No Excuses [Links Added]

Let the official "Have the Rangers hit rock bottom?" watch begin. They had four days of uninterrupted practice to work on their team chemistry and their moribund special teams. They were facing an 0-6 team reeling from a coaching change. There is no excuse for the Rangers to have falled behind 2-0 early and 5-1 late before a couple of garbage time power play goals made it an unrespectable 5-3 final.

There is no excuse for Tom Renney to have wasted those practice days working with new line combinations, two of which strayed so far from "what everybody on the planet would suggest would be obvious," as he said on the first day of training camp. He had a perfect opportunity to put all other experiments to bed and go with the obvious and let those guys finally develop something. And most importantly, to get those obvious combinations working on special teams, where the Rangers are losing games, just as they did in the first half of last season.

There is no excuse for the Rangers' offense to have allowed the Thrashers off the hook when they had to change goalies in the first period, even if they were already down 2-0. Johan Hedberg has been simply awful this season, and the Rangers made him look like a Vezina candidate. And there is even less excuse for the Rangers' defense to have made their bona fide Vezina candidate goalie absorb a five-goal night, which could have been ten goals against had he not made so many other saves.

There is no excuse for Jaromir Jagr to not be trying to live up to his post-season vow from last spring to have his best season ever -- not many really believed he would do it (at least not statistically), but he hasn't looked as if he really even wants to, eight points in six games notwithstanding. There is no excuse for Scott Gomez to have only three points in six games, to have only one assist, to have fewer points and assists than Michal Rozsival. There is no excuse for Rozsival to have played so poorly even in the absence of his regular partner Marek Malik (one of only a handful of players with a valid excuse tonight). There is no excuse for Thomas Pock to have opened his mouth off the ice if he was not in position to back it up on the ice, even if it wasn't his fault that he was rusty. There is no excuse for Brendan Shanahan to have only one goal in 40 shots.

There is no excuse for the cowardly Garnet Exelby to have been targeted by the Rangers for his dangerous and unsportsmanlike play. After he and Steve McCarthy went hunting for Petr Prucha's head and knee, and after he jabbed Jaromir Jagr after a whistle, the Rangers -- Colton Orr, Ryan Hollweg, and Shanahan -- should have gone after Marian Hossa, Ilya Kovalchuk, or someone of that order. An idiot like Exelby will not be deterred if he's targeted -- he will only be deterred if the same caliber players he targets are targeted in return. That said, kudos to the Rangers for going after him anyway, for sticking up for their teammates, as they should.

There is no excuse for the type of hellacious officiating we saw tonight -- both ways. The Rangers gave up an early five on three goal on a pair of penalties that were not, by any interpretation of the rule book, new NHL or whatever, penalties. Fedor Tyutin was interfered with going for a puck and was called for a high stick while falling out of control, while two seconds earlier Dan Girardi's high stick was unseen and/or uncalled. And the non-call on Exelby headhunting Prucha -- many might say Exelby should be suspended for that, we say the referee should be suspended for not calling it.

Worst of all, the Thrashers scored a goal on an offsides that Stephen Walkom, NHL director of officiating, had the gall to tell Joe Micheletti was correctly uncalled because the guy had control of the puck while preceding it into the zone. Except that the very reason he was preceding the puck into the zone was because he had lost control! And Joe accepted the explanation even as the replay showed how wrong the call was. Sure, the Rangers were guilty of incredibly undisciplined play in allowing that goal to happen, as Joe pointed out correctly. But that still should have come to an end when the player put himself offsides.

Finally, despite it all, there is no excuse for Ranger fans to jump off the bandwagon so early in the season. The last two seasons proved, at both ends of the spectrum, exactly what this stage of the season means in the grand scheme of things. Some things obviously need to be improved on -- some of them dramatically. But a fan base who like to believe they are among the most knowledgeable in hockey surely knows that nothing was ever decided in mid-October, especially the fate of a successful coach who has not done a single thing that any GM in his right mind would consider fire-able. This is a season of high hopes, and that is what everyone will be judged on. But that will happen next spring, not this fall.

Game reports: Daily News, Newsday, Post, NYR.com, and AJC. Updated Ranger notes from USA Today. Stan Fischler on the lines at MSG.com. The Rangers' lawsuit with the NHL at the Vancouver Province. Part one of a video interview with Mike Richter here. Wolf Pack week ahead from the Courant. And Jess Rubenstein with Prospect Park. Mitch Beck will be blogging the Wolf Pack for us at Howlings -- check out his introductory message.

