NYR/FLA 10/24 Review: PRETENDERS! Cup Champs Expose Rangers in a “Game 7 Rematch;” Same Old Blueshirt Failures, New CZAR IGOR Trend – His Russian Peers Are Out-Performing Him, Matt Rempe & Chad Ruhwedel Dismissed; Meet Rempestein with BSU, Jones Tasked to Collect Dust, Many Streaks Snapped; But Lafreniere Extends GAG LINE 2.0 Scoring, Laviolette & More From a Depressing Night at M$G

Greetings and salutations everyone and welcome to another blog here on BlueCollarBlueShirts.com. PUTRID!

All of us could see this coming.

Hell, even Ray Charles could’ve seen this coming.

(Something else that Charles and all of us may see below? Some typos and errors – as I’m writing this on no sleep – and have to be up in three-hours too – which means that I didn’t get a chance to proof-read anything. That said, I think you’ll get the gist of this tome anyway!)

As repeatedly opined over the summer – I think that one day, when the time has come and we can truly assess this present Rangers’ core, then I believe that the 2024 Eastern Conference Final loss to the Panthers will be remembered as the peak of it – and just like how the 2015 Eastern Conference loss to another Floridian team, the Lightning, was the peak of the previous era, “The Henrik Lundqvist Era” of Ranger hockey.

As opposed to last time, where the headline was “HOLY CHYT” – and tonight we’re back to the “SAME OLD SHIT.”

And really, deep down, and in your heart of hearts – did you expect any other outcome than the one that we saw on Thursday night?

The Rangers, who have been beefing up on points and wins at the expenses of non-playoff contenders such as Pittsburgh, Detroit (twice) and Montreal; did admittedly find a way to defeat a playoff-bound foe this past Saturday night, when they took down the Toronto Maple Leafs.

But of course, the Leafs, without silver since 1967, and now another fellow Original Six franchise with a “curse” much older than the one New York once had (you may remember the year 1940 – and 1994 too), are just like the Rangers themselves – PRETENDERS.

Yeah, yeah, yeah and blah, blah, blah – it’s only the seventh game of the season.

I get it.

That said, I’m not above overreacting either – as I do think that this loss was a wake-up call for these sleepy skaters.

On this night, this 3-1 loss, much vaster and disgusting than the two-goal deficit suggests, may as well have been Game 7 of the 2024 Eastern Conference Final – and where yes – I expect many others to echo such sentiment throughout the sad streets of Rangerstown, USA too.

After all, how can you not?

We all know the deal and in just a moment, I’ll reprint our daily mantra too; but this 3-1 defeat, and in just one word, was depressing.

Sure, the Rangers can beat-up on all of the have-nots around the league – but once faced against real competition – a Stanley Cup winner – then it’s these Blueshirts that become the biggest have-not of them all – and sadly – it’s their $8.5M now second line center, Missing Mika, that’s the face of this losing core.

For sixty minutes on a late October night that featured weather as warm as the last time when these two teams played, which was some five months earlier on June 1st – and it was like nothing had changed – that is except for the fact that Florida was actually WEAKER (from a roster perspective) during this go-around.

Aleksandar Barkov, one of the big cats from Sunrise, and one who helped lead his team not only past the Rangers to win the East, but all the way through Edmonton to win the Cup too, was out with a lower-body injury.

Matt Tkachuk, the new-found featured face in Florida and more importantly than that – the x-factor that brought the Panthers to the promised land – just returned from an injury himself.

Elsewhere, and the Panthers lost several key pieces from their Cup winning team this summer (just like how any other Cup winner does), when names such as Vladimir Tarasenko, Alex Lyon, Ryan Lomberg, Brandon Montour and Oliver Ekman-Larsson departed for richer deals.

Yet none of this stopped Paul Maurice, the Florida coach who unlike some of his now former players, just re-signed an extension with this club, from having his team stomp their feet – or claws – on this pathetic Blueshirts’ bunch.

I mean really – just think about it.

The Rangers, who are now using the “IT TAKES EVERYONE” slogan when replacing their failed “PLAY LIKE A NEW YORKER” rallying cry, saw nearly everyone look befuddled and as confused as a retarded monkey, with a drinking problem, humping a football in this “Game 7/Rematch.”

