I’m not talking about the M. Night Shyamalan film. I’m talking about John Tortorella’s “Structure” sign that he hung in the Rangers locker room to motivate his players. Torts, like Joaquin Phoenix’s character Merrill in the film, obviously is wearing a hat made out of aluminum foil. No one can figure out what’s going on inside his head. I know I certainly can’t. Apparently, neither can his players.

If Torts calls what happened on the ice last night in Atlanta “structure”, he needs to look up the word in the dictionary. Judging by what happened last night, Torts hung up a “chaos” sign in the locker room, not “structure”. After the going up 3-0 in the first period on a lackluster performance by Johan Hedberg, the Rangers were out played, out hit, out hustled and out brained by the Thrashers.

Having played the night before, the Thrashers were rope-a-doped by the Rangers in the first half of the first period. The Thrashers were unable to come all the way back. but it wasn’t for a lack of trying. And, the Rangers almost let their hosts do just that with their disorganized and chaotic defense. I got a few signs for Torts to hang up in the locker room. Back Check. Hit. Shoot. Score. Hustle. Fight. Cojones.

Speaking of cojones, congrats to Brandon Dubinsky for showing some sack by going after Boulton. Cap’n Puss in Boots goes over to the kid and chastises him for sticking up for himself. That’s really rich. Dubi would be eligible for social security before Drury would stick up for him or anyone. Oh Yeah, they need the points now. God forbid anyone put the team at a disadvantage by taking a penalty.

Recall that it was Captain Milquetoast who went over to Avery and told him to knock it off when Avery was harassing Marty, waiving his stick in front of him and prompting the Avery Rule. And, while we are on the subject, Tortorella ain’t gonna get an “Avery Effect” with Sean’s ass warming the bench.

Sean provides the spark that has gotten the Rangers fired up in past playoff runs. Sitting him is certainly going to make for boring hockey. What the hell do they have to lose? It’ not like they are going to make the playoffs anyway. I say let the dogs (Avery) out and go down fighting.

Finally, the single most important sign Torts should have had in the locker room all season is Renney’s “Six Points in Five Games” sign. Maybe if Torts and the Team had paid attention to that sign they wouldn’t find their asses in a sling now.

Is it April yet?

No matter that the cigar chomping President and General Manager of the New York Rangers we all love to hate was away from his 2 Penn Plaza Ivory Tower and couldn’t see the discontent of the Garden Faithful firsthand. Our point was made and, by all accounts, MSG got the message loud and clear. 

Sources tell me that Sather’s minions were looking down from 2 Penn and counting heads on the picket line. They were watching and monitoring  traffic on various and sundry Ranger websites and messageboards. Clearly this demonstration rattled a few cages in the front office. 

All things considered that is about all one could ask for. The organizers and attendees are not delusional. I’m sure we all know that Sather won’t be fired or retire because of a few hundred disgruntled fans walking a picket line. But 180 fans represents 1% of the18, 200  fans in the Garden. A one percent response rate is a mass marketer’s measure for success.

Kudos to Mike Zippo and the other organizers for hanging tough and getting this rally off the ground. Many thanks to all the fans who showed up to join us. Your passion and commitment to your hockey team does you all proud. 

James Dolan may own this team and Glen Sather may run it but at the end of the day it is the rank and file fans that make the New York Rangers one of the most profitable franchises in the league. 

It would serve Dolan and Sather well to remember that.

Fire Sather Rally

March 7, 2010

 5pm

East side of 7th Avenue between 31st and 32nd Street

Tired of your team being mired in mediocrity for the last decade? Tired of  bad contracts, moronic signings and the stupid draft picks? Tired of increasing prices and decreasing quality? Tired of having to pay as much for playoff tickets as for a full season subscription? Tired of having to re-subscribe before knowing who will be on the team? Tired of watching the softest team in the NHL?

It’s time that all Ranger fans band together and let our voices be heard. James Dolan and the management, coaches and players of the New York Rangers need to know how you feel.

The time for suffering  in silence is over. Our opinions do count! Come out tomorrow and let your voices be heard.

Finally, another player with more class and credibility then Crosby called Cindy out last night. Crosby took umbrage. Henrik  Lundqvist, the mild mannered world class goaltender for the Rangers, accused Crosby of diving to his face. Crosby, whining little baby that he is, lashed out and cross checked Lundqvist to the head.

