The AV Chewing Gum Club vs General Hynes ResilientWeAre Crew Feb. 2 GDT

[Chuck the Duck]

Couldn't agree more DJ.  Spot on.  

Great game last night, and a big win for the Devils. 

The crowd spilt was as bad as I can remember it being for a long, long time.  Just glad those losers went home crying in their beers, but being there having to listen to these a-holes makes me understand why some people decide to sell their tickets on stub hub.

[DJ Eco]

Being impartial here: JT Miller should've been the 3rd star of the game. For many of the Rangers games I tune in for from time to time, he looks like their best player. He's quickly becoming one of their best players. I won't jump the gun and say he's their next superstar because the same has been said of Kreider and Zuccarello (and Stepan previously) and they're so marred by inconsistency. He looks really good.

As for the Devils: Schneider has finally gotten the recognition he deserved, being an All-Star and I'm seeing him now finally get the recognition he deserves from our rival fans; I'm seeing many Rangers fans admit that Schneider has maybe eclipsed Lundqvist from here on out.

Edited February 3, 2016 by DJ Eco

[MadDog2020]

Things I (re)learned last night:

1) Devils - Rangers games definitely still have that certain sizzle...more so that any other Devils - X rivalry...especially now that they're both so close to each other in the standings.  I still think eight games a season is too much, but four is definitely not enough. 

2) There was way too much blue there last night.  It sucks having to accept that part of being a Devils fan...that our main rivals will swoop into our building and make their presence felt whenever they feel like it.  I'd like to think it will change one day, but it seems like the only time it will ever appear to will be when the Devils are a top team and the Rangers are lousy.  At the end of the day, there just aren't that many hardcore Devils fans out there...or not enough of them.

3) Admittedly, as I haven't been going to as many games as I used to, I had almost forgotten why I despise most of the Ranger fanbase...but they reminded me last night.  If there was a checklist for "How to Be Beyond Annoying", a lot of Ranger fans could check off every box.  Same lame jokes?  Check.  Lame jokes delivered in shrill and abrasive voice, complete with awful blowhard Noo Yawk accents?  Check.  Thinking every single moment of contact with the opposition deserves a penalty?  Check.  Just sounding dumb in general?  Yep.

 

As for the game itself...Gelinas...wow.  Truly the Master of Disaster.  Feels like whatever decision he can make is bound to be the worst one.  Awful awful awful.

I barely noticed Boucher yesterday (with the exception of his hit on Klein).  He has only put up two SOG in his last four GP.  And in six out of nine games played at the NHL level this season, he's been held to one shot or less.  Just hope he starts figuring it out up here.  

Blandisi is really fun to watch.  Seven points in his last nine games. 

And of course, Cory...what else can be said about him?  He's been as good of a #1 goalie as there is in the NHL this season.  No small feat considering that some wondered if he could handle a true #1 workload.  Couldn't have asked for a better goalie to follow Marty.  Would love to see Cory win a Vezina, but I'm guessing Crawford or Holtby will win it, based on win totals...sucks in that Cory is clearly playing on a less-talented team that wouldn't be where it is without him, and that he'll be penalized for having less wins through no fault of his own...not his fault that his team is one of the lowest-scoring in the NHL.

 

 

 

The Blandisi goal pic really irked me. You had the Ranger fan with the familiar middle finger right in the shot. That's the type of antagonistic in your face stuff that really irks folks. Honestly I don't remember an Islander fan acting this way in our building, nor have I seen Devils fans behave this way when they see their team in MSG. 

At the same time, it shows the little a$$hole is angry and frustrated, which I found hilarious.

[DJ Eco]

10 minutes ago, MadDog2020 said:

At the same time, it shows the little a$$hole is angry and frustrated, which I found hilarious.

Poor kid. Probably goes to one Rangers game a season as a Christmas present from mommy and daddy, and this year's one was last night's 3rd period meltdown.

[MadDog2020]

At the same time, it shows the little a$$hole is angry and frustrated, which I found hilarious.

Poor kid. Probably goes to one Rangers game a season as a Christmas present from mommy and daddy, and this year's one was last night's 3rd period meltdown.