Human nature would suggest that the Blueshirts would’ve been foaming at the mouth like Stephen King’s Cujo The Hell Dog when seeking revenge against these Cats – yet such an idea was never entertained.

Some 48-hours ago, in Montreal, Quebec, and the Rangers showed their dominance against an inferior opponent by scoring two goals in succession – and by the time that the 2:05 mark had elapsed.

The Rangers, now facing a real contender, and on their own M$G home ice to boot – and it was Florida who had ran the score up to 2-0 by the 2:42 mark, following goals from Anton Lundell (44-seconds) and Carter Verhaeghe.

Deja Vu.

This game was also a reminder that every bully in the world has a bigger bully who can beat them up – and where for the Blueshirts – no one bullies them better these days than the Panthers.

NOBODY!

Another reminder, if not a trend?

CZAR IGOR’s performances against his fellow Russian comrades – and specifically two future Hall of Famers who play on either side of the “Sunshine State War.”

In the 2022 Eastern Conference Final, while CZAR IGOR did win the Vezina Trophy that season (2021-22), he was outplayed by “The Big Cat,” Andrei Vasilevskiy.

In the 2024 Eastern Conference Final, and now as most recent as of October 24th too – and Sergei Bobrovsky, now of the Cats, outplayed CZAR IGOR.

Heck, with all of these feline references and nicknames – perhaps Mika Zibanejad needs one too – PU$$Y.

If that’s too offensive, then we can use one of my favorite detrimental nicknames too, “THE FAT CATS 2.0.” (The first version being the Emile Francis Rangers – but you already knew this!)

Everything that I predicted last time around (https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/102224/ ) came to light in this game.

After notching three-pointers a piece against an AHL squad masquerading around as the NHL Canadiens – and both Kaapo Kakko and Filip Chytil did nothing against the Panthers – zilch, zero, nada!

Silver lining on these two first-round busts – and a pair of players who may be injured again by the time that you read these words?

Chytil “improved” his faceoff percentage from last game (20%) to 40%! What a stud!

Kakko, and as he usually does, finished with no shots on goal – but he did make his way to the box score – via what seems like his 98689768976976798698th penalty of this young campaign.

Comeback player of the year!

Missing Mika?

Ha!

Just like “The Feckless Finn” and Stinka Zibanebad didn’t record one SOG either – but he did finish as a game-low minus-2.

It’s like everything that I’ve been saying all summer, and into the season too, was firmly set in concrete on Thursday night – as all of my worst fears were realized.

And yes, I would love to be proven wrong; but alas and sadly – I just don’t see it.

Another thing that I didn’t see?

As alluded to earlier, and like it or not (although I’m sure that my buddy, “The Maven,” Stan Fischler has a sparkle in his eye right now), but for as excellent as CZAR IGOR was tonight (26 of 29 – “good” for a .897 save percentage) – the $10M Bobrovsky, the highest-paid active goalie in the league today, was much better than his chum.

If you subscribe to Fischler’s “PIGGY IGGY” remarks (I don’t – but I do find them humorous and entertaining), then CZAR IGOR’s future bank account took a hit tonight.

Bobrovsky, a two-time Vezina Trophy winner, and now Hall of Fame bound too, made 24 saves on 25 shots for a .960 save percentage.

Better than that for a man whose narrative and reputation completely changed, a full 180 at that, following the results of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final?

This wasn’t just another win against the Rangers, nor another strong showing against the Blueshirts either.

Adding to the Blueshirts’ agony was that as a result of this win, not only was the red-hot Artemi Panarin cooled off (his six-game point streak was snapped), but better than that for “What About Bob?” was that he became the fastest goalie in league history to reach 400 wins.

Bobrovsky, who became the 14th goalie to win 400+ games in The Show, needed 707 games in order to reach this historic milestone.

The record that Bobrovsky broke once belonged to Henrik Lundqvist – and where for the King without the crown that the Florida goalie has – his 400 wins in 727 games is now second-best all-time.

