Post-Game Talk: Rangers @ Flyers: Prince Cam

Ola

Registered User
Apr 10, 2004
34,601
11,603
Sweden
And lets be honest here, we are not close right now. This is not good at all.

Philly was really not good today, and sure that short-hander is a biatch to give up, but we are extremely hesitent and unsure of ourselves when we are heading up ice. In those key moments where we go out and pressure a player, wins a puck and sets of in the other direction.

I think we make good plays every now and then, plays we haven't seen in a long time. But this is not in an area where like a forward goes in and challenge a D and you more or less only got "upside" coming out of the play. You need to execute in these areas play after play, shift after shift, game in and game out. Month in and month out.

If you are slapping a percentage on successful exectued breakouts, we are probably hitting around 60 - 75 %. You do the same on the Islanders or New Jersey (I choose these as examples because nobody can claim that they got a ton of talent that we don't), you end up at around 90 %.

People are talking about Torts in this thread, under him we were probably hitting at around 98 %, but our intention was never to do anything but to get the puck out of our end and up ice. That really put us on back against better teams and we looked like utter crap for really long stretches because we got zero quality from it, but you avoid the worst misstakes.

If we ever are going to contending team in this league, we need to implement a transition game that gives us some kind of quality. Chicago, Boston, all teams that are really good in this league are superb in these areas. Its ridiculous to expect to be able to live without in the NHL 2013. But I am really puzzled right now of how we will look in the transformation process, because this -- what we are seing right now -- will not win us many hockey games. This is not good at all.
 

Saitama

HFBoards Sponsor
Sponsor
Oct 20, 2010
8,512
6,189
Winnipeg
Well, I started my night off by watching my Winnipeg Blue Bombers lose, then I watched the Jets lose and capped the night off with a Rangers loss. I'm just happy my Raiders don't lose until Sunday and that my Blue Jays are done losing for this year. :cry:
 

Clown Fiesta

Registered User
Aug 15, 2005
14,100
474
Montana
The few games we've had the horses and their heads weren't up their ***** we've seen a good transition IMO. LA is the clear indication of how AV wants this team to play, the problem is we lack the talent to do that consistently unless all the stars align perfectly at the exact moment a cow jumps over the moon.

I don't see as many mental lapses lately, what I see is a bunch of guys that aren't skilled enough to do what is being asked of them or that lack the desire to do it. Trade the guys who don't want to play hard and try get some talent in this lineup. Either through creative trades or a brutal year and a top 5 pick.
 

Glennsoe

Horndog
Jan 7, 2011
5,270
136
Watching the replay now, wow are we bad or what..

Where's the energy?the drive?dedication?

Kreider sure gets knocked of the puck a lot..

A lot of our guys have trouble staying on theire feet.

I still want Simmonds on this team..
 

Ola

Registered User
Apr 10, 2004
34,601
11,603
Sweden
The few games we've had the horses and their heads weren't up their ***** we've seen a good transition IMO. LA is the clear indication of how AV wants this team to play, the problem is we lack the talent to do that consistently unless all the stars align perfectly at the exact moment a cow jumps over the moon.

I don't see as many mental lapses lately, what I see is a bunch of guys that aren't skilled enough to do what is being asked of them or that lack the desire to do it. Trade the guys who don't want to play hard and try get some talent in this lineup. Either through creative trades or a brutal year and a top 5 pick.

Yeah, but teams that play us don't "smell" blood, they are like water-boarded in blood.

Its a mix of (i) absence of proper drilling the last 3.5 years, (ii) real low confidence, and (iii) lack of talent.

To a big extent, I think we have some ability if we could give it time. But, when you end up in a mess like we have, there is no guarantee that it will turn around after 5 games. Or 10 games. Or 25 games. You know.
 

Ola

Registered User
Apr 10, 2004
34,601
11,603
Sweden
I have a hard time pointing at AV and his staff and calling them out for misstakes they make. The team isn't executing in fundamental areas, and you never really get to see more than that failure. But one thing irks me. STOP ROLLING 6 D's. None of our Ds are getting the job done. We looked better when MDZ had the flu, well McD and Staal played almost 49 minutes combined. Falk only 8 minutes. These guys are not comfortable on the ice. But if you play that much, its easier. You hit the ice right after you comes of it. The comfort comes with the minutes. Torts did it alot and it worked. Strålmans game-log from the last 2 seasons is a great example of that. 26 minutes one night, good stats on paper atleast than 11 minutes the next game (no minus). When our game wasn't working he often cut the blueline to four guys plus some relief minutes for the bottom two, not really based on play but just because you get alot more comfort and continuity on the ice with 4 guys playing alot.
 

ajdj10

Registered User
Feb 14, 2012
2,711
2,588
Neverland
I have a hard time pointing at AV and his staff and calling them out for misstakes they make. The team isn't executing in fundamental areas, and you never really get to see more than that failure. .

Is it normal for a new coach in the NHL to only start practicing with his team when preseason starts. So therefore like a week or two before the real season starts?
Because that's what happened with us right?
Seems a little odd that with a new coach and all that that's the only preparation they had before the season proper.
 

jniklast

HFBoards Sponsor
Sponsor
Sep 28, 2007
6,196
268
But didn't we move Gaborik at $7.5 million for Brassard at $3.2 million, Dorsett at $1.63 million, and John Moore at $840k... a total of $5.67 million.

