Blueshirt Abyss!

I had little confidence in the Rangers last night and only have a mild optimistic feeling that they will win Thursday night in order to at this point just avoid being swept. There’s a lot to talk about in regards to this series, but I'll stick with the seemingly very basic.

I go back to something Mark Messier said that he learned while growing up with the Edmonton Oilers and that funny enough his coach at the time and now Rangers G.M. Glen Sather used to stress to the players: You never give your opponent any bulletin board material. Does a team need further motivation to win in the playoffs? No. But the Rangers set a bad tone for themselves by talking about the Penguins’ penchant for diving.

Yes, the star players get the benefit of the doubt. Does Sidney Crosby dive more than most players? Probably. But the talk emanating from the Blueshirts set themselves up to be in excuse-mode. Personal responsibility, I could go on and on about it not only in regards to sports but life. But, New York needed to worry about their own game; their defenseman staying in position; their forwards backchecking; their goalie playing like the elite goalie that he is. If they did, this series would have been drastically different.

They didn’t and so now the team looks into the abyss.