EHM The Blue Line

I think the defense is letting Lundquist down but he himself doesn't have a good start in 2017. But then again Raanta doesn't stand out either.

South-Side wrote:I think the defense is letting Lundquist down but he himself doesn't have a good start in 2017. But then again Raanta doesn't stand out either.

I think Raanta has been really good.

Sorry i made a mistake in my previous post, you're right. I meant to say that Raanta didn't get enough chances as he's played better now. At least that was my trail of thought. My head must have been in a different place when i wrote it down.

Hank has been bad but my god is this defense awful, probably the worst defensive coverage in the league.

I think the last years are getting to some of the players: the failure in 2014 when they lost in the final, losing in 2015 as well and the failure of last year's playoff.

At least half of the team went through these failures, maybe they've lost motivation as they were so close but didn't win it.

Peter_Doherty wrote:Hank has been bad but my god is this defense awful, probably the worst defensive coverage in the league.

What's the reason how Rangers go from one of the best to the worst? I'd like to have your point of view on the matter as you know the team.

CJ wrote:

Peter_Doherty wrote:Hank has been bad but my god is this defense awful, probably the worst defensive coverage in the league.

What's the reason how Rangers go from one of the best to the worst? I'd like to have your point of view on the matter as you know the team.

Losing Strålman along with Staal, Girardi and now also Klein pretty much dropping off cliffs. Our D was a trainwreck last season and 14/15 aswell, easily a bottom 10 D in the league last season, probably bottom 5. Hank has just been so good that he's masked our issues, he doesn't mask them anymore.

Doesn't help that we don't have a single puck mover either apart from McDonagh (This is also far from his strength, but he's fine at it) and Clendening (who doesn't really play).

AV also plays a hybrid man D coverage system and half our D-men can't skate anymore so it turns into a gong show back there.

Peter_Doherty wrote:

CJ wrote:Hank has just been so good that he's masked our issues, he doesn't mask them anymore.

Makes me think of the Habs currently and the last two years. Except from Subban/Weber they don't have much in defense when Markov is injured and he's 37. That tells alot. Petry has his moments but Beaulieu and the rest are mediocre at best.

Laine got the ok to start playing again.

Tossing Gaudreau around must not be that hard! We don't see the hit clearly though with their replays. It looks clean from afar as far as I can tell.

It looked to me that Gaudreau was himself totally unprepared to be hit; IMO he should have seen the two Leafs coming at him (or more likely, he did see them but expected not to be hit, as is often the case nowadays...another player that apparently never learned the basics about protecting himself/expecting a hit/how to take a hit)

nino33 wrote:It looked to me that Gaudreau was himself totally unprepared to be hit; IMO he should have seen the two Leafs coming at him (or more likely, he did see them but expected not to be hit, as is often the case nowadays...another player that apparently never learned the basics about protecting himself/expecting a hit/how to take a hit)

Agreed and it's also a bit silly to have all these fights after clean hits

In the meantime, Kamenev is having a good second season in the AHL, it looks like the Preds are farming him well in the A. I recently published a translated interview with him.
http://thehockeywriters.com/vladislav-k ... g-his-way/
Have a good read

Alessandro wrote: it's also a bit silly to have all these fights after clean hits

I agree (sometimes I wonder if most players nowadays even understand that you can have a "big hit" that's a "clean hit")

Alessandro wrote:In the meantime, Kamenev is having a good second season in the AHL, it looks like the Preds are farming him well in the A. I recently published a translated interview with him.
http://thehockeywriters.com/vladislav-k ... g-his-way/
Have a good read

Thanks. I'll save it until I get to bed. (I usually read stuff in bed with my phone before I get to sleep.)

nino33 wrote:I agree (sometimes I wonder if most players nowadays even understand that you can have a "big hit" that's a "clean hit")

I think it can be compared to harassing the goalkeeper. In both cases, the team wants to make it clear that injuring their players does not come without a cost. I doubt it has that much to do with whether the hit is clean or not, even though dirty hits should still evoke a stronger reaction.

