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Newsday article 12/25; Rags and Isles more similar than diff...
Topic Started: Dec 25 2008, 11:10 PM (251 Views)
Islander4cups
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In Garth I Trust
Quote:
 
Islanders, Rangers are more alike than you think
by Arthur Staple
7:30 PM EST, December 25, 2008
The two-day holiday break has come and gone in the NHL. The Rangers are atop the Atlantic Division, even though all three teams chasing them have games in hand.

The Islanders are the other team in the Atlantic, and they only thing they seem to be chasing - other than opposing players with the puck - is the first overall pick in the June draft.

And yet, our two local teams have more problems in common than you might think.

Huh? What's that? How can a team that's 10 games over .500 have anything in common with a team 11 games under and in the midst of a 10- game losing streak?

The Islanders' problems are more obvious, thanks to their lesser talent all the way round the rink. Scott Gordon has been beset by injuries (unlike Tom Renney and the Rangers), so he's juggled lines and defense pairings and tried to get a variety of players to adhere to his coaching system and style.

Renney, who has been lauded (here and elsewhere) for bringing that same sort of discipline to his team that Gordon is trying to bring to the Isles, has been juggling lines as well, all season, in a search for offense and consistency.

If it weren't for Henrik Lundqvist, the Rangers -- who are owned by Cablevision, which owns Newsday -- would look an awful lot like their Long Island counterparts. The Rangers are minus-7 at even strength this year (62 goals for, 69 against); while that doesn't compare to the Islanders' insanely awful numbers at even strength (42 for, 85 against), there aren't many teams who are negative at even strength that reach deep into the playoffs.

The fact remains that, as Gordon has preached all year long, the Islanders have to play hard for 60 minutes. Doug Weight told me a month ago that his team, as everyone knows, doesn't have the talent to beat anyone on an off night.

It seems the Rangers are the same way, despite their lofty standing.

They have almost as many players in the red for plus/minus this season as the Islanders do. They got up four goals on the Capitals on Tuesday and didn't feel the need to keep going. Alex Ovechkin saw it, and took advantage.

"They stopped playing hockey," Ovechkin said, delivering as sharp a blow as his team did with the 5-4 OT win. "They tried to play conservative, but we play a different way."

So do the Devils, who were written off after Martin Brodeur went down but have banded together and are now just six points behind the Rangers with five games in hand. The Flyers, who haven't had the goaltending to match the Rangers these last few years, are just two points back.

And Lundqvist, who has allowed five or more goals in three of his last seven starts, cannot do it all. The Rangers play like he can and it's only going to cost them more as the season moves along.

The Islanders don't even have that luxury. Joey MacDonald is no Rick DiPietro, but MacDonald has saved the Isles a couple of nights. Hard to believe that they'd be even worse off without MacDonald's play, but it's true.

The Islanders are beyond saving for this season, mostly because they're too banged up and too inferior talent-wise to compete night in and night out.

The Rangers won't sink that low, because they have the talent and the health to compete every night. If they don't start doing it soon, that gaudy record will be just a memory.
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LEDZEP
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puckhead
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Similar? What is this guy smokiing crap? These teams couldn't be more different. One's way out in front of the other in first place........the other is in last place and continuing its free fall.

What a ridiculous article.
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Webb20
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Looks who it's written by, of course it's ridiculous. He cant just criticize the Rags, he's got to feel good about doing it so lets pick on the Islanders too, so those Raggy fans wont have to feel so bad.

I sold it all, retired and moved to Fabulous Las Vegas!
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"Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves."-Ronald Reagan
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Snowy
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I read the article, he didn't make any valid points to prove his argument.
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Islander4cups
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puckhead,Dec 26 2008
11:27 AM
What a ridiculous article.

yep. I honestly had no idea where he was getting this stuff from. apparently every organization Dolan runs now has the philosophy of...

"lets see what I can pull directly out of my @$$, throw to the wall and see what sticks"

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