2013-2014 NHL Thread

[BLOOD SPLATTER]

Slop-fucking-fest....

[clifffclaven]

Tommy? Tommy???

Go rangers!!!

[Razor]

Pens gone in six against the Blueshirts, and Bylsma's sorry ass gets fired within two weeks from losing in the second round. Any takers???

Ok, so I was off a game. I'll bet Tommy's losing his mind right now. There was no doubt in my mind the Pens would lose this series because there was no where near enough compete in the Pens even in the first round. I truly hope Bylsma finds the exit sooner than later, and I wouldn't be surprised if Sid finds himself on the trading block. His lack of leadership shows, and he's damn sure not fit to wear the "C" for the Pens anymore.

It's rebuild time in the Burgh for sure. At least this time they can't make Fleury out to be the only goat for this early exit...

Henrik played phenominal, and deserved to win the series.

[clifffclaven]

Ok, so I was off a game. I'll bet Tommy's losing his mind right now. There was no doubt in my mind the Pens would lose this series because there was no where near enough compete in the Pens even in the first round. I truly hope Bylsma finds the exit sooner than later, and I wouldn't be surprised if Sid finds himself on the trading block. His lack of leadership shows, and he's damn sure not fit to wear the "C" for the Pens anymore.

It's rebuild time in the Burgh for sure. At least this time they can't make Fleury out to be the only goat for this early exit...

Henrik played phenominal, and deserved to win the series.

sid traded? that's just fkn crazy talk. He is the franchise, for the next 5-7 years. bylsma is likely out, tho.

This fuckin hawks/wild game is bullshit. I guess interference and slashing aren't penalties anymore.

[ZL1hawk]

YEAH!!!!!

[clifffclaven]

Kaner!!!

[goodwood]

sid traded? that's just fkn crazy talk.

I think Razor is on the money-IMAGINE how much depth they could get for ONE player. Teams would forget Sid's playoff performance in the past 2 weeks and roll out prospects, and a mix of young and veteran players. I would do it. Will they? I'd be really surprised. They have not been the same since losing Gonchar and Staal IMO and definitely have depth issues. Perhaps Malkin on the block would sit better with the fanbase(?).

Sid can learn not to do this but I don't know...shouldn't he have learned to do it by now?

[clifffclaven]

Trading Sid would be the modem day equivalent of the oilers trading Gretzky. I personally don't like him, but he is the face of the pens, and the NHL, right now anyway.

[Rupe]

Sid was a huge letdown...much more so than Malkin, who for all of his effort, still had a relatively weak post season. Add Neal to the list of gross under-performers as well.
Bottom line is that the team completely lacked any signs of toughness. The small amount that they have spent most (Glass) or all (Engelland) of the playoffs inactive. The stars were getting their asses kicked and nobody seemed to care. As much as I dislike Fleury, he wasn't the major issue this time around...I place most of the blame on the coach and GM. I also think Sid failed to be an effective leader on ice...he allowed the opposition to get to him. Not sure you can strip him of his C, but he doesn't deserve it based on these playoffs.

I expect we'll see a house cleaning in the 'burgh, and a new coach who can instill some toughness. Trotz anybody?

Congrats to the Rangers...Lundqvist stole the show.

[Shawn Lutz]

Bylsma will get the axe unfortunately because he couldn't make Crosby perform like an overpaid super star that he is. One playoff goal in his last 17 playoff games and the one goal was a flukey one.

I do think its kind of funny all the talk of blowing up the team, trading this guy, trading that guy but they are a good team and a solid cup contender. I'd make some tweakes but not blow it up and rebuild....

What a funky bounce off the glass right to Patty Kane...who of course is gonna bury it...sweet shot.

Montreal vs Boston in game 7 tonight to see who gets to play in the eastern conference finals against New York. I'm still on the fence on this one...both teams have some D-bags but I like Claude Julien better than the dude who looks like he smelling something nasty all of the time LOL. Every time I start pulling for Boston see a db play and go back to Montreal, then they show the bench boss ans I hate that guy LOL. I do know it is going to be good dirty fun tonight!

