It's terribly frustrating, obviously. They're nowhere near expectations, even Lundqvist looks miles away from his usual self. I don't think I'm being too optimistic to think, "just find a way to stay relevant til April" though. Being the top team hasn't particularly cashed in over recent years. With a shortened season, it's going to be a crap shoot no matter what. The good news is for as poorly as they've played, they're still kind of hanging in there. It's not like they're Washington who is borderline screwed already with the way they're playing.
I never thought we would miss last years line of Feds- Boyle- Prust, but though they couldn't score they played alot of minutes and were reliable defnsively. Hank last year covered up for the big mistakes, this year it's not happening...take Richards off the PP point, put Nash on the point and set him up in the high slot and keep firing...put Kreider - Miller - Callahan back together...
aint that the truth, 61/2 lousy minutes they had to kill last night and they proceeded to let the Sens dictate immediately after they went up 1. As far as the finishing going, yeah they are all pressing and thinking too much......Del Zotto, Gabby had golden opportunities but like everyone else, they hold the puck for that one split second before shooting and....boom..they've missed an open net.
Great Coaching wisdom from Head Coach Tortorella: “I’m glad we got a point,” coach John Tortorella said. “I just don’t think our whole lineup is playing. We just have to keep grinding away until we get people playing and try to grab points when we can.” TRANSLATION - Nothing I can do. It's all the players' fault. They need to deliver.
I get that it's frustrating, but I mean, what do you think he's going to say? What do you want him to say? The team sucks right now. He's not afraid to say that. He's not going to declare himself inadequate for the job or something. He's calling his players out - "I just don't think our whole lineup is playing." - That's an admission of lack of effort. I'm sure he'd be more inclined to nail someone to the bench more than he has already but what options do they have to replace those guys? At least he's not Rex. "Hey, you gotta give that other team credit, they deserve a ton of credit."
I think it is WONDERFUL that he acknowledges that the "whole line-up is not playing". Here is an idea: How about starting a team full of player who WILL play? He seems to have no issue scratching Boyle and sending Kreider up and down the road to Hartford? How about scratching his darling Richards? Or Del Zotto? Or any other players who "isn't playing". How about re-orgainzing the lines? There is more to coaching than bitching out Larry Brooks.
I never really went anywhere, just didn't have much to say. Losing Karlsson was a sickener. Even with Spezza gone I was moderately optimistic for this season, but with over $20m of salary out injured we're going to struggle to do much. The only positive is that the farm system is continuing to turn out some outstanding young prospects who are getting good ice time; the medium to long term hopes for this team, especially with MacLean in charge, are hugely exciting. As for Cooke, I don't think he's a good enough skater to do what he did deliberately but I do think he was manoeuvring to slewfoot Karlsson. It will be interesting to see whether he plays in the game in Ottawa at the beginning of April, if he does then I would be surprised if Chris Neil and Zack Smith aren't given a licence to hunt.
I can't argue with not scratching Richards beyond it being a huge deal to scratch your second highest paid player, one of your captains, and your hold over from the glory days. As for Del Zotto, who are you going to replace him with? Bickel? McIlrath from Hartford? You have to be a little realistic. And re-organizing lines? When's the last game you watched, this happens on a nightly basis. Unless your solution is to trade the whole team or swap them all out for minor leaguers, I don't know what your suggestion is.
are you serious? The only thing I ever blame torts for is over coaching and over "re organizing" if anything. do you ever hold the palyers accountable? you want him to send the whole squad down and field the Conn Whale as the NHL club? I've never seen a fan blame the coach for absolutely everything, it's ridiculous. Every loss is Tort's fault.
yeah thanks for the sanity check, same exact time too. I'm waiting for the "when will Torts be held accountable for short handed goals against" post
Pat Leonard @NYDNRangers #NYR have recalled Steve Eminger from the @CTWhale likely due to Del Zotto injury
