Jan Levine: ECSF: Gm 6: OTT 4 NYR 2, Slow start, D breakdowns, poor PP result in loss New York sees season end earlier than hoped.

Jan Levine: ECSF: Gm 6: OTT 4 NYR 2, Slow start, D breakdowns, poor PP result in loss
New York sees season end earlier than hoped.
- airjan23

Spot on Jan. Excellent recap, must have been tough to write. You do a great job covering the team for us. I know it must be frustrating dealing with varying opinions(most of all me) on a daily basis. Have a safe and happy summer.

all series long ...we should have won. We should be up 3 games to 1.
Blah blah...Sens can't beat us at home...blah blah....we have too much depth...
Sens are just lucky...losing 4 out of 6 games to them simply means you got beat.


Enjoy the golf season
BTW Jan
Great in depth write ups. You did a great job.

all series long ...we should have won. We should be up 3 games to 1.
Blah blah...Sens can't beat us at home...blah blah....we have too much depth...
Sens are just lucky...losing 4 out of 6 games to them simply means you got beat.


Enjoy the golf season
BTW Jan
Great in depth write ups. You did a great job.
- juicesolo

Awesome insight, get ready for that buzz saw

Thanks as always Jan, it sucks to have to do this every year, it must get tiring to write pretty much the same deficiencies to our demise every year

Rangers blew what should have been a chance to move on to the ECF, they had the the series at their feet and let it slip by, no one to blame but themselves, credit to Karlsson but honestly I'll never be convinced that this Ottawa team was better, Rangers beat themselves and AV has to pay the price

Thanks Jan. It's really all I can say.

I can't even go to sleep, this (frank)ing team ruins me

The rangers need to rebuild....It's been what 5-6 years now with the same core let's face it they just don't have what it takes to get it done. Until massive changes are made this will always be the end result.

Great blog here once again Jan, and thank you for your time and responses to my past contacts with you.
This was their most disappointing series loss in likely the previous +/- 40 years, given all the known circumstances going in, starting with the fact that they were the obvious favorite on paper, & even more so with Karlsson playing with a foot injury that may likely require off season surgery to heal properly.
Then add AV's huge coaching errors in his player choices to use on the ice for that combined 2 games total of only 5:00, (last 3:00 in Game 2 with a 2 goal lead, and last 2:00 in Game 5 with a 1 goal lead), resulting in those devastating Double OT, & OT losses respectively. In addition, Arniel is not free of blame here either with his net 3 FOR 39 postseason power play. He is worse than when Sullivan ran the PP here under Torts.
AV's mistakes there turned a 4 games to 1 series win into a 4 games to 2 series loss. I can just imagine hearing the Vancouver press saying, "remember, we all warned you so back then".

Spot on Jan. Excellent recap, must have been tough to write. You do a great job covering the team for us. I know it must be frustrating dealing with varying opinions, and I'll continue to kiss your ass on a daily basis. Have a safe and happy summer.
- tomburton99

Fixed

Fixed
- Slimtj100

What's fixed? Tomburton, the series result (we didn't play the Penguins), or something else?

What's fixed? Tomburton, the series result (we didn't play the Penguins), or something else?
- RangerSaver

That's he'll kiss Jans ass lol

That's he'll kiss Jans ass lol
- Slimtj100

That's why I mentioned "Tomburton" as one option there.

Great year for the Rangers, but not good enough. I can't see them keeping this core together for another year. They don't need to rebuild, but 2-3 trades to create a new team dynamic might do the trick. It'll be an interesting off season.

Aside from coaching, individual lack of production among other things...the biggest problom with these guys is leadership. They simply don't have any. Step, who I defend til the cows come home, says that he's proud of this group. Proud of what exactly? Bad years happen, he had one big time, but don't insult my intelligence and tell me your proud of this. It's all I need to know about him as leader. You yell at Hank for having a fit in the crease, when he's at a loss for the dzone coverage, or lack of it. He's seen it year after year where chaos is constant and calmness is rare

Mac...he doesn't have the qualities of a captain. It's a huge issue. Love the player, but his leadership is awful

Nash...was great this year for the most part, but again...he couldn't lead an army out of a sand trap at Pebble Beach for christs sake.

Hank...he used to be able to bail these guys out often. He was awful these last two years in the ousters. Age may be the reason, but he doesn't exude the confidence the team had in him in the past

Now, the "kids". Miller has to go. He's a great asset to get a Dman which they desperately need. Hayes, needs another summer of what now? The key was he got in shape, what the excuse now? They both lack hockey sense Ina big way.

Zucc, Zib, Skjei, Fast, Smith, Grabner, Vesey all were terrific for two rds and should be a corp group to build from

---
I would do whatever it takes to get Drew Doughty. They need a Messier type trade in the worst way. Because they still have the makings of a championship team imo, but it's the leadership of it that needs a complete overhaul. Trade Step, idc, trade Mac idc, trade any player except Skjei idc, fire AV idc...they need leaders!!

Wow TJ, I'm glad u can finally admit what I've been saying all season. We don't have leaders, McD isn't a true captain. Trading Stepan would send shock waves through the players and I think that's exactly what needs to be done. Some big decisions will be coming this summer. I see Stepan traded and possibly Miller, although I think that would be a mistake.

Wow TJ, I'm glad u can finally admit what I've been saying all season. We don't have leaders, McD isn't a true captain. Trading Stepan would send shock waves through the players and I think that's exactly what needs to be done. Some big decisions will be coming this summer. I see Stepan traded and possibly Miller, although I think that would be a mistake.
- nyrangers9479

The lack of production I can deal with personally, you can't lol. I can with any player to a point. The Hank thing saturday and being "proud" tonight really really turned me off the last couple days. It's like losing is ok, ho hum no big deal.

