It’s Thursday, which is musings day.  However, I still feel like my heart got ripped out last night.  Like Chris did below, I’m going to try to focus on the positives.

  • Ruslan Fedotenko could be one of the best pickups of the year.  He has been a warrior all year, and he set up two goals last night.  People ripped me when I said he would be well worth the contract.  He may not have reached the 15 goal mark that I thought he would, but he has been an integral part of this team.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see him back next year.
  • Regardless of what happens this series, the fact that the Rangers are in the playoffs is a testament to the success of this season.  There has been a youth movement, the older young guys have progressed, there is a core, and they have great chemistry.  The future does look bright.
  • The Rangers prospects that have signed already: Dylan McIlrath, Ryan Bourque, Carl Hagelin.  Rangers prospects expected to sign this year: Christian Thomas, Ethan Werek, Roman Horak, Scott Stajcer, Max Campbell, Jason Wilson, Dan Maggio.
  • The Rangers have 5 open contract spots for the 2011-2012 season, and I listed 7 players that have yet to sign.  There will be moves made, and some RFAs won’t be brought back.  I’m thinking Tyson Dowzak and John Mitchell, but that’s just a guess.
  • Brandon Dubinsky, who had his play questioned after the first two games, has shown why he can be a dominate player these past two games.  He can be a force to be reckoned with.
  • Last night’s game really accentuated the fact that the Rangers powerplay is terrible.  It’s actually worse than terrible.  They just don’t move. Hockey 101, move!
  • At what point does Henrik Lundqvist ask himself “Why couldn’t the Red Wings draft me?”.
  • Also, at what point does a shot go through Dan Girardi? I don’t mean failing to block it, I mean literally through him.  The kid sacrifices his body so much, he’s permanently black and blue.
  • I can’t believe some people tried to blame last night’s loss on 1) not playing Steve Eminger, and 2) drafting Michael Del Zotto over John Carlson.  Generally I would address this in more detail, but I decided I’m just going to ignore ignorance and stupidity instead.  I won’t go gray as fast that way.
  • Next year’s team: substitute MDZ for McCabe, Hagelin for Avery, maybe Richards for Drury, and not only does this team have a huge upgrade in talent, but in speed too.  Imagine if Christian Thomas surprises in camp the way I think he will.
  • The Rangers window to win, in my opinion, begins next season, and continues for the following five years.  I bet my friend a bottle of Blue Label that the Rangers make it to the Conference Finals by 2013.  That’s how confident I am about the skill and speed of the prospects coming up.
  • The above statement, of course, is barring significant injuries.
  • The future is bright, and you can’t succeed without failure, so while these losses are painful now, the bigger picture is what we should be looking at.
  • May as well end this on a humorous note.  There was a group of kids behind me, couldn’t have been older than 13 years old, half were Caps fans.  There was some trash talking, all in good fun, and at one point, one of the kids mentions they are from Canada.  I said wow, that must be horrible being Canadian, again all in good fun.  He responded “at least we have health insurance”.  Well played.

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