Disgraceful: adjective, “bringing or deserving disgrace; shameful; dishonorable; disreputable.”
Disgraceful is the only way to describe this 2024-2025 New York Rangers hockey season. We have never seen a Rangers team that was so loaded with talent (on paper) all check out at once. The only players who decided to play hockey last night against the St. Louis Blues were the kids that are in years 1-4 in the NHL. Everyone else disappeared.
The overpaid veterans were no shows again, not helping the boos and calls from fans to nuke the team. They do not deserve the privilege of wearing the Rangers crest. This leadership group is soft, broken, and are beyond fixing. Watching the final minutes of this game, when Peter Laviolette decided down a goal to put out the players who haven’t shown up all season to try and tie the game was, quite frankly, rage inducing.
What more can be said that hasn’t already been said in the last 13 recaps?
- They stink.
- They are led by terrible examples of leadership.
- They’re cashing in millions of dollars to play sub .500 hockey at best.
- They hang their goaltenders out to dry defensively.
- The Garden charges a fortune to even watch this team play live, and then they look like the Islanders out there.
Seven months ago, this same team was winning overtime games and grinding out massive playoff wins against some tough opponents. If they even make the playoffs, this year’s version of the exact same team is an easy first round exit.
Also, in a shocker, benching Kaapo Kakko for *reasons* didn’t work.
However. For once in what’s felt like an eternity, there was actually a bit of life in this game. Brett Berard and Will Cuylle are both tremendous hockey players. Both have a nose for the net, a great north-south mindset, and take no prisoners. Berard gives off I get Mats Zuccarello energy every time he’s out there. This is when hockey is fun, when these types are in the lineup.
Usually adding a Berard type midseason brings a new energy to the team. But not this team. Not these veterans. Even shaving their heads might not work.
