That is the plain truth. They don't play defense well enough. They don't score enough. They don't hold leads. They don't clear the crease. They don't score on the PP enough. They don't kill penalties well enough. They don't have 4 lines. It's not a playoff team and they don't have their first round pick. They are close to being unwatchable at this point.
I hope Sather realizes a big trade is needed. Maybe more than one. Being saying it for a while. Sather should be after O'Reilly. Dump Glass back in the deal as a must take. Center the deal around Staal and Miller. Zucc has to go as well. Not paying him the money either.
This board is crazy when the Rangers lose. The sky is falling the sky is falling...LOL. We are TWO points behind the Caps for 3rd in the Met (we have a game in hand also), which is a playoff spot. Factoring in games in hand, we could be 6 up on Philly and NJ who are the teams behind us. So we are still right there in a good spot despite being awful and sucking. I will simply say what I have said for WEEKS...we need another top 9 forward and we are fine. I can only assume Zucc and CK stop sucking, which will help us for sure. Then we need another forward to round out the top 9. That is what we need. That is what we have needed for weeks. And I am hopeful Sather is getting the memo on that one.
I will add one comment though. I said prior to last night that this 6 game stretch is really interesting for us and could define what we are. 5 of 6 on the road, 3 in Western Canada, and the 1 home game against the very good Pens. So this is a telling stretch I think as the Canucks and Flames are both good teams and playing out in West Canada is never easy. We did ourselves no favors by blowing last night. Makes the Pens game tomorrow night at home very big. Don't want to head West losing 3 straight and having to play 2 really tough games...and the Oilers.
Chuck, the only words out of your mouth should be this team sucks. You're the only one on this board who doesn't see it. It has nothing to do with a loss. People have said it after 5 games. It was obvious this mix will not work this year. Yes, there are 4 rookies playing. Yes, there are growing pains. However, when your captain has his head up his ass, your young powerforward is a mental midget, Zucc is useless and Staal is average, the team sucks. The young kids I can live with when it comes to inconsistent play. Kreider, Staal and Zucc have no excuse. Sather needs to kick some ass and send the team a message. Going to the finals doesn't mean you take the next 3 f'n years off. You're current problem is you think what happened last year will happen this year. The bottom line was that the Rangers did not have 4-5 teams in the conference last year that suddenly got a ton better this year because there young players are maturing. Also, the team last year was not good enough until they acquired St. Louis in a big deal. They also stepped in crap with Pouliot.
If the Rangers suck then I guess the whole division sucks because again win the game in hand on the Caps and we are in playoff position. Not sure what else to say. You can want to overhaul the whole team on a message board, good luck with that bro. I will simply say what I have been saying for weeks...add a top 9 forward and we'll be fine I think. And BTW...this year has nothing to do with last year. Have you seen me ONCE say we did it last year so we can do it this year...nope. Whatever happens this year will happen and has nothing to do with last year. I am just not going to bail on a team of proven players after 25 games, double so when we are neck and neck for a playoff spot despite "sucking" and having a ton of injuries. You can feel free to do so though...your right.
Chuck, you live in a world of fantasy. You're not evaluating the team. You continue to evaluate the division. We aren't talking about the f'n division. Learn the difference.
No fantasy about it man...I am just not a negative person who throws 80% of the team and coaches under the bus every game we lose. Do we have issues...you bet your a** we do. Do we need more forward scoring depth...hell yes. Do we need CK and Zucc to play up to their levels...hell yes. So yeah there are issues. And yes I think the top of the East is better than last season as well...all true. BUT what I do know is we have talent. We have a top 3 goalie. We have a very good and deep D. We have a couple of top level offensive talents in Nash and MSL. We have two very good lines that I like a lot. I like Hayes and Hags on the 3rd line. I like Moore and Stemp on the 4th line. And I also know we are right there for a playoff spot despite all the bad stuff and how much we "suck". I am not saying we are the best team. I am not saying we are winning a cup. What I am saying is we have talent and are right there still. With the right forward added we can be in the upper group of the East IMO.
