Good- Kreider, Hags speed, Hank, McD, Miller, PP is better, PK is better, Bad- Delzotto (get off the PP, giveaway machine) Ryan Miller deserves a better team, what a performance
Rangers are undefeated this season when I miss a game. They haven't won a single game that I've watched.
Zuccarello is not getting the credit he deserves for his non-stop hustle in three straight games. That guy is all over the ice.
brassard scores the first goal of the season for the hometown fans. henrik really looked like his old self last night. i'd really like to see them wail the piss out of Carolina Saturday.
johnny....I totally disagree with you..and I couldnt care less what the record is with the Canucks. Listen..there are things about Torts I really like...really like. Being a true skilled player on his roster? I wouldnt want to be one. Kreider will be a goal scorer...I mean whats the count on players this guy has ruined or attempted to ruin? Richards...Gabs... Lets forget about them for a minutes...did you really like watching the Rangers play the last few years? Do you think H.L. would even consider sticking around if Torts stayed the way he let guys just windup and shoot from the point? The only way a Torts team was going to win was having a goalie stand on his head and that wasnt going to happen every playoff game. He allowed no creativity from his defenseman...banged the shit out of the team by having them spend more time on their knees then their skates in games in November...had no power play for years...have you been watching this power play? Hey...Im not sure this team has the talent to go deep...but I guarantee and promise one thing..at least you have the ability to find out. You could never judge the true growth of a player under Torts....no way..no how. And I will say it again....Kreider came up with no practice and excelled. The Rangers made a big trade last year and the new players with no system exploded. As soon as the got whif of the new system? Kreider is the goods...no doubt about it now. A poster asked how he didnt excel last year in the AHL...i think this kids brain was fried. He came out a college star straight to the playoffs and exploded..and then a start of a full season with Torts and it was gone..and it took this kid to finally shrug it off and be himself..and here he is. All of these Rangers some of you knock...Hags...etc...they will off very soon shake off the mental chains they played with and start scoring...watch my friend Jon..its going to happen.
I agree with pretty much all of this. But Kreider wasn't struggling with any system. He was struggling with the things that every coach, from Torts to AV, preach on a daily basis. To be consistently engaged in the game on a shift-to-shift basis, keep moving your feet, use your size and speed to recover the puck, etc. It takes time for a player to adjust to pro hockey and do these things, especially for a guy like Kreider who doesn't have a lot of hockey sense. Let's not forget for every playoff game he scored in and played well, he had just as many where he was invisible every single shift. We should be thrilled that it looks like the light switch went on in his head and he's ready to be an impact player, but he's doing every single thing that Tortorella told him to do from day one, and that's led to his success.
I really don't understand the logic behind the whole torts ruins creative players.........how? by asking them to contribute defensively and holding them accountable if they didn't? In my opinion the only thing torts was guilty of was being overly abrasive with his players, and after a few seasons that can get old quick. Maybe the d collapsing too much was something that bugged me, still not sure if that was a system thing or not. Richards sucked from the first drop of the puck last season, don't think Torts had anything to do with that..... and Gabby played like a pussy a lot of the time and deserved the crap he got. The bottom line to me is this, he took them further in the playoffs the last 2 years than any other coach would have. I mean really they were the only EC team that made the Conf semi finals the last 2 years. Firing him implied that they were Cup contenders......I never bought into that, I knew they didn't have the talent or depth....they still don't. The ironic thing to me is that they seem these last few games to be playing very similar with how they've played last 2 seasons, hard with a big compete level. I give AV credit for perhaps seeing that's what works best for this team and not being to married to a style of play. It would be great to see a 4 goal outburst someday, but let's not get crazy. I also give AV props for a much better looking power play.
They're playing hard with a big compete level, something every team should play with for any coach. What they're also doing under AV is playing a more aggressive man defense both in their own zone and in the neutral zone, which is leading to more puck possession and more time in the opponent's zone. It's amazing to me that a seemingly smart hockey guy like Torts was so concerned about puck possession in the offensive zone he played a hard forechecking dump in style, yet wanted the team to skate WITH the opponents in the neutral zone and play a collapsing zone defense in the defensive zone. Such a silly, wasteful strategy that can only be successful with an overachieving grinding team. Good for him that the Sedins have such amazing chemistry with their teammates, his system might actually work for that team this year.
I see your point AM but I think all the struggles you mentioned are just pretty simply him being out of it mentally...feeling the pressure to adjust to his system and everything else falling flat wherever he was playing. I totally agree that he should have done well when sent down but the combination of going from a championship in college and staring and right into the playoffs where he played great was all followed by the expectations that the following year would be Kreider picking up where he left off but when he struggled early, it all...all...went south on him.
I agree with most of this and as I mentioned before...I loved about 80% of what Torts stood for. But when you look at this team...the effort they put out there night in and night out...it just wasnt good enough for Torts most of the time. I guess the biggest thing that bothered me about him was that no player...besides Nash ( who has the rare ability to totally create on his own) truly excelled offensively. No player broke out offensively. The power play was a disgrace. He developed not one decent offensive defenseman in his system and because of that...was forced to use 4 front line players on the power play and usually 1 defenseman. From Mcd...to MDZ...I believe those two players have the ability to become above average offensive defenseman....I really do. Again...I liked most of what Torts brought to the table...I just feel he limited any creativity and growth on the offensive end. And while you say the last few games they seem to have taken a step towards the Torts style....not sure I totally agree with that. What I saw in the Buffalo game was a flat team that got away with not their A game against a terrible team. Other than that, from the power play to how the even enter the zone even play, I like the development of this team and think they will be a much more balanced team. To say the least...what I love the most is their penalty killing mindset of not sitting 4 guys in the box and letting other teams defenseman just tee off all game long.
