16-15-3: Self-Fulfilling Prophesy

Being the pessimist that I am, I have been told a number of a times by happier people to lighten my outlook on life. They've said, 'if you expect bad things to happen, then bad things will happen. If you start expecting good things to happen, good things will happen."

While I try to relate that I just prepare for the worst, I do believe that there are such things as self-fulfilling prophecies. The lack of confidence by the Blueshirts after their constant struggles has been obvious. And when you combine that with the recent history the franchise has had in Montreal which was spoken of ad nauseam, well, they lost this game before the puck dropped.

Sure, it was a fluke bounce that set up that Canadiens goal in the first minute and sure, the Rangers had several chances to tie the game but the Blueshirts' hearts were never in it. All of their various deficiencies that have hurt them over the past few weeks were evident and their fate was sealed long before the final buzzer sounded to end the 3-0 blanking by the bleu, blanc et rouge.

As written here after the loss in Ottawa, what has been going on is insane - a nightly retread of the wrong ideas and actions. Something has to change. It can be something as big as a coaching change (please, oh please), it can be a trade to shake up the lineup, it can be a big fight or big goal on Monday. Hell, it can be simply an outdoor practice or a visit to a kids' hospital to renew the players faith in their abilities, their confidence and their love for the game. Whatever it is, it has to happen soon or they can kiss the playoffs goodbye.

Late Hits:

*If Gabby didn't blow that power play breakaway moments before Plekanec's goal, would that have rendered all of the above moot? I don't think so, but it woulda been nice to have the Rangers finally score inside the Bell Centre.

*Welcome back Zuke. Mats Zuccarello was the best of the Blueshirts last night, likely because he hasn't had time to be brought down just yet. In addition to a hockey stick that is as tall as he is, the Norwegian brought a decisiveness that has been rare around the Rangers this season. We've seen it on rare occasion with the tic-tac-toe goals but every time the puck came to Zuke he knew what he was going to do with it. It was refreshing to see. If he has added a willingness to shoot to his sublime passing ability, he will be quite the asset.

*Another addition has to be made, someone has to come in to shore up the blue line. McD and Girardi are showing their mileage, DZ is still Del Zastrous in his own end and the other three 'defensemen' aren't playing at a NHL level. Last season worked out in that Sauer was in while Staal was out, Staal returned to cover when Sauer went out. Staal is gone, and there isn't anyone around who can fill his skates.

*Really don't understand why Sean Avery tweeted what he did when he did. I think he's right about Torts, but the timing of it was odd ... maybe he was just drunk and frustrated at some bar in SOHO that had the game on.

*Kris Newbury remembered he was Kris Newbury and took one of his typical poor penalties. Woulda been nice to have Powe out there to kill it, after all he was acquired for his penalty killing ability.

*Powe, like Asham were on the bench. Sure my Twitter buddy surely wouldn't have played that hard, seeing the game was against one of his former franchises, but there was zero toughness in that lineup. A good fight might have injected a little injury but there was no one willing to go to the wall.

*Ah, Pruster. I fully admit to writing that he was past his expiration date, that he never fully recovered from the Barch fight and the hard minutes had made him less of a player - one that wasn't worth the huge payday he was seeking. While Brad Richard$ was clearly hurt by the inactivity of the lockout, the extra time certainly helped Prust get back to being himself. What a warrior.

*Are we sure that it is Brian Boyle out there, not Peter Boyle from Young Frankenstein?

*PHW Three Stars:
3-Brendan Gallagher - one goal.
2-P.K. Subban - three assists.
1-Carey Price - 34 saves.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars:
3-Halpern - Considered giving Pruster the star just 'cause but Super Jew played a motivated game and won 11 of 17 faceoffs. Did he ever even take that many in one game over his short tenure as a Ranger?
2-Gallagher - Unlike J.T. Miller, Gally was able to finish his chance in close.
1-Subban - The much maligned defenseman has added some maturity to his game and should be considered among the best blueliners in the NHL.

Just A Word Of Caution

After a dreadful season with the annual tease of talent by the Rangers, it is no surprise that everyone is getting excited over Mats Zuccarello-Aasen. Zuccarello-Aasen, if you don't know, is a 22-year-old Norwegian right wing who is rumoured to have signed with the Blueshirts - a deal that is rumoured to become official after the World Championships - although he has several other suitors.

MZA, not to be confused with MDZ, is just 5'7, 160 but played big at the Olympics and has been monstrous at the aforementioned World Championships. He also averaged better than a point-per-game in Sweden the last two seasons for Modo (playing this season with Markus Naslund and Peter Forsberg, among others). There are plenty of clips of him looking awesome on Youtube and both Swedes and Norwegians who watched him play in person have told me he has the ability to succeed on this side of the Pond.

Now, like all of you, I want to believe that he is the second coming of Brian Gionta, or even Espen Knutsen. Really, I do. However, my own pessimism is quick to look at the last "superstar" out of the Swedish league that everyone drooled over - Fabian Brunnstrom. The amount of hype for Barnstormer was just as silly as what we are heading for MZA. They called him the next Alfredsson and look at what happened to him ... after debuting with a hat trick in 2008, things went downhill and he split last season between the (non-playoff-bound) NHL Stars and the AHL Stars. Now he is possible trade bait.

