NFT: Yotes @ Rangers, SUN

Vesey has created some grade A chances.

smh

is going to be so important this year. That was the thing about Hags. He routinely took a puck from the def zone and got it deep. Even when he buried it in the goalie's chest, that's important. Flips the ice.

gotta grind them out. Basically the whole team looks better than last year, to a man.

Not the best hockey we've seen, but 2 points on the back end of a road/home back-to-back

On paper it doesn't look like it but there's no doubt these are games that are easy to lose. Gutsy win.

It's still just a few games in but how can you not be really happy with the play so far? This team looks a LOT better than I thought they would.

On a back-to-back. Now two days off to rest until the Bruins show up!

Back to back off what I'm sure was an emotional road win yesterday.

Unfortunately we don't get to play three west coast teams at home this week all on the second of their back to backs. But no matter - if not for jimmy Howard single handedly stealing one we had a very nice week.

Bring on the Bruins

In comment 13188214 Deej said:

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gotta grind them out. Basically the whole team looks better than last year, to a man.

Why do you think that is? I'm a casual ranger fan, but I thought they were supposed to be taking a step back this year?

In comment 13188239 Jon in NYC said:

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In comment 13188214 Deej said: Quote: gotta grind them out. Basically the whole team looks better than last year, to a man. Why do you think that is? I'm a casual ranger fan, but I thought they were supposed to be taking a step back this year?

Thus far I think Henrik and the forwards are compensating for the defense. I'm not sure how long that can last.

Henry and the defense have not...still time to turn it around

But the FWD depth is legit.. we're going to be able to forecheck like this most nights and I think the way we're playing should keep us from getting too exposed in our own end.

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In comment 13188276 bigbluehoya said:

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+1

In comment 13188251 redbeard said:

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Henry and the defense have not...still time to turn it around

The young guys are asserting themselves.

It's really amazing how many young forwards with potential the Rangers have: Kreider, Miller, Hayes, Vesey, Zibanejad, Buchnevich.

Who was the worst defenseman through the first four games? Holden. Who was the best after McD? Clendening. Therefore, it was absolutely assured that he would sit Clendening and keep Holden's useless ass out there.

Guys in the BSB comments think there's nothing wrong with Buchnevich, that they're playing everyone else to showcase them for a potential trade. With Lindberg being back already, someone's gotta go.

in there.

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The forwards have been stellar redbeard : 10/23/2016 9:56 pm : link : reply Henry and the defense have not...still time to turn it around

He had a key giveaway in the Detroit game that led to the losing goal, but other than that, Henrik has been really solid and has kept us in several games. Look at some of the saves he had in the 3rd against Washington.

In comment 13188239 Jon in NYC said:

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In comment 13188214 Deej said: Quote: gotta grind them out. Basically the whole team looks better than last year, to a man. Why do you think that is? I'm a casual ranger fan, but I thought they were supposed to be taking a step back this year?

My guess is that everyone fell for the fallacy of linear progression. People think that young/improving players will always get better year in year out, and declining players will decline.

Last year as a disaster season. Almost no one got better on the stat sheet. Only guys who got 10+ points better vs. prior seasons I believe were Miller, Zucc, and Fast. And obviously a lot of guys got worse -- McD, Giardi, Staal, Nash were particularly high profile decliners.

My best guess is that there is some real decline in some players games, but there was a lot of aberration to last season. In in hopeful signs, we have a lot of young players who should be hitting their stride right now. We forget how young some of these guys are. Stepan is 25, one year younger than Lindberg. Also, I think Zibanejad is breaking out -- I think he's emerging as a star. Might be our best forward.

He was the 6th overall pick in the draft. He's a very talented guy with obvious physical gifts, and he may be putting it all together now. Brassard was a good player with a similar pedigree, but he never quite stepped through the threshold that separates good players from stars. Zibby might be doing that this year.

A few points. First, notice that whoever plays on his wing is suddenly the talk of the town. Krieder's amazing start. Then Nash got put there for a game and got raves. Last night it was Miller's turn. He's a star maker.

Second, Rangers keep doing the same thing with him. Dump him the puck near the corner. MZ draws two defenders and waits until the last second to pass out, and his pass is a good one rather than a panic move. It's like a great NBA post player sucking in and passing out of the double team. Puck gets swung around to a few guys and suddenly someone is wide open. I notice it a lot.

when both wingers get healthy. They had the making of turning into a special line with the chemistry they were forming between the three of them.

Which is really impressive because expectations were high. He looks terrific. His skills are as advertised and he plays like a vet. No bonehead mistakes at all from him to this point.

I don't think the defense has been bad as feared. Staal looks to be okay, Girardi looks better than last year - and more importantly, AV seems to be giving them more palatable roles.

Clendening apparently leads the league in possession for dmen. He needs time to see what we have. I'm really curious what goes into game-by-game evaluation by the Rangers (or any team at the pro level). Do the pros just disagree with me or is AV overruling them?

Holden sucks so far.

complimentary of Holden on the broadcast last night. Forget precisely what they said.

Agree with Brett that the D has been better than expected. Part of my linear improvement/decline point. McDonagh is playing top flight hockey. Girardi looks better. Helps that he was on the 3rd pair last night. Keep Skjei-Girardi together please.

Talked about how steady he is back there. I couldn't disagree more.

Am I in the minority on Clendening/Holden?

but it's debatable how effectively he's doing it. I wouldn't trust the Rangers broadcasters evaluation of players, especially defensemen. McDonagh is off to a fantastic start though, and has been doing it playing the majority of the time with Holden. Maybe just coincidence, but we've seen McD get dragged down by his D partner before.