Comments

[Paul Arensburg]

I just watched Sharks v Red Wings. The oafficials didn't make 1 questionable call all night. Seems almost unarguable that the league either encourages, condones or demands the a-holes screw the Rangers.

Michelletti is the worst.

[Lauren]

Very good post, Dubi.

[Ted]

Nope, I refuse to get worried about this team. Perhaps they played like crap tonight but this team is too talented to just continue to play at this poor level all season. Eventually Jagr and Gomez and Drury will get it going, and guys like Tyutin and Girardi will make for a respectable defense, and Lundqvist will continue to dominate.

After the Rangers play Pittsburgh on November 17th (game #20), then and only then will i start to get concerned if the team continues to maintain a below-.500 record. Renney is simply too good of a coach to not figure out how to improve chemistry by then.

I do still believe Renney is awesome HOWEVER my one frustration with him is similar to last year when he insisted on playing Rachunek so many awful nights. This season though it's gotta be the absurd idea that Betts is a quality 3rd line center. My god guys like Peca and Cullen look quite enticing now don't they? Please Tom give Dubinsky a chance!

[Chris F.]

Great post.

Man is it frustrating to see the Rangers repeat the same mistakes again and again.

Also, while nothing may be decided in October, teams that actually win games and amass points early don't need to panic late.

[cwgatti]

Bring back Malik!!!! Pock should be in Hartford. Dawes and Staal have a long way to go. BETTS was their best player last night. . . .and that tells you something. Hossa needs to get back soon.

[Phill]

I'm doubting Hossa would have done anything that would've changed the outlook of yesterday's game. And I am a Hossa fan.

What they need and a missing terribly is Sean Avery. Imagine him out of on the ice last night?

Honestly, I don't think we would've lost. But let's say we did end up losing. I think it would've been a much different game to say the least.

I'm not hitting the panic button, ducking and rolling as I jump off the bandwagon and I'm not heading for the hills either. I was just upset about last night's game and how it was practically gift wrapped for the Thrashers.

Simply put: They are not the Senators. They are the Thrashers. We should've won.

Besides Orr/Hollweg sticking up for Prucha, the lone bright spot this season is Henrik. He kept us in this game AGAIN. Yet, we couldn't score and we couldn't help out Henrik when he needed us.

That's a shame.

[jdon]

I am not as optimistic about this team as some. We sre kind of small up front. We need to be able to dump it in and put the hurt on some D-men. I don't see the personnel to do that. Constantly trying to make pretty plays is playing right into the hands of a lot of inferior teams.

[Godot]

Good post, Dubi.

Is it possible, just possible, the schedule is working against the Rangers--they looked rusty. It's one thing to practice, another to play. You said it in the previous post that the Atlanta game could be a trap--the Thrashers had something to prove, the Rangers don't feel like they do.

But of course, they do.

It's time fo Renney to actually play the seriosu lines.

Congrats Girardi on getting your first NHLer....

[Matty]

Great Post Dubi,

Count me in as one of the fans that 100% believes in our team, our entire team, and our coaching/management staff. It is just far too early for me to be like disheartened.

That being said, and understanding that what they lack more than anything is chemistry up front, I think that while they find that chemistry what they'll need to do is suck it up and just outwork the other team. The only time they did that last night they scored. It isn't easy right now for them to score making the pretty plays because their timing is way off. Most passes are being intercepted or going wide even when they aren't.

I like that they got angry at the end of the game, perhaps out of frustration and a bit of embarrassment and not just at Exelby. I hope they bring that anger to Boston tomorrow and say "enough is enough" and fight from beginning to end for a win.

Kudos to Henrik and shame on his teammates for hanging him out to dry. They wasted another great effort from him as they've done much of the season thus far. I was very happy that Girardi scored his first goal, I can see more goals from him if Tom starts deciding to use him and Toots more on the point in the PP, which I think would be great since they are both shooting more this season.

One last thing.

I had the absolute misfortune of getting the Atlanta feed. While they were very good to Henrik and to most other Rangers that all stopped as soon as Ryan Hollweg would be on the ice.

"Here's Hollweg who always hits marginally illegal hits and late"

"Exelby in contrast is always a clean hitter" - said right after he almost took Prucha's head off.

"Exelby better watch out since Hollweg is on the ice and will look to injure someone after the clean Prucha hit"

I mean on and on and on this garbage all night long even before the hit. I was so upset I wanted to write to Darren Elliot and blast him. It upsets me even more because this is the freaking loser we were forced to listen to on Versus in the playoffs last season. Grrrrrrrrrrrr

Now I didn't think that Exelby's hit was overly illegal and thank goodness Prucha didn't get hurt but Exelby IS a "hit to hurt" player and what incensed me was Elliot talking as if he wasn't and was above and beyond Ryan in that department.

