14-7-2: Don't Tell Me To Calm Down

That's it. The next person who says that the Rangers are a good team is going to get a beating. After suffering through their contemptible 4-1 defeat at the hands of the injury-riddled Ottawa Senators I am ready to snap. The Rangers are a deeply flawed franchise and something has to be done by the all-too-patient coaching staff.

However, as a guy at work just pointed out to me, the only good thing about this recent run of poor play is that it is still relatively early. There is time for the players to turn things around but I am too pessimistic; I can't imagine anyone trading for these guys and I don't see them having the skills to be a top tier team.

Before I get too over the top, I am just going to get into my game-time ranting:

*Ottawa wore their third jerseys, and they were very mediocre looking. The whole black trend has been way overdone and on a bad tv, their players look like black stick figures. I love the big font for the number on the back, which is quite easy to read, but having SENS across the front? What? Why? Did the designer not know how to spell Senators?

*I hate away games because that means I have to listen to Joe Micheletti call an entire game. I can't take him in Rangers in 60, and over a full game I just want to drive a screwdriver through my eardrum. He is annoying, obnoxious and seemingly blind and stupid. He may be a very nice human being, but I loathe that man as a broadcaster.

*On the other hand, I feel quite bad for John Giannone. Scott Gomez has picked on Giannone regularly throughout the season and their second period intermission interview was outright painful. How disgracefully unprofessional and utterly unfunny of Gomez to continually harass the MSG reporter. For shame. I didn't like Gomez much before, being a former Devil who got a huge contract he didn't deserve and someone who smiles during interviews after losses, but this just ended it for me. Listening to Sam and Joe in the third period say that the Rangers' recent struggles are due to his being out makes me ill.

*His absence had nothing to do with the Rangers getting put on their heels early in this one. Moments after Dan Girardi broke up a 2-on-1 less than two minutes into the game by getting back to block the one-timer on the far side, Michal Rozsival took a unnecessary hooking penalty.

*The Rangers killed that meaningless infraction, but couldn't kill the next penalty when Paul Mara proved to be as big of an idiot as Rozy. Seconds after the kill, Mara went after Jarkko Ruutu. Ruutu, who should still be suspended for his elbow, is entirely not worth it. Mara roughed him up but to really get revenge, the Rangers should have taken Craig Berube's advice and gone after Spezza. Ruutu won't learn, he won't change his style and he will keep trying to injure people until the NHL comes to their senses and throws him out of the league. How he doesn't merit at least extra attention from the officials is shocking to me. If they had been watching him, then Daniel Alfredsson's goal to make it a 3-0 game would have been waived off. Why is there a blind spot when it comes to Ruutu and yet Ryan Hollweg and Sean Avery were watched like hawks? All three are clowns who try to hurt opposing players ...

*The Ottawa power play goal that opened the game's scoring came on Rozsival being handily beaten by Dany Heatley. Just why hasn't Rozy been benched yet? When does Tom Renney finally realize that he can't play himself out of this slump? He has been a shadow of himself this entire season - 23 games - and yet Renney has left him in the lineup. There is loyalty, and then there is stupidity.

*Wade Redden got a standing ovation during a stoppage in the first period when his picture was shown on the big board. Do you think the Sens would be willing to take him back?? One can only hope. And pray. And beg.

*Redden was caught on Jesse Winchester's goal defending against a 2-on-1 when it was a one-on-one and he moved over to Winchester too late to stop the kid's backhander past Valley that made it 3-0.

*The recent Ranger scoring woes have really started affecting how they play. I have given a lot of credit to Nigel Dawes for elevating his physical play of late but he gripped his stick too tight and blew an open net in the first period. Moments later Blair Betts had a chance and he couldn't elevate the puck over the fallen Alex Auld. Not like Bettsy could do it even when the Rangers as a team are scoring well, but that isn't the point.

*I have been asking this at games regularly over the last few weeks: who do you think kills penalties better, the opposing penalty killers or the Ranger power play?

*There were some good things for the Blueshirts: Valley was pretty damn good, Marc Staal played a solid game, Markus Naslund actually scored a goal and Freddie Sjostrom skated really, really hard.