Yeah. That's too bad. [emoji23]

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

33 minutes ago, DJ Eco said:

Being impartial here: JT Miller should've been the 3rd star of the game. For many of the Rangers games I tune in for from time to time, he looks like their best player. He's quickly becoming one of their best players. I won't jump the gun and say he's their next superstar because the same has been said of Kreider and Zuccarello (and Stepan previously) and they're so marred by inconsistency. He looks really good.

As for the Devils: Schneider has finally gotten the recognition he deserved, being an All-Star and I'm seeing him now finally get the recognition he deserves from our rival fans; I'm seeing many Rangers fans admit that Schneider has maybe eclipsed Lundqvist from here on out.

Hard to believe that Lundqvist will already be 34 years old next month (Schneider will turn 30, for that matter). 

Will be very interesting to see how Lundqvist holds up over the next few seasons...he's hitting those "could fall fast and hard" years (and will be paid a fortune for them), and though he hasn't started as insane of an amount of games as Marty did season to season, he's already 31st on the NHL's All-Time Regular Season Games Played list (for goalies), with 662.  By the end of next season, barring injury, he could be up around 20th (Chris Osgood currently holds that spot with 744 GP)...two more 60-or-so game seasons beyond that will have him cracking the Top 10.  Not saying that Lundqvist can't or won't still be one of the NHL's better goalies by then (36-year-old Roberto Luongo is 7th at 903 GP and is still going strong), but it's not like there's many guys who have been able to do it...and with the exception of Luongo and Patrick Roy, most of the guys ahead of him on the list showed signs of decline...they had to limp a bit to get to those GP numbers. 

And it's amazing that with 662 GP, Lundqvist trails Marty by 604 games.  Yeah, Marty hung on a little too long, but that 1266 GP achievement is truly nuts.      

Edited February 3, 2016 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[DJ Eco]

9 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Hard to believe that Lundqvist will already be 34 years old next month (Schneider will turn 30, for that matter). 

Will be very interesting to see how Lundqvist holds up over the next few seasons...he's hitting those "could fall fast and hard" years (and will be paid a fortune for them), and though he hasn't started as insane of an amount of games as Marty did season to season, he's already 31st on the NHL's All-Time Regular Season Games Played list (for goalies), with 662.  By the end of next season, barring injury, he could be up around 20th (Chris Osgood currently holds that spot with 744 GP)...two more 60-or-so game seasons beyond that will have him cracking the Top 10.  Not saying that Lundqvist can't or won't still be one of the NHL's better goalies by then (36-year-old Roberto Luongo is 7th at 903 GP and is still going strong), but it's not like there's many guys who have been able to do it...and with the exception of Luongo and Patrick Roy, most of the guys ahead of him on the list showed signs of decline...they had to limp a bit to get to those GP numbers. 

And it's amazing that with 662 GP, Lundqvist trails Marty by 604 games.  Yeah, Marty hung on a little too long, but that 1266 GP achievement is truly nuts.      

That's pretty crazy. It's like those cosmos documentaries where it shows you the vastness of the Earth and then puts the Earth next to the Great Storm of Jupiter and then zooms out and shows how big Jupiter is haha... Sorry, I digress.

I don't think Lundqvist gets really ugly really fast, it will be a much slower decline over 3-4 years and it's already very slowly begun. 

If the Rangers are smart, they'd trade him right now for what would probably be the last "maximum" return they can get for him and restock their first round pick(s). It'd be avoiding a much much much more painful and drawn out rebuild in a couple years, I think.

[Derek21]

4 hours ago, DJ Eco said:

Being impartial here: JT Miller should've been the 3rd star of the game. For many of the Rangers games I tune in for from time to time, he looks like their best player. He's quickly becoming one of their best players. I won't jump the gun and say he's their next superstar because the same has been said of Kreider and Zuccarello (and Stepan previously) and they're so marred by inconsistency. He looks really good.

As for the Devils: Schneider has finally gotten the recognition he deserved, being an All-Star and I'm seeing him now finally get the recognition he deserves from our rival fans; I'm seeing many Rangers fans admit that Schneider has maybe eclipsed Lundqvist from here on out.

Miller has been the one constant during this inconsistent stretch. He isn't a finished product yet. Still is prone to the silly turnover like the one that led to a goal against in a loss. But his hockey IQ is higher than Kreider or Hayes. I don't know why they don't try JT on the penalty kill. It can't be much worse. BTW...in my recap, I gave Miller that 3rd star.  2nd was Stempniak and 1st of course was Schneider. 

