227 thoughts on “It’s Go Time!… Rangers at Red Wings”

  14. Rangers won’t go too deep carrying Glass, IMO. Happy for him and his teammates that he’s getting some ice, but he’s not a good fit for the faster game. I prefer what Grabner brings, great that he’s back!

    Like

  35. The idiots at NBC wouldn’t dare put the Rangers into the elite Metropolitan division teams conversation. Oh, they’ll be happy being the 1st wildcard. Jut maybe one of those top 3 teams wouldn’t want to play the Rangers???

    Like

  37. Kern, thanks a lot for mentioning Mr. Glass’ ability to kill penalties. What with my Glassophobia, I about had a heart attack, not having seen every minute since his return. I looked it up and there it was: 1:42 of Glass on the PK, about a minute more than I would have hoped for in his three games. Now that Grabby’s back, here’s hoping never again.

    Like

  40. Smith had a nervy start his first couple of games, IMO. The next three, as much as I saw, he disappeared the way a good ref does. Solid stay-at-home, good outlets.

    Like

  44. I’m with you Kern, as far as the PK goes. Glass has been a timely, experienced addition when the Rangers needed a body, killed a minute-plus of PK in the bargain and a goal(!)–a good bridge to get his team through to Fast’s return.

    Like

  50. There’s something you never see on the Rangers’ PP. Consecutive one-touch passes by players who know their pass before they receive the puck.

    Like

  55. That was a beautiful goal. Of course, the Rangers are the elixir for a struggling power play, team, or goalie. Too bad the Rangers just can’t play themselves and be their own elixir for whatever ails them.

    Like

  59. Why is it that the Glass line seems to have the most time in the off zone?

    Norm Glass is ok on PK and late game defensively. Far better than some of the higher rates skill players.

    Like

  149. My memories of joe louis
    1. Nick fotiu leading rangers into the stands to take on fans who had poured beer on Them

    2. Sitting in the seats that were so tight and i’m petite. My brother jpg. Was squashed
    3. Fans left early in the red period. All around the arena at the same time. There must have been a signal I didn”t know.

    Like

  160. jpg’s sis. … Michel Bergeron falling off the bench and disappearing.

    I have a personal favorite moment involving Fedorov’s former girlfriend, but I probably shouldn’t repeat it.

    Also, the first pro sports event post-9/11 was at Detroit. Rangers let us fly on the charter — there were no flights yet — for the preseason game, flew out of Westchester and over the still smoking pile in downtown NYC. Detroit police escort from the airport right into the arena, played the game, police escort right to the airport. Like a seven-hour road trip. People in Detroit gave the Ranger a standing ovation.

    Liked by 2 people

  163. wow!! I don’t remember the red wings being as awful in there own end as they’ve been tonight, leaving ranger players wide open by themselves in front of the goalie. Looks like red wings took the night off.

    Like

  185. It is true that when Zucc busted it back to break up that 2-on-1, hardly his only defensive contribution, that the Red Wings had nothing to show for it.

    Like

  199. Just to be clear, I like Zucc. He tries hard (this season, especially) and has heart but it’s the same story every year…second half of a season and postseason Zucc can’t be really counted on.

    Like

  204. Forgive me for interrupting the Zucc-Sucks narrative with niggling details. Forget he has played every game but one the last two seasons after his speech-robbing concussion, that he has led forwards in assists both those years, and in TOI, and in shifts, that he now plays on the PK, that he was 2nd in takeaways-now 1st, 1st in blocked shots, now 2nd. Anybody could do that. And, yeah, breaking up an early 2-on-1 in a tight game is meaningless, and winning a board battle to set up a late goal doesn’t count because it wasn’t an OT winner against the Hawks. But because this workhorse may not end up leading the team in scoring two years running, and his goals are down… he sucks.

    Liked by 2 people

  206. You can do it, Eli. Tough task, all signs point to a Rangers loss–home game, back-to-backer, TB with something to play for, Rangers not so much. You will be sorely tempted, but I have faith.

    Liked by 1 person

  207. 5 in 51. In any league, that is not good enough for a guy with all that ice time. You can keep pretending Zucc is having a good year, and because he tries really hard, that makes up for the fact he has not produced nearly enough this season.

    Like

  208. I don’t get the Zucc bashing either. Is he a superstar? Far from it. He’s a good player. He never was a scorer, so if that’s all you’re worried about is goals you won’t get it from him. Is he expendable? Sure, everybody is, but to say that he sucks is just wrong.

