Speculation: Roster Building Thread: Part X — Active Roster in OP (09/28)

[GoAwayPanarin]

I don't doubt that he's good in the room.

The problem is, he totally sucks on the ice.

 

[nyr2k2]

I like that we're having this protracted discussion about Staal wearing an A in the roster building thread when there's literally a thread devoted to discussing who should be wearing letters.

 

[haohmaru]

I like that we're having this protracted discussion about Staal wearing an A in the roster building thread when there's literally a thread devoted to discussing who should be wearing letters.

We're actually discussing whether leadership is a good enough reason to have him in the lineup vs. playing a youngster instead (ie... "roster").

Thanks for playing though.

 

[LORDE]

OT question but what's with all the blowfish avatar's?

 

[nyr2k2]

We're actually discussing whether leadership is a good enough reason to have him in the lineup vs. playing a youngster instead (ie... "roster").

Thanks for playing though.

Below is just from the last two pages. Some of these posts partly deal with having him in the lineup, most of them deal primarily with him wearing a letter. I don't know why you need to get all offended--I even quoted myself in here. I've been part of the conversation I apparently don't understand. Really, I didn't mean to criticize, I just thought it was amusing.

Look, Staal sucks - there isn't an argument about that really

But the guys can still like him, he can still be a veteran that knows a lot about the NHL, even if he isn't as capable or skilled as others or even he himself used to be, he can still garner respect, have discipline, and be a very likeable guy

The team is going to lose this year, a lot. It is important to have guys there that can keep the atmosphere good, keep the young kids with their heads up up. If someone like Staal or other older guys lose that motivation, or just fall in line with going through the motions and hating being there then it just breeds a horrible atmosphere. This doesn't mean you have to play him 24 minutes a night, but giving him a letter, having him be a mentor and a clubhouse leader, and putting the letter on a jersey of a guy that is already well liked all by his teammates, coaching staff, and front office might not be such a bad thing.

Maybe having someone like Staal being an Assistant Captain for reasons other than simply his skill on ice is the thing that can separate this rebuild from some organization like Buffalo, or Edmonton, or whatever other example you can think of where all the posters around here clamored for their young pieces year after year but it never culminated in anything good or lasting.

They didn't give Staal the captaincy, because he isn't part of this team's future. They don't want someone captaining the team for a year or 2. If the future captain was on the team right now, he would have been named captain. But going with 5 A's says it all, really. The next captain will be one of our prospects. Lias and Howden are the clear frontrunners in my opinion. They have led their teams both on and off the ice last season (Lias at all the u20 internationals and at the World Juniors, Howden in the WHL).

I don't see Kravtsov and Chytil as leaders.

So much for the theory about Staal being a 7th D this season.

The next Rangers captain will be one of the young guys. That player may not even be on the team right now.

The Rangers have more pressing issues than "who is the captain"?

I have managed enough people to know that your best performers are usually not the best leaders. It is especially true in sales. Some of our top sales people make the worst managers and the worst leaders. Having worked in a team environment every day for the last 7 years, I can tell you that leadership is one of the MOST important qualities to have when working with a team.

The fact that Staal will be the only person to wear the A for both home and road games, tells you what management, coaches and players think of his leadership skills. Creating a good environment for your young players, an environment of ownership, accountability, pride in work ethic, etc. is essential. I absolutely understand people who do not think Staal is an NHL player any more. I tend to agree. I can understand the frustration that he will be seeing some minutes. But, when the team looks at him as a leader, it doesn't bother me as much anymore. Staal is there to provide something that many others on the team cannot.

People are letting an irrational hatred of a particular situation get in the way of the positives that can come from said situation.

If Quinn were the first coach to give him the A, I'd agree with the seniority respect angle. He's not the first... he's the third.

Again, when he got that A he was a good player. I don't recall many (any?) examples of a team stripping a letter from a guy who has spent his entire career with the team because he's not a good player anymore. I mean you can argue the logic behind that all you want, but I just think that's how it is. You're only going to lose a letter if you become some sort of problem or distraction.

If Girardi was still here, he'd be an alternate, as well.

Maybe not entire careers, but didn't Sharks players lose letters? Still would be a single example among all the others.

"We don't have a real leader, so we'll get 5 kind-of leaders instead!"

The problem is that people don't tend to listen to the guy who "knows how to do it" but can't actually do it... My mens league goalie will come over in the middle of periods and explain what we're doing wrong, how we're doing it wrong, and how we should fix it, but we know that this guy is average at best in the goal, and sucks ass as a forward or dman, so a lot of the guys tend to just let him talk, but not actually listen.

I fear that giving Staal an A is giving someone a leadership role based on experience and not actual play, and for someone to be an effective captain, you need the ability to do both.

Tell me, when's the last time you respected a manager that you knew couldn't do his job well?

I had one of those, and quite often I went over his head constantly because he was the most ineffective and useless person in the company. At the end of the day, while I *heard* his advice and directives, I did not listen to him as if he was a legitimate manager, mostly because there were others that were better at his job than he was, which caused me to lose respect for his management tactics.

I should note that I do not mean that highest performers make the best managers. Your captain doesn't need to be your best player, just like a company/team manager does not need to be y our best player, but a lot of times, seniority does not indicate performance, and that's what a lot of companies do

I like how there's no possibility Staal is actually good in the locker room, it's all some conspiracy to [blank].

lol

 

[nyr2k2]

OT question but what's with all the blowfish avatar's?

The board's longtime, primary, top admin, Fugu (the name for the pufferfish), recently passed after a battle with cancer. In addition to having the handle @Fugu, she almost always had a picture of the fish as her avatar.

