Back to hockey
The weirdest thing happened. I was unable to blog for a week and … I missed you guys. I really did. I couldn’t wait to get back in here, even though I had nothing to add and nothing in particular to say. I just missed the back-and-forth, all the hockey talk and even moreso, all the nonsense we share.
I never would have thought that I’d be so happy—in this one single regard—to get back to work.
Not much happening, really, although I’m sure a lot of you had a little heart-jump with the speculation that Cablevision was going to sell the Garden and its teams—which Cablevision promptly shot down.
Just a couple of things on the conference finals.
1) I know I don’t have to convince most of you guys to root against the Penguins. I’m rooting for Carolina, sort of. Oh, those who know me know that I am not a fan of hockey in places like Raleigh (sorry, just a personal old-school choice). But I’m pulling for the Hurricanes because—and you may not know this—Paul Maurice is one of Adam Graves’ best friends, and any great friend of Adam must be a terrific person. Dumb reason? Oh well.
2) Did you catch the level of skill in the Western final? Wow. Chicago did it the hard way, finishing out of the money all those years and finally building a roster out of the ashes. But it’s truly incredible what Detroit has done. The Red Wings have been an NHL superpower since the early 1990s (they were shockingly upset in the first round in ‘94 or they may have been the Rangers’ opponents in the final), and yet they have managed to draft better than teams in the lottery, and have kept a remarkable stream of home-grown talent coming. Unlike some other teams who will remain nameless.
Special thanks to Jane McManus for filling in all week long, and for keeping you guys entertained with some really clever posts. She’s the best, and she really loves doing this stuff.
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welcome back Carp
Welcome back! And it was a ton of fun but we missed you.
Welcome back C-$! Thats what I have dubbed you. Also, watching Samuleson play for the wings these last few years…where was this when he was a Rangers?
Thanks all.
I must be missing something with the C-$.
Welcome back Carpster. Had to pull out my copy of “A Season in Hell With the NYR” and give it a re-read over the weekend. What a crazy time that was. We had an earthquake out here in SoCal last night. Things start rocking and rolling about 8:45 PM, and we had just finished watching Freaky Friday. I immediately went online to see if the magic forces had acted and moved Wade Redden to the Oilers roster. Alas, no such luck.
Welcome back Carp. Mikael Samuelsson was actually mentored by Nicky Fotiu , we got him when we traded Adam Graves then later dealt him to get Kovy back the second time around . To be honest as a Ranger he didn’t show much. As far as the playoffs go Detroit looked poised especially in the third period. I just hope the Hawks can regain that youthful mojo and make this series a barn burner.
Sean Avery Points Finger At Flames Mike Cammalleri :
http://www.rangercrisis.com
Carp,
Detroit is like a hockey machine…they are unbelievable. I am rooting for Chitown now that Boston is out.
That game yesterday was awesome. I just wish our Beloved NEW YORK RANGERS would rebuild in Chicago fashion. I would love to see a true team of youth, with a few vets sprinkled in.
I would love to see a Ranger squad without Rozi and Redden, and get Staal, Girardi, Bobby Sags. Del Zotto, etc and just watch them play and learn and grow. That to me would be more exciting than our consistant mediocrity we see every season.
I say screw bringing in a finisher…lets let Drury and Gomez play out there contracts and fill the roster with kids…
The way I see it IF (we won’t) we sign a Gaborik, Hossa, etc. they will come to NY like every other “star” and disappear…you know like all the others before them
Hey how bout we make a list of “Stars” who came to NY and disappeared?
Carp, welcome back man! Hope you had a good week. Jane definitely held down the fort while you were gone. It was fun to have a little bit of input once or twice to contribute a little. So, who’s coming to Warren 77 on Friday night? Ha. We should get a Bonehead Reserved area.
CARP,
Welcome back. 1940!!!
I’m still so depressed about our situation (both cap and talent)... I find it hard to watch hockey still.
But I did watch most of yesterday’s game.
It just makes me realize how far we really are away from being any kind of a contender.
Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Also, special thanks to Josh Thomson for remaining 26.
Apropos of nothing, guys…
Lacrosse is like hockey on turf…
Four of the eight teams playing this weekend in Foxboro, MA in the NCAA lacrosse championships are from New York state: Syracuse & Cornell in D1 semis; LeMoyne in D2 final; Cortland St. in D3 final. Gotta love it! :^)
Back when Sega NHL 95 was the best game on the earth, and you played with the Hawks, and if for some reason you were losing in the third, all you had to do was sub in Joe Murphy and you were guaranteed a win. Same thing with Detroit. If you subbed in Dallas Drake, you were also guaranteed a win. You could never start either player and have success, but as a sub, the were absolute BEASTS!
Or at least Josh Thompson’s head
Nasty, I may have missed a post but how was your school’s skills competition last week?
Red Wings draft better ? Not sure about that. Datsyuk and Zetterberg are 7th rounders. What they do better is build all the components to blend well and polish their players to a professional level before they enter the NHL. And of course, there coaching is always the best.
Puck Drops, It was a concert, and it was a HUGE SUCCESS. Since I have been here, it was the hands down best performance my school has given. Thank you for asking.
