Greetings and salutations everyone and welcome to another blog here on BlueCollarBlueShirts.com. Off puck drop here, I want to thank everyone for the ton of comments on my last blog, which focused on the rise of sports gambling. In case you missed that blog or any of my most recent blogs, you can find these blogs below:
BCBS For 4/16: Gambling Outfits Taking Over the NHL & Warping a New Generation of Fans, The NHL Playoffs, Rangers Set To Destroy Another Goalie in the Lundqvist Era, Shestyorkin/Kravtsov, Drury Has Hank Power, Always AV In Philly & More
BCBS For 4/10: The Rangers Rebuild Speeds Up; Land Historic Second Overall Draft Pick, Hughes vs Kakko, The Tanktards Lose/Ranger Fans Win, Pressure on Hughes, Devils Under The Microscope & Much More From a Glorious Day in Rangerstown, USA
The 2018-2019 New York Rangers Final Report Card: Grading Every Ranger and Coach on the Roster, Who Makes the Grade & More. Plus: The Jeff Gorton Press Release & The Draft Lotto
NYR/PITT 4/6 Season Finale Monster Blog Review: Alexandar Georgiev & The Rangers End The Season on a High Note; Rile Up the Tanktards, Georgiev Becomes First NYR Goalie To Beat Matt Murray, The Hypocritical Panarin/Tank Fans, Rehauling & Retooling the NHL Draft Lottery System, Rebuild MSGN, Looking Ahead & Much More on NYR
NYR/CBJ 4/5 Review: Bobrovsky Edges Georgiev In a Goaltender’s Duel; Rangers Lose Via The Shoot-Out, Big-Time Buchnevich, M$G Closed Until September, Rangers Shoving Gambling Down The Throats of Fans, Senile Sather Update & More
As far as Rangers news today, it’s been slow, as the Rangers anxiously await the 2019 NHL Draft in Vancouver. However, away from the Rangers, there’s been plenty of things going on around the league. We are currently experiencing the wildest playoffs ever, as for the first time in history, two number 1 seeds were both knocked out of the playoffs in the first round. Even wilder, the two number 1 seeds combined for 1 total win. These 2019 playoffs have been the “Year of the Upset” and in turn, it’s made for some exciting hockey and television.
Furthermore, with all the upsets in the first round of the playoffs (as I write these words, three of the four wild cards have made it to the second round and Carolina, the last wild card seed, has a Game 7 with Washington on Wednesday night) it just goes to show you – tanking is for losers!
Seriously, anything can happen once you’re in the playoffs. After all, who had the freaking Islanders going to the second round of the playoffs at the beginning of this season? Who had Tampa getting swept? Who had Calgary getting knocked off by a team that made the playoffs during Game 81 of the regular season?
Just win, baby!
While this is a blog primarily focused on Ranger hockey, once again, the sport finds itself taking political stances. In today’s blog, there are a ton of topics I want to get into, some of which are politically driven. To be clear though, I am not driving the narrative here, I’m just responding to what’s going on.
Plus, after all, do you want to read the same old shit you get from everywhere else? Seriously, I just scanned a bunch of Ranger blogs and all of them are doing the same thing – pretending they’ve been watching Kakko & Hughes all season, taking shots at AV for no reason, pretending they know about fourth liners from the Swedish league and my personal favorite, giving us their proposed lines for the 2019-2020 season.
Before getting into everything else, and in the spirit of trying to conform, let me share with you my 2019-2020 PROPOZED RANGERZ LINEZ! I’m coming up with these lines based on what I’ve seen on other Ranger blogs.
FIRST LINE: ZIBANEJAD/PANARIN/ZUCCARELLO
SECOND LINE: MCDAVEID (WE WILL TRADE STAHL FOR HIM)/KAKKO/HUGHES (WE WILL TRADE KREIDER FOR HUGHES!)
THIRD LINE: CHYTIL/KRAVTSOV/GHOST OF GORDY HOW (WE WILL RESURRECT HIM!)