I am sick to death of Gary Bettman, his officials  and the media fellating Crosby. The referees swallowed their whistles for the entire third period last night. They swallowed their whistle during the overtime while the Penguins were tackling Ranger players left and right. Then, Wes McCauley makes  a weak, bullshit, hooking call on Redden to give the Penguins the powerplay and thus the win in overtime. 

What I would like to know is why one expendable Ranger,  Boyle for instance, didn’t go over to Crosby and punch him in the face at the end of the game? Knocking out a few of Cindy’s teeth would be worth the suspension.  We have no more games left against the Penguins but then I doubt anyone else on this Ranger team, other then Dubinsky or Henrik, would have the cojones to go after Cindy.

The Rangers probably won’t make the playoffs but I’ll be rooting for any team or player that will knock out Baby Crosby and the Penguins.

Commenting on the Olympics would take up too much time and space on this blog, so I’ll spare you all my diatribe. If you really care about what I thought about figure skating and hockey, go look at the Olympic threads on HockeyRodent’s messageboards. It’s over and the wrong team won the Gold medal. The only burning question I have about these Olympics is “why hasn’t Chris Drury ever played for the Rangers with the same amount of energy and passion as he played for Team USA?  

Now we have the last 20 games of this Ranger season to endure. Short of a miracle, the Rangers will not make the playoffs. The Rangers currently sit in tenth place in the Eastern Conference with 63 point. They are separated from Montreal, in eighth place, by one point with one game in hand. If 94 points is indeed the magic number to attain a playoff berth, the Rangers essentially need to win 16 out of their last 20 games to reach that last spot.

With John “Run and Gun” Tortorella at the helm, the odds of the Rangers going on a “Renney” run to  the finish line are long. On the season, the Rangers are a -11 in Renney’s “six points in five games” model. Last time I looked, Sean Avery is currently a Ranger.  He can’t be added to provide an Avery effect. Frankly, I’m afraid of what Sather might do to spark a playoff run.

His latest coup was to pick up Alex Auld to back up Henrik. If Henrik really has some sort of groin injury that has been plagueing him most of the season, Auld might be a good acquisition to backstop the Rangers until their first tee time on April 12th. Unless Sather can waive, unload or send down Redden, Rozsival, Drury (insert name here) at the trade deadline, I pray God he doesn’t do anything stupid by trading the Ranger’s future for a quick fix now. There is no quick fix for now.

The next most important move for Ranger fans is to wholeheartedly support Mike Zippo’s ”Fire Sather” movement by signing his online petition and/or attending the “Fire Sather” Rally outside the Garden this Sunday before the Rangers vs Buffalo game.

Fire Sather Petition: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/firesather/

Fire Sather Rally Information:

 http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=272851463916&ref=ts

The stunt actually could have backfired and distracted the attention of the team away from the job at hand. The Rangers had managed to tie the score on Avery’s penalty shot goal and Prospal’s put home in the slot. It was an ill-timed and misjudged bit of tom foolery, to say the least. 

Erik Christiansen actually had a conversation on the bench with Vinnie Prospal about it.  Christiansen then went on to score the next two goals to give the Rangers the D2GL. He obviously didn’t care that some stupid guy got dumped by his girlfriend in front of 18,200 fans. It didn’t damaged his young psyche. I wonder if the same can be said about all the little children in attendance?

“Mommy, why did the lady get mad at the nice man who sent her the pretty card on the big screen?” What would you tell your child.  “Gee, Jimmy, the man shouldn’t have asked the lady such a question unless he was sure what her answer would be.” Please.

This was a 1pm game. There are always lots of kids in the Garden for matinees. Instead of hiring two actors to fake a marriage proposal, maybe MSG should have spent that money giving children a souvenir instead of a confusing and unwholesome memory at what might have been their first Ranger game. 

Even some of the most cynical and hardened denizens of the Blue Seats (the Homo Larry and Potvin Sucks chanters) thought it unfunny and downer. If this stunt was indeed staged by MSG, the employees responsible need to be fired. While they are at it, they should fire Sather, too.

I am a native born American citizen of Irish, English, French Canadian and Native American descent and as such I was displeased by every single aspect of this spectacle. None more so then the insult to Irish/Celtic music and dance they disgracefully depicted.

