Spitballin’ (or Super Pass It To Bulis: All In, if you love adventurous acronymizing) is a feature that allows us to touch on a multitude of things really fast, because in the world of hockey, there are always lots of things to find and colour. Here are a few quick topics.
The real test for Bo Horvat is still coming
There has been a lot of digital ink spilled lately about Bo Horvat’s ascendance as the heir apparent to Henrik Sedin as the Canucks’ first-line centre, with Pass it to Bulis tipping their fair share of inkpots. His progression has been impressive and he is certainly producing like a borderline first-line forward, but he still has some challenges to overcome before he’s a bonafide first-liner.
Here’s the biggest one: how will he respond when teams start game-planning for him. What happens when the opposition regularly runs out their top shutdown pairing and best defensive forwards against Horvat and his line? What happens when teams start breaking down video of Horvat’s shifts heading into games against Vancouver instead of video of the Sedins?
As Harrison and I noted on the PITB podcast, Horvat has risen to every challenge he’s faced and repeatedly turned weaknesses into strengths. His skating was his biggest weakness when he was drafted, so he worked with a power skating coach and now boasts impressive speed and agility. Defencemen started adjusting to his patented BoHoToe-Drag and cut off the inside, so he started driving wide and using his teammates more effectively.
So when teams start game-planning against him the way that they’ve game-planned against the Sedins for years, it’s possible that he’ll hit that challenge head-on and run it over just like every other challenge he’s faced. But before he does, let’s temper our expectations just a little bit.
Nikita Tryamkin loves aerial escapes
It’s been exciting to watch Nikita Tryamkin start to come into his own. I love the way he wipes out an opposing forwards along the boards, erases promising rushes with his reach, and protects the front of the net.
But there’s another tendency of his that’s a bit more unusual: he loves to hoist the puck straight up into the air to escape the defensive zone.
Most stay-at-home defencemen are fond of going off the glass to get the puck out. It was the preferred strategy for Alain Vigneault-favourite Aaron Rome. But Tryamkin doesn’t often go off the boards. If he can’t make an outlet pass, Tryamkin is far more likely to send the puck up to get it out.
It makes me wonder if it’s a product of being taller than everyone else on the ice: he sees all this unused space up in the air that no one else sees and think, “Why don’t I just put the puck up there?”
In any case, it’s a sound strategy. Giving the puck some loft means it’s less likely to go the length of the ice for an icing call. It also gives his teammates a moment to reorient themselves defensively before the puck comes down and is potentially harder to handle for the opposing team. In addition, sending it straight up away from the boards makes it less likely he’ll take a delay of game penalty for putting the puck over the glass.
Jake Virtanen has yet to score a goal in the AHL
It’s certainly possible to over-analyze the progression of Jake Virtanen from when he was drafted to the current season. He’s still just 20 years old and has plenty of time to not only become a productive NHL player, but shine as a goalscoring top-six power forward.
That said, it’s been a bad couple months for the Abbotsford Abattoir.
Not only is Virtanen down in the AHL while the likes of Jayson Megna, Michael Chaput, Jack Skille, and Joseph LaBate skate with the Canucks, he’s not playing particularly well in Utica either. Those hoping to see Virtanen learn to dominate in the AHL before getting the call back up to Vancouver may have a long time to wait.
Through seven games, Virtanen has yet to score a goal. The eighth is currently underway. He has just two assists in that time and has struggled to even get shots on goal. He’s been held without a shot in three of those games and has 11 shots total, with six of those coming from one game.
It doesn’t help that the Comets are a bad team, sitting near the bottom of the standings and struggling to score about as much as their parent team. But you would hope that a top-ten pick like Virtanen would step in and make a difference on such a team; that hasn’t been the case so far.
We know nothing about Brendan Gaunce
Brendan Gaunce is a bit of an enigma, but not because he’s trying to be particularly mysterious. He just seems like a quiet guy who’s content to do his job on the fourth line and not ruffle too many feathers.
So, let’s watch this episode of “Canucks in Cars” to get to know Gaunce a little bit better.
“Oh yeah,” says Gaunce when asked if he’s excited. “Thrilled.”
I’m not convinced.
But here are some fun things we learned about Gaunce in this video
- His moustache is patchy but respectable.
- He’s still working on getting his degree, which he treats as a relaxing escape from hockey.
- He doesn’t get recognized much on the streets of Vancouver unless he’s with his teammates, “Especially if [I’m] with Bo.”
- He’s working towards staying in the NHL his entire career.
- He seems nice.
Yeah, I still don't know anything about Brendan Gaunce.
