First The Staal Talk And Now This?

"A lot of teams were asking about our kids. There were deals to be made there, they wanted our kids; we stayed steady, we need to continue doing that. It’s not like we want to be in last place, but when you have kids in lineup - and I think we need to have more - there’s gonna be some bumps in the road. ” -- John Tortorella to Steve Zipay today

Wow, talk about lowering expectations.

This comes two days after Sather said the team was a "chasm" apart from Marc Staal on the Blueshirts' best defenseman's new deal. And it comes just weeks after the team demanded season subscribers put at least their first payment in for next season's tickets - something they did with a letter 'written' by Glen Sather saying that their goal was "bringing the Stanley Cup back to New York." So we've gone from winning it all to possibly finishing in last place. Amazing how things turn after they start taking our money.

You know, usually, they wait to give us this kind of nonsensical rhetoric until right before the regular season - look up Torts' talk about accountability last preseason - but this kind of talk leads me to believe that we will find ourselves quite disappointed when free agency opens on Thursday at noon. The funny thing is that Tortorella's words today were what we have been craving for over a decade. But it just kills me when the organization talks out of both sides of their mouth. Either we're in it to win it or we're setting up for a hopefully bright future. You can't have it both ways, it doesn't work and we don't believe you.

The "we need to have more" young players part from today's quote from the coach comes across as completely ridiculous. Last season Torts benched Matt Gilroy to start Anders Eriksson during last season's stretch run, limited Enver Lisin's minutes all season long and never gave anyone from Hartford a real chance on Broadway. Where in that do you find any evidence of a dedication to youth? He was forced to stick with MDZ and his deficiencies when the team PR machine jumped into high gear after his hot start.

But beyond that bit of hypocrisy, the thought of any young player learning how to become a professional from John Tortorella - the man who did this and this and, of course, this - is absolutely frightening.

It makes me weep for our future, both this coming season and beyond.

My apologies to Jim Cerny for using him in the Demotivators photoshop but the look on his face while Sather was talking during the draft interview was utterly priceless.

Great Expectations

Coming off of the semi-impressive result from Saturday, it's time to address the latest poll results. Using some classic movie quotes, I asked how far you guys thought we would go. Just 44 people chimed in, but the consensus was that the Rangers will at least make the playoffs and 15 actually think this team will do some serious damage. Here are the results:

*We goin' Sizzler, we goin' Sizzler ... 15 (34%)
*Five, four, three, two, one, let 'er fly ... in and out. 12 (27%)
*Juuuuuuuust a bit outside. 5 (11%)
*I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. 5 (11%)
*Eddie, you're a born loser. 7 (15%)

I hope that most of you are correct but - as you have seen - I am more the pessimist when it comes to these things. Before last season some pundits called for a Cup in Broadway and I begged for caution; the best part about being a pessimist is that you are either proven right or pleasantly surprised. However, I do believe that if you write yourself off before the season even starts, then there is no reason to watch the games. So let's hope that the majority does rule and their predictions prove correct!!

Let's Go Rangers!

BTW - Bonus points to anyone who can identify the five movies I used in this poll. And a new poll will be coming soon so I hope for more participation!

Covering Their Own Arse

The Rangers already got their P.R. machine going to make excuses for them after their desolate 1-5 preseason start. Just in case they look woeful in their two matches against European opponents in Switzerland (which I am going to see), they were jet lagged and they couldn't get used to the arena - both the ice size and the huge contingent of standing-room fans passionately rooting against them.

I'll do what I can to sway them, but a poor performance won't win the Rangers anymore fans on that side of the pond and will further infuriate the ones at home. After playing so poorly with a split squad in the first six, these throw-away exhibitions have become an important test to finally show fitness for the season to come, which begins in less than a week. Let's just hope that they don't play down to their excuses and dominate like they should ...