Kudos to Nasty 1! Good job.
Welcome back Papa Bear!!! Jane was awesome, and 26 year old Josh’s disembodied head has become a folk hero!
Good job Nasty!!!
Congrats, Nasty.
rcm, I know those guys were late picks … but it’s still remarkable that a team can achieve and sustain such an elite level and have a roster made up mostly of home-grown talent—star talent, and role guys—Datsyuk, Franzen, Zetterberg, Holmstrom, Helm, Hudler, Kronwall, so many others, not to mention Lidstrom and Osgood.
I feel like Osgood has been playing all my life.
Maybe he’s 26 like Josh.
“Also, special thanks to Josh Thomson for remaining 26.”
Thank you Carp. I could not have done it w/o you.
When it comes to drafts, it’s not as much of a case of Detroit drafting well, it’s the fact that the Rangers take every single bust imaginable, then trade them away, and they either disappear completely, or they flourish somewhere else. Lundmark, Samuelsson, Malholtra, flourished other places, while guys like Brendl, Jessiman, Montoya aren’t doing anything right now.
I wish the Rangers, instead of paying outrageous amount of money to players who suck, would pay big money to scouts, player development, and other behind the scenes talent to draft players who would mesh well together. In my opinion then we should be looking to draft players who would mesh well with Cally, Dubi etc.
Josh Thomson will be 26 his entire life. What a gift!
Welcome back former cheif inspector…..a lot has changed here since you went Crazy….
Welcome back Papa Bear!!!
LOL – that’s what we used to call Jerry Garcia – LOL
Carp:
Welcome back. Jane was awesome during your sabbatical.
Ranger fans, espcecially us old timers must root for the Chicago Blackhawks. We went 54 years, we KNOW what a drought feels like. They have gone 48 years! Kindred spirits. They had Bobby Hull and Stan Makita the last time they won a cup. They didn’t even have Tony Esposito yet!
Of course Detroit is full of established stars and are heavy favorites, but come on Chicago. My money and brain say Detroit. My heart and feelings are all for Chicago.
Pittsburgh – Carolina ? Great match up, will be fun to watch, but who really cares who wins? By the way….
only 5 active goalies have won a Stanley Cup, 3 of them are still playing in the final 4. 1 lost in the first round and maybe the best that ever played, and one lost in the second round but did not play because somehow he has become a back up. In the last 16 years only 10 goalies won a cup and 5 have already retired. Statiscally, relatively few goalies win the cup.
Welcome back Carp- I think you should catch up by giving us some of the answers to the questions Jane has posed- maybe a crazy moment with a Ranger or some songs you equate with some of the guys-
And I’m still wondering if there is anything in the CBA that stops us from simply sending Redden down to Purgitory (Hartford) and getting his $ off the cap-
And this one … so maybe it’s about time we all started giving Osgood some props.
And, by the way, Cam Ward might be the best goalie in the league.
Nasty, NHL 94 will forever own 95. That is all.
i will root HARD for the wings being that the pens are still alive. I DONT WANT TO SEE CINDY LIFT CUP.
as rangers fans we must root hard against pens. thats all we could do at this moment.
go canes and wings being that i think pens would beat hawks
I liked the first NHL game that let you create players.. 95 or 96… I think.
Rick,
You mean, Cam Ward is the best goalie in the playoffs right now? Because he is for sure not the best goalie in the league.
Anyone else remember NHL 98 on PS1 where Christian effin’ Dube was a beast for the Rangers? It’s the weirdest thing.
Disco, why not? The guy has won how many Game 7s, and has he ever lost a playoff series?
Cam Ward may not be the most talented goalie in the league, but he is probably the most clutch.
Does your dog bite?
YES, I do remember that. That guy is a STUD in that game. I remember looking at league leaders at the end of the season in the game, and Forsberg was number 1 and Dube was number 2. Maybe he dad helped make the game or something.
Tikkanen was a monster too in that game. I remember getting him and Dube on the 1st line for the All-Star team in Season mode.
Shory, it helps when you have Eric Staal scoring 2 goals a game.
Did the Avs really offer Roy Tony Granato’s job without warning Granato? Classy.
I remember Cam Ward winning all these game 7s too…and I remember him playing with a hole in his glove as Canes tumbled completely out of post season for two years running…
I’m just sayin
Carp, you got my point exactly.
Osgood, Ward, Khabbibulin night be the most under-rated goalies in the league, while Nabakov, Thomas, Kiprusoff, for sure Luongo, yes even Lundqvist might be the most over-rated goalies in the league.
I was thinking about that post someone wrote about attending Avery’s bar opening. Say the Rangers actually did make a commitment to youth (I know, unlikely), lost Zherdev to the KHL, traded away one of the big contracts and here’s the big one – didn’t chase an expensive free agent.
Would you support bringing back Shannahan for Sjoestrom’s money to mentor the young players?
Kipper is the Catfish Hunter of goaltenders; a thirty something year old played so much he’s 80
I still would love to see Luongo and Hank on teams that had superstar scoring that went 2-3 lines deep like Osgood has….and I know he plays good too; I dont doubt that I just want to see how much easier it would be for a guy like Hank to know he can pretty much put it in nuetral in November….and slowly get ready for the post season…instead of killing himself year after year just to make it
Henrik Lundqvist is technically the best goaltender in the NHL hands down.
