Biron: We WERE Hard To Play Against
In a microcosm of the Rangers lack of toughness, not a single Rangers player responded to Marty Biron getting run twice during last night's 3-0 to Montreal. Unless you want to count Brian Boyle's token yell a few Canadiens players after the second one.
However, after the game it was Biron who addressed the Rangers hardness issues...
Let me highlight the important part for affect...
"We got pretty much the same core guys that were here the last few years. And we WERE hard to play against. We got to get back to that. That's the key for us. It's got to be part of our M.O. again."
...preach on brother! Although Biron should know that while the core is still intact the heart and soul were either traded away or not re-signed.
...after being run over twice without a response I don't blame Biron for indirectly calling out his teammates. And he's right. This is a soft team from top to bottom. I mean, could anyone really argue with Joe Thornton if he called the Rangers soft this year?
...if there's one thing that's ALWAYS responded to in the NHL it's a goaltender being run and for the Rangers to ignore it both times you have to question the heart of this team.
...having said that, the season is far from being over my friends. There's plenty of hockey left. However, this Rangers team needs to find their balls.
Here's video of one of the offenses...
...Canadiens had absolutely no fear of retribution. So why not crash the net? What makes it worse was the Canadiens basically laughing at the Rangers at the end of the game.
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Marty's face in the video's preview is about how I'm feeling about our boys right now. They need to destroy the Jets.
Torts has never, ever had a problem with a player sticking up for a teammate even if an instigator was called. Which is why this is all do baffling.
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Already the second team laughing at us after the game, pens were laughing in the garden too after they beat up on us.
@TheNYRBlog did you see Biron's face when he turned around after being attended to and saw Boyle squabbling instead of Pummeling #wtfFace
someone should bench TORTS ,for benching GABBY for making a mistake ,TORTS IS THE CAUSE OF THE WHOLE PROBLEM,changing players around ,they dont even know which line they play on ,too many high priced players on the team
@TheNYRBlog they can bring up newbury, Haley, and mcllrath. can't even watch them right now....messier and graves would never stand for this
Biron is right when he says they WERE hard to play against...Looking at the way they play now we are definitely not the same team, but it has only been 17 games...yeah in a shortened season it is more significant but hope is not lost. I believe the guys they have are more than capable (like Cally said in his post game comments). Everyone just needs to play with more fire and heart like we did last year. We need to stop using the excuse that we lost that when losing Dubi, Anisimov, and Prust...Some people just need to step up and fill those spots. It can be done.
I haven's seen McIlrath on the Whale this year but I saw some NHL preseason games last year.He looked basic, actually not bad and he was a real good skater then so he is probably better now.From the limited amount I have seen he definitely sticks up for his teammates, virtually every time,so if he did join the Rangers say, for the playoff run or post season, he would likely give a lot of confidence to the team.Any opponent who messes with McIlraths' teammates is probably going to get some kind of notification by him, quickly and roughly.
In my opinion, If he can hold his own defensively in the NHL, he would help this current Rangers team.But like I said, haven't seen him play this year on the Whale.I mean the thing is, right now he's likely better than Bickel defensively and has a higher hockey IQ.
I've watched this team through ups and downs over the years, and over the course I've become more patient. Usually during the worst of times I wasn't expecting as much as this year. This year my patience has worn thin.
Obviously everybody here recognizes the softness, so you gotta believe Marty isn't the only one on the team aware of it. I expected them to man-up for the rematch in Montreal, but all they did was play most of the first period and that was it. Now I gotta believe they're going to man-up for Tuesday, but if they don't, it really looks bad for this club.
@AG_Blue I think the whole team has been shaky to say the least so far this year, and although Cally has certainly show more effort than many he needs to turn it up and find a way to light a fire under the entire team. Last season even when one aspect or player was having an off game the others seemed to step up and pick up the slack, but the individual and the team effort to step up and cover for each other is missing. Las year the King stood on his head to keep the puck out on the all too frequent breakaways but it just hasn't been there so far. Lets hope that they find some internal chemistry soon and start playing with some spark!!!
@TheNYRBlog agree I don’t care that they lost the game. Habs took liberties with no response. No reason torts should be fired after last yr
I have some good news and a small amount of bad news. I just watched the 1st period of lastnights Whale game. I focused on Jean and obviously McIllrath. Jean looks solid on the puck and seems to be a pretty smooth skater for a big guy. Nice stick handling skills and had some good defensive sequences. He didn't look great on faceoffs. Now to Mc, his first 2 shifts were not so great. He made 2 bad decisions with the puck, but made up for it by breaking up a breakaway from behind! He scared me a bit with his positioning choices. He uses his reach really well to break up plays, and he surprised me with his skating. Looks like he made some improvements there. He didn't have any fights but as soon as anyone even breathes on a teammate he's there to push them around. I liked what I saw from him but he's not ready for the NHL.
