Wednesday, February 4, 2009

How Low Can We Go?

Losing at home on Adam Graves night in a shootout to the lowly Atlanta Thrashers--seems like a really, really bad dream that turned into reality. To be honest Naslund didn't even deserve to score that goal, maybe they need to hit rock bottom to ignite a fire underneath their asses to save this season before its too late.

Something has to give though, and soon--whether it be Renney getting ousted or the Rangers actually collecting themselves and salvaging a season where they have been hanging on to their playoff berth by a hair made of luck for weeks now. The Rangers can't score and worst of all, its obvious to all of their opponents, who play a solid defensive trap against the Rangers. Even for teams that are beatable (Pens, Thrashers), we just can't put it past their goalies and it is becoming truly embarrassing. Scoreless in 125 minutes with players such as Markus Naslund, Nik Zherdev, Scotty Gomez and all the young talent we have is unacceptable and unparalleled in the NHL--no other team has such a plethora of scorers that have all seemed to forget how to shoot the puck past the goalie instead of into him.

We're on a mini losing streak now, which is at 3, and if nothing is done soon this team is in real jeopardy of collapse. We have the luxury of feeling like a safe bet to be in the playoffs for the past few years after years of exclusion, but the honest truth is that unless this team gets their shit together and begins to play with purpose and starts burying the puck, we will not make the playoffs. At this point of the season with approximately 30 games left, most teams in the league are getting better--Devs, Caps, Florida, Philly, etc. BUT WE ARE NOT! These teams in addition to others have the serious ability to knock us out of the playoffs, unless Captain Drury rallies this talented team and reminds them that to be a Ranger is a privilege, something that doesn't happen to many NHL players and that the fans in New York are the best in the world; Drury needs to blow a gasket yelling his head off stimulating these players. He needs to let them players like Redden and Kalinin know that this aint Buffalo or Ottawa-this is New York and we expect to win, at least when we have a team that on paper should be a top contender in the East.

Sure, we have high expectations, but this is the Big Blue--we're supposed to! We spent millions upon millions to put together a strong team built around All Star goalie King Henrik and added enough talent up front to score--so what's the problem? Who knows, but the PowerPlay must improve if the Rangers want to go past the first round of the playoffs, if they make it that far.

Let us pray..

~syr11

8 comments:

  1. Adam Graves--my favorite NY Ranger ever--deserved so much better last night. After a ceremony that was unforgettable, they played a game that was very forgettable. Does this team realize what they're doing to us Fans?! They're making me loath Rangers hockey again.

    ReplyDelete
  2. J..I regret that Adam thanked the current team in his words to the fans and the world of hockey; i sincerely, regret he thanked Tom Renney. Neither of them deserved to be included in history making.

    Great post -- it says it all with passion, something our dear Blueshirts lack and I am afraid it will need to get worse before it gets better and unfortunately we will be living with this chemistry for a long time as our 'soup-a-stars' are mostly locked into 4+year contracts.

    (Good time for new season ticket holder opportunities this summer, die-hards only, if you can afford not being able to sell any tickets!)

    Also, the real victim in all of this is Tom Renney's chewing gum. The poor rubber blob is being manipulated and torn to shreds and if we run into Renney in the streets, we should do 'his gum' the favor of slapping it out of his mouth. So there.

    I am mad. Even the fu**ing Knicks are playing better than the Rangers!!!???

    tdr

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dark,
    I'm not one for making threats. Ok aside from the time I promised to camp out in front of the rangers training facility with a slingshot and a bag of peanuts if tom poti(allergic) was resigned, i'm not one for making threats...but Renney better pray I don't see him in the streets!!!

    Its too bad all the fans wore themselves out cheering and celebrating a guy that used to play hockey, that we're too tired/unimpressed to coddle and blow sunshine up the @ss of a whole team of guys pretending to...

    -J_Undisputed

    ReplyDelete
  4. It is upsetting that they lost on Adam Graves night, but they played a great and overall close game...
    The ceremony was one of the most emotional scenes Ive seen in sports...or hockey at least..Between Graves and his family balling and Mike Messier, It was incredible..

    here's the video again!
    Adam Graves Night

    ReplyDelete
  5. Vin..."they played a great and close game"? Oh..you must work for MSG.

    The ceremony was history making -- Gravey deserves it more than anyone, but...we acknowledge, we respect, we look to today.

    Christ that was bad...

    tdr

    ReplyDelete
  6. I was in attendance last night and what could of been a joyous night for all, it turned sour with the final result of the game.

    Nothing in the end could really detract what Adam Graves means to the Ranger faithful, but it would have been nice if the boys could of fired it up for that powerhouse known as the Atlanta Thrashers.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I was at the game last night...and I should of left after the ceremony. I couldn't agree more with you the captains and the rest of the team, including Renney, have to step up and take responsibility and actually do something. I was hoping that during the speeches, notably either Moose's or Gravey's that one of them would of mentioned to the current team that they have to earn to wear those Blueshirts and be called a Ranger. With the exception of a select few, none of them deserve to wear Rangers blue. Get off your high-horses and do what the past Ranger greats have done; work hard, skate hard and fight for every square inch of that ice!

    ReplyDelete

This site/blog is not affiliated with the New York Rangers or The National Hockey League in any manner whatsoever. Some photos on this site are used w/out permission but are hosted on the blogger server, therefore not interfering with the profit or bandwidth of the original owner. If you are the owner of a specific image that we have used in our blog , please email me at amv613@hotmail.com to have it removed - we will gladly remove it immediately.

If you have a hockey blog/website and would like to place a link on our site, please contact me & we can do a link exchange (the best way to get more traffic to our blogs).

Any offer of 'tickets at cost' is exactly that -- I have season tickets and will sell them for what I paid --- so no mark-ups.

The Dark Ranger is a not-for-profit site, not officially, but we derive no income at all from anything on this site; in fact, DARK at his own expense enjoys the freedom of having no sponsors and speaking his f*cking mind.