Post-Game Talk: SCQ #3 - 8/4/20 | hurricanes @ RANGERS

[leetch99]

It's simply unacceptable to have been this unprepared for a playoff series.

I voted for Smith and Shesty...no way was I voting for useless Kreider . This performing every now and then is not worth a F*** !!! Worse mistake we ever made was resigning him to a long term anchor deal . Anyways...hard to undo what has been done and beating a dead horse ...he is what he is....an enigma !!! For what he gives back versus his ice time and salary....it is not enough for a guy with his size and speed .....a real shame . He likely will be a third liner in 3 years time with any luck. Not sure even if a coaching change can motivate him to play to his size and ability . Full marks to the Canes...fun team to watch and that first line was awesome . Skjei was Bobby Orr-like ....he never showed that here outside a couple of games . So...do we blame Quinn for them being unprepared to play or was it just a team effort ?. Maybe they should entertain the thought of Gallant behind the bench ? Let's hope for #1 OA...and a strong draft after that pick. Have a good rest of the Summer folks and stay safe . Onward to the golf course .......

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Not coming here to gloat/trash talk or troll as that's not my cup of tea these days. Just wanted to reflect how the Rangers this year remind me a lot of Carolina last year, with a few notable exceptions.

1) Going into last season, most had low expectations for Carolina. Same was true for NYR this season. Carolina struggled early but came on strong in the 2nd half last year, similar to NYR this year.
2) Going into last season, Carolina had one of the youngest teams in the league and the youngest (I think) team in the playoffs, same for NYR this season.
3) Carolina had 2 highly skilled forwards (Aho and Teravainen) and NYR has 2 ( Zib and Panarin).
4) Carolina had a newly drafted #2 OA (Svech), NYR has a newly drafted #2 OA (Kakko)
5) Carolina had some decent, but not great top 6 forwards (Staal, Nino-mid season, Williams), NYR is similar with Kreider, Buch, and Strome.
6) Carolina didn't have that much depth at forward (in fact, many picked them as the worst forward group in a pre-season poll) and NYR doesn't have a lot of depth right now either. They had Wallmark (who is a scratch in Florida right now) as a 3C and McKegg as a 4C. Not too dissimilar to what NYR has now at 3C and same guy at 4C.
7) Canes did have a couple of more known quantities like Martinook (who was injured in the playoffs), McGinn, and Ferland (who was injured/playing injured/missed a lot of the playoffs), but were relying a lot on rookies, AHLrs and journeymen Foegele, Maenalanen, Phil Di Guiseppe (21 games), Clark Bishop (20 games), Victor Rask (26 games), as well as guys like Patrick Brown in the playoffs. Their bottom 6 wasn't thought of as "deep" or "good" last year at all. While it was probably slightly better than NYR's this year, it wasn't substantial IMO.

The differences were clearly blue line, where Carolina was far superior, and Goaltending, where NYR is far superior.

The other difference might be coaching/leadership? I hate to put much stock in intangible stuff and I don't know much about the NYR coaching staff, but Brind'Amour seems to have been able to get everyone to buy into playing the same way. Canes weren't (and still aren't) the most talented team, but they outwork most teams and that's probably due to Brind'Amour.

Canes beat the Caps last year, not because they were better or more skilled, it's because they outworked the Caps, who likely were suffering from some cup hangover.
Canes beat the Isles because although the Isles worked hard and had a good coach also, the Canes could match their work ethic and the Isles were less skilled than Carolina overall.
Canes got their ass handed to them against Boston because Boston was more skilled and Boston works hard. That's a tough matchup for a team like Carolina.

Like I said, I don't know enough about your coach, but I see a lot of similarities between where the teams, particularly at forward. If the NYR can figure out the blue-line, I think they are going to be a very dangerous team.

 

[Leetch3]

It would be like taking Eichel over McDavid.

no it wouldn't. they both play center so taking the lesser player would make no sense. a center vs a winger is a completely different argument depending on how close you think the gap is

 

[CraigsList]

Heads up high. Your youth gained some valuable playoff experience, and Shesterkin looks like he is going to be a force.

Use this next year to just play without any expectations, get through that Shattenkirk buyout dead space, play out Lundqvist’s contract (don’t think a buyout is worth it with only a year left), and then use that cap space on effective players.

