DEFENSELESS

GIRARDI...STAAL...DEL ZOTTO..ROZSIVAL..EMMINGER.... STINK!

They cannot defend the goal. The 4 of them make inept decisions all game long. When and how does an NHL defenseman learn that he should vacate the slot area to chase opponents around their own end? That is the forwards responsibility. Last I checked you still cannot score from behind the net. So stop chasing opponents there! Dumb is being kind when referencing the Rangers defensemen.

IT'S THE MIDDLE OF AUGUST OF A LONG RANGER OFF SEASON

It seems like the off season will continue into the camp and onto the regular season. I just cannot get revved or pumped up for the product (on paper) that the 2010-2011 N Y RANGERS appear to be. Can you? I look at Frolov, Boogard, Asem, Emminger and Biron and see The Replacements. I try to envision what the lines would look like. How the group of defensemen will be as a team. I can't get too excited. I try to plug a few deficient holes with rookies like Grachev , Stepan, and Mcdunough. I can see some potential . But I know Torts will not play them unless they are lights out like MDZ. So..... no fire. The power play may get better here. That might spark us. But.... nah, thats not gonna happen . Right? It never does in Rangerland. I know what would get me revved. If the Dolans' would sell the Rangers!!!!

RANGERS HANG THIER PLAYOFF HOPES ON AVERY!! LOL!!!

After the Flyers game, if you listened,read,or watched any Rangers media outlet, you were inundated with the Sean Avery Lobby of NYC. What a joke of a sport hockey has become. I've been a hockey fan for 40 years. I think that today's NHL, since Gary Bettman, has become the equivalent to the World Wide Wrestling Federation. As a 40 year fan, I find it embarrassing to to witness the hockey product today. The game is too fast. The players are too big. The player equipment is too large. And because of those factors, the type of players that get into the NHL today do not have the pure hockey pedigree. Too many players in the league do not belong in the league at all. Passing and play making has been hi jacked by a system. And the systems that are used by teams allow for inferior skilled players to compete by blocking shots and obstructing players as well as utilizing board passing instead of clean passing tape to tape. In the end, Bettman's NHL looks like a cage match instead of a great game of skating, passing and play making. Sean Avery. Yeah, there is your ticket. Sheesh!! Get me outta here!!

GAME OVER!!!

RANGER ROSTER GRADES.....ALL C'S AND LOWER....THE RANGERS WILL NOT CHANGE UNTIL THE CULTURE ON THE ICE HAS BEEN ERADICATED. IN NEW JERSEY,THE TEAM IS RUN BY THE COACH AND MANAGER. THE FREE AGENTS RUN THE TEAM IN MSG. THAT HAS TO STOP BEFORE ANYTHING CAN GET BETTER.

THE NEW YEAR IS HERE..THE RANGERS STILL CANNOT SCORE GOALS.

It is a very enigmatic team. There are many forwards who cannot make good decisions from the hash marks in. The Rangers scoring issues are very easy to solve. The team needs to reckognize that forwards such as Avery..Callahan..Drury...Lisin..Voros..Christiansen...Boyle..do not have the brains nor the patience to make a scoring play from the hash marks in. These players show me time and time again that they are not capable to make a delayed pass or shoot the puck with instinct on goal. Phil Esposito said that when he would have trouble scoring a goal from time to time he would get himself out of the slumps by firing the puck right at the goalie. Rangers forwards mentioned in this post pick a corner . High or low. That is sheer stupidity when you are in a slump. When you find yourself in a two on two or two on one within the hash marks, you have to hit the goalies pads to create a rebound for your teammate. Do not slam the puck at the goalie full speed. Just hit him low in the pads. Chances are the rebound will end up in front with the goalie scrambling. Come on Rangers. This is not hard to remember in the heat of battle for an NHL player. It isn't hard for any hockey player at your level. It takes patience and heart and soul. It requires the forwards to really play for each other as a team. It is so pathetic to watch all the Ranger line combos come up with 3 strangers playing on a line together. Come on. this only shows how little the Ranger forwards care about the team. It has to be changed. Tortorella was very telling a few weeks ago when the Rangers were in Florida when he stated that he HOPED the players would get together in between games down there. He HOPED??? What does that say about the teammates on this Ranger squad. If you can't find a way to bond in the NHL. And Captain Drury hasn't figured out or is not respected enough to have a say in this matter, he should go. It all ties in. A team that hangs together looks better on the ice.

WANTED: HOCKEY PLAYERS WHO CAN FIND THE NET.

We have a very young defense. It is the best that our defense has looked in 10 years. There are 3 issues i see that need attending to with the NY Rangers.

1. It is impossible to hide Roszival, and for the the most part, Girardi all game. Those 2, are bringing down their partners. Both of them are horrible puck movers.2. LundSwiss (as I refer to him these days!) must be challenged by another goalie that will fight him for game minutes. 3. Our offense MUST come off the rush. Not from a dump and chase style. There is no element of creativity from a team that constantly dumps and chases. If the offense comes from the rush , the opponents cannot set up their defense. When you dump and chase, the other team just sets up and blocks shots or sits and waits for you to try to reach the puck on the boards. We are way too easy to defend.

SAFE IS DEATH

If the Rangers stop playing all out everyshift, no one will realize how much they need scoring. I for one realize that this style will produce some ugly results in the short term. I am ok with that. It is time for the management to admit their mistakes on draft day and start punting. It is time to re think draft day . It is time to draft plyers based on offense only. It is time to trade prized prospects for scoring.