Someone please tell me again why I shouldn't have bashed the NHL's participation in the Olympics. Someone remind me that things didn't turn out the way I feared, please.

I had to listen to people talk about how much it means to the players, blah blah, and how it shouldn't affect the teams that much, blah blah, and how the Rangers had an extra day off from the rest of the league, blah blah blah.

They went into the Olympics with a six game winning streak, outscoring their opponents 25 to 11. They came out of the Olympics with a five game losing streak where they have scored only 6 goals in 5 games. Oh yeah, in between that they did have a win against a severely depleted Flyer team that had played the night before. Before you start to throw that up in anyone's face, remember that Philly came out FLYING against them in that first period, and only for the spectacular play of Kevin Weekes were the Blueshirts even in that game. And then Donald Brashear ensured that the Rangers wouldn't have to skate for the rest of the night with his stupid penalties.

Since then, the team has, well, stunk. They are taking tons of lazy obstruction penalties, led by Martin Rucinsky, who has six minors in the six games since the break. Marcel Hossa had five minors before being benched last night. Michael Rozsival and Jaromir Jagr have taken an unusually high number of penalties each. Discipline, discipline, discipline.

I don't want to hear from anyone preaching that fans shouldn't panic. While I won't advocate end-of-the-playoff-run hysteria, there is CERTAINLY cause for concern. Ranger fans have earned the right to panic. Sure, this team has shown it is different than its predecessors SO FAR, but there is nothing, not a shred of evidence, that everything will "be ok" or that they can "turn it around".

What are those people basing their confidence on? Tom Renney's leadership? Tom has done a great job this year, better than anyone expected, but he baffles me sometimes. Hey guys, I think the other teams in the league have caught on to that 5-on-3 play where you CONSTANTLY go for the Jagr one-timer. How about putting Ozolinsh at the point there? Wasn't that what he was brought here to do??

How about bringing up somebody from Hartford who has shown a propensity for putting the puck in the net, rather than try to turn Marcel Hossa into a checking winger? We have heard about the great progress of these kids, let's see 'em. Now is the time, because the big guys are tired. Exhausted. How about letting Ryan Hollweg play more than 5 minutes a game? Let him set a tone. If Colton Orr is so useful, let's see him for more than 3 minutes.

I am very worried about this team. They have the talent, but only if Jagr and his comrades are ready and able to play. They have the goaltending, but only if both of them play and perform regularly. They have the coaching, but only if Renney and his crew start mixing things up a bit. They have everything they need, on paper. But then again, so did their predecessors.

Don't preach about not panicking . . . Ranger fans have earned it.

NY Newsday: Regardless of the explanation, the Rangers must live with the lost point in the standings. With 18 games to go, they lead Philadelphia by two points in the Atlantic Division. They have collected just two of a possible 10 points in their last five games. During that span, they have scored just six goals, and lost all five games by one goal.

NY Post: It's now the serious part of the NHL season, where teams are clawing for points and playoff positions and goals are at a premium. It's the serious part of the Rangers' season too, with both a losing streak that reached five last night and Jaromir Jagr concerned about the health of his left hip.

NY Daily News: "There is a way that the game has to be played at times like this, which is pre-playoff hockey," Renney said. "And I think this is all still a part of our team growing into what we want to be for the long-term. The question will be, at the end of the day: Will these be the guys to do that for us? This year, of course. But beyond? We get an opportunity to see a lot of things right now. My job is to coach this team now, and that's what I'm paying attention to."

The Star-Ledger: "I'm not sure the calls were equitable, but we can't moan about that," Rangers coach Tom Renney said. "The fact of the matter is we gave a team with some pretty good firepower an opportunity on the power play to get into the hockey game, and they did."

NY Times: "If you look at the goals against and you show anybody those numbers, you'd think it would be impossible to lose five in a row," the Rangers' Steve Rucchin said.

The Journal News: Given the choice between his team being in an offensive slump or these games just being a harbinger of the low-scoring hockey yet to come, Rangers coach Tom Renney chose all of the above.

Joe McDonald at NY SportsDay: The third period meltdown is not what the Rangers are about. Going into the game, they were 24-5-4 after scoring the first goal and when Martin Straka at 5:39 of the second took an in front of the goal feed from Michael Nylander, beating Kari Lehtonen [33 saves] to open the scoring, it give New York its first lead since March 2.

The Rodent rants on last night's game.

Calder is back with the latest update of Calder's Corner. This time he examines where the Pack stand in their push for the playoffs.

So the Rangers will get the chance to rest now . . . oh wait, no they won't. As a matter of fact, they will be busier than ever in the next few weeks. Ten games in seventeen days, including ones against the Flyers, Senators, and the red-hot Buffalo Sabres. They do have some games against teams who will be scratching and clawing for playoff spots, and you know how easy those can be. Tomorrow night they get to try and turn things around . . . against the best team in the east, the Carolina Hurricanes. Yeah, I guess there isn't any reason to panic.

HDH

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