Good morning, boneheads!
Carp has an interesting article about the opening night, click here to read it
If you watched Blues- Capitals last night, two true contenders play against each other, it should be pretty obvious what this current NHL requires in order to win it all. And that’s a combination of size, speed, skill, physicality, nastiness, and an extremely high compete level. It’s been the case for years, teams with the best mix of these players would have the deepest playoff run. But now this mix is also required not only within a team, but also within individual players. The more you have, the closer you are to winning it all. The Rangers have a few, but probably not enough. Yet.
My expectations? I think this team will be much more exciting to watch. They are young, and they are hungry. I believe they will be much more difficult to play against, and they will have a “never give up” mentality. They added a couple of game breakers, so we won’t feel it’s over once they are down by a goal or two. They have to continue what they started last year, and that’s on their coaches. This is still all about tomorrow. Today? The goal should be to make playoffs. They earlier they do this during this stew, the faster they become true contenders.
I don’t have much more else to say.
Except this:
Go Time Post at 6:30 pm.
UPDATE: Click here to read Carp’s new article about Jacob Trouba
111 responses to “And so it starts tonight…”
Can’t wait for the game tonight.
LGR!!!!!!!!
Good to finally get things going. LGR.
Haven’t been this excited for an opener since Jagr’s first game.
Beer o’clock at 6pm.
LGR!!!
Today….we get to watch Rangers hockey…whether that’s good or bad remains to be seen!
man, that MSG is going to be filled with some questionable characters tonight 🙂
“Welcome to the Rangers’ zone. Here’s your complimentary pillow and blanket. Please enjoy some of the refreshments set up for you around our goalie’s crease. And please take advantage of our heat map deficiencies while you visit.
If you need anything else please speak to one of the players in blue that will be doing snow angels on the ice below you. Thank you and have a pleasant goal scoring experience”
They should be more fun to watch this year but I’m still extremely skeptical that they will be better.
I think if things break right for them, they’re a bubble team. But I could just as easily see them at the bottom of the Metro.
Don’t think Trouba will be allowing much setting up around goalie crease…hopefully thats contagious
Metro Division is the toughest in the league. Put them in any other and they would do much better.
NYR has the least amount of roster talent top to bottom in the division. The future is very bright; much brighter with another lottery pick for a top 6 pivot.
.
Watched Craps-Blues and the OV goal is a stark reminder of what high end skill looks like. To think this franchise kept him under wraps in the POs during his prime is impressive.
SN, my vote would be the Central.
lol James… questionable characters indeed! Should be fun!
Exciting it is. My only doubt is in the department of competitiveness and physicality. Last night Blues vs. Caps showed scary high level of it in almost PO capacity. Will our team be able if not match, but to at least come close to this level?…
NYR twitterverse is already calling out DQ as not up to the task for the practice lineup, let alone the pups that got sent down. Smitty on the 4th line sent them in a tizzy. And Howden as 3C? My lord!!
Atlantic division looks competitive –if Rangers are gonna make playoffs they may have to finish 3rd in Metro since both wild cards may be from Atlantic
Atlantic may get WCs because of the 3 dogs in the bottom of that division; Buff, Det, Ott. Top to bottom Metro much tougher than Atlantic
Central is very deep – Minny and Chicago will be looking up again
I think I’ve made my opinion on Strome very clear.
As for Howden, I will say that despite my clear opinion that he was absolutely brutal from December-April, I am hopeful for improvement.
I do not share that hope for Strome.
Saying rangers have a few with size, speed and skill with playable toughness is a big understatement. I don’t know why but the rangers never have enough players with that type of skill set, reason why they don’t win the stanely cup. I hope JD will change that in future drafts.
Last Ranger to consistently clear the crease was O’Gara. Too bad he couldn’t skate at NHL level.
He couldn’t skate at the Peewee level.
I’m not confident they will have a good start. I don’t see them making the playoffs either. However I am certain Lindgren, Kravtsov, and Chytil wull be in the line-up after the deadline if not sooner. This will be the last year they get a lottery pick for quite some time.
McQuaid
This play like a new yorker thing is just awful. Yikes.
Barring injuries, I don’t think Lindgren gets more than a handful of games. He is not good. Rykov will pass him in short order, once healthy.
He is not good?
Lindgren not good? What planet are you on? Did you watch preseason or just refer to Heat Maps to save time?
Can’t wait. To recap, who do we expect will be trade chips for picks come deadline? Kreider, Names, maybe George, maybe Fast, and outside chance of Skjei?
LOL, not surprised in the least that Doodie doesn’t like Lindgren’s game.
