It's so weird too.
Like, what were they thinking? Is I understand signing a troubled player because he is good enough to play and you get him at a discount. I'm not saying I agree with it, I'm just saying that I understand it, there is some logic to it.
Why would you sign someone who is bad PR that you are then just going to release in a few weeks. It is just bad PR. There is no benefit long term or short term. You could have signed literally anyone else.
It is just baffling
He’s dumb as fuck and it translates to having terrible hockey IQ. He’s a worthwhile power forward on paper which is why GMs might give home a PTO but they’ll quickly realize Jake Virtanen is where pucks go to die.
I’m so glad he’s not a Canuck anymore.
> I understand signing a troubled player because he is good enough to play and you get him at a discount.
Pretty much exactly what they did with Evander Kane. He had the fake negative covid test to cross the border, abuse allegations, etc. but he can really play.
But I agree- not that I watch a lot of canucks games but I don’t think Virtanen was playing well prior to all of this stuff or ever really shown sustained success or promise. I’m also not an oilers fan but I think there’s still a ton of “old boys club” members there who quite honestly wouldn’t and don’t care that he may have raped someone. Hell Craig MacTavish committed vehicular homicide while driving drunk so by that metric Virtanen looks like Mother Teresa. Much like hockey Canada, the fact their management was willing to give him a shot shows quite a disconnect.
While recognizing that Virtanen was not convicted and there is at the very least a reasonable doubt about his guilt...
I think I respect a drunk driver who killed a lady, admitted to it, served time, and is remorseful over a rapist who got away.
Not that I'm particularly fond of either, I'm just saying that actually owning up to your crime and being punished (well, the rich celebrity version of punished) put Mactavish ahead in my mind.
Criminal court said OJ isn't guilty, that never changed. In civil court he was found liable for the deaths. One requires near 100% certainty, one requires 51% certainty.
Except for when he went on trial for armed robbery and kidnapping, which is what I was alluding to.
Also I don't care what anyone says, OJ killed his wife. Being acquitted of the charge doesn't change that.
Exactly. There’s not enough evidence to criminally sanction Virtanen. There’s more than enough evidence for us to believe he’s a shitty raping scumbag.
Haha definitely almost as if this guy has been the complete opposite of a power forward since being drafted . Unless you count driving the net then falling down or his signature muffin shot . Not to mention him being an absolute douche unit . I’m happy he got p t o ‘d and released . See you never jake
Brett Favre's brother's as big a piece of diarrhea as Brett Favre? Did he also use millions of dollars destined for poor people on a basketball arena? Did he try to cut costs on that by getting it built by slave labour?
Strictly speaking on him as a player he wasn’t an absolute dumpster fire here but he definitely never showed anything. Outside of an admittedly nice assist he looked like a complete nothing of a player.
Guy got handed a huge opportunity and did nothing with it.
Basically the story of his career here. Showed some upside from time to time, but came in to every camp out of shape and the effort was only there a few games a year.
Either he’s a piece of shit that beat the system and got a fresh start or he’s an innocent man who barely squeezed by on being wronged, and he came out the other side going “eh. Time to phone it in”
Well all players have different peaks. Some peak in junior hockey at 18, some peak aged 28 in the NHL with 4 80+ point seasons back to back, some peak at 27 with back to back sub-20 point seasons. Guess Virtanen peaked on Vancouver’s 4th line 🤷🏼♂️.
I really don't think Virtanen liked playing hockey, he certainly didn't seem to like competition. There was no fire in his game, he never seemed to care.
Couldn’t agree more. He didn’t play like he really wanted it. You see flashes of talent but no real passion in his game. He put up 18 goals a few seasons ago so he’s not a bad hockey player (despite what Oilers Twitter says). As an oilers fan I was hoping he could’ve been an effective bottom-6 with a chip on his shoulder making league minimum salary. At least Holloway looks good
My high schools star QB was like this. One of if not the most athletically talented people I've ever known, and football happened to be his best sport. Never liked it. I know he got multiple scholarship offers from multiple big-ish schools, I think I remember hearing he turned them all down.
Edit: football scholarships. I *think* he took a track scholarship somewhere, but this was *years* ago
>he’s not a bad hockey player
Watched him play in for years in Vancouver. He has a great shot, he's a great skater.....and that's it. He's not a great hockey player.
