| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Nov | Jan » | |||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||
| 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
| 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
| 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 |
|
|
I swear, it seems like the Rangers play like morons just to spite me.? Since this blog has been up, ive been preaching smart play.? Move the puck along the boards, dont get caught with 3 men deep, dont throw blind passes through the neutral zone, dont take idiotic penalties (reffings been bad for both teams, Rangers cant use that as an excuse tonight) etc etc.? Tonight its like the Rangers have gone out of their way to do each and every one of the things I simply cant stand.
*sigh*
-Inferno
Well, I got 1/2 of what I wanted.? The effort was there, the intelligence was most definitely NOT.? The Rangers continue to attempt idiotic dangerous passes and continue to get burned with it with odd man rushes against.? I can not for the life of me figure out why this still happens.? I mean, if there is an enemy defender between you and your passing partner, why the heck do you try to a force a pass through?
Still though, Im happy with the effort level put out there, the guys were definitely trying.? Also of note was Petr Prucha who looked good, but rusty.? He just plays so much better when hes got a playmaker (like Jagr) on his line.? Too bad he took a skate to the face, im wondering if he got hit in the eye, my guess is no, because ones natural instinct is to cover your eye with your hand if its injured, and he kept both his hands down, leading me to believe its just a facial laceration.
-Inferno
Yet another of the short and sweet variety folks.? The Rangers havent come to play in a long time now, at least 3 straight games (unlike most people I thought they played like crap against the Senators).
While typing that sentence I came into a discussion over on Sam Weinmans site (see link on right) with a fellow Ranger fan who basically called me out for being someone who is happy the Rangers lost, just so I can say that as a cynic, I am right… here was my response….
“Dont give me that crap about being happy that the Rangers got blasted.? Im NOT happy.? The point is Ive not been happy with this teams play in quite some time.? Weve been playing like crap, but only our goaltending, which up until tonight, was on a ridiculous streak of stopping just about everything, saved our butts.
Know what im not happy about? im not happy the rangers took 12 penalties against Dallas.? Im not happy the Rangers are constantly caught flatfooted in their own zone, im not happy Malik and Rozsival continually try high risk (high reward) passes through the middle of the zone.? Sure they may work for a while, but the law of averages say those passes are going to be picked off at least as much as they connect, if not more.? Im not happy the Rangers continually send 3 men below the net in an attempt to cycle the puck, then get caught for a 3 or 4 on 2 rush the other way.? Im not happy the coach has basically no idea how to play our youth and is destroying the confidence of a very good defenseman (Better than Bozo thats for sure) in Pock, and a 30 goal scorer in Prucha.? Im not happy Renney continues to play Shanahan on the PK when there are other guys who can do the deed just as good, and arent as important to the other aspects of the game that he is.
I hate people saying that questioning the team, or being unhappy with a win means you are a cynic and hate the team and stuff.? Not accepting mediocrity should be the norm, sadly, i just dont see it in my fellow ranger fans.”?
So there you have it.? My position on accepting mediocrity.? The Rangers have been surviving on their goaltending as of late, NOT their overall play.? It comes as no surprise that this was the culmination of seasons worth of bad habits, and poor decision making.
-Inferno
Even the Maple Leafs announcers could not fathom why Tom Renney left Henrik out to dry.? Clearly hes not on his game, and clearly Tom wanted to teach him a lesson about pulling yourself out of games.? But at some point it becomes detrimental to the future of this kid, who is supposed to be our franchise goalie for the next 15 years.
Would anyone care to rationalize how this is a smart move by Renney?
I cant figure it out.
-Inferno
Wow, what are they feeding the Maple Leafs shooters?? Seriously though folks, I see NO difference between this period, and the previous 3 in Dallas.? The Rangers didnt show up for any of them, they were just saved by some superb goaltending against the stars.? Today everything is going in, and you cant really fault Henrik for it.? Were talking redirections by his own men, guys coming in on breakaways, guys getting full wind up slappers 7 feet from the net in the slot, guys getting several swipes at rebounds with no Rangers presence whatsoever, etc etc.
Tough to stomach this one, even without the flu.
-Inferno
Keeping this short and sweet because the Tylenol Flu Nighttime stuff is starting to work its magic.? We really were outplayed in almost every facet of the game except for one.? Goaltending.? Our goalie put on a clinic that would make Patrick Roy proud, and the Dallas goalie looked like he was modeling equipment made by Kraft.? Other than that, we really got our butts kicked.
Ok, I can barely keep my eyes open right now.? Hopefully I will be better by the time the next game comes around.
Gnite everyone.
-Inferno
Ive got the Dallas feed for tonights game, and I just gotta say, the Dallas announcers had it right.? At some point, Henrik should be arrested for Larceny.? If the Rangers win this one, you gotta give the 2 points completely to Henrik who has been nothing short of spectacular (deja vu?)
Im coming down with the flu I think, so I might just head to bed instead of doing a post game wrap.? We’ll see.
-Inferno
Sorry for being out so long, as some of you may know, my grandmother passed away on Sunday night.? Its been a trying time for my family.? Back to more cheery things….well…actually after that first period, theres really nothing cheery to talk about except for Henrik standing on his head keeping the Rangers in this one after a spectacular first period.? Henrik looks great, the Rangers discipline doesn’t.? What on earth happened to guys that went like 9 games taking ~3 penalties per game?? The Rangers took 4 penalties in the first period alone, and all but 1 were warranted.? The Rachunek call was totally wrong, but other than that, the refs called the penalties pretty fair.
Lets see how the Rangers respond.? No way can the Stars keep up that level of intensity, just weather the storm, and we should be fine.
-Inferno
A family member is deathly ill, doesnt look like she is going to make it.? Dont know when I will be back, but I will, fear not loyal readers.
-Inferno
Quick wrap today.? As I am sure you noticed I didnt get to do my 2nd period wrap, sadly i have guests over and I suppose I had to “play nice” and hang out with them *grumbles*.? Anyways, a great 2nd, a terrible 3rd, led to just a humiliating defeat for the Rangers.? I dont know what to say folks.? But enough is enough, its time for a change.? FIRE RENNEY.
-Inferno