Pre-Game Talk: Rangers @ Wild

[Glen Sathers Cigar]

People who tweet about the Rangers on twitter are infuriating. There's a faction of like 5-6 guys who tweet non stop about CF% and such. They think the Rangers are going to lose in the 1st round against any opponent and the only one we have a chance against is the Habs because of their inferior CF%.

Girardi will keep us from advancing too, that's another one.

As if it's impossible for a team to get healthy and go on a run. Or outperform their poor CF% for a 2 month period or ride a hot goalie. Nope, all about CF%.

See I like Advanced Stats, but these guys literally form their entire opinion on players on the stats. MSL is a future HoFer and has been a bad possession player his entire career. Guess he sucks then. This is why advanced stats are having such a hard time being accepted by all. A lot of people out there are 100% for and no wiggle room or vice versa. Makes discussion nearly impossible because both sides just think the other is nuts.

 

[Raspewtin]

People who tweet about the Rangers on twitter are infuriating. There's a faction of like 5-6 guys who tweet non stop about CF% and such. They think the Rangers are going to lose in the 1st round against any opponent and the only one we have a chance against is the Habs because of their inferior CF%.

Girardi will keep us from advancing too, that's another one.

As if it's impossible for a team to get healthy and go on a run. Or outperform their poor CF% for a 2 month period or ride a hot goalie. Nope, all about CF%.

See I like Advanced Stats, but these guys literally form their entire opinion on players on the stats. MSL is a future HoFer and has been a bad possession player his entire career. Guess he sucks then. This is why advanced stats are having such a hard time being accepted by all. A lot of people out there are 100% for and no wiggle room or vice versa. Makes discussion nearly impossible because both sides just think the other is nuts.

You can always just disagree instead of complaining that people are having opinions you dont like.

 

[Teppo]

Wild fan here. The Rangers are the best team in the league IMO - definitely cup favorites. Very well balanced team.

The Wild had a roll going but the 4 day break probably killed that roll. It will take them a while to get their legs back into it. The Rangers are a team that will make them pay during that time. I am thinking the Rangers get out to an early 3 goal lead and win it 4-1 on an EN goal at the end.

 

[Miamipuck]

So now that it's established, can we shut up about it and discuss something else? Its really annoying, and you can't escape it because no matter what thread you open, there's a Glass discussion, repeating the same thing. You are not adding anything new either, just a bunch of clowns repeating each other.

Why does every thread need to get hijacked by the same few clowns who get off on crapping on him? We all know your opinion. For 9 months, you've logged on every hour to tell us he's the worst player in hockey.

Why do you still feel the need to hijack every f---king thread to repeat what you said dozens of times and your fellow Glass haters said thousands of times? If you have an uncontrollable need to post Glass hate, do it in his own thread, don't post it anywhere and everywhere. I don't need to hear how much you hate Glass and McIlrath in all the threads, stop hijacking them!

It's relevant to this thread because a better player is being benched in favor of him tonight. No one is hijacking **** in this thread.

 

[pld459666]

I really do like that we are starting to get healthy again. Getting Hank back was big, welcoming MSL back tonight is also going to be big in the sense that while he HAS slowed somewhat, he's still a presence out there and now that he's gotten some rest, getting him back in the line up provides the team with additional depth and ability in the offensive zone. The PP should also get a boost.

Kreider - Stepan - Nash
Yandle and MSL at the points

Hayes - Brassard - Zuccs
McD and Boyle at the points

A healthy Rangers team is a very dangerous Rangers team.

I don't look at the Wild as an overly physical team. They can be when prompted which is something the Rangers don't do. We want to skate you to death and teams like the Wild can fall into that trap.

I think if the game opens up and both teams are skating, we will do fine. If the game gets dragged into the mud, the Rangers will struggle.

 

[Matt4776]

AV is the best coach we've had in a very long time.

That being said, every game Glass plays I just get infuriated. I really need to learn to just accept it and give up hope of him ever coming out of the lineup.

 

[Kaapo Cabana]

Oh my God, what have I done, I've opened a McIlrath can of worms and dumped it into the Glass can of worms. I'm sorry, I apologize, please make it stop.

also Cam Talbot would slot in perfectly on that fourth line. Much better than putting Hank there

 

[Vitto79]

Why didn't they keep stempniak if shepppard was going to sit for glass ? Jeebus

 

[Glen Sathers Cigar]

You can always just disagree instead of complaining that people are having opinions you dont like.

Sure, but I should be allowed to also acknowledge that the reason advanced stats are having a hard time being accepted is because of people like that just as much as it is stone age people.


You're great with advanced stats, do you see the Rangers as the underdog against any 1st round opponent and you believe we will be eliminated in the 1st round regardless of opponent?

