Rangers-Devils in Review

Rangers 5, Devils 0.

Todays review is provided by SN. Thanks for covering for me on short notice. HAV.

Round 2: NJ v NYR 12/11

1. Goalie Controversy – Not sure what has been more enjoyable, watching Auntie (and the team!) shine or reading the Henk loyalists defending his sub-par play. The reality is this team needs both of them, heck, these days with all the injuries they need everyone and then some. Henk was in a bit of a funk and Auntie has been playing out of his mind so you ride him and don’t worry about Shampoo Boy getting his knickers twisted in a knot. I did notice after Shea scored there were 17 players congratulating him and a sullen looking Swede at the end of the bench staring aimlessly. All NYR fans owe the King an enormous debt of gratitude and nobody should fault him for taking Dolan’s millions when they were offered, but he is signed for another 5 years at $8.5 cap hit which is frightening on some level. He had a great season last year given the quality of chances he faced with the Team D played in front of him. This is all about rewarding Auntie and not punishing Henk. Elaine did not do himself any favors with his cheeky comment, “I love Henk, but I love the team more”. Just win baby, no drama.

2. Derbils ‘Rivalry’ – The NJ River Rats come in with a -13 goal differential but still slightly relevant in Buttman’s 3 pt/game NHL and tied with TB, Detroit and FLA 7 pts. outside of Wild Card. There is not much offensive talent, let alone defensive stars, beside Schneider working hard One Day at a Time to keep games close. It is obvious Uncle Lou knew when to leave. This lack of top end skill is noticed on their PP which doesn’t feature D talent carrying and creating (missing Larsson perhaps?) and only one line of legit PP forwards (Pitts-Smelly on 2nd unit?) Anthony Michael Hall is a stud; never had a chance to watch him much as an Oiler; he is a skilled and physical, had a hit the other night that sent the player off on a stretcher. Long Islands’ Palmieri can snipe and Cammalleri is a decent 2 way player but PJ Parenteau, Vern Fiddler, and Ben Lovejoy? I don’t think so…

3. Kicking Motion – Derbils scored first, well at least they thought so, but refs went to the review. Not a full Rockette special, but enough of a drag motion to warrant review and, lo and behold, guess who is on the ‘nice’ list up at the North Pole, I mean the NHL Control Center in Toronto. Only 80 seconds into the game and Auntie has the ‘juju’ working for him (and the team) already; a good sign as the goal is waived off. Another goal is quickly waived off at end of first with Pitts-Smelly jamming Auntie and puck into the goal after the whistle. Does it seem NYR is finally starting to even up in reviewed calls both on-ice and up in Toronto this season? Don’t want to waste it all now, need to save for April and May (and June?)

4. A ‘special’ Team – PP and PK come to the rescue again with a long stretch of PK (8 PK minutes over a 13 minute of game time) from mid-way in the 2nd through the beginning of the 3rd featuring 4 kills and a shortie. In the game Couch led forwards with just under 5 mins of PK time; Grabber had a little under 4 mins as he was called for high sticking at the start of 3rd. McMonster, Done Girardi, Hold-on over 4 mins TOI and Staalled with under 4 as he sat for a trip in 2nd. Two PP goals in the 3rd period to put the game away including Pirriwinkle connecting for his 2nd goal in 23 games and Easy Peasy Jimmy Vesey dunking a rebound off a Pirriwinkle shot for his 10th marker on the season and 3rd in the last 6 games. Derbills PK was statuesque and NYR moved the puck quickly to get good looks. The best special teams play was Hazy Daze feeding Jay Tea/Hated One for a Miller Time shortie on a 2 on 1 resulting from a NJ miscue in the neutral zone to give the Blueshirts a 2-0 lead toward the end of the 2nd. PP was 2 for 5, PK 0-5 (or 5-0) (Editor’s note: PK was 5-5) with a shortie; team is in top 6 in both categories now…isn’t that special?

