Post-Game Talk: New York Rangers at Anaheim Ducks - January 23/24

[Saitama]

Running Hank into the ground, and the lack of faith in Pavelec has been so strange this season.

Pavelec was peppered with shots in his three starts in December, and showed really well. Got smoked by the Islanders, and was perfectly fine vs Vegas in January.

Lmao, faith in Pavelec? I'd rather have faith in Arizona making the playoffs, seems like a surer bet than Pavelec saving the day!

 

[aufheben]

We are better off with Lias and ADA than Stepan. Longterm that is.

Meanwhile in Arizona:

TBH Stepan handled that better than most of his breaks not that that is saying much.

I agree, and put him back on wing where he belongs. Last night he was 33% in the dot which is just down right terrible, and then we have wonder kid Stepan at 30%, worse than terrible.

I agree, and I like the way RT has distributed the ice time except for giving Stepan more ice time than any other forward. We are not talking seconds here, rather minutes. He gets 8 more minutes than Dvo.

Win or lose, I'd prefer this to another lazy Stepan slapper

Stepan... sure, if we can offload him, let's do it. A gamble that didn't pay off. Cut losses and get what we can.

Stepan has a lazy streak that's relatively small but destroys our momentum. Goligoski had a stupidity streak that's relatively small but crushes our momentum.

Derek Stepan quickly becoming the worst acquisition in the last decade

 

[Flying Puck]

This team wasn't going anywhere with Stepan either. Blow it up.

You don’t trade and dump your core players up over salary cap issues. Both Giradi and Stepan were leaders on this team in that room. Who are the leaders now? You knew every year what you were getting from both those guys. This team is about to go on a huge skid boys. This team will not make the playoffs and that is on the GM for not replacing Stepan’s production. Facts are facts!

 

[LeetchisGod]

Hey Machinehead you still believe Nash has not been our best forward all year? He has been and it is not even close. Give me Stepan and Girardi back please Mika sucks.

Did you not watch Girardi play the last few years? He is a terrible skater and passer who doesn't fit AV's system at all. Stepan signs a big contract and proceeds to look awful most of last year and was terrible in the playoffs. Gorton got rid of him at the right time. This team wasn't winning anything with or without those two.

 

[LeetchisGod]

You don’t trade and dump your core players up over salary cap issues. Both Giradi and Stepan were leaders on this team in that room. Who are the leaders now? You knew every year what you were getting from both those guys. This team is about to go on a huge skid boys. This team will not make the playoffs and that is on the GM for not replacing Stepan’s production. Facts are facts!

That is the best thing for the franchise long term if they play it right.

 

[Igor Shestyorkin]

Meanwhile in Arizona:

LMAOOOO I'm actually crying laughing.

 

[ReggieDunlop68]

Miller needed to be benched, it took him 5 months to do it.

Vesey needed to be benched for the first 3-4 months of the season, AV never benched him

There is no accountability here. It's a modified version of accountability that favors bottom 6 utility players that have intangibles... Because that's exactly what AV thinks of himself

Say woooorddd....

 

[darko]

Meanwhile in Arizona:

Ouch

 

[ReggieDunlop68]

I will never forgive AV for doing this to Henrik

Doing what?

 

[ReggieDunlop68]

Poor ADA it seems like every where he's suited up hes been on losing end. Coyotes, Wolfpack and now Rangers.

Why don't top teams want to make room for him?

Is it the New Jersey - Moscow alliance?

 

[ReggieDunlop68]

Meanwhile in Arizona:

Schachmatt

 

[Machinehead]

This team should still have Stepan but hard cap lol!

Don't get me wrong, you can levy all the criticism in the world on the Rangers, but Hank's contract hurting us, having to move Stepan, and partly the Stralman thing can be pinned on the National Hockey Reich and their "all 31 teams have to suck" financial policy.

 

[mrhockey193195]

Just got back to LA from the game. Was JT benched or hurt?

Fire AV. Trade Nash. Trade Grabner & Holden.

 

[Machinehead]

Just got back to LA from the game. Was JT benched or hurt?

Fire AV. Trade Nash. Trade Grabner & Holden.

Benched.

