12/12/08 Rangers Devils - How I learned to worry and hate the Powerplay

Wow, so as I start this it's 9:35 and the Rangers were blown out, tied it up, and then were blown out.  Maybe things will change.  Probably not.  

If anyone thinks this is remotely Lundquvists' fault, wake up.  The guy played a good game.  How can 8 goals be considered a good game?  Well, he made the saves he was supposed to make.  When an NHL player is able to take a shot and GET HIS OWN REBOUND there is a huge problem.

Wade Redden.  He's not the only problem, but he's indicative of it.  He's sloppy on the point, can't get his shot on net, and vacates the goal mouth when his partner is in the corner.  The point play is one thing.  Maybe with the defense first approach, he was trying to change his game up.  Maybe he's trying to adjust his shot.  But the play in his own zone is inexcusable.  When one is making a salary like his, you should at least be able to play on the level of an AHL defenseman.

The trouble, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see this, is that the Rangers lost 2 stay at home defensemen, and focused on on puck movers.  Toots and Girardi were a solid, young pair last year.  They're gone.  Mara and Strudwick were your muscle.  Sure they were slow, and could take some bad penalties, but you need those big guys back there.  Sounds, big guys that'll clear the front of the net.  Staal is a phenom, and keeps growing, even though he's stuck in the mud right now.  Rosie was the cannon on the point, and he was doing just fine.

Management didn't learn from the Christian Backman experiment.  Or Sandis Ozilinch.  When your attack is based on solid defense allowing your forwards to go deep into the zone and not worry as much about backchecking, you need solid, drab defensemen.  The two players didn't last long because they are, in essence, forwards playing D.  Wade Redden fits into this mould.

It's 9:49 now, and the game is over.  8-5.  Terrible.

What to do?  Rosie is good enough on the point.  When you have the forwards the Rangers have, the offensive contribution of your D should be to get the puck on net, and keep the puck in the zone.  Basic stuff.  They don't need to rush it, they don't need to snipe.  Or pinch into the slot.  Play back, don't pinch unless you know you can get to the puck first, and take low shots.  Your main priority, over all else, is PREVENTING goals from being scored.  

Renney, who I am a fan of, should bench Redden.  It would send a message to the team that no player is safe.  You perform or you sit.  Put Potter in his place.  Or send Kalinin down and bring up two guys.  Shake things up.  If it pisses Redden off, good.  Get him going.  Kalinin hasn't been as bad as his numbers state.  He hasn't been good, and I would take Toots over him any day, but we're working with broken pieces here.

Next game you give Henrik a rest.  He did his part, but was constantly left out to dry.  He's losing his motivation.  You can see it in the way that he knows he's getting no help.  You can see it in the way he threw the puck away after a freeze.  It's not fair to the guy to pin it on him.  Make the Rangers play up to his standard.  Until he sees the team actually play, I don't think he's going to be 100 percent.

Give it to the Devils.  They saw the Rangers playing lightly, and they jumped on it.  An 8-5 Rangers/Devils game?  Who knew?

I mentioned the power play last post.  Same applies, except they put Drury back there.  Good call.  He's defensively sound and has a mean shot.  He's a daywalker, and a product of Fairfield Prep. 

Yeah Prep!

Ok, that made me feel better.  Big game tomorrow as my Ex-Whalers come to town.  If there's one game I want the boys to win, it's this one...

12/11/08 Game thoughts

A lot of people are down on the Rangers for not blowing the Thrashers out of the water.  They forget that this team does have Ilya the psychotic, who can almost score at will when he's on.  They forget Exelby on the back line and his punishing hits.  They forget that "Moose" is one of the most underrated goalies in the league.  Hell, look what they did to the Islanders a few nights ago.  They can turn it on.  Just, you know, not when it counts.  They do play the Rangers tough everytime though.  Maybe it's bad blood from the sweep a few years ago?  Maybe not...

*  COLTON ORR SCORES!

*  The Rangers looked pretty good in this one.  They gave up fewer odd man rushes than usual.  The fact that I just typed that is a problem.

*  Wade Redden should just cut the crap and play as a forward.  Either that or put him and Betts on the points during the powerplay.  That way it'd look like the Rangers are trying to generate more offense by having a forward on the point, but really just shore up the D.

