Quick hits before the live chat
-
- January
- 15
Walked into the practice rink today and was met by 20 or so familiar looking middle-aged men. That’s right, many of the Rangers’ fathers bear a striking resemblance to their sons.
My personal favorite was meeting Jaakko Korpikoski (aka Mr. Korpedo), who approached me to say he’s a big reader of the blog back in Finland. Who knew?
Anyway, come back at 1 for our next video chat. Follow the “link here to take part.”:http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/99999999/MOGULUS0103/399990019
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on Thursday, January 15th, 2009 at 11:59 am by Sam Weinman.
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Josh Thomson Josh, who is 26 and a native of Carmel, graduated from Boston University in 2002 and began working for The Journal News the following March. 
Sam,
Sam,
I love your blogs. Korpedo though? WHen he starts skating like the wind and scores goals in bunches and hits like ovechkin then i think he deserves a name like Korpedo, no matter how long it may have been with him.
flushingthegarden.blogspot.com
Im glad we all have nice things to say about Korpi :) I wonder if the other fathers read the blog too.
Um Kris
That’s like calling a HUGE obese guy tiny. Hey it happens… If it fits him, so be it…
Yeah really. hey Sam, what did Rozie’s/Kalinin’s/Drury’s?Renney’s/Redden’s Dads have to say about the blog? Or did they throw you into the corner for a good old fashioned ass-whupping?
why so much anger on the blog today? Is it the snow… did everyone have bad commutes?
Snow? it’s sunny down here
Quote from Brooks’ article today on whether the Rangers lacked a PP quarterback:
“”You could certainly argue that point,” Renney said. “I believe it’s there within the group that we’ve designated, but you have to be able to know when to shoot, when to set up, how to get the shot through.”
Sorry, if you don’t know “when to shoot, when to set up, how to get the shot through” then you are not a PP QB. No argument needed.
Now, in other news, if only Eklund weren’t an idiot, wouldn’t it be nice to have Vinny Lecavalier at any price other than Hank?
Gotta love JR…
http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/22402-Screen-Shots-Hockey-players-need-to-speak-their-mind-says-Roenick.html
http://www.tsn.ca/columnists/darren_dreger/?id=263297&lid=headline&lpos=topStory_nhl
I’m going to Kansas City, Kansas City here I come…They got some crazy little women there and I’m a gonna get me one…
Brooks was spot on today. Redden was ONLY signed because of his PP QB skills… and he has 5 pp points in 45 games.
Worst.Signing.Ever.
Beer Me! January 15th, 2009 at 11:29 am
cccp – go back and look at your smart ass response from yesterday and you’ll see why. go F YOURself doosh.
——-
wow… were u thinking all night how to respond to my comments? c’mon… it was yesterday… today is a new day… ill think of something “smart ass” to say again so ull have a chance to respond to “fresh” comments… no hard feelings :)
“go F YOURself doosh.” Wow, somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. What, did you catch Tommy Renney cheating on you?
I hope the Rangers play an exhibition game in Vermont soon…then Darren Drager ( who previously suggested among other things that Sydney Crosby needs to change the shape of the curve on his stick…I’m serious…)will “report’ that the Rangers really dont want to play at UVM but….
we are ranked 21st in the league in FO% just behind Pittsburgh… (since we are continuing yesterdays conversations…) I don’t know why I didn’t bring that stat up yesterday…
cccp – no, actually, I have much better things to do with my time after I leave work. I read (most) posts I miss the following day. Don’t flatter yourself.
pavel – No doubt about that…for this years team anyway. But I still don’t like the fact that Brooks keeps his job by pointing out the obvious everyday, and offers NO solutions nor opinions. Thus leaving himself in the position to “not be wrong”.
Hey while I was looking at stats… I don’t know if any of you will believe this but we lead the league in hits?
rudolph…no a rash from your mom.
Rudolph
I think Beer me was quoting CCCP…or an old George Carlin stand-up piece…at a middle school
come on guys…can’t we all just get along..
and we are one of only seven teams to have more takeaways than giveaways
BM, very true. Brooks is the John Madden of hockey. “What they’ll want to do on this opening drive, is score a touchdown.”
Kalinin’s father should disown him for being a disgrace to the family.
Beer, She’s dead. So, what, you’re a necro in addition to Renney’s favorite knob washer?
Would you trade Henke for Vinny and Mike Smith?
” ....and the division leading Rangers take their hi-powered offense out to Chicago for a showdown with the Hawks..this game will feature the young and exciting Hawks forwards; Kane, Toews, Havlat and Sharp matching up against the Rangers puck control system which has, as a catalyst, an unyielding set of defenseman-who are also great at staring the offensive thrusts at the enemy net!...oh yeah the rangers goaltender is pretty good too..tune in and watch Joel Semi-finalville match wits against Tom QF-renny in a game of extreme-chessmanship!!”
The New born again Larry Brooks
Chris F, correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t the whole point of bringing Redden here to QB the power play? So now that we he’s here, costing us an arm and a leg for the rest of his natural life, our PP still sucks.
Let’s look at the stats. Rozsival is completely outscoring Redden, Girardi is tied with him, and Mara is a point behind. However, Rozsival has the most PP points with 9, Mara with 8, Girardi has 6, and Redden has only 5. He’s been an abject FAILURE at why we brought him here.
Meanwhile, take a look over to the Isles, who have a considerably better PP than we have. Streit has 7 g and 13 a on the PP, costing half of Redden. Unwatchable. I’m not even going to bother mentioning Detroit’s stats.
What a predicament Sather has put us in
Wow, if only the players had this much fire!!!
Yay, my first chance to “enjoy” a Weinman video chat, as the snow continues to fal in Eastern PA, despite what the radar says.
If you actually watch Redden carefully he is not as bad as you all say…he is much worse!
It’s unacceptable. Redden’s last goal was the home opener at MSG!!!!!!!!!!!
ok…ready to move on….
“BM, very true. Brooks is the John Madden of hockey. “What they’ll want to do on this opening drive, is score a touchdown.”
HAHAHA…dead on! At least Madden has the fact that he’s like 90 years old.
Redden should just take a handful of 50’s out on the ice with him and throw it up in the air as a diversion so he can get a shot on net. He can afford it.
Redden makes $8m this year… and with 16 points that means Redden costs FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS A POINT!
How can you say Brooks has no opinions or insights? Unreal… Brooks strikes me as the only one with the balls to speak his mind about the team and not try to play it up to management. I don’t read his column often but what I hear from him is usually pretty good critique. He calls it how he sees it rather than ‘playing nice’. He was the one calling for the team to pick up wings to revolve around Gomez to go forward into the future, last year while Jagr was still in the picture… It’s still true.
