Another year, another New York Rangers playoff failure. While past losses have stung, this year’s collapse has been downright disconcerting.
Dear New York Rangers organization,What the heck was that?
No seriously, what was that pile of junk that we all witnessed last night? One thing is for sure, it certainly wasn’t the New York Rangers team that we, the fans, are proud to call our own.
Call me a bad fan, a traitor, or whatever other synonyms you like. I was not proud of you last night.
You had an opportunity to force a Game 7 in an elimination situation at Madison Square Garden, and you completely blew it. Again.
Let’s be completely honest with each other- you all crapped your pants and choked. Losing a game which your best effort is one thing. Take last year for example.
Fans knew that last year’s New York Rangers didn’t have the horses to make any type of run. There’s no shame in losing when your team is simply not great.
But consistently blowing multiple goal leads and losing games with seconds left on the clock?
Yeah, you all choked and we the fans have a problem with that.
There are no exceptions to this either, because of everyone, including our “elite” captain and franchise goaltender, put forth mediocre efforts at best.
Henrik Lundqvist, you allowed another soft short side goal yet continued to shrug your shoulders and yell at your players throughout the Ottawa series.
Sure, you were phenomenal against the Montreal Canadiens, but what happened to that calculated, loose game?
I’m sure I’ll be burned at the stake for giving you an ounce of criticism, but when the going gets tough Hank, great leaders are able to keep their cool and effectively motivate their players.
Over the past two years, we the fans have watched you continuously yell and berate your team on the ice following their mistakes. Imagine if the tables were turned every time you allowed a soft goal?
Ryan McDonagh, you played a great defensive game throughout the playoffs, but my gosh you are bad offensively. You continuously mishandle the puck on the blue line, wait too long to shoot or pass, and are too lackadaisical when your goalie is pulled.
Sure, we can’t expect you to be perfect, but your mistakes created numerous turnovers and killed your team’s momentum throughout the playoffs. You are no Brian Leetch, sir.
Chris Kreider, Kevin Hayes, and J.T. Miller, where to start with you three. Hayes, remember this farce of an article which you “wrote” for the Players’ Tribune? What a joke. If you haven’t figured it out by now, New York Rangers’ fans have no patience for soft play throughout the playoffs. Zero.
Kevin, you are one of the biggest players on the team, yet you play like you are made of glass. If you only had the stones to go to the dirty areas, perhaps you could have made a difference throughout this series.
Oh, we haven’t forgotten about you either, Mr. Kreider. Showing up for 10 minutes in Game 6 does not absolve you from being absent for the rest of the playoffs. Sure, you scored a couple goals, but where was that relentless north/south game which you are known for playing under the bright lights?
Miller: woof. I don’t know if you sent a representative to play for you and wear your jersey, but you were horrible. No really, you were bad. So bad in fact, that we didn’t even recognize you. For whatever reason, you decided to play a fancy-pants game in the playoffs.
Yeah, that doesn’t work dude.
Your grit was nonexistent and you basically contributed nothing, offensively. Instead, you were a turnover machine. Keep trying to stick handle around three or four players J.T., let us know how that goes for you.
Sure, the whole picture wasn’t completely doom and gloom.
Tanner Glass, you have more heart than any other player on that team. Talk about class and professionalism, you toughed it out in the AHL for the entire season and didn’t complain a bit.
Yet when your opportunity came, you cashed in on it because of your hard work and passion.
Michael Grabner, it was a pleasure watching your renaissance this season. Sure, it would have been nice to see you cash in on more of your opportunities, but there is only so much one player can do.
Oscar Lindberg and Jesper Fast, if only Alain Vigneault gave you some more playing time when you were red hot, you probably could have made more of an impact in this series.
As for the defensemen.
You guys are warriors. A good portion of the fan base will blame you for the loss, but what can you do? There is no fountain of youth which will fix your broken, aging bodies.
Alain Vigneault, you messed up too. Do you really think that those little golf claps on the bench will motivate your team when they are down 2-0 in an elimination game?
When it comes down to it, we the fans, love this team. We are a group of lemmings who will continue to cheer and die by our team. We will never give up on the New York Rangers.
On this day, however, we are not proud of you.
