Rangers Not Thankful For Much

Who knew Tampa Bay was such an unfriendly place. That’s how you welcome back the coach that brought you a Stanley Cup? You spank his team 5-1 and send him on his merry way? So much for a successful homecoming.

Last nights loss to the Lightning immediately jumps to the top of the “Worst Games of the Year” list. After winning two in a row, the Rangers came out looking like they ate way too much turkey on Thursday. Henrik was pulled, the team was sleep walking, and Torts didn’t even get to enjoy his video tribute.

The three game road trip concludes tonight at the Igloo. It starts a brutal stretch of games for the Rangers. A stretch that I believe will make or break this teams season. Listen, I know it’s still early, but with the way the Rangers have played so far, they give you no inclination that they have a sustained winning streak in them.

That being said, the Rangers face the Penguins (x2), Sabers (x2), Red Wings, Blackhawks, and Atlanta over the next 7 games. Not to be a Debby Downer, but would anyone be stunned if this team went 2-5 or something close to that during this stretch? Right now, the team is tied for last in the Atlantic, 8-points out of first place. With how good the division is, a bad 7-game stretch could absolutely bury this team.

The shoot-out win against the Panthers gave us some hope. But it all came crashing down last night. Call it make or break, call it whatever you want, but I will tell you right now, come December 14th, we’re going to be talking about the Rangers being in it or out of it.

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Also, as a side note, the talk around NHL blogs this week has been the story of Brendan Burke that was written on ESPN.com. It’s a really interesting take on gays in the sports world.  It takes a lot for a kid to work in sports at any level and be gay.  It’s nice to see that Brendan has been accepted for who he is by his Miami (OH) team.  Some of my best friends from Cincinnati are friends with Brendan at Miami and they say he’s working hard to break down homophobia in sports.  It’s a tall task, but it’s great to see that Brendan is taking his story to the masses and trying to change the culture as much as he can.