STAMFORD, CT – With the Knicks coming down the stretch to possibly their first home playoff series since the days of Grandmama, and the Rangers abruptly deciding to clean out the front office on a rebuild that seemed to be coming along in a timely manner, this a good time to be a fly on the wall at MSG. I think we can all agree, Jimmy Dolan is a douche. He’s like George Steinbrenner crossed with Martin Shkreli crossed with that annoying kind from my high school who knew three chords and called himself a musician. I used to think he didn’t care much about hockey, so he meddled less, and the Rangers did better than the Knicks. Well… he meddled.
It’s obvious to anyone who watches the New York Rangers that they lacked grit, or “sandpaper” in hockey parlance. They aren’t that hard to play against and prefer to use their skill. It didn’t take the Tom Wilson incident to flush that out. They needed to get some more physical players before they would come a real threat.
But you’ve got to find your stars first and the grit can come later. In the Cup-winning season waaaaay back in 1994, the Rangers made a slew of trade deadline acquisitions, trading away skilled players like Tony Amonte and Mike Gardner in the process. But they added tough veterans like Brian Noonan, Craig MacTavish, and Stephan Matteau.
Come back tomorrow for Angry Ward, who’s pretty pissed the Vikings wasted a pick on a QB when they have the great Kirk Cousins. Follow us on Twitter at @benwhit, @MeetTheMatts, @Matt_McCarthy00, Instagram @MeetTheMatts and like our Facebook page, Meet The Matts.
