Hello New York and everywhere else, I'm Bird and you're in the Birdcage at Hockeybird.com
If you have listened to our podcasts then you have heard the Rodent and I make it very clear that this season will be different than last for one major reason. No one...not one single team will be unprepared for the NY Rangers. Unlike last season there is no surprise that Ranger goaltending is pretty good. The talent level is not a surprise either....or is it?
I for one am kinda surprised about a few things. Let me ask you a question. What made last season so much fun to watch as Rangers fans?
No, it wasn't the 54 Jagr goals.
No....it wasn't Petr Prucha's 30 either.
It wasn't Henke and his great goaltending.
What made last season so much fun to watch can be put into one word. Effort. I can think of perhaps three games last year where the team didn't show up. That's not bad over an 82 game season. In fact....in most contests you got the feeling that this team could some how win. They just tried so dammed hard.
Now we've only had three games this year and trust me, I'm not in panic mode but what I do see is not pleasing. Even in the opener I noticed that the two goals against were the result of missed assignments right in front of the net. On Saturday night the Rangers were outplayed for two periods before they turned it up in the third. Last night we saw more of the same without the positive results.
Now you can't forget plays like the one Petr Prucha made on the Pöck goal. It was the extra effort by Prucha that made the Shanahan pass to Pöck possible. I'm not claiming here that there is a total lack of effort...just yet. It is clear though that the Rangers are not finishing checks with the same regularity as I saw last season....and I'm not happy with the effort so far.
Coach Tom Renny sees this too. I'd expect to see Kaspar return to the line up vs. the Pens. Of course this means a defenseman will sit....which one? I don't know. But in addition to Kaspar's return to the blueline we'll need to see a more complete team effort that includes hitting or this will be one long season.
Again, it's way too early to panic but it's not too early to see and fix elements of the game that need changing. If Renny makes no adjustments and this team fails to put forth the effort needed to win in the NHL then you'll see a return of the nasty articles that Hockeybird used to publish in years past. The honeymoon is over....this crap about the Rangers winning the Cup that we read before the season started just might be part of the problem. Last year, picked to finish last, this team arrived at the rink with a chip on it's shoulder. Right now there's no chip on the shoulder....the shoulder just hurts.
----}- Bird
Posted by Bird at October 11, 2006 04:01 PMeMail this entry!
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