GDT: Training Camp: Oh, Hockey’s Back

[Barnaby]

English Shesty

I'm always impressed when guys who are still trying to grasp the language are willing to be interviewed. I know if I moved to another country and didn't have a great handle on the language I wouldn't want to be filmed talking. I never fault guys for playing the language card - Tanaka/Panarin - because honestly it's probably the smarter thing but I give guys who do their best a lot of credit.

 

[Barnaby]

In terms of overall fan experience?

1. Bridgestone Arena (NSH)
2. T-Mobile Arena (VEG)
3. Amalie Arena (TBL)
4. Saddledome (CGY)
5. Rogers Arena (VAN)
6. American Airlines Center (DAL)
7. Wells Fargo Center (PHI)
8. Prudential Center (NJD)
9. Gila River Arena (ARI)
10. Madison Square Garden (NYR)
11. Keybank Arena (BUF)

My list is a lot shorter... Vegas is def high on my list to check out. I even had blast going to an ECHL game 5-6 years ago.

1. Maple Leaf Gardens (old but loud as hell at the time and knowledgeable hockey fans). It was a meaningless 4-2 loss but it felt like a playoff game.
2. Bridgestone Arena (NSH) - been a few times - was funny in their first season they explained what PP's were when a Penalty occurred and just a few years later a really knowledgeable a fun fanbase.
3. TD Garden - passionate fans, great atmosphere, and a cool surrounding area.
4. MSG (NYR)
5. Nassau Coliseum (NYI) - Garbage arena but always had a blast going to NYR/NYI games a couple times a year with the divided fanbase. Smaller arena meant few bad seats.
6. Prudential Arena (NJ) - I went to a NYR/NJ game and I didn't think it had much of an atmosphere. Plus, Newark is a dump.

 

[MrPodz]

I'll say this on the Quinn debate. Gallant himself admitted the scheme was not going to be much different. The problem wasn't that we sucked, we were just wildly inconsistent and lost a ton of close games to veteran teams who knew how to put them away. Theres a lot of off ice work that a coach has to put in. My problem with Quinn was the line changes. It was wierd because the defense was solid (minus the third pair) and then you had a revolving door in the top nine. No player could learn their teammates tendency. I think this is good now because our coach wont do that and all our players will have had experience on a line together. Im not crazy about laf on the right because hes forced to use his backhand a lot more and i think that closes his wrist shot off, unless he takes a wierd angle, making it so that it takes a second longer go get a shot on net. However, you put your best players together and i think krav has to prove he is ready for the top six to push kreider out. I also think they might all hit career highs because laf is better than buch and this shortened season doesnt count when talking about 82 games. I hope we see the laf that was billed at the draft as some kind of savant, but i wont be upset at all if he does 60 points or even 50. This is assuming he gets proper pp time though.

 

[Levitate]

I think Quinn was just never comfortable committing to giving the young kids top minutes. Sometimes with reason and sometimes he just seemed to want to find more ways to "protect" them rather than give them a chance, partially because he also didn't want to wait through growing pains and instead get instant results

 

[egelband]

Lol. I wouldn’t recommend Ottawa as a great travel destination. You’re better off going to Montreal which is only a few hours away. Old Montreal is cool with its European vibes, there’s a ton of great restaurants and bars downtown. A hockey game at the Bell Centre should be on everyone’s bucket list.

Absolutely love Montreal. Went to university there. I always tell people to visit tho I haven’t been back in years. Need to go though.

 

[egelband]

Do we play any preseason games with the Capitals?

 

[Paulie Walnutz]

Absolutely love Montreal. Went to university there. I always tell people to visit tho I haven’t been back in years. Need to go though.

I have a buddy of mine who lives in suburb of Longueuil, actually he’s a pro hockey player who plays in Europe and whenever he comes back to North America I travel up there for a weekend or so and we just have so much fun in Montreal. True story one time he was playing a pick up game at some small arena and I’m the only person there watching and Latendresse was playing in the game, Francis Bouillon, Alexandre Daigle. I’m just sitting there by myself in awe recording it on my phone.

