N.Y. Rangers: Some Things Never Change

From the desk: RAISE GRESCHNER WITH THE GREATS

In round one of the 1978-1979 NHL playoffs, the New York Rangers defeated the Philadelphia Flyers.  They would likewise defeat the New York Islanders in round two en route to the Stanley Cup finals against the Montreal Canadiens.  

Islanders defenseman and Norris trophy winner Dennis Potvin scored 101 points that season, making him only the second blueliner in NHL history to notch 100 points in a season.  

Rangers fans of that generation always wondered if the outcome against Montreal might have played out differently had defenseman, Ulf Nilsson, been available.  On Feb. 25, 1979, in a game against the Islanders, Nilsson skated into the left corner to pursue a loose puck.  With his head down and eyes focused on the puck, Nilsson gets blasted into the boards by an onrushing Dennis Potvin.  The result of the hit was a broken ankle.  It was also the genesis of the "Potvin Sucks!" chant, now over 40 years old.  Too many fans today participate in the chant, not knowing its origin, but just play along because it's the thing to do.  

I digress ...

Nick Fotiu played for that Rangers team.  His presence often made opponents think twice before committing any on-ice indiscretions against the Blueshirts.  The lack of a similar type of player arguably cost the Rangers a Stanley Cup or even two during the late 1960s and early 1970s.  

Fast-forward, Mike Keenan was aghast upon his arrival as head coach of the Rangers at that systemic lack of physicality and essentially ordered general manager Neil Smith to fix it. 

All these years later, the song remains the same.  On Apr. 14, against the Islanders, Jacob Trouba absorbed a big hit from Matt Martin and has been out of action ever since.  Max Pacioretty's hit on Brad Richards several years back comes to mind.  But the list of unanswered hits goes on and on.

The assumption was John Davidson lived it and knows better.

The assumption was Jeff Gorton came through the Boston organization and knows better.

Yes, the Rangers are rebuilding, but they continue ignoring this one critical component.

One Stanley Cup since 1940 ... just ask Mike Keenan.  He knew post-haste what the problem was.

• UPDATE: Did you see Monday's game against the Washington Capitals?  Did you see what Tom Wilson did to Pavel Buchnevich and Artemi Panarin?

Smurfs!

N.Y. Rangers: Because Trading Brendan Lemieux is the Off-Broadway Thing To Do

From the desk: RAISE GRESCHNER WITH THE GREATS

Nick Fotiu, Nick Fotiu,

Wherefore Art Thow, Nick Fotiu?

You can sum up the last fifty years of Rangers hockey this way: weak up the middle and lacking overall physicality and toughness.

If you're too young to remember the days of The Smurfs on Ice at Madison Square Garden, consider yourself lucky because it's this very condition that has frustrated Rangers fans for many, many decades.  Back in the day, Emile Francis ignored all the clamoring to beef up the roster, and it cost him and the organization at least one Stanley Cup and maybe even two.

History says the Rangers never draft big and refuse to toughen up.  When Mike Keenan arrived in town, he recognized this post-haste and effectively ordered general manager Neil Smith to change it, and he was right!  Of all people, I thought Jeff Gorton (who comes to the Rangers via the Boston Bruins) and John Davidson would understand this.  I thought the exit of Alain Vigneault finally signaled the end of it.  But shame on me.  Finesse still rules the day.

Once again, there goes the little bit of toughness and hard-nosed play the Rangers possessed. 

Extenuating circumstances around Saturday's trade of Brendan Lemieux to Los Angeles make this no less infuriating. 

Was Brendan Lemieux destined to remain with the Rangers beyond this season?  That very likely is a definitive no, thus rendering my words to a mere rant.  I get it; the Rangers wanted to make room for Vitaly Kravtsov who's KHL season just ended.  They come away from this with L.A.'s 2021 fourth-round draft pick.  

Lemieux certainly wasn't going to be protected for the Seattle expansion draft.  But will the Rangers use that pick to draft someone who isn't afraid to mix it up in the corners, win possession, and actually make a decent pass to the more skilled players who should be positioned in front (but can't fight their way through a wet paper bag)? 

