On TSN 1050 this morning, Pierre McGuire spoke about the teams who are at the top of the Eastern Conference. Pierre said that the teams in the East that “you need to be careful” of are Boston, Tampa, Pittsburgh and the Rangers with Montreal in the next tier. On the Rangers, Pierre said “the New York Rangers…remember when we talked about ‘beware of the Rangers’ they are coming hard. What they did to Washington last night was not good for Washington and real good for the Rangers. The Rangers are really dangerous right now and they have won 7 of their last 10 games and they are going to be in a real good spot here.”
We are playing great and have turned a corner. At the same time IMO this could just turn out to be a nice cushion of pts before the Olympic break. With the three week gap anything can happen when play picks back up. I hope it doesn't break any of the momentum that we have had going.
LOL...It is funny how there is not much to complain about, since they've been playing much better. Just last month we were trading everyone and their mother. Now every analyst is going to get on the bandwagon and say we are cup contenders. I am still not falling for this tease. They are still not a cup contender by a long stretch.
Hate to be a pessimist but I agree. They need to prove they can play with this type of consistency straight through the end of the year to be considered a cup threat. We have played better in front of Hank and he has responded. We haven't been letting in many goals. If the intensity of play gears up and they lapse defensively or toughness wise even a little bit they will be right back to getting beat up by bigger/stronger teams and giving up 3-5 goals a game.
Not me on the first part. I think we had some good laughs when I posted you guys want to trade everyone now...LOL. Everyday there was a new post trade this guy or trade that guy. It was funny. But that is what makes us fans. All good. I have no issues with that. As for the 2nd part, I agree. We are clearly better, but no way will I say we are cup contenders right now. Until I can see us beating Pitt and Boston I cannot say that. We are heading in the right direction now at least, but way too soon to say cup contenders. I still think we need another scoring winger and a big physical dman to be legit contenders for the cup. We can get in as is. We can win a round as is. I don't think we can make an ECF or win a cup as is. Just my opinion. We'll see...
Consistency.....that is what I'm looking for. My brain cannot get around SC contender with what has transpired thus far..... this team has many hills to climb before they climb that SC mountain. It is all premature for a team that has achieved nothing. Play with consistency and win more than 3 in a row spurts....yes, I agree that "we shall see......"
They could maybe make it 6/7 games with Pitt, but they still aren't built well enough to beat Boston in a series. They're too small and not physical enough.
The Rangers can't compete with Boston without McIlrath on the big squad and can't score with Pitt unless they add a legit 35 goal wing.
The question one has to ask is if this Rangers team is better than the one that was one game from the Stanley Cup a few years ago. I believe it is and I agree with McGuire. AV had a brutal schedule to start the season on the road coupled with having to train in an unfamiliar location with a team playing the exact opposite style of hockey he coaches. Hank's play has taken a 180 and he's back to his spectacular self, Nash who was thrown to the curb by many seems to have shaken the concussion cobwebs and resumed his usual dominance and they have 2 solid scoring lines. This Rangers team is also a helluva lot more entertaining to watch. I have always agreed with the need for a big dman and think McIlrath is the guy, I don't think he needs to be in the AHL where nobodies looking to make a name for themselves take runs at him.
Plus Boston and Pitt are clearly better this season then they were two seasons ago. Two seasons ago the East was wide open, as you see from the Devs making the SCF. There were no teams like Boston and Pitt this year in the East that year. My opinion right now is we are as good or better than any team in the East other than Boston or Pitt. To beat Boston or Pitt we need more IMO. I don't think we'd say no shot to play with those two teams, but clearly we'd be the underdog against either going into the series. That is why I say we can get in as is. We can win a round as is. I don't think we would get to the ECF as is since we'd most likely get Boston or Pitt in round 2 and be a clear underdog.
