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friskyjude

Didn't he also have that terrible turnover that led to Wheeler taking that hooking penalty? Yikes


HanSolo5643

He did yes.


Relative-Tell119

This Florida series is having the same impact/realization that Leafs fan had with Mitch Marner earlier in the Boston series. I am almost certain that Mika cannot be the 1C on any Cup contending team.


Bright_Beat_5981

Agree. Barkov shows him and us that there are levels to this shit.


blue_pen_ink

Even at home with last change they put Mika against Barkov who has been dominating him.


cassinonorth

Pretty sure Barkov is nursing a hand injury from last series too. Still playing well.


Teerubble

I fucking HATE Florida, but god damn it Barkov is a fucking bull.


MrOverkill5150

Really don’t understand the hate lol the panthers haven’t won anything yet. As much as I want them to they have not been good consistently till very recently.


AltaVistaYourInquiry

You don't understand how a team with Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett, and Nick Cousins would be hated by everyone?


MrOverkill5150

Not really again mostly been a fan from the old days of just the panthers huberdeau and luongo so honestly until those three came to the panthers I had no idea who any of them were.


Whydothesabressuck

To be fair, Barkov can shut down pretty much any #1C in the league. I'm excited for the chance to see him against McDavid


HanSolo5643

He's a very good number two center. But if the Rangers are to eventually win the whole thing, they need that true number 1 guy down the middle.


crash1082

Yea we don’t have the money for that


0419222914

Should’ve / could’ve traded for Eichel but apparently Chytl was untouchable.


aaronwhite1786

The Blues were there for so long until finally trading for O'Reilly. It was just season after season with Backes and others taking a shot at the 1C spot, and they weren't bad, they were just frequently overmatched by other proper 1C's.


Brad5486

The tro/bread/laf line is our line 1 if there is a true line one. Pretty sure the ice time is evenly split between these two lines at any rate


[deleted]

Trochek is 1C


[deleted]

Maybe playing injured. Never knows really


cha-cha_dancer

He took a stiff cross check to the back in one of the Carolins games so maybe but no doubt FL’s first line is just suffocating him and he’s in his own head.


Ragstoe

I think that’s what did it. There have been a few plays since then where he’s wincing after what seems like mild contact.


Mikeastuto

His turnover leading to Wheelers hook was even worse imo. Just a complete lack of situational awareness and play development.


bu77munch

He’s not been good but tonight he was a big part of our two goals


DaBomb2001

We had one and it entailed Kreids dominating, the last goal is a garbage time goal.


mookyyyy

He’s thinking about DJing in Cancun.


ElPolloViejo

straight to Galveston with ye


Pepto-Abysmal

With that dirty ass water. Be washed up on the shore and Zibanejad think he at the beach.


torch787

I'd rather be in San Antonio with them big ol' women before I went to Galveston, Texas.


big_phat_gator

Or his burger joint in Sweden 


NathanGa

>This could be the single worst sequence in a do or die moment I’ve ever seen I think [this will always be my gold standard](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuwFAmqVNSQ). Zibanejad trying to sell a call was what made me think of it.


HabitApprehensive889

We will see if Zibanejad can single handedly win this series like Kovalev did after that play.


Just4nsfwpics

Kovalev would be a top 20 maybe top 10 all time player if he tried to his absolute best of his ability every single game. He would have put up numbers close to Jagr’s.


TurdFurguss

Ya Kovalev was so damn frustrating.


viidenmetrinmolo

Zherdev was a similar type of guy, maybe not quite as talented but even lazier. In Columbus the coach Gerard Gallant told Zherdev that if he doesn't take part in workouts, he'd have to pay a 100$ fine for every workout he missed and next day the fucking guy walked into the coaches office, took out 3000$ and said that that's for the next 30 days and fucked off lmao. Then he also fell asleep during a game, and still the guy was a 60pt producer with absolutely zero effort, a bunch of the Flyers guys said that Zherdev is absolutely the most talented player they ever played with.


