Rangerland Forum Information

[Greatone]

As always, keep all WC talk in here.

[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.

[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

[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

[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.