How Good Are the 2013-14 Rangers (Part II)

[Ail]

Not particularly. Tbh, I don't think the Rangers particularly excel in any areas, besides possession and shots on goal, and the PK. And obvious we have a great goalie with a good defense in front of him, as to be expected.

So do they excel in any areas or not? Mott plos

 

[Bleed Ranger Blue]

I find it amazing that the Rangers are on a 5 game winning streak and in less than a week won 2 huge games against their competition and had a shutout against the Devils and a great comeback against the Coyotes and you read this thread and it's nothing but negativity. Why are Rangers fans so miserable all of the time? Smile.

Decades of practice

 

[Cake or Death]

Decades of practice

True, but at least we're not the Leafs... their last cup win was in black and white and the Beatles were still together. Thin argument, but I will cling to it regardless

 

[Bleed Ranger Blue]

True, but at least we're not the Leafs... their last cup win was in black and white and the Beatles were still together. Thin argument, but I will cling to it regardless

Yet, the Leafs and Rangers are 1/2 respectively in franchise values.

I guess fans of both teams love aggravation.

 

[Tawnos]

We can only observe and we aren't in the locker room, so that's tough to truly answer. From observation, sometimes the entire team looks on a mission and some days they look like they're in a trance thinking about where they wanna go for pizza and beers. Fortunately, they are looking more in a playoff mindset as the season goes along and I like how they are playing of late heading toward the playoffs. But that is my own personal interpretation and I could well be seeing things. If you want a more definitive answer, ask my ex wife - she knows everything lol

Some of that can be chalked up to the standard ups and downs that come with anything involved in performance. I equate it to being in a band. Some nights you really have it and others you don't. And there's infinite levels in between. The only difference is that the fan in the crowd has a lot more difficult time telling when a musician is off than when a hockey player is.

 

[True Blue]

Well that's the point. The Hawks were brought up to dispute the notion that the Rangers couldn't compete with Boston because they are physically mismatched.

Sure, but comparing the Rangers to the 'Hawks is simply absurd. The Rangers do not belong in the same breath.

 

[True Blue]

Good thing the Rangers own the puck almost every game.

Do they? They why, prior to this little win streak, were they only points away from being out of the playoff picture entirely?

 

[Cake or Death]

Yet, the Leafs and Rangers are 1/2 respectively in franchise values.

I guess fans of both teams love aggravation.

Both teams must... when the Knicks have won more championships in the last 45 years, you know you're suffering :'(

 

[Cake or Death]

Some of that can be chalked up to the standard ups and downs that come with anything involved in performance. I equate it to being in a band. Some nights you really have it and others you don't. And there's infinite levels in between. The only difference is that the fan in the crowd has a lot more difficult time telling when a musician is off than when a hockey player is.

Very true. Unless you're in Vegas, which is like the NYR of music, where washed up musicians sound horrible and get paid twice what they'd get paid anywhere else.

 

[BlueshirtBlitz]

Do they? They why, prior to this little win streak, were they only points away from being out of the playoff picture entirely?

Because they lost to the Sharks after dominating possession and scoring chances for two periods.

Also because the were an awful team defensively and even more inconsistently offensively in the beginning of the year and Hank had the worst month of his career in December.

Since January, the Rangers have been one of the best teams in the league because things are reverting back to the norm.

 

[Mikos87]

Good thing the Rangers own the puck almost every game. Oh and most teams that don't own the puck lose, unless you're talking about the 3rd period when a team goes into a shell. I'm more upset about all the games they blew when they did own the puck. Reading your posts I would think the Rangers just lost 5 in a row. I'm not saying they're the best team in the league but all you do is criticize the team. Oh and every team has holes.

Sorry to rue in your positive sentiments after the winning streak. I started an "Is Back" thread a while back for the sake of optimism. Unfortunately the team went on a cold streak right after.

I'm not someone that views "how good" the team is based on the last few days, ie formulating my perceptions based on what I'm feeling at the given moment, but rather the sum of the whole entirety of the season and the performance of the roster. I do stand by what I said as far as the missing components on this team. Really what's missing is consistency in certain roles. The difference between good and elite is consistency, consistently being "good".

AV's done a great job of giving the team different looks and getting more out of some players than expected, but there needs to be more for this team to get to that next level.

Hell I hope the team can rattle of another 5 in a row and start peaking at the right time.

 

[aufheben]

So do they excel in any areas or not? Mott plos

Well possession and shots on goal doesn't mean a lot to me if they're not scoring. They're mediocre in important areas like face-offs, GF, PP. Our GA is always good because we have Lundqvist.