5. Defensive dynamos – even when they were scoring 5 per game in October, they were getting goals from an aggressive fore-check and neutral zone positioning leading to odd man rushes (along with a very hot PP). Now, with three top 9 forwards (and Pimple) out, they have tightened up considerably on the back end and, as a result, the D is playing much better, especially Ein Kleiner, Done Girardi and Staalled who all struggled for long stretches in October/November. McD is the Rock of Gibraltar and Holdon is more confident, even gets PP time with 2nd unit. The cherry on the cake was popped when Shea Butter scored his first goal at the very end of the 2nd off a great face-off win by the Lindberg Baby. The team defensive system had been changed from the horrendous man to man structure that had D-men chasing the puck with a more traditional match up zone. Forwards are supporting better and opponents, perhaps, intimidated by NYR speed choose not to press the points, allowing easier exiting out of the D-zone. D-men are moving puck more quickly along the wall as well. Good job Buek!

6. First “official” goal was the result of a great fore-check from the Step line with Zucc and The cycling down low on an extended Ozone shift and the D barely involved as the forwards controlled the puck down low. THE is starting to get back into beast mode on the wall another very good sign. First goal was important against a struggling team, especially with their first goal being taken away.

7. Another solid game from the 3rd/4th line of Couch/Lindberg Baby/Ribbit who showed jam, grit along with solid cycling leading to a couple of quality scoring chances. The Machine has rounded into form recently. Originally he was to return in late November from hip injury so guess he is on schedule if you ignore earlier efforts when he looked tentative and stiff. Ribbit is hopping into the boards and not afraid to take a hit to make a play. Couch is proving to be very comfortable on the checking line (and not Top 6 AV!) Very solid.

8. Another 5 spot daring fans to try and stomach the fake pizza from Papa Johns while living near some of the best pizza in the world. One would have to be pretty hammered from overpriced MSG brews to be broke and drunk enough to order that cardboard with tomato paste.

9. Goal scorers tonite (with ages) were THE Enigma (25), Miller Time (23), Shea Butter (22), Pirriwinkle (25) and VC (23) including in the bottom 6; Lindberg Baby (25), Couch (25), Ribbit (25), The Great Dane (23) along with Top 6 forwards Stepsoft (26), Grabber (29) and Zucchini (29). Thought I heard a stat; first forward lineup all under age 30 since mid-80s. Guess you do want to hold on to draft picks… (Editor’s note: only four of the forwards were Rangers draft picks, none after 2012)

10. Auntie has helped the NYR to three straight wins in a span of 4 days with 62 saves on 63 shots. Only 19 shots on goal in this one as the Devils are offensively challenged, even with all the PP time they had. Should he start on Tuesday against Olga’s step children? It’s a definite maybe, I mean, hell yes!

11. First team to 20 wins and first in Metro (sorry Eric). Tough stretch coming with 5 of 6 games against some good teams including 3 on road so team’s mettle will be tested starting with the Blackhawks looking for revenge in the Garden on Tuesday night. Time to circle the wagons!

Three stars:
1. Auntie – rolling, rolling rolling
2. Jay Tea – takes a licking and keeps on ticking
3. Ein Kleiner – protect and serve; nice knucks to protect his rook partner at end of game. (Editor’s note: Wicky’s head exploded)

Your Three Rangers Stars:

1. Annti Raanta
2. Chris Kreider
3. Brady Skjei

Rangers Report 2.0’s Three Stars:

1. Annti Raanta
2. JT Miller
3. Brady Skjei

On Friday, December 9, 2016 10:05 AM, Rangers Report <rangersreport2@gmail.com> wrote:
Great job. Don’t worry about the timing.

Sent from my iPhone

On Dec 9, 2016, at 8:58 AM, D O <daveokp@yahoo.com> wrote:

hah, almost forgot!

163 thoughts on “Rangers-Devils in Review”

  3. Great review SN loved it! I hope they can continue to play this way when the healthy bodies are back! The way I look at it the breaks on the ice are evening out the injuries. It’s about time!

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  4. Thanks SN, great review.

    Good to see Toronto took the blue pill last night for a change!

    Good to see the special teams having an impact on the game finally. If you’d told me last year that Miller/Haze would be such a great PK combination i’d have laughed in your face!

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  5. I’d say if we won this game, say, 5-1, but the Devils didn’t test Raanta, and the one goal he gave up was meh…you’d see Hank back in next game. But second straight shutout, more than a handful of top-notch saves…Hank, enjoy your rest. Even he can’t (and won’t) argue it. Hank would be more messed up over it if he didn’t have a capable backup and was forced to play through a funk. Believe me, he appreciates this.

