Sorry Rangersfan. It is the coach. Kakko and Lemieux helped setup up both goals. Both were benched. Quinn has turned into a fucking moron. He's destroying Andersson's career. Andersson 7:34 of ice time. Kakko 9:51 minutes of ice time. Lemieux 12:30 of ice time. Fast 17:34 minutes of ice time. Dumbass. It's that simple. Asswipe Brooks writes that Kakko held the puck too long twice. Well Larry you senial old bastard, I'm glad one player on the team actually can hold onto the puck unlike the rest of the idiots who have no puck control at all and spend all game watching the other team carry the puck. Smith sucks. Staal sucks. Haley sucks. McKegg sucks. Fast is a 4th line player. Nothing more. Howden right now is a 4th line player. Quinn is completely lost. Me, if Joel Quenneville is out there and I believe he is, I fire Quinn and hire him.
Here's where I'm at, and I'm not trying to play both sides. I agree with a lot of RangersFanChuck's post in the last thread. This roster is way too top heavy, the second tier guys (Kreider, Buchnevich) have been god-awful, and the guys we were relying on to be role players (Lemieux, Howden, to an extent Kakko) arent producing. None of that can be put on the coach right now. Kreider is a 28 year old vet in a contract year and has zero goals. I've said numerous times his centers have stunk. But, if he is the kind of player we say he is, he should still be playing way, way better. It could be similar to the Zucc situation early last year. Just moping and playing out the string until traded. Buchnevich has been this way his whole career. Lemieux, Howden, Andersson, Kakko are all kids. I'd be more surprised if they all were producing than if they werent. Quinn also has made some changes to the system and the team's identity that I like. We complained constantly (and rightly) that this team was pushed around under AV. That isn't happening anymore. All that said, I am absolutely baffled about the ice time distribution. Brendan Smith and Kakko both had the same ice team even strength. That is absolutely preposterous. Howden has done nothing to deserve the 2C spot and Andersson got 5 minutes at even strength last night. Outrageous. Lemieux was benched during the 3rd because he had "a tough time". WTF does that even mean. These are the guys we are supposed to be developing. If this is a rebuilding year how do we improve trotting out Brendan Smith on the 3rd line and Jesper Fast on the 1st line? Those should be the 4th line wingers, full stop. Throw Strome or Howden in between them and let them piss people off. That's how you build a winner. I dont care how hard of a worker Brendan Smith is. his offensive skill set limits his ceiling to 4th line winger. He can work all the fuck he wants to, he's not going to score the tying goal down 1 with 4 mins to go when the other team is protecting a lead. It is so f'n RANGERS to finally get some lottery luck, draft a generational talent that is universally seen as NHL ready, then staple his ass to the bench and trot out a defenseman as a winger.
It's 7 games. I hear what you are saying 223, but comments like "These are the guys we are supposed to be developing. If this is a rebuilding year how do we improve trotting out Brendan Smith on the 3rd line and Jesper Fast on the 1st line?" I think are misplaced after 7 games. Should the head coach of a professional sports team, in NY especially, be focused on rebuilding and developing kids in game 3 or 6 or 7? If he was I wouldn't want him as my coach. I want my coach to want to win in game 7. If this continued long term I'd have an issue, but not out of the gate when everyone starts 0-0, and we were 2-0 as well. Come on now. We can put any spin we want on it. We can say coach should play this guy and coach should play that guy, all predictable and been there done that with coach AFTER coach AFTER coach. At days end we have 4 or 5 fourth line guys in the lineup EVERY SINGLE GAME. We have no # 2 C. We have a bunch of kids who have a lot of growing to do still. We have Kreider and Buch playing terrible invisible hockey (if anyone really thinks we should give Kreider over 6 mill per long term you are crazy). We have 8 players who are at best low 3rd line players (and many who are best suited for the 4th line). That's reality. If you all want to blame ANOTHER coach go for it. Again it is very predictable and an old move that you guys love to go to. Fans can second guess every coach with regards to playing time, that is an age old tradition, but in game 7 I am not going to flip out about some kid playing less when the coach is trying to win. If this was game 47 and we stink and Quinn was still doing this, then I'll have an issue with it. In game 7 the much bigger focus is how totally short this team is on upfront scoring depth. We are a 1 line team at best. That is not sustainable to win games.
And Mr. Skjei who as usual looks like he is coming off a summer of BBQ'ing and jet skiing on Lake Minnesota. I don't see how they can bring Staal back with good conscience next year, he's been pushed around like a portable parking sign. May have to excise yet another buyout or package something like the pick we got for Zucc to end it. Hajek seems to be getting on track in the last few. Feet wet kind of year for he and #23.
