shmuck
10-23-2005, 01:57 PM
After being a healthy scratch in Saturday's game - the second time this season he's been left out of the lineup - New York Rangers defenceman Tom Poti (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/player_bio.asp?player_id=484) was bitter about being made the team's scapegoat.
"The first time (coach Tom Renney) sat me out, I bounced back great, I played five awesome games in a row, doing what I was supposed to do, carrying the puck, joining the rush, making plays, creating offense," Poti told the The Star-Ledger after yesterday's morning skate. "And then against the Islanders (on Thursday), I had an average game. (But) the whole team played average, and I'm the only guy that gets sat out."
Renney said there were several players he considered scratching after they had poor efforts in the Rangers' 3-1 loss to the Bufallo Sabres on Saturday.
"As with all of our defencemen, you've got to come off the walls hard in your own end, you've got to be firm at your net, you've got to do all of that within the rules of the game," Renney told the newspaper. "But it does take body position and some battle. And obviously, I hope this message, through Tom, gets to other people as well, so that they don't have to be the victim of coming out of the lineup either."
Poti wasn't buying the argument.
"Why does he have to do it through me?" Poti asked, when told of Renney's explanation. "It seems like last time he sent a message through me, too, and I don't feel that I should be the guy that's being made the example every time."
Asked if there is a problem between him and Renney, he said he hadn't thought there was.
"There's gotta be (some issue), I guess," he said. "I mean, I went out and... played a pretty good string of games and there's one average game and I get sat out, right off the hop? Obviously, there's gotta be something there that I'm not seeing, that I don't know about."
Heh, thats kinda funny. I don't know too much about the situation, but I'd have to take Poti's angle on this one. Maybe the whole world is out to get him.
"The first time (coach Tom Renney) sat me out, I bounced back great, I played five awesome games in a row, doing what I was supposed to do, carrying the puck, joining the rush, making plays, creating offense," Poti told the The Star-Ledger after yesterday's morning skate. "And then against the Islanders (on Thursday), I had an average game. (But) the whole team played average, and I'm the only guy that gets sat out."
Renney said there were several players he considered scratching after they had poor efforts in the Rangers' 3-1 loss to the Bufallo Sabres on Saturday.
"As with all of our defencemen, you've got to come off the walls hard in your own end, you've got to be firm at your net, you've got to do all of that within the rules of the game," Renney told the newspaper. "But it does take body position and some battle. And obviously, I hope this message, through Tom, gets to other people as well, so that they don't have to be the victim of coming out of the lineup either."
Poti wasn't buying the argument.
"Why does he have to do it through me?" Poti asked, when told of Renney's explanation. "It seems like last time he sent a message through me, too, and I don't feel that I should be the guy that's being made the example every time."
Asked if there is a problem between him and Renney, he said he hadn't thought there was.
"There's gotta be (some issue), I guess," he said. "I mean, I went out and... played a pretty good string of games and there's one average game and I get sat out, right off the hop? Obviously, there's gotta be something there that I'm not seeing, that I don't know about."
Heh, thats kinda funny. I don't know too much about the situation, but I'd have to take Poti's angle on this one. Maybe the whole world is out to get him.