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=404144&navid=DL|NHL|home
salty – I’m not saying that he doesn’t offer fair critique. But he points out the obvious. He never says anything like “What they need to do is this, or that”. Or “I think they should do this”.
It’s always… “They DID this, and THAT’S what happend”.
You don’t need to be a jeenyus(haha) to see what they did and what the result was. But the guy never offers rational solutions. That’s what I don’t like about him. Just my opinion.
Beer me, as usual you’re wrong. Two examples just off the top of my head: Brooks wrote for weeks that Prucha should be in the lineup before he was put there; Brooks wrote that the power play needed to be practiced before it finally was again.
wd40
Yup. Dead wrong. Shocking news. Like the sun came up in the east this morning.
Yeah, I’m sorry but I think Brooks does indeed offer ‘solutions and advice’... In addition to reporting accurately what the team does without a sugar coating.
Aside from that, there are only so many ‘solutions’ to offer up… Are you looking for a new idea out of him everyday? The reality is the problems are the same… So the solutions are not going to dramatically different too often.
Brooks completely ‘gets it’.
Beer Me! January 15th, 2009 at 12:35 pm
cccp – no, actually, I have much better things to do with my time after I leave work. I read (most) posts I miss the following day. Don’t flatter yourself.
———
Reading missed posts after work are the better things to do ? Ok… come, ill give u a kiss…
Cccp… You might want to read what you quoted again…
Yeah that Brooks’ article just highlights how Renney is either a total BS artist or he is f-ing totally pissed off and too nervous about saying anything.
I mean do you think the team lacks a PP QB? And his answer is, “Maybe that might be the case…not sure…but it’s possible.” WTF?
Can someone tell me why we didn’t take a shot at Brian Campbell or Orpik (maybe he was RFA?) or Mark Streit or just go with what we had instead of throwing all that $ at Redden knowing that Bouwmeester and Komisarek are available this year?
I mean when Drury and Gomer were signed I was sorta happy (key word “sorta”). But from day 1 I was never that excited about Redden and am less so day by day.
salty… why would i want to do that?
If Redden was a good PP QB in Ottawa and he’s not here then maybe…just maybe…its not the player its the sys…sys…sys..
nah…I’m just being negative again
ALL HAIL THE SYSTEM!!
wd/rudolph…Are you just the same person?
Use salty’s response as an example of how to take an opposing side of an argument in a mature way. Salty and I agree on very little. But it’s very hard to take folks like you guys seriously when it’s just that nonsense that you guys constantly post. It adds nothing to the conversation and gives Ranger fans a really bad identity.
Salty…just one more thing we’ll disagree on. I don’t like Brooks at all. I don’t mind constructive criticism. But it just gets old after a while. I have the same advice for him as most. If you don’t like it, watch something else.
If I don’t like well-done steaks, I don’t eat them. I don’t like basketball, so I don’t watch. I didn’t like an ex-gf, so I dumped her. If you don’t like “your team”, don’t follow them.
Newman, I don’t remember what Buffalo wanted for Campbell before they traded him. Sather made a good offer to Orpik but he chose to stay in Pitt. While Campbell and Streit would have made sufficient PP QB’s, I don’t think Komisarek or Orpik or J Bo are cut out to do it. I agree with the Redden signing, I wasn’t too happy with it. Granted, his play has gotten better lately, but he is in no way a top D or PP QB.
I got to hit up a Rangers fundraiser last night and Dawes, Fritsche, Zherdev, and Korpikoski were there.
some points of note…
1. Dawes is small and little black kids love him. He’s also good at air hockey
2. Korpikoski wanted to go home.
3. Zherdev looked more confused than any person i’ve ever seen. I don’t think he understood one thing that went on the whole night.
4. Fritsche was probably just happy being included in something.
In other news, business as usual on the comments section.
Cccp he specifically he doesn’t read the blog after work but catches up on everything the next day at work
kaspar – Mara was 1/2 the player last year as he is this year. Same system. Explain.
Avery STRIVED under the system. Explain.
Callahan is developing into quite a player under the system. explain.
Naslund is on the same pace as last season in a new system. Explain.
Keep finding one scapegoat. It’s just easier that way.
Mara was a 20 goal scorer D before he got here. Explain.
and Vancouver played same conservative style …so this system isnt new for Naslund :)
The only thing that made me more p1ssed off then the Redden signing…. was the Streit signing.
I mean come on Glen…. just do us all a favor and quit.
Beer Me, to be lectured by you about the “mature” way to deal with other posters on a day where youve told CCCP to blow you and to “F himself doosh” is great comedy, even for you. you were completely wrong in your post about Brooks, so grow up and own it.
i thought my questions were the best that were asked, like usual
STRIVED? Uh, do you mean THRIVED?
“Keep finding one scapegoat. It’s just easier that way.”
Of course its easier that way beer…
You want to try to come up with individual reasons for people coming here and under-whelming us? ( Jagr, Drury, Gomez, Shanny, Redden)each one…miraculously loses it?
If ten people drop dead from drinking water..ITS THE WATER!
It’s not…one forgot how to swallow, one had a siezure while drinking, one banged his head, one was dancing…
and I dont remember you crediting Avery too much in the past either BTW
Beerme Brooks gets paid to be critical and report on the team… I don’t understand your gripe with that! How can you hold it against him, its his job an I consider him very good at it… That’s akin to saying “hey these guys on CNN are bashing so and so again… If they don’t like him why don’t they just quit!?”
Brooks is good shit… But to be honest I think many of us could do his column just as well. Weinman can be a little bit ‘cookie cutter’ sometimes but I do think he offers unique view sometimes…and ‘creative ways’ of looking at some pretty bad nightmares this team lays upon us.
Regardless, all writers want to keep their gigs… Obviously something is working for Brooksie.
Beer Me
What a classic case of unintentional self-immolation, you doofus. As WD40 says, for you to call out others to be more mature when you’re slagging CCCP to eff himself and blow you …. it’s like shooting fish in a barrel. You’re too easy to mock.
“Mara was 1/2 the player last year as he is this year. Same system. Explain.”
Beard + another contract year.
Beer me!, Mara is just getting back to career numbers this year. Last year was a very low point production year for him, compared to when he played for Phoenix, and about on paw with his totals from Tampa. He is much better defensively though, which could also be attributable to experience.
Avery THRIVED under 1st line minutes, and Renney’s ability to handle players of differing personalities. This is the one thing I will never take away from Renney. He made it work with players of all different mentalities.
Callahan is also developing this year with 1st line minutes and star linemates. He is no longer a 3rd line grinder, and lo and behold, points start to accrue.