@TheNYRBlog Might just be me but I think things get turned around after last night. (Otherwise save me a seat on the Panic Wagon)
@TheNYRBlog Are we at code red yet? I saw Avery used Nike+ yesterday. Maybe he’s in game shape. Can we all chip in for skates?
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Everything starts from the top down....the fact of the matter is that this team is playing scared. Torts has them unbalanced and uncomfortable. Gaborik takes a hockey penalty at the end of the second and now he doesn't see a shift in the third? Is that normal? C'mon! Once again he is an offensive minded sniper. That is his game. He is gong to make some mistakes in all three zones. We need to live with that. All the rookies are scared for all it takes is one "tortorella mistake" to have them back in the minors. Please get Richards off the DAMN point on the pp!!!! Stralman and stall on the points.
Torts should have a video made of Biron getting run and then Michelle Terrien and the Canadiens' bench laughing it up and play it on infinite loop in the dressing room for the rest of the season.
@IcyCup http://youtu.be/wGdDvFwJJg4 Jump to the 3 minute mark. Granted they could have been laughing about anything, but bottom line is they're up 3-0, literally running us over, and having a grand old time on the bench.
@TheNYRBlog couldn't agree more, if Dubi were still here he would have done something, Boyle is a shell of himself since Neil hit.
@TheNYRBlog the players must feel when they get a penalty cause they always get stapled to the bench as a punishment
@TheNYRBlog remember torts talking about not retaliating and keeping your mouths shut and heads screwed on in 24/7? And that plus the fear
@TheNYRBlog - For whatever reason the team has no fight or grit. They should all watch the movie Miracle maybe that will wake this team up.
"What makes it worse was the Canadiens basically laughing at the Rangers at the end of the game." -- Yeah, I noticed that, too. Needs to be played back before the next game. Dylan McIlrath may not be ready, but I don't care... bring him up This needs all of the fighting spirit then can get.
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Let's not tiptoe around this anymore - they traded away the heart and grit of this team in the offseason - for all of Dubinsky's shortcomings passion and toughness he was not lacking - remember that garbage can he threw to the ground when he was ejected in a playoff game last year? Other than Cally and maybe Haglin would show that kind of passion? As for Prust - there's a reason he's become a fan favorite in Montreal this early in the season and it's not for him being a threat to win the scoring title.
@kingmessier prusy maybe. hard to fit him in in the 13-14 season at 2.5 million. dubinsky? nope. not heart and soul. coulda been. wasnt.
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Excuses anyone? Pay checks too fat- distractions too many? Out of shape? This team seems to lack the ability to reach deep during a tough game and battle.
BRAD WHO? pathetic defense from this guy - bent over reaching with his stick. the second goal was a perfect example of how he's playing. This kind of effort comes from anyone else and they's sitting at the end of the bench hoping for a 4th line shift.
No one's answering the bell here.
@TheNYRBlog the only thing that's possible is their scared of being benched by taking a penalty. No such thing as a "bad" pen in this case
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(im reposting this from the last section...)
last years team is long gone. this one has leadership problems. so far all the leadership has done is muster up the balls to go tell torts that they dont want to practice this season and would rather watch video. they all look like they are still locked out except for some who started bad and got their legs recently (hags, step). now the injuries. bad ones to people that are needed to play beyond what they can already. this is looking pretty bad. what makes me angry is the lack of heart and not sticking up for each other. if youre gonna lose, LOSE. just dont let you or your team mates get pushed around. that's shameful.
strip the A from richards. give it to someone else. give it to a guy who will block a shot in a game that is lost. that'll get richards' attention. if he has problems off the ice, he should take a personal day or two and take care of it. hes not doing anyone any favors by turning over the puck, staring that 3000 yrd stare of his on the bench or simply NOT SKATING.
lets not forget that there is a very concrete and finite window here for this organization/regime to win a cup before the team gets blown up due to UFA statuses ect. etc.
it's either this year, or the next. and guess what? all of the traction gained last year is fucking gone.
theyre NOT a team. theyre a bunch of guys who have working relationships with each other.
my eyes are now pointed at the coaches and the leadership.
disgusting.
@IcyCup If this season turns in to a nose dive, Sather has to consider using the second buyout on Richards, or dare I say Nash, in order to keep some of the "core" here longer.
@TheNYRBlog hey u used my joe thornton line lol after saying that last years team was tough #ursneaky #followme I'm good at this #nhl thing
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