My Blueshirt Heaven :: A New York Rangers Blog

Well, the other shoe has dropped. The ex-coach of the Vancouver Canucks is the new coach of the Rangers.  And, quite possibly, the ex-coach of the Rangers could be the new coach of the Vancouver Canucks.

What I’d liked to know is, could we have traded them for each other and gotten draft picks or cap relief? I jest.

Alain Vigneault, pronounced Al-Lane Vin-Yo not Alun Vig-nalt, is the first francophone coach the Rangers have had since Michel Bergeron. He had a fairly successful career in Vancouver coaching the Canucks.

In his seven years in Vancouver, Vigneault’s Canucks missed the playoffs only once. He brought the team to the first round once and the second round three times. Vancouver lost in the Stanley Cup final to Boston in 2011. Not too shabby.

But for the inconsistent play of Roberto Luongo, Vigneault and Vancouver may have gone farther then the record shows. Se la vie.

And, although the “Messiah-ites” will be bitching and moaning because Messier was passed over, I say better someone with NHL head coaching experience then Messier with none.

Sather felt that the Rangers needed a coach who might bring more immediate results to a team with a goaltender with a decreasing shelf life. Kudos to Glen for not going with Messier.

The Rangers need to put it together and get it done in the next three years. Let’s hope hiring Vigneault and throwing a boatload of cash at him will keep the King Henrik on Broadway until the end of his career.

Bonne Chance, Alain!

Let’s Go Rangers!

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Yesterday afternoon, in one of the most unexpected turn of events in recent Ranger history, I was flabbergasted to hear that John Tortorella and the Rangers are going their separate ways.

I haven’t felt this giddy since learning that Brendan Shanahan was signed as a free agent in 2006. One of my co-workers, seeing my face as I took the call, asked if I was quite well. I know my jaw dropped and I am sure all the color drained out of my face.

A mere three days after writing my end of season column, wherein I opined that if the Rangers wanted to retain Lundqvist and attract better players they must fire Tortorella, Glen Sather pulled the trigger.

Several members of the press and people within the MSG milieu had come out and said they felt Torts wasn’t going anywhere. So much for inside information.

The press, Larry Brooks in particular, are having a field day claiming it was Lundqvist coming out and saying that he was in no hurry to re-sign that lead directly to the firing. It was Lundqvist spearheading the other players with negative Break Up Day interviews that turned the tide against Torts.

To that I say BUSHWA! How dare people lay that kind of responsibility at Henrik Lundqvist’s feet. Just because Henrik said he’s in no hurry to re-sign shouldn’t be taken as an immediate assumption that he threw Torts under the bus.

Torts threw himself under the bus. His chickens came home to roost. He reaped what he sowed. At the end of the day, firing was the price Torts had to pay for being an obstinate, intransigent coach.

Henrik and his agents know how the game works. If he is going to stay in New York, he deserves to negotiate for the most he can get. He’s seen some guys get overpaid up the wazoo only to come here, sit on their asses and under perform.

If Sather and Dolan can piss away millions on bad signings like Holik, Gomez, Drury and Redden, they better be able to write a carte blanche cheque to Henrik Lundqvist. They’d better not expect a home town discount.

The people in the Rangers organization aren’t stupid. They monitor the blogs and the message boards. Despite the fact that most of us think that they don’t give a shit about what “the Garden Faithful” think, maybe they do.

Maybe they saw apathy and ambivalence displayed by the fans who were sick of not having a powerplay, of seeing players going down with injuries with all the shot blocking, of being bored out of their skulls watching Tortorella’s no scoring, safe is death hockey.

For these fans, Tortorella’s firing is like an answered prayer. There now might be hope for the future. A ray of light that Henrik Lundqvist can be persuaded to stay, that the Rangers can be a contender in the next few years.

John Tortorella did some good things while he was here but he also did some bad things. That’s is why he is out of a job. It’s not because Henrik Lundqvist willed it to be so. He may be the King but Sather calls the shots.

P. S. Including himself, since taking over as General Manager almost 14 years ago, Sather has hired and fired seven coaches. No other GM in the league would be able to retain his job with the record. It begs the question, does Sather have something on Dolan? Photos?

