Joe's Reaction of the Week: Joe Got It Wrong, 2026 Edition
Nobody's perfect, not even Joe. His yearly rundown of blown calls covers a playoff collapse, a captain's vanishing act, and a coaching call he still won't let go of.
Hello my dear chickadees. What I am about to say may frighten you, and for that I apologize. I know how terrifying it is to realize dad may have been incorrect about something. In these rare moments, I implore you to remember that while I might seem it, I am not perfect. That said, I am way better than anyone else and I am the best shot you have at New York Rangers perfection.
Last year, I started the "Joe Was Wrong" column, a now yearly tradition where I tell you the top five things I got wrong from the year prior.
Today, I give you the 2026 version. And, oh boy, are there things.
1) The Rangers Would Be a Playoff Team
I mean, let's get the big boy out of the way at the top. I did not think the Rangers would be Stanley Cup contenders, and I did not think they would make a lot of noise in the playoffs. But, I did think they'd be there.
Apparently you can't score exactly three goals the first 19 home games of the season and make the playoffs. Who knew?
Lesson learned.
I would argue that the shutout situation in October games at Madison Square Garden was so insane it was more bad luck than anything else. The wheels really hadn't fallen off the wagon yet, and it was a case of the 'wrong place at the wrong time' so many times that all you could do was laugh. It would be like sitting at the roulette table and betting black only to lose 10 times in a row. It is rare, but it happens.
The problem for the Rangers was it happened at the start of the year and got them in a mental hole they never got out of. J.T. Miller got hurt in the preseason and didn't look the same (until the Olympics), the power play was toothless, the defense was fine at first but, again, the Rangers couldn't score goals, and Vincent Trocheck went down with an early scary injury as well that wreaked havoc on the lineup.
All in all? Not a good time.
As a result, the Rangers immediately cancelled their "no BS" slogan and gave us more BS than we knew what to do with.
There are plenty of reasons why this happened, but for the purpose of this column, I was wrong. Full stop.
Will I be wrong about this again next year? Hopefully not.
But maybe.
