Now, Drury isn’t the best of quotes in the room, because he’s so reserved and many might say he can speak in clichés simply because of his guarded nature.

Yet, tonight was different, as the Ranger captain reached his boiling point with the team, after they were outplayed in their 3-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on home ice. Speaking with Drury, along with another reporter, when asked about what is the team’s problem, the center replied, “Immaturity, that’s what it’s been all year. Simple answer.”

And then I asked what can be done about it, Drury snapped, “Grow up real fast, in the last 12 or 13 games or whatever the hell we have left, or we will be watching playoff hockey.”

Then as the television cameras came over, the Ranger captain ended the interview.

Although he spoke for only about a minute, his words were as sharp as anytime during his three year tenure on Broadway. This team is very immature and is only in the playoff hunt because they have one of the top five goaltenders in the league.

This all starts from the top. If John Tortorella is to be believed from what he told the press today, then this team watches no video of the opponent and he doesn’t know the rules of the game off the top of his head.

If this is actually true, then Tortorella should be fired today. No modern coach can just wing it with an opponent by not watching video and of course he knows the rulebook, if he didn’t then he has no business standing behind a NHL bench.

We all know this isn’t the case. Rather, the Ranger coach continually dismisses questions from every reporter he doesn’t want to answer. Both questions were innocent enough (one was asked before the game and one after), but instead, Tortorella arrogantly and immaturely decides to blow off the reporters inquiries he doesn’t want to answer.

Frankly, if it wasn’t written into his contract, he probably wouldn’t talk to the press at all.

That sets the tone for the rest of the team. Under Tom Renney, the Ranger room was the easiest beat to ever work. Stories would write themselves as loquacious players would fill notebooks and tape recorders.

Now, things seem to have changed as many a Ranger picks and chooses his words carefully as not to tick off the guy in charge.

Yet, this is not the most damning statement about the team. Rather it’s the personnel decisions that Tortorella influenced on Glen Sather. If Renney was still the coach, both Blair Betts and Colton Orr would probably have been re-signed and Donald Brashear would be stealing someone else’s money.

Then there’s the defense, filled with either over the hill veterans and untested youngsters. There’s no shame in going with youth, but the system would have to augment the talent. Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen on the Rangers, where too many mental errors occur on the blue line, causing too much strain on Henrik Lundqvist.

Plus you should have a mentoring program in place where the veterans teach the rookies. Unfortunately, both Wade Redden and Michal Rozsival are ill-equipped in that department, so Michael Del Zotto, Matt Gilroy, and Marc Staal have to learn on the fly.

At  forward, there are also problems as Ryan Callahan, and Brandon Dubinsky have not grown into top six forwards, some would say they have taken steps back this season.  Too much early season reliance on Marian Gaborik has taken a toll on the Rangers leading scorer and none of the younger players have stepped up.

Now, Drury is not immune to any of this either. During large stretches this season the captain has vanished on the ice and his skills have eroded over the past two years. On a team filled with talent, the center probably would flourish, but as a main cog, he seems to struggle.

As captain, Drury seems to be a very quiet leader, which is not what this team seems to need, but it seems Mark Messier or Brendan Shanahan couldn’t get through to these guys now either.

The Rangers have 12 games left in the season and based on tonight’s loss there doesn’t seem to be an urgency on the ice. Each game now is a playoff game for this squad and if the Rangers don’t grow up, as Drury said, then the Garden will be dark come April.

And that would be a first in five years and a very disappoint first full year for Tortorella.

Tom Poti

Alex Ovechkin

Henrik Lundqvist

John Tortorella

For more information contact Bob at trainorcomm@gmail.com.

According to the NY Post, Kotalik is taking his time in deciding whether to accept the trade that will send the disgruntled winger along with Christopher Higgins to Calgary in exchange for Olli Jokinen and Brandon Prust.

In the meantime, Jokinen and Prust will dress tonight as the Flames will take on the Flyers, while Higgins will accompany the Blueshirts to Los Angeles. Kotalik, who was sent home yesterday, is in New York.

Since Kotalik is the centerpiece of the trade, if he does not accept the trade, the deal will fall apart and the Rangers will be left holding a player, who does not want to play for the team and is owed $6 million over the next two seasons.

But if something can be worked out, then the Blueshirts may have found a short term solution for Marian Gaborik’s pivot, as Jokinen will slot in there for the rest of the season. He is an unrestricted free agent this summer.

Cam Ward

Eric Staal

Henrik Lundqvist

Ryan Callahan

Contact Bob Trainor at trainorcomm@gmail.com for more information.

Chris Conner

Sydney Crosby

Marc-Andre Fleury

Coach Dan Blysma

Contact Bob Trainor at trainorcomm@gmail.com for more information.

