Some Interesting Stats About Our Offense

[Dangleberry]

I lost it at the no offense comment he made. What does he think, offense magically appears out of thin air? Without a Jagr type player, we'll always be in the bottom quartile.

 

[Doctyl]

I know what he said in an offhand remark, but do you REALLY think that an NHL team doesn't work offense at practice? I mean to you believe for a second that Torts doesn't have them work offense?

I don't.

have you watched these games recently? its really not that hard to believe

 

[Callagraves]

I lost it at the no offense comment he made. What does he think, offense magically appears out of thin air? Without a Jagr type player, we'll always be in the bottom quartile.

We were better offensively last year with less talent.

The difference is the defense. The D and Hank were INSANE last year. Only team in the East with fewer than 200 goals against. We were winning with defense and just enough offense, and now we're trying to be this offensive powerhouse, which we sacrificed the defense for, but have neither.

 

[Callagraves]

have you watched these games recently? its really not that hard to believe

Yes, I'm watching the games. It looks like they're struggling. It's beyond me why. I keep thinking that last year our howitzers up front were Richards and Gaborik, and now we're relying on everyone BUT them, and what it could be like if they got going at the same time as Nash, Cally, and Step.

Quite seriously, I've heard of coaches doing some strange, unexplainable things, but I don't believe for a moment that every day at practice, they work everything but offense.

I don't believe this because, first off, when you're having one group work defense, they're normally working against another group that's practicing offense, and if you catch Behind the Bench, Torts's system is much more intricate and detailed than anyone here can get a grasp of by simply watching games. It's well thought out, and I think last year's team proved it's viability and validity.

 

[Doctyl]

Yes, I'm watching the games. It looks like they're struggling. It's beyond me why. I keep thinking that last year our howitzers up front were Richards and Gaborik, and now we're relying on everyone BUT them, and what it could be like if they got going at the same time as Nash, Cally, and Step.

Quite seriously, I've heard of coaches doing some strange, unexplainable things, but I don't believe for a moment that every day at practice, they work everything but offense.

I don't believe this because, first off, when you're having one group work defense, they're normally working against another group that's practicing offense, and if you catch Behind the Bench, Torts's system is much more intricate and detailed than anyone here can get a grasp of by simply watching games. It's well thought out, and I think last year's team proved it's viability and validity.

do you really believe the system is what led to success last year? lundqvist played hart caliber hockey. thats why we were successful. this years team shows the systems holes along with torts's flaws

 

[Callagraves]

do you really believe the system is what led to success last year? lundqvist played hart caliber hockey. thats why we were successful. this years team shows the systems holes along with torts's flaws

Hank played magnificently, but he also wasn't being left out to dry the way he is this year. Hank has not played poorly this year, while not being the same monster he was, but he very rarely had situations like he's had this year.

Yes. The system, specifically the defensive end of it is what brought us success. McD, Girardi, Del Z, and the emergence of Stralman is what won us games. Staal came back and in the playoffs, he was HUGE for us. Gaborik, Richards, Step, Cally were good enough to win the games that Hank kept us in.

We have a bit of a different team, now. much more divided in terms of scoring and defensive players. We won alot of 2-1, 3-2 games last year. The defense this year isn't doing that. We've been able to keep most teams to 2 for a while now. for something like 7 out of the last ten, we've kept other teams down to 2 non-empty net goals.

But that offense isn't doing it's job. We're getting similar, while not quite as elite defense, but our two best forwards (and yes, Richards and Gaborik at their best are just as good as Nash, even though we haven't seen it in a while) playing MISERABLY is killing us. We're not going to get secondary scoring with this line up, we need the best players to be the best players.

 

[DelZottoHitTheNetJK]

The problem with the Rangers is their defense and their coaching.

Defense: we have 4 or 5 guys outside of DelZotto that cannot consistently make a good first pass. They have all done it somewhat in flashes: McDonagh to Miller against NYI comes to mind. But it's not consistent. You might all think I'm crazy but as someone who analyzes the x's and o's of a hockey game, this is our biggest issue. I cringe every time I see McDonagh and Girardi bank one off the boards in our end under one forechecker pressure for the other team to recover or pray that we can regain possession. As a result of this our breakouts are disgusting and provide for gross, boring hockey. Not to mention losing hockey. If you can't break out of your zone, you can't score.

The Fix:

Puck possession. Don't have an outlet pass? Pass back to your D partner. Still no pass? Pass back and reset. See: Detroit, LA, PIT. If there are 2 forecheckers, keep one winger low between the circle and the blue line for support. Open up the ice and punish teams for trying to forecheck us (FLA) with quick breakout passes. If they sit back on a lead and trap (BUF, I'm looking at you) get through the neutral zone with speed and put the puck past them at the red line.