I want a bleeding Blueshirts podcast to listen to driving home today.
Offseasons over Dave Maloney
Can’t wait for tonight!!!!!!!!!!!! The place better be rocking and not full of corporate guests and empty lower seats.
Calhob,
Unfortunately it’s been that way for a long time.
Yes, because the preseason is how you determine whether a player is good or not.
As soon as Rykov is healthy, the attack will begin on Hajek. He’s the next guy that is going to be bashed.
I’m curious Doodie,
Have you ever seen Rykov play?
Doodie the new Attorney General of Wacky World.
Yeah Lindgren sucks. Staal on the other hand is the shinning example of defensive excellence, and should be named captain yesterday!
So, if you can’t tell anything by preseason facing other NHLers in battles for space, for the better….exactly what information are you going on to say he’s bad? His 20 yo AHL advanced Metrics?
Tommy,
Yeah, you are right….I just hope each game it isn’t true.
Hajek is gonna be playing first pair soon
Not enough to say that I have a first-hand opinion of him. For Rykov, I am relying upon others whose opinions I trust.
Hajek has a good chance to become the fanbase’s whipping boy.
I’m actually pretty excited about him. The scouting reports about his time in Hartford were not very positive, but during his short stint with the big club, I think he was one of, if not the best defensemen on the team in those games.
The question is does he pick up where he left off? He’s probably not as good as he showed, but I’m expecting him to be a serviceable NHL player this season.
All of the scouting reports on him from his NCAA days through his first year in the pros, and the few meaningful NHL games of his I watched last year, where he was abjectly terrible.
He could be better, he’s a young player and they improve. But I think he’s too small to play a physical game and too bad offensively to play a puck-moving one, and not a good enough skater to play a smart positional one, so where does that leave him in terms of effective playing style?
Doodie. What information are you basing your outlandish negative opinion of Lindgren on?
If it’s AHL stats you just contradicted yourself with your Hajek assessment.
Ok – so the Rangers suck again, judging by the Bonehead Collective.
Got it.
You question his size and playing style which I may have when we first got him. But how he battled some big boys this Camp for us to see with our own eyes told me that concern was not as valid. He was one of the best defensmen in camp
“I like his (Lindgren) toughness a lot,” Quinn said before the Rangers took Sunday off. “He competes, he doesn’t shy away, he’s an in-your-face type of player.”
That was especially on display Friday, when Lindgren stood up to and scrapped with Devils veteran Wayne Simmonds after a net-front battle. Saturday, after Samuel Morin squashed Rangers center Nick Jones into the boards, Lindgren challenged the Flyers defenseman before they were separated.
Also. He is 1 inch shorter than Dan Girardi. Does that one inch make him bad?
He could very much fill a role as a defensive warrior like G was.
Bravo on Lindgren. Last guy we had who went after Simmonds was The Undertaker.
Great, he fought once and got in another guy’s face. That doesn’t mean he can help us score more goals than the other team.
Whipping boy order Staal, Strome, Howden, Fast, Trouba, Skjej …Hajek is way down on the list
In fairness, I think around here, Strome is only on my list, for now.
Likewise for Howden. And to be fair to Howden, I am hopeful he can take a big step.
Ahhh….now it’s hockey season : D
Alex Nunn? The man who gave use Ville Meskanan, and Lindqvist? Here is what I know of Rykov. He could not crack the lineup of a good KHL team. Was traded to basically a second division team, where he was able to play more. My expectations are not high, my hope, like with any player, is high.
Kick Ass! Gruff guys get wide berthage.
Gorton, Q like Lindgren, Doodie don’t. Okay.
BDL, that’s how I feel about him, as well. Hope is high, expectations are significantly lower. That high hope is something I do not share for Lindgren.
Folks, you are already in mid-season form. Slow down, the goal is to peak during playoffs 🙂
It’s me vs. the blog.
Meantime, Carp came up with another new article. This time it’s about Trouba. Pretty interesting. Post above updated
BobbyO
you forgot Henrik, Tony D, Smith and Kreider regarding whipping boys. Buch too for the Kakko effect. and of course Quinn and Ruff.
those who might be exempt from whipping boy status:
Panarin
Mika
Kakko
Georgie
Lemieux
everybody else is fair game. just my observation based on what is on twitter and here.
Charp at the Athletic right now.
Alex @11:48 — exactly!
I don’t think Panarin is exempt. Too big of a contract.
Doodie. Not to harp on the lindgren issue, but the fight was the least of what impressed me. To boil it down to that is tunnel vision.
