For what it is worth a trusted friend told me, and he got it from an insider, that getting rid of Renney was a calculated plan.

Just after the Dallas game, when the Avery speculation started to surface (when Sather agreed to let him recondition in Hartford), the “leaders” went to Sather and told him that the team was unanimously against taking Avery back. In addition, they told him that the players were tuning out Renney, felt stifled by the defensive system and wanted a change.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like heresay but this  just makes sense. I was told this information 3 weeks ago when everyone thought that Sather was going to fire Tom. More players then seemed to phone in periods and tank games. It was all very subtley done. Players totally disappeared. Go back and watch the games. The record stands for itself.

After the second post lockout season, I wanted to see Sather fore go signing big contracts for “marque” names and just bring up all the kids. So the Rangers don’t make the playoffs for a couple of years. They would have  gotten higher picks and stacked their deck like Pittsburgh and Washington had done. They would have had more time to mold their youth into better players.

We know this could never have happened because Sather was always under pressure from Dolan to put asses in seats. Sather needed to bring in money from Ranger playoff games to pay off  Dolan’s Knick debts. So Tom Renney continued the big contract juggling act. He got the team to the playoffs for three consecutive seasons when none of the media hockey minds expected him too.

At the end of the day, Dolan is really the one to blame. He has no interest in hockey other then to make money. Unfortunately, the Rangers are part of his Cablevision empire. Nothing will change because, in Sather, Dolan has found someone who puts asses in seats by hiring name players and causing controversy. Sather knows it’s all about the money.

Ron Greschner once gave me a piece of advise. When I asked him what he thought about the over-commercialization of hockey, he told me it’s all about the money. That being the case, the only way anything will ever change is if people stop giving Dolan their money. There was a backlash against Sather after he dealt Brian Leetch. Angry and bitter fans swore they wouldn’t give Dolan another dime as long as Sather was GM.

After the pre-lockout house cleaning, new subscribers came in because they wanted to be on the ground floor of the rebuild. Guess what? With Don Maloney and Tom Renney now gone, that rebuild is over. Those angry about what transpired this week may not re-up their subscriptions.  But, another group will replace them like heads cut off a Medusa.

That’s why I have followed Detroit. Sure Ilitch wants to make money. But that organization has something the Rangers will never have until Dolan and Sather are gone. The Red Wings have integrity and loyalty. They are loyal to their management and their players. In turn, their players do things like deferring salary to bring in other players to make the team better.

Players like Osgood put aside their pride to come back and play there. They reclaim guys like Darren McCarty, who was about as down and out as a hockey player can go. Too bad the Red Wings may founder because of the economic crisis in Michigan. They deserve better.

What options do Ranger fans have? In this day and age, it seems our only recourse is to blog, post on message boards and hope somehow our voices get heard. Chanting Fire Sather at games certainly hasn’t worked.

I am a Ranger season subscriber. Unfortunately, I still have to go to games and watch the Judases on this team continue to play. They turn my stomach. The only redeeming thing to watch is the kids. Hopefully they haven’t been too infected by the bad example that has been recently set for them.

Many may read this and write it off as the ravings of a bitter old woman. I have always trusted and followed my instincts about people and I usually haven’t gone too far wrong.

Posted under New York Rangers

Hopefully, this is the move Sather makes that will finally get him fired.

And, to those disloyal players currently on the Rangers (and they know who they are) who quit on Tom Renney and engineered his firing, enjoy your new head coach.  

Never mind bag skates and benching, Tortorella will call you out in the press and embarrass you publicly.

I can’t wait for the next time Torts tells Larry Brooks to go f*ck himself at a press conference.

Tortorella will throw chairs on the ice, verbally abuse officials, get fined and tossed out of games.

Sather, those players and Tortorella deserve each other. Dignity and respect has walked out the door with Renney.

This franchise is going to devolve into “Desperate Housewives”.

PS. I guess Avery isn’t in the plan after all. If he is, this will really turn into a three ring circus when Torts and his buddy Avery lock horns.

Posted under New York Rangers

Nine years of incompetence is long enough. How much longer is Dolan going to allow this over-the-hill fraud to continue to screw up this franchise with his lousy signings and poor draft picks?

The wrong man was fired today. Until Sather goes, and his bad contracts are bought out or traded if possible, nothing is going to change. Right now the Rangers are in the playoffs. If the Rangers fail to make the playoffs, Dolan must fire Sather.

The Isiah situation with the Knicks was allowed to fester for far too long. When is Dolan going to wake up and smell the coffee with Sather?  I’ll bet it won’t be before Sather costs the Dolans millions more by signing John Tortorella as his new head coach.