    Great review SN!

    Taylor Ham looks like the world’s most confused 80’s summer fun movie bully.

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  6. Good morning, boneheads!
    Great review, SN. You’re becoming a star.
    Excellent win. Against a lousy team. How low have the mighty Devils fallen.
    Taylor Hall is a great offensive player, but he was the one who could’ve easily caught and cover JT on that shortie, but instead decided to double up on Hayes. Why? Because he still has ways to go in this league.
    The most impressive, at least to me, during this tough stretch of injuries, aside from Raanta’s amazing run, has been the play of Hrivik-Lindberg-Fast trio. They aren’t only killing time, they are pinning their opponents in their zone while giving our defense a breather, and draining opposition’s defensive legs at the same time. A goal here and there would be nice, but that would be a bonus.

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  7. Hmmm – Brett @ The Post writes up an article with the headline “Rangers’ attempt to be flexible just cost them Big Time.”
    And then writes “Jooris became expendable when both Nicklas Jensen and Marek Hrivik came up from AHL Hartford and proved to be valuable pieces. The death knell for Jooris’ time on Broadway might have been the awful tripping penalty he took in the offensive zone during the 2-1 win over the Jets in Winnipeg on Thursday.”

    So…did the Rangers just eff up in BIG TIME, or did we lose a borderline bottom liner who because we had younger, cheaper, possibly-better-but-more-likely-lateral-moves options?

    Nice click bait headline

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  8. Auntie (and Cam before) is playing extremely well and it would be foolish not to take advantage of that when your primary guy has been less than solid. HL is not the first highly paid star in sports to have his time cut when another player is stepping up. AV has said, HL is still the guy and he is going to get 2/3 of the starts in the end but you might think from the furor HL is an $8M flower that will wilt because boohoo the understudy started a few in a row (and lets hope that is wrong!) Sad so many fans are so caught up in idol worship (to be polite) they refuse to accept that some of the blame really does lay with HL

    The other thing I read elsewhere is how unfair it is that AV does this to HL but not G. Hmm. Show me the defenseman playing the level of Auntie to pull your very highly paid starter? Clearly the coaching staff (its more than AV you know) feel whatever upside they have with a Clendening is not worth disturbing line chemistry. They probably also have a much better idea of when a player needs a day off than any fan does. Not to mention goalie is a far more critical position. A team can suffer weak performance from an outfielder or linebacker but not from a starting pitcher or qb. But AV is an idiot as the NYR have the most ROW even with many injuries and the starting goaling playing top 15 instead of top 5.

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  9. @DaveB remember writers rarely make the story headline (except on a blog!) No they didn’t screw up any more than they did shipping Etem away (remember the outrage about that last year?) The NYR have enough bottom 6 guys available to plug in at any given moment on a par with Jooris.

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  16. Doodie, Hall has been in this league for 7 years and his yet to score 30 goals. During his first 7 years Nash scored over 30 5 times, including 2 years with over 40. Hall is yet to play in a playoff game. I’d take Hall because of his age, but I’m not sure he is better than Nash overall even now.

    Liked by 3 people

  17. Great all around game Wire to Wire

    Very entertaining writeup. Love the nicknames.

    Was so busy I haven’t been round these parts in about a month. But should frequent more offen

    Cherry on top was klein absolutely crushing that piece of trash at the end of the game. Make him pay for bein 4 th man In Pouncing on a rookie on the ground who didn’t even commit a penalty

    Brady was flying. Love his stick handling and aggressiveness lately

    PP making teams pay is a huge boon to the tenor of games and how a team like te flyers will have to play against us without being able to take liberties

    ***repost in case my prior didn’t go through. Went to moderation due to trash being called a naughty word. Note to self…no cussing in public. My bad.

    Liked by 1 person

  18. With the caveat that positional description is from NHL.com which overplaces players as centers:

    Since his sophomore season (2011-2012) Taylor Hall is 5th in total points by a left wing and 4th in points per game (.91). If you factor in all players listed as wingers (left or right) he’s tied with Martin St. Louis for 7th in points per game over that time frame. Among all forwards, he’s 19th in points per game and 24th in total points. Nash trails him significantly in all of these metrics. The one thing Nash has done better is score goals, but he has .41 goals per game compared to Hall’s .35, which works out to about 5 goals a season. By contrast, their point per game totals over a full 82 works out to a 14 point difference in Hall’s favor.

