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Rangers' High-End Players, Quinn "do not see the game the same way,"


Phil

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There is an issue at the top of the Rangers lineup that must be resolved before the hierarchy can move into what necessarily must be a Summer of Reconstruction to transform this collection of homogenous ingredients into a more diverse blend that can take the next step in its evolution.

 

And that is resolving what surely seems a disconnect between the team’s marquee forwards and head coach David Quinn. I am not suggesting that there has been a rebellion that has undermined the season. I am not saying this is tantamount to the Mark Messier-Roger Neilson schism of 1992-93 that resulted in the coach’s dismissal that ultimately cleared the way for the hiring of Mike Keenan, but it has been clear for months that the high-end players and Quinn do not see the game the same way.

 

But more consequential than that, it has also been clear that the high-end players have had little if any interest in changing their approach in order to accommodate the coach. It is their way, their increasingly obstinate way, in which there has been no quarter given by either side.

 

As frustrating as it must be for Quinn to watch the top two lines continue with a high-risk, high-reward approach that has provided diminishing returns this season despite constantly being counseled against it, it must be equally infuriating for, say, Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, Ryan Strome and Pavel Buchnevich to hear the coach publicly complain about it after nearly every game, including victories.

 

There have been points this year when Strome, who at times goes into a stream of consciousness doing Zoom interviews and should be applauded for adding candor to the mix, has talked about how the talented players’ shoot-last mentality should not be second guessed.

 

Meanwhile, the coach has repeatedly referred to the lack of a shooting mentality as a problem, often using the “east-west” shortcut as code in his Zoom conferences. After one game early last month Quinn said that not shooting the puck “has been a problem since I’ve been here.”

 

But it is the coach’s job to rectify problems, isn’t it?

 

Here’s what I don’t get: Panarin, Zibanejad and Strome all had career seasons last year while playing for Quinn. So they certainly weren’t stifled. Something has changed. Maybe last season’s experience under the bubble in which the top players were stifled by Carolina changed the dynamic. Maybe Quinn became more insistent, maybe he became less patient with them. Maybe there is simply too much literal looking over the players’ shoulders.

 

I cannot say for sure, but I am also not certain that it can be simply marked as a coincidence that Zibanejad’s twin six-point explosions against the Flyers eight days apart in March came while Quinn was away from the team on the COVID-protocol list while a more restrained Kris Knoblauch was behind the bench as acting coach.

 

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I think "they don't shoot" is a symptom, not the problem. I think the problem is really generating good shots against good defensive teams. Their style of play allows them to generate amazing opportunities with less effort against lesser opponents. They are 23rd in shots for per game, yet 10th in goals for per game. Last year they were 20th in shots for per game, yet 5th in goals for per game. They can rack up some serious goal totals. The problem is the shot quality goes through the floor against decent defensive teams. So while it's easy to say they don't shoot, I think the problem is not as much that they don't shoot, as if to say they have all of these good looks against good defensive teams and pass them up (yes, I know, this still happens from time to time), but more along the lines of they cannot generate good enough quality chances in tighter spaces. It's not how they are built, and I don't think it matters how much you coach them, you can't paint stripes on a horse and call it a zebra. How many good looks did they generate against the Islanders where you were yelling at the tv screen "SHOOOT?". I really just didn't see a lot of quality shot opportunities. Credit to the Islanders, but it's clear the Rangers need different kinds of players mixed into the lineup, both in the top 6 and the bottom 6.
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This is nothing more than Larry coming here, cmd+c, going to his Google doc, cmd+v, submit story.

 

To say a team that's 3 seasons into a rebuild needs to have a "summer of reconstructions" is banana lands.

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Crazy Jeff Marek idea: lose the coach entirely. Video staff after games only. In-game management is done by the players.

 

i think we're closer to this idea than most thing. Most coaching these days is done by video staff anyway, and during the games we see how much shift by shift coaching is done while looking at an ipad too. I wouldn't be surprised if a team with a strong player leadership group moves to this model, but I wouldn't classify the rangers as that

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This is nothing more than Larry coming here, cmd+c, going to his Google doc, cmd+v, submit story.

 

To say a team that's 3 seasons into a rebuild needs to have a "summer of reconstructions" is banana lands.

 

I see someone is a Mac user rather than a PC user

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Crazy Jeff Marek idea: lose the coach entirely. Video staff after games only. In-game management is done by the players.

 

I suggested something like this a few weeks ago, but more so in a player/coach form. I don't recall what player I suggested though.

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At some level the upper mgt hasn't been backing Quinn up. Maybe they've been waiting to see if he can get control. If that's true, they're still waiting. The entire season boiled down to that one game, and the team brought zip. JD and JG have all the evidence they could want to move on. Now it's on them.

 

Sent from my SM-G970U using Blueshirts Brotherhood mobile app powered by Tapatalk

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Amazing how the game tonight dovetailed with Larry's article. They reeled off three tic-tac-toe goals as if to say to the coach, "See?" Then after the Wilson dust up they did nothing, and the coach probably said, "See?"
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