Monday, December 17, 2007

The Sinking Ship, Rangers 1, Coyotes 5

Yesterday, The New York Rangers were beaten badly by the Phoenix Coyotes. Wayne Gretsky appearing as coach of the Coyotes again demonstrated to 'the most famous arena in the world' that his skills (now as coach) were top-notch, despite his suffering from the flu, unable to speak. One thing was for certain, Phoenix arrived at The Garden, having beaten the Newark Devils the day before, with a belief that they can win. That they did. They slaughtered.

I held myself back from the typical Dark Ranger 'love/hate analysis' because so many others hold parallel views of our tragedy named The New York Rangers, but here's a brief summary. The coach is bad. The captain is bad. The offense is bad. And now, our defense is stinky. The combination of all of these, leaves us with an outstanding goalkeeper, Henrik Lundqvist - who was (strangely) dressed as a backup to Stephen Valiquette's on-ice massacre at The Garden of Hopes & Dreams. Poor Vally, the game wasn't his fault. Strange bounces led to the first couple of goals, but then all was lost due to everything! The only player who always looked ready to play was our once-resident enforcer, Ryan Hollweg, oddly benched by Coach Tom Renney yesterday to motivate his level of play. Strange coaching methods, I must say.

I am not alone in my desire to have a winning team. My criticism of Tom Renney as coach, Jaromir Jagr as Captain, and the defensive system by which the Rangers are losing more than winning, is a means to a better team and system. The third worst team in the NHL, the Phoenix Coyotes, with an average age of 26 years old on the entire team, came into the Garden and destroyed an All-Star team because of a solid system, a willingness and want to give it "their all' and a damn-good coach to boot. There is no better an example of how the basics win games.

But enough of me, may I present my fellow Blueshirt Bloggers. Without them, I would be an enigma. Anyone should start with Scotty Hockey who cautiously outlines a dwindling Coach Renney; when he's not transforming himself into 'hockey dancing elves', I highly recommend the Ranger Pundit, whose dubbing Tom Renney 'Coach Clueless' points out that there is no short-term solution to our proud players in Blue; Dubi of the definitive and always objective Blueshirt Bulletin has a rare slamming of the team (this NEVER happens), which means it's a cold day in hockey-hell, folks; Larry Brooks of the Post in his 'Coyote Ugly' piece; John Dellapina of The Blueshirts Blog with Tom Renney stating post-game that his team has lost their confidence asks "How is it possible that a team with two 600-goal scorers, two other guys who have won Stanley Cups and a goalie who has been a Vezina Trophy finalist in both of his first two seasons is playing with absolutely no confidence?"; and lastly Pucks On Broadway leaves us with the inevitable question, "Where do we go from here?"

I need nothing more than to find support amongst my fellow bloggers. We all feel the same way. The fans all feel it. I wonder what the owners & Glen Sather are feeling right about now?

tdr

10 comments:

  1. You CAN'T put the blame on one player. Jaromir Jagr is an All-Star who deserves to be Captain. HIS TOOTH WAS KNOCKED OUT! He has led this team two years in a row to the playoffs and is a motivating, sincere leader. Dark, stop with all the Captain Jagr banter. You cant blame this on one player.

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  2. Easy Jagr-lover.

    I don't dispute his singular abilitu as an All-Star and I love the guy when he plays hockey. Maybe you haven't been watching this season and just the highlights here and there on winning games - because this guy 'just 'aint motivated.' He is not Captain-worthy, because he shuts down when it's not going well - and the team just follows.

    Also, our coach is afraid of the guy -- the European perimeter play is awful, we don't go to the net with Jagr as our leader.

    If the rest of the team and management would stop proclaiming their love of JAGR, just as you do, we might start winning some games.

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  3. Agreed you can't blame it on one player, but your captain needs to step up in this situation. Instead, he yells at Rozsival, doesn't play hard every shift, and evades the media. Not very captainly.

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  4. Hey Dark Ranger, we are no longer crying in the wilderness alone, We have company and soon we shall overcome.

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  5. We western conference followers have a term for the western conference teams that lose to the Coyotes.

    We have nicknamed those teams "The Kings"

    Look forward to seeing you guys Friday :)

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  6. Hey jibble, I can make fun of my team, you have no right ... (at least until you beat us yourselves).

    Besides, we're not scared of you! Your Aves are without Sakic (who we should have gotten with our offer sheet years ago), Scott Hannan has been a bust and Jose will be too busy battling Sean Avery for some little spoiled blond minx to do well in net!

    So take that!

    btw - TDR, thanks for the shout-out ... its starting to get a bit dark in the Garden of late ...

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  7. DARK equals 'keeping it real.' Look out Avs...and Jibble watch out for that caped sports-crusader looming over Denver this week...

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  8. Hopefully Friday Budaj will get the start in net, and We won't have to worry about Theo battling Avery.Besides we have ol' crooked nose Ian Lapperiere to put Avery in his place.

    And all hockey fans reserve the right to make fun of a team that loses to the Coyotes... I think it was even in the new CBA.

    .. and Sakic may be back by Friday

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  9. If Isaiah Thomas still is employed by the Garden, what makes you thinkt hey even realize they have a hockey team, let alone one that is run by a GM who should have been canned 5 years ago and a coach who can't seem to do anything right?

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  10. ribtoe, oh they know. There are important discussions on the table concerning the Rangers. The Blueshirts are the 'shining stars' of Cablevision, as the Knicks suck, while the Rangers are just beginning to suck. Though basketball is much larger in terms of mainstream audiences and sponsorships, the Rangers sponsorships are fairly huge and the hockey audience is specific in New York alone, but a monster in terms of the world audience (especially Canada). I also understand that Thomas has a long-term buyout contract (which is why they are strangely keeping him), whereas Tom Renney is year-to-year.

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