*And since I am trying to salvage something positive in this, here is the Happy Stat of the Game: Brandon Dubinsky won 11 of the 14 faceoffs he took. If he can remember how to go to the net, then he might be dangerous once again.

*PHW Three Stars
3-Alexandre Picard - one assist.
2-Jarkko Ruutu - one assist.
1-Daniel Alfredsson - one goal.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-Valiquette - The Ranger netminder made 32 saves and gave his team a chance to win (that they didn't deserve). Valley had no chance at stopping three of the four goals against and will sadly be hung with his second loss of the season.
2-Picard - This kid was a major part of the deal that sent Andrej Mezsaros to Tampa and Ottawa definitely seems to have won that trade. Picard was good positionally, blocked shots and nearly had two assists - with the second being called back due to Nick Foligno's high stick in the second period. He should be good for years to come.
1-Ruutu - How can you take anything away from him? Yes, he is a disgrace to hockey but yes, his job is to be a pest and he did his job. The Rangers went out of their way to attack this loser and were distracted from what should have been their true goal - WINNING THE DAMN GAME!

Peepin' Foes: Ottawa Senators

In the back half of a almost home-and-home with the Senators, the Rangers will be in Ottawa on Saturday. For those not paying attention, the Blueshirts beat the Sens 2-1 in a boring shootout on Monday. The Senators were tired and the Rangers were uninspired, leading to a dull couple of periods, a few minutes of excitement, then five listless minutes of overtime before a shootout. But the Rangers won, so yay! Maybe they can do it again at 3 pm tomorrow.

Where We Are: The Rangers are coming off one of the most embarrassing beatings they have taken since last season. But they are still in first place, wooo! It won't last unless they bounce back in a big way. Michal Rozsival, who sucked against the Sens, was even worse against Canucks and has the most to prove both to his teammates and the fans.

Where They Are: Ottawa has lost six in a row, including the last two in a shootout. First there was blowing a 1-0 lead to lose to the Rangers, then Thursday they lost the lead twice on their way to losing in the fourth round of the shootout to Montreal. The Sens gave the Habs just one power play in the game, which they scored on. With the Ranger power play being what it is, Ottawa's discipline may prove to be a good thing.

Who To Watch For: Young defenseman Alexandre Picard stepped up his game against Montreal and collected to assists. Spezza, Heatley and Alfredsson are still incredible and all were strong; Heatley scored in regulation and Spezza scored in the shootout.

What To Watch For: Ottawa's Mike Fisher and Chris Neil are both out with injury so there will be some new kids out trying to make names for themselves. Without a designated goon, Cody Bass battled Steve Begin in Montreal so who knows who will answer the bell when the Rangers come ringing for Jarkko Ruutu, because you know sure as hell that Ruutu won't. The Sens will have four straight days off after the afternoon tilt so they may make a huge effort, knowing they have time to relax afterwards.

What We'll (Hopefully) See: The Rangers coming out of the locker room flying, their defense a smooth, puck moving wall and Ruutu getting what he deserves.

Also Check Out: Sens Army and SENSHobo.

As always, I recommend people check out Sam Weinman's Ranger Report for up-to-the-minute updates on our boys.

14-5-2: *Yawn* Another Shootout ...

For the second straight game, the Rangers came from behind to win in a shootout, as they beat the Ottawa Senators 2-1. While that sounds like a tightly, played battle to the buzzer, it wasn't. There were people outright sleeping in the stands for stretches of the game as the teams went back and forth afraid to make mistakes and unable to get into scoring positions.

There appear to be two schools of thought among Ranger fans right now: the ones who are happy and content with the team since they are indeed in first place and the ones who feel that this team is vastly underachieving and playing some crappy hockey. Regular readers know I am in the latter but I am attempting to dance along the fence a la Garfield in the moonlight. This team is in first, and all of the points that have been accumulated will be huge when the season hits its doldrums in January. However, passes aren't finding sticks, the team has trouble working into good positions to shoot, the power play is an utter joke and none of the so-called stars have been any good (except for Hank).

So any optimism has to be tempered at this point as it is still quite early in the long, long regular season.

