CAR DAL Rantanen to DAL Stankoven 1sts to CAR

[Lempo]

A good read from the Finnmedia, Aho's thoughts on the Rantanen debacle (in Finnish).

tl;dr: now after the TDL tranquility settled, this is the team they go with the rest of the season;
the media furor on Rantanen effected, 4 Nations bad timing no rest, chemistry MIA so trying to force it and gripping the stick; no drama between them, still friends

Nyt puhuu Sebastian Aho – kertoo, mikä Mikko Rantasen kanssa meni pieleen

Mikko Rantanen ei tahtonut jäädä Carolinaan. Sebastian Aho kertoo, mitä ajattelee koko kohuvyyhdistä.

www.is.fi

 

[Blueline Bomber]

A good read from the Finnmedia, Aho's thoughts on the Rantanen debacle (in Finnish).

tl;dr: now after the TDL tranquility settled, this is the team they go with the rest of the season;
the media furor on Rantanen effected, 4 Nations bad timing no rest, chemistry MIA so trying to force it and gripping the stick; no drama between them, still friends

Nyt puhuu Sebastian Aho – kertoo, mikä Mikko Rantasen kanssa meni pieleen

Mikko Rantanen ei tahtonut jäädä Carolinaan. Sebastian Aho kertoo, mitä ajattelee koko kohuvyyhdistä.

www.is.fi

So you’re saying Aho could still convince him to play in Carolina?

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

So you’re saying Aho could still convince him to play in Carolina?

So here’s what you do.

Trade Stankoven, 2 3rds, and 3 1sts back to Dallas for Rantanen.

Dallas gets a 1st for helping us trick Mikko.

 

[tarheelhockey]

I’m just a guy on the internet so you don’t have to believe anything I say.

I have it from a very well placed source that Rantanen’s issue here was the play style, end of discussion. It wasn’t Raleigh, it wasn’t Dundon, it wasn’t Rod, it wasn’t the fans or the team or the BBQ or any of that stuff. He flat out didn’t feel comfortable playing hockey in the Canes system and couldn’t see himself doing it going forward.

 

[chaz4hockey]

I’m just a guy on the internet so you don’t have to believe anything I say.

I have it from a very well placed source that Rantanen’s issue here was the play style, end of discussion. It wasn’t Raleigh, it wasn’t Dundon, it wasn’t Rod, it wasn’t the fans or the team or the BBQ or any of that stuff. He flat out didn’t feel comfortable playing hockey in the Canes system and couldn’t see himself doing it going forward.

Interesting and perhaps why RBA was out of sorts. It’s a shot at him.

 

[GIN ANTONIC]

I’m just a guy on the internet so you don’t have to believe anything I say.

I have it from a very well placed source that Rantanen’s issue here was the play style, end of discussion. It wasn’t Raleigh, it wasn’t Dundon, it wasn’t Rod, it wasn’t the fans or the team or the BBQ or any of that stuff. He flat out didn’t feel comfortable playing hockey in the Canes system and couldn’t see himself doing it going forward.

If that is true which is totally plausible then you can’t really say there was no issue with Rod… like maybe not personally but this is his team and the way they play is all him.

Coming from what Avs fans said it sounded like he really had no interest in the defensive side of the game at all and his fancy stats show that right? It’s not a capability thing he’s probably just like Necas in that he wants to just do his own thing for 22 min a night which is what he was allowed to do in Colorado with Nate and can run and gun in Dallas

 

[chaz4hockey]

If that is true which is totally plausible then you can’t really say there was no issue with Rod… like maybe not personally but this is his team and the way they play is all him.

Coming from what Avs fans said it sounded like he really had no interest in the defensive side of the game at all and his fancy stats show that right? It’s not a capability thing he’s probably just like Necas in that he wants to just do his own thing for 22 min a night which is what he was allowed to do in Colorado with Nate and can run and gun in Dallas

Necas at least became more responsible as the years progressed.

Btw 5 games IN with offensive machine Dallas and he has 2G 2A. Perhaps it’s a MR problem

 

[Blueline Bomber]

Honestly, who cares about his reason at this point? It's done and over with. He's even out West, so we rarely have to think about him over the next few years.