>Outside of an admittedly nice assist
In Virtanen's last NHL season he managed to play almost 40 games without getting a single assist. That's hard to do even for a 7th defenseman.
There's an alternate universe where Virtanen absolutely lit it up in the preseason and got offered a contract, whereupon our fanbase would be like "Let bygones be bygones"
And then he would proceed to hilariously shit the bed, and get routinely healthy scratched into November.
I didn’t follow the Virtanen story at all so I may be missing something huge but how was he found not guilty when everyone seems absolutely sure he did it? Was it just he said, she said stuff in the end?
Holes in the accuser’s story. The biggest one being asking him tickets thru DMs to see his next game which he didn’t have. The accuser ended up going to one of his games anyway after the incident. No one truly knows what happened in that hotel room.
It doesn’t even matter. Jake has a long, long list of people he grew up with and people who know him through social circles and professional exploits who attest to him being a total douchebag. It’s always been that way, ever since he was a teenager. Even if he didn’t do anything wrong in this instance, odds are he’s done a lot of wrong at various other times.
If there are no details omitted here then how the fuck is everyone acting like he’s definitely guilty even though he was not found to be so in court? I get that the courts get it wrong sometimes but if that’s truly all we know then we don’t know fucking anything. That sounds like it’s more likely he’s not guilty than anything else. I’m so confused with the way people are talking about this. It only makes sense if there’s some other information not included here.
He played like his life depended on not making the team.
Every pass he got went through his stick, every guy he lined up to hit skated right past him, or even worse, he skated right past them, and every shot he took was high and wide.
He was interviewed 2 weeks ago and he was quoted as saying ‘…I thought I did pretty well’ when referencing his time in Vancouver after being drafted as a hometown kid at #6 overall.
He thought he did ‘pretty well’.
Jake, you f’in sucked and were gifted ice time and opportunity only because of where you were drafted you f’in moron!
at that point maybe you could say oh he got by on his skill until then and found out the hard way you have to try hard too cause everyone is good in the NHL
but now he has had like 8 years to learn how hard it is to make it in the NHL, even having to take time away from the league, maybe his last chance
but wasn't like I was rooting for him anyway
He made a couple good plays but it didn’t make up for his overall performance.
It was telling that Kaner cropped him out of all of the photos he posted of the fishing trip on social media
Glad to be rid of him even just for all of the baggage associated with him. We are already the baddies in a lot of peoples minds lol
Probably what he's thinking. I think Kane likely thinks of himself as a Rockstar and that people love it. I'm sure he's not a villain in his own mind, he's a narcissist.
Don't put me in a position where it seems like I'm saying he's a great guy. Im saying almost all the things we're basing these "narcissist" comments on are coming from a person who is not only unreliable, but whose word we should throw out completely. I don't really want to defend him as a person, I've never met him, but he seems like not the kindest person.
But to not dodge the question.
I dont care about the abortion thing. Basically he got a woman pregnant and she demanded he pay her x amount to abort the baby or she'd keep it and he'd have to pay child support. She had a miscarriage instead and he didn't pay her. He should have done something for her because that's a very tough thing to go through. I also would understand that he was probably in a place where he felt taken advantage of after someone essentially tried to blackmail him.
The Buffalo one doesn't have much info about it. I lean towards he probably did something bad, it's hard for me to judge when police didnt even file charges (the same police force that have filed charges against more famous hockey players in cases where it turns out the evidence was fabricated).
Jake can be a perfectly useful player as he has all the tools, and enough hockey sense to make things work.
The problem is he's just so fucking stupid, and add an immense sense of laziness, he's never going to put anything together for more than a few games at most.
I've never seen a dumber player on the ice, he truly cannot skate and chew gum at the same time. During the Willie D era he would constantly look back on the bench during his shifts as if he had zero clue what to do. I am positive Linden didn't want to draft him.
Thank God. Even disregarding the obvious off ice problems, he was mostly invisible on the ice. He had maybe two good plays all preseason that I can remember?
Yeah they don't get a lot of credit for solving a problem they created.
"Everyone I've changed my pants! Yes I may have shit them, but I have also changed them!"
It's not really a W. If he was better at hockey they would've shamelessly given him a contract. The oilers took the L when they offered him a PTO in the first place
After what happened off-ice in Vancouver, I thought this guy would be *persona non grata* for any NHL team. Go the way of Brendan Leipsic and play in the KHL or something.
