It has been a crappy week for New York Sports fans.
The New York Knicks aside (throw in the Jets and the Giants too because they are in the offseason and can’t disappoint us yet), New York sports has failed to deliver.
The New York Yankees are a hot mess, the New York Mets are an even bigger hot mess and the New York Rangers joined the New York Islanders in being dumped out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
It was a brutal loss for the Blueshirts and changes could be coming in what will be a long offseason.
As such, there was only one man to ask to come on the show to help me break it all down and that man was Jonny Lazarus. The Rangers Beat Writer for The Hockey News joined to discuss:
(7:10) Andrew and Jonny dive into what went wrong for the New York Rangers against the New Jersey Devils in their Eastern Conference First Round series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
(16:45) The guys discuss comments made by Artemi Panarin this week, why he’s become a scapegoat for New York sports fans, and why he needs more support from Rangers fans and why we need to do a better job of building Panarin up rather than trying to break him down.
(22:40) The future of Head Coach Gerard Gallant is addressed. The guys think the team should just run it back for one more year, but both admit a coaching change is probably on the horizon.
(27:20) The Rangers won’t be able to make massive changes to this roster because of the salary cap, and Andrew and Jonny get into what the front office should do with Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko. Jonny thinks Kane isn’t done in New York.
(30:10) Andrew can’t stop his obsession with Ryan Reaves, but do the Rangers need another spark-plug for the bottom-six? Jonny thinks more speed is the key. And putting pucks in the back of the net.
(34:45) Both guys agree that Chris Kreider should now be considered an all-time Ranger. And why this team will be a contender in 2024, as long as they use this year’s disappointment as extra motivation.
(37:40) The guys finish by discussing what has been an insane postseason so far, and they give their thoughts on what’s to come as we get deeper into the Second Round. Jonny gives his picks for who he thinks will battle it out for the Stanley Cup.
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The Andrew Steele Podcast: Ep 11: New York Rangers Autopsy With Jonny Lazarus