NYR/PITT 11/23 Review: King Nothing Comes Up Empty Again, Pulled & Sits On His Throne on the Bench, Can’t Handle The Pens As Usual, Trade Hank Talks & Much More From Another Lundqvist Debacle. PS: Happy Thanksgiving!

kingnothing
Photo Credit: Metallica. Don’t sue me Lars!

“Careful what you wish
Careful what you say
Careful what you wish, you may regret it
Careful what you wish, you just might get it

Then it all crashes down
And you break your crown
And you point your finger
But there’s no one around
Just want one thing
Just to play the king
But the castle’s crumbled
And you’re left with just a name

Where’s your crown, King Nothing?

Nothing

You’re just nothing
Where’s your crown, King Nothing?
You’re just nothing
Absolutely nothing”

  • “King Nothing” by Metallica

 

Let’s get the pleasantries out of the way – Happy Thanksgiving everyone. If you’re in a bind and need a turkey, Henrik Lundqvist is available! Lundqvist should even have time to get you your Thanksiving fixings too, as he had plenty of time on the bench tonight, as the Rangers lost to the Penguins at home on Wednesday night, with a final of 6-1. I mean really, Lundqvist was so bad tonight that you wonder if he sucks so much on purpose to give me ammo for my blog!

And oh yeah, intro time!

Welcome to another blog here on BlueCollarBlueShirts.com. This is gonna be a short one, because I feel I say the same things that are ignored by Rangers management every night and because it’s a holiday. Plus, if the woman beating goalie isn’t going to try and give effort tonight, why should I?

After King Raanta vanquished the Penguins of Pittsburgh on Monday night, to add another battle victory for his Kingdom, it was up to that peasant, the faux King, known as Henrik Lundqvist to do battle. As usual, Lundqvist gave up his 4+ goals to Crosby and company.

Let’s be real – I just don’t know how you Lundqvist fans can defend this SHIT on a day in/day out basis. If you can’t admit Lundqvist is overrated and overpaid, you really need to take the blinders off. At the very least, get out of your mother’s basement and help an old lady cross a street or something.

I’ve talked about it for three years here. Whenever the Rangers play a back-to-back, Lundqvist always takes the easier game. Lundqvist lost to Florida (coming off a back-to-back) and to their back up goalie on Sunday night. King Raanta did the heavy lifting in Pittsburgh, and defeated the Stanley Cup champions. We all know Lundqvist is a coward because he hits women. (If you defend Lundqvist for slashing a woman doing her job, just imagine if that was your daughter/sister/wife getting savagely attacked by an overpaid millionaire.)

I don’t like to argue with the mentally retarded because they have a condition they have no control over. However, to compare Lundqvist to Richter is quite retarded. NOT ONCE did Richter skip the competition to rest. If Marty Brodeur (arguably the best goalie of all-time) was on the schedule, Richter was in the net. Time and time again, King Coward skips the hard games. He  skipped the game in Pittsburgh on Monday night. However, the Rangers have a new King in town, in Stanley Cup Champion (words that will never be used before Hank’s name) in Antti Raanta. Raanta took care of business and beat the Penguins on the road.

On Thanksgiving Eve, the biggest drinking night of the year, Lundqvist made you want to drink 151 and Everclear straight to the face! As I was on Monday night, I watched the game from my favorite local watering hole, “The Flying Puck” of Nassau County, the prestigious “Bold O’Donoghues.” Unlike Monday night, I was treated to a piss-poor performance from a career loser.

I debated attending this game with my friends. I really did. However, tickets were so expensive, around the $250 range for shitty seats. That’s about a $500 night for me with drinks and the train, so I decided to pass. To be honest, after attending 40+ games (preseason/playoffs/road games) for years, I really don’t have the desire to pay to watch Lundqvist shit the joint out every night.  I’ll still do my road-trips, because I want to check off attending every NHL arena on my bucket list, but to pay crazy money to watch Lundqvist be outplayed by his back-up every season, isn’t that exciting anymore. If Raanta was announced as the starter for this game, I would’ve considered paying the money. It’s always nice to see a win and in 2016, Raanta gives you better odds than the woman beating Swedish egomaniac.

Someone random tagged me in this photo, so I don’t know who to credit, but KING RAANTA has outplayed the woman beating goalie this season.

I don’t know how any Ranger fan or anyone with common sense thinks that keeping Lundqvist is integral and crucial for the Rangers chances at a Cup. Not in 2014, not in 2015 and certainly not in 2016. $8.5million, 13% of your salary cap, for a guy who is just average doesn’t cut it. As I’m typing this up now, Cam Talbot just recorded his league-leading 11th win. Do you know how much that pisses me off?

Just look at this tweet from the Oilers, before all the games were played tonight:

King Talbot has been on a tear this season

What makes Talbot’s numbers more impressive than both King Raanta and Court Jester Lundqvist is that Talbot isn’t getting 4,5,6,7 goals a night like Raanta & Hank have. Talbot is winning the one goal games. His defense is worse than the Rangers D. His offense is no where close to the Rangers, who lead the league in goals, shots and every other offensive stat imaginable. Talbot is grinding on a growing team.

