drury.jpgBoston Bruins vs. New York Rangers 12:30 p.m. EST - Sunday, March 21, 2010 Live on NBC
Join us for a live chat during today’s game at Noon EST.
When Sean Avery is the only player on your team that shows any personality, that has any sort of ability to muster up the motivation to raise his level of play when it counts, then perhaps succeeding in the playoffs is the least of your worries.
The New York Rangers, in March and in the middle of a playoff race, are searching for an identity as a team. What’s more, as soon as any of the players start to show some life or personality towards the media and the public, coach John Tortorella is quick to squash it and calls his players out for speaking out of turn.
Is it even possible for a team like this to actually make it to the playoffs?
No future without any life.
Yesterday I gave my reasons why the Rangers would find a way to pass the Bruins for 8th in the East, but I have to admit that was a tough task to tackle. I’ve watched a number of Rangers games this season -- full games, not just skimming through on Center Ice like I have to do each night -- and one thing is becoming extremely clear as the playoffs near: the New York Rangers don’t care.
I’m not convinced this is a team that even wants to make the playoffs. Thanks to some major issues that the Boston Bruins have had of their own the past few weeks, the Rangers have had the chance to not only catch up to Boston in the standings but to actually surpass them.
The way they’ve played in these big games lately, you would have guessed they were trying to tank the season for the number one draft pick this summer.
Will the real, overpaid and outdated leader please stand up?
I can only imagine how Rangers fans felt watching Chris Drury in the Olympics. As an American, I couldn’t have been more proud of the veteran who was the heart and soul -- aside from Ryan Miller -- of Team USA; selling out his body to block shots, giving it 120% every shift. It seemed our doubts as to why he had been chosen for the team were not applicable this time.
Drury has just one goal and six points in the nine games since the Olympics; not... bad, but certainly not what you’d expect from your captain while the team is in the midst of a playoff race.
He at least tried to be a bit of leader this past week, as he called out his team as being ‘immature’, until coach Tortorella was able to stuff the muzzle back over his mouth and put him back into the locker room closet.
So if Drury can’t step up as the leader of this team, who then? Marian Gaborik? He’s more concerned about just scoring goals and protecting his injury-prone body than actually winning and leading a team. Ryan Callahan perhaps, but Torts would probably put the kabosh on anything he tries to do. Perhaps being a leader is overrated; it seems that’s the way Tortorella sees it, at least.
Just go out and play.
I can see Tortorella’s point in one regard; the players should just shut their mouths and actually produce on the ice. We have all this talk and consternation about locker room leadership and the perception in the media, what about actually winning once the games start? If you are as intent on winning and being successful as you claim; show it in the games.
We all know there’s one player on the team who can actually muster the motivation to raise the level of his game, but those are for purely selfish reasons. The rest of the team is just content to skate through each game on their way to the golf course in April.
The good news? They play a team with very similar issues today on NBC.