JJP,
Consider loosing Zherdev a blessing…
I don’t want gutless, heartless, gritless disappearing acts on my team, especially during the playoffs…I don’t give a damn what he does in the regular season…the regular season means nothing
DiscoStu
Yea, just not when his hands have to go up.
Carp-welcome back. Jane (punk rock girl) held the fort just fine.
Kaspar-It’s not my dog.
I don’t watch after the Rangers are out. I watched maybe 2 minutes of Chi-Det. just lost interest.
no to shanny as a player. as a coach i would bring him back. need a fresh start next year and have to cut as much dead weight this offseason as possible (easier said than done of course)
oh yeah kaspar, hank already puts it in neutral for at least 2 months in the winter, has every year he’s been here (just the reason changes every year). He needs to show he can perform every nite in the regular season and every nite in the playoffs. he is a great goalie but not elite yet. also i dont know how allaire hasnt worked on his glaring weakness of going down too early and leaving the top of the net open. i know this allaire likes butterfly goalies but have to adapt somewhat as hank is way too exposed up top
There was a Rangers blog where you could be the GM for the day. Check this out…what one guy suggested:
Trade 1st & 2nd round picks to ATL and Defensive prospect Sanguinetti for Kovalchuck who will be a UFA at the of next year
Trade Drury and a pick to SJ for Marleau
Trade Rozsival away to a team for a pick…so we get rid of his salary
Trade Gomez away for a pick…possibly to EDM
Sign Gaborik who is a UFA
Sign Oduya who is a UFA
Sign Komisarek who is a UFA
Resign: Callahan, Dubinsky, Antropov, Sjostrom, Betts, Orr.
Lineup:
Kovalchuck ($7.5) – Marleau ($6.3) – Gaborik ($7) – great talent, speed, finishing capabilities
Avery ($1.9) – Dubinsky ($1.5) – Callahan ($1.5) – hard-working, good cycling along the boards, hard-hitting
Anisimov ($.875) – Antropov ($3) – Grachev ($.875) – talented young Russian line
Sjostrom ($1) – Betts ($1) – Orr ($.650) – same as last year
Staal ($.850) – Girardi ($1.6) – same as last year
Oduya ($2) – Komisarek ($3) – hard-hitting blueline
Redden ($6.5) – Minor league ($1) – we’re stuck with Redden
Lundqvist ($6.9)
Vally ($.725)
Salary total: $55.675
WISHFUL THINKING!
welcome back!
GK,
that is total wishful thinking…LOL!
I am not totally sold on Gaborik…It seems like he is always injured.
as another team, I would hate line 2…
I love the talented Russian line!
GK – nice work on assembling that but I’d lay off the pipe bro!
NYRanger4Life …that wasn’t me that assembled that…I copied and pasted it from another website…hence my comment WISHFUL THINKING…the guy who put that together definitely needs to lay off the pipe indeed!
22FIGURE8
I MAY EVEN BE TEMPTED TO PURSUE THE PUBLIC OFFICE…YEA
GK:
-Drury probably isn’t waiving his no-trade clause
-Dubi and Cally are not resigning for only 1.5 mill
-Trading for Kovalchuk unless we can do some sort of sign and trade is awful
-Komisarek is getting at least 5 mill on the open market
-Unless gab is getting a 1 or 2 year deal, i wouldnt even think about touching that injury prone thing
so yeah, massive wishful thinking, you should let him know that
Carp,
I wish you could my request from last year…but it was Sam at the time.
I said Commodore and Vandemeer/Walker.
Instead, I got Redden and Rozy and another 20 years of torture.
As much as I hate Sather…I think the Dolans are the real cancer of this organization.
This year I endorse Walker & Beauchemin…Beauchemin will probably sign a deal too rich for us because we have the Great Redden another 5 years.
Burke will sign him and will turn around Leafs in a short period of time.
OK, so I am not lying. Brodeur’s kid plays baseball for a school that my school plays all the time. He is on my campus today. Should I go “take him out?” HAHA. I am being totally serious too. Not that I am going to take him out, but he is here.
Nasty 1
when its time for Brodeur’s kid to bat… come in front of him and start waving your bat before his face… the Avery dance! That’d be funny
GK:
While I appreciate your effort…forget it.
I would rather do what Chicago did, what Pittsburgh did, what Washington did. Forget the salary cap and forget trying to bring in two more superstars at $7-$8 million a year. Besides, no other team is taking on the Gomez/Drury contracts in full. Go with Sanguinetti and Del Zottto next year on D, go with Anisimov, and whatever young guns we have already in the system. If Gaborik wants to sign here without breaking the bank, OK. I do not mind finishing out of the playoffs for a year or two if it means we get to draft the next Ovechkin/Crosby/Malkin/Kane/Toewes/etc.
Your proposed lineup gives us only one scoring line out of 4, half the same uninspiring defense, and another 6,7,8 th place finish where we don’t make it to the conference finals and we don’t get the highest draft picks.