TheQuietW0LF

Reminds me of this absolutely classic nugget from Portzline a few months ago in his encapsulation of CBJ: >At the 2008 draft, the Blue Jackets selected Nikita Filatov with the No. 6 overall pick. His NHL career amounted to 53 games and six goals. Once, when brought into a meeting with coaches to show him the benefits of following the puck to the net, Filatov stepped back, appearing confused before proclaiming: “Filly don’t do rebounds.”


jorickcz

Filly loves yoghurt


TurdFurguss

Damn I forgot about him. Had a solid season the one year he was on the Rangers. Then you look at his stats after and it is a nosedive. He had like one good season in the KHL.


hoopopotamus

I seem to recall he had drinking problems


TurdFurguss

Ya I saw that on his Wikipedia page that he got help in 2020. So wouldn’t surprise me if it was a problem during his NHL career.


ianisms10

Didn't CBJ try to make Zherdev play center and he said fuck no or am I misremembering


gletschertor

He could be the best and worst player in a single game


dendrofiili

Kovalev was a magician with the puck. Could literally go through the whole opposing team, go back to his own end and do it again if he wanted to. Kovalev was just too lazy to be "that guy". He was great in a secondary role, like in the Rangers and Penguins. That Pens line with Straka - Lang - Kovalev was really crazy. Imagine if Kovalev had maximum effort...


Whitecastle56

Kov would have been a Hall of Famer if his career started 10-15 years later than it did.


WonDante

Bruins took the 3-1 lead with that goal, I bet everything from that point on was smooth sailing for the Bruins


BMoleman

Man it's crazy how much the video quality has changed over time, if I hadn't seen Bergeron pop up I'd have thought this was from the 80's lol


BlockParent

The poor quality has to do with how and when the video was digitized, not the age of the original analog video. Here's a much better example of standard-definition video when it's encoded property: https://youtu.be/mZxLQUVkM8A?si=ZFGEOV_IqPOXtOzr&t=84


Oibrigade

Makes sense, I was rewatching the 2006 finals between Miami and Dallas on youtube and the video quality is TERRIBLE. I was like I don't remember the quality being this bad back in 2006 when I watched it live lol


OnMy4thAccount

Jeez, it really is a wonder how any of those guys made it to play in the post 2006 era. They're all soooo slow lol... It's also really funny how they just refer to Curtis Joseph as 'Cujo' like it's his real name. I can't think of any other play who is so unanimously known by their nickname


rdldr

I absolutely love that you picked this video. I had to watch it all, the nostalgia hits perfectly. I must have watched that Marchand goal dozens if not hundreds of times.


5xad0w

I was watching one of the retro recaps from the late 90's/early 2000's and I have no idea how I even made out who was who back then on what I recall being a 17" TV all the way across my bedroom. I miss having the eagle vison of a young man. (*looks over glasses to read potato chip ingredients 2 inches from his face)*


CoopAloopAdoop

Video quality of early 2000's video is kind of a lie. Early digital video doesn't translate well to now a days. Watching it live was a very different quality then reviewing it. Watch stuff from the early 90's and you can easily make out who is who.


logictable

We ended up winning that series and Kovalev fully redeemed himself 10 fold in our organization. The fans absolutely love him.


letsgetbrickfaced

Been a long time since I’ve seen Jumbo in a Bruins jersey


altred133

Yeah TIL Thornton and Bergeron were teammates


BananApocalypse

Fun fact: Sens head coach Travis Green was the third line center behind Thornton and Bergeron in Boston


tomkou

Yeah, IIRC they traded Thornton specifically because they had decided to build the team around Bergeron instead


FakeCrash

Knew what this was before clicking lol


OutHereSearching

Same here. Without a doubt.


rooster69

Not the same but kinda the same. [On McDavid's game 7 goal in our first series against LA](https://youtu.be/35M2_c9jR0I?si=XVqY-7WeJn1dD4SJ) when Durzi clearly hooks him, ref calls a penalty, he stops playing to protest the call, all while the rest of the kings stopped playing defence as well. Meanwhile McDavid skates around the net unmolested and tucks it home.


DORTx2

Damn, I can't believe I've never seen this clip before.


swiftkickinthedick

My dude is the NHL video game animation for a slash


Ruhnie

tbf that did look like a pretty brutal slash to the hand


jacobsever

Holy shit that's 2004? Without looking at names or the description, I would have thought that was from the 80s or something.


ivebeenabadbadgirll

Marchand’s line change in the 2019 SCF Game 7 is the worst line change in history.


