Post-Game Talk: Tampa Bay Lightning at New York Rangers 11/17/14

[Steve Kournianos]

It's ok to be upset. It's not OK to panic.

They were way worse last year. Way worse. It wasn't until Christmas when they started playing consistent.

And I don't buy the "new system" BS. It's a knee-jerk excuse that the media and fans believe, but the reality is the team just sucked last season until they woke up.

Vancouver has a new coach, new system: 12-6-0

Pens have a new coach, new system: 12-3-1

Nashville has a new coach, new system: 11-4-2

Sucking out of the gate has very little to do with "systems" and has more to do with how the players spent their offseason getting into shape and ready, and desire to work harder than the other team.

Teams who come off a cinderella SCF rarely have good starts. They and the winners have the shortest offseason than anybody else.

Richards spend the entire 2012 offseason in a suit and tie and look at his play. He spent the entire 2013 offseason in the gym and he bounced back.

I'm not excusing the Rangers play. I'm explaining it.

 

[Steve Kournianos]

The players will ALWAYS find an excuse if the think people will believe them.

Most hockey players are stand-up guys and will admit it when they suck. Last year people blamed the schedule (me) and the "system" (not me).

This year it's the injuries (me), the short offseason (me), and the SCF hangover (me).

All three heal in time.

 

[Vickers8]

Wanted us to win 4-2, with Cally getting 2 goals, got it 1/2 right

 

[Steve Kournianos]

And I really don't get the crying about traded draft picks.

The Rangers 1st rounders from three and four years ago can't even crack the lineup. What good would those 2013, 2014 and 2015 1st do for the current 2015 team at 7-7-4?

Except, use them for trades of course, which would be ironic.

 

[haohmaru]

And I really don't get the crying about traded draft picks.

The Rangers 1st rounders from three and four years ago can't even crack the lineup. What good would those 2013, 2014 and 2015 1st do for the current 2015 team at 7-7-4?

Except, use them for trades of course, which would be ironic.

28th overall in 2014 in a pretty weak draft = a 2nd/3rd round pick in most drafts.

The 2015 1st is the one that hurts since it's going to be a strong draft and we might actually suck this year. Still, Callahan wasn't signing here and St. Louis contributed heavily towards getting this team to the Final. Worth it.

 

[Raspewtin]

This team wont suck this year.

We are for sure making the playoffs.

This effort was garbage and I don't expect to see another game like it any time soon.

Exactly how they looked last year at the start.

I'm not worried. I was annoyed, absolutely. But still not worried.

 

[nevesis]

It's ok to be upset. It's not OK to panic.

They were way worse last year. Way worse. It wasn't until Christmas when they started playing consistent.

And I don't buy the "new system" BS. It's a knee-jerk excuse that the media and fans believe, but the reality is the team just sucked last season until they woke up.

Vancouver has a new coach, new system: 12-6-0

Pens have a new coach, new system: 12-3-1

Nashville has a new coach, new system: 11-4-2

Sucking out of the gate has very little to do with "systems" and has more to do with how the players spent their offseason getting into shape and ready, and desire to work harder than the other team.

Teams who come off a cinderella SCF rarely have good starts. They and the winners have the shortest offseason than anybody else.

Richards spend the entire 2012 offseason in a suit and tie and look at his play. He spent the entire 2013 offseason in the gym and he bounced back.

I'm not excusing the Rangers play. I'm explaining it.

2014-15, After 18 games: 7-7-4 (18 points)
2013-14, After 18 games: 9-9-0 (18 points)

 

[Hi ImHFNYR]

Staal is pretty much performing at the same level he was last year when he was away from Stralman. (48% CF atm)

Staal was really bad without Stralman on his pairing, so it is no surprise that he isn't performing this year.

When they were together, they were exceptionally good as a pairing with a 56% CF! That is elite first pairing numbers.

The Rangers had the luxury last year to roll out 2 elite defense pairings in McD-Girardi and Staal-Stralman, and they broke that up by aiming for more offense from the blue line with D. Boyle, who's play has been declining.

