Jake Virtanen : Why are the Vancouver Canucks destroying his career?
Jake Virtanen is DOOMED
No fan should be able to say that about a prospect as recently drafted and as brimming with potential as the young man from Abbotsford. Stranger still to say it about a player who has ascended to the rarefied air of the NHL, but in the case of this mismanaged youngster not only can fans say it, but they can point out the egregious mistakes that have pushed the young power forward onto hockey's death row. More inexplicable still is the inexcusable stubbornness that keeps him locked on a fatal crash course with the worst label a kid not yet 20 with NHL potential can be tagged with: Draft Bust.
Two key factors have led the 6th overall 2014 pick into a position where he is already feeling the need to demand ice time through the media. Two factors that were ignored by Canucks management as they whistled past the graveyard of another sure season without playoff revenues, on their way to destroying a promising career in the NHL.There are plenty of other factors to account for, but these are two are hockey 101 and should never be ignored at the NHLl level
1. Jake Virtanen was drafted young and therefore has not played much hockey AT ALL: This kid has never played a full season of hockey EVER! That's right during his 4 seasons with the Calgary hit men (the first of which was 9 games) Jake averaged about 55 games, a number well short of the full schedule. Having joined the team as a youngster, fans need to understand that this is his only experience with playing serious hockey. You would have to be a generational great to be able to skip so many developmental lessons that players learn throughout those years. Jake has the potential to be very good, but this is the equivalent of skipping from grade 8 to a masters program in university. I can only think of two names who I would feel comfortable watching make the hockey equivalent of that jump: 1. Wayne 2. Gretzky Is Virtanen a hockey genius of that caliber?
2. Power forwards are dubious picks: The problem with drafting power forwards with high picks is this: If one teenager has physically developed more rapidly than the guy on the other team who is trying to check him. than the checker in question is going to be run over like roadkill. That's all well and fine, but what happens to the larger player when he faces skaters of equal or greater size and speed? If his whole game has been based on overpowering the opposition then the moment he can't is the moment he ceases to be effective as a player. Furthermore if he has been taught or learned no other strategies for being effective on the ice then he is left exposed and useless. It is NHL wisdom that power-forwards take longer to develop than regular skaters, and this is the reason why. A big and powerful kid cannot come out of junior with the experience he needs to dominate in the NHL, there is no one in Junior with the physical attributes to truly test him and make him learn all necessary parts of the game. That is what the AHL is for, it gives oversized Junior players an opportunity to learn to play against people their own size, keep in mind none of this is any secret, every GM and coach knows this. The only exceptions are player who are physically dominant ANYWHERE they play and have a once in a lifetime skill set to go with it. Think Eric Lindros. Is Jake in Lindros's league? Remember the best power forwards the Canucks have ever had Todd Bertuzzi and Cam Neely both took several years of frustrating underachieving development, before budding into the mega-stars we know them as. Is Virtanen so good he can skip steps taken by Neely and Bertuzzi?
Unfortunately the Canucks irrational behavior is not without explanation. Rumors abound that the reason the team has not ventured out on a proper rebuild, and seems to be willing to sacrifice everything,including it's future to get back into the playoffs, is that owner Francisco Aqualinni was financially crippled in his recent divorce and that his ownership of the team is hanging by a thread, if Aqualinni does not earn playoff revenue this spring her will be un-able to remain owner of the Vancouver Canucks a title he has grown to cherish. Credible stories of Trevor Linden and Jim Benning pleading with him to change course and being told to forget it have leaked to the public, as the rouge owner seems desperate to maintain his glamorous holding at all costs.
Jake Virtanen is being forced into a position that is detrimental to everything he has worked for. Here's hoping he keeps outing the team in the media for the way they are handling him. And shame on media pundits calling him out for "Putting himself above the team" this team was willing to gamble his entire career on putting a few extra asses in the seats last season, which is the only reason he and Jarred McCan were allowed to play here all of last year. The owner knew he had precious few (if any) hooks to sell tickets with, the two young stars in their rookie seasons was a story he thought the crowds would come to watch play out in person, and thereby drive up his bottom line. It was obvious to anyone that neither should have been in the NHL last year. McCann is gone (Co-incidence?) but with last years mis-step, the Canuck are in the awkward position of having to explain to people, why Virtanen was playing here last year and this year is being sent to the AHL, unless of course they keep him up this year as well, and make some BS excuses as to why it's the right move. Proving capable of this sor odf "Shell game" Perhaps the Canucks can bolster revenue by selling deeds to the Burrard street bridge between periods.
The evidence is in and the case is open and shut, Virtanen's best interests are not being looked out for. The Vancouver Canucks are a business and therefore will do what they deem necessary to make the most money. Nobody should fault them for that, it is only when they represent themselves as having a greater interest in the well being of their employees that they incriminate themselves. Players should be loyal to a point, not to a fault and it is time for Jake Virtanen to start looking out for #1. Because he can rest assured the people in control of his his career have been doing it since day #1.
