AV's job was on the line. Therefore he can't allow a guy like Smith to "work through his struggles". He needed to win games, and did. Hopefully Smith gets back in because it's fucking insane to have him in the press box and Kampfer and Holden on the ice instead.Originally Posted by The Dude
FIRE VIGNEAULT
Links?
The quote is linked...good try though.
Smith isnt in a spot where he can "work through his struggles". Its not a confidence, or a little rust from the summer. The guy put off hockey all summer, and hes getting older. Shit caught up with him. He, essentially, needs to re-start his summer training program. He's not even ready for pre-season, right now.
And regardless of what people read in scouting reports, or remember him "skating well" on 2 occasions last season, his lack of foot speed in the defensive zone has been a huge detriment. He cant keep up with forwards in a man-to-man system in his own zone.
to good plays last season?
You quoted a beat writer, quoting a line that was fed to him, from someone trying to trade him.
His feet have been cement for several seasons. I'm sure he looked like a good skater next to the rest of that defensive corps in detroit, though. lol
Are these facts or assumptions?
FIRE VIGNEAULT
observations and conclusions.
What are you talking about? That was AV's response to a question from Zip. Here's some good skating plays.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqUXmAPrG9U
https://youtu.be/bQfHdyjJLCg?t=5m27s
https://youtu.be/YUZNt97BK5M?t=4m45s
When he looks slow it's because he's not engaged and is unsure of where to be. His footspeed is fine, especially for someone his size.
So you've concluded that Smith just signed a paycheck and said, "fuck it. I don't need to work out this summer."
Seems like a stretch.
FIRE VIGNEAULT
His skating isn’t great but he doesn’t have feet like cement.
Moved, married, honey moon... showed up out of shape, looked like shit on the ice.
He had a lot of things going on this summer. Easy to see he clearly didn't put in as much works as most of the other guys.
https://www.nhl.com/rangers/news/ran...th/c-290830072
Baah, even this year he led the rush with speed (at the beginning of his shifts). The guy can skate, especially for his size. It is clear to my own eyes, nothing to do with Detroit fans or coaches. He looked like absolute shit at the end of shifts cause he is out of shape. He was also caught out of position (possibly trying to save energy or not in practice) and making misplays a few times each. Cause of his conditioning and lack of sharpness AV felt justified benching him.
When he said he had "to work to get back, to stay ready" that was a clue that he was saying he needs to work to get back into playing shape and form. Let's face it though, AV keeps him on the bench until a loss, injury or Holden/Kampfer looking awful.
sorry man.
Some of us watch, listen to the coach, the writers, and the announcers tell us about things.
Not only that, but this thread, and other threads, have been, apparently, "assuming" the same thing we were told to "assume" by the aforementioned staff.
Why dont you post "I dont think he's out of shape, and I dont think conditioning is an issue" instead of this crap?
http://nypost.com/2017/11/08/brendan...a-rocky-start/There were, of course, other teams waiting on Smith had the intense 28-year-old hit the open market on July 1. Multiple teams would have been willing to at least match the Rangers’ offer. One would think that there would be significant interest in Smith if the Rangers wanted to annul the agreement.
It is worth wondering whether, this soon into the union, there is buyer’s/seller’s remorse on Smith’s part. The answer came from Smith’s agent, Anton Thun.
“I’m not sure who’s the buyer and who’s the seller in this case, but there are no regrets at all from Smitty,” Thun told The Post prior to Wednesday’s match. “And while I don’t want to speak for the Rangers, I talk to Jeff pretty regularly and I’ve never gotten that impression from him.
“Smitty’s no dummy. He knows this is a performance-based industry and his hasn’t been where he would like it to be or where it needs to be. He’s just working hard to get back in the lineup.”
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That would require actually thinking and presenting his opinion rather than trolling. From what I’ve seen, he’s nothing but a troller. Some people get some sort of satisfaction of being an online troller.
Last edited by Rangers4Life; 11-08-2017 at 08:25 PM.
Maybe THIS year this has been true to start, but the guy is a pretty good player man. He's a skater and a banger and can carry the puck pretty good as well as dish it. I feel he's waaaayyy better than you give him credit for. Easily a top 4 guy on most any team in the league.
Oh come on now. Several seasons? How does a guy with cement skates get a contract like that, and gain interest as a free agent from multiple teams?
Is this some sort of backlash for those who trash Holden? You seem to absolutely LOVE that guy, yet you're here saying this overly negative stuff and pretty much making false assumptions about Smith's game prior to this bad start. Not sure how you think this guy is and has been a poor skater.
Girardi, Staal, among others.
None of what I said was false. Most has been backed by several people.
As for the skating, I dont care, we have different opinions. But his skating is a main reason why he's not in the lineup right now... so... whatever.
As for Holden, I do like parts of Holdens game, yup.
And you made this thread complaining about Smith sitting - and ironically, the team has been winning, and the defense has looked 100x better.
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