No Shelter From This Storm

Glen Sather says he believes in the Rangers.

Speak for yourself ‘Slats’ because you might be the only one that does. After last night’s humiliating loss to the Carolina Hurricanes by the score 5-1, confidence is low amongst the players, the coaches and the fans.

As well as it should be, the fatal flaws in this team are rearing their ugly heads, as the games go along. Marian Gaborik and Henrik Lundqvist, as great as both are, are unable to carry a team with too many flaws throughout the line-up.

Going into this season, on paper, not a lot was expected out of this bunch. After the hot start many skeptics thought it was only a matter of time before the chinks in the armor would start to reveal themselves.

Surely enough they have, because Gaborik and Lundqvist, who were covering up for the many inequities this team truly boasts, are simply unable to keep this ship afloat.

The captain of this ship, John Tortorella, was so defeated in last night’s post game press conference, he couldn’t bring himself to insult Larry Brooks. And just like his team, the fight in him has packed its bags and took off.

Which is what the Rangers are now hanging their sorry hats on. They take take their clown act on the road against three solid and apparently playoff bound hockey teams:Phoenix, Colorado and Los Angeles.

This won’t be an easy task, but then again, nothing seems easy for this team anymore. Last night was as good a chance as any to get back into the win column. For despite Carolina’s recent solid play, they still are a pretty assured lottery pick in this upcoming draft.

But, as fast as Rangers fans can chant “Fire Sather”, the Hurricanes took an early two-goal lead, with both goals being extremely stoppable. A good team can bounce back from an early deficit, but these are the Rangers we are talking about here.

The rest of the first period was flat, which left little optimism for the second. Alas, the Rangers did strike early to cut Carolina’s lead to just one.

Enter Wade Redden!

His awful read on the play led to Sergei Samsonov’s first of two. That was the last we saw of Redden for the game, as he had the best seat in the house for the rest of the contest.

This isn’t the first time he has faced the wrath of his coach, but most Rangers fans are hoping it is the last time he will have to be dealt with by the Rangers organization ever again.

Speculation is abound that Redden could be on his way out after this most recent display from what might have been the worst signing in team history.

As far as the rest of this horror-show was concerned, any ideas of a comeback in the last period were snuffed out with some solid saves from Cam Ward and the Rangers remarkable ability to shoot themselves in the foot.

With the score 4-1, another softy given up by Lundqvist, the Hurricanes went on a full two minute two-man advantage. Newly anointed captain, the best of the Staal hockey factory, Eric Staal rifled a one-timer from the right circle to increase the lead to 5-1.

This set off a chant from the die-hard fans who really care about this team and are sick of what has happened over the last few seasons.

The chants for Sather’s resignation, aren’t knee-jerk reactions from Blueshirts fans either. This man has had over a decade to take care of business and make this team a contender, something the Rangers might have been only one season since he has been President/General Manager of this franchise.

Most executives with this extensive amount of failure, in any field, would have been given the pink slip in almost half of the time he has operated, with impunity.

This morning there has been a buzz amongst the hockey community that the Rangers are involving themselves in the Ilya Kovalchuk sweepstakes.

What’s the point in that?

Even with someone with the talent level that he and few others of his caliber possess, he won’t cure all of the ills this team is inflicted with. A quick fix is something that will only set this team back for years to come.

It’s time for things to be done the right way and to understand the current state of this team. Stevie Wonder can see that this team needs to rebuild.

You can’t put a band-aid over a crack in the dam. You can’t fix this problem with one player.

The Rangers have to avoid the disease that has plagued this team for too long.

Maybe Glen Sather should take a lesson from Henrik Lundqvist and admit, that this problem starts with him.

It’s time for everyone in this organization to look themselves in the mirror.