The Time Has Come: Break up the Bromance!

[RichieNextel305]

Quote

 

“And I think five-on-five, I don’t think they scored a goal against us, either. So we kind of cancel each other out. Right now, when you don’t win, you can’t see that as a positive, but at the same time, I think at the end of the day, there’s always a next day and as much as we think about and think what we could’ve done differently and whatnot, that’s gone. I can only think about what I can try to do in the future.

“Obviously, the season — points-wise — I don’t think was bad. Obviously, it wasn’t the level of what I had before. But that’s also sports. I don’t try to do anything different, but I’m trying to do the same things, I’m trying to do whatever I can to make that happen. Some years aren’t going to be that way.

 

https://nypost.com/2024/06/04/sports/rangers-stars-rue-another-season-ending-too-early-we-deserved-to-be-there/
 

That quote is an answer to his matchup with Barkov.

 

Am I crazy for hating everything about that quote? This guy is supposed to be a leader, our Number 1 center. A play driver and point producer. He had 7 goals in the regular season at 5v5. 
 

He needs to be better. He needs to want it more. I feel like once the going gets tough, he just doesn’t have it in him to get the switch flipped anymore. He used to. I don’t know where the fire went.

[Pete]

3 hours ago, RichieNextel305 said:

https://nypost.com/2024/06/04/sports/rangers-stars-rue-another-season-ending-too-early-we-deserved-to-be-there/
 

That quote is an answer to his matchup with Barkov.

 

Am I crazy for hating everything about that quote? This guy is supposed to be a leader, our Number 1 center. A play driver and point producer. He had 7 goals in the regular season at 5v5. 
 

He needs to be better. He needs to want it more. I feel like once the going gets tough, he just doesn’t have it in him to get the switch flipped anymore. He used to. I don’t know where the fire went.

I don't really care much what these guys say to the media anymore.

 

Fans needs to realize is that this is not happening to them. We are watching this happen to other people. Yes we feel invested because we follow the team, but imagine how they feel actually playing in the games and actually being the ones doing the work, spending their whole lives to get to this point.

 

These are guys who have worked 20 plus years to get to a certain point, and when they are right there, they didn't get over the hump. The level of disappointment, self doubt, second guessing, must be incredible.

 

I don't think anybody here has ever worked 20 plus years for anything and then had to face the media 10 minutes or a day after not being able to achieve the one thing they've been working their whole life to do. So I'm not going to sit here and criticize the way they act in press conferences where they have to really measure every response or it gets taken out of context and criticized. 

 

And frankly I don't want to hear anything about "mental toughness" from a fan base who's ready to jump off a cliff when the team loses two games in a row. That's next level hypocrisy. There's a bunch of fans moping and crying about a guy They think mopes and cries too much.

 

That all wasn't directed at you personally, Rich, but frankly IMO there's nothing he could have said that would have made fans happy. Even if the words that came out of his mouth were the ones you wanted to hear, the answer would have been "Cool, those are just words, now you have to show me".

 

And I know fans don't want to hear it right now, but the fact of the matter is that he's right. That is sports. Sometimes you just get beat by the better team, and it doesn't make your team bad. Sometimes you give it everything you have and the puck doesn't go your way. 

 

What's really clear is that this guy is hard on himself. He feels these losses deeply. Everybody wants to talk shit about him for being too mopey, but he's allowed to have the emotional response he has. He's obviously upset by the losses. Just because he doesn't respond with the exact emotion certain people want doesn't mean that he doesn't care. 

[jsm7302]

4 hours ago, RichieNextel305 said:

https://nypost.com/2024/06/04/sports/rangers-stars-rue-another-season-ending-too-early-we-deserved-to-be-there/
 

That quote is an answer to his matchup with Barkov.

 

Am I crazy for hating everything about that quote? This guy is supposed to be a leader, our Number 1 center. A play driver and point producer. He had 7 goals in the regular season at 5v5. 
 

He needs to be better. He needs to want it more. I feel like once the going gets tough, he just doesn’t have it in him to get the switch flipped anymore. He used to. I don’t know where the fire went.

I feel like his answer is extremely resilient. It isn't the lingering burn answer we expect to hear but he is, all in all, right. The wonder of the ifs ands or buts will get him and anyone nowhere.  I feel like his answer is a strong answer which addresses where do we go from here. 

 

He's a keeper because he plays the whole rink every night even when the puck isn't going in. The guy is also human and isn't going to have career years every year. 

 

If Drury goes out and signs Tarasenko for a few years, til the end of the Panarin contract, that could be the RW that line has needed and allows them to compete in our window. He looked good in his short try out here. 

[lefty9]

On 5/30/2024 at 6:55 AM, torontonyr said:

Kakko might be the best board possession player in the league....it's everything after that 

He ain't no Don Maloney