I was responding to the article snippet posted by coos.
Rastaman Vibration, Positive!!
Let’s Fing go boys
If I was in the room I’d be chewing pucks right now
defintely can add them to the list Alex
I’m irritated by lack of effort, not by lack of talent. Gorton I blame for any lack of talent, not the player.
Carp’s statement re: Lindgren. – “Good hard-nosed defensive defenseman. I think they like him a lot. I think he’s going to ultimately be a victim of the sheer numbers of LHDs in the pipeline and might end up playing elsewhere.”
DOW is green, over 100. Crazy world, day to day.
Lindgren, Chytil, and Kravtsov, “Watch out boys we’ve been ratted out.”
Calloway a goner. OFFICIALLY
CALLAWAY
coos,
I agree 100% with everything Carp said after the word “good.”
Where are the Wilpons going to find another Manager who will work for $65,000.?
funniest part of the Charp was him saying Kreider would be traded at the deadline…about 10 times
IS that before or after Chytil stays up and Zika is named Capt?
I’m going to the home opener and most of you are not.
🙂
Larry predicts Tampa over Toronto in east finals
But has both in top 3 in division
So they can’t meet in eastern finals
So… RR2 is another one of those guys who thinks we should just play 4 lines of forwards. Guess my dad was wrong when he tought me the job of defenders is to defend.
https://nypost.com/2019/10/03/our-post-experts-take-a-crack-at-some-nhl-season-predictions/
Everyone’s job is to score more goals than the other team.
Larry is still focused on baseball
https://nypost.com/2019/10/03/nhl-preview-rangers-hoping-for-quicker-rebuild-after-busy-offseason/
Alex, I thought they re-seeded after each round?
Even if it makes no sense I could forgive uncle Larry for putting the two teams he thinks are best in the conference finals
No, they do a bracket-style playoff now. The only way two teams from the same division can play each other in the conference final is if one of them is a wildcard crossing over to the other division.
The goal is for one team to score one more goal than the other, so the focus is on both scoring goals and preventing goals.
True. I agree with that. I think the thing people get caught up on is there is more than one way to prevent goals.
one thing at a time SN
Some rough examples:
Player A gets the puck out of the zone quickly 90% of the time. The other 10% of the time, the team gets scored on 100% of the time.
Player B gets the puck out of the zone quickly 50% of the time. The other 50% of the time, he struggles to get it out, but manages to prevent goals on 80% of those possessions.
I would prefer player A, but it seems like most of you would prefer player B.
RR2 becoming incoherent. Again.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B3KkqAdgvIZ/?igshid=1ke1xo87u3vo3
RR2 unfortunately a lot of the “A” type players you like get the puck out of the zone quickly by passing it to the guys on the other team leading many times to a very good scoring opportunity.
Hurry! Get rid of that putrid, dog’s breakfast parquet floor for that little pooch.
Wow. Only 31 Russians. I thought it would be more!
Who is the 1 Ukrainian?
Hey CCCP
How much did you pay for the tickets?
😉
(While I’ll be watching by home with a Zelda somebody gave me)
Beezle, it was a rough example. The point was that both players give up goals at the same rate but in different fashions.
Perhaps instead of saying “gets the puck out of the zone” I could have said “the puck is out of the defensive zone.” So…
With Player A on the ice, the puck is out of the defensive zone 90% of the time. The other 10% of the time, the team gets scored on 100% of the time.
With Player B on the ice, the puck is out of the defensive zone 50% of the time. The other 50% of the time, the puck is in the defensive zone, but he manages to prevent goals on 80% of those possessions.
zelda?
I’m more interested in who is from Kazakhstan. I thought Nabakov was the last one.
I didn’t know Borat played the hockey
Khudobin.
Also interesting, Nigel Dawes was Canadian-Kazakhstani.
RR2 – I understood what you were saying, just pointing out that I’ve watched many a ‘puck moving defenseman’ get the puck out of the zone…. to the other team who then breaks back in with nobody but the goalie back. IMO most of those puck moving defensemen are inferior at playing actual defense until the puck some how gets on their stick.
Agree to disagree, but I’ll take the stay at home guy who may need to carry the puck out or rely on shorter passes out. That also seems to lend itself to a more prolonged stay in the offensive zone.
Beezle, everything you said about a controlled exit is something I agree with. The thing is, you’ve got it reversed. The “defensive defenseman” is much more prone to dumping the puck out to clear the zone, resulting in additional pressure and chances against and less time in the offensive zone. This is basically the story of Dan Girardi’s career.
Zelda
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