Why is a defenseman going after a forward at the point while on the PK in the first place? If you're killing a penalty and you're a defenseman, you stay low. If that's the new PK plan for ****sburgh, then obviously it's not as suspicious. But it's a rather interesting point.
I said it before the game. Scott should have played in this game. It's a statement game.
Yup, and we gave up a fifth rounder
Obviously Sather and Torts were not on the same page when that deal was made. Either that, or the Rangers felt they needed a very good card playing player, for the long plane rides.
Part of what Tortorella did last night was pure anger. I suspect part was also a carefully planned message to his team. Good chance we see the Penguins in May and Torts is already bunkering down for what will be a very tough playoff series. Not only are we playing the Penguins but we are playing the league office. Us against the world. How dare those ********...
You get the idea.
Give John this...He's fiery but he is also very calculating and smart.
Part of what Tortorella did last night was pure anger. I suspect part was also a carefully planned message to his team. Good chance we see the Penguins in May and Torts is already bunkering down for what will be a very tough playoff series. Not only are we playing the Penguins but we are playing the league office. Us against the world. How dare those ********...
You get the idea.
Give John this...He's fiery but he is also very calculating and smart.
Yeah this too.
But he's gotta come up with a better gameplan on the ice against the Pens in the playoffs
I'm guessing you didn't watch the game? Orpik was after Stepan all game long. Orpik should have been taken care of earlier in the game, so that the cheap shot didn't take place. You don't settle things in the last 5 minutes of a game before the playoffs, and risk your coach being suspended for 5 games for starting a fight.
I guarantee you the Flyers or Bruins would have settled things differently.
The way the play happened Orpik didn't have time to think. He just reacted. Scott's presence during the game would have made no difference.
Torts is getting a lot of love from eastern conference fanbases. Dare I say there is a strange unity emerging between Rangers, Flyers and Bruins fans? The world is crazy. Playoffs are going to be so amazing this year.
Torts is getting a lot of love from eastern conference fanbases. Dare I say there is a strange unity emerging between Rangers, Flyers and Bruins fans? The world is crazy. Playoffs are going to be so amazing this year.
possibly the 3 teams with the strongest hate triangle, yes a strange one.
Torts is getting a lot of love from eastern conference fanbases. Dare I say there is a strange unity emerging between Rangers, Flyers and Bruins fans? The world is crazy. Playoffs are going to be so amazing this year.
I think we can all agree that we hate the Penguins.
Aside from Jordan Staal there isn't a single thing or player about that team that I like.
What gets me the most is how the pens fans on hf are trying to defend these dirty hits. It's like their players can do no wrong. Some of them were even blaming Stepan for initiating contact!!!
And posting the Rupp on Staal video? LOL. Besides the two hits being completely different situations, did anyone here try to defend Rupp? I think we all agreed the hit was dumb and unlucky for Staal. The blatancy of Orpik throwing out his knee in the path of Stepan though is incomparable to the Rupp hit. There's no excuse for a guy who's been in the league for that long to try and do that to another player in that situation (up 3 goals with 3 minutes to go in a largely meaningless game). The only excuse is that he was trying to injure him, which lends credence to itself when you take into account how Stepan and Orpik had a few big hits against each other earlier in the game.
Like Torts said: No respect for other players, it's sickening, etc... he hit the nail right on the head.
I can only imagine the response if this had been Girardi on Malkin.
What gets me the most is how the pens fans on hf are trying to defend these dirty hits. It's like their players can do no wrong. Some of them were even blaming Stepan for initiating contact!!!
And posting the Rupp on Staal video? LOL. Besides the two hits being completely different situations, did anyone here try to defend Rupp? I think we all agreed the hit was dumb and unlucky for Staal. The blatancy of Orpik throwing out his knee in the path of Stepan though is incomparable to the Rupp hit. There's no excuse for a guy who's been in the league for that long to try and do that to another player in that situation (up 3 goals with 3 minutes to go in a largely meaningless game). The only excuse is that he was trying to injure him, which lends credence to itself when you take into account how Stepan and Orpik had a few big hits against each other earlier in the game.
Like Torts said: No respect for other players, it's sickening, etc... he hit the nail right on the head.
I can only imagine the response if this had been Girardi on Malkin.
Amen to this.
Every Pens fan I know has brought up Rupp on Staal. I said the same thing: "I NEVER defended Rupp, not now or when it happened. That was dirty. This was dirty as well. This however was more blatant, with more intent to injure."
The amount of crap Pitt gets away with is astonishing. Its not just against the Rangers. It is every singly game.