Posted under New York Rangers

Thanks Tom for all the good you have done while Head Coach of the Rangers. Good Luck in all your future endeavours. Blessings to you and your family.

Posted under New York Rangers

The reason I’m a Ranger fan is because my brother Billy was a Ranger fan. When I was a child, we  used to watch the Rangers at home on WWOR Channel 9 on our old black and white set. When Bill wasn’t watching  the Rangers at home, he would watch them at the Garden with his good friend, John Keane. Hockey was not a niche sport in Woodside and Sunnyside. It was played in the streets and watched at the old Garden.

On November 1, 1959, Bill was at the Garden for the Jacques Plante face mask game. Andy Bathgate, one of tonight’s honorees put a slapshot into the face of Plante. After being stitched up, Plante refused to take the ice without the mask.  The rest, as they say, is history.

Tonight, almost 50 years later, Bill and I will witness Bathgate and Howell go the rafters and join the other Ranger legends who have had their numbers retired. Some  fans say this is long overdue. Contrary to popular opinion, there are some Ranger alumni who still deserve to be honored by the organization. 

If they retired every number that deserved to be retired, the players would have to start wearing Roman Numerals.  I therefore put it to management to create some sort Ranger Hall of Fame inside the refurbished and/or new Garden. Have a select committee of fans and alumni to hear the petitions of the fans regarding a player they think should be honored.

Surely Ratelle and Hatfield are a lock. Brad Park, Ronnie Greschner, Duguay, John Vanbiesbrouck and the Maloney Brothers should be considered.

As for the current Rangers, let’s hope history doesn’t  repeat  itself tonight in this the third and penultimate game of the season between the Maple Leafs and the Rangers. The last time these teams met was, ironically, on November 1, 2008 in Toronto. The first place Rangers had the dreaded 2 goal lead going into the third period. They imploded in the third period giving up 5 unanswered goals to the Leafs and lost the game.

It was the first time in the young season that the Rangers were blown out. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be the last time. This game exposed all the weaknesses on this team that we have witnessed over and over again since. The Rangers have sputtered ever since and are now in a freefall.

They say that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Let’s hope the Rangers can get their act together long enough to win this game and avoid embarrassment on what should be a proud night in Ranger history.

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We learned this evening that Bob Gainey, GM of the Canadiens has taken the bull by the horns to stop the bleeding in Montreal. Rather then fire coach Guy Carbonneau, Gainey has assumed responsibility for his organization and is giving Alexei Kovalev some mandatory time off. 

Carbonneau, who is every bit as much on the hot seat as is Tom Renney and as was Michel Therrien, asked his GM if he could send Sergei Kostitsyn down to the minors. Imagine that. Carbonneau had to ask permission. So that’s how it works in Montreal?

Tom Renney is taking tremendous heat for not benching players. He does not make them accountable. Please. If Sather were as hands on as Bob Gainey he would sit Drury, Gomez, Naslund, Voros , Kalinin and Redden. Wait. That’s a 1/4 of the team. Whose gonna fill those spots? I guess that’s Tom Renney’s problem. 

My esteemed host on this site, Joe McDonald, is calling for Sather to come out and either fire Renney or give him his vote of confidence. Glen should say yea or nay as to whether Renney will be the coach until the end of the season.

I’ll go one better then Joe. I’m calling Sather out to man up and take responsibility for his bad personnel decisions and those bad contracts. I’m calling Sather out to do the honorable thing with regard to his coach, his players and the fans and make some decisions. Stop hiding up in your luxury suite.

Come on Glen. Are you going to let Bob Gainey and the Canadiens show the once great Glen Sather how to run a hockey club?

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I’ve basically run out of things to say about the Rangers and their current situation. But being the ever diligent observer, I’ve found someone who still has something left to say. Jim Dolan, Glen Sather,  Tom Renney and  the coaching staff and most importantly the players need to hear it.

I found this entry on the HF Boards on Monday. It was written by a poster named Lion Hound. This was his reaction to the game on Sunday against the Flyers. I will quote it in its entirety. Please keep in mind that this was written with the emotions we are all feeling, hurt, anger and disappointment. Please forgive the author for any spelling and syntax errors.

