The Curious Case of Paul Ranger

Yep

Screw that!  Some goalie from rent a goalie!

Point is…we’re not tough enough…thats pretty clear to most..

I’ve actually been dodging alot of the coverage…its bad enough whenever innocent human lives are taken…but when kids are involved?? it sickens me…there will be a special place in hell reserved for this piece of sht…

Every bit as tough as the back-to-back President’s Trophy winners.  Yes, would be nice to add some toughness.  Need to stop pretending that you can’t win games without it though.  I guess for me, it’s just a foregone conclusion that Burke will slowly address that through trades and free agency the same way he has through the draft (Biggs, Ross, Devane, etc…).  It’s a problem that will, in my opinion, sort itself out.  Far more pressing to me is how we’re going to get more star power here.

Regressed, or just another casualty of a prolonged lockout?  Bad news for his development that he has to take a back seat to at least 3 guys who should be in the NHL – Gardiner, Ranger, Holzer. 
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On top of that you have Kostka who looks like he could crack the league as a late bloomer, and Fraser who has already played multiple NHL seasons. 

I guess Burke disagrees with you though..at least I think he does..he promised he would assemble a rough tough team..at team that was going to play black and blue hockey…..almost 4 years later….it hasn’t happened….you’ll have to forgive me..I actually took the man at his word….

Good point, maybe the confidence just isn’t there.

Agree 100%…same two names were on my list….Brown when healthy…and Dion about 25% of the time…still a painfully soft roster…

I don’t think there’s any doubt he still intends to build that team.  Burke thought attracting UFA’s would be no problem when he first made that statement. Instead he found that it’s harder than in small markets because of the attention.  So he’s had to go through the draft which takes a lot longer.-
Remember, the guy did bring in plenty of tough players.  I don’t think anyone foresaw Komisarek’s career essentially evaporating – he was the most sought after UFA defender of that year.  Beauchemin was tough, but didn’t gel with Wilson.  Armstrong was tough, but never suffered an injury in his career before magically becoming a band-aid here.  And a lot of Burke’s other attempts were stifled by the changing face of the game (ie. Orr, Exelby).  Unfortuneately, these combinations of mistakes and bad luck have handcuffed him in trying to bring in these kind of players.
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I think more than anything though, he legitimately stepped back and reconsidered his position because of Wilson.  Luckily, those delusions are now gone.  

Like Cam mentioned Clarkson or Clowe would be ideal…however BB could have over paid for the likes of Carcillo or Prust…(Glad he didn’t cause they are pd too much)….but a sandpaper kind of guy who could make a difference is Komorov. Maybe add one more player and shuffle the deck a bit.

No point in addressing toughness through your 4th line unless your top 3 lines are already powerful offensively…in my opinion.  Otherwise it just doesn’t work.