Monthly Archives: February 2018

Let’s Go Rangers?

NY Rangers

Ok, we’re on the other side of the trade deadline. A lot of moves have been made league-wide but there have been none as drastic as the New York Rangers. And we might as well be honest, it’s been long overdue. Patchwork pickups and hail mary trades didn’t work in seasons past so here we are since that tactic obviously doesn’t work for this organization.

After a terrible start, a recovery that went into some stumbles which have ended in a face plant of a season. The Rangers were simply not working as a team and the hit list of injuries made the deficiencies of the remaining players (namely the old guard that should have been able to step up) became obvious to everyone.

I mean, it all came to a head with our usual “lean on me” goalie Henrik Lundqvist collapsing under the weight of a terrible defensive line that hung him out to dry more times than you can count. He’s only one guy and hockey is a team sport. The turnovers got ridiculous and the unrelenting pressure finally got to Lundqist…he lost his professional composure. You could see him angry in games, he wasn’t able to move on from letting one get by him. One of the most reliable players on the team for basically ten years got fed up. That’s terrible.

So we’re smack dab in one of the worst losing streaks for the team in a long time. The head office putting out a public letter to fans saying a reorganization was starting with this trade deadline smacked the entire team upside the head. Their bosses didn’t believe in them anymore. That brought moral down and I think that contributed to the slide. Coming out and saying “brace yourself for what’s coming…we’re looking towards the future” will do that to anyone. And they weren’t kidding.

Here’s the list:

Defenseman Ryan McDonagh and forward J.T. Miller to the Tampa Bay Lightning for: forward Vladislav Namestnikov, a first-round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, a conditional first-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, forward prospect Brett Howden and defenseman prospect Libor Hajek.

Forward Rick Nash to the Boston Bruins for: forwards Ryan Spooner and Matt Beleskey, defenseman prospect Ryan Lindgren, a first-round pick in 2018 and a seventh-round pick in 2019.

Forward Michael Grabner to the New Jersey Devils for: a second-round pick in 2018 and defenseman prospect Yegor Rykov.

Defenseman Nick Holden to the Boston Bruins for: defenseman Rob O’Gara and a third-round pick in 2018.

That’s five NY Rangers gone. Nash and McDonagh are staples of the franchise. Them gone leaves very few of the old guard remaining. Miller, Grabner, Holden are much newer to the team.

Out of that list, Holden was the obvious one to go and the intent to get something for Nash wasn’t much of a secret. I’m really surprised at letting Miller go (I like him a lot, I think he has great potential) and that makes me wonder if they are going to stick with coach Alain Vigneault. It’s no secret that a ton of fans want him to be shown the door. A lot of blame can be put on him for letting problems fester (veterans continually playing like garbage) and not utilizing young talent (word is he and Miller didn’t get along).

These new players push the median age of the team way down. They said they wanted to rebuild and they did not lie. Many prospective players in there as well and what amounts to a ton of early draft picks. There was some serious wheeling and dealing done, the front office managed to get a lot in return for what they offered. Kudos on that.

My gut reaction is that this had to be done and was inevitable. Make moves now for what amounts to huge potential gains for the near future (I read serious Cup runs in 5 years from the people who do this conjecture for a living) instead of massive salary cap problems and zero growth for the foreseeable future. I’ve been watching this team for awhile so I have an attachment to the roster. It’s a major upheaval and the very, very, real potential of not making it to the playoffs (lol at Cup Finals) is a real dig at the soul after making 7 straight runs. It’s just gross.

So the new team plays for the first time tonight. The black fog of uncertainty of the trade deadline is gone and everyone can refocus. The coaching staff must be getting no sleep and practice must be nuts. There is so much to work on and figure out to get the new lines set up, I have no idea where they start on that. And with all of those high draft picks, if the front office borks that up, it will be their time at the guillotine.

The Rangers are currently 9 points out of the second playoff wildcard spot so it’s not yet mathematically impossible for them to make it in. I’d like to see them do it just so they can salvage the regular season. My take is that making the playoffs means you are a success. If you don’t, it’s a failure, you weren’t good enough to be considered a champion.

A lot has to go right for a wildcard spot but the biggest, and the only thing they can control is that the Rangers play as a team again.

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight

Movies

Gotham by Gaslight is one of the better DC animated films to come out recently. The story is an adaptation (not a direct recreation) of the one-shot comic book by Brian Augustyn (writer) and Mike Mignola (artist) published in 1989. An “Elseworlds” tale, Gaslight is an alternate universe take on Batman. This means while some elements are familiar (character names and roles are largely the same) it isn’t a slave to the mythos so a lot is changed. Think of it as a “What if…” way of storytelling.