And do you remember last summer? The Rangers signed the 'Swiss Sean Avery' in Andres Ambϋhl? Judging by notes from Howlings over the course of the season Ambϋhl was pretty decent but he never was a star scorer. And the Rangers need a scorer to take the heat off of Gabby.

MZA has shown signs that he can do it internationally - with and without the magnificent Tore Vikingstad - and he played with two of the best NHLers over the last 15 years in Sweden so he should have an idea of what it takes to play in North America. But let's just wait and see if he a) does sign with the Rangers and then b) quickly makes the transition this fall before we get all giddy. There have been enough disappointments by the Blueshirts already this spring.

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!

As Time Goes By

As everyone starts scrutinizing the schedule for next season and starts predicting the opening night roster, I figured I would take a quick look back ... way back ... waaaaaayyyyyy back ... to the Rangers opening night from October 5th, 2005.

Oh, I remember that date. What glee to see hockey finally back after the horror/disgrace/shame of the lockout. Sheer joy. "Thank You Fans" was written across the ice. The seats were cheaper! The team looked better!

Wasn't that something? I remember that well. Of course, not many Rangers remember that game. Why, you may ask? Because just two of the 2008-09 Rangers were in the starting lineup that night - Blair Betts and Michal Roszival. That's it. Two. Just two Rangers have managed to make it this far (three if you include that squad's backup goalie guy, Henrik SomethingSwedish, but backup goalies don't count).

By comparison, that very same evening, the Detroit Red Wings played the St. Louis Blues. And you know what? Twelve of the Wings who played in that game raised the Stanley Cup over their heads just over a month ago and all 12 are expected to be back in the fall. Twelve.

And you wonder why I am so pessimistic heading into this coming season? The Rangers are now a team primarily made up of hired guns. Mercenaries. Soldiers of fortune. From Drury and Gomez to Naslund and Redden, these guys have no idea what it is to be a Ranger. They have no idea what it is to grow into a team that can win. Drury may have had an inkling but bailed from Buffalo for the cash. Gomez? His taste of success came when he was still a kid, when he wasn't relied upon to be 'the man.' He left the Devils when they needed him the most for another, bigger paycheck. Naslund and Redden? Well, no one was stupid enough to give them the deals the Rangers did. Say what you will about the offensive upside of Nik Zherdev, Fedor Tyutin was growing up as a Blueshirt - the last remaining member of the first new wave of homegrown True Blue.

I understand that you have to have a plan, and you build from that plan. That's why, as much as I loathed placing the team in the Czechs' hands, I got what Sather was selling. But three years later he blows it up entirely and starts again? Or you can even say he started dismantling it last summer by bringing in two major players who didn't match with what was already here.

Detroit did it right. They built a core of players and let it simmer, let it grow together. Six of those 12 players were drafted by the Wings, but six were solid acquisitions that Ken Holland and crew kept around. They learned the system and now execute it better than anyone else.

The Rangers now? New team, new look, new system. Who knows what will happen three years down the line but the near future looks grim, at least from where I am sitting.

And just in case you were wondering: the Rangers won that first game out of the lockout 5-3 over the Flyers. They got goals from Jason Strudwick, Jamie Lundmark, Marcel Hossa and two from Jaromir Jagr. Kevin Weekes got the win. To steal from Mel Allen, “How about that?”

Well, This Is One Way To Look At Things

All of the optimism of a new year apparently hasn't reached Toronto, where they perpetually wallow in the shadow of their last Stanley Cup (1967, they still had hippies back then!). Apparently the misery of sucking for so long has permeated the fifth estate and the Star has a truly depressing article on the state of the game.

Damien Cox reminisces on the first post-lockout season while bashing last year. He said:

"When an Anaheim-Ottawa final turned out to be an enormous dud, it was clear the league's second season out of the lockout had been very, very different from its first, but no more popular in terms of television ratings and attendance."

Wait a second, he expected a boost in ratings when the Anaheim Ducks and Ottawa Senators played in the Stanley Cup Final? What was he drinking back then, because I want some. You can't expect ratings to have an immediate boost when you have two small market teams in the finals (again). As for the quality of play throughout the season last year, the revival of the Rangers caused them to sell out this entire season within an hour. I would say that that is a boost in popularity.

The on-the-fence sports fans aren't going to start tuning in because scoring goes up a goal a game, they are going to tune in when something or someone they've heard of does something good. As the league's marketing of Cindy Crosby has fallen short, there is no individuals that those fans will watch, but should the Rangers make a run this year, then those fans just may -- people have heard of the New York Rangers, they haven't heard of the Anaheim Ducks, Carolina Hurricanes or Tampa Bay Lightning.

And that isn't just my New York bias speaking; its widely acknowledged that the Rangers bring ratings. With the good moves they made, there is no reason to be so pessimistic at this point, unless, I guess, you are a Leafs fan and you have to find something new to complain about as the Leafs have yet to lose a game this season. Don't worry my friend, they will, oh yes, they will.