[jack]

Without Avery this is the same time that struggled big time last year. He is so important to this team. Pissed Pock dropped the ball but right now Rozy and Malek shouldn't see the ice. Play Sturdwick and Pock together or bring up Sauer and get rid of Malek/Mara.

D lines:

Danny-Fedor
Rozy-Staal
Sauer-Pock/Strudwick

[Ron Boesgaard]

OK. Not our greatest game.

I can accept a clunker like this every so often. We clamor for younger players in the line-up and they need to gain valuable experience. The chemistry with the new guys, as of yet, has failed to materialize. Mistakes are being made now that should not be made come the end of December.

While is true that 2 points in October are worth just a much as 2 points in late March, I am nowhere near hitting the panic button.

There is veteran skill and leadership on this team as well as youthful skill and exuberance and it is spread across all four lines.

Sooner or later the kinks will be ironed out and this team will take off.

I just hope it is sooner.

And Dubi is dead on about leaving the McCarthys and Exelbys alone and venting on the oppositions star players. Much bigger return on your investment. He was also spot on regarding instantaneous responses. Sometimes you just have to react like that.....

[TonyM]

I am a die hard Ranger fan and have followed this team more years than probably anyone else here. How does 43 years sound to you.
But when I am upset with the way they play does that makes me one of those fans that are jumping off the bandwagon? I don't think so.
Why can't we call the game as we see it? This was one of the worst performances from this team even compared to their bad play from early last year.
Sather has FAILED to address the need for a big , tough , crease clearing defensive defenseman for over 10 years now.
Think about this,every one of Atlanta's 5 goals was scored from within 4 to 10 feet in front of Henrik who was absolutely hung out to dry all game long.
That is a MAJOR problem for this team and will continue to be until Sather solves the problem.

The additions of Drury and Gomez have been busts up to now. However I am optimistic that they will get it together .

This team has a major problem establishing any kind of forecheck, except for the 4th line.

We are terribly disorganized and seem to treat the puck as a hot potato, passing it around irresponsibly especially by Roszival who has been dreadful in the first 6 games.

Whose fault is it? Everybodys. From Sather who has decided that defense by committee will work ( Its not and it won't),
to Renney for not being able to get his players to play responsibly and as a cohesive unit, to a number of players who have out right stunk the ice.
Does this make me a fair wheather fan , jumping off the bandwagon? After 43 years of following this team , ABSOLUTELY NOT!

[D]

Great Post.
I agree with a lot you said. I am not ready to call it quits either. But the points you make are valid. Jagr talked a big game during pre-season and has yet shown nothing of super star status. The defense is a big problem. These early games do mean a lot in the long run, so losing these important points to teams like, Atlanta and the Islanders are in excusable. These are teams that must be defeated, no questions about it. This excuse that these stars need time to gell has got to go by the wayside also. I do not see any other team with lots of changes struggling so much. As star veterans you find a way to get it done!

[Chas]

Enough about needing time to adjust from these underperforming highly paid people. The Rangers’ Tyutin and Girardi have done their job respectively and Staal is the only defenseman on this loosely organized team who gets more time to adjust. The remaining are weak, unfocused and out of position defenseman. Offensively, they have the horses but lack leadership. Jagr is the captain and his use of the excurse “adjusting” is a weak.

Philly underperformed the Rangers last year and made big changes are adjusting well quickly. If the Rangers lost the magnitude of talent that Buffalo did, I believe they would be whining about needing time to adjust.

The problem in part, is due to the comfortable atmosphere the Rangers’ management provides the players and coaches. If the Rangers were “adjusting” more rapidly, and were on top of their division, Sather would be getting praise from the media for his leadership, deservingly. He is their leader, not Jagr or Renney. Look at the Rangers’ official organizational chart, Sather is it. Step up Mr. President. Lead this maladjusted bunch out of their state of bewilderment. Move some bodies, on or off the ice, if not both.

[imitation]

repost, missed the fact there was a new thread..."JESS you want to waive Pock after one game ? Talk about blaming. It was a TEAM non-effort until the 3rd period. Sorry, but Pock played a part in beating The Trash in the playoffs and deserves more than one game. This team needs offense, puck possession, & TEAM D , which is the style that Renney believes will win. Alot more grit & chemistry will get them back on track, if they follow their coaches' game plans. Individual efforts by guys with letters on their jersey is only a part of it, they all have to pitch in. There is only one name that belongs in the hat, The Team. That's who deserves the blame & the credit. They have the talent, they have to ALL work harder and good results will follow that lead."

