Around the NHL - Part XLIII

[Boris Zubov]

But his mugshot comes after the first paragraph lol. Not that it's right.

The pic was actually after paragraph 3, but I get what you're saying. Standards have sunk so low....do they even have editors at this point?

 

[effen]

"chip and change, Kaapo. that's your game. Chip it and change."

Which, if you're in the business of winning games... makes sense? And from a coach's POV, if your focus is to be defense for the next 10 games, and you can't even do that, why would I trust you to make better plays than Artemi Panarin?

In the end, the Rangers roster has had an excessive amount of the same player type as their best players and the failure to make a more balanced roster is to blame.

This is probably why the "make them all elite grinders" mentality comes into play, because if they are, and they do all the work Panarin, Fox, and Mika needed.... you have a pretty unstoppable roster!! I get it.... but I also get why it didn't work (in the end, players are who they naturally tend to be no matter how much you tell them to do something different).

 

[will1066]

The pic was actually after paragraph 3, but I get what you're saying. Standards have sunk so low....do they even have editors at this point?

All I know is the world wide web has upended traditional journalism standards. Everything is complete opposite of logic. They were probably motivated to bury the name deep to keep you reading and thus on the page so they can check off the time-on-page metric.

 

[noncents]

Which, if you're in the business of winning games... makes sense? And from a coach's POV, if your focus is to be defense for the next 10 games, and you can't even do that, why would I trust you to make better plays than Artemi Panarin?

In the end, the Rangers roster has had an excessive amount of the same player type as their best players and the failure to make a more balanced roster is to blame.

This is probably why the "make them all elite grinders" mentality comes into play, because if they are, and they do all the work Panarin, Fox, and Mika needed.... you have a pretty unstoppable roster!! I get it.... but I also get why it didn't work (in the end, players are who they naturally tend to be no matter how much you tell them to do something different).

what do you mean "can't even do that." they did do that. Kakko had great defensive metrics. He possessed the puck and defended. He grinder. Rangers won, a lot. Then he got scratched in the playoffs and we saw where the ceiling for "the skilled vets play hockey and the rest of you Junior Varsity are grinders" game plan is.

Fans killed Kakko because he did exactly what you're saying the coaches demanded of him: stayed in his lane. "Waaah our 2OA is a 3rd liner!" Yeah... that's what the team told him to be. 40 pts at even strength, good defense, what exactly are you blaming him for here?

 

[effen]

what do you mean "can't even do that." they did do that. Kakko had great defensive metrics. He possessed the puck and defended. He grinder. Rangers won, a lot. Then he got scratched in the playoffs and we saw where the ceiling for "the skilled vets play hockey and the rest of you Junior Varsity are grinders" game plan is.

Fans killed Kakko because he did exactly what you're saying the coaches demanded of him: stayed in his lane. "Waaah our 2OA is a 3rd liner!" Yeah... that's what the team told him to be. 40 pts at even strength, good defense, what exactly are you blaming him for here?

Kakko got scratched that game 6 in Tampa because the team had gotten worn down to be abysmally slow, Tampa was beating them to everything, and he was the slowest. Playing hurt Ryan Strome was stupid, but separate.

If Kakko had been a half step faster he'd have been a better grinder and probably been promoted to be a cool kid. And still here.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Adam Fox has four straight top 5 Norris finishes including a win, and he's never led our defense in 5v5 TOI.

The Rangers are clueless. They win in spite of themselves, everyone knows it; especially Igor's agent. That's why Drury got bent over on that contract, because the worst kept secret in the league is that the rangers have been a mediocre team, bouyed by hall of fame goaltending for 20 years.

Their track record at forward and defense is troubled at best, and what Kakko has done in Seattle should pretty much put the nail in the coffin, but people are so stubborn they need it to be something else. I get it: this team makes it hard to root for them, when you really pay attention to them like we all do.

