Notes from breakup day

[theProdigy223]

-McDonagh suffered broken foot in game 4
-Girardi suffered MCL sprain in game 4
-Staal suffered ankle fracture in the REGULAR SEASON. He had a bad series in Tampa and his +/- was bad, but I thought he played very well against Wash and Pit, especially matching up at times against Ovi. Props to him for fighting through.
-Zucc has a brain contusion. Looks like the "more than concussion" rumors were right after all. Full recovery expected, but it is not yet healed.

 

[theProdigy223]

“@PLeonardNYDN: Zuccarello said he had temporarily lost ability to talk & move his arm. Needed speech therapy. Blood in brain #NYR

Gross: Doctors have told Zuccarello he will be able to play next season.

 

[chuckd3534]

Could explain why Staal struggled late Washington and all of the Bolts series.

All teams have bumps and bruises in the playoffs, but it kind of stinks it was all of our big 3 dmen...

As for Zucc, figured it had to be real serious. The fact that he was skating the past week and was wearing the yellow non-contact jersey the last few days tells me he should be fine for the start of the season. Fear with him is future isuses if he gets hit hard. All we can do is hope once he's over it he's over it for good.

 

[Messiah717]

My god thankfully Zucc is ok. That's just terrible. That explains the difficulty with mobility the defenseman were having. Those guys gutted it put yet forwards played like pansies. That's even more sickening.

 

[chuckd3534]

Somehow I feel we will get posts saying it was AV's fault Staal fractured his ankle late in the regular season, and McD broke his foot, and G had a sprained MCL...LOL.

Does really suck all those dmen were hurt, especially Staal and McD who had more serious injuries.

Thank god Zucc is okay is right. Hopefully for his sake he will make a full recovery.

 

[theProdigy223]

As has been said yes all teams have injuries and you dont want to make excuses. but with our big 3 dmen all suffering significant lower-body injuries, a fast-skating team like TB is an absolute nightmare of a matchup. They just didnt have the mobility to keep up, and it showed. A lot of those turnovers may have been due to getting to the puck a split-second too slowly, allowing TB to get that extra pressure on them or to just sneak into the passing lane.

 

[theProdigy223]

The frustrating thing is, even WITH that disaster of an injury report, this team still could have moved on if a couple of the forwards had raised their game. I mean as a forward, how do you see your top 2 defenseman get hurt in game 4, and then come out and get shut out in game 5 and again in game 7? How does that not fire you up to go win it for those guys who are showing incredible guts being out there? Very frustrating.

Even if they had moved on, I guess it's not likely we would have had the legs on defense to keep up with the Hawks.

 

[chuckd3534]

That's what we are missing...that firery leader type.

 

[Ranger71]

Plus Klein never seemed fully the same after returning.

 

[BigDaddyAl1973]

all of this would NOT have been prevented if we had McIlrath..just sayin lol

 

[Disturbed]

Wow every team has their share of injuries this time of year but those are pretty bad injuries to your top 3 Dmen + Zuc.

Takes luck to win the Stanley Cup too and we didn't get much in the injury department. Nothing you can do. Knowing all that I wouldn't feel very optimistic vs Chicago at all

 

[NYR2009]

And not a scratch on Nash. I hope his manicure and pedicure didn't get ruined.

 

[BigDaddyAl1973]

this goes back to hammering Ryan after game 5 and 7...the guy knows that he is on one leg and his d partners in crime also have one leg down...this is why you cant jump on press confrences and what is or what is not said.

 

[kreidertime]

all of this would NOT have been prevented if we had McIlrath..just sayin lol

Are you retarded? This defense hasn't hit anybody in 5 years. I guess you don't give a crap that forwards run McDonagh every season and forwards carry the puck over our blueline with no fear. It seems to be working the Rangers. I'm blinded by all the glare of the cups they have won. By all means Al. Keep our defense which gives up tons of scoring chances all the time in the playoffs. Our goaltender has been bailing this teams ass out for years. It's just not the offense. The defense is soft.

 

[BigDaddyAl1973]

Name the tough rugged masher Tampa has that killed us... Strahlman?

 

[theProdigy223]

Tampa didnt need a rugged masher, they had Stamkos/Triplets lighting us up on O. Maybe if we had offensive threats like that, we could afford to have 6 pillow-fight defenders.

I'm not sitting here saying McIlrath is the savior, but it is amazing to me how many people here are writing off a kid who just turned 23 last month before he even plays 5 games in the bigs. If he comes into camp next year and still can't win a spot, fine. But if he proves himself and AV still wont play him because of style, thats bullshit.

Did you see Brooks Orpik on Nash in the Wash series? Orpik was beating the hell out of him every chance he got. Cross-checks, shoulders into the boards, body on body every time down the ice. We dont have a single defenseman doing that to anybody, and the one guy who's game is built around that nobody wants to give a chance to.

 

[kreidertime]

Yep. Great point on Orpik. What Al can't grasp like a lot of our dense fans is that this team isn't full of high flying forwards. Our defense is built to play with a team like Tampa, Chicago or Pitt. Not the forwards we have. This candy ass defense we have has to change. Spare me the injuries. This defense hasn't been able to stand up to teams with size for years.

 

[Ranger71]

Yandle has been hurt since the Pittsburgh series and still was quite effective. A full year of him will help the PP % and he's a steal at 2.5m. The problem with the rest of the defense is they are slow combined with relying on positioning, so going up against teams like TB presented a little bit of a mismatch. Of course if they were hurting it only made it worse but every team has injuries in a playoff run. I think Skjei could actually step in and give them some mobility as a rookie, though that would mean probably getting rid of Boyle.

