The Rangers continued to go backward in their attempt to clinch a playoff spot blowing a 3-2 game to the Ottawa Senators and Sir Goon, Chris Niel. He throws the cheap shot, we retaliate, we get the majors, they get the minors. Such is life in the over-officiated NHL. Bettman and company have done a good job in taking hockey out of the NHL,
Back to what constitutes hockey in the NHL. I won't say the Rangers are struggling but they sure are sputtering. They still need a point to clinch a spot in the playoffs but they are playing like they are hoping Toronto and New Jersey will eliminate themselves. How about winning and get the best possible position they can get regardless of their opponent?
I don't know about you but I wish Martin St.Louis would stop trying to pass every time he gets the puck and start shooting every time his stick gets the puck. Back to the Niel incident, the Rangers have not had that type of tough, no nonsense player in eons. Until we get that type of guy it's hard to see us advancing against the top teams, especially the big, bad, Boston Bruins.
However, right now we have more mundane things to think about. Like winning the next game against Carolina and clinching a playoff spot. And how about JT Miller? Scored the winning goal for the Wolfpack and keeps producing. I don't believe he is a minor league player. Remember when the previous coach played games with Chris Kreider? Now he is one of our top six players, when he is healthy.
Complain, complain, complain. You are getting old Mike. Stop bitching and enjoy the moment, whatever it is. Yes, the Rangers will make the playoffs. Yes the Garden will make a lot of money. Yes the Rangers will be eliminated in the second round. Then we will turn to baseball and watch the most overpaid team in history crash and burn. Have a good weekend.
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It was very disappointing not to clinch last night. The Garden seemed to be rocking in the third. If the Rangers played the entire game the way they played in the third we'd be much happier today.
The goon crap is the most frustrating part of hockey today. The rules have been changed to protect the guilty and punish the innocent. Why should the NHL be any different than the rest of the world? The league allows those kinds of players to run around with no consequences so what do we get? Less fighting and more injuries. If these guys had someone to fear they would think twice. The other night in Vancouver Burrows cheap shots our best player, McDonagh who is hurt right now thank you very much and no one does anything about it. What was his consequence? He received a 5 minute major with 43 seconds left in the game. The league did nothing about it. So McDonagh is thankfully not lost to us for a lengthy period of time but any period of time hurts. So far he's missed two games. Burrows? 43 seconds. Our closest answer to it, Dan Carcillo asked coach AV if he wanted him to go out there and take a pound of flesh back to which AV replied no. An answer I saw some Ranger fans like Scotty Hockey suggesting the coach should be fired for. I happen to agree with the coach and last night's "retribution" proved why the coach did the right thing against Vancouver. The league punishes those who defend themselves against the goons. The goons get 2 minutes or 43 seconds and the guy defending himself last night, Staal, gets 4 minutes. How about Brassard? He didn't even punch anyone but still wound up with a 10 minute misconduct. For what? The Ref decided Brassard, and only Brassard should get third man in but since it wasn't a fight he didn't want him to get the automatic 17 minutes and a game so he threw 10 minutes at him for basically being on the ice. The call was so weak it didn't even make it to the official score sheet. The official scorer probably didn't even realize Brassard was on the ice. It was a source of confusion for the guys on Hockey Night Live last night since it didn't make it on the sheet. We all assumed it was a game misconduct which is the penalty for 3rd man. However, that wasn't the case as confirmed by Rick Carpiniello, the penalty was in fact 10 minutes. Ridiculous. Speaking of Carcillo, coach shortened the bench so he didn't get any time in the 3rd. I wasn't receptive to getting Carcillo but I have since changed my mind. I think the Rangers are missing a lot of grit, and even more so now that Callahan is gone, and guys like Carcillo help us out in that department. I felt bad for him sitting around. I know he's not the biggest guy in the league but maybe Neil doesn't take a run at Staal if Carcillo was getting ice time. Just a thought. Last but not least, I am ready to kill St. Louis. He has thrown more pucks into enemy hands now that he is starting to believe he can't score. Just shoot the puck Marty. PLEEEEEEASE!!!
According to Mike, only 4-5 Rangers players are worth mentioning in his blog of whines. The rest of them is just a piece of meat that don't fight enough.
You're sounding like a broken record, Mike. Your writings are less innovative than any on the Rangers team ever played in any game. Time to stop whining like a sissy and start supporting your team, because there's nothing constructive in sitting on your ass, complaining.