AlexanderScharf

"Talking New York Rangers Hockey, since 2007"

New York, NY • United States • 23 Years Old • Male

Montreal Massacre

Chris Drury said it himself during the second intermission. In fact, he said it three times. "I know I'm repeating myself but we are a whole different team when we move our legs." Unfortunately, this message did not travel from the brain of this excuse of a team to their legs. And so, the Rangers made history with their stunning defeat, with the biggest botched job in team history.

There is no eloquent way to describe the events that took place in Montreal tonight; I am more likely to explain the stupid antics of the Habs fans in a polite way. Perhaps it was the constant yelling and penalty whining by the fans that threw off the Rangers. More likely it was their own ineptitude, their own unwillingness to work hard to maintain a lead in addition to gaining it. It exemplifies what the Rangers are missing: Motivation, Determination, Perseverence and Consistancy.

I shall not bore you with the previously mentioned motivation and determination. However, I will explain the remaining two. Perseverence means to keep going despite difficulties. In hockey terms, to be able to stop the momentum of the other team and take control of the game. Having a 5-0 lead is great. But if the opposition scores once, you have to buckle down and stop them. Not give up another goal 15 seconds later. When they score again to make it 5-3, you cannot give up a goal 25 seconds later. When it is 5-4, you need to take control of the game, not play the last 10 minutes like it is a penalty kill. Unacceptable. Number 3 on the agenda: Learn to persevere.

Forget about consistancy from game to game. That is a different and obvious topic. But look at consistancy betwen periods. The Rangers owned the game for the first 30 minutes. They played offense, defense, skated, checked, kept possession of the puck and basically did everything right. You would think that the scales couldn'd reverse completely. Well, as always with the Rangers, think again. This team is mind boggling in its inability to maintain momentum and in its tendancy to fall apart completely when things are great. They managed to get owned worse by the Habs in the second half of the game and lose three points: one point lost from not winning and two points gifted to the Habs, a team that these pathetic losers are chasing.

So will the Rangers recover from this Montreal Massacre in time to face Buffalo on Saturday? Will they keep playing like they did in the previous few games? Will they continue this improbable tear and remain in good playoff position? Or will this defining moment be the beginning of the end for this unmotivated, undetermined, weak, inconsistant, overpaid team of underacheivers? Will the Rangers, or more appropriately the Rags, once again take away the hope they gave us and be remembered as the biggest disappointment in team history?

I'm going with choice number 2.

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