Game Analysis: 2015-16 New York Rangers - 4/26 Breakup day

[Ori]

I don't disagree. (The other big sin was signing Girardi to that contract.)

But still, the people to call out for this are management. Boyle was not our worst defenseman imo.

I think we need to get younger as a team - Shark probably traded him earlier for that exact reason some years ago.
He didn`t improve our PP a lot this season in my opinion.

 

[The Gloaming]

imo, dan boyle is an outgoing guy who has always been well liked by his teammates and the media in both tampa and san jose and again here in nyc. he was always a team leader and a standup guy in the past.

he does not however, like certain media types and doesnt tolerate clowns well. and at the top of that list is larry brooks- who has a long list of players and coaches who cannot stand him. brooks is viewed as someone who creates stuff and then uses the reaction to further legitimize his own status as an insider. he makes himself part of the story at the expense of the target of his attack.

the fact that it was larry brooks isn't surprising. theres more to this story that goes beyond his critique of boyle.

its almost like boyle went after uncle larry on behalf of another player(s) who cannot speak out more so than over something said about himself. again, just my opinion.

He said, "at least I'm leaving here with the respect of my teammates." I think that can be interpreted as the rest of the Rangers don't respect Larry, although who really does?

 

[SingnBluesOnBroadway]

I find it interesting the Brooks basically wrote what was written on these boards about Boyle but he's a clown.....

 

[SingnBluesOnBroadway]

He said, "at least I'm leaving here with the respect of my teammates." I think that can be interpreted as the rest of the Rangers don't respect Larry, although who really does?

The othe Rangers aren't Brooks' teammates....

 

[HatTrick Swayze]

I generally side with the player 9/10 times based on my feelings about the general media alone.

But if the issue is what Brooks wrote about Boyle's / the team's play ("zed is dead") - I am with Larry here. There is an easy way to turn the media around Dan (and team) - play better. Every negative story this year was pretty damn well deserved.

Besides, you should A. be tuning that out as a professional and B. using it as motivation should you come across it. Not whining about it.

Now - based on the family/personal speculation would it be nice if Brooks cut him some slack? Of course. And if any other shenanigans went on regarding personal matters this is 100% a different story. But Brooks' job is to write about the team and for the majority of the year they oscillated between mediocre and terrible.

Play better or play for a team whose media and fans don't care. Two options.

 

[The Gloaming]

The othe Rangers aren't Brooks' teammates....

No, that's not what I'm implying.

I highly doubt that Boyle was talking about Larry's "teammates", which I guess would be other Rangers writers/sports journalists in general.

 

[NickyFotiu]

Boyle was not the first guy to have an issue with Brooks and he will not be the last.

 

[Blades of Steel]

Primarily defensive failures, most of our defensive corps had issues of one kind or the other. Not that the offense or goaltending wow'd us either, but the defense was our achilles heel.

Both. Hank was off/unfocused/tired. Combination of all that.

The defense has been off all season.

AV also changed the entire lineup that was working in Games 1 & 2, and it tanked from there. No reason for him to do that. Mind-boggling, really.

Thanks.. yeah from what I thought I saw but had no right to make an opinion on was that Hank looked off to me. I don't think he was ok after that hit in the eye.

I hope Trotz examines what was working and uses it against the pens, I don't think they will like us hitting them.

 

[NYRFANMANI]

I don't think that "Brooks being Brooks" has any value, being used as an argument. Dan Boyle was redundancy reincarnated here. He simply played bad and that's it. Glad that he's going to be done with, sad it took 2 years off our window. The eye test on the guy went quick and was obvious. He stank.

And that interview drama with Brooks on "break-up day", to me, was just that, pathetic drama. If he had done **** for us, he could have had some reason to do it. But he didn't.

We gave up identity and brought in these plugs. Nash, MSL, geezer Boyle. We didn't win jack-**** and we lost identity in the process. Very sad.


On a side note: We are now the antithesis of a good hockey team. We're old, one of the oldest teams in the league, we became slower, traded our youth and picks away and are in cap/contract-hell ... burn in hell Slats!!!

 

[GAGLine]

I find it interesting the Brooks basically wrote what was written on these boards about Boyle but he's a clown.....

While I agree with you, there's a differently level of responsibility between posting on an internet forum and writing a column in a newspaper or sponsored blog.

There's pretty much zero objectivity in either case, but Brooks at least is supposed to be professional about it.

 

[romba]

Thanks.. yeah from what I thought I saw but had no right to make an opinion on was that Hank looked off to me. I don't think he was ok after that hit in the eye.

I hope Trotz examines what was working and uses it against the pens, I don't think they will like us hitting them.

Rangers are not a very effective board battling team. The Pens stacked the neurtral zone forcing the Rangers to dump and chase. The Rangers would throw the big hit on a dump in but more often than not they wouldn't separate the player from the puck, or the player getting hit would have managed to nudge the puck to an area where his teamate could play it (poor puck support/reading the play on the Ranger's behalf and good on the Pens behalf) and generally within 2-4 seconds the Pens were out of the D zone and shifted to their bread and butter speedy offense. At this point the Rangers hard forecheckers were left deep in the O zone still trying to establish their useless forecheck.

The Rangers couldn't play the Pens passively waiting to pounce on a mistake because the Pens were dumping and chasing successfully when they had to and were running circles around the Rangers in their d zone.

Damned if you, damned if you don't- A) Carry the puck through the neutral zone and get squashed facing an odd man rush at worst, or significant D zone time at best B) Dump and chase and forecheck hard and face numerous odd man rushes C) Dump and chase and forecheck passively waiting for a mistake but instead get hemmed in the D zone for minutes at a time.

