boring hockey is not necessarily bad hockey...or a poor effort.
seems like today's game had the recipe of one across the hudson. Get an early lead, fall back, play tightly, counterattack, and rely on your GK to cover up a couple of mistakes.
if some of you guys are expecting the NYR to look like the Brazilian national soccer club every night, and be dominating and entertaining, then you are in for a rude awakening.
True
And see how "The Unbeatable" Boys from Brazil fared at the last years world finals in Soccer. Crowdpleasing stuff is very nice once in a while - but victories are what counts. And ahem - some teams manage to get these victories all too often in a very unspectacular way. We all know about this well enough ????
I thought that Ward and Rachunek as a pariing are just having too many lapses... That has to stop because it is really hurting the team.
Before that pairing finished their first shift I knew it was going to be a bad one. It doesn't take a great hockey mind to realize the two guys prone to committing the biggest gaffes should not be paired together.
you're right, a win isn't a win sometimes, and I agree with that thought process, by the way. If they play like they did today in the next two against the Devils, and other teams win, the playoffs become further out of reach. After a game like yesterday, what would be expected, on home ice, is a better effort. Chicago is a bad team, plain and simple. There's still too much sloppy play and too often there's not much flow. They need to play better. We're talking about a team vying for the playoffs. The two points are nice, but this team will have to play better down the stretch; bottom line.
You what, Fletch...after the disaster of yesterday, I'll take a game like to today just to stabilize what could have been disastrous on so many levels. Henke should he was okay, they had a very good 1st period, plus after losing one of their emotional rocks in Shanny, everything about today was primed for just being awful. But, they got another goal from Hossa, and very good play from Prucha and (especially) Cullen. Not a great win, but, they didn't allow yesterday to spiral in a bad direction just yet.
Talk about Jeckyl and Hyde..... Rosival has had two horrible games in a row. One minute he looks smooth and can hit the net with good shot and make solid break out passes. The next moment he looks like he belongs in some beer league. I cant figure this guy out. Malik is similar but with Zero offensive abilities....
Good win today. Not an overly dominating performance, but we needed to beat this inferior team and we did, that's all that matters.
I think everyone else in the arena exhaled when Lundqvist made his first save and then took his first hard slapshot. He's going to be fine it looks like.
boring hockey is not necessarily bad hockey...or a poor effort.
seems like today's game had the recipe of one across the hudson. Get an early lead, fall back, play tightly, counterattack, and rely on your GK to cover up a couple of mistakes.
if some of you guys are expecting the NYR to look like the Brazilian national soccer club every night, and be dominating and entertaining, then you are in for a rude awakening.
I agree, however I damn near fell asleep at today's game.
I was in row G behind Lalime, a bit off to the right, in the first period. So yes, I saw a first period in which they got off 9 shots. I also saw them let a team, that had played mostly poorly throughout the entire game, get back into it late in the game.
Oh, I watched some of the rest of the game from the All Star Bar, and in section 97 if that suffices as watching a game.
Sorry if I expected more from a team that's a playoff hopeful team (and in my opinion should have a spot solidified by now), whlie playing against a team I thought was not good competition - on home ice, after a debacle, and after a comrade had fallen. Maybe I should just be happy with wins...
And see how "The Unbeatable" Boys from Brazil fared at the last years world finals in Soccer. Crowdpleasing stuff is very nice once in a while - but victories are what counts. And ahem - some teams manage to get these victories all too often in a very unspectacular way. We all know about this well enough ????
Re-read your post, than go about writing how boring the Devils are.
The Rangers came out strong in the first just as they had yesterday against the Flyers. They had a lot of puck possession and generated chances but, unlike yesterday, were actually able to bury some of those opportunities.
I don't care how quote "bad" a team is. There's something really close to parity in this league this year. The Hawks have a ton of young talent and can put pucks in the net, so undermining the two points we got out of this one is a mistake. When they have guys like Havlat, Ruutu and that glut of talent and potential-filled blueliners, coming out of the game with a win is good in my book.
I thought that Matt Cullen, Marcel Hossa and Pascal Dupuis put in some solid efforts today. I feel like Matty looks more confident lately. He's been putting on some sick moves and creating chances all over the place the last few games. Dunno if anyone agrees with that or maybe saw some other people putting up solid efforts but those guys stood out to me.
The second period nearly lulled me to sleep though and I had no NBC announcers to blame because I was there... Could've used something that would've shaken me out of the second period stupor I, and apparently the Rangers, were mired in but a down to the wire win works too.
At some point the Rangers are going to HAVE to choose between a left handed defenseman (Baranka?) and either Ward or Rachunek....
The team can't survive with Rachunek getting minutes on the left side....
Avery and Prucha showed chemistry....
The Rangers NEED an upgrade on defense if they are going to be serious contenders for JUST a playoff spot...
You obviously don't know what you're talking about according to some here. Rachunek is god.
I think the next move we make is for a young, veteran blueliner like a Tyutin. And since it will be another Avery type trade as far as age, impact on the team we'll likely see a few good prospects and/or picks moved.
if you're correct about that young d-man, it's going to be for Rachunek, at least as part of the package. He's been playing a lot lately, and at the expense of Tyutin. Personally, while his PP game has looked good, his ES game really hasn't and I've thought he's struggled of late. He played a bit with Pock a while back, I believe, but has been with Ward lately, seemingly because Renney doesn't want him with Girardi as Girardi needs a better defensive partner.
I agree with Rachunek being shaky on defense. There was a thread on the main NHL board about players who are always making giveaways or turnovers and I was tempted to make a post for Rachunek but felt that part of the problem isn't really his fault because Renney has him playing on the left side sometimes. I'm just sick of those weak clearing attempts he tries to make on his backhand that are never strong enough to clear the defensive zone. They're always pinned at the boars by the opposition and the Rangers get stuck running around trying to play defense. At least if he's on the right side he's in position to shoot the puck out on his forehand.
I didn't see much of Rachunek in his playing days with Ottawa, so I don't know how good he was defensively back then. Maybe he's been shaky his entire NHL career. I'm sure the time he missed last year when he remained in Europe didn't help his transition to the new style of play in the NHL. So in that way, he's a year behind almost everyone else.
But I agree that he's been good on the power play. He has the ability to get his shots through and seems much more likely to shoot the puck than Rozsival, who seems content with playing catch with Jagr and Straka every time he's on the point.