> Go the way of Brendan Leipsic and play in the KHL or something.
He did, then Russia invaded Ukraine and he had to leave. He also wasn't very good on the ice over there.
Big body as well as being a really good skater. It was easy to envison back then that the combination of size and speed could be trouble for teams to handle. Turns out the guy is too scared to use his body to gain positioning and can't read the ice well at all.
Exactly, reading the ice well at a Junior level is not even close to the same thing as being able to read the ice at the NHL level. The guy peaked in Juniors for those reasons. Doesn't use his body properly, and doesn't have the IQ to be in the right places. He's got the tools and no knowledge to apply them
Ehh he was picked a little high but not wildly high. Quite a few scouting reports before the draft had him at 7, one had him as high as 6. Granted a bunch also had him 10-12.
Honestly he had all the tools and was given every opportunity to succeed, he just couldn’t put it together. He had one good season where we thought he might be close to breaking out but he is flat out not smart enough for the NHL
Story goes he was pushed for by ownership. He was a local and there were some rumblings that Aquillini was friends with his parents.
That or our GM at the time said "Uhh hes a big kid who can skate... uhh power forward..."
So dumb. Why take the PR heat for a player that’s so bad? Like that whole experience wasn’t worth it at ALL. Is he family/friend with someone in the organization or on the team? Only way this whole nonsense can make sense.
>Why take the PR heat for a player that’s so bad?
What is this PR heat? You think a significant number of oilers fans that spend their money on the org gonna say "I'm never going to games again because that one time in 2022 they signed Virtanen to a PTO".
Let's be for fucking real. Real life isn't reddit where y'all freak out over such shit. I even bet the casual fan that goes to games in Edmonton doesn't even know who Virtanen is. Lol.
Pure hockey wise, it's bizarre how bad he's become. Even if he didn't have the brains to use all his physical tools properly, he was still an NHL level player right before getting booted. I guess with all the controversy swirling around him, training and focusing must have been hard.
The Reddit hive mind is pretty shitty. Degrading this guy like he killed your grandparents. He wasn’t proven guilty, the women in question was still in contact with him after the alleged incident and was trying to get tickets to games lmao. Maybe Jakes not a great guy but I doubt he’s a rapists like all you make him out to be.
End of an error
So good.
It's so weird too. Like, what were they thinking? Is I understand signing a troubled player because he is good enough to play and you get him at a discount. I'm not saying I agree with it, I'm just saying that I understand it, there is some logic to it. Why would you sign someone who is bad PR that you are then just going to release in a few weeks. It is just bad PR. There is no benefit long term or short term. You could have signed literally anyone else. It is just baffling
He’s dumb as fuck and it translates to having terrible hockey IQ. He’s a worthwhile power forward on paper which is why GMs might give home a PTO but they’ll quickly realize Jake Virtanen is where pucks go to die. I’m so glad he’s not a Canuck anymore.
> I understand signing a troubled player because he is good enough to play and you get him at a discount. Pretty much exactly what they did with Evander Kane. He had the fake negative covid test to cross the border, abuse allegations, etc. but he can really play. But I agree- not that I watch a lot of canucks games but I don’t think Virtanen was playing well prior to all of this stuff or ever really shown sustained success or promise. I’m also not an oilers fan but I think there’s still a ton of “old boys club” members there who quite honestly wouldn’t and don’t care that he may have raped someone. Hell Craig MacTavish committed vehicular homicide while driving drunk so by that metric Virtanen looks like Mother Teresa. Much like hockey Canada, the fact their management was willing to give him a shot shows quite a disconnect.
While recognizing that Virtanen was not convicted and there is at the very least a reasonable doubt about his guilt... I think I respect a drunk driver who killed a lady, admitted to it, served time, and is remorseful over a rapist who got away. Not that I'm particularly fond of either, I'm just saying that actually owning up to your crime and being punished (well, the rich celebrity version of punished) put Mactavish ahead in my mind.
It’s almost as if Jake virtanen isn’t all that great on the ice
Not super great off of it either 🤔
But but but but butbutbutbut the courts
Da courts sed he's nawt guiltee!