[Pavel]

Who else thinks that Straka only tapped that nobody and it looked like a dive? I also think it's BS that we didn't start taking runs at Kowalchuk and Hossa after Prucha was unnecessarily targeted.

The officiating has been inconsistent in every game I have watched this week, and that includes games with the Penguins, Devils and Flyers...

[bryan]

everybody is saying a lot, but at the end of the day Dawes was the best player for the Rangers last night. period.

[lennynyr]

Dubi hit it on the button about our much maligned coach, deservedly so. How the hell can you get chemistry when you don't allow the lines to get used to each other? Plus taking Dubinsky off of an offensive line makes no sense at all. Until we get a better coach or this one gets his act together, the team isn't going anywhere.

The personnel is good enough to make the playoffs. Buffalo went far with three offensive lines last season and this team is built similar. Their defense was better but not by a whole lot. Only Anaheim with their big forward lines had the advantage over the other elite teams in the league.

Big skilled players who can drop the gloves...hmmmm. Do we have anybody in Hartford who can do that? Byers? jessiman?

Also agree Pock needs more than one game. Look what Malik and Rozi are getting away with. So far the only shining stars on the team are HL, Girardi and Tyutin. The Rangers have the personnel to be better, they just don't have the right coach!!

[Greg]

Trying not to be overly negative but Staal looked like a pylon too often when someone with speed took him wide. Dawes was largely invisible aside from the first shot he got on goal. Pöck just earned himself another press box pass. Everyone wanted the young guys in, well you got them. In their defense, the rest of the team absolutely sucked too.

A few bright spots--Prucha, Callahan, Dubinsky, Girardi. They seemed to be hustling on both sides of the puck. Henrik had his moments but Renney should have given him the third period off, not because of HIS play, but because of the lackluster performance by the rest of the team. Plus Vali needs some gametime and I'd rather give him sizeable minutes in a game already lost than one with two points on the line.

Sit Pöck and Mara, put Malik and Strudwick back in. And for goodness sakes keep the game at even strength since both the PP and the PK are pathetic right now!!!

That being said, LET'S GO RANGERS!

[Pavel]

Mara is better than Malik, and he has a SHOT.

[imitation]

lenny I thought that last season, and Renney proved me wrong. I'm not ready to go back there yet. The entire organization is underperforming right now. They'll get their act together. Proof to follow ;-)

[Levi]

Since Sean Avery is out why not call up a guy who has the grit and offensive talents. Dane Byers should be the one to get called up rather than Dawes. Dawes has had his chance and has not demonstrated he can play in the big League. Dane Byers proved last year that he can score, he has the grit and will stand and take beating after beating in front of the net why not get him up there to spark something.

[pghas]

90% of this is on Renney. He has the tools, he's been giuven more than enough talent, and let's not BS ourselves into thinking the players don't care or aren't trying - you think Chris Drury and Scott Gomez are suddenly apathetic? Gomez looks pretty damn miserable in those postgame interviews to me. The reason this is on Renney is that what he should have done was from the first day of training camp put lines together and skated them together over and over and over and over through all 6 preseason games and they should still be together now, so that right now is game #12 for Straka/Jagr/Gomez and Drury/Shanny/Dawes(the only line that has worked at all this year and he refuses to reunite it!) and Dubinsky/Prucha/Callahan.

As always, Renney's biggest problem by far is that he is so concerned with the two points in front of his face that he fails to see the big picture. If he'd stuck with those combos and been skating them into the ground together, yeah, maybe we still would have lost the Islander game, maybe all the putcomes except last night are the same, but instead of this team looking it's WORST of the year right now, they're looking like a team about to go on a roll. As it is, unless they pick up at least one win in these next two - and I suspect they won't becauise Pitt is still trying to find their stride and Boston is hot - they'll come home 2-6 and looking an awful lot like the 2003 Rangers or the 2006 Flyers.

And let's not kid ourselves - despite the team's offensive firepower, they've always had trouble scoring goals. Last year they lost 21 - yes, 21! - games by one goal, and had the 2nd lowest GAA in the East. It was only when they buckled down and played team defense that they were able to win. I don't know if that's an indictment of Renney's system (is it a run-and-gun system or a transition based defensive game, and is it possible to have a hybrid of those two? it would appear not) or of the actual players on defense. All I can say is that he's been given the players and he's failing miserably to get them on the same page and skating together. This is on him right now.