 

[The S5]

Its just. Its not over the top. People were blaming the series on him. People were saying we would have swept if Igor started the series. It was embarassing. People were literally rooting against him.

Meanwhile, Igor looked worse than him against the Islanders [or in the very least not any better], and he actually posted a better SV% [albeit insignificant the difference] than Igor against the Hurricanes.

People wanted a scape goat. They wanted to believe that this team couldn't compete this series because "Henrik is 38. He can't play at the NHL level any more." No one wanted to acknowledge that this team has huge issues, far bigger than goaltending, so they hung onto the notion that Igor could be the savior.

It was embarassing for our fan base, as divided as they are, actively rooted against a player like Lundqvist.

What I would really like to learn is what was wrong with Igor for games 1 and 2? Igor was the #1 going in. I don't think there was any debate. Hank got the start because it was reported that Igor wasn't ready to go. Would Igor have been the better choice? I think that he was given him being healthy.

The whole Hank situation is silly. Yes, he is 38 and he isn't the player he once was. In fact, he hasn't been that player for years. It's time to move on with the rebuild and Hank being relieved is part of that rebuild.

Hank's legacy isn't tarnished. It is one of him being a HOF goaltender. It is one of him never reaching the pinnacle. Why is certainly up for a lifetime of debate, but he will not be the first to retire without reaching the peak and he won't be the last.

It's time for a new era for the NYR's. As a fan, that brings new hope, hope that was unfulfilled by the last era. As a fan, what I am most interested in is Championships. I hope we can get over whatever it is that keeps the organization from winning Cups. Maybe this new group will get it done. We can only hope.

 

[WojtekWolski86]

Quinn openly said after game 1 Fast is one of our best players, so NBC saying this isn't a stretch at all

Hes a glue guy no doubt. But we didnt lose a Scheiffle or Laine caliber player. We had 18 skaters and 16 of them were playing like cow turd at any given time. That's not a winning formula in the AHL let alone the playoffs.

 

[Kovalev27]

It would be like taking Eichel over McDavid.

Except that Mcdavid is a generational center which I obviously wouldn’t pass on if I want the best center

 

[Shesterkybomb]

Hes a glue guy no doubt. But we didnt lose a Scheiffle or Laine caliber player. We had 18 skaters and 16 of them were playing like cow turd at any given time. That's not a winning formula in the AHL let alone the playoffs.

I think the issue is that we already had Lemieux out and our depth stinks. Losing anyone off this roster meant AHL caliber players replaced them. Fast wouldnt change the series but he gave balance to our lineup which would have helped. Carolina is a better team , we had no margin for error, every little misstep hurt us ie Shesterkin hurt, Lemieux suspension, Fast injury, our depth isn't where Carolina's is yet.

 

[Tawnos]

Alright I slept on this and got over being personally offended that this is the culmination of 4 months of waiting and nostalgia build-up so here goes:

- Like quite a few of us........I felt we had quite a long time to let hype and good feelings build about this team between the March shutdown and now. This season was just packed with highlights and exceptional seasons from several players. Even some of the losses were kinda incredible (thinking of the almost comeback against Edmonton on NYE). It's easy to forget that this team was not a playoff team pretty consistently all year until February.

- Having said that, I am struggling to wrangle with the fact that we had 5-6 career years out of our players that we are likely not going to get repetitions of and we were still pretty bad this year and got bludgeoned in the playoffs against an (admittedly excellent) opponent. We are very likely not getting a better or same year from Panarin, Zibanejad, or Strome. I think Tony is very capable of the numbers he put up but it remains to be seen. Fox had one of the greatest rookie years from a Ranger I've seen in a long time. Dear god do I hope he can repeat it, cause we may need him to. We even had Shesterkin come in and win 10 games and lose 2 making it look easy. I'm a little disturbed at the several transcendent performances that resulted in us still being a mediocre to bad team especially considering we cannot reasonably expect a repeat of at least 3 of them.

- The Rangers were laughed off the ice in every capacity. Offensively. Defensively. Powerplay. Penalty Kill. I know Carolina's a good team, I have known they're a good, battle tested, ferocious forechecking group that you can basically only beat if they f*** up. I don't think any of this is a reasonable excuse to see 4 goals and a completely neutered top 6. Not one of them was good, in any capacity. Zibanejad and Panarin are obviously the worst cause of what we expected but Buch was a headless chicken all series, Strome is useless without Panarin being a Hart candidate, and Kreider better be f***ing hurt because he did absolute f*** all with his ability to skate and create space. None of these players deserve their own thoughts, they were all worthless.

