ridiculous claim. Blake is a dime a dozen player. You act like he's the one who makes the second line work while in reality the 2nd line would be so much better with a more skilled player. Hard workers with tunnel vision belong in the 3rd and 4th lines.
I watched 80 regular season games and all 6 playoff games.
i really dont believe this.. we've tried BR with koivu and selanne for a couple games and it didn't work nearly as well as the old line in the second half of last season.. the old boys were great for us in the second half of last season and into the PO's... mcmillan plays a similar game to blake so it could work but just putting a skilled player on that line wont make it better imo.. blake does all the things necessary on that line so that selanne and koivu have space.. he takes SO much punishment in the corners from d-men its kinda ridiculous... if his contract was just $2 instead of the 4 then he'd have good value imo..
as far as vancouvers lines.. as far as i know the sedins are playing as well as samuelsson and luongo
Sorry. I know you like him and credit a lot of the lines success to him but I happen to disagree. To me he does not add much to the line that cannot be replaced by a possible more skilled player.
I would rather try Cogs there for a while and see how it works. At this point in their careers, IMO Cogs is more skilled and capable than Blake.
Just my opinion.
Cogliano may be more skilled, but from what I have seen he doesn't play the same game Blake does.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Elvstrand
I agree that Blake filled a purpose on that line, and even though he is small and no longer an offensive dynamo, he hustles as hard as anyone. But some here are acting like he couldn't be replaced and that Koivu and Selanne couldn't find chemistry with anyone else, when Blake in my opininon, is a 3rd liner playing on our 2nd line. Not to mention that he is 38 and declining, chances are that he's only going to be a 25 point winger this season.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jepjepjoo
What a ridiculous claim. Blake is a dime a dozen player. You act like he's the one who makes the second line work while in reality the 2nd line would be so much better with a more skilled player. Hard workers with tunnel vision belong in the 3rd and 4th lines.
When did I ever say Blake can't be replaced? Of course he can. My point is, with the current roster, there is no one to replace him. So it kills me to see people ***** about him when he's the best option for that line.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bumperkisser
i really dont believe this.. we've tried BR with koivu and selanne for a couple games and it didn't work nearly as well as the old line in the second half of last season.. the old boys were great for us in the second half of last season and into the PO's... mcmillan plays a similar game to blake so it could work but just putting a skilled player on that line wont make it better imo.. blake does all the things necessary on that line so that selanne and koivu have space.. he takes SO much punishment in the corners from d-men its kinda ridiculous... if his contract was just $2 instead of the 4 then he'd have good value imo..
This. This, this, this, this, this. And as far as I remember, even McMillan wasn't that great in Blake's place. The only guy I think could possibly do what he's done is Smith-Pelley, but he doesn't possess the speed that Blake uses to get to the puck first.
^Duco's a tough one for me. I get that he's an agitator, and he's a surprisingly effective one...but players in that role can sometimes be more trouble than they're worth. The one upside to Duco is that he appears willing to fight his own battles (stand up for the messes he creates) whereas someone like Matt Cooke would cower and run from a fight.
But even then, I'm not sure as a Canuck fan that I want him on our roster. He could cause someone to take a run at one of our own stars.
As long as bold 1 happens, then I doubt bold 2 will be an issue.
Is that a good or a bad thing? Looking like a 30 point 2nd liner isn't good in my mind.
It's an okay thing. Meaning he hasn't gotten worse. He will get through this season mostly playing on the 2nd line and then his contract is off the books.
As long as bold 1 happens, then I doubt bold 2 will be an issue.
I disagree completely. The way to convince pests/goons/enforcers to leave your skill players alone is not to beat the crap out of the pest/goon/enforcer. It's to take runs at his skilled teammates and inform them whose fault it is they are getting beaten on until THEY tell the pest to cool it. Duco's targets have been players like Hall and Visnovsky. The Sedins won't make it through the season if he continues his antics.
i really dont believe this.. we've tried BR with koivu and selanne for a couple games and it didn't work nearly as well as the old line in the second half of last season.. the old boys were great for us in the second half of last season and into the PO's... mcmillan plays a similar game to blake so it could work but just putting a skilled player on that line wont make it better imo.. blake does all the things necessary on that line so that selanne and koivu have space.. he takes SO much punishment in the corners from d-men its kinda ridiculous... if his contract was just $2 instead of the 4 then he'd have good value imo..
as far as vancouvers lines.. as far as i know the sedins are playing as well as samuelsson and luongo
Do you really think a couple of games is going to give you a good idea of how effective Ryan could be on the 2nd line? Because I don't.
You get to see all the good and the bad Blake brings on that line over the course of an entire season, so it's easy to put things in perspective. But over the course of a couple of games you get none of that. The sample size is way too small.
i really dont believe this.. we've tried BR with koivu and selanne for a couple games and it didn't work nearly as well as the old line in the second half of last season.. the old boys were great for us in the second half of last season and into the PO's... mcmillan plays a similar game to blake so it could work but just putting a skilled player on that line wont make it better imo.. blake does all the things necessary on that line so that selanne and koivu have space.. he takes SO much punishment in the corners from d-men its kinda ridiculous... if his contract was just $2 instead of the 4 then he'd have good value imo..
as far as vancouvers lines.. as far as i know the sedins are playing as well as samuelsson and luongo
So what your saying is that BR with that line for a couple of games wasnt as effective as the line with Blake in the second half of the season...after they played half a season together. Shocker.
I dont know what to say if anyone can honestly tell me they believe that line wont be better with Ryan on the wing. I dont think Ryan should be on their wing, but just saying.
Do you really think a couple of games is going to give you a good idea of how effective Ryan could be on the 2nd line? Because I don't.
You get to see all the good and the bad Blake brings on that line over the course of an entire season, so it's easy to put things in perspective. But over the course of a couple of games you get none of that. The sample size is way too small.
Blake is our second line LW. That 2nd line works, and further more we don't have to break up arguably the best line in hockey, RPG, to experiment there. There's no reason for burning a year on an ELC for a player just because Blake is regressing and is overpaid (more so cap wise than salary wise now). Just as much there's no reason to play Blake only a handful of minutes a night on a 4th line or a checking role when someone with a game more attuned to that type of checking/energy role is already in our system/on the roster (Jacques, Maroon, etc).
We have a natural goal scorer, and a center he has great chemistry with who is solid at both ends of the ice and can be clutch himself, and a guy that goes to the corners with speed playing with them on our 2nd line. Our primary scoring is fine, let's keep that together and put actual bottom six forwards that mesh well together in the bottom six this year.
When did I ever say Blake can't be replaced? Of course he can. My point is, with the current roster, there is no one to replace him. So it kills me to see people ***** about him when he's the best option for that line.
I don't think anyone who is complaining about Blake being on our 2nd line is doing it because they want somone else on our current roster to take his place, but because they want someone from another team to do it. Which, however is a long shot given that Blake's contract is hard to move. I'm all for Blake being on that line with the roster that we have now. Do I think Cogliano could build chemistry with Koivu and Teemu? Sure, why not. But I don't think a third line with Blake, McMillan and Gordon would be very successfull. I realize it's hard to move Blake, and I realize why he's even here to begin with (freeing up space to re-sign Bobby) so I usually don't complain... But if his contract had expired earlier this summer, there's no way I would have wanted the Ducks to re-sign him with the intention of using him as a 2nd liner.
