When John Tortorella arrived to coach the Rangers a few years ago, he issued an order that nobody was to step on the team’s logo at its training site or at the Garden. The directive was supposed to instill a sense of pride and purpose in a franchise that had become something of a laughing stock around the league, and that has now earned exactly one Stanley Cup in 72 years.
His decree was logistical lunacy, considering the large logo was embroidered into the rugs in tiny dressing rooms where the media massed after games. But nobody is giggling at the Rangers these days, even after their third-round ouster on Friday night by the Devils.
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The Rangers made a hard, determined run this spring. They came up short, though, and only a fool would bet on the team’s near or distant future. Other NHL clubs, young and old, have ascended or collapsed quickly from season to season. Back in 1997, the creaky Rangers made the Eastern Conference finals and then failed to qualify for the playoffs for nine long years.
After the Rangers were knocked out of another postseason on Friday, Tortorella talked again about how the club needs to forget its institutional memory, how it can’t settle for losing in the third round. He’s right, of course. But it won’t be easy beating a long-standing tradition of defeat that is very nearly imbedded in that emblem.
Let’s face it: In New York, the Rangers are historically the biggest losers around. Nobody else really comes close. The Jets haven’t been in existence long enough to match the Rangers’ futility. Every other franchise except the younger Red Bulls and Liberty has won more championships in the last 70 years or so. To make matters more absurd, the Rangers played until 1967 in a league of just six teams, without success, and outspent opponents by millions of dollars until the NHL salary cap took effect in 2005.
At the moment, they look good only when compared to the Knicks, their Garden partners. So Tortorella has his work cut out for him, if he really wants to transform his team’s logo into a sign of import.
“We’re still a young club and we still have a quite a bit to learn as far as desperation,†Tortorella said. “The third round, that isn’t good enough. We still have to find a way to win another round and get there. I don’t want this organization to sit still. We have to change our mind-set to continue trying to be the best and learn there’s a lot more hockey to play.â€
The Rangers are relatively young, though not spring chickens. Their average age of 26.9 years places them ninth overall in the league in terms of youth, notably behind the Kings (26.6), Stanley Cup finalists. More importantly, the team doesn’t have a lot of cap space available (less than $2 million at the moment) to go out and buy some offense.
Scorers such as Zach Parise, Olli Jokinen, Jiri Hudler and P.A. Parenteau may become attractive, unrestricted free agents, but teams such as the Red Wings and Blackhawks have more money to spend and will be willing to throw it around.
For now, the Rangers can sit and watch the Devils enjoy themselves in the Finals. The Devil roster has an average age of 30, which didn’t seem to hurt them a bit in overtime on Friday, during the 3-2 victory in Game 6. Tortorella got the most out of his guys that game and all this season, which is probably not such a good thing.
There might not be much more to get.
When John Tortorella arrived to coach the Rangers a few years ago, he issued an order that nobody was to step on the team’s logo at its training site or at the Garden. The directive was supposed to instill a sense of pride and purpose in a franchise that had become something of a laughing stock around the league, and that has now earned exactly one Stanley Cup in 72 years.
His decree was logistical lunacy, considering the large logo was embroidered into the rugs in tiny dressing rooms where the media massed after games. But nobody is giggling at the Rangers these days, even after their third-round ouster on Friday night by the Devils.
The Rangers made a hard, determined run this spring. They came up short, though, and only a fool would bet on the team’s near or distant future. Other NHL clubs, young and old, have ascended or collapsed quickly from season to season. Back in 1997, the creaky Rangers made the Eastern Conference finals and then failed to qualify for the playoffs for nine long years.
After the Rangers were knocked out of another postseason on Friday, Tortorella talked again about how the club needs to forget its institutional memory, how it can’t settle for losing in the third round. He’s right, of course. But it won’t be easy beating a long-standing tradition of defeat that is very nearly imbedded in that emblem.
Let’s face it: In New York, the Rangers are historically the biggest losers around. Nobody else really comes close. The Jets haven’t been in existence long enough to match the Rangers’ futility. Every other franchise except the younger Red Bulls and Liberty has won more championships in the last 70 years or so. To make matters more absurd, the Rangers played until 1967 in a league of just six teams, without success, and outspent opponents by millions of dollars until the NHL salary cap took effect in 2005.
At the moment, they only look good when compared to the Knicks, their Garden partners. So Tortorella has his work cut out for him, if he really wants to transform his team’s logo into a sign of import.
“We’re still a young club and we still have a quite a bit to learn as far as desperation,†Tortorella said. “The third round, that isn’t good enough. We still have to find a way to win another round and get there. I don’t want this organization to sit still. We have to change our mind-set to continue trying to be the best and learn there’s a lot more hockey to play.â€
The Rangers are relatively young, though not spring chickens. Their average age of 26.9 years places them ninth overall in the league in terms of youth, notably behind the Kings (26.6), Stanley Cup finalists. More importantly, the team doesn’t have a lot of cap space available (less than $2 million at the moment) to go out and buy some offense.
Scorers like Zach Parise, Olli Jokinen, Jiri Hudler and P.A. Parenteau may become attractive, unrestricted free agents, but teams such as the Red Wings and Blackhawks have more money to spend and will be willing to throw it around.
For now, the Rangers can sit and watch the Devils enjoy themselves in the Finals. The Devil roster has an average age of 30, which didn’t seem to hurt them a bit in overtime on Friday in the 3-2 victory in Game 6. Tortorella got the most out of his guys that game and all this season, which is probably not such a good thing.
There might not be much more to get.
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