NFT: New York Rangers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning, Game 7, 8:00pm

that will put me to sleep, hopefully ill sleep for about 48 hours and wake up on monday morning sometime. Enjoyed these threads with you guys all year, wish it ended differently for us. Hopefully next year it will.

Goodnight all

In comment 12307570 BrettNYG10 said:

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And it really sucks losing to a team that won due to great defensive hockey when they've sucked defensively all year. If they LOLStamkosandTripleted us for four games, fine, but they won two with their fuck you skill, and two playing a game the Rangers should have been better equipped for.

Like him or not, that team listens to their coach.

with mediocre D and goaltending that just shuts this group down. Tokarski, Mason, MAF, Holtby like 3x.... now Bishop. It's a joke.

I dunno - feel like the team will keep banging their heads against this wall and I don't blame them... you can sell the fans hope on this and its a business after all... and maybe there's a lucky run in the next 2-3 years, I don't know. But its a 39-36 group over 4 years with a ton of game 7 magic to get even to that record.

I don't know where the elite offensive scoring is going to come from. Teams just don't let that get away (unlike top pairing D-men apparently)

In comment 12307577 Giants2012 said:

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In comment 12307570 BrettNYG10 said: Quote: And it really sucks losing to a team that won due to great defensive hockey when they've sucked defensively all year. If they LOLStamkosandTripleted us for four games, fine, but they won two with their fuck you skill, and two playing a game the Rangers should have been better equipped for. Like him or not, that team listens to their coach.

Did they forget to listen to him in games 3,4,6?

In comment 12307578 MetsAreBack said:

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with mediocre D and goaltending that just shuts this group down. Tokarski, Mason, MAF, Holtby like 3x.... now Bishop. It's a joke. I dunno - feel like the team will keep banging their heads against this wall and I don't blame them... you can sell the fans hope on this and its a business after all... and maybe there's a lucky run in the next 2-3 years, I don't know. But its a 39-36 group over 4 years with a ton of game 7 magic to get even to that record. I don't know where the elite offensive scoring is going to come from. Teams just don't let that get away (unlike top pairing D-men apparently)

We really need one of the young guys to blossom and become a stud. Need someone to step up and become a Tyler Johnson type player. He kind of came out of no where.

Would be nice to not have a top offensive prospect die on the bench, too. That poor kid, RIP

I don't know .... could happen I guess, but could happen for any of the 30 teams out there.

kind of hanging our hat on wishful thinking.

It's not easy to win a Cup... just mindful that the window closes fast and we're stuck in an 8 team division / 16 team conference (thanks Detroit!!)... there are a finite amount of opportunities and they cannot continue to be wasted like this.

he couldnt wipe Tyler Johnsons ass.

And yes, it is wishful thinking, Tyler Johnson coming out of no where to be a stud is a rare exception.

We definitely missed Zucc in the last 2 rounds, but some people have acted like Zucc was a 70-80 point guy.

In 77 games he had 49 points. Nice player but we should have been able to overcome it.

lets assume we're above average because we have more money to spend... and make it to the ECF now once every 6-7 years which is better than a Carolina or NJ will ever have it.

That's 11-12 of these ECFs you will ever get to see in your lifetime. We've now seen I guess 5 since 1994? 3 in the past 4 years. So chances are we get another 6-7 in our lifetime... hopefully?

We cannot continue to come up empty.

I realize its not an exact science but at some point we will in fact in a salary cap league this harsh... go 20 years at some point without getting even to an ECF.

We cannot continue to flounder these opportunities.

Hank compounds my hurt right now on top of everything else - but with the league growing ever bigger because owners just want to get paid expansion fees - as a fan I just don't know when / if ... we'll ever get to experience a Cup again. That fan wasn't kidding in '94 with the "I can die in peace now" sign. This isn't easy at all.

In comment 12307583 MookGiants said:

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In 77 games he had 49 points. Nice player but we should have been able to overcome it.

If MSL had anything left in the tank, we probably could have. But MSL was exposed badly this postseason for a guy with absolutely nothing left. That's on Sather and AV, not on Marty... but it had me wishing we still had Richards around he was that atrocious out there.

look at this season in a positive light what so ever.

The only way I could ever even consider that is if we win a cup in the next couple years.