 

[Disturbed]

Toughness on D would certainly be a welcome addition but its not the main reason this team is out. They need a couple forwards who can score tough dirty playoff goals. Oh and not get shut out in pivotal game 5's and game 7's on home ice

 

[chuckd3534]

So now all our dmen are soft and pillow fighters...LOL. You guys really are something else. All I will say.

You nailed it Dis. The rest of this stuff is laughable. We lost game 5 and game 7 by the same 2-0...ZERO GOALS. That isn't about D. We won all the games against the Pens 2-1. That isn't about D that is about O. We played all those 1 goal low scoring games...ABOUT O.

It is comical to read all this stuff about the D when we DO NOT SCORE in games 5 & 7 and are eliminated because of it.

Let's move our # 4 playoff scorer with a GREAT 2.6 mill cap hit because we need a big dman...EVEN THOUGH WE DON'T SCORE.

Again, if Mac is ready let him be up here as the 7th dman and learn to be a pro. Unless something so crystal clear comes out about him, no way would I feel okay with making him the # 6 from day 1.

 

[theProdigy223]

Pillow-fighters is an obvious exaggeration on my part. I also do not think they are all soft at all. But what I do think is that out of the 6, not a single one of them has a game built around playing the body and that is a missing element on this team. It's not THE missing element obviously, but that doesnt mean it shouldnt be addressed.

 

[chuckd3534]

I don't disagree fully, but I also believe G takes the body well. And I would say if you want to add that guy, get rid of Boyle and sign a vet for less money that fits that mold. Have Mac here IF HE CAN SKATE and let him learn as a pro. And if he is up to it, make him the 6th dman as the season moves on.

Dealing Yandle is ridiculous. That cap hit is a STEAL for us, and gives us a huge edge when putting the team together next season. To deal that would be moronic.

 

[theProdigy223]

So now all our dmen are soft and pillow fighters...LOL. You guys really are something else. All I will say.

You nailed it Dis. The rest of this stuff is laughable. We lost game 5 and game 7 by the same 2-0...ZERO GOALS. That isn't about D. We won all the games against the Pens 2-1. That isn't about D that is about O. We played all those 1 goal low scoring games...ABOUT O.

It is comical to read all this stuff about the D when we DO NOT SCORE in games 5 & 7 and are eliminated because of it.

Let's move our # 4 playoff scorer with a GREAT 2.6 mill cap hit because we need a big dman...EVEN THOUGH WE DON'T SCORE.

Again, if Mac is ready let him be up here as the 7th dman and learn to be a pro. Unless something so crystal clear comes out about him, no way would I feel okay with making him the # 6 from day 1.

Chuck relax. I feel like there is a hole on defense in terms of physical play, and it should be addressed. Nowhere am I, or anyone else I can see, saying that defense is THE problem and we should focus ALL of our attention there.

There are a few tweaks this team needs. A couple up front and a couple on the back end. We all know this team didnt score. We all know we need a right shot in the top 6. That doesnt mean we shouldnt look to add a missing element to our blueline as well.

 

[Ranger71]

Let's face it, they drafted a PROJECT with the 12th overall pick. Maybe he and Fotiu can have a celebrity sparring match between periods. And for Struds bring back Rudy Poeschek. Love Clark but that was almost a Jessiman type blunder. Maybe as bad.

 

[chuckd3534]

To me I wouldn't touch our top 5 on D...AT ALL. If you want to tinker on D a little get Boyle out and mix and match. I would not simply hand the job to Mac though and take that chance. You need to have a solid vet paired with him in the # 6 hole if that is the route you choose.

 

[chuckd3534]

• He said that it went from being really bad to being better quickly and that as of now the one thing that bothers him the most is talking. (TV2)

• He said that he is not 100% yet but as the blood went off of his brain he felt better and could speak more.

• He said that he couldn’t talk when he returned to the locker room after being hit and realized when he got to the hospital that it was much more serious. (TV2)

• He said that he expects to play in his charity All-Star game on June 19th. (TV2)

• He will be able to train again with weights in a few weeks. (TV2)

Comments from Zucc...

 

[theProdigy223]

To me I wouldn't touch our top 5 on D...AT ALL. If you want to tinker on D a little get Boyle out and mix and match. I would not simply hand the job to Mac though and take that chance. You need to have a solid vet paired with him in the # 6 hole if that is the route you choose.

I'm not touching the top 5 either. McD-G-Staal-Klein-Yandle are locked in for me. Boyle is not a bad player but with his contract and Yandle here he is expendable if we can get out of the contract. Where I disagree is that I think McIlrath should have the first crack at the 6th dman, and give him a month to learn the NHL game. I say that assuming we will have a contingency plan in place for a 6th RD if it doesnt work.

I just look at Orpik, and how Nash wilted like dried out flower when he was hit over and over, and wish we had a dman who could do the same to the opponent's guys.

 

[Ranger71]

To me I wouldn't touch our top 5 on D...AT ALL. If you want to tinker on D a little get Boyle out and mix and match. I would not simply hand the job to Mac though and take that chance. You need to have a solid vet paired with him in the # 6 hole if that is the route you choose.

If anyone is going to win the job and knock Boyle out it's Skjei, who's far more ready and able than McIlrath. Graves in the OHL is probably more ready.

 

[theProdigy223]

71, if Skjei comes in it will be Yandle going out. AV is all about the L-R balance for better or for worse.

The only possibility there is to move McD to the right and play him with Staal. But I dont think we want to move around our best dman to accomodate a rookie 6th dman. Not yet at least.

 

[chuckd3534]

That's the issue Prod. You need to decide that in the offseason. You need to have that plan in place. If you don't and Mac struggles what happens? You aren't getting someone one month into the season to fill that role. You need to bring a vet in to be the main 6th dman, but also know you want to give Mac some games. And if Mac takes off make him the guy. You cannot go into the season without that vet dman on the roster ready to be the 6th dman with Mac.