If anyone had told me last Sunday after the Rangers final game of the season that today they would have the dreaded two game lead over the Washington Capitals in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, I would have said they were balmy.

After spending an entire season watching the ups and downs of the Rangers, I have become conditioned to the disappointment and failure that is commensurate with being a Ranger fan. I watched some players phone in games, play without heart and pass off the poor play with shoulder shrugs and feeble cliches. It all culminated in the firing of  Tom Renney over which I freely admit I’m still bitter. 

For a team that started the season off so well,  just a mere week ago many wondered if the Rangers would win a playoff spot, back into one or miss entirely. I see no reason why the fans shouldn’t be suspect of this team moving forward.  After all, it’s not that the team has been playing world beating hockey. They have just played that much better then their opponents, who have little playoff experience.

Yesterday the Rangers shut out the Washington Caps in a low scoring, boring game. If played mid season, such a game would have had some fans screaming that they were being bored. But the playoffs are about winning at any cost. Whatever it takes! Boredom be damned.

The fact that the Rangers have one of the top three goaltenders in the National Hockey League doesn’t hurt. John Tortorella is no dope. He realizes that the key to the Rangers getting through this series is to shut down the Caps offense by having his team play a sound, albeit boring, defensive game. The Rangers also had to depend upon their league leading penalty kill to win this game. I don’t suppose I need to remind anyone  who espoused and taught this team  that sometimes “defense first” win games.

I keep getting text messages from my friend Scott that I “gotta believe”. As I have said many time before on this blog, I love Scott’s positive attitude and his youthful exuberance. Last year he went to the final game in Pittsburgh and was on the bus until the final buzzer.

I know he’ll chastise me for being skeptical right now. Regardless of winning the first two games of this series on the road, the Rangers still have to convince me that they will do anything it takes to win. They have to bring the same level of commitment to the rest of the games in this series as they have to the first two.

I want to believe, I really do but the Rangers must continue to show me. I was born and raised in New York City but I must have lived in Missouri in a past life.

Posted under New York Rangers

Updated 3/30/09

The assist on Crosby’s game winning goal was from Fedetenko, not Talot, though I thought  that was what  I heard on the broadcast.

Unfortunately, I am old enough to remember this song by Leslie Gore. I even wore my hair in a flip back in the day, just like Leslie.

For the last month I have been loathe to criticize John Tortorella in any way lest I be accused of sour grapes because I was and am a Renney supporter. But this blog is my party and I’ll cry out if  I want  to.

As the last month has unfolded, I have seen John Tortorella  do some of the same things that got Tom Renney fired. Wasn’t the biggest indictment against Renney his failure to hold players accountable? Wasn’t lack of accountability one of the chief complaints of the Renney haters out there. Renney let the high priced, underachieving players continue to play big minutes. One Wade Redden comes immediately to mind.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not here to crucify Tortorella. I just find it a little ironic and unfair that Tortorella can make himself off limits to the press and doesn’t have to explain his decisions, good or ill. Accountability should start with Tortorella.

The fact is that there are soooo many sub-plots in Ranger hockey now that you may as well be watcing One Tree Hill. Dolan wants as much season subscription and playoff money as he can get. He pressures Sather to fill the seats and make the playoffs. In turn, Sather goes out and pulls the trigger on marque players and overpays them and hog ties the organization with long, no movement contracts.

Sather turned around and handed a stacked deck to Renney, who in his 3+ years as the head coach accomplished his mission. Renney was able to keep peace in the valley while juggling tempermental players, the press and the fan base. In order to do that, Renney had to be the ultimate diplomat. He couldn’t scapegoat players. He couldn’t tell the press to f*ck off and he couldn’t scream and curse at the officials.

Because Renney approached every aspect of his job in a calm, well prepared way he was accussed of being Coach Butterscotch. He was boring. His system was boring and both the players and the fan base wanted him out and to see run and gun, exciting hockey.

Unfortunately, you can’t play exciting hockey without a good defense to cover for the lack of defensive responsibilty by your forwards. Renney knew that. And despite the fact that there were 6 defensemen on his roster, he really had only 3.5 decent defensemen. He rolled four lines playing a boring, defensively conservative game for that reason. And, until the players bought out of that system, the Rangers were winning games 2-1 and in shoot outs. But, they did WIN.

Tortorella comes in and lets the team loose and they do score more goals. But instead of winning 2-1 or in shootouts, they lose 4-3 and in shootouts. Tortorella says he doesn’t need to roll four line like Renney did but he does anyway. And, for some inexplicable reason, he doesn’t use one of his best players in the shoot out. He is also shortening his bench to four defensemen. In my opinion, that’s a prescription for disaster.

If you look at Crosby’s goal yesterday in microcosim, you see why having all three forwards down low on that play lead to disaster. Renney’s five in the frame might have helped there. Avery was being tied up by Orpik, who hooked Avery in the corner. Zherdev plays the puck around the boards to Dubinsky who gets beat by Talbot. Talbot passes to Crosby at center ice who then splits the defense. Unfortunately, two of Rangers slower defenseman were at the points. Redden should have used his head and tripped or grabbed Crosby and taken a good penalty for a change.

