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Amazing Kreiderman
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- Apr 11, 2011
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Facts get lost? Dude, you are talking about his good and bad games and then take only the good games and use those numbers to show how great he is. If we only count games where Kreider scores a goal, he is a GPG player!
haohmaru
boomshakalaka
Facts:
Rangers Corsi For Percentage in games started by
Henrik Lundqvist: 46%
Antti Raanta: 53%
5v5 SA60
Lundqvist-34.72 | Raanta 22.09
5V5 HD Shots Faced
Lundqvist- 26 | Raanta- 11
The Rangers have limited opponents to 30 5 on 5 attempts in 2 of the last 3 games. They did it 3 times in their previous 27.
Pesky things those facts.
haohmaru
boomshakalaka
FWIW, I'm in the Henrik has to be better camp, but the team plays better defensively in front of Raanta. Is that because they get lazy because their all-world goalie is behind them or is it a higher will to play better in front of the "back up"? IDK. It's pretty obvious, though.
Facts actually do get lost amongst all the hyperbole and that is why i posted the link to the article Nev qouted.
A lot of people claim that Hank's been awful this season and fail to mention the fact that he had an excellent stretch of 10 games when he went 930+ in SV%.
haohmaru
boomshakalaka
Raanta gets the start. I can see both sides of this but it's hard to sit a guy that just pitched consecutive shutouts.
I love the fact that "the team plays worse in front of Hank" is being used as an evidence to get him back in net. Tasty irony.
Crease
Chief Justice of the HFNYR Court
- Jul 12, 2004
- 24,183
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haohmaru
boomshakalaka
I just posted facts and didn't state a position about "getting him back in net".
That's another fact, FWIW.
Inferno
Registered User
i'd say its 100% obvious the team plays better in front of their backups. its not just this year, its been for ages...ive said it literally every year for a decade that the team flat out tries harder when henriks not in net. the big difference this year between henrik of years past is just...how he looks. nothing is smooth. everything is herky jerky. even when he slides post to post, he frequently overslides past his the post...and his lateral movement on bang-bang plays looks off..it almost looks like hes having a hard time planting his feet to push off hard side to side...its that explosiveness...hes also just flat out not reading plays like he used to. even in the 12 or whatever games that hes had great stats...hes still looked...un-henrikish...with the exception being the Flyers game where i was like....yes, hes back!
theres a lot wrong with Henriks game, and its showing in the eye test even more so than the stat test (Where its showing up as well). the fact of the matter is, the rangers have ALWAYS played like crap in front of Henrik...saying they are doing so now isnt exactly a revelation. the difference is, henrik would cancel out that craptastic play with his elite level of goaltending. hes not been doing that this year with any sort of regularity, and he just flat out doesnt look like lundqvist.
i have no problem starting Raanta, just like I have no problem with Henrik still being called the starter. Henrik IS the starter...hes just going through a rough time. these things happen. after all is said and done this team will still only go as far as Henrik takes them.
theres a lot wrong with Henriks game, and its showing in the eye test even more so than the stat test (Where its showing up as well). the fact of the matter is, the rangers have ALWAYS played like crap in front of Henrik...saying they are doing so now isnt exactly a revelation. the difference is, henrik would cancel out that craptastic play with his elite level of goaltending. hes not been doing that this year with any sort of regularity, and he just flat out doesnt look like lundqvist.
i have no problem starting Raanta, just like I have no problem with Henrik still being called the starter. Henrik IS the starter...hes just going through a rough time. these things happen. after all is said and done this team will still only go as far as Henrik takes them.
You also didn't declare "the team plays better in front of Hank" if we're being literal about everything. So I'm not sure why you're so salty about a general observation I'm making about the conversation as a whole.
I like this whole situation. Two capable goalies and ride the hot hand. Hank is aging and had the WC's, adding games to his season. I have no problem with him getting some rest and being able to work on his game with Allaire for a week while Raanta rides a shutout streak.