 

[LORDE]

The board's longtime, primary, top admin, Fugu (the name for the pufferfish), recently passed after a battle with cancer. In addition to having the handle @Fugu, she almost always had a picture of the fish as her avatar.

Ahhhhhh copy.

That sucks... i wasn't on here much last week was so busy so I missed that but didn't know she that fish as her's.

 

[effen]

We're actually discussing whether leadership is a good enough reason to have him in the lineup vs. playing a youngster instead (ie... "roster").

Thanks for playing though.

 

[haohmaru]

Below is just from the last two pages. Some of these posts partly deal with having him in the lineup, most of them deal primarily with him wearing a letter. I don't know why you need to get all offended--I even quoted myself in here. I didn't mean to criticize, I just thought it was amusing.

Not offended at all - most of the stuff you quoted isn't really questioning whether he's worthy/deserving of an "A" (still) it's about the fact that he's retaining the "A" and he's wearing it for all games unlike the other "A's" which infers that he'll be a steady piece in the roster which is surprising to some. I'm kinda surprised. He didn't show me a whole lot this training camp.

There's discussion about mentoring, leadership, multiple coaches bestowing the "A", etc... weighed vs. playing a young guy (ADA, probably) more or less because he's in the lineup.

I mean, we need some vets out there and I get the mentoring/leadership/locker room guy arguments. Not sure, though, that some of that couldn't have been done by some of the other vets on the team. Marc Staal's play hasn't been worthy of being in the lineup, to me, over playing some of the younger guys in a season where we clearly are more than a long shot to win much of anything.

 

[nyr2k2]

Not offended at all - most of the stuff you quoted isn't really questioning whether he's worthy/deserving of an "A" (still) it's about the fact that he's retaining the "A" and he's wearing it for all games unlike the other "A's" which infers that he'll be a steady piece in the roster which is surprising to some. I'm kinda surprised. He didn't show me a whole lot this training camp.

There's discussion about mentoring, leadership, multiple coaches bestowing the "A", etc... weighed vs. playing a young guy (ADA, probably) more or less because he's in the lineup.

I mean, we need some vets out there and I get the mentoring/leadership/locker room guy arguments. Not sure, though, that some of that couldn't have been done by some of the other vets on the team. Marc Staal's play hasn't been worthy of being in the lineup, to me, over playing some of the younger guys in a season where we clearly are more than a long shot to win much of anything.

I mean, when you close a post with, "Thanks for playing though," it makes you sound a little salty. But whatever.

 

[haohmaru]

I mean, when you close a post with, "Thanks for playing though," it makes you sound a little salty. But whatever.

Yeah, you're probably right. I have no problem with you. Cheers.

 

[Webster]

They don't sit a multi million dollar player and leader for a rookie...

 

[haohmaru]

They don't sit a multi million dollar player and leader for a rookie...

Precisely the problem. Especially when you're telling your fans you're in "rebuild" mode.

The truth is they're paying him and feel compelled to play him because they can't give him away and they can't bury him. Staal has had a great Rangers career, but his days (solely based on his play) as a starting NHL defenseman are probably behind him.

 

[Tob]

They don't sit a multi million dollar player and leader for a rookie...

tell that to David Clarkson and his 10,000 piece jigsaw puzzle in his basement.

 

[Paulie Walnutz]

Literally just happened to Derek McKenzie too

Yeah but was McKenzie ever that good to begin with?

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

Brooks latest is pretty interesting.

Sounds like the players are more realistic about this team than some of our fans.

 

[Irishguy42]

Brooks latest is pretty interesting.

Sounds like the players are more realistic about this team than some of our fans.

Well....yeah...I would hope our players are more realistic about it. They're the ones actually at practice and interacting with coaches/management.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

Well....yeah...I would hope our players are more realistic about it. They're the ones actually at practice and interacting with coaches/management.

I was surprised not to hear the typical rah rah BS.

 

[Irishguy42]

I was surprised not to hear the typical rah rah BS.

Probably helps having a coach who can put things into perspective for once. And communicate that to the players.

 

[Machinehead]

I'm not going to speculate on leadership and what's happening in the room anymore.

My thing is, Staal being the "permanent A" indicates they're going to play him a lot and never considered sitting him. That's rather upsetting.

 

[Machinehead]

The board's longtime, primary, top admin, Fugu (the name for the pufferfish), recently passed after a battle with cancer. In addition to having the handle @Fugu, she almost always had a picture of the fish as her avatar.

Is that what it is? I just have mine because this team pisses me off and I get all big like Mrs. Puff.

Just kidding, Momma Foogs.

 

[Ola]

The problem we have is that we have a blueline with an higher average age than we have had in like decades, we litterary pay this blueline more than many smaller nations spend on their defensive budget and none of our vets is any good really compared to like the top 5 for Nashville.

One, if not the, main purpose for Gorts this year must be to get rid of these contracts. We are rebuilding, but it’s the same old same old on the blueline. Sooo tiresome. We need fresh blood there.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

The problem we have is that we have a blueline with an higher average age than we have had in like decades, we litterary pay this blueline more than many smaller nations spend on their defensive budget and none of our vets is any good really compared to like the top 5 for Nashville.

One, if not the, main purpose for Gorts this year must be to get rid of these contracts. We are rebuilding, but it’s the same old same old on the blueline. Sooo tiresome. We need fresh blood there.

Its coming, honestly some of it is already here.

They just refuse to let it play for whatever reason.

 

[Avery16]

Has namestnikov started off the season in quinn’s doghouse

 

[Fvital92]