AV had, quote: "seen enough."

 

[ReggieDunlop68]

Just got back to LA from the game. Was JT benched or hurt?

Fire AV. Trade Nash. Trade Grabner & Holden.

Then ---->

 

[Ail]

I once again missed noted Rangers legend Richard of house Nashe smite his foes. Shame.

I have no issue with benching Miller. He wasn’t a bust, but he isn’t very good either. Neither he or Hayes impress me and they could trade both of them for all I care.

Trade deadline is going to be a beaut.

 

[ponytrekker]

I totally agree. The move of Stepan and Girardi has killed this team. These guys were both vocal leaders on this team. Remember I don’t believe either player ever missed the playoffs. Jeff Gordon should be on the hook for these two awful moves.

OMG if I had a dollar for every one of you guys that were running these two out of town I could buy the Kock brothers.

 

[ponytrekker]

The only hope for this team is to pull a Mets and leave AV in California. The team has totally tuned him out.

 

[Idlerlee]

Hey Machinehead you still believe Nash has not been our best forward all year? He has been and it is not even close. Give me Stepan and Girardi back please Mika sucks.

Was he before the last handful of games as well? Because he was less than .5 a game then, and quite honestly mostly a SH guy with "intangibles"

Stepan was the most important piece in this forward group, every time he went out of the lineup everything went haywire. And that was when we had actual depth.

When Stepan was traded, he was traded for no player that can play in the NHL right now. We never addressed the huge open gap in our forward group for our 2nd C and most important PKer. Stepan was both a leader and a mentor on this team, and not replacing him with a center of a equal caliber for this season, means that we are going to go through the entire season without a proper 2C.

Cythil had 2 great games against 50% NHL team 50% AHL teams, and the front office banked on Cythil being the guy to replace Stepan. Against NHL men he was proven to be too small to fill the shoes right now, and was sent down immediately.

Hayes is not as good as Stepan offensively, and unlike Stepan he's not a guy who you can tic-tac-toe with. Stepan was great at that. Hayes and Nash are both huge egomonsters who carry rather than play.

Miller was supposed to take the reins, but he's not mature enough for the role, its painfully evident right now that he's not the guy. Miller is a wing.

Stepan was the glue. And with him and G gone, its essentially left to Zucc, Hank, McD and Nash to carry the team forward through example. Zucc is struggling since there is no consistency in linemates, and the quality of the linemates is questionable at best. Nash was a good defender for most of the season until he finally pieces it together the last 5 games, can he sustain it for the rest of the season?

Hank can't be human if we're going to make the PO's, he just can't. So the Rangers need to ask too much of their goaltender once again. McDonagh is not the player he was before he got the C, and he quite frankly hasn't been since. He's not the guy that leads the charge anymore.

I don't understand that AV is doing, but whatever it is he's doing its not working. A guy like Tortorella would be perfect as a interim option, a guy that screams in your face and doesn't let you relax, a guy who can truly get some fire going into men who have given up. Coaches like that are incredibly taxing for a long run, but as a short term option it'd be ideal.

 

[Nopuckluck]

If you want to laugh and get a good idea of what Mczd has become go back and watch him on the fifth goal st the beginning of the third period. Yes I know it was a 5 on 3 but watch him

 

[Kaapo Cabana]

It will be nice not having to schedule things around playoff games this spring

 

[Megustaelhockey]

It will be nice not having to schedule things around playoff games this spring

For real. I plan to go to Mexico.

 

[mandiblesofdoom]

Benching your 3rd leading scorer in a winnable game has to be the last straw for AV.

Miller made an egregious turnover - in a game full of them. Playing Holland, Desharnais, and Lettieri over him is inexcusable.

He made two iirc - the one on the power play that led to an SH goal for Anaheim, and one from behind the Rangers net that led to Zuccarello taking a penalty on which Anaheim scored.

 

[JohnC]

I’ve turned off more games this season than I have in the past 5 years combined.

The team is bad and the coach is so horrible he can’t even coach them to do basic things pee wees are taught.

 

[will1066]

How was the game last night? I didn't watch it.

Actually, I did watch it. I'm trying to selectively un-memorize it.