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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
Is Larsson expected to play big minutes again during the regular season? Would it be reasonable to expect him to hit the 30 point mark yet along with solid hitting and blocks?
Thanks guys, just trying to figure out how big of a role he will play next season.
Is Larsson expected to play big minutes again during the regular season? Would it be reasonable to expect him to hit the 30 point mark yet along with solid hitting and blocks?
Thanks guys, just trying to figure out how big of a role he will play next season.
Lou says he'll be in the regular line up this season, but I don't think he'll start out eating the minutes that he did last year.
He'll probably start out where he left off in the playoffs, on the 3rd pairing with Volchenkov getting about 15 minutes. If it looks like he's where they want him to be, he'll work his way up.
He'll most likely start to see some PP time too, so I do expect his point totals to balloon a bit.
Thanks for the info, I have only seen him a few times (u guys lucky to have him) and just wondering if he plays physically much? Also hy did he play 20+ mins in the regular season if the intention for this season is to give him less? It just seems like an odd development path(baptism by fire?).
Thanks for the info, I have only seen him a few times (u guys lucky to have him) and just wondering if he plays physically much? Also hy did he play 20+ mins in the regular season if the intention for this season is to give him less? It just seems like an odd development path(baptism by fire?).
A lack of physicality is part of the reason he was being benched.
With Stevens taking on a full time role with the club, and specifically the defense, I think his physical game will be upgraded.
That probably won't be the part of his game that we value most, though.
There was never the intention to give him less.
It was clear in camp that he was ready to play at the NHL level.
And in the beginning of the season, the defense was still having troubles adjusting to the new coaching system and the team was lacking in solid puck movers.
Larsson filled that role nicely and was given major minutes.
Then he got injured, and the duration and harshness of a long NHL season began to catch up with him as well and he hit his rookie wall. He lost steam towards the end of the season and inevitably became a healthy scratch.
He'll be better prepared for it this season, but with all the veteran defensemen on the roster.. he'll have to work for his minutes.
Thanks for the info, I have only seen him a few times (u guys lucky to have him) and just wondering if he plays physically much? Also hy did he play 20+ mins in the regular season if the intention for this season is to give him less? It just seems like an odd development path(baptism by fire?).
Larsson got big minutes early in the regular season because he was the teams best D man at the time. It was both encouraging and disappointing. Encouraging because he jumped right into the NHL and looked relatively comfortable with big minutes. Disappointing because he was a 19 year old rookie and the vets were being outplayed by him. The effects of the long NHL season wore on him, though, and he started to slow down. This combined with others starting to play to their potential (Fayne, Greene) lead to reduced minutes.
As far as him playing physical, not really. He seems to be much more of a cerebral player. He thinks his way through situations instead of hitting his way through them. I'm hoping Stevens being on the bench with inject him with a bit of a mean streak, though.
I've been reading a bunch of old articles recently just getting some info on past and present players and found this one.
When Fetisov and Kasatonov where d partners they wouldn't speak to eachother.
Fetisov thought (may be proven I'm not sure) that Kasatonov was a spy for the Red Army and tried to hold Fetisov back in the USSR before he came to the NHL. He actually said to Lou that Kasatonov would not be good for the team because of his charactor and past history.
Does anyone else have interesting little tidbits like this?
Was it Brylin who wouldn't speak to any of the defecting Russians out of respect for his country?
Fetisov. The curtain fell long before Brylin came over.
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"Why I'll be a Devil forever [...] two words. Trust and respect." - Mr. Pat Burns
"I learned not to question Cowbell's willingness to ban." - Brian Boyle
He had this thread 2 years ago, then Finals happened.
You never can tell with Marty. 40 is up there, but he still gets the job done somehow. I don't even understand it at this point. 95-07 Marty it was all about having "he's Marty, he'll make the save" and being confident in my mind. 08-present day Marty is "please please please make the save", but he gets it done.
He wasn't very good early this last year, he wasn't very good first half of the year before(Neither was Hedberg nor the rest of the team) He's usually pretty bad in October though I have to say opening night last year he was very good. We lost 3-0, but that's the kinda game in October he would have lost 6-0 rather than 3-0.
I think he'll start out slow again, but get better. Remember he was really bad the first month/month and a half of the 07/08 season. I'd say as bad or worse than the first 2 months of the last season. He just started a lot more games, and straightened himself out earlier in the season. He also won the Vezina that year, and was probably the only reason we went to the playoffs.
