Rangers playing style in the 80s

[pld459666]

The 80's Rangers were fodder. Played well at times but never a real threat. Occasional upset here and there but ultimate failures.

 

[pld459666]

The 80s are back it seems, if to be judged by Pat Leonards latest contribution.
A subtle touch that says this must be the American Olympic Uniform for 2014.

This is beyond sad.

BRUTAL

 

[NCRanger]

I started watching regularly in the early 80's.

One thing that was not mentioned is that the Patrick Division was probably the strongest in the league back then. The Islanders and the Flyers were very, very good teams. The Rangers and the Capitals were probably among the league's better teams too. The Devils entered the picture in 1982-83, and only made the top 4 that much stronger.

Under Brooks, the Rangers played a very European style, save for a few goons. One thing about that era though; the regular season games were much more wide open. There wasn't this shot blocking, defensive systems, and "line matching". If a team had a lead with 5 minutes to go in the third, you'd see a form of a "trap", but nothing like it is today. Also, every team in the league had one or two Matt Moulson type players. Paul MacLean was one of those.

The early part of the decade usually saw a 3rd or 4th place Ranger team match up against a 1st or 2nd place Flyer team, and the Rangers would embarrass them up and down the ice. Then the Islanders would do just enough to get by the Rangers. Then, the Islanders would take 9 to 11 games to win the remaining 8. Maybe, just maybe, if one of those decent Caps teams could have beaten the Islanders, things would have been very different at MSG.

1984 was a killer. All four Patrick Division teams had well over 90 points. Whoever came out of that division was going to the Finals.

84-85 is when things changed. The team suffered some ridiculous amount of injuries and never could get "right". Some of it was some lazy attitudes, some of it was Brooks, who got fired early in the season, but most of it was that the projected team never played together.

The next season is when Sator was brought in to fix some of the issues. He sent some "stars" to the minors to show that nobody was safe. The team floundered under .500 and battled a young Lemieux for the 4th spot. As was mentioned, Pierre Larouche came back with 28 games left and scored 20 goals. The playoff run had some epic games against Washington. If not for Patrick Roy, a linesman that ran interference on James Patrick in OT in Game 3, and some awful luck, the Rangers could have beaten Montreal.

After that, the next three seasons saw Esposito take over the team, mainly because management got tired of his know it all nonsense on the broadcasts. The team was generally competitive, but not enough to get over the hump. However, the 1987-88 team that missed the playoffs thanks to Kerry Fraser handing the Devils 8 power plays to the Hawks 4, was playing so well at the end of the season that they could have made some noise. That team actually finished 10th overall in a league where 16 of the 21 teams made the playoffs, yet missed, because the Patrick Division was so good compared to the rest of the league.

88-89 started off incredibly well, and there was some talk of it finally happening. They blew a big lead in early February in Guy Lafleur's return to Montreal and then they were never the same. That was the first year they met Pittsburgh in the playoffs and the first time Mike Richter saw the ice at MSG.

 

[HFsNumber1Heel]

The thing about the Rangers in the 80s is they never had any stars or anyone in the top 10 of either goals scored or points. They didn't even have the equivalent of a Nash or Richards. I know Rogers had one great year with over 100 points and Duguay, Larouche, and Sandstrom all scored 40+ goals a few times but that was it.

Not enough scoring to keep up with the Islanders or Flyers.

Beck was supposed to be a big piece but after the Patrick Flatley hit he was never the same with a chronic shoulder injury.

Sator and the 86 team had major issues and part of the reason they lasted so long in the playoffs was that they went against two really mediocre goalies in Froese and Peters and decided to play his system for a few weeks. He was canned early the next year.

In some ways they are very similar to the present Rangers. They draft well in terms of finding good solid NHLers, but they never hit that home run pick to get them over the hump with Leetch and Richter being the exceptions but those two really didn't come into the picture until the late 80s.

 

[True Blue]

Looked up Larouche on wikipedia. Sator sent him to Hershey of the AHL--not even the Rangers farm team. He intended to bury him. Larouche was a legit NHL goalscorer. It would be like the Blackhawks sending Patrick Sharp to our Hartford team. Larouche finally got recalled and scored 20 goals in 28 games down the homestretch. The Rangers would not have made the playoffs that year. That **** is unreal.

Larouche was one of my favorite players. Sator was a disaster. Sounds a lot like Sather.

 

[True Blue]

Then there was the Bergeron debacle. The Rangers had to give up a high pick for him to be coach. That pick turned out to be quite valuable.

 

[SlingshotVv]

Looked up Larouche on wikipedia. Sator sent him to Hershey of the AHL--not even the Rangers farm team. He intended to bury him. Larouche was a legit NHL goalscorer. It would be like the Blackhawks sending Patrick Sharp to our Hartford team. Larouche finally got recalled and scored 20 goals in 28 games down the homestretch. The Rangers would not have made the playoffs that year. That **** is unreal.