And here I wanted to see Lemieux on the third line ...

Regardless, my point still holds true, now and moving forward.

Damn Smurfs!

N.Y. Rangers: Eye of the Paper Tiger; Game One

From the desk of:  RAISE GRESCH WITH THE GREATS

2016-2017

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE

EASTERN  CONFERENCE

Stanley Cup Playoffs

ROUND ONE

NEW YORK RANGERS

vs.

MONTREAL CANADIENS

ICYMI:

The Slides of March
You can pirouette your way through the regular season against the NHL's mean competition,
but you can't do that in a short playoff series.  Yes, AV, I'm talking to you.

New York Rangers: What 102 Points Gets You at the Metropolitan Division Exchange Rate.

Mike ... why are you so down on the Rangers?

Go back and read the Slides of March.  The upcoming series will either prove me right, or dead wrong.  That remains to be seen.

Otherwise, my answer is because all was never as pretty as it seemed to begin with.

Let's start with the competition ... shall we?

There's no coincidence in the fact that Washington, Pittsburgh, Columbus, and Montreal all finished ahead of the Rangers in this year's Eastern Conference standings.  During the regular season, the Rangers posted a sub par 6-10 record against them.

The Rangers additionally sputtered to an 8-11 record through the Slides of March (and four games in April).  Three of those games were against the Habs, Penguins, and Capitals.  The Rangers lost them all by an overall 10-4 margin of disparity.

Tex's Rangers were once again winter marvels, though, posting a regular season record of 48-28-6 (102 points), scoring the fourth most goals in the league, and recording best road record in the NHL.   Despite their proficiency, they only placed fourth in the Metropolitan Division and fifth in the conference.

So, let me know when this all starts sounding familiar to you ...

In the mean time, the Rangers are just 11-19 in their last 30 games at home, and generally do not play well in Montreal.

That being said, it's north of the border we go for Game One.

Montreal jettisoned some smaller players and got bigger, stronger, and tougher at the trade deadline. They swept all three games of the season series against the Rangers, and enter this series arguably boasting the better goalie, the best defenseman, and the best forward poised to take the ice.

• LW - Max Pacioretty: 35 goals, 32 assists (67 points), +15.
• D - Shea Weber: 17 goals, 25 assists (42 points), +20.
• G -  Carey Price: 37-20-5, 2.23 GAA, .923 SV%

Just saying ...

In Mats Zuccarello We Trust; Think About That for a Moment

• LW - Rick Nash: 23 goals, 15 assists (38 points), +9
• RW - Mats Zuccarello: 15 goals, 44 assists (59 points), +15
• LW - Chris Kreider: 28 goals, 25 assists (53 points), +6

I don't want to be overly disparaging, but, Rick Nash should be ashamed of himself.  Thirty-eight points?  A guy with his size and speed - it's ponderous, I know.  I can't help but recall how Columbus fans told us we'd soon regret the trade.  Did we fans expect way too much of Nash?  I doubt it.

His failures create systemic problems.  Very simply, a team featuring Rick Nash should not be led in any offensive category by Mats Zuccarello.  Yet, MatZuccs did just that ... again!  He can not continue being the Rangers best forward ... if you know what I mean.  He's great.  I love MatZuccs.   He plays smart, and will skate into tougher areas of the ice.  But if he's the best Blueshirt forward on the ice, it means other forward-liners aren't doing nearly enough.

Therefore, Kevin Hayes and Chris Kreider must seize the day.  Kreider had a good season, but now he must lead.  I'm not saying Kreider needs to knock Carey Price into the twilight zone again.  But I am saying Kreider, Hayes, Nash, JT Miller, and Jimmy Vesey, must all get their 200+pound bodies in front of net.

Outside of Shea Weber, they should be able to push their way through, but only if they want to.  This is where I demand more from Alain Vigneault.  I need for him to pull the curtain on his meticulously choreographed ballet, and order his bigger bodies on search and destroy missions seeking out second and third opportunities.  As they say, if Price can see the puck, he'll stop it.  Therefore, chaos in the crease is key.

