Yup, probably. But it's all the same in the end. It's the right move. They pretty much could have said "injury" at any point this year. Gross (twitter): D-pairs MStaal-Klein Yandle-McIlrath Skjei-Boyle
Girardi has been a warrior but you can no longer allow what happened in game one to happen again. He was cringe worthy out there and showed all the signs of a player that needs to be shut down.
Alain Vigneault announced that Girardi will be OUT for Game 2. (Lavoie) Asked if it was an upper or lower body injury for Girardi, Vigneault said that "it's the whole thing." Girardi...OUT. I think Malkin is back for game 3. Doubt he plays game 2. I think McDonagh will be back game 3 or 4.
Granted that "it's the whole thing" quote gave me a chuckle. But I truly feel bad for the guy. The "internet" fans (twitter, advanced stats nerd, message boards, etc.) have been absolutely brutal to the guy. Almost like they have a personal vendetta at times. It's very frustrating for an athlete when his body starts to betray him, especially so when it happens before it's supposed to. Girardi is 31 but he might as well be 51 because of the way he plays. We saw it with Drury as well. Guys who should in theory still have a few years left just falling off a cliff because they only know one way to play, and their bodies can't keep up. 4 years ago he was getting Norris votes (finished 6th believe it or not). Fast forward to now and he can hardly skate. Let's also not forget the guy had major surgery in July. I could probably count on two hands the times he was able to skate before camp opened because of that. His body was just not ready for this season, point blank. The best thing for him would be to shut it down, rest, get back in game shape and rehab his knee. If any of the right side guys go down on D he can play 3rd pair because I think he can still probably give us 15 decent minutes a night playing against lower lines. Obviously not ideal for his contract but for now it is what it is. As of right now, he's not an NHL player. Pains me to say it because I love the guy and appreciate all he has given this franchise over the past 10+ years. And I'd really like to see him raise the cup. But that's simply not gonna happen if he's playing first pair minutes.
Big Mac IN for Girardi. And sounds like he's reuniting Yandle-Dylan as the 2nd pair. The "whole thing" is a nice way of AV saying to girardi its time to retire. Long overdue but as they say better late than never.
Getting very ahead of myself here as we have a cup to win, but I wonder if his knee injury qualifies him for LTIR? Could be a Pronger-type situation, no? He has to see the writing on the wall at this point. He still gets paid, saves face instead of becoming a regular scratch, and preserves what's left of his health. I could see him accepting that scenario before waiving his NTC. He's a proud player, he knows he isnt able to give it his all. No use going to a new franchise.
Not having McDonagh in there certainly hurts. This is not a good enough unit this season to really withstand his absence in the playoffs. At the end of the day though they have to find a way to scratch out a win and get the series tied. It would help if some of these slug forwards showed up.
Its a good enough unit to beat Florida and then probably Detroit or Tampa Before you know it you are in the ECF and McD is back Just saying
Chris Kreider, Derek Stepan, Mats Zuccarello JT Miller, Derick Brassard, Rick Nash Eric Staal, Kevin Hayes, Jesper Fast Tanner Glass, Dominic Moore, Viktor Stalberg These were the lines the Rangers used in the third period of Game 1. D is: Staal/Klein Yandle/McIlrath Skjei/Boyle Win tomorrow and it is a whole different series and we have the advantage going home. Lose tomorrow and we'll be on the golf course in 10 days or so. That simple to me.
And if Malkin does play tomorrow, I still think game 3, that is a huge add for the Pens. Hank is a game time decision, but I think that is more for show and a cover in case he has a bad reaction to practice today.
71, you are a complete moron on McIlrath. McIlrath is not slow for his size. Staal and Girardi are slow. Girardi is beaten by speed so badly it's painful to watch. Very few times have I seen McIlrath beaten by speed this year. You really need to give up the stupidity with McIlrath.
AV is finally fixing his stupidity with G. One other stupidity that still continues is Glass. He is playing over Lindberg against soft team like the pens which is dumb. I don't get what Glass brings against the soft teams. The fourth line has no chance to score with that idiot in the playoffs.
That's fair Dump, he's actually got decent mobility now. I just hope the playoff atmosphere doesn't get too big for him. But he's gotta be better than Super G at this point.
Just a shame he had to spot the penguins a game before he find it. The other shame is this kid should have been regularly rotated with girardi and boyle all season keeping them fresh and the kid experience going into the playoffs instead of being a vegetable in the press box the last few months
Unless Girardi can find a way to drop 10 pounds in the off-season and improve his skating, I don't see him fitting this system going forward. The fact AV is benching him in the playoffs is a terrible sign for his future career here.
Staal, Girard and Boyle are way slower than McIlrath, you don't watch the Rangers much if you write otherwise. I've always been a McIlrath fan because I think #1 picks should at least be given a shot and he brings a physical element the defensive unit lacks but after only a few games I'm becoming a big Skjei fan. I liked him in preseason but understood the numbers situation and again cursed the mindless Boyle signing. Makes me wonder why the Rangers spend $10 mil of salary when they could have Skjei/McIlrath for under $2 mil with another prospect in Graves waiting in the wings. If the plan was to sign Hank for big money it should have negated the need for overpaying the defense.
