NYR Devotion - Some Like It Blue

A Whale of an update

2011-12-29T00:26:00.004-05:00

OK, so I haven't been as good about writing on here as I would have liked. Sorry about that. However, that means there's plenty to write about!

The Connecticut Whale are in first place right now in the AHL's Northeast Division, seven points clear of the second place team, Albany, who they just beat on Tuesday. This is in spite of missing half the roster. You know, of course, that John Mitchell and Carl Hagelin have been up in New York, along with cult hero Stu Bickel and fellow defenseman Tim Erixon. To that, add injuries to Chad Kolarik (ACL), Mats Zuccarello (ankle) and Wade Redden (knee). There goes seven of the best players the team has. Kolarik told me he'll be back in mid-March, while Redden and Zuccarello are both due back before the end of January. Still, the Whale are hurting.

Into the gap, however, have stepped faces old and new. Kris Newbury continues to dominate up front, along with linemate Andre Deveaux. Both have missed time with the Whale to call-up and suspension, but in their roughly 20 games each, they have been point-per-game players. Both have 10 goals, and Newbury has a team-best 16 assists while Deveaux has 10 helpers. Eight of Deveaux's 10 tallies have been with the man advantage. Veterans like Brendan Bell (5 G, 11 A) and Andreas Thuresson (7 G, 4 A) have been welcome additions, while returners like Kelsey Tessier (4 G, 7 A) and Pavel Valentenko (3 G, 7 A) have done their jobs well.

Most impressive, however, has been rookie Jonathan Audy-Marchesseault. Somehow, they fit this guy's name onto his jersey, and he's responded by fitting a lot of pucks into the net. JAM has 10 goals and 18 assists for a team-best 28 points through 31 games, playing on all kinds of random lines. At all of 5'9" and 175 pounds (and that's generous), he is very much like Zuccarello--impossible to hit, speedy, fearless, and ultimately the sort of energetic player you need. He has held the team together offensively despite being bounced around lines as Ken Gernander tries to pair him with players worthy of his skill but also able to protect him (here's a hint, Ken: Newbury and Deveaux are plenty good enough and big enough. It works. Keep it that way!)

In all, the team has done well. Chad Johnson has been decent in net, though at times he can make absolutely bone-headed decisions that cost the team points (I'm thinking specifically of the awful turnover that led directly to the only goal Providence would need to score about two weeks ago) as the primary starter, while the underutilized (and in my opinion, better) Cameron Talbot has done well when called upon--he carried the team with 35 saves on 37 shots in Connecticut's 3-2 win over Albany on Tuesday and was snubbed by whoever in Hartford picks the three stars. They're cohesive, they're winning the majority of their games, and they've put a hurting on divisional opponents, including a 4-0 record against the hated Springfield Falcons that they will put on the line on New Year's Eve, and then twice more the next weekend.

So, there you have the analysis. Now, let's have some fun, shall we?

See, the Whale players aren't merely damn good hockey players. They're also personable folk who love their fans. A few days before Stu Bickel was called up to New York, I happened to be sitting down in Section 108. If you've been to the XL Center for a game (and you have, RIGHT?) you'll know that's where the tunnel that the players enter from is located. Standing in this little area for most of the game was none other than Chad Kolarik. As Stu Bickel chased an opposing player up the ice looking for a scrap, I yelled out, "What's the matter, you scared of Stu?" Chad looked at me and, with a huge grin on his face, said, "He absolutely is, can you blame him?"

Then again on Tuesday, I sat in 108, and who should be in the tunnel this time but Wade Redden? He popped out about midway through the first and asked me how the team was doing. I gave him the gist of it--we were outhitting and outworking them, and the Albany goalie, Keith Kincaid, was awful. "Obviously, we're outscoring them," was his response to that, with a smile. He chatted a bit with me about his leg--his recovery is going well and he's hoping to be back within a month. He came back out during the second intermission just in time for a weak wrister to get by Albany's goalie, and then doubled over laughing when I said, "I told you this guy is a sieve!" Wade's really a great guy, and I'm glad that Glen Sather made the so-called 'mistake' of signing him. He's been phenomenal on the ice and in the community.