 

[Vinny DeAngelo]

There's no reason arguing glass being in the line up.... As long as AV thinks he's important he's gunna play

 

[Kane One]

Just get this clinched already so my head doesn't explode when we give up careless goals in meaningless regular season games after this.

 

[Raspewtin]

Sure, but I should be allowed to also acknowledge that the reason advanced stats are having a hard time being accepted is because of people like that just as much as it is stone age people.

I mean, they still have a point though. Its not like people just see "oh, stats are bad, so we're bad", no. The stats, like it or not, have confirmed how they've played all year. They don't sustain forechecks and have a really hard time breaking opposing forechecks up. That's not a recipe for success.

You're great with advanced stats, do you see the Rangers as the underdog against any 1st round opponent and you believe we will be eliminated in the 1st round regardless of opponent?

I have serious doubts past the first round with them. I don't think they're first round fodder, no.

But I really liked how they were playing right before Klein got injured so...

 

[Vinny DeAngelo]

also Cam Talbot would slot in perfectly on that fourth line. Much better than putting Hank there

I'd say glass and Talbot's stick handling is equivalent

 

[Rick Nash 61]

Just saw on twitter that MSL will be with Hayes and Hags which I like a lot. Hopefully the lines look like this:

Nash-Brass-Zucc
Kreider-Stepan-Miller
Hags-Hayes-MSL
Shep-Moore-Fast

 

[The Undertaker]

I'd really like to know how the other players honestly feel with Glass playing over a guy like Sheppard. If the majority of them really felt more protected with him out there or thought it was beneficial to have him in the lineup, then I guess I couldn't complain.

 

[Beacon]

It's relevant to this thread because a better player is being benched in favor of him tonight. No one is hijacking **** in this thread.

1. Is Glass the only thing relevant to this or any other game?

2. What has been said here that each of the posters hasn't said before?

3. If you see a dozen people posted the same thing before you in this very thread, why do you feel the need to post the same exact thing in the same exact words again? Glass is the worst hockey player ever and AV is blind for not seeing it. What else you got? Why do I need to read that in every thread, regardless of the topic?

Imagine if every time you turned on the news, you had to hear, "Michael Jackson is dead. Michael Jackson has died. He's still dead. Very dead. No more moon-walking. Dead, dead, dead." Wouldn't you think after a while, "this is old news, can we move on, how many years in a row do I have to hear the same thing only to turn the channel and see the same thing no matter what TV channel you click?"

 

[Beacon]

Just saw on twitter that MSL will be with Hayes and Hags which I like a lot. Hopefully the lines look like this:

Nash-Brass-Zucc
Kreider-Stepan-Miller
Hags-Hayes-MSL
Shep-Moore-Fast

Well, Shep is out, but otherwise I like it. I'd play MSL on the 3rd line on ES plus PP time obviously to conserve his energy. That's why Boyle should be playing reduced minutes. Every guy feels like superman and I'm about the same age and refuse to believe that I'm no longer 21, but professional athletes need to be told that it's better to play a couple shifts less per game than to play poorly the rest of the game.

 

[Beer League Sniper]

Wild fan here. The Rangers are the best team in the league IMO - definitely cup favorites. Very well balanced team.

The Wild had a roll going but the 4 day break probably killed that roll. It will take them a while to get their legs back into it. The Rangers are a team that will make them pay during that time. I am thinking the Rangers get out to an early 3 goal lead and win it 4-1 on an EN goal at the end.

Is this some kind of voodoo jinx attempt?

The Rangers almost never come out strong to start a game.

 

[Miamipuck]

1. Is Glass the only thing relevant to this or any other game?

2. What has been said here that each of the posters hasn't said before?

3. If you see a dozen people posted the same thing before you in this very thread, why do you feel the need to post the same exact thing in the same exact words again? Glass is the worst hockey player ever and AV is blind for not seeing it. What else you got? Why do I need to read that in every thread, regardless of the topic?

Imagine if every time you turned on the news, you had to hear, "Michael Jackson is dead. Michael Jackson has died. He's still dead. Very dead. No more moon-walking. Dead, dead, dead." Wouldn't you think after a while, "this is old news, can we move on, how many years in a row do I have to hear the same thing only to turn the channel and see the same thing no matter what TV channel you click?"

If you don't like the Tanner Glass talk, skip it. It was the same crap with the Lundqvist and the 3-4 lunatics that thought Talbot is better in every thread. It's a message board it happens with 50 different topics.

I don't think anyone here is going to PM you to ask your permission if a topic is acceptable, so ignore it if you don't like it.

 

[nevesis]

People who tweet about the Rangers on twitter are infuriating. There's a faction of like 5-6 guys who tweet non stop about CF% and such. They think the Rangers are going to lose in the 1st round against any opponent and the only one we have a chance against is the Habs because of their inferior CF%.

Girardi will keep us from advancing too, that's another one.

