All We Need Is Just A Little Patience

Ok, so during the beginning of the season they kept the Rangers intact despite how poorly they were playing and the injuries that were suffered.

Yesterday we lost to the Islanders 2-1 after a helluva winning streak so Sather and Renney, in their infinite wisdom, decided to make changes. First Renney juggled lines worse than a moron at clown college and now Sather gave Nigel Dawes a bus ticket to Hartford and recalled Greg Moore and Ivan Baranka.

What?

Citing an inconsistency away from the puck, Dawes gets exiled again. The guy has as many goals as Jagr and was more energetic every shift, but he gets to ride the buses back in the AHL. That makes sense. While I love the thought that Greg Moore gets a shot, it shouldn't come at the expense of a guy who is busting his ass and getting some results. But Dawes is gone and the inept, incompetent Marcel Hossa is still on the team. Nice.

As for Ivan Baranka, he was horrid in preseason the last two years so I can't imagine him being worthwhile now. Hopefully Jason Strudwick, who was a little worse for the wear after the battle with the Isles, will be able to go against Tampa Bay tomorrow.

Man, do I hope so.

EDIT: I may have a solution! Let's deal Hossa to St. Louis for Jay McKee! The Blues have a lot of guys and keep scratching him even though he has more blocked shots per minute played than anyone in the league. JD could use more young 'talent' and McKee would provide depth on defense and surely would look better as a sixth defenseman than Malik or Strudwick ...

Will You Stop?

Well?

For all of those people who harassed me because I was not about to dump on the Rangers after their meek start to the season, I revel in the sound of silence that I am hearing right now. The Rangers played much the same game that they had in previous games yet managed to defeat a major rival at home. What changed?

Nothing.

Marty Brodeur and the Devils played a solid game, no matter how many MAAAAAAAARRRRRTTTTTYYYYY chants there were.

The Rangers defense was solid; aside from some bad bounces and a mental mistake or two, the blueline has been solid all season. And don't even look at Hank, he has been making his case for the Vezina.

So what does that leave?

Yes, the offense; thanks for playing along.

But you know what? Not even the Rangers offense changed. The high-priced superstars still played like individuals. The grinders still grinded and the kids still played with youthful exuberance.

So two bounces finally go our way and you guys are all jumping back on the bandwagon? You shouldn't have jumped off. As I said, I didn't dump on this team early because if is the beginning of the season. The scoring line are still trying to feel their way along, and are doing so without several major pieces. So stop panicking already the second something goes wrong.

Yes the Eastern Conference has improved top to bottom and will be tough -- particularly the Patrick, I mean Atlantic, Division -- but still, unless the Rangers allow themselves to get into a terrible situation (like the Avalanche and the Leafs did last year) where one game really did mean the playoffs, this slow start will amount to a learning experience and that's it. Should it end up coming to one game, then the team really doesn't deserve a chance at the playoffs.

Aside from the fact that low-seeded teams rarely, if ever, make it to the Cup Finals, anyone who has raised the Cup will tell you how much commitment it takes from an entire team to get it. If it comes down to one point or one game for the Rangers, then the team clearly won't have what it takes and the earlier exit will give them more time to dedicate to making a legitimate run next year.

Next year, I already am mentioning this year. Geez, look at what you people did.

Stop it!

Things aren't that bad so be quiet and leave me alone; keep your pessimism to yourself!!!!

Calm Down ... Calmmmmm Downnnn

The NHL schedule gurus saw fit to give the Rangers back-to-back games Friday and Saturday before leaving us fans sitting, watching, waiting, bitching, moaning, whining, complaining, hand-wrenching until Thursday, when the boys in blue play next.

This sucks.

What do we know now?

I think first off, we should relax. Then, if you have Versus, watch the Flyers beat on the Thrashers so you can see what the Rangers aren't doing right when they play them on Thursday. If you don't have Versus, look around online and watch whatever highlights you can so you can see that, five games in, the Rangers are in utter disarray. But, and this is a big but, there is absolutely no reason to give up hope yet.

The Rangers have lost three games, two to Ottawa. The Sens are the class of the conference right now and were Stanley Cup Finalists before getting bitchslapped by the bigger, stronger, quackier Ducks. In both games the Rangers lost, the Sens scored a blitzkrieg of goals and then trapped like hell the rest of the game to hold onto them. The Blueshirts simply couldn't break that trap, not without playing like a team - which they aren't. The talent is certainly there, but the chemistry and dedication to a team game predominantly is not. Sure there are some guys that have done their job to the letter - Hank, Callahan, Prucha, Girardi, Bettsy - but without the entire team playing as a unit, they won't be able to hang with top tier teams. As for the lower ones, as we saw in the Islanders game, the New York Rangers have to be physical and - above all - cannot be outworked. The Islanders have a quarter of the skill that the Rangers do, but each one of the grunts on their roster battles every shift. Even that pansy Satan (what a misnamed guy he is).

So right now the Rangers are below 500. So what? Its five games in an 82 game season and if every point ends up counting come April, then we will have bigger problems to worry about. That is why I am not panicking just yet. I am not calling for anyone's head ... well, except for Malik but that was to be expected since he played the Tin Man last season and a few months off for the summer won't help him find a heart. He is a UFA at the end of the year so let's just hope he picks up his play a bit so some other team signs him.