No fan should be able to say that about a prospect as recently drafted and as brimming with potential as the young man from Abbotsford. Stranger still to say it about a player who has ascended to the rarefied air of the NHL, but in the case of this mismanaged youngster not only can fans say it, but they can point out the egregious mistakes that have pushed the young power forward onto hockey's death row. More inexplicable still is the inexcusable stubbornness that keeps him locked on a fatal crash course with the worst label a kid not yet 20 with NHL potential can be tagged with: Draft Bust.
Two key factors have led the 6th overall 2014 pick into a position where he is already feeling the need to demand ice time through the media. Two factors that were ignored by Canucks management as they whistled past the graveyard of another sure season without playoff revenues, on their way to destroying a promising career in the NHL.There are plenty of other factors to account for, but these are two are hockey 101 and should never be ignored at the NHLl level
1. Jake Virtanen was drafted young and therefore has not played much hockey AT ALL: This kid has never played a full season of hockey EVER! That's right during his 4 seasons with the Calgary hit men (the first of which was 9 games) Jake averaged about 55 games, a number well short of the full schedule. Having joined the team as a youngster, fans need to understand that this is his only experience with playing serious hockey. You would have to be a generational great to be able to skip so many developmental lessons that players learn throughout those years. Jake has the potential to be very good, but this is the equivalent of skipping from grade 8 to a masters program in university. I can only think of two names who I would feel comfortable watching make the hockey equivalent of that jump: 1. Wayne 2. Gretzky Is Virtanen a hockey genius of that caliber?
2. Power forwards are dubious picks: The problem with drafting power forwards with high picks is this: If one teenager has physically developed more rapidly than the guy on the other team who is trying to check him. than the checker in question is going to be run over like roadkill. That's all well and fine, but what happens to the larger player when he faces skaters of equal or greater size and speed? If his whole game has been based on overpowering the opposition then the moment he can't is the moment he ceases to be effective as a player. Furthermore if he has been taught or learned no other strategies for being effective on the ice then he is left exposed and useless. It is NHL wisdom that power-forwards take longer to develop than regular skaters, and this is the reason why. A big and powerful kid cannot come out of junior with the experience he needs to dominate in the NHL, there is no one in Junior with the physical attributes to truly test him and make him learn all necessary parts of the game. That is what the AHL is for, it gives oversized Junior players an opportunity to learn to play against people their own size, keep in mind none of this is any secret, every GM and coach knows this. The only exceptions are player who are physically dominant ANYWHERE they play and have a once in a lifetime skill set to go with it. Think Eric Lindros. Is Jake in Lindros's league? Remember the best power forwards the Canucks have ever had Todd Bertuzzi and Cam Neely both took several years of frustrating underachieving development, before budding into the mega-stars we know them as. Is Virtanen so good he can skip steps taken by Neely and Bertuzzi?
Unfortunately the Canucks irrational behavior is not without explanation. Rumors abound that the reason the team has not ventured out on a proper rebuild, and seems to be willing to sacrifice everything,including it's future to get back into the playoffs, is that owner Francisco Aqualinni was financially crippled in his recent divorce and that his ownership of the team is hanging by a thread, if Aqualinni does not earn playoff revenue this spring her will be un-able to remain owner of the Vancouver Canucks a title he has grown to cherish. Credible stories of Trevor Linden and Jim Benning pleading with him to change course and being told to forget it have leaked to the public, as the rouge owner seems desperate to maintain his glamorous holding at all costs.
Jake Virtanen is being forced into a position that is detrimental to everything he has worked for. Here's hoping he keeps outing the team in the media for the way they are handling him. And shame on media pundits calling him out for "Putting himself above the team" this team was willing to gamble his entire career on putting a few extra asses in the seats last season, which is the only reason he and Jarred McCan were allowed to play here all of last year. The owner knew he had precious few (if any) hooks to sell tickets with, the two young stars in their rookie seasons was a story he thought the crowds would come to watch play out in person, and thereby drive up his bottom line. It was obvious to anyone that neither should have been in the NHL last year. McCann is gone (Co-incidence?) but with last years mis-step, the Canuck are in the awkward position of having to explain to people, why Virtanen was playing here last year and this year is being sent to the AHL, unless of course they keep him up this year as well, and make some BS excuses as to why it's the right move. Proving capable of this sor odf "Shell game" Perhaps the Canucks can bolster revenue by selling deeds to the Burrard street bridge between periods.
The evidence is in and the case is open and shut, Virtanen's best interests are not being looked out for. The Vancouver Canucks are a business and therefore will do what they deem necessary to make the most money. Nobody should fault them for that, it is only when they represent themselves as having a greater interest in the well being of their employees that they incriminate themselves. Players should be loyal to a point, not to a fault and it is time for Jake Virtanen to start looking out for #1. Because he can rest assured the people in control of his his career have been doing it since day #1.
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