Confirmed with Link: Rangers Name Alain Vigneault Head Coach

[Hunter Gathers]

Or is it...

'The lack of speed of our players really hurt the transition game.'

Time will tell...

I think we have decent speed. I just don't think it was utilized well. Honestly, that was my one REAL complaint with Torts.

 

[Drewbackatu*]

This is very true. There is an awful lot of randomness that goes into winning each year. It's easy to llok back and wax poetic about how well constructed Boston is now. Boston didn't wear Toronto down. Quite the opposite actually as Toronto got better as the series went on.
Detroit had Chichago beat.
The Devils went to the Finals last year after being down 3-2 to Florida and having to win Game 6 in OT. They easily could have been eliminated.
The Kings barely made the playoffs last year. The Flyers went to the Finals few years back after beating us in a SO to qualify.

I think we are closer to being a team that has a run like this than alot of people think.

Good luck to the Rangers with that logic. Maybe you should apply it to a game of horseshoes or hand grenades?

Personally, I think we're a lot closer to struggling to make the 8th seed than another run because of a terribly flawed roster in terms of no speed, size, lack of physicality and lack of depth and there isn't a coaching candidate out there that's going to make a bit of difference!

 

[Drewbackatu*]

AV is my favorite of who's available now. I might prefer Bylsma is he's made available. The most attractive thing about him is that he runs an offense first system that we really need. He has his fair share of downsides, but offensively speaking he's gonna let this team run and gun, which is very exciting and (IMO) modern hockey.

Lol! Both AV and Blysma are way overrated as coaches. What the hell has that pompous, smug ******* AV won with the top talent in Vancouver for the past 7 years? Somehow he managed to lose 10 of his final 11 playoff game as coach including the last 2 games of a failed SCF in 2011 when they got shutout 1-0 in the 7th game at home.
Blysma? Don't make me laugh; the guy gets to trot out the 2 best centers(if not players) in the entire league and he was coach for the team that blew a 3-1 lead vs Tampa Bay in 2011, got their doors blown off in a run and gun playoff series vs the Flyers last year and then puts up a grand total of TWO(2) goals in a 4 game butt kicking vs the Bruins!

Yep, those 2 bums are great coaches!!

 

[Thirty One]

What the hell has that pompous, smug ******* AV won with the top talent in Vancouver for the past 7 years?

Elite talent.... I can't recall a Vancouver team that didn't have Chris Higgins on their second line.

 

[Drewbackatu*]

Elite talent.... I can't recall a Vancouver team that didn't have Chris Higgins on their second line.

What do you have a case selective amnesia? Higgins was a 4th liner most of the time and became a 3rd liner because he produced!

 

[Baby Punisher]

http://www.northjersey.com/sports/2...ork_Rangers_GM_if_Glen_Sather_steps_down.html

The President and GM will be 70 soon and he had prostate cancer in March. Time to put a plan in place. We are not talking about sending Sather to a retirement home. Sather will still collect his salary. He can spend more time with his wife in California during the winter months.

Mark Messier. He should go get some head coaching experience somewhere and come back to the Rangers in 5-7 years.

I always figured Messier would be a front office guy anyway. I Don't know how strong his desire is too coach. He would show me alot if he went down to the AHL & coached or even became an assistant coach at the NHL level before becoming a head coach. But I think his ego is too big for that, & it shouldn't be.

Mark needs to learn from Gretzky's mistakes.

 

[Ola]

No track meets, just sustained pressure and an effective offensive zone setup. Didn't like the behind the goal line stuff Torts insisted on, he definitely didn't have the horses for that this year.

Can we afford to give up a few more rushes with Hank in net? Probably. Is it a smart thing to do, no.

Babs, where are those rushes coming from?

We definitely gave up literary 2x the amount of rushes under Torts as we did under Renney. If not more. But under Torts we saw an extreme amount of pucks turned over so that the other team had to fetch them in their own end more or less. Under Renney, we gave up little but when we gave up something it was Malik setting someone up 9 feet infront of Hank.

