News Article: Nick Fotiu destroys Rangers game 7 effort

[Doctyl]

No one saying he is GREAT, YOU are the one saying he is trash and a turd.

He was a bad hockey player. Rangers fans love him because he was tough and from SI. Not surprising at all that he was a fan favorite.

 

[Bluenote13]

He was a bad hockey player. Rangers fans love him because he was tough and from SI. Not surprising at all that he was a fan favorite.

His role was absolutely relevant for the time he played, and he was one of the best at it. You'll never get it if you are holding him to 'great' as a standard for all hockey players throughout time.

 

[Doctyl]

His production was garbage compared to other enforcers of the time.

 

[Bluenote13]

His production was garbage compared to other enforcers of the time.

Again, no one said he was a great player, or the top enforcer, but he was one of the toughest guys in the league when tough guys were everywhere.


Also, name one Ranger who's stats were as good as their peers at that time?? Maybe one.

Again, his role had nothing to do with stat watching, if you watched games back then you'd know. Obviously you're too young to have watched so let some vets tell you, his play turned games around for the team, sometimes more so than the guys that were producing stats on the scoreboard.

 

[Dagoon44]

His production was garbage compared to other enforcers of the time.

are you truly saying that or just flaming ? Nick was the most feared fighter of his time watch the flyers tune down the nonsense everytime he played vs them. The years he spent in Hartford watch the Flyers play tough guy with Eddie Johnstone or Duaguy but that nonsense stops when Nick returned.

Read Dave Schultz book about fearing for his life when he lined up vs Nicky..
he production might have been on the 20 goal pace but he was the best weapon the Rangers ever employed. he kept teams honest had an amazing shot and could skate and keep up.. no one wanted nicky in his prime . Gillies Schultz ran from him and Wilson and Holmgren took beatings from him that put the flyers on the run,,

 

[Pizza]

Super hard wrist shot and uberpuck handling skills and couldnt produce any offense to save his life. I'm sure you could get guys to say Tanner Glass is great too.

Well your wrong, but then again your a bit of a legend in your own mind so I would not expect you to cop to that.

Nicky was a 4th liner. In that role he had some productive seasons on the score sheet. Even by the standards of today.

Your position that he is only loved by Rangers fans of the knuckle dragging variety is also wrong. He was universally loved...and respected I should add.

Praise coming from Craig Patrick, Don Maloney and Rod Gilbert is not praise coming from just anyone.

You have nothing here.

You are just grinding and axe and being petty and disrespectful to a guy you would never have the stones to present with your views directly.

 

[Cassano]

Nick Fotiu was the best weapon the Rangers ever employed.

Heh, may explain why the Rangers are historically the most dysfunctional original 6 team.

 

[chosen]

Oh but I did... directly in post 489 and also I give my reasons in 491..

You.still have not read them..

I re-read your posts.

The reason they didn't put in enough effort was because they weren't "gamers".

Were they gamers in Game 6?

Why do you think they went from gamers to not gamers in two nights?

Why would a team lay it all out there and then stop when on the precipice of their ultimate goal?

 

[Megustaelhockey]

Guys, please... the bickering in here is getting out of control. We can have debate and strong opinions about Fotiu's piece and about Fotiu himself, but please keep the personal stuff out.

 

[Machinehead]

Nick was one of the best at what he did. The important thing is, it's not fair for him to tell a Nash to score when Fotiu never played that role. That's like Nash saying "hey Nick, get in there and fight."

And let me tell you, people think the scorers are soft and mentally speaking, it's no easier a role than enforcing. Every team's gamelan revolves around making you not exist and its entirely your fault when the whole team doesn't score. Hell of a job to have.

 

[Son of Steinbrenner]

are you truly saying that or just flaming ? Nick was the most feared fighter of his time watch the flyers tune down the nonsense everytime he played vs them. The years he spent in Hartford watch the Flyers play tough guy with Eddie Johnstone or Duaguy but that nonsense stops when Nick returned.

Read Dave Schultz book about fearing for his life when he lined up vs Nicky..
he production might have been on the 20 goal pace but he was the best weapon the Rangers ever employed. he kept teams honest had an amazing shot and could skate and keep up.. no one wanted nicky in his prime . Gillies Schultz ran from him and Wilson and Holmgren took beatings from him that put the flyers on the run,,

The Big Whistle used to say "Fotiu handles a puck the way a cow handles a gun" which is almost the same as saying "he was the best weapon the Rangers ever employed."

Nick Fotiu was a good enforcer. He wasn't even the best fighter the Rangers ever employed. Joe Kocur (Stanley Cup Champion) with a bad hand would destroy Nick Fotiu in a fight.

If Nick Fotiu kept teams honest why can I still search Youtube and see the 1970's and 1980's Rangers fighting other teams? Teams didn't run from the Rangers in the 80's. I lived through those years, you can't pretend that really happened. It didn't happen.