FOURTH LINE: BUCHNEVICH/LEMIEUX/NANCY KERRIGAN!
TOP 6 DEFENSE: SHEA, TROUBA, FOX, BUCHNEVICH (SO GOOD HE WILL BE PLAY TWO POSITIONS THIS YEAR), LAWRENCE TAYLOR AND PK SUBBAN.
IN NET WILL BE HENRIK LUNDQUISS, WHO WILL START ALL 82 GAMES AND WIN THE STANLEE CUP!
INJECT THIS IN MY VAINS! #NYR
I seriously don’t know how these MR’s argue back and forth with each other about proposed lines in April. Millennials!
Anyhoo…
After tackling some political issues in today’s blog, I will then comment on the ex-Ranger coaches, the NHL playoffs, the Rangers, John Scott’s podcast and other hockey topics. In other words, this will be a blog different than the norm.
That all said, I rather write about “real” stuff, rather than do what everyone else is doing. After all, who wants to read about proposed Ranger lines for the 2019-2020 season in April? Or how about the nonsense of “WHO THE RANGERZ MUST PROTECT IN THE SEATTLE EXPANSION DRAFT?” That crap is pure lunacy! And really, who gives a damn who the Rangers draft in the seventh round, especially if it’s a goalie. You know that seventh round goalie won’t win a Cup anyway! <RIM SHOT!>
In the past, I have talked about the “Hockey Is For Everyone” campaign, a campaign that largely deals with sexuality and sexual preferences. I have done blogs on this before, so I’m not going to dive deep into this during today’s blog. I will say here, just for new readers, I have no problems with homosexuals playing or watching hockey. I just think it’s silly to celebrate homosexuals as if they are returning war heroes.
In the same vein, I don’t think you need a night of rainbows to promote your “Wokeness”. To me, by having “LGBTQ-and-whatever-other-letters-that-are-now-added to-this-demo-these-days” themed games, you’re basically saying that’s their specific night of the season. That’s a crock of shit, because it doesn’t matter who you are, as long as you have the green, every NHL arena will welcome you with open arms during any game of the season.
I also want to be up front before moving along here, while some of my opinions may skew right, I don’t consider myself a Republican either. After all, I’m an atheist and never shot a gun in my life. I’m also pro-choice. So when it comes to politics, I find myself in the middle. That said, I just find the liberal agenda to be way over-the-top in 2019.
Like politics, I think sexual issues should be kept out of sports. However, the NHL wants to celebrate how “hip” they are, even if the topic of homosexuality is basically a non-existent issue these days. (At least in civilized countries.) When it comes to attending games, it doesn’t matter if you’re white, black, Latino, gay or straight, the only thing that matters is who you are rooting for! In the eyes of the league, as long as you can pony up the bucks, you’re more than welcome to attend the action.
If you ever wanted to unite people, put them in a sports arena/stadium. Seriously, this is how I would settle the Israel conflict. Grab all these warring people and put them in an arena. When the home team scores, you will have 15,000 people all jumping up-and-down and high-fiving each other. No one cares about religion, color or creed while they are at a game. All they care about is the team winning. Sports have always united humans this way. No one looks at the color of the palm they are high-fiving when the home team rips a game winning goal or when the home team wins a fight.
With the NHL doubling-down with their “Hockey is For Everyone” stuff, you have to ask yourself – is this campaign really for everyone? Christians, who believe that homosexuality is a sin, may not like the idea of Gay Pride night. I don’t know what the Muslim NHL fan base is (I would suspect there are more Muslim fans in Canada watching the NHL than in the USA) but Muslims also aren’t a fan of homosexuals either.
What the NHL is saying here is that “Hockey is For Everyone” – as long as you’re part of the liberal agenda.
Personally, I’m pro gay rights. I just don’t like the lionization of homosexuality and I just don’t like sex or politics in sports in the first place. While I do believe that homosexuality is something you’re born with, I don’t believe that people who are transgender are born with that. I think transgenders are people with mental issues. I still don’t understand why homosexuals are lumped in with transgenders to begin with. The two demos are completely different.