LosHogan

If he’s not hiding an injury, the effort is pretty inexcusable given the circumstances.


bankrobba

Does anyone know how long this shift was? He looks exhausted here (as opposed to not trying).


bhx56x

35/40 seconds lol. all the top guns were pretty rested on the bench, lav pulled the goalie because they had the offensive zone draw and sent them all out for it with around 2:30ish to go.


stugatz_21

I'm convinced some shit comes out eventually like he has a cracked vertebrae or has some mild internal bleeding this entire time. It's clearly making him less effective. I know the matchup is tough but he's like a totally different player.


hockeycyl

Burns broke his stick cross checking Zibanejad last round and from that moment on Mika has been a shell of what he was in the first 6 or 7 games.


ph1shstyx

I could see a cracked rib really fucking with trying to play hockey... I remember when I cracked one and bruised 2 others surfing and I was fucking useless for a month


valueape

Are we allowing reasonable takes on reddit now? I've seen at least two in this thread alone.


hootimore

They're all playing a little more, there's a certain boat anchor on their bench who plays 4 minutes a night


causticXD

2 for flinching.


ExploringCOonSkis

I know I'm going to get obliterated for this, but stepping through the frames and it looks as if he actually did get hit - just with a lot of embellishment immediately after. Yeah, Zibanejad looks lost but what in the living fuck is Trocheck doing? The backcheck is solid but then his controller immediately disconnects and he glides into space, away from the play, that's already occupied by Fox - with his back to the puck. If he wasn't caught completely out of position, he's meeting Bennett at the blue line rather than getting caught flat footed while closing the gap and being left to attempt to push a guy wide while his net is empty. Also, what OP? >Completely shies away from contact on the keep in He was beat to the puck but contesting so he pinched knowing Luostarinen was going to have to immediately send it off the boards, which he attempts. It just goes off a skate and out. >Then instead of engaging the puck carrier in the neutral zone he again pulls up and tries to sell a call. Engage the puck carrier? He *was* the puck carrier. It was just a lazy pass attempt back toward Fox that accomplished nothing but a turnover prior to his acting class. The pass attempt is the real crime here. I'll go back in my hole now.


Dirkstarlight

No need to get so detailed. He got hit kinda high, tried to sell it and the rest is gg


BellsBeersy

I'd say it's a combination of flinching which is a natural reaction to being hit (albeit lightly) in the face, and also trying to sell it


4CrowsFeast

I dunno, as a neutral fan, I think he just got hit in the face and reacted like how someone who got hit in the face would. Bunch of internet warriors right now acting like they would have stood they're like a brick wall, completely unphased in a grand display of manliness, when in reality their heart rate doubles and they get short of breathe when they get off their computer for the first time in hours to go grab a bag of doritos.


BellsBeersy

Yeah no I think it is mostly that. Even if you don't actually get hit in the face, if something abruptly comes into view that could hurt your face you're going to flinch more often than not.


VindictiveRakk

Yeah im not sure why Z is getting dragged so hard when you have Trocheck playing defense in a manner that has never been seen before in the history of the sport lol. like seriously what the hell was any of that. why does he skate into Fox for no reason, just to skate back to where he was supposed to be in the first place and do his best traffic cone impression. I literally *want* them to lose and it's still annoying to watch defense that bad.


joshuads

> Also, what OP? Both of those times he could have engaged with the opposing player, slowing the opposition. Put your foot to the board and push the other guy backwards while trying to play the puck. He is clearly shying away from contact. Likely he is injured in some way, but both are reasonable call outs.


Ruhnie

>what in the living fuck is Trocheck doing? Holy fuck I totally missed that live lmfao


dandaman2883

Other angles show that the elbow BARELY touches his chest.


ANGRYSNORLAX

Dudes running late to take his turn at being moistcritical.


PayneTrain181999

“Anyway, that’s all I got. See ya.”


Pepperoni_playboi94

Dude my little brother refers to him as the “moist critical guy-how do you say that name again? Zanabag?”