Larouche was beyond brutal. He was buried in the minors by every coach he ever had. Super talented, scored some great looking goals, but even the Canadiens had difficulty keeping him in the NHL.

My favorite players in the 80's were Larouche, Ridley, Pavelich, and Leetch/Granato to finish out the decade. But we were never a serious team. Soft throughout the line-up in a league that was big and brutal. Not that we didn't have a couple knuckle-draggers now and then, but by and large our line-up was small and skating oriented, and that just didn't cut it through the 80's as a whole.

The NHL had become primarily a dump and chase league, with big wingers crushing the d-men all game long. At the time, we were a puck possession, carry across the blue-line team. When the NHL really became lax and allowed the clutching and grabbing that helped slow down the power forwards crashing the zone for loose dump-ins, the NYR excelled and won a Cup. Then, inexplicably, as an entire generation of teams built themselves on carrying the puck across the blue-line with support and outlets (Colorado, Detroit, NJD, Buffalo, Toronto, Anaheim), the NYR became a dump and chase team, that was clutched and grabbed into oblivion.

 

[Bluenote13]

Larouche was beyond brutal. He was buried in the minors by every coach he ever had. Super talented, scored some great looking goals, but even the Canadiens had difficulty keeping him in the NHL.

My favorite players in the 80's were Larouche, Ridley, Pavelich, and Leetch/Granato to finish out the decade. But we were never a serious team. Soft throughout the line-up in a league that was big and brutal. Not that we didn't have a couple knuckle-draggers now and then, but by and large our line-up was small and skating oriented, and that just didn't cut it through the 80's as a whole.

The NHL had become primarily a dump and chase league, with big wingers crushing the d-men all game long. At the time, we were a puck possession, carry across the blue-line team. When the NHL really became lax and allowed the clutching and grabbing that helped slow down the power forwards crashing the zone for loose dump-ins, the NYR excelled and won a Cup. Then, inexplicably, as an entire generation of teams built themselves on carrying the puck across the blue-line with support and outlets (Colorado, Detroit, NJD, Buffalo, Toronto, Anaheim), the NYR became a dump and chase team, that was clutched and grabbed into oblivion.

Agreed with all of this, including the players you liked through the 80's. I loved Larouche when I was 10 yrs old. That '86 team had great chemistry at the right time, along with great goaltending. They beat the two best teams not named Oilers that year, Philly and Caps both won 50 games and were deep squads. That would be like us beating the Pens and Bruins in the first two rounds now.

Vanbies, Greschner, Duguay, Poddubny, Mcphee, Kisio, Mullen, Kelly Miller were all fun players to watch too.

 

[SlingshotVv]

Agreed with all of this, including the players you liked through the 80's. I loved Larouche when I was 10 yrs old. That '86 team had great chemistry at the right time, along with great goaltending. They beat the two best teams not named Oilers that year, Philly and Caps both won 50 games and were deep squads. That would be like us beating the Pens and Bruins in the first two rounds now.

Vanbies, Greschner, Duguay, Poddubny, Mcphee, Kisio, Mullen, Kelly Miller were all fun players to watch too.

My mom actually got me tickets to the final home game in that series vs the Habs, maybe it was an elimination game, I don't remember really. All I remember was getting interviewed by channel 7 on my way in, and the ridiculous atmosphere. My mom's boss was pretty big time, being the guy that developed most of the NJ waterfront, and our seats were absolutely amazing.

 

[bubba5]

 

[bubba5]

That was a great spring!

 

[SlingshotVv]

 

[Bleed Ranger Blue]

Larouche was one of my favorite players. Sator was a disaster. Sounds a lot like Sather.

Me too. I was about 4 years old when I started playing deck hockey (yea, remember that?). It was around the time LaRouche came back from exile and went on an absolute tear in '86. He had wore #10 previously but switched to #24. Hes the reason I wore #24 from then until the end of my playing days almost 2 decades later.

 

[bubba5]

Me too. I was about 4 years old when I started playing deck hockey (yea, remember that?). It was around the time LaRouche came back from exile and went on an absolute tear in '86. He had wore #10 previously but switched to #24. Hes the reason I wore #24 from then until the end of my playing days almost 2 decades later.

He switched to 24 because the gave rookie Kelly Miller #10 when they sent him down.

 

[True Blue]

That '86 team had great chemistry at the right time, along with great goaltending. They beat the two best teams not named Oilers that year, Philly and Caps both won 50 games and were deep squads.

Was 86 also the year that McPhee have Tochet a beating in the playoffs? Easily on of my favorite early moments.

 

[True Blue]

Larouche was beyond brutal. He was buried in the minors by every coach he ever had. Super talented, scored some great looking goals, but even the Canadiens had difficulty keeping him in the NHL.

Something must be getting lost in translation. Larouche had 10 years in which he scored over 20 goals, 8 above 25 and 2 when he netted 50. Another one at 48. I would say that he had no trouble staying at the big league level.