[dtaild]

No way Dawes was the best player for the rangers...I can like 5 or 6 guys that had much better games...Lundqvist, Girardi, Shannahan(not just for his goal alone, but he had 7 or 8 real good chances), Tuytin, Dubinsky....Betts marginally..Dawes was invisible to me and needs to work harder if he wants a roster spot

[CJP]

6 games in and Renney hasn't even come close to having a clue what to do with the forward lines, let alone develop any kind of PP strategy other than the tired "give it to JJ on the boards".

Count me among the fans who aren't swooning over Renney's ability to get this team into the playoffs two years in a row. I think he's being given way too much credit for that when the bottom line is he's simply not that good of a coach. Or, let's put it this way...he's not the right coach for a team filled with millionaires who want to do things their way.

From what I've seen so far, this team looks an awful lot like the teams of Fleury, Lindros, Mess (2nd round), Kaminsky, et al...

No chemistry, no strategy, and no clue. They run around in circles and let's say this about Renney...It's now been 6 WEEKS more or less since training camp started. A month and half to figure out line combinations...and he hasn't come close to figuring any of it out. A month and half to figure out special teams, and he hasn't come close to figuring that out either.

Don't get me wrong, the onus is on the players to earn their paychecks (I guess Drury is happy with his personalized Rangers jersey, cause he's done shit all year)...but it's also on the coaching staff to have this team ready to play, have lines set, have strategy set, and have some accountability.

And they've failed on every one of those aspects. Other than benching Malik, which was as obvious a move as wiping your ass after a shit...this team will continue to falter until they realize just how many points they've pissed away and how far out of the playoff picture they are.

Going home 2-6 is not only likely, it's probabable. I've been a fan for a LONG time...a Rangers fan always and a hockey fan in general...and I think the time to panic is NOW. Didn't Keenan panic in '94 when they dropped an early game to the Ducks in similar fashion? You can be patient and hope for the best...but I've seen very, very little to be optimistic about this season.

[Jess]

Imitation

Guess sarcasm escapes you does it not?

Sorry I did not post directly that I was being sarcastic about (A) waiving Pock, (B) blaming Matty and (C) picking someone new to blame today.

If after over close to 300 posts you zero in on my comments about Pock (ignore that so many ripped the guy after just one game) makes me wonder if you are simply zeroing on me to start a problem.

Gee I wonder who I am thinking about blaming for the loss now

[lennynyr]

Yes imitation, the Rangers had similar problems last season but remember, they also started the season with Aaron Ward, Hall. Ozolinish, Kasper. They eventually got rid of those guys and brought in Mara, Girardi, Callahan and Avery and then the team started playing well.

What four players can the Rangers get rid of this season to get the same kind of improvement? We were lucky last season that the change in personnel worked out well. No guarantee that the same results will occur this season.

[lennynyr]

Gee I wonder who I am thinking about blaming for the loss now

The guy in the clown suit with the purple hair and a binky in his mouth.

[proslyn]

Matty,

I too had to watch the Atlanta feed and it was like pouring salt on the wound. Darren Elliot 1. has no idea what he is talking about and 2. clearly shows a bias towards the home team. I noticed this same uneven, mis-informing analysis last season in the playoffs, and nothing has changed.

To add to the great tidbits, you've already quoted, Darren Elliot also said the following:

"Exelby's hit was a clean response to Marty Straka's cheap-shot on Toby Engstrom"

"Straka knew Engstrom was a kid, so he hit him from behind."

Umm, the way I saw it, looks liek they were both goign for the puck, and at best it was a boderline check from behind whic was made worse becuase the rookie lost his foot and fell forward, sliding for a good five feet before hitting the boards.

ALso, when Hollweg hit Zhitnik, square in the chest, Darren Elliot had the following to say:

"Hollweg is a puck optional player and is always out there to hurt someone whether they have the puck or not. Zhitnik is engaged with another player, and Hollweg just hits him withoutany regard for the play."

The puck was between Zhitnik's feet and he had separated from his "engagement with the other player." On top of which, who says all battles along the boards are to be one on one? Perhaps I am missing something.

In a city where the NHL is trying to "grow the sport" (I hate that term), they should try to use tv analysts who can actually educate the fans properly, which is not happening. Even on Elliot's attmep to educate the viewer as to hockey strategy and tactics, he failed to properly show ad discuss the plays. DId you happen to catch his analysis of Atlanta's "new breakout, where the offsdie winger in the defensive zone flys the zone and his a great breakaway chance..." which was caused by the Rangers offside defenseman going for a change? Said breakaway obviously never materialized sicne the new defenseman properly skated into position cuttign down the "breaking winger's angle." The Rodent would have had a field day with that one.