Naslund is having a pretty good season, but has been quiet as of late. He is also a -10, which he historically has been, even on playoff teams in Vancouver. And we thought Z was going to be the defensive liability.
beerme – you can’t win with some posters. like the movie war games the best move is not to play. even better when they post a novel, just go right to the next post. could you imagine if this blog had an ignore this user function. better than winning lotto.
Isles to play a preseason game in KC against the Kings next season… possible move on the way? I hope not.
Debating is good! Keep your mind open and you can learn
I like to argue with Beer me! He says a lot of things that make me think
I dont always agree with him but I dont want him to not post!!
anyone who wants to just hear one opinion should listen to their own tape recorder voices all day ( like I used to!)
Kaspar
“You want to try to come up with individual reasons for people coming here and under-whelming us? ( Jagr, Drury, Gomez, Shanny, Redden)each one…miraculously loses it?”
That’s been going on for a long, long time. (Dionne, Carpenter, LaFleur, Lindros, Hodge, Espo, Nichols, Robitaille, Stevens, etc)
I am a HOT topic of today in the Rangers Land… Awesome!!
jason – i hope they move. that would be awesome. their fans especially the older ones would be miserable. would make the early 80’s worth it to see how miserable they would be. i would definitely make the last game at the masoleum to offer my condolences.
mara per 82 game season (pre ranger)= 9 goal avg
he had a 15 goal season with the coyotes…but thats an outlier
Beer,
You know I love ya bro but
KASPAR…
that bit about the water was classic!!!
mara is 1 player benefitting by having only 6 dmen. last yr we had 7 or 8 and he sat often. his confidence is much higher this yr
LIjoe – You’re 100% right. Just looking at the responses should tell me that. Still nothing that carries any weight coming back the other way. Whatta ya gonna do?
Salty – He IS paid, that we know. But he’s more ‘cookie-cutter’ than anyone. It’s just his style I guess. Just likes to take the negative side of everything. His articles haven’t changed in god knows how long. The same thing he wrote in the ‘7-year drought’ is the same thing he’s writing now. The post is a tabloid afterall, so I guess he’s the right fit.
kaspar – Not so great examples really. Jagr broke franchise records here. Shanny is 55 years old. Dru & Gomer are the product of being so well overpaid and put in such a ‘cushy’ position, I don’t think they’ll ever change. Naslund?
pavel – Agreed on the beard. He was in a contract year last year too though.
I’ll say it again…If we don’t make it past the 2nd round this year, barring injuries to either Hank, Z, Naz, Gomer, (I’d say a dman, but I don’t think it’d make a difference) then you have to consider changing coaches.
You don’t change a coach midseason that has ANOTHER shift in leadership in 1st place. You just don’t. I’d be happy to revisit the conversation sometime in June. But it just doesn’t make sense to have it now. I’d be happy to discuss anything else. But I’m done with the whole coaching debate. He’s not going anywhere mid-season. Like it or not. Sorry.
LI Joe,
yeah I get it but the rivalry is great that tops any others for the Rangers. The Devils is fun but too recent. The Bruins is good but they’re too far in comparison t the Isles and Devils now.
Playing them when they are on the bottom and we are on the top still gets the blood flowing and gives both teams something to prove and their fans something to yell at eachother about.
What reason would the Rangers have to get up and play the Kansas City Midlanders? None.
22 – That’s a very good point. It’s the culture of the bright lights. Those guys have come through with all different GM’s/owners at the helm too.
jason “What reason would the Rangers have to get up and play the Kansas City Midlanders? None”
Jason, the Rangers usually don’t get up for the Islanders anyway.
F the Islanders, let em go. Their stupid fans will go to the Devils and say they’ve always rooted for the Devils. Between the 2 of them, they still won’t sell out the pebble unless they’re playing the Rangers. Those 4 stripes on the shoulder are still a joke.
Never again will I eat the Angry Whopper. I am gone to the bathroom 4 times today. It has been awful. My stomach HATES me today, you could say it is very ANGRY. I think I am going to sue the Burger King. I used to enjoy that sneaky bastard in his commercials, but the love fest is over. This means WAR!!!!
Beer me why apologize, the one trick pony posters (it is all renney), will never agree with you. I agree with you about Renney’s future. Change is for the off season.
jason – i would rather they contract than move as i think a 24 team nhl would be much better and healthier. look at the rivalries ny sports teams have with boston. the rangers in the 70’s had a huge rivalry with the bruins. still have philly, the devs, other original 6, buffalo, pitt, wash while they have AO. if the isles get tavares and say the following yr the number 1 pick, we would all regret that they didn’t move. and their bandwagon fans would reappear. and others like bob would switch allegiances again.
So LI Joe? It’s OK and mature to tell someone to F themselves and “blow me” ... and you find fault with the targets of these comments. What happened to your role as a voice of moderation. This Beer Me! guy doesn’t come close to doing what he wants other people to do.
The onions were that angry.
Beer me! is alright… he has his moments… i just thought it was silly that he felt like he needed to respond to something i said yesterday… out of all the posts he had to pick me and make it his first post of the morning… offering himself to me… lol but as i said before… I like u Beer Me! Especially from far away… the farther u r the more I like u …no hard feelings
Now strictly hockey from now on…
Leave my brother alone, Duguay. He is one of the most insightful posters here.
duguay – when certain people agitate like an avery type, it brings out the worst in any of us. as an example, true fans gets under my skin. i would be much better served to ignore his comments (as i try to do) especially longer posts. i was trying to give beerme the same advice. i don’t like necessarily saying in a public forum that i hate someone just because i let their words get to me. and yet i have. so trying to convey the best way to handle it rather than saying f you doosh or whatever.
LI Joe,
I think contracting by 4 and relocation would be great! Get rid of Nashville, Florida, Atlanta and Tampa.
and moving Carolina, Dallas, Phoenix, Anaheim back to Hartford (they want another team), Quebec City, Hamilton/Toronto, Winnipeg.
CCCP, fine. But the post advising everyone else about being mature five seconds after he told you to eff yourself and blow him is straight out of KnuckleheadLoserville.
LI Joe—Nah, you’re playing favorites. If someone said those things to you, you’d hate them for life. they say them to someone else, you have no problem with it. That’s weak in my book. On top of the fact the guy was wrong in the first place about Brooks, as whoever it was above who proved it!
nasy – what you need are some chicken wings and chilli, and at least 32 ounces of coke, or if you’re not working at least 3 beers. will make you feel much better
Brooks is right for people who are negetive. He is along the same lines.
duguay – i hate 3 people on this blog. really try to ignore most of what they say as no good can come of it. i was advising beerme to try to do the same (and succeed better than i do)
I guess some people wonder why a coach that is defense first… is coaching a team that routinely can’t play defense.
