Sigh.
I could have stepped in here and written how amazing it was to watch those games against Montreal and Tampa last week. The way they fought, the way they skated, the way they scored goals. The way they SHOWED UP.
But, the Rangers are the Rangers and we all should have known better. Perhaps I did. I may love this team but they are flawed. And flawed less in talent to me, than in attitude and drive. And that's what makes us all livid. If they aren't good enough, fine. That is what it is. But if they aren't trying. That's all on them. 100%.
I woke up and read The NY Post as I do every Sunday. Like nor dislike Brooks, he is not vanilla, that's for sure.
He has some dandy quotes from Avery, as have been floating around Twitter this morning. The highlights:
"You can say it's a lack of preparation, but that's BS; it's a lack of competitiveness...We do not play hard enough."
"I don't have the explanation for it. I don't know if it's us not holding each other accountable, or what, but it's a total lack of respect for our fans and the organization. It's a joke."
And lastly:
"It's fine if you get beat. It's fine if you compete and get beat, but to play this way . . . that's not what it's like to be a Ranger."
Like him, hate him, love him, loathe him, at least Sean Avery is one of the few players to tell it like it is.
The sad reality is, of course, as fans we like to think we know what it is to "Be a Ranger."
But, after the last 15 years and counting, and with the exceptions few and far between, isn't the reality of "being a Ranger" less about what it should be and more about exactly what we are seeing: laziness, half-efforts, blase attitude.
I HATE to say that. I praise Avery for realizing it should not be so.
But when does "Being a Ranger" mean Pride, Passion, Tradition, like I used to think it meant. Loyalty to a sweater. Passion for a game. Pride for an organization that had been around for over 80 years.
Sean says he gets it. But is that enough?
2 comments:
Whats happened Kels?!?! I've been stuck in Australia since the 2nd week of Jan. My internet pass does not work down here so I've not seen any of the good, bad and downright ugly that Ranger hockey seems to have become :-(
I'll be listening to the Yotes game this weekend on the internet radio broadcast. I hope we at least come out trying.
I'll not be back in civilisation until after the olympic break. I worry the season will be over by then. Hopefully we pull it together. If not, Prucha, Prucha, PRUCHA! For some playoff excitement:-)
Luke
Luke - I have NO idea.
Well I guess I have some idea. As much as I hate to say it (and as much as I didn't believe it) - I think we are forced to admit the Rangers are just too disconnected, and the talent is too far a drop off after Gaborik. If Hank isn't brilliant, and Gaborik doesn't score, often this team doesn't win.
Sure they started hot, and fooled everyone, perhaps even themselves with the games versus MTL and TB at home. But they are not as good a team as I suspected.
It caught me off guard actually, listening to Cally after the last game, and he talked about how guys have been through slumps before, they've all been around the game long enough to know how to deal with it.
And it struck me - for the first time in a long time, this team is a very young team. And many of those guys simply have not gone through it at this level:
Anisimov, Gilroy, Del Zotto, and to some degree Lisin, Boyle, and Voros with their limited or irregular NHL play.
Now that's not a lot, but I'd argue the Rangers also have players that also don't display the confidence to get over struggles, like Redden, Rozsival, Christensen, Higgins. Those are not players heaped in confidence as dictated this year, or in the last few years in some of their cases.
Avery has to walk his line, but I know he can pull through. Gaborik -yes, Cally - yes, Hank - yes, Prospal - yes, Staal - yes.
The rest of this team?
I don't know how much confidence I truly have.
Enjoy the game tonight! I'll be watching of course.
Post a Comment