It's about time for a Kreider thread

[JCrusher*]

This afternoon, ladies & gents, is why Kreider is virtually untradeable. He's the first legitimate first line prospect this team has developed since, well, since forever.

Before his recall i heard Sather was looking to deal him and now 20 games and 16 pts later thankfully that didnt happen

 

[Brooklyn Rangers Fan]

Before his recall i heard Sather was looking to deal him and now 20 games and 16 pts later thankfully that didnt happen

I find that hard to believe. Who told you that? (Feel free to PM if it's a private source.)

 

[JCrusher*]

I find that hard to believe. Who told you that? (Feel free to PM if it's a private source.)

Well to be honest im not sure if it was true. It was from the ottawa newspapers so i dont believe it

 

[GordonGecko]

The 'revenge on Torts' narrative is lazy and revisionist. Kreider was sent down at the begining of this year for inconsistency. He wasn't the player he is now until he came back from his last stint at Hartford. If this Chris Kreider had been available to John Tortorella, he would have played him 20 minutes a night.

Yep. The story today wasn't "payback". It was Tortorella getting a front-row seat to how far Kreider has come since last year. Maybe thanks, in part, to Tortorella's no-nonsense approach.

Yeah right, it was ALL about payback. Torts did a real number on Kreider mentally, forcing him to play in a role that didn't suit him and benching him for every little mistake. It's taken a couple months under AV who gave him the space he needed to get back into his comfort zone to undo the damage under Tortorella, and this was THE game for Kreider to shove it all in his face. Well done!

 

[Raspewtin]

Well to be honest im not sure if it was true. It was from the ottawa newspapers so i dont believe it

Bruce Garrioch? Don't believe anything that dumbass says. Knows nothing about hockey and makes garbage rumors up in his spare time. Tabloid sports journalism.

 

[JCrusher*]

Bruce Garrioch? Don't believe anything that dumbass says. Knows nothing about hockey and makes garbage rumors up in his spare time. Tabloid sports journalism.

Yeah I didnt believe it

 

[Inferno]

kreiders play justified the way Torts AND AV treated him.

 

[BlueshirtBlitz]

If Kreider thinks the way Torts treated him deserves "payback" then he's a moron.

Hard to think you deserve better when you were garbage in the NHL. Is his recent play payback to AV for letting him get sent down earlier this year?

That being said, if he somehow feels slighted by Torts and it makes him play like he has, then i'm all for it no matter how misguided his frustration.

 

[JCrusher*]

If Kreider thinks the way Torts treated him deserves "payback" then he's a moron.

Hard to think you deserve better when you were garbage in the NHL. Is his recent play payback to AV for letting him get sent down earlier this year?

That being said, if he somehow feels slighted by Torts and it makes him play like he has, then i'm all for it no matter how misguided his frustration.

Kreider has never once said anything bad about Torts. In fact he usually gives Torts praise and saying he learned a lot

 

[clmetsfan]

Yeah right, it was ALL about payback. Torts did a real number on Kreider mentally, forcing him to play in a role that didn't suit him and benching him for every little mistake. It's taken a couple months under AV who gave him the space he needed to get back into his comfort zone to undo the damage under Tortorella, and this was THE game for Kreider to shove it all in his face. Well done!

Not only is that a pretty big and primarily baseless assumption about Kreider's mental state that you're making, but if true it wouldn't say much for Kreider's fortitude.

 

[Greg02]

I find it funny how almost the entire board was convinced that Kreider was due for goals, and that once he finally put one in, they'd start coming in bunches, and then he scored a couple games ago and now he got a big chunk... and half the board attributes it to playing Tortorella.

 

[Pizza]

Most of this payback talk is speculation. Kreider was due. Glad to see it.

 

[BarbaraAlphanse]

kreiders play justified the way Torts AND AV treated him.

I don't think so. Completely wrong. AV came in right away and said everyone had a fresh start and how they played would dictate whether they played or not. AV didn't know his players yet. He struggled with his line combinations. Chris came out sluggish and wasn't the best fit with Richards. Therefore, AV handled it like he has with every other player promised a spot in the offseason that hasn't lived up to their name, he scratched him from the roster. CK was in a position to be able to prove he was ready to start fresh by playing lights out in Hartford... guys like Zucc, MDZ, and Moore don't have that luxury.

CK had a stretch of games last year where he lit it up for Hartford. He was called up and still given 4th line minutes (3 minutes per game). No matter how he played he was in Torts' dog house - up and down from AHL to NHL and perpetually playing minimal time with people with 1/8 his talent.

AV gave him a chance to succeed. He's given him the best linemates possible. Can't say Torts would even doing consider that.

 

[RGY]

I wouldn't say it was all about "payback" but there was certainly an edge to Kreider out there, especially the way he celebrated those goals.