After Raanta disposed of the Penguins on Monday, on the road, Hank had his chance, at home. Hank promptly blew a 1-0 lead, gave up 4 straight goals and took his throne on the bench. If I recall, this is the fifth time in the last six games where “King” Lundqvist took his throne on the bench while playing the Penguins. How regal.

The woman abusing goalie was so lost, that he was just throwing his stick at pucks. Photo Credit: Paul Bereswill

I talked about this during the King Talbot era. The Rangers should’ve rode his hot hand in the 2015 playoffs, instead of handing it to King No Cup, who had his doors blown off against Tampa. I can’t pretend I’ve always been a Raanta fan in the same way I am/was a fan of Talbot. I watched Talbot grow in the Rangers organization. Raanta was a Cup winning goalie brought into replace Talbot, who became the starter in Edmonton. For the money, I would’ve preferred Talbot/Raanta now, than Hank and anyone.

As Raanta continues during his second season as a Ranger, I’ve become a fan. Quite often, he’s thrown to the wolves and has to play the harder games, because the woman abusing highest paid goalie in the NHL ducks those clashes. Oh, and if you’re lost on the woman abusing references, just check the archives or read the latest Stan Fischler “Rangers vs Islanders” book. Here’s a preview:

Bettman took a page out of Goodell’s book and didn’t mind a millionaire athlete attacking a defenseless woman doing her job.

Before tonight’s game, where Lundqvist continued his swiss cheese ways, Coach Alain Vigneault was asked about who would get the start. Perhaps mysteriously, AV didn’t announce his starter yesterday, as has been customary  during AV’s tenure as Rangers coach.

When AV was asked about who would start, when it was mentioned that Raanta has been playing well & Lundqvist hasn’t fared well against the Cup Champs, AV laughed in the faces of reporters and said, “Hank is our guy.” I wonder if AV is still laughing now? AV has to feel let down by Hank. It’s like Hank is a degenerate gambler relative for AV. He has to support the guy because he’s family, but he just drags AV down every time AV supports and backs him up.

To the people who live in their mother’s basements and tell me that Lundqvist is paid fairly.

If you read any newspaper, listen to any media or get your Ranger news from morse code, the common narrative is that the overpaid and overrated woman abusing goalie needs to play less games, so “he can be fresh for the playoffs.” How asinine is that? Who else runs a business and overpays & makes a person the highest paid employee, just so that employee can work less hours than anyone else? It’s like running a retail store and putting your best employee on the night shift on the day after Black Friday.

Every other starting goalie in the league is earning their keep and playing games. Lundswiss is the most rested starting goalie in the NHL! And really, what are you resting him for? So he can give up 5+ goals a game to the Penguins again? The Rangers need to get over this Lundqvist man-crush, and think about the team first. It’s time to trade Lundqvist while this woman abuser still has value. Lundqvist has a no-move clause, but if you keep him on the bench or send him to Hartford, where he can drive everyday by the amazing ballpark where the Hartford Yard Goats play, I’m sure he’d waive that clause.

There is nothing that the highest paid goalie in the league is doing that warrants him that salary nor makes it worth paying him at that salary. Time to cut bait. I know many of you don’t watch the other teams in the league, but watch them. Watch the highlights for all I care. Compare stats. Hank has the Jason Giambi post-steroids of contracts. Like a virus, you need to shit it out to get healthy again.

Photo credit: NHL.com
Matt Murray, in his rookie year did what what the crownless King couldn’t do – win a Cup. Murray is paid $600,000 a year, opposed to Hank’s disgusting and bloated $8.5M a year.

Before diving into the game, let’s go to the official boxscore, courtesy of ESPN.com:

1st Period Summary

Time Team Scoring Detail PIT NYR
4:22
Rick Nash (9) (Power Play)
Assists: Chris Kreider, Mats Zuccarello
0 1
Time Team Penalty Detail
4:17
Evgeni Malkin: 2 Minutes for Tripping
8:10
Marc Staal: 2 Minutes for Hooking
13:02
Ryan McDonagh: 5 Minute Major for Boarding
13:02
Sidney Crosby: 2 Minutes for Roughing

2nd Period Summary

Time Team Scoring Detail PIT NYR
2:02
Scott Wilson (3)
Assists: Phil Kessel, Nick Bonino
1 1
4:58
Sidney Crosby (13)
Assist: Ian Cole
2 1
10:12
Phil Kessel (5)
Assist: Nick Bonino
3 1
12:57
Sidney Crosby (14)
Assist: Kris Letang
4 1
16:42
Conor Sheary (4)
Assists: Sidney Crosby, Carl Hagelin
5 1
Time Team Penalty Detail
5:54
Sidney Crosby: 2 Minutes for Tripping
7:53
Nick Bonino: 2 Minutes for Hooking
19:48
Chris Kreider: 2 Minutes for Interference