 

[egelband]

I have a buddy of mine who lives in suburb of Longueuil, actually he’s a pro hockey player who plays in Europe and whenever he comes back to North America I travel up there for a weekend or so and we just have so much fun in Montreal. True story one time he was playing a pick up game at some small arena and I’m the only person there watching and Latendresse was playing in the game, Francis Bouillon, Alexandre Daigle. I’m just sitting there by myself in awe recording it on my phone.

When I was in Montreal in the 90s it was just electric. It was cosmopolitan, lively, pretty friendly, affordable, had all kinds of things to do. Generally safe and clean, too. At least compared to NYC at the time. So many great bars and places to eat. Most/many are gone, it seems.

 

[RGY]

Rangers were shit defensively all 3 periods.

No yanks fans would have wanted only 92 wins, and using wins to judge a season is about as far from analytics as you can get

Oh but I am sure there is some stupid analytical stat that the Yankees look well off in. In fact, I am sure there are a few. Forget wins, it was just to make a point. How wonderful it is to be an analytical darling in certain areas, but be trash in others.

 

[jay from jersey]

Then there was the fact that his best goal scorer was rendered useless for half the season because of COVID. His best player was threatened by Putin and missed time, and of course the ADA debacle. Those things were of far greater impact than whatever you perceive of the coach.

I’m sure Quinn had his issues and adversity to deal with, but your stance is that the players let him down and it was more of just bad luck then anything. I’m sure that some of that is the case. Well never truly know what went on in the room, but the rangers were deep into terrible starts long after Zibby returned to form from covid, Kreids had his most ineffective season I can remember in the last 5 or so years, overuse of Howden/Blackwell, refusal to make in game changes even though things weren’t working, etc are all things that Quinn is ultimately held responsible for. I’m thinking if the rangers didn’t hire Martin, last season would have been far uglier. I don’t think he got enough credit for implementing the defensive system, even when Quinn said as much. Whatever the disconnect was, the message wasn’t getting thru to the players because they weren’t hungry for large parts of 60 minute games. That’s my main gripe, and that is the head coaches responsibility.
Gorton had his share of the blame as well. Making ADA sit and Trading Lemieux with no added grit/toughness/swagger coming back in effectively made the group more soft as a whole.
The writing was on the wall for Quinn after the isles/caps had their way with us while this team was still in the hunt. Were we outmatched physically? Hell yes, but the complete lack of intensity and urgency in those games echoed that whatever his message was, it wasn’t getting to the players. Similar to the bubble a year prior with Carolina. The team didn’t come out and play them like they were the most important games of the season. It was just another day. That can’t happen in the middle of a playoff race. If they gave it their all, broke their asses, and still came up short, it’s a different story entirely. I’d bet Quinn would have been around another year if that was the case.

 

[egelband]

Then there was the fact that his best goal scorer was rendered useless for half the season because of COVID. His best player was threatened by Putin and missed time, and of course the ADA debacle. Those things were of far greater impact than whatever you perceive of the coach.

I think the tumult surrounding the Rangers the last couple of seasons is why the front office was blown up. The tumult and the softness. I don’t blame them for everything and I don’t think another front office would have necessarily done a better job. But for all those reasons, it was just time for a change despite a ton of good work as well.
Likewise, while Quinn wasn’t responsible for the on-ice troubles, he didn’t overcome them either. In the final math, I don’t think there’s any one factor or person to blame but moving on was probably the best move.

 

[Barnaby]

I think Quinn was just never comfortable committing to giving the young kids top minutes. Sometimes with reason and sometimes he just seemed to want to find more ways to "protect" them rather than give them a chance, partially because he also didn't want to wait through growing pains and instead get instant results

Im not sure if I agree with this... he gave a lot of minutes to the young defenseman. As for forwards, who was ready to be in the top 6 last year? Kakko didn’t produce offensively and supposedly Panarin didn’t think it was a good fit.. Lafreniere was behind Kreider and Panarin. Chytil was clearly behind Zibanejad and Strome. Kravstov came late and worked his way up. I’m not saying Quinn wasn’t flawed but I also don’t think he buried youth.

