New York Rangers Season is Over; a Letter to Fans

Dear New York Rangers Fans,

With another listless and embarrassing loss tonight, at the hands of the New Jersey Devils, I think it is safe to say that the season is over for the Rangers and that there will be no playoffs come April. The Rangers desperately needed the win tonight over their arch rivals. They had lost three in a row and needed to find a spark and some energy. Tonight, the Rangers, yet again, leave their fans at a loss for words. Tonight, players like Brandon Prust and Erik Christensen outplayed the stars like Prospal and Gaborik. Lundqvist was absolutely brutal and the defense was like a sieve.

The Rangers must look to the very bleak future, and pray they can be bad enough for a good draft pick. It is that sad time when it is time to root for the Rangers to lose and teams like the Hurricanes, Islanders, and Maple Leafs to keep on winning.

There is so much wrong with this Rangers team that it cannot all be covered in just one article. I don't know where to begin. I was never on the Fire Sather bandwagon, and I'm still not--under one condition, and that is everyone going. Sather and the entire front office need to go, as does the coaching staff. The entire crop of personnel should also be shopped this summer. Girardi has to walk when the season ends. Words can not describe now atrocious he has played. I would say the same for Gilroy as well, and would not renew his contract. As for Wade Redden, does it even need to be said?

I would also hope that the Rangers seriously contemplate trading Gaborik and Lundqvist, more so the former than the latter, but both could fetch a very exciting return. Fans will not like it, but can you imagine what could be had for players of that caliber?

As for Tortorella, I would hope his tenure ends before this season ends. I don't care what anyone says about the roster being bad or whatever the excuse is. Fact of the matter is, he is not the right coach for this team. Never was, never will be. His tenure here has been a joke. His mantra of being tough has been a joke. His antics, both on the bench and in the press room, have been a joke. I don't like clowns, and if I did, I would go see the circus, which as of right now, calls Madison Square Garden it's home.

This article is really too short to describe what I really want to say, especially with a slew of expletives needing to be held back. What is yet to come will not be pretty and we must hold fast. Wanting the Rangers to just bow out and tank does not mean you are not a true fan. To all of you out there, I ask that you remain supportive of the team, but from a distance. Don't buy into what you hear from MSG Network or any Rangers related official. Don't buy the fact that Gaborik is healthy, and that all is well in the locker room; you are smarter than that.

We must now stand together and acknowledge that this season is over, and hopefully in a season or two, a new era of Rangers hockey can be ushered in. I will leave you now with this quote from George Orwell's 1984, because I think it pretty much sums up what the upcoming months will hold: "If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face, forever."

Sincerely,
Greg Caggiano