I know I don’t speak for everyone, but I think most people would agree that they like to see the high and mighty get their come-uppance. Not to say that the New York Rangers are the elite team in the NHL, but they have the “Original Six” swagger or confidence that seems to come off as entitlement.

They are the marquee team in the Big Apple; residents of Broadway and Madison Square Garden, arguably the world’s most famous arena. They are easy to like as one of the most recognized teams in the world, but they are also easy to hate for the presumed arrogance and advantages that they seem to enjoy.

After making several key moves in the summer of 2012, namely acquiring winger Rick Nash, the Rangers seemed to be on the cusp of greatness. All the pieces seemed to be in place for a sustained playoff run: Stanley Cup winning coach, elite goaltender, a sturdy and physical defense and an opportunistic offense. The Rangers looked every bit to be the blueprint of the 2012 Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings, literally.

However, games aren’t won on paper and they aren’t necessarily made by taking a championship caliber roster and making a carbon copy of it. The lockout of the 2012-13 season threw a major wrench into the plans of almost every NHL team, abbreviating training camps and killing any momentum gained with the activities of the summer. The Rangers play reflected the disruption, looking indifferent at times and out of sync at others.

Coach John Tortorella was fired and recently deposed Alain Vigneault was hired to bring some flash and style to Broadway. Vigneault’s style and philosophy is the opposite of Tortorella. As the coach of the Vancouver Canucks, Vigneault likes his teams to be creative and offensive-minded. A premium is also placed on defensive play, but never at the expense of pressing in the offensive zone. It seemed like a perfect fit. Again.

The only thing working against the Rangers at the start of the 2013 season was a nine-game road trip due to renovations at the Madison Square Garden. There was also the shoulder recovery of captain Ryan Callahan, but he was only expected to miss a couple of games.

It turns out the road warrior Rangers missed their home ice more than they thought. After a 1-4 start while being outscored 24-6 in five games, there was a mild sense of panic creeping through the Blueshirt faithful. Captain Callahan returned for the Rangers’ first win of the season against Los Angeles, but injured his thumb Wednesday night and will be out for about a month with a broken thumb. The aforementioned Nash was placed on IR on Wednesday with “no timetable for return”.

The silver lining through the first six games is that their best player, goaltender Henrik Lundqvist seems to have found his groove. A 2-0 shutout over the Washington Capitals and Alexander Ovechkin was his most impressive performance of the season. Also working in New York’s favor is that no one besides Pittsburgh has made a habit out of winning so far this year. Terrible starts in Philadelphia, New Jersey, Washington and Columbus have the Rangers sitting in fourth place despite their abysmal start.

So can the Rangers recover and become the team that they are “supposed” to be? In short my answer is no. There are just too many factors working against the Rangers that will only get bigger as the season moves forward. Even if you don’t count the injuries, exactly where does Vigneault plan to get any goal scoring? The Rangers won’t give up that many goals, but you need to score to win games.

Regardless of how many games are missed by Callahan and Nash, the Rangers will struggle to keep up with divisional rivals that will be using them as a step stool in the standings. Only New Jersey and Philadelphia has looked consistently worse than New York, but if Philly stays healthy and Claude Giroux starts playing, the Rangers could even be looking at the Flyers’ backside in the standings.

Sadly the Rangers could be in legitimate danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2010. I may be in the minority here, but I think the roster is in need of wholesale changes that won’t happen until the team falls flat. The Rangers could turn it around, but their reign as the kings of hockey in New York is coming to an end.