That is the diffrence.

I am not saying that we should play Renney hockey. But under Torts it's extremely questionable how much it helped us to loose ten pucks at the other end instead of loosing one in our end. We ended up on our back for full periods and was bombarded on a regular basis.

It is really not about giving up more. It's about giving up less and creating more. Just aim higher.

 

[Drewbackatu*]

I always figured Messier would be a front office guy anyway. I Don't know how strong his desire is too coach. He would show me alot if he went down to the AHL & coached or even became an assistant coach at the NHL level before becoming a head coach. But I think his ego is too big for that, & it shouldn't be.

Mark needs to learn from Gretzky's mistakes.

Right on the money. The problem with that egotistical maniac Messier is he thinks coaching the Rangers is like buying a shiny new toy!

 

[Thirty One]

What do you have a case selective amnesia? Higgins was a 4th liner most of the time and became a 3rd liner because he produced!

Yeah, that's entirely untrue... He's been top six on the Canucks on ESTOI in both of the past 2 seasons.

 

[Gordon Bombay]

I think we have decent speed. I just don't think it was utilized well. Honestly, that was my one REAL complaint with Torts.

Yep, this team's defense is extremely mobile compared to most teams. It's tough to transition and have speed when most of the possession time is spent slapping the puck around the boards to forwards standing or long stretch passes to forwards standing in the neutral zone.

Whoever this new coach is, all I ask is that he brings in a different approach to the transition game.

 

[SauceCheese91]

Dreger on TSN talking about how if the Pens let go of Bylsma that he would be a good fit for the Rangers and that AV could a good fit in Pitty.

 

[Drewbackatu*]

Yeah, that's entirely untrue... He's been top six on the Canucks on ESTOI in both of the past 2 seasons.

Maybe he was but he produced and they had lots of injuries. Still and all, they have had terrific talent during AV's reign and they still couldn't win. We have nobody even close to the Sedins on our roster!

 

[Vickers8]

Yup. Agreed 100%. McDonagh/Staal should be jumping into the rush whenever they can. If a player like Johnny Boychuk can consistently jump into the rush, McDonagh/Staal can.

'94 Zubov for 22 minutes a game on the 2nd pair with Kevin Lowe carried the puck out of the zone, Leetch for 25 minutes a game on the 1st pair with Beuke carried the puck out of the zone...47 minutes the puck left our zone, we didn't have to use the wall

 

[Thirty One]

Maybe he was but he produced and they had lots of injuries. Still and all, they have had terrific talent during AV's reign and they still couldn't win. We have nobody even close to the Sedins on our roster!

For sure, we don't. A lot more depth, though.

 

[Pizza]

And you are right as well.
Winning cures everything.
I just don't think we are that far off. A couple of tweaks; a gritty physical winger in the top 6, a more productive 4th line (Somebody better than Asham on the 4LW- Boyle - Dorsett) and we can give these guys a run for their money.
The xfactor is the coach and the system he brings along.

I'm with you. I don't think they are that far off either. What makes so close, yet so far is that the Rangers never seem to learn the lessons from one pounding in the playoffs after another.

There are no physically dominant players in our top six year after year.....it's just what the Rangers do and it's bloody frustrating.

I'm sure that Gorton and Clark look at bigger, meaner, capable players. But the Rangers roster is still over weighted with smaller, less physically dominant players. These guys just can't maintain a playoff grind, imo. They don't scare anyone. Not even a little.

 

[NHRangerfan]

Some fans just want to see track meets up and down the ice. Theres a ton of potent offenses in this division. The Rangers lead the pack in defense/goaltending. So, someone needs to let me know why run and gun would benefit the Rangers. As SBOB noted, the most exciting thing for me is winning games.

I haven't seen anyone calling for a track meet...but could we possibly do something in the O zone besides 3 passes behind the other teams net before we turn it over?

