RangersIn7

Can we all agree on…? RANGERS IN 7!

They missed their window to exploit the payroll advantage they could’ve had in 10 years from the mid-90’s till the 2004 lockout. The Zubov trade and the miss on Sakic is what killed them. They’re competitive for the next 5 years if not for those things. Also very good historical points about the game to remember. I view sports through eras. And I’m getting older now so I’ve seen several in all sports. In hockey, there’s several distinct eras. 1) Pre-NHL Era 1890’s-1920’s 2) Original 6 Era of 1920’s to 1967. 3) Expansion/Merger Era 1967-1980 4) Modern Era 1980-2004 5) Salary Cap Era 2005-Present

The only thing that will fix this is for the two of you to just take a long weekend up to Brokeback Mountain and see what happens. You’ve clearly got it for each other, which is totally fine. Love you both regardless. But seriously… go do stuff in the forest together. Cause the rest of us can’t listen to this anymore. Entertaining as it is… cause it is. But this affection you have for one another shouldn’t be denied. Embrace it fellas!

Randy??? Awww C’mon Sharon!

Watch out for Fox this series. Canes are good all around, and if they’re healthy, their group of 6 on D is very , very good. But the best defensemen in this series is Adam Fox. He was meh vs Washington. For him. Didnt have to be great. He certainly wasn’t bad. But no goals. No points at ES. Yet a +4 regardless. He’s going this series.

It was all regional scouting rights. And all the players in those days came mostly from Ontario and Quebec provinces and they inherently belonged to Toronto and Montreal. And also… no players from Europe. No Russians. And very few American players. The U.S. teams got screwed in a rigged system in a 6 team league. It just wasn’t fair. Rangers, Red Wings, Bruins, and Blackhawks had to settle for other parts of Canada to find players and hopefully get some luck. It all started to change in the late-60’s and early-70’s with expansion, the advent of the NHL Draft, and the end of regional rights scouting. I don’t want to devalue the accomplishments of what those teams in Montreal or Toronto did in those days…. But they had maybe the most grossly favorable circumstances in which to build teams and the league did nothing about it for 40 years. So those teams built dynasties with absolutely nothing to stop them and no obstacles in their path.

It’s 4 goals at ES over 82 games in 6 months. Yet they’re “so much better at even strength.” Its bullshit. Freddie Andersen is the key. He played out of his mind ungodly good hockey in 16 starts down the stretch vs non-playoff teams in 2/3 of those games. Hes never played that well in his career.

I’ll clarify… I know it’s a guess. It’s “expected goals.” That star is inherently implying that it’s just what’s expected. It’s speculative but based on something real. The numbers for expected goals are based on real numbers and they derive the expected goals number from those base stats. But you answered my question. It’s 4 goals at ES over 6 months and 82 games. That’s nothing.

Most arenas have a red light that comes on at ice level near the penalty box area to indicate that this particular stoppage is a commercial break

What’s the less than 3% difference equate to in real numbers?

This series has been great.

All fair. Still…. I’d rather have Boston than Carolina. Carolina would’ve played Tampa in round 1 in 1-8 seeding though. So who knows how that series would have gone.

Not saying there’d be weak sisters. But top seeded teams should get the lowest remaining seed. We aren’t. We’re getting what would be the 3 as opposed to 4 or 5. Carolina is better than Toronto or Boston

You shave your ass!

1-8 seeding is so much better. Not this bracket nonsense trying to force matchups on people and invent rivalries.

That and the fact that of his 16 starts in the regular season, 11 came vs non-playoff teams.

Carolina will be tough. No doubt about it. Everyone loves them because of the analytics which is why they’re favored this postseason. Couple things though: The Rangers have handled them well over the past 2+ seasons dating back to that playoff series in ‘22. Rangers are 9-5 against them in that span. Also… Carolina has played so well down the stretch in large part due to how good Guentzel has been since they acquired him, and how well Freddie Andersen has played since he came back. Here’s the thing that no one seems to be mentioning though, and it’s odd: In his career Freddie Andersen HAS NEVER played this well. Ever. Eventually you have to think they’ll be some sort of deviation back to the norm for him. This is a series they can win.

Oh there were absolutely other “off ramps”, as you put it, since then. No argument from me on that at all. We are likely fast approaching another one of those this summer Phil. It’s near the Mitch Marner Service Plaza I think! Theres a kiosk in there that gets you a one way ticket out of town.

That was definitely a big factor for all of those guys you mentioned.

They needed a stalwart stay at home guy on D for the top-4. They needed a high quality 2C at an affordable price. Those adds would’ve established that “core” everyone is looking for with Toronto. They could’ve had both with perhaps still some money to spend. They went for the shiny thing instead of filling two premium spots and still having money and flex. In Summer of 2018, they could’ve acquired guys like Ekholm and Trochek and still had $2.5 million to spend. And probably at not too bad a cost in assets either. Which they had to spend and could have done so without killing their roster. Im saying a move like that was the move. Not 1 huge signing. But 2-3 lower level moves that manifest in a team that is better, deeper, and more versatile.

But they didn’t need a 1C with droves of offense. Or for that matter, another premium offensive forward. They needed a true 2C, another top-4 D, a good quality bottom-6 forward and a goalie. And in 6 years they couldn’t get those things. Cause they ain’t got the paper to do it. Guess what happened 6 years ago? Oh… that’s right…. They gave Tavares 80 million bucks to be their top C when at that point, they had some kid by the name of Matthews who in his first 140 games had 75 goals, and was at the ripe old age of 21

I’m not “blaming” anything on Tavares. Certainly not putting it all on him. I guess I should articulate better Phil, so here goes: Their depth has been the issue. In the bottom-6. But more importantly at D And Freddie Anderson is the best goalie they’ve had in I don’t know how long. They’ve lacked quality players on D and depth, grit, and scoring punch in terms of guys who can really contribute in their bottom 6 for years. Tavares is a top C But they already had a better one in Matthews Plus two premium wingers. And they weren’t close 6 years ago. Go get yourself a 2C and another top-4 D and maybe even a good bottom-6 forward for that money. Or maybe a goalie. They could achieve that now by moving Marner or Nylander, yes. Im saying that the best way to build around this core 6 years ago wasn’t by adding Tavares. It was spending that cap space differently. And if you’re asking for specifics, 6 years ago they had the cap space and the assets to go get many players who filled the roles they needed filled.

I don’t know. Neither do you. They didn’t HAVE to pay any of them at that time. Could’ve just let the young guys develop and go from there. But with that cap space, who knows who might’ve been available to them. There’s so many possibilities Im not suggesting a specific solution or player(s). Clearly it hasn’t worked with Tavares. Stands to reason they might do things differently if they had another whack at that piñata

I’m not at all suggesting that they keep Kadri Im merely suggesting that the core I cited, for the most part, would have been better served by spending that money on 2-3 players, as opposed to 1 player named Tavares.

I get the argument you fine Gents are making…. But it’s misplaced and you’re missing the bigger point. Go back to 2018 when they signed him. Marner Matthews Nylander Reilly Kadri Gardner Kapanen Johnnson Hyman Freddie Andersen All already in house. Then they spent 80 million on JT. Instead of whacking that money up between 2-3 guys that could’ve been huge in their depth, which is what they’ve lacked. Now they could have achieved that subsequent with a deal of Marner or Nylander. Or they could have just not created the problem in the first place.