[atomic charvel guy]

I don't believe the waterfowl folded like that. the bottom line is that I think during the regular season, teams will get outplayed by Crosby and his brilliance as they do not face him that much, but come a 7 game series, everyone watches film and devises game plans for him. blue jackets stifled him, and the rangers were rolling out changes madly last night, short shifts to counter him.

[Rupe]

From Pittsburgh media:

...a chef’s only as good as his recipe and ingredients. The first one’s on Bylsma. The second is on GM Ray Shero, and Crosby’s ineffective play brings that point home.
Dejan Kovacevic of the Tribune Review summed it up:

There's no intelligent reason the Penguins — the front office, the coaching staff and, yes, Crosby's teammates — should have allowed him to take a fraction of the abuse he did. It was disgraceful. It should have been embarrassing, though I'm not sure it was. There never was an answer for Columbus' Brandon Dubinsky. Nor the Rangers' Marc Staal. Those two and everyone else did as much damage as they pleased without ever having to look over their shoulders.
Blame Shero, mostly.
What happened to this GM's appreciation for tough, even dirty players, filling out his third and fourth lines? Were Marcel Goc and Lee Stempniak all that could be culled as deadline answers? Draft picks, anyone?
It's one thing to not acquire front-line forwards. They're expensive in cash and/or trade. But there's nothing easier or cheaper than a checking forward. And it's beyond reason that Shero gutted his roster of its guts and replaced it with a million and a half bucks worth of waiver-available Taylor Pyatt.

That can get a guy fired.

[atomic charvel guy]

speaking of articles, this is great, the part about "Marc Staal and his merry band of headhunters", yeah ok, what a dickhead. the ranger stuff who cares, I had them written off too.

The Hockey News' Ken Campbell is getting ROASTED on Twitter for writing this article AFTER GAME FOUR. \\

Season’s over for Rangers, now it’s time to look to the future

http://www.thehockeynews.com/blog/seasons-over-for-rangers-now-its-time-to-look-to-the-future/

Well, the New York Rangers have allowed the star players of the Pittsburgh Penguins to finally find their way in this series. But the reality is that players such as Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin andMarc-Andre Fleury don’t even have to be that good. That’s because the bottom six forwards for the Penguins are outplaying the top six of the Rangers.

And as long as Crosby can keep absorbing the hits to the head from Marc Staal and his merry band of headhunters, the Penguins have basically punched their ticket to the Eastern Conference final. Any team that is down 3-1 to a group as talented and explosive as the Penguins is always in serious trouble. A team down 3-1 whose best player is Mats Zuccarello is basically finished.

Nothing against Zuccarello, but if he’s the best player for the Rangers, and he is, it means their highly-paid stars are not doing the job, which they’re not. Full marks to the Penguins for getting the job done, but this is a mediocre team they’re playing at the moment, one that would get ripped to shreds if it had to play in the Western Conference. Perhaps they’ll point to the fatigue factor – and if they’re still tired they should immediately fire their strength and conditioning coach – but this was a Ranger team that played with no urgency, no ability to handle the puck and no pushback. And that’s on the stars of this team, from Henrik Lundqvist out.

All in all, Game 4 was a pathetic effort from a team that fancies itself a contender in the Eastern Conference. But here’s the thing. The Rangers simply aren’t that good. They have a long way to go before becoming anything approximating a legitimate threat to win the Stanley Cup, or even come close. It’s probably safe to assume now that the first-round series between the Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers pitted the two worst teams in this year’s playoffs against one another.

And part of the problem for the Rangers is they remain their own worst enemy. Perhaps it would be different if the Rangers weren’t such a desired destination for players. Then it might not be tempted to try to grab every fading star player just because he happens to be available.

