Who do you believe is responsible for the NY Rangers downfall?

[Machinehead]

The players are most of the problem, but I don't think that's really where blame lies.

If you build a house of cards, you don't blame the cards when it falls down.

Gorton pulled the cartridge out of the console when it was still running on the rebuild, and Drury doubled down on it.

They had this idea in their heads that the project had to be over within 3-4 years, come hell or high water in regard to what they actually had on the team. They gave themselves a time limit instead of a roster vision, threw whatever they had to at the roster to try and make it work, and worst of all, signed a bunch of B+ guys to huge commitments because we're making this work dammit.

Those two guys and their half assed nonsense built a half assed team. Nobody should be surprised.

I know we like to believe in spooky "the whole organization is funky" hoodoo, but Gorton not being his own option in this poll is malpractice. He had one of the worst few-year runs of drafting in NHL history.

 

[pld459666]

Org hitched their wagon to the wrong horses.

The players bitching like they have is pathetic

This is everyone's fault

 

[HFsNumber1Heel]

How is James Dolan not an option?

Look at what he did to Rammer, by far the best trainer in the league (who was immediately snatched up by MTL).

He's a drunken moron who runs MSG like a vanity project with his shitty band and bullies everyone, and it all trickles down from there.

Ramsey is a good trainer, but what makes him better than anyone in the league especially in recent years? Sam and JD/Joe calling him "best in the business?"

It's a very New York thing to prop something up with little proof. Even NYC, what makes it so wonderful in modern times? Because Frank Sinatra or Jay Z sing some song about it, the Yankees won a bunch of World Series back in the day, or La Guardia got a refit?

 

[Brutananadilewski]

I'm gonna go a different route: I blame the fans.

Can we start seeing some fans wear paper bags, throw a jersey, or a dead rat?

"Oh, they're letting the team have it! They're booing them after the game!"

AND THAT'S THE PROBLEM!!!

Why not during the game?! Why do I have to hear a half-assed, half-hearted "Potvin Sucks" in 2024, soon to be 2025, the year of our Lord?!

What's wrong with a Bronx cheer for one of our players when they deserve it? To be fair, the whole team deserves it.

Mika has been in the crosshairs of this fandom now for a while, how in the blue hell does he go unscathed?! These primadonnas SHOULD NOT merely get booed of the ice: they should be constantly booed and berated.

f*** their little country club and f*** them!

 

[noncents]

Ramsey is a good trainer, but what makes him better than anyone in the league especially in recent years? Sam and JD/Joe calling him "best in the business?"

It's a very New York thing to prop something up with little proof. Even NYC, what makes it so wonderful in modern times? Because Frank Sinatra or Jay Z sing some song about it, the Yankees won a bunch of World Series back in the day, or La Guardia got a refit?

you completely out of line talking mess on the LGA revamp. it's a goddamn miracle

 

[mas0764]

So this season is an epic cluster frick of a disaster but it’s obscuring the real issue. Most teams are gonna have ebbs and flows and sometimes a down year happens.

The problem that the Rangers have is foundational and it goes to the root of ownership but also the fan base. There is no appetite to build a real contender the right way. It’s a chicken or the egg thing, not sure if it’s ownership feeding the lie to the fans because they want consistent playoff revenue more than they want a champion who misses the playoffs sometimes too, or whether it’s the fans that are so impatient that ownership dare not ever put a product on the ice that is non competitive for an extended period of time. Either way, that’s the problem.

This season is just a wheels fall off disaster. They should bite the bullet and move out their veterans and rebuild. It happens.

If we had 4-5 Cups in 84 years including more than one since 1994 (say, in 2015) we wouldn’t be treating this down year as such an existential crisis.

Instead, it’s a sense of disbelief that we are staring yet another Cupless Core right in the face. How can this happen AGAIN?!? What is wrong with this organization?

It’s that they didn’t build it right last time. Next time listen to your old pal @mas0764

 

[HFsNumber1Heel]

you completely out of line talking mess on the LGA revamp. it's a goddamn miracle

I am a heel and a classic 80-90s one per my name.

On a serious note; it's beautiful. I love going to LGA now. It doesn't fix all of the other problems NYC has though one of which in the grand scheme of things not super important to our heads, but our hearts: our teams collectively are garbage and have been in a drought since the NY Football Giants.

The Liberty win was methadone.

 

[HFsNumber1Heel]

So this season is an epic cluster frick of a disaster but it’s obscuring the real issue. Most teams are gonna have ebbs and flows and sometimes a down year happens.

The problem that the Rangers have is foundational and it goes to the root of ownership but also the fan base. There is no appetite to build a real contender the right way. It’s a chicken or the egg thing, not sure if it’s ownership feeding the lie to the fans because they want consistent playoff revenue more than they want a champion who misses the playoffs sometimes too, or whether it’s the fans that are so impatient that ownership dare not ever put a product on the ice that is non competitive for an extended period of time. Either way, that’s the problem.