It's kinda sad that hockey fights are still glorified when MANY NHL enforcers from the 70's 80's and 90's are suing the league in the concussion lawsuit. I wonder what those guys think about fighting?

Best weapon the Rangers ever employed.......

 

[offdacrossbar]

weren't we talking about effort and failure to match the tampa intensity in game 7 ?

why is nicky fotiu even part of that discussion. its not about him.

he called it like he saw it. espo did the same thing many nights on tv. very opinionated. his career and his ability to score goals didn't sway me one way or another.

attack the message not the messenger. geez

 

[The Mouth]

Dagoon is right, the Flyers FEARED Nick Fotiu. magically when Fotiu was out of the lineup they would start their typical B.S. The Rangers often put him on the bench or behind the bench in street clothes as some kind of deterrent and when things would break out even the Flyers announcers would point out Fotiu was near during melees. You can't make this stuff up lol. What a game it was !

 

[NikC]

I re-read your posts.

The reason they didn't put in enough effort was because they weren't "gamers".

Were they gamers in Game 6?

Why do you think they went from gamers to not gamers in two nights?

Why would a team lay it all out there and then stop when on the precipice of their ultimate goal?

You can keep on facetiously asking the same question over and over ..

You said earlier that this team had injuries that caused them to lose game 7 and that anyone who challenges that is an idiot.
I assume this will be your M.O going forward?

Their entire forward line up was basically intact from game 6.
The Rangers star forwards were all ready to play physically. .

This why Nick F. Is calling out their heart and will to win..
And why others are saying they didn't look like they wanted it.

I know Tampa is a VG team and they deserved to win game 7.
I don't believe from what I saw from the Rangers forwards that they wanted it enough

That and they choked. Honesty I believe they choked in the third and that goes for AV and his game plan also.

Now let me ask you...

Were the injuries to Mcd, Girardi, and Girardi enough to cause everyone to be able not to execute any offense?

Why didn't our star forwards step up when relatively healthy?

If they played ultra conservative in game 7 to mask the injuries how do you account for the bounce back game 6 after being shutout in previous manner in game 5?

 

[NikC]

weren't we talking about effort and failure to match the tampa intensity in game 7 ?

why is nicky fotiu even part of that discussion. its not about him.

he called it like he saw it. espo did the same thing many nights on tv. very opinionated. his career and his ability to score goals didn't sway me one way or another.

attack the message not the messenger. geez

I can't understand why people are struggling so much with this concert? Sure the game has passed him by in some ways but he's 63 not 103!

He played in the NHL with guys with top skill. He knew what those players needed to do.

 

[Machinehead]

Dagoon is right, the Flyers FEARED Nick Fotiu. magically when Fotiu was out of the lineup they would start their typical B.S. The Rangers often put him on the bench or behind the bench in street clothes as some kind of deterrent and when things would break out even the Flyers announcers would point out Fotiu was near during melees. You can't make this stuff up lol. What a game it was !

Now the Flyers fear us cause we're a worlds better hockey team. Kinda like that too.

 

[Edge]

So if Nick Fotiu can't give his observations, who can?

Certainly not reporters or commentators.

Certainly not anyone on here.

If it's limited to guys in the locker room and the coaching staff, doesn't that kind of eliminate the majority of discussions concerning sports? Doesn't that pretty much eliminate message boards?

If not Nick, than certainly no one on here should be saying anything about a team they watch.

 

[chosen]

You can keep on facetiously asking the same question over and over ..

You said earlier that this team had injuries that caused them to lose game 7 and that anyone who challenges that is an idiot.
I assume this will be your M.O going forward?

Their entire forward line up was basically intact from game 6.
The Rangers star forwards were all ready to play physically. .

This why Nick F. Is calling out their heart and will to win..
And why others are saying they didn't look like they wanted it.

I know Tampa is a VG team and they deserved to win game 7.
I don't believe from what I saw from the Rangers forwards that they wanted it enough

That and they choked. Honesty I believe they choked in the third and that goes for AV and his game plan also.

Now let me ask you...

Were the injuries to Mcd, Girardi, and Girardi enough to cause everyone to be able not to execute any offense?

Why didn't our star forwards step up when relatively healthy?

If they played ultra conservative in game 7 to mask the injuries how do you account for the bounce back game 6 after being shutout in previous manner in game 5?

I didn't ask anything remotely facetious in my last post to you, but please, can you finally tell me why you think they didn't put in their best effort? What was the motivation of the Rangers so that they would not try?

That is my only dispute with people making that allegation. Other than they were shutout, what tells you they were not trying as hard as they could?

You keep saying you have answered the question, but you haven't.

Tampa came up with a great strategy against the Rangers in Game 5 and repeated it in Game 7. The Rangers just didn't have an answer.

You can question how the Rangers executed, how individual players performed, how they were coached, or how smart they played. That is very fair game for discussion.

I have gone out of my way in my last two posts to you to keep it civil, per the mods, so I think it's only fair to address why you believe that the Rangers didn't give their best effort.

