Derek Stepan had a second thought.
"I was thinking on my way home after the game on Monday about all the questions [from the media] about us going for it by making the trade [for Keith Yandle], and I realized I didn't answer quite the way I wanted to," the Blueshirts' first-line center told The Post following Tuesday's practice.
"Because the way I feel is, that as a player, you're going for it every year," Stepan said. "It's this year, not next year or the year after. There's no sense going for it one year but not the next.
"You come to camp every year with the same goals: A) make the playoffs; B) get home ice; C) win the Stanley Cup. My first year [2010-11], we had the same goals; the next year, when we went to the conference finals, we had the same goals.
"As a player, it doesn't change."
But the perception of the Rangers, who face the Red Wings in Detroit on Wednesday — after having moved within three points of the conference-leading Canadiens while holding a game in hand on Montreal with Monday's convincing 4-1 victory over the first-overall Predators — has changed.
The expectations have changed, not only because of the Yandle deal but because of the currency the Blueshirts have built by winning six playoff rounds the last three years, a span over which only the Kings (10) and Blackhawks (six) have won as many.
Except, Stepan insisted, the expectations haven't changed within the room.
"Expectations may be different on the outside, but your expectations as a player never change," he said. "This is my fifth year, and my expectations have been the same for five years."
The 2011-12 Black-and-Blueshirts finished second overall in the NHL, one point behind Vancouver for the President's Trophy after dropping the final two games of the season. John Tortorella's team then advanced to the Eastern finals before losing to the Devils in a six-game upset that represented Martin Brodeur's last hurrah.
But that team exceeded expectations. This one, this team, is pretty much required to at least successfully defend its Eastern Conference championship in order to justify trades for Rick Nash, Marty St. Louis and Yandle over the last three years at the combined cost of four consecutive first-round draft selections, a pair of valuable building blocks in Brandon Dubinsky and Artem Anisimov, a captain named Ryan Callahan, and a premier prospect in Anthony Duclair.
Yandle's acquisition has strengthened the talent level and depth on a blue line that goes three pairs deep, much as did last year's. It's Yandle and Dan Boyle in place of John Moore and Anton Stralman.
But Yandle's acquisition broadens the options for coach Alain Vigneault, who paired the 28-year-old with defense-oriented Kevin Klein most of Monday night, but who switched up strategically to unite the offense-minded pair of Yandle and Boyle for a handful of shifts totaling 3:31 that began in the offensive zone.
Indeed, according to data from NaturalStatTrick.com, Boyle started 66.67 percent of his shifts in the offensive zone (compared to the defensive zone) while Yandle started 62.5 percent of his shifts on offensive-zone draws. Boyle is at 64.5 percent for the year while Yandle is at 57 percent.
"Our overall seven-man D group, with Matt [Hunwick]," Vigneault said, "I'm very, very comfortable with it."
Presuming Henrik Lundqvist's return to health and elite form, the Rangers are talented enough from top to bottom. The question is whether the Blueshirts are too one-dimensional; whether when pushing comes to shoving and when open ice is halved into tiny tight spaces, the Rangers will be physically strong enough to survive and thrive.
"Obviously we know what the experience is like and we know what the challenges are," Stepan said. "I think we've done a really good job of replacing the pieces we lost from last year, so it's on this group to make the necessary adjustments when the space gets tighter, just the way last year's group did.
"We play a fast game. When there's less ice, we're going to have to play faster and adjust within our structure and play to our strengths. We're going to have to play more physically and find ways to maximize our assets.
"Am I confident we can do it? Absolutely."
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Rangers’ Stepan: Yandle addition doesn’t change my expectations
Dengan url
http://bahayaprostat.blogspot.com/2015/03/rangersa-stepan-yandle-addition-doesnat.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Rangers’ Stepan: Yandle addition doesn’t change my expectations
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Rangers’ Stepan: Yandle addition doesn’t change my expectations
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar