All these teams are pretty soft...from a statistical standpoint you do get a lot of goals but none of these teams are built to win. Where are the guys who are going to grind it out and the enforcers? No one to protect Gretzky, Et al.
New York Rangers - 90s dream team
- Thread starter Eye of Ra
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SingnBluesOnBroadway
Retired
AKA Chief
Registered User
- Sep 29, 2017
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Agree with this to some extent. If you are talking about building a team from the 90's, to play in the 90's, then you would need some physicality. Here's my lineup based on the production from these players when they were Rangers, not after the left or before they got here:
GRAVES, MESS, AK27 (Automatics)
LARMER, TGO, GARTNER (Larms = pro's pro. There's no way I can leave Gretzky off any list. Gartner was one of the best scorers the Rangers ever had).
OGRODNICK, YORK, VERBEEK (Some props for Ogrodnick who scored 43 goals 1 season but was stuck on the transition teams from the 80's to the Mess era. York was a great 2-way player. Verbeek was a ball of hate that could score.)
MATTEAU, MACTAVISH, KOCUR (No better clutch player than Matteau! Matteau! Matteau! On my 4th line, I'll take MacT for his checking ability and winning FO's. Kocur was one of the best heavyweights in NHL history. A necessity in this era of hockey.)
LEETCH, BEUKEBOOM (A great tandem for the era they played in.)
ZUBOV, LOWE (The best offensive Dman the Rangers ever had (?) and one of the best defensive.)
PATRICK, KARPOVTSEV (There really weren't any other 2 Den who deserved much consideration.)
RICHTER, BEEZER (Based on play starting in 90-91, it wouldn't be crazy to put Healy in Beezer's place as a backup.)
SingnBluesOnBroadway
Retired
Interesting line up.
One nit: York first season was 99-00 so I think he's more off a 2000s player. And as a replacement I would go with Nemchinov. The guy did it all and was one of the most intelligent players I've seen.
Stevens-Skrudland-Vorobiev
Goneau-Malhotra-Berg
Langdon-Janssens-Fedyk
Gilhen-Hudson-Kerr
Hull/Olczyk
Driver-Finley
Cairns-Ndur
Tamer-Schneider
Rochefort
Cloutier
Hirsch
Goneau-Malhotra-Berg
Langdon-Janssens-Fedyk
Gilhen-Hudson-Kerr
Hull/Olczyk
Driver-Finley
Cairns-Ndur
Tamer-Schneider
Rochefort
Cloutier
Hirsch
All tough guys in their own right...but not filling the role I’m thinking of. For several years Gretzky knew if someone hit him the wrong way Marty McSorley was going to pummel the guy who crossed the line. Most successful teams over the long haul need players who are not going to let other teams push around their top guys.
SingnBluesOnBroadway
Retired
Lots of people who didn't get to see Graves play probably see the 52 goal season and think thats the kind of player he was. Earlier in his career (and earlier in his Rangers career) Graves would absolutely maul people who even looked at Messier funny.
Machinehead
GoAwayTrouba
ReggieDunlop68
hey hanrahan!
GRAVES -- MESSIER -- GARTNER
TURCOTTE -- GRETZKY -- KOVALEV
OGRODNICK -- NEMCHINOV -- AMONTE
ERIXON -- FERRARO [RAY] -- SUNDSTROM
LEETCH -- PATRICK
BEUKEBOOM -- ZUBOV
NORSTROM -- LOWE
RICHTER
VANBIESBROUCK
Many great players have come and gone on the Rangers, or been traded before they had a huge impact on the team.
Some of the players on my list might not have been the best players in regard to their entire NHL careers to wear a Ranger Jersey [ex. La'Fleur], but in the 90s, these were the Rangers who made the greatest impact at each position as a blueshirt from 89-90 ---> 98-99.
TURCOTTE -- GRETZKY -- KOVALEV
OGRODNICK -- NEMCHINOV -- AMONTE
ERIXON -- FERRARO [RAY] -- SUNDSTROM
LEETCH -- PATRICK
BEUKEBOOM -- ZUBOV
NORSTROM -- LOWE
RICHTER
VANBIESBROUCK
Many great players have come and gone on the Rangers, or been traded before they had a huge impact on the team.
Some of the players on my list might not have been the best players in regard to their entire NHL careers to wear a Ranger Jersey [ex. La'Fleur], but in the 90s, these were the Rangers who made the greatest impact at each position as a blueshirt from 89-90 ---> 98-99.
Last edited:
Edge
Kris King's Ghost
I guess it depends on how you view it the question.
Is is strictly an all-star selection process? Or are you building a more realistic team to complete in a regular season schedule, with all of the challenges and pitfalls?
If it's the former, you probably just throw a bunch of talent out there and don't care as much if they're playing out of position.
If it's about building a team, and taking into account the style of player for the decade, then yeah you'd probably consider more of your grinders and physical presences.
Is is strictly an all-star selection process? Or are you building a more realistic team to complete in a regular season schedule, with all of the challenges and pitfalls?
If it's the former, you probably just throw a bunch of talent out there and don't care as much if they're playing out of position.
If it's about building a team, and taking into account the style of player for the decade, then yeah you'd probably consider more of your grinders and physical presences.
Scoring Line - Tikkanen - Gretzky - Gartner - Leetch - Beukeboom
Scoring Line 2 -Graves - Messier - Kovalev - Zubov - Lowe
Checking Line - Nemchinov - MacTavish - Larmer - Samuelsson - Norstrom
Energy/F*them up line - Domi - PJ Stock - Kocur - McSorley - Cairns
Mike Richter
JVB
Stuck Tikki with Gartner & Gretzky to protect them. A natural goal scorer in Gartner with Gretzky/Leetch feeding him would be devastating. Tikkanen/Beuks does the dirty work.
