No Battle, No Urgency; Do They Care?

"It's a privilege to put this jersey on and play in this city, but I don't know if we know that as a team right now"

"I don't know what to do to try and find that, but that sense of pride has to be found. It's a privilege to play for the Rangers and for these fans, especially. The organization treats us too well for us not to give a @#$!, which is exactly the way it was in this game."

This quote coming from Rangers forward Sean Avery, clearly saying that he felt the squad did not care about Wednesday's game in which they were shutout 6-0 by the Philadelphia Flyers. The quote is courtesy of Larry Brooks at the New York Post.

While watching the Blueshirts get pounded at Madison Square Garden last night, and repeatedly give a half effort, the question of whether they care or not certainly pops into one's head. The battle level was not even close to matching that of the Flyers, only a small handful of players were willing to throw around the body, and most of the team skated around looking like lifeless zombies with high-paying occupations. For a pro athlete, not only is that unacceptable, but it should also be embarrassing. Was it for some of the players on this team? I highly doubt it because they are receiving the big paycheck in the bank account no matter how they play or what they achieve, or do not achieve for that matter.

When Brooks asked coach Tortorella if he thought his group cared, the coach initially responded "No", but then went on to say this; "[But] I believe they do," he added. "I think I have a good understanding of the people in that locker room, but the way we played. . . . I'm stumped how we played that game.

"That first period was a period I could not understand. The soft passes, the turnaways, the turnovers, the coverages, right on through. I'm being honest -- I don't know why we played the way we did.

"We just have to start over."

Obviously the coach doesn't even know the answer to that question because he answered it twice, contradicting answers in fact. He says they have to start over, which is frightening to hear as that was the same message from head coach Tom Renney last season right before he was fired. Reney constantly said "We have to go back to square one". Guess what? There is no starting over. This team has embarrassed the fans and the organization multiple times this season and there is no forgetting that. You pick your head up, realize why you were brought to one of the largest sports markets in the world, and you play like you actually care about winning games. You don't sulk around feeling bad for yourself. What happened happened, it cannot be erased.

It has been said many times, but I will say it again. These players are spoiled rotten. They are flown on fancy charter planes, they are served lunch and dinner, and barely have to lift a finger when not on the ice. The Rangers are one of the most well-treated teams in all of sports by their organization next to probably the Yankees of Baseball. What us common folk go to work every day of the week in order to get, these players get for simply showing up and skating on a rink. A player could have his worst game of the year, yet that three course meal is still waiting for him when he gets out of the shower. However, if you underachieve just a bit at your own personal job, you find yourself being fired and unable to feed yourself and your family.

I state this because this is what Sean Avery is saying when he mentions it is a privilege to play for this team. They have top-notch service, 18,200 dedicated fans cheering for them at every home game, yet they manage to play careless games multiple times in a three month span. There is no excuse and no exceptions, the effort and urgency in the contest with the Flyers last night was pathetic, and if we see many more occurrences such as that one down the road this season, changes will have to be made within the organization because nothing else is working.

At the same time, there are a few players that "get it". Those being the Brandon Dubinksys, Sean Averys, Henrik Lundqvists, and Ryan Callahans. All four of these players were man enough to admit to playing a horrible game, and Avery went as far as telling us why, with explicit language I might add. Dubinsky stated that he was atrocious, and you know what, as long as he realizes that and comes out and fixes it, I won't put much blame on him. The players that stay bottled up and do not admit to their mistakes, thoug, well, they are just cowards. We will see what the response is tonight against the Carolina Hurricanes.
(Image courtesy of AP Photo)