Aside from a lone goal afforded to Alexis Lafreniere, one of the rare Ranger bright spots in this sixty-minute fiasco, then this game can be summed up in two-words:

“BOBBERIES” and “DOMINANCE!”

And I guess we shouldn’t forget about another pair of words either:

“CUP CHAMPS.”

From the Rangers’ end of things, then you can summarize their effort and play in just one word: “PRETENDERS.”

As we proceed, and despite this fiasco from tonight, then I must share our daily disclaimer at this moment:

“WHATEVER THE RANGERS DO FROM NOW UNTIL THE TRADE DEADLINE DOESN’T MATTER. THEY CAN ONLY BE JUDGED BY WHATEVER THEY DO FOLLOWING THE DEADLINE AND BY WHAT THEY DO IN THE 2025 PLAYOFFS!”

In other words, seven down, seventy-five to go, and then the real hockey, the only games that matter, begin.

That said, a result like this should keep Rangers’ general manager Chris Drury up at night – as this roster, as presently constructed, doesn’t have the makings of a Stanley Cup winner.

Before getting into our usual segments, including the almighty GAME REVIEW; at this time, here’s where I last left off:

NYR/MTL 10/22 Review: HOLY CHYT! Three-Pointers From Chytil & Kakko Lead Blueshirts in Cruise Control Victory; Mika Actually Scores Too, Panarin Extends Scoring Streak; CZAR IGOR Continues To Roll, Lindgren’s Return Leads To Tougher Decisions For Laviolette (And Give #55 a Break Too!); Mancini’s Spot To Lose/Poor Zac Jones, The New Gotham App Sucks, Focus On The Big Picture & More

Following the Rangers’ blowout of the Canadiens from Tuesday night, come Wednesday and now returned to New York after their successful 3-0 road-trip – and “Lavy’s Lot” had the day off – and a well-deserved 24-hours of rest and relaxation too if I say so myself!

On Thursday morning, GAME DAY, the team then held a pregame skate where the Blueshirts’ bench boss employed the same line-up as he did against the Habs.

As talked about last time, such news, while great for the team (and how can you mess with what’s working?), isn’t exactly music to the ears of both Zac Jones and Matt Rempe – and to a lesser extent – Chad Ruhwedel too (but Ruhwedel, and unlike the other two young men, always knew that this would be the case for him).

When it comes down Mancini v. Jones, which again, I talked about in-depth last time around (https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/102224/ ); Laviolette pretty much doubled-down on his opinions – while also confirming what I thought too.

Here was the pregame edition of LAVY’S LOUNGE:

The biggest news to come out of this two-minute clip is that Laviolette pretty much said that the third right pair defenseman spot was Mancini’s to lose – and to go even further than that – the head coach also stated that he wants to give Mancini as many reps as possible, while in addition, alluding to the only goal that matters – winning the Stanley Cup.

Laviolette also added that this would be his regular line-up for a bit now – but of course – all plans are subject to change.

Plus, Jimmy Vesey, in a no-contact jersey, was back skating with the team on Thursday morning, which will soon impact the playing time of both Adam Edstrom and Jonny Brodzinski.

After all, and for whatever reason – both Kakko and Zibanejad are immune from the press box.

But for now, the line-up is what it is – and again – with a 5-0-1 record heading into a rematch with the Panthers – then how could you question the head coach?

After all, he’s winning – and more important than that – he’s there every day with these guys too.

(But you can now question him, Drury and the team as well, following this shitty spectacle.)

As far as anything else “interesting” from Lavy’s brief two-minutes that were uploaded to the team’s official YouTube page, then it was the fact that when the head coach was forced to once again defend another clean TROO TROO TRAIN hit, the interview was immediately cut-off once Laviolette said that he didn’t want to see anybody injured.

Perhaps Lavy was going to mention the word-that-can’t-be-mentioned next, CONCUSSION, which is why the interview was stopped when it was.

Following all of the events from the morning skate, and the interviews conducted afterwards – and the Rangers then put Chad Ruhwedel on waivers at 2PM Thursday.

This move just solidified everything that Laviolette had said earlier in the day – as his defense was set – and despite Mancini having the least path of resistance (contract-wise) to Hartford – such a road wasn’t going to be explored.