This season is just a wheels fall off disaster. They should bite the bullet and move out their veterans and rebuild. It happens.

If we had 4-5 Cups in 84 years including more than one since 1994 (say, in 2015) we wouldn’t be treating this down year as such an existential crisis.

Instead, it’s a sense of disbelief that we are staring yet another Cupless Core right in the face. How can this happen AGAIN?!? What is wrong with this organization?

It’s that they didn’t build it right last time. Next time listen to your old pal @mas0764

Rangers have been an unlucky franchise. You look at the Giants; three of the four SBs they won were coin flips and down to 1-2 plays. The Rangers have 1/10 the NY Giants pixie dust and they have at least 1-2 more Cups in any of 1950, 1972, 1979, 1981, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1997, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2022, and 2024.

This team has never had a 1986 or 1993 Montreal Canadians or even a 2011 NY Giants moment.

 

[Wtp99]

Plenty of blame to go around...

A heavy handed GM who risks alienating players by not doing the bare minimum

A core group of entitled players nearing or in the middle of their late career downslide who can't imagine accountability, either taking it or it being forced upon them.

A coaching staff that isn't doing itself any favors by doubling down on trying to play the shitty players out of their slumps.

I mostly put the blame on the players for this but it's easy to see no one is without blame in the end.

There is also the Igor contract. That contract is a travesty and probably caused a lot of problems

 

[will1066]

I am holding y'all responsible for the downfall.

I'm exhausted


Starting with ringleader @Filip Chytil putting unrealistic pressure on the players by talking about Stanley Cup champion Brett Howden. They can't be Brett Howden. There's only one Howden.

 

[RagFinMet]

Didn't we start this season 9-0 or something?
Then we lost a couple games and suddenly Drury announces the vets are for sale
That was it
Done
Who's gonna risk their careers, their lives for a team that doesn't want you?
Then it snowballs from there
Tro sees mika and kreids mailing it in and he's pissed
Pan and Laf start hanging out in the neutral zone looking for offensive opportunities, the only good line gets zero respect and KK who was one of the few players actually playing better than last year is traded
Miller and Lindy r never held accountable yet Jones gets benched regularly
These players are PISSED OFF
If the butthurt were to speak honestly after a loss they'd simply say "we didn't play hard and yes it's on purpose. F Drury, F this team. I'll be back in all-star form for my next team"
I dont believe these guys just got old over night
They simply quit on this team, on this management, on the coaches and sadly, on the fans

 

[gabevh3]

Doesn't matter now... all that needs to be done is trade lindgren, Kreider and whoever else and sit zib and others if needed and bring up players from the minors . Laviolette hasn't been the guy that is able to do that.

 

[gabevh3]

Dolan should force Drury to publicly address this disaster.

Dolan should sell the team lol

 

[LORDE]

Many many people on this forum had the foresight to know there was something very very wrong with the makeup of this team. Series against the devils was when we first saw a glimpse of it. The coach chosen was one that many of us thought was just another version of gallant and further, the leadership group was not the right one to take this team all the way. That said, this type of monumental collapse was beyond what many of us ever thought possible. The GM holds the reins to the organization and holds the most responsibility of anyone. That said, everyone all the way down also gets a piece.

It was well before that.

Beating the Pens in the '22 playoffs after being down 3-1

Then beating the Canes.

We had no business doing either. But ridic luck came calling.

Many shouted 'foul' at that point.

This team was a paper tiger (if that) and some knew that.

 

[will1066]

Ramsey is a good trainer, but what makes him better than anyone in the league especially in recent years? Sam and JD/Joe calling him "best in the business?"

It's a very New York thing to prop something up with little proof. Even NYC, what makes it so wonderful in modern times? Because Frank Sinatra or Jay Z sing some song about it, the Yankees won a bunch of World Series back in the day, or La Guardia got a refit?

Mods pls ban

 

[n8]

This is an entire organizational issue. From the top-down, organizational leaders are in charge of the people who are in charge of the people. What they do sets a lot of the standards for what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior. From the bottom-up, players need to show up, align with a purpose, and push to be the best. Additionally, this is probably somewhere between the top and bottom, I really think someone needs to take the responsibility of how fragile the team's psyche is. The Goodrow and Trouba situations should not fracture a team as they have. This is a really great clip from the sports psychologist from the Seattle Seahawks. It really talks about teams go from a "playing to win" mindset to a "playing to not lose" mindset that I think took over the Ranger's locker room and they did not get the support needed to recover and right the ship.

 

[SeanAveryTheGreatOne]

Ramsey is a good trainer, but what makes him better than anyone in the league especially in recent years? Sam and JD/Joe calling him "best in the business?"

