An Angry, Irrational Look at Last Night’s Hockey Event in New York

Ok, so before I go any further, let me just say that superstitions suck.

Yeah, that’s right...after that nice long blog yesterday proclaiming that they work…I’m here to tell you that they suck.

And ya know why? Not because they don’t work, because they do. But ya know what else they do? Mislead you. Cause after you’ve had success with them, you get all caught up in them, and it causes you to over think the next round of good karma. And that’s exactly what I did last night before the game.

I had it all planned out when I got home. It was going to be such a good night. The wife had an interview earlier in the day for a new position within her company that went very well, so she picked up sushi for dinner, and a bottle of wine to celebrate. A little hockey on tap, a mini celebration because of the interview, all the makings of an awesome night. We put the game on, Ryan Callahan had come out on crutches before the drop of the puck, and got a huge ovation from the sold out Garden crowd, and I was so pumped. So excited. So hopeful.

If only I hadn’t done the stupid thing I did before the game.

I had it in my mind all day. I wasn’t going to wear any Rangers related items during the game. It had already been established yesterday that it was bad luck. But searching for “good luck”, and “good karma”, and completely trying to force the issue, I decided it would be a good idea to take one of my Rangers jerseys out of the closet and lay in on the floor in the bedroom. For I had this stupid, ridiculous, WTF was I thinking idea in my head, that with each goal the Rangers scored, I would take another jersey out of the closet, and basically make a path of jerseys from the bedroom, to the living room.

Really Tony?

REALLY??

#1..Ya probably don’t have enough jerseys to do that...it’s a long freaking distance from the living room to the bedroom. That’s the first thing.

#2..Laying a jersey on the floor is (with all due respect to Old Glory) probably the hockey equivalent of laying the American flag on the ground…YA JUST DON’T DO IT!!

#3..What a stupid freaking idea…WHY on earth would you do that???

And as if to show you how RIDICULOUS this asinine idea was...the hockey gods made sure the Rangers didn’t score ONE goal last night.

Not one.

And why?

Because you are an idiot.

And now because of YOU, the Rangers basically have a do or die situation coming up tomorrow, at the Garden, against the Devils. That thing you wanted to avoid all season long? That fear you’ve lived with for the past 2 or 3 months, that it would all come down to this last freaking game? Well, it's here. And all because YOU decided to force a stupid, unfounded, idiotic idea down the throats of the hockey gods. And they saw it for all its ridiculousness, bent you over the couch, and shoved it where the sun doesn’t shine.

Idiot.

Ok...so, moving back to reality.

I do realize that my actions last night (most likely…probably…I GUESS), didn’t have any affect on the play of the Rangers last night. No, the only ones to blame for that complete and utter no show, that 60 minute disgrace, in the biggest game of the year (until of course, Saturday’s), is squarely upon the shoulders of the Boys in Blue. They had nothing. Absolutely NOTHING, and how on earth they could come out and play like that against the freaking Atlanta Thrashers, who by the way WILL get destroyed by the Carolina Hurricanes tonight, after that emotional win on Monday against the Bruins, is BEYOND my capacity for justification. And after watching that garbage last night, I am not very optimistic about Saturday’s upcoming tilt against New Jersey. Could they surprise me? Sure. Am I expecting it? Not really. And if they do win, and somehow hold off the Hurricanes, I think it will be more of a relief than anything. But whatever...heaven forbid they don’t get in, all I’ve really done is saved myself from a beat down against the Capitals in the first round, right? RIGHT??

No, not really. The truth is, I still believe in this team. And deep down, I truly believe that if they do get in, the Rangers could actually do some damage in the playoffs, or at the very least, scare the living daylights out of a top seed in the East. They have that aura about them. They’re a low seed with a great goaltender, a blue collar mentality, and are primed for a Cinderella run. And yes, I am just talking out of pure anger right now. Cause I was expecting A LOT more from them last night. After that great win Monday night, after Ryan Callahan literally sacrificed his season to secure that victory, I honestly had bought in to the whole, “Rally for Cally”, “Us against the world” mentality. And for them to come out like they did, against a team that has NOTHING to play for, was a slap in the face to Rangers fans, and to Callahan, for that matter. They needed to do better. And they need to be better moving forward, plain and simple.

They have one more chance tomorrow afternoon. Whether Carolina wins or loses tonight, they need to come out against the Devils and give a MUCH better showing then they did against the Thrashers.

They owe it to themselves, they owe it Callahan, and they owe it to us.