To me it’s been (since Hank has emerged as one of the best in the league) put a solid defensive team in front of him and you’ll have a very good team.
Granted part of the shortcoming(s) fall on Sather for the soldiers… but for the life of me I can’t understand why this team would give up 5 goals in the 3rd to Toronto, 8 goals to NJ, 5 goals in a half a game to Washington, 6 goals to Montreal, blah blah blah.
The coach has to get more out of these guys. If they don’t buy into the system then it’s an even better case for firing him.
Not that I’m saying that… it’s just that there’s a reason to think that way (at times).
jason- forget hartford that city is really run down. teams to contract
ISLES
atl
phoenix
fla
nashville
above 5 are no brainers. 6th is trickier. the tri state area absolutely does not need 3 teams.
Nasty has the weakest stomach. If it’s not tuna wrap it’s a whopper. BTW that angry whopper looks great.
Joe in DE,
My only point was that Renney needs to face facts. Redden blows and cant QB our PP. Lacking those three skills Renney mentions as key to QB’ing doens’t mean “there’s an argument to be made” that the Rangers lack a QB, it means they are DEFINITELY missing a QB. Devastatingly so.
Gas to drive to BK $4.85
Angry whopper $3.50
Vanilla shake $2.50
Toilet paper…...........priceless
kaspar – you are good
The hypocrisy on this board is too funny. Correcting completely wrong statements (as wd40 did regarding Brooks)is considered “agitating” and being like Avery——while a poster who tells another to fuck off and blow him is coddled by guys like LI Joe as if he was the poor victim.
“I guess some people wonder why a coach that is defense first… is coaching a team that routinely can’t play defense.”
“Routinely can’t”?
They’ve finished in the top 5/6 or so in the NHL in team GAA for the last few years. If there’s one thing this team CAN do it’s play defense. Every team has ‘slumps’ that they get sloppy or lazy. But just like any slump, or a bad game. It’s all about how you respond to it.
2-1 loss to Caps…shutout div team 4-0 next game.
5-3 loss to MTL…then won 5 of next 6 available points incl another shutout.
I really truly belive that if our PP was was in the top 1/2 of the league(even 15th), we’d be top 3 in the league … instead of just a “pitiful” 7th out of 30.
LIjoe – You’ve been around here a long time, and that’s really good advice. But you know just how hard it is to let the ignorance go sometimes. It gets the better of you from time to time. Not something to be proud of.
All is well!!!
My two cents on Brooks – his spin on the Rangers has always been negative. Truly, can anyone remember when he’s had a sustained positive slant on the team as a whole other than the occasional “they played a good/complete game tonight” story?
I think he’s astute at times but has a bias towards fanning the flames. An example – would be harping on the special teams and specifically the powerplay without mentioning the penalty kill.
I also can’t really recall when he ever said that any player was a better player than he was in a particular game or stuck his neck out to say someone would be a better player going forward, I do notice that he’s quick to point out poor play though.
rudolph – whatever. all i was trying to do was give advice to someone. 3 people here really grind my gears. so would it not be best to ignore their comments. all i was doing was telling beerme to do the same. the hate by some posters for others is greater than the hate many have for sather, renney, and dolan. and so as to not be hypocritical, i am including myself since i’ve already admitted to hating 3 people here.
beerme agreed – i am not proud of admitting that 3 people i’ve never met i hate. just goes to show you what the real sean avery can do to players.
If the Isles move to Kansas City, that will be dreamy. Im sick of this sharing cities bullshit. Doesn’t that piss anyone off ?? They’ll still be rivals, but they’ll just be in a boring city, and that’s what they deserve !!
I wish the Devs would move to Vegas, but that wont happen. But i hope the Isles do move, there should only be one NY team.
Anyway, i hope MSG has a nice little segment of the dads like they did last year. Mr. Orr sure can tear it up where ever he is. Mr Gomer also. Im sure they’re all disappointed that Mr. “Teddy Bear” Avery isn’t there. The dads seemed to like the guy.
GAA has absolutley nothing to do with perennial Vezina candidate worthy goalie? Come on.
This team for priding itself on being ‘defense first’ is beyond pathetic. World class goaltending saves the stats yet again.
How ws the chat… I had to leave after about the first ten minutes or so…
Joe – It’s an amazing skill.
JJP – I guess if you just look at the paper he writes for, it can really offer some reasoning as to why his stories never change….
The front page is always some scandal. The back page is usually(arguable) about a player missing a catch, underperforming, being overpaid, cheating on his spouse, etc.
Flip through, and you’ll find the same in each section. Just the nature of a tabloid.
But I’ll never feel guilty for wanting to look for the positives. In everything.
“But you know just how hard it is to let the ignorance go sometimes.”—- Beer Me
This gem on ignorance comes from the guy who told us that Brooks “never says anything like ‘What they need to do is this, or that’. Or ‘I think they should do this.’”
Who, when immediately shown that HE was the ignorant one by wd40’s citing of Prucha and the power play, where Brooks suggestions ended up being adopted by the coaches(!), attacks instead of copping to the fact that he was completely wrong.
And this fool has the gall to call others ignorant?
“GAA has absolutley nothing to do with perennial Vezina candidate worthy goalie? Come on.”
Is sure does. He wears the same sweater doesn’t he? You think all 10 of those shutouts last season were 100% attributable to him? Our defense is FAAAAAR from perfect. But if they can put it together just TEN TIMES out of 82…you’ll get’em. That 4-0 shutout of Pitt last week had nothing to do with a solid team DEFENSIVE effort?
“Come on.”
Don’t take that the wrong way. If there’s 1 player on the team that earns his salary. It’s Hank.
And Orr. But that’s a different story.
Beer Me! r u sure ur a Rangers fan? u r too positive man! lol
Still contributing to the conversation rudolph. Thanks for the insight.
cccp – In a completely non-sarcastic way(this time), I’m glad you’ve moved on too.
Beer me, I think he likes you.
Mara is earning every penny this year.
Chris F, I totally agree. When the Rangers signed Redden, I was excited at first. Rozy was having trouble with the PP, so I figured we’d sign Redden and let him to go free agency. Then we signed Rozy anyway. Sure enough, the PP still sucks. Signing Rozy should have negated the Redden deal.
Beer Me!, I think that stat lies. Yes, we are always among the top in the league defensively. But that is due in large part to an all world starting goaltender and a damn good backup, who stand on their head night after night. Also, it’s due to a system that emphasizes defense at the expense of offense, and it’s getting worse. Since Renney has been the coach, our goal differential has closed considerably. From 05-06 it has gone from +42, +26, +14, and this year we are on par for +4. Scoring has actually gone up this year from last, but so has GA. When Hank and Vally play human, we lose.
