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Team Toughness 2013

surf said:
Well last year with Prust,Rupp,Bickle and Dubi we could.This current group can't.Its only been a few short games without a heavy in the lineup and if this game gets nasty and we dont show up im sure Glen will fix that in a hurry.
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I am not sure Torts will alter the line-up as is right now. Torts has Bickel if he wants to play him. I am not sure what the Boston line-up will look like. Is Thornton back? Mcdermid playing?
 
NYR Boyler87 said:
I am not sure Torts will alter the line-up as is right now. Torts has Bickel if he wants to play him. I am not sure what the Boston line-up will look like. Is Thornton back? Mcdermid playing?
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He could go goon style totally and play Boyle and Kreider (or Halpern) on the 3rd. Callup Mash for the 4th with Asham & Powe. Dress Bickel instead of Gilroy. Send down Miller for one game.

And we would PROBABLY lose the game - but fare better in the fight department

What is the easy choice?
 
Despite the win streak with Boyle out of the lineuop I would be really surprised if Torts didnt play both Bickel and Boyle tomorrow. Thinking Bickel in place of Gilroy and Boyle in over maybe Halpern?

I can't see Powe sitting. He's been really good.
Miller has been a huge spark. Can't see them sitting him out.
Kreider has been good since his return. Dont think he sits.
Asham just scored and played his best game to date. Plus, he's thier only real fighter if Bickel is out.
 
With the Boston game, Boyle has to play. He's a big guy willing to scrap, and some nights he's good on face-offs. This is big--Boston kills everybody by dominating face-offs and playing physical. Both things Boyle can hopefully neutralize. As long as the guys on the third line play scrappy and Nash plays with a little more fire--he doesn't need to play a big physical game all the time, just when needed against teams like Boston.
If toughness is needed I don't think McIlrath is the answer over the course of the season and playoffs. A guy like Steve Ott would be great.
 
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BBKers said:
He could go goon style totally and play Boyle and Kreider (or Halpern) on the 3rd. Callup Mash for the 4th with Asham & Powe. Dress Bickel instead of Gilroy. Send down Miller for one game.

And we would PROBABLY lose the game - but fare better in the fight department

What is the easy choice?
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Not saying they should do that at all, what I have been saying since the off-season is that the team needs a player who can drop the gloves AND play the game on the top-3 lines. They have been lacking that for A LONG time.
 
It's a rare thing to have a player that can handle themself in a fight and be a scoring option in the top lines, but the rangers do have Pyatt.... He doesn't fight often but definitely answers the bell if the game calls for it.... He has scrapped in the past with Dorsett, Engelland, Chris Stewart and a few others.
 
I have a bad feeling about tonight..Lucic is gonna be a bull in china shop..This is one game we need a legit heavy..If the Bruins want to come out like dicks we are in for a long night.
 
surf said:
I have a bad feeling about tonight..Lucic is gonna be a bull in china shop..This is one game we need a legit heavy..If the Bruins want to come out like dicks we are in for a long night.
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I disagree. If we had a real heavy, Lucic wouldn't fight him. The refs have been tight this year, let him run around like an idiot if he wants. Trading a few punches and then falling to the ground isn't ever going to change the way that he plays.
 
did losing Dubinsky and Prust really hurt the team toughness?? i understand they were a big part of it, but if losing 2 players really made this team so much softer, this team has issues... i want a McLeod, Clifford type player at the deadline, someone with toughness that can play a regular shift, not someone like Bickel. Haley has been good but he is only 1 player and he does help and he reminds me a bit of a younger Avery. needs to develop his offense a bit, although he seems like a smart player on the ice.
 
Punxrocknyc19 said:
did losing Dubinsky and Prust really hurt the team toughness?? i understand they were a big part of it, but if losing 2 players really made this team so much softer, this team has issues... i want a McLeod, Clifford type player at the deadline, someone with toughness that can play a regular shift, not someone like Bickel. Haley has been good but he is only 1 player and he does help and he reminds me a bit of a younger Avery. needs to develop his offense a bit, although he seems like a smart player on the ice.
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To me it's a question of pro-active or re-active. Okay Prust last year would start off a lot of games--sometimes opening face-off--dropping the gloves with someone. For some that's a real waste of time but it does send a message that the team is going to show up. This year's team is not always showing up. The Rangers game was pro-active last year--it's re-active this year and I know for some they don't want to hear about 1994 but that was a tough team that was always hitting and fighting all the time. What's most important is what's going to work--last year's team ran out of gas but was close and could legitimately be called a contender. This year's team--not really.
 
I think the team is tired of the boring system. You arent gonna score many goals blocking shots and never opening up the offense. I think Last year the team played over their heads and Hank was unstoppable
 
NYRangers723 said:
I think the team is tired of the boring system. You arent gonna score many goals blocking shots and never opening up the offense. I think Last year the team played over their heads and Hank was unstoppable
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Hank's performance last season certainly made that team look a lot better than they really were. Now, I'm not blaming this years woes on him as this current team isn't built to handle the system like last years was, but he just hasn't felt like.......well, like Hank this season.
 
