Experience, who really has it?
Posted 11:44 PM ET | Comments 7
It seems that it is us against the world. Yeah, the Thrashers are the SE Division champs, but the Tampa Bay Lightning is getting more respect against a 2nd seeded Devils than the Thrashers are getting against a 6th seeded Rangers team. This blog is not bashing the Rangers. I respect what they have and how they got to playoffs. It seems that the majority of the sports writers point at the same thing when they talk about the Thrashers demise, playoff experience. Against TB, Ottawa, or NJ, I could understand. Those teams have been to the dance season in and season out the past few seasons with the same core personnel. Not the NY Rangers. The Rangers organization has only been to the playoffs once since the turn of the century. This does beat our playoff attendence. This was last year and they were swept out by the Devils. I pulled this stat from the Thrashers official site.
Combined Games of Playoff Experience By Roster Players
New Jersey Devils- 1318
Detroit Red Wings- 1315
Calgary Flames- 1133
Dallas Stars- 897
Atlanta Thrashers- 872
Anaheim Ducks- 775
San Jose Sharks- 688
Tampa Bay Lightning- 611
New York Rangers- 597
Ottawa Senators- 550
Vancouver Canucks- 543
Buffalo Sabres- 528
Minnesota Wild- 472
New York Islanders- 466
Nashville Predators- 457
Pittsburgh Penguins- 451
Is that Thrashers with 5th most games by roster players? Yep. Nothing against Coach Renney, but I think the behind the bench advantage in this series goes to Atlanta. Scotty Bowman called Hartley the best match up man in the NHL. If this is so, the playoffs should be where we get the best out of our coach. As we all know, coaches don’t wear skates during the game. So, the next thing they point out is the space between the pipes. Kari Lehtonen is in his 1st playoff series. This is true. Lundqvist has been money for the Rangers, arguably the 2nd or 3rd best between the pipes in the east. His record versus Atlanta is 3-1-4 in two seasons. Lehtonen is 4-1 in the same span against the Rangers. This is where the series will be won or lost, but isn’t every playoff series like that. I guess writers need something sexier than goaltending, and “playoff experience” is an easy stereotype to pass off on an expansion southern team. If Kari is the “Big Calm” we know he can be, this series is going to be awfully tough on the Rangers. So at the end of the day, the true question is who will frustrate the opposing team the most, King Henry or the Big Calm?
I’ll see you in Blueland
Combined Games of Playoff Experience By Roster Players
New Jersey Devils- 1318
Detroit Red Wings- 1315
Calgary Flames- 1133
Dallas Stars- 897
Atlanta Thrashers- 872
Anaheim Ducks- 775
San Jose Sharks- 688
Tampa Bay Lightning- 611
New York Rangers- 597
Ottawa Senators- 550
Vancouver Canucks- 543
Buffalo Sabres- 528
Minnesota Wild- 472
New York Islanders- 466
Nashville Predators- 457
Pittsburgh Penguins- 451
Is that Thrashers with 5th most games by roster players? Yep. Nothing against Coach Renney, but I think the behind the bench advantage in this series goes to Atlanta. Scotty Bowman called Hartley the best match up man in the NHL. If this is so, the playoffs should be where we get the best out of our coach. As we all know, coaches don’t wear skates during the game. So, the next thing they point out is the space between the pipes. Kari Lehtonen is in his 1st playoff series. This is true. Lundqvist has been money for the Rangers, arguably the 2nd or 3rd best between the pipes in the east. His record versus Atlanta is 3-1-4 in two seasons. Lehtonen is 4-1 in the same span against the Rangers. This is where the series will be won or lost, but isn’t every playoff series like that. I guess writers need something sexier than goaltending, and “playoff experience” is an easy stereotype to pass off on an expansion southern team. If Kari is the “Big Calm” we know he can be, this series is going to be awfully tough on the Rangers. So at the end of the day, the true question is who will frustrate the opposing team the most, King Henry or the Big Calm?
I’ll see you in Blueland
Good numbers...hadn't realized that Ottawas numbers were so low.
Not surprised by the Buffalo number. We got a lot of young kids. But that's the way we roll in the B-Lo. Don't worry so much about the Thrashers. You guys will be competitive. But I also have to be honest, I just see NYR pulling this series out. It's really just you guys playing the wrong team at the wrong time...
Couldn't you attribute like 400 of those total playoff games to Bobby Holik and his time with the Devils?!?Just kidding... Good luck!
This is an exact cut-and-paste re-post of Stan Hauseman's blog from a few days ago. Unless ThrasherFan93 is Stan Hauseman and posts under two different screen names, what's the point?Dharp19, you aren't far off.
Ok, I am an idiot. I just noticed the South Park "Stan" pic. Sorry.
experienc ewasn't an issues for atlanta, maybe for Lehtonen, but there should be no complaints about the res tof the team. Plus Hartley has won a Cup, Rangers were just hungrier going into the post season. Thats why they gave Buffalo such a tough time.
ya and u fucking got swept dummy