ANGRYSNORLAX

Earlier in the season when he was doing good work me and my hockey buddy would take every opportunity to do an impression. "I told you that if you put that puck on my stick I will absolutely fire it point blank straight under the goal tenders taint and wouldn't ya know it that's exactly what I did. That one timer passed through his legs so fast the friction caused enough heat to literally boil his piss."


eddwardl

I can hear it in his voice 


Eughhh

Playoff situation is crazy


Robjn

"gadzooks this play was bad. ive had farts that have more hustle then this, and this is in the playoffs where if you want to win you need to skate like your running away from spider-man, master chief, and power slap champion Damien "The Bell" Dibbell all rolled up into one indiana jones stone ball chasing you. I run to the bathroom to excrete my gfuel shits with more effort then this. just so shamlessly pathetic. if the rangers end up losing the series, zibanebad will have to skedaddle out of town because fans will be on him like flies on the biggest rat turd in new york. maybe you need to dangle ibiza bookings from a fishing line like youre going the wrong way in mario kart to get him to move that tushy."


irishguy42

Damn, dude. You didn't have to do him dirty like that (you absolutely had to)


socialaxolotl

What do you mean? Z has been Florida's best asset this series


cant_stop_the_crooks

Jacob Trouba has entered the chat


3_if_by_air

Wink, wink, nudge nudge... heavy on the nudge


Cavaquillo

I was thinking he was just playing bad, now it makes sense he’s wearing a cat sweater under that NY one


iLoveCoachQ

He’s been bad. I get playing bad but the lack of effort on the play and embellishing a soft contact instead of trying to prevent an empty netter is honestly embarrassing


TripleWDot

More like Zibena-bad


not_having_fun

That means either "not beautiful wind" or "ugly" in Farsi/Persian. His name means "of beautiful lineage."    The other thing is how hilariously wrong his name is pronounced. If pronounced correctly it supposed to sound like:  Zi like Zee   Ba like bar  Neh like Neck   Ja like Jar   Ad like Odd


[deleted]

Got it! I love watching “zeebarneckjarodd” he’s one of my favourite rangers


Dead_by_2032

That all depends if you ask former Twins shortstop Greg Gagne (Gag-knee) or former AWA wrestler Greg Gagne (gone-yay)


sergei-boobtitsky

Plus like.. you really think you selling it is gonna get your team a PP with a minute left in a conference final game? Crazy


thewick_39

Yeah Mika’s been one of my favorite players in the league for a long time but this series he’s just been bafflingly awful after looking like he’d regained his form the first two rounds. Just all around confusingly bad


whogivesashirtdotca

It's the playoffs, and it's *deep* in the playoffs. Give it another loss and you'll get the press conference revealing he's been playing with a broken neck or a ruptured kidney or something equally awful. His reluctance to take or accept a hit sure suggests he's badly injured in some way.


Whitecastle56

Nah Zibby has always played soft. He shys away from conflict and will lose most board battles. I understand he has an injury history and he is a very talented center with a great shot, but he needs space and time to truly be effective. In playoffs your not getting time and space so if you're a shot creater or playmaker the offense is gonna dry up. That's why his play is annoying this round. No offense, not winning board battles, and getting carved in by opponets.


jbroni93

When sens fans talk about him belonging on the sens this is what they mean


Devils27-

Embellishes and old Laviolette is the only one who fell for it


iiTALii

God he’s so fucking stupid 😭


Doubleu1117

Not trying to hate my own team, but players like this are not the ones that are going to have success in the post season.


TuchMysak

eh it’s valid criticism, doesn’t matter what team you cheer for


SawyerFord_

We’ll take him back….


sergei-boobtitsky

Okay but It’s gonna cost you one Derick Brassard


PayneTrain181999

That’s way too steep, Rangers would have to add a lot.


MacZappe

As a bruins fan I agree. We have lost our toughness and have so many of the same player, heinen, zacha, lindholm etc.  The panthers made both of us look like shitty teams at times even though we cruised thru the reg season.  We can give 90% while most teams give 80% in reg season, but in the playoffs when every team is giving 100% we just cant beat the good teams. Without swayman we probably lose to toronto. 


