Part of the problem is that McIlrath is not allowed to play the full enforcer role with candy ass AV coaching. A huge part of McIlrath's game is throwing much bigger and more violent hits than Beleskey. However, the kid was always playing for fear of his job because of the dumbass mentality of his coach. I hope AV was told that he will play McIlrath 82 games by our idiot GM. The kid needs to be told by his coach to play his game. Hit big. Fight big. Clear the crease big. You won't lose your job for some nasty penalties. All you need to know is when Joe was talking about how Crosby and his teammates stated they took notice when McIlrath was out there. In other words, they told each other, don't stroll across the blueline with your head down like we do with the rest of their candyass defenseman. That's high praise from Crosby stating that he and the team took notice when McIlrath was out there because Crosby is arrogant. However, with his concussions, he's not dumb.
Exactly, Dmac answered the bell against Belesky as he would against Character if he had to.. While other Dmen outside of Klein do nothing... Remember Girardi standing around while Gaborik got whipped by Carcillo... The Rangers defense is inherently soft with Dmac on the bench... Holden handcuffing him just makes it that more porous
At the end of the day it's semantics, but you had suggested that Stepan got hurt because the line up was soft. Yes Dylan answered the bell but him being on the ice didnt deter anything, and Stepan was hurt either way. I think we can all agree that Dylan belongs in the lineup but let's not act like once he dresses we'll never see another cheap shot against the Rangers.
Sorry, but that soft, pussy mentality of he wouldn't have prevented anything is bullshit. It's not about preventing. It's about having that person to retaliate. The reason why is this. Suppose Stepan gets hit by that asshole again. This time McIlrath decides to cheapshot Bergeron who has a history of concussions. That player who hit Stepan then has to face his Bergeron and the rest of this teammates in the lockerroom. The point is that a player isn't going to want to get one of his own teammates hurt because of his cheapshot. McIlrath threatened that to Simmonds. He'll take the next step which will be to headhunt a player on another team and even it up that way. That's what he will do with more experience. He should have targeted Bergeron, Marchand or Eriksson with an illegal hit. That is his next step of maturity.
Which goes back to what I've said numerous times...i dont want to see a defenseman being that guy who is in the box for 5 to 7 minutes at a clip. Especially when you have girardi and staal on the roster..
Once again you are making shit up and creating arguments with me on points I didnt even make. No shit it's not about preventing. I agree with you, you moron. I said I want him out there even if he doesnt prevent a single god damn thing. I was speaking to posters who have repeatedly referred to McIlrath as a deterrent, and used the Stepan hit as as an example of what happens with a soft line up. Why is that so hard to understand and how fucking difficult is it for you to go one day without calling someone a pussy?
Agree. This was my stance too when Dump was advocating for Dylan to be on the team as the enforcer. I can deal with a 4th liner being the goon because there are other 11 forwards to take his ice time but as a D you're leaving your team really shorthanded if you go are out for a long period of time. Plus as we've seen in the NHL before, they punish retaliation more than instigation. He should be on the ice because of his ability and he being on the ice should deter some of the liberties others may do when he's not around, but he's not going to completely stop the other team from checking.
There is no room in the game for goons on the 4th line. They ruin any play or offense the 4th line has. The team isn't going to fall apart if McIlrath is out for 5 or 15 minutes or gets kicked out. You are a team. You need to be able to overcome that and those situations are far and few between. The teams that went deep in the playoffs this year got important contributions from their 4th lines.
Al, I agree with your reasoning but I don't think players are going to go out of their way to get their teeth kicked in just to get dylan off the ice. Might happen a couple of times but for the most part I think Dylan will be more of a deterrent from this type of shit constantly happening than having to go with everyone.
DMac only had 4 fights last year... Albeit he was on the bench... The days of players getting 300+ penalty minutes for the most part is over. Dylan is a smart fighter and knows when to fight and when not to. He landed bomb hits last year which are only going to get bigger this year... Dump is right, goons on te 4th line ruin the offense unless the player is a Shawn Thornton type player... Teams still need a deterrent, especially now where the tough guys are out of the game and you have players like Hartnell, Beleskey, Marchand, komorov, etc that are chespshot artists
Also, the pussy mentality reflected on the Defense last year who couldn't even clear a guy like Nathan Gerbe out of the crease
I've always felt McIlrath was a deterrent toward opponents cruising through the crease into Hank's path, anyone who thinks otherwise is a fool. Those who played the game know you look out for a hard hitter, most NHL guys don't drop the gloves and would never fight a guy who can handle himself like McIlrath.Even with his limited play he threw big hits that were clean, guys notice that more than his fighting ability. Bettman resolved to remove fighting from hockey over a decade ago so McIlrath's fighting skills aren't really relevant to today's game. Hank was constantly bumped, interfered with and had his stick slashed out of his glove seceral times this past season. That's where McIlrath is a deterrent, when the whistle stops play he's like a bouncer clearing stragglers out of Hank's face, no other Rangers player does this.