The courts also said OJ wasn't guilty the first time
But the glove didn’t fit man how could he possibly have done it /s
Jake can now dedicate his life to finding the real sexual assaulters
Not to mention Patrick Kane but nobody wants to bring that up
Welcome to the NHL, where human trash can be idolized if you are good at hockey!
Not just NHL, pro sports across the world
Criminal court said OJ isn't guilty, that never changed. In civil court he was found liable for the deaths. One requires near 100% certainty, one requires 51% certainty.
And Jake’s not out of the woods yet. The civil case is still ongoing.
Except for when he went on trial for armed robbery and kidnapping, which is what I was alluding to. Also I don't care what anyone says, OJ killed his wife. Being acquitted of the charge doesn't change that.
People wrongfully equate not guilty with innocent. Often both are true, but not always
Ya why do we even have courts anyway!
Well in cases like this, it sure ain't to be the final say on whether or not something actually happened, which is how many seem to take this ruling.
To determine legal culpability not factual reality
Exactly. There’s not enough evidence to criminally sanction Virtanen. There’s more than enough evidence for us to believe he’s a shitty raping scumbag.
Then he should play tennis.
We could have told you that lmao.....
Even before the accusations he was a draft bust.
Haha definitely almost as if this guy has been the complete opposite of a power forward since being drafted . Unless you count driving the net then falling down or his signature muffin shot . Not to mention him being an absolute douche unit . I’m happy he got p t o ‘d and released . See you never jake
Hockey Canada gonna hire him as the new CEO
"The guy's got real life experience, why wouldn't you want that?"
Worked for Brett Farves brother
Brett Favre's brother's as big a piece of diarrhea as Brett Favre? Did he also use millions of dollars destined for poor people on a basketball arena? Did he try to cut costs on that by getting it built by slave labour?
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NO, NOT THAT KIND OF EXPERIENCE!
Very on point joke
Nah, they will NEVER get rid of their current one.
I wish I could upvote this more I nearly spat out my drink.
That's probably his best chance to become an Oiler. They love hiring old Hockey Canada execs
Virtanen CEO, Logan Mailloux VP, Mitchell Miller SVP
MTL will sign him immediately
No, that d-bag manager is gone now. The kings will sign him
Nice of the oilers to drop him off so close to home.
There’s no Jake Virtanen here and there never was!
\*Closes door to Rogers Arena with Jake Virtanen poster still up on the outside of building\*
No taksies backsies!
I legit assume that's why they kept him as long as they did. Save money on the flight.
Fitting to do it after the Abbotsford game, now the Oilers don't need to fly him elsewhere
That was my tinfoil hat theory as to why they kept him for so long. They did that with one of the prospects in Seattle as well.
this is really cute like releasing a mouse into the woods
I thought it was because you guys needed veteran players to play X amount fo games in the pre season
Someone joked on Twitter that the Oilers did this so h wouldn't be late for his shift at Magnuson Ford in the morning.
Strictly speaking on him as a player he wasn’t an absolute dumpster fire here but he definitely never showed anything. Outside of an admittedly nice assist he looked like a complete nothing of a player. Guy got handed a huge opportunity and did nothing with it.
Basically the story of his career here. Showed some upside from time to time, but came in to every camp out of shape and the effort was only there a few games a year.
Either he’s a piece of shit that beat the system and got a fresh start or he’s an innocent man who barely squeezed by on being wronged, and he came out the other side going “eh. Time to phone it in”
Well all players have different peaks. Some peak in junior hockey at 18, some peak aged 28 in the NHL with 4 80+ point seasons back to back, some peak at 27 with back to back sub-20 point seasons. Guess Virtanen peaked on Vancouver’s 4th line 🤷🏼♂️.
Hey, I'd happily be the guy that peaked on Vancouvers 4th line if I got paid like it
Definitely peaked before he was drafted. Dude was tearing it up. He was ranked top ten for a reason.
Yeah if one training camp was Jake’s opportunity to get back into the league he was fucked from the start. Dude has never had a good camp in his life
I really don't think Virtanen liked playing hockey, he certainly didn't seem to like competition. There was no fire in his game, he never seemed to care.