Now I know what you must be saying about my thoughts on transgenders if you’re part of the liberal agenda, an agenda that promotes tolerance and acceptance, as long as you believe in what liberals believe. That said, please explain the recent Charlize Theron story to me.
If you haven’t heard the recent news about Charlize Theron, just Google her name. For those too lazy to do that, here’s one of the first hits that come up: https://www.cnsnews.com/blog/craig-bannister/charlize-theron-my-3-year-old-boy-said-shes-girl-candance-owens-my-3-year-old
Are you freaking kidding me? A three year old child knows that they are transgender? Get the heck out of here.
Being three years old once, I can tell you that I did not have one thought of sexuality or even know that sexuality was when I was three. I also didn’t know what being a boy was supposed to feel like. I was just raised normal, like many of you.
Personally, I have a three year old niece, a niece I see quite often. I can 100% tell you that she doesn’t know the difference between being a girl or being a boy. She is a well-adjusted child, that does things that all kids do – plays with toys, makes a mess when she eats, sings, watches TV, cries when she’s told it’s bed time and watches this guy:
To go off-topic a bit, I have to share this story.
My niece is into Barney and all of Barney’s friends. Apparently, there is a character named “BJ” on the show. Of course, my niece being three years old and not some kid of a Hollywood snob, my niece doesn’t know that the letters B and J, when put together, can mean something sexual.
Anyway, during Easter Sunday, my niece was playing with her “Barney and Friends” stuffed animals. My father, who is also my niece’s grandfather, was teasing my niece about taking one of her stuffed animals home with him. Of course, without knowing it, he grabbed the “BJ” stuffed animal. This then led to a conversation of, “Grandpa, you can’t have BJ”. There was also the line of “No BJ for you Grandpa!”
All of this had me laughing. Just imagine when my niece goes back to school this week and is asked by her teacher, “How was your Easter?” Now just imagine when my niece tells her teacher, “Grandpa wanted a BJ from me.”
Cue the Larry David “Curb Your Enthusiasm” song:
With the NHL now entering the political arena, and firmly jumping in with two feet in the cesspool known as liberalism, the Philadelphia Flyers, of all teams, found a way to be full of fake outrage this week.
Prior to this week, I would say that 99% of sports fans didn’t know who Kate Smith was. New York sport fans, those of the Yankee variety, may be familiar with her work during the seventh inning of Yankee games, but probably couldn’t tell you who Kate Smith was or what she looked like.
Away from Yankee games, Kate Smith also sang before Philadelphia Flyer games before her passing in 1986. In the 33 years since her passing, Kate Smith was remembered for her great work as a singer, being the first woman of radio and even receiving a “Presidential Medal of Freedom” from then-President, Ronald Reagan.
In other words, Kate Smith was beloved during her time on this planet. However, liberalism is a disease that knows no bounds or has any respect for history. Enter the liberal rag known as the NY Daily News, a newspaper that’s not even befitting of wiping your ass with when stuck in a pinch.
The NY Daily News, who just like a twitter troll looking to expose an athlete who tweeted out something politically incorrect when that athlete was just a teenager, decided to dig into Kate Smith. In case you missed their fake outrage story, here’s the link: https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/ny-kate-smith-god-bless-america-20190418-wfkyednrvrherh57sfmb4h7s5y-story.html
For those too lazy to click or refuse to give the crybaby rag a click, here’s the meat of the story:
The Yankees have taken a stand against racism for their seventh-inning stretch.
For 18 years, Yankee Stadium regularly used Kate Smith’s 1939 recording of “God Bless America” in the middle of the seventh inning. But they ditched it altogether this season, replacing Smith’s rendition with different versions of the song. Why? As the Daily News learned, the Yankees were made aware of Smith’s history of potential racism.
