Rangers and Front Office hear fans wrath after 5-1 loss to Hurricanes
pride: noun
1. A sense of one's own proper dignity or value; self-respect.
rock bottom: noun
1. The lowest possible level or absolute bottom:
So we thought "Ok, they lost to the Flyers, got pushed around badly, they'll be angry and take it out on Montreal." Didn't happen. But surely after being embarrassed and serenaded out of the Bell Centre in Montreal, they would come home and right the ship against the worst team in hockey?
3:36 into the game, we knew we were wrong again.
The Rangers were outworked, outhustled, and outclassed again last night, losing 5-1 to the 15th place Carolina Hurricanes.
Henrik Lundqvist gave up two soft goals in the first few minutes of the game, and with this team's shaken confidence and fragile psyche, two goal deficits are currently insurmountable.
You guys saw this mess, I'm not going to waste your time by recapping it. You have better things to do than read a recap of the debacle took place at MSG tonight. So instead let's talk about a few things:
- Go back and read the definition of the word "pride". Where is it on this team right now? Where is the sense of self-respect? Where is the attitude of "we're sick and tired of embarrassing ourselves"?
- When does someone on this team besides Hank get mad? Truly mad? Avery was interviewed in between periods, and looked downtrodden. Understandable, but we also know he has a ton of fire in his belly, and I think this team needs to see it.
- Speaking of Henrik, I think he is mentally wiped out. The pressure of carrying this team night after night after night after night after night has left him drained. The Rangers should send him on vacation until Sunday's game in Colorado. He needs a break, a real one.
- The optimist in me (I really want to punch him in the throat sometimes) says maybe this trip out west is just what the Rangers need, to get away from everything and play hockey.
- The pessimist in me says we haven't seen the true definition of "rock bottom" yet.
Notes and Quotes after the jump........
NEW YORK RANGERS POST-GAME NOTES
January 27, 2010 – New York Rangers 1, Carolina Hurricanes 5 (Game #54, Home #29)
Click Here For The Official Game Summary
· The Rangers were defeated by the Carolina Hurricanes, 5-1, tonight at Madison Square Garden.
· The Blueshirts have now posted a record of 24-23-7 (55 pts.) overall, including a 12-13-4 (28 pts.) mark at home this season.
· New York registered 22 shots on goal in the second period, marking a season-high for shots in a period and the most by the Rangers since they recorded 24 shots in the second period of a 4-2 loss vs. Los Angeles on Feb. 5, 2008.
· Ryan Callahan notched one goal, registered a game-high six shots on net and tied for the game-high with six hits in 22:15 of icetime; he has now tallied six points (three goals and three assists) in the last six games.
· Defenseman Marc Staal recorded one assist and logged 24:37 of icetime; Staal has registered four points (one goal and three assists) in the last six games.
· Vinny Prospal collected one assist and led all skaters with 10 faceoff wins in 16 attempts (63%); he has now registered five points (one goal and four assists) and a plus-four rating in the last six games.
· Dan Girardi registered a game-high five blocked shots; he entered tonight’s contest ranked first on the team and tied for seventh in the NHL with 114 blocked shots.
· Forward Brian Boyle tied for the game-high with six hits, and has posted a plus or even rating in 21 of his last 27 games.
· Please note the Blueshirts do not have practice scheduled for tomorrow, Jan. 28.
· The Rangers return to action when they will face-off against the Phoenix Coyotes on Saturday, Jan. 30, at Jobing.com Arena (8:00 p.m. EST), to begin a three-game Western Conference road trip; the game will be televised live on MSG Plus and can be heard on 970 The Apple.
POST-GAME QUOTES
John Tortorella on the upcoming schedule…
"You have to make your own luck. It is an unforgiving week. No one is going to feel sorry for you. The best thing for us is to get out of town. We have to regroup as a hockey club. You can’t be pointing a finger at your teammates. You can’t feel sorry for yourself. You have to grind through this. Having gone through all of this, in the Eastern Conference, we are still right in the middle of it. We will get on the plane tomorrow and get out west and try to regroup here. That is the key thing, not break apart."
Ryan Callahan on the team…
"It is tough but we are all pros in here. That is why we play this game. We have all gone through this with another team or coming up. We have to put this behind us and concentrate on the next game."
Henrik Lundqvist on the veteran leadership…
"Some guys might say something but for the most part it is more important that the older guys, starting with me, show it with the way we play. We need to play better. It is some small details that just need to be corrected. We can turn it around. I know we are a good team. I know I can stop pucks. We just need to stay confident and turn this around."
