The Hockey Rabbi

Ramblings

So I'm driving home from work this evening listening to WFAN.  Steve Sommers, my all time favorite is on the air.  The schmooze takes a call from some guy who rambles on about how the NHL must have fixed the Rangers-Pens series in order to make sure that Crosby advances in the tournament.  Hmmmm.....  Let's see.....

Does the NHL want Pittsburgh to advance?  Of course.  Did the NHL sabotage the Rangers to make sure Pittsburgh wins?  Please.   However, I will give the conspiracy theorists this:  isn't it strange that when watching a game on a local network like, say, MSG, when a goal is being reviewed, the local network gives you every possible replay angle so that you can effectively make the call for yourself.  Yet when watching games on NHL networks like Versus or NBC, you barely get even a simple replay.  What's that all about?  Does the NHL want us to take their word for it?  Are they afraid that by giving us all the looks, we might catch them making a mistake? 

Guess who's going to be a restricted free agent after next season?  Evgeny "Slew Foot" Malkin.  If the Pens are crazy enough to let him get to July 1 without a new contract, I can see Glenn Sather personally backing the Brinks truck up to Malkin's door.  How does a 10 year maximum contract front loaded to the greatest extent permitted by the CBA sound?  I can hear the good folks in Pittsburgh PA whining already!

So Drury takes a blatant stick to the face.  He's cut so badly the blood had to be scraped out of the ice.  Obviously, none of the on-ice officials see anything.  Tom Renney, of course, makes no attempt to protest the missed call.  What was Tom Terrific thinking?  "What does a guy have to do to get fired around here???" 

 

Did I mention how well Chris Drury did the "little things" in round 1?!?!

   

Food For Thought

The Rangers are staring summer in the face right now.  So are their fans!  There's so much to say and so little time. Here's a little food for thought:

1.  Jagr is a great captain.  I don't care what anyone around the league says about the guy.  I don't care what happened in the past.  The guy's playing with passion.  He wants to win.  He's pushing his 36 year old body to the max.  As far as I'm concerned, he should be proud of himself.  I know I am.

2.  Is it just me, or is Lundqvist making anyone else just a tad nervous?  Every goalie is bound to let up "bad" goals.  It happens.  Even the greatest goalies are human and every human makes mistakes.  One of the things that turns a great goalie into a champion is mental toughness.  For goalies, part of what that means is the ability to shake off a "bad" goal.  Thus far in his career, Lundqvist doesn't have that kind of mental toughness.  That deficiency doesn't bode well for the Rangers championship chances. 

3.  Finished.  A big part of the reason that the Rangers are pretty much finished is because they can't finish.  The Rangers fire 42 thousand shots on goal and only score 3 goals.  Isn't it a shame that Renney decided to finish Prucha?!?  I'm not saying Prucha's a superstar or that he would have been the difference in this series.  However, for all of the Rangers offensive weapons what they're clearly lacking is a true "finisher".  The coach's job is to manage his assets.  He clearly dropped the ball with Prucha.

   

A Penny For Your Thoughts...

It's good to get some time to write again!  I've been extremely busy at work, thank G-d.  Anyway, just a few thoughts from the last few weeks.

1.  Sean Avery.  For those of us, myself included, who argued against Avery's off-season antics, there is no denying his mid-season value.  The Rangers are a different team when Avery is in the lineup.  If the guy can manage to stay out of his own way, he may very well have found a long term home in New York. 

2.  Henrik Lundqvist.  We knew that he would have to carry the team early.  We didn't know he'd have to single handedly carry them!  Lundqvist has been extraordinary for much of the season.  That's good news for the Rangers.  The bad news is that when he's been human, the Rangers have lost.

3.  0ffense.  I actually spelled it with a zero, not an "o"!  Need I say more? 

4.  Marc Staal.  Wow!  The kid is incredible.  The kid plays like a veteran.  A good veteran!  I think he's the best defenseman on the team.  I can't even imagine how good he's going to be once he fills out a little bit and gains some more experience. 

5.  Brandon Dubinsky.  Another wow!  In the off-season, I wanted the Rangers to sign Peca.  I'm thrilled that they didn't!  Dubinsky is an excellent hockey player.  He's got great hands, excellent instincts, great size and phenomenal fore-checking ability. 

6.  The 4th Line.  Kudos to Tom Renney & Co.  They managed to turn these guys into a reliable line.  Betts, Hollweg and Orr have earned the Coaches trust.  These guys have effectively reduced the amount of time that older players like Jagr, Shanny and Straka have to play.  That should pay some dividends as the season progresses.  It also forces opponents to play their fourth lines or run the risk of getting tired as games near their end. 

7.  Tom Renney.  After reading item #6, you might be surprised by what I'm about to write.  I don't think Renney is the right guy for the job.  He's too nice and he's too soft on his players.  He was the perfect coach to help the franchise turn the corner towards becoming a playoff club.  I don't think, however, that he's got what it takes to lead the team to real and meaningful success. 

