Post Sports+ Inside The Rangers
A heart-to-heart with Chris Kreider on the state of the spiraling Rangers
I generally like to use this opportunity to interact with you on off-topics, perhaps personal recollections from nearly five decades — seven decades, really, counting the 50-cent GO seats in the side balcony at the old barn and the blue seat I occupied as a season subscriber in the new place’s original Section 419 — immersed with the Rangers.
But there are no off-topics today. There is only one topic, and that is the team spiral that threatens to send the 2024-25 Blueshirts into a very dark place.
I can tell you with absolute confidence there is no credibility to the report that first popped up over the weekend on the social media platform X linking the Rangers to Joel Quenneville. That was spun out of thin air. There has been no contact between the parties and there will be no contact between the parties.
The Rangers are not going to fire Peter Laviolette. The Rangers are committed to Peter Laviolette. They are not bum-rushing this coach out of town.
Monday’s 5-1 defeat to the Devils at the Garden was different but the same. Igor Shesterkin, the last line of defense and often the only line of defense, finally broke after being under siege from the opening 10 minutes of the season in Pittsburgh through the holiday weekend. That was different.
And just past the midway point of the match, the Rangers held a 25-10 advantage in shots though trailing 3-0. That was different.
But the mistakes and turnovers in critical areas were the same. The bevy of early odd-man rushes/breakaways was the same. The lack of physicality was the same. The body language was the same.
'It's just not acceptable'
I spent some time alone with Chris Kreider after the match. On another night, I would have led the column with his quotes. On almost any other night. But I wanted to focus on what needs to be done over these three off-days in advance of Friday’s tilt against the Penguins.
So I’ll tell you now what Kreider told me in an emotional exchange in which No. 20 needed time to frame his responses. Kreider generally breaks down games by X’s and O’s. He always has stressed the importance of communication on the ice. But this was not about X’s and O’s. This was from the heart.
We all know Kreider was one of two players specifically cited in that “memo” distributed throughout the league by GM Chris Drury a little over a week ago that seems like five years ago. Jacob Trouba, of course, was the other.
Safe to say, the team has reacted poorly to it.
So I asked Kreider how much of an impact the outside noise has had on the way the team has gone about its business over the past week.
“I don’t think it’s unwarranted pressure,” he said. “I mean, we put a ton of pressure on ourselves. We came into the season expecting to have success, but this is where we are and have to recognize it.
“How does it affect us? We’ve gone over and gone over the things we need to do better, but there’s a little lapse here, a little lapse there and it’s ending up in the back of our net. It’s just not acceptable.”
The team’s structure has been a model of papier-mâché. But I have felt that the club’s mentality has been off almost from the start. I think that has had an impact on everything the team does.
I wrote this about a week ago, but a team that is so disconnected on the ice cannot be connected off the ice.
The unit has broken down. There are too many players with perceived grievances. It has not been a particularly healthy atmosphere.
Gives an eff
I brought up the team’s psyche to Kreider. This is where the F-bombs started to fly.
“Obviously, we’re going through more than I think I’ve ever experienced,” Kreider, who first joined the band for the 2012 playoffs and has experienced all of this era, told me.
“I know I keep beating this drum, but we need to f--king work through it and come out better on the other side or else….but 'or else' is not an option. We have one f--king option.
“The only option for us is to f--king continue to work, continue to try to f--king pick each other up better,” he said, his voice rising. “There were better moments tonight, but we still lose the game f--king 5-1.
“Better moments, but another bad start. Cannot happen, but it does. There was a bounce here, a bounce there, but it is not about bounces.
“We’ve got to play a f--king brand of hockey that leaves absolutely no doubt,” he said. "We have to play a brand of hockey that’s going to guarantee wins.”
By this point, other reporters gravitated to the corner locker that Kreider has inhabited for a very long time. Our conversation ended.
There are three days here for the hierarchy, the coaching staff and the playing personnel to identify the infection that has spread through the room and to devise a strategy to eradicate it.
Next week, maybe I can get back to an off-topic. But at this moment, there is only one topic.
