The Hockey Rodent

Time 2021-10-21 12:02:42

Web Name: The Hockey Rodent

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description:Commentary on the New York Rangers and the NHL











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FIRST PUBLISHED IN 2019
Who Is NYR's Best Pickup?

Tue, Jul 2, 5:45 PM Eastern

Panarin? Kakko? Trouba? Shestyorkin?

I'm going to attempt to answer this question analytically... because (you know) I am an ass.

Between blueliners and backstops, the New York Rangers dedicated approximately $30 million in salary last season. What did it deliver?

Answer: 3.07 GAA

Ouch!

Three point ought seven, people.

If you think the arrival of Jacob Trouba is going to fix the defense, think again.

Think again now. I'll wait.

And when you look at the names sewn onto the backs of the sweaters, there's really no rationalization for the embarrassing performance... at least not based upon the roster.

Yeah, Marc Staal personally stunk up the joint for the first four months of the campaign. But he pretty much remained invisible during the second semester. And for a stay-at-home defender, that's actually a compliment.

Seriously.

I was screaming about his wandering away from the front of the net in October and November and December... acts of dereliction of duty by a puck chaser who'd easily be suckered into abandoning his sentry post in pursuit of an enemy he could never apprehend.

That penchant for Staal to stray isn't anything new. But he used to have the legs to propel his derriere back to a sensible location before the damage was done.

Now?

Not so much.

How often did we see the lamp illuminate behind Hank only to spot Staal (head down) on the wrong side of the goal line, looking at his reflection in the glass?

But he wasn't alone.

Look at my Twitter history. Didja see how many times I screen grabbed multiple Rangers against the end boards when the puck was in the paint... or (worse) through the paint?

Where am I going with this?

If you were paying attention all season, you know where I'm going.

When a club backchecks... ummmmmmmm... anarchistically, that's a cordination issue, unattributable to any single culprit... on the ice.

But surely it is attributable to a single culprit off the ice.

When an individual player makes a mental mistake which precipitates an enemy tally, you can get past that. The schedule is long. There's plenty of time to make up for the gaffe.

When said individual repeats the mistake, you ask whether the bench boss adequately addressed the nature of the error with the player. Was the repeated mistake due to failure of the coach to remediate the problem? Or was it due to the minion ignoring the counsel?

When this same individual re-repeats the mistake, the finger is pointing to the bench boss for not fixing the problem by sitting the problem in the press box for a game or two.

By now you should be detecting a theme.

The issue with NYR in 2018-2019 was not a case of roster flux or a fading veteran Swedish guy with movie-star looks.

The problem was with management.

And no number of Jacob Troub or Artemi Panarins or Kaapo Kakkos are gonna fix what's missing behind the bench in The World's Least Efficient Arena.

If the club fails to play cohesively, all we'll be left with are a bunch of super-talented individuals filling the highlight reels until April, when the lights go dark.

Which is why I'm baffled that Lindy Ruff got "renewed" for another twelve months.

Aside: I may be in the minority. But I don't believe Kevin Shattenkirk is the problem. He's not being utilized properly on the power play or five-on-five. He's not being given the chance to deliver the goals he was recruited to provide with the man-advantage or on the attack at even-strength.

That tells me (pretty boy) David Quinn is in over his head and (despite looking the part) has no clue how to develop a squad at the major league level. This isn't the same thing as college, where your core roster remains stable and the noobs are guaranteed eager to comply and fit in (because they're freshmen, of course).

So?

So, if your (you, you who is reading this rant) barometer of satisfaction is driven by how deep into May or June the Blueshirts are skating, I'm telling you to expect very little in the way of said satisfaction.

If (instead) your motivation for watching hockey is to see talent and skill on display no matter the outcome, then the recent human resources shuffle appears designed to make you grin.