Outside of the pp shenanigans the big issue is net coverage/awareness. Teams are once again walking to the net like they're entering a McDonald's.
This team doesn't suck, they are underperforming and suffer from a lack of leadership from the Captain and the guy behind the bench. AV is a very stubborn coach, it took the mumps to show him that Miller is light years better than Glass and I'm still thinking that when Glass is healthy down goes Miller. This year he's playing 4 time losers like Kostka and Hunwick over younger players that have much higher potential but AV doesn't seem to be concerned with involving the defense offensively. AV has been a very successful regular season coach, all time winningest coach with the Canucks including two President's trophies but unable to get the Cup. I agree that the type of goon hockey he abhors has become outdated but I think AV's philosophy has swung too far in the opposite direction. While you no longer need brawlers in the lineup because hockey wants fighting gone you still need guys that can play physically. AV seemed to think Glass would address this issue but his lack of offense cancels out anything physical he brings to the table. Aside from the surprising Klein the Rangers defensive unit has 3 goals. I have no idea what's up with McDonough this year, he used to be one of the most noticeable players on the ice but so far not so much. He needs to get his game going because the Rangers feed off him.
Kostka only played when we had like 5 injuries on D. And what kid should play over Hunwick? Please don't say McIlrath who has shown he is not ready when he has played. I would guess you are going to say Allen, but I am not going to make a huge issue about using Allen over Hunwick or Moore as our 6th dman. AV has also made the SCF's twice, so to me he is clearly more than just a regular season coach. I do agree 100% about Glass though. If he goes back in soon I will be very angry, he is awful. And I also don't like seeing Hunwick and Girardi on the points of the PP during one stretch last night. But overall I think AV has been fine. I don't think he is the issue. The issues to me are Kreider, Zucc, a little bit Boyle, a little bit McD, Hank needs to start getting his game going, and we need another top 9 forward added.
I repeat. This team SUCKS......... Now, maybe after the 4 rookies in the lineup get a year experience, the team won't be nearly as crappy next year. However, right now, the team freakin sucks. The panthers are 4 games over .500. This team is one game over .500. Enough said.
instead of engaging kriedertime, the best tactic would be to try and contact his parents and inform them of unsupervised computer use in the household. kriedertime is actually craving boundaries
i will say this, this team isn't as good as last year, hands down i don't think anybody questions this.... but with that being said if theres any 7 or 8 seed the top seeds don't want to play it will be with the rangers and with hank, hank can easily carry us in a couple series...... so if you want to bail thats fine but i've seen worse teams get hot in the playoffs and do some damage.
The Rangers aren't entitled to another run to the finals. They're going to find themselves in a fight for the 7th or 8th spot if they continue this mediocrity. As was mentioned you can't assume last year will repeat itself if this team continues hovering at .500.
I think more likely they will find themselves in a battle for the 3 spot in the Met division, not 7 or 8 which is a WC spot. I have a feeling both WC's may come from the Atlantic division this year. We'll see...
13-13 thru 26 games last year.....made it to Finals. Hell they were 16-18-2 before Christmas last year. Granted they made a big trade to get St Louis but we have seen this before 13-12-2 in the first 27 games of the lockout season year before This team always starts this way and finds their way after the holidays. Hank in particular starts slow every year and picks it up. He will play MUCH better. The team has had a ton of injuries, we are healthy now need to get some wins together. This year they will get it going too but agree they need a top 9 forward
Well at least no one is over-reacting or trying to draw conclusions....Im with you Disturbed...this is a long season and a lot can change in the remaining games. This team is not at the level of 'suck' that dump thinks (unless they are playing the bolts). It's a matter of not getting what they need from key players. Plenty were mentioned above so no need to list them all again but if a few guys pick it up to the level of play they showed in the past this team will be fine. No one here is saying they are looking like a finals team but they are not as bad as some people say.
