Bright Spots From the Dark Ages

[markymarc1215]

Obviously the 97-98 through 03-04 season were mostly bleak times. A consistent playoff team dropped off from icing a competitive team for awhile, with no plan aside from overpaying vets and busting on prospects.

Are there moments or players from this timeframe that you have some love for? Was it all bad?

Some of my fonder memories of this time, which are few and far between.......

1. I really liked Lafontaine prior to Mike Keane ending his career.
2. Loved getting Todd Heartbeat Harvey for Keane and Skrudland. He gave us a great half season with Gretz prior to injuries. Reminded me a lot of a young Adam Graves. A rare moment of hope for our future.
3. The Czech line was terrific to watch in the offensive zone in 00-01, especially Dvorak's speed.
4. Matthew Barnaby came here as a maligned 13th forward and evolved into a 30-40 point, 2 way physical player.
5. John MacLean's first year here was productive. Had a good knack for the net and actually showed heart on the ice.
6. The FLY line in 01-02, see #3.
7. Year 2 of Theo Fleury was a blast prior to the substance abuse issues. I believe he was 2nd or 3rd in scoring at the time.

Click to read more...

 

[RangersFan1994]

Obviously the 97-98 through 03-04 season were mostly bleak times. A consistent playoff team dropped off from icing a competitive team for awhile, with no plan aside from overpaying vets and busting on prospects.

Are there moments or players from this timeframe that you have some love for? Was it all bad?

Some of my fonder memories of this time, which are few and far between.......

1. I really liked Lafontaine prior to Mike Keane ending his career.
2. Loved getting Todd Heartbeat Harvey for Keane and Skrudland. He gave us a great half season with Gretz prior to injuries. Reminded me a lot of a young Adam Graves. A rare moment of hope for our future.
3. The Czech line was terrific to watch in the offensive zone in 00-01, especially Dvorak's speed.
4. Matthew Barnaby came here as a malignee 13th forward and evolved into a 30-40 point, 2 way physical player.
5. John Maclean's first year here was productive. Had a good knack for the net and actually showed heart on the ice.
6. The FLY line in 01-02, see #3.
7. Year 2 of Theo Fleury was a blast prior to the substance abuse issues. I believe he was 2nd or 3rd in scoring at the time.

Those Cloutier Barbaby Simon Carins Godard Puritnon Webb McCarthy Kloucek Isbister Salo brawls were fun to watch

 

[Megustaelhockey]

Bright spots from the dark ages?

My GPA was amazing because I wasn't watching the Rangers fudge their huggies all over the ice during those years.

 

[hi]

@EdJovanovski is the brightest spot. No one else could run the Kravtsov fan club and Tuba anti-fan clubs as well as Ed

 

[TopShelfSnipes]

-The Czechmates
-Theo Fleury in 00-01
-Mike York
-Pavel Bure's brief stretch as a Ranger - was always one of my favorite non-Rangers
-Mike Dunham's 02-03. Low key very good given how bad that team generally was.
-Sandy McCarthy. When they got him I expected a straight goon. He was surprisingly good with the puck.
-Messier's return
-The month that Manny Malhotra played with Messier at the end of 00-01 that briefly gave me hope about his future.

Other than that it was pretty bleak...

 

[HockeyBasedNYC]

Pavel Bure scored a diving one-timer on a 2-1 or something.

Ill never forget the vision of him Bobby Orr-ing BEFORE he shot the puck. Incredible.

Can never find a video. It was a sick goal

 

[Machinehead]

Honestly?

The "country club vets" were mostly good.

Lindros was very good here. Fleury was very good here. Bure was excellent until his remaining good knee fell off. MacLean was solid. The Czech line was the tits. Jaromir Jagr is part of that group and he's one of the best Rangers ever.

The Dark Ages happened because we had literally no prospects and were the worst drafting team in hockey under Smith. A lot was made over the Malhotra pick but look beyond that. There was nobody else. When I say we were developing NOTHING, I mean actually close to nothing.

I see parallels to now (although the org is much better across the board) where Zibanejad and Panarin are on pace for 88 points, Kreider is on pace for 37 goals, and all of our problems are blamed on "the vets" and their "country club atmosphere." Meanwhile, our top ten picks can't make a single impact.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

The FLY line and getting to witness Bure as a Ranger, even for a short time, man was he a special and exciting player. Oh and the Fedor Tyutin hip checks.

 

[Machinehead]

The FLY line and getting to witness Bure as a Ranger, even for a short time, man was he a special and exciting player. Oh and the Fedor Tyutin hip checks.

Wouldn't that be after? Tyutin's first full season was after the lockout.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Wouldn't that be after? Tyutin's first full season was after the lockout.

Oh you’re right. For some reason it seemed like he was apart of those years. Still wanted to give my man some love though (have his jersey in my closet!)

 

[Machinehead]

Oh you’re right. For some reason it seemed like he was apart of those years. Still wanted to give my man some love though (have his jersey in my closet!)