Smith was a famous singer before and during WWII who recorded the offensive jingle, “Pickaninny Heaven,” which she directed at “colored children” who should fantasize about an amazing place with “great big watermelons,” among other treats. She shot a video for that song that takes place in an orphanage for black children, and much of the imagery is startlingly racist. She also recorded, “That’s Why Darkies Were Born,” which included the lyrics, “Someone had to pick the cotton. … That’s why darkies were born.”
Smith, who died in 1986, endorsed the “Mammy Doll” in 1939, which was based on a racist caricature of a black woman in the same vein as Aunt Jemima.
Immediately after this story broke, the Flyers chimed in:
#Flyers statement on Kate Smith: https://t.co/IkvBKFPGs4 pic.twitter.com/FHQIttpFWJ
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) April 21, 2019
I got to ask you guys – when does it fucking end? When do we decide to learn from history, rather than erase it? As I write these words, you got people besmirching Kate Smith’s name, taking down her statue and now her legacy is being compared to Adolf Hitler’s. Really? When does this BS fake outrage stop?
It’s bad enough that we now live in snowflake society, where these vegan and soy munchers are able to influence a generation that’s now scared of their own shadow. Now, these unwashed assholes are going back nearly 90 years, in an attempt to be offended.
Of course, ignored in all of these Kate Smith stories is that she did not write any of these songs that don’t hold up well today. She just sang them. Just like any entertainer of that time, whether it be radio or “the talkies” (Movies) people wrote music and scripts for others to perform. It’s not like Kate Smith was sitting in a room by herself and thinking about how she can belt out a tune to disparage black Americans.
Furthermore, Kate Smith came from the South, where casual racism, and sometimes extreme racism, were accepted in her time. This doesn’t make it right today in 2019, but that’s just the way things were then. To disparage Smith for singing songs of her time, it’s just a way for these crybaby millennials to take the good name from someone.
It’s not like Smith was in the KKK or anything like that either. She just sang songs that were put in front of her. Because of that, nearly 90 years later, her reputation is now ruined, as these limp-wristed liberals now want people from eras and eons ago, to abide by their line of thinking.
“Hockey is For Everyone” – as long as you’re not Kate Smith.
Listen – I’m not trying to defend Smith’s songs. However, I understand what they were – PRODUCTS OF HER TIME! Are we going to do background searches of every American that has ever lived? Should we rename Washington? Should we take Andrew Jackson off the $20 bill because Jackson killed Indians?
What is next? I can’t wait for the story that John Amirante once called someone “boy” in 1942. If there is anyone that will jump on the liberal fake emotional pain train, it will be the New York Rangers.
I just don’t understand what these people are trying to do. It’s bad enough when they try to shame athletes for making gay slurs when these athletes were immature. Trying to tear down a 23 year old, because of an immature social media posting from 10 years ago, I just don’t get it.
It’s even worse, that someone like Kate Smith, can have her legacy and reputation tarnished by these people that smell like pure farts. Rather than learning from history and moving on, these liberal turds want to tear down anyone, no matter what period of time you lived in. These liberal scum must be stopped and it will only happen when people put their foot down and fight back.
In closing on this topic – you can’t erase history no matter how much you try. You can only learn from it. That said, these liberal losers are so deranged in their lunatic thinking, that they ignore facts when recklessly tearing down the reputations of others. It’s time to speak up and say “enough is enough.”
“Hockey is For Everyone”, unless, according to some people, you’re a team that upset a number 1 seed.
In case you missed it, here’s a recent tweet from NHL reporter Pierre LeBrun:
The parity has never been more real in the NHL as these playoffs are proving. There’s no better time to argue the benefit of a best-of-three play-in, 7 vs 10, 8 vs 9 on each side, would take just four days max. Need to give top seeds some kind of benefit to be No. 1. (con’t)
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) April 21, 2019
This is such a millennial and liberal response. “Waaaaa, I don’t like what’s going on right now! I demand changes right this instant! I don’t care about the past, I only live in the now!”