While I could be wrong (and we’ll find out at 2PM Friday); but I really can’t see any team being in the market for Ruhwedel right now, that is perhaps maybe Utah, who recently lost two defensemen to long-term injuries (Sean Durzi and John Marino).

And even if the Rangers lose Ruhwedel to Utah or anyone else – then really – who cares?

Ruhwedel has no future with the varsity club – and if he’s playing in a playoff game for the Blueshirts this Spring – then that means that something catastrophic would have occurred.

And yes – all of this news just keeps Zac Jones in a state of flux – because unlike Ruhwedel – if he was waived, then he’d 100% be claimed.

Time (and injuries) will tell – but it feels like Jones’ future is in a holding pattern – and he’s now right back on the same path that he took last season.

For Jones, 2025-26, and not 2024-25, may be his year; but then again, who knows?

Perhaps another “YOUT,” and just like Mancini, will be looking to leapfrog him – and with Trouba and/or Lindgren presumably gone.

And oh yeah, how could I forget?

There was another Rangers’ roster transaction to take place on Thursday – but since I try to keep everything written here in chronological order – then we’ll get there following the shorter-than-usual GAME REVIEW segment.

Here was Laviolette’s line-up for the seventh game of this 2024-25 season:

FIRST LINE: Panarin/Trocheck/Lafreniere

SECOND LINE: Kreider/Zibanejad/Smith

THIRD LINE: Cuylle/Chytil/Kakko

FOURTH LINE: Edstrom/Carrick/Brodzinski

FIRST PAIR: Miller/Fox

SECOND PAIR: Schneider/Trouba

THIRD PAIR: Lindgren/Mancini

STARTING GOALIE: CZAR IGOR

BACK UP GOALIE: Jonathan Quick

HEALTHY SCRATCHES: Jones and Rempe

LTIR: Vesey

BOX SCORE time.

The following graphics and information come from ESPN.com:

SCORING:

PENALTIES:

TEAM STATS:

GOALIES:

The “big news” to transpire as both teams readied up for pregame warm-ups was this:

There’s a pair of pigeons loose at MSG before tonight’s Rangers/Panthers game 🤣

(via @ColbyDGuy) pic.twitter.com/2TQGwkKT3B

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) October 24, 2024

No word if these pigeons were named Larry and Mollie.

As far as the M$GN pregame show goes – I didn’t watch a lick of it – as I had to watch this game at work – and my elongated meal break doesn’t start until 7PM.

But I didn’t miss anything, as Sieve Vagistat was left to his own devices – and I always turn off these pregame shows whenever San Fransisco Sieve is solo anyway.

That said, Brian Boyle was in-between the benches tonight – and as usual – I thought he did a good job.

Akin to Henrik Lundqvist, Boyle’s 2014 Eastern Conference Championship teammate, and #22, just like #30, is a natural in his new career.

For whatever reason, the unnatural and cringe Vagistat, now doing this for ten-years despite being the worst back-up goalie in franchise history, gets more TV time than either one of these two.

Sad – and perhaps a harbinger of what was to come too.

Of note, and to follow-up on what I wrote last time about the god awful Gotham Sports App – once again, and this service that I pay for did not work for me.

Instead, I was forced to use an illegal stream named after METH – and I’m not making this up.

Just like anything else produced from M$GN – and the Gotham Sports app blows.

Finally, let’s breeze through the GAME REVIEW segment as fast as possible – as there’s still another major story to discuss.

FIRST PERIOD

This game was lost from the start.

As would be the case more times than not – and Florida was just able to enter the Rangers’ zone at will – while also preventing the Blueshirts from doing the same during pivotal moments.

Forty-four seconds after puck drop, and where the Panthers caught both Fox and Miller out of position, and Lundell, following a pass from Bill Pidto’s favorite player, Sam Reinhart, made quick work against CZAR IGOR, with an intended redirection goal.

1-0, bad guys – and before the M$G crowd could even plop their asses into their overpriced seats.

Just 90-seconds in, and Boyle remarked to Sam Rosen and a Joe Micheletti who was celebrating his FABULOUS 70th birthday – “The Rangers are sloppy.”