As should McIlrath.

AV makes some head scratching decisions with his defensemen.

but he is a journeyman. He's shown he deserves a shot but for every Stralman there's many more failures in that mold. We'll see

In comment 13189032 BrettNYG10 said:

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Talked about how steady he is back there. I couldn't disagree more. Am I in the minority on Clendening/Holden?

I am not as down on Holden as most seem to be, but I don't see how anyone could argue that Clendo hasn't been significantly better. Not even shitting on Girardi, because he does look better than he has, but I'd have him 7th and Holden 6th.

I'm really pleasantly surprised with the group, and I'm at the point where I'm dead against trading Miller for D help.

in addition to maybe being weighed down by Girardi at times.

I have no doubts he can have a great year this year - but I'll always be nervous about his durability. Hopefully last couple of years more fluke stuff than anything else.

In comment 13189032 BrettNYG10 said:

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Talked about how steady he is back there. I couldn't disagree more. Am I in the minority on Clendening/Holden?

You are not. Holden hasnt been terrible; he'd be fine or even good as a #6 dman.

But AC has been better. Moreover, AC fits better. You need to have some offensively talented dmen out there to for the PP. Holden is averaging 15 points per 82 games for his career. And was on the PP last night. It is a joke.

I agree with Dav. I'm still an advocate of Girardi/Staal only playing 60 games or so during the regular season regardless of health.

Kyle, I've never heard of Clendening before, so I'm a bit unclear on his history. The Pens last year had a couple guys who were mediocre and stepped up once they joined the team, so it'd be great if he's like that.

I think last years injuries for McDonagh were karma for murdering Zucc and Lundqvist the year prior.

I wasn't a huge fan of Clendening in preseason, but he's played well. Holden is awful. Easily the worst defenseman on the team thus far, plus without Clendening McD has to play most of the PP minutes, too.

Staal has been OK. He's not the player he was a few years ago, but he's been serviceable. I've accepted that Girardi will always play if he's healthy. The instant affection Vigneault has for Holden is baffling, though. For one thing, Vigneault has always said he doesn't like playing dmen on their off-hand side, but he'll do it to keep Nick Holden in the lineup?? What does this guy do well? Nothing that I've seen. Slow, indecisive with the puck, frequently out of position, frequent snow angels.

But he's still only 23. He's not Michael Kostka or anything.

And, frankly, having seen how a coach with a good reputation like Vigneault makes personnel decisions, I'm starting to question how other teams are making these determinations, too.

In comment 13189039 Kyle in NY said:

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but he is a journeyman. He's shown he deserves a shot but for every Stralman there's many more failures in that mold. We'll see

True re Stralman. But Clendening is 23 years old and has played 55 NHL games. I wouldnt call him a journeyman. It is fair to ask why he has been on 5 teams. Notably those were deep teams except the Oilers (not sure why he didnt stick there -- FA?)

In comment 13189032 BrettNYG10 said:

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Talked about how steady he is back there. I couldn't disagree more. Am I in the minority on Clendening/Holden?

Joe is a lickspittle. Pure company man. Whatever AV and the staff says, Joe parrots on TV.

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On Girardi and Skjei, "I think that the pairing has potential but Dan with Ryan has also had a lot of success. This was maybe a bit more about easing Dan back but I definitely liked how those two guys played tonight."

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"It's a game to game basis and how players are playing. I think Nick and Ryan have played well together but I also have a lot of faith in Dan and right hander and left hander. We will see how things go, how our opponents are going. Every game you are trying to analyze and put forth the best lineup that you can that will give you the best chance to win."

Translation: DG is RD1 4 life

Has he ever said anything about Vigneault? Ever?

I dont know all that many local broadcasts that are free to call it like they see it. And James Dolan is the owner on top of it.

I'll never forget the story of the Braves announcer 10-15 years ago that was critical on the air of a move Bobby Cox made up in Montreal... Turner made him fly himself back to Atlanta after the series was over.

for the Knicks. So you have room to operate.

BTW, Valiquette is a really fantastic studio guy. Best I can recall the Rangers having. Honest, gives you a deep dive about what is happening.

Probably a difference between the play-by-play responsibilities and a post-game show, but not quite sure how much locker room exposure Wally needs to do his job effectively.

is listening to Tony Covington, a UVA DB from the late '80s, groan audibly at poor play and fire off unvarnished criticism of the players and coaching staff with regularity. I wish pro team coverage were so truthful.

And he was down to a tryout basis with the Devils before the Rangers signed him.

Cue the "Miller for Trouba/Fowler/Vatanen/Hamilton/Shattenkirk/Jon in NJ" post

In comment 13190472 Anakim said:

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Cue the "Miller for Trouba/Fowler/Vatanen/Hamilton/Shattenkirk/Jon in NJ" post

Brett Cyrgalis ‏@BrettCyrgalis
#NYR say JT Miller is off ice just for maintenance.

if he's available, I want no part of him... because he is available. What do you make of a 6'6 dman who after scoring 42 points as a 21 year old gets traded (for honestly not a ton -- a #15 pick and two #2s), and then as a 22 year old he scored 43 points and his new team shops him? Now there were conflicting stories on the Boston side: some character attacks, but also some sources saying Boston tried everything to resign him. But why is Calgary willing to trade him? Well if they are, it is a red flag IMO.

about Mike Commodore driving for Uber.
Link - ( New Window )

Hope this neck issue isnt serious.