New York, NY -The New York Giants confirmed this week what we all dreaded, that Ben McAdoo would succeed Tom Coughlin as Big Blue’s head coach. It’s a decision that has most people scratching their heads. McAdoo was the coordinator of a Giants offense that was, at best, underwhelming, over the past few seasons. I guess the Maras saw this as a sign that he had earned a promotion.
Meanwhile General Manager Jerry Reese, who has made a hash of more drafts than an novice bartender, still has a job. The whole thing stinks. What the Giants needed was a good house cleaning and a paradigm shift. Instead the organization made decisions based on trying to keep their aging quarterback comfortable and not based on trying to win. I’m assuming that after another blown draft and another aggressively average season next year, we’ll be right back where we started and the Giants may finally clean house. Eli will be 36 by then. Hopefully Reese is shown the door before the Giants need to draft a quarterback for the future.
On the ice, the Rangers have been sputtering along. They’ve been battling some key injuries and Lundqvist hasn’t been himself. But the Rangers are still in third place in the Metropolitan Division (Can we change this name already?). Dylan McIlrath played well on the blue line but was relegated back to the healthy scratch list once Kevin Klein was healthy. It’s a shame because the kid can play and I’d love to see him get more experience. Dylan is a defensive defenseman who plays a tough game and is willing to drop the gloves. The Rangers need a bit more grit and toughness and McIlrath can provide it. But Alain Vigneault has a fetish for defensemen that can’t defend, so I expect McIlrath to disappear again once the boo boo on Dan Girardi’s hand heals.
The Blueshirts will need to be more consistent going forward. Kevin Hayes has been showing signs of life but has still not been very good. Chris Kreider had been downright awful. Kreider is playing for a contract this year. He’ll be a restricted free agent this summer. There’s a slight sickness involved with supporting your favorite hockey team. On the one hand I want Kreider to play well so the Rangers can win. On the other hand, a sub-par season could keep his contract lower. And every dollar counts with the hard salary cap in the NHL. I always want the Rangers to win. But it would be somewhat of a pyrrhic victory if Kreider keeps sucking and the Rangers can sign him for a song.
The Rangers blew a lead last night in Brooklyn against the Islanders. Some sloppy play in the third period gave away the game. This weekend the Rangers travel to play the red-hot Flyers and league-leading Capitals. It will be a tough test for the Blueshirts. Hopefully they’ll right the ship and play more consistently in the second half of the season. Time will tell.