I've always made size and toughness on the forward lines, or lack thereof, a major point of contention.  But do the Rangers have the blueliners to get this done?

• D - Ryan McDonagh: 6 goals, 36 assists (42 points), +20

No issues with the guy wearing the C on his jersey.  My biggest concern is whether Dan Girardi has one more good run in him?  He's a worn and torn 32-years old.

Next, watch out for trade deadline acquisition Brendan Smith.  I do not like this match-up at all.   When these teams last played, Smith was repeatedly knocked off the puck, and squashed by Montreal's newly acquired beefcake forwards.

And as a unit, the blueliners won't exactly be crunching any Montreal forwards in the corners either.

• G - Henrik Lundqvist: 31-20-4, 2.74 GAA, .910 SV%

The Rangers are asking more of Henrik Lundqvist than ever.  But our liege is 35-years old now, and may not be able to cover all the defensive shortcomings occurring in front of him, and around the net. They do such a deplorable job, and it's because they lack size and toughness needed to push bodies around.  Henrik and Price are essentially the same - if they see it, they'll stop it.  But where the Rangers must alter their style in order to create second and third opportunities, they routinely give them up in the defensive other end.

Please, Henrik, do everything for us ... is no longer an option.  Just like last season, and the one before that, and the one before that, etc., it's incumbent upon the skaters in front of Henrik to do more.  Not the other way around.

*

I tried very hard not to batter you with my prolonged Alain Vigneault rantings, and my lack of size and toughness ravings.  Very simply, I don't like Alain Vigneault.  I don't like his policy of turn the other cheek, and generally speaking, I think he's just plain soft.  I still say he gave away Game Seven against Tampa Bay because he went with cute, instead of tough.

I digress ...

With regard to the lack of toughness on this team ... those old enough to remember the Smurfs (not the TV cartoon, but the smallish Rangers of the 1980s in the years prior to Brian Leetch's rookie season), know exactly what I mean.

I'll do one better:  If Nick Fotiu (pre-Smurfs) played for these Rangers, we'd win the Cup!

Circling back to Vigneault, did I mention the Rangers downward trending since he took over?

But, Mike, the Rangers just posted three straight 100 point seasons.

Yeah, I know.

But I also know they made the 2013-2014 Stanley Cup finals during his first season, gave away(!) the 2014-2015 Eastern Conference finals the following season, then bowed out four games to one during last year's first round against Pittsburgh.

What will it be this season, getting swept by Montreal?

That's not entirely out of the question.

Ryan McDonagh says throw all that regular season stuff out the window.  The Rangers are playoff tested.  They know what it takes.

But can they get it done?

I'm not so sure.

Sorry...

#LGR

New York Rangers: Importing Scorers Has Been Mixed Bag Of Pucks

From the desk of:   RAISE GRESCH WITH THE GREATS

TONIGHT

 

2013

National Hockey League

TEX'S RANGERS

REGULAR SEASON OPENER

 

 

NEW YORK RANGERS

vs.

Boston Bruins

FROM

Not The Boston Garden

Legends Way, North End

 

 

NEW YORK RANGERS:

Four Blueshirt Points Of Interest and Concern (and Worry)

1) - Improve the Power Play - The Rangers, it turns out, were very very good last season - just not great.  An overall lack of key scoring hurt.  But an abysmal power play killed.  In consecutive seasons, Brad Richards and Rick Nash have been brought to New York with the expectation they can help turn the PP unit around and have it become an offensive weapon for a change.  Because let us be honest here.  The Rangers power play has short circuited ever since Sergei Zubov last manned the point two decades ago.


2) - Give Marty Biron twelve to fifteen starts unless otherwise dictated by necessity; or it adversely affects Henrik's timing; or Marty proves it is a bad idea.  With the additional back-to-back games and an overall compressed schedule, he will obviously get his chances.  I know giving Biron that many starts seems a bit much.  Henrik would still get 33/35 starts.  Once the playoffs start, Marty Biron will effectively disappear.  However, should something unfortunately befall Henrik Lundqvist, Marty Biron will need to be up to game speed, meaning playoff speed.  In a short season scenario, everything moves fast.


