Superstitious as I am, to prepare for tonight's Game 7, I did what I did for their last Game 7: Went to my fourth-grade class, headed to the Sunrise Mall, changed the lyrics to a song on the radio in my mom's Volvo to words about the Rangers winning the Stanley Cup, and sat down in my den to watch the game.
What can I say about the game itself? Not much. You watched it, I watched it, we know what happened. A great defensive play by Ryan Callahan turned into a double-deflection. Henrik Lundqvist was in position to stop a shot, but he couldn't get over to stop the freak deflection. Not his fault, not Callahan's, not Dan Girardi's.
I am pretty positive that when the players were gathering around Lundqvist at the end of the game, they were saying, "Sorry. We know you're the best in the game. Wish we could help you out. You don't deserve this." And I'm pretty sure he regretted signing a multi-year deal to be here.
I didn’t want to say anything earlier just in case the Rangers pulled out a Game 7 victory in Washington, but since that dream bubble has burst, I will say it: I had the same feeling going into Game 7 tonight that I did going into Game 6 in Buffalo in May 2007: defeat.
I did not, however, have this feeling for Game 5 in Pittsburgh, when I thought the Rangers could win. My theory was, win Game 5, Game 6 would be a guarantee, and Game 7 a 50/50 chance.
However, after Buffalo won Game 5 in overtime, you knew what would happen. Beaten, the Rangers would return to MSG and put up a half-hearted effort, and the Sabres would pounce upon them. And that did happen, with the Rangers going down 4-2 in the 2nd before a futile third period brought the score to a respectable 5-4.
The difference in Game 5 in Buffalo and Game 6 at MSG this past Sunday? Chris Drury scored in Buffalo.
I won’t blame this series or this season on Chris Drury. He is given 1st line money because of a great opportunity he was given: He beat the Rangers when he tied the game with 7.7 seconds left, then became one of the 3 best free agent forwards available less than 2 months later. Fact is, he is a 2nd line player. It’s not his fault that Glen Sather thought his career-high 69 points (37 G, 32 A) in 2006-07 was worthy of Jaromir Jagr/Joe Thornton money.
However, it again might be dark times ahead for the Rangers. As I’ve mentioned before, this team is handcuffed with Scott Gomez, Wade Redden, and Michal Rozsival. I’m actually getting sick of writing it, but here goes one more time:
This team has these insane salaries on the books for 5 more years (Gomez, Redden) and 3 more years (Rozsival). Once again, it isn’t their faults they’re getting paid this much money. Gomez got lucky also - him, Drury, and Daniel Briere were the top free agent forwards that summer, and he capitalized. The only this Redden is at fault for is accepting NY’s offer when another team offered him the same exact contract, but he wanted to play in NY (I can only guess that team was Toronto, though it is unconfirmed). Rozsival liked the Rangers for giving him a chance to comeback after the lockout, and Sather apparently thought his lax defensive play and his over-passing on the power play was worthy of Rob Blake/Sergei Zubov money.
No GM in their right mind would accept a trade for these underachievers (or I guess they are just “achieving” to their potential, which isn’t very high). In a salary cap world, who would take a $7M center until 2014 with a 5.9 shooting percentage (including empty netters) and who can’t crack 45 assists? Who would want a $6.5M defenseman with 3 goals and limited defensive skills? Is a $5M player who is responsible for more shorthanded goals against than power play goals for going to be high on anyone’s summer trading list?
Be sure, the darkest days are coming if these salaries are still on the books. No good free agents can be signed when the team teeters so close to the edge of the salary cap. That is $18.5M that can’t be alloted to re-signing Paul Mara or Derek Morris instead, or can’t be used to make a move at a real first line player, either via free agency or a trade.
Think Atlanta would accept Scott Gomez for Ilya Kovalchuk? Get real.
I had said numerous times that $39M can't buy you heart in this Emerald City. Tonight, Redden proved that. He actually did have one good play - I told my girlfriend to write down that after 8 pre-season games, 81 regular season games for him, and 7 playoff games, he finally had a good play. He then went and ruined everything by standing in front of Sergei Federov and refusing to drop down to block a shot. Apparently, Drury isn't the one with the broken hand, Redden is, as he also couldn't throw his stick out fast enough to try to block the shot once he decided he was too precious to drop down.
Five more years of Gomez. Five more years of Redden.
Something's gotta give.
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