GDT: #44 - 01/14/18 | RANGERS @ penguins | 7:30 - NBCSN

[nevesis]

Wonder who gets the start tonight.

Is this a serious question? Lol

 

[will1066]

Here's a gem from Brooksie in today's Post:

They fancy themselves as fast, but they recently have looked like go-carts on the Indy 500 Speedway against legitimate speed teams like the Blackhawks, Devils, Maple Leafs and Red Wings and against quicksilver players such as Barzal.

OUCH!!! That'll leave a mark.

News flash to AV and Gorton: the team no longer has the "fast team" market cornered. The league has passed you by and is beating you at "your" game of one-pass transitions and pressuring the puck.

 

[Ori]

Well, hoping for a win, but if we lose, it better be a loopside loss. Maybe AV gets canned this way.

He won`t even if we lose, because on paper Pens is a much stronger team (back to back Stanley cup team) especially when Kreider is injured. Kreider is not an elite player, but he is important core player and a power forward for this team.

 

[Harbour Dog]

Is this a serious question? Lol

Great chance to see what we have in Mazanec.

 

[Doctyl]

And Staal and Holden, on the whole, have been fine. Stinkers here and there, but they've averaged out to be effective at their roles this year.

They’re okay. Not great, but okay.

Steven f***ing Kampfer is not okay. This will be his 16th game. That’s double the trial period DeAngelo was given. He’s getting almost 16 minutes a game. This is a fireable offense.

 

[will1066]

"Its a dumb hockey game by us. Dumb. We don't think. We have two guys going to take one."

"Its not what we stand for. It might look like we don't care or we don't give 100 percent, but thats what it looks like when you're dumb."

Yes Zucc. Dumb. That would be your gum chewing egomaniac coach. I really hope this is a low key call out and the players are turning on AV.

I think Ruff needs to be accountable as well.

 

[Harbour Dog]

They’re okay. Not great, but okay.

Steven ****ing Kampfer is not okay. This will be his 16th game. That’s double the trial period DeAngelo was given. He’s getting almost 16 minutes a game. This is a fireable offense.

Agreed. I'm not ADA's biggest proponent, but he should be our 7D and be getting games here and there a'la Kampfer.

 

[Doctyl]

I think Ruff needs to be accountable as well.

Yea Ruff sucks, but we’ve had 3 different defensive coaches under AV. It’s time to eliminate the constant.

 

[will1066]

Miller needs to be back at center. He needs his game stabilized. He has one of the most well rounded skill sets on the club. He is not elite at anything but at least he can do a bit of everything. He looks lost at wing for some reason.

And this constant line juggling isn't working, so try sticking to some line consistency. See if that works.

Kreider is not elite but I will admit that there is a correlation between his absence and current on ice product.

 

[aufheben]

I think Ruff needs to be accountable as well.

Dallas replaces him and becomes much better defensively. We hire him and arguably become worse defensively.

 

[nevesis]

 

[Vinny DeAngelo]

Smith hasn't been playing.

He’s only been scratched for the last 3-4 games

 

[will1066]

Should we bother at all? We're gonna get straight up murdered.

 

[Fitzy]

Negative mood of the board aside, it occurred to me this morning looking at

The NYR upcoming schedule with home-away
The Kreider injury being potentially season-ending
The tendency of guys like Staal and McDonagh to wear down over the season

That we might very well miss the playoffs this season. I've never thought that before at this point in the season since the 04-05 lockout, I was always relatively confident that we'd make it.

I think effort is a big factor here. The team has laid, as Brooks pointed out, a disproportionate number of eggs this year, and I think apathy has to be something of a factor in that.

I'm willing to be proven wrong, but it would be a real shame if, in a year where the cup is pretty up for grabs, this club just let a country club mentality sink in.

 

[Synergy27]

It's almost February. The team is not a contender. We knew this in November. The stupid points system suckers everyone into thinking they have a chance.

Bite the bullet for once and keep building for the future. Trade Nash and Grabner at a minimum. Give poor Hank a chance to win his Cup if he's willing to move too (and someone is willing to take him). Keep building.

 

[Flying Puck]

I find it funny that some of you guys are going after Kamfer? The Rangers first line is a big problem especially the play of Mika. He has 12 points all year 5 on 5. He is also a awful -10 on the year. To me that tells me he can’t handle the #1 center match ups. Zucc has had a very inconsistent year and did JT Miller play yesterday?

