Mason Raymond has become public enemy no. 1 in Vancouver of late, and
it’s easy to see why. The winger only has 16 points this season, with 8 coming
in his first month back from injury in December, so the numbers, like the fans,
aren’t exactly giving him the benefit of the doubt. Furthermore, nearly every
error he makes occurs in the offensive zone, the only zone many Canuck fans
seem to watch. Between his tendency to fall down and his penchant for
turnovers, his squirrelly play inside the opposition’s end stands out even to
the most passive observer. More…
Shacks’ Take: You all know I love me some Mooney so I’m not about
to rip him, I agree with most of what he says, I just want to add to this one a
bit. First, I agree putting Raymond with
the Sedin’s isn’t a bad idea. There are
two things that Raymond does well, he enters the zone with speed which backs
off defenders and creates space along the perimeter (always the perimeter with
this guy), the other thing he does well is back check and defend because his
speed allows him to get back to help the defense. Both of Raymond’s strength should help the
Sedins. I’ve noticed the Sedins have appeared to be playing without their usual
time and space they create so well. The
Sedins are magic when they have time and if Mason can create some off the rush
with his speed it may give the Sedins the cushion they need to create
plays. Also the Sedins aren’t the best
on the defensive side nor do they have a lot of speed to recover when the pucks
turned over so Raymond should help the defensive side of things as well.
My only quibble and it’s just a quibble is that despite some thinking
Kassian not being ready for top six minutes, I think Kassian needs to ride a
little shotgun here and there. This I
will explain in my Sunday Shacks’ Canuck take, so stay tuned.
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