 

[Deleted member 23124]

Absolutely love Montreal. Went to university there. I always tell people to visit tho I haven’t been back in years. Need to go though.

Always wanted to go there....been to Toronto so many times.

 

[jay from jersey]

Always wanted to go there....been to Toronto so many times.

I’m the opposite. Always wanted to go to Toronto. Last time I was in Montreal me, my cousin and 2 friends drove up for a 4 day weekend. No plans, just got in the car an went. Booked a hotel when we got there at hotel Du Fort. We had a blast... we were 20 at the time. Looking back on it, it was a pretty dumb impulsive thing to do, but that’s being a kid I guess. The only thing that sucked was they detained us at customs for 4 hours on the way back in. We were all hung over as shit lol. I guess they thought that we were up to no good lol. I still remember the customs agent sticking her head in the window asking my friend, when was the last time you had a beer? He goes I don’t know 4 o’clock this morning maybe lol. Good times

 

[Deleted member 23124]

I’m the opposite. Always wanted to go to Toronto. Last time I was in Montreal me, my cousin and 2 friends drove up for a 4 day weekend. No plans, just got in the car an went. Booked a hotel when we got there at hotel Du Fort. We had a blast... we were 20 at the time. Looking back on it, it was a pretty dumb impulsive thing to do, but that’s being a kid I guess. The only thing that sucked was they detained us at customs for 4 hours on the way back in. We were all hung over as shit lol. I guess they thought that we were up to no good lol. I still remember the customs agent sticking her head in the window asking my friend, when was the last time you had a beer? He goes I don’t know 4 o’clock this morning maybe lol. Good times

Some of those customs people could be real pains....however, I suspect they probably held you to be sure you were sober.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

I'd like to know how mtl would rank in there, its a pretty special atmosphere

Yeah, the next 3 on my list are MTL, MIN and TOR.

It's a lot harder visiting all these arenas living in Europe though I can only visit 1 or 2 a season.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

I have been to a lot of games in Minnesota and I don't find the atmosphere that great. There is much better atmosphere at U of M games, especially if you go see them play Wisconsin or another rival.

Chicago has a much better atmosphere, especially if the team is good. I have also always had really good interactions with the fans there. I went to a game where Rosival ended it in OT. The guy sitting next to me had been busting me all game in the best way possible. After the game, he stands up, puts his hand out to shake mine and goes, "You guys deserved this win. Good luck on the rest of the season." In Minnesota, I just get passive agresive attitudes from everyone around me.

My plans for that trip would include a Minnesota Wild, Iowa Wild, Univ of Minnesota games and a visit to the Field of Dreams (My fiancée loves baseball). I've never been to that part of the US and it's pretty unknown for most Europeans.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

Do we play any preseason games with the Capitals?

No. For years, the pre-season games were against NJD, NYI and PHI. This year they replaced PHI with BOS.

 

[jay from jersey]

Some of those customs people could be real pains....however, I suspect they probably held you to be sure you were sober.

Yea they had dogs and shit in the car. Driver was fine I guess we just answered the questions wrong. Asked how long we were there, why we went, all of that stuff. We just said we wanted to see the city for fun and came back.
I wonder if it’s a pain in the ass to get there by train. Amtrak does run all the way to Montreal. But I’m sure customs has to check the train passengers passports too. I always wanted to know how that went. Going in was nothing, we just drove they the toll flashed the passports and we were on our way.
We’re talking about 16 years ago already, Jesus time flies. It was a lot closer to 9/11 and heightened border security too.

 

[Unusual Suspect]

Do you know what Gutkowski is up to these days? He was really well-liked and respected.

No, as far as I know he's hanging out with Trautwig... somewhere.

 

[Unusual Suspect]

I think of a paid subscription as digital-age tipping: ‘Thank you. Like you. Appreciate your effort. I wish you success.’