Nobody is calling for the 80's Oilers, just get tired of seeing the 3rd period penalty kill with a 1 goal lead, I'm in my 50's my heart can't take a full season of that

 

[Clown Fiesta]

Babs, where are those rushes coming from?

We definitely gave up literary 2x the amount of rushes under Torts as we did under Renney. If not more. But under Torts we saw an extreme amount of pucks turned over so that the other team had to fetch them in their own end more or less. Under Renney, we gave up little but when we gave up something it was Malik setting someone up 9 feet infront of Hank.

That is the diffrence.

I am not saying that we should play Renney hockey. But under Torts it's extremely questionable how much it helped us to loose ten pucks at the other end instead of loosing one in our end. We ended up on our back for full periods and was bombarded on a regular basis.

It is really not about giving up more. It's about giving up less and creating more. Just aim higher.

What I meant was, that odd man rushes against don't scare me much with THIS team. Reason we gave up so many was because of our inability to sustain pressure under Torts. We gave the puck up a lot, because we tried to grind it out behind the net and this team wasn't built to do that effectively. Think we're agreeing here, didn't realize we gave up more under Torts than Renney, maybe the fact that like you said with Renney they were more apparent.

 

[Thirty One]

Canucks forward lines since the lockout:
D. Sedin - H. Sedin - Player made by the Sedins
Plug - Kesler (40 games per year) - Talentless hack
Raymond - Prospect on the verge of busting
Black hole.

 

[we want cup]

What I meant was, that odd man rushes against don't scare me much with THIS team. Reason we gave up so many was because of our inability to sustain pressure under Torts. We gave the puck up a lot, because we tried to grind it out behind the net and this team wasn't built to do that effectively. Think we're agreeing here, didn't realize we gave up more under Torts than Renney, maybe the fact that like you said with Renney they were more apparent.

What exactly is this team built to do effectively in the offensive zone? Because I struggle to come up with something other than outworking the opposition down low....

 

[Drewbackatu*]

Canucks forward lines since the lockout:
D. Sedin - H. Sedin - Player made by the Sedins
Plug - Kesler (40 games per year) - Talentless hack
Raymond - Prospect on the verge of busting
Black hole.

Kessler a talentless hack? True, he has been injured a lot the past 3 years but he is far from what you say he is!

 

[JESSEWENEEDTOCOOK]

Kessler a talentless hack? True, he has been injured a lot the past 3 years but he is far from what you say he is!

Read the post again.

 

[Thirty One]

Kessler a talentless hack? True, he has been injured a lot the past 3 years but he is far from what you say he is!

No, he centered some combination of plugs and talentless hacks.

 

[Crazed Beaver]

The last 3 are just about dead weight, yes. But don't you think we should wait to see what a new HC does with the team and what they have already before already moving pieces?

I think it's a fair statement to say we are not hard enough on the puck in our top nine. I also see no need to wait for the next coach to come in here before posting about possible changes. Is that not a purpose of this board? I ask you this, if you had to choose between zucc and hags who would you keep figuring in trade value and etc? I ask because those are the type of decisions that need to happen to get better IMO. We have Nash,step,brass to build around and to me everyone else in our top 9 is trade bait.

 

[Kershaw]

Canucks forward lines since the lockout:
D. Sedin - H. Sedin - Player made by the Sedins
Plug - Kesler (40 games per year) - Talentless hack
Raymond - Prospect on the verge of busting
Black hole.

Raymond used to be a 2nd line winger. Kesler did play with Grabner, Demitra, Sundin and Samuelsson, the latter three were legit top 6 players. The Canucks just ran into better teams each season unfortunately for them.

 

[Thirty One]

Raymond used to be a 2nd line winger. Kesler did play with Demitra Grabner, Sundin and Samuelsson, all three were legit top 6 players. The Canucks just ran into better teams each season unfortunately for them.

Grabner played 20 games total with the Canucks. Sundin played 41. Demitra 97. None of them since 2009-10.