    And you’re arguing in favor of Nash and you want to bring playoffs into it? I’d take the still existing potential of Hall’s 0 playoff games played than Nash’s 65 games of playoff disappearance.

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  21. And for the same time frame for Nash over the same period of his career, he had .86 points per game, which for the time period put him in a 5 way tie for 46th. Scored goals at a higher clip, sure, but that was about it.

    Oh, and he had 4 playoff games to his credit by that point in his career.

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  24. Top of the Morning Boys!

    Nice win with the Back-UP goalie. AV should have an unwritten rule, if your the goalie that plays and puts up a shutout, YOU PLAY the NEXT game period!!!

    Auntie gets the next game, Period!

    Nice work SN, you should pinch hit more often 🙂

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  26. Nugent-Hopins, Eberle, and the rest of the Oilers never made it either. Now because they have a generational talent in McDavid and someone who can actually play goal, all of a sudden they are winners, but before they were losers? That’s a really lame argument.

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  27. He is 25, that is his main advantage over Nash. He keeps playing on lousy teams, we may never find out his true playoff potential. I thought Nash was pretty good against Pittsburgh too.
    Edmonton took very little for Hall too. Maybe it’s a GM’s lunacy, or maybe they know more than we do about him.

    Liked by 1 person

  29. Shampoo Boy?
    Staaled?
    Done Girardi?

    Three pretty poor nicknames for guys who have given a lot to this organization. That alone diminishes what otherwise would be a pretty good review.

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  30. Nash, Nugent, Hall, McDavid all played in the NHL at 18 years old. Not every kid is ready at 18, some are still playing High School hockey at that age.

    Hall looked really good on the ice last night, outside of Zajac & Palmieri he doesn’t have alot of talent around him. I would trade Nash for Hall right now in a New York Minute. Nothing against Nash, but he wilts in the playoffs, he’s the “Tony Romo” of Hockey. Great player, that will never win a Championship.

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  34. I’m pretty sure Torts and AV asked him to score a lot of goals in the playoffs. How did that work out?

    These are some pretty lame arguments, guys. When you’re trying to account for 14 points of offense per 82 with intangibles, it isn’t going to work.

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  36. One of the reasons I heard forbtrading Hall, was that he had a very strong personality , and they wanted to remove him from the room so McDavid voice would the one heard.

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  38. Again, take a look at JT’s goal. Hall is very close to JT, and with his speed he could’ve easily covered him. Instead, he decides to skate to the L to double cover Hayes. JT=uncontested. After 7 years in this league one would think he’d learned defensive basics.

    Liked by 3 people

  40. BDL, that kind of “culture” BS is the same reason Chiarelli traded Seguin. Captains get stripped or changed all the time in the NHL without getting traded. San Jose has two ex captains on their team and they went to the Final last year!

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  44. Coos – the new Oiler GM need salary cap room for LUCIC, and a young top tier Defender. Larsson was the best that fit that billing at the time. Much more proven then say Skjei is for us right now, both have a huge ceiling, and lots of time to grow into it.

    Oilers made some really nice moves the last couple of years, building thier Defense in front of Cam, picking up some top tier picks in McDavid, Draisaitl, Puljujarvi, adding Caggiula for free. They are going to be stronger every year they get older. Dropping Hall, was one step back, to take two steps forward in other areas on the team.

    It looks to me, like they made the right “team moves”, very much like the Rangers did this off season – Adding Grabner, Vesey, Zibanejad, Holden, Skjei, Pirri, to the line up. My jury is still out on Buchnevich, do to his back issues and only playing 10 games, he may not be needed this year on varsity if he can’t get well enough to play.

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  47. Really like what Nash has brought to the table this year

    Last year was rough with injuries messing with his timing and chemistry and numbers.

    He plays all 3 zones as good as any and can dominate 1:1 and puck sticks to him like a magnet. Big body too which he uses to his advantage. He is tough to contain when he gets rolling with confidence

    Plus he can be trusted on the ice at all times no matter the score.