It’s actually somewhat nonsensical the idea that we need to play defense first considering we are so good in goal. Hank in theory should allow us to take more chances, not less. Let the D get deeper, pinch in, play a forward at the point on the PP, knowing that if there is a gaffe, the lone defender and Hank will more often than not take care of it. Given the personnel we have on the backline, that style makes more sense too. Only Staal and Mara are really stay at home guys. Everyone else likes to jump into the play. Our PK is absurd, so we’re really letting up the brunt of goals even strength. Imagine what a powerhouse Washington would be with goaltending duo like we have.
And to touch back on Brooks… Maybe his tone hasn’t changed because he sees what he saw back then. Big money names and players brought around to try to patch things up and zero accountability on Broadway.
By cookie cutter I meant ‘safe’ not ‘scripted’... Brooks brings the fire where he thinks it needs to be brought… Other writers give literary handjobs (literotica?)Regarding the coasting team to their readers.
It still boggles my mind that people who claim to pay such close attention to this team are not outraged with their performances night after night. Pay close enough attention and there is really no secret what the issues are and that #1 is lack of urgency among the squad.
I hope we can sign Mara, but I do not hold out hope
for all of you who live in the tri state. Plane just crashed into the Hudson…
Nasty 1 – I too had an Angry Whopper today, but have only pooped once. But I also didn’t eat anything before it on purpose, so maybe that says something about it, too.
Yes Beer Me, I’d like to thank you for looking for the positives in me.
(Someone whispers a qualification offstage)
But he just said he always looks for the positive in everything!
tee hee ;>
Just a thought
Pro-Beer
Anti-Communism
cccp, I love sharing
looks like the pilot did an amazing job of landing the plane in the water. ny to charlotte flight
On this Larry Brooks thing, don’t people remember when he suggested playing Prucha with the very linemates the night beofre Renney had that very comination skating in practice?
So I don’t think it’s even close to fair to say that Brooks never suggests remedies for what isn’t working.
Re: defense
4-0 game vs PIT
PRIME example. Did you even watch that game? I couldn’t believe they didn’t score on any of those JUICY golden opportunities!! Crosby split 2 and 3 guys several times and was alone with LQ, malkin and another on a 2 on 0… I could keep going on situations when guys were left all alone …its ridiculous. That game was ALL hank carrying the team on his head against a lost PIT team struggling with its identity… Ugh.
ford – no doubt brooks offers remedies. 2 of the ones i disagree with were his constant harping about shanny and now avery.
(Carrying on his back, standing on his head)
US Airways flight 1549 from Laguardia to Charlotte
hit a flock of birds and crash landed in the Hudson people have been rescued form the plane, but I haven;t seen anything say how many…
Salty, keep killing it on here with those posts. I especially agree with this: “It still boggles my mind that people who claim to pay such close attention to this team are not outraged with their performances night after night. Pay close enough attention and there is really no secret what the issues are and that #1 is lack of urgency among the squad.” True.
The Penguins shutout, Hank was hung out to dry on a ridiculous level! Weinman called it a complete game…which featured so many penalty kills, a 5-on-3, and even a 2-on-0 breakaway with one of the top 2 players in the NHL! Go defense!!
joeinDE – That’s a very valid argument. But Hanks been HORRIBLE on breakaway’s this year. Pushing on offense always leads to increased odd-man rushes.
“It’s actually somewhat nonsensical the idea that we need to play defense first considering we are so good in goal. Hank in theory should allow us to take more chances, not less.”
NJD played defense first in front of Marty. Gonna be a 600 game winner soon. Was it the attention to defense or goaltending? Or is it possible that you need a combination of both? A defensive gameplan is nothing without a goalie. A great goalie is nothing without a defensive gameplan.
And how nasty would the caps be? Not as nasty as we’d like to believe, cause you can’t pay that offense if you have a 6.8 goalie plus vally’s salary…brings you to almost $8mil in goal.
Did witnesses run, did they run so far away-ahey?
In other news the Toronto Maple Leafs have traded everyone decent on their team along with all their draft picks for the next 5 years in exchange for John Tavares..i mean the Islanders first round pick.
Gotta go for the day. Sorry, I know you’re all very upset.
Some plane ran into my birds!
Gotta go
Hope everyone is OK in NYC
Dubleiweicz (Spelling) just signed a 500K prorated 1 year contract with the fishsticks
They should have kep the minor league guys up. Then when the entire season was lsot, they would have had 1 & 2 picks next year
I gotta fly tomorrow. Not what i wanted to hear, but its great that everyone is safe.
shanny is number 18 – for dr house they play at the isles saturday.
http://devils.nhl.com/team/app?service=page&page=TeamPlayers&type=roster
crosby missed practice by the way with some bump or bruise from their last game. interesting to see if he’ll be ready sunday.
Yeah , i was sitting there at Burger King and a costomer came up to the till with his order and was mad. I heard him complain about something and then walked off. I said to the cashier , did he have a angry whopper? I suggested they make a happy whopper and then everyone will be happy :)
LIjoe am i one of the 3 you hate?
Beer Me!, point well taken. NJD played a defensive first system, but was also one of the league leaders in GF as well. There needs to be some kind of balance. By switching from a Defense first system to a puck possession/attack style, we’d limit offensive chances against by limiting the opposition’s time with the puck. I’m not saying we should abandon defense, not at all. But I strongly doubt we’d let up more goals by ramping up the attack instead of sitting back, letting the other team come to us, and playing on our heels. Because that approach is clearly not working.
greg – hell no. not you or orr or even bob
LI Joe
am I? or do I not post enough to even make the radar? I read all the time but don’t post often.. just in batches…
Beer me
Callahan didn’t “develop” under the system…he came up quite a player.
and he’s unique in one thing – he hasn’t let the system
ruin him. He still plays his own game..sort of a kamikaze, rubik cube deal with constantly moving legs. Moving the legs is what this game is all about, and I haven’t seen Redden move at anything beyond a mild lope since he’s been here. Guys brush right past him to retrieve pucks in his zone that he should get, but cannot seem to bestir himself.
I’ve been as dismayed by Kallinin’s play as anyone…and the surprising part is that I think that the kid has pretty good tools, he skates well, he’s got good size ( a helluva point shot), but his brain doesn’t seem to work with his body. He feeezes up when forechecked agressively ( and who doesn’t on this club with but few exceptions),I believe that with a really sound Defense coach he could be salvaged.
What a great job by the Pilot in NYC!!!