3rd Period Summary

Time Team Scoring Detail PIT NYR
13:05
Matt Cullen (4)
Assists: Justin Schultz, Eric Fehr
6 1
Time Team Penalty Detail
No penalties this period

Goaltending Summary

Pittsburgh Penguins Goaltending

Player SA GA Saves SV% TOI PIM
M. Murray 17 1 16 .941 59:56 0

New York Rangers Goaltending

Player SA GA Saves SV% TOI PIM
H. Lundqvist 17 4 13 .765 32:57 0
A. Raanta 21 2 19 .905 27:03 0

 

The Rangers started off this game with promise, as Rick Nash made a great move to make it a 1-0 game. The Rangers actually killed two powerplays, a two minute one and a three minute one, during the period. I hate Crosby as a Ranger fan, but he got my respect tonight. Crosby, who has actually won 2 Cups and earns his money, defended his teammate, Conor Sheary after he was boarded by Rangers captain, Ryan McDonagh. For McDonagh, it was a horrible and dirty play, a play he’s been on the other end of. I thought it was a classless hit. Of all people, Sidney Crosby stood up for his teammate and started throwing fists at McDonagh. I thought Crosby got the better end of the abbreviated fight. Pretty sad for McDonagh, who not only looked bad in committing the penalty, but for not taking of Crosby in the fight either.

As a result of the fight, Crosby got 2 minutes for roughing and McDonagh got 5 minutes for boarding. I’ve seen similar plays where a game misconduct was issued, so I thought the Rangers dodged a bullet here.

The Rangers went to the locker room, up 1-0 after twenty minutes. It would be the highlight of the game for the Rangers.

With “King” Lundqvist in net, the Penguins ripped off 5 goals in the second period. Lundqvist looked slow and out of it on every one. Sure, a defender let him down on one of them, but Lundqvist is paid the most in the league to make big saves. If he can’t do it, why is he being paid to?

As I talked about in my last blog, Lundswiss looks like he’s in a boxing match during many shots, as he’s fighting everything off, rather than calmly stopping pucks. Twice he threw his stick, in desperate fashion, while trying to fend off a shot. Both shots were goals.

Where the Rangers have been able to outscore their opponents to make up for mistakes, they couldn’t do it tonight, despite being granted several powerplays and having good looks at the net. That’s the difference between a Cup winning goalie and a goalie who gets his kicks from abusing women.

Lundqvist was pulled, a little after the halfway point of the game, for Raanta. Once again, Raanta was left to a deal with a Lundqvist mess. King Crybaby was on the bench, with his gatorade scarf and making his sore loser faces, while slamming his stick. What a role model.

While Raanta obviously outplayed his overpaid counterpart, the Rangers were of no help. The Rangers were outshot 17-4 in the third period and those 4 Ranger shots occurred with a little less than 5 minutes remaining in the game. Raanta got touched for two goals in a period where he was the constant focus. Check the goalie stats above to see how much Raanta outplayed the woman abusing fraud King.

It was a bad night for the Rangers offense, but this is a team that is built to be the best defensive team in the NHL. When the overpaid goalie can’t do his job, you can’t expect the Rangers offense to put up 5+ goals a game. By the time Raanta entered the game, most hope was lost. When he gave up his first goal, pushing the score to 5-1, the game was essentially dead and buried going into the third period.

The Penguins, after a barrage of shots in the third, got one past Raanta, giving you your final of 6-1. Even with Zibanejad out, the Rangers could only look to their overpaid goalie for answers. Of course after the game, Lundqvist did his usually “WE, WE, WE” speech, rather than taking accountability for himself. Same old story here.

AV should start Raanta on Friday. After all, it is the harder game of the next two and Hank doesn’t like competition.

As I said at the top of this, time is of the essence here, so I’m not going to drag the analysis on. Quite frankly, the Penguins were the better team tonight. Lundqvist was a disgrace, as expected against a team that plays at a high level.

Up next for the Rangers is a Black Friday showdown with the Broadstreet Bullies, the Philadelphia Flyers, in Philly. AV wasn’t laughing after the game, so he didn’t say who would start in net for the Rangers. If it’s up to me, I’d go with Raanta. I kind of expect Raanta to start because he is the hot hand and because Hank always plays the easier games when he can. Playing Philly on the road is tougher than the Senators at MSG, so I’d expect Hank, who could never be a Thanksgiving Parade Float because he has too many holes, to play Sunday and let Raanta do the real work on Friday.

Again, time is an issue here. Depending on my schedule, I’ll try to get something up after the Philly game. I also want to talk about a bigger laughingstock than Lundqvist, the Las Vegas Golden Knights press conference from Tuesday.

All Ranger fans can do right now is forget about this game, enjoy their meal & football tomorrow and get ready for the 1PM showdown with the Flyers on Friday. This blog was my venting therapy on King No Cup. The schedule moves on!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Let’s Go Rangers

In Raanta We Trust, in Hank we Bust

Sean McCaffrey

BULLSMC@aol.com

@NYCTHEMIC on the tweeter machine

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