The Rangers lost the Stanley Cup Finals Friday night...There's only one real way to get over it...Yep, sexy women and drinking!
Now I haven't been full of confidence in this team all year, but when they've gone this far, it's hard to not buy into what they've been doing...They got to the finals for god's sake...They must have done something right...Well shit, they do have one of the best goalies in the world...He alone will steal you some games...But it was clear, against the Kings the Rangers would need more...As I pointed out last week...The lack of production from Rick Nash was a killer, and if they were going to come back, they needed him to start lighting the lamp...Well, it didn't happen...
That right there really sums up "the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat."
Lundqvist made 48 saves in Friday's double OT game 5...I'm not sure what else they guy could have done...The winning goal, he had no chance at, and still was close to getting it...Rewatching the play, the winger racing back, along with the two defensemen all went towards the shooter breaking in...Lundqvist made the save and the rebound went off to his right...Right onto the stick of the wide open defensemen Martinez...Martinez who also got the game 7, winning OT goal against Chicago in the conference finals...Nice playoff for him...
Lundqvist has always been an intense competitor, but I've never seen him look the way he did after this defeat....
It took some time before he got out of his pads...
My hope is that the Rangers who will stay in New York with Lundqvist, will remember tis feeling, and use it to drive them next year...
That said...Now is the part were I call some players out...As I mentioned, I took care of Nash last week...First...The three guys wearing "A" on their chests...Since trading Callahan no one has worn the "C"...
1. Brad Richards with his grossly high priced contract...Last year he sucked so bad in the playoffs Torts put him on the 4th line, and then scratched him for a couple games...That couldn't happen again right...Wrong...new coach Alain Vigneault put Richards on the 4th line during the Finals...Richards had 1 assist in the Finals...That's it...Big-money playmaker, one assist...Luckily, reports are now out that the Rangers will use their buyout and unload Richards after 3 disappointing seasons...
2. Marc Staal...At least 1000 of my tweets are bitching about how much Marc Staal sucks and is overpaid...Staal is suppose to be a top-notch defensive defenseman...BULLSHIT! He often looks slow...Often gets caught out of position...Often is too weak with his passes, or clearing attempts, leading to turnovers...I would be thrilled if the Rangers could trade this overrated prick...Please Carolina, try to reunite all the overrated Staal brothers!
3. Dan Girardi...This one hurts because I like Girardi...And when he shit the bed in game one and coughed up the puck in his own end, leading to a Justin Williams OT winning goal, I was pissed, but it's rare that he fucks up like that...But as I watched more, I noticed he was not playing like himself...His passes started looking like Staal's...He was getting physically manhandled...Not what you want to see from your defensive stalwart...I'm honestly expecting to hear about an injury with Girardi soon...His whole game looked off, and I wouldn't be surprised if an injury was the root of that...
So he's getting a bit of a pass, for now...But the other two can eat my ass...
The Rangers leading scorer in the playoffs was defenseman Ryan McDonagh...While I'm glad the kid had a great run, that says something about your teams offense....But there are positives...Along with McDonagh, the Rangers showed there is a core of young, scrappy, talented players...Krieder, Stepan, Hagelin, Brassard, Zuccarello, all played well, and consistently through the playoffs, and all ahead of Richards and Nash in scoring...
The Rangers have some good talented players in the minors...Getting a few of them in the mix next year could add speed and grit...Two thing LA showed they had more of...LA rolled four strong lines...All had speed...All had at least one guy who will do the dirty work...They also rolled 6 strong blueliners...Not many teams can say that...
The fact of the matter is, The Rangers getting to the Finals was a helluva feat...But whatever team they were going to face was gonna be a bitch for them...Right now, the west is a better conference...LA, Chicago, Minnesota, St. Louis, San Jose, Anaheim, are all strong...Colorado is on a big upswing...Dallas is showing signs of life...The East has the Rangers, The Bruins, Montreal...The Penguins get hype but have show a knack of blowing up in the playoffs...Philly can't find a goalie worth a shit...Detroit is a mix of old and young, and was hammered with injuries...
The only team in the East that could hang with LA and Chicago this year would have been a healthy Boston team...And they weren't close to healthy come the playoffs...
Enough hockey...It's making want to drink more...
I hope all you dads out there enjoyed your Father's Day...Doing what I do...I had to work...So this is how I celebrated...
Have a week...
The Beeze.
