Chuck... I think you're missing a big big point with your relentless defending of the D on this team. Every point you make is about them playing well defensively or referencing goals against in games. This roster has been built and paid around this coach's system...quick,mobile puck moving D joining the play. AV's system is puck possession system with the D playing a big part in moving the puck and joining the rush. We all know that this organization has no damned plan and started this season with 6 4th line players. We all know that ! However, Girardi, Staal and Mcd have been miserable moving the puck the past two months. Girardi cant get out of his own way and is always chasing in his own end...his misreads in the offensive zone have also led to the team giving up several breakaways and odd man rushes. He has lost a good two steps this year and has floundered 80% of the time. Mcd has also made very bad reads offensively leading to many turnovers. Staal used to be their very best puck mover- on his stick and out of the zone... Not this year, he is slow to the puck and beaten to it often. These three guys have been a huge reason why the Ranger speed and transition game that worked so well in the past 2-3 years has struggled this season. They are pressing big time leading to many mistakes. That combination of BOTH- the scrambling slow footed D and it's inabililty to move the puck and join the play AND the lack of production from the horseshit forward roster we started the season with. Both are equally responsible in AV's system !
Well said JD. I've tried to say a few times you can't simply look at goals scored and say the O is to blame, or goals given up and say the D is to blame. But I disagree w you on McDonagh, and Staal has been very good over the past month or so. G..agreed. Disaster. At the end of the day we've had enough chances and shot attempts that we should be scoring at a better clip, and that part falls on the O.
You guys are simply way too hard on the D. It's crazy now. McD is on pace for 9 goals, 40 points, and is a +9 playing major minutes against the other teams top guys, what the F do you want from him. The D has played well the past couple of weeks. You guys expect the other team to have no quality chances and never have a shift where we are pinned in our own zone...that is not realistic. They will have their bad games, wouldn't surprise me if the Caps score a bunch this evening, but overall the D has played well the past couple of weeks. And again all we have talked about in here the past couple of seasons is if we had some O we would have won cupS with Hank. AND Hank is our stud and rock. That is why we pay him like we do. I'm okay if we give up a couple of more chances than other teams (which we don't) because we have a stud 8.5 mill cap hit goalie back there. If that wasn't going to be the case and we weren't going to rely on Hank WHY THE F SIGN HIM FOR 8.5 MILL PER...GO GET A GOALIE THAT MAKES 4 MILL PER AND USE THE SAVINGS ELSEWHERE. I simply disagree with you guys flat out. This jump on the D thing started early this season and it has been a broken record in here, and I just do not agree. AS ALWAYS it is the O with this team that has me WAY more concerned big picture than the D. Doesn't mean the D didn't struggle to start the season and doesn't mean the D doesn't need to continue improving as the season progresses. I would say 75% on O and 25% on D if I were to put numbers on it big picture looking forward level of concern wise. Overall this is not about the D. I flat out disagree with you guys.
The Rangers are tied for 4th in the NHL in goals scored per game but I guess you could make the argument that they should be outscoring Dallas, Washington and Boston. The Rangers offense creates plenty of chances, they just don't finish them. A little more selfish play and they will be fine. 94 hit the nail on the head with his analysis of our defensive unit's incompetence during postseason play. NBC even put a clock up during the Tampa series last year to show how many minutes the Rangers couldn't get the puck out of their own zone. Should be 2-1 against the Caps but as usual the defense failed Hank last game. You've beaten the dead horse about the offense Chuck but are not likely to get many converts to your opinion. To borrow your phrase I don't know what game you're watching if you think the defense is fine. Watch how any other team in the NHL treats opponents who try to camp out in front of the crease or bump their goalie and become enlightened. McIlrath addresses this problem and I think AV needs to go if he continues to be so thick on this basic hockey principle that anyone who laced up a pair of skates learned by time they were 8 years old.
I don't think it is that panzer. How has the O looked the past couple of weeks as the games get bigger and tighter and mean WAY more than some game in October does? How has the O looked the past couple of playoffs? How many countless times over the past couple of seasons have we said if only we had O Hank would have cupS? Or I feel bad for Hank because we just do not score for him? Now the reason is because of the D we struggle to score in big games and the postseason? I just don't buy it at all. We get chances and don't score because we lack finishers. We pass up WAY too many good chances because we have fancy guys not finishers who look to score first. But I guess a slow 25-30 game start by the D has flipped that huh? Again...I respect all of your opinions I simply flat out disagree that the D is the bigger issue or the bigger cause for concern moving forward this season, and frankly I don't think it is close, and it hasn't been the past couple of seasons either. Agree to disagree.
And to be clear...in my opinion that is not to say the D hasn't had issues to start this season, or even in past seasons. Our D is not perfect. I don't love the contracts of Staal and to a lesser extent Girardi. We have a ton of wear and tear on the D. So yeah I get that and I have some concerns about the D as well...I agree for sure. But when comparing the two I think the O is by far the bigger concern and has been for years.
Both areas have been pathetic for huge stretches this year. It's because of Lundqvist mostly that they started out with such a great record. The offense has no transition game, players that miss the net a ton and the defense is slow, soft and weak offensively for the most part, save for Yandle and McDonagh to a degree.