At this point I'd trade everyone except a handful of guys, new blood is needed. Blowing up isn't happening because they still have young enough players to build from

Btw, Hayes finished without a goal dating back to to march 12th at Detroit. 24 games. Miller didn't score in last 17. No one slumps like ranger players that's for sure

Aside from coaching, individual lack of production among other things...the biggest problom with these guys is leadership. They simply don't have any. Step, who I defend til the cows come home, says that he's proud of this group. Proud of what exactly? Bad years happen, he had one big time, but don't insult my intelligence and tell me your proud of this. It's all I need to know about him as leader. You yell at Hank for having a fit in the crease, when he's at a loss for the dzone coverage, or lack of it. He's seen it year after year where chaos is constant and calmness is rare

Mac...he doesn't have the qualities of a captain. It's a huge issue. Love the player, but his leadership is awful

Nash...was great this year for the most part, but again...he couldn't lead an army out of a sand trap at Pebble Beach for christs sake.

Hank...he used to be able to bail these guys out often. He was awful these last two years in the ousters. Age may be the reason, but he doesn't exude the confidence the team had in him in the past

Now, the "kids". Miller has to go. He's a great asset to get a Dman which they desperately need. Hayes, needs another summer of what now? The key was he got in shape, what the excuse now? They both lack hockey sense Ina big way.

Zucc, Zib, Skjei, Fast, Smith, Grabner, Vesey all were terrific for two rds and should be a corp group to build from

---
I would do whatever it takes to get Drew Doughty. They need a Messier type trade in the worst way. Because they still have the makings of a championship team imo, but it's the leadership of it that needs a complete overhaul. Trade Step, idc, trade Mac idc, trade any player except Skjei idc, fire AV idc...they need leaders!!
- Slimtj100

I agree with you TJ, and I also earlier in my prior blog's comment right after Jan posted, "New Blog Up", mentioned that Miller may be the key necessary piece in part to fill in a necessary hole in their lineup. Miller's a role player that can create plays with his hustle and strength, but will likely never develop into a big game scorer, as shown by his current 1 playoff goal in like 40 playoff games or so.
This roster needs at least a 25% makeover to win it all while Hank is still here. Like you said, & I had written on the prior blog, they most of all need team leadership to take charge in the locker room and during game play. The team seems to not even show enough positive emotion on the ice or bench like other teams do (see just Ottawa), even when scoring goals, if not only performing some task well. I hate to think that Stepan is probably the closest they have to being a vocal team leader with Captain like qualities. Then of course, we need that RH hard shot d'man to take charge on the power play, among maybe a sniper up front that will shoot, instead of overpass the puck (example, Hayes).

The lack of production I can deal with personally, you can't lol. I can with any player to a point. The Hank thing saturday and being "proud" tonight really really turned me off the last couple days. It's like losing is ok, ho hum no big deal.

At this point I'd trade everyone except a handful of guys, new blood is needed. Blowing up isn't happening because they still have young enough players to build from

Btw, Hayes finished without a goal dating back to to march 12th at Detroit. 24 games. Miller didn't score in last 17. No one slumps like ranger players that's for sure
- Slimtj100

As per your last paragraph, why is that so? One clearly visible reason is for them refusing to put traffic in front of the net enough times, & to take more shot attempts when opened in between the face off dots of the circles, instead of passing and passing the puck back to a teammate at the side boards. Another is that they take too long to get their shots off, especially wrist shots, and rarely shoot the puck off the pass on the fly. But many times, their passing is too soft and slow that by time the puck arrives, there is an opponent in the line to block the shot.
If we can see this all, then how come the coaching staff doesn't get this across to the team, with all the video they claim to watch to fix the problem. If they do, then the players must go that don't get it. If not, then Jeff Gorton must decide if he has the right coaching staff here, exclusive of Benoit Allaire, for the roster we will have next season.
P.S. One ironic regular season stat, in speaking of Hayes who you mentioned, was that the Rangers were 15-0-0 in games when Hayes scored a goal or more.

#2 pick doe

welp, a lot of people have been desperate to get to the off season for a long time.

Here we are! YAY!

I would probably say that the only players that are safe after that utter debacle are Brady Skjei and Lundqvist (only because of his NMC)

I think ANYBODY could go in deals or in other ways. including the coach, who did one of the worst coaching jobs I've ever seen.

Would I bet he gets fired? I wouldn't, but I feel like it's 50/50 right now

Stepan? yeah, I'd say it's a huge possibility, especially with that NTC kicking in July 1st.

last night has gotta be the last time we see Rick Nash as a Ranger, and probably Dan Girardi

time for the house cleaning

Sean Avery calling out Kreider

Sean Avery‏ Verified account @imseanavery 8h8 hours ago

And WHY doesn't #20 go head to head with their captain and punish him for 6 games EVERY SINGLE SHIFT??

Unfortunately, nothing will change until Lundqvist goes. Now, before the I'm a Hank hater crowd jumps in, I have nothing against him. He's been the face of the franchise, and as accomplished a great deal. But, he's unlucky. And I'm happy for him that he's won gold medals and alike, but it don't mean squat. When your the highest paid player on the team, and at the position in the league, you're expected to rise above the shortcomings and deliver the team to the promise land.

And there inlies the rub. No goalie, in today's game can be expected to the be all, that ends all. It's a flawed philosophy, and once again it's reared its ugly head.

It's sad in a way, because I'm quite certain Lunndqvist wants to win a cup badly, it would round out his trophy case nicely. But, it's not gonna happen here, never was, never will. Until he goes, nothing will change.

Fixed
- Slimtj100

Hi TJ, how are you?