So what did you expect? In a season frought with disappointments galore, unfullfilled boasts, underachieving players, poor coaching and dismal results, the Rangers lost a game to the bottomness of all bottom feeders, the Florida Panthers. The Panthers have all of 34 points, three less than their closest competitor, the Colorado Avalanche. How's those apples, coach. The Panthers have taken the season series from the Rangers 2-1.
The score was 3-2 and to make it worse, if possible, the winning goal was an empty netter. It was a game that had to be won to clinch a playoff spot and we are still in a playoff spot only because the Caps beat the Jets. The Jets have one more game, at home against Montreal. If the Jets win, we have to beat either Carolina or the Devils to gain a playoff spot. Can you imagine losing to Carolina and needing to beat the Devils to make the playoffs? I can't.
It was the same story. The Rangers took 38 shots at Panther goalie Jacob Markstrom, he stopped 36. The Panthers fired 15 at Lundqvist, who stopped 13. The empty netter won the game. The Panthers stayed with the Rangers in all other aspects. Hits? 36-33, Rangers. Blocked shots? 17-15 Panthers. Power Plays? Back to normal for Rangers, 0-3. Florida was 1-2 and remember? They had the empty netter.
The coach was true to form. Girardi logged 27:52 and McDonagh 25:08. Sixth Dman Eminger got all of nine minutes. Meanwhile, the fourth line, yes there is a fourth line, saw limited ice team. Powe, 5:17; Kreider, 3:43; Asham 3:24, who got beat up by George Parros. Asham spent more time in the sin bin than on the ice.
So hopefully, "Nothing could be finer, than to be in Carolina......" will be beneficial for us. The Stealth GM is following the team around. His comments? "Never easy." Wow! What a statement. Never easy when you have an a-hole for a coach. Never easy when you are going on 13 years without a Stanley Cup despite having limitless money resources. Remember? "If I had the money the Rangers have, I would win the Cup every year." Be careful what you wish for.
And now Carolina! And the Devils? Hope not.
ICINGS: Ask you to check out a comment from the last blog by Andy. Andy lives on the West Coast and attended a Blue Jackets game. His comments are interesting and ones you will never see from our lame stream press in New York. Thanks Andy for the live update.
Bruins coach thinks Swayman in Leafs' heads
2 hours ago
No problem Pundit, happy to share with you and all the loyal readers. Top notch guys those two, i'll be pulling for them for life. Not afraid to speak the truth for sure.
It's sad that skilled players with heart are painted a certain way by our "coach" simply because they don't get a long. Watching the game yesterday on the Panthers broadcast they spent 5 minutes talking about how they couldn't believe the rangers did it, and that 95% of the time it's the coach who get's axed not the players when things aren't going so well.
Not this coach. Not this GM. You'll do it their way and you'll enjoy it. Or else...
Andy-
I read your comment from yesterday and wow! We knew we were right about that jackass coach but to have the guys confirm is nice, let's me know I'm not losing my mind. And thank you so much for asking about Sean, I'm so happy you did. I loved Gabys comment, I know they are friends and for him to stand behind Sean really means so much to me. Gaby and Dubi were 2 of my all time fav players and it hurts so much that they are not part of the rangers anymore. It's one thing to lose a guy in a trade when you are trying to improve the team but when you are consistently losing character guys because the coach is such a piece of crap its very hard to cope. I love the guys so much and I hate seeing them get treated so poorly and then to lose them, it kills because it feels like this damn guy comes out on top all the time. When he finally gets fired our guys will all be gone, I miss the group we used to have. Sather is incapable of doing his job so he just let's this tyrant make all the decisions.
And yes Andy, I'm impressed with the Jackets! I'm enjoying watching them play, they work hard, they have speed and they are aggressive. It's fun to watch and I'm glad Gaby, Dubi and Artie are a part of it and they can have some fun! Finally.
Another loss last night to the worst team in the NHL, there are no words. I feel lathargic or numb when I'm watching the game and I hate it. I want to enjoy my team and I can't. I hate our system, I hate how we sit back and wait, I hate how no game is ever supposed to be more important than another, I hate our pp, I hate everything. Im so mad, this guy has ruined our team.
Hey Andy thought you'd enjoy this... I wish we had a coach like this
http://bluejacketsxtra.dispatch.com/content/stories/2013/04/24/steady-at-the-helm.html
ANDY!