At the time, the Panthers had just enjoyed their fourth attack at the Blueshirts’ expense.

Come the 2:42 mark and new Ranger Killer, Carter Verhaeghe, put the score at 2-0, bad guys – and on a shot that CZAR IGOR probably would’ve liked back – and also a shot that had Stan Fischler screaming, “PIGGY IGGY!”

What we didn’t know then but what we know now, and despite four Ranger power-plays soon to come as well – this would hold up as tonight’s game-winning goal.

Ugh.

Another ugh?

Just a nanosecond before Verhaeghe scored and Birthday Boy Joe was screaming, if not ejaculating at the same time too, “I CAN’T BELIEVE VERHAEGHE HASN’T SCORED ONE GOAL THIS SEASON YET.”

Like clockwork, and the announcer’s jinx, undefeated, struck again.

Rosen and Joe didn’t have anything to say afterwards.

And yep – another first of the season at the Rangers’ expense too.

Just to show you that I share my opinions in real-time too – as there’s no case of hindsight being 20/20 here, then here’s what I said at the time:

As said during and after the game in Montreal – let’s see Chytil and Kakko score in this game against a real opponent. #NYR

— BlueCollarBlueShirts (@NYCTheMiC) October 24, 2024

While they didn’t score, their former linemate, Lafreniere, did – and as the first-overall pick of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft did at the 4:44 mark of the contest:

What a Pass by Fox and Goal by Laf #NYR pic.twitter.com/eNFywKPNlA

— David 🏒 (@DaveyUpper) October 24, 2024

2-1, them, after this beauty of a move – and finish – from Lafreniere.

And what a video game lookin’ goal too.

But sadly, this was the only goal that the Rangers scored tonight.

I can’t lie.

At the time, I thought that the Blueshirts were jittery and nervous, and in turn, that the goals, and strong play too, would come.

Heck, I even put my own money on it:

Good thing about #NYR going down 2-0 – I was able to get a money line bet of Rangers, +375 in!

— BlueCollarBlueShirts (@NYCTheMiC) October 24, 2024

As we would go on to learn, this Lafreniere goal was the only Florida miscue.

After this 2-1 goal, it was all Florida – and a highlight tape for Bobrovsky too.

Down to 13:25 remaining and Bobrovsky reminded Chytil that he wasn’t Sam Montembeault, nor the Canadiens either, as he stopped the Czech on a breakaway.

As this was going on, Rosen was deeply concerned about Barkov’s injury.

However, Rosen also reminded us that Jacob Trouba is one hell of an artist, when he said something that came off like this:

“OH JOE, TROUBA IS SUCH AN ARTIST JOE, HE’S A PICASSO JOE, HE JUST PAINTED THE HABS BLOOD RED JOE!”

Ugh.

CZAR IGOR, pressed a lot in this one, made a hell of a save on a Gus Forsling attempt during an odd-man rush Panthers’ attack.

But as would be the case all game; for every amazing CZAR IGOR save recorded – Bobrovsky saw it, raised it and then doubled it.

Bob also won the whole damn pot to boot.

As Mancini showed signs of already being a grizzled vet; it was the same old Kraapo from Kakko, as the guy who can only score A-Rod goals against bad teams flubbed a major chance to score – and where had he – then it’s a tied game.

But at this point, he’s as useless as tits on Sam Rosen.

Down to 4:57 remaining and Reinhart was boxed for hooking Schneider.

The Rangers first of an eventual four power-plays was their best one – but all of them ended the same way – without a goal.

Right into the Panthers’ PK and Bob robbed Kreider twice – one save on CK20’s specialty, the backdoor strike, and then another stop on the rebound afforded.

For good measure, Bob then robbed his friend, “The Breadman,” as well.

While no goals came out of this, Bob was forced to make four saves and where 75% of them were “BOBBERIES.”

Come 1:20 remaining, and Lafreniere, who unfortunately has to sit as Mika does nothing on PP1; almost scored again, but yeah – BOBBERY.

