What an utter disappointment these Finals have been

Canessa

The Canessa Commentary
By KEVIN CANESSA Jr.

NEW YORK —

There were 18,006 people supposedly in Madison Square Garden last night. Were I a betting man, I’d say there maybe 20,000 there — and legions of others who will claim to have been there years down the line.

And yet, with the bat of an eyelash — as the new-sounding buzzer went off at MSG to signify that the first period was over — so, too, was the series I really believed would be won by the New York Rangers. And with it went the hopes and dreams of so many diehards — and significantly more front-runners who couldn’t tell you the difference between interference or icing ... or who couldn’t pick Henrik Lundqvist out of a police lineup.

At the end of one period, on a goal with .7 seconds left, the Kings had a 1-0 lead, and for all intents and purposes, the series that had so much promise to be epic — instantly became a dud.

Now in fairness, since by wins and losses, this series has a total parallel to the Finals in 2012, I should note I don’t think this series will necessarily end tomorrow night.

But come on. This is been absolutely fu**ing brutal to watch. And the Rangers. Well, they just look outmatched and outclassed in every facet of the game — from coaching to the goalie. From center ice to the blue lines.

This was a series that was supposed to be competitive.

But the Rangers power play?

This was a series that was supposed to go long.

But Jonathan Quick?

This was a series that could have had 1994 written all over it.

This guy’s post-season has been
nothing short of brilliant.

Instead, it reeks of 1995.

Yet the truth is, we all should have seen this coming. When the Kings get going as they did against San Jose, by coming back from an 0-3 deficit, we still weren’t sure they were legitimate.

After they won Game 7 in Chicago in overtime, some believed they would be exhausted from playing 21 of 21 possible games in the first three rounds.

Yet this is the Kings. This is the team that lost but once on the road in the 2012 playoffs (Game 5 of the Cup Finals). This is the same team that has 17 players who knew what that team did. This is a team some of us forgot about.

We forgot that frankly, they’re the best team in hockey, and are on the verge of forming a dynasty.

And yet, the Rangers, whom no one expected to be here, have every reason to look at the 2014 season fondly.

And yet further, can the season be seen as a success if they ultimately don’t win the Cup?

But this guy — just wow!

Back in 2012, me mate Joel asked me — was the 2011-12 season a success for the New Jersey Devils? My answer was quick — it was a failure. Nothing other than a championship matters.

And yet, I still look back at that 2012 run with amazement. It shouldn’t have happened.

And perhaps the same should be said of the Rangers.

Which is what makes this all the more difficult. When you’re a team that hasn’t been to the finals in precisely two decades, getting there has got to seem like a genuine joy. But part of what separates the Rangers and the Devils is that far too often, the New York organisation as a whole is content raising a DIVISION CHAMPIONS banner. Or in October, an EASTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS banner.

In October 2012, that same conference-champs banner wasn’t raised at all. It started the season already lifted among the hoards of other banners.

And perhaps that is what should happen at MSG in October.

Because the minute a team gets complacent raising banners other than the big one, it becomes that much more impossible to get back to the Finals.

And with the talent this Rangers team has — and the great stories of Martin St. Louis and Dom Moore — there is no reason why this team cannot get back to the Finals again.

Then again, is there anything sweeter for fans of not the Rangers than knowing that once again, Henrik Lundqvist will have lost his final game of the season?

Now that it is almost over, it’s time to look ahead.

Nice little run, Rangers. Nice little run, indeed.

Unfortunately, it makes not one difference, though.

And it won’t, perhaps, until it’s 2048.

And now, save for the clinching game and eventual parade to cover, it’s time to get back to the team we know and love most.

And to hoping that somehow, it improves — and soon, we’re back in the Finals, too.

Only instead of getting there and being awe-stricken by the opposing goalie, we find a way to win a game, or two, or three — or definitely four.