On Broadway It's About Finishing The Job
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After reading my last few posts, you might get the impression that I'm starting to sour on the Rangers. That's not the case. The Rangers made tremendous improvements thus far in the off season. In fact, my recent criticism is the result of these improvements. It's all relative. The better you are, the higher the expectations. The Rangers' goal is no longer to simply qualify for the post season. The Rangers' goal is no longer to win one or even two rounds in the playoffs. The Rangers' goal is to win at least one Stanley cup in the next two years. When the stakes are that high, everything is examined under a microscope. Winning the Stanley Cup is arguably the hardest thing to accomplish in all of professional sports. Over the long grueling tournament, every team weakness gets exploited at some point. I am certainly not condemning management for trading Cullen and letting Ortmeyer walk. The Rangers are a better team today then they were at the final buzzer of game six against Buffalo. In fact, they're a much better team. But it's all relative. That very improvement has raised the stakes. Today on Broadway it's not about being better. It's about being the best. There is a subtle line between criticism and expectations.
If the Rangers were still in "rebuilding mode" I would have nothing but praise. Without the heightened expectation of winning it all, there would be no place for criticism in this hugely successful off season: the defense is thin...give it some time, we're not quite there yet, we lost some character/role players....be patient were gearing up. Today on Broadway, we don't need any more time to get there, we've already arrived!
That's why I'm bothered by the loss of two character players (Cullen and Ortmeyer). We need those types of players to win it all. In '94 (I know, a lot of people don't want to hear about '94 anymore!) The Rangers geared up for the playoffs by acquiring a bunch of Cullen/Ortmeyer types. Were they more important than Mess, Leetch, Richter, Graves, Zubov and Kovalev? No. But we could not have won without them. Are Cullen and Ortmeyer more important than Drury and Gomez? No. But we will not win without those types of guys.
Guys like Cullen and Ortmeyer are essential to team chemistry and team chemistry is essential if you want to win a Cup. In his early days as a Ranger, Mark Messier often spoke about the need for the team to have well defined roles filled by the types of players best suited to play those roles. In other words, you need to have right wingers playing right wing, centermen playing center, etc... You also need to have first line players to play on your first line and fourth line players playing on your fourth line (and everything in between). When you take a third line player and ask him to play the part of a top six forward it doesn't work. Similarly, when you have a top six forward you can't expect him to play a third line role, it doesn't work. When players play out of position, roles become blurred and chemistry weakened. That's why I'm questioning the losses of Cullen and Ortmeyer. They are perfectly suited to fill essential roles. Straka or Drury on the third line has the same chemistry killing effect as Cullen on the first line. The pieces have to fit in order to complete the puzzle. Right now the Rangers are missing a piece for the third line puzzle.
Allow me to conclude with an analogy: When you're building a house, the goal is the completed/finished product. At the outset, however, you focus on laying the foundation and putting up the frame. Without those ingredients you've got nothing. When your focused on the foundation and framing, questions about finishing touches are irrelevant. You're simply not there yet. Once that's done however, the focus quickly shifts. The finishing touches become critical because without them you can not complete the job and achieve your ultimate goal: a finished product. Lundqvist, Jagr, Gomez, Drury, Shanahan and Avery are the foundation and frame of this team. We've completed the first and most important step of the project (Avery's not signed yet but he will be). Now, however, the focus shifts to the finishing touches. Without them, we can not complete the project. It's all relative. It's no longer about getting close. On Broadway, it's about finishing the job.
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