Post-Game Talk: Hurricanes @ Rangers - November 30

[eco's bones]

The offense has a **** ton of talent but couldn't cycle with a washing machine. We need another two or so guys that have a boards presence. We never replaced Hagelin and Pouliot.

If it came down to it, I'd give up a little scoring to have the puck more, like in 2013-14 when we were legitimately ****ing dominant.

Couldn't agree more. Wonder if Edmonton would eat some salary for Benny.

You're asking for toffnuss?

 

[haveandare]

We were nowhere near this poor to start the last two years.

I strongly disagree with that. They had absolutely nothing going for them to start last year - not even goaltending.

 

[Mac n Gs]

And how many of that -105 was from when they were jumping out to multi goal leads and were "scary good" like 6 games ago?

In all situations at even strength, our SCF% is worst in the league at 44.6% and -105.

Score-adjusted it goes to 2nd worst at 45.1% and -96.8

Close situations: 23rd overall at 47.9% (which is surprisingly tied with Montreal) and -26

Tied: 18th overall at 49% and -8

 

[Pfranz94]

I have confidence that they will turn it around eventually, but watching them right now is like watching a train wreck. It's just not good enough, if your ultimate goal is winning the cup.

 

[Loff]

We won?

 

[JohnC]

The same problems that almost got this team bounced by the Caps and ultimately got them bounced by the Lightning are loud and clear present.

Getting pinned in your zone and praying for saves so you can counter attack isn't conducive to winning and it's been happening for far longer than just the start to this year.

The defensive strategy with any semblance of a lead has devolved back to the lift the puck just far enough that it's not an icing of the Torts era and it's certainly not a good thing imo.

Team has a lot of work to do and as the season goes on I'm starting to feel that 2013-2014 was the best shot this team had at a cup :/

 

[JohnC]

Also the man to man is starting to make my eyes bleed and the stubborn turds behind the bench need to do something about it asap

 

[Giacomin]

I cant remember a first place team looking this bad

 

[Miamipuck]

The same problems that almost got this team bounced by the Caps and ultimately got them bounced by the Lightning are loud and clear present.

Getting pinned in your zone and praying for saves so you can counter attack isn't conducive to winning and it's been happening for far longer than just the start to this year.

The defensive strategy with any semblance of a lead has devolved back to the lift the puck just far enough that it's not an icing of the Torts era and it's certainly not a good thing imo.

Team has a lot of work to do and as the season goes on I'm starting to feel that 2013-2014 was the best shot this team had at a cup :/

Unfortunately, some of that comes down to poor personnel decisions over the last few years. I know it's been beat to death but with the salary cap it's tough to have as many aging high dollar roster spots as the Rangers do.

I think forward wise they have done very well infusing cheaper high quality youth onto the roster, they just haven't done nearly as well with the defense. That's really the problem, the defense is just killing possession and/or there aren't enough PMD's or guys that can keep the puck in at the point. If I was Hank I would sue for non support.

The great W/L record is a byproduct of having arguably the best goalie in the league and not anything to do with actual defensive play. It's fantastic we have gotten to see a once in a generation goalie over the years but unfortunately they got rid of Cam Talbot.

 

[Vinny DeAngelo]

Also the man to man is starting to make my eyes bleed and the stubborn turds behind the bench need to do something about it asap

its almost as bad as watching the torts system...
the torts system u just wait to c if shots got through with this system im watching both d men chase into the corners or behind the net and the second that happens i know a goal is coming. they leave people wide open infront of the net and the center is supposed to race down from covering a dman at the point to cover for them? that whole plan is just ass backward. literally we hope they cant make the pass out front and if they miss we try to hit someone on a breakaway. that is our offensive system.

 

[Pfranz94]

It's just watching this team, for the most part this year has been cringe worthy. Watching them make the same mistakes over and over, like 2 dmen chase a man in the corner or behind the net, only to leave someone wide open in front happens way too often. Maybe I'm expecting too much from this team, but the only thing left for this group to do is win a cup. They are just not looking capable of doing that so far. Grated we are still about 4-4.5 months from the playoffs, so they have time to correct these issues, but if they don't they will be bounced in the 1st or 2nd round.