We won’t (in some ways thankfully) ever be bad enough to draft a crosby,ovechkin, etc type player while hank is here-its just the way it is. We did a bad job with Redden in my opinion but if Redden is gone, sent down, and we can get a useful 2 way dman and a sniper we are right there in the east- when you have the best goalie you have to go for it-
Pens-Wings rematch comin.
Calad
If anyone gives Komiserek $5M a year they have not watched him play this year (starting w/last years playoffs actually)
Just because Sather was stupid enough to make Redden and Rozi get paid like elite dee-men doesnt mean anyone else (except maybe Sather) will pay the one dimensional Komiserk that way…
The guy plays (or played) a mean game but the physical wearing down has begun-even though he’s still young…all that a non-offensive/ not very fast player needs to have happen is lose a single step and he becomes nothing but a plodding head banger (like Darien Hatcher)...if he can catch you he’ll hurt you…but will he catch enough guys??
Fly Line,
“We did a bad job with Redden…” LOL I had nothing to do with it!
Rephrase:
“Sather did a bad job with Redden…”
Oh and…
“Sather did a bad job with Rozi…”
“Sather did a bad job with Drury…”
“Sather did a bad job with Gomez…”
“Sather did a bad job with ...”
“Sather did a bad job with ...”
“Sather did a bad job with ...”
Anyone else see a pattern here?
Well Staal at the time I wasn’t against Drury and Gomez, I was pumped up…but everyone was against Redden, which is why I singled it out- I think Rozi is tradable which means it can’t be that bad- If Redden isn’t on this team and we have that cap space aren’t people singing a different tune?
“Anyone else see a pattern here?”
we need a new GM?
“Anyone else see a pattern here?”
Staal Wart
Run it by me one more time…I think its coming to me
Kaspar,
Do I always have to spell it out? HAHA
Fly,
Maybe a slightly different tune, but I think the it still would be basically the same tune…aimed at 1 less player…
BTW I’d still take Rozi over Redden.
you guys have to see this lol
Dolan vs. Sather ( i wish )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WG3xEIbptWU
I hear you Staal- but we’d also have 6+ mil to spend…that plus the 4 million for nas and 3+ for zherdev and all oof a sudden you might be able to bring in a couple snipers and then a role defenseman or 2-
I think everyone would take Rozi over Redden-
CCCP
May 18th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
Nasty 1
when its time for Brodeur’s kid to bat… come in front of him and start waving your bat before his face… the Avery dance! That’d be funny
*********************************************
LMAO!!! good call CCCP!!! If Nasty were to do that, we’d have to get a collection going for him too!!
Send Redden to Hartford and give 5m to Komisarek. Then take the remaining 1.5m (along with Zhervalev’s 3.25 qualifier) and split it between Dubi/Cally.
Then we try to dump Rozsival to pick up a decent 3rd/4th d-man.
Then we take Penner off EDM’s hands.
None of my plans require signing Gaborik, so it’s win-win.
Actually… never mind… why would an 11 point player get 5m… lol
Wel-come-backkkkk (To the tune of Welcome back Kotter)
Great to see ya didn’t ditch us , sure alot of of are happy with the job Jane has been doing but you two are like um…Batman and Robin ,cisco and ponocho…Sonney and Cher!!!
I am chearing for Carolina again like I did when they won a few years ago when they beat the Oilers and everyone around here didn’t like the fact I wasn’t supporting our last Canadian team.
Josh Thomson = Richard Alpert from “Lost”
I swear….
If we give $5M or more to a Komiserek or a Gabra-ithurts-ov I’m going to cancel NHL center-ice and pay for the college or Junior package online to replace it
Nobody loafs, the season is shorter, I can back to coin collecting and sun-lamping to death insects sooner
CCCP that is funny…
I wonder if NYI is on Redden’s no trade list… maybe Dolan can give Wang $50 million just to trade a 5th rounder for Reddone.
To Flyline:
Fly line , That line kicked azz!!! Fluery ,Lindros and York was great until we traded York to Edm ( York was another small draftee )Fluery well he almost was charged for manstaughering a mascot ,flipped the bird to asslander fans and scored some goals. Good ol Lindros , his head just couldn’t take it anymore. If Eric was in todays NHL , would he be too slow? He was quik for a lumbering big guy and if he was around now (thank god he isn’t) Philthy Philly would have never let him go and we would still be hating him now.
What does Larry Brooks do this time of year?
Is he hiding in some bushes across the bay from Slats’ Yacht?
haha for a while they were one of the most productive lines in hockey- i loved yorky, goddam tom poti-
Anyone remember a game either on new years eve or dec 30 (something along those lines) where Lindros actually dropped his gloves as a ranger. Forget who the guy was but he sh@t his pants big time-
dubi and cally are not getting the raises you guys think.
dubi deserves big bucks when he puts 20+ in the net and Cally when he gets 60 points in a season.. they are not getting more then $1.5 or so….they have not proved anything yet.. I take that back they have proven the yplay hard and are decent producers….
Carp, watching the “other ” teams compete for the should bring the realization to the fans and Dolan that the ranger are more than a few players Callahan, Dubi, Staal , Hank on a hot streak and all the pipe dreams away from seriously competing for the cup.
