Hearts of Nobody

February 4, 2009   ·   Derek Felix   ·   Jump to comments

“Tom Renney is Art Howe in a suit and tie.“-WFAN’s Steve Somers summing up the idiot behind the Ranger bench

So last night was Adam Graves Night and was appropriately entitled, “Heart of a Ranger” honoring the guy who went the extra mile on and off the ice always having The Captain’s back and being an integral part of that 1993-94 Stanley Cup team.

Not surprisingly, the hour long ceremony was a fitting tribute to a well respected man who always had others first raising money for community charities and speaking at public functions such as a local Jewish Community Center dinner I can recall out here.

They honored more than the player but a genuine person who gave 10 good years doing whatever he could bleeding True Ranger Blue. Which brings me to the lifeless heartless bunch who nearly got shutout 1-0 by a brutal Thrasher team.

How in the world is that even possible? I could care less if free agent flop Markus Naslund tied the game from other two perennial busts Scott Gomez and Chris Drury with less than 11 seconds left. That they could come out without the inspiration following a remarkably well thought out speech by the man known as Gravy allowing the lowly Thrashers to feel comfortable on what should’ve been a perfect night is befitting of how Tom Renney coaches.

So conservative and laid back/motionless is he that they were still in the dreaded 1-4 allowing a bad Atlanta club to gain a 1-0 lead when Henrik Lundqvist misplayed a puck leading to scrub Joe Motzko’s first of the season with 13:34 left. When announced, the groans could be heard loud and clear.

Up till that point, they managed to play the most boring first two periods in NHL existence. Everyone always mocks the Devils because their team used to sit back patiently waiting to pounce on mistakes. Well, this was even worse and made me want to fall asleep or go home. It truly was the most unentertaining hockey ever.

Then Motzko scored what was his third of four career goals versus the Rangers netting two with the Caps last year. How poetic would that have been if the score held up with this punchless team getting blanked a second consecutive game.

But they managed to tie thanks to out of all people Ilya Kovalchuk, who somehow blew a gimme open net from the Ranger blueline firing off the side of the net with 34 ticks left.

Had the Atlanta superstar who’s scored 275 goals in his career hit the empty net, they would’ve gotten shutout 2-0 by the hapless Thrashers. Nothing against them. But come on. This was unacceptable.

When one power play struggled with them still trailing, fans from our section 411 finally chanted what should catch on in future games:

“Fire Renney! Fire Renney! Fire Renney!”

By the point they tied it, I had gone back to the car to warm it up and defrost the snow. I figured they’d lose. Sure. I did see Kovalchuk’s miss outside a window and couldn’t believe it. But still figured they’d lose 1-0 making it a low point.

I actually would’ve preferred they just lose by that margin cause that was what was deserved. Forget the 17-9 shots edge with 40 for the game to Atlanta’s 22. As one of many frustrated Blueshirt fans who called into Steve Somers noted, it’s not quantity but QUALITY!

This team rarely ever gets inside and makes defensemen panic. They are way too much on the perimeter including the powerless play which should be sponsored by Con Ed considering how reliable they can sometimes be.

So, they tied it and got a measly point. How does one explain Renney sending out defensive tandem Blair Betts and Freddy Sjostrom for an OT shift? Or how about explaining how the Betts line is sometimes out after commercial breaks during games. Nothing against that line as they always bring it but it is common sense to play your best offensive guys following breaks.

Only this coach could play Aaron Voros with Artem Anisimov and Lauri Korpikoski while exiled Petr Prucha sits out when he did nothing wrong. Unless hard work, energy, scoring and skating are prohibited.

It’s also worth noting that Drury played his best when Prucha played. They teamed with Nigel Dawes comprising a solid line. Then Renney took Prucha out and changed things up and Dawes went ice cold and the team’s scoring dried up.

They did control the extra five minutes but only got two shots on Kari Lehtonen (39 saves, 1st Star) before falling in the shootout 2-1 with Bryan Little and Slava Kozlov answering Naslund’s backhand deke while Nikolai Zherdev and Sjostrom were shutdown meaning that this team can’t even use the skill competition anymore to save themselves.

It was only their second one in the last 19 games. Both losses with the last coming to Buffalo.

One lousy point with plenty of aggravated fans who see the writing on the proverbial wall. That this team couldn’t bring it even on Adam Graves Night. The last two retirements of Mark Messier and Brian Leetch, who both were on hand resulted in the Rangers fighting back to win including an exciting overtime triumph over Edmonton with Jaromir Jagr winning it while Lundqvist won a 2-1 shootout last year over the same Thrashers.

This time, they came up firing blanks putting a damper on the night as only this team can. Yet when Renney was interviewed afterwards, he was very satisfied speaking volumes.

Hearts of Nobody.

Three Stars:

3rd Star-Slava Kozlov, Atl (shootout clincher)

2nd Star-Kari Lehtonen, Atl (39 saves incl. 16 in third)

1st Star-Tom Renney, NYR (no explanation required)