 

[Bleed Ranger Blue]

The same problems that almost got this team bounced by the Caps and ultimately got them bounced by the Lightning are loud and clear present.

Getting pinned in your zone and praying for saves so you can counter attack isn't conducive to winning and it's been happening for far longer than just the start to this year.

The defensive strategy with any semblance of a lead has devolved back to the lift the puck just far enough that it's not an icing of the Torts era and it's certainly not a good thing imo.

Team has a lot of work to do and as the season goes on I'm starting to feel that 2013-2014 was the best shot this team had at a cup :/

It won the president's trophy last season. It got to the final the year before. It got 17 wins this season. It win's more often than it doesn't. Don't use 2 series as sample sizes of vindication - one of which they won and one of which they lost in 7 games. That's baloney. Ill take the shots this team has provided over the last 2+ seasons without the "I told you so's" BS. If they are able to get into that spot a couple more times, the outcome can easily be different

 

[Bleed Ranger Blue]

It's just watching this team, for the most part this year has been cringe worthy. Watching them make the same mistakes over and over, like 2 dmen chase a man in the corner or behind the net, only to leave someone wide open in front happens way too often. Maybe I'm expecting too much from this team, but the only thing left for this group to do is win a cup. They are just not looking capable of doing that so far. Grated we are still about 4-4.5 months from the playoffs, so they have time to correct these issues, but if they don't they will be bounced in the 1st or 2nd round.

Were people not around 15 years ago? Do we need a tutorial on what cringe worthy hockey truly is? Dear God.

 

[Pfranz94]

Were people not around 15 years ago? Do we need a tutorial on what cringe worthy hockey truly is? Dear God.

Bad choice of words on my part. I did watch the last year or 2 of the dark years, but I was only 9-10 years old. This teams goal is to win the cup, and while I truly believe they will get their play turned around before the playoffs, it hasn't been pretty so far. Especially lately. Their play has seemed to have fallen off a cliff the last 2 weeks or so.

 

[NYRFAN218]

Well there's two ways to take this.

1. AV teams always start slow, as evidenced by the last two seasons, and that it's a blessing that this team somehow built a cushion and won games in the first two months anyway. Both teams the past two seasons started to turn it on in December.

2. It's the same coach, same system, and the same core players that have been around since AV took over so there's no excuse for such horrifically poor play. They know what's expected by now and how they have to play to be successful.

It's not that the team is playing average because if they were, I don't think many people would be panicking. They're playing pretty horrible and it's being masked by great goaltending. This includes pretty much everyone on the team not named Lundqvist, Raanta, and Zuccarello. They can't transition out of their zone, they can't defend in front of the net, they can't maintain a cycle, they generate little offense when they actually do have the puck, etc. I can't even specifically put my finger on what it is either. Even Yandle last night had a tough time transitioning from his own end to move the puck up ice. Staal and Girardi get hemmed in their own zone night in and night out and make poor decisions with the puck. The forwards dump it in and fail to retrieve it. Their cycles in the zone lasts no more than 10 seconds before turning it over while the opposition takes it and spends the next minute in ours.

There's not one single problem that's causing this. It's a team wide issue that I just can't frankly explain. Maybe they just turn it on at some point but the play to this point has just been horrific. There's no other way to describe it. The Carolina Hurricanes came in last night and completely controlled the game outside of the first 10 minutes. If Carolina started an NHL goaltender last night, they take the 2 points. That flat out cannot happen after losing 3 straight before that in games where they were also the 2nd best team on the ice.

 

[Loff]

Kick his ass, Seabass.

 

[Pfranz94]

Kick his ass, Seabass.

that guy would probably be better than Staal at this point

 

[Raspewtin]

And how many of that -105 was from when they were jumping out to multi goal leads and were "scary good" like 6 games ago?

It's -26 in close situations.

Which is still bottom 5 in the NHL.

 

[Megustaelhockey]

Rubber Man is going to give me nightmares until I die.

 

[True Blue]

The offense has a **** ton of talent but couldn't cycle with a washing machine. We need another two or so guys that have a boards presence. We never replaced Hagelin and Pouliot.