It's a very New York thing to prop something up with little proof. Even NYC, what makes it so wonderful in modern times? Because Frank Sinatra or Jay Z sing some song about it, the Yankees won a bunch of World Series back in the day, or La Guardia got a refit?

1. He had the fewest days lost of any trainer in the league
2. Deeply beloved by past and present trainers
3. Snatched up by MTL on the same day he was fired, becoming the 1st trainer for 2 different O6 teams in NHL history
4. Dolan's justification for firing him was literally "You're the only thing I haven't changed since the 1994 Cup"

 

[Shesterkybomb]

Drury is responsible for this team

 

[HFsNumber1Heel]

Mods pls ban

Nothing I said there is offensive in any way. I love NY and I'm well aware of it's problems.

 

[gabevh3]

1. He had the fewest days lost of any trainer in the league
2. Deeply beloved by past and present trainers
3. Snatched up by MTL on the same day he was fired, becoming the 1st trainer for 2 different O6 teams in NHL history
4. Dolan's justification for firing him was literally "You're the only thing I haven't changed since the 1994 Cup"

Dolan said that? I thought there was something else...
Days lost ?

 

[LORDE]

The players are most of the problem, but I don't think that's really where blame lies.

If you build a house of cards, you don't blame the cards when it falls down.

Gorton pulled the cartridge out of the console when it was still running on the rebuild, and Drury doubled down on it.

They had this idea in their heads that the project had to be over within 3-4 years, come hell or high water in regard to what they actually had on the team. They gave themselves a time limit instead of a roster vision, threw whatever they had to at the roster to try and make it work, and worst of all, signed a bunch of B+ guys to huge commitments because we're making this work dammit.

Those two guys and their half assed nonsense built a half assed team. Nobody should be surprised.

I know we like to believe in spooky "the whole organization is funky" hoodoo, but Gorton not being his own option in this poll is malpractice. He had one of the worst few-year runs of drafting in NHL history.

I tend to agree on a lot of this, but the org top down has been stupid, short sighted, predictable & nearly, if not literally, incompetent since well before 1994.

1994 was a complete lottery win. It didn't NEED to be, but it was.

Fire Neil Smith? Trading away Turcotte, Amonte & Mike Gartner for depth & grit. Fine with me.

Hire Glen "I'd win a Stanley Cup every year with an unlimited budget" Sather...

Cue the Dark Ages...

Cue the cap... which actually saved us for all intents & purposes.

Then cue the NEED to build through the draft & NOT buy everything & this team has been a rudderless ship ever since.

Smartest guys in the room because they all know each other & smoke the same cigars & suck each other off while they guffaw around the fireplace.

Top down to blame. This IS the culture here.

Poisoned. Always has been (in my lifetime)

 

[HFsNumber1Heel]

1. He had the fewest days lost of any trainer in the league
2. Deeply beloved by past and present trainers
3. Snatched up by MTL on the same day he was fired, becoming the 1st trainer for 2 different O6 teams in NHL history
4. Dolan's justification for firing him was literally "You're the only thing I haven't changed since the 1994 Cup"

There's some skepticism on how he handled injuries going back to the team's current GM and also Staal after his brother bopped him.

 

[Levitate]

There is also the Igor contract. That contract is a travesty and probably caused a lot of problems

I mean they traded Trouba to get the space to sign Igor so that obviously was something going on with trying to get Trouba out. And I keep coming back to the fact we're seeing this 11.5 mill goalie get lit the f*** up every night. Who cares if you're "the best" if you can't win a few games yourself? Why are we paying this guy 11.5 mill if he can't steal some of these?

f***in dumb

 

[HFsNumber1Heel]

I tend to agree on a lot of this, but the org top down has been stupid, short sighted, predictable & nearly, if not literally, incompetent since well before 1994.

1994 was a complete lottery win. It didn't NEED to be, but it was.

Fire Neil Smith? Trading away Turcotte, Amonte & Mike Gartner for depth & grit. Fine with me.

Hire Glen "I'd win a Stanley Cup every year with an unlimited budget" Sather...

Cue the Dark Ages...

Cue the cap... which actually saved us for all intents & purposes.

Then cue the NEED to build through the draft & NOT buy everything & this team has been a rudderless ship ever since.

Smartest guys in the room because they all know each other & smoke the same cigars & suck each other off while they guffaw around the fireplace.

Top down to blame. This IS the culture here.

Poisoned. Always has been (in my lifetime)

Smith was very good at drafting his first few years. Letting Lafleur go and getting Zubov as a compensatory pick wonderful. That pretty much even put them in the conversation for being a contender after they mutiny'd Roger Neilsen. He also had a full cupboard because all of Craig Patrick's US NCAA guys joined the organization within a three year period and were excellent, and Esposito's one good pick with the kid with an Italian last name (Amonte).

 

[McRanger92]

Too many distractions in NY. Too many players willing to take the money, lean in to the distractions and get close but not close enough.