As if it's impossible for a team to get healthy and go on a run. Or outperform their poor CF% for a 2 month period or ride a hot goalie. Nope, all about CF%.

See I like Advanced Stats, but these guys literally form their entire opinion on players on the stats. MSL is a future HoFer and has been a bad possession player his entire career. Guess he sucks then. This is why advanced stats are having such a hard time being accepted by all. A lot of people out there are 100% for and no wiggle room or vice versa. Makes discussion nearly impossible because both sides just think the other is nuts.

Adam Herman is the absolute worst.

 

[rangers1314]

I remember Sather saying during his post deadline press conf that he thought Sheppard was one of SJ's best players against LA in last year in the playoffs, where he did post 6pts in 7 games. I don't think Sather will be thrilled if he is sat for Glass in 2 weeks.

 

[Rick Nash 61]

Well, Shep is out, but otherwise I like it. I'd play MSL on the 3rd line on ES plus PP time obviously to conserve his energy. That's why Boyle should be playing reduced minutes. Every guy feels like superman and I'm about the same age and refuse to believe that I'm no longer 21, but professional athletes need to be told that it's better to play a couple shifts less per game than to play poorly the rest of the game.

I didn't think of it that way but that makes a lot of sense. Marty given less ice time could be much more effective.

 

[Beacon]

If you don't like the Tanner Glass talk, skip it.

That's the point, it's impossible to skip. If you had kept it in the Glass thread, I'd just skip that thread. But Glass hate is in every thread and people obviously get off on it, getting some sort of sick pleasure from hating him because it's like waking up a barking dog for someone to mention the name Glass. Suddenly a dozen people start yelling the same thing over and over again in the same thread. You literally have the same person posting the same thing within a few hours in the same thread.

The only way I know that I didn't want to read a post is if I already read it. I can't avoid it. Every Pre-Game, GDT, Post-Game, transaction, stats, etc thread is in large part about Glass. Apparently there is nothing else to talk about when it comes to hockey.

It was the same crap with the Lundqvist and the 3-4 lunatics that thought Talbot is better in every thread.

It's NOTHING like it.

For one, it's mostly been kept in the Talbot and Lundqvist thread, spilling out elsewhere only on a limited basis. Here, it's in every freakin' thread.

Two, when it comes to Lundqvist/Talbot, it was a long discussion for only a few days, but otherwise just a post here and a post there. With Glass, we have pages upon pages upon pages of the same exact statement that Glass is the worst hockey player ever and AV is blind.

Three, with Talbot/Lundqvist, it was only for a short time while Lundqvist was out. With Glass, a few people went nuts in July and it simply has not stopped since. Every day, it's the same statement repeated at least a few dozen times: Glass is the worst hockey player ever and AV is blind.

It's a message board it happens with 50 different topics.

No, with Glass it's unprecedented. The only thing that even resembles it is McIlrath hate, but even that is far, far more limited.

 

[haveandare]

I mean, they still have a point though. Its not like people just see "oh, stats are bad, so we're bad", no. The stats, like it or not, have confirmed how they've played all year. They don't sustain forechecks and have a really hard time breaking opposing forechecks up. That's not a recipe for success.



I have serious doubts past the first round with them. I don't think they're first round fodder, no.

But I really liked how they were playing right before Klein got injured so...

I don't know if you're an Arrested Development fan, but when I think about this it always makes me think of Tobias' joke about couples trying open marriages

Tobias: You know, Lindsay, as a therapist, I have advised a number of couples to explore an open relationship where the couple remains emotionally committed but free to explore extramarital encounters.

Lindsay: Well, did it work for those people?

Tobias: No, it never does. I mean, these people somehow delude themselves into thinking it might, but... but it might work for us.

Point being that I know that possession stats are correlated with postseason success, yet, I can't help but wonder if this specific team's style bucks the trend. We know they overpass, we know they look for the perfect shot. They have poor possession players like Stepan and Girardi getting top minutes, and yet, here they are with a shot at the President's trophy. I don't know. Maybe I'm deluding myself into thinking that they buck the trend, but it makes some sort of sense to me also. Am I way off here for some reason that I'm not considering?

 

[Beacon]

Possible topics for this pre-game thread to discuss.

1. We can clinch the Metro.

2. The Isles can eliminate themselves as our competition for the Metro even if we lose.

3. We need to win if we want the Presidents Trophy because Anaheim has a very easy schedule against exclusively non-playoff teams the rest of the way.

4. MSL is back.

5. Lundqvist getting back in shape.

6. The Wild have been hot lately.

7. Odds are at -130 in favor of Minnie winning.

8. Can we stay ahead of Montreal, which is playing the Caps tonight?

9. Bruins loss & Ottawa win would again put the Sens above the Bruins in points per game, and thus make them our likely first round opponents.

10. Who's the worst basketball player ever?

11. Space aliens: do they exist?