*  That last one was a joke.  Maybe.

*  Glad Gomer popped Kovi.  Ilya likes to act like a fighter every now and then, but his silky soft hands just give him away.  I'm hoping this leads to some good, aggressive matchups down the line between these two.  Also, it may be the coverage, but I didn't see the Gomer slash that sent him to the box with Ilya right after they served their "not fighting minors".

*  Freddy "Quadzilla" Sjostrom is probably better off on the third line, but honestly I like him better with Betts and Orr.  I'd honestly rather see Voros/Betts/Orr and more the Korpedo up.  Voros and Orr seemed to have some chemistry tonight on that goal.  Maybe it could lead to something?

*  Great saves by Valley.  Seriously, those were Patrick Roy style glove saves!  Also gotta love Moose pulling out the stacked pad save!  Not enough goalies do that stuff anymore.

Lastly, I just want to say something.  If you think Scott Gomez is a waste, you need to find another sport to follow.  The space that this guy creates is invaluable.  He's not going to score like Jagr.  He's not meant to.  When he's on the ice during a breakout, the puck is going into the offensive zone, 100%.  Think of how many times the Rangers get chased back into their end, trying to make an overly long pass or realizing that Wade Redden is on the team.  They get trapped, the other team starts to cycle and WHAM.  Goal.  Having a speedster who can bullrush the puck, make a good pass, and score the occasional goal is huge.  If you don't believe me, watch how other teams respect the Gomer's speed.  When he starts a rush, the other team's D drops back half a zone.  They don't try and stand him up, the just drop back and try to push him to the outside.  It's all they can do.

Remember kids, only 83 more games until Colton's next goal...

And Let the games begin!

Ok, I got sidetracked. Moved to California from Connecticut and kind of, well, forgot about the blog for a bit. General thoughts so far on the season.

1) About freaking time Sydney and Ovie stepped up the game. Hear good things about some Chicago players too...

2) Mary AND Rickie are hurt? Oh happy days! Plus Joey "Sound Tiger" McDonald gets to show what he can do. Win win. Oh, and Scott "Benchwarmer" Clemenson finally gets to play. You know, after like 10 years.

3) West Coast Hockey coverage = FAIL. The Ducks are ok, but mediocre. The Kings use every single specialty camera they have during a game, but they only use the traditional "normal" camera for replays. What gives?

4) Bruins? Vote for Thomas or die. Seriously. He'll hunt you down with a bow. The man kills bears in his spare time. What do you do? Probably not that.

5) Malik outlasted Melrose on the 'Bolts. Never thought I would type a sentence like that.

6) Third Jerseys, for the most part, suck. Really bad designs. One or two okay ones, but mostly lame.

7) Black hockey uniforms need to go, especially when the TV coverage can't get the white balance right. It's called contrast people. Maybe you've heard of it?

8) For as tough as the NFL makes itself out to be, they sure as hell can't fight. Hell, Steve Stamkos and Nik Zherdev put on a better brawl than Matt "Night" Light and Channing "WTF is with my name" Crowder.

9) Bring back the Whale. Seriously, we'll take the Coyotes. They've got Gretzky and a bunch of good young players...We've got at least 2 buildings in CT that could house them...one even has a mall attached!

10) Patrick Roy's kids should be forced to fight Mike Vernon and Chris Osgood. On PCP. (Your call on who's drugged)

Reactions to follow. More than likely insights on the Rangers, Icelanders, and the impending doom of Hockey Jesus.

Soon...Soon...

Ah yes, the season is almost here. Soon there will be plenty of clips of Crosby getting hit, stunning goals, and stories to write about from around the league.

I do have to say that I'm blown away by how little the world of sports cares about the NY Rangers winning the first ever Victoria Cup. They beat some Russian team named after some sort of Magnetic Mountain. That's just a weird team name. But the big thing is that the NHL just beat the KHL in their first ever head to head matchup. This is HUGE! I mean, think of how much money that league has been throwing around, snatching up the likes of Jaromir Jagr and Ray Emery (Magnetic Mountains of cocaine?). All off season everyone's been talking about the threat that the KHL has become. This win sends a clear message that the NHL is still the best league in the world, in terms of skill. The fact that the game winning goal was scored with 20 seconds left also rubs some salt in the wound. I mean, the KHL was 20 seconds from getting at least a tie with the big bad NHL boys, but at the last second Ryan "sorry to make you guys lose" Callahan put one away. Oh good stuff.

