Coaching Change was Imminent
Having lost 10 of their last 12 games and with their playoff position treading on thin ice, the N.Y. Rangers fired head coach Tom Renney.
The likeable Renney won 164 games and led the team to three playoff appearances during his five-year tenure. A malaise transformed a team that used a fast start to grab first place in the Atlantic Division to one that is fighting for their playoff lives.
The Rangers will hear a new "voice" in the former Tampa Bay coach, John Tortorella, who will take over the coaching reins in the hopes of bringing a little more fire behind the bench. One of the criticisms about Renney was that he was too passive in situations where the team needed to see a little more passion.
Fools Gold
With Henrik Lundqvist in the nets, the Rangers flaws were being camouflaged as the Swedish goaltender was "stealing" an extra point or two by winning a number of shootouts.
The Rangers have won 9 of 13 shootout games. If you do the math, that’s 9 extra points that they wouldn’t have if the League played under the old rules without the shootout.
The Rangers lead the League in shootout games for a variety of reasons, lack of scoring being the most prominent.
Can’t Score Goals
The Rangers are third from the bottom in the National Hockey League in goals scored with 151. Additionally, they are third from the bottom of the League on the power play with a 13% success ratio.
There is not one 20-goal scorer on the roster. Markus Naslund leads the team with 18. An astounding number when you consider that the Caps’ Alex Ovechkin has more than twice Naslund’s total.
Defense Lacks
Mark Staal and Dan Girardi are the team’s steadiest defensemen, but the Rangers have a lack of solid puck handling back liners. Paul Mara has played respectably but Michel Roszival, Dmitri Kalinin and free agent signee Wade Redden has been absolutely awful.
Opposing teams know they can consistently force turnovers because of the poor play by the Rangers defense in their own zone.
GM needs to be held accountable as well
Despite Renney’s failure to develop the power play and get the most out of the roster, the talent that’s been assembled by General Manager Glen Sather leaves a lot to be desired.
The Redden signing has turned into a disaster while Sather failed to get a solid point man for the power play or a pure goal scorer. Instead, he settled for the likes of Aaron Voros and Nikolai Zherdev. Voros is useless on offense and gets beaten on defense, while Zherdev teases you with nice moves and stick work but he can’t put the puck in the net on a consistent basis.
Schedule is Foreboding
The Rangers currently occupy the sixth spot in the Eastern Conference but their position is precarious at best.
New York has a one point lead over Florida and Buffalo and a two point lead over ninth place Carolina, but the remaining 21 game schedule is not kind.
There are four games left with their hated rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers, two with the Bruins, Canadiens and Hurricanes and one each against the Pittsburgh, New Jersey, Florida, Minnesota and Colorado.
Doesn’t Look Promising
Tortorella will provide the fire but, there’s not much chance of drastically altering the roster. With the schedule being what it is, the Rangers will fall out of the eighth spot and come up short in their quest for a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