We saved $1.8 million in that exchange. Did we really need to trade him? FOR $1.8 MILLION? If we saved $5-6 million in the deal I would agree with you, but at the end of the day we moved a legitimate 1st line sniper who is back to playing the way we would expect him to (people wanted to butcher him for having one bad year), for a 3rd liner, 4th liner, and a hopeful talent in Moore. That's not exactly what I would call a good move.

This team would certainly be better with Gaborik in place of Brassard and Dorsett. Moore is the only wild card in the trade.

But we pay $1.8 million less on three players instead of one. If we kept Gaborik, we would need another two players, so even if both only get league minimum, we are saving at least $2.9 million. And yes, that number is essential, look at our cap situation.
 

Kokoschka

Registered User
May 13, 2012
3,166
50
The one last hope I have for this team, is that there could be a kind of trickling-down effect when Nash, Callahan and Hagelin come back. Lesser quality of defensemen playing against our 2nd and 3rd lines. Grasping at straws here, but that's all I've left.
 

JHS

Registered User
Oct 11, 2013
1,690
1,288
Apparently part of every pre-game strategy session involves a discussion about how the Rangers can take penalties right at the start of the game to kill any momentum we may even possibly have at the start. Why do we have to watch Brian Bolye anymore...

I actually think Mason may have nodded off on the Richards goal. Only excuse I could think of for why we scored. I'm not sure the rangers generated 5 scoring chances the entire game.

But you know what, at least the players are happy and don't have the evil Torts to answer to....
 

Ola

Registered User
Apr 10, 2004
34,601
11,603
Sweden
Is it normal for a new coach in the NHL to only start practicing with his team when preseason starts. So therefore like a week or two before the real season starts?
Because that's what happened with us right?
Seems a little odd that with a new coach and all that that's the only preparation they had before the season proper.

You can't start before that, its in the CBA.

I mean here in Europe its not unusal that a team gives its players 2-3 weeks off from the end of one season to the start of the other. Like a team meeting and then a week of right after the season. Then you start training again. 2-3 weeks of mid-sumer, than back to training until the seasons starts.

Sure, a big part of that training is off-ice traing that can be carried out individually (if the player has enough discipline). But I recon that the on-ice preparation is around 2-3x as long too...
 

Ola

Registered User
Apr 10, 2004
34,601
11,603
Sweden
The one last hope I have for this team, is that there could be a kind of trickling-down effect when Nash, Callahan and Hagelin come back. Lesser quality of defensemen playing against our 2nd and 3rd lines. Grasping at straws here, but that's all I've left.

BUT WHEN WILL THEY BE BACK? Mid November???

Oooohhh boy. I don't like the sound of this... ;)
 

RangerBoy

Dolan sucks!!!
Mar 3, 2002
44,980
21,408
New York
www.youtube.com
The team stinks. 3 of the top 5/6/7 forwards on the teams are out. Hagelin could be back by Tuesday. He is eligible to return on Tuesday. The Rangers haven't had many lost years since the lockout.
 

HatTrick Swayze

Just Be Nice
Jun 16, 2006
17,001
10,186
Chicago
One excuse after another in here. There is zero excuse to look this bad. Zero. It's pathetic. The worst teams in this league still find a way to show up, work hard and score some goals. How many times have we seen garbage teams take it to the Rangers?

And I am already counting down the days until Benoit Pouliot is off this team. What a lazy pos.
 

Championship*

Guest
There is nothing to be optimistic about. Zero. If you find something to be optimistic about you are flat out lying to yourself.
 

broadwayblue

Registered User
Mar 4, 2004
20,072
1,845
NYC
Don't worry, AV is going to start learning about the players soon. Seriously, I found it perplexing that he took such a casual start to his tenure as head coach.
 

Vickers8

Guest
Positives:

Talbot played an excellent game
Girardi was all over the place in the d zone
Kreider plays so much better when he plays physical
Dorsett for standing up for McD
Mashinter for hitting Simmons twice on the button
Dom Moore played well
 

Gardner McKay

RIP, Jimmy.
Jun 27, 2007
25,851
14,968
SoutheastOfDisorder
I'm with you offdacrossar... Being a ranger, giant, and mets fan right now really blows. Thank goodness I'm not a jets fan!

Right... because we are 4-3 and the Giants are 1-6? :laugh:

Frankly I see our problem as multiple problems.

When will every one be healthy?

By the time every one is healthy will we have fallen that far out of the race?

When this team is healthy is it even a team that can compete in future years?
 

Rangers ftw

Registered User
May 8, 2007
2,387
435
I start to give up on MDZ, I know he's still young etc, but it just seems to me that he haven't got the real touch. While Kreider definitely wasn't worse than anyone, I'm still not impressed by his game. He looses the puck quite easily and do not play physical enough even though he shows glimpses of what he's capable of. I like that AV put him in front of the crease on the PP, it might thicken his skin a bit.

Defence was good for most of the game but the offence was completely missing...4th line did a good job. Well that's about it.
 

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad