Rangerland Forum Information

[Sed]

Man, the Kings are fucking scary.

I'd say their the best #8 seed ever but that's merely a "narrative" I have.

You realize one of the reasons people like to jump down your throat is stuff like this.

So long as we're not keeping them on one another's necks.

[jkman61494]

Man, the Kings are fucking scary.

I'd say their the best #8 seed ever but that's merely a "narrative" I have.

You realize one of the reasons people like to jump down your throat is stuff like this.

And one reason I get ticked off is when I make a pretty innocuous comment about the Kings being the best #8 seed ever when at the point I had said it, no 8 seed had ever been so dominant. Yet a certain user chose to give me crap about it.

[Mike B.]

And one reason I get ticked off is when I make a pretty innocuous comment about the Kings being the best #8 seed ever when at the point I had said it, no 8 seed had ever been so dominant. Yet a certain user chose to give me crap about it.

Fair enough, just please let it go.

[Knight of Dight]

As nasty as the hit on Brown was and deserves a suspension (Brown probably has a concussion), Smith took an equally nasty whack at someone's leg with his stick.

[Dr. D]

Is LA that good, or are the teams they're playing just that bad? Kind of tough to tell. Phoenix has been getting outshot by wide margins all playoffs, but Mike Smith kept stopping pucks. Now, it seems that he's regressing back to the mean. St. Louis had a great defense, yes, but also a mediocre goaltender in Brian Elliot. Yes, he had phenomenal regular season numbers, but it was a small sample size and not at all near his career average. Perhaps he was just regressing as well. As far as Vancouver, they played the first three games without one of their top two forwards and were simply lost on offense.

Not trying to make excuses for the losing teams, because no matter what circumstances they had, the Kings have played great two-way hockey. But are they the world beaters that their 10-1 playoff record suggests? Maybe not. I think, like a lot of mediocre teams that make cinderella runs, that they're getting the benefit of a lot of circumstances, such as their goalie getting hot, the other teams' goalies falling off the cliff, etc. Anyway, the next 2-3 weeks will tell us for sure.

[Kusand]

As nasty as the hit on Brown was and deserves a suspension (Brown probably has a concussion), Smith took an equally nasty whack at someone's leg with his stick.

They were calling for Smith to get a game in the intermission. I wouldn't mind seeing that too terribly.

[Kusand]

Not trying to make excuses for the losing teams, because no matter what circumstances they had, the Kings have played great two-way hockey. But are they the world beaters that their 10-1 playoff record suggests? Maybe not. I think, like a lot of mediocre teams that make cinderella runs, that they're getting the benefit of a lot of circumstances, such as their goalie getting hot, the other teams' goalies falling off the cliff, etc. Anyway, the next 2-3 weeks will tell us for sure.

More than anything, it's that they suddenly have offense. Quick is hotter than he had been, but they were already great at team defense. They're just actually supporting him.

[Knight of Dight]

Is LA that good, or are the teams they're playing just that bad? Kind of tough to tell. Phoenix has been getting outshot by wide margins all playoffs, but Mike Smith kept stopping pucks. Now, it seems that he's regressing back to the mean. St. Louis had a great defense, yes, but also a mediocre goaltender in Brian Elliot. Yes, he had phenomenal regular season numbers, but it was a small sample size and not at all near his career average. Perhaps he was just regressing as well. As far as Vancouver, they played the first three games without one of their top two forwards and were simply lost on offense.

Not trying to make excuses for the losing teams, because no matter what circumstances they had, the Kings have played great two-way hockey. But are they the world beaters that their 10-1 playoff record suggests? Maybe not. I think, like a lot of mediocre teams that make cinderella runs, that they're getting the benefit of a lot of circumstances, such as their goalie getting hot, the other teams' goalies falling off the cliff, etc. Anyway, the next 2-3 weeks will tell us for sure.

Quick is that good, and that alone makes a huge difference. Fortunately for the rest of the League, Brown is probably concussed from that boarding hit so that is a huge loss to the Kings as he has been a viable candidate for MVP thus far.

[Eric]

Mike Smith is no stranger to hacking players:

[jkman61494]

The Kings had a Stanley Cup caliber goaltender and defense. Now guys like Mr. IHOP are playing to their potential and the offense overall is playing very well.

The thing that really really impressed me from day 1 is the fact they just completely overpowered the Canucks. The same big bad Canucks from a year ago that punched right back when they got hit in the nose. Vancouver had nothing for them. The Brown hit on Sedin was a microcosm.

St. Louis fell off the cliff because Halak was out imo. They had no crutch if one of their 1A/1B goalies struggled. But again, LA pushed them around. And it's happening again with the Phoenix series.

I will say this though. New Jersey or New York won't get pushed around. If the Devils beat us it means they took us out and in order to do that, they'll have been able to take our best shot with our physicality and shot blocking and still emerged victorious.

And the Rangers? Very similar blueprint with the Kings.

I think as a whole, and what should slightly concern the league is the fact that Torts and a few coaches are leading a new generation of defensive minded hockey. What's truly ironic is the Devils are the lone exception left that subscribes to high octane offense.

Every other high powered offense is gone, in fact most were gone after the first round.

[Hockey101]

Man, the Kings are fucking scary.

They will win the Cup.

[Leo95]

Man, the Kings are fucking scary.

They will win the Cup.

There's a very small chance they wont if the rangers make it to the finals.

[Hockey101]

Man, the Kings are fucking scary.

They will win the Cup.

There's a very small chance they wont if the rangers make it to the finals.

If the Rangers get there then it will obviously not be easy for the Kings to win it and the defense and goaltending will be a challenge for the Kings who have faced an emotionally problematic Canucks team, a beat up Blues team without Halak, and a mediocre blue collar Yotes team with a hot goalie who can only take them so far.

I think the Kings will be like the Caps were to the Rangers but only much bigger, tougher, and more talented. One of the things that can work to the Rangers' advantage is that the Rangers have been more battle tested and did not get any easy challenges while the Kings really hit the cruise control button and were not challenged. The Rangers will definitely challenge them and the one good thing about the Rangers is that they don't take shit from anyone and can match up physically.

[Rhino]

Just curious: Was there a press conference when Phoenix decided to forfeit the rest of the series?

[Alitaki]

I think the bottom line is all you fools who wanted the Rangers to take the hardest possible path to the Cup need a good smack in the face. God forbid we get an easy matchup.

[ak996]

I don't know if there is a more respected but dirtier player than Doan.

All I hear is how good of a person he is. How great a leader he is. Yet I constantly see him getting involved in situations like he is Matt Cooke.

To be fair, the guy who got hit was, seconds earlier, literally facing Doan, saw him coming to hit him, and then turned his back.

I think, just like you, that Doan can be, and has been, just as dirty as other players but gets the benefit of the doubt. But I can't really fault him for this play. The boarding that Brown took though should be a game suspension.

[teddyc]

I think the Kings will be like the Caps were to the Rangers but only much bigger, tougher, and more talented. One of the things that can work to the Rangers' advantage is that the Rangers have been more battle tested and did not get any easy challenges while the Kings really hit the cruise control button and were not challenged. The Rangers will definitely challenge them and the one good thing about the Rangers is that they don't take shit from anyone and can match up physically.

I agree on this. "Everybody has a plan, until they get punched in the face" - Strahan

The Kings have yet to get punched in the face. Maybe they won't, but if the Rangers (or Devils) grind away at them and the Goaltender can shut them down a game or two, maybe their roll gets slowed, doubt creeps in and they start making mistakes like they did during the season. One thing the post season has proven is that nothing is highly predictable.

[Charlie]

I think as a whole, and what should slightly concern the league is the fact that Torts and a few coaches are leading a new generation of defensive minded hockey. What's truly ironic is the Devils are the lone exception left that subscribes to high octane offense.

Every other high powered offense is gone, in fact most were gone after the first round.

I don't subscribe to this theory at all. The only team that has achieved success with shot blocking are the Rangers (people keep talking about the Capitals as if they had never been to the second round before). Regular season stats show absolutely no positive correlation between shot blocking and winning.

Of the four Conference Finals teams only two can be said to really go defense first (Coyotes and Rangers). The Kings offense has sucked, but watching them play, they are pretty damn aggressive. Even with that, if not for Smith going into god-mode for a few weeks, the Coyotes "defense first" strategy probably would have failed.

I seriously doubt the whole "shot block your way to victory" strategy will catch on. It depends on a coach that can completely control his players, and vice versa, players who are willing to do anything to win. How many teams have that combo? The Rangers have Torts, but also Callahan, Richards, and Girardi leading the charge for him.

That you need a good goalie and good defense to win is nothing new. It's pretty much been that way since the mid nineties (with a few exceptions).

This post has been edited by Charlie: May 16 2012, 09:54 AM

[Kusand]

I seriously doubt the whole "shot block your way to victory" strategy will catch on. It depends on a coach that can completely control his players, and vice versa, players who are willing to do anything to win. How many teams have that combo? The Rangers have Torts, but also Callahan, Richards, and Girardi leading the charge for him.

You also need your players to not have things broken frequently. *knocks on wood*

We lost Callahan last year for the playoffs because he blocked a shot. There's certainly an injury risk to blocking lots of shots.

[jkman61494]

Well maybe your right. I could be way off. But I'm certainly not the only one to subscribe to the concerns. A lot of former NHL players have gone on NHL Radio and addressed the concerns that teams are simply clogging up the lanes and either forcing teams to not shoot at all, or blocking shots.

Their fear? It's killing offense and removing some excitement out of the game.

Did the Caps only get to the 2nd round? Maybe. But unlike other times they actaully achieved some type of success. They didn't beat a lower seed. They took out the defending champs. So I wouldn't dismiss what they did this year entirely.

[jkman61494]

I think as a whole, and what should slightly concern the league is the fact that Torts and a few coaches are leading a new generation of defensive minded hockey. What's truly ironic is the Devils are the lone exception left that subscribes to high octane offense.

Every other high powered offense is gone, in fact most were gone after the first round.

I don't subscribe to this theory at all. The only team that has achieved success with shot blocking are the Rangers (people keep talking about the Capitals as if they had never been to the second round before). Regular season stats show absolutely no positive correlation between shot blocking and winning.

I'm not saying what you're saying is wrong here, but here is the thought permeating NHL Radio and all their analysts right now.

The Rangers are the leading example of what is killing hockey. That was the theme for several hours today, especially the 4 PM show.

The co-host went so far as to say that the Rangers winning the Cup would be an embarrassment because they don't win with talent, they win because they can block a shot.

Furthermore they went into a segment of how the NHL can "stop the Rangers", i.e. stop them and other teams that put an emphasis on blocking.

To "save the league" they need to adopt rules such as forcing players to stay on their feat (apparently bob gainey and dennis potvin suggested it), telling forwards they can't block shots, making pads smaller, or even creating a "key' like you see in basketball.

They may well be full of it, but this at least is the topic of conversation going on in NHL media circles on there

[teddyc]

they said the same thing about the Devils and the Neutral Zone Trap

It's all just talk.

This post has been edited by teddyc: May 16 2012, 09:05 PM

[jkman61494]

they said the same thing about the Devils and the Neutral Zone Trap

It's all just talk.

Well in that case, it wasn't all talk. Didn't they get rid of the red line to stop the neutral zone trap?

[teddyc]

they said the same thing about the Devils and the Neutral Zone Trap

It's all just talk.

Well in that case, it wasn't all talk. Didn't they get rid of the red line to stop the neutral zone trap?

and they changed the touch up rule, but the trap still lives and the Devils added some hardware to their trophy case during the process. The Rangers will live and die on this method as long as they have talent and desire.

I don't see a problem other than the media looking for discussion points between games.

[TeamStewie]

So Renney got shitcanned. Yet another team realizes he makes a better babysitter than a coach.

[toph]

He had no shot with that shitty Oilers team.

[jkman61494]

Forget the "best 8th seed ever", the Kings are going on an almost unprecedented run. Just took a 2-1 lead.

I am.......not near a computer.

But I have to think 11-1 has to be the best mark since the 80's Oilers?

And yes, I am hoping that by assuming they win, I jinx them. But the Kings are playing so well, not even my curses work.

[jkman61494]

Ok, it doesn't help that the Coyotes are playing like absolute morons taking so many stupid penalites

*Edit per Mike's post* Responding to retaliation penalties they took.

Just watching the Kings is incredible. The Devils forecheck is good? Pffffft.

To see this kind of utter dominance in the Conference Finals to me is incredibly impressive. The kings are just simply not allowing the "yotes to leave their own zone.

This post has been edited by jkman61494: May 17 2012, 10:52 PM

[Mike B.]

Two absolute horseshit calls on the Coyotes late there, on one a slash that wasn't by Vrbata, and the call on Doan, for supposed retaliation after Doughty suplex-slammed him to the ice.

Still though, that's not the reason the Kings are up 3-0. Crazy speed, relentless pressure, deep scoring, dominating goaltending, they have it all.

[Knight of Dight]

Yeah, I don't think the Rangers have much chance against the Kings. They are so fucking fast, and their positioning is incredible. At the end, the Coyotes couldn't do shit because a King's stick was in the passing lane every single time. They didn't even need to block shots, and they are able to rush up the ice so effortlessly. After Ottawa's speed gave us such fits, what do you think equal or likely greater speed from a team that is well-rested when we are exhausted will be like?

FWIW, the Coyotes got jobbed by the refs there at the end, not that it would have made much difference either way though. O'Halloran does NOT deserve to go to the Finals. One of the worst calls was the one on Larsson (I think that was who it was): he barely touched Brown and Brown fell to the ice like he had been shanked. That was a Crosby-tier dive. The slash at the end was also horrid. The stick didn't break, and you just don't call that in the last minute of a 2-1 game.

This post has been edited by Knight of Dight: May 17 2012, 10:57 PM

[jkman61494]

To be fair I was surprised they didn't call it a goal. I thought Kopitar had a sure fire goal until the stick was knocked out of his hand.

It took awhile but the Kings are living up to the potential they had pre-season. A new western power with teams like the Wings getting old?

[Nilan 666]

Kopitar never even touched the puck much less had control. Had to call the penalty instead. Pretty sure you need control of the puck for the auto-goal.

[Hockey101]

I'm losing respect for the Oilers and how they are running that franchise. They draft these young kids, overhype them and put them on the ice. That's what they gave to Renney. I doubt even Scotty Bowman could have had a winning season with that team. Next season it will be the same ordeal. Sign Yakupov, overhype him, put him on the top two lines and PP, miss the playoffs....again, and be in the lottery pick, again.

[Hockey101]

To be fair I was surprised they didn't call it a goal. I thought Kopitar had a sure fire goal until the stick was knocked out of his hand.

It took awhile but the Kings are living up to the potential they had pre-season. A new western power with teams like the Wings getting old?

Kings are very good, but they also faced some shitty teams in these playoffs. That being said, i think they will win the Cup anyway. If they face the Devils, well...Devils suck. If they face the Rangers, the Rangers will be too fatigued to handle a strong Kings team.

Congrats Holmgren! You traded away two soon to be Cup winners!

[Eric]

[jkman61494]

If Kings sweep, and Rangers won in 6 or 7 I'm curious what the record would be for the differences in games played.

Very possible you'll see this.

Kings: 13
Rangers: 20/21
Devils: 18/19

[leedsy99]

After all these playoff games and weeks of hockey, still one burning question remains. How many fucking songs does Nickelback have? Jesus, I hate them.

[leetchie69]

How did the Kings finish as the 8th seed?

[jkman61494]

How did the Kings finish as the 8th seed?

An abysmal offense. In most of Quick's losses they gave him 1 goal of support. In the playoffs they've had guys like this rookie King come alive and has 5 goals (4 in the WCF). Carter had a Hatrick in Game 2 when he was largely invisible after he came there.

Dustin Brown is doing what we could only dream Callahan can do.

LA was a chiq pick to win it in the pre-season. They're just realizing the potential now. What's scary is they're pretty young. As I said in my other post, I think they could absolutely replacing one of the West's "old guards" i.e. Detroit, San Jose.....

An even scarier thought is what this team would be doing with Brad Richards there instead of Jeff Carter.

[Kusand]

An even scarier thought is what this team would be doing with Brad Richards there instead of Jeff Carter.

With a cap hit $1.3M higher and not much cap space to speak of, I'd think they would probably have had to lose some players to sign Richards at the beginning of the season.

This post has been edited by Kusand: May 18 2012, 10:12 AM

[SpanishJack]

How did the Kings finish as the 8th seed?

Underachieving club that needed task master like Sutter.

[Knight of Dight]

How did the Kings finish as the 8th seed?

They conserved all their energy for the playoffs, a masterful trick they learned from Jagr.

[Charlie]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-dad...html#more-33617

John Mitchell has the second highest number of penalties drawn for 60 minutes! Considering he doesn't play that many minutes, the numbers are skewed though.

Callahan clocks in at 4th and Anisimov is 8th. Those are the Rangers in the top 10.

Conversely, Rupp is highest in penalties per 60 minutes and Prust is 3rd. Considering Prust plays twice as many minutes as Rupp, the numbers are probably skewed.

Prust of the New York Rangers leads the playoffs with 10 minor penalties.

This post has been edited by Charlie: May 18 2012, 03:51 PM

[Chris4]

To "save the league" they need to adopt rules such as forcing players to stay on their feat (apparently bob gainey and dennis potvin suggested it), telling forwards they can't block shots, making pads smaller, or even creating a "key' like you see in basketball.

They may well be full of it, but this at least is the topic of conversation going on in NHL media circles on there

Is this really what they talk about on NHL radio? It's this simple.. Goaltending is better than it ever was in the history of the league. End of story.

The position has evolved so, so, so much in the past 15 years. Blame the Allaire brothers who have created a generation of absolutely ridiculous goaltenders.. Not the Rangers, not shotblocking.

Also.. Bob Gainey doesn't get a professional opinion anymore.

[TeamStewie]

Seriously. I can't believe Dallas hired the moron.

[Knight of Dight]

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=396253

Interesting article about diving.

[Knight of Dight]

Coyotes score on a bogus PP. As awful a call as these playoffs have seen.

This post has been edited by Knight of Dight: May 20 2012, 02:50 PM

[Knight of Dight]

For the first time in a long while, the Kings look mortal. Good sign.

Coyotes doing a good job clogging the neutral zone, which takes away the Kings' speed advantage.

[Hockey101]

I read 1-0 Kings before with Dusty Brown scoring the goal. Was it disallowed?

[Knight of Dight]

I read 1-0 Kings before with Dusty Brown scoring the goal. Was it disallowed?

That was NHL.com being stupid.

Lots of quick whistles today. These refs suck, sun is hot.