Talk about an emotional roller coaster. There is so much to break down of the last 72 hours and to be honest I don’t even know where to start. I wrote a blog talking about how the NHL doesn’t give a shit about their players and I stand by that. And so did the Rangers.
It’s not often you see a professional sports organization rip a part the league they’re in and tell them that the guy running player safety is an idiot and unfit to do his job. Speaking of unfit to do their job, while we were all wondering if the Rangers would call up Mason Geertsen and what we were in for last night, James Dolan decided that John Davidson and Jeff Gorton were also unfit in doing their job and sent them packing. This sent shock waves across the NHL and the Rangers fan base. I have two thoughts on this:
I love John Davidson. He brought a sense of security to the organization. You knew how much he loves the Rangers and you could see how badly he wanted to bring a cup home to New York. Break ups suck, man.
I thought Gorton did a pretty decent job. If you look at the Mika and Adam Fox trades, you’d be pretty happy. He was also to acquire picks like K’Andre Miller and Nils Lundkvist. However, outside of being lucky in gaining the rights to 13 and 24, what else has he done? The McDonagh/Miller trade was a certified disaster, each year we either had a Jack Johnson or Marc Staal and the Tony DeAngelo fiasco was as bad as it got. The Rangers were constantly in the news this year for things that had nothing to do with hockey. Whether it be K’Andre Millers first zoom conference, fan blogs writing about stolen pucks, Tony D getting kicked off the team because of the pressure of social media, Panarin taking a leave of absence, Tom Wilson trying to mangle Panarin– if you look at it in this aspect in addition to not making the playoffs, as an owner, I’d probably be a little fed up too.
We can all agree that the Rangers are well on their way to being a repeat contender but maybe there was just one too many headaches– including watching your star player being bulldozed on TV while nothing was done about it. I feel like this is a knee jerk reaction but hopefully Little League all star Chris Drury can finish whats being built and put it into action. Remember, Drury has interviewed a few other times for GM positions, only to pull out last second. Coincidence? Was this already in motion?
We’d never actually find that out but it’s worth thinking about.
So again, while we were worrying about what type of revenge would be dished out towards Wilson, we had this news dropped on us. I was so tired by puck drop. Just mentally drained. Maybe thats why when the puck dropped I had thought they were showing a rerun of the Rangers Devils from a few years ago. I sat there for a few seconds and realized holy shit the boys are doing the thing.
Kudos to these guys for getting out there and setting the tone. You know Carl Hagelin didn’t show up to MSG wanting to fight. PDG has been out of the lineup for like 3 months and went toe to toe. So did Rooney. This was just moments after NBC Sports told us that Parros spoke with both teams before the game. Parros, what a clown show. The players sure do respect him.
Was it over? Nope. It wasn’t.
Brendan Smith is a fucking hockey player. On a tough team, Smitty might be the third, fourth or fifth player on the team to drop the mitts. He’s not great at it but when he has to, he does. I don’t care what you say about who won or lost that fight, Brendan Smith dragged his balls on the ice of MSG last night. Regardless of if he comes back or not, I already have his jersey in my cart. He’s earned it. Love that guy.
Bring him back. Brendan Smith forever.
We’re they done? Nope.
Another guy who hasn’t been in the lineup in forever. If you follow the podcast, you know we’re Bitetto believers. He might’ve gotten banged up but who cares.
We’re they done? Nope.
Ryan Strome has received so much hate from some of the Rangers fans and fan blogs.
“He’s too old.”
“He’s only a product of Panarin.”
“He can’t sustain that shooting percentage.”
Ryan Strome is a fucking gamer. In his first game wearing an A, Strome played a chippy, dickhead kind of game that I can appreciate. No one was happy about what happened the game before and it seemed that guys like Smith, Strome and Buchnevich led the way.
Hell, even Morgan Barron* tried fighting TJ Oshie. The Rangers came together, the Rangers battled and fought for each other. The Rangers, for the first time in a long time, formed an identity. They didn’t need a tough guy, they didn’t need a bullshit league official– they handled it themselves, the right way.
Also, you’re telling me we had Morgan Barron the whole time just to deal with Brett Howden?? Legitimate insanity.
“But Keeeeeed, this was a dirty play, that’s not the right way!”
Well, the league made that decision. If the Capitals can skate around and do chicken shit type things, so can the Rangers. And just so you know, Mantha chased Buchnevich around the ice, well before even that clip. Self defense. Right, George Parros? You fucking loser.
When the dust settled, the Rangers lost 4-2 but you couldn’t even be upset. The boys stuck up for each other, came together, and played the game hard. Fuck, I wasn’t even mad because of TJ Oshie. Sports are so weird where shit like this just happens. In his first game back from losing his old man, TJ put the puck in the net 3 times. TJ has always been a pros pro, a true blooded American and you can’t help but root for the guy. T’s and P’s to the Oshie family.
That brings us to today, where the Rangers were fined $250K for being too mean to George Parros.
Pay them in pennies. I love this team.
The Morning Skate 