    He’s our best forward and I’m ok with that. He’s a darn good if not Great player.

    Liked by 2 people

  48. Coos

    agree on the captain. he eats up minutes. would be a great choice for McDonald award. Along with Raanta, Miller, Hayes, in addition to Zuke.

    More often than not if unclear who 3 stars are I give one to the captain.

    Regarding Kreider I’d hate to trade him, one of my favorites

    Liked by 2 people

  51. Man, Nathan Horton was such a loser. He played 422 games over his first 6 seasons in the league. Sure, his point and goal totals per 60 are almost exactly the same as Nash’s have been since 2011-2012, but that loser didn’t make the playoffs once!

    Oh and then he got traded to Boston and won the Cup in his first season there and went to the Final two years later. I guess he was a winner the whole time?

    And I’m not comparing Hall’s numbers to Iginla’s… but Iginla’s first two NHL games were in the playoffs (that he didn’t help the team make), but then he went 545 regular season games, 7 full seasons) without making the playoffs again.

    Point is, really good players can play for bad teams for a really long time. Nash played 363 games over 5 full seasons before making the playoffs once, and his team was thoroughly demolished during that first round. Then he went another 233 games over 3 seasons before being traded to the Rangers, a team already in a championship window.

    Speaking of those lousy Columbus teams, Big Game Brass wasn’t in a Big Game until he got traded here.

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  58. Once again, a Labor of Love. The Gints win after was just icing on the cake. Carp must have been busier than a one armed paper hanger in his former role.
    .
    Like the vim and vigor today; feels like hockey these days with highs in Metro NY getting only into high twenties later in week. Is Papa in Key West yet?
    .
    Hall has nobody to play with; probably wondering about his old digs. 328 points in 381 games is nothing to sneeze at. He and Nash are apples and oranges; both very good players with Nash playing a 2 way game, probably something he didn’t do as much 7 seasons ago when he was 25 playing for a bad team.

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  60. Great review! Thanks for keeping this going. My only quibble is saying Hank was not celebrating Skjei’s goal. Don’t know what feed you saw but I saw him standing up with his arms in the air and a big smile on his face. There is a pic of the same thing which I’d post but don’t know how! He also gave Antti another huge smiley hug at the end of the game. My only point is we should steer clear of adding more fuel to the so called fire. Does Hank want to be in net? Of course he does! And he probably firmly believes he should be. But there is no reason to believe that Hank is not happy for Brady, Antti, or the team as a whole. He’s a competitor and a guy who wants to play for one team and one team only for his entire career. Let’s criticize his play when warranted, but not his commitment to the team.

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  61. What some people don’t take into account is that for Nash to score points, the people he passes to have to put the puck in the net. At Columbus, he was the only scorer so assists were hard to come by. Even though he’s known more as a scorer I think he’s under rated as a passer.

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  62. Just win baby! I don’t care if Hank is on the bench, or Nash gets the assist instead of the goal. Just make the team better in any way that you can, and WIN!!!

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  63. If I am given the choice of having Nash for his whole career, and Gall for his career, I am taking Nash. If you are choosing between the two right now for the Rangers, I am taking Nash. If you are choosing between the two for a team like the Devils, who are still a few years from contending, I would then take Gall because of the age factor.

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  65. Will Henrik Lundqvist Ever Play Again?

    Fact is, it’s not just his last handful of games that have been head-scratching. It goes back to March of last year, right after his 34th birthday.

    Since then, Lundqvist has had 38 starts including playoffs. Only 3 times has he allowed less than 2 goals & one of them was Game 1 against the Penguins when he left after the first period. In HALF of those starts he’s been beaten for 3 or more. Now that’s not all his fault – the Blueshirts have their share of defensive inadequacies. This year’s team is certainly better though, yet Hank’s 5×5 save percentage this season ranks 33rd among goalies with 11+ games (.916). In comparison, Raanta’s 8th (.942) & they see just about the same number of shots per 60. Behind last year’s awful defense, Lundqvist finished in the top-5 while facing the most shots in the league. The deeper you dig into this year’s numbers, the worse they get. In close game situations his save percentage dips to 41st – below 90% – ahead of only Michael Hutchinson. You simply can’t dispute the drop off.

    http://www.barstoolsports.com/newyork/will-henrik-lundqvist-ever-play-again/

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  67. Before his recent stretch Hank was playing great.
    Team defense was faultering. Hanks mobility was as spry as ever. A slump does not define an end at 34. He keeps himself in great shape. Even fatso brodeur wasn’t washed up by this age.