One last fun little story. A friend of mine (who you should follow on Twitter at @kweennikki, even though she's a Penguins fan) absolutely loves Brendan Bell. She always asks me to take pictures of him, which I don't mind doing at all. So for her birthday present, I took my camera down underneath the XL Center to where the players park, and waited about forty minutes for him to come out. My camera has the option to take a little bit of video (30 seconds or so), so I asked him if he wouldn't mind recording a quick little message for her. He was happy to oblige. "Hey Nicole, it's Brendan Bell. Merry Christmas, have a happy holiday, and go Whale!" That nine seconds of video made my friend very happy--she has probably watched it over nine thousand times by now.

So, there you have it--not only are the kids alright on the ice, they're all pretty good folks off of it too. There's a lot of good people playing for the Whale. I hope reading this gives you another reason to come up to Hartford for a game!

Christmas Awards List!

2011-12-23T11:28:00.004-05:00

Well, it's almost Christmas. That means we're almost halfway through the season. At this point, you can really start to get a feel for what players are going to be capable of doing throughout the grind that is the 82-game NHL schedule. With that in mind, here are my picks heading into the Christmas break for the major NHL awards...

Calder Trophy (Rookie of the Year):
Nominees: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (EDM), Adam Henrique (NJD), Matt Read (PHI)
Yes, I know, Edmonton's youngest of their many young guns is the easy choice, given that he leads all rookies in goals and points. Henrique, however, has had more of an impact on a less-deep team. He's come in out of nowhere to give the Devils an offensive presence up front, but he also plays great defense--on a team that's -18, he's a +6. That's impressive. What's also impressive is the two-plus minutes he averages per game on the PK, the fact that he wins 50% of his faceoffs (RNH is an atrocious 37.8%) and that he's taken just one penalty all year. He's also first among rookie forwards in blocked shots at 34. This guy is good, and at just 21 years of age, he'll only get better.

Selke Trophy (Best Defensive Forward):
Nominees: Jonathan Toews (CHI), Pavel Datsyuk (DET), Patrice Bergeron (BOS)
The only thing opponents fear as much as getting beat by his shot in their own end is getting Toewsed (see what I did there?) in the offensive end by the Chicago captain. It's amazing that at just 23 years old, Toews is such a complete player. Not only is he tied for the NHL lead in goal scoring, he's a strong +13, plays two minutes of PK hockey per game, is third in the NHL in takeaways, and has an insane 60.5% success rate on faceoffs, best in the league. That narrowly puts him ahead of Datsyuk, who has been good, but not quite as good, as usual.

Norris Trophy (Best Defenseman):
Nominees: Francois Beauchemin (ANA), Shea Weber (NSH), Kimmo Timonen (PHI)

It will become more obvious as the Flyers continue to play without Chris Pronger just how valuable a defenseman Kimmo Timonen really is. Timonen plays in every situation--four minutes a night both on the PP and PK as well as 22 minutes overall, numbers that will only increase as the season goes on. He has dished out 22 helpers and is a +12. While it's true that Weber has tallied a ton of points, and Beauchemin leads the league in SH TOI at over five minutes a game, I think the best is yet to come for Timonen, a scary thought for the other Atlantic Division teams chasing the Flyers.

Jack Adams Award (Best Coach):
Nominees: Joel Quenneville (CHI), Alain Vigneault (VAN), Peter Laviolette (PHI)

All Lavi seems to do is win. He took a team that traded just about everybody in the off-season, has lost a dominant player to injury, and has Ilya Bryzgalov as their starting goalie, and turned it into a monster that has crushed the rest of the Eastern Conference. The Flyers lead the league in goals per game and boast the NHL's leading scorer in young Claude Giroux. Nobody gave Philly a chance coming into this season, and look at where they are, with what appears to be a lot less than what the Blackhawks and Canucks have.

Vezina Trophy (Best Goaltender):
Nominees: Jimmy Howard (DET), Tim Thomas (BOS), Henrik Lundqvist (NYR)

The Bruins' backstop just continues to defy age, reason, and, at least four times a game, the laws of physics to become arguably the NHL's best player. At a 1.84 GAA and a .943 SV%, he is on pace to destroy the records he set last season while winning every trophy possible, including the Cup. He has been the most consistent player in the NHL, going on a stretch of ten straight wins at one point this season and leading the Bruins out of their Stanley Cup hangover and right back to where they were this time last year as Stanley Cup favorites. It's that insane save percentage number that puts him ahead of Howard (.925) and Lundqvist (.934) more than anything.