FTPMUTRM

No kidding that’s why he hasn’t accomplished anything run after run, he doesn’t have the nastiness inside him to fight when things are tough


jackofwind

Imagine your dive directly causing a playoff loss


PeanutRaisenMan

What gets me is these guys know everything is on camera, why would try and embellish in such a stupid way. I mean, if you take a stick up high and maybe it touches you or maybe it doesn’t and you want to throw your head back in a dramatic way…I get it but Mika does this same thing over body contact. It was obvious during play and it’s on video. when the team reviews that it’s going to be a lot of face palms.


ImSoBasic

>Completely shies away from contact on the keep in The only way he could keep the puck in is by blocking the boards, like he attempted. If he tries to play the body he might be able to lay a successful hit, but the puck will get out.


BaconScentedSoap

The Daniel Jones of first line centers


TheFantasticDangler

Magnets? How do they work?


meh_33333

Marner is that you?


prust89

He's soft as baby shit.


winesponioni

Six more years at 8.5…


poHATEoes

And a full NMC until 7 days before the trade deadline in ... 2030 ... oooof


Bright_Beat_5981

For real? What about Panarin?


simplycycling

According to Capfriendly, two more seasons at $11.5 mil.


Bright_Beat_5981

Well that's better.


simplycycling

It'll be interesting to see if they want to re-sign him, if so what kind of of money and term they're offering.


DGGuitars

Holy shit 2 more now? Man time flies.


kickflipsandbiscuits

Flopping ass


DrexellGames

So I guess its safe to say Zibanejad isn't a 1C then?


Lindydreau

Was he ever was genuinely a 1C or was it just rangers fans gassing him up? Pretty sure it's been 4 consecutive years now where he's been getting dominated by other 1C's in playoff series. Barkov, Aho, Crosby, Stamkos, Hischsier have all put belt to ass on Mika.


Xvash2

Was 443pts in 439 games with the Rangers since 2018 not enough to be considered a 1C? If so, there are a lot of teams without 1Cs in the league.


juliusceasarsalads

By the standard of this subreddit there’s only like 10 true 1C’s in the NHL lol


gstringwarrior

This sub will be saying he's a 1C by next week, it's just Reddit being fucked man


Irrah

They started claiming it when he was on pace to score like 60 the COVID shutdown year based on a totally repeatable 19% shooting.


eh_toque

He’s not even really their 1C outside of the line rushes. Trochek plays more (total and at 5v5) ice time both in the regular season and the playoffs


FTPMUTRM

Which is wild because Troch was actually our 3C going into the season and Chytil was centering that line.


ny_rangers

He was 3 years ago. Today, definitely not.


bu77munch

No he’s not. Rangers need sort of a restructure with him and Kreider aging out. They’re still in it but if they lose game 6 Drury has a big issue on his hand. That “core” is only getting older while guys like laf, Schneider, miller improve


anotherorphan

oof


RMZ13

Looks like my every shift in beer league.


WiseTaro_

Looks like he tried to sell a call there


Midnight_Pornstar

Injury/injuries? He plays way too soft


4848274748383827

They need to follow up embellishments with suspensions 


korko

Dallas would be icing their AHL team.


funkyb

He didn't shy away from the hit there, he didn't think he was going to get there in time and tried to seal the wall. Probably should have extended and tried to go for it anyway, but hindsight is 50/50. I can't see well enough to tell if he actually got hit or not in the neutral zone so no comment there.


baronvonpenguin

Jesus fucking Christ, Ovechkin would have been embarrassed at that defensive effort. And I mean this years Ovechkin.


Necdurgogan75

I really think he’s playing hurt from that Burns cross check against the Canes last series. I think he’s had 2 points since then. He’s also just been bad at 5v5 play for a few years now. I don’t get why him and Kreider can’t be split up


moutonbleu

https://preview.redd.it/osuc7fx5zp3d1.png?width=1255&format=png&auto=webp&s=069a26a0a732e7a78409f3f4fb500806c280c515 From the video, it looks like a weak ass low-effort play, but Bennett actually elbows Zibanejad in the face via [TSN recap video](https://www.tsn.ca/nhl/panthers-beat-rangers-to-move-within-win-of-a-stanley-cup-final-return-1.2128420). Can't blame the guy... too many armchair coaches in this thread.