I couldn’t believe that an NHL reporter actually tweeted out that nonsense. Pierre’s tweet is 100% an overreaction to what’s going on currently. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME IN NHL HISTORY WHERE BOTH NUMBER 1 SEEDS WERE BOUNCED OUT IN THE FIRST ROUND. This is an anomaly. This isn’t the norm. That’s what makes the playoffs so exciting!
Seriously speaking, if Pierre wants to watch top seeds crush bottom seeds, may I suggest the NBA to him?
It’s amazing that Pierre is so offended and upset about top seeds getting crushed this year. After all, how many times did both number 1 seeds make the SCF?
In this league of parity, a parity which is influenced heavily by the salary cap, a salary cap which first began in 2005, we haven’t had one Stanley Cup Final featuring both number 1 seeds. Is anyone really complaining about that?
The NHL is currently in its second incarnation of the salary cap era. The first era started during the 2005-2006 season and ended with the 2012 NHL lockout. The NHL then adopted a stricter salary cap starting with the abbreviated 2013 season. These salary cap rules are in effect until the next CBA. It wouldn’t shock me if we had another lockout then too.
While talk of a future lockout is stuff for a future blog, I just wanted to look at the Stanley Cup Final during the entire salary cap era.
Check out the seeds of the teams that made the finals and tell me how this was bad for hockey:
— 2006 SCF – The Number 2 Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Number 8 Edmonton Oilers.
—2007 SCF – The Number 2 Anaheim Ducks defeated the Number 4 Ottawa Senators.
— 2008 SCF – The Number 1 Detroit Red Wings defeated the Number 2 Pittsburgh Penguins.
— 2009 SCF – The Number 4 Pittsburgh Penguins defeated The Number 2 Detroit Red Wings.
— 2010 SCF – The Number 2 Chicago Blackhawks defeated The Number 7 Philadelphia Flyers.
— 2011 SCF – The Number 3 Boston Bruins defeated the Number 1 Vancouver Canucks.
— 2012 SCF – The Number 8 LA Kings defeated the Number 6 NJ Devils.
— 2013 SCF – The Number 1 Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Number 4 Boston Bruins.
— 2014 SCF – The Number 6 LA Kings defeated the Number 5 NY Rangers.
— 2015 SCF – The Number 4 Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Number 3 Tampa Bay Lightning.
— 2016 SCF – The Number 2 Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Number 6 San Jose Sharks.
— 2017 SCF – The Number 2 Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Number 8 Nashville Predators.
— 2018 SCF -The Number 3 Washington Capitals defeated the Number 3 Vegas Golden Knights.
In this league of parity, dictated by a salary cap used to punish big markets and which discourages player loyalty, the NHL playoffs have worked. Once in a while, a number 1 seed runs the table. That’s not bad for business either. People either jump on the bandwagon or tune in to root against them. You’re getting a different mix of teams getting into the SCF now, even if it’s at the expense of big market teams, teams that have big bucks and big fan bases.
While the Blackhawks, Kings and Penguins used to be perennial contenders, you’re starting to see the turn. Of course, the opposing view here is that the Hawks, Kings and Pens all got screwed by the salary cap, especially in the case of Chicago. Chicago could field a Stanley Cup contending team with the players the NHL salary cap forced them to trade away/move on from. That’s what burns my ass about the salary cap – you’re punished for doing your job well. There needs to be some Larry Bird clause thrown in, where teams are allowed to overpay in order to keep home-grown talent.
In any event, Pierre LeBrun wants to change the playoffs? Maybe he should change careers.
Leave it to me to defend an Islander, but some things in life are bigger than hockey.
As established already on this blog, “HOCKEY IS FOR EVERYONE”, as long as you go along with the liberal agenda. Of course, when someone is doing well, the liberals come out of their mother’s basement with pitchforks, in an attempt to tear someone down.