In 85, he started hurt. First game back was against Quebec. Rangers were down 1 with time expiring. He was sprung on a breakaway with time running out. And hit the post with no time on the clock.

 

[True Blue]

Ridley wasn't around more than a couple seasons--ditto Kelly Miller both dealt to the Caps for Bobby Carpenter--one of the most ****ed up deals since I've been following the team.

Eco, that trade STILL makes me see red.

 

[wafflepadsave]

Thanks for the video. That was great to see. I followed them from St. Louis area so it was hard to follow them closely due to tv coverage. One guy I thought had some potential was Bob Brooke but he never really took it to the next level. Listening to Jim Gordon and the "whistle" kept me in stitches. Thanks for the memories!

 

[AlternateSideParking]

The 1980s teams sucked defensively and had terrible goaltending. Hanlon was hit or miss and Beezer had one good season.

Lots of skill. No defense. No ability to stop scoring chances. The Isles, Habs, Bruins and Philly were the gold standard defensively. Rangers never matched up. They almost went an entire decade without a win in Montreal.

Outside of Jan Erixon, Bob Brooke and maybe Don Maloney, the Rangers had the worst backchecking forwards in the league.

They had great puck movers on defense - Reijo, Gresch, Patrick, then Leetch and Maciver. All kinda small.

 

[fredrikstad]

Poddubny, Carey wilson, Mike Rogers, Kelly Kisio, Pavelich, Larouche, Ridley....They had a ton of offensively creative players in the 80's.

Of course the players (specifically the goialies) are light years better now than they were then so it's almost unfair to compare.

How would you think todays teams would have done it, with the equipment of the 80, against "yesterdays" teams with the equipments of today? And with similar amount of training doses ? But using the 80's playing style. Let's say the Stanley Cup picking Oilers against those Rangers team you are telling about here. Or Kings and Blackhawcks of today?

And just for the fun of it, do you guys believe Zucca like he is now would have made those Great Oilers teams with Gretzky and Messier, trained like they was those days? Of course he would needed a Mc Sorley or two to proteck him. Or even Falk, are the players that much better today?

Or are all this questions to far out? It's ok, I can take the bashing.

 

[HFsNumber1Heel]

Just a few more notes on the 80s Rangers specifically 1984. The Ken Morrow goal was awful but does anyone really believe that Rangers team could have beat the Oilers? No one was touching Edmonton that season.

86 team was fun, but how would they have matched up with the Flames? Calgary was pretty stacked. I know Montreal smoked them in the Finals but Montreal had some HOFers and clutch guys on that squad.

I still say the best shot was 1981. Dave Maloney was injured after that Kings brawl. JD was pretty much finished by that point. It's a shame they couldn't get past the Islanders because Minnesota was a far inferior team.

 

[SlingshotVv]

Something must be getting lost in translation. Larouche had 10 years in which he scored over 20 goals, 8 above 25 and 2 when he netted 50. Another one at 48. I would say that he had no trouble staying at the big league level.

In 85, he started hurt. First game back was against Quebec. Rangers were down 1 with time expiring. He was sprung on a breakaway with time running out. And hit the post with no time on the clock.

Lrouche was a favorite of mine, but the bolded just is not true. He was exiled by coaches and GM's mutliple times, and sent down to the minors when he should've been right in the midst of epic seasons. There was a major thread regarding Gartner and Larouche that started in the History of Hockey board and spilled into the main board awhile back, that had plenty of participants from fans of all the teams those guys played for. Larouche's numbers look great in retrospect, but in relation to the rest of the league, his numbers weren't near good enough for the lack of effort and defense he brought. After having an amazing breakout season in 75, he was expected to be a generational star. The following year he wound up as the target of ire for Pens coach Shnickle, who reportedly according to a Pens fan on the history board, called him useless to Pens beat writer of the time. The following season Larouche had injuries and then was told to stay home and forcibly exiled from the Pens. That led to him heading to the Habs, where despite coming close to ppt production he wasn't scoring nearly as often as the Montreal media expected or Habs GM Sam Pollock. The following season was a disaster.

79-80 Larouche climbed back to elite status as a goal scorer, just in time as he was really on the outs in Montreal. 91 pts in 73 games, and Montreal looked like a scoring machine. The Habs got eliminated that year in the playoffs as Larouche, possibly playing injured barely contributed in the playoffs.

That bought him half a year on the Habs top line, where she scored at an ok pace, but was horrible in any other circumstances, w hich led to his demotion, and his scoring evaporated.

The following season he was a non factor that was injured and exiled yet again, this time to the minors. The habs had had enough. The following season the Habs never even called him back to the NHL.

The NYR grabbed him the following year, and well, I'm sure you know his stint here was up a dn down, being kicked right back down to the minors 2 seasons later.

Larouche was great to watch as a kid. I was always Larouche when I'd be shooting on my dad or my uncle. But as flashy and prolific as he could be, he was a terrible all around hockey player, and that brought his career to an abrupt end just as he should have been entering his prime.