There’s just something special when two greats match up for an epic battle. And 18,200 fans saw two titans in Marty Brodeur and Henrik Lundqvist face off.

“[Henrik] played phenomenal,” said forward Brandon Dubinsky. “He gave us a chance to win. Obviously Marty is a great goalie and played well, but we have to just stay on it. We played a good game tonight against a good team.”

Actually, according to coach John Tortorella, the Rangers played really well. With 51 shots on Brodeur, the Blueshirts may have played their best overall game and to quote a Jim Dolan phrase of a few years ago, did everything asked of them except win.

Lundqvist stopped 45 on his own end, yet Patrik Elias was able to beat the Ranger met minder in the fourth round of the shootout to give the Devils the 1-0 win.

“I’m glad I was involved, because I thought it was a hell of a game to watch,” Tortorella said. “As a coach you are right behind the bench. I thought it was a really good game – chances for both teams. We kill off a 5-on-3 for almost two minutes. I have no complaints on how we played. It is frustrating when you come away with one point there.”

The Rangers averted disaster on that 5-on-3, 12:04 into the second. Both Erik Christenson and Dubinsky went to the box for different infractions, giving the Devils a major scoring chance. Yet, the penalty kill came through tremendously by limiting the Devils chances and outing the puck twice during the two minutes.

“We have a philosophy with it,” Tortorella said. “The only tape we show if the other team’s defense is their special teams or when they had a 5-on-3 recently. There’s a philosophy to it but what it comes down to is, eventually, you will have to block shots. They are going to change their look. I thought our guys did a great job.”

Yet all of this was not enough against Brodeur, who got his 107^th shutout and stopped a career high in shots. Even with almost perfect play, the future Hall of Famer just was too much for the Blueshirts, and Lundqvist was forced to raise his game.

“I knew after the first period that it was going to be a tight game and I can’t afford any mistakes,” Lundqvist said. “I think we played really well in our own end. We didn’t create that many scoring chances. We put a lot of pucks on the net and tried to come up with opportunities from rebounds. They are very solid. They controlled the middle in their own zone very well and made it tough for us to get in there and get any scoring chances.”

Yet, don’t fret because the Rangers did get the one point from this match and won 9 out of 13 games, putting them sixth in the conference. With Ottawa coming in on Thursday, the Rangers have a chance to continue their strong ways.

Notes: Vinny Prospal returned after a seven game absence, due to a knee injury, Tortorella said he “played well”… The Rangers have scored points in the last 12 out of 12 games…the 51 shots on goals were the most by the Rangers since they tossed 51 against the Islanders on Apr. 4, 2008….The last time the Rangers and Devils finished a game scoreless in regulation was Dec 9, 2007.

Yet, after Classics in Western Canada, Western New York, Chicago, and Boston, Metropolitan Area fans are wondering when the New Year’s game will be played in the New York area. After all, 10 percent of the NHL is located here, and with such a densely populated area, a sellout would be a cinch.

But putting the Winter Classic in New York isn’t the easiest of tasks. Much like so many things around here, a ton of red tape has to be cut before the Rangers, Islanders, or Devils will be playing under the cold January sun.

First, the league has to decide which of the three teams will represent New York. Unlike other markets, where there’s just one club, New York has three fan bases to draw and picking one would run the risk of alienating the other two. There’s very little crossover here, and since the league would like to get another market involved, just one of the three teams would participate in a New York Classic.

Although the Rangers are the obvious choice, the Devils and especially the Islanders could use the spotlight to ignite some interest. Even though New Jersey holds one of the best records in the league, they are a no-name squad that could use the bright outdoor lights, while the Islanders have a young team that’s getting better and maybe a few disenfranchised fans would come back if they saw them play on New Year’s Day.

But the NHL is more interested in promoting the whole sport and the Rangers will give them not only a large fan base, but a villain club which many will watch to see lose. So pretty much go with the Rangers here.

And if it is the Blueshirts, who would they play? With Chicago, Detroit, Boston and Philadelphia being represented the last two years, the NHL l will probably look elsewhere. How about looking north and grabbing a Canadian team to play? The league could market it as America vs. Canada and it would be a win-fall for NBC. And given the Rangers history with a number of the Canadian teams, it would make for a few interesting matchups.

The league could tap Vancouver and make it a rematch of 1994, 15 years later. You could bring back all the members of both clubs and highlight that classic Stanley Cup Finals. Mark Messier could be the honorary captain of the Rangers, while Trevor Linden would wear the honorary ‘C’ for the Canucks.

Yet, this hasn’t been much of a rivalry since 1994 and outside of that seven game series, there’s little history there. Plus the Canucks would have to fly across country for this game, something they may not want to do.