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I find it hard to believe that some fans are disappointed and expected the Rangers to make it to the Eastern Conference Final. It makes me wonder if I was watching the same team all season.

And, while people are going to blame certain players, play the “what if” game about injuries and trash the transactions and trades made by Glen Sather, the bottom line is that the failure to get past the second round AGAIN can be attributed to one common denominator, poor coaching.

I wrote my Time’s Up Torts rant about two months ago. Nothing has changed. I won’t keep repeating it. Why beat a dead horse? The Rangers are out of the playoffs for all the reasons I previously wrote plus a few doozies more (Tort’s throwing Carl Hagelin under the bus/Torts finally benching the under performing Richards, etc).

http://www.myblueshirtheaven.com/2013/03/31/times-up-torts/

With only  one more season left to his contract, Sather has to try and resign Lundqvist to a long term deal this off season. If Lundqvist is smart, he’ll hold out until he is a UFA to see what is going down, coaching and personnel wise. If Torts stays, Henrik should walk in 2014. He should get the hell out dodge as soon as he can and sign with a real contender.

With Henrik gone and no decent prospects in goal, the Rangers may remain mired in mediocrity (or worse) for the next decade. Sather must fire John Tortorella to maintain the credibility of the franchise. No free agents will want to sign or re-sign with the Rangers if they feel the Rangers are no longer a viable franchise with Tortorella at the helm .

If Torts remains, legit players will avoid the New York Rangers like the plague.

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One of the posters on HockeyRodent’s message boards, who goes by the handle “Chimp”, had this to say about the New York Rangers in particular and the NHL in general. I asked if I could quote him,  Since he didn’t say no, I took his nonresponse as approval. This person is from Europe. Not sure which country.  I believe it gives one some insight into what non-North Americans think and speaks volumes. For what it’s worth:

“It feels a little bit weird, but totally right. I’ve been watching the NHL since 2005 and the entertainment value has seriously gotten worse year after year.

I’m sort of bailing ship right in the middle of the playoffs. Watching that World Championships tournament was a serious wakeup call for me. Less hitting, yes, but goddamn, they actually played some hockey. They passed the puck, connected with more than 2(!!) passes in a row, used the D-men to restart the attack to try to enter the zone with puck possession, the cycling game actually lead to something constructive, I just loved it.

No grinding along the boards for 50 minutes where nothing happens. No dumping the puck for the automatic backcheck. More than 3 legit scoring chances during an entire game. Not 0/2000 on the PP. Not blocking 90% of every shot fired. Not horrible ice where the puck bounces around like it has its own life.

Today’s NHL and the Rangers/ Boston especially? It now feels as agony to watch them play. I couldn’t even bear myself to watch game 2 even when it was an evening game here, because I knew it would suck from a quality standpoint, I knew I would be disappointed, I knew I would be frustrated and I knew I would not be entertained. It has been the same feeling this whole season.

I’ll see when I get an interest in Rangers hockey again, perhaps when Torts is fired and/ or when Bettman is. Because the NHL today is unwatchable from an entertainment standpoint, even as a hardcore hockey fan. Torts is single handedly sucking the interest of watching the Rangers play out of me (well obviously not true after that rant, but coaches like him still needs to go).

I’ll think I get my beauty sleep instead. I’ll chime in once and then and check how it goes, but no way in hell I’m watching another minute of NHL hockey like it’s played today. Something seriously needs to be done, because I honestly can’t waste sleep watching this.”

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The Rangers are on the brink of elimination by the Washington Capitals on Mother’s Day. That’s just wrong. In this crazy hockey orb we all inhabit, we come across some really funny people. One of my Facebook/HockeyRodent friends, Chris Pell, posted this sentiment this morning. I’d like to share it with you:

“The Washington Capitals don’t even have Mothers. They hatch from spores, and live off rain water and mold. The Rangers can’t lose to these freaks on Mother’s Day. Do it for Mrs. Stepan!”

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there, especially to the all the hockey moms. Without the Mrs. Staals, Mrs. Callahans, Mrs. Lundqvists and Mrs. Stepans of the world where would the Rangers be?

Mrs. Richards and Mrs. Nash need to call their sons and tell them to get their acts together and pot a few plants for them for Mother’s Day.