Renney is the ultimate "player's coach".  He understands each players unique strengths and weaknesses and he tries, to the best of his ability, to put each player in their optimal circumstances.  He protects his players from the media and from public scrutiny in general.  He is careful not to bruise the delicate egos of his athletes, especially those of his super-stars.  Don't get me wrong, these are all virtues and admirable ones at that. 

So what's the problem?  The Rangers (like most if not all other teams) suffer from mental lapses.  They'll play exceptionally well for significant stretches of time and then they'll abandon the things that made them successful.  In response, Renney plays the role of the exceedingly patient, loving and all knowing Daddy.  He believes in his kids and knows that eventually they'll learn from their mistakes.  He doesn't punish them, he doesn't even lose his cool and he will certainly NEVER "call out" his older boys for setting bad examples for their younger siblings. 

The truth is that over the long haul, that approach probably makes the most sense.  Especially with the Rangers.  They are, after all, a veteran club with very capable leaders in the locker room.  They are a mature and proud bunch who will, if given the time, correct their own mistakes without the need for loud reminders. 

So again, what's the problem?  Time.  Sports are a microcosm of life, yet they are different.  In life, you have a lifetime to find yourself (which G-d willing means a very happy long time!).  In sports you don't.  You have a relatively short regular season and an even shorter playoff tournament.  If the Rangers get derailed when it counts, they will not have three or four games to "find themselves".  They'll be playing golf by then! 

G-d gave us two hands.  Jewish mysticism (also known as Kaballah) teaches that the right hand represents kindness while the left represents severity.  We have been given both of them for a reason.  Sometimes you have to be kind and patient.  Other times you have to crack the whip.  Renney is a very powerful "righty".  Most great coaches are ambidextrous!            

RANGERS LOSE, ISLES ARE LOSERS!

Admittedly, I missed most of last night's Rangers-Islanders game.  I only managed to catch the last 10 minutes of the game.

As I sat there watching those few minutes I was more then a little frustrated and angry.  On the one hand, you can't expect any team to win every game.  The Rangers had won four in a row.  They were playing their second game in as many nights.  Lundqvist has been super human and you can't expect that every night.

On the other hand, they were playing the Isles.  This team should be able to show up against the Isles no matter how tired they are.  If a game against their most bitter rivals doesn't get their adrenaline flowing, then there's an issue!  I sat there imagining the excuses Renney would probably make for his players after the game and it frustrated me.

Most of all, there was no escaping the fact that if Lundqvist doesn't stop everything, the Rangers still can't win.  That's a problem.  A huge problem. 

Then the final buzzer sounded.  My concern turned to anger as I imagined the joy my friend thedirtyboy (an Isles fan) was probably feeling as his beloved farm team accomplished the Long Island equivalent of winning the Cup. 

But then it happened.  The anger and frustration instantly subsided.  Instead all I felt was a strange and satisfying sense of pity for the icelanders.  What caused this massive emotional shift?  I watched as the hopelessly overshadowed icelanders lined up along their blue line and raised their sticks in victory to salute the crowd (which was almost half filled with icelander fans!).

Where have I seen that before?  Oh yeah! The Rangers started that trend.  Who would have ever thought that the Isles would shamelessly copy the Rangers?!?!  Oh but wait, the Isles are really being original.  You see, the Rangers line up at center ice while the Isles do something totally different and original by lining up along their blue line!!!  That was such a pathetic display of "Ranger Envy" that I couldn't even be angry about the loss.  I actually felt badly for the Isles.  They're so pathetically shameless.  Losers! 

RANGERS STRIKE LIGHTNING!

Make no mistake, last night's victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning was important.  The Lightning are not one of the league's better teams.  Nor was this a "measuring stick" game.  However, there were some very important "events" in this game:

1.  The Goals:  The Rangers managed to score three (3) goals!  That, in and of itself, is an important accomplishment for this team!  Even more importantly, however, is how the team scored its goals.  The first goal came courtesy of a Nigel Dawes deflection.  The second goal was the result of a shot (gasp!) from the point by Jagr which found its way to the net courtesy of the traffic generated in front of Tampa's goalie as a result of Shanny crashing the net.  The third goal was scored by Shanny setting up shop directly in front of the net with his stick on the ice.  Simple, fundamental hockey. 

2.  Jaromir Jagr:  In my last post, I referred to Jagr as the captain (lower case "c").  Last night, Jagr played like a Captain.  He drove to the net.  He kept his feet moving.  He shot the puck.  He scored a power play goal off of a slap shot from the point (really!)  Most importantly, he literally got his teeth knocked out and managed to finish the game with a two point first star performance.  Like I said, he played like a Captain. 

