Unless AV is drunk, Boyle won't be playing much longer over McIlrath. Last night was a perfect example of what Mac could do. One, the Jackets wouldn't have been throwing all those hits. Two, Mac would have beat the crap out of Bourque after his hit on McDonagh. Three, players like Boll would have been head hunted by Mac coming into the zone. Boston started to run Hank in the pre-season, Mac practically took off Rinaldo's head and it stopped immediately.
2-0 to start the season on the road, great win last night, I think this team is better than last year's too.. The Rangers as a whole need to stop overpassing and just put the puck on net like Hayes did. I could see Tanner Glass taking Moore's place against teams more interested in gooning it up than playing hockey, would love to see McIlrath take Boyle's place too. That would be an effective deterrent, let the offensively useless Glass do the fighting and McIlrath stay on ice. Still don't get some the hate some have for Dylan, let him get 20 games under his belt before judging. AV's current lines will have teams taking runs at them all year without having to worry about dropping the gloves. Lindberg is a huge upgrade over Hags, even does a great job on PK. Hank terrific again.
Couldnt ask for a better start to the season. The really got outplayed against the Hawks Wednesday night in the 2nd and 3rd period but held on for the win. Played a very physical team last night, gave up a late goal but battled back to win the game in short order. It's early but you have to like what you've seen so far. Boyle def sits tonight in favor of McIlrath. Not sure they make any other roster moves though. Not sitting anyone for Etem just yet unless Stoll is sore from having his torso turned into an accordion....
I don't want Glass anywhere near this lineup panzer. He is terrible and needs to be in the press box every single game IMO. I would play McIlrath over Boyle though, to me that should be a slam dunk.
He will get his minutes but I suspect it's mainly going to be on the back-end of back to back games. They have 17 of them this year, at least thats what Rosen said on the broadcast last night. He will certainly play in other situations but I expect him to be in one of every back to game situation.
I have a feeling Boyle plays tonight. It's a home opener and he won't want to hurt Boyle's feelings. I hope I'm wrong though and he plays Dylan and sees what he can bring.
Good point. He might play Boyle tonight vs. for the home opener. He might have asked him, play tonight and sit next game or sit tonight and play next game. Something like that. If he doesn't play Boyle, it's a powerful indicator that his job is on its way to being extinct. Not to play him in the home opener is pretty telling.
Not really important what you want Chuck, AV is going to play Glass against physical teams that take liberties, his addition should have zero impact on what the top 3 lines do. I'm glad AV sent Fast an early message, his effort in the first 2 games was unimpressive. I agree the home opener made it tough for AV to sit Boyle but McIlrath has to get in the lineup.
The truth is if he plays a random pretty much meaningless game here and there early in the regular season it is what it is. I just hope by the time the games count he is nowhere near this lineup, and the only way that will happen is if Gorton takes AV's toy away. Even last night he takes his usual dumb O zone penalty. I am also not sure he adds any great degree of toughness or threat, and I don't think it outweighs the downside he brings even if he does add some physical element. Like I said, just hope by the time the games count Glass won't be in this lineup. We'll see. At this early point in the season I am not going to bicker over the 12th forward. Way more important things to focus on. I like the team this year, and I love the depth. Off to a great start, now keep it going against the Jets. That's the biggest thing to focus on IMO. I think we can agree on that....
Disagree on him having zero impact on the top 3 lines. I know it's been beaten to death here, but I think it's a big deal. I'm not saying Glass adds nothing. It's obvious that he brings a certain physicality that helps against teams like CBJ. But in my opinion, his limited positives are significantly outweighed by his ineptness in all other aspects of the game. Offensively he is a black hole that weighs down the entire fourth line, turning a deep four-line team into the 3 line team we were last year. Go back 2 years and no Glass, and we're 4 lines and in the cup finals. A sustained offensive shift by a 4th line, even if they don't score, has a big impact on the team. Without that, there's more pressure on the top 3 lines, and bingo bango there's your impact on the top 3 lines. Defensively, for every big hit he throws, there's 5 instances where he's either out of position or incapable of securing the puck and exiting the zone, leading to more time spent in the defensive zone. I get we're 3-0 and playing well right now. But AV should be putting out his best line-up, and that doesnt include Glass
Glass situation on this board is like !!!!!!! AV won't budge on this. I guess he'll overwork 3 lines throughout the year. lol