3) - Will the real Brad Richards please stand up?  See below.  But all we need from Brad Richards is to be Brad Richards.  Judging by the way he performed in the playoffs, we might get it.  Then again.......


4) - Who will fight our battles now that Brandon Prust is gone?  Mike Rupp?  Brian Boyle?  Okay..., then who?    ...............(*sigh*)...............?  I thought so.  With all due respect to our Captain, the Rangers are shy in the pugilist department.  For the moment, lets leave Rick Nash out of this one.  He is a qualified tough guy.  Otherwise, this is highly concerning to me.  The Rangers led, or were among the top two (which?) NHL teams in fighting majors last season.  Now fear this.  Brandon Prust led the Rangers by far, engaging in twenty regular season fights last season.  Mike Rupp came in second with thirteen.  Stu Bickel..! - exchanged hey-makers twelve times.  Good for him.  Labelled as a bit soft, the dearly departed Brandon Dubinsky is next on the list with six fights.  Then...., Brian Boyle comes in with three.  How important is fighting to the Rangers overall game?  It depends how many fights they themselves instigated, and how many times they needed to meet the challenge.  Was their willingness to drop gloves born of necessity because veteran teams like Philly, Pittsburgh, and others thought they could take their liberties against a very young club?  Or was fighting inevitable because of their rabid, and possessed-like grinding style?  Go figure...



Finally!  It's Time To Drop The Puck And Get Broadway's Big Blue Glacier Moving FORWARD Again.

Is Marian Gaborik The Rangers Version Of Howard Johnson?

The most glaring problem facing the Rangers these past two seasons has been their ability, or inability, to score the big goal, a put-away goal, the Say Goodnight Gracie type goal.  More simply, the Rangers just need to score more goals, period.  For it is heartbreaking when fifty nine minutes of hard work and effort falls through a crack in the ice due to one very brief or fleeting defensive lapse or misplay.  With alarming frequency in last season's playoffs and culminating against the Devils, any deviation from perfection without the puck torpedoed their game.  They possessed the puck just fine.  They just couldn't find net.  Other times, they over-possessed and failed to get off shots.


The Rangers lost their bearing in the neutral zone as well.  But teams adept at scoring can many times outscore their mistakes.  The Rangers never could.  The goals the Blueshirts did score oft times came only after a supreme physical effort - the kind of effort it takes to grind granite into sand.  And as fans, we were going to buy into it no matter what.  But to their credit, Coach Torts and the team moved forward with the steady movement and power of a glacier as long as they could.  Maybe by the time they faced the surging Devils, the long grind of the Rangers style of play just caught up to Team Torts...  Or, maybe they just couldn't score.  Everything would have been fine, as is, if they could only have mustered a goal or two more.


Mind you, that's at even strength.  Because worse yet, when fans would rather fore go a power play just to continue playing at even strength, that's a problem.  The power play has been a dilemma; a crisis even; for the Rangers - not an advantage.  And that is so unlike many John Tortorella teams of the past.


Rick Nash was imported to address such issues.  This is what I said a few posts ago:

...securing a second high profile player in consecutive years (also) brings expectations. So hello Rick Nash. This ain't Columbus chum. Show me.  Rick Nash is actually the player the Rangers have been seeking on the wing for decades, or at least since the days Nick Fotiu played. Difference being, Nash is a legit scorer. He is big, and tough like Fotiu was, but a vastly more skilled forward than Fotiu could ever aspire to be. And he's young. He is entering his prime years. Alas, recent years of making mistakes with forwards such as Scott Gomez and Chris Drury seem like ages ago - perchance to dream.

On paper, this acquisition is a home run.  However, until they drop the puck to start the season, let us just keep it at that.  Because the fact is, the Rangers still have carry-over issues with two of their other recent, and fairly recent high profile acquisitions.


Will the real Brad Richard please stand up?  I'm not complaining.  This blog gave him a season's grace.  And after all, he had big moments in last year's playoffs.  But Brad without a doubt struggled during the regular season.....mightily.  So much so, Coach Torts had no choice but to demote him to the fourth line for a time.  That can not be the case this season.  But he only needs to be Brad Richards, not a savior.


