New coach, new system, boatload of injuries, poor play, poor defensive zone coverage, poor goaltending, Hank is injured, no offense generated, 80 game road trip, wow what a start!
At this point, why not give Talbot the start next game, it can't get any worst then the Coyotes game. You know it starts to make we wonder if Torts was not given enough credit. He knew what kind of team the Rangers were, the kind of team that has to block 22344566 shots and play tight defense to win games. That style as boring as it was worked with the personnel the rangers had. If Torts was here now, would the Rangers have won more games at this point? I think so. This team is faarrr from a finesse offensive juggernaut. It’s unproven rookies playing a very offensive style of hockey that might be too much for a blue collared team to play.
Im not saying I miss Torts but I said repeatedly over the last few seasons that he massively over-achieved with this team. There is no denying that even though some others around here thought he was holding this team back....somehow some people thought we had offensive talent and Torts held them back. Complete nonsense
agreed, I said it last year when Torts was let go........so this is not hind sight, i always firmly believed that his philosophy/style fit the Rangers perfectly and was the primary reason along with Hank's goaltending that they over achieved the last 2 years. I understand they have injuries, a crappy schedule working against them etc........but fans that believed this team is overly talented offensively and thatTorts was holding them back, well, they were wrong. This was never a team that had the talent to play up and down the ice pond hockey. What's also funny is that the defensemen which are basically the same, do not know how to play anymore since they are playing in a system which supposedly gives them more freedom. Perhaps hey needed the disciplined structure Torts demanded to succeed. Bottom line.........when everyone returns I expect this team will still struggle. The only saving grace is that we have a full season this year to get it together.
Steve Zipay @stevezipay AV: Talbot will play Thursday; Lundqvist will travel, not backup. Missaien will be called up
No sense rushing Hank back and having this irritation linger, get him ready for the home opener in mid December
For everyone who thought Torts should stay, you're acting as if the GM of this team is pro-active, and actually has conversations with his head coach about the style and system the team should play. That wasn't going to happen. Sather is a lazy ego-maniac. He's not going to do what others want, and if he was willing to, he's too lazy to take the time and map out a long term plan on what needs to be built. When we were building a puck-possession team and needed a #2 center, he signed Gomez AND Drury for #1 center money. When we were building a gritty, hard working, blue collar team he signed an east-west finesse sniper that was made of glass. When we needed one legit top 6 scorer to maybe put us over the top, he traded four pieces for a $6M player with a $7.8M cap hit. Do you think Tortorella liked trading half of the Eastern Conference championship roster with the worst team in the league? Or guaranteeing a roster spot to a terribly unprepared Chris Kreider? How many times did Torts express frustration at the roster juggling that happened year after year after year? Sather does as he pleases, head coaches opinion be damned. Tortorella had to go for a few reasons, but the main reason being he wasn't willing to adjust and the GM is not going to dig deep into this team when he can just fire the coach and get someone who is more flexible. And then, a few years from now if Sather is still alive, when he's put another patchwork roster together that doesn't fit any particular system or doesn't have any particular identity, he'll fire AV and start all over again. And don't think for a second that Vigneault is any worse (or much better) at his job than Tortorella. This goes so far beyond that. The good news, of course, is when this team gets healthy it will scratch and claw its way into a playoff spot, lose in the first round, and convince Glen that we're once again just a move or two away. And that starts with re-signing guys like Callahan and Girardi to long term, big money deals so we can watch them deteriorate right in front of our eyes! Lather, rinse, repeat. 13 years and counting.
Gloom and doom, we are all pissed about this horrible start caused by various reasons, but this is a talented team, and we all have to be patient...we haven't even skated on home ice yet...plus the myriad of injuries...keep the faith...
I'm not getting ahead of myself by saying this team is doomed to play this way for the entire season but there are quite a few flaws. My feeling is as it's been for quite some time - this team has (and has had) an identity crisis. What do they want to be? I loved Torts, but when you lose the locker room you've gotta go, that simple. So far it's clear that you just teach an old dog new tricks by bringing in the radical juxtaposition that AV is. Things will get better for the Rangers but I doubt they'll be as good as any of us hoped they' would be.
yeah baby!!! only 19 days since the last game, it's on tonight!! this is the key to enjoying this season, even though they suck at the moment, we only get to see them play once every other week or so, so every game is great.
You're saying that this team had the offensive talent level consistant with a team that should have been last in the NHL on the power-play?
PROJECTED LINES: LW C RW Chris Kreider Derek Stepan Brad Richards (A) Benoit Pouliot Derick Brassard J.T. Miller Taylor Pyatt Brian Boyle Jesper Fast Brandon Mashinter Dominic Moore Derek Dorsett LD RD Ryan McDonagh Dan Girardi (A) Marc Staal (A) Anton Stralman Michael Del Zotto John Moore Scratched Mats Zuccarello Justin Falk
I don't know if I can remember a Rangers @ Flyers game with a more "meh" vibe to it......the nomad schedule, Cally & Nash out, a ho-hum Flyers team (even Giroux's without a goal thus far).... I mean, any 'graybeards' remember this poodle-head douchebag with the "perm" hairdoo from the Spectrum?
Perhaps not, no. But looking at the PP, its not like we had al the talent in the world playing on it. But that is not my point.....and this is for AM also. I idndt say Torts should stay, I said he over-achieved with this team. Actually I said he MASSIVELY over-achieved. And he did. We are not a very talented team ( up front). Some of you guys want to believe we are. We have Stepan and Nash who can be upper echelon forwards. That's it. 2 guys. Period. Torts took an even less talented team ( no Nash) to the Ester conference final. We had absolutely no business being there. None. You cannot argue that we dindt over achieve under Torts.
