The issue becomes that we are now 0-3 against the isles and I highly doubt that we can beat them in a series with the coaching staff making these dumb ass decisions. This team wins inspite of these coaches. Between Arneil's ineptitude all season long, Samuelson apparently telling all the dmen to go down to a knee in the dzone instead of hitting guys and AV refusing to get this team to play gritty hockey and get dirty goals as well as not coaching this team on how to beat a good forecheck. That is the reason I can't see this team winning the Cup this year. Could we? Absolutely. The talent is there. But can the coaches figure it out is the question.
I'll tell you one thing though...an Isles/Ranger series will be a classic. Rangers are no doubt the better team, but the Isles have the extra fire from playing the Rangers, their SC. I would think with everyone in we'd win that series, home ice or not, but man that will be a great series, and I think it happens...I don't trust the Pens to keep winning.
I certainly would've had Staal on the ice to take that face off but that's still a shot from the top if the circle that needs to be stopped. Ranta seemed to have a good view of it so not sure how he allows that one in.
It was a good shot high on the blocker shoulder, but yeah a stoppable shot. Still doesn't excuse AV from his decision to use his 4th best FO guy at that point in the game. I mean what could he possibly say to that. And Moore was on the ice as well.
I've never seen him as a good center. He's a decent shooter but his passing and play making is suspect. He should be put on the wing and would likely score more in that position.
I wouldn't say the Rangers are no doubt the better team. Maybe slightly but the Isles are a very tough matchup for them.
Stepan has actually been playing really well recently. He has 15 goals and missed a few weeks, so he has scored goals. He has also played well recently as I said. To me that is on AV. Yeah ultimately Stepan can do a better job on the FO, but when you put a guy in a position where he struggles guess what...he might struggle. A coaches job is to put their players in the best position to succeed, and AV simply did not do that in this case. Not sure what AV is thinking there. He would have been the 4th guy I picked to take that FO.
I'll disagree with you 71. The Rangers are no doubt the better team IMO. MUCH better in goal. Better and deeper on D. Maybe lesser on high end talent upfront, but clearly deeper upfront with Staal here and Nash back. Rangers are clearly the better team IMO, but it is a coin flip series because most NHL playoff series can go either way AND the Isles play the Rangers like it is game 7 of the SCF.
If they actually showed up for the first 1o minutes of the game, we would not be talking about stepan sucking on draws.
thats the problem. The Rangers never seem to match the isles intensity. It is like they dont give a shit as much as the isles do that there is another hockey team in nyc.
I've been wanting Stepan to move to wing for fucking years. He's a disaster on draws. Watching this game I saw Staal finally dominate. Seeing what this team gave up for him, I'm all for moving Kreider in the off-season and bringing Staal back. This game was a perfect example of why I don't care about the Rangers moving Kreider and why his name was out there at the deadline. He's a retard. He made so many stupid plays in this game I lost count. He's fucking lazy. He wasn't even a factor on any shift. I would be happy to move Kreider and Glass in a package for Ritchie, Roussel and a first to Dallas. Dallas loves Glass for some reason. I've finally had it with that tool.
I watched Kreider the entire game closely. He's retarded. I finally think the Rangers are catching onto this. If has one more retard season like this, his value will go to crap. That is why I think barring a huge playoffs, this will be the last season we see Kreider as a blueshirt. He's had every opportunity to get it done. He's a moron.
Yep, Kreider just coasted all game doing nothing. If I was the coach, I would glue his ass to the bench, not Miller.
Boomer seems to be one of the few who consistently calls Kreider out. Kreider only does two things well. Skate and stand in front. He doesn't even use his speed 80% of the games. Guy is a complete moron.
Kreider is very frustrating. He was often times shown flashes of what he can do but it just doesn't seem like he has the work ethic to bring that kind of game every night.
The fact his name was out there at the deadline is very, very, telling. IMO, they can't risk another season with this guy having his head up his ass. He still has the value. Time to cash in and go in a different direction. He also will want 3-4 million. No thanks. Rather roll the dice on Staal, sign him to 5-6, get back picks and young prospects for Kreider.