It is an unforgivable mistake. One way to salvage this is to trade for Gilbert/Sekera to bring back that extreme possession game that Stralman brought.

Knowing the Rangers luck, Staal will probably go to Tampa and make a formidable pairing once again with Stralman.

I'm convinced they were trying to ready tea leaves with their RD prospects and they were banking on having at least 1 of them ready to fill in by the time Boyle's contract is up. They decided to put up with a declining Boyle as a stop gap in the top 4 for two years while we wait for McI instead of committing to Stralman for waaay more money and years. I don't think it was about picking who would be better for this year bc then they would have resigned stralman no doubt in my mind. Although they have demonstrated that our FA scouting dept is atrocious time and time again so maybe they thought Boyle was a legit upgrade on TOP of only being a two year commitment. Boyle not being on the ice and so far being slow to recover fully means they struck out big time SO FAR. Staal being a plug out there is a separate issue entirely and it is unfortunate that he's playing crappy. But an eye injury didn't cause that atrocious effort fail and lazy back pass yesterday. I can't see how they can justify giving Staal Girardi's contract

 

[Hi ImHFNYR]

The AV experiment is clearly not working. The players have tuned him out and he continues to make poor decision after poor decision. His system will not work with the lack of talent on this team.

Terrible analysis. I constantly see you provide those

 

[Gardner McKay]

2014-15, After 18 games: 7-7-4 (18 points)
2013-14, After 18 games: 9-9-0 (18 points)

No ungodly roadtrip to start the season this year. I think we will be fine but it is worth noting.

 

[LieutenantLackluster]

4 regulation wins in 18 games to start this season. Thats ****ing terrible.

 

[RGY]

No ungodly roadtrip to start the season this year. I think we will be fine but it is worth noting.

Also worth noting the amount of injuries we had to start the season coupled with not just new faces, but a lot of young ones with either not much NHL experience or none at all. The team is still learning to play together. It is not even a matter of AV's system. Even if and when the new faces know the system, there is still that feeling-out process with each other as teammates. Knowing each other's playing tendencies, forwards understanding not only who likes to pinch on defense but how much so they could be more aware on the ice of what could happen next. I think this is a big part of the problem right now. It is leading to too many odd man rushes, bad bad checks, missed assignments on the back check when we have the personnel back to match up with the attack, open opposing players when the other team is setup in our own end because of miscommunication and/or improper assumptions of each other.

The team will be fine. They went out and handled Pittsburgh pretty well. They should've had all 4 points against them. That's the team that will be in the playoffs, not the one you saw last night. We all want consistency but we also have to be patient. We had losses like this last year...even worse ones...and that's with the almighty Stralman, B.Boyle, and Callahan.

 

[NYRFAN218]

No ungodly roadtrip to start the season this year. I think we will be fine but it is worth noting.

We also bombed the 9 game homestand in December last year so it's not like coming home did us wonders. Like everyone else, I'm not concerned yet. Annoyed and pissed off, absolutely, but not concerned.

I think going on the road can do good for this team. Don't know what it is by we just don't play well at home.

 

[Raspewtin]

4 regulation wins in 18 games to start this season. Thats ****ing terrible.

It's been a weird season. We also have 4 shootout losses.

 

[Gardner McKay]

I am concerned about the defense. We look noticeably slower than last year. I think part of that will be remedied by McDonagh coming back. However, both Boyle and Staal were both exposed last night against a quick Tampa team.

 

[Mac n Gs]

I am concerned about the defense. We look noticeably slower than last year. I think part of that will be remedied by McDonagh coming back. However, both Boyle and Staal were both exposed last night against a quick Tampa team.

The team also made the mistake of trying to keep up with Tampa's speed all game and they ****ing burned us. I lost count of how many times a tampa forward whizzed by our defender while another tampa forward sent him a saucer pass to get deflected on net. They figured out how to beat our man coverage and they burned us.

 

[Raspewtin]

We need a top 4 defenseman really bad, with or without McDonagh.

