Utter Confusion and an Argument for Mats Sundin. . .

Utter confusion, from me, apparently. Not the team. The Rangers team said they played well, and all indications would show, they did. Hank said it was one of the team's most complete games all year.

Then why do I feel the way I do?

To start, I'll be honest. I watched maybe 25 minutes of last night's game. And by 25, I don't mean just under half of the 60 minutes they play, I mean about 25 minutes out of the 2 and a half hours it takes a spectator to watch a game.

And trust me, it was my intention to. I had a giant soda on my way home around 8:30 or so, so I could stay up. But somewhere in between that and the start of the game, I just lost interest.

You understand my utter confusion now?

I wanted to see how they would play, I did. But I guess I didn't know how much I wanted to. And truth be told, a lot of other stuff, outside of hockey, has been going on this week. Maybe it's just a bad week overall for a West Coast trip to coincide with my busy life. It is weeks like this I wish I was still in college, because I'd be able to stay up as late as I wanted and at some point today, make it up. But in this world, I don't see it happening.

Feeling Guilty:

Here's the part I hate to say and almost didn't want to. But I've tried to be honest with my feelings regardless of how they make me look, so I will continue to go with that honest.

I didn't care that they won. Again. I said it. For the second time in about a week, I didn't care if my team, a team I am very loyal to, won.

What's worse. When I walked back into the room and heard it was Nigel Dawes who scored, I was like, oh great. More fuel for Renney's stupid "he rocks" argument. And before anyone starts to think this is a biased opinion against someone for reasons other than the fact that I don't necessarily like him as a player. Oh forget it. All honesty aside. I do dislike people like him. I do. I really do.

People from Manitoba!

Whew. Glad I got that off my chest.

Really, and this is the part I must apologize for. Dawes is well liked. Seems to be an overall good guy. One of the few guys whose name I heard five years ago as the next best thing. And whether or not he lives up to that - ever - at the NHL level doesnt matter right now. What matters, sadly, is that he will, always, be the guy Renney chose instead of Prucha. And I can't shake that. I mean I know searching for logic in the actions of an illogical man is futile, and that there really IS no on-ice reason for that action. But, it still stings. And I can throw all of the anger at Renney, surely. But somehow some of it ends up going back at Nigel, and that's probably unfair.

I don't think I am the only one, at all, to suggest that he, of all the players in that 3rd line roullette, carousel, musical chairs charade, was probably the least deserving of a spot on the team. [Except, probably poor Patrick Rissmiller who never should have been there anyway].

But, lest we forget, wonder boy Dawes, Renney has to stick with his slumping playmakers. Even if they are boring and invisible. Damn illogical maddening moronic thought process!!

Okay, I'm done with that. Nigel, I'm sorry. I hope, sincerely if you are going to be in the lineup, that you produce. I really do. The Prucha debate is essentially over for now. I have to let it go. I just hope the Rangers let Prucha go - somewhere, anywhere - so he can play. I think we'd all be happier, as long as we know that with Renney here the story will be no different for him.
Now if Renney weren't here??

Back to the game. I heard on the radio that the Ducks only got 19 shots, so it certainly wasn't an intense attack the Rangers faced. Other than that, I really can't comment on the game. It would seem silly for me to do so. If it hasn't already seemed so.


In other Rangers news, Mats Sundin will make his decision tomorrow, supposedly. I have not spoken much about this in a long while. Perhaps for reason. But I now have a much more concise thought process on the whole Sundin matter.

I was not a proponent of getting Shanahan back because I thought - oh how stupid of me - that to get him would mean guys like Prucha, Fritsche, or whomever, would be sitting on the bench and not getting opportunities. Well thanks to Renney or Glenn or whoever the frack is making those decisions, young guys that were told they'd get a chance, they never did.

So, my argument meant nothing. It's Renney, not Shanahan {see blog, "With Apologize in Advance to One of Hockey's Greats} that should be apologizing to those guys for favoritism. Not Shanny.

Considering that was my only argument for not wanting Shanahan, that would have been my same argument against getting Sundin.

But if Renney will not play the young kids anyway or use them properly when he does [ I'm thinking of you Lauri Korpikoski], then I see no reason for that to, well, be a reason.

With that said, bring on Sundin!

Why?

The team is already in financial shambles for the better part of the next decade [see blog "Do the Math Rangers fans].

The team is without leadership and stuck behind the gloriously mismatched and innefective bobsie twin pairing of Gomez and Drury for the next four years - at least!!

The team lacks any sort of heart or spark that apparently makes me remotely intersted in watching them.

If Sundin comes - I will watch for him, I will root for him, because he, unlike half the guys on this team - I actually like. I always did. [Guy gave his heart to Toronto and they practically threw him out the door].

If he comes to the team, you can add him to the small, very small list, of players I actually like on this team {Staal, Mara, Vali, Hank, Naslund, Sjostrom, Zherdev, and Callahan]. I'll root for him to succeed.

Whether or not this team will be better or worse? I beg to ask, can they truly be any worse if a fan as diehard as me, who cleared her evening of all prior committments, and looked forward to the West Coast swing for months, chose willlingly to not watch the game.

Something is not good guys. If Sundin can provide some entertainment value- do it. The team is already screwed financially and screwing with their young guys already. To deny either, is to not be able to see the full picture that is, the New York Rangers.


**{Authors's note. About the whole Manitoba thing. If you haven't realized, I was kidding by now, get over it. I was.} **