Back to gripes again…
dont look now gang but I believe the Hartford Wolfies have been avaeraging 2 goals a game for the past month or two….
The “system” is now working it way thru the entire….system?
Alrightt!! sweet , your my buddy then!!!??
Yeah i’d thought ya hate BOB or ORR or me , but hey people can be annoying on here. Oh well , yeah I read past blog posts to keep up with things. Some of you have really good points on the Rangers . When I’m chillin out with a smoke , ill read some blogs and yeah it may seem like a guys got no life , Reading what you guys say is great. I like some , dislike some so its all good.
So , LIJOE you on the blueshirt Bulliten (i know its spelt wrong , who cares) and ya go into the blog part for only paid customers ..you post at both sites ,there and here. Are you alone? or do others from there show up here too?
is anyone interested in purchasing 2 tix for the 27th against the hurricanes?
iam selling them at face value which is $89.00 a ticket.
the seats are in section 234.
if anyone is interested, please contact me at nouhfecks@aol.com
ag – come on you’re cool. i think the others know who they are
LI Joes 3 biggest juciest man-crushes:
Wd40
TrueFans
Salty (biggest, lol)
I will say I think LI joe is the MIP
(Most Improved Poster) this season though…
Went from the numbnuts that took personal offense from the term “locker room cancer” to a guy who that has shown a grasp over contracts, clauses, and all sorts of salary discussion explanation that is 2nd to none. Good show LIJoe.
greg – i rarely post on BB since i’m usually behind in my reading there. usually go there more for the links than anything.
Wow, Eklund was actually right for once. He said Dublibitch was gonna sign with the Islandorks.
I cant wait to see Shanny in that game. For once im actually looking forward to a Devils game. I hope the Islandorks win though. Gotta get a winning streak, cant get Tavares or Hedman !!
now salty don’t go soft on me now. you used to be number 1 (mainly due to reason you mentioned and then wishing death on me in a fire)- sorry but the other 2 have passed you. for some reason i take their bait while usually don’t with yours.
very observant on who the 3 are. completely correct.
Gomez missed his radio show today. . . . . .
not much hockey talk today, lots of anger though. and i think we learned with beer me hatred of the post, that he is most definitly a LIBERAL.
“Just an addition to my blog about Petr Prucha being named first star when I was at the Rangers-Islanders game over the holidays—aside from enforcers, there may not be a more popular forward with only three goals. Blueshirts fans roared their approval for Prucha all night and seem to like him a whole lot more than head coach Tom Renney, it seems.”
http://www.tsn.ca/fantasy_news/feature/?fid=548&lid=sublink06&lpos=topRelated_nhl
NHL back in Hartford??
http://www.courant.com/news/local/hr/hc-towndigbrf0115.art0jan15,0,5369581.story
:Brass Bonanza!:
this blog today is like one big group therapy session… everyone is revealing their feeling towards each other… next thing we know they’ll go on a mass date or something… in this case ill reveal something as well… I’m not wearing any underwear right and i am not ashamed! lol
Why Doodie Machetto isn’t on Joe’s list is a puzzler. Not only did he bitch-slap the poor guy over the goalie issue last week, he did it in a rough, nasty and relentless way, and Joe ended up thanking him for it! Stockholm syndrome?
cccp if your female then it aint half bad!
What would you rather see, Jagr control the puck at the half-boards for 1:30 minutes and send a shot from the perimeter – or – These clowns fumble with the puck , give up a short-handed chance with no-one hustling back to a the very least take a penalty to pull the guy down (I dont remember it happening once this year)
Chicago sucks and so do there fans!!!
i love Jagr… and i was very disappointed when found out that he is not coming back… on my team.. Jagr can do whatever the fuk he wants!! if he wants to juggle the puck for half the game …let him do it!! Players like that come only once in a life time… so yeah.. i rather see Jaromir still be a Ranger
I say we bring back Jagr and make him Captain . Jagr plays like a wildman and wins us the cup , we retire his jersey and live happily ever after…If Adam Graves has his number retired , Then Jagr being the highest scoring euro of all time should have his too.
i wonder… will Penguins retire his number?
astute – goalie issue? what the heck are you talking about. i’ve had my moments with dm (like the saga salty talked about a yr or 2 ago), he’s not one of my favs, but hate no – the 3 mentioned are where that stops (i hope)
Salty, that would be awesome. A return of the Whalers! Their new logo can be a picture of Martin Brodeur
^ Hahaha. Zing.
It was the jalapenos, and I am going to give it another go over the weekend, it was definitely a very tasty burger.
It saddens me that I am not anyone’s favorite poster, nor did I even make anyone’s top 3. Man, I guess I better step my game up.
Nasty… there’s unspoken love for u on this blog… don’t be sadden…
I hear its gonna take a #1 or #2 D-man PLUS, a Top 6 forward, PLUS a Blue Chip Prospect to get Vinny out of TB.
Does anybody think that’s too much, not enough, or what ??
If the Rangers were in the running would anybody give up that much??
I really think I would …. I’d package Dubinsky, Redden, and Sangunetti to make room for a 100 point player. Especially with Grachev and AA looking good enough to make the roster next season in Dubi’s place anyway
nasty – you’re like switzerland everyone here likes you
Awwwww guys, you shouldn’t have. Just made my day. Ha. Like Switzerland, HA, hilarious.
somerset – why would tb want redden. they would not take him for free via waivers. the package would have to be much better. if vinny is traded look for him to go to mtl.
pruha, rozi, cally, potter, drury and a pick for Vinny and Arthukhin … i’d do it
lijoe:
Last week, when you tried to put richter in the top rank of his peers, doodie tore you a new one, and you crawled on your knees to him in concession.
LI Joe,
Why wouldn’t TB take Redden? They took Malik didn’t they? :)
There’s no way the NHL goes back to HFD; too small a city and the Wolfpack only draw like 3,000 per game.
The Pens should retire Jagr’s number, if they don’t it’s a joke. He won two Cups with them and was their captain for a good 6 years. If the Canadians can retire Roy’s # when he was in a long feud with them, then the Pens should retire Jagr’s number.
If Vinny L were to come here TBL would have to take a big contract of either Gomez or Drury.
Let’s not rush Grachev; he looks like he’s gonna be great but he’s 18. If he plays another year with the great Stan Butler, it’s not a bad thing.
