Pretty much. Richards, Gaborik, and Nash are here to score. I don't care what they do besides that. They can eat puppies for all I care.
This is EXACTLY the attitude and perspective that has killed this team over the years and led to the absolutely awful Rangers teams we saw from ~'97-'04.
If all you care about are the stats and the goal/assist production, you're going to get burned. Hate to break it to you, but hockey is about much much more than simply point production. Would you still be happy with those players if they gave up 2 goals for every 1 goal they produced? Because guess what - thats exactly what the lines Brad Richards was on tonight did (1 assist for BR, but +/- of -1, meaning he was out there for 2 goals against).
Look at virtually any stanley cup championship team (including the '94 Rangers) and even the "producers," as you put it, contribute more to the team than just tallying up the points. I watched Richards in the game against Tampa on Saturday in 3 separate back checking situations (I'm sure there were more like this, but it seemed like it was 3 shifts in a row that he did it and it stuck out in my mind for that reason) in which he was the only forward near an odd man rush that could have picked up the extra man to even it out, and instead of hustling back he stopped skating, glided, and let his man go. I get that Richards is not known for his defensive prowess, but sorry... that is inexcusable, shows no heart, and is not how you win championships. Not to mention what has already been said with his failure to bring a consistent offensive threat/effort/actually execute more than a few crisp passes each game.
This is perhaps the most frustrating part about being a Rangers fan, and I don't know if its because they're a big market team and they feel like they need to get the big name stars to satiate the fans, or what it is... but over the years their management has completely ignored team chemistry (both in their own team, the Rangers, and in the sense that tbe chemistry of the lines may have contributed to the picked up players' success on their previous team) at the expense of looking for the next shiny object player and going after them at all costs. Mind you, I'm a fan of Nash despite his fail tonight and his weak goal production so far -- so I'm not really ragging on that deal, but I do recognize that while we gained a piece that was missing, we lost a BIG part of our identity and cohesion as a team with that trade (not to mention the loss of Pruster and Feds). I'm just not convinced that management really recognized how much of a loss those guys were going to be and how difficult it would be to replace them team chemistry wise.
All of that said, I don't come down nearly as extreme on the scale as some on the other side of this who are advocating trading/buying out Richards, but if you don't honestly believe that Richards has, overall, been playing like complete dog poo, I don't know what games you've been watching. I'm not saying others haven't played poorly -- but for his salary, his 'A', and the leadership that the younger guys inevitably expect from him, he needs to step it up.
Last years' team, while at times was lacking, had many of the various components, the heart, the work ethic, and the chemistry to be in contention for a championship. At least so far into this season, not seeing ANY of those things in this years' team. There have been some glimmers of effort, heart, and skill though this year -- so I'm still holding out hope that its just taking them all a while to gel and develop the chemistry to become a truly great team.
You guys are so funny thats why I love lurking.
We seem to be the cutoff point before Flyer territory.