Until then I will always look back on it with nothing but regret. This was right there for us. We did not need to be great in this series to advance, and we would have been favored to win next round. It was not going to take some stand on your head every period hockey from Henrik to win a cup, we just needed to raise our play a bit and we had a great chance. To lose 3 out of 4 games on your home ice and not score since the 2nd fucking period of game 2 is just maddening. And Tampa was a .500 squad this year on the road, they were not some road juggernaut.

could offer to play for the minimum next year and I don't want him, because if he's on the roster he's going to play. They have to immediately move on from him. A ham sandwich could step into his position next year and be an upgrade. That's the one positive in the off-season, if we simply let MSL go we are likely looking at a nice upgrade at the position regardless of who plays it.

It sounds like Buchnevich isn't coming over next year, but I hope he does. We need to hit it big with one of these guys.

they were 18 wins against 23 losses away from Amalie. I think 7 by OTL, but they had OTW's too, so they were sub .500

And two of those wins were at MSG.

They ended the year 5-1 at MSG

The only thing I can say is I guess with McD on a broken foot and maybe, probably without Zucc in a SCF... we'd probably would have lost I guess. who knows.

I just know its going to be difficult as fuck to even get back to an ECF next year or the year after. The Caps got within a cunt hair of bouncing us in 5, and the Pens and Isles will be better, while the Jackets will be well rested and feeling good about their 2nd half.

Goddamnit this group blew it. They just blew it

that when the Rangers don't call he'll throw a hissy fit and sign with the Islanders for league minimum.


And I'm totally fine with that.


I'm expecting some sort of leak from his camp in coming days about how he played hurt though.

Whatever- I'm done with him. Not mad at him, I don't doubt his work ethic. I just think giving up a #1 on top of Callahan was assenine and our worst fears about Sather's decisions played out on national stage.

As they would for Rangers fans. Being a Mets and Rangers fan in a sad way makes you empathize for what Eagles fans must go through.

He might not be Patrick Kane, but he can fly and he has 30 goal potential. They're putting a lot of eggs in Buchnevich's basket. Miller and Kreider and Hayes are going to improve, but Buchnevich has more skill and, probably, a higher ceiling.

The bigger concern going forward is the defense. Really nervous about hitching their wagon to Staal and Girardi as those guys age. Skjei better be everything they think he will be.

He can clearly coach, but a lot of his personnel decisions suck. Marty should have been in the press box. Glass should never have played regularly. As has been pointed out, he missed out on Stralman on the PP. He jerked Miller around for no apparent reason.

but he scored the same amount of goals as MSL this postseason - 1.

Glass for Boyle and Boyle for Stralman... I agree, as much as Sather fucked up, AV had a hand too.

And I distinctly remember the morning of the ridiculous Yandle trade, AV leaving practice for "management meetings" so his fingerprints were all over that one too.

Now of course -- all HC's are 'win now'... they know they don't have a medium or long-term obligation. It just sucks that we felt we had to win now by acquiring essentially a 3rd paid D for 3 fucking assets while Tampa traded for Coburn (2nd rounder?) and called it a day.

for quite a while he was playing with Glass and Sheppard, which made zero sense.

He jerked Miller around most of the season and them stuck him on the fourth line for much of the playoffs.

Could be worse. We could be Blues fans.

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Anson Carter ‏@AnsonCarterLA 4h4 hours ago
Gotta give the @NYRangers credit. Good effort by Mac on a broken foot and Staal broken ankle I'm hearing





Wow. Absolutely insane.

fog today as I know I will... Thinking of what coulda been... 2 YEARS in a ROW is so difficult to do, hope the team has another run in them with a few kids from the Pack next year. Couldn't sleep last night & when I FINALLY fell out Man was it a restless sleep!!

So Bummed!!

which is an hour better than I expected

Fuck the NHL for putting this game on a Friday - if it happens on Thursday maybe the entire weekend doesn't get ruined by this.

In comment 12307597 Greg from LI said:

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He might not be Patrick Kane, but he can fly and he has 30 goal potential. They're putting a lot of eggs in Buchnevich's basket. Miller and Kreider and Hayes are going to improve, but Buchnevich has more skill and, probably, a higher ceiling.

+1 speed kills and hate parting ways with home grown talent.

Bad luck, bad play and a strong opponent. Not a Sather fan at all but hard to pin this entirely on him. Callaghan forced a trade. Letting Stralman go was stupid. Signing Boyle was a desperation move following the loss of Stralman and B. Boyle. Trading for Yandle another example of the lack of priority that Sather places on the draft. Team was short a defenseman and acted out of desperation.

