The NY Rangers Encapsulated....

If last week's 5-2 loss to the Nashville Predators doesn't tell you all you need to know about the NY Rangers organization (and today's NHL) from top to bottom, then maybe someone can educate me. Maybe, I'm missing the boat. Perhaps, I still think "old school" going back to when players defended and police'd each other on the ice and didn't wait for incompetent and ill-suited referees to do their jobs for them. Or a bloated NHL "rooms" bureaucracy or an endless line of suits who have done little but confuse everyone both on the ice and off and restrict the players from actually doing their job - part of which is to protect each other. A lot of this is a result of Gary Bettman catering to the whims and the desires of corporate America rather than respecting what the game of hockey had always been about. And sometimes aside from it being a beautifully and artistically played game, it is a violent and aggressive game. Today, it resembles more the McDonald's franchise model, where everyone plays the same, looks the same and there is barely a personality to be had. There are more rules than ever before and not surprisingly, these rules are as inconsistent in practice as they are in theory.

Two weeks ago, Rangers GM Jeff Gorton acquired, bruising, tough guy forward Cody McLeod off of waivers. In part, because of the Rangers well-deserved reputation of being soft and physically easy to play against. McLeod is one of the few heavyweights remaining in today's NHL. As is part of his job description, he is a 'policeman.' When there is a problem, he goes on the ice and tries to take care of it. Sometimes, it's a word to the offending player and sometimes it's a fight. Last week, McLeod was in the NY Rangers lineup against Nashville. When Marc Staal was crushed on what I viewed as an illegal hit by Alexi Emelin (who left his feet) - who has a long history of cheap shots - there was not only no penalty, but no response from the Rangers. Staal, who has a history of concussions, left the game and did not return. Common sense says that this is the time you put a guy like McLeod on the ice to send a message. Vigneault for reasons only known to him, kept him seated on the bench.

Less than one minute later, NY Rangers forward Jimmy Vesey was elbowed in his mouth, courtesy of a Filip Forsberg late shot. Again, no penalty and Vesey left the game and also did not return. But at least Brady Skjei tried to so something and wound up in a minor scrap - though it's not his game. (*Regarding the hit on Vesey, the NHL handed down a three game suspension for his action.)

In between periods, Rangers analysts Ron Duguay and Stephen Valiquette both seemed to reach the same conclusion when posed why Nashville was playing so unusually physical. And their answer was essentially because they can push and intimidate the Rangers as can any other NHL squad who chooses to.

So, 'AV', who recently criticized physical defenseman Brendan Smith for stepping for a teammate because he took an additional minor for doing so, now refuses to put Mr. McLeod on the ice for just the situation he was brought here for makes me wonder as a fan of nearly forty years, "What in the hell am I watching here?" On the bench, there was no passion from the coach, no anger, no anything. The same typical blank-less, gum chewing stare which has netted him exactly zero Stanley Cups as a coach with his third NHL team. But he will pontificate all night on the "looks" his team got or didn't get.

And as of this writing, there are still no steps to remove Alain Vigneault. No word from the top of the Rangers brass assuming they are even watching. Nothing from Sather, Gorton and certainly not Dolan who must have a gig planned or something of more importance. So, the question remains, how much deeper can this organization sink from top to bottom and has it hit lead after hitting bottom? Sadly, no one seems to respect the abused and ignored fan-base that actually matters enough to say.

My next article will be who should be the next Head Coach of the NY Rangers and why.