As “The Kult of Kakko” were telling me how Kakko gets so many chances and will be the next Wayne Gretzky, the man who fears gluten got right in front of Bob – and then turned over the puck.

And similar to Kakko, the lotto, which also features chances, is a game where 99.9% of all people bust.

How ironic!

We remained at 2-1, bad guys, after twenty-minutes.

Here’s what I said at the time:

1-1 after 1. 1P Thoughts:
— #NYR were able to rebound after the horrid start.
— You can tell the disparity in talent between first line Laf and his old linemates.
— Big game – will Mika, Chytil and/or Kakko score – or do they only do so against AHL teams?
— Mancini, early…

— BlueCollarBlueShirts (@NYCTheMiC) October 24, 2024

SECOND PERIOD

Most of this period was Florida dominating the Rangers – so nothing new.

Down to 14:35 remaining and Bob made a “child please” save on Chytil, as like Kakko, he doesn’t fare well against real NHL Cup contending competition.

You know who does?

Patrick Kane.

(Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)

A minute after stopping Kakko and we saw another BOBBERY, as #72 in Florida white made a balls-out save against what should’ve been a goal for Trocheck.

As they say, elite goaltending and saves leads to goals for your team, as right after stopping Trocheck, and as in just twenty-seconds later; come 13:01 to go and there was “OLD FRIEND,” Niko Mikkola (or as Rosen calls him – “MIKO MAKELA JOE!”), sending a slap shot towards CZAR IGOR – and one that Bennett immediately deflected into the net for the 3-1, bad guys goal.

You can’t blame CZAR IGOR for this goal allowed – but again – Bobrovsky was stopping similar shots – and on much better attempts too.

I’m still a DAY ONE CZAR IGOR guy, and he’s my favorite player, but I remain fair and firm.

Bob was better.

Up next was some fast-paced insanity as Carrick fell victim to another BOBBERY, while on a 2 x 1, the two first-round busts, Chytil and Kakko, turned over the puck.

Right after that, and with 10:55 remaining, Florida was attacking again, but Verhaeghe, perhaps assisted by Mancini a bit, collided with CZAR IGOR.

This led to a goalie interference penalty – and with Ryan Lindgren defending his goalie’s honor too – despite presently eating food through a straw.

WARRIOR.

This second Rangers’ power-play was dreadful.

With Missing Mika trying to impregnate the boards, as all the Blueshirts did was rim the puck around; Bobrovsky didn’t have to make one save, while CZAR IGOR had to come up with a 2 x 1 save against a shorthanded Luostarinen.

Soon after being returned to full-strength and with 5:44 remaining to be accurate – and it was time for Kakko to take his daily penalty, this time for slashing Tkachuk.

Trouba, Lindgren and Miller shined on this PK, so that’s something.

To close the period, Florida almost scored twice against the “immaculate” Rangers’ third line, but missed by millimeters on both attempts.

3-1, bad guys, following forty minutes of crap.

Here’s what I said at the time:

3-1, bad guys, after 40 minutes. 2P Thoughts:
— Feels like a seventh game from last May/June – Rangers’ PP can’t score, non-stop “BOBBERY” saves, nothing from Kakko, Mika and Chytil – aka – the usual.
— GAG LINE 2.0, despite the Laf goal, is stunted – but the focus of FLA…

— BlueCollarBlueShirts (@NYCTheMiC) October 25, 2024

THIRD PERIOD

This final frame can be quickly summed up:

The Panthers knew how to close – and the Rangers rarely tried to open the door either.

Let’s not prolong the misery any further, and instead, just bullet-point these final twenty-minutes:

— The Rangers got a quick power-play (48-seconds in, Kulikov for high-sticking Panarin), but once again, the Blueshirts couldn’t make this a game.

— 0-3 on the power-play too – and where I’d like to see their power-play stats against playoff teams from last season versus non-playoff teams.

— Deja Vu man.

— At the 4:33 mark and Trouba hooked Verhaeghe, but to their credit, the Rangers’ PK prevailed again (2 for 2 tonight), so I guess that’s something.

— However, the Florida PK prevailed twice as much (4 of 4).

— Eight minutes in and CZAR IGOR had a save per-minute, and where his octet of stops were rivaled by only one for Bob.

