That is what the Rangers were last night and that is what the Rangers are this season. After last night's stinker the Rangers are 20-17-2-2- at the halfway mark of the season. They are below .500 with 21 losses in 41 games. Of course the way the NHL figures they are above .500 with 44 points in 41 games. The way the NHL figures most of the teams are over .500. Go figure. I for one am getting tired of Sam and Joe telling me every night that the Rangers had a great period. Pray tell me how do you have a great period when you can't score a goal?
Last night we out shot Vancouver. Big deal, every night we out shoot the other team. But you can't score if you don't have the ability or the courage to get in front of the net. No one on the first line gets in front of the net and most of them would rather pass the puck backwards rather then forward. The good news is that all the individual scoring streaks came to an end. I'm happy about that. I want to see some team scoring streaks. I would like to see this overpriced, underachievers go on a long winning streak scoring a ton of goals. No, I don't believe in Santa Claus any more.
The new mantra is now that we have entered the second half we will start to turn it on and play better. Why? The basic team philosophy is not geared toward offense even though we have some of the top offensive players in the NHL. How do I know that? Well the drive by sports media tell me that every day. Meanwhile coach clueless preaches defense, defense, defense. No one ever told him that the best defense is a good offense. So we have a coach who dwells on the defense and leaves the offense to the players who with minor exceptions play the perimeter, pass at all costs game. So we get night after night a minor leaguer like Marcel Hossa blowing easy goals in front of the net while a proven goal scorer like Nigel Dawes plays in Hartford and when they do bring him up they give him less then ten minutes of ice time.
But this is what you get from a clueless coach and an under achieving team. Underwhelming!
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Please look at the shot chart.
http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/shotchart?gameId=280103022
You can see very clearly why the Rangers lost and will continue to be a marginal team with this bunch on the ice. One - the Rangers shoot from a distance. Good goalies will stop those shots all day long. Only Prucha will pay the price and get shots from close. So, we need more grinders. Two - other teams score from in front of our net. We need a big defenseman or two to clear that area out. The battle for the front of the crease is where the Cup is won and lost. We will lose this type of game every night. Why do our coaches let our players shoot from so far away, is it to be able to be in defensive position more quickly? What a great way to make sure you lose against good teams on the road.
I suspect that Sather is smart enough to realize that we are going nowhere with this team as it is. I suspect he will make a trade or two if it makes sense, and if not continue on the program to win the Cup in two more years players other than Jagr and Shanny as the key goal scorers.
Absolutely agree. No one wants to go to the net on offense. It's madding.
section335-You are giving the Stealth Gm more credit than he deserves.
wes-At least no one on the first line does. But the usual suspects always get the ice time on the PP, don't they?
Totally agree with all comments. To me it seems that the Prucha/Dubi/Cally line is the only one that has the other teams D on their heels. Hell the 4th line drives the net more often than the so-called scoring lines 1 & 2. The fourth line! This is indeed maddening!
You watch, moron will probably trade Prucha first. If that happens, I'll...
mike,....shoot me your email and i'll add you to the permissions if you're interested. It would be an honor to have you throw a couple of words into the DArk-ness.
Why is it that we are the only ones screaming COACH? Coach Clueless continues to make me lose it....a classic baby naming.
as always: rangers = too many chiefs, not enough indians.
when you trade guys like dominic moore and ortmeyer and i cant keep track of who else, and keep surprise guys like pock in the minors, you get what we got.
i love drury and i love watching gomez skate, but these guys need to play on a team, with psychotic wingers who want to score and a coach who think thats a good idea. no joy in rangerville. jagr is a curse. and renney is out of his depth. lose them both. what happened to rebuilding? gone daddy gone.
Instead of preaching defense, how about Renney preaches an upgrade on defense.
I am so sick of watching Malik and Rozsival cost this team with errant passes and stupid penalties. The gruesome twosome are on separate lines, but they are infecting Staal and Mara now.
I pray Bobby Sanguinetti is the 2nd coming of Brian Leetch.
stryker-Prucha is definitely the guy the other teams want. Hey, who wouldn't want a potential thirty goal scorer? Answer. The Rangers.
the dark ranger-The Ranger drive by media corps has put a protective shield around coach clueless. He is the teflon coach.
savage monkey-Some rebuilding? Malik, Hossa and coach clueless.
the iron sheik- Does it matter about Sanguinetti? We have two tough guys in Baranka and Liffiton growing old in Hartford and they sure would look good in Ranger blue.
mike, couldn't agree more. the spring we traded away kovy and leetch and so on, we (the fans) were looking forward to up-tempo, sometimes screwed up, energetic hockey. and then the jagr deal closes, renney becomes the (non-interim) coach and we are back to rudderless.
so hard to root for these guys.
you close a deal on two guys in their prime like drury and gomez, not old guys, 27 year olds, and you lock em up! clear out the old boys (except for shannny who, lets face it, has reduced production, but is delivering leadership like messier wished he could at the same age).
sometimes i watch sam and joe and hear renney (coach clueless is spot on) and all i hear em saying is 'who you gonna believe, me or your lying eyes?'
im trusting my eyes.
great blog, check it daily.
keep at it.
savagemonkey-Great quote, "lying eyes". I believe my eyes, your eyes and the eyes of all the other Ranger fans who are not fooled by this charade.