3.  Nigel Dawes:  In my season preview, I wrote about the need for someone other than the big guns to step up for the Rangers.  It's only been a few games but Dawes looks like he could be that player this season.  Admittedly, I've been slow to warm up to this kid.  However, Dawes is absolutely earning respect and praise with the way he's been playing.  The kid can skate, pass, shoot and even hit!  If Dawes continues to perform, Renney will have some very difficult decisions to make when Avery, Straka and Callahan are ready to get back into the line up. 

It was only one game.  It may be the beginning.             

Pathetic!

The woeful Blueshirts are losers again.  The most recent defeat came courtesy of the NHL's doormat Atlanta Thrashers.  It's getting late real early on Broadway.  It's not so much the losses that are cause for concern.  After all, we're only six games into a season of drastic change.  Rather, it's the fact that their don't seem to be any line combinations that make sense.  Or maybe it's the coaching staff that can't seem to find the right combinations?

It's easy to criticize the coach.  Instead, I'm going to give Tom Terrific some advice.  Tommy Boy, if you're reading this, here's what you do with the offense:

Line 1:  Prucha - Gomez - Jagr

Line 2:  Straka - Drury - Shanny

Line 3: Hollweg - Dubinsky - Callahan

Line 4: Strudwick - Betts - Orr

Allow me to explain: 

Line 1:  Although I don't think that Gomez is the best centerman for Jagr, he is the best option the team has.  Playing Prucha with those guys has two benefits: (1) In his rookie season, Prucha and Jagr had great chemistry.  For reasons known only to Tommy Boy, they were never really allowed to play together since then.  (2) Gomez needs to play with a speedy FINISHER.  Prucha can be that guy.  Instead of worrying so much about balancing ALL of his lines, it's time for Renney to consider icing at least ONE competent line.

Line 2:  Another imperfect line, but where else will you play these three?!?!

Line 3:  These three guys have played hard all season.  They can all skate, hit and play a high energy game.  They could be this season's HMO line.

Line 4:  Why Strudwick?  Because on any given night at least one of the Rangers top six d-men play pathetic hockey.  By having seven d-men in the lineup, Strudwick can move back to the blue line if (or should I say when) one of those d-men start to struggle.  The fourth line doesn't play much anyway so it wouldn't disrupt the flow of the game much if Strudwick took some shifts on the blue line. 

Renney's pretty much tried every other combination possible.  It's time to stop stubbornly refusing to reunite Prucha and Jagr.  Prucha's teammates obviously respect him as evidenced by the two fights that were started to avenge dirty hits on Prucha in the third period of tonight's game.  If only his coach felt the same way about him.  Like I said, pathetic!    

Time For Tom To Wake Up

The Rangers didn't break down tonight.  Ottawa broke through.  There's a BIG difference.  Sure it's early in the season.  Sure there are a lot of positives to take out of tonight's game.  But those things can't be used as excuses for the Coach.  The bottom line is that it's Renney's job to give his team its best chance to win every night.  Thus far, Renney hasn't done that.  Renney is annoyingly stubborn when it comes to certain players.  Most notably, Malik and Hossa.  Keenan used to have a thing for certain players as well.  Remember guys like Doug Lidster and Brian Noonan?!?!  At least those guys didn't hurt the team.  Renney's use (or should I say gross over use) of Malik and Hossa is hurting the team. 

Malik shouldn't be in the lineup.  Period.  He contributed to two of Ottawa's three explosive goals.  These were the latest in a long list of Malik inspired debacles stretching back to last season.  The Rangers can no longer afford to waste a roster spot and $2.5m in cap space on Malik.  Malik MUST be traded or waived.  At the very least, it would be addition by subtraction.

Then there's Hossa.  This one is really starting to bother me.  I can see why Renney's intrigued by the kid.  He does have a tremendous combination of size and skill.  He does have a super-star brother.  But so what?  He clearly can't put it all together.  Any player who only plays inspired hockey while playing on the top line does not deserve a roster spot.  That kind of an attitude shows an utter lack of professionalism.  It's disrespectful to his other teammates, it's disrespectful to the organ-eye-zation, and worst of all it's disrespectful to the fans. 

If the Rangers had no other options, I could understand the need to continue to dress Hossa.  However, the Rangers do have other options.  In fact, continuing to play Hossa on the top line is actually hurting the team.  Prucha should get that spot.  The Rangers desperately need a finisher on their top lines.  Prucha is the closest thing the Rangers have to a pure goal scorer.  You would think that with Avery out of the lineup, Prucha would move up the depth chart and get a shot on one of the top two lines.  You'd be wrong!  Not with Tom Renney running the bench.  In the third period of tonight's game, Prucha got half a shift with Gomez and Jagr.  Not only did he almost score, he helped draw a power play that ultimately led to a 5 on 3 advantage for the Blueshirts.  In half a shift with the top line, Prucha accomplished more than Hossa has all season!  Did Renney take notice?  Did he give Prucha another shift with the big boys?  Nope. 

There's a fine line between patience and stubbornness.  There's an even finer line between stubbornness and stupidity.  It's time for Tom to wake up and stop being so stubborn stupid.