In the prelude to this segment, the NBC narrators explained that the creative “minds” behind this “show” were inspired by what they saw in the many pubs of Newfoundland. It’s one thing to make “Newfies” the butt of every joke in Canada. It’s quite another to insult the ethnic customs and culture of the majority of the population of the Maritime Provinces on national television at an Olympic games.

Bob Costas tried to bolster this nightmare by asking the viewing audience to keep in mind that the Winter Olympic opening ceremonies are not meant to be as opulent as at the summer games, ie Beijing. Sorry Bob, but no amount of sugarcoating can get me to accept this mess as entertainment.

I am going to watch the entire program but I don’t expect it to get any better. At least they got one thing right by acknowledging the tragic death of the Georgian luger. Not even the sight of the Great One lighting the Olympic Caldron can save this program for me.

By the way, the Rangers beat the Penguins in overtime in Pittsburgh tonight after losing Del Zotto and Gaborik only playing for four minutes. Big Whoop. Like they’re really going to make the playoffs.

The first thing I saw when I could access my email was an invitation from “Ranger Nation” to sign a Fire Sather petition and to attend their rally on March 7th to express the discontent of the fan base with the owernship and management of the New York Rangers. Excuse me, but do the organizers think such activities will really help. Like Marie Antoinette, Dolan’s simple answer to cries of the subscribers and fans will be a predictable “let them eat ….”.

I wholeheartedly support and agree with the sentiments of the organizers and the supporters of the “Fire Sather” protest in principle. In practice, they need to offer positive solutions to improve the lamentable situation the Rangers find themselves in. I agree with Jess Rubenstein when he cautioned the protesters not to compromise their credibility by turning this rally into an obscenity filled slanging match against Dolan, Sather, Tortorella, the players, (insert name here).

Unfortunately, even if the protest organizers come up with the most lucid, cogent plan to turn the franchise around by firing Sather, they do not realize that the future of the franchise is a fait accompli. My intuition told me so at one of the first preseason games where I saw Mike Keenan follow Mark Messier out of the Geico Suite and get on the elevator by Section 409.

If Sather retires at the end of the season to save face or if Dolan somehow does get sick of defending the decade long malfeasance of his mastemind and fires Sather, Dolan/Sather will tap Mark Messier to take over as GM. Moose will turn to Keenan and his old friends to help him “turn the franchise around” Graves will be a VP, maybe Assistant GM . Maybe Leetch could be an Assistant Coach running defense. Dolan’s only recourse will be to spin “the ‘94 heros taking charge” to retain subscribers next season. Dolan’s made huge bucks with his dog and pony show number retirement ceremonies. Dolan had nothing to do with the 94 Cup but he continually milks it for every dime and good feeling he can to disguise a failing franchise.

I would put money on Messier replacing Sather.  I agree with the HockeyRodent. See his three part rant called “Entitlement” on 01/31/10. If the “Reign of the Moose” does come to pass, it will be the worst thing to happen to the franchise since the Ratelle/Park trade to Boston. Dolan either won’t exert the effort or doesn’t have the intelligence to do the right thing for his own franchise. He’s a bad owner.

Dolan needs to clean MSG of Sather and his cronies and rebuild his franchise. More’s the pity that Don Maloney was squeezed out and Tom Renney forced out by Sather’s inepititude. I do not intend any disrespect to Messier, Graves, Leetch or any other of the 94  team who might become involved with running the franchise if Sather goes. It’s just that they are still too close to Sather. They are not ready now. I do not believe the future of the franchise should be handed over to individuals who’d be receiving on the job training.

We can’t overcome
We can’t overcome
We can’t overcome today
Deep in my heart I don’t believe that
We will overcome someday

Instead of fighting his players, Torts let them be themselves for a change. Entering the second period down by two goals to a team that always has a way of making them look foolish, the Rangers decided collectively that they were as mad as hell and weren’t going to take any more BS from the Habs or the officials.

How much more evidence does one need to realize that this league has it in for the Rangers then Montreal’s second goal. Just as the “War Room” in Toronto made a terrible call by not demanding to see all the angles on the Flyer goal last week in Pittsburgh, all the replays showed that the second Montreal goal last night was knocked in with a high stick by Gionta.

This game had disaster written all over it from the moment Sean Avery was bogusly called for boarding less then ten seconds into the first period. In fact, it looked like the Canadiens were being set up by the officials to be to benefactors of the league’s blatant bias against Sean.  Instead of benching Avery and reigning him in, Tortorella actually let loose the reigns and gave Sean his head. It cued every player on the team to get fired up and stop playing soft, reticent hockey. How else can you explain a long absent snarl rising to the surface of most player’s games last night?