If not Vancouver, how about Edmonton? Think about Glen Sather’s former team against his current club. Heck Messier could be honorary captain for both squads. Plus you would have former coach Tom Renney behind the bench for the Oilers, coaching against the Rangers in New York for the first time. That alone could be the story.

Yet with so many common players between the two franchises, the league could bring back many of them before the game. Messier, Wayne Gretzky, Glen Anderson, Kevin Lowe, Craig MacTavish, Jeff Buekeboom, Esa Tikkanen, and Adam Graves – not to mention Sather and Renney – could be honored before the game.

But the Oilers have a tradition on New Year’s Eve every year when they play the Calgary Flames in the Battle of Alberta, so they would have to cancel that to play on New York.

Probably the best bet would be the Canadiens. Although not a fierce rival for a long time, this would be an Original Six matchup, surely to draw fans from both sides. And since the Habs beat the Rangers for the Cup in 1979, there’s some history there too. Plus you wouldn’t have to worry too much about the travel.

So let’s go with Blueshirts against the Habs, and with that out of the way, now let’s look at where they would play.

Yankee Stadium has been rumored for the last two years. In 2009, the league wanted to use the old building, but construction ended that and this year the NHL went with a surer bet in Boston. In 2011, though, the stadium may not be available. With the Yankee Bowl coming late in the year, the NHL may not have the two weeks it needs to convert the facility for hockey. A nice idea but that window seems to be closed for now.

And the New Meadowlands may be out as well, since the Jets and Giants will still be playing. Unlike Ralph Wilson Stadium three Classics ago, the league won’t be able to get both the Jets and Giants to go on the road for two week that late into the football season. Plus the 82,000 seats may be a tough fill. And since it is located in New Jersey, the Devils may try to block the Rangers from playing there, unless of course they are playing Devils.

So that leaves one logical choice. Citi Field will be available for two weeks. Its 42,000 seat capacity makes it better for the classic, and since the seats are closer to the field, it may be more conducive viewing. And because it’s in Queens it would be out of the way of the Times Square celebration the night before.

The only question is if the Mets would want the game at their ballpark, especially with the NHL flirting with the Yankees the last few years.

Yet, Jeff Wilpon is a hockey fans and has been seen at Madison Square Garden taking in a game every once in a while. With the new ballpark pretty much vacant, there’s no reason why the Mets would be against an influx of off-season revenue.

The NHL has done a great job with the Winter Classic. Wrigley and Fenway were slam dunks and while there are other worthy locations, New York is the next logical choice. So let’s have the Rangers take on the Canadiens at Citi Field to ring in 2011.

Take it out of each of their paychecks because a game like this is just unacceptable.

Sure, after the game, each Ranger was saying how their play was a disgrace, but the loyal Garden fans deserve more from this. If the Rangers don’t want to compete at home, the fans need something for their efforts.

And Giant-like apologies just won’t do it.

“There was nothing good about the game,” said center Brandon Dubinsky. “I’m not going to hide under a rock, though.”

Fine, they all were there in the dressing room after the match fielding answers to the questions. Each Ranger, though, has a certain responsibility to come in and play hard every night, especially at home. They owe the fans that. To do any less is a disgrace to the uniform they wear and tarnishes every great who wore the Ranger sweater since 1926.

“Everyone had a bad game on the same night,” Christopher Higgins said when asked about the game, but this is more than that, you have to wonder why the Rangers performed like this, especially after the mockery of a game just two weeks ago against the Islanders.

After that game, John Tortorella was livid, but tonight was more reserved.

“If we have to go with a coach losing his mind making an idiot out of himself every five games then we are beating our heads against the wall,” Tortorella said. “It can’t be that way. We have to find some consistency. I think we played pretty well Islander game.

“Guys, I am being honest with you, I don’t have an answer on why we played the game tonight the way we did. I thought we practiced well, I thought we got enough rest and they were in good spirits. I just don’t know why.”

Neither do the 18,200 fans, all of whom deserve their money back. At least they got treated to the NHL debut of Chad Johnson, the 23 year-old backup goalie, who stopped 17 of 20 shots on the night after coming in for Henrik Lundqvist to start the second period.  Although Simon Gagne was able to score on the first shot Johnson faced, thanks to a turnover by Dubinsky, the rookie hung in there.

“I thought he settled in, made some good saves,” Tortorella said. “It’s a tough position for a kid to come into his first game into this storm or whatever you call it.”

Fortunately the Rangers are able to play tomorrow, so they won’t have to sit and mull over this game. And maybe they can ring out this bad 2009 with some sort of win and maybe put this game behind them.

And maybe the fans will forget this game too.

Whatever it is, though, this is a different man than the one who lashed into his team last week for lack of hustle against the New York Islanders.

“I didn’t say too much to the team about it,” the coach said. “They are professional athletes and they know what went on here prior. We haven’t won consistently here. You want to win on the road, but you are not going to get anywhere if you don’t establish yourself at home.”