Quinn changing Lines and first line now kreids zin and kakko. Panarin on 2nd line with buch and strome. Still needs to get liass off the 4th line as he’s playing with smith and mckeg ugh
I agree with dump on Quinn. But I think this rebuild is simpler than everyone makes it out to be. The question is, do we have a second line center and second shutdown defenseman next year within our system? and I think the answer is no. Chytil and Anderson will not be NHL level second-line centers next year. So we should get that via trade. Looks like Trouba is a real deal, very impressed with him. He needs a 1st pair partner, I don't think Miller/Lundqvist will be ready by next year to fit in 1st pair with Trouba. So we should get D via trade too. If we have to package Chytil or Anderson then so be it. The first line is set: Panarin-Z-Kakko. I don't know why Quinn is changing and adjusting. Kreider is gone next year for sure. If we get above-average second-line center via trade, Chytil/Anderson/Kravtsov should be efficient for our second line wings next year. Buch plays very well on a third line. He was very impressive and productive on the third line the other day. He was noticeable. Howden will be the perfect third-line center next year. Great on faceoffs and he will improve. I have a lot of confidence in him. Someone-Howden-Buch is a great 3rd line. Fox is impressive for a rookie. I enjoy watching him play. He should be a decent 2nd pair defenseman for many years to come. If Miller/Lundqvist adequate as a 2nd pair defenseman, we are good on D but we need that second shutdown partner for Trouba. Package Sjei if we have to with some picks. If we have Trouba-Someone, Miller-Fox and Lundkvist-Someone, then we are good on D for many year to come. The rest is whatever. Hajek will not be anything more than 3rd pair D, neither will be DeAngelo. I think Lingren will not be anything special either but we don't need him to be as long as Miller/Lundqvist are what we think they are. We don't need so many kids on this team. So next year if the team looks like this then we are good. I assume one of Chytil/Anderson/Kravtsov is traded as part of a package for a second-line center. Krieder, Sjei. DeAngelo, Lingren or Hajek is part of a package to get second pair defenseman for Trouba. Panarin-Z-Kakko Chytil-Someone-Kravtsov/Anderson Someone-Howden-Buchnevich Lemuix-Someone-Someone Trouba-Someone Fox-Miller Lundkvist-Someone
I think our future first line D pairing is going to be Miller-Trouba. Has everything. Size, skill, toughness, speed. Miller is the real deal. I think Hajek is capable of being a second pairing guy. Though, Robertson in a few years with his size and speed might project there. Howden has done jack shit offensively this year. I have no freakin idea why thickhead Quinn continues to use him over Andersson. What they do on the right side will be interesting. They didn't draft Lundkvist in the first round to trade him IMO. He's smart and very sound defensively. DeAngelo IMO is going at the deadline if they think Lundkvist will make the team next year and I do. If he plays well he is a guy that will be used for a second line center in some kind of package.
I still think the best long term fit for Andersson will end up being on a 3rd line instead of the 2nd, as he dosen't have quite the offense nor skating to really be in the top 6.
It's possible but he won't get to that level with the crap ice time our stupid coach gives him. Howden at worst will be a star 4th line center who can win draws and chip in 25 points a year. Right now there is no question he should be on the 4th line.
Put Howden on the 4th line, that will give us 6 forth line players in our lineup. Man this coach is awful because he isn't giving superstar Lias Andersson 5 more minutes a game...lol. And BTW - Smith plays some extra minutes because he gets a lot of PK time. Either way he is another 4th line guy to add to our collection. STUPID COACH!!!
You keep missing the point dumbass. The point is that you don't reward players with more icetime than players who have outplayed them. It sends a terrible message to the team. Especially to your young players. He's done that multiple times already. He did it to Lindgren who outplayed Staal and Hajek in the pre-season. He's done it to Andersson who has badly outplayed Howden since the pre-season. Stop making moronic comments like calling Andersson a superstar. If you can't comprehend what we are posting, don't respond to it.
Essentially what some of us are saying is put him on the second line, make every attempt to develop him and see what you have at the end of the year. Maybe he will be a 2nd line center. Maybe a third line center. Maybe a wing. That is what the board is saying. Nobody here has stated they know what Lias will be. What we have said over and over and what you refuse to open your ears to is that Lias was one of the best forwards in the pre-season and he's been punished for that from the first game of the season. You can't deny that is piss poor, coaching and the kind of thing that coaches get fired. I'm quite sure it's not lost on JD or Gorton.
I am not on the fire Quinn train at all. But just to clarify, Smith and Kakko had equal ice time at even strength last game (both under 9 mins). When Quinn was asked about Kakko's time he just said it was "the flow of the game". The flow of the game?? We were down a goal and he was playing Smith over Kakko in the third! To me, that is a huge problem. The roster has obvious problems, but when you have limited scoring options you have to actually play those options especially when down a goal in the third.
I can comprehend it just fine, it is simply nonsense is all. The fire this coach and fire that coach stuff is a joke. Funny, the whipping boy AV is gone, and now you have another toy. And it is the coach's fault we have 5 or 6 or 7 lower fourth line guys in the lineup every night. Or it's the coaches fault we are still working through some growing. Or it's the coaches fault we have zero depth. And if he played Andersson 5 more minutes and Smith 5 less minutes that would do what exactly? And if the answer is grow Andersson and gain experience my response is IT'S SEVEN GAMES. If this continued for another month or two yeah, but I am not going to predictably turn on a coach after SEVEN games for not playing Andersson 5 more minutes per game. And the main point that is being totally missed is it wouldn't change the bottom line fact that this team has too many 4th line or lower players upfront to be any sort of legit playoff team right now. That would be a fact regardless of who the coach was. So yeah play Lias more and Smith less, I agree with that 100%, but I am not going to say fire the coach AFTER SEVEN GAMES for it. And just like McIlrath was ruined by his coaches (it wasn't that you were wrong and he wasn't an NHL player, no he was ruined by coaches), let's blame the coach for Lias also. Which is so crazy because I think Lias will be a very good winning 3rd line C, so there is no one to blame for him, he is still a work in progress, hence not being used the extra 5 or so minutes a night currently.
I agree 223, I would play Andersson more also, what's the harm. That is a very fair point. Not one I'd fire a coach for with 93% of the season left, but a point that is fair and one I agree with.
Torts got canned midseason because the team was tamking, AV takes over and the Rangers are in the Cup but coaching didn't have anything to do with it? Meanwhile the Rangers lead Buff 3-0 with a great 1st period. Here's where the coaching comes in- play 40 more minutes of hockey.
