Comments on: Big three back together — Nash, Gaborik, and Richards on top line

By: bcisleman

bcisleman — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 21:42:58 +0000

What a bunch of BALONEY!!! JT is FAR better than ANY of the so-called Big Three at EVERY aspect of the game. Guaranteed if HL were an Islander, those +/- numbers would be reversed and then some. BTW, the “much better goal differential” is 6. Absolutely every bit of that is due to HL.

I’ll admit that the Rangers have a better defense than the Isles and a much better goaltender. But any NYR who says he’d take his team’s top line over the Isles’ top line is either lying or a total homer.

BTW get used to the current standings!!!

By: jkay1818

jkay1818 — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 21:12:34 +0000

in fact he was so proud of himself, he even logged on under his other islanders name and commented on his arousing first post.

By: jkay1818

jkay1818 — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 21:11:41 +0000

stakex, why did you do that? You just made bcislesman lose his boner. That was the most aroused and proud of himself he has been in a while.

By: stakex

stakex — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 20:51:25 +0000

The Islanders have managed to crawl their way to 9th place, new heights they haven’t seen in years, and its caused all the Islander fans to crawl out of hibernation. Easy now… the Islanders are still going to miss the playoffs and have a top notch shot at Seth Jones.

Let me make a couple counter points to what you said:

1. Obviously they are talking about them as the Rangers big three… not the “Big Three” of the NHL. Though to that point, I would take them over the Islanders top three any day of the week despite the current production differences. The Islanders employ a more offensive attack then do the Rangers, which has allowed their top line to score more goals…. however:

2. …the Islanders top three are a shockingly bad – 23 combined. The Rangers top three? +5. You can talk about Lundqvist being the reason all you want, but its a combination of things. The Ragners top players are far more defensivly responsible, they have a much better defense, and their system as a whole is geared for defense… not offense. All that leads to less scoring, but a much better goal differential.

3. Boyes is making $1 million a year because hes played absolutely awful in his contract year last season. Hes shown flashesh of being a top player in the past, but wasn’t when he signed his current deal. If he keeps playing like he is, he will be making a lot more next season.

4. Tavaras signed a deal thats probably lower then his value. He signed it after a couple solid, but not amazing seasons… only to go on and have a great year last season. If he had waited till the end of his entry level deal, he would be making a lot more money right now.

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So sure, the Islanders top three might be scoring more for a lesser price right now. However, there is a lot more to it then just that one stat…

By: islesjb

islesjb — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 19:00:16 +0000

spot on

By: bcisleman

bcisleman — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 18:54:07 +0000

The Big Three? When I was in 8th grade, I learned that the Big Three were FDR, Churchill and Stalin. Nowadays I guess we have to settle for Nash, Gaborik and Richards.

How are they the Big Three? Well their hype is certainly BIG. So is their cap hit. Let’s do a little side by side comparison, shall we?

Their neighbors and rivals the NY Islanders boast a top line of Tavares, Moulson and Boyes who collectively have a cap hit of less than $10 million. They have 84 points to The Big Three’s 55. The lowest scorer among them, Brad Boyes, has 24 points or one more than the highest scorer of The Big Three, Rick Nash. He makes all of $1 million this year.

Fact is that if the NYR didn’t have HL in net, they’d likely be competing with Florida for a shot at Seth Jones. He could make it The Big Four I guess!