Stanley Cup winner Mike Rupp rips into Rangers coaches, front office amid NY franchise’s woeful slump (Image Credit: Imagn)
The New York Rangers are currently suffering a stunning freefall. On Tuesday night, they were shut out by a nine-win team. They’ve lost five out of their last six games and are in sixth place in the Metropolitan Division one year after making a deep playoff run.
Mike Rupp, a former player who once scored a clinching goal in the Stanley Cup Final, ripped into the team from top to bottom in his assessment of the issues.
Watch it or don’t, but until the BS stops, nothing will change on the ice… #NYR https://t.co/gKaXm4l8n9 pic.twitter.com/iUt0JLvMvu
— Mike Rupp (@Rupper17) December 17, 2024
He said of the team environment right now:
“I don’t believe that’s been cultivated, and you could date it back to the tradings of a couple players in the way that those were managed in that’s bled into the locker room. I think those are real things, and it’s been well documented in that situation.”So it almost feels like games have been played and players have been manipulated in different ways. I think, another way in a game that was manipulated or players have been manipulated.”
He also added:
“You need to make sure that is your job as the coach, to connect with the players, be able to relate with the players and get the best out of the players.”
As the Rangers have struggled, they’ve reportedly considered trading virtually everyone, Chris Kreider. Rupp doesn’t think a Kreider trade will happen, but the idea was reportedly leaked to generate a response from the team, highlighting the insecurity in the organization.
Former hockey star rips into Rangers’ defensive struggles
The 2024-25 New York Rangers have a lot of similar players to the 2023-24 team that made a deep playoff run. Yet, they look considerably worse to start the season this year.
Mike Rupp ripped into New York (Getty)
Former NHL star Mike Rupp, who played for the Rangers, believes they masked their issues well last year but have not been able to do so in 2024:
“These defensive gaps, they’ve gotten bigger. And I sit here and I watch this team, game in game out, make the same mistakes over and over and over again, some of the worst offensive hockey I’ve seen. And I’m wondering to myself, like, how aren’t these things corrected?”So I think it’s one of two things. It has to be one of two things. Either these things have been addressed with the players, and you have a bunch of independent contractors and people that just want to do their own thing.”
Whatever the issue is, Rupp believes it firmly falls on the coaching staff to get its players going in the right direction again.