Overall though, this loss is on the players who simply were too inconsistent all post-season. Blame also the coach who stayed with "experience" in MSL even though the player consistently failed the eye test this year.

disappointing way to end what was a helluva eason but history and our hearts will tell us that a great regular season is all that it was.

I'm not going to blame the series loss on injuries or bad luck rather it was simply their inability to adjust to Tampa's road style of play and find a way to win more than 1 fucking home playoff game! Honestly, how can you be shutout in Game 5 and Game 7 on your own ice?! I don't want to over dramatize this but this season and series will haunt the franchise and fans for some time to come.

Can't wait to see the dead weight jettisoned, it''s officially now long overdue!

MSL's gotta go, as does Glass (though I know AV will probably resign if Sather dumps him). I think Sheppard can still be a valuable 4th line piece. The roster as a whole doesn't need a lot of changes, they just need to execute. Unfortunately there's no guarantee of that. Also, shooting a puck into Zucc's head is definitely something that should be avoided next year.

In comment 12307485 BurberryManning said:

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I was absolutely blown away with how good he played. At 6'6 with his speed and vision he's going to be a monster for another 12 years or so.

Had he did. I was saying that all series. I didn't realize how good he was. He was great offensively and defensively and a killer poke check.

In comment 12307502 Essex said:

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discussion. Tavares is a superstar, but outside of that, who is really that good on the Islanders? okposo, Anders Lee? Brock Nelson? Franz Neilsen. Wasn't Lee and Nelson healthy scratches in the playoffs. The islanders got off to a great start, won a ton of OT and shootout games and then faltered toward the end. On defense, besides Boychuck and Hamonick, who is really a good Isles defenseman? Leddy is an interesting player, but he is small, the rest suck. They will more likely battle for a playoff spot than a top spot.

Ryan Strome

But I'm still very sad. Just a lot of disappointment.

It's really hard to get to this point. And credit to this group for doing it 3 out of the last 4 years. But just so disappointing to not be able to get over the hump. Because there may not be many chances left.

Losing guys like Callahan and even dubkinsky were bad trades. Callahan was huge.

he likely isn't on the team this season because of that contract. And I'm absolutely fine with that. Loved Cally, but I don't want him on that deal.

and an irrelevant part of their team this postseason. He'll only get worse as that contract moves along.

Stralman loss kills and it wasnt a difficult decision last year. I will never understand.

I think this group has, God willing, one more deep run in it. They can be a 'contender' another 3 or so years, maybe 4 with luck, but the Isles, Pens or Jackets will snipe them one year. Those teams are pretty good too and the 1st round is never easy.

Running out of time with this group is an understatement.

next year takes on so much importance. It's a bit tough to reconcile with as a fan because even if they're playing well at some random time of the regular season, we all know it's coming down to Cup or bust and we'll just be waiting for the playoffs to start.

I'm too young for 94, so when they lost in the ECF to the Devils in '12, it was really disappointing but I'd never seen them get that far so I could still take something out of the season. Now, despite a very successful season in different ways, this just feels empty. It's championship or bust for this group and they've got 2-3 prime years to do it. Hank will be 34 next postseason. We've got to get it done for this guy.

had me in tears. Really tough day boys. Absolutely sucks.
Good article - ( New Window )

The worst part of it was the fact that they barely got chances, just like Game 5 and that Hank who is the team's inspiration let in one he shouldn't have after being brilliant all game to that point

Down the line, I wonder if we're ever getting this close again...3 conference finals in 4 years and no Cup to show for it is a lot of playoff hockey with no ultimate reward. The last 4 seasons, they've played almost the equivalent of an extra season in the playoffs (75 games), which is a ton of wear and tear

In comment 12307778 MetsAreBack said:

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had me in tears. Really tough day boys. Absolutely sucks. Good article - ( New Window )

A for effort. That's what really matters. At least they tried hard.

And it may be too soon for levity, but fess up guys...which of you is this in the vid from last night? (Brett, looking at you...)

Four...thousand...five...hundred...hundreds only...Benjamin Franklin is killin' the gaaame!

Fan Paid For Ticket, $4500...Hundreds Only! - ( New Window )

Few things

1). Rangers aren't bums who underachieved or choked. They've won and battled very hard. This is a very good team that has the resolve and guts to win. Their biggest issue is the lack of elite skaters.