If you are the type of spectator who sits inside Chelsea Piers and smiles when the ten-year-olds try to clear their own zone by outletting the pill up the center lane... boy do I have a season subscription for you. You are about to be treated to a skillfest unmatched since 2005-2006 when Bobby Granger taught a bunch of international youngsters how to speak Manhattan.

But Ro'. What about the two tenders backing up Henrik Lundqvist? Don't you think they'll steal some wins from otherwise certain defeat?

Gosh, I hope not.

No. I'm not being traitorous.

Of course, I hope they perform well(ly).

But the problem with sizzling netminding is that it can mask lingering maladies which will ultimately undermine the team's success down the road.

CONTINED NEXT COLUMN




Coyote Ugly

Click here for the previous Rodent rant.
If you judge a coach by his won-loss record, then (I claim) that's a dangerous way to run a ballclub... if those victories are fewer than they could have been with a better manager pulling the strings, making the line changes or reviewing the videotape.

The last thing I want is for Quinn to appear better than he truly is due to spectacular saves smoke-and-mirrored by Hank and his understudies.

This is where I'm smiling.

Huh?

As long as Jeff Gorton held the reins, Quinn figured to be secure dis-ir-regardless how badly he effed-up his job. Quinn is the kind of figurehead that James Dolan would have demanded (from the marketing perspective). And we all know Dolan is more the showman than a successful sports czar.

But with the arrival of John Davidson, I'm not so sure Gorton's security is guaranteed. And that means Quinn's "value add" will be evaluated with more scrutiny than ever before.

Quinn is "Gorton's guy". Jeff has a vested interest in not admitting Quinn is failing. If Gorton ditched Quinn, that's a ticky mark against Gorton for having hired the rookie over an established coach with NHL experience.

But Quinn is not "Davidson's guy". So J. D. has no vested interest in keeping Quinn (or Quinn's assistants) on the payroll just to save face. Quinn figures to sink or swim based upon objective criteria rather than his ability to look good (think "Pat Riley coif") on television.

Yes. David did do a year in Colorado under Avalanche head coach Joe Sacco. So he's not totally "experienceless" at the NHL level.

But how well did he do there?

Well, his team won just sixteen games.

Okay. It was a lockout-shortened campaign. You got me there.

But they still managed to finish last in the division, with a 3.17 GAA.

This is not exactly testament to Quinn's ability to script a backchecking scheme, even if that wasn't his primary responsibility in Denver.

J. D. is a former backstop. He will assess the Ranger backcheck the way it needs to be perceived: from the net out.

Is the backcheck steering the enemy assault to the one lane Henrik is best-suited to defend? Or does Hank have no idea where the shot will come from because the skaters in front of him are clueless to behave as a cohesive unit and are simply positioned man-to-man until the enemy cycle finds the seam to Henke's weak side?

Aside: Didja ever wonder why Lundqvist was so amazing at picking up the puck long before the shot traversed the hash marks? It was because he anticipated the general area where his mates would corral the opposition attackers. Hank didn't have to scan the entire rink. He had a good idea where to dedicate his gaze. At least, until Alain Vigneault stopped minding the Xs and Os and anarchy set in.

Now the Blueshirt minders have no clue where the shot will happen, especially during odd-man-rushes. Not only are these happening with (alarmingly) greater frequency... but the coverage rules being demonstrated by the lone retreater are inconsistent from rush to rush, leaving Ranger goalies no way to predict which side of the rink the launch will manifest.

The other thing I like about J. D. is that he personally witnessed every game Tom Renney coached in 2005-2006. As Sam Rosen's sidekick for Renney's rookie year, J. D. saw how The Dapper One took a wildly disarrayed team (from Glen Sather's days behind the bench) to a military-inspired unit that knew how to operate in pairs and trios.

I liken the hellacious defensive play of 2018-2019 to that of 2003-2004, just before The Great Purge. What NYR needed then was someone like Renney to see the forest for the trees and who realized that future success was not by acquiring pricier and pricier talents, but by getting these talents to mesh with each other in concert. In fact, that's a great analogy. Renney acted as a conductor, marshalling exquisitely talented musicians into a single orchestral weapon.