Jeff Gorton got nothing for the Stepan deal. He got rid of a heart and soul guy like Girardi and it is killing this team. This team is brutal down the middle on the offensive side of the puck but even worse defensively. Stepan and Girardi never missed the playoffs in a Ranger jersey and you can’t replace those guys with Paul Carey, Steve Kamper, and DD and expect results. A lot of this needs to be pointed at Jeff Gortin. The Rangers #1 line got destroyed yesterday by a rookie and 2 average NHLer’s. Ranger fans should be very concerned. It will be worse today guys!

 

[Machinehead]

Kreider is not an elite player in the NHL. He never has been and never will be. He shows us flashes at times but his inconsistency kills him.

K

 

[Machinehead]

I almost puked when I saw av say it was what about the players are doing for him now, but he continually trots out Holden staal Kampfer and smith like they’re ****ing playing nhl hockey this year

It's always about the players with him.

No accountability for himself.

 

[will1066]

Negative mood of the board aside, it occurred to me this morning looking at

The NYR upcoming schedule with home-away
The Kreider injury being potentially season-ending
The tendency of guys like Staal and McDonagh to wear down over the season

That we might very well miss the playoffs this season. I've never thought that before at this point in the season since the 04-05 lockout, I was always relatively confident that we'd make it.

I think effort is a big factor here. The team has laid, as Brooks pointed out, a disproportionate number of eggs this year, and I think apathy has to be something of a factor in that.

I'm willing to be proven wrong, but it would be a real shame if, in a year where the cup is pretty up for grabs, this club just let a country club mentality sink in.

It is lack of confidence. Like Zucc said, the players care. It looks like lack of effort but eventually your spirit is broken if you don't see results. Game in and game out, it is a disaster in play away from the puck. They all should know that Hank has been propping them up. When you're a player, what can you do but play the system given you? Do you publicly go against your coaches and risk losing your ice time, especially if you're playing for a new contract? Your livelihood is on the line.

 

[Harbour Dog]

On a scale from 0 to Hank Breaks His Stick Over The Crossbar, I expect this game to score a solid AV Screams At The Refs For Making A Fair Penalty Call That Costs Us A Chance At 6v5 With An Empty Net.

 

[will1066]

On a scale from 0 to Hank Breaks His Stick Over The Crossbar, I expect this game to score a solid AV Screams At The Refs For Making A Fair Penalty Call That Costs Us A Chance At 6v5 With An Empty Net.

You're way over optimistic to be thinking we'll be close in the waning minutes.

 

[Machinehead]

A pissed off Kurt Angle on amphetamines would have trouble being intense for this coach.

"The team doesn't care" is just another form of deflection away from having the worst team defense in the league for three straight years.

See the forest for the trees.

 

[Kovalev27]

Amazes me that AV refuses to play shattenkirk with Mcdonagh but continues to run him out there with skjei when they are a complete disaster together. They don’t talk Brady just said it.

Put skjei with smith and let them figure it out same as 22 and 27.

 

[Flying Puck]

I find it funny that some of you guys are going after Kamfer? The Rangers first line is a big problem especially the play of Mika. He has 12 points all year 5 on 5. He is also a awful -10 on the year. To me that tells me he can’t handle the #1 center match ups. Zucc has had a very inconsistent year and did JT Miller play yesterday?

Jeff Gorton got nothing for the Stepan deal. He got rid of a heart and soul guy like Girardi and it is killing this team. This team is brutal down the middle on the offensive side of the puck but even worse defensively. Stepan and Girardi never missed the playoffs in a Ranger jersey and you can’t replace those guys with Paul Carey, Steve Kamper, and DD and expect results. A lot of this needs to be pointed at Jeff Gortin. The Rangers #1 line got destroyed yesterday by a rookie and 2 average NHLer’s. Ranger fans should be very concerned. It will be worse today guys!

I could name 50 better players on the NHL than Chris Kreider. Did he make the All Star game? Stop drinking the Ranger kool aid dude. Not even close to elite!

 

[Machinehead]

Amazes me that AV refuses to play shattenkirk with Mcdonagh but continues to run him out there with skjei when they are a complete disaster together. They don’t talk Brady just said it.

Put skjei with smith and let them figure it out same as 22 and 27.

AV gave them two whole periods to figure it out. For him, that's a very significant sample.