Henrik Lundqvist; will he stay or go?

[iamitter]

That's all well and good, but that "long term plan" knocked a team that was a couple wins shy of a SCF appearance back into a position where they were clawing for a playoff spot in the last weeks of the season. The team blew up a cohesive unit in favor of more star power. Year after year the team continues to drop the ball when it comes to recognizing the pieces that make last year's team effective.

You don't think a big part of that was Richards having a much better year than he did this year? And Hank having his career year? There was that stretch after the Winter Classic where 1-2 goals was enough to win games for us. He had that monumental collapse and the worst month of his career in March I believe, but before that he was rocking a .940

 

[Tawnos]

Richards didn't have a better year two years ago. The last month of the season in 2012 has wiped people's memory of the first part of that season. He was just as bad for the first part of 11-12 as he was this past year.

 

[iamitter]

Richards didn't have a better year two years ago. The last month of the season in 2012 has wiped people's memory of the first part of that season. He was just as bad for the first part of 11-12 as he was this past year.

And then had a month where he singlehandedly won us many games. The only player with more points that month was Malkin.

 

[Trxjw]

You don't think a big part of that was Richards having a much better year than he did this year? And Hank having his career year? There was that stretch after the Winter Classic where 1-2 goals was enough to win games for us. He had that monumental collapse and the worst month of his career in March I believe, but before that he was rocking a .940

He had a good month. That was all. That's pretty much all we got out of him this year as well.

Winning low scoring games is fine if your team is based around defense and elite goaltending. The problem is the team sacrificed two quality two-way forwards for more scoring and it shifted the whole paradigm of the team. They wanted more scoring but did it at the expense of defense and team chemistry, and in the face of a coach who clearly had no intention of adjusting his strategy to fit the new team.

Adding offense is fine, but if your coach is not willing to adjust to it, and as a result one of your most potent offensive weapons is left struggling, then there was a serious **** up along the way. Once again we spent all summer hearing about how great the roster was on paper, but then it struggled mightily all year.

The idea of needing "the best" is the Achilles heel of the Rangers. Hockey is so much about finding the right mix of players and so far this front office has been unable to do that. If things don't turn around this year, that mentality could very well cost us our franchise goalie.

 

[mrhockey193195]

That's all well and good, but that "long term plan" knocked a team that was a couple wins shy of a SCF appearance back into a position where they were clawing for a playoff spot in the last weeks of the season. The team blew up a cohesive unit in favor of more star power. Year after year the team continues to drop the ball when it comes to recognizing the pieces that make last year's team effective.

Thanks for putting it so succinctly...I've always struggled to find the words and explain how I felt about the Nash deal, and the difference between the 11-12 team and last year's team.

 

[Thirty One]

He had a good month. That was all. That's pretty much all we got out of him this year as well.

Winning low scoring games is fine if your team is based around defense and elite goaltending. The problem is the team sacrificed two quality two-way forwards for more scoring and it shifted the whole paradigm of the team. They wanted more scoring but did it at the expense of defense and team chemistry, and in the face of a coach who clearly had no intention of adjusting his strategy to fit the new team.

Adding offense is fine, but if your coach is not willing to adjust to it, and as a result one of your most potent offensive weapons is left struggling, then there was a serious **** up along the way. Once again we spent all summer hearing about how great the roster was on paper, but then it struggled mightily all year.

The idea of needing "the best" is the Achilles heel of the Rangers. Hockey is so much about finding the right mix of players and so far this front office has been unable to do that. If things don't turn around this year, that mentality could very well cost us our franchise goalie.

It's more like he had one horrid stretch, one excellent stretch and the rest of the season what we would expect.

February 9 - March 30: 27 GP, 9 G, 21 A, 30 Pts (1.11 Pts/GP)
December 10 - January 15: 20 GP, 5 G, 2 A, 7 Pts (0.35 Pts/GP)
Rest of the season: 35 GP, 11 G, 18 A, 29 Pts (0.83 Pts/GP)

 

[Bleed Ranger Blue]

Yeah, SB rings are overrated. Eli's 2 SB MVPs don't mean much either.

Hello? They may both be HOFs but Hank is no Eli until he wins a Cup or two and a Conn Smyth.

As a ranger fan, I would trade Hank if it means getting players here that can help us win the Cup. I want the Cup not a vezina candidate every year. If he wants 8 mio, trade him.

Im so sick of people using this stupid argument in various situations. You're talking about a maddeningly inconsistent quarterback who got hot for a stretch of 3 or 4 games those 2 seasons, and comparing him against a goaltender who has been nothing short of great for this flawed team for 8 years now.

I dont know if you just don't realize how great Lundqvist is, or how bad the Rangers roster construction have been. You're probably misinterpreting both if I had to guess. But yea, lets trade Lundqvist and let Glen Sather make 2 ****** signings at $4M apiece - because THAT is the route to that Stanley Cup.

 

[Jersey Girl]

Hank is a significantly better goalie than Eli is QB. We're way more spoiled by Henrik in NY. There's no comparison there.

Interesting comparison. Eli has had some years that have been sub-standard for him, but he has come up HUGE more than once, on the biggest stage of all, when it counted most.

In some ways Hank is the opposite. Relatively consistently good/great from year to year in the regular season, but he has not had the defining moment of a playoff season yet.

Eli has had that twice.

 

[Trxjw]

It's more like he had one horrid stretch, one excellent stretch and the rest of the season what we would expect.

February 9 - March 30: 27 GP, 9 G, 21 A, 30 Pts (1.11 Pts/GP)
December 10 - January 15: 20 GP, 5 G, 2 A, 7 Pts (0.35 Pts/GP)
Rest of the season: 35 GP, 11 G, 18 A, 29 Pts (0.83 Pts/GP)

I'm not talking about his production. I'm talking about where he looked like a viable top-six NHL center. He was on a 60 point pace this year and I can probably count the number of people who thought he had a good year on one hand. While his production was adequate for parts of the year, people still questioned what was going on with him. Numbers are fine, but he looked horrible.

 

[Thirty One]

I'm not talking about his production. I'm talking about where he looked like a viable top-six NHL center.

And you're saying he didn't prior to December 10, 2011?

 

[Bleed Ranger Blue]

I'm not talking about his production. I'm talking about where he looked like a viable top-six NHL center. He was on a 60 point pace this year and I can probably count the number of people who thought he had a good year on one hand. While his production was adequate for parts of the year, people still questioned what was going on with him. Numbers are fine, but he looked horrible.

Agreed. Usually not a fan of the eye test, but if there was ever an example of someone who played far, far below their numbers, it was the Richards of last year.

 

[Tawnos]

And then had a month where he singlehandedly won us many games. The only player with more points that month was Malkin.

And the Rangers record was awful too.

 

[JFG]

In an interview today Hank says he wants to play til he's 40.

http://www.gp.se/sport/ishockey/1.1884613--familjen-ar-verkligen-ett-organiserat-kaos-

 

[Baby Punisher]

All has been very quiet lately with the contract talks.

 

[LaffyTaffyNYR]

I thought I read that Hank was still in Sweeden and would be returning to the states shortly