And tonight the Rangers finally won at home with a very good 4-1 win over the Florida Panthers.

“I am thinking I am playing really well, but the guys in front of me are playing really, really well,” said goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who had 33 saves. “They are really making a difference.”

Actually what worked was the fear of Torts. After lashing out at his team last week and then benching Ales Kotalik and Wade Redden for two games, the Rangers responded with impressive wins on the Island, Philadelphia, and in Carolina. They are hustling, playing strong off the puck, and taking chance.

More importantly, they are winning games they would have lost two weeks ago.

“I think it comes from being embarrassed from that night against the Islanders,” said Vinny Prospal, who scored two goals in tonight’s match. “We had a team meeting and there were things that were said, that needs to be changed or there may be changes in the locker room.

“We have been playing more disciplined hockey and we have been scoring a little more.”

Now, the benchings and rippings are classic Tortorella tactics. Prospal knows that, as he has seen it in Tampa when “The Paper Italian” ran that club.

“I have seen it a few years ago in some other players,” Prospal said. “Torts, you always know him very well. He always tells the players to step up and play better. It’s all business and he doesn’t mean it in a personal way. It’s all hockey to him.”

And since last Wednesday, the Rangers have been playing nothing but sharp, crisp, games with many of the players stepping up in key spots.

Chris Drury has three goals in the last four – including the game tier in the first period – after Tortorella moved him down in the lineup. The coach said he feels the pressure is off his captain, which allows No. 23 to play “within himself.”

And Kotalik seems to be playing sharper hockey after getting two games rest. Yet, that’s the response Tortorella wanted from his players when he challenged them last week.

“I think we get strong play, strong goaltending, and big goals at key times,” said Marian Gaborik, who scored a beauty breakaway from a sharp angle in the third period off Tomas Vokoun for his lead leading 26^th goal of the season. “I think we’re playing defensively better and we come away with a key offensive or defensive play at key times.”

And that’s what Tortorella was looking for. Look, the Rangers will not be this good every night and there will be some stink bombs out there, but there’s still time for the team to turn the season around. If the Blueshirts can continue with the effort, then they should be fine going into 2010.

And Tortorella should keep his happy disposition up.

Yet, in less than a year into the John Tortorella regime, the Rangers stand at 14-15-2.

Say what you want about the Rangers abrasive coach, but the fact is that record is not getting the job done. Renney, for all his flaws, knew how to win on Broadway, something many a good coach could not do.

Maybe, we should add Tortorella to that list. He came here with a reputation as the Anti-Renney, an offensive coach, who is as abrasive and outspoken as he is an up-tempo genius. But now he has a team that just can’t score any goals. Just look at the numbers. In the last 19 games dating back to Oct. 28th, 15 times the Rangers scored two goals or fewer.

And, tonight was no exception with the Rangers scoring just two goals in their 3-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres at Madison Square Garden.

“Bottom line, we know we have to win,” said goalie Henrik Lundqvist. “We are doing a lot of good things and the work ethic is definitely there. We work really hard. We just come up short a lot of nights. I don’t know what else to say.”

To help Lundqvist out here, the Rangers come up short because they are in an offensive system that doesn’t score. Too many times their all-world goaltender is left naked out there by a very suspect defense filled with two overpriced and underperforming veterans and a bunch of youngsters, who are just learning.  Under Renney this worked, because the trapping system masked defensive deficiencies, but they are now exposed under Tortorella.

And that is where the problem just starts. Every night it’s the same story and over the past few weeks changes started to happen. But frankly, they are the wrong ones. Was it really Stephen Valliquette’s fault that the Rangers are playing so poorly? And why was Matt Gilroy sent down and not Wade Redden or Michal Rozsival?

Tortorella was brought in because Renney was considered too nice to bench or demote any of his high priced veterans., but we have failed to see the tough love given to players like Rozsival, Redden, Chris Drury, or Christopher Higgins, all of whom could use a game or two sitting in the stands and maybe one or two of them should be shown the Hartford shuttle. Yet all are enjoying NHL minutes and NHL meal money on an everyday bases.

Earlier in the year, Tortorella was shocked out the press’s reaction when it comes to benchings, saying it’s “treated like crucifixions” here. But how can anyone take his no-nonsense seriously when he refuses to sit down some of his veteran. His rules seem to just be for the players he can push around and not the ones who deserve it.  But what do you expect from a coach who benched his best agitator in the playoffs last year, only to make a fool out of himself by squirting a bottle on a few fans.

Is there time to turn this around? Of course. But it also means the team needs a personality transplant. They need to bare down and the veterans need to step up and lead this club, or John Tortorella’s Rangers are destined to become a failure, like many other successful coaches when they came to Broadway.