The latest story making the rounds is that Robin Lehner is the evil spawn of Satan. Yes, this is a man that the liberals put on a pedestal for overcoming mental disease (which means he’s not a transgender) just a few months ago. However, because Lehner is now a Vezina candidate and leading the Islanders during their playoff run, the liberals are turning over every rock they can find. Turns out that Lehner supports our President! What a crying shame! What a turncoat!
The crybaby liberals are now circulating this article, which was written three years ago – https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nhl/2016/11/10/robin-lehner-trump/93602972/
In case you’re too lazy to click the link, here’s the meat of the article:
BUFFALO — Buffalo Sabres goalie Robin Lehner has a Donald Trump sticker on the back of his mask for Friday’s Military Appreciation Night.
The sticker reads “TRUMP” with a small image of the president-elect next to it.
“Even though I’m not American, I appreciate what all the military do. Got a little support for my man Trump here,” Lehner said, displaying the mask after practice Thursday.
The 25-year-old Swedish goalie also has stickers of the U.S. armed forces.
“It’s his right to do so,” said Sabres head coach Dan Bylsma. “It’s his right to put that on there. He’s got other things on there that he’s honoring and paying tribute to.”
Robin Lehner on his Army Night mask: “Got a little support for my man Trump here.” #Sabres @WGRZ pic.twitter.com/krEr7mAdn0
— Jonah Javad (@JonahJavad) November 10, 2016
Let me get this out of my system before moving along – if Robin Lehner wins the Vezina, he should go celebrate at the White House with Trump. It’s also nice to see a Swedish goalie in NY that always supports his team and never buries his teammates after games like a selfish liberal brat!
Back to business.
Since this story’s reemergence, liberals, you know the “HOCKEY IS FOR EVERYONE” people, now want Lehner’s head on a pike. I even saw some deranged psychotic, a woman that has a nose ring that looks like a circular disc of hepatitis, compare Robin Lehner to Hitler. HITLER! Robin Lehner supports the American President! That equates him to a man that pulled off the biggest act of genocide in history! You’re nuts!
Again, “HOCKEY IS FOR EVERYONE” unless you have an opinion that isn’t the same as the liberal agenda. I don’t want to get into a whole Donald Trump thing either, but trying to shame athletes for supporting our President is ridiculous and the work of the unemployed. And that’s all I got to say about that!
As we mosey along here, I wanted to share a tweet that I saw from Cam Connor:
This is probably only of interest to die hard WHA fans but here’s a telegram from Houston Aeros president Harrison Vickers congratulating me on that Montreal goal.
He was wrong though I never did catch LaFleur for the scoring title haha. pic.twitter.com/nxBC4JzTd6
— Cam Connor (@CamConnorNHL) April 22, 2019
I was born in 1982. I gotta admit, outside of books, this was the first time I saw a picture of a telegram on the internet! For those who don’t know what a telegram is, use your google!
John Tortorella’s name has been in the mouth of Ranger fans of late, as fans whine about his most recent success with the Blue Jackets. For whatever reason, and it may be due to the fact that the Rangers franchise is the worst franchise in sports when it comes to educating fans about their history and promoting the legends that worked for the Rangers, fans of today are constantly burying ex-Ranger coaches to this very day.
When it comes to the history of Ranger coaches, the top three, without question, are Lester Patrick, Frank Boucher and Emile Francis. Of course, none of these three men are honored by the Rangers. However, you know what hangs in the rafters of MSG? A fucking banner for a drug addict band named Phish.
Aside from the Patrick, Boucher and Francis, your holy trinity of Ranger coaches, when it comes to rounding out the Top 5 coaches in Rangers history, you can make a case for both John Tortorella and Alain Vigneault. While I would rate AV above Torts because of the team success, fans of Torts will argue that AV inherited a strong team from Torts. That said, it’s not like AV coached these Rangers the same way Torts did.
Recently, I was engaged in a Facebook discussion about Torts vs Lundqvist. How anyone can argue that Torts wasn’t the best coach for Lundqvist is beyond me. I’ve talked about this topic to death on this blog already, so just visit the archives of this site.
