It’s a little bit dull around Rangerstown these days, given that our beloved Blueshirts did not make the playoffs. I’ve mentioned this on twitter a couple times, but in case that’s not your communicative medium of choice, it’s a kind of an empty feeling walking around midtown Manhattan, and Penn Station especially, without the buzz of the postseason in the air. I almost miss that dumb double-decker bus that does a loop of the lower 30s with all of the gaudy Rangers decorations and shouting Rangers fans on top of it (almost, but not actually). Still, life, and the playoffs go on, and if you’ve been watching and taking notes (I haven’t actually been taking notes) then you may have made a few observations about what it takes to be successful in today’s NHL past the month of March.