Coaching:

I was glad to see Torts stick with 4 lines for the WHOLE game against FLA. I'm a huge proponent of leaving the lines together and letting them play. HOWEVER, last night was a game where Torts' should have been mixing because despite the shots they were stale offensively for 3/4 of the game. It's amazing.. when he doesn't need to mix lines he does, and when he probably should be trying to create something he leaves them together. This guy boggles my mind. I've been a huge fan of Torts since he got here, but he has changed during his tenure. It went from "Safe is death" to "Safe and death." The guy needs to go, along with Sullivan. There is literally not a reason in the world why a mostly healthy team with the talent we have is in the bottom 1/4 of the league in GF. Pathetic

I love our 3rd line though minus Boyle. Guy needs to be a 4th line center and that's it. Get me a Fisher/J.Jokinen esque guy to center the 3rd line. Someone who is adequate defensively but can make plays and shoot the puck. Boyle is only 1/2 that equation.

 

[*Bob Richards*]

Hank indeed played MVP caliber, but last year, the team was 11th in goals scored. We are 2nd to last this season.

 

[ImIdaho]

Our Top 3 Players with Points Compared to the Rest of the Division

I get this feeling from some people that our big time players are at times doing a bang-up job. So, I thought I would compare and contrast especially when one user on the main boards said that the Moulson-Tavares-Boyes line is outproducing Nash-Richards-Gaborik.

*This thread is about our "top 3 players with points." Richards is, sadly, out of the equation. Currently, he's behind Nash, Gaborik, Stepan, and Hagelin. As a matter of fact, he's tied in points with Callahan.

Let's start:





Nash - 10G, 15A, 25PTS
Stepan - 8G, 12A, 20PTS
Gaborik - 9G, 9A, 18PTS

Combined - 27G, 36A, 63PTS





Moulson - 11G, 21A, 32PTS
Tavares - 18G, 14A, 32PTS
Boyes - 8G, 18A, 26PTS

Combined - 37G, 53A, 90PTS





Elias - 9G, 19A, 29PTS
Kovalchuck - 10G, 17A, 27PTS
Clarkson - 11G, 8A, 19PTS

Combined - 30G, 44A, 74PTS





Voracek - 13G, 18A, 31PTS
Giroux - 9G, 18A, 27PTS
Simmonds - 10G, 10A, 20PTS

Combined - 32G, 46A, 78PTS





Crosby - 13G, 37A, 50PTS
Kunitz - 18G, 22A, 40PTS
Neal - 17G, 12A, 29PTS

Combined - 48G, 71A, 119PTS


You could add in the next 3 for each team and the Rangers still fall short compared to the rest. This should be an eye-opener for those of you who think our goal scorers/point getters are on pace with the other guys.

Oh, and if you were to include the next 3 players, you will notice that 4 teams will have a defenseman up there. Guess which team is the odd-man out?

 

[LaffyTaffyNYR]

I get this feeling from some people that our big time players are at times doing a bang-up job. So, I thought I would compare and contrast especially when one user on the main boards said that the Moulson-Tavares-Boyes line is outproducing Nash-Richards-Gaborik.

*This thread is about our "top 3 players with points." Richards is, sadly, out of the equation. Currently, he's behind Nash, Gaborik, Stepan, and Hagelin. As a matter of fact, he's tied in points with Callahan.

Let's start:





Nash - 10G, 15A, 25PTS
Stepan - 8G, 12A, 20PTS
Gaborik - 9G, 9A, 18PTS

Combined - 27G, 36A, 63PTS





Moulson - 11G, 21A, 32PTS
Tavares - 18G, 14A, 32PTS
Boyes - 8G, 18A, 26PTS

Combined - 37G, 53A, 90PTS





Elias - 9G, 19A, 29PTS
Kovalchuck - 10G, 17A, 27PTS
Clarkson - 11G, 8A, 19PTS

Combined - 30G, 44A, 74PTS





Voracek - 13G, 18A, 31PTS
Giroux - 9G, 18A, 27PTS
Simmonds - 10G, 10A, 20PTS

Combined - 32G, 46A, 78PTS





Crosby - 13G, 37A, 50PTS
Kunitz - 18G, 22A, 40PTS
Neal - 17G, 12A, 29PTS

Combined - 48G, 71A, 119PTS


You could add in the next 3 for each team and the Rangers still fall short compared to the rest. This should be an eye-opener for those of you who think our goal scorers/point getters are on pace with the other guys.

Oh, and if you were to include the next 3 players, you will notice that 4 teams will have a defenseman up there. Guess which team is the odd-man out?

