Zug simply played the game of their life, played really good hockey and just wanted this win more then the Rangers wanted it.
Player of the match Holden and Pirnes, on the Blueshirt side in my eyes Anisimov.
I was disappointed with our offense and especially with Birons game in net... Our D look not good at all and Richards on that goal from Holden looked like a lilī kid which played D the first time in his life, but anyway, we canīt change it so move on from that and take it as a lesson that you just canīt go in to a game with a "Weīll win it anyway" attitude.
Maybe we were a bit tired after played 4 or 5 games in different countries and way too many flights and to less rest between them.
As someone said before me: Congratz to Zug and now get some rest and get our D in shape for the season opener, because thatīs what matters, not the pre-season games.
Aha! My bad. I've lived with the idea that the NLA had fewer teams, but a quick fact check could have saved me the embarassment.
At any rate, my point is that the NLA could INDEED be better than the SEL right now, no matter how we slice it or dice it. Recent results show clearly that NLA teams have not only beat SEL teams and KHL teams but now also a few NHL teams. How "important" or indicative it is of the strength of the Rangers is not the point, but rather that the quality of the NLA teams have improved significantly compared to where they were 10-15 years ago, when I think it would be hard for any NLA team to skate with any NHL team no matter what the circumstances were.
Also, I wasn't implying that the SEL teams would do better in continental competition depending on when it was played, but rather one would know that a good team for that season was going, as opposed to a team that is picked based on whatever happened the year before, with a different roster. This idea would of course also hold true for any other league, and the question is of course if the NHL and KHL factors really matter. Regardless, the competition would feel a bit more intriguing to follow, IMO.
First of, I agree with the hats off part.
But I think NLA vs X-team/league is misleading. Or misleading, I think there is a side-story to those results. Let me explain it.
Any team can adjust against a trapping team these days, and if you do that the trapping team just won't have the odds on their side. Like look at the SEL for example, plenty of coaches have tried to trap over the last 8 years, none have even remotely had success. And Sweden is the mother of all trapping. We know how its done.
But the key word is -- ADJUST. If you are not used to playing against trapping teams, you need to adjust. And teams that only face trapping team on the odd occasion either just fails to realize what needs to be done, or don't bother adjusting their gameplan.
As regards the SEL, thats another issue. No matter how you slice it its a high quality, competetivly tough league. "Allways" will be. But its certainly not great these days...
Martin Biron was miserable in this one..he was giving up high shots all night long...
He was beyond miserable. It seemed as if he just stood still while the puck was flying right next to him and about to go in. It's like he was a goalie from the '70's who always stands up.
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"Trust me I'm an expert, I watched 13 rangers games on NHL center Ice this year through streaming." -Starburst
"I don't even understand what the point of all this arguing is. Are you guys hoping that the other side is going to have an epiphany and go 'Oh, OH! You're right, we ARE going to lose this series!'" -Crease
He was beyond miserable. It seemed as if he just stood still while the puck was flying right next to him and about to go in. It's like he was a goalie from the '70's who always stands up.
I've never seen a worse game from Marty... I couldn't believe it was him in the first place... shocked! I bet/hope its a one-off PFFFRT, cus otherwise... CALL KAY WHITMORE!!!
it's not so bad losing like that in the final preseason game. they have many days to go before their season opener to practice and adjust. 2 games for real and then like another 9 game break to tune the machine yet again before really getting going. better than going into the regular season after beating up on some European clubs. reality check, you guys have to work hard for every point!
Based on what we have seen from Gaborik-Richards this preseason they might be considering not cutting the only center left that Gaborik has had any chemistry with. Ever.
I was thinking the same way. And what if Stepan is hitting the sophmore slump? Can Avery play center?
I was at the game.
Nice atmosphere and quite a lot rangers jerseys in the stands
My views of the game:
+++
- Anisimov was the best ranger, nice energy and speed
- Rupp can actually skate quite nice
- Zuccarello was really active in the game and really calm with the puck, will have a very good year
- Girardi wasn't noticeable at all, but that's a good thing as a defender here
- McDonagh had a nice game, as well as DelZotto (away from the stat sheet and the +/-)
---
- Biron was really bad, that's true
- the 3rd pair didn't look good either, but i would take Bickel over Bell in this one...
- Richards/Gabby didn't create much danger
- Christensen
Zug played really good, high speed and nice breakouts.
They stood tight in their own zone and kept the rangers on the boards
They were really focused and made very few mistakes
After all, I think the first penalty against dubi was crap, as well as the 2nd goal on Marty and the 3rd goal who came after a clearing attempt that was blocked by the linesman and led to a goal by Zug. Bad luck
C'mon. Zug won fair and square, so give them cred. I'm sure they came in with a so-so attitude to this as well, given that they have more important games to worry about in their domestic league as well - nobody wants to pick up any injuries in a game like this.
The Bruins lost to the Bolts in a few games last season. They even dropped a 3-0 lead and lost in one game, but I don't think anybody would contest that the Bruins weren't deserving Champs and were better than the Bolts last season, regardless of the score in one game, so why take anything away from Zug's win today?
Hats off. Move on.
I wasnt trying to be disrespectful, just found it funny that we were getting trolled by a fan of a team I've never heard off. And I'm serious, I've never heard of this Zug team.
Kudos to that poster for sticking up for his team.
I keep wondering if this whole experience was good or bad for the team. Not playing on NHL rinks and against NHL opponents, it seems like it's really difficult to assess where some of these options for the blue line actually stand.
I wasnt trying to be disrespectful, just found it funny that we were getting trolled by a fan of a team I've never heard off. And I'm serious, I've never heard of this Zug team.
Kudos to that poster for sticking up for his team.