A9L3E wrote:

nino33 wrote:I agree (sometimes I wonder if most players nowadays even understand that you can have a "big hit" that's a "clean hit")

I think it can be compared to harassing the goalkeeper. In both cases, the team wants to make it clear that injuring their players does not come without a cost. I doubt it has that much to do with whether the hit is clean or not, even though dirty hits should still evoke a stronger reaction.

It never used to be like that though...harassing the goaltender's never been OK, but in the past being oblivious to being hit/not protecting yourself was often responded with "shoulda kept your head up/shoulda been more aware" by teammates and media as much as opponents (Lindros would be an example)

I know, but just because something was done differently in the past does not mean 'twas better that way. I think it makes for a better team spirit when the teammates stand up for one another at all times. 'Tis then the coach's job to tell the player who got hit what he could have done better to avoid the outcome.

nino33 wrote:"shoulda kept your head up/shoulda been more aware" by teammates and media as much as opponents (Lindros would be an example)

I would have never kept my head down if I'd known Scott Stevens was on the ice.

A9L3E wrote:I know, but just because something was done differently in the past does not mean 'twas better that way. I think it makes for a better team spirit when the teammates stand up for one another at all times. 'Tis then the coach's job to tell the player who got hit what he could have done better to avoid the outcome.

I don't think it has anything to do with "team spirit" but rather what the reality of modern hockey is like...they're trying to remove hitting from the game, they essentially have, players are growing up without learning how to take a hit/be aware of the possibility of being hit + the "team spirit" you're referring to is the old school way of playing...fighting's has been pretty much eliminated too, and using the media to claim something is deserving of a suspension is the way of the modern game now + players that make the millions they do and think they're so special and so much better and more skilled than players from the past don't listen much to coaches anymore (a guy like Johnny Gaudreau, and many others like him, already think they're bigger than the game and that the game should change for them "so they can showcase their skill" - many modern hockey fans think old-time stars would struggle in today's game, while I think many would do just as well as anyone today because they wouldn't have to worry about the physical play like they did when they played)

Thinking of the modern hockey fan in general (and not you specifically A9L3E, because I don't know you and your views well enough), for me the majority of modern hockey fans complain about "cheap shots/dirty hits" (even when it's a clean hit) and often also say (especially if it's their favourite team doing it) that such displays of "team spirit" are OK...IMO this is the modern hockey fan attempting to "have their cake and it eat too"

My opinions for sure as the saying goes "your mileage may vary"

Varlamov's season is over. Now the Avs have even more chances of picking first overall, if not absolutely certain. As much as there is praise around Patrick, Hischier in Halifak looks so darn good.

philou21 wrote:Varlamov's season is over. Now the Avs have even more chances of picking first overall, if not absolutely certain. As much as there is praise around Patrick, Hischier in Halifak looks so darn good.

Well I think Pickard has been more consistent/better than Varlamov. But it's not the goalies fault this team is struggling.
Wow Pickard will get a huge workload, let's see how he manages.

Edmonton will miss the last playoff spot and steal the 1st pick!

Yeah Pickard is one of the only players in that team that has a bit of consistency. Varlamov saved that team most than once in the past few years but this year he's really bad just like the rest.

philou21 wrote:Yeah Pickard is one of the only players in that team that has a bit of consistency. Varlamov saved that team most than once in the past few years but this year he's really bad just like the rest.

This is not the time the Avalanche should be at the bottom of the sea. Duchene, Landeskog, MacKinnon, Rantanen.
They had O'Reilly, which was my favourite Avalanche player. Drafted for Grigorenko and Zadorov basically...

Shattenkirk they drafted 2007. They sent Chris Stewart and Shattenkirk + 2nd pick round to STL for Erik Johnson and McClement. I just had to as it seems this trade has been forgotten. It was so bad.