    Did you see the graphic that showed the Rangers have the 4th longest playoff streak in the NHL? Could these be the golden years of Rangers hockey and we don’t even realize it? A championship would be nice.

    Liked by 1 person

  209. I don’t get the Zuke bashing? Was it because no Girardi, Pirri and Optimus Klein to bash instead? He made a great play to separate player from puck, fed Kreider and boom! the monkey disappears from Step’s back.
    I thought McDonuts was a class apart, Hazer looked good and nobody really stunk the old place out. Bye bye Joe, thanks for the points!

    Like

  213. No doubt a tough task Norm and the fact they are playing the hated bolts will make it that much harder. But this is Antti’s chance to shine. I’m believing for a big game from him tonight.

    Like

  215. Good morning, boneheads!
    Good teams do that- they auto-piloted for most of the game ( with the exception of McDonagh, who rarely seems to change his intensity level. And Raanta ). Then they put it into another gear for half of a period, and beat the inferior team.
    Let me know if you need a new post, Doodie is away.

    Like

  216. Zucc is having a down year, agree BDL. But I also do not understand the tendency to undervalue what he brings to this team. He still creates something out of nothing, and his first pass oftentimes, while being a secondary assist, leads to a another pass with a goal after. Secondary assists are sometimes unnecessary discarded.

    Like

  217. I don’t see it so much as Zucc bashing. I think people are pointing out that he is the Reflon Ranger in terms of no one being able to criticize him while running down the rest of the roster.

    Missed out on the last couple of days of the Blog, but I wanted to give the answer to the two fathers-sons duos who have 200 goals each in the NHL. Obviously, the Hulls are at the top. The other duo was indeed the Parise. The old man had 238 NHL goals, including 7 seasons of 20+ and an 18 and 19 goal season.

    Like

  219. When you look at secondary assists, compare it to the primary assist also. Who worked harder or made the most difference to create the goal? Kreider or Zuke?

    Like

  220. A couple of things…I get what BDL is saying, I do. I also (just like bdl) do not think zucc sucks. The problem usually arises (on the blog anyhow) that people make certain players like zucc or skjeL or stepan sound like they are just amazing and the best player from either team on the ice in any given game.
    –
    If people would just post “I’m a huge zucc fan, he is my favourite player and anything I say about him will be loaded like irrational thoughts and analysis” (as an example), then it all falls into place a bit easier.
    –
    I think buch can fill the zucc role, I think zucc’s value to the team is greater off the score sheet than on, he disappears in really physical games and the playoffs…he just does, sorry.

    Liked by 1 person

  221. I’d really like the caps to finish as the 1 seed…extra pressure for them 😉
    –
    I still think this team should buy out staal and make a hockey trade with zucc or step and trade Nash after this season. No offence to any of those players.

    Liked by 1 person

  224. I agree Wick I’ve been saying it for awhile now. Trade Nash, Zucc, & Stepan. Now is the time keeping them will not make any difference in their cup chances. Time to replenish the system especially the D.

    Like

  225. Nobody said Zucc sucks but Norm likes to frame his arguments by placing your take on the extreme side of the continuum.
    .
    Zucc on pk is funny. He is NOT a good defender. Very much a free lancer who every now and then will be in the right place at the right time but is caught in the Dzone for extended shifts far too many times in every game.
    .
    For those who are interested in stats; the pts/60 5v5 Zone Adjusted Starts leaders for NYR are:
    Glass
    Butch
    JT
    http://stats.hockeyanalysis.com/ratings.php?disp=1&db=201617&sit=f10&pos=forwards&minutes=25&teamid=20&type=individual&sort=ipoints60&sortdir=DESC

    Liked by 1 person

  227. Let’s see if this is Raanta’s coming out party like Talbot’s after Hank took one in the neck. He made some big saves on defensive breakdowns when it was 1-1 in the second. McD was going to the net all game and was rewarded. Hayes shot through Marazek’s legs would have gone wide if McD isn’t there. Hopefully Hayes, Miller, Grabner is starting to click again and the scoring drought will ease. Kampher seems to have displaced Clendening although Luke was playing yesterday. You don’t notice him much which is good. No MCI sighting yesterday. Wonder where he winds up next year.

    Like

Leave a comment