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  73. ‘C’mon and take a chance and get with this dance (shoo-bop, shoo-bop, ahh)
    Baby, when you do the fly, your arms be wasted waving in the sky
    C’mon and hold me like a lover should
    The watusi make you feel so good
    Wah-a-wah, wah-a-watusi
    Do the watusi with me!’

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  75. Great review SN – love the nicknames. Anthony Michael Hall made me literally lol. Not for nothing but I dropped a Pitts-Smelly into my porcelain bowl this morning that made ME gag and I can’t smell anything.

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  81. Nash is damaged goods. Is he better then Hall right now…yes he is. Nash should have been on Team Canada but was looked over for old man Thornton and others. Truth is Nash is a beast. He is an amazing specimen but hes damaged. When we got him he was in his prime and never played a playoff game. He came over and did NOT deliver in the playoffs ( many years ) He made Team Canada then but he changed. He started backwards skating in the zone and taking really short shifts. His line changing drives me nuts!! He always goes off too soon . A mega 8 million super star does NOT always take off to the bench early . Nash is still good , better then Hall right now BUT …at his salary ( Nash) and his not making team Canada and never winning in the playoffs. He has to go. Hank too . Window was open , now it is closed.

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  82. Maybe some of you old-timers can help me out. I first started watching the Rangers as a kid in the Giacomin-Villemure days. How did Emile Francis handle that rotation? Did he play whoever was hot until he wasn’t hot anymore or did he alternate back and forth between the two? I don’t remember if Villemure was a real back-up or if he was considered Eddie’s equal. What I’m thinking is that maybe today, AV should do whatever the team did then. They won a Vezina, so I’m guessing that, whatever they did, it worked pretty well. Any thoughts?

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  83. I’ll agree Lundqvist’s game has been average at best going back to late last season. But with that said, I think the more realistic approach here is to hope that he can regain his _________(whatever the issue is) and have a strong second half and post season. We went through this a couple of seasons ago with Talbot. Everyone said that he’d be a better starter down the stretch and into the post season. Talbot got his chance in Edmonton and hasn’t exactly turned heads. (In fact this year his numbers are pretty similar to Lundqvist’s who everyone is killing for the last week) Goalies get hot. backups gets hot. We’ve seen it with Andrew Hammond when Craig Anderson was hurt, we say Scott Darling play well when Crawford was hurt, right now Ocho Cinco is the number 1 up in Calgary (but Elliott has been a disaster). At the end of the day, Lundqvist is going to be the number 1 guy. Raanta playing this way is great, I hope he keeps the net for a bit here while he’s hot but don’t think for a second we don’t need to remain hopeful that Lundqvist finds his A-game and soon.

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  84. Sioux, I also just want to mention that Buchnevich was playing some really good hockey when he was shut down. I think as long as he’s healthy he’s going to play.

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  88. Remember when nearly everyone on here was killing Holden in preseason and for the first 20 games or so??

    Not a real defenseman, etc. Etc…

    When he (along with Raanta) is claimed by the Golden Turds (or whatever they’re supposed to be called), the Ledge will be packed to capacity and collapse under the weight.

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  100. Eddie J posed an interesting question about Emile Francis and Eddie Giacomin and Gilles Villemure. That was a long time ago for me to remember, but Giacomin was always the number one, but Francis had no problems turning to Villemure when Eddie slumped – even in the playoffs. Francis went with the tandem to start the 1970-71 season after Giacomin had played between 66-70 games the previous four seasons (70 in the previous two). The Giacomin/Villemure tandem won the Vezina that season.

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  105. Eddie Eddie Eddie Eddie Eddie was definitely #1, but as Anthony mentioned Giles got the call often enough and he played many more games in the playoffs that a typical #2 would play…

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  106. Hank is so beautiful….I cannot take my eyes off of him. That hair is perfect. If he were to go bald early, I think I’d shoot myself in the face.