In all, the only thing that was arguably as embarassing as the Rangers' play last night was the Atlanta tv coverage of the game...at least there is hope that the Rangers will get better.

[Jess]

Yes the team played poorly last night and breaking news there will be more nights when the team will have bad night later this season.

However despite all the bad of last night there is no need for full scale changes, firing of the coaching staff or any public lynching.

Things will get better in time. I would rather stink now than in April, May or June

[rangerbill94]

Pock this; Malik that, Mara didn't; Shanny couldn't, Rozi here, Jagr there, Gomez should have and Drury didn't! Six games in and we see the same problem every game. Chemistry isn't the problem. COMMITMENT is the problem. If any game so far was a game we should have come out of the box with a clear desire to win, this was it. Renney spoke about the two ATL issues (coach and record) which will motivate them and our players let the ATL team feel real good about themselves. Everybody in the organization is to blame. The coach didn't coach, the captain didn't captain, the assistant captains assisted in the debacle. There was NO puck support, nobody had their head on a swivel and almost everybody had their head up their you know what.

Now on the positive side, Dubinsky skated with speed, too bad there was nobody there to work with him! Girardi and Tyutin played well. Dawes skaed well, Shanahan go off a bunch of good shots, Gomez looked OK. No need to comment on Lundqvist!

On the negitive side, Straka was awful, Jagr not much better, Rozsival was by far the worst defenseman.

The PP got it's chances, but it seems to be focused on either Shanahan or Jagr scoring. It's almost like the other 3 players are there just to help set up those two. Also, Drury on the point? WTH is that all about???

Tinkering. STOP tinkering, Tom! Remember the old hockey adage...Keep it simple. Return to the basics; solid position play, head on a swivel, accelerate to the puck, crash the net, finish all your checks.

[lennynyr]

Think we all agree the team needs commitment. But pretty tough to be committed when the coach keeps giving you different combinations to work with. The player sees that he'll probably be with someone else so why bother getting used to working that combination. If he feels that Renney is going to leave him with his present combination, he'll work a lot harder trying to jell since he knows he'll be with those guys indefinitely. For some reason, Renney fails to grasp this.

[er]

dubi, i agree with a lof of your points but to go after hossa and kovalchuk is just idiotic. you are looking at suspensions and a bad reputation by going after those guys. look at what happened when buffalo went after heatley and spezza last year after the drury-neil incident. there is no place in hockey for that nonsense.

[phild]

I'm not the kind of guy that likes to place too much blame on a coach or call for his head prematurely, but I'm starting to think Renney needs to go. Not that I have ideas for a replacement, but the problems the Rangers are having now, to me, are coach related.

Besides the line combos, lack of chemistry and problems on the PP they don't seem to be playing with discipline or passion. There needs to be hustle on every shift, and it's not there. And don’t get me started on the PP. Is this not a coaching issue?

I've never really had an opinion of Renney... never really got the feeling he was impacting the team one way or the other. More often than not, it seemed like he was benefiting from the emergence of Lundqvist, the play of Jagr and the rest of the team. But now that this team needs its coach to step up, figure out its problems and make some changes, it doesn't seem like Renney has the answers.

I know it's still early, but this can't go on for too much longer before replacing him has to become a serious consideration.

[Ryan]

Disagree er..

I think Buffalo did the right thing in that game.. well except for Peters fighting Emery. That part was too much. But if they're going to viciously hit one of your players, you've got to fight back. You've got to show them that you won't stand for it, and going after one of their stars is exactly the way to do it. Remember the Washington game last year.. Orr going after Ovechkin? Granted that hit was a bit too much on the dirty side by Orr.. but still, they didn't give us a problem afterwards(don't know if we played them later in the year) and they didn't this year either.

[phild]

Good point, Rangerbill. I think a return to basics is just what this team needs. I'm seeing a return to the pre-lockout days when the Rangers lived and died by their talent and didn't work hard enough. They need to be humbled and start working again.

[lennynyr]

IMO, unlike some of the Ranger teams in the past, this team has the talent to win. Not only that, they have more good prospects knocking on the door than any other time I remember.

[Mr. Marshal]

My problem with Renney is such:

Instead of using the logical line combinations that best addresses the players skills and allowing them time to gel, Renney panicks and has been juggling the lines every game. If the coach panicks it translates to the players.

Renney needs pick he lines and defense pairings and use them for 10 games straight, no waffling just be conistent.