AA should be up here next year no questions asked; you wanna cut salary? Re-do the fourth line with AA and a either Paranteau/Byers/Soryal/Owens/Weisse or maybe even Grachev if he truly is ready. I love Betts but if he’s gonna cost too much $, then it’s time for AA to take over and perfect his trade.
how about redden, gomez, voros,kalinin and naslund to dallas for richards, riberio, avery and robidas?
astute – i don’t think so
redden, gomez, and drury all have a no move contracts. the rangers will not be able to trade them. and to get vinnie, it going to cost you dubi, staal plus.
cccp – drury has no trade clause. tb would not do that deal. otherwise it’s a great idea
garden – big diff bewtween malik at 1 yr low salary and redden 5 1/2 more yrs at $ 6.5 mm per yr. tb is having cash issues also having to give away some tix
ok then Gomez instead of Drury and what the hell… throw Fritsche and Rissmiler in that deal… but gotta get Artukhin back as well…the kid is a monster! Huge and got somewhat good hands for a giant
the rangers should target kovalchuk. he is probably more getable than vinnie. renney could teach him to play responsibly in his own end.
cccp – would you do that if you were tb. come on. at least be reasonable and consider what is good for the other team. that is almost like saying kalinin, voros and redden for AO.
bull dog – we have no room under the cap. enough of going after others players. and believe me atl is cash crippled in real $ so they have no interest whatsoever in our high priced players.
Anyone know why I can’t get the video chat to replay?
Thanks.
CCCP January 15th, 2009 at 7:04 pm
pruha, rozi, cally, potter, drury and a pick for Vinny and Arthukhin … i’d do it
——
i meant add Gomez instead of Drury since he has no trade to that deal and thrown in extra heads like Fritsche and Rismiller
Redden has never been a big pp qb he put up average pp numbers not sure why Sather though he’d be able to be the guy that would fix the pp. Streit was the best pp qb out there and Orpik was the best defensve dman out there. Sather screwed the pooch as usual.
ORR !! What Is It Good FOR ??
January 15th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
If the Isles move to Kansas City, that will be dreamy. Im sick of this sharing cities bullshit. Doesn’t that piss anyone off ?? They’ll still be rivals, but they’ll just be in a boring city, and that’s what they deserve !!
I wish the Devs would move to Vegas, but that wont happen. But i hope the Isles do move, there should only be one NY team
What a silly ass post if they move that far away they won’t be rivals anymore. Look at Quebec moving to Colorado and their rivalry with Montreal dying. I hope you are just telling an unfunny joke.
I don’t think Orpik was the answer, he had a contract year last year. He played well, the Pens offense was crushing/demoralizing and Fleury/Conklin had a great year. Here are some stats –
‘07-08: played 78 games, on ice for 36 even strength goals against, 1 every 33 mins, played 1181 even strength minutes
‘08-09: through 45 games, on ice for 45 even strength goals, 1 every 18 mins, played 783 even strength minutes so far
A couple of things to note, Fleury and Sabourin have only been average this year. The loss of Gonchar has hurt the quality of the defense as well.
I look at those numbers and to me it says that Orpik can’t shoulder the load as a top pairing D-men. He’s playing 5 extra mins a night so far this year compared to last and its showing.
Orpik makes big hits, clears the front of the net well which is great for the highlight reel and fans but doesn’t keep the puck out of the net.
I also can’t help but think that with Crosby and Malkin a guy like Orpik should have an edge on his defensive numbers as theoretically the Pens should score enough goals to put the game out of reach more often than the average team.
Rivalries don’t always last; look at Rangers and Boston. Colo and Mont have barely anything to do with each other anymore. A good rivalry was Rangers and Washington from the old Patrick Division days but that has cooled down.
CCCP
They should. Jags carried that team while Mario wasn’t there. Its not his fault he couldn’t bring them the Cup once more. They came close though, and it was cause of Jags. Some Pens fans say Jags doesn’t have a cup without Mario, but like i always say, Mario doesn’t have a Cup without Jags. Jags was a part of those two wins as much as he was in my opinion.
They should retire his number.
BTW – Nice win by the Lightning tonight. They finally do something right for once.
BADSEED
No i think im, i mean ORR is being serious. Does that bother you ??
i was reading above talking about taking callahan off the 3rd line here on the big team…
he shouldnt have ever been there, callahan dawes and dubinski were all goal scorers in hartford, they shouldnt be below the 2nd line
Chris-and they’re not. Cally and Dawes get 2nd line minutes this year, and Dubi while I guess his line is the 3rd line nowadays, still gets PP and some PK time.
Any chance the Rangers have anything to offer for Lecavalier if Tampa is serious about trading him? That would be just like San Jose getting Thornton a few years ago. We need a marquee offensive player still in his prime. Wake up Slats!!!
Drury and Gomez contracts (add: Rissmiller/Fritche) cost the Rangers any chanmce at getting a now avilable Lacavilier (I like both players but contarcts are outlandish).. Redden’s contract alone (worse than the angry whopper) cost us a chance at Boumeester.. Trade Sather and a first rounder to the Blues for JD!
cliff – not with the salary cap and the $ and duration of contracts. plus we have our own young uns to sign. and another thing Vinny L will much rather play in his home town of montreal.
from what i read Vinny would NOT want to play in MTL. No french-canadien wants to be the “centerpiece” of the Candiens.
The Rangers could have a real shot at landing Vinny over Kovalchuk.
Atlanta doesnt want to take on anymore money while TB has no problem changing their roster every 10 games and spending to the cap limit.
If the Rangers were willing to part with Dubinsky and Sanguenetti, Tampa Bay would take Redden’s contract … They took Malik, Plus, THEY HAVE NO DEFENSE !!!
a trade of Dubinsky, Sanguinetti, and Rozsival or
Dubinsky, Sanguinetti,and Redden could get Vinny here
somerset – tampa is also having severe cash issues. so they will have a lot of issues taking on redden or rozy’s contract. these teams are not farmclubs of the rangers. this is not MLB where the yankees can sign anyone they want.
Tampa’s gonna ask for EVERYTHING and the kitchen sink. Let’s start with a first rounder in next year’s draft, and they’ll take Redden or Rozi, but only if at least two of AA/Grachev/Del Zotto/Sags and one of Dubi/Cally/Korpo come that way.
It’s not worth it. This guy is not Messier, not even close. Look, we waited this long to have prospects and seven years and a little luck to just make the playoffs, let’s not throw out all the eggs in one basket.
I’m wiling to stand pat for another year or two and seriously, maybe it’s just me, but I’m willing to give the keys to AA/Grachev/Del Z/Sags and HOPE that Kundratek/Weisse/Hagelin/and the boy with the biggest heart ever Mitch Gaulton (beat Tommy John surgery in 6 months when they told him 18!) pan out. Captain Dubinsky, Commander Staal, and Lt. Commander Callhan, the Enterpise belongs to you three 9and Henrik).
mike – its prob 3 or 4 yrs away but the young star who will be capt is staal not dubinsky
mike – they will want the young ones you mention but will not take rozys or reddens contracts with 3 and 5 yrs remaining. so it’s not happening
If Tampa got some defense, they would be a playoff team … They would take Redden or Rozys contract, if it meant receiving a blue chip D-man and Dubinsky.