Set in Gotham City in the Victorian era, the vigilante Batman is after a terror of the city: Jack the Ripper. The Dark Knight vs The Night Terror, if you will. With a guy running around at night dressed as a bat, the people think he is the murderer when women turn up butchered on the streets. Of course, Bruce Wayne is on the case as soon as the first woman is discovered and he works the cast to catch the real killer. When Batman first encounters Jack when he goes after Selina Kyle, he quickly realizes that this guy isn’t a random thug, he has serious training. A game of cat and mouse, Batman must quickly put the pieces together to stop this serial killer.

I like these types of stories because it offers great freedom to the writer to take an established character and do something interesting and unexpected. Staple characters are given altered roles and backgrounds and I find that to be pretty engaging as it makes for new character interactions that can play with what’s expected. A taught 74 minutes long, Gaslight doesn’t waste any time.

Gotham has always been presented as a gothic looking city, but altering the setting to resemble the Victorian era offers great visual changes. The backdrops are different, Batman’s outfit is much simpler, as are his gadgets. Sure it’s still top of the line stuff since Bruce Wayne is still from a wealthy family, but it’s a paired down to fit the time. I think this is one of the more striking Batman animated films as it harkens back to the look of the Bruce Timm led 90s Animated Series. While that was aesthetically set in the 1950s, this is similar in that the era frames all the events and resulting action.

Great voice work tied to solid animation and a powerful score made this one of the more enjoyable DC animated films for me. I really liked the simplicity of it. Batman isn’t kitted out in military-style gear. He’s pretty new to the vigilante gig so his instincts aren’t entirely honed. All of the action is up close and personal with an emphasis on more boxing for hand to hand combat than weapons or crazy martial arts. The fights show off some of the best animation and the rooftop chase with the out of control blimp is a real stand out.

The supporting characters are great, the stand out being Selina Kyle. She’s not Catwoman in this, but she has the same personality, abilities, and most importantly, strong drive and motivation. She doesn’t wait around for things to happen and she is no pushover.

I was surprised by how adult they took this. Of course, Jack attacking prostitutes sets the stage for what’s going on, there was more cursing than I ever expected to hear (Jack has a certain view of women and isn’t shy about sharing his thoughts when it comes down to it).

I dug this a lot, it scratched an itch that I’ve had for awhile.

And We’re Back

Life, NY Rangers, TV

The TV broke last Saturday (backlight problem) and I managed to get it back fixed on Friday. Not something you want to do with a 4 1/2-year-old set but that’s the kind of quality you get with modern TVs now. So I’m a little behind on my programs.

The new season of Channel Zero has started. Butcher’s Block has two female leads as the protagonists again but aside from that, it’s a very different story so far. I like what I’ve seen.

Homeland is back on Showtime! It picks up two months after last season. Carrie is largely on her own and she’s doing everything in her power to live up to the oath she took to defend her country. Carrie lost a lot last year and under normal circumstances, anyone would have a hard time dealing with the loss of someone that close. The new presidency is off to a terrible start and whenever Carrie is on the outside looking in, she tends to make rash decisions that don’t go well. I’m not too sure where they’re headed with this season, but two episodes in and I’m engaged.

Netflix is throwing up new content nearly every day and it feels like I’m eons behind at this point. I finished Punisher which I thought took too long to really get going. Another case of a Marvel show with too many episodes being ordered. Enjoyable in the end though. I’ve started on Black Mirror but I’ll write about that later when I finish the season.

The big one on the horizon for me is the final season of The Americans. The ads have started showing and that’ll start at the end of March, so we’re pretty close. That will get weekly posts as it airs.

The New York Rangers are in a spiral that is painful to watch. It was always a “maybe if they pull things together” they could get to the Cup Finals. That’s always the stretch goal. At the start of the season, I was sure they’d make it to the playoffs, at least continue that years-long stretch. Now? Forget it. What’s happening now is depressing…the team hasn’t played this bad in a very long time so it’s a bewildering experience. I’m hoping at this point for them to get some in the next 6 regular season weeks (!) to finish with a positive win percentage.

TV PSA

TV

The Detour is back on TBS. I hated the season 2 finale but two episodes in and the show is back on track.

Baskets is back on FX. More people should be watching this.

Happy! has finished it’s first season run. Wild show that was smartly 8 episodes long to tell its story. That left no time to waste so it moved along and had no chance to get stuck in a rut or overstay its welcome. I think enough background to the characters were given and satisfying resolution at the end made for a complete story. A good start with a perfect set up for more, I look forward to the next run.