“This loss hit home pretty hard for me. At points of the game, I was so angry that I found myself holding back as I was about to either say or do something that I would later regret! Had seasons in my fam for 20 years now. Today was the first time I left (by my own power) before the game was over! For anyone else that was at the game, there were quite a few Flyer fans in the garden. Right in front of me were two, that were rubbing it in pretty good. I have no problem ribbin on fans when they come into the Garden, but I keep it freindly. Today, I was so pissed that I literally had to get up and leave. What made me most angry was the couple in front of me waiving goodbye, and standing and cheering when Henrik got pulled. In my younger days I think I would have dragged the guy by his hair and thrown him out myself, but…i guess in my older years I made it clear…”You’re winning the game, you are in our arena…enjoy the victory, but don’t provoke it…cause this can and will get ugly fast!” …After I said that, I sat back and just took a breath like…”Is this really worth it?”…

But as I left the arena, I looked around at all the little kids that were there today.(Day games always have a lot of children there)…but how are they going to understand when a fan gets up behind them screaming obsenities at Wade Redden, or Tom Renney? Monkey see monkey do…and I am pretty sure that all the dads there that went to the afternoon Matinee, dumped $200-$300 didn’t plan on taking thier kids to the game to have some loudmouth cursing up a storm to have a fire sale, to where the kid turns and asks his dad what the obsenities meant, and why is that guy yelling!…But the point is not to direct this at the fans. They are paying customers…but to me it is just terrible to see the the lazy uninspired play that they left on the ice today. I am not of the doom and gloom mode and try to stay on the positive side, but todays effort was putrid. And IMO this Organiation should be ashamed at what has transpired over the last 10 games or so.”

Every single person involved in the New York Rangers organization needs to read this. They need  to  realize that Lion Hound is one of their more supportive fans. For every fan like Lion Hound and myself, there are ten times as many mean spirited, nasty and angry fans out there who want Sather and Renney fired and a fire sale to ensue.

On a personal note, I would like to wish my husband a happy anniversary and thank him for  always being there for me and putting up with all my Ranger craziness.

Posted under New York Rangers

The Rangers actually followed the advice I gave them after their last game  against the Caps. The defense, and some of the forwards , actually used their bodies and hit their opposition. They made the Caps pay to touch the puck.

Granted, the Caps played without two of their best players, Kozlov and Semin, thereby making them easier to play against. But, their number one player, Alexander Ovechkin, was stymied all night by Ranger defensemen Mara and Staal.  AO was indeed growing more frustrated as the game went on. Holding the league’s leading scorer scoreless in regulation is no easy feat.

Not only did the Rangers take the body, they actually took some shots. Fans around me in 409 were feeling a little fatigued from all the goal celebrations.  For a team that has only scored 4 goals in their last 4 games, 4 goals in regulation was a pleasant surprise. Too bad the jubilance didn’t last too long.

After each hard fought goal, we saw the Rangers get scored on by the Caps with equal alacrity. I guess you have to give something to get something. If the Rangers are going think and play more offensively, it might come at the cost of  their defense first play. 

It just irks me that the Rangers always seem to get scored on late in periods.  Their heads seem to go out of the game as periods come to an end. The Caps goal at the end of the first period was the result of  the failure of  Gomez  to pick up the check on Fehr who was behind him. The Rangers were lucky to get out of the period without getting scored on again.

The Rangers tied the score at 3-3 in the second. They then scored a fourth goal to take the lead. With one minute left to play in the period, three Rangers were chasing Nylander with the puck. No one was near Green as he came off the bench.  Nylander dishes to Green and he scores his second goal of the game with 58 seconds left in the period.  C redit where due,  it was a great shot by Green. That made two long shots that Henrik missed. Very un-Henrik like.

The Rangers held the Caps to six shots in the third period but they had only nine themselves. Ordinarily that stat would seem good. But  the Rangers had a full four minute powerplay in which they only managed to get one shot on goal. One shot.  Truly sad.

The Rangers ratcheted up the entertainment value for that portion of the fan base that they continually bore. They earned two points for the fans who care about their position in the standings. Most importantly, they proved that they can win if they follow the game plan. Get shots on net and give and take hits to make plays.

Maybe  the threat of Avery coming back put the fear God (Glen) into them.  It’s amazing what can be done when most of the team shows  up.  Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy were each a +1 tonight. Woo-Hoo.

I hope the geniuses that run the NHL were watching tonight. The two bouts at the beginning of the game clearly illustrate why there is a need for fighting in hockey. When a gorilla like Brashear tries to set the tone before two minutes have gone by, your team needs to answer the bell. 

Colton Orr did just that. I gave the bout to Colton on points. We don’t have to play the Caps again in the regular season but we might see them in the playoffs. Hopefully a message was sent. Colton can take Brashear.

Voros was the clear winner of his fight  but most fans still wonder why he is out on the ice in the first place. He was a -2. He had one shot one goal and two hits. Spending 5 minutes in the box doesn’t show toughness nor is it an indication of value.

If  it’s all about putting pucks in the net, Voros should sit and Prucha should play.

