The message among the Rangers going into this season cannot be found in a catchy marketing motto or a slogan printed on the back of a shirt.
asserted
message → go → shirt
tRY IT NOWWhat the Blueshirts are hoping to establish is not so much a message as it is a mutual understanding.
asserted
it → try → NOWWhat
It can be found in the little habits of the day-to-day, the dedication to building a team game and the club’s push to adopt a collective mentality as one cohesive unit.
asserted
It → find → unit
No cutesy phrase or inspirational rallying cry is going to be the difference for this team as it embarks on a consequential season.
asserted
it → go → season
The Rangers tried to implement an “It Takes Everyone” mentality.
asserted
It → try → mentality
It turned out that “Everyone Was Pissed.”
asserted
Everyone → turn → ?
And when the team donned “No BS” as its formal proclamation last year, quite a bit of BS followed.
asserted
bit → don → BS
“We can put slogans and signs on T-shirts and hang things on the wall — which is great — but we have to believe it, and we have to live it every second of every day,” head coach Mike Sullivan said on the eve of the opening night matchup Tuesday in Boston.
asserted
Sullivan → put → Boston
“If we do that, we’ve got something.
asserted
we → do → something
We’re trying to build a belief in a process that we’re applying every day, where our players and coaches and everyone buys into it.
asserted
players → try → it
We’ll see where that takes us.”
asserted
that → see → us
Sullivan cited attitude and effort — two controllables — as key factors in the Rangers reaching their potential this season.
asserted
Rangers → cite → potential
Captain J.T. Miller won’t dwell on last season and won’t look past the first period of the first game against the Bruins.
asserted
Miller → dwell → Bruins
The usual pomp and circumstance at the start of a season is noticeably missing in New York, but it feels by design.
asserted
it → miss → design
It’s all business.
asserted
It → ’ → ?
Nothing can be said that hasn’t already been said a million times before.
asserted
that → say → ?
“We know what to expect of each other,” Miller told The Post.
asserted
Miller → know → Post
The Rangers were fortunate to have both rookie goalie Dylan Garand and veteran forward Taylor Raddysh clear waivers on their way to AHL Hartford to start the season.
asserted
Garand → have → season
It fortified the organization’s depth, particularly at the goaltending position, which has been a hot commodity on the waiver wire this preseason.
asserted
which → fortify → wire
Alberts Smits bulldozing his way into the Rangers’ Opening Night lineup was beneficial for defensive depth as well.
asserted
Smits → bulldoze → depth
The Latvian blueliner looked poised to start the season with the Blueshirts very early on in training camp, but he proved his NHL-ready projection right with every exhibition game he played.
asserted
he → look → game
Like he’s been since the start of preseason, Smits was nonchalant about becoming the first 18-year-old defenseman on the Rangers since Dave Maloney 52 years ago.
asserted
Smits → become → Maloney
Asked if he expected to make the team, the new No. 12 said it’s the reason he came to New York.
asserted
he → ask → York
“I don’t really care if you’re 18 or 30 or 60, job’s going to stay the same,” he said.
asserted
he → care → ?
“So yeah, I’m just trying to focus on the instructions that the coaches are giving us and trying to execute as best as I can.”
asserted
I → try → us
The last time the Rangers carried eight defensemen out of training camp was the 2021-22 season, when they didn’t want to waive Nils Lundkvist and/or Libor Hajek out of fear of them being claimed.
asserted
them → carry → fear
To give an idea of how much has changed since then, Adam Fox is the only holdover from that defense corps.
asserted
Fox → give → corps
The Rangers opted to keep Scott Morrow around instead of exposing him on the waiver wire and potentially losing him for nothing.
asserted
Rangers → opt → nothing
“We think Scott [Morrow] had a strong camp also,” Sullivan said.
asserted
Sullivan → think → camp
We feel like the guys that are here are deserving to be here, and that’s why they’re here.
asserted
they → feel → ?
Both Scott and [Matthew Robertson], we feel have had pretty good training camps also, and so based on what we have — the roster, the business side of the game, all those things — the decisions were made accordingly.”
asserted
decisions → feel → game
The Aporia