- Our absolutely awful bottom 6 finally caught up to us, especially with Fast gone which basically necessitated another garbage AHL player taking a regular shift. McKegg should never see regular ice time. Ever. Brainless chicken that skates hard every now and then. PdG long, long overstayed his welcome on this roster and has done absolutely nothing of value since like his 1st game.

- I don't ever want to hear again about how Fast is overrated and kills offense (not that we ever will, probably). He could fight the entire Carolina unit on the ice for the puck and win it. Watching Panarin and especially f***ing Strome try to do that was embarrassing.

- Lemieux's insertion had an immediate impact likely because of the player he is and the fact that he displaced one of the many non-NHLers that are occupying the bottom 6 and I find that sad more than anything. My feelings on Lemieux wildly fluctuate because he is absolutely a useful player and when he's stirring shit up, he rocks.

- Chytil legit made me pull my hair out this "playoffs". He's moving, he's trying, but you could blink in his direction and he would lose the puck. I'm kind of at a loss at how it's so easy to displace him off of it. Obviously he's 20 and honestly I have a hard time remembering that pretty often, but f***ing hell

- Speaking of, I was thrilled to see Lemieux and Chytil take PK shifts. I think their skills allow them to succeed on the PK, particularly Lemieux, and I would really really love for them to take away the PK minutes Strome and Howden inexplicably get.

- Kakko was the best skater on the team and had 0 points. Sums it up nicely. He was an absolute treat to watch though, and I'm hyped as heck for his development.

- Not interested in the screeches of WHIPPING BOY!!! that are gonna come from this but I foam at the mouth when Brett Howden is on the ice. It's even worse than Glass. He gets 15 toi a night in all situations and he's inept at everything. I've seen on multiple occasions he just loses every puck and every battle which makes anything his linemates do useless. He has absolutely no agility or positional awareness. A truly horrendous player and I know he's just one player but players that coaches love for no good reasons get on my nerves way more than anything else.

- I'd love to say more about Gauthier but is it even worth it since he got like 20 TOI total? I'd love to talk about his size and physicality but it doesn't matter cause his intentions aren't whatever horse shit Howden does so whatever.

- Fox was ATROCIOUS in game 1 but rebounded nicely. He wasn't nearly as dynamic as I'd had hoped but it's not like any of our dipshit forwards helped his case. Lindgren was just ok. Not good or bad. Sometimes I forgot he was playing.

- Trouba was our best D all series. Smith had his moments too. He's stupid as hell but he has skill and he hustles. He's obviously not a top pair D but I think he's no doubt an NHL D.

- Don't get me started on Staal. Get rid of him by any means necessary. Yesterday.

- TDA was very clearly injured and it impacted his whole game so I'm not really mad at him.

- It's just so typical that that goofy f***face Skjei doesn't play good hockey for 3 straight years but he's Chris Pronger on the Hurricanes. My dislike for him just absolutely skyrocketed this series and I will be actively wishing he gets hammered every game we play against him.

- Shesterkin has a tangible effect on the team's performance. How or why? I don't know. But he does.

- The team, as a whole, was not prepared in any way. It was evident in everything. Skating, reaction time, intensity, positioning. I am not watching any other series because TBH I don't give a shit but I have a hard time believing there was a team as unprepared to play hockey as we were. I saw a ridiculous amount of "OH SHIT!" moments where the player makes that motion when they start skating that they were caught completely off guard by the entire team. I don't know who or what is responsible but it's extraordinarily noticable.

- This team's puck support is some of the worst in the league. Every player carrying the puck had at least two Canes draped on them. We couldn't dream of positioning and discipline like that. This team is ridiculously passive and they have been since AV's tenure. It's evident everywhere, giving a mile of gap on the PK and EVERY f***ING ZONE ENTRY, the unwillingness of D to pinch (seriously take a watch, the Hurricanes battle at the half boards for the puck in the D zone and the Rangers D are already in the f***ing neutral zone, it's maddening). This is absolutely a system issue and I hope it gets rectified with Ruff gone. I doubt it though.

All in all, this was a rough experience as a fan and as the team. It's a very rude awakening that our surge in Feb was probably a mirage and that there are many significant issues that have to be addressed. A competent bottom 6, a better 2C than Strome, at least 2 good LHD, at the least. Thankfully these aren't roster crippling issues and we have a lot of pieces to work with. I'm happy that Chytil, Kakko, Lindgren, Gauthier, and Fox got this experience but all of the veterans should be embarrassed at their performances besides Trouba. Definitely a little hurt that such a fun season is ending like this. Whatever.

12.5%!!!

This is a pretty good breakdown, although I'd disagree that Fox ever rebounded or that Smith was anything but a liability. The main thing that I'd say about our surge in February isn't that it was a mirage. It's that it's the very leading edge of what's supposed to come. Young teams like ours can't usually sustain those things, and the swagger we had from the 3 young D that was a major driving factor to that whole thing was killed by the pause.

And you aren't wrong, we were easily the worst team in the play-in. That being said, we're also the team who is earliest in the cycle of what they're trying to do. The only other team that is smack in the middle of a build in this thing are the Blackhawks, and they're a bit of a different story with a Cup-winning core still involved and capable of effective hockey. The rest of the qualifier teams breakdown into a few categories that are more advanced than where the Rangers are:

Long-term competitive teams in various stages: Penguins (steady), Predators (downswing), Wild (severe downswing)
Teams recently exited building stage and fairly newly competitive: Oilers, Leafs, Hurricanes, Blue Jackets, Jets
Teams whose builds only ever got them to mediocrity, but have been building for a long time: Panthers, Coyotes, Flames (maybe you'd consider them in the previous category)
Team on the verge of exiting their build: Canucks
Team propped up by little more than coaching and system: Islanders

Of course, this reason would be a lot easier to swallow if their top guys looked good.

 

[Shesterkybomb]

Except that Mcdavid is a generational center which I obviously wouldn’t pass on if I want the best center

You still get a lesser player. It would be like going to a dealership where they are gonna give you a free vehicle of your choice. Well you only need a car but why not get a truck worth 20 grand more, sell the truck and pocket the cash. In this case you draft Lafrenierre and move someone else for a center.

 

[Shesterkybomb]

This is a pretty good breakdown, although I'd disagree that Fox ever rebounded or that Smith was anything but a liability. The main thing that I'd say about our surge in February isn't that it was a mirage. It's that it's the very leading edge of what's supposed to come. Young teams like ours can't usually sustain those things, and the swagger we had from the 3 young D that was a major driving factor to that whole thing was killed by the pause.

And you aren't wrong, we were easily the worst team in the play-in. That being said, we're also the team who is earliest in the cycle of what they're trying to do. The only other team that is smack in the middle of a build in this thing are the Blackhawks, and they're a bit of a different story with a Cup-winning core still involved and capable of effective hockey. The rest of the qualifier teams breakdown into a few categories that are more advanced than where the Rangers are:

Long-term competitive teams in various stages: Penguins (steady), Predators (downswing), Wild (severe downswing)
Teams recently exited building stage and fairly newly competitive: Oilers, Leafs, Hurricanes, Blue Jackets, Jets
Teams whose builds only ever got them to mediocrity, but have been building for a long time: Panthers, Coyotes, Flames (maybe you'd consider them in the previous category)
Team on the verge of exiting their build: Canucks
Team propped up by little more than coaching and system: Islanders

Of course, this reason would be a lot easier to swallow if their top guys looked good.

I think the big issue is that Mika, Panarin and Strome were in mid season form skating wise when we stopped and they didnt get past preseason when we started, they just werent fast.

 

[Tawnos]

Not coming here to gloat/trash talk or troll as that's not my cup of tea these days. Just wanted to reflect how the Rangers this year remind me a lot of Carolina last year, with a few notable exceptions.