Its ground up from the scouts , GM, coaching, draft etc. Sather and dolan are selling pipe dreams.AMEN
Flyline-Larry Brooks writes his Slap Shots NHL Column every Sunday going deep into August and also does occasional baseball for the Mets/Yankees. He’s a very funny writer; the only guy to ever somehow put a George Carlin, Mr. M
By the way, I was at work today and realized that Drury would say no to going to San Jose because San Jose is in Norther California, while his home is by LA in southern California…..foiled again :(
Ok, my last Post got wrecked but it said something about Mr Mzleplex from Superman and the Supreme Court’s definition about the Adult film Industry which Larry has used in Slap Shots.
Does it anger anyone that Drury and Gomez are used in the MSG Renovation pics? They’re not homegrown and have proven nothing here. I don’t care about them.
Mike A- the brooks thing wasn’t me-
“Henrik Lundqvist is technically the best goaltender in the NHL hands down.”
........
LOL
I can just see this poster eating multicolored cotton candy out of one of those NYR Dr. Seuss stovepipe hats and not paying attention to the game because he’s looking for the crackerjack guy next.
Hank is definitely one of the most overrated goaltenders in the league. He is yet to put up a ‘complete’ season, always hits a MAJOR slump in which he can’t even put up average numbers, he becomes pretty terrible.
That is not to say he is not outstanding most of the time.
I think Henrik’s pretty darn good but he gets overplayed and fatigued and looses focus; part of the reason is because every year the Rangers find themselves in some dramatic made-for-tv struggle (think Star Trek: Voyager) to make the playoffs due to a giant slump sometime between December-February.
Also I don’t know if Vally is capable of playing 20 games a year but this needs to be addressed when the team is really ready to go for the Cup. I like Vally, I really do, but he’s not a Cup contending backup. You need a vet who can play 20-25 games a year and fill in when your main guy goes in a slump.
Unfortunately i agree with Salty. As good as Hank is, he’s really starting to become a bit overrated. But then again, i always thought Cam Ward was overrated, and thought he was a one hit wonder, but one thing is for certain, unlike Hank, Ward can raise his game to another level when it comes to the playoffs.
I know, i know, Hank made amazing saves, and the team didn’t score, blah, blah, blah. Watch games 3, 5, and 6, and the final 5 minutes of game 7. Enough said.
Hank is making too much money to be playing the way he has. Like Salty said, he always slumps, around December, all the way through January, and sometimes even longer. I know the team, cant score, and their defense is for sh*t, but this happens every year.
As for being fatigued, i don’t know, he’s too young to be fatigued. Are you honestly telling me Martina Broduer can play 75 games, without barely slumping, and Hank cant ? I know Martina is a HOF’er, and arguably the best goalie ever, but look at the age difference. Of course, Martina hasn’t really showed up for the playoffs in a while, so he probably is getting fatigued, maybe.
Either way, id still take Hank because id much rather have him than Weekes, or Dunham, but he needs to really show up next year, and prove he’s top 5 in the league in goaltending.
Go Fox
quick story: Happened to be by Avery’s new haunt on Warren Street Sat around 4pm. The place wasn’t open yet but I saw Sean with beer distributors bringing in cases of Molson Canadian. I just waved with my girlfriend and kept walking. He comes out after us and introduces himself, and invites us in for a tour of the place;shows us what he plans to do with the place, what he wants to serve, etc. We snapped a few photos with him and let him get back to work. The guy was SUPER nice and went way out his way for us for no apparent reason when he was very busy. A real down to earth guy with a great sense of humor..
I met Marty Brodueur last year (snob) in NJ and Ron Doguay (the original metrosexual) at the beer garden in the fall and I less than impressed with how they treated people.
So there is a decent story about Sean Avery, the supposed antichrist.
I guess I’m going to pullfor Carolina since their ECHL team Florida Everblades is here in Naples. Rather be cheering for the Rangers – sigh!
Furthermore the last team I’d be pulling for is Pittsburgh that’s for sure!
Carp – welcome back man! The place was certainly in good hands with Jane though while you were gone.
Patrick – great Avery story, thanks for sharing!
Do you guys remember the days of Dan Cloutiers, Mike Dunhams (who btw holds Rangers goaltending record for season highest save percentage with .924 I think) Milan Hnilickas, Johan Holmqvists, Jason Labarberas, Jussi Markkanens, Guy Hebert!!! And of course Kirk McLeans and even one Russian kid named Vitali Yeremeyev!! (Wow that is one crappy list of goalies)Do you remember those days? What I am getting at is that Henrik is by far the best Rangers goalie (Not counting Richter for obvious reasons (’94)) since John Vanbiesbrouck? Or dare I say Ed Giacomin? That says a lot!
We really got spoiled last 4 seasons with Jagr, Henrik and returning to postseason…Speaking of Jagr, that guy was here for three seasons and he owns like five Rangers Single-season records! (Points, Goals, PP Goals, Shots on goal, GW Goals) Glad we got rid of him so quick! Anyway, we better know what’s good for us Rangers fans or the days of mediocrity (sarcasm) come back to haunt us once again! Lol
So I hope that Henrik will only get better from here. Viva la Sweden!
