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Player Discussion Brendan Smith

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RangerLifer

RangerLifer

Formerly known as Captain Lindy
Apr 1, 2006
17,455
14,118
Virginia
He was in a funk and not playing well but I think if AV just let him keep playing he would have played out of it. The team is going well now and I'm a little concerned about when to get him his chance in the lineup. I still believe in Brendan Smith.
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YearOfTheCat said:
He was in a funk and not playing well but I think if AV just let him keep playing he would have played out of it. The team is going well now and I'm a little concerned about when to get him his chance in the lineup. I still believe in Brendan Smith.
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If he is not in the lineup very soon, AV is taking a chance on loosing him. At this point, you want the guy who you thought was a top 4 defenseman as opposed to either Kampfner or Holden.
 
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This isn't the first time Smith has been benched. Hopefully he takes this time to get in good shape. We need him to step up again like last season but I would not change our lineup until we lose a game.
 
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Irishguy42 said:
Didn't Maloney say that Smith showed up to camp way out of shape because of the summer he had? All those weddings and stuff, including his own.
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That was a while ago. I think he could have gotten himself back into shape since then.
 
Irishguy42 said:
Didn't Maloney say that Smith showed up to camp way out of shape because of the summer he had? All those weddings and stuff, including his own.
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Great example of the human element of the game. Anyway, hope he gets back on track asap. The team is thin enough at defense as is.
 
NickyFotiu said:
This isn't the first time Smith has been benched. Hopefully he takes this time to get in good shape. We need him to step up again like last season but I would not change our lineup until we lose a game.
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With half of a top 6 consisting of Staal, Holden & Kampfner, you are asking for it. You sent Smith a message. Hopefully he received it. Now it is time for waiver wire & 7th defensemen to go back to the bench where they belong. Why wait to loose?
 
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True Blue said:
With half of a top 6 consisting of Staal, Holden & Kampfner, you are asking for it. You sent Smith a message. Hopefully he received it. Now it is time for waiver wire & 7th defensemen to go back to the bench where they belong. Why wait to loose?
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Few coaches will want to mess with a team on a 5 game roll just to make a change on the 3rd pairing. Its still early in the season. Smith will get another chance soon.
 
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NickyFotiu said:
Few coaches will want to mess with a team on a 5 game roll just to make a change on the 3rd pairing. Its still early in the season. Smith will get another chance soon.
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I mean he had no issue taking Smith out after a win.

Smith has been bad but the message at this point has been sent. There’s no reason to keep scratching him, especially so when Kampfer is a guy playing over him.
 
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NYRFAN218 said:
I mean he had no issue taking Smith out after a win.

Smith has been bad but the message at this point has been sent. There’s no reason to keep scratching him, especially so when Kampfer is a guy playing over him.
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The team is finally playing decent so I dont think many coaches would step forward to rock that boat. We are talking about a 3rd pairing guy as usual. If he didn't come in out of shape he might have a stronger case. I wanted Smith but its up to him to get in great shape and show he needs to be in the lineup nevermind worth 4 mill a year. This seasons Smith was nothing like the Smith we saw in the playoffs.
 
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True Blue said:
If he is not in the lineup very soon, AV is taking a chance on loosing him. At this point, you want the guy who you thought was a top 4 defenseman as opposed to either Kampfner or Holden.
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Disagree. I think its quite clear Smith lost himself during the offseason. Hopefully these benchings are serving as a wake-up call.

The logic that the benchings are the symptom rather than the cure is not accurate.
 
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Did he really gain THAT much weight in the offseason???

What, is his wife pregnant and he's eating to keep up with her or something????? A man gaining THAT much weight that fast is hard to believe, especially for hockey players.
 
He was given a significant raise and so far he's been a real letdown. I don't see why he should play just because he's better than Kampfer. He has not met expectations and in turn he's right where he needs to be. He'll get it and he'll be better for it. We need him to get it.
 
YearOfTheCat said:
Did he really gain THAT much weight in the offseason???

What, is his wife pregnant and he's eating to keep up with her or something????? A man gaining THAT much weight that fast is hard to believe, especially for hockey players.
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Might not be so much about gaining weight persay, but conditioning can suffer very quickly. The league is so much different than 20-30 years ago where guys could literally do nothing in terms of working out all summer, and use training camp/the beginning of the season to work themselves back into shape.

The league is all about skating now - and skating is heavily tied to conditioning. Smith got married and signed a big contract over the summer. Ill use one of my favorite quotes from Marvin Hagler that can apply to any sport "Its tough to get up and train at 6am when you're wearing silk pajamas"
 
I'll never forget in the first game against Colorado, Smith made a horrible play and Lundqvist bailed him out.

Smith then went up to Hank to thank him for saving his ass, but had the cockiest smile on his face, like he was just toying around out there. The dude seems like he just took his success in last year's playoffs and ran with it, similar to Hayes after his rookie year. If the Rangers keep winning he should continue to stay in the press box - teach him a lesson...I'm fine with that.
 
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Bleed Ranger Blue said:
Disagree. I think its quite clear Smith lost himself during the offseason. Hopefully these benchings are serving as a wake-up call.

The logic that the benchings are the symptom rather than the cure is not accurate.
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I wasn't really happy with his response when asked about the benching either... saying he was happy with where his game is right now...

REALLY?!?!

Hank wouldn't agree. the coaches don't agree and the fans don't either.

Sorry but IF he came in out of shape and IF he thinks it's OK because he already inked that contract I say sit him UNTIL he changes his f***ING attitude.

If he's too fragile mentally to deal with it maybe we should all chip in and buy him some BON BONS
 
Bleed Ranger Blue said:
Disagree. I think its quite clear Smith lost himself during the offseason. Hopefully these benchings are serving as a wake-up call.

The logic that the benchings are the symptom rather than the cure is not accurate.
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Fine, but after 3 games, it is time to get him back in.
 
Bleed Ranger Blue said:
Not when the team is winning.
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Why await for the show to drop on the other foot? You know inevitably Kampfner players exactly like the 7/8 defenseman he is. You also know that Smith is the better player. Why wait for the loss and not instead give yourself the better chance by having the better player play? You are hoping against hope that continued scratching does not hurt Smith and that Kampfner has gone under some sort of revelation. The latter is a long shot and the former is coming game by game.
 
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Really wasn't sold on the Smith signing mostly due to his cap hit and unfortunately it seems like we should have listened to Red Wings fans. We were lucky to acquire Smith when we did but I don't think we can expect to see that level of play from him anytime soon. The scary part now is that we have a 4.35 million dollar defenseman sitting on the bench and we have a bunch of RFAs to resign.
 
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