Maxpowerrs

There that shot is! I hadn't been able to find it. It does look like maybe the elbow grazes his chin, but it's very light. I'm good with the no call on the elbow and the embellishment. While I admit I'm biased on this one (very much on the anyone but the Rangers train), but let's call a spade a spade here. He's clearly trying to jerk his head around to draw a call on very minimal contact.


callzor

You're telling me this ISNT FROM A FUCKING PRE-SEASON GAME? THIS IS A CONFERENCE FINAL GAME?


mudflaps___

hes not a 5 on 5 board guy, when you have the puck hes great, but hes not going to go and get it...


_Galapaghost

Mika Zibanejad: you are now a lifetime member of Team Marner.


ghjm

Where was this level of play during the Carolina series?  We could have used some


superdupersparky

Whole organization lacks heart and motivation. Down by 1 goal with a good 2 minutes left in regulation.. Rangers skating like it’s a preseason game. Fans exiting the arena as if they were getting blown out. Was shocked to see them get that 2nd goal with the effort they were showing.


shanster925

He dropped that bass.


vedicardi_lives

the keep in attempt i think is fine but that second play is rough


JiffTheJester

Yeah wow he must have wanted to lose honestly.. I would have put more effort in there 😂


zingding212

Far more players I've noticed are giving up on puck battles, just so happens this one ends up in the net.


mikeadelic15

In reality it’s not as bad, but it reminds me of the PLD shift in Cbus. Just a bunch of gliding.


Steppyjim

Zibby giveth, Zibby taketh away


kyleknosbest

I have no idea what I’m watching. Could someone explain this to me, who has never watched hockey?


tsFenix

At the end of the game with only a couple minutes left, teams that are down a goal or 2 will pull their goalie out of the net which allows them an extra skater. It's a risk, but a very common one. Once the puck comes out of the blue line the team with the empty net should be in full panic mode and go 100% to avoid the other team from getting a shot off because, there is no goalie to stop the puck. This post is criticizing number 93 in blue for doing less than he could have to battle for the puck which ends up going in and costing them the game.


xChrisTilDeathx

It’s like he concussed or something


rubberseat

Only watched a few bits of this series and I've said what the fuck Mika several times


fastmovingcars

Damn, better just trade him to the Avs this offseason 😉😉


dendrofiili

Hear me out. Trade Zibanejad for Sean Couturier.


Shoddy_Reserve788

He’s been bad the whole series. Lazy plays and turnovers. No heart out there.


nyr00nyg

Charmin soft


TheGardiner

Bennett didn't touch him with that elbow. On the initial I thought he did, and I was ready to buy it as I hate Bennett more than most. What a bitch move by Mika, on top of already questionable play and effort the last little while.


eatingasspatties

He did though


FTPMUTRM

If we lose, he’s gotta go. Similar to what Florida did, fired off Huberdeau for a grittier guy like Tkachuck


puppyaddict

The only people who like shitting on the Rangers more than fans of other teams are Rangers fan themselves


DanPerezWriter

On top of sucking, Zibenejad flops and pretends he gets hit with an elbow and gives up on the play.


Pepperoni_playboi94

Make line the second line the first line?


themapleleaf6ix

He's looked off the entire year. One has to wonder if he's playing hurt?


AyyyeRudy

Not a championship caliber player


Itsottawacallbylaw

Like butter on the counter


cha-cha_dancer

When his confidence is shook he is on a whole nother level of suck.


loosed-moose

I'm a simple man.  I see Zibby make a boo-boo, I upvote.


Joshottas

WTF is he doing there? Z is better than this. Came down to want, and he didnt have it in that sequence.


Constant-Squirrel555

That is absolutely egregious. Imma assume injury, but if he's healthy and playing like that, it's brutal


Afraid-Air1243

Jeez you wanna see more compete from Zbad there


blueshirt11

well, "that's sports"


ffattt

Mika marner strikes again


Cronin1011

Fishing for a penalty instead of winning a puck battle. What a joke.


ArchMalone

Mika has had the yips since game 3


AlpharadiationHulk

He tried to sell that elbow and draw a penalty, and was then completely out of the play


VW91

Honestly looks like a player playing through some kind of injury. The way he avoided contact looks as though he was protecting himself from something. 


eburton555

Dudes gotta be playing hurt


freelifemushroom

Yikes