1) Going into last season, most had low expectations for Carolina. Same was true for NYR this season. Carolina struggled early but came on strong in the 2nd half last year, similar to NYR this year.
2) Going into last season, Carolina had one of the youngest teams in the league and the youngest (I think) team in the playoffs, same for NYR this season.
3) Carolina had 2 highly skilled forwards (Aho and Teravainen) and NYR has 2 ( Zib and Panarin).
4) Carolina had a newly drafted #2 OA (Svech), NYR has a newly drafted #2 OA (Kakko)
5) Carolina had some decent, but not great top 6 forwards (Staal, Nino-mid season, Williams), NYR is similar with Kreider, Buch, and Strome.
6) Carolina didn't have that much depth at forward (in fact, many picked them as the worst forward group in a pre-season poll) and NYR doesn't have a lot of depth right now either. They had Wallmark (who is a scratch in Florida right now) as a 3C and McKegg as a 4C. Not too dissimilar to what NYR has now at 3C and same guy at 4C.
7) Canes did have a couple of more known quantities like Martinook (who was injured in the playoffs), McGinn, and Ferland (who was injured/playing injured/missed a lot of the playoffs), but were relying a lot on rookies, AHLrs and journeymen Foegele, Maenalanen, Phil Di Guiseppe (21 games), Clark Bishop (20 games), Victor Rask (26 games), as well as guys like Patrick Brown in the playoffs. Their bottom 6 wasn't thought of as "deep" or "good" last year at all. While it was probably slightly better than NYR's this year, it wasn't substantial IMO.

The differences were clearly blue line, where Carolina was far superior, and Goaltending, where NYR is far superior.

The other difference might be coaching/leadership? I hate to put much stock in intangible stuff and I don't know much about the NYR coaching staff, but Brind'Amour seems to have been able to get everyone to buy into playing the same way. Canes weren't (and still aren't) the most talented team, but they outwork most teams and that's probably due to Brind'Amour.

Canes beat the Caps last year, not because they were better or more skilled, it's because they outworked the Caps, who likely were suffering from some cup hangover.
Canes beat the Isles because although the Isles worked hard and had a good coach also, the Canes could match their work ethic and the Isles were less skilled than Carolina overall.
Canes got their ass handed to them against Boston because Boston was more skilled and Boston works hard. That's a tough matchup for a team like Carolina.

Like I said, I don't know enough about your coach, but I see a lot of similarities between where the teams, particularly at forward. If the NYR can figure out the blue-line, I think they are going to be a very dangerous team.

Brind'Amour had a crutch to help him get that buy-in last year: the Bunch of Jerks thing. I don't mean this as a criticism, but a compliment: he did a really great job with it. Not unlike the way Gallant was able to use the fact that all of his expansion guys were cast off by other teams in VGK's inaugural season. Unlike Gallant, though, Brind'Amour seems to have been able to get them to keep the same attitude and identity, once established, for a second year. The Knights were still good in Gallant's second year, but they were missing that edge.

Quinn did actually get the team to take on his strong personality and swagger for a large chunk of this season, but the pause really killed that for them and he wasn't able to recapture it for the post-season. It probably wasn't firmly entrenched enough yet, which is understandable.

On top of that, it's worth mentioning that the Rangers were a better team with Brady Skjei, despite his limitations in the 1LD role.

 

[Tawnos]

I think the big issue is that Mika, Panarin and Strome were in mid season form skating wise when we stopped and they didnt get past preseason when we started, they just werent fast.

Every team and player faced that challenge.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Brind'Amour had a crutch to help him get that buy-in last year: the Bunch of Jerks thing. I don't mean this as a criticism, but a compliment: he did a really great job with it. Not unlike the way Gallant was able to use the fact that all of his expansion guys were cast off by other teams in VGK's inaugural season. Unlike Gallant, though, Brind'Amour seems to have been able to get them to keep the same attitude and identity, once established, for a second year. The Knights were still good in Gallant's second year, but they were missing that edge..

That’s a fair point. He and Justin Williams basically manufactured that crunch though by coming up with the post game celebration which was the genesis of the “Bunch of Jerks”

It’s also fair to say that having his best friend Justin Williams on the team, with a bunch of successful Stanley Cup experience, helps immensely with the buy in for the rest of the players.

thanks for the feedback on Quinn as I haven’t watch the NYR much this year.

 

[gravey9]

What the Canes series made more clear:

1 - Smaller D are fine during the regular season, but not sure we can really carry 2 in the playoffs unless they can defend better. DeAngelo seemed hurt so I will sorta give him a pass. But not convinced he can be a playoff defender yet. Fox looked exhausted on every shift and tried to slow down the play, and no one was having it. He has to find ways to adjust. I can't speak to his defending specifically. But he was hemmed in a lot more than the regular season.