Tend to agree but some of us have to pick our spots, right? At present I'm paying for The Athletic (I know, I know) and The New York Times, where the news component remains completely essential and the Rangers news non-existent. Adding another several bucks a month to read only Brooks at NYP and only Vince at LOHUD just isn't a real good use of funds for me. Especially since now I can watch the pressers and write the same stories for myself! ;-)

 

[chosen]

So the Rangers didn’t have a ton of slow, pathetic 1st period starts? They didn’t have a bunch of half-ass efforts, not showing up for the full 60?

C’mon, don’t be so dense.

Hey everyone, analytics show things were NORMAL last year. We should all be so grateful by those NORMAL numbers. The Numbers are the Context, everything is FINE….

By this logic, Yankees are on target to finish with about 92 wins. Another winning season. Everything has been totally ok for them because they are on “target”

Before last season almost no one thought the Rangers would make the playoffs. Then their best scorer got COVID and was in a fog for half the season. Their best player lost weeks because of Putin. Their projected highest scoring defenseman missed the season.

If told before the season that those things would happen, a good chunk of the fanbase would have declared us a team that would be picking in the lottery. Instead, they stayed in the race until very late.

The fans who all screamed to tear down the team got their way, saying they could be patient, but now some are horrified as to how it played out.

Turns out that some of these patient folk are impatient crybabies.

And yes, your record is all that matters, not how you got there. Results are all that matters no matter how much your feelings say differrently.

Some fans think their team should be great all of the time, like this Yankees fan. If not, we must find someone to blame.

But I'm the one who is dense.

 

[chosen]

So to you, kreider was his usual impactful self on the ice all season. Because the numbers dictate that, even though it’s 100% not the case.
And that’s not my feelings. The fact was, he was bad in more games then good. But he had an excellent 12-15 game stretch which inflated his numbers into his normal realm of statistics

Guess what?

That's how Kreider is every season.

 

[chosen]

I'm not debating, i'm laughing at you. Literally all you do is argue with people on here. It's fine to be argumentative and contrarian, but I don't think i've ever seen you post anything that wasn't snarky and combative.

I can be argumentative when people make up things and offer no proof. If you don't see my other posts, I don't care.

 

[RGY]

Before last season almost no one thought the Rangers would make the playoffs. Then their best scorer got COVID and was in a fog for half the season. Their best player lost weeks because of Putin. Their projected highest scoring defenseman missed the season.

If told before the season that those things would happen, a good chunk of the fanbase would have declared us a team that would be picking in the lottery. Instead, they stayed in the race until very late.

The fans who all screamed to tear down the team got their way, saying they could be patient, but now some are horrified as to how it played out.

Turns out that some of these patient folk are impatient crybabies.

And yes, your record is all that matters, not how you got there. Results are all that matters no matter how much your feelings say differrently.

Some fans think their team should be great all of the time, like this Yankees fan. If not, we must find someone to blame.

But I'm the one who is dense.

All I hear is excuses. Excuses. Excuses.

I did not expect the team to make the playoffs last year, even if Zib never got Covid and Panarin didn’t have to leave the team. I expected them to be a bubble team and they were.

Put aside all of that. The team did not compete every night. The effort was lackluster top to bottom. From talented players to the 4th line / AHL tweeners. Is it so much to ask for a consistent effort? Whether you are a top team or a lottery team, showing up to play from puck drop should be a staple. Having off nights happen, but it shouldn’t be the norm that the team looked like it was sleep walking. That starts at the top with the head coach. Wanting our team to show up and compete for 60 minutes makes us crybabies? Really? Take that shit to the sensitivity corner. Dear lord, the excuses some will make for David Quinn. I thought it would end when he was fired, but nope now its ‘we won’t really know how to measure Gallant’s success’, basically implying Quinn did it all! He laid the foundation for the success! Absurd.

Thank you for bringing up the Yankees. Yes, when my team spends $300 million on a Pitcher, has a $200 million payroll, I do expect them to win. I EXPECT, that when they have spent $200 million they have put together a roster that plays fundamental baseball. But you know what, I’m the spoiled, unreasonable one for having those expectations. I don’t know when we became so soft in society. I guess the Yankee fan base should be way more complacent and acceptant of mediocre results when the Organization spends $200 million and charges what they do to attend games…