Chuck, perhaps a little but Hank saves Girardi and Mcd's asses more than any 2 defenseman on the team. As will sonnet(remember him) would say no brag just fact LOL
Did Talbot save them also? Do they also not play against Cindy, and OV, and the triplets? Another teams takes the ice as well, and shocker...they want to win also. I think G was very good in these playoffs. I think McD was solid, not up to his high standard, but solid. These two weren't great, but I truly think they were solid given who they were playing against. Plays will be made by great players, and when they are it isn't always the dman's fault. You want to get on a dman, get on Staal who really struggled against the Caps and Bolts. Way worse than anything G or McD did.
Staal did suck also and played like he had a broken foot also falling all over the place or maybe he just needs new skates. Yes Talbot saved them too and I forgot he needs to be traded also for an asset.
Chuck, if they ever put a tape of it together Hank had an absolute highlight reel of saves this playoffs off opposing forwards getting perfect passes directly in front from our d-men both on just mind boggling passes straight to them and my favorites the non-look or behind the back pass to a waiting opposing forward in front. Their passes created the much too often heard henrik-henrik chant as a result.
Of course Hank is great, my point is our D does their part also. And if you watched other teams their goalies save their D at times as well, that is hockey. You guys want perfection and it simply will not happen playing major minutes against guys like Cindy, and OV, and the triplets.
Because AV has insisted on building a soft team with speed. He refused to develop McIlrath. He refused to talk with Sather and add some physical toughness at the deadline . Instead he got another soft defenseman in Yandle at a great cost.
Great cost? Moore was not anything great...Duke...we have to wait and see, yes he could be a nice scorer but can he play NHL defense? will he be able to score during playoff hockey? Yandel is someone everyone on this board begged to get for the past couple of years. In the Tampa series I thought he played very well. This notion that McIlrath is going to be the difference between game 7 of the ECF and the SCF is mind boggling.
Al, your optimistic nonsense is over. It isn't working. If you don't think Duclair, a 1st was a great cost for a 2 year rental, you're out of your mind. First round picks usually tend to be good NHL players. Sometimes top NHL players. When you keep getting rid of them, eventually your farm sucks.
you are so funny with your farm bullshit... how many years we heard the farm was GREAT and was underrated by the ANTI NY media...we trade away one player in Duclair and now the farm sucks. First round picks usually tend to be good NHL players...well I can name 2 first round Ranger picks which were picked in the first round that have NO IMPACT to a NHL roster. Going for it last year for MSL was needed as was picking up Yandel who you were stroking for every year the past 2 or 3 trade deadlines. yeah being optimistic on a team that went to 3 conference finals and one SCF is nonsense. Shall we get you a Brooklyn Icelander jersey?
Everyone of our kids will be a stud in dumps mind...and then when they aren't he moves onto the next one. Now McIlrath is Chara...LOL. And BTW dump...you were on record saying you loved the Yandle deal, now you knock it? Come on bro. Did you even see him play or were you watching the NFL draft or sleeping? Yandle was very good against TB, and with a 2.6 mill cap hit a huge edge for us against the cap next season. Kreider, Hayes, Miller, Yandle all will be huge cap wins for us next season.
Duke will be a good scorer. A finesse scorer. Not sure he will be a complete player. That is the unknown. Maybe he will be and maybe he won't be. I rather have Miller based on the physical game he has.
As more time has passed I am actually starting to think we can benefit and grow from this season. We got to the SCF last season. We had a great regular season this year. We made the ECF but struggled along the way in the playoffs. I now believe we can take this and learn and grow from it. I do think we will take a step back in the regular season, but that's okay to me since I rather open on the road and I don't think home ice means much. Make a few tweaks, like add a top 9 R shot firery winger to replace Hags or MSL, and I think we will be right there again. The Rangers could look to the Detroit Red Wings of the mid 90’s as a model they could follow. In 1994-95 the Red Wings lost in the Stanley Cup Final to the Devils. In 1995-96 the Red Wings won the Presidents’ Trophy and then lost in the Western Conference Final to the Avalanche. In 1996-97 the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup and won again in 1997-98. The 1995-96 Red Wings finished with 131 point, 27 points ahead of second place Colorado. In 1996-97 the Red Wings finished 5th in the league with 94 points.
Losing a game 7 at home/losing an elimination game at home I actually think could help us grow. I think it can wake them up a bit. They played games 5 & 7 so soft that I almost have to believe they just thought at home in a big game, we show up and we got this. I think they can benefit from how this all went down.
Chuck, duke is 19. Hard to see him not filling out with some additional muscle and being a top scorer. As for his defense who knows but yandle while a good offensive defensemen is far from good defensively and is pushed all over the place. Team needs to get bigger and tougher to play against for next year. I think they should look at offers for yandle because they will not be able to sign him for what he'll want and still be able to sign kreider and hayes who are more important to the team. Also, they need to open a spot for the new prodigal son skjei
Yandle won't be traded Mel..that's 98% certain..especially not at that cap hit. The reason they acquired him is because they have no one who can do the things he can offensively. It's almost like having an extra top 6 forward out there.
Like I said, maybe he will and maybe he won't. I personally think he will score goals, but I am not sure he will be a complete player to score the tough physical goals. I think Miller will be, and that's why I rather have Miller. Miller will score less goals and have less O, but I think he will be a more complete player. As for the dmen I am done with the nonsense on the board. All you guys want to be a team that plays for a Cup, but at the same time want two rookie dmen in the lineup. Two WAY unproven not top prospect rookie dmen in the lineup. With all due respect that is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. We have Yandle here at a HUGE bargain of a cap hit at 2.6 mill. Instead of you guys saying hey that's a big edge for us getting a 50 point top 4 dman to be our 5th dman. And we also have our very solid 4th dman locked up at 2.9 mill. Instead you guys say hey trade Yandle and give up that big advantage we have. Oh and let's play 2 unproven rookies on D. That is asinine...just is. If we were a team focused on 2 or 3 years from now maybe that is a different story, but we aren't. And we want to win a cup next season, so worry about resigning Yandle after next season...and hopefully a cup. At this point I am not sure what to say anymore.
