The New York Rangers fall from grace has been tough for fans to stomach. On whose shoulders should the blame rest? Let’s play the blame game.
By Chris Wengert
That is a part of the pedigree of a Rangers fan.
We always think our team is in the fight and we look for rational (and sometime irrational) ways to legitimize our team’s play.
Excuses fly and armchair general managers appear out of the woodwork.
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However the Rangers recent play has made even the most optimistic arguments hard to stomach, and it all comes to a point when you have to start asking questions.
Right off the bat, there are two players that should be absolved from any criticism…
Rick Nash / Mats Zuccarello
Rick Nash has tallied seven points in his last eight games and Mats Zuccarello eight in his last eight.
Both of these players have been going hard to the net to produce scoring chances and this is something not many Rangers can boast.
If it were not for Zuccarello’s 30 points (15 goals, 15 assists) the Rangers may very well be at the bottom of their division right now.
So who is to blame for this awful play?
Kevin Hayes / Chris Kreider
The lack of production from both of these players has been discussed before, but six goals apiece is not getting the job done.
Watch this back check from Kreider and Hayes on James Neal‘s goal from last night’s 5-3 loss to the Nashville Predators:
Both players look like they are at a Friday night open skate on this play, lazily gliding back.
For those of you who have played some hockey, you know that the posture Hayes is showing at the end of the clip is the classic “pretend I’m trying hard” posture.
This is what fans have come to expect from these two over the past couple months.
Bad puck luck is a real thing, but you break those slumps by skating hard and going to the dirty areas.
The lack of effort that Hayes and Kreider showed last night is a symptom of a larger problem.
Marc Staal / Dan Girardi
Is it easy to blame these two? Yes. Do they deserve it? Yes.
Some have been saying that Marc Staal is in decline, but I believe it is all in his head. Staal will often overcompensate for blown coverage, leaving opponents open in front of the net:
This does not excuse him for his lack of physical play though, as he has no presence in front of the net.
Dan Girardi has become the go-to goat for Ranger fans, but it is tough to diagnose players mistakes when they are injured.
Girardi is a warrior, but he shouldn’t be playing with a cracked kneecap. The injury is obviously inhibiting his play and the last thing the Rangers need is a defenseman playing at 75%.
Alain Vigneault should insert Dylan McIlrath into the lineup, who has proven that he can be a solid defender.
That brings us to our next guilty party:
Alain Vigneault
Coaches receive a lot of unfair and unwarranted blame in sports (see Tom Coughlin of the New York Giants).
The criticism is often unfair because we as a fan base have no idea what is going on behind closed doors.
In this case however, it is about time AV shoulder’s some of the blame.
Dylan McIlrath has been a pleasant surprise for this Rangers team. After being labeled a bust last year, the former first round draft pick has come to life.
Has he made mistakes? Sure, but this is a part of the rookie process and can only be corrected if he plays.
So what does AV do with McIlrath after he scores a goal and is +2 in his last five games?
Makes him a healthy scratch of course.
At a time when the Rangers are struggling defensively, McIlrath is just the type of player the Rangers need.
Personnel moves like this and the overall lack of adjustment or accountability is alarming.
Players like the above mentioned Kreider and Hayes seem to keep getting free passes for their lack of production, while Viktor Stalberg, Oscar Lindberg, and Dylan McIlrath continue to be AV’s whipping boys.
Although Andrew Gross interviewed AV today about Kevin Hayes’ play. It looks like there may be some hope.
On Hayes’ play:
“At this time unless something changes, he’s definitely not going to play. I think we all have our tipping points and I think Kevin has had an extra long leash”
AV goes on to say:
“In Kevin’s case I think we made it clear our expectations about him and what we felt he could do were very high and obviously he hasn’t lived up to that. Did we overestimate his possibilities? I don’t know. Time will tell. But I do know what we’re seeing now is not good enough.”
On whether he believes Hayes has worked hard enough:
“No, no I don’t. I think that part of work also is just not on the ice and off the ice, but it’s in the preparation.”
AV better continue to make some adjustments or else he could be the next Tom Renney.
I also believe Vigneault has to be careful how he handles Henrik Lundqvist, because he could have some goalie drama on his hands if he is not careful.
Speaking of The King…
Henrik Lundqvist
Look at this graphic, courtesy of TSN (above).
Lundqvist has been pulled five times, and it’s December.
Five. Times.
To say that these statistics are scary is a complete understatement.
We can blame the defense and forwards all we want and they do deserve a whole lot of it, but Lundqvist needs to stop the puck.
Have there been times when the opponent has been allowed to tee up on Hank unabated? Yes.
But if you remember, the Capitals did that throughout the entire Eastern Conference Semi-Finals last year.
The difference?
It seems like Hank has been buckling under all of the pressure that he puts on himself, and he does put it all on himself.
The team obviously needs to play better in front of Hank, but the famous defensive shell that has been a staple of the Rangers play does not work if Lundqvist continues to let in goals like this:
Is this goal one that Lundqvist should stop? The answer is a boarder-line call.
But that is just the point, because Hank usually stops shots like these.
Lately if a shot can go in, it most likely will and that is not good enough for a team that builds it’s foundation on strong goal tending.
The New York Rangers Fan Base
We should have known better.
For a few years we were intoxicated by deep playoffs runs and magical moments.
We made the mistake of believing that our beloved Rangers were only one or two pieces away from a Stanley Cup.
Stanley Cup?
Right now this team couldn’t win a rod-hockey tournament much less an NHL Championship.
Why does a December loss sting just as much as last year’s game seven against the Tampa Bay Lightning?
It is because we are sobering up and realizing that this team is nowhere near being a Stanley Cup contender, and everyone is to blame.