Blue Notes

On the wall above my desk at home hangs a collection of four postcard-sized prints from a trip to Donegal, beautifully framed by Andy Bart---a friend, neighbor and, I must say, a smashing guitarist.
There's a dark-cloaked fiddler with his back against a seawall; a man with a newsboy cap seated indoors, stretching an accordion; a Lennon-like figure reading from sheet music and plucking a round-bodied lute, and outside O'Leary's pub, a man serenading two passers-by with a tin whistle.
All of the musicians are playing, but each is peering in different directions.
Just like the Rangers recently.
"You're dealing with a group of guys now that has to come to grips with their identity as being a complete team," Rangers coach Tom Renney said after practice yesterday. "You have to score less to win more, if that makes any sense at all...and with that comes sacrifice. I think we're getting there."
On the third day without a game since evening their record at 4-4 with a shoot-out win in Toronto Saturday, Renney met individually with virtually every player. "They know what's expected of them now, everybody," the coach said after practice. "Certainly going into tomorrow night, everyone will have a very clear picture of what we expect individually, and as a team."
But tomorrow's home game against Florida, in which Saturday's line will probably remain together---isn't the only barometer. Renney suggested yesterday that he will bring these 23 players---including eight defensemen---on the road to Phoenix, Los Angeles, Anaheim and San Jose, and continue his evaluation of who should stick. Referring to the defensive surplus, he said: "My guess is, we'll have had a look at all of them."
Jaromir Jagr drew a fairly stark---but hopeful---comparison to last year's defense-first team.
"Last year, I knew we needed three goals to win hockey games and I was pretty confident we could do it," said Jagr. "This year, they way we play defense---all five guys on the ice---we need six goals. How many times is that gonna happen?...We're behind and we're just pressing, so you make more mistakes....We are a better team than last year, that's for sure, we just haven't played that way yet. It's up to us how quickly we can fix it."
Last season, Jagr shouldered the burden of giving the Rangers leads. With more secondary scoring, perhaps now the captain---still not as strong as he had hoped---must set an example not only with points, but with more two-way play.
That might just get everyone playing the same tune. And moving in the same direction.