No, it isn’t John Tortorella who is MIA. He’s the one leading the search and rescue effort. He’s looking for the 3 guys that were supposed to roll the New York Rangers into the post-season. Marian Gaborik, Ryan Callahan, and Brandon Dubinsky. Where have you gone? Gaborik has been a disaster all year. It is one thing if he’s been nagged by injury, but there is no reason to believe that’s been the case. And the sad part is that on most nights he visibly lacks the hunger on the ice. The hunger that Ryan Callahan has had all year. Until now. Callahan has been invisible in the past few games, and there’s no reason why. Maybe injury? Who knows at this point in the season. But Callahan has lost that step he used to have on opponents. He looks sluggish and certainly doesn’t have the pop and physicality that he did a month ago. Dubinsky on the other hand has looked hungry and physical and provides the fight when appropriate, but his puck possession has plummeted. And at this time of year the Rangers need goals and assists, and he’s providing neither. Dubinsky is strong on the puck and fast, but he continually refuses to drive to the net. Coach John Tortorella must be pounding him with these same thoughts, but clearly he isn’t listening. Nobody is. Which is certainly surprising given the time of year and the position the team is in.
Four regular season games remain. This past Wednesday and Thursday nights were meltdowns. Now the Rangers find themselves against Philly and Boston in their next two games. Not promising opponents to win against. One glimmer of hope is the Rangers have seemed to step up against the better teams of late. But lets be honest, the Rangers are going to need a lot of luck to get to the post-season this year. And now every fan has the pleasure of watching luck play a factor in the team’s final 4 games. The same luck that Olli Jokinen carried on his stick in the shootout of Game 82 last season.
On a much much brighter note, we have a newcomer in The Hasty’s Top 5 on the right. Congrats to Kate Upton. Can you say smokeshow? Shit yeah.
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