Anytime a head coach of a professional sports team feels the need to call out the effort of his guys it’s safe to say that things are not going great. For all of the importance associated with a bad finish in relation to a quality draft pick, it’s imperative to emphasize the point that professional athletes are still real people with emotions and feelings.
The impact of losing and in a bad manner consistently can infect a team like an illness. The five consecutive losses leading up to the win against the New York Islanders in which the Rangers lost by a collective score of 26-8 was just a total lack of a will to compete.