Yes, the beat writers are all in agreement this morning. Lababera didn't play great in his first start but he played well enough and the rest of the team let him down. The only thing the beat writers can't agree on this morning are the adjectives used to describe the Rangers play in front of Jason. And who can blame them?
Let's start with the New York Times where Diamos warns us, "Don't drink Lababera's first NHL Start -- it's spoiled." Spoiled by the Rangers sloppy play in their own zone.
The Times also has the same notes every other paper does. Let's get them out of the way so we can get back on topic. Poti was scratched with a bruised thumb, Lindros skated alone and should return soon, Messier and Sather are Edmonton bound (because they are old).
Larry Brooks almost ruins the theme of the day by implying that Lababera flubbed his first start in today's New York Post headline, but he takes it back in the body of the article. "At least, though, LaBarbera - who entered the year no better than fourth on the organizational depth chart - had an excuse.
"But there was no excuse for Greg de Vries repeatedly getting caught out of position; for team-wide inadequate backchecking and failure to mark men in front; for Petr Nedved consistently missing the net. No excuse for Alex Kovalev coughing up the puck in his own end, a blooper that led to the Cody McCormick rebound goal at 17:50 of the second."
The following sentence fragment sums up today's article in Newsday quite well:
"...the Rangers' inconsistent play."
Here's what Dellapina had to say in The Daily News:
"On a night when the Rangers needed to circle the defensive wagons around their neophyte goaltender, they instead committed their usual allotment of own-zone blunders." He forgot to add, "Way to go, jerks."
Finally, in The Star Ledger, Bridget Wentworth chooses the word "haphazard" to describe the Ranger's play in front of the rookie goaltender but otherwise says the same thing as everyone else.
An interesting Holik quote in that article: "Are we moving up in the standings just by playing better? We can't keep telling ourselves that we're getting better. We need to win games." I do believe that is the object of the game.
Anyway, you think Labarbera would be upset by all of this but, In the Times we read the following unintentionally humorous quote from him: "It was fun. That was the most work I've had all year."
Labarbera made 29 saves last night and some of them were top notch. Sure he made some mistakes but, for his first full game at the NHL level, I thought it was a darn fine performance. So Jason, if you're reading this, here are some more adjectives that could have been used to describe your team mate's play:
Awkward, bedraggled, botched, capricious, careless, clumsy, discordant, disheveled, erratic, fickle, inattentive, incoherent, inconsistent, lubricious, mediocre, messy (eh?), poor, slapdash, slipshod, slovenly, uncertain, unpredictable, untidy. Everyone here is required to pick one of those adjectives and use it in writing a column describing how the Rangers let Labarera down.
I'll expect your papers on my desk first thing Monday morning.
-- Rightbug
Posted by Cliff at November 21, 2003 10:39 AMeMail this entry!
Everyone here is required to pick one of those adjectives
ONE ISN'T GOING TO BE ENOUGH!
Everyone here is required to pick one of those adjectives
ONE ISN'T GOING TO BE ENOUGH!
After seeing the Rangers against the Sharks, I have to say the Rangers team is the worst I have seen it in years.
The defense relies almost exclusively on obstruction, and when that fails slashing. And if Messier is leading your team in scoring you have a problem.
What happened to Kovalev, the absence of Lemieux dishing the puck, or did the knee injury finally catch up to him?
Posted by: PJ on November 22, 2003 02:16 AMOnce inside the offensive zone, the Rangers attempted to gain a scoring lane to the net, but *insert any player* made a "clumsy" shot and the one player *insert any name* who somehow managed to fight his way to the net appeared "uncertain" of his positioning, probably because it was the first time he made it that close to the net. In their own zone, the Rangers were "discordant" and asleep, "inattentive" to their defensive assignments and "inconsistent" with their clearing attempts.
I think that about sums it up. :P
Posted by: ortsfan2002 on November 23, 2003 12:40 PMAmbidextrous, adj.:
Able to pick with equal skill a right-hand pocket or a left.
-- Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary
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