So Much For An Offseason

So... what did I miss?

• A heartbreaking end to the season (Federov. Snipe.)(3-1 series lead. Swiped.) *meant to rhyme.
  
• Worst possible ending to the playoffs (I hate you Cindy/Gary.)
• The NHL awards
• The NHL draft

Pshhh is that all? 

Well since I want to put thhe 08-09 season far behind, lets just jot a few notes about the aforementioned shenanigans I failed to report on in a more timely fashion:

The Loss: Now I may be a diehard, bleed-blue Ranger fan who screams, curses, banters, and honestly, tends to throw and break objects around me when they lose.... but that does not mean I'm irrational. *Shut Up.

I wasn't TOO broken up about the loss. In fact, once Marty and the Devils pissed away their second round invitation in the most excruciating way possible, I was pretty much content.

Sure, the Blueshirts gave away a 3-1 series lead to Washington. And sure, they proobbably woulda/coulda/shoulda have been able to close out that series if not for a few semi-retarded happenings (i.e. Avery's benching, Tort's suspension, Betts being murdered by Brashear).

But the fact  remains that the Rangers STOLE that lead. No. Henrik Lundqvist stole that lead. If not for the stellar/redonkulous goaltending of one The King, the Rangers are out in 5 AT BEST. 

Come to think of it, the only thing i DID feel really bad about was that the rest of the Rangers blew a chance for a deep playoff run on the back of a hot goaltender. Other teams (Anaheim with Giguere, Carolina with Ward) have capitalized on that factor in the past. New York did not.

This team lacked identity. It lacked a killer instinct. It lacked scoring. It lacked enough good hockey players. RIP New York Rangers 08-09.

The Cup: 

1. I hate the fact that Sidney Crosby touched the Stanley Cup.
   
2. I hate the fact that Evgeni Malkin went unsuspended in that series.
3. I hate bandwagon Penguin fans *all Pens fans. Your team was about to go bankrupt and move to Kansas City. You have 4 #1 or #2 overall picks because you sucked so badly for so long. Shut Up.

The Awards: To Sum Up:

• Alex Ovechkin is really good at hockey.
• Pavel Datsyuk is just as good at hockey.

The Draft:  

Unfortunately there would be no star falling into the Ranger's lap this year at #19.  Instead, first round pick Chris Kreider is a project much in the works. The kid was drafted straight out of high school, and was highly touted as the best skater in the entire draft. In a few years, if things go well, this could be a very, very good pick for Glen Sather & Co.

Im not going to sit and chat about the Rangers picks at the draft because honestly, I don't know that much about them. But if you're interested you can go to the following site and get alll their information (stats etc.)  http://rangers.nhl.com/team/app?articleid=431938&page=NewsPage&service=page.

Feel free to leave any questions/comments/concerns or thing I may have left out in the comments section below.

The next post is going to be about player transactions, trades, the free agent frenzy that went down yesterday,\ and what's to come next. Stay Tuned.

-Rif