Theres a difference between tough and gritty play and being complete dirtbags.
The way the Islanders handled it last season was perfect.
I hope Philly sits all their regulars tonight and brings up the bar league.
Torts is getting a lot of love from eastern conference fanbases. Dare I say there is a strange unity emerging between Rangers, Flyers and Bruins fans? The world is crazy. Playoffs are going to be so amazing this year.
It's kind of bizarre. I hate the Islanders. I hate the Devils. I hate the Flyers.
I don't hate the Penguins. They're not deserving of my hate. They're annoying as all hell. I have zero respect for them. But I don't hate them.
A Flyers game? Islanders game? Devils game? I will look forward to them as bitter rivalry games. I love beating those teams. I want to crush them. I hate them.
Even the Bruins, who are more of a casual rival- you know Rangers-Bruins games are going to be good, hard fought games.
Penguins games just don't produce the same reaction. They're generally annoying to lose to, admittedly, but it's not the same. I'm disdainful of the way they play and the way their fans act. That's it.
When the Rangers and Penguins last played in New York (March 15), Trautwig interviewed James Neal between periods and asked Neal if this was a statement game for the Penguins.
Neal said yes and that the Penguins' intent was to come out and "put a dent in the Rangers".
After this incident with Stepan, it seems that the Pens will continue to put dents in the Rangers until the Rangers do something about it.
The Rangers may be "team tough", but they need a couple forwards like James Neal, who are skilled and tough and have bad intentions.
Tough as in, they'll beat your ass if you take a run at them or one of their teammates. Someone who would have immediately whipped Orpik for the run at Stepan. But also one who takes a regular top-6 shift.
These are difficult players to get, for sure. You need to draft them when you have the opportunity.
Do the Rangers currently have any forwards in the system who can play that type of game? JT Miller (maybe?)
I agree that the Rangers aren't mean enough. I prefer them playing "the right way", but you can also "right way" yourself right out of the playoffs. You have to play with an edge in the playoffs, play on the margin of clean and dirty.
Are the Rangers willing and able to play that type of game?
This really goes to the heart of the matter. What we saw tonight is the difference between being a power during the regular season, and having what it takes to win a cup.
At the bottom line a team has to be willing, ready and able to get down right mean and nasty. That is what it takes if you want to be able to lift that cup over your head. People don't want to admit this dirty little secret....but there it is.
It's always been that way. Hockey is a brutal, physically intimidating contest of wills.
Confirmation? Look at old NHL footage of players celebrating with blood running down their faces. It's why some of the greatest champions of the sport: Clark, Messier, Howe, Richard, and now Crosby and Malkin are some of the most hated....even though there is grudging respect.
A Stanley Cup champion cares about winning the Cup above all else....and if it takes head shots, low bridging, high sticks and the rest....so be it.
It's simple. If the Rangers want that cup, they are gonna have to get mean to get it. We'll see.
If we end up with a worse record than St. Louis and meet them in the Finals in Game 7, how meaningless would it be then? They have the best home record in the NHL just about (Detroit is up there too). This is ******** that it doesn't mean anything.
The only way the Rangers don't have home ice in the final round is if they lose against the caps tomorrow AND Vancouver wins OR if St Louis wins both of it's final 2 games (Phoenix and Dallas) AND one of those 2 teams make it to the finals.
We would have home ice against Detroit, and any other team out of the west...oh, and did I mention the Rangers actually have to make it to the SCF for any of this to matter? And did I mention that only Boston and Philly have more road wins than the Rangers do (by 1 each)
This game was meaningless. The probability of all of those things happening are insignificant.
Why is a defenseman going after a forward at the point while on the PK in the first place? If you're killing a penalty and you're a defenseman, you stay low. If that's the new PK plan for ****sburgh, then obviously it's not as suspicious. But it's a rather interesting point.
trying to stand him up so he couldn't get into the Pens zone or he's forced to make a bad dump/cause an offside.
OT: I post on a music related forum(punk rock mostly) and there's a hockey thread, well someone posted the Torts video saying it was awesome and of course a penguins fan signs up to call Torts names. I can't get away from these guys!
Why is a defenseman going after a forward at the point while on the PK in the first place? If you're killing a penalty and you're a defenseman, you stay low. If that's the new PK plan for ****sburgh, then obviously it's not as suspicious. But it's a rather interesting point.
With less than 5:00 remaining in a 4-1 game that means nothing to the Rangers. The white flag had been waved in this game. There was no need or justification for this cheap shot.
