MAB's two season ticket holding teams square off tonight in the rubber match. 7pm EDT.
-Hank is skating again which is a good sign that he's on target to play in the final ~5 regular season games as tune up.
-Quickie expected back tonight, and so all forwards are now seemingly healthy. You'd hope this comes at the expense of #15, but would anyone be surprised to see Buchnevich benched instead? Sidenote: I'd actually be fine with Glass in for Vesey tonight
-The Ultimate Warrior makes his long awaited return as well this evening. Apparently no restrictions, which means lots of snow angels for the Garden crowd to take in. Likely replaces Stampfer, who hasnt been bad, but has stunted the development of Clendening who has likely played his last game as a Ranger.
Note: basically means we traded a 2nd round pick for Brendan Smith to replace Clendening, which isnt much of an upgrade at all and yet another waste of assets
-No idea on Kevin Klein's progress, and don't care
#LGR. First end of a back-to-back with a game in St Paul Minnesota tomorrow evening. Then a couple days off... and another back-to-back. Then a couple days off... and another back-to-back. WTF.
Thought I saw some speculation yesterday that Buch is coming out. Uncle Larry had a tweet along the lines of that and saying he had no rational explanation for it. I don't get it either, Glass has been ok so fine, keep him in, these games don't mean much anyway. But it's clear as day that Vesey could use a few games watching from the pressbox. Very odd
Worst ending to a regular season ever. We've basically been playing out the string for 10-15 games now
Here you go:
Big Ruskie D - ( New Window )
My concern, based on what we saw last year, is tonight (exception of Lundqvist and, perhaps, Klein) is our playoff lineup. I'm not convinced Glass is only here to provide some thump in meaningless end of year regular season games.
But if it's going to happen, I want it to be at the expense of Vesey.
The Metro is pretty locked in other than the Islanders having a shot at WC2. MTL and OTT start a home and home back to back tomorrow and Sunday. Could determine who the Rangers play.
the league would love BOS vs MTL in round 1 or even MTL vs TOR.
Rangers still have enough time to catch the Pens (even CBJ and WAS for that matter)
Despite a back-to-back barring injury, I'm assuming tomorrow night AV will roll with the same lineup.
It is what it is - we all got our hopes up early in the season when AV actually had success rolling 4 lines. Apparently its boring that way.
Sad
Anyway you can blame me all you like - or the coach who refuses to play young players with upside. Obviously Buch and Clendening should play tomorrow night on a back to back (for vesey and Holden) but it won't happen.
I know for a fact tonight's lineup even with lundqvist just ain't good enough come playoff time
But the fact is they are a dominant team on the road and mediocre at home. Could be a mental thing. Could be that guys are losing focus with the distractions of family and the bright lights, big city. Or most likely, it is a combination thereof.
I wouldn't be surprised if AV drives Buch back to Russia. Seriously, fuck AV and fuck his obsession with Tanner Glass.
Yes
Gorton's failure to rein him in is gutless.
We should be rolling four lines that can apply pressure and generate chances while keeping the legs fresh down the stretch. Vesey should be getting a blow now and then. Buch should be earning valuable experience.
These things should be obvious to everyone in the Rangers organization including the janitors at MSG by now.
You're the one who drinks the Appletinis
Well they just gave him an extension, so I doubt it.
I have always felt that the priority playing in MSG always overshadowed winning being a priority, the bright lights seem to dim the desire to work your ass off to win, they come here and feel they already have won, and coach that can get this team to hit 100 points every year is a pretty good coach in my opinion.
Unless you can get a guy, or better yet, a maniac like a Mark Messier, to get a team to focus on one thing and one thing only, winning, we will continue to see the same old
story, I have been watching this program since the 1966 season, it never seems to change.
Last night my eyes said Raanta had no chance on any of the three goals during regulation, not a prayer, as a FL player was camped out at the far post and lightning quick centering passes across the top of the crease and our d-men were d-fence-less. The shootout goal by Barkov was, in pj parlance, sick.
I was thinking, when Zib took the puck at center ice, Zib, don't try to go to the well once to often with the stick on the backhand and the last second move to your right, to the forehand toward the right post (as he's facing it). It's been a nice, shootout winning move twice, but probably scouted by now. Hopefully he learns from this (Arniel, WTF?) and pulls out another go-to move.
Yeah, Smith doesn't rack up points here, but he didn't in Detroit either, so why should that change?
The Clendening benching has me more upset than Buch's, because aside from the occasional gaffes, and there were those, his game was clearly improving and he was more of a force on the PP from the point than anyone save McD. With Buch, dunno, out of the gate fast, the injury set him back, then had his ups and downs. AV's personnel moves are at times perplexing, irrational? And bbhoya is probably beside himself, and it's difficult to rationalize this "phony war" period as NYR drift their way into SCP, so it would be easy to give Buch the time to ground himself.
PaulN : 10:32 am : link : reply
Is the star players on the Rangers that makes everybody feel as if they are not playing up to expectations.
I think the Rangers have a huge process issue in their analysis of the defense. Clendening is a victim of that, but there's been much bigger issues in the past. And I don't really love Clendening, I just think he's better than what they're throwing out there.
The team also isn't playing that well. I don't blame them - they have nothing to play for right now.
- we all would like to see them beginning to turn it on and get hot as SCP approach;
instead we have our customary white hot October and most of November and then
kind of fizzle; doesn't look as though the needle is pointing up
- is it that they are not playing well or that as we near SCP, other teams ARE turning it
up a notch, whether they are scrambling to get in or improve their position?
- arguably, I suppose, NYR are not obliged in either category, so does that explain it?
Do we trust this team/this coaching staff to be able to turn it on at will at the right
time?
With this group of d-men, with the line shuffling, with the healthy scratches, with a largely impotent PP???
This defense is also still bad. Holden has been brutal the past month or so. I haven't been that impressed with Smith either.
The shooting percentages to begin the season were off the charts unsustainable too.
League adjusted (and guys got their legs back) November'ish. While AV isnt Chip Kelly (he's a better development coach), i liken this team's start to the fast paced Eagles teams under Chip that always looked tremendous in September as other teams veterans hadn't yet gotten in shape.
Since mid November we've played at a 95 point pace which feels more like what this team is - good forwards but not superstars, great goalie (and good backup), lousy defense.
Our strength is the depth of our scoring lines, and its absolutely, without question the only way this team will be able to make a deep playoff run. But when you start rolling out players like Glass and Puempel over guys like Buchnevich, and play limited offense players like G, Klein and certainly Stampfer over guys like Clendening... you are now competing as a more limited scoring team with 3 capable lines - and everyone even the MSG janitors knows our top 3 scoring lines can't match some of these other playoff teams, certainly Pittsburgh and Washington.
Not to mention a lot of these guys are understandably not fighting for loose pucks and sacrificing bodies lately, so why not rotate guys in and out and give rest, especially on back-to-backs? Makes zero sense.
With Clendening, as I posted after one game, not the one for which AV has apparently canned him, there's an animus toward him on the part of AV: he rarely engages in one-on-one conversations when behind the bench and the clock running: in this case, he was in AC's face, in his ear, and AC turns his head around to engage, the respectful thing to do for the coach, and AV was giving him an earful of something and nothing major, no penalty, no goal, no giveaway, had occurred on his just completed shift. It was weird.
I know I give too much weight to these body language thingies, but it was clear there was an animus in the air. I don't know if his Gallic pride was pricked or instructions challenged, or what, but it's real and has less to do with his on-ice play than some violation of an AV rule.