2017-18 NHL Season
Training camps are over. Pre-season has begun.
It's only pre-season but Las Vegas has won already.
GC Recording the Rangers vs. Islanders while watching the Giants. Seeing Lindy Ruff on the bench, AV will have to do better than a second round exit I think. Good riddance to Stephan, and Girardi. I know Girardi put his body on the line for the Rangers, but he's been a liability for years. Stephan definitely wore out his welcome.
Denis I'm excited for tomorrow night when the Rangers open. I'm not sure they have done enough to expect much more than last year. Curious to see how Chytil pans out this year. He just turned 18 in September.
Islanders will have a better record only because it will be a full year under Doug Weight, but not much. Think Tavares is walking after this year, and that's not good long term!
Devils will be better, too bad about Boyle, hopefully he will make a quick full recovery. Watched Hischier in pre season, the kid is definitely the real deal!
Flyers....who cares.
Don't panic blueshirters. Its early. Some good things are evolving. Nice powerplay, puck rushing, but some fowards need to pick up in thier own end better. The new kid is nailed to the bench gotta see what he can do. I went to the opener and don't remember seeing him.
Post your cup predictions this week. So we can laugh at'em in May.
Roywhite Hugely entertaining game to go down 5. Then be even. And blow it again. Oh boy.
I guess no one cares who's at the top of the table, only the bottom. ;-)
I'm going with Toronto, and my adopted team after the Rangers were eliminated Nashville in the finals. Preds take the cup.
I’m on the fence and I’m never right.
Edmonton over Toronto. The young guns step up.
If not Pitt wins it all again.
NJ wins the Metro....lol NOT!
Anybody but the Pens please!
New prediction, may be optimistic wish on my part? Lindy Ruff is the new Ranger coach before Christmas.
NYR finally figured out whos going to score this year. No Body.
Dont know if its by Christmas but the all star game for sure, Ruff will take over, if for shock value alone.
If if makes you feel any better, I don't think Lindy took that job to be an assistant. ;-)
Edmonton and Toronto and certainly be fun to watch, but good cup runs need goaltending. Is Andersen and Talbot going to do that? It's one thing to keep a team in a game they win 6 to 5. But during the cup it's not going to cut it.
That's the current problem the Pens are facing too. You can have a dynamite team but if Murray still looks like he's not ready and Niemi still looks like backup material, they could be out in early rounds.
Holtby is different and has a decent playoff history. That could be one of your cup contenders. And I'm really surprised that Chicago hasn't been mentioned. As long on talent as anyone other than Pittsburgh. And the goaltending is there.
Roywhite - It's not just scoring. They currently have the second worst defense in the whole league. Only Pittsburgh's horrendous 10 goal blow out makes them worse. They're not keeping the puck out of the net either.
Murry is ready he won the cup in 16 as the starter. Your right about Holtby, hate watching him play so well with his laid back attitude. Ed. and Tor. will have to prove it sometime I’m thinking the teams in front of them give them the opportunities.
NY has 11 goals for and 18 ga, 4 of which are empty netters, thats under 3 a game (with a goalie) the pp is working (what, what?) so I see problems with defense pairings and puck possession but that gets a bit boring so....score some goals!
How does AV still have a job. This team has been heading in the wrong direction since 2014, and now we're looking to dump players as the playoffs get further out of sight. What a horrible season, the defensmen are sleep walking tonight. No heart or energy, Kreider was a tough loss but this is pathetic.
Oh Denis, was just going to update this thread n u beat me to it!
They are so bad I threw up in my mouth a little. Theres 28 more games. What to do. Ugh.
DeAngelo forget how to play? I think I’m better.
Rangers missing alot more then kreider. Vessey, Shattenkirk,Staal, Buchnevich as of now and plenty others in and out as the year has gone. Selling off is the right move. They are not getting healthy any time soon. May as well look to the future. Sad part is the window tonget hank a cup is closing and that sucks
Jdem Yes DeAngelo should have bought a ticket to the game since he likes to watch hockey!
Love Hank, but I don't see why he is an untouchable if someone wanted him. He has covered up for a lot of Ranger deficiencies over the years, but I don't see any cup in his near future with the Rangers.
"I don't see why he is an untouchable" yet "he has covered up".
If he didn't pull their proverbial butts out of the fire, why do you think they've sold the number of tickets they have?
Back to the reality some of the players aren't as good as they have been touted...
I'm not questioning Hank's greatness, I'm just saying in the prime years he has left I don't see him lifting the cup with the Rangers. From a Hockey point of view I don't see why anybody on this team should be untouchable, the cup isn't around the corner. If you can get good young talent for the future, then do it. Outside of the Pens, or Flyers I'd be happy to see him have a legit chance at a cup run with a good team. To your original comment on the thread, how about Vegas! One of my all time favorite Rangers McPhee has done a hell of a job.
