I don't think the goal was entirely Gaborik's fault, in fact, watching it on TV, I saw Gabby (didn't know it was him at the time) going to clear the puck and I was surprised when Hank leapt on it. As I recall, and I haven't seen any replays, the puck was pretty far from the crease, farther than it normally is when Hank would come out to smother it.
The lack of communication between the two has to be partially Hank's fault.
OK, with that said, you bring up the most important point of both game 1 and game 3: the Rangers cannot afford to make a single mistake.
The Caps make you pay for mistakes, the Rangers do not. That's the difference between the 1st and 8th seeds. The Caps have horrible line changes, several players (not just Ovechkin) are overextending their shifts, and when Boudreau gets himself ejected, I'll only laugh. They've been way sloppier than the Rangers, but they can get away with it.
I don't think the goal was entirely Gaborik's fault, in fact, watching it on TV, I saw Gabby (didn't know it was him at the time) going to clear the puck and I was surprised when Hank leapt on it. As I recall, and I haven't seen any replays, the puck was pretty far from the crease, farther than it normally is when Hank would come out to smother it.
The lack of communication between the two has to be partially Hank's fault.
OK, with that said, you bring up the most important point of both game 1 and game 3: the Rangers cannot afford to make a single mistake.
The Caps make you pay for mistakes, the Rangers do not. That's the difference between the 1st and 8th seeds. The Caps have horrible line changes, several players (not just Ovechkin) are overextending their shifts, and when Boudreau gets himself ejected, I'll only laugh. They've been way sloppier than the Rangers, but they can get away with it.
I would say it was about a foot away and still rolling in on him. Perfectly normal for a goalie to get that puck.
he does draw the other team's top defenders. he certainly drew 2 guys on one of the goals (game 3?).
I want to see what his goal breakdown was like last season. he's having a bad year. yes. I believe he's been playing injured this whole time. came back too soon and we got the short end of that deal. I tend to believe he'll be fine next year if he can stay healthy. we all knew signing Gaborik could be a mixed bag of pucks with his injury history and all. If we manage to sign Richards too, I'm pretty sure you're gonna want Gaborik to play with him.
He had a crap year that wasn't even horrible for the amount of games played.
That said he needs to have a bounce back year next season (or score a hat trick on Saturday, he's over due) or he's probably done here.
That OT goal wasn't one person's fault...Staal's game one fail was much worse. The worst part is basically this whole series has been 1. mistake and it's in, Caps are finishing their chances while the Rangers need about 5 good ones before it goes in.
I would say it was about a foot away and still rolling in on him. Perfectly normal for a goalie to get that puck.
I'm not saying that Hank made a bad play going to smother it, just that there needed to be better communication between the two on that play. It is understandable that Hank wanted to freeze the puck and it was also understandable that Gabby felt he should clear it.
I'm not saying that Hank made a bad play going to smother it, just that there needed to be better communication between the two on that play. It is understandable that Hank wanted to freeze the puck and it was also understandable that Gabby felt he should clear it.
it was a bad bounce, but when i see my goalie going to smother it, I leave it alone. No offence and I love Gabby, but not the smartest play to make, and terrible puck placement when he tried to clear the net
Gaborik needs an elite player to play with. He is a Pavel Bure type that lurks without the puck ready to pounce at any time. That dunk pass from Feds is the type of pass that Gaborik should be getting all the time, but that is first time I have seen that this year (incredibly). He has nobody to get him the puck. The arguments will be about last year and how he produced just fine, but Prospal was playing at an incredible level last year. Maybe not elite, but he was good enough that it made such a difference in Gaborik's game. This year, that hasn't been the case. Stepan and AA are good players, but they just don't play they just don't have what it takes to center Gabby. EC does have the skill level, but his inconsistency is maddening. Compounding the issue is that Gaborik is always seeing opposing teams best and usually most physical D-men.
Realize that I am not making excuses for Gabby. His effort has not always been there and he seems tentative at times, but he is still one of the best skilled players in the league. Unless you are getting a bounty in return, trading him is just silly.
Gaborik needs an elite player to play with. He is a Pavel Bure type that lurks without the puck ready to pounce at any time. That dunk pass from Feds is the type of pass that Gaborik should be getting all the time, but that is first time I have seen that this year (incredibly). He has nobody to get him the puck. The arguments will be about last year and how he produced just fine, but Prospal was playing at an incredible level last year. Maybe not elite, but he was good enough that it made such a difference in Gaborik's game. This year, that hasn't been the case. Stepan and AA are good players, but they just don't play they just don't have what it takes to center Gabby. EC does have the skill level, but his inconsistency is maddening. Compounding the issue is that Gaborik is always seeing opposing teams best and usually most physical D-men.
Realize that I am not making excuses for Gabby. His effort has not always been there and he seems tentative at times, but he is still one of the best skilled players in the league. Unless you are getting a bounty in return, trading him is just silly.