Plus they will get a top 3 pick next year since they are probably gonna finish in the bottom of the league this year, and Stamkos will start scoring eventually—they really just need minor tweaking
Imagine Dubinsky and Stamkos together
IMO—They’re not in rebuild mode … they think they have a shot at an immediate turnaround if they can strengthen their depth esp. on Defense.
I see them clearing out 1 or 2 guys (Vinny and maybe Prospal) and letting the team gel the rest of this year in preparation for next year
“I’m wiling to stand pat for another year or two and seriously, maybe it’s just me, but I’m willing to give the keys to AA/Grachev/Del Z/Sags and HOPE that Kundratek/Weisse/Hagelin/and the boy with the biggest heart ever Mitch Gaulton (beat Tommy John surgery in 6 months when they told him 18!) pan out. Captain Dubinsky, Commander Staal, and Lt. Commander Callhan, the Enterpise belongs to you three 9and Henrik)”
MIKEA
Well said broseph. I gotta agree with you. Vinny is one hell of a player, but is it worth it to trade everything we’ve got for one player ??
Drafting’s been brutal over these years. Missed out on superstars, and great young talent like Mike Green, Richards, Carter, Getzlaf, Perry, Brown, Parise all in the first round, and losing Cherry this year to death. Staal is the only good 1st round pick, and Sags could be good, but its to soon to tell, and same for Del Z. The failed 1st rounders could potentially be replaced by decent late round picks like Artie who is probably the most promising of all the prospects.
This team isn’t pretty, trading most of it wont help. In fact it might just make them worse. But that’s my opinion.
The Bolts are gonna want too much, and rightfully so since they’re dealing away a Superstar. Id rather stick with what is already here.
somerset – we will have to disagree here. like you said the pick they will have is near the top of draft. stamkos will cost a lot. bluechip dman will cost a lot. dubi might be a fair amt too. and st louis is there with major $ too. so NO WAY they will accept reddens or rozys contract. plus they will have fan backlash if they trade vinny so trhey will only do if they are overwhelmed or vinny insists on a trade. their concern is more real $ than cap $ and redden or rozy will kill them there.
I love trade-talk as much as the next guy. But there’s zero chance vinny comes to the Rangers. For a number of reasons. Mainly salary. MTL started those rumors because they’re not as good as they had hoped to be in their centennial season. Maybe going with an unproven 20 year old goalie was a mistake? Especially one that can’t stay healthy.
Boston only beat the Isles 2-1 last night. Man they must really suck. Sorry to be a smart-ass here…or maybe I’m not, haven’t decided yet. But there’s no hiding that the B’s are one of the strongest teams in the NHL right now, and they couldn’t put up more than 2 goals vs Yan Danis either. Boston, the team that’s on pace to score 300 goals this season.
Also on the Isles, I think by bringing Dubwitz back shows a little competitiveness. They could very easily go with Danis for a while and put Tavares’ name plate above a locker now. On that, they may even want to consider drafting Hedman instead anyway. They’ve drafted a few forwards high in the draft the last few years, but as far as I know, there’s not much on the back end. Adding a 6’7” dman may be the better choice…for them, at this time.
Bringing Dubwitz back also doesn’t spell good things for DP15. I think it’s a matter of time until he’s diagnosed with some chronic or genetic condition and retires in the next 2-3 years. I hope Wang has a decent insurance policy out on that contract.
What does this all spell for Bettmans New NHL Utopia?
Phoenix, a good young team being built the right way, is going to go belly-up
If Tampa ever trades Vinny…thats it for that franchise-Forget them
The salary cap was supposed to even everyone out onto a level playing field but whats obvious is that even with a level field some of these markets cannot compete
I watched an Atlanta game the other night and even when the camera man on the Thrasher network went into the stands to show kids he couldn’t help but pick-up empty seats in his camera shot!Usually they pan in on a group of people so you cant see the empties…theres no hiding it there…and they traded Savard, Hossa and now? Kovalchuk?
Its over…dont make fun of the KHL…the NHL is 12 healthy franchises supporting 12 barely walking and the rest on life-support
kaspar – That is the saddest part. But the saving grace for Bettman will be the worldwide economic ressession. That bastard will play that card as much as he can. Sure, part of it can be validated. But some of those franchises have been in the same shape for years.
Beer-I never really understood what type of fan they were trying to attract to these new markets…how can you become a die-hard Thrasher fan and watch your team trade away Danny Heatley; get Hossa and then trade him away a year after making the playoffs for the first time?
These idiots running the NHL think they’re gonna survive in places like atlanta and Phoenix by having Mom and Dad taking their family out a couple of times a year; independent of what kind of team being placed on the ice…
Then the economy turns and instaed Mom says “lets take them to the rodeo…its cheaper!
Eklund says we’re interested in Tkachuk. lol.
Pavel reads Ecklund..Pavel reads Ecklund!!
ah…so do I
Then I go to the comments and count how many people buy the rumours and the couple who go on and blast eck….
I too am outraged at the way this team plays night in and night out.
My father and I are huge fans, he was a professional athlete in his day, he understands how a team has to play in order to be successful and he still supports his Rangers. I on the other hand am at the end of my rope.
He claims the team is doing as well as it can with the personnel they have, which may be true. Their game may be boring, but it’s because that’s the way they have to play in order to be successful.
My outlook is why go out and spend millions of dollars on Drury, Gomez, Rozival, Redden, etc if all you’re going to do is play not-to-lose / trap each and every night they play? Why not save the money and spend it on the exciting players when they come up for UFA and let your kids play defense/trap hockey and at least throw the body get in some scraps every so often?
This team never initiates any contact, we don’t fight, we have ZERO passion for the most part and we generate no scoring opportunities. Heck we leave Hank out to dry against the Isles!
I have to say I can not stand watching this team play hockey some nights. I think we are terribly coached. I don’t care what our record is, we have no passion, no idea what to do with the puck in the offensive zone other get point shots.
I think it may have something to do with the players, but I think it has everything to do with the coach and the GM.
As a school teacher, at mid-term exams, that is my critique of the team.
Redden – GOmez – Drury = D+/C-
Rozival – Mara = B
Kalinin – D
Staal – Girardi – B-
Dawes – B
Callahan – B+ / A-
Zherdev – Dubinksy – C+
Voros – C
Henrik- B+ / A-
Sjostrom – Betts = C
Orr – B
Renney and his staff – C
agreed in full vogs.
new post!!