If it came down to it, I'd give up a little scoring to have the puck more, like in 2013-14 when we were legitimately ****ing dominant.

Or maybe have AV tweak the system to come up with a Plan B when offense off of the rush is not give to you.

 

[True Blue]

I cant remember a first place team looking this bad

Having the best goalie in the league can cover up a lot.

 

[aufheben]

Kick his ass, Seabass.

This is what they do in practice? Explains a lot.

Seriously is there some obvious purpose to this grotesque I'm missing?

that guy would probably be better than Staal at this point

 

[Raspewtin]

Or maybe have AV tweak the system to come up with a Plan B when offense off of the rush is not give to you.

This plan B needs to be pretty damn good then, because for all of the complaining that the Rangers don't just keep it simple, that's bull. They keep it simple a lot, they've been dumping the puck more than ever this year. The difference is they keep getting beat to these loose pucks.

The Rangers were at their best in 2013-2014 because they had a player on every line that can comfortably beat defenders to loose pucks and establish cycles. Hagelin, Kreider, Dorsett, Pouliot. These players weren't just worker bees, they had speed that was amongst the top in the league. Pouliot and Dorsett had acceleration you just don't see in bottom 6 players. Pouliot's gone, Dorsett's gone, the Rangers lost their speed identity last year. But the Rangers got more skilled with Hayes and a full year of MSL, so that was a tradeoff they could afford to make. But what about now? They're even less skilled and slower than ever. MSL was hot garbage by the end of the year last year but he had 50+ points coming from efficient skill. That didn't get replaced like we hoped.

This *****ing from me is why I really want Emerson Etem to succeed. He's got great acceleration and can hound defenders, can also beat them to loose pucks. Stalberg should've been this kind of player but he likes to carry the puck and make plays, he's not and never was a "muck it up if necessary" player.

The Rangers don't need super stars, or tough guys, but they certainly need a very specific kind of player to succeed like they used to. Very fast, hard on the forecheck. Jannik Hansen, Antoine Roussel come to mind.

I'm telling you, the 2013-2014 Rangers had about as close to no weaknesses as any Ranger team in recent history.

 

[aufheben]

This plan B needs to be pretty damn good then, because for all of the complaining that the Rangers don't just keep it simple, that's bull. They keep it simple a lot, they've been dumping the puck more than ever this year. The difference is they keep getting beat to these loose pucks.

The Rangers were at their best in 2013-2014 because they had a player on every line that can comfortably beat defenders to loose pucks and establish cycles. Hagelin, Kreider, Dorsett, Pouliot. These players weren't just worker bees, they had speed that was amongst the top in the league. Pouliot and Dorsett had acceleration you just don't see in bottom 6 players. Pouliot's gone, Dorsett's gone, the Rangers lost their speed identity last year. But the Rangers got more skilled with Hayes and a full year of MSL, so that was a tradeoff they could afford to make. But what about now? They're even less skilled and slower than ever. MSL was hot garbage by the end of the year last year but he had 50+ points coming from efficient skill. That didn't get replaced like we hoped.

This *****ing from me is why I really want Emerson Etem to succeed. He's got great acceleration and can hound defenders, can also beat them to loose pucks. Stalberg should've been this kind of player but he likes to carry the puck and make plays, he's not and never was a "muck it up if necessary" player.

The Rangers don't need super stars, or tough guys, but they certainly need a very specific kind of player to succeed like they used to. Very fast, hard on the forecheck. Jannik Hansen, Antoine Roussel come to mind.

I'm telling you, the 2013-2014 Rangers had about as close to no weaknesses as any Ranger team in recent history.

Last night I watched a game against the Penguins from Feb. 2014. The differences in every area of the ice are astounding. This team is fast off the rush but that team was like a machine.

 

[Miamipuck]

Last night I watched a game against the Penguins from Feb. 2014. The differences in every area of the ice are astounding. This team is fast off the rush but that team was like a machine.

The game that stands out to me for some reason is the clinching game against Montreal. It was only a 1-0 game but I don't think there was ever a danger of Montreal scoring.