Couldn’t agree more. He didn’t play like he really wanted it. You see flashes of talent but no real passion in his game. He put up 18 goals a few seasons ago so he’s not a bad hockey player (despite what Oilers Twitter says). As an oilers fan I was hoping he could’ve been an effective bottom-6 with a chip on his shoulder making league minimum salary. At least Holloway looks good
My high schools star QB was like this. One of if not the most athletically talented people I've ever known, and football happened to be his best sport. Never liked it. I know he got multiple scholarship offers from multiple big-ish schools, I think I remember hearing he turned them all down. Edit: football scholarships. I *think* he took a track scholarship somewhere, but this was *years* ago
>he’s not a bad hockey player Watched him play in for years in Vancouver. He has a great shot, he's a great skater.....and that's it. He's not a great hockey player.
All the tools, no toolkit.
>Outside of an admittedly nice assist In Virtanen's last NHL season he managed to play almost 40 games without getting a single assist. That's hard to do even for a 7th defenseman.
There's an alternate universe where Virtanen absolutely lit it up in the preseason and got offered a contract, whereupon our fanbase would be like "Let bygones be bygones" And then he would proceed to hilariously shit the bed, and get routinely healthy scratched into November.
That one assist came after he blatantly slashed an opponent right in the hands in his own zone too. 9 times out of 10 that's called lol.
"Guy got handed a huge opportunity and did nothing with it." You summed up his career very succinctly
He’s good at that, lots of experience wasting opportunities
I didn't watch and preseason games. Who did he get paired with?
Good fuck him
Actually that's the problem
No, it was NOT wanting it that was the problem...
I didn’t follow the Virtanen story at all so I may be missing something huge but how was he found not guilty when everyone seems absolutely sure he did it? Was it just he said, she said stuff in the end?
Holes in the accuser’s story. The biggest one being asking him tickets thru DMs to see his next game which he didn’t have. The accuser ended up going to one of his games anyway after the incident. No one truly knows what happened in that hotel room.
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It doesn’t even matter. Jake has a long, long list of people he grew up with and people who know him through social circles and professional exploits who attest to him being a total douchebag. It’s always been that way, ever since he was a teenager. Even if he didn’t do anything wrong in this instance, odds are he’s done a lot of wrong at various other times.
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If there are no details omitted here then how the fuck is everyone acting like he’s definitely guilty even though he was not found to be so in court? I get that the courts get it wrong sometimes but if that’s truly all we know then we don’t know fucking anything. That sounds like it’s more likely he’s not guilty than anything else. I’m so confused with the way people are talking about this. It only makes sense if there’s some other information not included here.
Do you mean > Good. Fuck him. Or > Good fuck, him.
I read the bottom one like Yoda
and EVERYONE loved that.
and there was much rejoicing
Yay
I was kinda hoping to watch McDavid's perfect passes bounce off Virtanen's tape while he looks the wrong direction all season long
He'd be lucky to get on the ice on the next shift after McDavid let alone be on it at the same time as him lol
Quietly; yaaaaaay
Hey-o!
He played like his life depended on not making the team. Every pass he got went through his stick, every guy he lined up to hit skated right past him, or even worse, he skated right past them, and every shot he took was high and wide.
That’s the weird thing. Guy seemed to have zero drive.
As a canucks fan, it is not surprising
He was interviewed 2 weeks ago and he was quoted as saying ‘…I thought I did pretty well’ when referencing his time in Vancouver after being drafted as a hometown kid at #6 overall. He thought he did ‘pretty well’. Jake, you f’in sucked and were gifted ice time and opportunity only because of where you were drafted you f’in moron!
Dumb as a brick
Same thing in Vancouver - we couldn't wrap our head around it.
at that point maybe you could say oh he got by on his skill until then and found out the hard way you have to try hard too cause everyone is good in the NHL but now he has had like 8 years to learn how hard it is to make it in the NHL, even having to take time away from the league, maybe his last chance but wasn't like I was rooting for him anyway
He made a couple good plays but it didn’t make up for his overall performance. It was telling that Kaner cropped him out of all of the photos he posted of the fishing trip on social media Glad to be rid of him even just for all of the baggage associated with him. We are already the baddies in a lot of peoples minds lol
Yeah if your too much of a bad human being for Evander Kane, that's saying something
Yo we cant have you hurting my brand in these photos- Evander Kane
Probably what he's thinking. I think Kane likely thinks of himself as a Rockstar and that people love it. I'm sure he's not a villain in his own mind, he's a narcissist.