Fedor Tyutin does have one of those names that sounds like a Dark Ages bust.

Just like Libor Hajek and Hugh Jessiman.

 

[McRanger92]

Honestly?

The "country club vets" were mostly good.

Lindros was very good here. Fleury was very good here. Bure was excellent until his remaining good knee fell off. MacLean was solid. The Czech line was the tits. Jaromir Jagr is part of that group and he's one of the best Rangers ever.

The Dark Ages happened because we had literally no prospects and were the worst drafting team in hockey under Smith. A lot was made over the Malhotra pick but look beyond that. There was nobody else. When I say we were developing NOTHING, I mean actually close to nothing.

I see parallels to now (although the org is much better across the board) where Zibanejad and Panarin are on pace for 88 points, Kreider is on pace for 37 goals, and all of our problems are blamed on "the vets" and their "country club atmosphere." Meanwhile, our top ten picks can't make a single impact.

Holy hyperbole Batman! We have a ton of homegrown young talent making an impact on a nightly basis. The Rangers have had no more hits and misses than any other team would in our drafting/development position, plus we have a few guys who are or look like star players. Oh and by the way we've already won 2 playoff rounds, which i guess everyone thinks is a fluke. Don't compare what we have going on fight now to the freakin' Dark Ages. Ridiculous.

 

[will1066]

The Czechmates were really memorable because they were more than the sum of their parts. FLY line to a lesser degree because Lindros and Fleury were household names. York overachieved a couple of years.

 

[Machinehead]

Holy hyperbole Batman! We have a ton of homegrown young talent making an impact on a nightly basis. The Rangers have had no more hits and misses than any other team would in our drafting/development position, plus we have a few guys who are or look like star players. Oh and by the way we've already won 2 playoff rounds, which i guess everyone thinks is a fluke. Don't compare what we have going on fight now to the freakin' Dark Ages. Ridiculous.

It's obviously two very different situations. The common ground is the backlash fans tend to have towards veteran players while other guys get a pass.

I never said that homegrown talent didn't exist on this team. I said our top ten picks aren't really making an impact. Who are our top ten picks? Lafreniere, Kakko, and Kravtsov. Tell me where I'm wrong.

I also didn't say last year was a fluke, and in fact, I defended last year's team more than anyone. I'm saying that pretty much every hole in this roster is there because the three guys I mentioned aren't filling them, and we needed them to.

And before anybody says "well, Kakko's done this and that and looks so and so..." Yeah, but he's below .5 PPG this season. Zibanejad leads the team in scoring and every other post in GDT's is about how garbage he is. Where's the "well, he's trying his best" benefit of the doubt for him?

 

[McRanger92]

It's obviously two very different situations. The common ground is the backlash fans tend to have towards veteran players while other guys get a pass.

I never said that homegrown talent didn't exist on this team. I said our top ten picks aren't really making an impact. Who are our top ten picks? Lafreniere, Kakko, and Kravtsov. Tell me where I'm wrong.

I also didn't say last year was a fluke, and in fact, I defended last year's team more than anyone. I'm saying that pretty much every hole in this roster is there because the three guys I mentioned aren't filling them, and we needed them to.

And before anybody says "well, Kakko's done this and that and looks so and so..." Yeah, but he's below .5 PPG this season. Zibanejad leads the team in scoring and every other post in GDT's is about how garbage he is. Where's the "well, he's trying his best" benefit of the doubt for him?

Hey I agree with you. And I thought your original post was you joining the group of fans who somehow think we are currently in the dark ages. The team would be nothing without the veterans, even Trouba and Panarin who I rag on to be better. The team is good and the kids will be fine.

 

[ElLeetch]

I loved Todd Harvey so much, i got him on a white Liberty Jersey. I wonder if, aside from maybe the ones he wore, if its the only one that still exists today.

 

[RangersFan]

-Sandy McCarthy. When they got him I expected a straight goon. He was surprisingly good with the puck.

Just came here to post this. Known as goon enforcer for much of his career, then when he got here showed some decent skills at times.

-I'll add Gretzky's last 2 years here. Even at the end of his career, his IQ was step ahead of everyone else. He would do mind boggling smart things, it was a pleasure to watch him up close for 3 seasons.

-Lindros, whether you hated the trade or not (the old boards was furious trading Brendl, Hlavac, Johnsson), Lindros was electric his first year here.

-Czechline. Nedved in his 2nd stint here was actually a very good player and driver of the the czechmates line. Dvo had his best offensive season, and later had a long NHL career because of how good his skating and defensive awareness was.

-Bure, so fun to watch. So sad we got him only a short time.

 

[Kodiak]

The FLY line and getting to witness Bure as a Ranger, even for a short time, man was he a special and exciting player. Oh and the Fedor Tyutin hip checks.

How about Tomas Kloucek? He was a lot of fun to watch for big hits. The kid was destroying everybody until he blew out his knee.