Oh man I loved your post. Thank you for sharing. It's always a good feeling when you have your instincts confirmed by the players. If you know what to ask them, they will usually tell you if your right or wrong. Over the years Jeanine and I have gotten responses like, "how did you know?" - "who told you that?" and "were you in the room?" If you know what signs to look for you can spot it and Torts was spotted by Jeanine a decade ago when he was our assistant and then by me more recently a few years ago, but once you see it, you just see it. Its sad but its true. The stabbing in the back of Mark Messier was my first experience. Jeanine and I met Bob Gutkowski at a book signing of Stan Fischler's a while back (long story but Stan invited us) and had some great conversation with him about what happened to Messier- long before the Rangers allowed the true story to come out- and he was blown away by how much we knew about it. He thought we knew someone on the inside but we told him that we had met Mark many times and we knew his character and that was the only thing that made sense. He told us we have great instincts and since then I have trusted them- in the world of the Rangers that is. If I could learn to trust them in all aspects of my life I could be a millionaire but that's a story for another blog lol! The point is, its a great feeling to get confirmation. I love Dubi and Gaby. Jeanine had it on good authority from a friend in Toronto that Dubi had issues with Torts so it doesn't surprise me in the least that Dubi said Torts has his own agenda. Something we have been saying for a long time but unfortunately for us and the players Rangers management is so poor he gets away with his selfish games and the team suffers for it.
So the Rangers lost to Florida. Both surprising and not surprising at the same time and I know you guys get that statement completely. It wasn't a good game at all no matter what the shots say. I saw tweets that said "don't jump off the bridge Ranger fans, Winnipeg will probably lose to the Habs" blah blah blah. The thing that people who tweet comments like that don't get is the people like us who can see the big picture are not jumping off any bridge. As a matter of fact my emotions rarely fluctuate so I, for one, certainly am not contemplating jumping anywhere anytime soon while we are stuck with this coach. The only jump I will consider is the train to Columbus so I can watch my team play hockey the way I always knew they could for a real coach lol! Sad days indeed.
Jeanine,
Yeah i feel your pain. Along with Mess, Richter, Giacomin and Bathgate are Dubi, Gabby, Cally and Aves at the top of my favorite rangers. Prusty is up there too :) But yes i know the devastating feeling of losing your favorites especially when it is so wrong and shady like it was for Mess, Gaby and Aves. I don't care what the organizations motives are, it's just plain wrong when it gets to a level it did with our boys. Anyway, i'm glad you enjoyed it and of course i had to ask about Sean, that's my boy! I met him in LA and NY and Sean is a damn nice guy. Pretty funny also :) After Gabby said that about Aves, Dubi said "ya know, last time i saw Seany he was on my lap and i was dressed as Santa at Richies house". Hilarious!
Thanks for the link to the article! I love that coach. He seems to have everyone in the rooms' respect and trust and he's been there what, a year or so? Hope he is a jack adams winner this year.
Jen,
Glad you enjoyed it as well! Funny you mention the story about people being so shocked that you know so much, like you're on the inside or something. It's like, well, if you love your team and players you're going to get to know them and their personalities and when they are feeling up and when they're down, you know? We talked and could see a lot of this happening, what, 2 months ahead of time? If you really care you're going to know when things are fishy, you know? So yeah, you and your sis should absolutely trust your instincts! Just cause we're fans doesn't mean we're the average fan, like the ones on twitter you talk about :) Dubi actually thanked me for coming out with the jerseys and showing the love. I think it felt good and out of the ordinary for them to have some fun with that situation for a little bit. Love your comment on the jump to Columbus, that team is awesome to watch!
At the end of the day we're stuck with this mess and it's hard for me, like Jeanine said, to get up for games when you hate the system and coach etc. But we'll find a way, because we are REAL Ranger fans that care about the players more than the blowhards calling the shots.That's what matters. Until tomorrow in sweet carolina! Which team will show up???
Ha! Andy I have a picture of Sean sitting on Dubi-Clause's lap, yes I do. I tried to paste in but I couldn't. :-(
I love Dubi, he's so funny Duuuuuuuuuuuuuubie
Oh Im so curious what that removed comment was lol!
HA, Jen, that was my comment that was removed. I made a typo so I reposted.
hahaha that's so funny...guess you thought someone was typing Torts is a *!&** and I cant stand his $#*!* and when I see him I'm going to *!&@#* ...didn't ya?
I was hoping that's what it was and not some brainwashed defender of his ha ha ha!