Torts seems to be a lightning rod. His name draws. Just last year, Sean Avery was promoting a book, with many of his quotes on Torts getting the headlines. This week, another ex-Ranger, in John Scott, used Torts to promote his podcast.
Here’s a recent Twitter exchange I had with John Scott:
Torts on the treadmill, screaming matches, video room shenanigans and more. My favorite Torts stories on the latest podcast episode:https://t.co/kYBSVXmTE8
— John Scott (@johnscott_32) April 19, 2019
Listen to the episode to hear the first thing Torts said to me when I got traded to the Rangers… lol
— John Scott (@johnscott_32) April 20, 2019
Just listened to the podcast. All your stories echo everything else I’ve ever heard. Sean Avery pretty much had the same sentiment you did during his book too. Idk what goes on behind closed doors, but can’t argue with Torts success. Thanks for the stories.
— BlueCollarBlueShirts (@NYCTheMiC) April 21, 2019
Going into Scott’s podcast, I was familiar with his views on Torts. After all, I read John Scott’s book. (For that book review, visit: http://doinow.com/12727/)
During Scott’s podcast, which you should listen to anyway, Scott talked about his time with Torts. Scott echoed a lot of opinions that are out there – Torts can be militant, had an abrasive attitude, was defensive-minded and was the worst skating coach in the history of the NHL! If there was any “NEWS” to be taken out of Scott’s podcast, it was the fact that Torts had some crazy workouts and would be pounding the treadmill every day before practice.
I found Scott’s stories about Torts to be amusing. While Scott admits his time with the Rangers wasn’t long and Torts would be out the door the season after, Ranger fans who listen to this podcast in a vaccuum, would get the impression that Torts wasn’t exactly the greatest coach. I don’t think that is fair, as to me, Torts is a future Hall of Fame coach.
And I also admit bias here – I always root for the Americans. Torts is one of a handful of American coaches to win the Stanley Cup, as he was third American coach to win the Cup, when his Bolts won the Cup in 2004. (Bill Stewart won it with Chicago in 1938 and Bob Johnson won it with the Penguins in 1991. After Torts, Peter Laviolette won the Cup in 2006 with Carolina, Dan Blysma won the Cup with the Pens in 2009 and Mike Sullivan won two Cups with the Penguins during the 2016 and 2017 SCF.)
While the common consensus is that Torts has a short-shelf life where ever he goes, similar to a Mike Keenan, I don’t see how anyone can argue with the success of Torts. When I see people cry and whine about Torts and his style, I wonder how guys like Jack Adams and Scotty Bowman would do in today’s NHL?
I just don’t get why Ranger fans bury the tenure of Torts. Torts has a great track record. The fans that bury Torts are the same fans that put Lundqvist on a pedestal. News Flash: Torts is much better at his job than Lundqvist ever was at his.
As the Columbus Blue Jackets embark on their journey to win the Cup, I’ll be rooting for Torts. The man is a coaching legend. Maybe the “HOCKEY IS FOR EVERYONE” people will see that too one day.
When I first saw AV with Gritty, the first thing that came to my mind was that I would pay money to see AV & Gritty pair up in a buddy-cop movie for Netflix. Of course, my mood on AV was darkened when I read the ramblings of psychotic Ranger fans, who have a never-ending hard-on for Pavel Buchnevich and are still mad about AV for taking ice time away from #89. Get over it. David Quinn did the same thing to Buchnevich. Buchnevich wasn’t ready! He may be now though!
While scouring the internet, I saw Ranger fan momos, momo’s who wear elastic mom jeans, write articles for Philadelphia Flyer based websites, about how BAD AV will be for the Flyers! Are you kidding me? AV was at the helm for one of the best runs in Rangers history! You’re going to take away the 2014 Cup Run and the 2015 Presidents’ Trophy away from him? Of course, ignored in all the AV bashing is the slippage of play in Henrik Lundqvist and the playoff no-show of Rick Nash. Of course, that’s all AV’s fault!