As for your Ranger point above, you're preaching to the choir. The roster is very vanilla and has become the typical Vigneault roster. Soft. Turn the other cheek. His downfall has been faster than what happened with the Canucks. It took longer. But it's headed down the same path. More and more fans and bloggers are getting fed up with his lines, misuse of Yandle especially on PP, and blind loyalty to vets (Danny G, Staal, Boyle). It took Boucher injuring Klein to get McIlrath back in the lineup. AV is also not honest about injuries. He said Nash was okay. Here we are a week later and he just started skating. It's his stubborn approach that will cost him his job next year. 

[mfitz804]

8 hours ago, DJ Eco said:

Is it me or does it always seem like Rangers fans go out and get a fresh haircut before every Devils-Rangers game? I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's something I've noticed for years, like 80% of the Rangers fans at a Devils-Rangers game of a certain age (18-35) show up looking like they're ready for a date or a job interview. It's not just a matter of being clean cut, it looks like they *just* got a haircut within the previous 24 hours; like a lot of them. Noticed the same at MSG.

Gotta look fresh, bro.

 

[Derek21]

11 hours ago, DJ Eco said:

That's pretty crazy. It's like those cosmos documentaries where it shows you the vastness of the Earth and then puts the Earth next to the Great Storm of Jupiter and then zooms out and shows how big Jupiter is haha... Sorry, I digress.

I don't think Lundqvist gets really ugly really fast, it will be a much slower decline over 3-4 years and it's already very slowly begun. 

If the Rangers are smart, they'd trade him right now for what would probably be the last "maximum" return they can get for him and restock their first round pick(s). It'd be avoiding a much much much more painful and drawn out rebuild in a couple years, I think.

I had a well thought out response to this before. But my draft didn't save. So here's the short version. Lundqvist is the draw at MSG. So, he's not going anywhere. Especially with that contract. At least a million higher than any other goalie. He turns 34 in the Spring and might be showing some signs of regression. Part of it is the defense. It's just not as good. Girardi and Staal have shown wear and tear and Vigneault blindly keeps sending them out. Boyle is what he is. Yandle is under utilized especially on the power play. Points I illustrated in my long breakdown of what's wrong in the Around The League thread. 

Don't forget there is no heir apparent to Hank. Talbot is on Edmonton and finally has recovered his job. Good to see. They have 3 young goalies (Skapski, Shestyerkin, Halverson) in the system. Skapski was the Sabres' specialist last year. He is in the ECHL after knee surgery. Shestyerkin is starring in the KHL and could be hard to sign. Has the highest upside and is the guy I am excited for. But will he come in 2-3 years? Halverson has gone down this year. 

So, that's your goalie evaluation in the system. Henrik still gives them a puncher's chance which CR always alludes to. I have thrown in the towel on the season. I don't like what AV and his staff and the organization are doing. Vets over kids. Signing Paille who has nothing left. Killing the 4th line due to the coach. The PK disaster without Hagelin. Girardi and Staal much worse. Staying in man instead of going to zone. A point another blogger references. Not trying Miller on the PK when he has the tools. Not having Yandle on the top PP unit. I could go on. It's all in my post. 

There's a lot wrong. Too many under performances. Older players looking broken and worn from all the game play. It happens. But that doesn't explain Kreider and Hayes, who I gave an F. They are too invested in this to trade Lundqvist. It would create a PR nightmare. So many subscribers would not renew. They may as well ride it out for as long as Hank has it in him. The D will improve with McIlrath if he ever is trusted and Skjei. Plus Graves. Saarela had a nice showing at WJC. And Tambellini is in Year 1 with the Pack. Anyway, this was longer than I planned. But should answer your question.

[DJ Eco]

You're pretty right about that, fans like us think about what makes sense for hockey but that would be an absolute PR nightmare. Lundqvist is the Rangers' "Toews and Kane", or "Crosby and Malkin", or "Seguin and Benn" wrapped into one; he's what people pay the price of admission for, Nash or McDonaugh or anyone on the roster has never become that.

