Big Blue Huddle

This topic has been merged into Better or Worse.

Strands #70
"Picture perfect"
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Connections
Puzzle #336
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I thought the Rangers were unlucky last night.

The first two Canes goals came off dreadful D zone turnovers, they then rallied to get back to parity. I thought the refs let a lot more go last night and the Canes got away with a number of penalties - Trocheck was the victim of a double cross check and a then a third as he was on the floor in the 2nd, that one stands out.

Perhaps the Canes took liberties because there was no Rempe. I didn't think Bronzinski added that much, so I'd start Rempe Monday.

Ultimately the Rangers had chances to win but they came up just short. Whilst I didn't expect to win last night, I didn't see anything last night that has me worried. I fully expect Rangers to close on Monday. So much so that once we got the 2nd goal, I was quite relaxed and almost knew the 3rd would come - Igor was locked in and the high volume Canes shooters were being contained.

All in all, 3-1 through 4 is a great place to be.

LGR.

Quote from: DaveBrown74 on May 11, 2024, 07:33:29 PMThey could have taken Ekwonu 5th overall but they prioritized Thibodeaux. There was an active debate as to who was better between Neal and Ekwonu. So far Ekwonu has been the materially better player (mainly due to Neal being so awful).

But even despite the Neal conundrum, Schoen has done a very poor job overall dealing with the O line mess since taking over prior to this offseason. Every free agent he has brought in has been brutal and every draft pick, so far at least, has either looked awful, gotten hurt quickly, or both. The O line coach left a lot to be desired until this offseason as well, and while that may have been Daboll's hire, Daboll is Schoen's hire so ultimately Schoen is responsible.

By the way, I've been a pretty steady Schoen supporter and still am, but I'm not going to gloss over areas where I don't think he has done a good job to this point. Let's hope the decisions made in this most recent offseason lead to better O line play in 2024 and beyond.

But that's the thing. He played it exactly right because he wanted an OL and Thibs. I imagine their grades on both OL were basically the same. But Thibs was the best pass rusher they were going to find. So he got both. Nobody not a single solitary soul questioned that pick on draft day because it made all the sense in the world. We were told Neal was the most pro ready OL in the draft. He clearly was and is not but at the time the pick was a no brainer. And if it goes the other way and suddenly the Giants have bookend tackles for the next decade that makes the whole thing look a lot better.

Quote from: Jclayton92 on May 11, 2024, 09:31:27 PMThe one thing you can take away is that we are investing in premium positions. The premium positions on this roster have been addressed, have they all been home runs absolutely not but Wr, Tackle, CB, Edge, and even to a certain extent Qb have been addressed while positions that aren't as big of a premium have shed their high price tags ie Safety, RB, and so on.

A different angle in looking at it but one I believe is important to evaluate in terms of overall value at both a player level and, collectively, at a unit level. We can definitely see the trend move this way since 2021 and, hopefully soon, the results will follow.


Peace!

The team showed resilience in tying the game from 1-3 at the end of the first period until the questionable trip call on Lindgren whom, in my opinion, has been every bit the General he has been all season on defense. The fact Carolina scored on the power play to win the game was simply too ironic for me, as if it was scripted or something. But, so be it, the Rangers accomplished what they needed to in splitting the two in Raleigh and come home with a nice 3-1 lead with no reason to hang their head.

They didn't get the win tonight but, still, a great hockey game to watch.

Peace!