 

[xander]

I don't think so. Completely wrong. AV came in right away and said everyone had a fresh start and how they played would dictate whether they played or not. AV didn't know his players yet. He struggled with his line combinations. Chris came out sluggish and wasn't the best fit with Richards. Therefore, AV handled it like he has with every other player promised a spot in the offseason that hasn't lived up to their name, he scratched him from the roster. CK was in a position to be able to prove he was ready to start fresh by playing lights out in Hartford... guys like Zucc, MDZ, and Moore don't have that luxury.

CK had a stretch of games last year where he lit it up for Hartford. He was called up and still given 4th line minutes (3 minutes per game). No matter how he played he was in Torts' dog house - up and down from AHL to NHL and perpetually playing minimal time with people with 1/8 his talent.

AV gave him a chance to succeed. He's given him the best linemates possible. Can't say Torts would even doing consider that.

AV sent him to the minors. Kreider played well in CT, and came up playing like the Rangers best forward from Detroit onwards. Kreider has played like a guy who deserves a lot of icetime, and so Vigneault has granted him such. He wasn't given an opportunity, he seized the job - Vigneault didn't think he was anymore ready out of 2013 training camp than Torts did last year.

 

[RangerBoy]

Tortorella never missed a chance to **** all over Kreider. Chris has a lot to learn about being a professional. This comes from a grown man who couldn't answer simple questions about why his team lost. Many people here don't like Kreider either. It all started with him staying in school for his junior year and then rooting for the Bruins in the 2011 playoffs. The guy has 1 or 2 bad games in a row and all of the critics come out again. Montreal got upset with McDonagh when stayed at Wisconsin for his junior year. Bob Gainey saw him play a bad game in college and came away unimpressed. They traded him. How did that work out for them?

 

[Ghost of jas]

This afternoon, ladies & gents, is why Kreider is virtually untradeable. He's the first legitimate first line prospect this team has developed since, well, since forever.

So you're saying Stepan isn't a legitimate 1st line player?

 

[RangerBoy]

Look at all of the love for Tortorella on this board.

Tortorella destroyed every relationship he had with his players. Go ask Richards. Go look at what Dubinsky said a few weeks ago when the Rangers were in Columbus. Their relationship was bad in 11-12.

Richards called Tortorella in the summer and left him a message. No call was returned. Then Tortorella tells James Duthie about being upset his relationship with Brad is badly damaged. Why didn't you pick up the phone and call him back?

Whatever happened is in the past. He can't do that.

“I have no hard feelings,†Kreider said. “I learned a lot from him.â€

Kreider said that over and over, probably about as often and in as many ways as he was nailed to the bench by Tortorella last season in the coach’s tough-love approach — well, omit the “love†part — to teaching the young man the process.

http://nypost.com/2013/11/30/torts-goes-quietly-in-garden-return/

 

[xander]

Lots of hyperbole in the above.

 

[xander]

Is Vigneault currently screwing with Miller by playing him in the bottom 6 and then demoting him? Or does Miller just need more work?

 

[Brooklyn Rangers Fan]

So you're saying Stepan isn't a legitimate 1st line player?

Hmm... I consider him more of a tweener. He is certainly productive and can be very good with Kreider and/or Nash. But he is the master of taking what you give him - he doesn't dictate play in the same way that those other two can.

 

[Ghost of jas]

Is Vigneault currently screwing with Miller by playing him in the bottom 6 and then demoting him? Or does Miller just need more work?

Well, while Miller does need more work, he is better suited to playing center.

 

[Fitzy]

Right now, at his age, Stepan is either a mediocre #1 center or an elite 2nd line center. Essentially a "1b" as people like to say.

Richards is performing at a similar level, though he is more crucial to the power play and is no longer a defensive presence or penalty killer the way Stepan is.

Where Krdier fits int he lineup is a product of what pivot he works best with. A previous poster said it best when suggesting Kreider on his game is a better fit for the top line than is Hagelin. Hagelin can be effective in a bottom 6 role, whereas this is questionable for Kreider.

Richards-Brassard-Callahan, Kreider-Stepan-Nash works for now. It does somewhat leave Zuccarello and Hagelin in the cold offensively, but this is what happens when teams have depth.

 

[Ghost of jas]

Hmm... I consider him more of a tweener. He is certainly productive and can be very good with Kreider and/or Nash. But he is the master of taking what you give him - he doesn't dictate play in the same way that those other two can.

I agree that Stepan does not dictate play in a manner that either Nash or Kreider can, but, he's a smart player that sees the ice very well, and, that's why he fits in well with both of them.

 

[bernmeister]

Yeah right, it was ALL about payback. Torts did a real number on Kreider mentally, forcing him to play in a role that didn't suit him and benching him for every little mistake. It's taken a couple months under AV who gave him the space he needed to get back into his comfort zone to undo the damage under Tortorella, and this was THE game for Kreider to shove it all in his face. Well done!

Well said!