Most teams excels in at least one area, Devils #1PK, Nashville #3 in FO.

 

[Holocene]

Well possession and shots on goal doesn't mean a lot to me if they're not scoring. They're mediocre in important areas like face-offs, GF, PP. Our GA is always good because we have Lundqvist.

Most teams excels in at least one area, Devils #1PK, Nashville #3 in FO.

We're top 5 in PK, GA, SOG and 10th in goal differential. Don't you think it's kind of amazing that after the rough start, crappy December home stretch and the ups and downs of Hank that we're 5th in GA? I would have thought we'd be more average in that area this year.

 

[aufheben]

We're top 5 in PK, GA, SOG and 10th in goal differential. Don't you think it's kind of amazing that after the rough start, crappy December home stretch and the ups and downs of Hank that we're 5th in GA? I would have thought we'd be more average in that area this year.

I don't think it's amazing. I'm very happy that our defense and Hank are back to being great, but having a top GA average isn't surprising to me, it's expected.

The Rangers have never finished below 10th in GA during Henrik Lundqvist's career, usually around the top 5.

 

[Thirty One]

Well possession and shots on goal doesn't mean a lot to me if they're not scoring. They're mediocre in important areas like face-offs, GF, PP. Our GA is always good because we have Lundqvist.

Most teams excels in at least one area, Devils #1PK, Nashville #3 in FO.

And we'll still have Lundqvist in the playoffs, so that's a good thing.

And I disagree with faceoffs being important.

 

[Holocene]

I don't think it's amazing. I'm very happy that our defense and Hank are back to being great, but having a top GA average isn't surprising to me, it's expected.

I'm not amazed by the fact that they will finish top 5 I'm amazed that they're going to do it despite everything that happened before the Olympics. Completely negated the first 20-30ish games.

 

[Bleed Ranger Blue]

And we'll still have Lundqvist in the playoffs, so that's a good thing.

And I disagree with faceoffs being important.

For someone who puts so much stock in puck possession, its odd you discredit the importance of faceoffs.

 

[Thirty One]

For someone who puts so much stock in puck possession, its odd you discredit the importance of faceoffs.

That's the thing, faceoffs are a means to puck possession: a small part of a very important factor. So if the Rangers are a good puck possession team who struggles in faceoffs, who cares?

 

[Emptyvoid]

That's the thing, faceoffs are a means to puck possession: a small part of a very important factor. So if the Rangers are a good puck possession team who struggles in faceoffs, who cares?

If you don't mind, could you pull up face off statistics of top possession teams the past few years? I'm wondering if there is any sort of correlation.

 

[aufheben]

If you don't mind, could you pull up face off statistics of top possession teams the past few years? I'm wondering if there is any sort of correlation.

I don't know about possession, but San Jose, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, and Pittsburgh are all in the Top 10, with St. Louis at 11. The Rangers are 21st.

 

[RGY]

And we'll still have Lundqvist in the playoffs, so that's a good thing.

And I disagree with faceoffs being important.

C'mon 31 dont you realize that according to some fans in order to be successful you need to be amazing in everything you do...

 

[Thirty One]

If you don't mind, could you pull up face off statistics of top possession teams the past few years? I'm wondering if there is any sort of correlation.

Sure. I got a couple things on the go right now, but it's on my to-do list.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Do they? They why, prior to this little win streak, were they only points away from being out of the playoff picture entirely?

Because owning the puck doesn't guarantee that they'll win the game. You should know going by how many games Lundqvist pulled out where the other team dominated possession in previous years. Is this a serious question?

 

[Emptyvoid]

Sure. I got a couple things on the go right now, but it's on my to-do list.

Thank you very much.

I don't know about possession, but San Jose, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, and Pittsburgh are all in the Top 10, with St. Louis at 11. The Rangers are 21st.

Ok. Let's see how it is in the past few years though with cup finalists. I'm predicting no correlation, some teams very good at faceoffs and others below average.

 

[aufheben]

Thank you very much.



Ok. Let's see how it is in the past few years though with cup finalists. I'm predicting no correlation, some teams very good at faceoffs and others below average.

I think the last Cup winner to be really good on face-offs was Boston. I have no doubt that it will cause trouble for us in the playoffs, but I will happily eat crow if that's not true. It's been an apparent problem in practically every game this season.

Stepan and Brassard are awful; Richards is at 50%.