I call MZA up and let him play with Arty and Hagellin. Two very defensively responsible forwards with a guy who can actually create offense, or Arty and Feds even.
Shame Torts doesn't like players like that.
Is the goal to create the worst possible line in the league at protecting the puck?
Is the goal to create the worst possible line in the league at protecting the puck?
Funny. Except when you have a line like that, which doesn't need to dump and chase every time it enters the zone, you can create offense without having to win a battle along the boards every 5 seconds.
Funny. Except when you have a line like that, which doesn't need to dump and chase every time it enters the zone, you can create offense without having to win a battle along the boards every 5 seconds.
That's a pretty bold statement. You are really drinking the Torts' kool aid. All three have shown that they can generate offense. At what cost? We'll see. But we are getting nothing from Feds or Prust (outside of the PK) and we absolutely need help on the PP, at ES from our 3rd line and in the shootout. To me it is worth the risk that the backcheck may suffer some.
Let's start with Wolski & Christensen. Thave shown that they can generate offense. Every once in a while and NEVER consistently. Add to that, that what they did generate, it came ONLY when playing with top players. They have generated next to nothing by themselves.
MZA may generate more than them, but playing on what is supposed to be a checking line, he will not get much of that done.
This is not about drinking kook aid, but about inserting players who have not shown that they can play the same game as the rest of the team.
Funny. Except when you have a line like that, which doesn't need to dump and chase every time it enters the zone, you can create offense without having to win a battle along the boards every 5 seconds.
How fast we forget when all the dipsy doodling with the puck, left fans clamoring for a simply dump in.
The good : Henke
The Bad : NYR offense / Staal at times brutal
The Richards : Richards mister invisible / epitome of Soft
I'm sorry, but this is completely wrong. Except about Hank.
The offense wasn't there tonight, but not for lack of effort. Buffalo played their best defensive game of the year, and were just as physical as we were.
This was Staal's best game back. We saw him with Girardi, MDZ, and Bickle, and was solid all night save for one bad pinch.
Putting Richards in the Redden spot is not only early, but silly. In addition to him having one of his better nights tonight, he was more noticeable than in the past few weeks. He's in no way soft, and had one of his more physical games last night. Nobody is going to argue that he isn't under achieving, but the bashing is a little out of hand. Especially in a game where NOBODY scored.
Last edited by Callagraves: 02-02-2012 at 06:22 PM.
Staal was great except for the one bad pinch. But boy was it a bad pinch.
For a defensive minded team we still have too many odd man rushes, and I think part of that is a product of our D being overly aggressive trying to get us out of our offensive snide.
Staal was great except for the one bad pinch. But boy was it a bad pinch.
For a defensive minded team we still have too many odd man rushes, and I think part of that is a product of our D being overly aggressive trying to get us out of our offensive snide.
You can tell he's still getting his timing back. I was pleased with his defensive game, though (against both the Sabres and the Devils).
Staal also did try to pin the puck near the boards in the neutral zone at one point near the end of the game and it was eventually worked free for a 2 on 1 for Buffalo, and that's when Roy hit the outside of the net.
Not totally his fault though cuz his teammates should have seen he was in trouble and gotten back to help out
Staal also did try to pin the puck near the boards in the neutral zone at one point near the end of the game and it was eventually worked free for a 2 on 1 for Buffalo, and that's when Roy hit the outside of the net.
Not totally his fault though cuz his teammates should have seen he was in trouble and gotten back to help out
Well that was the play in particular that caught my eye. You could see it coming a mile away and we were very fortunate it was not a goal.
But I suppose after misfortunes in Jersey we deserved one.
How fast we forget when all the dipsy doodling with the puck, left fans clamoring for a simply dump in.
Sure, but one of the reasons our offense didn't suck in the beginning of the season (well, after October) was because we didn't keep dumping everything in.
Staal also did try to pin the puck near the boards in the neutral zone at one point near the end of the game and it was eventually worked free for a 2 on 1 for Buffalo, and that's when Roy hit the outside of the net.
Not totally his fault though cuz his teammates should have seen he was in trouble and gotten back to help out
I saw that too there were 2 other Rangers there, Feds was the last guy into the pig pile and instead of staying on the defensive side of the puck he went to the other side, and once the puck came loose it was a 2 on 1.
Sure, but one of the reasons our offense didn't suck in the beginning of the season (well, after October) was because we didn't keep dumping everything in.
Dumping in and grinding is what this team does. That limits mistakes and wears down the other team. As I said, that particular style of play is what the Devils rode to all of their Cups.
When did Ennis become a tough guy/agitator? Aside from the Girardi hit, and the incident with Callahan around the net, I believe he also got the stick & arms up on Rupp in a collision near center ice during the first period.
Dumping in and grinding is what this team does. That limits mistakes and wears down the other team. As I said, that particular style of play is what the Devils rode to all of their Cups.
And then when you can't score a goal you're not going to win.
What winning teams do is have variety. We can't have all our lines grinding. We have Gaborik. MDZ, Brad Richards, three very skilled players, and at the beginning of the season a lot of their offense came from NOT dumping and chasing.
I'm not saying the d&c is bad, i'm saying we can't do it 100 times out of 100.
Very well played.
