SCRUM-TIOUS: Eric Boulton of the Devils (left) trades punches with the Rangers’ Brandon Prust during the Rangers’ 2-0 triumph last night at the Garden. (Getty Images)
Maybe Scott Howson read the standings upside down. Maybe the Blue Jackets general manager thought his team was first overall in the NHL rather than 30th, and maybe he thought the Rangers were last instead of first in the Eastern Conference and first in the league in points-per-game.
Perhaps that explains why Howson acted with a sense of entitlement through his negotiations regarding Rick Nash with Rangers GM Glen Sather, who lusted after the power winger to such an extent he is believed to have offered the Blue Jackets a five-asset package including Brandon Dubinsky, 21-year-old top defense prospect Tim Erixon, highly regarded 2011 first-round draft choice J.T. Miller and 2010 second-round pick Christian Thomas, along with a 2012 first-round selection in order to make it happen as yesterday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline approached.
There is a difference though between lusting and sinning, the latter the impulse Sather ultimately resisted by rejecting Howson’s laughable demand the package include Dubinsky — plus either Ryan McDonagh or Michael Del Zotto — plus either Derek Stepan or Carl Hagelin — plus 2009 first-rounder Chris Kreider, the Boston College winger who conceivably could join the Rangers when his college season ends — plus a 2012 first-round selection.
Before the Rangers’ 2-0 victory over the Devils in last night’s simmering Madison Square Garden match, Sather said he saw no reason to “dismantle” the organization, though one questions his definition of the word, given what he was willing to sacrifice in order to bring Nash to The Great Blue Way.
Acquiring Nash would have signaled a significant shift in the dynamic that has been as integral to the Rangers’ success as the talent on the ice. It is hard to believe such a move would have been for the better when taking into account what this group has accomplished.
There is a mindset within the room that is filled with disciples of coach John Tortorella who have bought so deeply into the coach’s precepts, the club now has the feel of a cult to anyone outside the inner circle.
These Rangers believe in the method of Tortorella’s madness. They will block any shot, take any hit, bear any burden, pay any price, meet any hardship, support any friend and oppose any foe in order to ensure success in the coach’s image they have adopted as their very own.
“Well, I’m not going to use the word ‘cult,’ ” Brad Richards said with a nervous chuckle when it was suggested as much, No. 19 perhaps envisioning headlines about Jim Jones and Kool-Aid. “But you are on to something there.
“What Torts demands might not be for everybody and if you don’t fit in, you’re going to be weeded out. The team here has gone through that process. You have to commit to a mindset to play for him and that’s what we all share here.”
One by one, the players expressed measures of relief and gratitude they will get to finish the job they started in September. One by one, they reaffirm their belief in what has become the Rangers Way.
“I’m glad management believes in us and what we have and what we have built the last five or six months,” Henrik Lundqvist said after recording his fourth shutout in his last 12 starts. “This is crunch time now, this is the fun time now and we get to stay together to try and accomplish our goals.”
One night after another, the Rangers lay it all on the line for one another. They comprise a fundamentally self-sustaining group.
There was no good reason to break it up — even if Howson had given Sather one.