The team with the coach that doesn't practice offense I'm guessing?

 

[nyrpassion]

Holy ballsacks! Crosby

 

[Drewbackatu*]

The team with the coach that doesn't practice offense I'm guessing?

No, the team with the least amount of offensive talent!!!!!!

 

[LaffyTaffyNYR]

No, the team with the least amount of offensive talent!!!!!!

Richards won the conn smythe before getting here w 91 pts. You don't just lose all your talent in a year. Gabs scored more goals last year than anyone of them and Nash put up 70 pts on a horrible team. Get a new coach

 

[silverfish]

Richards won the conn smythe before getting here w 91 pts. You don't just lose all your talent in a year. Gabs scored more goals last year than anyone of them and Nash put up 70 pts on a horrible team. Get a new coach

Preach.

The only reason Torts has a job right now is because this is a 48 game season. You better believe if the Rangers were playing like this, 30 games into an 82 game year, Torts wold be gone.

And that's a ****ty reason to keep a coach around.

 

[LaffyTaffyNYR]

Preach.

The only reason Torts has a job right now is because this is a 48 game season. You better believe if the Rangers were playing like this, 30 games into an 82 game year, Torts wold be gone.

And that's a ****ty reason to keep a coach around.

It gives them an excuse

 

[haveandare]

Who thinks our big players are doing a bang-up job? Everyone seems to be in agreement that Richards and Gaborik are not playing well enough. Nash is doing alright, and he would probably be doing better if Richards and Gaborik were playing well. Stepan is doing pretty well for a young 2C.

 

[ImIdaho]

We are now tied for 29th!!

Columbus has scored 4 goals and their game is still in the 2nd. With those 4 goals, they jump up to 72GF, ahead of both the Rangers and Sharks.

 

[Drewbackatu*]

Richards won the conn smythe before getting here w 91 pts. You don't just lose all your talent in a year. Gabs scored more goals last year than anyone of them and Nash put up 70 pts on a horrible team. Get a new coach

Look, I'm all for making a change in the coach going forward but dont expect any miraculous turnaround in our moribund offense. It's very nice to wax poetic about Richards wonderful season 3 years ago playing with Louis Erikson and James Neal and Gaborik and his 41 goals last year when now they are both a year older and woefully out of shape because of no full training camp.
However, you and all the other fans who post here are more than welcome to believe that a new coach is going to change everything and all of a sudden make us an offensive juggernaut!

Welcome to fantasyland!

 

[Riverdale]

Columbus has scored 4 goals and their game is still in the 2nd. With those 4 goals, they jump up to 72GF, ahead of both the Rangers and Sharks.

That is just unbelievable.

When is something going to be done to fix this putrid team?

 

[Drewbackatu*]

Who thinks our big players are doing a bang-up job? Everyone seems to be in agreement that Richards and Gaborik are not playing well enough. Nash is doing alright, and he would probably be doing better if Richards and Gaborik were playing well. Stepan is doing pretty well for a young 2C.

Richards and Gaborik look and are playing like they spent the lockout as "prime time couch potatoes."

 

[Drewbackatu*]

You missed how Richards and Gaborik are not themselves.

Both guys should be ashamed of themselves for being woefully out of shape; if I were you I wouldn't expect a miraculous turnaround in production from either of them!

 

[Callagraves]

Drew won't be happy until our top six has Stamkos, Crosby, Malkin, and Kane it.

 

[3rdlineglory]

Both guys should be ashamed of themselves for being woefully out of shape; if I were you I wouldn't expect a miraculous turnaround in production from either of them!

Eh, I wouldn't be that pessimistic. Both of them picked up their play the last few games. I guess it's a sign they're finally catching up. The Rangers need them to play well to finish the season strong.

 

[Riverdale]

Eh, I wouldn't be that pessimistic. Both of them picked up their play the last few games. I guess it's a sign they're finally catching up. The Rangers need them to play well to finish the season strong.

Hopefully they can turn it around. I'd say Richards has next year and he is bought out (no matter how well he plays).

Gabby I am not so sure what to do with him. I am torn

 

[Drewbackatu*]

Drew won't be happy until our top six has Stamkos, Crosby, Malkin, and Kane it.

Wrong. Drew will be happy when the following happens:
-Sather gets dumped from his lifetime job in which he's accomplished nothing.
-The owner starts giving a **** about the hockey team the way he does about his basketball team
-When overpaid players like Richards and Gaborik start earning their bloated salaries and if they don't, get rid of both of them
-When we have a bottom six that other teams that play us are at least aware of on the ice!

There, that should do for now. Any questions?