Messier/Graves you can’t break up. Mess doesn’t need anyone protecting him nor does Graves. Kovalev adds skill to the line. I debated removing Kovy but he was always one of my favorites. Zubov/Lowe solid.
Best Checking line in the league. Mac takes all important late game faceoffs. We stick this line on opposing teams top players/lines (Lemieux, Lindros, ect) Ulf gets the stars pissed off by rubbing his glove in faces (-:
4th line is a straight up we’re gonna f* you up and absolutely destroy you. Debated PJ Stock with Ian Lappierre but went with Stock. McSorley can always go ape s*it on anyone if needed. Start this line at the beginning of all Devils, Isles and Philly games. Put shades on for the fire works.
Overall I think it’s well balanced and can match up with any team from the 90’s.
Scoring Line 2 -Graves - Messier - Kovalev - Zubov - Lowe
Checking Line - Nemchinov - MacTavish - Larmer - Samuelsson - Norstrom
Energy/F*them up line - Domi - PJ Stock - Kocur - McSorley - Cairns
Mike Richter
JVB
Stuck Tikki with Gartner & Gretzky to protect them. A natural goal scorer in Gartner with Gretzky/Leetch feeding him would be devastating. Tikkanen/Beuks does the dirty work.
Messier/Graves you can’t break up. Mess doesn’t need anyone protecting him nor does Graves. Kovalev adds skill to the line. I debated removing Kovy but he was always one of my favorites. Zubov/Lowe solid.
Best Checking line in the league. Mac takes all important late game faceoffs. We stick this line on opposing teams top players/lines (Lemieux, Lindros, ect) Ulf gets the stars pissed off by rubbing his glove in faces (-:
4th line is a straight up we’re gonna f* you up and absolutely destroy you. Debated PJ Stock with Ian Lappierre but went with Stock. McSorley can always go ape s*it on anyone if needed. Start this line at the beginning of all Devils, Isles and Philly games. Put shades on for the fire works.
Overall I think it’s well balanced and can match up with any team from the 90’s.
AKA Chief
Registered User
- Sep 29, 2017
- 256
- 191
Machinehead
GoAwayTrouba
Stock played center. Langdon couldn’t play center. It was either Domi/Kocur vs Langdon
Ghost of jas
Unsatisfied
I'd take any one Turcotte, Nedved or Nemchinov over York. And, Samuelsson/Patrick would be a better 3rd pairing then Karpovtsev. (At least you remembered Jeep.)
SingnBluesOnBroadway
Retired
eco's bones
Registered User
Graves was a player who would go out and exact justice. He played with Messier mostly but if someone did some shit to another teammate he was going after them. He was a good fighter not a great one though. Beukeboom was a little bit better fighter IMO.
Speaking of that though---the entire league was wary of Kocur. Not that Kocur won every time but he was super strong and he punched to put people's lights out. He basically ended Jimmy Kyte's career, ended Larry Playfair's career, ended Brad Dalgarno's career. They were all bigger than he was. I watched this video with Craig Coxe describing a fight he had with Kocur in the AHL where he was sitting in the penalty box afterwards with his helmet in two pieces. Kocur's destruction of Link Gaetz (who was a huge monster) is instructive as well.
Langdon as well. I remember seeing Darren fighting Alex Stojanov down in Binghamton and Stojanov was another huge goon. That fight went from one end of the rink to the other to back where it started and lasted at least two minutes and Darren just wailing on this guy the whole time. Langdon wasn't as big as most of the guys he fought but he was strong and had incredible stamina and the reputation for being a second half fighter. He would wear players down and when they tired out work them over. He threw with both hands.
Domi was even smaller--really stocky. He also could switch hands and had a lot of power in his punches. There was also that bit of Avery agitating kind of vibe going with him but he was a legit heavy. \
The Rangers in the 90's had tough teams. They were much tougher than their teams from the 70's and 80's. Much of that mentality was nurtured in with the arrival of Messier, Graves, Beukeboom from the Oilers. It changed the entire culture of the team. The Rangers had never competed on that kind of level of aggression before and we owe our '94 Stanley Cup much to that.
Speaking of that though---the entire league was wary of Kocur. Not that Kocur won every time but he was super strong and he punched to put people's lights out. He basically ended Jimmy Kyte's career, ended Larry Playfair's career, ended Brad Dalgarno's career. They were all bigger than he was. I watched this video with Craig Coxe describing a fight he had with Kocur in the AHL where he was sitting in the penalty box afterwards with his helmet in two pieces. Kocur's destruction of Link Gaetz (who was a huge monster) is instructive as well.
Langdon as well. I remember seeing Darren fighting Alex Stojanov down in Binghamton and Stojanov was another huge goon. That fight went from one end of the rink to the other to back where it started and lasted at least two minutes and Darren just wailing on this guy the whole time. Langdon wasn't as big as most of the guys he fought but he was strong and had incredible stamina and the reputation for being a second half fighter. He would wear players down and when they tired out work them over. He threw with both hands.
Domi was even smaller--really stocky. He also could switch hands and had a lot of power in his punches. There was also that bit of Avery agitating kind of vibe going with him but he was a legit heavy. \
The Rangers in the 90's had tough teams. They were much tougher than their teams from the 70's and 80's. Much of that mentality was nurtured in with the arrival of Messier, Graves, Beukeboom from the Oilers. It changed the entire culture of the team. The Rangers had never competed on that kind of level of aggression before and we owe our '94 Stanley Cup much to that.
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