I don’t want to see this happen and I don’t think it will happen, but can you imagine if Talbot and AV win the Cup next season in Philly? Then again, anything can happen in this league, like Ranger fans crying about how bad AV was! Get lost!
AV, simply put, as I have said in previous articles on this site, was a great coach for NYR. It’s funny how both AV and Torts can be hated by the same people of this fan base, considering how different Torts and AV were. Then again, these are the same douchebag fans that cry and need to sleep with a night-light after every fight that occurs in the NHL. Can you imagine Bob Probert playing in front of these liberal pussbags? The crying would never end!
Speaking about making nerds cry, did you guys see the recent tweets from ex-Rangers Theo Fleury & Martin St. Louis? Here they are, in case you missed them:
MSL would then respond to this tweet:
Couldn’t agree more with you @TheoFleury14. It’s Brains and balls and you need both. Smart and playing soft won’t work neither will dumb and and playing hard. #StanleyCupPlayoffs https://t.co/pJqNl7j86v
— Martin St.Louis (@mstlouis_26) April 18, 2019
I’ve been saying this from day one – charts and analytics mean shit. It might look nice and stylish on a spreadsheet, but it means jack shit. If any of these charts meant anything, then 99.9999999% of all NHL playoff brackets wouldn’t have been busted already.
All of these charts and nerdorama bullshit only accomplish one thing – you can use this data to twist an argument after the fact. None of this information predicts anything.
It’s funny, and I talked about this in prior blogs, how Steve Valiquette, a MSGN employee, was campaigning for the Rangers to tank. Instead, Georgiev went out and got three points against Columbus and Pittsburgh in the final two games of the season. What happened? Despite doing what a chart would tell you to do, the Rangers picked up points and then were rewarded with the number 2 pick in the NHL draft. In other words, NOTHING IS PREDICTABLE!
Tanking, Corsi, Fenwick and all that other crap is just that, crap. Hockey games are won on the ice, not in the basement of someone with Microsoft Excel. Players know this. Coaches know this. GM’s know this. Only self-absorbed fans looking to be relevant don’t know this.
We’re almost home here!
Lundqvist has confirmed that he will be playing in the IIHF Worlds Tournament this year. I guess he’s over his mental strain that he was whining about all season. Of note, Zibanejad and Fast declined to play for Team Sweden.
What’s also worth reporting here is that Alexandar Georgiev will be playing for Russia during this tournament. Nothing would make me laugh harder this summer than seeing Russia & Georgiev wax the Swedes.
As far as other Ranger news, there isn’t much, as all eyes are on the NHL draft. The only emails and updates I’ve been getting from the Rangers during these last two weeks is their desperate pleas for me to fork over five digits for season tickets. I’ll pass, as it much easier and cheaper to use my Stubhub trick to attend games.
As mentioned at the top of this blog, I don’t give you the same old shit everyone else gives you. Outside of the number 2 pick, I have no clue who the Rangers will be drafting with their other picks. If I had to guess, I would predict that the Rangers ignore North America again and load up on Swedes. That’s the key to no success, which is the Rangers way!
That will do it for this manifesto! I’ll be back as news comes. Maybe I’ll share my new playoff bracket, as NHL.com is allowing fans to resubmit their new brackets after all these upsets. Once my work schedule lightens, I plan on going back to the book reviews, Delorean reviews and all that other good stuff.
Until next time, thanks as always for reading and…
“LET’S GO RANGERS!”
Sean McCaffrey
BULLSMC@aol.com
@NYCTHEMIC on twitter
Just so you know, I’m a vegan and ‘soy muncher’ and I agree with everything you’ve written (except for how vegans smell lol). A persons diet doesn’t indicate their politics.
Thanks Claudia. I hope you can tell when I’m joing. I don’t think a person’s diet dictates their politics, but I do believe people who eat kale have to be on the left lol