Well, I can't wait until the season starts. Crosby will whine, do amazing things, and generally overshadow Malkin. Hossa will go crazy for the Wings, then get injured for like 20 games. The Wild will kick everyone's asses physically, but struggle to score goals.

I think that the team with the most upside this year are the Blackhawks. If their young guys keep growing like they've been, they might just be the next big thing in the west. Trouble is, when your offense comes from like 3 guys, you're pretty easy to shut down. In the east, I think the Bruins actually have a chance to go pretty far. Their goaltending should be way more solid than last year, though I do love watching Tim Thomas flail around like a fish out of water. They also have a legion of young kids that could explode at any second. Now if they could keep healthy...

But I'll write more about everything. Soon.

When You're Chosen, Heed the Call

So what happens when you spit in the face of the hockey gods? Bad things. They work in mysterious ways. What happens when you spit in the face of the hockey gods AND offend Foppa in your first season?

REALLY BAD THINGS.

First, you make it through your rookie year pretty alright. Alright? Awesome. You posted 39 goals and 63 assists. You became the youngest player to reach the hundred point mark. Things were awesome! Damn. You even got a spread in GQ! Sure, those shirtless photos will haunt you the same way "The Penalty Box" haunts Dave Shultz, but you still got coverage in a magazine that exists outside of Canada! That's pretty great! But then it all started falling apart...

See, the gods decided that they would start throwing you curve balls. Two balls in fact, attached to something called an "Alex Ovechkin". I know, scary. This thing was fast, had a killer shot, and did something called "hitting". It also scored a lot of goals.

It also won the 2006 Calder Trophy for rookie of the year.

Whoops.

But you made it to the playoffs! That was cool! Oh wait. Your foot got broken. But you tried your best to appease the hockey gods by keeping your mouth shut about it. They recognized your offering and gave your team an Evgeni Malkin, who's the lite version of their Golem Alex-O.

But then the mouth started yapping...and then you tried to get too cutesy.



The thing is, all you had to do was lift your legs up. Or shift your weight. Or anything. But you had to watch your handiwork, ignoring the wall. One should never ignore walls. They are dangerous things, and in the pocket of the Hockey Gods. After all, it's their rink, you just skate in it.

21 games. That's what ignoring the gods gets you. Oh, but Hockey Jesus is a pesky one! He bounced back and went on a tear, dragging his all-star caliber team to the playoffs, and not just any playoffs, no! They went to Squidsville, Hockeytown, the whole smear! They went to the Stanley Cup Finals! Sure the Pens were down, and the really needed Sid the kid to fight the squid, and he was bringing it!



Ah yes, the pariah of the Gods, Brad Stuart! He has found his redemption! The holy power of the check rendered Sid ineffective for the better part of a period, when his team needed him the most! Alas, there was no cup for the kid. None. Maybe next year. But until then, the rest of the league has one clear decree from the Gods:

Hit. Sidney. Crosby.

Why Hockey Jesus, Why?

The dark days were upon us. The forces of good and evil fought over things that we could not understand. The stakes were as high as they could be. There was nothing to look forward to...

But then, out of the darkness came a shining light. HIS name was Crosby. He'll save the game, the world, and give boundless love of the puck to the masses. He'll do it all. He's young, he's a champ in the making.

"Wait until you see this kid!", they all said.

And lo, HE was amazing! Skills that blew away everyone else! A sixth...no a sixth and seventh sense of where the puck was and where the goalie wasn't! HE was amazing, insane, the saviour upon saviours! And then it started...



How could HE? Is HE just...human? A whining 18 year old that's bought into his own hype? Why Sid? WHY!?!

So as Adam and Eve were cast out of Eden, so has Sidney been cast out of Pucky's good graces. From now until my fingers fall off it is Pucky's mission to chronicle the suffering of Hockey Jesus at the hands of the league's best and worst. I bring to you a mission, a passion, a goal. I bring to you HITTING SIDNEY CROSBY!!!

btw, credit to MYFO and all the other blogs that came up with Hockey Jesus! Credit where credit is due. Really I just want an excuse to post pictures of Crosby getting whacked.