 

[Pizza]

The Big Whistle used to say "Fotiu handles a puck the way a cow handles a gun"

I read this and had a solid laugh.

Good God Chadwick was brilliant!! I really miss him.

This reminds me of my favorite Nick Fotiu story:

First game for Nick against the Flyers and a drops and does like a thousand push ups and runs the upper deck until he's a sweating and ripped to the max.

Then he sits outside the Flyer locker room wrapping his wrists and sticks and just stares them all down as they go into the locker room.

From that moment things were at least a little different between the two teams.

Say what you will, the guy had some stones on him.

 

[Machinehead]

So if Nick Fotiu can't give his observations, who can?

Certainly not reporters or commentators.

Certainly not anyone on here.

If it's limited to guys in the locker room and the coaching staff, doesn't that kind of eliminate the majority of discussions concerning sports? Doesn't that pretty much eliminate message boards?

If not Nick, than certainly no one on here should be saying anything about a team they watch.

As a player I think it's disrespectful to another player, especially one effectively on the same team.

It's not often players, or former players, openly criticize each other.

 

[Edge]

As a player I think it's disrespectful to another player, especially one effectively on the same team.

It's not often players, or former players, openly criticize each other.

Fair enough. But then the disagreement is about how he said it, not whether he's qualified to say it, which is a pretty clear distinction.

One might not like how he expressed opinion, or even agree with what he said, but to suggest he has no place to express that opinion is misguided.

He was interviewed, he gave his honest opinion. Could he have said it more politically correct? Almost certainly.

But I don't think that's really the issue here. Some people disagree with what he said, so they're feeling the need to try and discredit him. Had he said something they agreed with, I doubt they use that approach. And I say that with the full understanding that if he said remarks to the opposite effect, an entirely different group of people would be trying to discredit him.

At the end of the day I feel one can agree or disagree with Fotiu's comments. But that has little to do with his qualifications to make them. Getting back to my original comment, if he can't make comments than realistically no one outside the locker room can. And that pretty much negates any kind of conversation involving the team from any of us. It'd be a pretty boring message board if that were the case.

 

[Dagoon44]

The Big Whistle used to say "Fotiu handles a puck the way a cow handles a gun" which is almost the same as saying "he was the best weapon the Rangers ever employed."

Nick Fotiu was a good enforcer. He wasn't even the best fighter the Rangers ever employed. Joe Kocur (Stanley Cup Champion) with a bad hand would destroy Nick Fotiu in a fight.

If Nick Fotiu kept teams honest why can I still search Youtube and see the 1970's and 1980's Rangers fighting other teams? Teams didn't run from the Rangers in the 80's. I lived through those years, you can't pretend that really happened. It didn't happen.

It's kinda sad that hockey fights are still glorified when MANY NHL enforcers from the 70's 80's and 90's are suing the league in the concussion lawsuit. I wonder what those guys think about fighting?

Best weapon the Rangers ever employed.......

i will beg to differ with every fighting point you make. Joey couldn't carry nick jock. As a matter of fact Kocur was barley a 500 fighter as a Ranger. Nick Barry Beck Hospadar EJ Dore watch the Kings brawl that team put the feat of God in other teams come on man be real. Nick Fotiu in many circles is the best fighter of all time. i am not saying that but is the view of him

 

[chosen]

i will beg to differ with every fighting point you make. Joey couldn't carry nick jock. As a matter of fact Kocur was barley a 500 fighter as a Ranger. Nick Barry Beck Hospadar EJ Dore watch the Kings brawl that team put the feat of God in other teams come on man be real. Nick Fotiu in many circles is the best fighter of all time. i am not saying that but is the view of him

I know it's a long time ago, but Kurtenbach belongs in any conversation of the best Rangers fighters. Vickers, too. One of the few with more than one, one-punch knockout.

 

[Pizza]

I know it's a long time ago, but Kurtenbach belongs in any conversation of the best Rangers fighters. Vickers, too. One of the few with more than one, one-punch knockout.

These are the kind of players I would like to see the Rangers Aquire/Develop that bring the grit.

 

[Open Mind]

He was a bad hockey player. Rangers fans love him because he was tough and from SI. Not surprising at all that he was a fan favorite.

This sentiment, which you keep repeating, has NOTHING to do with Fotiu's or anyone else's assessment of the team's effort that game. Distraction tactics like this, designed to steer the conversation away from the main point by moving it to an unrelated topic, are pretty sad. What will folks come up with to undermine AV's assessment that the effort wasn't there in game 7? Are folks going to now chime in with, who is AV to give an opinion, he was a bad hockey player?

"On that 7th game, we had... I don't want to say sub-par performances, but we didn't have the type of performances that permit you to win that game from our group." -NYR Coach, Alain Vigneault

Link: http://www.blueshirtsunited.com/video/vigneault-addresses-media-breakup-day