I'm not sure how anyone can watch Gaborik last year and now this year and not see a difference in HIS play. To try to put the blame for his subpar season on Prospal or Stepan or whoever is just making excuses.
If you want to blame the difference on injuries, I'll buy that, but I simply don't buy that his inability to gain a step on defenders or to pick corners like he did last year, is somehow to be blamed on a difference in performance by his linemates.
I'm not sure how anyone can watch Gaborik last year and now this year and not see a difference in HIS play. To try to put the blame for his subpar season on Prospal or Stepan or whoever is just making excuses.
If you want to blame the difference on injuries, I'll buy that, but I simply don't buy that his inability to gain a step on defenders or to pick corners like he did last year, is somehow to be blamed on a difference in performance by his linemates.
Completely agree.
The question now is: Is there now such a thing as a healthy Gaborik?
It's absolutely asinine to think that one star player should have to carry the offensive load for an entire team. Just because management was only able to obtain one star player doesn't mean that, that's all it should take.
Last year when Gaborik played like a house on fire, where was his support? Gaborik needs to fully heal and rehab his shoulder in the offseason, and the rangers need to bring in players that can score.
it's really not that complicated.
It's absolutely asinine to think that one star player should have to carry the offensive load for an entire team. Just because management was only able to obtain one star player doesn't mean that, that's all it should take.
Last year when Gaborik played like a house on fire, where was his support? Gaborik needs to fully heal and rehab his shoulder in the offseason, and the rangers need to bring in players that can score.
it's really not that complicated.
Completely agree, if anything Gaborik was surrounded by better players this season, but he was hurt. He needs a center that can get him the puck in the slot and he needs to shoot. It also seemed like he gave up chances to shoot to often this season.
Again the question that nobody can answer: How does a good centerman help Gaborik when Gaborik is all alone in front of the net with point blank chances?
I don't want him to be a magician, but he creates absolutely no offense. And when he gets himself in a position to score, he cannot finish. That's not a bad shoulder or a bad knee or a bad something every Gaborik apologist keeps throwing out there. It's an inability to perform under the spotlight. It's nothing new for players of his type.
Again the question that nobody can answer: How does a good centerman help Gaborik when Gaborik is all alone in front of the net with point blank chances?
I don't want him to be a magician, but he creates absolutely no offense. And when he gets himself in a position to score, he cannot finish. That's not a bad shoulder or a bad knee or a bad something every Gaborik apologist keeps throwing out there. It's an inability to perform under the spotlight. It's nothing new for players of his type.
You should watch more hockey if you think that players of Gaborik's ilk finish every single chance they get in front of the net. The difference is that Gaborik gets chances like that infrequently, where as snipers who play on teams that are capable of consistently creating quality scoring chances for them get those types of opportunities far more frequently.
Anyone else think Gaborik misses MDZ's stretch pass? We have no one able to spring Gaborik like we did last season. Many of Gaborik's goals came off a stretch pass and he was able to blow past defenders.
Anyone else think Gaborik misses MDZ's stretch pass? We have no one able to spring Gaborik like we did last season. Many of Gaborik's goals came off a stretch pass and he was able to blow past defenders.
absolutely. Def not the only reason, but Gabby is more effective getting the puck in stride and carrying only blue line and in, vs. somebody like Kovalchuk who can carry and beat defenders through the neutral zone all the way to the net.
It's absolutely asinine to think that one star player should have to carry the offensive load for an entire team. Just because management was only able to obtain one star player doesn't mean that, that's all it should take.
How about some of the offensive load? Is it reasonable to expect a star player to score more than once every 14 games?
Quote:
Originally Posted by NikC
Last year when Gaborik played like a house on fire, where was his support? Gaborik needs to fully heal and rehab his shoulder in the offseason, and the rangers need to bring in players that can score it's really not that complicated.
You should watch more hockey if you think that players of Gaborik's ilk finish every single chance they get in front of the net. The difference is that Gaborik gets chances like that infrequently, where as snipers who play on teams that are capable of consistently creating quality scoring chances for them get those types of opportunities far more frequently.
Great post. I agree 100%. A playmaking center will put Gabby in the position to score WAY more than Eric Christiensen does.
You should watch more hockey if you think that players of Gaborik's ilk finish every single chance they get in front of the net. The difference is that Gaborik gets chances like that infrequently, where as snipers who play on teams that are capable of consistently creating quality scoring chances for them get those types of opportunities far more frequently.
I'll put that on my to-do list to watch more hockey. Not that I am surprised you would question someone's knowledge because they don't agree with you.
1 goal in his last 13 games. 49 shots in that same time period. A good center will not fix that. You call that elite? It's someone else's fault. Can't be Gaborik. Skating in to the corner, reversing to no one and there's another giveaway. Carry the puck across the blueline and make a bee line for the boards, back off from any kind of contact and give it away. Alone in front and another shot directly in the logo of the goalie.