And this is why you can't question Shesterkin. Rangers fans get off on this nonsense that he's Dominik Hasek because then they can tell everyone what a horrible team this is. Shesterkin has been a slightly above average inconsistent goalie every season of his career except his Vezina season. Deal with it.

 

[TheDirtyH]

And this is why you can't question Shesterkin. Rangers fans get off on this nonsense that he's Dominik Hasek because then they can tell everyone what a horrible team this is. Shesterkin has been a slightly above average inconsistent goalie every season of his career except his Vezina season. Deal with it.

Igor in the aggregate is a top 2-3 goalie in the league since he got here. Including playoffs, he's 1 or 2. The issue with Igor's contract is that being among the very best goalies in the world has a point of diminishing returns. I wouldn't care really if Igor signed Helly's 8.5. but allocating that much money to Igor was foolish not because Igor isnt a good enough goalie, but because he's a goalie. No goalie is good enough.

I rag on Igor all the time and Ive always loudly opposed resigning him. That doesn't mean he hadn't been by far our MVP for the last five years or that he hasn't carried us to records and especially to playoff rounds we otherwise wouldnt have sniffed.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Igor in the aggregate is a top 2-3 goalie in the league since he got here. Including playoffs, he's 1 or 2. The issue with Igor's contract is that being among the very best goalies in the world has a point of diminishing returns. I wouldn't care really if Igor signed Helly's 8.5. but allocating that much money to Igor was foolish not because Igor isnt a good enough goalie, but because he's a goalie. No goalie is good enough.

I rag on Igor all the time and Ive always loudly opposed resigning him. That doesn't mean he hadn't been by far our MVP for the last five years or that he hasn't carried us to records and especially to playoff rounds we otherwise wouldnt have sniffed.

I'll give you the playoffs and the 2022 season, but each of the last two seasons he was awful from like January to March. This season he's been awful since December, save one nice stretch of 3 games.

 

[TheDirtyH]

I'll give you the playoffs and the 2022 season, but each of the last two seasons he was awful from like January to March. This season he's been awful since December, save one nice stretch of 3 games.

It's just not worth arguing with you about this. Just look this stuff up yourself. I repeat: I didn't want to resign Igor. Hank was better. Helly is better. What do you want me to say?

You'll give me the playoffs? What would the perception of this team be if they failed to exit the first round in 22, 23 and then lost in the second in last year?

And you'll also throw in that one year he happened to be better than any goalie ever, possibly? Do we make the playoffs that year without his performance?

Beyond that how is it you can write off the worst stretches of Igor's seasons but the rest of the year doesn't matter. That's why you look at the aggregate by the way. Goaltending is volatile, deal with it.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

It's just not worth arguing with you about this. Just look this stuff up yourself. I repeat: I didn't want to resign Igor. Hank was better. Helly is better. What do you want me to say?

You'll give me the playoffs? What would the perception of this team be if they failed to exit the first round in 22, 23 and then lost in the second in last year?

And you'll also throw in that one year he happened to be better than any goalie ever, possibly? Do we make the playoffs that year without his performance?

Beyond that how is it you can write off the worst stretches of Igor's seasons but the rest of the year doesn't matter. That's why you look at the aggregate by the way. Goaltending is volatile, deal with it.

Because a top goalie doesn't take 3 straight months off? I don't know. He's not consistent at all. And you mentioned HOF goaltending, that is NOT HOF goaltending.

 

[Cmox]

https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/former-nashville-predator-arrested-accused-dui/

Erat looks rough. He could even pass for one of the gentleman living around MSG.

The pic was actually after paragraph 3, but I get what you're saying. Standards have sunk so low....do they even have editors at this point?

Articles are mostly AI generated these days.

 

[n8]

Because the alternative is that there's something inherently wrong with the way the team we root for is run. So it's more comforting to just tell yourself the player wasn't trying or something.

That is some ostrich in the sand copium gymnastics. We have an abusive relationship. There is something inherently wrong with the way the team is run. But we still root for them. These two facts and exist simultaneously.

 

[will1066]

 

[noncents]

surely too young for us