Put yourselves in the Rangers' shoes, or skates I should say, for a minute. Now imagine watching the same team that had the first round draft pick this past June, the same team that you have finished ahead of in the standings for consecutive seasons now, the same team that enjoys nothing better than defeating you and playing a superior product of hockey to yours now passing you in the standings. You are now the cellar dwellers, you are now the team in which its very own fans are giving up on you, and you are the team that has a boatload of pressure bearing down on you. Well, how would that make you feel?
What I am saying here is that the tables have turned. The Islanders have slowly but surely crept out of the shadow that is casted on them by their rivals from Manhattan. Now, whether this scenario will be true for the entire season or not, I cannot predict, but for the time being, this Ranger team has to be outraged.
At the same time, you must give credit to the Isles as much as it may hurt you to do so. They have an unbelievable work ethic and that is what is propelling them in this time of over achievement.
In my eyes, yes, the Blueshirts lack skill in specific areas of the game, but a lot of this slump is due to poor mentality and lack-luster effort. Once losses begin to mount and players do not score and the bounces are not going their way, the overall confidence level decreases drastically. It is a possibility that these mixed emotions may turn to anger with what has went on over the past week; from teammates being waived to rivals surpassing them in the standings.
That being said, I am not a player on the team and cannot just predict what is going through their heads. However, assuming that these players have the mentality of any other normal human beings, there is a good chance that their is that feeling of shame right now, which can also translate into motivation and a state of desperation in which they will do anything to again be the leaders of New York Hockey. John Tortorella has not gotten a 100 percent effort from his entire squad, but Gordon has, and as you can see, it makes a big difference. So maybe the Rangers can take some pointers from their interstate foes, and begin to out-work teams night in and night. Even if your losing, that is still a respectable style of hockey and a way to get this team on the same page. I am just trying to stay positive during these difficult times.
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6 comments:
I still can't understand why Sather didn't put Rodden on Waivers. WE NEED CAP ROOM. RODDEN IS OF LITTLE HELP, CERTAINLY NOT COMMENSURATE W/HIS SALARY. Wouldn't it have been great if someone picked him up?
The Islander factor is moot. 25yrs ago - the heyday of the NYR/NYI rivalry - the rivalry MEANT something. 25yrs ago we had a division-weighted schedule and rosters didn't change by 50% EVERY year due to modern free-agency. Teams had a core group and PERSONAL rivalries would create a TRUE rivalry. Those days are long gone. These guys couldn't give a rat's ass about the Islanders. Hell, half of them weren't even ALIVE 25yrs ago!
Oh, and Heineken is not the first Finn on the Rangers. Reijo Routsalainin was actually a helluva defensman.
For the nth time: Demote Brashear & Voros to Hartford (or trade, not anyone would want these slugs). Bring up and keep Parenteau and Byers. When Dubie comes back, make Byers the healthy scratch.
LET THE KIDS PLAY!
I really wish Slats would dump Brash and Voros already, it is getting ridiculous. No reason or them to be in the lineup let alone alone playing on the third line.
Now that we have cleared the rink rust, and everyone else has also, we have a fair estimate of what this team can do and it is not promising. We also have a pretty good sample of Tortorella and at this point, his reputation is taller than real life. The way he handles his bench and roster are incomprehensible unless he is deliberately trying to get himself fired. Instead of getting better, this team is getting worse, far worse than anyone would have thought to be possible even a couple of weeks ago. And the coach is about on a par with his fourth line.
It is actually pretty true. None of us would have guessed that the team would be flunking this badly so early in the season. Hell, I had the Rangers finishing 5th in the East in my Season Preview. With the way they have been playing we are lucky if the make the playoffs.
Tortorella's benching approach is not working right now, so I think that needs to be changed up a bit. H ecannot do that with the kids; I think they are afraid to take risks in fear of making mistakes which leads to even more mental errors. How do you see it?
Actually, I think Tortorella lacks patience and overestimates the chemistry principal. A bad analogy would be that he is swinging for the fence each time up when he should be looking for consistent singles. His style is high profile and that makes his failures easier to notice. It also scares younger players who probably struggle to interpret what they hear and translate that into action. All in all, I just don't think he is a good coach for this group just as I would think Mike Kennan would not be either.
Agreed, sometimes the hard-nosed coaches are not the greatest for younger players like Del Zotto, Gilroy, and Anisimov. They are too worried about making mistakes and being benched. They are not in the NHL to be scared.
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