Photo: Bruce Bennett/Chris Trotman/Getty Images
For both the NBA and NHL this is definitely a very
big question, and one that they hope the New York
franchises will answer with a long run deep into
the playoffs if not a Championship in the end.
This is no in depth article that's for sure, but
I can't help but ask out loud, what can the Knicks
do in the post season with this new found success?,
and Are the Rangers really good enough to bring home
the Stanley Cup? I'm not sure I'm the right person
to answer either question outright, but here is my
two cents on this matter.
The Knicks as of this writing are hanging on to the
7th seed in the Eastern conference of the NBA, but
in order to make any waves at all they realistically
need to be 6th seed or better to ensure that they
won't match up against the Heat or the Bulls and get
knocked out in the very first round, and in turn have
to wait for next years playoffs. Their first game
after the All Star break last night was a resounding
win over an over matched Cleveland Cavaliers squad
that is still learning to play together after
a disastrous 2010-11 season and a very short camp
with impressive rookie sensation, #1 overall draft
pick Kyrie Irving. I wasn't very impressed with the
Knicks at all, no matter what the score was.
Cleveland was on the back end of a back to back, and
probably wouldn't have blown a 17 point lead under
normal rest. Couple that with the fact the Knicks
ended the first half with a stinker at Miami, had
extra rest pre and post break, as well as extra
practice time to get their act together as a team.
All of that tells my eyes that they are not ready for
the prime time lights of the Miami Heat and Chicago
Bulls of the East, and if they want to be, they still
have plenty of strides to make in a very short time.
The New York Rangers on the other hand have the best
regular season record in the NHL, period. So what's
the problem? Well they have the players, but are
they are they battle tested enough to get by teams
that have been there and done that? Henrik Lundqvist
is not only a front runner for the Vezina trophy, but
also likely to pull a Justin Verlander and win the MVP
of the league as well if he keeps up his current pace.
Yet the second seed in the East right now are the
defending Stanley Cup Champion Bruins, and though the
Rangers have had no issues with them in recent history,
you can't help but realize that playoff hockey is a
different animal altogether, and with the Bruins being
well beyond battle tested, this is a concern.
Most teams would love to be in this position for sure,
it just doesn't necessarily add up to a trophy though.
Though it's fair to say the the Rangers have far less
to worry about than the Knicks, let me put it to you
this way, if this were the NFL the Knicks would more
likely be compared to the NY Giants at this point in
the season, where the Rangers would be more comparable
to the Green bay Packers, and we know how that turned
out, don't we? No two situations are the same so that
was purely an example, and I do not foresee a similar
outcome, but I'm sure Jim Dolan, David Stern, and Gary
Bettman wouldn't mind little NY Giants type drama of
their own this year "In the World's Most Famous Arena"
Don't Believe In Plays, Believe In Players - Al Davis
