A Fаn's Rаnt Rірs Tһe Rаngers Wіtһ Fасts You Cаn't Deny

Here's a fans perspective on why the Rangers were an incomplete team this year.

"How dare you call the Rangers 'An incomplete team?"

That's the demand I hurled at my Manhattan taxman, Noam Kogen, a longtime fan dating back to The Original Six.

He fielded my question on the short hop.

"When the Rangers are not scoring on the power play, their five-on-five play suffers greatly," he fired back. "In order to be a 'complete team' a club needs to be able to score on five-on-five play.

"Plus, their defense was exposed as a major weakness in this year's playoffs."

Kogen claims we all were faked out by what he considered overhyped press and tv hoopla. My pal was truly offended when the current Rangers were compared to the 1994 Cup Champs.

"The Rangers media – and fans – had the 'chutzpah' to talk about Laviolette's team in the same breath as the 1994 Cup-winner. It reeked of media-fans desperation. The writers were grasping at straws. It was total, nonsensical thinking."

The Maven tried one more tack – the Presidents' Trophy. Kogen laughed that one off with a shrug. "The regular season is different from the playoffs. The Caps were lucky to get in and the Canes could have won if they had a better goalie than Andersen.'

Enough already. If I had my druthers, I'd have loved to have seen the Rangers take on the Oilers. That could have been a seven-gamer won by Shesterkin's goaltending!

I can dream, can't I?