2 - Rangers have too much soft-ish players on the team. Especially upfront.

Made it very hard to sustain a cycle and maintain possession consistently. There were two types of these players -- the vets that may never be strong or fast enough in Strome and Buch, McKegg, PDG; and the young kids who aren't men yet in Chytil, Kakko, Howden.

Kreider, Zib, Gauthier and Lemieux are more ideal playoff forwards. Teams like Carolina, CBJ, NYI, Boston are built for the playoffs. And we just won't be able to make a deeper run until players mature and other truculence is brought in.

As an example, Panarin was so successful in the playoofs last year with the Blue Jackets because the rest of their forward group was heavy. And so were his linemates. He often played with far less skilled forwards than Buch, Kakko, Zibby and Strome. For Panarin to be more succesful in the playoffs, he needs forwards that are creating space with their size and speed (not so much skill). Players that can stretch the ice with their speed and grind down opposition with their size.

3 - The Rangers system SUCKS in the playoffs. It's far too loose. As much as it's a personel issue it is a coaching issue. Far too often players are not where they need to be to support the play. Often there is a player in the correct general area to help a teammate possess but the finer points are missed. Specifically the puck-supporting player needs to anticipate and get inside body position and then needs to maintain it. You can't sustain a forecheck in the playoffs without this. So many players failed at this. Maybe it was just effort, but maybe it was also about technique and anticipation.

4 - I feel bad for Henrik. That said, I still see a scenario where Georgiev is dealt before him. and he becomes a very overpaid backup. The issue is, did Covid make it impossible financially for the Rangers to keep the King? Not sure.

5 - If we don't win the lottery, we need to focus on Centers AND a bigger RD prospect.

6 - These playoffs proved that we only have 3 true top 6 forwards right now. Panarin, Zib, Kreider. Everyone else is either a fill in or a kid that has not proven they're ready. As a result, I'm now okay with moving Strome and Buch IF it allows the Rangers to build a bigger/stronger squad that can win in the playoffs. I'm also okay moving TDA if it can help us bring in a better defender. None of them should be signed long term. I'm not convinced any can be here if this team truly plans to turn the corner.

7 - This series should give management a better sense of how to build this team. They need to be VERY careful about giving deals to non-core vets. No long term deals if you aren't the core. Nothing beyond 1-2 years. If that can't be done, see whats avail via trade. I expect next year's team to be younger in some ways. And as a result, I think a bit worse. But a step back next year may be necessary to build this right.

 

[Rangers394]

I voted for Smith and Shesty...no way was I voting for useless Kreider . This performing every now and then is not worth a F*** !!! Worse mistake we ever made was resigning him to a long term anchor deal . Anyways...hard to undo what has been done and beating a dead horse ...he is what he is....an enigma !!! For what he gives back versus his ice time and salary....it is not enough for a guy with his size and speed .....a real shame . He likely will be a third liner in 3 years time with any luck. Not sure even if a coaching change can motivate him to play to his size and ability . Full marks to the Canes...fun team to watch and that first line was awesome . Skjei was Bobby Orr-like ....he never showed that here outside a couple of games . So...do we blame Quinn for them being unprepared to play or was it just a team effort ?. Maybe they should entertain the thought of Gallant behind the bench ? Let's hope for #1 OA...and a strong draft after that pick. Have a good rest of the Summer folks and stay safe . Onward to the golf course .......

I think the long layoff really messed them up and they just didn't have the guys needed to win. Firing Quinn definitely isn't the answer, you only fire a coach if you think the group you have is better than what they are and that coach isn't getting everything out of them. Gallant doesn't get us anywhere that Quinn couldn't imo, we just aren't good enough yet.

 

[DanielBrassard]

Alright I slept on this and got over being personally offended that this is the culmination of 4 months of waiting and nostalgia build-up so here goes:

- Like quite a few of us........I felt we had quite a long time to let hype and good feelings build about this team between the March shutdown and now. This season was just packed with highlights and exceptional seasons from several players. Even some of the losses were kinda incredible (thinking of the almost comeback against Edmonton on NYE). It's easy to forget that this team was not a playoff team pretty consistently all year until February.

