Rangers: What Me Worry?
What's with Markus Naslund?
Posted on Wednesday, October 15, 2008 at 11:30 AMThe Rangers are no laughing matter – to opponents, that is.
Yet, this morning (Wednesday) I had my first Rangers chuckle while thinking about tonight's visit to The Garden by Lindy Ruff and his somewhat-sizzling Buffalo Sabres. BLING! It was the phone and the voice belonged to my buddy, crack photographer, Dave Perlmutter.
Although the Blueshirts (5-0) are a mere win away from setting a franchise record of six straight Ws in launching a new season, citizens of Rangerville are worried. Pal Perlmutter is Exhibit P. His voice instantly betrayed concern so, naturally, I wondered what was getting him so hot and bothered.
"The first line isn't producing," he blurted as only a Hungarian can blurt. "Markus Naslund in particular."
My response – and this goes for any of you other skeptics about Tom's Renneygades – was, and is, succinct:
"The club has won five straight. And, besides, Naslund will be just fine."
But a skeptic is a SKEPTIC, so Dauntless Dave persisted and demanded to know what The Maven believes is wrong with off-the-mark Markus.
"He's played in Vancouver for so long," I shot back, "that he's not accustomed to East Coast hockey."
Perlmutter figured that I was putting him on and – not for the first time – laughed me off. And that was precisely my point; Naslund will be just fine with Scott Gomez and Chris Drury, provided that Renney allows the gears to mesh.
Tinkering with a winning combination is not a sensible prescription. The first line is trying too hard, but they'll get over that issue. Last year, Gomez had difficulty finding Jaromir Jagr; this won't be the case with Naslund. This line moves the puck as well as any, or, at least they will in good time; maybe even tonight.
Or, to put my thoughts in the Alfred E. Newman (Mad Magazine) lexicon: "What, me worry?"
The Sabres are the ones with anxiety. At least, they should be suffering some.
Coming off a rout at Nassau on Monday afternoon, Ruff's sextet must be feeling full of themselves, which is well and good. But the indisputable fact is that Renney has his players skating as a unit better than they ever did during the Jagr-Sean Avery era.
I'm convinced that part of the current success is attributable to Renney now being able to coach his team without any surplus Jagr input, without Avery's antics and with the motivation that Avery, himself, provided by dissing his former team – as weaker without him – the moment he put his signature on a Dallas contract.
New York's defense is playing as a solid unit, Gomez is backchecking and, as demonstrated against the Devils on Monday, the Blueshirts can clog the middle with the best of them.
Right now, the Rangers are inspiring smiles on the mugs of their loyalists. Perhaps a win tonight will change the minds of skeptics such as my bud, Dave. Not that The Maven wants to be pushy or anything, but a red light or two from Naslund wouldn't be the worst tonic in the world.
MORE:
