News Article: Nick Fotiu destroys Rangers game 7 effort

[East Coast Bias]

There's nothing anybody in the NHL has been able to do to stop that line since October.

They might be the best line in the league since Jagr-Nylander-Straka.

I know +/- is a highly flawed stat, but these are the numbers for TB's "2nd" line this season (both regular & playoffs):

Johnson +41
Kucherov +48
Palat +38

That is absolutely insane.

 

[East Coast Bias]

Fotiu's analysis was superficial, and to be fair he's not paid to break down x's and o's for a newspaper, nor are the average readers going to relate to anything beyond "we didn't want it!" This isn't some existential event that no one can explain, many people (posters, analysts, etc) have pointed out plenty of reasons they lost the series, mainly:

a) inability of the defense to move the puck, especially in our zone which allowed a quick forechecking team to pin us. Tampa was the absolute worst matchup in this sense. We had major injuries at the blueline, and also have 3 Dmen that can't play the puck. At all.

b) a complete lack of depth scoring. If you take the top 6 most dangerous forwards combing the TB-NYR series, Tampa has 4 possibly 5 of the top 6. The same with Chicago. It's why we beat Washington and Pitt, and it was flipped on us vs TB. Part of this was caused by MSL sucking, part by Zucc being hurt, part by Fast being thrust into an offensive role, and part by having a 4th line that was useless. Throw in that Nash/Brassard line that was very streaky, and it was literally 6 goals or 0.

It was also pretty well reported that Tampa was suffering a bout of the flu throughout the team, which could explain how they completely imploded late in game 6 (just out of gas).

Everybody spent all season fighting the analytics crowd who cautioned the numbers weren't matching the results by saying they didn't care, this team fights, this team finds a way. Then they don't find a way, and suddenly they're weak and soft? Come on. You can't have it both ways.

 

[Baby Punisher]

Boomer said as much on his show last week... effort wasn't there. Everyone I spoke to who watched the game said the same thing... they didn't look like they wanted it.

Everyone who sees it this way is just stupid huh?

It looked to me like everyone was waiting for someone else to score. When it came time for an individual effort no one stepped up when it mattered most.

 

[Raspewtin]

Fotiu's analysis was superficial, and to be fair he's not paid to break down x's and o's for a newspaper, nor are the average readers going to relate to anything beyond "we didn't want it!" This isn't some existential event that no one can explain, many people (posters, analysts, etc) have pointed out plenty of reasons they lost the series, mainly:

a) inability of the defense to move the puck, especially in our zone which allowed a quick forechecking team to pin us. Tampa was the absolute worst matchup in this sense. We had major injuries at the blueline, and also have 3 Dmen that can't play the puck. At all.

b) a complete lack of depth scoring. If you take the top 6 most dangerous forwards combing the TB-NYR series, Tampa has 4 possibly 5 of the top 6. The same with Chicago. It's why we beat Washington and Pitt, and it was flipped on us vs TB. Part of this was caused by MSL sucking, part by Zucc being hurt, part by Fast being thrust into an offensive role, and part by having a 4th line that was useless. Throw in that Nash/Brassard line that was very streaky, and it was literally 6 goals or 0.

It was also pretty well reported that Tampa was suffering a bout of the flu throughout the team, which could explain how they completely imploded late in game 6 (just out of gas).

Everybody spent all season fighting the analytics crowd who cautioned the numbers weren't matching the results by saying they didn't care, this team fights, this team finds a way. Then they don't find a way, and suddenly they're weak and soft? Come on. You can't have it both ways.

****ing spot on

 

[Machinehead]

Fotiu isn't a paid X's and O's guy, and it's also worth noting that he's a fan, and was pissed. That I understand.

 

[haveandare]

Fotiu's analysis was superficial, and to be fair he's not paid to break down x's and o's for a newspaper, nor are the average readers going to relate to anything beyond "we didn't want it!" This isn't some existential event that no one can explain, many people (posters, analysts, etc) have pointed out plenty of reasons they lost the series, mainly:

a) inability of the defense to move the puck, especially in our zone which allowed a quick forechecking team to pin us. Tampa was the absolute worst matchup in this sense. We had major injuries at the blueline, and also have 3 Dmen that can't play the puck. At all.

b) a complete lack of depth scoring. If you take the top 6 most dangerous forwards combing the TB-NYR series, Tampa has 4 possibly 5 of the top 6. The same with Chicago. It's why we beat Washington and Pitt, and it was flipped on us vs TB. Part of this was caused by MSL sucking, part by Zucc being hurt, part by Fast being thrust into an offensive role, and part by having a 4th line that was useless. Throw in that Nash/Brassard line that was very streaky, and it was literally 6 goals or 0.

It was also pretty well reported that Tampa was suffering a bout of the flu throughout the team, which could explain how they completely imploded late in game 6 (just out of gas).

Everybody spent all season fighting the analytics crowd who cautioned the numbers weren't matching the results by saying they didn't care, this team fights, this team finds a way. Then they don't find a way, and suddenly they're weak and soft? Come on. You can't have it both ways.

They did fight and did find a way, about 100 times.

I agree with the analytics in as much as I agree with your first point that the D got pinned a lot because they weren't moving the puck well. And I do think we need to move a defense only guy and replace him with a two way defender, but I think you're selling the injuries short in a huge way. They had 1 or 2 healthy NHL dmen in that game. That's way more of an issue than a corps that isn't great moving the puck but somehow did very well for themselves over an entire regular season and 2 playoff series.

 

[KingDeathMetal]

Everybody spent all season fighting the analytics crowd who cautioned the numbers weren't matching the results by saying they didn't care, this team fights, this team finds a way. Then they don't find a way, and suddenly they're weak and soft? Come on. You can't have it both ways.

Yeah, but according to the analytics crowd, we shouldn't have even been in Game 7 of the ECF, three goals away from the SCF with three injured defensemen and our third or fourth best forward out. Two of our four losses were possession victories for us, and in our last two wins we were atrocious on attempts for/against. We beat two superior reg season possession teams to get to the ECF, too.

Tampa can do everything we do well, even better. Our strength all year was using our speed to force turnovers in the neutral zone and score on the odd-man rush. And Tampa hammered us with the same style, only faster and with more skilled forwards.

 

[aufheben]

Yeah, but according to the analytics crowd, we shouldn't have even been in Game 7 of the ECF, three goals away from the SCF with three injured defensemen and our third or fourth best forward out. Two of our four losses were possession victories for us, and in our last two wins we were atrocious on attempts for/against. We beat two superior reg season possession teams to get to the ECF, too.

Tampa can do everything we do well, even better. Our strength all year was using our speed to force turnovers in the neutral zone and score on the odd-man rush. And Tampa hammered us with the same style, only faster and with more skilled forwards.

Hank also had Godly numbers leading up to the ECF.

 

[chosen]

ok, lead by example. fair enough?

Many may not like what Fotiu's said, but he hit a nerve apparently. I'm not his apologist. Too many times posters are quick to create a caricature of what peoples viewpoints are here and start attacking anyone who disagrees with them.

Rangers were wildy inconsistent in these playoffs. Why does a team that is capable of playing hard enough to win one night, not bring the same effort the following night?

You say no two games are alike. I understand that. Tampa played the trap and the rangers didn't challenge enough. I don't take anything away from Tampa, but I don't think the Rangers did enough to win game 7. i'm not sayiung that they should have won if they just merely played hard, i'm saying I didn't see them attempt to do any of the things that made them successful previously against this Tampa team.

Name one team that hasn't been wildly inconsistent in the playoffs.

 

[Larrybiv]

The Rangers and lightning, respectively, were the two best transition teams in the NHL all season. I remember hearing a stat that they were #1 and #2 respectively in scoring goals off of the rush. This was evidenced by them also being #1 and #2 in Sh% almost the entire season.

And, as you can see in these charts, the Lightning were the much better transition team in this series getting way more shots/chances off of the rush. Rush events are bolded and italicized. You will see a greater density of them for TB. Less turned into goals because of a guy named Henrik Lundqvist.

Somehow, after being shutout 2 games and scoring only 4 goals at home, we outscored tb at even strength 13 to 12. Just scored too many in some games and none in others.

Also, I wonder how many times ben bishop allowed tb to break out of the zone and score a goal the other end. That is the only thing in the universe skillwise he has over Lundy. No one's ability to stop the johnson line also played a huge role...they're zone entry with possession was probably close to 90% (srs). They were able to just walk into the zone everytime it seemed. Which is another reason for they're dominance in transition.

In a nutshell, it was the defenses "inability" to stand up at the blue line and NOT allow entry, therefore turning defense into offense. Yes, it seemed they were more wary of their speed and skill combined with the injuries that didn't allow them to play their best defensive game. Also those "pucks in tbe corners, in which they "outhustled" us" wouldve been different if no jnjuries, right? Anyone else see that? Understandable considering.

 

[RangerFan23]

Name one team that hasn't been wildly inconsistent in the playoffs.

The 2012 Los Angeles Kings

 

[Larrybiv]

A sidenote. Exactly how many ECF's /SCF's has Nicky been a part of? He's a fan, just like us. I get it. But, he probably shouldn't be involved to this extent......UNLESS, he's just trying to motivate them to be even better than they "as individuals" are. Yes, Nash and others needed to be better in game 7. Sorry, NO excuses.

 

[Doctyl]

A sidenote. Exactly how many ECF's /SCF's has Nicky been a part of? He's a fan, just like us. I get it. But, he probably shouldn't be involved to this extent......UNLESS, he's just trying to motivate them to be even better than they "as individuals" are. Yes, Nash and others needed to be better in game 7. Sorry, NO excuses.