Maybe if Sauer was on the ice instead of Redden, he might have been able to catch Cindy. We’ll never know because Tortorella only played the kid for two minutes for the entire game. But God forbid giving Redden fewer minutes.

I’m telling ya, the more things change the more they remain the same.

Posted under New York Rangers

Saturday was my first game back in the Garden since the Avalanche game on February 28th. I refuse to humor MSG and NBC by giving up my entire Sunday to encourage their ridiculous schedulers. No professional hockey game should be played at 12:30 in the afternoon.

Of course after such a long absence, one has to catch up with their section mates. Since last I posted nearly two weeks ago, the Rangers have gone 4-2 in  their last six games. In fact, since John Tortorella replaced Tom Renney as coach the Rangers have gone 7- 4- 1 in 12 games.

I asked the couple who sits in front of me, George and Joanne,  if they thought that John Tortorella was the difference maker in the Rangers recent success. Was the new style of play the reason why the Rangers were winning? Or, were the players putting in more effort since they had gotten their way when Sather fired Tom Renney? I was not prepared for the answer I received.

Joanne, very insightfully, said it really wasn’t possible to say whether or not the Rangers would have had less or more success under Renney. Tortorella had the benefit of the trade deadline acquisitions of Avery, Antropov and Morris. Out of the mouth of babes. I mean that in the most flattering way. Joanne is a babe. I don’t usually associate hockey acumen with babehood.

But, her response gave me pause. She comes to almost all the games with George. George coaches hockey. Joanne goes to those games, too. Of course she would make an insightful response. There are many intelligent, knowledgeable and passionate women hockey fans out there. Sometimes I forget that because the vast majority of the fans in the stands and on the messageboards are men.

So George, if you read this, you better realize Joanne’s a keeper. She’s cute. She understands hockey and she likes you. What more could a guy want?

Posted under New York Rangers

Unless the Rangers can win eleven of their final fifteen games this season, they will be out of the playoffs. Considering how tight the race is in the Eastern Conference, I feel they’ll need 98 points to secure a playoff spot. Based upon the last game in Carolina and the difficulty of their upcoming schedule, I do not believe in my heart of hearts that they will make it. Frankly, I’m past the point of caring if they do.

I usually dread this time of year. The clocks are moved ahead. St. Patricks Day is upon us. Spring summons the end of winter and thus the regular season. This year is especially more of burden for me because I have been sick with bad cold for the last two weeks. Then to top it all off, the exit of Tom Renney has secured me in the knowledge that the rebuild is over. All the good feeling built up over the last three seasons seems to have slowly drained out of my body.

And while some may accuse me of being melodramatic and negative, the only people I feel badly for  are the die hards and the “Kid Rangers”. I feel sorry for the fans in the Garden and on my favorite messageboards. And even though some of these very same people were among those calling for Renney to be fired, I don’t think they realize the full implication of that request.

Now both of the real architects of the rebuild, Renney and Maloney, are gone. In their wake we have Schoenfeld and Sather and a “leadership” group of players that I have no faith in or respect for. Somehow I can’t see Schoenfeld as the nurturer of young talent. Sather certainly hasn’t done a bang up job in drafting or signing talent, either. Tortorella might work out to be a good coach but that remains to be seen.

So, for those that still care about this season’s outcome, I sincerely hope that the Rangers make it to the Eastern Conference Final. I will be there to support the “kids” on the ice and wish them well. I’ll be there to support my kids in the section and cheer with them. I’m just sorry it can’t be with the same enthusiasm as in the past three seasons.

Posted under New York Rangers

Though I know I’ll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I’ll often stop and think about them
In my life, I loved them all.

-John Lennon/Paul McCartney

I know that many Ranger fans out there aren’t as old as I am. I have seen many of my favorites players traded from the Rangers. From Ratelle and Park, to the Maloneys to Leetch. We all have our favorites. They traded the best looking Ranger ever, Pat Hickey,  for Barry “Shoot the Puck” Beck.  Yes, Pat was better looking then Duguay. It turned out to be a bad trade in both the hockey and handsome sense. But, I digress.  

I know many are upset about all of the changes that have transpired in the last week or so.  I revered Tom Renney and was saddened and angry to see him go before Sather.

Today, many are  angered to see Petr Prucha and Nigel Dawes, two former cornerstones of the Rangers youth movement, traded for a rental, a salary dump. Even if Derek Morris proves to be the second coming of Brad Park, losing Prucha has hardened many a heart.

My heart will always be True Blue. But there are times when  a little Red Wing seeps in there. And that’s okay.  We can like and admire other players and other teams as long as it’s not  the Islanders, Devils and Flyers. You just can’t root for your alternate teams and players over the Rangers.

If the Rangers fail to make the playoffs or get tossed in the first round, pick the team you want to see advance and sit back and enjoy their ride. You can watch in stress free peace. It’s just hockey. 

Good luck and God’s speed Tom Renney, Nigel Dawes, Petr Prucha and all our favorite Rangers whereever they are.

In my life, I loved them all. 

Posted under New York Rangers

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

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

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?

Posted under New York Rangers

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