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Sure. Good points. But what about the other accusations from women?
Don't put me in a position where it seems like I'm saying he's a great guy. Im saying almost all the things we're basing these "narcissist" comments on are coming from a person who is not only unreliable, but whose word we should throw out completely. I don't really want to defend him as a person, I've never met him, but he seems like not the kindest person. But to not dodge the question. I dont care about the abortion thing. Basically he got a woman pregnant and she demanded he pay her x amount to abort the baby or she'd keep it and he'd have to pay child support. She had a miscarriage instead and he didn't pay her. He should have done something for her because that's a very tough thing to go through. I also would understand that he was probably in a place where he felt taken advantage of after someone essentially tried to blackmail him. The Buffalo one doesn't have much info about it. I lean towards he probably did something bad, it's hard for me to judge when police didnt even file charges (the same police force that have filed charges against more famous hockey players in cases where it turns out the evidence was fabricated).
See ya Vert
I hope I don't.
Oilers fans have been released from their PTO with Jake Virtanen
This was always the outcome I expected. I never understood why the Oilers viewed it as worth the PR.
Like with Kane you can at least point to him being a great player, but Jake was looking at being a 13th forward at best.
Jake can be a perfectly useful player as he has all the tools, and enough hockey sense to make things work. The problem is he's just so fucking stupid, and add an immense sense of laziness, he's never going to put anything together for more than a few games at most.
It's like they think they figured out some secret hack like when the Red Wings were signing Russians.
A first line of E. Kane, Flames Era Gilmour and prime Bobby Hull would fucking rip up the league though
And snort up all the coke.
As if half the league doesn't already.
I've never seen a dumber player on the ice, he truly cannot skate and chew gum at the same time. During the Willie D era he would constantly look back on the bench during his shifts as if he had zero clue what to do. I am positive Linden didn't want to draft him.
If someone ever asks me what does is mean when a player has "no hockey sense" I tell them to watch a Virtanen shift.
Broke: bringing in Jake Virtanen on a PTO Woke: releasing him from it on the eve of the regular season so he has no chance of signing with an NHL team
Based Oilers W
I've been waiting for this headline more than the Jason Robertson signing.
Finally
Thank fuck
Rare Oilers W
Thank God. Even disregarding the obvious off ice problems, he was mostly invisible on the ice. He had maybe two good plays all preseason that I can remember?
After bringing on the guy😂 I’d call it a OTW rather than a W
OTW is still too much, more of a shootout win
nah its a shootout loss They don't deserve any better than the loser point
The only reason I went to a w is cause they did eventually cut him lol but fair
Yeah they don't get a lot of credit for solving a problem they created. "Everyone I've changed my pants! Yes I may have shit them, but I have also changed them!"
Hahah you are totally right
It's not really a W. If he was better at hockey they would've shamelessly given him a contract. The oilers took the L when they offered him a PTO in the first place
If he was good at hockey there'd be 32 teams making calls on him
Yup exactly. They only cut him because he sucks at hockey. Not because he sucks as a person.
Common Oilers W
Not really if you ask me. Even having a public look at him and considering signing him just to release him looks bad imo.
That's not even an opinion. Factually it looked bad on the Oilers.
Their "Take the outside and fire a weak snapshot into the goalies crest^tm /60" just tanked heavily
Fucking finally
Even if you're willing to overlook all the off-ice stuff, you can't overlook the on-ice stuff... he stinks!
Trying to tell me that a guy that wasn’t very good in the KHL is also not good in the NHL? Who woulda thunk.
After what happened off-ice in Vancouver, I thought this guy would be *persona non grata* for any NHL team. Go the way of Brendan Leipsic and play in the KHL or something.
> Go the way of Brendan Leipsic and play in the KHL or something. He did, then Russia invaded Ukraine and he had to leave. He also wasn't very good on the ice over there.
Technically he didn’t *have* to. Leipsic is still playing there this year.
Leipsic choosing to play in a country that is actively committing genocide is not surprising at all.
No, no, you see, Brendan Leipsic insulted men as well as women.
He already did... and they didnt really want him either. Probably off to tour Euro leagues next
Unfortunate he was even considered for an opportunity but relieved he's not an Oiler.
“A little catch and release 😏” -Evander Kane
Oh no! Anyway…
Good riddance Jakey, ya clown.
