The Jets not only beat the Rangers 4-3 at MSG last night they also passed them in the Eastern Conference standings. The Rangers are now sitting in the 11th spot, but just a point out of eight. For a team that is supposedly built around defense the Ranger D was lacking last night, and while Lundqvist made 28 saves Evander Kanes squibbler got through him for the game winner. Kane had two goals, (8,9) and former Ranger Olli Jokinen, also had a pair, (4,5). Callahan led the Rangers with a goal, (5), took seven shots and had five hits. He also worked the concession stands during the intermission.
There is still plenty of time to turn this around, but the Rangers and their organization seem to be going in the different directions. Management loads up with offense and coaching dwells on defense. I wonder if maybe we lost more in the off season then we gained. We brought in an elite offensive player in Rick Nash, but we lost a gang of role players like Dubinsky, Prust, Anisimov, Fedotentko, etc. True, we have some fine young talent like Stepan, Miller, Hagelin and Kreider, but it takes time for them to fit in. Plus we still give too much ice time to guys like Giradi, Staal and McDonagh. Losing Michael Sauer was huge and by the way what is his status anyway?
We have 28 games to go and we still have no offensive scheme, no power play, a depleted defense and a goalie who has yet to perform up to his standards. However, we still have a good shot at the playoffs, which tells you more about the quality of the NHL then it does about our team.
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it would be wonderful if the rangers don't make the playoffs. a first step in getting rid of the worst coach i have ever watched. he destroys everything he touches. go back to first day of this seasons pundit blog--don't want to say i told you so..but i did.
mbernold - that day can't come soon enough. Every game he says the same thing, we just have to stick with it. He has no answers as to why we r playing so poorly or how to fix it. What really scares me though is how the players talk. They repeat that rhetoric. Cally (who was outstanding last night) said after last nights game he didn't think we played so poorly in the 2nd period. And if we just stick with it we will win more games than not, wow! That is worrisome.
People can talk all they want about how good the rangers were last season and this is just a byproduct of a short season and not getting the start we wanted but the truth is last year we had the same issues. Last year we had plenty of nights where we got off to poor starts or only played 20 or 40 mins of hockey, the difference was we were able to pull those games out in the mins we played hard. We had guys going through walls in that time frame and we held on in the final mins by blocking tons of shots. Also our ever declining pp was awful last year and somehow worse this season. The truth is Torts is an awful coach with an average system, we have players who are exceptional people who have been willing to sacrifice themselves for torts grueling ways. Those ways may be wearing thin on the guys and we lost a handful over the summer.
Now the Rangers say they are going to make an offer to Zuc after his season ends in Europe. What for? Torts will just stifle his offense then demote him to 6:00 a game. In the pre game JT Miller was asked about Torts and he said i"apparently I don't play very well on defense, my number keeps popping up on the screen during video sessions". See, that's what happens to our offense. They come in going on the offense, and then torts squashses them with his defense first thinking. He doesn't give a crap if they score or not, that's just icing to him. What he's concerned about is how well do they play D. That's why Kreider doesn't see a lot of ice because torts doesnt like his D game, who cares if we haven't scored a pp goal in a month, he has to learn 'the right way'. Ahhhhhhhhhh I can't take it anymore. The sooner he goes the better off we will all be, and our offensive guys can get back to thinking about what they are paid to do....create offense.
Yes, the Brooks story, Sather wants Zuccarello back with Rangers after KHL season, about Zuccarello coming back is ridiculous.
Torts will never take Zuc back. That's like asking him to make fine wine with rutabaga. He squeezes a sour defensive juice out of everyone on that team.
Sad that these young talents like Miller and Kreider are being fed his BS. Their careers are going to be messed up. Ugh.
Yes, back on Jan 21 ,mbernold, you said.:
Everybody thinks the rangers will be good this year--but they are wrong. the idiot coach will make sure they can't score and the shot blocking will destroy the players. the performance of no shots, no power play, was on display in their two losses to boston and now pittsburgh.it will only get worse... its too difficult to even watch them... to hell with the rangers as long as torts is their coach..and this from a ranger fan for 63 years!!!
very prescience
mbernold, My father has been watching this team since approx 1960. He didn't intend to raise Jeanine and I to be obsessed but you know kids, they learn from example. He was telling me today that he didn't even want to watch the game last night. In the middle of it my mom asked him if he wanted to watch the Katie Couric show and he agreed to it. OUCH! He keeps telling me how he never in his life disliked a coach more than Torts. Not only does he think he's a terrible coach but he can't stand him as a person. My mom often uses the word arrogant to describe him. As you guys can see the apples don't fall far from the trees in my family. So you are not alone. It seems much more common for long time fans to be calling for the coaches head then fans who started watching in the 90s. I chalk it up to experience and the fact that the younger fans can't possibly have the same experience because they didn't live through the same torture we did. However, the Rangers seem determined to make sure the younger generations suffer as well. Why leave them with any innocence at all? :)
Anyway, last night was not so different than any other with the exception of the desperation shown in the third period. It was good to see even though it was ugly to watch. Apparently they have decided that it is a start to building confidence, a subject coach knows very little about. Callahan was amazing on the ice and then even more amazing off of it when he decided the Rangers didn't play that bad in the 2nd period as Jeanine pointed out. OMG. Looks like the team is getting healthier so we'll see how that goes. The PR machine was in full force last night as the new thing on MSG is to go between the benches to John Giannone so he can give us the daily update on how wonderful the coach is. If coach was open to dating men I think Giannone and Micheletti would have to fight each other off for the honor. It's truly sickening. They try to force so much Kool Aid on the fans and some of them are on an eternal sugar rush... they just never stop defending this guy. Apparently some people seem to think that the coach bares absolutely no responsibility for the way the players play and the outcome of the games. Makes me wonder exactly what they think we need him for, because at this point I would be wiling to place ALL the responsibility on the players and go coach-less. I bet the outcome would be better hahaha.
BTW- John Mitchell provides me with a perfect example of why I am not wiling to part with any players until disagreeable is gone. He has to be the worst judge of talent I have ever seen in a coach. Last season I said several times to Jeanine that I wasn't sure what to make of Mitchell. I knew he was heavily relied upon in CT but when he played for NYR he was used consistently as a fourth line guy with little ice time who was used mainly for "toughness" and sent out to fight when needed. When not used for those purposes he was used mainly as an excuse to not dress Avery. I said many times that I can't judge the player bc even though he seemed like a guy who would get sent back to the A, its impossible to tell with the stupid system he uses and his inability to give young guys an opportunity. See this year's version Chris Kreider. Anyway Mitch is making a career for himself in Colorado far away from Torts. He has 6g 4a for 10 points in 17 games. sounds like he was misused as per usual. Gaby has 7g 5a for 12 pts in 18 games. Watching him play for us, I never imagined I would be comparing him to Gaby.
Prust averaged about 5 mins a night last season on our 4th line. Yeah some nights he got 8-10 but his averge was about 5. He was heavily used as a punching bag by our coach. This season his new coach plays him 16/17 mins a night. He's their catalyst and he brings heart and soul to their team. He even plays on the PP. His role for the Canadians is very similar the the way Renney used Avery. Avery averaged 18 mins a night under Tom and 5 mins under Torts. Now I understand that those numbers speak more to the depth of the teams, but the point remains the same. This coach misuses most players and couldn't find his own a** with two hands.
Wow, everything is covered by you guys. Excellent reads for me!
I agree with everything. Torts has to go before this team will truly flourish. That and keeping guys healthy and not playing them when they're hurt then retroacting a guy to IR. Again, that's a coach thing.
It's early and I still believe this can be a playoff team. But I just don't see any major achievements happening under Torts. I never really did. The question is: Does the brass really have the brains or guts to pull the plug on this guy?
I loved Cally's game last night and liked Eminger on D. I also thought they had a lot more drive to compete, they just dug themselves too big of a hole. Thursday, as usual, should be interesting. Snoozer or not....
Jeanine, feel the same exact way about Zuke - why bother if Torts is going to shackle him.
Watched Detroit tonight and they were talking about Damian Brunner, the 26 year old Swiss rookie. Dude has 10 goals so far, and has made mistake after mistake defensively. The Detroit staff - they of the most successful franchise in the last 20 years or so - said they would live with the mistakes because the kid was learning what it takes to play in the NHL, the only way to get better. Here we have Torts - he of the one lucky pre2004 lockout Cup - exiling the kids to the bench the instant they do something to raise his ire. Hmm, wonder which philosophy will work out in the short and long run ...
Scotty Hockey, I am always talking abour Mike Babcock - I just adore that man. He's been my favorite coach in the league since he was the coach in Anaheim. How stupid they were to ever let him go. I only saw part of the Det game last night but I did hear them say on the broadcast that when the wings called their time out they let Niklas Kronwall address the team regarding the PK. Then the team proceeded to do an excellent job on the PK. I know everyone is talking about how the Wings are not so great defensivly this season and obviously they are rebuilding but a great coaching staff keeps them in the hunt. Anyway I love how Babcock thinks outside of the box and I think its an excellent idea to have guys involved like that. Also, Babcock understands players, has a great judge of talent, knows how to identify roles and uses his players accordingly and properly. He also knows what the word confidence means and the fact that he has given Brunner a real opportunity is the main reason the guy is scoring like that. I keep saying that when guys make mistakes you work with them and teach them, that is after all what a coach is paid to do and when you consider a player who is young or a rookie at any age you have to expect that mistakes will come with the territory. Correct me if I am wrong but isn't that where the term "rookie mistake" comes from?
Andy, thanks for the compliment. I always feel like I am going on and on (of course its because I am lol) and I am constantly thinking how I should shorten these posts but I just have too much to say! Glad you enjoy my rants.
Jeanine and I are going to the game vs Flyers on Tuesday. Should be interesting but thats no guarantee it will be lol!