Panic? No! Concern? Yes!

Speaking about the inept power play, now 6-65, Tom Renney after making numerous comments ended them by stating, "I don't want to make the issue bigger than it is." I have news Tom and it is all bad. This issue, lack of power play scoring, will bring this Ranger team down to the lower echelon fighting for the last playoff spot.

"We have to score by committee, we have to manufacture an attack by other ways and means." What the hell is he talking about? Is there a new way to score goals that we haven't heard about? Renney is talking like he is absolved from any and all blame for this terrible performance. Of course, the five on five is not that hot either.

The Rangers are a team that plays on the perimeter. Renney wants them to crash the net. Who are the net crashers? With the exception of Petr Prucha the net crashers are all on the third and fourth lines. They are spending most of their evenings trying to disrupt the other teams power play. Last night they were 1-4. However, the margin is so tight that one goal was a killer. Joe Sakic scored that one and later came back to score on a penalty shot. The Rangers only goal was by Ryan Hollweg who rebounded a Jagr backhander.

Any hope for a quick fix evaporated for a while as the holiday eight day trading freeze went into effect last night at midnight. Any hope of trading Tom Poti to Anaheim for Petr Sykora will have to wait till next year. If the Rangers continue to stumble Brian Burke will be more difficult to deal with. The Devils are talking up the possibility of trading Scott Gomez but now that Larry Robinson has resigned as coach of the Devils, Gomez may escape the doghouse and come off the block.

Tomorrow's game against the Devils now looms larger with a three game home losing streak staring the Rangers in the face.

The Rangers have too many non-producers. Jagr admitted that when he said the team doesn't have many goal scorers. "How many 20 goal scorers do we have on the team?" Right now maybe two. Jagr and Prucha. Nylander hasn't scored in nine games, Rucchin has one goal in 13 games and Straka has one goal in 12 games and pray tell what is he doing as the point man on the power play? We are in a rebuilding year, correct? Then let's go full board and shock the team and the system by bringing up guys like Jarkko Immonen, centerman, 10 goals, twenty two points in 29 games and Thomas Pock, defenseman, 4 goals, 20 points. Let Rucchin and Poti sit for a while. Better yet, after the freeze, trade them both to Anaheim for Petr Sykora.

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