The NHL is playing games in Europe to showcase its product. A few more games like todays and they may have to move the games to Asia, like Siberia maybe. Maybe it's not the teams but The Team, like the Rangers. For the second consecutive night they put on another show of ineptness and futility that defies the imagination.
In the 2-1 shootout loss the Rangers got all of 15 shots on goal. They got all of 10 shots on goal at even strength. Henrik Lundqvist again was the star, fittingly, with 27 saves. While the trip was a waste for the team with their performance it was a triumph for Lundqvist in his return to his homeland.
For those looking for a change in Ranger fortunes it was not evident in these two games. It's samo, samo. The power play is non-existent. There is no meaningful forechecking. There is very little puck control. There is no chemistry as the lines get changed constantly. The good news lies in the back-end. The defense has looked good and when Staal returns it will be even better.
And of course there is Henrik Lundqvist. Long live The King.
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Welcome to another season of our discontent, Pundit.
“The NHL is playing games in Europe to showcase the product” – Do you want to know what’s really comical about this. I live in the UK, it’s possible to argue this is part of Europe. So far this season I have no access to the NHL at all. (With what I read about The Rangers that may be a blessing in disguise?)
Apparently there is some issue with broadcasting and streaming rights to the product? The end result is, fans of the game who willingly fly to the US just to catch one live game, are left sitting here with nothing. How is this promoting the game? How am I supposed to stay interested when the product isn’t just watered down, it’s not even available?!?
I am one unhappy camper this side of the pond! Especially when you contrast it to the NCAA football where I get 20 games a weekend to choose from, and the NFL where I get access to every single game. Sort it out NHL, this is no way to treat supporters.
Luke
Luke, There are some sites that stream NHL games, not strictly on the up and up - for example. If using them, be careful what you click on, lots of spamware, do not install any plug-ins. Plus lots of ad clutter on the video every 5 min or so, but the audio comes thru pretty clean. If you look around there are other options, just be careful what you click on and run your security software afterwards.
NHL does need to catch up with the other leagues. But that is not surprising.
jb, thank you very much. I'm holding out hope that someone will step in and bring some sanity to the situation, it's nice to know there are backups until that time.
thank you,
Luke
Wait a moment! I've been crawling through HF boards and it seems that because we can no longer access content through ESPN Europe, we can now access it direct through NHL GameCentre live? I'm going to give that a shot.
Hey luke, are you sure you want to go through all that trouble to see the Rangers?
Isn't there some kind of riots or demonstrations going on that are more interesting to watch?
My recommendation is find a pub so at least you can have a libation that may prevent you from falling asleep.
Anyhow, hang in there. I'm sure better days are ahead. I have been saying that for a very, very long time. And you can see the results.