The Maven admits it; Last Fall I picked the Rangers to make the playoffs. (Fool that I was.)
Then again, so did The Hockey News' experts who tabbed the Blueshirts to wind up fourth in the NHL's Metropolitan Division.
ERROR!
So did virtually every friend and seer I quizzed because in October picking the Blueshirts to make the postseason made sense, for these reasons:
1. A new coach, Mike Sullivan, who once helped the Penguins to a pair of Stanley Cups, would be the Miracle Worker.
2. A couple of fresh defensemen – Vlad Gavrikov and Will Borgen – looked very promising at Training Camp.
3. Promising AHL (Hartford) grads – Gabe Perreault, Brennan Othmann as well as collegian
Noah Laba – added rookie enthusiasm.
4. The best one-two goalie combination in Igor Shesterkin and Jon Quick figured to guarantee success.
And there were plenty more so-called goodies.
But there remained a precious few who saw through the Rangers fog.
One was the Blue Collar Blue Shirt Bulletin's Sean McCaffrey who maintained even before training camp that the then new model (2025-26) Ranger sedan would break down out of the show room. That it would not make the postseason, 2026.
"The Rangers appear to be a giant jigsaw puzzle with the pieces spread all over the floor," wrote McCaffrey last August. "Drury has tried to re-shape this team to show more grit and muscle.
"And Sullivan's biggest challenge will be to get this team to play faster, meaner and more consistent."
Devils radio play by play ace Chico Resch said the Rangers "didn't have enough difference-makers." Vic Morren, author and co-host of the podcast NHL Wraparound, pointed out other flaws.
A half year later the Rangers are slower, softer and even less consistent than they were under the inconsistent Peter Laviolette!
The Maven overrated the Blueshirts.