Bob Richards said:
Hank's performance last season certainly made that team look a lot better than they really were. Now, I'm not blaming this years woes on him as this current team isn't built to handle the system like last years was, but he just hasn't felt like.......well, like Hank this season.
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Agreed has hasnt been like he was. However Torts still thinks this is 2003-2004. His system will not win much in the playoffs. lets be honest we should have lost to Ottawa in the first round. If it wasnt for Hank and CK we would have never gotten past the first round
 
The lAst few seasons the rangers were by far one of the toughest teams in the NHL . The rangers with line ups featuring great heavyweights like Orr ,Boogaard ,Brashear , rupp and very capable second tier guys like Dubinsky ,Sauer ,Byers ,Callahan ,Prust never ever were pushed around or intimidated by we're more the bullies . Now the chippy edge is gone . Sometimes it isn't even about fighting it is about addituide and having the big brother behind you make you play bigger. This season the rangers are timid and look scared Boyle and Pyatt are the perfect example of 2013 soft rangers.
 
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Dagoon44 said:
The lAst few seasons the rangers were by far one of the toughest teams in the NHL . The rangers with line ups featuring great heavyweights like Orr ,Boogaard ,Brashear , rupp and very capable second tier guys like Dubinsky ,Sauer ,Byers ,Callahan ,Prust never ever were pushed around or intimidated by we're more the bullies . Now the chippy edge is gone . Sometimes it isn't even about fighting it is about addituide and having the big brother behind you make you play bigger. This season the rangers are timid and look scared Boyle and Pyatt the twin tower tampons are the perfect example of 2013 soft rangers.
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Agree 100% about attitude comment. Something that some posters never understand about this game as thier hatred of fighting blinds them. Players not only appreciate these types of actions, they get up and applaud it from the bench when a guy stands up for his boys. Early on this year it was very obvious that the Rangers don't have each others backs. Orpik running Kreider in a blowout game was a early indication that they aren't team tough. Torts seems to think they were tough enough mentioned in a post game after Pacoretty boarded McDonagh...But when Rangers beat writers start to question it you know there is something to it especially when you consider the Rangers beat writers in the past have been more on the anti-tough guy side of the fence. Most recently Henrik made mention but he targeted more the back end. Think he said they need to be more physical, or whatever.

Anyway, one thing is obvious... You want a grinding style? Better get yourself an Iginla, Hartnell, Clarkson, Clowe, Brown, Lucic, Horton, Simmonds, Kassian, type of guy in your top 6.
 
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Rangers got soft starting in the first round of the playoffs last year. I'm not sure if it was right away or as the series progressed, but the team that led the Eastern Conference last year was a team where if you got in the their face they were going to come at you. The team that played in the playoffs took a step back from that. You don't need to have a line brawl to start every game, no doubt, but sometimes there are times where you need a scrap.

I think having that attitude last year of, "If we need to, we are going to fight you" had a lot of weight in how the team performed last year, and at some point last April they lost that, and it hasn't returned this year.
 
Unfortunately the fighting/toughness that helped define the NY Rangers the last few seasons was deemed NOT part of the gameplan in the playoffs.

Does this show a flaw in building for the Cup. If you get to sniff at the Presidents trophy by fighting and mucking it up, but then fear doing so in the playoffs whats the point?

Got to play your game

Got to play a game that works in the Playoffs
 
I Am Chariot said:
Unfortunately the fighting/toughness that helped define the NY Rangers the last few seasons was deemed NOT part of the gameplan in the playoffs.

Does this show a flaw in building for the Cup. If you get to sniff at the Presidents trophy by fighting and mucking it up, but then fear doing so in the playoffs whats the point?

Got to play your game

Got to play a game that works in the Playoffs
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Agree. Playoffs are all about attrition. You need skilled players to do what they do best--you also need muckers and grinders who fit into their roles and some of those guys need to be able to handle themselves and be ready to back up their teammates. Prust gave us that. Rupp--not so much. Bickel if he were a better player would help. This team is kind of lost in that department this season. All of a sudden Haley looks like an every day player. Not necessarily against it but he's not enough and he can't handle the really legit heavyweights. Against a team like Boston with Chara, Lucic, Thornton, McQuaid we look really weak.
 
Sending haley down and playing Pyatt and Boyle is total b.s. rangers officially biggest sissy s in nhl
 
I find Haley to be superior to both Asham and Stu. Don't care much for this move.
 
-31- said:
You've said that in three threads now. The point has landed.
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Screamed it out my window to. I have passion for this team and the game. I hate torts and the make up of this team. Pyatt sucks I said it again
 
-31- said:
You've said that in three threads now. The point has landed.
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It probably will land right beside the golf balls on the first Green after we get booted out of the playoffs because we were too soft . You need guys like Haley in the game today . He could become a half Clarkson type guy given the ice time and some coaching .
 
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