The easy thing to do would be to sit here and point all the fingers of blame for all the reasons why the New York Rangers lost game five to the New Jersey Devils 4-3.
But you are Ranger fans and you should know that one of the requirements for being a Ranger fan is that this franchise at times will tear your heart to pieces. In many ways over time you actually get used to it and you keep coming back for more just because.
Do we want to sit here and trash Henrik Lundqvist for picking the wrong day to have a bad game? Lord knows that Henrik has saved this teams butt more times than any of us can remember so not gonna do that either.
Every other blogger, every other fan and every other writer is gonna tell you that once again a slow start is what really doomed Rangers. What more can we say?
I know for me, the most heartbreaking thing is knowing in my heart that as we saw when the team was making its comeback that when they actually showed up to play that New Jersey couldn't handle them.
The problem is you have to show up for 60 full minutes not a second less. They did not and New Jersey to their credit, took full advantage of Ranger mistakes and won the game.
I mean, what were the odds that both Henrik Lundqvist and Martin Brodeur in a key playoff game would both play terribly? They might want to save the tape of this game because that has to be the first time where both goalies just stunk up the place.
They talk about the personality of the Rangers and I for one am so sick and tired of hearing how the Rangers play their best when their backs against the wall. It's kind of a copout because you are playing with fire and you just asking for trouble which unfortunately the Rangers found tonight.
So now the Rangers go into New Jersey and in many ways the pressure is now off of them because it's going to be New Jersey who everybody is going to be putting under the microscope. For the next 48 hours, the New Jersey Devils are going to have to hear about game 6 of the 1994 conference finals.
Maybe the most disappointing part about losing this game has to be how many Ranger fans have stuck a fork in this team and declared them DOA. Did you really think at the beginning of the season that the Rangers would even be in the conference finals?
Yes, it's going to be disappointing if they lose because yes, they are missing out on a golden opportunity to win the Stanley Cup. But I'm gonna wait until after they lose the fourth game before I write the Ranger obituary.
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It was the battle of the QMJHL teams as Saint John took on Shawinigan in a game that really decided who got tomorrow off. Saint John who are the defending Memorial Cup champions were facing the host city Shawinigan and if you followed the QMJHL then you knew there some bad blood between both teams.
Actually, it really wasn't much of a battle until the final minute of the game when both teams lost their cool and embarrassed themselves in front of a national Canadian audience. Saint John won the game 4-1 to push London into Sunday's Championship final while they will get to be waiting for the winner of tomorrow's tiebreaker game.
Game recaps are best from our friends over at Buzzing The Net so here are the links to the various stories here, here, and here.
Thursday now becomes the final game of the season for either Rangers prospect Michael St. Croix of the Edmonton Oil Kings or New York Islander prospect Kirill Kabanov of Shawinigan. You might want to check the NHL network in the USA to see if they actually show this game. Seriously doubt it because the NHL has done a great job of shooting itself in the backside with all of its hockey decisions this year.
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