That turd never scored a playoff goal in his career. One armed playoff Nash would be a better hockey player that Fotiu ever was.

 

[NikC]

That turd never scored a playoff goal in his career. One armed playoff Nash would be a better hockey player that Fotiu ever was.

Even a busted clock is right twice a day....

 

[NikC]

Name one team that hasn't been wildly inconsistent in the playoffs.

These playoff? Rangers don't have answers why they flat out stunk at home despite the effort made to secure home ice.
Lundqvist doesn't know...

Do you know?

 

[Cruxial]

Nick's job was never to score goals, move the puck out of the defensive zone, or stand up opposing forwards at the blue line. His job was to get in the opponents' faces, fight, defend his teammates, intimidate, hit, hustle, and ensure that his teammates never rolled over.

He did each of these with aplomb. He is supremely qualified to comment upon these aspects of the game. He darn near willed himself to the NHL, specifically the Rangers. He has every right to criticize the lack of heart they showed in Game 7.

To criticize Fotiu's comments on the basis of him having never led the Rangers to the Cup is nonsense. His job was to support the top players as they led the way. He always supported them 100%, the failures of the Rangers of that era are certainly not on Nicky's shoulders.

 

[East Coast Bias]

These playoff? Rangers don't have answers why they flat out stunk at home despite the effort made to secure home ice.
Lundqvist doesn't know...

Do you know?

Again, many people on here and outside have covered this extensively.

1) Defense that got pinned because it's a slow unit that doesn't move the puck well
2) Depth scoring
3) Injuries (which absolutely compounded the above reasons)

Someone who immediately jumps to saying the Rangers didn't show up for game 7 doesn't really want to know or analyze the why. If you choose to ignore and not even consider strategic reasons, going straight to the Rangers being weak and not wanting it, that's your prerogative.

 

[chosen]

These playoff? Rangers don't have answers why they flat out stunk at home despite the effort made to secure home ice.
Lundqvist doesn't know...

Do you know?

If you named a consistent team, I didn't see it.

 

[chosen]

The 2012 Los Angeles Kings

I meant this season, but that Kings team was consistent. Anyone this season?

Tampa and Chicago in the finals and certainly neither of them.

Perhaps that Kings team was better than this Rangers team.

 

[NikC]

Again, many people on here and outside have covered this extensively.

1) Defense that got pinned because it's a slow unit that doesn't move the puck well
2) Depth scoring
3) Injuries (which absolutely compounded the above reasons)

Someone who immediately jumps to saying the Rangers didn't show up for game 7 doesn't really want to know or analyze the why. If you choose to ignore and not even consider strategic reasons, going straight to the Rangers being weak and not wanting it, that's your prerogative.

It's been covered extensively.. huh? Thx.
I'm well aware of this roster, it's strengths and limitations.
I'm not saying they had no bearing on game 7 loss, but when teams are this close in talent, it comes down to execution.

I didn't see the Rangers put themselves in a position to execute anything notably in game 7.

Save your condescending BS.

 

[RangerFan23]

I meant this season, but that Kings team was consistent. Anyone this season?

Tampa and Chicago in the finals and certainly neither of them.

Perhaps that Kings team was better than this Rangers team.

Winnipeg was consistent...................ly bad

 

[haveandare]

It's not condescending. You're trolling this thread with tough guy talk, asking about reasons and answers that you don't want to hear.

Maybe the talent level isn't as close as you think is.

Yup. It really, really wasn't. In perfect health, I think it's very close, but with McD barely skating, Staal on a broken ankle, G with some knee injury, and being down a top 6 forward, the talent level wasn't close.

Take away Kucherov, hobble Hedman and Stralman, and then maybe it's close.

 

[East Coast Bias]

Yup. It really, really wasn't. In perfect health, I think it's very close, but with McD barely skating, Staal on a broken ankle, G with some knee injury, and being down a top 6 forward, the talent level wasn't close.

Take away Kucherov, hobble Hedman and Stralman, and then maybe it's close.

That's where I was going.

If we were having this thread after a loss to the Caps, I would absolutely understand. But again, we're talking about a team that probably has 6 of the top 8 forwards on the 2 teams combined.

and although no one wants to hear it, their top D pair is better than ours too.

 

[haveandare]

That's where I was going.

If we were having this thread after a loss to the Caps, I would absolutely understand. But again, we're talking about a team that probably has 6 of the top 8 forwards on the 2 teams combined.

and although no one wants to hear it, their top D pair is better than ours too.

I think our D is better overall for sure despite their top pairing being better, but again, that's predicated on everyone being healthy, which we didn't get to see really.

Agreed about the team strengths though. The matchup was way too close for one team to be seriously injured and pull off a win through willpower or heart or grit or any other cliche.

 

[Machinehead]

Winnipeg was consistent...................ly bad

Even Winnipeg lead every game.