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?