With Nash on board, everyone should be carrying a lighter load, and benefiting.  But then again, that's what we fans said when the team acquired Marian Gaborik.  And we said it again when we acquired Richards.  I know many of the real cynical fans, and even some more moderate ones can't help but think, even fleetingly....., here we go again.


Within a four season stretch, the Rangers (ideally speaking) have now acquired their top three scorers.  Marian Gaborik was the first.  During Marian Gaborik's '07-'08 season with Minnesota, he scored forty two goals.  The following season, injury limited him to seventeen games and thirteen goals.  He returned healthy for the '09-'10 season, but only he now played for the Rangers.  In his first season wearing a Blueshirt, he matched his career high set two seasons ago, by scoring forty two goals.  The next season, he managed sixty two games played, but only scored twenty two goals.  There was much speculation as to whether he played the season injured.  At the end of the season, he admitted he did.  Last year, Marian Gaborik "the sniper" returned.  For the third time in the last five alternating seasons, he topped (41) the forty goal mark.  He did in fact play through injury again through last season's playoffs.  Marian Gaborik is now coming off shoulder surgery, but appears quite ready to get going.  But which Marian Gaborik will the Rangers be getting?  The forty goal scorer, or, the alternating stinker scheduled to appear this year?  In local terms, he is like the Howard Johnson of hockey.




Mike.BTB

N.Y. Rangers ~ Don't Smash The Cap With Nash

From the desk of:   RAISE GRESCH WITH THE GREATS

NEW YORK RANGERS:  Save Our Cash.  Pass On Nash.

Fellow Ranger Fans - Do we really want Rick Nash?  Be careful what you ask for because you just might get it.  Me?  I'd rather have Vinny Prospal back.  But then again, as the deadline nears, I am even less interested in making a major deal than I was a week ago.  Tonight, let Rick Nash come and go from your view without nary a thought.  He could help us this season.  I grant the trade supporters that.  But he'd be disastrous to our future.  And I believe this Rangers team is closer to being complete, than it is in need of making such an alteration.  The off-season strikes me as a far better time for us to make such a fix.

In addition to the instant burst of offense many believe he'd supply, I know the other argument as a long-time Ranger Fan myself.  The Rangers have an opportunity to get a player we've always longed to have; a really tough guy on the ice who can score goals.  We've long wanted the perfect hybrid player mix of Nick Fotiu and Mike Gartner.  And this is as big a chance we've had as any.  Am I wrong?  If you're really interested in going there, bring back Sean Avery.  Sean Avery is still one of the most gifted wingers to ever work behind the goal.  I always thought Avery was as good as Wayne Gretzky when passing from behind the net.   But this is not a plea to bring Sean Avery back.  Avery no longer fits, and neither does Rick Nash.

My fellow Ranger Fans, instead I say to you,  -  This is our moment of truth.  Are we to make a full break from past practices and continue building this team according to a cohesive plan and sound philosophy?  Or, will our impulses get the better of us yet again, and steer us towards the big splash.  When faced with adversity, to do the impulsive thing; to make the rash decision; and undermining your principles; are the easy things to do.  To stick with the plan put in place; to practice patience; to stay committed to an organizational philosophy; to have self-discipline; are all hard.  To go back to our old ways of Just Spending the Money, is easy.  To stay committed to Coach Torts' vision of and for this team, and staying on the path he's blazed for us, is hard.

I remember what "1940" used to sound like.  And not before too long, "1994" won't be far behind.  I actually know why we do Potvin Sucks.  I watched Nicky Fotiu play!  So I'm right there with you.  But we do not need to make a deal for Rick Nash.  Which ever way you size him up, the up-front cost, and the long term ramifications are too much and too prohibitive, as tempting as he may be.

To not believe in what we're doing is easy.  To believe is hard.

Lets Go Rangers!

TONIGHT

Columbus Blue Jackets

vs.

NEW YORK SOFTIES

From,

MADISON SQUARE GARDEN

33rd Street at 7th Avenue

NYC

Mike.BTB