- Having said that, I am struggling to wrangle with the fact that we had 5-6 career years out of our players that we are likely not going to get repetitions of and we were still pretty bad this year and got bludgeoned in the playoffs against an (admittedly excellent) opponent. We are very likely not getting a better or same year from Panarin, Zibanejad, or Strome. I think Tony is very capable of the numbers he put up but it remains to be seen. Fox had one of the greatest rookie years from a Ranger I've seen in a long time. Dear god do I hope he can repeat it, cause we may need him to. We even had Shesterkin come in and win 10 games and lose 2 making it look easy. I'm a little disturbed at the several transcendent performances that resulted in us still being a mediocre to bad team especially considering we cannot reasonably expect a repeat of at least 3 of them.

- The Rangers were laughed off the ice in every capacity. Offensively. Defensively. Powerplay. Penalty Kill. I know Carolina's a good team, I have known they're a good, battle tested, ferocious forechecking group that you can basically only beat if they f*** up. I don't think any of this is a reasonable excuse to see 4 goals and a completely neutered top 6. Not one of them was good, in any capacity. Zibanejad and Panarin are obviously the worst cause of what we expected but Buch was a headless chicken all series, Strome is useless without Panarin being a Hart candidate, and Kreider better be f***ing hurt because he did absolute f*** all with his ability to skate and create space. None of these players deserve their own thoughts, they were all worthless.

- Our absolutely awful bottom 6 finally caught up to us, especially with Fast gone which basically necessitated another garbage AHL player taking a regular shift. McKegg should never see regular ice time. Ever. Brainless chicken that skates hard every now and then. PdG long, long overstayed his welcome on this roster and has done absolutely nothing of value since like his 1st game.

- I don't ever want to hear again about how Fast is overrated and kills offense (not that we ever will, probably). He could fight the entire Carolina unit on the ice for the puck and win it. Watching Panarin and especially f***ing Strome try to do that was embarrassing.

- Lemieux's insertion had an immediate impact likely because of the player he is and the fact that he displaced one of the many non-NHLers that are occupying the bottom 6 and I find that sad more than anything. My feelings on Lemieux wildly fluctuate because he is absolutely a useful player and when he's stirring shit up, he rocks.

- Chytil legit made me pull my hair out this "playoffs". He's moving, he's trying, but you could blink in his direction and he would lose the puck. I'm kind of at a loss at how it's so easy to displace him off of it. Obviously he's 20 and honestly I have a hard time remembering that pretty often, but f***ing hell

- Speaking of, I was thrilled to see Lemieux and Chytil take PK shifts. I think their skills allow them to succeed on the PK, particularly Lemieux, and I would really really love for them to take away the PK minutes Strome and Howden inexplicably get.

- Kakko was the best skater on the team and had 0 points. Sums it up nicely. He was an absolute treat to watch though, and I'm hyped as heck for his development.

- Not interested in the screeches of WHIPPING BOY!!! that are gonna come from this but I foam at the mouth when Brett Howden is on the ice. It's even worse than Glass. He gets 15 toi a night in all situations and he's inept at everything. I've seen on multiple occasions he just loses every puck and every battle which makes anything his linemates do useless. He has absolutely no agility or positional awareness. A truly horrendous player and I know he's just one player but players that coaches love for no good reasons get on my nerves way more than anything else.

- I'd love to say more about Gauthier but is it even worth it since he got like 20 TOI total? I'd love to talk about his size and physicality but it doesn't matter cause his intentions aren't whatever horse shit Howden does so whatever.

- Fox was ATROCIOUS in game 1 but rebounded nicely. He wasn't nearly as dynamic as I'd had hoped but it's not like any of our dipshit forwards helped his case. Lindgren was just ok. Not good or bad. Sometimes I forgot he was playing.

- Trouba was our best D all series. Smith had his moments too. He's stupid as hell but he has skill and he hustles. He's obviously not a top pair D but I think he's no doubt an NHL D.

- Don't get me started on Staal. Get rid of him by any means necessary. Yesterday.

- TDA was very clearly injured and it impacted his whole game so I'm not really mad at him.

- It's just so typical that that goofy f***face Skjei doesn't play good hockey for 3 straight years but he's Chris Pronger on the Hurricanes. My dislike for him just absolutely skyrocketed this series and I will be actively wishing he gets hammered every game we play against him.

