Renney's Rangers

...That's the thought I had in the 3rd period of the Rangers loss to the Gale-Force Winds Monday night. "It looks like Renney's Rangers, not Tortorella's Rangers out there." Those were my exact words. But after carefully pondering I realized the reason they looked that way can be mostly contributed to the fact that they were spent; 2nd game of a back-to-back playing an up-tempo, aggressive style. Having said that, I still see Renney's influences still linger with this team.

- Case in point, the Defense are still very tentative to shoot the puck and when they do it's routinely blocked. Tortorella will eventually get his D-men to shoot with authority and get puck movement. Until then, it's still agonizing to watch.


- The team still tries the dangerous, cross-ice pass in an attempt to spring a forward and catch the opposition napping. More often than not it's a turnover and transition the other way. I'm sure that give Torts heartburn.

- They make life too easy for goalies, especially, Cam Ward last game. Ward was barely tested and was able to see most shots come his way.

You can't expect to flush out the remnants of the old regime as quickly as a gust of wind. They'll creep in every now and then until the end of the season. However, you have to be encouraged with how quickly the Rangers, as a team, have grasped Tortorella's concept and have played in it. There's just the slightest chance the Rangers could catch lightning in a bottle and go on a run. There's an even bigger chance of them missing out on the playoffs entirely (they sit 9th in the East, first time all year they've been out of a playoff spot). Time will tell.

Until next time...

J.W.