Jagr Drury Straka
Dawes Gomez Callahan
Prucha Dubinsky Shanahan
Avery Betts Hossa (when Healthy)

Fedor Girardi
Staal Rossy
Malik Mara(Sauer by mid season)

We could roll 4 lines and establish at least two solid defense pairings.

[LI Joe]

here is something we can all agree on. Rangers vs Chicago unis which are better - vote on cbssportsline.com. the other semifinal is Bost vs Mtl.

http://www.sportsline.com/nhl/story/10417336

[Paul Arensburg]

jdon -

i agree with you.

"We sre kind of small up front. We need to be able to dump it in and put the hurt on some D-men. I don't see the personnel to do that. Constantly trying to make pretty plays is playing right into the hands of a lot of inferior teams."

[baals to the staalrus]

sorry to break it to you guys, but the rangers have been losing becuase i havent been able to watch the games. they rarely win when im not watching.

[imitation]

JESS sorry, alittle hard to tell when you switched from serious to sarcastic, except when you said "Matty"..."Leadership is about taking charge, it is about stepping up when the team needs a boost and leading by example.

Right now there is nobody willing to step up and say "Follow me boys" and until someone gets sick of losing this trend just might continue.

I think the Rangers can now safely place Pock on waivers to send him to Hartford, no loss if they loss him to someone else." ...so is all of that sarcastic too, or just the Pock sentence? I don't read minds.

[ToeKnee]

I don't get the Renney, Sather or some of you fans' fascination with Hossa. I'd love him to live up to his brother but he simply sucks. In his 6th year as a pro, he had a career season last year with a whopping 18 points in 64 games. He brings no offensive threat, no toughness, no character to the game and some want him on the number 1 line, or worse on the 4th tough line. If he's the best the Rangers can field in either position something is terribly wrong.

[Koffy]

You are spot on with this post. I really agree with:

They had four days of uninterrupted practice to work on their team chemistry and their moribund special teams. They were facing an 0-6 team reeling from a coaching change. There is no excuse for the Rangers to have falled behind 2-0 early and 5-1 late before a couple of garbage time power play goals made it an unrespectable 5-3 final.

There is no excuse for Tom Renney to have wasted those practice days working with new line combinations, two of which strayed so far from "what everybody on the planet would suggest would be obvious," as he said on the first day of training camp. He had a perfect opportunity to put all other experiments to bed and go with the obvious and let those guys finally develop something. And most importantly, to get those obvious combinations working on special teams, where the Rangers are losing games, just as they did in the first half of last season.

(Gomez has been awful. Coughs up the puck, looks lost.)

There is no excuse for Rozsival to have played so poorly even in the absence of his regular partner Marek Malik (one of only a handful of players with a valid excuse tonight). There is no excuse for Thomas Pock to have opened his mouth off the ice if he was not in position to back it up on the ice, even if it wasn't his fault that he was rusty. There is no excuse for Brendan Shanahan to have only one goal in 40 shots.
(There is one excuse, age ... he may be hitting the end of the road.)

There is no excuse for the cowardly Garnet Exelby to have been targeted by the Rangers for his dangerous and unsportsmanlike play. After he and Steve McCarthy went hunting for Petr Prucha's head and knee, and after he jabbed Jaromir Jagr after a whistle, the Rangers -- Colton Orr, Ryan Hollweg, and Shanahan -- should have gone after Marian Hossa, Ilya Kovalchuk, or someone of that order. An idiot like Exelby will not be deterred if he's targeted -- he will only be deterred if the same caliber players he targets are targeted in return. That said, kudos to the Rangers for going after him anyway, for sticking up for their teammates, as they should.

They lose chemistry when Malik is benched. Rosival not near as effective. Pock needs to be glad he is in the NHL. He was exposed big time, rust or no rust. Straka seems lost. Nothing happens on the ice until Jagr is on it. I disagree with your assessment of Jagr. How about Prucha on Jagr's line?

[Vincent Accardi]

Well as I said kast night we stunk but I have the answer.Get rid of Jagr,yes he has unbelievable talent but he is lazy,inconsistent,brings baggage with him like malik-rosi-straka.If you don't treat them right he plays worse,nice capt.he never should have been made cpt.Shanny should've been last year and now.Now he's a leader.Jagr barely shows emotion except when he scores so thats not much this year.Trade him now so you can get a good return .that's if anybody would want him.Right now I'd rather wath the wolfpack because they all give an effort and play with heart not like so many of the big club.I've been a Ranger fan for over 40 years so don't give me any shit about not being a true ranger fan.I just want to watch a team who tries hard every second and has heart

[brian]

