You don't have to cry to the refs in order to be a good captain. A great example is Martin St.Louis. STL was involved in the game, during the game, very vocal on the bench and I am sure in the locker room. That year you had Brad Richards, STL leading this team. Now we have Girardi, Stall, Stepan and McD leading this team and all of them are passive.
Guess the talking I wrote before crying threw you off 2009, I never see McD talking to the refs at all and the lack of calls this year (30th in PP opportunities) is an indicator of this. I agree with you about MSL, he was always talking to the refs. The failure to improve special teams would be another knock on AV.
I agree with this and it's what I've been saying all year long. AV is to the Rangers what Gruden was to the Bucs, minus the championship. He was brought here to not blow the whole thing up, but to bring more offense while still focusing on defense. We saw that in year one and two where we succeeded under him. But this year, THIS was an AV type of system where the focus is on offense and you hope your goalie can bail you out. It is why countless good goalies under him in Vancouver looked like trash so often, because they were left out to dry while facing 40 shots a game. No goalie can survive 40 shots a game, all season long and be in great shape come playoff time. It wears on you and it showed with Hank. He was SHOT by the end of the year and especially in the playoffs. AV has to go or he needs to adapt his system (which isn't likely which is why he has to go). But most important is Nash and Staal and Girardi ALL must be gone as well. Not just one. All 3.
Torts was better than Renney who was a moron. AV was better than Torts who was a stubborn mule. However, I'm not sure he is the answer. I was very disappointed by they way he handled players this season.
Team was 1-0 with McIlrath in the playoffs. 0-4 without him. Despite the fact he didn't play a ton in that game, that stat shows how dumb AV is. You won with him in the lineup and never put him in again. This from a coach who never takes Glass out of the lineup when the team is winning yet he has nothing to do with it. Double standard that I'm sure isn't lost on the players.
When have the Rangers had a long standing head coach? 5 years or longer? On one hand you can count the long standing coaches. 1. Lester Patrick 1926-1939 2 Stanley Cups 2. Frank Boucher 1939-1948 1 Stanley Cup 3. Emile Francis 65-68; 69-73; 74-75 0 Cups That's it. Coaches have come and gone.....and the outcome was always the same(except 1994)... everything from 'close but no cigar' to 'finishing below .500'.
