in general no it's opposite, if you learn something too early in the season teams have time to adjust
Stepan leads the Rangers with 188 SOG and only has 13 goals, 6.9% shooting pct.....by my account he has missed the net 800 times Stepan 47.7% faceoff pct
As I have said to every single person who has tried to defend Derek Stepan's performance to me: He can't score goals, and he can't win face-offs. Other than that, he is a fine NHL center!
he's among the worst on the team and that's an endemic problem on this team. It's like they don't practice hitting the net
Same story Stepan stays an hour after every practice to practice his shooting, picking corners.....hit the fuckin' net!
I brought up his stats on the Rangers forum and you'd think I took a shit on everyone's doorstep. But he has so many points per season! I mean, not $8m point totals, but so good!
The thing that amazes me about Stepan is that this NOT news... This has been going on for years... http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/s/stepade01.html Other than the lockout year, he has been awful. He highest goal total was 22. He has never had a face-off percentage greater than 50%. It blows my mind that not only does he get praised by this team, but he has been chosen to be part of team USA on more than one occasion (Olympics, World Cup)!
Did they bring up irrelevant stat-tracking measurements? Stepan defenders love to bring up stuff like Corsi and Fenwick and WAR-Wonton Soup
ok so its very very safe to say that at this very moment the Rangers definitely cannot beat washington, pittsburgh, columbus, montreal, and i want no part of the islanders whatsoever in the playoffs if they make it. thats 5 of 7 teams that they cannot beat as far as i can see, not too rosey a scenario, nobody wants me to be wrong more than myself but i honestly dont think i am right now. my chick scored me 4th row tickets for saturday night out here against the Kings, hey its a road game they have a shot haa haa!
The isles had no business winning that game, the Rangers left so many scoring chances on the table, I thought they were going to blow them out. Tough loss but it's a matter of time before they start converting on those missed opportunities.
But that's part of the game - FINISHING your chances, and whether its Hayes or Stepan, we do not have a center who is capable of finishing rebound opportunities that most SECOND LINE CENTERS in the league can finish. Again, I simply do not understand the outright negligence that the center position has gotten from this organization for the better part of 10 years!
grabner had the best chance of all and didnt convert last night, had half the goal open and didnt bury it. i played hockey growing up, what looks easy to the eyes on tv isnt that easy at all down there on the ice though, its really true.
They brought up that he has tons of points per season and he has just as many points as Nash or Zuc so he's an elite player like them.
The Rangers are very good. But some fans have trouble recognizing it. Same reason there were Fire Garrett threads on Cowboys forums when Dallas lost to Green Bay. And why there were Fire McCarthy threads when Green Bay lost to Atlanta. And Fire Quinn threads when Atlanta lost to New England.
They are very good, and contrary to mob rule Vigneault is an excellent coach. But he might be fatally flawed in terms of being able to make that last adjustment. There are plenty of coaches who aren't as good but that know how to close the deal. Even a monkey like Tortorella won a Stanley Cup Bottom line though is the Rangers have as good a chance as anyone to win the cup and better than most teams
Vigneault is one of the biggest winners in the NHL and he's been to the finals twice, so the only argument is he can't win the Cup. But if you treat winning a finals like flipping a coin (which is fair because both teams are really good), it's very plausible he just hasn't gotten lucky yet. IMO no other coach is more likely to help the Rangers win the Cup, and nearly all are much less likely.
Sidney Crosby just ended Marc Methot's season and put his career into question after almost severing his finger in tonight's game. But obviously since Crosby is a misunderstood genius expect Pierre McGuire's boyfriend to get off scott free
If the players were reversed, the NHL would request a formal FBI investigation and call in a special prosecutor