Letter to tix holders....now I got Strangers flu....
https://mobile.twitter.com/NYRangers/status/961669453804130304?s=09
As long as the Devils at least get in the playoffs this year, it'll be a good year. Better than missing it for the last 5 even if it ends up a 1st round exit.
Richard Hey Denis, oh to be so young...
https://www.blueshirtbanter.com/2018/2/11/16994228/the-new-york-rangers-are-dead-long-live-the-rangers-rebuild-retool
I hear you Roywhite. Lets just say I'm looking forward to Jean Ratelle night to bring back some childhood memories.
Old time hockey. There's always Slapshot for some good entertainment ... gotta get right back to where we started from ... I go back to when there was six teams and the Baltimore Clippers were the Rangers' AHL farm club ... the AHL was quality hockey in those days and that's the source of my Rangers' fandom for this long time Baltimore guy.
Andy Loigu 
I remember my Mom taking me to see the NY Rovers at the old garden the one season they played there. There uniforms that year were just the opposite of the Rangers, with the red and blue switched. I actually liked those better, I'd love to see that as an alternate jersey sometime for the Rangers.
That would be cool. Baseball has had all kinds of retro days with teams wearing unis from the past and I've enjoyed that, especially unis like the Homestead Grays and KC Monarchs. When Washington got an NHL team, that gradually killed Baltimore as an AHL town, even though the Baltimore Skipjacks were a Caps affiliate for a long time ... with NHL games just 40 miles away (when they played at Landover MD they were even closer) and all the Caps games on TV, home and on the road ...
The Olympics ... not the same for hockey this year? Kinda loses its luster without the NHL guys?
Don’t forget the NY Raiders, briefly a WHA team. Pretty sure they played in the Garden.
Dont need the NHL in olympics this hockey is great, a bit diffetent, love the pace of play they go 5 minutes without a whistle. The larger ice leads to what seems like less possesion time but longer passes and no stacking the blue line. All good.
The WHA ... for a couple of years there were the Baltimore Blades while the ABA (for a couple of pre-season basketball games) had the Baltimore Claws ... forgettable underfinanced franchises to the rest of the world, but still dear to this old crabcake lover's heart :-D
Ugh is right, Rangers are unwatchable right now. What a disaster this season has been, and no reason at all to be optimistic about the future near term. Yes the Tampa Bay rangers are having a much better season.
Kind of like all the Oilers in NY in ‘94.
NY Strangers.
Keep telling myself not to think what all those 1st round picks, prospects and free agents can be next season especially now that next years ticket payments start next month already.
A fitting last home game 50+ shots against, 7 to 3 loss, and Miller, and Girardi score. End already, I don't know why I still watch.
Good night cellar dwellers. Feel sorry for lundqvist. He was let down big time by supposed professionals. Should have been rested, or sat down despite his professional willingness to put himself on the line. Out classed. Hung out to dry by teammates.
Not much class in NJ either. Sure, you don't want the biggest line hurt, but you still have home ice advantage and what opponent you get on the line. Let down to fans to pull them *all*.
Compare that with Pittsburgh.
I'd stop watching too.
I was out of town so fotuantley I missed it. Henrik covered up for a lot of Ranger weaknesses over the years. It seems the window for any chance of winning the cup with the Rangers is about closed. I was glad to see him get the Steven Mcdonald extra effort award this year. He is a true competitor, unlike so many of his teammates these past years. On a bright note as Roywhite noted AV is gone, YAH!!!
My Oct. predic’s will be wrong, as usual. Ed ovr Tor.
What say you all?: I’ll take TB ovr Nash.
But Don’t be surprised by Boston.
It's not even half over. Shut this crap down. Let me show you my happy face.
Signed -
Sour Kitty
Sugar I'm going with Nashville, and the Pens in the finals, with the Pens winning again. What a year for Vegas tough!! The NHL hit a homerun expanding to Nashville, and Vegas.
Nice back and forth game in Nashville. Very good entertainment no matter which team you like.
Tampa Bay? Unnecessary melodrama. Not much there. Silly posturing without being able to deliver. Nine seconds of inevitability.
Guessing Devils will start Corey Schneider in game 3. Don't know if it will make a difference, TB has a lot of scorers.
HectorDevils totally dominated them in the 3rd. I would definitely go with Schneider at this point.
Ugh. Don’t like Washington and can’t root for ‘em.
Don’t like the Cap’s either.
Go Knights go. Who’da thunk it.
CJ. I've always rooted for the Eastern team ... Penguins, Rangers, Devils, Flyers, Bruins... Warren Hills (oops, I mean Tampa LOL) ... I don't hate anybody ... have to respect guys who are this good... NHL is the best league for sportsmanship when a series is over. The guys shake hands and go on with their lives.
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