Orr-Brodeur in his prime faced like 15 shots a game with the Devils trapping so fatigue was not an issue.
how many goalies playing 70+ games have won a Cup? Can anyone find that out? Hasek used to and he got Buff to the Finals, but he didn’t win it until he was with Detroit. Luongo has won squat.
CCCP-Yes, the last four years have been a gift. The Rangers were never supposed to be competitive or make the playoffs for four years in a row after the lockout!
And remember when the witch mobs were out for Richter after the Francis goal in the 92 playoffs and then all he did was win the Cup, the World Cup, and carry the Rangers as far as he could for years on after that incident.
BTW if Ron Duguay ever gos snotty with me, I’d whip out the Sasson Janes commercial jingle I converted to a ringtone.
My friend who similar to Quagmire from Family Guy met Duguay and said he was very cool.
already 2 freakin pps for the pens. unbelievable
lol instead of saying hes a great passer, beninati says, hes a great feeder!!! u freakin dork beninati
nice goal satan
carolina isnt winning this series. sucks, but i think its gonna be pens-wings again
haha they showed mama malkin in the crowd !!!
Just a side not while theres no ranger action… I heard on the radio today that Avery’s new place opened last night… the entertainment was hank playing his guitar. he said he was more nervous about that than any of his hockey games…
pretty cool stuff, would’ve liked to see that
mikeA- if ron duGAY gets snippy with you, lol, u just grab him by his feminine lookin earing and hair, and just b slap him. or tell daneyko he porked his wife
Gotta disagree with ya salty on that overrated thing on Henrik, considering the clowns that we put in front of him since he has been here he has done alright being nominated for 3 Vezina’s. Is he worth all that cash we pay him prolly not.
Oh Btw check out the new edited Salty intro on this:
Colton Orr Clobbers Andrew Peters/ Sean Avery Drills Nathan Paetsch :
http://www.rangercrisis.com
Hey Mike, did Mama Malkin look like this…
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii50/beewulf/jackiestallone.jpg
hank is a good goalie but he hasnt yet proven he is great. the d in front of him have been bad (tho not bruce driver/tom poti bad) but a great (or clutch) goalie can win a series or two on his own…see beezer taking florida to the finals and that was beezer well past his prime.
as much as i enjoyed jagr when he was here, it wouldnt have made much a difference if he was here this year. naslund had very similar numbers (less overall points but goals almost identical) and our pp was awful the last two years jagr was here. and let us not forget if jagr wanted to be here he could have hit his contract numbers and he would have had a guaranteed 7M deal. instead he held back to save up for the playoffs and then refused to take less money
“Unlike some other teams who will remain nameless.”
Haha, wonder who? ;)
Pete, look at the real stats. Jagr is criticized for playing well in the playoffs? Isn’t that the point? Which Rangers forward this year played well in the playoffs? Naslund had 46 lousy points—and who did he make better? Jagr led the team in scoring every year, and made players around him better. The Rangers had top ten ranked power plays until Drury and Gomez showed up, and then they plummeted. Who did Drury and Gomez make better? Too bad Jagr couldn’t hit his numbers playing with a rookie center and the incompetent Scott Gomez in a stifling defensive system—too bad for Rangers fans that is. How much of a magician do you think Tortorella will be with this feeble group of players? Even Avery knows they don’t have any offense.
How can people be happy that Jagr isnt playing here anymore? I would do the same thing if i was Jagr… I wouldn’t want for my bonus year to kick in when Tommy the Clown was running the team.
Here you got this power house in Jagr, this dominating monster… and here you also have a guy who is telling that monster to hold back… to play “five in a picture” dictate your hockey to us, BS hockey quite honestly. I wouldn’t want to play for that type of team either. And if I did decide to stay I would definitely want more money if I had to deal with same crap again.
Naslund didn’t replace Jagr, (how can anyone replace Jagr??) if anyone was replaced by Naslund it was Shanny. They literally had exact same seasons points and performers wise. Start strong, disappear after first half.
Rangers did take Naslund over Jagr and everything looked ok at the start ….Jagr is the highest scoring euro of all time and to think Naslund is a worthy replacement is absurt , I agree.
Hank is over-rated…no , over-paid..yes!!!
He had hardley any shut-outs this year compared to leading the league last year. Give him this year , a chance to bounce back and then you can start making those statements.( looking for attention by blasting our net minder is so like you.)
Carp welcome back. Hope you enjoyed your vacation..You didn’t miss much…oh but Josh Thompson had a birthday. He’s 26 now
This is the Avery link peeps:
http://www.observer.com/2009/daily-transom/hockey-star-sean-avery-kicks-boozy-offseason-his-new-tribeca-bar
And I think everyone should relax on the PP issue; the probability is that it will be better than 29th. If any of the new Dmen like Gilroy or Sangs or even Sauer who has a pretty good shot can do better than Redden and comp, well, it’ll be better.
