Around Rangerland, it seems that a lot of... "fans"... were actually rooting for the Blueshirts to fall short tonight against the Isles. People imagined that such a debacle would force the hand of Dolan & Co. to rid the organization of Head Coach Tom Renney, and perhaps GM Glen Sather.
There are a few things wrong with that theory.
First, there have been no signals whatsoever from the Organization that Renney is even on the hotseat yet, let alone in danger of being fired after one more loss. Mark my words: Tom Renney will finish out the season behind the Rangers bench.
Second, there's that slim possibility that the New York Rangers themselves could actually start remembering how to win.
Well it certainly wasn't convincing, or even truly satisfying, but Renney's squad got the job tonight- in REGULATION time no less! This goes down as the first win in regulation time for New York since January 27 against Carolina. (Also the last game Gomez had a goal). Yeah.
And, despite the Rangers entering the game tied for 5th (and 8th) in the Eastern Conference, their two points tonight have them standing alone in the 5 spot (with the other teams having games in hand). Hey, as long as you win those extra games you play, you're going to be in good shape.
Now as for those "fans" I mentioned...
Assuming that you, my reader, are a true Ranger fan, I will describe for you the mind frame of these impostors:
- I would like to classify most of these people as between the ages of 0 and 23 - and I will get to my reasoning for this in a few sentences.
- These Negative Nancys (ies?) are so down in the dumps, that they suggest the Rangers undergo another firesale, trading away each and every name on the roster for the sake of draft picks. (as opposed to trading to relieve cap space, which may be reasonable).
- In addition, they want for the team to lose every game for the rest of the season, and get a better draft pick in June.
Seriously? Do these assholes remember missing the playoffs for 7 (SEVEN!!!) consecutive years?? I would rather make the playoffs as the 8th seed and lose in 4 games than miss the playoffs completely ever again.
There is no way that anybody who watched NYR over the course of those years would want this team to tank. Certainly anybody who lived through any reasonable part of that 54 year Stanley Cup drought would love to take their chances in the postseason with a great goaltender. These idiots are moderate hockey fans who don't know anything about this team's history, or about the dynamics of a hockey team/season.
Never root against your team, regardless of what team it is, unless you have money on the game for some reason. In that case, if you bet against your team, you're still a huge Asshole.
I may hate the Rangers, and I may lose hope... but I will never root for them to lose.
Enough of that rant. Lets get to some...
Game Notes
- I'm going to reference my "Why-We-Suck" post for this one: "For this team to be successful, these guys must earn their money, and not suck at hockey." Well, the "leaders" decided to show up today, and what do you know? Chris Drury gets 3 assists on the night, and Scott Gomez nets the game-winner, and the Rangers get two points.
- Although Gomez played like a little less of a pansy tonight, the fact that he will be credited with a game-winner AND a Power Play goal is so lame. Just because Yan Denis (the Islander goalie) forgot that #19 doesn't shoot hard, and let that dump-in go through his legs, Gomer can feel OK going to sleep tonight. He showed improvement carrying the puck into the zone, and even hustled to a puck or two, but this isn't something I should have to blog to you about as a new revelation.
- *** FUN FACT*** The Rangers are 9-2 when Scott Gomez actually lights the lamp.
- ***Gomer also supplies us with the funniest/most ironic/most angering comment of the night after the win:
"I don't know how that went in. It is just one of those things. You shoot the puck, and good things will happen."
..............................WOW. I want to kick you in the face Scott Gomez.
- With Lauri Korpikoski out of the lineup with the dreaded "upper body injury", Nigel Dawes jumped back in the lineup and played a very effective game at both ends of the rink.
-Also stepping up, again, was Petr Prucha. The kid plays harder than anybody else each and every time he steps on the ice... when he is aloud to do so. Prucha got a measly 8:55 of ice time in todays game. (A minute more than Orr, 2 minutes less than Sjostrom at even strength, and just seconds more than Betts at ES). Yet he still managed to get an assist in the game, AND get in a fight. Prucha is the man, and he is earning much more ice time than he is receiving.
-HOW ABOUT PUTTING HIM ON THE POWER PLAY??, which still sucks. They went 1-for-5 in the game, with the only goal coming on Gomer's under-whelming wrister.
- The Penalty kill is still nasty, going 4-for-4 tonight. They, along with Mr. Lundqvist, are the only reason that this team still has any heartbeat. Betts, Sjostrom, Callahan, and even Drury get big ups for their performance on the PK this season.
- Something I was impressed with tonight? The backchecking of NY forwards. With plays by Dawes and Zherdev at the forefront of my memory, there were several instances of Ranger players coming back into their own zone, lifting Islander sticks from behind, and clearing the puck out of harms way.
- Another thing that I was able to take away from this game, and even the game in St. Louis, is that the Rangers have played a more physical game of late. Enemy bodies have been on the ice much more as of late, with Ryan Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky doing a lot of the dirty work. When you hit opponents, you wear them out, and you make them think twice about playing the puck.
- Speaking of taking a hit, credit Wade Redden for getting crushed in order to move the puck up the boards to Drury just moments before the captain dumped the puck down ice for Sjostrom's empty netter. Those are the plays that need to be made to win games.
- Having said that, who here doesn't wish that we signed Mark Streit instead of Wade this summer?
- Coming into the game, the Rangers had scored 2 goals or fewer in 8 of the last 9 games. The empty netter gave them 3 tonight. Ugh. The scoring woes are far from over ladies and gentlemen.
- Henrik Lundqvist is ridiculous. How many shots did the Isles get off from right in the slot between the hashmarks? Too many. And yet the Swede was there to thwart each oncoming attack. He even threw in an assist for good measure. They call him The King for a reason.
3 Stars Of The Game
3rd Star) Petr Prucha (1 assist, Fight)- Prucha, as usual, played his guts out every shift tonight. He created a ton of chances on the ice, and even showed that he can mix it up. PRUUUUUU!
2nd Star) Scott Gomez/Chris Drury (1g, 3a, GWG, PPG)- Drumez, as I like to call them (starting right now), played solid, if unspectacular games tonight. Their stat sheets look impressive, and that is what the Rangers need right now, but I'm still wanting more out of the pair. Each showed glimmers of hope, but I mean it was against the Islanders..
1st Star) Henrik Lundqvist (25 saves, 1a, W)- Who else? Gives the team a chance to win each and every night. If he can hold teams to one goal every game, the Rangers should win 75% of those contests (with some luck). (Note: sarcasm).
We all know better than to get excited right now, and we should be far from expecting a winning streak. This WAS a game against the freakin Islanders (and we think WE suck?). However, maybe a game against a team that's worse than they are is just the confidence boost that the group needs.
Saturday the Rangers will play in Buffalo, against a Sabres squad that is right on their heels. Lets see what they can do against an NHL caliber team.
POTVIN SUCKS!!!
-Rif
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