Ranger Fan Central Column

Something has been bugging me all season and it just keeps getting worse. The New York Rangers do not respond to cheapshots against their teammates and the opposition knows it.

Is it me or does it feel like CHING JOHNSON was the last Ranger to stand up for a teammate?!?

OK, more likely but just as sad, you may have to go back as far as Graves or Beukeboom. Contrary to what MSG Network wants you to think, those guys are ANCIENT HISTORY.

It sickens me to watch this soft team allow the franchise goalie get run, the captain get KO'd and we all know it's only a matter of time before Gaborik gets taken out. Those are the 3 guys they should protect the most.

But who's going to respond?

• Avery? Too small and all talk
• Brashear? Too old and breaking down apparently
• Voros? He is a Human Punching Bag
• Byers? Maybe, seems to have the right mindset

So there's maybe one guy among the forwards? Two if Brashear is healthy enough to play but this guy has yet to win a fight in a Blueshirt.

The most likely to respond among the defensemen? I wish it would be Staal but he doesn't seem to have it in him. It'd probably be Girardi or Redden if anybody at all. That is laughable, but true.

As witnessed so far this season, none of these guys are going to start a fight when it is called for. It is past time to stop hiding behind the instigator rule and stand up for each other. Some penalties are worth taking.

I'm not asking for a team full of goons but how about a team with pride that has each other's back and doesn't allow themselves to be pushed around?

What is it going to take? Drury is already concussed, Lundqvist has been pancaked multiple times this year -- lose him and there goes the season. I don't think anyone wants Valiquette to have to take the reigns for an extended period.

What do you think? Will GM Glen Sather address this issue? Is the current team going to stick up for one another or is a change in personnel called for?

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