My Rangers dream next year would be some combo of Staal/Girardi/Gilroy/Sauer working the point with AA making sick unpredictable passes.
our pp hasnt been great for the better part of the last 3 seasons, thats not all on gomez and drury (mostly its on our lack of pp qb). and im not saying im glad jagr wasnt here, i just dont think he would have made a big difference. and how much more did he expect to get paid by the rangers. if he had hit his numbers he would have gotten 7.8M+ only the rangers would only have to pay half of that.
and i think jagr liked playing for renney a lot since renney completely deferred to him, torts would never give any player that much slack nor am I so sure that jagr would do well under a system like torts wants (which is part of the reason jagr and gomez never meshed)
its fine to save your strength to a degree for the playoffs, but it would have made a big difference last year if we were 1st or 2nd in our division instead of 3rd
pete- the couple of goals we needed in the washington series, jagr couldve and most likely gotten us. just like hank has won us games, so has jagr. he was a beast last year. i can see renny having his defensive style implemented back when we thought weekes was gonna be our starting goalie, but after henrik came around, theres no excuse to play like that with a good goalie in net. hank isnt overrated. he played his worst hockey this year though. and his worst hockey still wasnt that bad. he had an average season as nhl goalies go. he has much more pressure now because of the responsibility put on him, and the lack of any scoring. so it got to him a little this year. i agree i felt some of his games were just awful and he never got consistent enough late in the season but he still played his ass off in the playoffs. and naslund got 1 goal in the playoffs. he got winded like shanny did last year. jagr even while takin it easy still had more to give every game than naslund.
i dont think jagr liked renny at all. i doubt he liked having all the pressure on him to score either. i think with torts, he would be expected to play harder, and maybe he wouldnt have done as well. i still dont think we were gonna win a cup with jagr so it doesnt really matter. all i know is he has the ability to get us past washington in that 1st round. he isnt young anymore or good enough anymore to carry a team like the rangers very far, but with him i think we had our best chance for awhile to win a cup. nobody thought we were just gonna replace jagr, butnaslund didnt even come close. you could see the difference right off the bat.
Hank is arguably a top 5 goalie. He is NOT the best goalie in the league (although he certainly can be). The original quote I mocked literally gave me douche chills, especially because of completely unprecedented use of the word “technically”.
“Henrik Lundqvist is technically the best goaltender in the NHL hands down.”
Seriously, on what basis? If this were as cut and dry as you wish it were, where are the Vezinas? Nominations don’t mean winning. Further, for all of those nominations, I don’t think anyone who knows anything about hockey actually thought LQ had a chance at winning it… it was always nice for the mention though.
The only thing that is a “hands down technical fact” is that LQ hits a bad slump every season.
The reality is still that he is so good, that even with those perennial slumps on his resume, he’s still been a legitimate candidate for the vast majority of his career.
If he can put together a full season… he will have a serious chance to win it. But once again, he started off so hot… everyone thought “this was his year”... but he slumped again, badly.
It’s not about hating on LQ. It’s about seeing things objectively. I’d rather know what I’m talking about than be a fanboy anyday of the week.
i dont think jagr liked renny at all.
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WOW.
WOW.
MikeA – my dream this season is that we find a finisher who can do something with all those drop passes from Gomez and possibly AA too. The question is how or where do we find him?
I’d also like to see Grachev, Byers, Gilroy and Sanguinetti make the team and Cally and Dubi sign 3-4 year contracts to avoid the dreaded offer-sheets (although i believe Kevin Lowe is no longer a GM is he?).
Salty,
This is where you go wrong.
I have played the position for 15+ years at very high levels, and currently work off-season’s as a goaltending coach at a very well known goalie camp based out of Toronto.
When I tell you Henrik Lundqvist is TECHNICALLY the best goalie, I am not referring to pure statistics. I am referring to how he plays the game. His technical execution of the butterfly and recovery, lateral movement, pure reflexs, his playing of 5pt angles, etc.
Every goalie in the NHL is a human being and goes through slumps. Not to mention, Henrik has played his entire career on a team that is fairly average with a lackluster defense. Put him on a team like Detroit and he would already have a few cups.
Mike Richter said it best many years ago in an internet in central park for MSG in December of 1993, “A goalie is only as good as the team in front of him”
This statement can’t be more true. But what makes it even more special is that Henrik plays great with a mediocre team in front of him and still puts up great numbers.
BTW, for anyone interested or in Sweden during the summer, Henrik runs his own goalie camps called ‘Gold In The Net’ check it out at http://www.goldinthenet.com/
Disco Stu, you are right on. Considering how we have so many lapses in front of our net, we could have been in the running for the lottery in this coming draft. Henrik saved our butts in so many games. How many games did we win this year 2-1 or for that matter in the shootout?
People need to realize Henrik is the real deal. We need to focus on the most glaring areas were we are mediocare. We need a person that can clear the crease, a PP QB and a sniper. We have a ton of holes to fill, but we atleast have goaltending filled.
Disco Stu
I’m sure you’re a great goalie coach and a great goalie. Are you an NHL scout though? No, I’m pretty sure you’re not. I’m no “goalie coach”, but I’m also not sure if you can really say that a guy who can hardly make a standard glove save without batting it away in the same motion is the best “technical” guy in the game.
Yes, every goalie slumps. Henrik’s slumps are quite exceptional though. He does not just slump, he becomes awful, for long stretches. There is very little middle ground with him, he’s either world class or very weak. You cannot blame that whole Caps series on him, but it’s highly arguable that he disappeared when we needed him most.
