As we sit over a third of the way through the 2010-2011 NHL season, the Rangers are off to a fine start. Not fine as in exemplary, not fine as is the finer things in life, not fine as is “dang she’s fine,” rather the casually dismissive “I’m fine, thanks for asking.” The point is, just like the 2009-2010 season in which the Rangers went, 38-33-11, and the 2008-2009 season, finishing at 43-30-9, the Rangers are on pace to be in playoff contention, but at this point in the maturation of the current group of players, is that really good enough? For the record, the Rangers qualified for the playoffs as the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference in 2008-2009 and missed the playoffs entirely the following year, though the race came down to the wire.In fact, in the 4 years preceding 2008-2009, the Rangers qualified for the postseason play, yet failed to deliver any hardware to the Madison Square Garden trophy case, after finishing no higher than 3^rd in the Atlantic Division. And where do the Rangers sit currently, you ask? Were the season to end today, the Rangers would indeed qualify for the playoffs, yet trail, you guessed it, two teams in the Atlantic Division. These means the Rangers, who in recent history have proved to fold in the face of adversity, would once again be called upon to not only defend their home ice but steal a game on the road in unfriendly confines.At this point it’s time to look beyond the players on the ice at bigger problems facing the franchise, from the organization’s brass to the unalterable frowns at the hand of fate. Yes, it’s unfortunate to be tied to the same division as Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in their primes, but with the highest payroll in the league, at some point one would believe talent assessment and chemistry may be what’s keeping the Rangers from a return to Cup glory.

This post is filed under In-Season Reports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.