THE BIG WHISTLE
Heave-Ho
But I was told by this board we needed more tuffnuss....
When? Like 4 years ago?
But I was told by this board we needed more tuffnuss....
It's a condemnation of AV worrying more about matching MTL's physicality than optimizing the Rangers' skill.
Where are they going with this? Sure, you don't want to have outhit the other team. But you absolutely should be hitting guys when they have the puck.
I agree with that. But they could have just pointed to shot totals to make that point. By framing it as "hitting correlates with bad results" I read it as condemning an important and effective element of the game. Like I said before, you don't want to have outhit the other team, but you absolutely should be hitting guys when they have the puck.
They really just need to simplify the game to get their confidence back. Get all guys moving forward at the same time. Have at least 3 guys skating hard when they hit the redline and dump to the open corner. Than overload that defensemen. No one man only zone entries anymore. We have to keep hitting the zone with 3-4 guys moving hard at the same time since the Habs are standing up at the blue line. Go retrieve that puck with at least 2 men to 1 Habs Dman.
When? Like 4 years ago?
Yeah, I think winning and hitting have a confounding variable (puck possession). I do think that the teams that are building lineups to win the hits battles are probably building lineups that are suboptimal in other areas, but 20 games isn't a big enough sample to draw a conclusion. It's weird how people get the concept of sample size when the data doesn't support their stance, but forget about it completely when it does.Where are they going with this? Sure, you don't want to have outhit the other team. But you absolutely should be hitting guys when they have the puck.
I get the idea, ride the horses as hard as you can. But you simply cannot compare Seabrook, Keith and Hjarmalsson to McD, Skjei and Smith. Keith is an absolute stud future HoFer, and I believe largely underrated. I wouldn't take McD over any one of those guys, and Smith isn't even in the discussion. I will resign that Skjei definitely has the potential, he can move the puck and play solid in his own zone.
I truly think Rangers management has overvalued the current roster. Their "top" guys cannot match with the "real" contenders best. As I said earlier they just lack the high end talent that cup winning teams posses.
I think this current roster will continue to be a playoff team with early exits. I understand they have a large passionate fanbase to appease which is why I don't believe that they'll do what they should've done after the cup run which is re-build.
I personally think Kreider is struggling because of his center Derek Stepan and how horrible he's been. Can't get pucks to his wingers in scoring areas can't get pucks to the net for CK to make plays on.
Stepan killing this team right now
Nope.Zuc was on that line and absolutely all over the ice.Kreider is playing like a creampuff right now,and dare i say it,playing scared.
Nope.Zuc was on that line and absolutely all over the ice.Kreider is playing like a creampuff right now,and dare i say it,playing scared.
I have zero faith in this team. They are not playing like they want to win. Lundqvist will be the best player to never win a cup.
Zucc is a play maker Kreider isn't. And Zucc isn't setting him up either other than the one look early yesterday. Starts in the middle. Stepan holding the whole line back
Zucc had a puck go off him and in the net. Otherwise he's done nothing but get knocked down a whole lot.
You think dump and chase is what works for this team? They can't chase, and they can't set up in the offensive zone. They are a transition team. Quick pass over their blue line, rush over the red line, make smarter passes, and GET THE REBOUND.
Kreider taps that Zucc pass in early on, and it probably would've been a much different game.
I disagree. Zucc has been battling hard and showed a lot of heart. He is actually the only one winning board battles in the o-zone.