— Laviolette, and for the first time this season, went nuts with his line blender – and where Panarin was mainly double-shifted, in hopes to bolster the likes of losers such as Mika, Kakko and Chytil.

— Maybe it’s time to double-shift Lafreniere, because it’s true:

#13, and not #10, your Hart Trophy candidate, plays better in these big games than Panarin does.

— Prior to the Rangers pulling CZAR IGOR with 3:03 remaining, and for ten-minutes, this is how the game played out:

Rangers enter the zone. Florida quickly gets the puck out. Rangers get the puck in the neutral zone. Florida gets the puck out.

Rinse, wash and repeat.

— Kakko, down to four-minutes remaining, had all day at Bobrovsky. His slap shot, intended for the net, left a huge black stain on the boards instead. But he gets chances!!!!

— With 3:03 remaining, Verhaeghe cross-checked Carrick, which in turn, allowed the Rangers to go one final power-play, their fourth – and with CZAR IGOR now pulled for a 6 x 4 attack.

— Keystone Cops time, as the Bad News Blueshirts looked inept with this two-man advantage.

— But they didn’t allow Florida to score an empty-netter, so I guess there’s that too.

— 3-1, bad guys, your final – and where the final three-minutes said it all – the Panthers are an upper-echelon team while the Rangers (and many of their fans) delude themselves into thinking that they are on the same level.

And I’m not even kidding – a 6 x 4 attack – and Florida looked like they were cruising the entire time.

Bad, bad, bad!

Here’s Laviolette summing up this shit during his post-game presser:

While I don’t fault the head coach as much as I do the players, but would you be surprised to hear that the players said the same thing as Laviolette, pieces of wisdom such as, “We have to play better, we made mistakes, we didn’t have it tonight,” and my personal favorite, “we have to get up for these games.”

What, do these Rangers need a BLUESHIRTS BLEWCHEW in order to get up?

These Panthers cost this current core a Cup – and this is how they respond?

And I’m not trying to take anything away from Florida either.

They are a great team.

After all, they are presently the reigning-and-defending Stanley Cup champs – and where had Tkachuk not been injured during the 2023 Final – then who knows – maybe they are the two-time reigning-and-defending Cup champs today.

The issue at hand is the Rangers’ lack of effort – as they didn’t have any fight, emotion or the will to win.

And come the playoffs, you expect that to change?

I just feel that when the going gets tough, and if things don’t come easy either, then this team is dead in the water.

Feel free to disagree – but only do so if you watched this mess.

Another mess?

The misuse of the energetic Matt Rempe, who perhaps could’ve instilled some life into Lavy’s Losers; but instead – was sent to Hartford after the game – and despite Vesey still being unavailable until a week from Sunday.

Not even an hour following this pile of shit and the Rangers announced the following:

UPDATE: Matt Rempe has been assigned to the Hartford Wolf Pack.

— NY Rangers PR (@NYR_PR) October 25, 2024

The Rangers take it on the chin – and in the grandest of fashions (Mia Khalifia) imaginable – and the organization’s response is to demote Rempe.

I’ve talked about Rempe about 79867983647374798346987346798346 times this summer, and into the season too, so no reason to do it all again except to say – I don’t get it.

The Blueshirts have this unique unicorn, one that could potentially become a valuable asset for them during the playoffs (and just like Mancini)- yet Laviolette (and maybe Drury too) wants no part of it.

Again – I don’t get it.

To quickly reiterate – who’s more valuable if developed for the playoffs – Rempe or Brodzinski?

And after tonight, who you rather – Rempe or Kakko?

Hell, since Rempe can double-up as a center, who you rather – Rempe or Mika?!?!?!?

Rempe, not the goon as many portray him to be, is simply a player that the head coach doesn’t like.

It happens.

Some players just attract themselves to coaches, while others don’t.

(A recent example? Gerard Gallant’s proclivity for Dryden Hunt.)

Sadly for Rempe, Brodzinski is the apple of Lavy’s eye – and this isn’t meant to be taken as a knock on JONNY BROADWAY. Instead, I’m just stating the facts.