- Shesterkin has a tangible effect on the team's performance. How or why? I don't know. But he does.

- The team, as a whole, was not prepared in any way. It was evident in everything. Skating, reaction time, intensity, positioning. I am not watching any other series because TBH I don't give a shit but I have a hard time believing there was a team as unprepared to play hockey as we were. I saw a ridiculous amount of "OH SHIT!" moments where the player makes that motion when they start skating that they were caught completely off guard by the entire team. I don't know who or what is responsible but it's extraordinarily noticable.

- This team's puck support is some of the worst in the league. Every player carrying the puck had at least two Canes draped on them. We couldn't dream of positioning and discipline like that. This team is ridiculously passive and they have been since AV's tenure. It's evident everywhere, giving a mile of gap on the PK and EVERY f***ING ZONE ENTRY, the unwillingness of D to pinch (seriously take a watch, the Hurricanes battle at the half boards for the puck in the D zone and the Rangers D are already in the f***ing neutral zone, it's maddening). This is absolutely a system issue and I hope it gets rectified with Ruff gone. I doubt it though.

All in all, this was a rough experience as a fan and as the team. It's a very rude awakening that our surge in Feb was probably a mirage and that there are many significant issues that have to be addressed. A competent bottom 6, a better 2C than Strome, at least 2 good LHD, at the least. Thankfully these aren't roster crippling issues and we have a lot of pieces to work with. I'm happy that Chytil, Kakko, Lindgren, Gauthier, and Fox got this experience but all of the veterans should be embarrassed at their performances besides Trouba. Definitely a little hurt that such a fun season is ending like this. Whatever.

12.5%!!!

A very sobering but accurate analysis, can't say I disagree with much of it if anything at all.

And I am trying not to overreact to 3 playoff games in an unusual environment but all I want to know is when the f*** will the Rangers top players outside of their goaltender and McDonagh in 13-14 ever be the dominant force in a playoff run. It doesn't seem to matter who it is, from Gaborik to Nash to MSL to Zibanejad to Panarin, who was the f***ing league MVP, it always seems like our top players come up short.

 

[bleedblue94]

Has anything come out yet as to what injuries players were battling?

 

[RangersFan1994]

Has anything come out yet as to what injuries players were battling?

does soft mentality count as an injury? vets were a noshow

 

[Tawnos]

That’s a fair point. He and Justin Williams basically manufactured that crunch though by coming up with the post game celebration which was the genesis of the “Bunch of Jerks”

It’s also fair to say that having his best friend Justin Williams on the team, with a bunch of successful Stanley Cup experience, helps immensely with the buy in for the rest of the players.

thanks for the feedback on Quinn as I haven’t watch the NYR much this year.

That's true... they did create those circumstances. A masterful job, all around.

 

[bleedblue94]

does soft mentality count as an injury? vets were a noshow

I was waiting for someone to knock down that setup, but I genuinely want to know what the injuries were for ADA, Igor, etc

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Had no power or internet since last night until now. Just want to say what a f***ing disgraceful performance, since the first puck drop against the Islanders last week no one wanted to even be in Toronto. Panarin and Zibanejad in particular should be ashamed. Pathetic all around.

 

[Tawnos]

A very sobering but accurate analysis, can't say I disagree with much of it if anything at all.

And I am trying not to overreact to 3 playoff games in an unusual environment but all I want to know is when the f*** will the Rangers top players outside of their goaltender and McDonagh in 13-14 ever be the dominant force in a playoff run. It doesn't seem to matter who it is, from Gaborik to Nash to MSL to Zibanejad to Panarin, who was the f***ing league MVP, it always seems like our top players come up short.

Almost like how I want to know when the f*** the Rangers will luck into a forward they drafted developing into a truly high-end offensive player *for us*. Happens to pretty much every other franchise...

 

[SnowblindNYR]

We have a lot of problems on the roster but Carolina looked extremely well prepared and coached and we did not. Anyone else feels like the rep that David Quinn had as a terrible Xs and Os guy before being hired kind of rang true? I don't think this team is winning anything with him as a coach. I've never seen a team outcoached this badly.

 

[Irishguy42]

Anyone else feels like the rep that David Quinn had as a terrible Xs and Os guy before being hired kind of rang true?

It couldn't have been more clear.