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| Andy Marlin/Getty Images |
The degree to which tonight’s
game matter for the New York Rangers might just depend on what the focus of
this season is really about. If the season
is about making the playoffs and trying to somehow win a championship, then
tonight is likely seen as a huge game for the Blueshirts. If, on the other hand, this season was always
about developing the young players for the future and thinking this season was
a year early, then there is still the bigger picture to consider and the
success the year has been already to focus on.
What has gotten lost over this five game losing streak is that big
picture. It is a natural thing to be
upset that the team is struggling, but all teams go through slumps. The difference truly is the expectation level
that is causing the fans to get up on the ledge with the inclination to jump
ship.
When the season began, I would
bet, most Rangers’ fans, if they were realistic with themselves, expected this
team to either battle for one of the last three playoff spots, or just miss the
extra season. Don’t look now, but that
is exactly where the Rangers are right now.
Despite this five game skid, the team is still in seventh place with a
three point lead on eighth and four points inside the playoffs in the East. Reality is most of the teams behind the
Rangers have been unable to take advantage of the recent slide, except for the
Sabres who have gotten themselves in the race.
The more important reality for me though is that none of those teams
matter because it is about what the Rangers have done and will do.
As with anything else in life,
expectations change. That is what is at
the heart of the reaction to the five game winless streak. As Rangers fans, we have seen our share of
five game losing streaks and before it began likely expected to see more this
season. What happened was in the first
half of the year, the long losing streaks never came; the team always found a
way to stop them at three games or less.
The fact that the team could shut down the bad play and respond with a
result created that expectation. The
fact that the team has consistently found a way to battle back in third periods
and pull out wins, created an expectation that leaves fans shocked when they do
not complete the comeback. Add to that
the success the team had in hanging on while all these key parts were missing
and it is unfathomable to see them struggle at possibly the healthiest point
they have had all year.
This team has shown too much
heart, too much character for this to continue and so I expect they will turn
it back around, and make the playoffs, but that is not what is important for me
this year. I am not here to say that I
do not care about making the playoffs because more hockey for the team I follow,
the team I love is always something I wish for, but what I am saying is
regardless of playoffs/no playoffs, deep run or first round exit, the 2010-11
season has been the most successful one for my money in years.
When we get some perspective on
the year as a whole, then we can step back and realize all that has been
accomplished in the first 56 games in total to see what the last 26 will work
themselves out. The team has formed an
identity as a tough team to play and more importantly one that never gives up
on a game. It is those two things right
there that have keyed the overall team success and what is making fans so
bewildered that the breaks are not going for the team right now.
On the individual level there is
so much to be proud of with this team. Ryan
Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky have taken strides to the next level on and off
the ice. The team is getting huge
contributions from four rookies (Stepan, Zuccarello, Sauer, McDonagh) who are
showing night in and night out that they belong on this level. Brian Boyle has taken a giant leap from a
journeyman type player to a team leader, both in how he plays the game and
sticking pucks in the net. Brandon Prust
has had his warrior mentality wear off on this locker room and made a statement
that he is part of the core of this franchise.
There have certainly been
disappointments this year on an individual level, but sometimes we, certainly
myself included, get lost in focusing on the ones who are failing to meet
expectations than praising those who are exceeding them. This team while struggling is certainly
exceeding what the initial expectations were and we should all keep that in
mind before we pull the fire alarm because we lost sight of what the real goals
of this season were.
As this Rangers’ team has fought
all season, I expect to see that fight tonight in Atlanta, and win or lose the
focus for me will be on the effort this team has brought all year and the development
of these players for the future. If the
team continues in their fight and the young core continues to develop, then the
score at the end of the night does not matter because the team, the
organization is still moving in the right direction.