Hank wasn't the problem but like he said, he wasn't a difference maker either.

I'm pretty sure the Caps heavy style of play and success along the boards will give the Pens fits in their defensive zone leading to fewer controlled breakouts for the Pens, completely changing the dynamics of the game altogether something which I believe the Pens will have to adapt to.

 

[Jersey Girl]

While I agree with you, there's a differently level of responsibility between posting on an internet forum and writing a column in a newspaper or sponsored blog.

Are you saying Brooks made comments about Boyle that were unprofessional?

 

[OverTheCap]

I generally side with the player 9/10 times based on my feelings about the general media alone.

But if the issue is what Brooks wrote about Boyle's / the team's play ("zed is dead") - I am with Larry here. There is an easy way to turn the media around Dan (and team) - play better. Every negative story this year was pretty damn well deserved.

Besides, you should A. be tuning that out as a professional and B. using it as motivation should you come across it. Not whining about it.

Now - based on the family/personal speculation would it be nice if Brooks cut him some slack? Of course. And if any other shenanigans went on regarding personal matters this is 100% a different story. But Brooks' job is to write about the team and for the majority of the year they oscillated between mediocre and terrible.

Play better or play for a team whose media and fans don't care. Two options.

Agreed. According to Carp, when Stepan confronted Brooks, it was during a losing streak. Who cares about stupid Larry Brooks at that point, why are they consumed with the press clippings? Channel that energy and emotion into improving your play on the ice. Hold yourself accountable instead of taking it out on a lowly beat writer.

 

[romba]

Agreed. According to Carp, when Stepan confronted Brooks, it was during a losing streak. Who cares about stupid Larry Brooks at that point, why are they consumed with the press clippings? Channel that energy and emotion into improving your play on the ice. Hold yourself accountable instead of taking it out on a lowly beat writer.

Players thrive on the 'us versus them' mentality. I mean how often do you hear a team favorited to win say 'no one thought we could do it' blah blah. I think that with Stepan it got out of hand- instead of go and prove it on the ice it became go and prove them wrong through argument lol, but it still was being used as a motivator to impassion the team to rally around hating the media/people who say they're too old, slow, etc.

 

[SingnBluesOnBroadway]

No, that's not what I'm implying.

I highly doubt that Boyle was talking about Larry's "teammates", which I guess would be other Rangers writers/sports journalists in general.

I don't think that's the case at all.

 

[Jersey Girl]

Wow I had no idea how touchy some of these guys. Good thing they don't play in Toronto, they'd never survive!

 

[The Gloaming]

I don't think that's the case at all.

I just don't see a reason for Boyle to bring the "respect of his teammates" part into the discussion if he wasn't trying to make it sound like the rest of the team also doesn't respect Larry.

 

[Levitate]

I'm being sincere Ranger fans, what happened?

I didn't watch much of your series, but wondering what really went wrong? I thought you guys would take it. Was hank off? poor defense?

Yes.

Defense has been bad all year along with inconsistent effort from the forwards helping out. Lots of break downs and mistakes and in general the team never seemed to really get in sync. Special teams were also real bad (the power play fluctuated throughout the season but the penalty kill was horrific all the way).

Lundqvist wasn't at his best and seemed to be uncomfortable and second guessing his moves in the playoffs. Might partly be because of how the team in front of him was playing, who knows.

 

[Ori]

Wow I had no idea how touchy some of these guys. Good thing they don't play in Toronto, they'd never survive!

hehe, Canadians are passionate about hockey!

 

[Levitate]

I find it interesting the Brooks basically wrote what was written on these boards about Boyle but he's a clown.....

Brooks is a clown for other reasons than what he wrote about Boyle.

I think we've seen enough hints from other beat writers to assume with a reasonable level of confidence that this is a little more than just Boyle being mad about some critiques of his play in the news papers and I'm not really sure why more people aren't looking at it that way at this point.

I also have to laugh at internet posters giving tips to pro athletes on how to deal with the media when the majority of you have probably never talked to a reporter in your life much less had to deal with the press nearly every day win or lose at your highest points and at your absolute lowest

 

[broadwayblue]

Brooks is a clown for other reasons than what he wrote about Boyle.

I think we've seen enough hints from other beat writers to assume with a reasonable level of confidence that this is a little more than just Boyle being mad about some critiques of his play in the news papers and I'm not really sure why more people aren't looking at it that way at this point.

I also have to laugh at internet posters giving tips to pro athletes on how to deal with the media when the majority of you have probably never talked to a reporter in your life much less had to deal with the press nearly every day win or lose at your highest points and at your absolute lowest

Seemed clear to me that Boyle was alluding to this.

 

[SingnBluesOnBroadway]

I just don't see a reason for Boyle to bring the "respect of his teammates" part into the discussion if he wasn't trying to make it sound like the rest of the team also doesn't respect Larry.

I think it was just part of his "I'm taking my ball and going home" rant.

 

[bl02]

Wow I had no idea how touchy some of these guys. Good thing they don't play in Toronto, they'd never survive!

Exactly. Or any other major market.I thought this was New York I guess I was wrong. Cry me a river Danny boy. Take your 9 mill and run.
Above all I blame AV . If he would have taken brooks' advice and benched Boyle for mcilrath this would have all been avoided

 

[Beer League Sniper]

I find it interesting the Brooks basically wrote what was written on these boards about Boyle but he's a clown.....

So you think a newspaper reporter should be held to the same journalistic standard as an internet message board?

 

[SingnBluesOnBroadway]

So you think a newspaper reporter should be held to the same journalistic standard as an internet message board?

So journalistic standards means you can't write that a player is not performing well?