I think only the real knowledgable fans would understand the move, but the rest of the city would be left with their mouths open (even non-hockey fans). New York makes headline signings, they don't make headline departures, or at least that's the prevailing mentality here. New York's press will either spend a few years talking about Lundqvist's decline or they'll spend a few years referencing Gorton's decision to trade him away. Gorton's in a tough spot and will have a lot of Sather's mistakes to deal with for a long time. His hands are probably a bit more tied but he's not doing as a good job of cleaning up Sather's mess the way Hextall has dealt with Holmgren's mess; although both seemed like mission impossible when they took over.

Edited February 4, 2016 by DJ Eco

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

D21 pretty well summed up why the Rangers can't really afford to either tear it down or trade Lundqvist (and as D21 pointed out, not all of the reasons are on-the-ice related).  You can make the argument that their best chance to win a Cup with this bunch may have already passed, but no one can say definitely that Lundqvist is declining just yet...and the Rangers didn't dole out his latest contract with the idea that they were only going to go for it for 2-3 years (though Lundqvist's actual dollars go down fairly significantly after 2018...though the cap hit will be a total of $25.5 million over the final three years of his current deal, his team will only be on the hook for $20 million for those seasons). 

The hope has to be that Lundqvist can still be at or near his peak playing days for the next two seasons at least, and the Rangers do whatever they have to, to keep the window open for that long.  Devils got insanely lucky to get Schneider to follow Marty, but as we all know and have seen in many other sports, there's no guarantee that the guy who replaces your great player will come anywhere close to being as good as the guy going out.  So it has to continue to be "Right Now" in Rangerland for a while. 

[lucifer91]

On ‎2‎/‎3‎/‎2016 at 11:41 PM, Derek21 said:

Okay. But if they win, I'm gonna take some good natured razzing.

Ahem, we play Toronto today...gdt....

[SterioDesign]

i think people here sees the Rangers "upcoming disaster" with some blinders. It's the same thing every year.. when they traded for Nash... "they gave up all their depth and prospects bla bla bla"... they havent got a first round pick in 10 straight years""Brassard will never handle #1 C, etc etc we heard them all.

Yet gotta give them credits cause they always seem to make it through somehow, that its guys like MSL who just want to be traded there, prospects like Kevin Hayes deciding to sign there, etc etc they always find a way. We got lucky getting Schneider but they could very well pull a trade out of their asses or get an UFA goalie signing there and they wouldnt skip a beat.

Same with all the posters here saying this and this team was gonna be in cap hell because of this and that. And boom, new CBA and compliance buyouts. Those teams are laughing lol 

Not saying the Rangers WILL recover but to say they are done once this guy is gone or wtv is really more hopeful than stating the truth. 

Edited February 4, 2016 by SterioDesign

[DJ Eco]

When he starts his decline, they'll probably trade him to Montreal for a 1st round pick and their next captain, like they did last time haha... Like you said, they seem to always get out of a sticky situation. Wouldn't be surprised to see new compliance buyouts introduced when the era of contracts for players like Lundqvist, Parise, Suter, etc., start to look bad in 3 years or so. Always seems to work out for them and Philly, somehow, some way.

Edited February 4, 2016 by DJ Eco

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

31 minutes ago, SterioDesign said:

i think people here sees the Rangers "upcoming disaster" with some blinders. It's the same thing every year.. when they traded for Nash... "they gave up all their depth and prospects bla bla bla"... they havent got a first round pick in 10 straight years""Brassard will never handle #1 C, etc etc we heard them all.

Yet gotta give them credits cause they always seem to make it through somehow, that its guys like MSL who just want to be traded there, prospects like Kevin Hayes deciding to sign there, etc etc they always find a way. We got lucky getting Schneider but they could very well pull a trade out of their asses or get an UFA goalie signing there and they wouldnt skip a beat.

Same with all the posters here saying this and this team was gonna be in cap hell because of this and that. And boom, new CBA and compliance buyouts. Those teams are laughing lol 

Not saying the Rangers WILL recover but to say they are done once this guy is gone or wtv is really more hopeful than stating the truth. 

Sather did a good job in somehow Houdini-ing his way out of some bad contacts.   

They've had a nice window, and it's still open for now, but some of the older guys who were part of this run are starting to show their age.  No one is saying they're 100% done, but they're going to have to get a little creative to keep this going...for now it's looking like the multi-round playoff runs are going to be harder to come by.