Think about it. Brad Richards came to the Rangers in 2011 on a nine-year deal. Other teams made more lucrative pitches to Richards, but he essentially had his heart set on playing for the Rangers. The moment Rick Nash waived his no trade clause with the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2013, it was basically assumed that the Rangers were going to get him. And when Martin St-Louis sulked his way out of Tampa Bay prior to the trade deadline, it was to go to one team and one team only – the Rangers.
ful playoff for the Rangers, is now getting booed every time he touches the puck. In his own building. Nash has actually been contributing in his own end of the ice, but so does Anze Kopitar and it doesn’t stop him from creating offense. Since the 2006 Olympics, Nash has played a combined 45 Olympic and NHL playoff games and has four goals. Richards has scored some and had a pretty good first season in New York in both the regular season and the playoffs, but seems to be on the decline and is the point man on a power play that hasn’t scored in its past 38 opportunities. And St-Louis? Three goals in 30 regular season and playoff games since coming to the Rangers.

Which brings us to the future of this team. Yes, it’s time to start looking to the future. The Rangers have $54.9 million committed to salaries for next season. They have only four regular defensemen –Ryan McDonagh, Staal, Dan Girardi and Kevin Klein – signed for next season. Up front, Derick Brassardand Chris Kreider are restricted free agents.

So, the question must be asked. On which of Nash or Richards should the Rangers use their remaining compliance buyout? Knowing them, probably not either, but it would rid the Rangers of one onerous contract. If it were Richards, the Rangers would be forced to pay $18 million in real money since $33 million of his $60 million deal has already been paid out, but would have a cap savings of $6.7 million for the next six seasons. If they were to buy out Nash, it would cost them $21.3 million in real dollars and would save them $7.8 million against the cap for each of the next four seasons.

In our annual Future Watch issue, THN ranked the Rangers dead-last in terms of its group of prospects. Which means the Rangers are far closer to a tear-down than they are a Stanley Cup championship. Perhaps it’s time to begin that process now.
Each of those acquisitions has been nothing short of a disaster so far. Nash, who had a dreadful game and an equally dread

[Razor]

At least Boston's future Olymic diving team doesn't make it past the Habs. I despise PK Subban, but I despise the Boston Goons more. I wonder if deep down Therrian is smiling that his underdog Habs beat the Bruins, and the Pens are making tee times...

I think Razor is on the money-IMAGINE how much depth they could get for ONE player. Teams would forget Sid's playoff performance in the past 2 weeks and roll out prospects, and a mix of young and veteran players. I would do it. Will they? I'd be really surprised. They have not been the same since losing Gonchar and Staal IMO and definitely have depth issues. Perhaps Malkin on the block would sit better with the fanbase(?).

Sid can learn not to do this but I don't know...shouldn't he have learned to do it by now?

You hit the nail on the head about Gonchar and Staal. I mean really, who would you rather have? Rob Scuderi or Sergei Gonchar? I'll give Letang a pass because recovering from a stroke is a major thing, and I thought he did get stronger as the playoff's went on. Maata gets a free pass too because he's so young, but damn he's softer than Charmin. Paul Martin and Sutter were the biggest surprises for me, and I liked how Joe Vitale played. Niskanen looked tired the longer the playoffs went on, and I think being paired with Maata didn't help either. James Neal was worthless. I mean really, he was outplayed by slower than molasses Jokinen? Malkin played with more heart than Sid, but neither played anywhere near the value of what they're being paid.

Sure Sid got mugged, who doesn't in the playoffs. The old Sid used to rise above it and play harder. Now days, all he wants to do is be a drama queen and yap non stop at the refs and cry about non calls. He's done this ever since the concussion, and I don't think he'll ever relapse out of it. I know one thing, I sure miss the Cooke, Staal and Kennedy line...

[goodwood]

Aside from Marchand, I don't find Boston to be a dirty team. Lucic's 2 nut jangling shots this year were out of character and he & Thornton are normally just tough players. I was hoping Iggy would get a Stanley Cup ring this year.

I hate the Habs beyond all so I will be a Rangers fan for the upcoming series...I don't think they have what it takes to beat Montreal but I will pull for them anyway. Stranger things have happened (maybe).

The crying to the refs thing is epidemic. Pacioretty was crying like a school boy to the refs last night over a call that was obvious. I think it is time to start penalizing the whiners. The refs make calls. They rarely (if ever) change them. The 'get in the ear of the ref' mentality for a game strategy is unbecoming a true competitor.