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Game 32: Rangers/Flyers – Crossroads |
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Bt: Pete V.
Seventeen games. Seventeen games for the Rangers to answer one simple, but important question for the franchise: WHO ARE WE? Are we just another in long line of underachieving Rangers’ clubs filled with high-priced, underperforming talent? Or, are we a team that arrived at the crossroads, and decided not to go meekly into yet another disappointing seasons, but rather to work, and fight, and claw back in an effort to achieve what was expected of us? That simple question looms large because at the end of those seventeen games, there is no consolation prize. There is no Seth Jones, Jonathan Drouin, or Nathan MacKinnon waiting on draft day to take the sting out of failure. There will only be a summer of discontent, where the Columbus Blue Jackets, and not the New York Rangers, benefit from the Rangers’ failure, while the menace of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Boston Bruins, and other emerging teams in the Conference continues to grow.
Seventeen games. Seventeen games for Brad Richards to answer one simple, but important question for the franchise and his future with it: WHO AM I? Am I just another in a long line of high-end free agent players lured to New York by suitcases full of cash, only to whither under the lights and pressure of the Big City? Or, am I a guy who will fight through the worst struggles of my career and earn real redemption, instead of a $24 million amnesty buy-out check?
Seventeen games. Seventeen games for Rick Nash to answer a question about himself: WHAT AM I? Am I the superstar player who wows people with his skills, but never plays in the months of May or June? Or, am I the guy that can carry a team through the sheer force of will to greater heights; heights that were expected of the team upon my acquisition? Am I a guy who can seize a dead team and carry it until it finds life?
Seventeen games. Seventeen games for John Tortorella to answer his own question: CAN I? Can I change? Can I adopt to new personnel? Can I motivate this team to show-up on a nightly basis, and play with even a modicum of the heart and passion of their 2011-2012 predecessors? Or, are the people right who believe that I come with a “Best Before” date that has long since expired?
Seventeen games. Seventeen games that begin tonight with a familiar foe; a foe that arguably reached the crossroads a couple weeks back, and took the road that the Rangers are now seeking to avoid; the road towards a disappointing 2013 campaign.
Seventeen games. Seventeen games to atone for the prior thirty-one. Seventeen games to achieve redemption. Seventeen games to qualify for the post-season and attempt to prove an old hockey adage correct; that if you get into the tournament and get hot at the right time, ultimate victory is possible despite early struggles.
Seventeen games. Seventeen games to make their STAND.
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Jan asked me to write a preview blog, and for the lack of a detail preview, I apologize. But, let’s face it boys (and Bo), we know who the Flyers are, and we certainly know who the Rangers have been until this point. I will refrain from using any colorful adjectives in description, because I am sure that you can think of many on your own.
Even still, as we stand on the cusp of the stretch drive and trading deadline, we have all debated in great length the following: WHAT DOES THIS TEAM NEED? I think the answer to that question is more fundamental than a possible trade deadline acquisition, or the much anticipated return of Mats Zuccarello. The Rangers cannot expect the arrival of the cavalry to save them. Of course, trade deadline acquisitions can help, but in the end, they need to find the answers within themselves. They need to stop talking about “playing the right way” and all the other BS clichés we have heard after brutal losses throughout this season, and start doing what they say. Show me, don’t tell me!
In watching this year’s Rangers team, I am reminded of a Rudyard Kipling Poem that many of you may have read in the 12th Grade English Class -- the Law of the Jungle. I only mention this, because I think the most memorable line from the poem applies perfectly to team sports:
Now this is the Law of the Jungle – as old and as true as the sky; And the Wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the Wolf that shall break it must die …For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.
Or, if you prefer, the Zen-Master, Phil Jackson, has a less poetic, but more easily understandable version of the same:
The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each individual member is the team.
Last year’s Rangers lived the Law of the Jungle to its core. They were a group of guys that, as a collective whole, were better than the sum of their parts. They laid it on the line on a nightly basis, and a result of their individual efforts, the team prospered. And conversely, individual players also prospered, because when they hit tough patches of bad play, the team was there to pick them up. This year, the same isn’t true. Very few Rangers are putting in the individual efforts that they should, and as a result, the team has been uneven and lifeless throughout much the season. And, when an individual player slumps, the collective team isn’t doing much to cloak the player’s deficiencies. None of these players has any quarter from the hot lights of media and fan criticism, because the team has been an abject failure when judged against pre-season expectations. Therefore, we are left with a team that is all bollixed up, and has been for the great majority of this season.
Where do the Rangers go from here? Well, as an initial matter, there journey back to respectability begins tonight. Not next week. Not two weeks from now. Tonight! Too often, the Rangers have come out flat early in games and, therefore, spend too much of the game playing from behind. That simply needs to stop. They need to get a better start tonight, which won’t be easy to do playing on the road in front of a group of rival fans that don’t particularly care for the Rangers much. But, nonetheless, a better start is essential, because if they are successful in taking the Flyers’ faithful out of it, it will make for an easier night. If they find a way to win tonight, they then have to string together a few impressive performances. Too many times this year, they have won a couple of games in a row, showed signs of busting out, and then regressed back into mediocrity by losing games they should have won. That, which is the mark of an average or below-average team, needs to stop as well,
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I wanted to end with some miscellaneous thoughts and observations, many of which we have discussed in the comment section throughout the last several weeks.
• Let’s start with Brad Richards. If his recent comment that “he was lost and confused” wasn’t so sad, it would be funny. I almost feel that we need to send this guy on a vision quest in the Mojave Desert so that he can find himself. Maybe smoking some peyote with Jim Morrison and a Native American spiritual guide will do the trick. Unless, of course, you guys have any better ideas.
• Is it possible for a team to have too many well-manner, nice guys that you would be happy if your 22 year old daughter brought home for Thanksgiving? I say this, because there have been too many times this year, where I almost wish that someone on this team would start trouble to pump some life into the team. That would also have the benefit of firing up a home crowd, which too often seems like it bought tickets to see a symphony orchestra, rather than a hockey game.
• On the trade deadline, I don’t see a blockbuster move happening for the Rangers. They used too many organizational assets to make the Nash deal happen, and as a result, I think that we are going to be left with some much needed offensive depth trades -- similar to the deal they made for Nik Antropov, a couple of years ago (i.e., second round pick or B level prospect for a decent scoring threat on an expiring contract). They can also definitely use some sandpaper in this lineup, as the Rangers just aren’t that hard to play against anymore.
• The list of Rangers that have exceeded expectations this year is as follows: Derek Stepan, Carl Hagelin, and Mark Staal (when healthy). Anyone else?
• The list of Rangers that have performed below expectations this year is as follows: Brad Richards, Marian Gaborik, Chris Kreider, Ryan McDonagh, Brian Boyle, and Taylor Pyatt. Anyone else?
• I think that the remainder of Rangers, not listed above, have met expectations. But, the problem with the disparity of the above list sizes is clear. Too many guys having bad years.
Jan, thank you for the opportunity to pitch in. I think I speak for all of us on here, when I say that you are true pro, and we really much appreciate the consistently good work that you put out here.
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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