Nothing pushes a player like legit competition. This team needs to be solid in net and Raanta is raising that game by pushing Hank like this.
Nothing pushes a player like legit competition. This team needs to be solid in net and Raanta is raising that game by pushing Hank like this.
silverfish
got perma'd
This is a great post and i have felt the same watching Hank play this season but...
...i also completely agree with this tweet.
Inferno
Registered User
why not both? Henrik needs to practice...i still say his issues are all correctable, and not simply father time catching up with him. its mostly technique and lack of focus.
Inferno
Registered User
I guess i'll leave it at this. I dont like buying jerseys with players names on them because these players almost always either wind up on other teams and the jersey feels moot. i do plan on buying a lundqvist jersey though as soon as he retires. Hes a legend..and TBH he deserves even more credit for his past play than hes gotten..the team is almost annually a crap show in front of him...its not just that he posts amazing numbers...its the fact that he posts those numbers with just the worst team defense imaginable in front of him.
silverfish
got perma'd
Yeah exactly. His issues are correctable and I think it's important NYR let him work through that at game speed. I'm happy to lose a few games in December (worst case scenario) to make sure Hank is right in June.
Mac n Gs
Gorton plz
- Jan 17, 2014
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I do too.
Side note: the team shouldn't play differently in front of different goalies. How they've been playing in front of Raanta is how they should be playing in front of Hank. A change of goalies isn't an excuse to get lackadaisical defensively, leaving guys wide open, and not cycling and generating sustained pressure in the offensive zone.
Inferno
Registered User
i think he needs to work on this stuff off the ice in practice vs in games.
i think it also needs to be stated that Henrik has always been one to push himself, and correct things in practice..hes always talked about working on fixing this or that with Benny. however with the compressed schedule due to the WCOH as well as the CBA mandated off days, he's not getting the chance to practice as much and work on things he needs to... i think the extra practice time for Henrik will be far more beneficial to him than him giving up 1 or 2 softies a game and getting serenaded by the away teams fans game after game. hes not a mentally fragile guy, but those things can wear on you.
Inferno
Registered User
it always happens though...and its not just to the rangers...how often do the rangers fail to score a single goal on a backup goalie because the team in front of him plays lock down defense? its human nature...protect the weakest link, and to put all your weight on the strongest one...
silverfish
got perma'd
Right, I think that's just where we disagree. For position players, I'm happy to let them work on their **** in practice. For goalies? I want them playing.
I don't have the research on it, and my goalie Twitter guy is hospitalized right now, so I can't ask him if he has it (selfish!
)
Crease
Chief Justice of the HFNYR Court
- Jul 12, 2004
- 24,183
- 25,884
Silverfish, if it was March I'd agree with you. But it's December, the division is rolling, the backup is coming off two straight shutouts, and they're playing his former team. I'm convinced handing Raanta the ball tonight is the right move.
Glen Sathers Cigar
Sather 4 Ever
Hartnett hits the nail on the head yet again.
Eventually Hank is going to need to work through his struggles in real games, at game speed. We need him to get back to form.
haohmaru
boomshakalaka
Actually, I did - "but the team plays better defensively in front of Raanta. Is that because they get lazy because their all-world goalie is behind them or is it a higher will to play better in front of the "back up"?"
Because there wasn't an agenda behind what I said and your observation directly followed after I posted.
I get both sides of the argument. This is a slippery slope now, though, because AV is now beyond sending Henrik (and presumably the team) a message and developing into a starter question. I'm wondering how this is going to play out.
Matz03
Registered User
I'm all for starting Raanta again because the teams is clearly playing tighter with him in net. Take nothing away from Raanta who's been more consistent of the goalies as well. Chicago had plenty of chances to win that game. The Devils are just bad. There are too many top 6 injuries now that we need to grind out wins so keep the formula the same. Hank will be fine, he'll only come back stronger, you can't argue his focus has been off.
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