 

[markymarc1215]

Honestly?

The "country club vets" were mostly good.

Lindros was very good here. Fleury was very good here. Bure was excellent until his remaining good knee fell off. MacLean was solid. The Czech line was the tits. Jaromir Jagr is part of that group and he's one of the best Rangers ever.

The Dark Ages happened because we had literally no prospects and were the worst drafting team in hockey under Smith. A lot was made over the Malhotra pick but look beyond that. There was nobody else. When I say we were developing NOTHING, I mean actually close to nothing.

I see parallels to now (although the org is much better across the board) where Zibanejad and Panarin are on pace for 88 points, Kreider is on pace for 37 goals, and all of our problems are blamed on "the vets" and their "country club atmosphere." Meanwhile, our top ten picks can't make a single impact.

I agree. The term and cash handed out to them was the big issue in my opinion. We did have a few vets that never broke a sweat, but they were the minority and were usually jettisoned pretty quickly. As you stated, having a non existant pipeline, and busting on the few top 10 picks we had was the biggest issue.

Because of that, we had to bring in these washed up retreads to play 3rd and 4th line minutes. Could you imagine how the people flipping out about Laf, Kakko, and Kravy would have reacted to a 3rd line of Brian Skrudland, Mike Keane, and Bill Berg/Tim Sweeney!

The other issue is that we let a few youngsters get away from us and thrive elsewhere. Knuble, Savard, Malhotra went on to become a great shutdown center, Matt Schneider was a solid offensive d man for at least 5-6 years after his NYR stint.

 

[will1066]

It's obviously two very different situations. The common ground is the backlash fans tend to have towards veteran players while other guys get a pass.

I never said that homegrown talent didn't exist on this team. I said our top ten picks aren't really making an impact. Who are our top ten picks? Lafreniere, Kakko, and Kravtsov. Tell me where I'm wrong.

I also didn't say last year was a fluke, and in fact, I defended last year's team more than anyone. I'm saying that pretty much every hole in this roster is there because the three guys I mentioned aren't filling them, and we needed them to.

And before anybody says "well, Kakko's done this and that and looks so and so..." Yeah, but he's below .5 PPG this season. Zibanejad leads the team in scoring and every other post in GDT's is about how garbage he is. Where's the "well, he's trying his best" benefit of the doubt for him?

And as bad as Laf has looked, he's about at the same .5 PPG rate, which makes Kakko look even worse. I don't mean to bust on Kakko, but this simply stood out when I number-surfed the two of them.

 

[Machinehead]

And as bad as Laf has looked, he's about at the same .5 PPG rate, which makes Kakko look even worse. I don't mean to bust on Kakko, but this simply stood out when I number-surfed the two of them.

Lafreniere has a lot of those Giroux points this year where you didn't even realize he was on the ice.

 

[markymarc1215]

Wouldn't that be after? Tyutin's first full season was after the lockout.

He had a cup of coffee in 03-04 just before the purge and looked really good. Showed some offensive upside and quickly became our top prospect for the next season.

I loved Todd Harvey so much, i got him on a white Liberty Jersey. I wonder if, aside from maybe the ones he wore, if its the only one that still exists today.

I actually had a good friend and linemate who wore that exact jersey to our Friday night pickup games. I also was a big fan of both Harvey and the jersey. We actually got a good young player in a trade for 2 underperforming vets. Just wish Harvey stayed healthy and had a bigger leash with ua.

 

[Fitzy]

Mike Dunham's hilarious 'rebound control'

One of the Czech Passe breaking the camera behind the goal with a shot

The Bure trade
The Lindros trade
The Jagr trade


NYR missed the playoffs a few of those times because of the goaltending and defensive depth, frankly. We had guys like Mironov and Malakhov on the top PP units, Karpa, Ulanov, Purinton and other garbage on defense almost every game. Richter was not playing very good hockey his last 3 seasons.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

2000-01 was very special to me because it was the first season I was watching hockey. I still remember random goals like a Sandy McCarthy goal out of the penalty box that was on a breakaway and a 2 on 0 goal against Hasek in a game we won 5-2.

 

[will1066]

The Dark Ages were also signified by the first attempt in team history at a mascot, Bobby Ranger. Instead of a costumed character, they went with a live human person, because NYC likes to keep things real. Bobby Ranger was corny and always seemed to worm his way into the personal spaces of the Rangers players. Charismatic he was not. More like creepy.

Mike Dunham's hilarious 'rebound control'

One of the Czech Passe breaking the camera behind the goal with a shot

The Bure trade
The Lindros trade
The Jagr trade


NYR missed the playoffs a few of those times because of the goaltending and defensive depth, frankly. We had guys like Mironov and Malakhov on the top PP units, Karpa, Ulanov, Purinton and other garbage on defense almost every game. Richter was not playing very good hockey his last 3 seasons.

That was Nedved. I'll never forget it.