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  107. ILB – It’s another Auntie game.

    The situation this year reminds me of the year Mike Richter struggled and Glenn Healy split time with him. Gotta go with the hot hand. Have to wonder if the compressed schedule and lessened practice time hurt Hank’s ability to bounce back.

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  110. Not sticking with Giacomin during those years is probably one of reasons they did not win the cup (I was a Villemure guy). The Tichter, Healy year was about a panicky rookie coach. They of course had to go back to Richter when the inevitable Healy crash happened. When you think you have two number ones, you have NONE!

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  114. Norm – it’s not just that hair….which is truly out of this world beautiful. It’s also the chin, that jaw, those eyes, that winning smile, the entire package….his countenance is that of a Greek god.

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  119. Even if the NYR trade Hank, I won’t take down by giant billboard of Hank’s face that’s in my yard. I designed so his eyes twinkle and his hair never moves….lifelike for sure….

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  127. Talbot (2.55/.917) is not likely ever to achieve Lundqvistian heights. The question is whether Hank’s 2.55/.912, the highest/lowest of his career, will correct itself to former levels or if its ‘s on a slide upwards. Once Raanta cools off, though I hope he never does, we’ll find out.

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  130. Let’s not get t0o excited about Raanta he is still a backup until he proves he has the metal! Remember this is the Rangers as soon as things begin to look good something always goes wrong, (1994 was a Twilight Zone moment in time) But I’m believing that our fortunes are going to change with this group! Hank being traded ain’t gonna happen!

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  132. AV and Benoit might have an interesting dilemma. I think Benoit has a better idea, both technically and intrinsically, of Henrik’s readiness to go back in but AV obviously has the last word and will play Auntie’s hot hand for as long as it lasts. However, at some point Henrik will have to play even if Raanta never cools off.

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  133. Talbot is also playing in front of a team that has not made the playoffs in a decade and finished in last place last season so not really apples to apples.
    .
    When Cam started 34 games 2 seasons ago (save % .926) and Henk started 46 (.922), Tam played as well as Henrik; those are the facts. It’s the only time they played with the same team against similar competition with similar amount of reps. Not saying Calm is as good as peak Hanky but the difference is not as great now.
    .
    The outright concern is the $19+ Million in Cap Hit combining Henk, Staal, and Dan G will never provide the ROI. A team can afford one of those contracts, but not all 3. Thanks Uncle Glennie!

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  134. I understand hank is a better goalie than tam, he just isn’t 4 or 5 mil per season better than tam. He isn’t 3 mil per season better than tam at this point imho

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  136. I was for trading Hank before Tam even got here. Putting that much money into a goalie was then, and is now, foolish. But this is about this team right now. Hank gives them the best chance to win it all. They need to get him back out there, and in top form.

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  139. Bulldog – Hank was not good in last year’s frost round. Has he hit his peak and now on the downside? He’s been horrid this year except for a couple of games. Seems 1 bad goal at least every game.

    I also don’t think Hank has been so great in the playoffs going back to the finals Vs LA. In fact, while he’s been stellar in game 7’s except vs TB, his play contributed in part as to why game 7’s were even necessary.

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  140. Lundqvist is being paid for past performance, like most great professional athletes his age. Teams don’t pay their young studs until they have to, and if you want an established goalie, you pay for it. You can gamble on a Talbot/Raanta combo, say, but more likely you gamble on a Fleury/Murray and hope to catch that lighting.

    The Rangers have overpaid, though, for Lundqvist, and it’s hard to see how they could ever move him–I’ll leave it to cap geeks like ilb to say if it’s possible–so it looks like they are stuck with him and had better hope their faith in his longevity is well-placed, that he can indeed play at a top level for his last 5 years.

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  154. With those 5 contracts mentioned and 3 with a no move clause, you either have to convince them to waive the clause or buy out. If not you must move stepan before his clause kicks in and Nash.
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    Either way 2 or 3 of the 5 highest need to go.

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  162. LMAO yeah I’m sure everyone here would just show the LOVE for Kopitar this year with his 2 goals. “his contract is an anchor they set this organization back 22 years by getting him. I’d take Andrew Shaw over him any day! and Herbie doesn’t like to make toys!”

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