Congratulations to Jack Capuano and the New York Islanders and all their mothers. They put together a hell of a season and a respectable playoff run. Next year can only get better for them.

I offer no congratulations to the Pittsburgh Penguins. They also were hatched from spores…

Let’s Go Red Wings!

LET’S GO RANGERS!!!

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Looking like he was about to cry in the post game interview, Ryan  McDonagh took the weight of the Rangers overtime loss all on his shoulders. Mac Truck put the puck over the glass allowing the Capitals the powerplay opportunity. As opposed to the Rangers, the Capitals have one of the the most lethal powerplays in the league. Law of averages they would finally score.

There is something positive to be taken from this game 2 loss to the Capitals this afternoon. The Rangers were the equal of the Caps 5 on 5.  The players did there best but unfortunately their failure to score is not on the players. It’s on the coaching staff.

It’s on John Tortorella and Mike Sullivan for throwing out Brad Richards on the point on the first unit. It’s on John Tortorella for the mind boggling line juggling. It’s on John Tortorella for not putting Stepan with Nash. It’s on John Tortorella for burying Chris Kreider. Tortorella should be the one choking back the tears, not Ryan McDonagh.

The Craps have to win four games. The Rangers can come home and win the next two. Nothing is over yet. I wouldn’t be so quick to write these Rangers off. They were the equal of the Craps in almost every phase of the game today save for the powerplay. The Rangers may still prevail in spite of Tortorella and Sullivan.

Hold Your Head Up – Argent

And if it’s bad
Don’t let it get you down, you can take it
And if it hurts
Don’t let them see you cry, you can take it

Hold your head up, hold your head up
Hold your head up, hold your head high

And if they stare
Just let them burn their eyes on you moving
And if they shout
Don’t let them change a thing what you’re doing

Hold your head up, hold your head up
Hold your head up, hold your head high

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If the Rangers want to win tomorrow afternoon, they need to take a page out of the Islander’s playbook and take the body.

After going down 3-1 in the first period, the Islanders came back to tie the game because they refused to back down. They did it by finishing their checks and not taking any crap from the Penguins.

Kyle Okposo destroyed Matt Niskanen for leveling Matt Moulson at center ice. Way to go Kyle. The Rangers should be made to watch film of this. This is the way you defend a team mate and make a dirt bag like Niskanen pay. The Islanders scored on the next shift.

The Rangers need to take the body, finish their checks and put a big time hurtin’ on Alexander Rasputin & Co. tomorrow. Nash has a giant body but shies away from contact, as does Richards and most every player on the team (except Asham and Callahan). You gotta take a hit to make a play. You hear that, Dan Girardi? Ryan Mcdonagh?

The Rangers lost by the score of 3-1 last night. The Islanders came back in the second period to tie the Penguins at 3-3 killing off a 3.5 minutes of  penalty time at the end of the period. The Islanders pounded the snot out of Pittsburgh in the second. Strait even got a nice hit on the Cry Baby. He didn’t give a crap about Crosby’s full cage to protect his glass jaw.

The Rangers should knock Ovechkin down on that giant ass pad he has protruding  uncovered half way up his back. Rule 9.5 says that’s a penalty. Tortorella should call him out if the Rangers get behind.

If the Rangers want to win, they better come out banging tomorrow. Screw the officials, screw the penalties and screw Tortorella if he benches anyone for getting a penalty for playing old time hockey.

The Rangers need to be meaner and hungrier. They didn’t look like they really wanted it last night. In homage to my young friends, Ron and Bob Doda, “Put him in a body bag” should be the Rangers matinee mantra manana.

The Islanders won 4-3 because they never gave up. Good on them.

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When  I look back on this half-season, it reminds me of the relationship between Miss Adelaide and Nathan Detroit in “Guys and Dolls”. Nathan always scamming, running his “oldest established permanent floating crap game in New York”. Adelaide always disappointed because Nathan never gets her to the alter.

The Rangers making the playoffs was certainly like a Nathan Detroit crap shoot. And, like Miss Adelaide, Ranger fans thought they’d be left at the playoff alter again, another shot at the Stanley Cup like a spinster’s day dream.