They have many very good players, but no real all star aside from Nash. Step and Brass are very good, neither is Getzlaf or Bergeron.
McD is good but no Keith or Chara.

The Rangers haven't unerachieved, we didn't miss our chance or blow it, we've lost to more skilled teams. This isn't the gag line of the 70s is what I'm saying.

2). Those saying the windows shut, overstating.
This roster is going to be as good or better on opening night.
Who we losing? St. Louis?

Face it we played with Kreider and a third line winger, Fast.

The biggest problem for the Rangers is the odds.
If this was any other sport we'd feel much better about next season.
But it's hockey, and this group has had to fight long and hard. I worry about the physical and mental fatigue come next spring and season, but the Hawks and Kings have gone to the CF three seasons in a row, because they are mentally tough.

So are we, just haven't gone further because that's been the glass ceiling.
What I'm saying is....we got another crack or two at the apple.
We just need to find a way internal or external to get a player to the next level.

4). To that point......

.....no Joe Thornton. I go all out if I'm the Rangers but DO IT SMART.
If there is a chance to upgrade from a Steph to Getzlaf, McD to Keith....yes....but don't trade the farm for more Yandles or Nash, better to save the farm and re stock if we can't get an all pro upgrade.

5). Keep Talbot.
Rangers need Hank fresh....I'd feel a lot better about our chances next season if Hank rests 25-30 games.
I think Talbots role is very big with the Rangers.
Do you think if Hank played another 15 games he would been as sharp as needed against the Caps?

Talbot is more valuable to the Rangers franchise than a high second.

Don't deal Talbot for a 2nd and flip for another Patrik Marleau type.
We're better with a fresh Hank than another close to elite player.

did we get caught early in the 3rd period with our 4th line against their top line?

Kudos to Dave M, pganut, LTS and others for the classy responses last night and this morning, btw.

Only another 33 years.

Postmortem:

MSL killed us. He's done and shouldn't be brought back even on the cheap. I don't care what his regular season goal total was. It's over. Move the team onward and upward Glenn.

Zucc's injury was a major blow especially against the Dbags from Florida with that speed and skill.

Not re-signing Stralman will haunt us for years. It's in the same category as Smith trading Zubov as a Grade A bonehead no brainer fuckup.

Hank is a God...Back to the drawing board...

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This - ( New Window )

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Guy - ( New Window )

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Sucks - ( New Window )

With the goalie pulled for nearly four of those minutes is astounding.

We were fortunate to beat the Caps but unfortunate to lose Zuccs to a freak injury....and unfortunate that Tampa lucked out against Detroit.

Just as we were fortunate last year that Boston lost and Price got hurt.
Its the breaks.

In comment 12307574 MookGiants said:

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that will put me to sleep, hopefully ill sleep for about 48 hours and wake up on monday morning sometime. Enjoyed these threads with you guys all year, wish it ended differently for us. Hopefully next year it will. Goodnight all

Lol....I felt the same way....I needed some clonazapam to fall asleep myself.

In comment 12307567 MetsAreBack said:

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I've been saying that for months and feel exactly the same way. I think if they had buried Pittsburgh like they should have i'd feel differently but man did this team frankly suck this postseason. It wasn't fun at all - we won 2 games by more than a goal. Came a whisker from losing in 5 to the Caps, who I'm guessing wont make the playoffs next year as they're just not very good. It was a lost year. If they try to hang a stupid Presidents Cup banner in the Garden next year I'll walk out during the ceremony. Zero fucks given.

You're not going to sell your ticket?

In comment 12307566 MookGiants said:

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is because I'm just so consumed by wanting Henrik to win a cup and at this point all I really care about, it destroys the regular season and even most of the playoff run for me. I didn't enjoy this playoff run, it wasn't a fun ride. It was just super tense nearly every game. And the only thing on my mind was winning a Cup for Hank. I never let myself enjoy the ride, which is shitty but I'm at the point where every year I just feel like we pissed away one of the few chances left for Henrik to win one, and this is the best chance we had imo. It's only going to get worse until he retires, wish I could feel differently because it's so shitty as a fan to have this attitude.

I was the exact same way....it was nerve wracking with all the inconvenient superstitions like not changing underwear, brushing teeth three times a day etc.....I'd given up a lot for the Rangers to win a cup this season.
Love the Giants and Yanks but it's all gravy....hockey is number one for me by far.

Of Patrick Ewing