Coaches are quick to criticize players. Slow to react, not skating hard. Missed assignment. Yada, yada, yada. But they pull many a boner and usually skate free. So there was our coach proclaiming that Lundqvist is, "definitely our number one goaltender," as he played the number two goaltender.
Now I have nothing against our number two goaltender, Cam Talbot. He is good and has even better potential but to sit your goaltender, one of the best big game goalies in the NHL for two straight games is not the thing to do.
Something is going on here between the coach and the most important player on the Rangers, Henrik Lundqvist. It started a few games ago when he criticized Lundqvist for letting in a goal he should have stopped. The Rangers needed a win. Yes, Talbot has been going good but when you need a win you go to The King. Talbot is that once in a couple of weeks goalie. He is that two out of ten goalie.
I'm of a suspicious nature. Does this have to do with free agency for Lundqvist? If so the coach is pressing the wrong buttons. Do the Rangers want to annoy The King so that he jumps to a legitimate contender at year's end. Let's face it, the Rangers are a .500 team, 14-14. Without Lundqvist they are mediocre and probably wallowing at 10-18.
But maybe I'm wrong and the coach is using a motivational tool. Maybe. Meanwhile Winnipeg came to the New York Area and got whole again by sweeping the three New York teams and are now 13-12-4. So they were hot coming in and when a team's hot you go with your best. We didn't. We lost.
Tuesday, December 03, 2013
Coach Guesses Wrong
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I'm not worried about the goalies, we have 2 good ones. The worry is why this team cannot score. Stop passing the puck around and take shots! Even on the PP, we get maybe one or two shots on goal, very frustrating!
Boy, is this Metro division weak or what...
We have always been a team of "too much passing, not enough shooting." Watch Ovechkin: he shoots from everywhere and anywhere.
SHOOT THE PUCK BARRY!
Mike can you eliminate these articles that have been popping up that have nothing to do with hockey
The number one reason the Rangers have the same problems scoring is because they have the same GM. This guy hasn't put scoring together since his days in Edmonton back in the 80's. Last year he made a huge error in judgement trading Gaborik -a natural sniper which are rare in the league for so-called "depth" players who are a dime a dozen in this league. He traded him to please a disagreeable coach who he was forced to fire anyway. Then he goes out an hires a coach who actually can coach talent and puts a team of rookies and third liners in front of him. The guy doesn't have his finger on the pulse of team but yet he never loses his job. As long a that idiot Dolan is at the helm, we are in trouble. The Rangers were building something and now they are not. When they traded Dubi they lost a lot of heart and grit. When they let Prust go they lost a lot of toughness and they DID let him go. Prust wanted an extra year- give it to him. Even Prust had no way of knowing he would have fetched the kind of money he got on the open market. And of course trading Gabby away... Those 3 players are players you want back.
I haven't commented in a while so I must go back in time to say how happy I was to see Kreider show up that jack a$$. Not only did Krieder prove to him that he does belong in the NHL but the Rangers scored 2 PP goals showing him that it is actually possible to have a decent PP even with a mediocre offense.
Also Henrik signing his new contract yesterday is a relief. It can only help his game now that he can put that stuff behind him. I thought Cam earned the 2 starts in a row but I never like to see Henrik sit. Cam is playing great but Henrik is still the King.