There's White Heat Anger Among The Citizens Of Rangerville

The stench won't go away. In fact it's becoming more intense around Seventh Avenue and West 33rd Street.

As the Rangers playoff chances have turned into mudslide, the fans and critics are venting their fury.

My Blueshirts buddy Harvey (Hutch) Cohen, as insightful a student of the game as Jon Cooper, watched last night's 4-0 Devils victory. These are the words he used to describe the flubs.

"Un-Spirited; No intensity; Outworked, Outhustled; Totally disjointed; A complete team collapse."

You wouldn't know it listening to Adam Fox who says, "We've been pretty good." (Really! Good at what? Losing!)

I asked The Maven's ace reporter Solon Mihas what he learned as he watched from the Prudential Center press box. Here's how he put it:

"The Rangers seemed nothing short of disinterested," says Mihas.

Pre-game, I wrote that this game would be a perfect chance for veterans, such as J.T. Miller, to lead New York to victory. Solon's comment:

"J.T. was a minus-two for the night as were most of the so-called 'Core' and K'Andre Miller flat out didn't impress anyone. In the first period he made a defensive blunder that could have been costly.

"From top to bottom, the Rangers looked flat despite outshooting the Devils 26-16. As for Shesterkin, he could do only so much on his own without consistent defense in front of him."

One of Mihas' assignments was to track second game, highly-touted rookie Gabe Perreault. 

Mihas: "Perreault held his own; nothing good and nothing bad. He had one solid chance from the slot in the third period off a pass from J.T. Miller but goalie Markstrom had the answer."

Of all Mihas' observations, the one that hit home with me was that "The Rangers looked nothing short of disinterested."

How can a team that's supposedly fighting tooth and nail for a playoff berth play a "disinterested" game at this critical point in the season?

Simple. They exist in a country club atmosphere. They are overpaid players with cushy, long-term contracts  buoyed by – see useless Mika Zibanejad – by "no trade" clauses.

As for fans such as Hutch Cohen or journalists like Solon Mihas, Adam Fox's idea of "pretty good hockey," just doesn't cut it.

And as for the Fat Cats, they are too protected to be terribly concerned about winning and losing.

If "Always Minus" Mika can successfully resist a trade, he's merely echoing the famed Mad Magazine character Alfred E. Newman whose three little words said it all: "WHAT? ME WORRY?"