Posted under New York Rangers

There is much scuttlebutt around the blogosphere tonight saying that Tom Renney has coached his last game for the Rangers. If  true, tomorrow will be  a sad day.

Tom Renney has been the second winning-est coach in Ranger history.   He has coached this franchise back to respectability since 2005. The Rangers have reached the playoffs every season since he took over after a drought of 8 years.

The Rangers are currently10 games over .500. They are in 6th place in the Conference  with 29 games remaining.  His record speaks for itself:

Renney’s Coaching Record 2004 to 2009

Games Coached 318, Wins-162, Loses-96, OTL 40, Playoffs-3

Regardless of what anyone thinks of Renney, Sather is the architect of this team. Sather is the one who signed all these bad contracts. He is the one who should take the fall. We all know he won’t. He’s the Isiah of Hockey.

The Penguins lost 9 games in January. Everyone was saying Therrien had lost that team. He has Crosby, Fleury and Malkin among others. Do the Rangers have these caliber players?  The Penguins lost Hossa and Malone in the off season and Gonchar has been out injured. That’s their excuse. Therrien’s still there.

The Stanley Cup Champions just lost 5 games in a row but no one accused Babcock of losing his team. Babcock’s team is 1000% more talented then these Rangers. Babcock still has his job.

Does Renney have cup finalists on his team like Babcock or Therrien do? We all know that answer. The Rangers, as presently constructed, will  be lucky to make the playoffs.

I still say it’s the players. They didn’t give up last night. They never came to play in the first place. Maybe they are riddled with the flu but the fan base is sick of excuses.

Firing Renneywill make some fans feel better but it won’t turn things around this season. Players need to be moved or waived, starting with Gomez and Redden.

I say make Renney GM and get rid of Sather. Nine years of Sather’s malfeasance is enough.

If Renney is fired, I won’t be renewing my season subscription next year or any year until Sather is gone for good.

Posted under New York Rangers

In the war that a regular hockey season can become, sometimes teams find themselves at the mercy of the fourth estate. By my reckoning, just such a happenstance has befallen the Rangers. Beat reporters are no longer quoting players. They are “interpreting” their remarks.

Case in point, Andrew Gross of Ranger Rants and Jane McManus of Rangers Report. Today on their respective blogs, both writers alluded to remarks made by Markus Naslund with regard to Ranger team “chemistry” without benefit of “quotation marks”. I will give both these writers the benefit they denied Naslund.

Gross

“New lines are a part of life in the NHL but Markus Naslund today mentioned that it’s time for the team to start developing some line chemistry.”

McManus

“Markus Naslund said today after practice that he’d like to see lines with a little more chemistry, and he might get to see how that works as soon as tomorrow night in Dallas. ”

 What did Naslund actually say? Which blogger interpreted Naslund’s remarks in their intended context. Judging by Gross’ interpretation, Naslund’s words can be read almost as an indictment against Tom Renney for continually changing  lines in an effort to find chemistry.

McManus’ interpretation illustrates a player who wishes for more team chemistry, perhaps starting with himself. In and of  itself, her spin is innocuous and fairly characteristic of player “hockeyspeak”.

Taking a player or coaches remarks out of context and not using direct quotes is a dangerous game. In Gross’ case, he fuels the fire of a disgruntled fan base who might interpret his report as evidence of discontent and fractiousness in the Ranger locker room. That’s the last thing the Rangers need at this time.

Both reporters also regaled their readers of  Tom Renney’s reported “bag skate” yesterday. They characterized it as a punishment  for player inattention at practice. That’s their take.

I put it to them that perhaps since the Rangers have the flu running through the locker room, maybe Renney wanted to see how his players would react to the exertion. Nothing like a good skate to sweat out what ails you. I guess this may not have occurred to them.

Today, both reporters listed the lines combinations that worked in practice. 

 Aaron Voros-Scott Gomez-Naslund
Brandon Dubinsky-Chris Drury-Nikolai Zherdev
Nigel Dawes-Lauri Korpikoski-Ryan Callahan
Fredrik Sjostrom-Blair Betts-Colton Orr

Given their lack of production, I am sure some fans will be up in arms to see Voros and Gomez on the so-called “first line” with Naslund.  And, still others will be incensed not to see Prucha’s name listed.

Maybe it’s time for Tom Renney to have closed practices. If reporters are going to take players remarks and apply their own interpretation, maybe they shouldn’t be there.

Maybe player health status and line combinations should remain privileged information. Who is practicing or not practicing and with whom should strictly remain the knowledge of the coaching staff. The opposition certainly doesn’t need to know and lately some fans are becoming the opposition.

In the war that is the regular hockey season, sometimes loose lips do sink ships.

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