 

[Lempo]

I’m just a guy on the internet so you don’t have to believe anything I say.

Hmm. But are you a soul whose intentions are good?

 

[tarheelhockey]

Interesting and perhaps why RBA was out of sorts. It’s a shot at him.

If that is true which is totally plausible then you can’t really say there was no issue with Rod… like maybe not personally but this is his team and the way they play is all him.

I suppose you could say it’s about Rod, if you make the connection between Rod and the system. It wasn’t like, some personal thing between them.

Coming from what Avs fans said it sounded like he really had no interest in the defensive side of the game at all and his fancy stats show that right? It’s not a capability thing he’s probably just like Necas in that he wants to just do his own thing for 22 min a night which is what he was allowed to do in Colorado with Nate and can run and gun in Dallas

Not so much about defense, but about our offensive system.

Basically he went through a reverse-Necas. After years of flying free with some of the best offensive talents in the world, he was suddenly locked into the highly structured and extremely repetitive Canes system. A lot of chase down the puck, make a 10 foot pass, work the puck to the point, go stand next to the net, chase down the puck again. He didn’t want to play that way.

 

[AD Skinner]

I can see the rationale behind all that, but it still kinda sounds like fancying up “I don’t want to play defense”

 

[LakeLivin]

I’m just a guy on the internet so you don’t have to believe anything I say.

I have it from a very well placed source that Rantanen’s issue here was the play style, end of discussion. It wasn’t Raleigh, it wasn’t Dundon, it wasn’t Rod, it wasn’t the fans or the team or the BBQ or any of that stuff. He flat out didn’t feel comfortable playing hockey in the Canes system and couldn’t see himself doing it going forward.

Hmm. But are you a soul whose intentions are good?

Please don't let him be misunderstood!

 

[GIN ANTONIC]

I can see the rationale behind all that, but it still kinda sounds like fancying up “I don’t want to play defense”

Yes... this is kind of my point. The Canes play a style offensively that is system and process oriented and requires you to be aware on both sides of the puck. You can't just do whatever you want as a forward so yes, while Mikko's gripe might have been with the offensive system in place it's also because it is built on defensive awareness and accountability. He didn't want to do that which I get. I mean I think it's shitty but that's his choice and all that

 

[bleedgreen]

I mean we are generally a boring team. As fans we accept it because we win and after a decade of suck that’s really that’s required - and frankly we probably don’t know any better. What do we know about high flying offense?

 

[AhosDatsyukian]

I mean we are generally a boring team. As fans we accept it because we win and after a decade of suck that’s really that’s required - and frankly we probably don’t know any better. What do we know about high flying offense?

Boring is entirely subjective. I enjoy watching our team, win or lose, scoring or not. Skills competitions are not entertaining to me.

 

[bleedgreen]

Boring is entirely subjective. I enjoy watching our team, win or lose, scoring or not. Skills competitions are not entertaining to me.

“I had fun once…..it was awful.”

Just saying Rants isn’t wrong to feel the way he does. I enjoy watching our team too?

 

[Blueline Bomber]

“I had fun once…..it was awful.”

Just saying Rants isn’t wrong to feel the way he does. I enjoy watching our team too?

And to be fair, in a lot of the games Rantanen was here, those games were boring. The most exciting one was the game he sat out injured.

 

[bleedgreen]

And to be fair, in a lot of the games Rantanen was here, those games were boring. The most exciting one was the game he sat out injured.

I’m the last person who would defend Rants or the way he played when he was here. He sucked. I never thought he was a good choice for the big trade. I didn’t want to sign him to the contract.

We can admit playing a super defensive grinding cycle game isn’t titillating to everyone, it’s ok.

 

[AD Skinner]

This is a neat video about rantanen’s play style with the avs vs canes. It really does seem like it should have worked out better here. Oh well

 

[Chrispy]

“I had fun once…..it was awful.”

Just saying Rants isn’t wrong to feel the way he does. I enjoy watching our team too?

I'm going to be coming up with Marvin quotes for Rantanen's time in Raleigh the rest of the day.

Rantanen: "It gives me a headache just trying to think down to your level."
Rod: "Don't pretend you want to talk to me, I know you hate me."
Aho: "This will all end in tears. I just know it."