THIS IS MY FAVORITE POST IN THE HISTORY OF BLUE SHIRT BULLETIN, AND NEW YORK RANGERS COVERAGE BY THIS EXCELLENT TEAM....THATS WHAT THE RANGERS ARE!!! FULL OF EXCUSES!!!!! BLAH BLAH BLAH HIGHER STANDARD, 110% THIS NEW YORK FAN BASE MYSELF INCLUDED WATCHES RANGERS HOCKEY RELIGIOUSLY...WE KNOW THE INS AND OUTS OF THE GAME AS WELL AS THE PLAYERS AND COACHES, AND I KNOW FOR A FACT BECAUSE I WORKED FOR THE NHL AND FOUND OUT THEY KNOW AS MUCH AS A DIEHARD HOCKEY FAN, SOMETIMES LESS(COUGH COUGH BRYAN TROTTIER). THIS TEAM AND ORGANIZATION LOVES TO TALK!!! STOP TALKING AND JUST FRIGGEN DO ALREADY.. DO DO DO DO DO NO MORE NONSENSE, NO MORE MEDIA, NO MORE PRESS, JUST GET ON THE ICE AND BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF 29 OTHER TEAM,,,,THAT WAS THE MARK MESSIER WAY..WHICH IS WHY HE HOLDS 6 RINGS..ITS ALL ABOUT THE CUP NOTHING ELSE...ALL THE REST OF THESE COMMERCIALS AND INTERVIEWS ARE ALL BOGUS....(SORRY FOLKS FOR THE CAPS BUT I FEEL LIKE I AM STANDING ON THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING SHOUTING DOWN TO TOM RENNEY AND COMPANY TO GET THERE ACT TOGETHER AND DOMINATE). WHO AGREES WITH ME...

DUBI YOU ARE THE MAN AND THIS ARTICLE MADE MY NIGHT AND DAY AFTER WATCHING HORRID HOCKEY AGAIN FROM THE RANGERS...GAME 3 OR 60 IT ALL COUNTS..FROM BEGINNING TO END..

THANK YOU

BRIAN

[brian]

and garnett exelby and steve mccarthy should both be fined and suspended 2 games each for intent to injure...but the NHL is to busy called the stick foul against the hip( which is a call but its becoming like hand check in basketball) In the NBA they get hacked with no calls but handcheck is a whistle every time...Refs and League Officials are morons...who ever heard of being able to skate backward into the zone and it isnt offsides as long as he has control..that defeats the entire purpose of the blueline...so if someone had more than enough room but didnt wanna take himself offsides he could go in backward.. Mr. Walkon you are severly dillusional....

[paulf]

Well, I think it's pretty obvious that time has come to bench Malik and Hossa, we should be OK with those slugs out of the lineup. Pock will solve all of our defense problems.

The problem with analyzing hockey is that it is a team sport, and goals against are usually not a physical problem, but a breakdown in positioning or puck support. Pock has good physical skills -- he made some nice outlet passes -- but he seems to brain-lock in the defensive zone, like he did on two goals last night.

Tyutin and Girardi are a fine pair, but what in the world were they doing on the 5-3 in the first? Their positioning begged Atlanta to score. Rozsival was horrible, he made a slew of turnovers and abandoned Lundqvist on the offsides goal. But he played great most of the past two seasons, so he'll have to fight out of the slump.

Basically, the team is out of synch. Gomez looks lost and Drury isn't much better. But this isn't about line combos, which people love to talk about but have little bearing on the outcome of any individual game. It's about each player playing with passion and discipline and playing as a team and making fewer mistakes.

Just like last year, this isn't about not having good players or effort, so I fully expect the team to get better. It's still mid-October.

[rangerbill94]

Mr. Marshal

I agree with your lines. However, on the 3rd pair defense I'd play Pock and Strudwick. Tomas needs some time to adjust and he always picks up his game after he's in the lineup for 3 or 5 games. Problem is, he never gets a long term shot. I'd place him with Strudwick for two reasons. Struds is a more stay at home D'man, giving Pock a better chance to bring the puck up and Struds has a willingness to play physical, even fight if that's what is needed. I do not see any of those qualities in Malik/Mara pair. Pock/Strudwick can make the same mistakes Malik/Mara does, so that's a wash. As for Mara and his "slapshot", still haven't seen it. Pock, on the other hand, QB'd the PP in Hartford, but I guess that doesn't count in the coaching staffs mind, they would rather put one of the best puck deflectors at the point!

[Chris QCT]

Well, 6 games in and I think I have seen a different team on the ice for each game...both literally and figuratively.

Avery cannot get back here faster. It is amazing how much this team lacks personality when he is not playing.