How far will the Rangers go in the playoffs? Las Vegas odds makers give the Rangers 16 to 1. The  Penguins and the Blackhawks 4 to 1. Harry the Horse is being generous to the Rangers. He’s got the Icelanders at 33 to 1.

So, in my best, nasally, Miss Adelaide voice, I’ll sing my part of the duet with the Rangers:

Adelaide:

You promise me this, you promise me that,

you promise me anything under the sun

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This evening on Twitter, Sean Avery blasted John Tortorella:

“Fire this CLOWN, his players hate him and wont play for his BS”

Derek Stepan’s response:

“I don’t agree with Avery’s tweet at all, no. I think it’s safe to say that all 23 guys on our roster would say that’s not the case.”

Okay, if Stepan is telling the truth ( that the players don’t feel this mess is on Torts), then logically the fault must be on the players. It’s easy for Stepan try and deflect blame from Torts but the buck has got to stop somewhere.

Granted Avery hates Tortorella but deep down he is still a hockey player. He can read and analyze what’s happening on the ice and behind the bench way better the any of us mere fans.

You don’t have to be a rocket surgeon to see what’s happening. Torts has been routinely outcoached. Every team in the league has the Rangers scouted and knows how to keep them to the outside and beat them along the boards.

Tortorella has misused players (Gaborik in particular) and emasculated others. He’s propping up players (Richards) who aren’t putting in the effort or doing what they are getting paid to do. He isn’t teaching the rookies, he’s screwing with the poor kid’s heads. He benches anyone who makes a mistake.

What about Tortorella’s mistakes? What’s with the continual line juggling? Why isn’t he rolling four lines when he has the players to do so? Why is he wearing down the better players with his bench shortening? And what about the coaching staff’s biggest mistake of all, the worst powerplay in the league?

It’s time for the “Fire Torts” chants to reign down in the Garden. It’s time for the fans to start unfurling “Fire Torts” banners. He’s had his chance. Let’s get someone (anyone) else in now and see how the players respond. Time to reevaluate the players we have in the system with a view towards the future. This season is over as far as I’m concerned.

You all may hate Sean Avery but he’s calling it as he sees it. He’s not the only one. Dave Maloney has been critical of Torts too. What axe has Dave to grind? I give Dave credit for not pushing the Garden’s Kool Aide on the fan base the way Rosen and Micheletti do.

I’ve held my tongue until now to be fair and to see if things would turn around. They haven’t, so I’m not.

Times Up Torts.

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Like Marc Staal’s mother, I am sick with worry over the injury her son sustained in last night’s win over the Flyers. And no, I’m not worried about how it will effect the Rangers position in the standings. I’m worried about Marc’s well being.

When I saw him get hit with that puck, I knew he was severely injured. I was shaking with fear for this young man. I could only guess what his mother was feeling.

Being the mother of two daughters, I constantly worry about them. Are they doing well? Are they safe? No matter how old they are, parents are always upset when their children are injured or in danger.

I have watched Marc Staal since his first game in a Ranger uniform. It was at the first preseason game after the 2004-05 lockout at the Nassau Coliseum. I sat right next to Marc in the first row on the glass. He was no more then a foot away from me on the visitor’s bench.

He was sent down to the WolfPack at the start of the regular season but I could see the greatness in him on that night in Nassau. From the very  beginning, Staal has more then delivered on his promise. He’s shut down the best scorers in the league.

Ranger fans have watched this boy grow up. Marc Staal came to us as an eighteen year old kid barely out of high school. He has grown into a great player and a fine young man. Staal, Callahan, Girardi, Lundqvist, Del Zotto, Stepan are all like sons to us “older” Ranger fans. They are home grown. I even look out after our boys that have moved on.

As a mother and a concerned fan, I implore the NHL to make visors mandatory. I beg all players to starting using a visor immediately, NHL mandate or no. Your fans love you. We don’t ever want to see anyone hurt or have their careers ended when a visor could have saved you.

My thoughts and prayers are with Marc. I wish him a speedy recovery and hope he has not sustained any long term injury.

But, my heart goes out to Marc’s mother (and his father). I cannot imagine the worry four sons have caused them throughout the years.

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