 

[bleedgreen]

This is a neat video about rantanen’s play style with the avs vs canes. It really does seem like it should have worked out better here. Oh well

The only thing we really let him down with is seam passes on the PP. Necas was the only guy good at it, and he’s righty. There was no one to feed him one timers.

 

[chaz4hockey]

Like viewing works of art, Canes hockey is not for everyone.

When the team dominates possession and scores, it sure works for me (we are 6th or 7th in goals this year too).

Post moving the disgruntled one, the Canes have scored 4,4,4,5. This is not a “boring” team just winning 2-1 or 1-0 games utilizing the neutral zone trap.

For frame of reference, for all of Dallas' “open” style they have scored 4,4,1,3 4 and have lost 3 of 5 games since the TDL.

I’d close by saying, Aho’s line has always been given more freedom of movement and not forced to play just a dump and chase game. But, when you have the profile of players on Staal’s, Janky’s and KK's lines dump and chase is a better utilization of their skill set.

 

[AhosDatsyukian]

“I had fun once…..it was awful.”

Just saying Rants isn’t wrong to feel the way he does. I enjoy watching our team too?

He can feel however he wants and others can think he's a lazy douche for the way he feels if they want. Personally, I don't really care and have moved on.

 

[tarheelhockey]

I can see the rationale behind all that, but it still kinda sounds like fancying up “I don’t want to play defense”

Yes... this is kind of my point. The Canes play a style offensively that is system and process oriented and requires you to be aware on both sides of the puck. You can't just do whatever you want as a forward so yes, while Mikko's gripe might have been with the offensive system in place it's also because it is built on defensive awareness and accountability. He didn't want to do that which I get. I mean I think it's shitty but that's his choice and all that

But it’s not about defense.

He’s saying that when the puck is on his team’s stick, he wants them to try to do something with it. The short-passing, boards-controlling, volume shooting, ugly goal scoring style that we play is polar opposite of what he experienced for a decade. It’s not about being in position to play defense — independently of expecting our players to be responsible, we play a particular kind of offense which puts a ton of emphasis on point shots and quick counterattacks in transition, with very little fast action otherwise.

It would be like playing three years at WR for Ohio State, then transferring to Army. Still a ranked team, they do their thing and do it well. But it involves a ton of plays where the WRs are just blockers, lucky if they even catch a pass in a given quarter. You’re talking fish-out-of-water levels of culture shock on the ice. I think we could visibly see that in his play, even without him saying so himself.

I mean for crying out loud, we bitch about our pop gun offense for 3 hours at a time, 82 times a year in our GDTs. It’s not like we don’t know what he’s talking about. It works and we’re happy at the end, but it can be painful to experience at times, and requires a high level of commitment from every single player on the ice to make it work (which is why we don’t typically target guys who don’t want to play that way, and why Rod is such an important element holding it all together).

 

[GIN ANTONIC]

I’m the last person who would defend Rants or the way he played when he was here. He sucked. I never thought he was a good choice for the big trade. I didn’t want to sign him to the contract.

We can admit playing a super defensive grinding cycle game isn’t titillating to everyone, it’s ok.

I’m 100% fine with his choice not to play here or anywhere else. Totally agree that Canes style of play clearly isn’t for everyone.

Also agree with other posters that boring is subjective and winning more often than not probably feels a lot better than run and gun and losing despite what TD said when he took over years ago.

Canes are still 10OA for goals scored and could be like 7-8th as they have one less game played than a couple of other teams who are 3-4 goals ahead. Top 5 team defensively as well. What the Canes do generally works and while it might not always be pretty being a top 10 offensive team which they have averaged over the last 5 years is pretty damn good for what it is.

The fact is, since 2006 the Canes haven’t had an elite level scoring threat. Not every team has McDrai, MacKrantanen, Leafs big 4, Stamkos/Point/Kuch, etc. Those guys were all drafted (mainly with top 5 picks) and they get to play the game very differently because of that offensive fire power.

Canes don’t and have never had the pose players so trying to play the game that way wouldn’t make a lot of sense. Maybe keeping Guentzel and then keeping Rantanen could change that complexion but when you don’t have the horses to do that you gotta run a different race.