*First things first, how is it that the NHL claims to want to protect their players and outlaw hooliganism? The lip service they give it is utterly shocking considering Jarkko Ruutu is allowed to have a career in the league. Ruutu goes out on the ice with the sole purpose to hurt other players. He doesn't try to score. The classless clown tries to elbow, board, hook and slash the people who are actually out there playing. Is there some offensive upside there? Perhaps; he was selected to go in the shootout over Dany Heatley, but whatever talent he has is utterly outweighed by his desire to inflict injury. Hey Gary, get this goon off of the ice! And if you don't, then stop telling anyone who listens that you care about the well-being of your players.

*While I am addressing our fair commish, something has to be done about the point system. This is old news but watching the Rangers just reinforces the need for a change. Why not make it three points for a regulation win, two for a overtime win and one for a shootout win? Henrik Lundqvist has been incredible in the talent competition and it has led to the Rangers playing defensive, boring hockey in the four-on-four overtime. They put one man deep and keep three high to bide their time until Hank can bail them out in the breakaway contest. Bor-ingggggg.

*It was nice to see the Make a Wish kid drop the puck before the game. I am a sucker for that kind of thing and everyone should donate some money to a charity as they get ready to give thanks later this month.

*I got home to turn on Rangers in 60 just in time to hear Joe Micheletti thinking that the Rangers were arguing where a faceoff would be when in actuality, Wade Redden had clearly shot the puck right over the boards. How is it that he misses that and my entire section sees it?? Sam saw it, and he was sitting right next to him! How this guy keeps his job is beyond me.

*Ah Rozy, you stink. Rozsival was picked off of his coverage of Daniel Alfredsson down low, allowing the Ottawa captain to score the first goal of the game. If Rozy played with any kind of strength, then Alfredsson wouldn't have been able to get off of the boards, much less use a pick to get into the slot. You just can't use the sumo-style defense of pushing people around. Unlike the fat Japanese wrestlers, these guys have a considerable amount of agility and they can get around your pathetic shoving.

*There was nothing pathetic about the hard work of the Rangers fourth liners. Freddie Sjostrom had the game-tying goal, Blair Betts wore the A better than Scott Gomez ever did yet again and Colton Orr's sheer effort resulted in him getting a power play shift (even if his teammates couldn't get into the Ottawa zone and give him a chance to work the paint). The young Rangers seem to be picking up on how these three are playing and now you see them step up their games. The epitome of that is Nigel Dawes, who even handed out a few hits in this one. If he keeps battling out there like that, we will have to start calling him Rutiger after the Notre Dame hero - "he's so little!!"

*Nik Zherdev should start watching those guys because he coasted his way through regulation, despite having an opponent that was ripe for the picking with his spectacular stickhandling. As my buddy Hockey John pointed out, he was benched for a while in the second and third periods but more has to be done to reinforce that coasting is unacceptable. That is called accountability ... hold on ... never mind, Tom Renney doesn't know what that word means. If he did, how could you explain Rozy's place in the lineup?

*Wade Redden faced his old team and he played an acceptable, yet unspectacular game. It is nice to see steady play from him but let's face it, for six-million-plus dollars a year you expect a bit more than that. Another friend pointed out that for the amount of money and the return that we have gotten, Redden and Rozy are the two most over-paid players in the NHL.

*Stat of the night: The Rangers recorded 53 (!) hits, led by Ryan Callahan's six. The only players without one were Zherdev and Lundqvist.

*Second stat of the night: Ottawa out-blocked the Blueshirts 19-5. And, believe it or not, Rozy had a team-high two. This isn't a bad thing - it means the guys are getting out of the way to allow Hank see the puck cleanly.

*PHW Three Stars
3-Fredrik Sjostrom - one goal.
2-Nikolai Zherdev - shootout game-winner.
1-Henrik Lundvist - 27 saves.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-Marc Staal - The kid has Norris-type potential and is slowly growing into the man who will bring home that hardware.
2-Jason Spezza - Spezza was clearly the most talented skater on the ice. His skills are scary good and he showed them off in flashes tonight.
1-Hank - As always, the Swedish sensation was stellar. If not for his big saves - on redirects, on Volchenkov's breakaway, in the shootout - the Rangers lose this one big.