Okay, so Tortoella also recognized that the “Dubinsky to wing” experiment wasn’t the greatest idea. If playing center means Brandon will have two goals a night, he needs to stay put at center for the rest of the season between Prospal and Gaborik. Maybe Tortorella actually paid attention to Ron Duguay on Hockey Night Live on Saturday when the “Coiffed One” sincerely implored that Torts keep two lines together for more then a few shifts per game. Stop with the Ranger Puck Player Shuffle already, John.

Either he received a phone call from Ken Gernander asking if he’ll be retaining the number 6 when he arrives in Hartford or Wade Redden chugged a bottle of  Gatorade laced with lithium. Redden actually fought someone last might in anger and with gusto. Redden does have a pulse. Who knew?

Nowhere in any of the altercations last night did we see Georges Laraque. I guess Jacques Martin figured that his enforcer couldn’t intimidate the Rangers. Every Ranger, to a man, made a statement that neither would they let themselves or their teammates be pushed around.

It goes without saying that Henrik Lundqvist always deserves to be a star of the game.  I’ll bet he was more then happy to see his teammates afforded the accolade last night and not himself. I’ll bet Henrik was glad to see his team shooting the puck, clearing his crease, scoring goals and giving him a little breathing room for a change.

What can you say about Ryan Callahan except that he has become the de facto Captain of this team? He plays with guts and emotion. When everyone else is placed in a position to do well, ie. Dubinsky and Prospal, Callahan’s guts and emotion pay off. Sean Avery fires up the crowd. Callahan fires up his teammates. 

Not to be a killjoy but after the season this team has produced so far one wonders how long this manic phase will continue. If the Rangers can come off playing back to back games and play with jump and spirit and dare I say it, skill, why can’t they do that all the time?

Finally, it was indeed a pleasure to see the Montreal fans skulk out of the Garden, the usual sh*teating grins wiped from their gobsmacked faces. Perhaps this game will, in some small way, finally expunge the embarrassment of the Rangers blowing that 5-0 lead in Montreal.

Ole! Ole! Ole! Ole!, No Way, NO WAY…..

Why are Ranger fans like codfish? Because we let this team just keep reeling us in and letting us out again.

Why do both Glen Sather and John Tortorella need to be fired? If you don’t know the answer to this question you weren’t watching tonight’s game.

One hundred and twenty five minutes of hockey and a shoot out and not one goal scored by the Rangers. That’s some achievement. Not.  The Rangers play one of their finest games in recent memory against Marty Brodeur and the Devils and then turn around and lose one of their worst games to AHL goaltender Mike Brodeur and the Ottawa Senators.

Tortorella’s answer to the shoot out loss against the Devils and the lack of goal scoring was to have his team practice the shoot out and the powerplay. That would have been fine if the Rangers were able to get to a shoot out or work hard enough in the offensive zone to draw a powerplay. Tonight they didn’t and weren’t. Torts has them practicing the shoot out and the powerplay? Please.  How about teaching these morons how to make and receive a pass? Just a thought.  I’ve seen the Little Rangers play better fundamental hockey then the Rangers did tonight.

Tortorella should bag skate these guys every practice until they bleed. They’ll continue losing and then we can all call it a season. The faster they are out of playoff contention and a new fire sale begins, the happier I’ll be. Sather should already be gone and maybe he should take Tortorella with him. Tort’s time out tonight certainly wasn’t the answer to the Ranger’s lackluster start to this game. In fact, it turned out to hurt the team at the end of the game when it should have been called.  

If I were Lundqvist I’d beg to be traded rather then spend the best years of my career on a team with Brashear, Drury, Rozsival and Redden. Henrik can get up and talk in the lockerroom until he’s blue in the face and it won’t make a damn bit of difference. This team has no heart, no guts and little skill. Lose those four wastes of cap space and the other underachievers like Boyle, Higgins and Voros. Bring up the youth and let them mature.

I would gladly sell all my remaining tickets at face value and donate the money to a worthy cause like Haitian Earthquake Relief then to have to sit and watch any more of the dreck the Rangers tried to pass off as professional hockey tonight. Right now they are a disgraceful excuse for a team.

Is it the trade deadline yet?