Rangers vs. Blue Jackets: I Don't Know What I Expected
The bag said "dead team, do not believe." And you opened it any way, didn't you? You opened it anyway. What did you expect?
- I'll let Michael Bluth speak for me to get us started here:
- Yes, friends, the bag marked "dead dove, do not eat" does actually contain a dead dove. There were a non-insignificant number of people out there who were truly trying to hype themselves up about the idea of the playoffs. They're like the story of the kid who comes downstairs on Christmas morning and, upon seeing a giant pile of manure, immediately starts digging through it believing a pony must be in there. But that giant pile of shit is probably just a giant pile of shit.
- I missed almost all of Saturday's game against Ottawa. I was running scoreboard and doing public address for my son's hockey league championship games, doing my best Joe Tolleson impression. But, following along, seeing the blown 3-1 third period lead, it was disappointing. It was, as Joe said, demoralizing.
- But this game? Just embarrassingly awful. It was a distillation of this whole season's experience down into a single game. Chris Feldman said in our Slack channel that it's exhausting loving this team. Who could disagree? In a game that ended up a blowout the Rangers managed to pack in flashes of what this team used to be. There was that little rally where they score two shorthanded goals on the same penalty kill. And then just minutes later they completely fell apart in the waining minutes of the second period. It's been a rollercoaster. And I hate rollercoasters.
- After today there are 18 New York Rangers games left this season. I'm divorcing myself from caring at all about the lineup as long as the man filling out the lineup card is Peter Laviolette. I don't think he's coming back. He shouldn't be back. And I've wanted him gone for months now. But it really seems like there is a disconnect between the front office and the head coach, and I haven't the foggiest idea why he's still behind the bench. Why claim Arthur Kaliyev, an RFA after this season, to never play him? Why trade for Juuso Parssinen, who plays center on a team that needs centers now and moving forward, to not play him at center and them not play him at all? Why? I don't know. I wish someone would tell me. But since I know this head coach won't, I'm going to stop caring.