Yes, put him on DETROIT (LOL), he would have a few Cups. You can say that about quite a few goalies. Not just LQ.
Ranger fans overrate him (slightly) because we have had such awful goaltending since Richter. He’s great and I think he’s worth the money, which is saying a lot.
Let’s also recognize the fact that whether you liked it or not, or whether we had “good D men” or not, Lundqvist has played behind a defense first system for about 90% of his career.
Salty,
Lundqvist is EASILY in the top five goaltenders in the league. Add to that list Luongo, Kiprusoff, Nabokov and you’re up to four. Guys on the bubble include Thomas(who really came out of nowhere), Ward, Brodeur and Backstrom. But I think you could safely say Hank is better than the latter four and in a league with both Kipper and Nabokov. Out of everyone, I think only Luongo is a better goalie. But that’s more opinion than fact. The fact is he’s one of the top five goalies in the league.
ORR What ?
– Regarding the last goal of the season and Hank’s role in the loss: He was screened by REDDEN, who first let a 39-year-old Russian gas by him like he were a pylon. Then when he finally did catch up with Feds, he screened the shot and failed to take the body. On some angles, it looks like Hank let in a softy. But I’ve watched that goal about dozen times and I place the blame squarely on Redden’s shoulders.
GK – Wishful thinking dude. If your going to pry Kovalchuk from the Thrash, the package starts with a top player(Staal), would move into a top prospect(Grachev) and would assuredly include a top pick(first rounders this and next year). Then maybe Ilya will be wearing blue. His value goes down at the deadline, but right now he’s at a premium.
Pete – One thing a lot of guys don’t take into consideration with Jagr is his sheer size. If you’ve ever tried to cover someone in hockey who is a 6’4 245-pound beast, you’d understand. It’s sort of like trying to stop a speeding freight train with your bare hands. Jagr was a two-player job to defend every time he stepped on the ice, and the only guy who could do it himself was Chara, who is a beast in his own rite. When the Rangers lost JJ, they effectively freed up a man for the opposition…Sather replaced his production not with Naslund, but with Naslund and Zherdev. Their combined salary/productivity suggests this worked out alright. But if I had my choice, I would have simply resigned Jagr. And were I Glen Sather, I’d place a call to the big fella’ to see what it would take to get him back here. He’d probably be a cheaper alternative to Gaborik.
People need to realize Henrik is the real deal.
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he is the real deal, there’s no question there. He’s an ELITE goalie and a Gold medal winner in his first pro year.
He’s not “hands down technically the best” though. That’s embarrassing that someone actually said that. It embarrasses me for them.
Salty,
You have no real world experience with the position yet you keep saying you’re embarrassed to hear how he is technically the best in the game.
There is a reason not just myself, but many NHL coaches, and players have said he is the best. Not just by how he plays, but what regular non hockey playing people like you don’t see or realize because you don’t play the position.
Technically speaking, like I stated in my previous post, there isin’t a goalie in the league who can do the things he can with the same style, speed, efficiency, accuracy, etc.
I am speaking on the pure technical aspects of goaltending which you obviously don’t have much knowledge of.
Another way you go wrong is by saying Henrik has a weak glove hand because he can’t catch a puck. This is purely not true. Henrik’s glove is purposely made extra stiff in order to protect against ‘stingers’ (you’ve never expereinced what those feel like in the palm or elsewhere) but because he feels he plays the position stronger when focusing on blocking every shot opposed to catching everything. There isin’t anything wrong with this, its slightly unorthodox, but it works. Tim Thomas is the worst technical goalie in the league, but does he get the job done? Yes. The bottom line is to STOP THE PUCK. If you do that, no many people care how you do it.
In the situations where Henrik does have to catch a rocket of a shot, he obviously has the skill, speed and reflexes to do so. Refer to the Semin shot from a few weeks ago.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4fzs9MvZMs
27 year old, franchise goalie on OUR team. The best in the league. We are lucky.
Richter was 28 when he won us the cup, hopefully Henrik can do the same.
The current expected RFA compensation table for 2008-09 is:
Amount
(Compensation Due)
$863,156 or less
None
$863,156 – $1,307,811
3rd round pick
$1,307,811 – $2,615,623
2nd round pick
$2,615,623 – $3,923,434
1st and 3rd round pick
$3,923,434 – $5,231,246
1st, 2nd, and 3rd round pick
$5,231,246 – $6,539,061
Two 1st’s, one 2nd, one 3rd round pick
$6,539,061 or more
Four 1st round picks
The actual numbers will be posted when the NHL releases the figures on or about June 30.
To those suggesting 1.5 million to Dubi and Cally, if some team came in with an offer sheet better than that, we would only get a second rounder each for the loss of their services.
Based on the Sather regime’s drafting record I would rather offer them a little more, like 2.7 million so at least you get a 1st and a 3rd and discourage other teams from trying to sign them. Many teams would lose a second rounder for their services. A first and a third would be too much to ask.
rangers can use arbitration to prevent any offer sheets for callahan or dubinsky. signing them will not be a problem