But I will say, and as I’ve said before, that if Rempe isn’t going to play, then it serves him no purpose to sit in the press box every night.

However, I do fear that many AHL plugs, looking to make a name, will try to goad Rempe into dropping the gloves, rather than allowing the big man to develop the most key facets of his game.

In addition?

You think that a player like Rempe, a hard-hitting mofo who lights up M$G with all of the electricity that fuels Times Square, could’ve helped the Rangers in this loss to Florida?

Don’t fret yet!

After all, Kakko gets chances!!!!

It should be noted that every major hockey news outlet, from Canada to Russia to these here United States, picked up this move as if it was the biggest story in the sport.

Hell Part I: It was like this story was bigger than Trump v. Kamala!

Hell Part II: This story even got more attention than the Rangers’ latest failure to the Panthers.

Officially, the Rangers are saying what you’d expect them to say – they want to give Rempe playing time in Hartford in order to develop him.

Unofficially, what’s not being said is that Lavy just sees no use for him – and just like last Spring – as his team gets caved in and destroyed by Florida again.

But don’t worry, the 2025 Playoffs will finally be the one postseason where Mika, Kakko and Chytil all show up – they swear!

Up Next: A get-right game against the Ducks this Saturday night at M$G – and where I expect the masses to go bonkers should the Rangers win – all while omitting how this loss to the Panthers trumps all – and grander than that – is most telling

Up Next For Me: Bed – as I somehow managed to write this blog despite running on two-hours of sleep. Then again, win-or-lose, and this was a match that I couldn’t ignore.

Up Next For You: You already know!

PLUGS TIME! (Buy a book and support my Rangers’ induced therapy bills. After all, I don’t run ads on this site!)

My fourth title and tenth book is now available!

“The Top 100 Villains of New York Rangers History,” is now available for sale!

For complete information, please visit: https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/rangerkillers/

My second plug of tonight’s blog – the mandatory plug for my book, “The New York Rangers Rink of Honor and the Rafters of Madison Square Garden.”

As mentioned previously, the book is now available in hardcover, in paperback and in Kindle formats. To purchase a copy of the book, visit this link:

https://www.amazon.com/Rangers-Rafters-Madison-Square-Garden-ebook/dp/B09CM5N2WD

For those still looking for signed paperback versions of the book, I have re-ordered more copies. I now have a few signed copies for sale at $25 a pop (includes shipping price) through me directly. Here is all the information on that:

Order “The New York Rangers Rink of Honor and the Rafters of Madison Square Garden” Book Today

My four-volume set of books, “One Game at a Time – A Season to Remember,” is a game-by-game recount of the Rangers 2021-22 campaign.

My second title as an author, “One Game at a Time – A Season to Remember,” is now available in eBook, paperback and hardcover formats.

To obtain signed copies, visit: https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/onegamebook/

To purchase all four volumes on Amazon, visit: Amazon.com – “One Game at a Time.”

The greatest volume-set of books on Rangers’ history today!

“Tricks of the Trade – A Century-Long Journey Through Every Trade Made In New York Rangers’ History,” a four-volume set of books that meticulously covers every trade made in franchise history, is now on sale.

All four volumes of the title can be purchased on Amazon.com and are presented in three different formats – eBook, paperback and hardcover.

To purchase Volume I: Conn Smythe (1926) – Craig Patrick (1986), visit Amazon.com

To purchase Volume II: Phil Esposito (1986) – Neil Smith (2000), visit Amazon.com

To purchase Volume III: Glen Sather (2000-2015), visit Amazon.com

To purchase Volume IV: Jeff Gorton (2015) – Chris Drury (2022), visit Amazon.com

To purchase signed copies of all four volumes, visit https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/tricksofthetrade/

If you haven’t already, subscribe to this blog for the next update:

Don’t forget to order my four-volume set of books, “Tricks of the Trade!”

If you don’t order through me, all four volumes are now available on Amazon.com

For more details, check out: https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/tricksofthetrade/

Thanks for reading.

LET’S GO RANGERS!

Sean McCaffrey

BULLSMC@aol.com

@NYCTHEMIC on the Tweeter machine