New York Rangers Fans Have Had It With This Team After Embarrassing Loss To Chicago

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Full disclosure: this post is mostly for my own catharsis as a New York Rangers fan. Being a Rangers fan sucks most of the time. But that's especially true this season. And it's double-especially true after an embarrassing home loss on Monday night against the NHL-worst Chicago Blackhawks. 

Despite having Henrik Lundqvist – the best goalie on the planet – for 15 seasons, New York never hoisted the Stanley Cup. The team only reached the Stanley Cup Final once during that run, too, and lost to the Los Angeles Kings. 

Yet, they managed to replace the aging Lundqvist with Igor Shesterkin, arguably the best goalie on the planet, starting in 2020. 

But here we are again with a dominant goaltender that can't help a team that is missing key elements. The Rangers reached the Eastern Conference Final last season, but lost to a clearly faster and more-skilled Florida Panthers team. 

New York Rangers fans are fed up after an embarrassing loss at Madison Square Garden on Monday night against the NHL-worst Chicago Blackhawks.

New York Rangers fans are fed up after an embarrassing loss at Madison Square Garden on Monday night against the NHL-worst Chicago Blackhawks. 

(Imagn Images)

The team did little to improve in the offseason, mostly due to a terrible salary cap situation thanks to a terrible deal for captain Jacob Trouba. 

Don't get me wrong: I loved having Trouba on the Rangers. I met him at the team's annual Casino Night and he was a delight. He's a good guy and a decent player. But he just wasn't worth $8 million per season against the cap. 

Rangers GM Chris Drury managed to somehow get rid of Trouba last week, but that didn't change the fact that this core of players hasn't gotten it done. 

The team is centered around its four best players (other than Shesterkin): Artemi Panarin, Adam Fox, Chris Krieder and Mika Zibanejad. 

Panarin is an all-world hockey player who disappears in the playoffs. Like, every season. Zibanejad is a good player, and he's been good in the playoffs, but he's mostly a power-play specialist. 

Chris Kreider was passed over for the captaincy for Trouba, and while fans might have hated that move, there had to be a reason for it. 

Adam Fox is a Norris Trophy-winning defenseman, and there's not much to complain about in his game. He's perfectly suited for the modern NHL. Fox is not the problem here. 

What is the problem, then? Well, that's hard to say. Rangers fans have their thoughts and there's one common theme: blow it up and start over. 

Following the team's home loss on Monday night at home against the NHL's worst team, the Chicago Blackhawks, the Rangers X account was flooded with comments from angry fans. And this was after they were booed off the ice by the fans in attendance. 

So, yeah, it's bad. I do not envy the position of GM Chris Drury, who now needs to make some massive moves in-season to avoid this turning into a wasted season. Which, in turn, is a wasted season of Shesterkin's prime. 

Ask Henrik Lundqvist about wasted prime seasons. The Rangers wasted his entire career with a roster that wasn't built to win.

There's still time in Shesterkin's career, but as they say: "It's getting late early." 

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Dan began his sports media career at ESPN, where he survived for nearly a decade. Once the Stockholm Syndrome cleared, he made his way to OutKick. He is secure enough in his masculinity to admit he is a cat-enthusiast with three cats, one of which is named "Brady" because his wife wishes she were married to Tom instead of him.