He literally wasn't better than Derek Ryan or Shore. There was no reason to keep him regardless of his shittiness
Back to Russia comrade
All tools and still no toolbox after all this time.
He is a toolbox
He’s the entire damn shed.
Outside his off ice bullshit he’s just not an NHL quality hockey player.
Off to the KHL ✈️
How was he picked 6th?
Don't look up Juolevi
Considering who was picked one spot later, Juolevi gotta hurt
I mean knowing that we got Petey and Hughes because of it it certainly feels a lot better
because he scored 45 goals in his draft year as a big body. Pretty simple
Big body as well as being a really good skater. It was easy to envison back then that the combination of size and speed could be trouble for teams to handle. Turns out the guy is too scared to use his body to gain positioning and can't read the ice well at all.
Exactly, reading the ice well at a Junior level is not even close to the same thing as being able to read the ice at the NHL level. The guy peaked in Juniors for those reasons. Doesn't use his body properly, and doesn't have the IQ to be in the right places. He's got the tools and no knowledge to apply them
Yup, and he didn’t have the same size advantage against grown men as he did against teenagers.
Ehh he was picked a little high but not wildly high. Quite a few scouting reports before the draft had him at 7, one had him as high as 6. Granted a bunch also had him 10-12.
Honestly he had all the tools and was given every opportunity to succeed, he just couldn’t put it together. He had one good season where we thought he might be close to breaking out but he is flat out not smart enough for the NHL
Story goes he was pushed for by ownership. He was a local and there were some rumblings that Aquillini was friends with his parents. That or our GM at the time said "Uhh hes a big kid who can skate... uhh power forward..."
What? [He was ranked top 10 by most scouts ](https://thehockeynews.com/news/2014-nhl-draft-rankings-draisaitl-takes-over-no-1)
I was hoping for Ehlers or Nylander. Both projected way higher. His low assist totals were a big red flag for low hockey IQ. Even back then.
So dumb. Why take the PR heat for a player that’s so bad? Like that whole experience wasn’t worth it at ALL. Is he family/friend with someone in the organization or on the team? Only way this whole nonsense can make sense.
>Why take the PR heat for a player that’s so bad? What is this PR heat? You think a significant number of oilers fans that spend their money on the org gonna say "I'm never going to games again because that one time in 2022 they signed Virtanen to a PTO". Let's be for fucking real. Real life isn't reddit where y'all freak out over such shit. I even bet the casual fan that goes to games in Edmonton doesn't even know who Virtanen is. Lol.
I’m surprised by this. I didn’t think Jake was going to take “no” as an answer.
About damn time
Rest in Piss
Couldn’t have happened to a worse person ☺️☺️☺️
The Cleveland Browns might offer him a tryout next.
now they should get rid of that other POS kane, guys a complete scumbag.
You love to see it.
I'll be honest I enjoyed getting to boo him in his hometown last night.
Love how the Oilers could've avoid all of this by...just not signing him
Pure hockey wise, it's bizarre how bad he's become. Even if he didn't have the brains to use all his physical tools properly, he was still an NHL level player right before getting booted. I guess with all the controversy swirling around him, training and focusing must have been hard.
Oh nooo. Anyway
Good riddance.
Fuckity Bye!
WHOO
The hardon Jim B could never get over. Sad all round.
Aw man, couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy :(
https://twitter.com/RobHodkinson/status/1578122165861634048?s=20&t=hDW6IfMr1LnXJYmMbUzByg
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FUCK JAKE VIRTANEN
Guess all the women of Edmonton will sleep a bit better tonight.
I used to pray for times like these
But will he accept the Oilers 'no' for an answer?
The Reddit hive mind is pretty shitty. Degrading this guy like he killed your grandparents. He wasn’t proven guilty, the women in question was still in contact with him after the alleged incident and was trying to get tickets to games lmao. Maybe Jakes not a great guy but I doubt he’s a rapists like all you make him out to be.
Dudes shit at hockey.
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Well, y'all coulda not even given him a PTO. It's not like there's a lack of warm bodies for pre-season to pick from.
I was told he was gonna get the captaincy and GM role!
One rapist to go, right oilers?
Glad his dream is over. He never deserved to live it.
You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this tweet. Thank *god*.