Do the NY Rangers Have What It Takes?

As the trade deadline quickly approaches, the question is: “Do the Rangers have the team they need to bring Lord Stanley to New York in 2008?” 

It’s not what players need to be added or subtracted from this equation; it’s about what they are up against and if they can beat the other teams with what they have now.  I have heard numerous experts and NHLers outside of the Rangers organization say that this team that Glen Sather has constructed in the off season will fail, because a high contingency of superstars on the team has failed in the past and will continue to fail. 

The Rangers this season wanted to embrace the same idea that Buffalo had last season: four scoring lines.  When I first heard that, I laughed.  The reason why: first, this team does not have the talent to have four scoring lines, despite the superstar contingency; and second, the method has been attempted before and Buffalo did not win the Cup last year.  The four scoring lines method FAILED.

I once read in Fortune magazine that if you are jumping on the bandwagon because people have found success in those things, you’re already too late.  You have to focus on what the future holds.  You have to be the innovator, not the follower.  You have to move towards more unconventional methods in order to be at the top of the game.  You profit more when you’ve created your own worthwhile formula.

Currently, the roster that Sather has created is perfect.  Fans talk about lack of depth on the blueline.  Fans are constantly bashing the Czech attack, Marek Malik and Michal Rozsival.  Only an uneducated hockey fan would bash the Rangers’ top two defensemen.  Rozsival is currently the top scoring defenseman on the team, fourth on the team in goals.  Earlier this season, he was tied with the top goal scoring forward, Brendan Shanahan, with the most goals.  Malik and Rozsival combined have the best plus/minus on the team post-lockout.  Their style may not be rough and hard hitting, but they have been able to produce at the highest possible level for the team.  They are the winning combo for the top line.  They’ve earned their right to be there.  The numbers speak for themselves.

Learning from his past mistakes, Renney’s style this season is not about finding a winning combination to center the first line with Jagr and Straka, like most would assume.  That is not his strategy.  His strategy is to keep the other team guessing what lines he will put out on the ice.  He is looking to see what the best combinations are to use in the playoffs.  The regular season games are the testing grounds.  His plan for the playoffs are a secret and right now, he’s not letting on what they will be for other teams to decipher on video so that they can plan their attack on how they will shut down the Rangers. 

Although, some teams have figured out that if you get under Jagr’s skin and make him mad, he cannot produce and it injures his confidence to perform.  That is something Jagr will have to work on this season if he plans on leading his team to the Cup finals.  If he cannot produce, that’s where you need to depend on the rest of the team.  If the Rangers can focus on the issues and tap into the capabilities of each individual player, they can formulate a winning combination that could actually see a Cup in their hands.  Not only should they look at each player’s strengths, but they should look at each of their weaknesses.  For instance, Marcel Hossa has the capability of being an elite player in the NHL…but that is only if he wants it.  I oftentimes ponder when I watch Marcel out on the ice if he really even wants to be there.  Would he have chosen this career if his father had not pushed him to play in the NHL?  There are days where I see his passion to win; other days I ask if he was even in the game.  Figuring out what it is he wants is something he will have to work out on his own.  I just hope he can come to his senses sooner, rather than later, because it would be a shame to see a man that is capable of being greater than Jaromir Jagr turn down that opportunity.

Something I have learned from the Washington Capitals and Coach Bruce Boudreau this season is that whoever wants the win more gets the win.  How else do you explain the Washington Capitals rise from being the worst in the league to just four wins away from being first place in their division?  Or Minnesota Wild’s Marian Gaborik’s desire to not have just a hat trick, but five goals in one game?  When someone wants something bad enough, and the other team doesn’t care one way or the other, the team who wants it more takes home the prize.  Recently when I was in Washington for the Rangers v. Capitals game, someone asked me what in the world was going on with all the scoring and the Capitals coming back to score against the Rangers.  I said, “The Capitals want it more.  You can see it in their play.  They kicked it up a few notches.  They will win this game, because the Rangers don’t want it as much as they do.”  The Rangers passion to win did not match that of the Capitals (and the Capitals did win that game).

Two of the top contenders right now for the Cup in the Eastern Conference are the New Jersey Devils and the Ottawa Senators.  If the Rangers were to ever meet the Senators in the playoffs, the Rangers would have no chance at all.  The Rangers record against the Senators is very dismal.  It is almost like the Rangers fear them, thus the reason why the Rangers have fallen to Ottawa three out of their last four meetings. 

The Devils have not been able to defeat their New York rivals, the Rangers or the Islanders, at all this season.  They are 0-4 in both contests.  Although, the Devils have been able to defeat the Flyers and Penguins in the majority of their contests, as well as other teams, pitting them at the top of the Atlantic Division and second in the Eastern Conference.  Martin Brodeur can actually say that the turn around for the Devils began not during their winning streak, but in mid-December, after the New York Rangers brought their streak to an end.  It was then that they truly began to feel like one complete unit.

The Devils are having an incredible season so far.  Unlike their tri-state division rivals, they have been able to bring home a two-game win over Canada’s top teams in the West.  With a healthy Brodeur (who will not be playing the entire season so that he can be ready for the final stretch), the Devils are more likely to bring home the Cup than the New York Rangers.  They bring their passion to the game each night.  They don’t have anything to figure out, the team just fits.  That was truly the secret formula to the Buffalo Sabres success last season, not four scoring lines, but a team that fits perfectly with each other, even when the youth comes up to replace those who are injured.

The Rangers have the talent that they need, but it’s how the talent is utilized when they are thrown into the blue mixing bowl that matters the most.  Will it be more about honor and tradition, or the passion to win?  The strategy to win the Cup lies solely with the coaching staff.  Look at the record of Washington’s Coach Boudreau who has led his minor league teams to the finals and won the Calder Cup in 2006 for the Hershey Bears.  Boudreau has re-instilled the Capitals’ passion to win since he appeared as interim coach on November 22, 2007.  There is something to be said about his ability to turn the worst team in the league into a winning team fighting to get into one of the top eight spots in the conference.

For the Rangers, there is no need to trade anyone.  The defense (A-) ranks higher on Stan Fischler’s report card than the scoring abilities of the Rangers’ superstars (C-).  His grading I find to be completely accurate.  Granted, I would have given the forwards a D/D+ if Jagr, Drury and Gomez had stayed on the path they were on during the first two months of the season.

At this point, I believe Ottawa and the Devils have a better chance at winning the Cup in 2008 than the New York Rangers.  They also need to be concerned with the underdog, the Washington Capitals, from knocking them out of their playoff berth.  The Capitals want it bad enough and anything can happen in this race. 

The drive to win needs to show up in this final stretch for the Rangers.  It’s got to be all or nothing from here on out.  If it’s lackluster, than why are they wasting everyone’s time with the false hope of Lord Stanley coming back home to New York?  They’ve got to want the Cup more than any other team in the league.  It’s time to start up the fire and keep feeding it until it can’t be stopped.