The New York Rangers are riding the struggle bus right now. The team is still in a playoff spot (as of Wednesday morning), but a recent five game losing streak and a memo from their general manager opening the team up for business in the trade market makes you feel the vibes aren’t necessarily great at Madison Square Garden. However, Vince Mercogliano of SNY reports that a major trade is unlikely. New York is 4-6-0 in their last ten games. Not terrible, but remember the Boston Bruins fired their coach for about the same thing.
The crescendo of all of the blueshirts' shortcomings was Monday’s 5-1 home loss to the rival New Jersey Devils. Goalie-turned-MSG network analyst Steve Valiquette went full “old man yelling at cloud” at Jack Hughes for trying the famous one-handed Forsberg breakaway move on Igor Shesterkin. Adding to the Rangers' woes is Shesterkin’s contract situation, which is still in limbo. For the record, Hughes did not score on the breakaway in question but did have two goals and an assist in the victory.
We thought the story about Valiquette would pass. We woke up Tuesday and people were still talking. Then we woke up Wednesday and people were still talking about it, so we figured, maybe there are more thoughts about this we should be talking about.
Any Rangers fan understands and sympathizes with Valiquette’s on-air frustration. Imagine how mad your favorite team makes you when they play badly and lose. Now imagine you had to act diplomatically and paint their poor play into a pretty picture in front of a television camera in a G-rated fashion. Valiquette has a job any hockey fan would envy, that’s not to say it does not come with frustrations and challenges.
Valiquette’s clip has gone viral, as has Hughes’ reaction when asked by reporters postgame. Valiquette’s comments are the anti-thesis of the current league marketing strategy. The NHL markets it's exciting young stars and how they are “changing the game”. If Trevor Zegras could earn commission ever time the NHL shows a clip of one of his “Michigan” goals he’d be the richest player in the league. A perfect example is the recent commercial for the NHL25 video game.
It’s not just the NHL but professional sports as a whole embracing the “show-off” youth movement. MLB has been running “let the kids play” commercials for years that encourage the previously verboten theatrics such as bat flips commonplace in generation. Hockey isn’t at that level (and if it should go there is an entirely different debate for a different time), but Valiquette’s on air complaints about Hughes’ paint him as the elderly curmudgeon telling the young kids to “get off my lawn”!
Valiquette sounded like Tony Soprano calling the move “disrespectful”. Former player turned ESPN commentator P.K. Subban posted a video on X calling out Valiquette while gently ribbing his “46 games of NHL experience”. In his post retirement life Subban has been quick to come to the defense of former teammate Jack Hughes and also serving as an ambassador for the sport while perfecting fitting the new “young, fun and flashy” look the NHL strives for.
This reminds us of a few seasons ago when legendary announcer Don Cherry took issue with the Carolina Hurricanes storm surge and called them “a bunch of jerks”. Legendary as Grapes inS he comes from a time when wins were celebrated in much more muted fashion. Think post game Moulsons in the locker room instead of on-ice antics with the fans. The Hurricanes had a sense of humor and embraced the identity with t-shirts and all. Maybe Hughes and the Devils will do the same.
Let’s not make a mountain out of a molehill, we all know Valiquette was frustrated and that led to his complaints. We all know it was nothing personal against Hughes and the Devils. He later brought up how disappointed he was in the uninspired play of the Rangers that evening. Why not talk about your frustrations with that? Why not have that be the story line? Why make Jack Hughes into some scapegoat because the Rangers are playing with, as The Hockey News put it, “fragile confidence?
Professional hockey is the business of entertainment. Had Hughes taken a dirty hit or some other type of unsportsmanlike action we’d all be in agreement to keep that out of that game. Instead he tried a legendary move that if it had been successful would have found a place on Sports Center’s top ten. If Jack Hughes is fun and exciting, let him be fun and exciting. The future is now, old man.