 

[OverTheCap]

After what happened last year with our slow start and our constant stream of injuries on D this season, I'm not overly concerned. But hovering around .500 until January like last season isn't really a scenario I wanted to repeat. It's nice to have a bit of a cushion going into the second half of the year and they may have little margin for error yet again.

And there's never any excuse for lack of effort, something we've seen time and time again, especially at home. The sloppiness and carelessness with the puck is also an issue.

 

[Oak]

I don't think Girardi has recuperated from his Malkin hit yet. He was extremely slow last night. Other than that everyone just seemed out of place and a step behind last night.

I'll agree with others about J.Moore. He has been making some very dumb decisions past few games. Definitely a weak link.

Tanner Glass.........

 

[NYRFAN218]

We need a top 4 defenseman really bad, with or without McDonagh.

I wonder who we could have signed to fill that role!!!

Don't sign Glass and deal Klein in the offseason and that's 4.35 in cap space. Would have had to have one less extra forward/dman around but there's no reason they couldn't have had both Boyle and Stralman on D. It just irks me so much.

 

[AHB*]

I wonder who we could have signed to fill that role!!!

Don't sign Glass and deal Klein in the offseason and that's 4.35 in cap space. Would have had to have one less extra forward/dman around but there's no reason they couldn't have had both Boyle and Stralman on D. It just irks me so much.

Or they could have just kept Klein and given Stralman the contract he deserved and then (gasp) had the same defense that just went to the finals!

It's proven that continuity in teams generally leads to more success.

Flat out stupid off-season the Rangers had. It's not to say they can't get better or even make a run this year, but the overthinking in our management is pathetic. If it had been strictly cap related, I'd understand, but the fact that nearly the same exact amount of money that we gave to Glass and Boyle could have had Good Boyle and Stralman is disgusting.

 

[Raspewtin]

I wonder who we could have signed to fill that role!!!

Don't sign Glass and deal Klein in the offseason and that's 4.35 in cap space. Would have had to have one less extra forward/dman around but there's no reason they couldn't have had both Boyle and Stralman on D. It just irks me so much.

I'm over it. Can't always be perfect. And I'm sure Stralman wanted more money here than he got in Tampa.

The problem is that Glen doesn't seem to really appreciate role players and unsung heroes of the team. He always chooses the wrong player when he deals them or lets them go. Should've (in hindsight obviously) traded Callahan instead of Dubinsky, should've kept Stralman and not Staal, should've kept Boyle and not gotten Glass.

 

[Raspewtin]

Or they could have just kept Klein and given Stralman the contract he deserved and then (gasp) had the same defense that just went to the finals!

It's proven that continuity in teams generally leads to more success.

Flat out stupid off-season the Rangers had. It's not to say they can't get better or even make a run this year, but the overthinking in our management is pathetic. If it had been strictly cap related, I'd understand, but the fact that nearly the same exact amount of money that we gave to Glass and Boyle could have had Good Boyle and Stralman is disgusting.

Do remember that there's no income tax in Florida. Boyle and Stralman's deals would certainly have been more if they stayed in NYC.

It's incredibly frustrating that this front office has no appareciation for continuity, though. We lose 3-4 players every offseason. Enough already.

 

[Gardner McKay]

I'm over it. Can't always be perfect. And I'm sure Stralman wanted more money here than he got in Tampa.

The problem is that Glen doesn't seem to really appreciate role players and unsung heroes of the team. He always chooses the wrong player when he deals them or lets them go. Should've (in hindsight obviously) traded Callahan instead of Dubinsky, should've kept Stralman and not Staal, should've kept Boyle and not gotten Glass.

Of course he did. Why do you think Callahan took a lower amount in Florida? No state income tax and a ridiculously cheaper cost of living. Stralman was no different.

 

[Raspewtin]

Of course he did. Why do you think Callahan took a lower amount in Florida? No state income tax and a ridiculously cheaper cost of living. Stralman was no different.

Yup, it's what I just said.

I hope people don't actually think they took paycuts to play for Tampa .