J. D. will see through the haze even if Gorton and Quinn continue to act as if they are in a haze. They've been given the "musicians". The question is whether they can turn the orchestra's product into a symphony.

Therefore, my vote for Gotham's greatest acquisition this postseason is their president, someone Dolan will defer to and someone who recognizes the balance of marketing appeal with genuine sportsmanlike conduct between the puck drops.

So, yeah: We now have ample eye-candy to mollify the disappointments when the final horn blows each night. Panarin and Kakko figure to drop your jaw at least once each evening. The marquee surely appeals to the bankers and brokers who wine and dine their clients between seventh and eighth avenues each game. But that we were going to have anyway, even without J. D. No. What pleases me most is that (for the first time in more than a decade) the front office has brought in someone who can strategically "paradigm shift" the entire franchise rather than live year-to-year on how many big-wallet fannies filled Sections 1 to 120.

Is it just my imagination? Or was July 1 merely a blip on the radar compared to the collective continental excitement of (say) Bobby Holik's unrestricted free agency?

Where was the "frenzy" yesterday? Where was the anticipation? Where was the anxiety?

Has the salary cap and Gary Bettman's lockout completely ruined this annual ritual?

:8=


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BACK ISSUESCurrent Rodent RantRecent Rants

Coyote Ugly
Structure
Round 1 Preview
Something New
I Told You So!
The Bed Is Made
Celery Cat - Part 2
Celery Cat - Part 1
Rock, Paper, Scissors
Mid-Season Musings
Tiny Is The New Jumbo
See You In '34
Patterns
No Euphoria!
Pez
Report Card
Hockey Town
Upside Down
Just Say No - Part 2
Just Say No - Part 1
Lights Out
Four Dates
Door Mats - Part 2
Door Mats - Part 1
For The Rest Of You
Betrayed - Part 2
Betrayed - Part 1
I'm Not Rushin'
Blink
Nuking The Goose
Killing The Goose
Ryan, Weber Depth Or Death
Report Cards
Game 6: How About?
Game 5: Inspirational Loss
Game 4: Series Finale
Game 3: The Hank Show
Game 2: Locked In
Game 1: No Pings
No Emrick
Game 5: More Than The Score
Game 4: Datamining
Game 3: The Avengers
Game 2: Step Away... Ledge
Game 1: Expect Adjustments
Game 7: No Rest For Weary
Game 6: Tight Quarters
Game 5: Out-Hanked
Game 4: Shanastrings
Game 3: Not In Kansas
Game 2: Another Gear
Game 1 Wrap
Chris Kreider Signs
Blame The Brute
Please, Mr. Postman
The Second Season
Shameful, No Fooling
Simplifications
Implications
All My Wildren
Count The Bodies
Hello Fourth Seed
Perspective
No Power Play, No Joy
Hide Your Children
The GAP Line
The Great Equalizer
Dah-ling
Mirage
Exit Strategy
Prius, Not Escalade
Patriculation
Carolina Game Wrap
Quarter Pole - Part 2
Quarter Pole - Part 1
It's 5:30 AM
Duty Cycle
Nash Ticks
Whelmed
Poopies
Nashteria
Missing Pieces
How many Rangers?
Your Deal With The Devil
Rules Of Engagement
Groundhog Day
What Can You Do?
Clutch And Grab
Outcome In The Balance
Blue Man Grouped
Taming The Cats
The Long Change
5-2-5-2-5-2
Too Cute
Deal Or No Deal - 3
Deal Or No Deal - 2
Deal Or No Deal - 1
Four More Reasons
Weather The Storm
The Tortorella Fund
Mail Bag Musings
Not The Same Blueshits - 2
Not The Same Blueshits - 1
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