Lindsay Award (Most Outstanding Player):
Nominees: Phil Kessel (TOR), Tim Thomas (BOS), Claude Giroux (PHI)

This is an award for being the most outstanding, which is different from being the most valuable, and Kessel certainly has been just that. Kessel has lit the world up with 20 goals and 20 assists on a very weak Leafs team that has a playoff spot right now practically just because of his ability to score highlight-reel goals. Considering the fall-off the Leafs have after he and Lupul (Tyler Bozak is the team's third leading scorer), Kessel gets the edge over the NHL's top goalie and top goal scorer for this award.

Hart Trophy (Most Valuable Player):
Nominees: Tim Thomas (BOS), Evgeni Malkin (PIT), Henrik Sedin (VAN)

No Crosby. No Staal. No...well, no three quarters of the roster, it seems at times. Evgeni Malkin has had to shoulder the burden of being not just one but two and at times three of the top centermen in the world by himself and has done that brilliantly. Not only is he a power-play machine who plays five minutes a night with the man advantage, he is fourth in the NHL in scoring while playing with such superstars (can you sense the sarcasm?) as James Neal and Chris Kunitz. Malkin makes everyone around him better. It's hard to say that for Henrik Sedin since we know Ryan Kesler and Daniel Sedin are great, and even harder with Thomas since he's a goalkeeper. Malkin has put the Penguins on his back this season, and for that he should be the NHL MVP.

Got thoughts on my picks? Someone you want to see nominated? I know that I'm going to hear from Red Wings fans for not even nominating Lidstrom for the Norris (not to mention all of the ladies for not picking a single Ranger and only even nominating one!), so go ahead and yell away!

2011-09-29T00:57:00.002-04:00

My response to Dennis Bernstein's following article. http://www.thefourthperiod.com/columnists/bernstein/db110928.htm

“LOS ANGELES -- I could give a damn about Sean Avery's politics.”

Well, I do. I appreciate Avery’s stand for marriage equality, which was passed here in the great State of New York only a couple months ago. Avery was in Albany, campaigning for this to be passed to help his fellow New Yorkers be granted equal civil rights.

“As sure as the NHL season starts in October, Avery has injected himself into the spotlight and predictably, it's shrouded in controversy.”

You’re right, Sean Avery asked to be called a homophobic slur that was clearly obvious on any instant replay, and thus was the center of attention PRIOR to any beat writer- or Avery himself- calling our attention to it. Twitter started buzzing instantly with recognition of the slur.

“Before you get to the end of this sentence, you know this piece won't be about that great hat trick he scored in pre-season or the on-ice impact he'll have as the Rangers battle for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The only talent this player has shown is the ability to carve out a marginal career with four different teams and the only reason the word 'professional' is in the same sentence is that he gets a paycheck for it twice a month.”

He actually has a pretty good pass.

“In a sport that is benchmarked by playoff success, he's played in a grand total of 28 post-season games and his teams have never advanced past the second round.”

Henrik Lundqvist hasn’t made it past the second round either, so I guess our goaltender sucks, too.

“I covered him for three seasons and witnessed that his greatest ability was to alienate or anger everyone who crossed his path. Team officials, coaches, writers and teammates rebuffed Mr. Avery, all for the right reasons. From refusing to do an on ice drill when directed by-a Kings assistant coach to disrespecting Hall of Fame media members to mocking guys he shared the room with, his three-year run in Los Angeles was three years too long.”

Avery has definitely had a rocky NHL career, no arguments from me!

“Though he had a cult following at the time, it's been years since I've seen anyone wearing an "Avery 16" jersey here.”

Because he was traded… and now they wear them here. Duh?

“Even more telling, when his actions brought him into question, I never saw a teammate go to his defense. When he landed an internship at Vogue Magazine after arriving in New York, the only thought I had was, 'thankfully it wasn't The Fourth Period.'“

My favorite defense of Avery was Chris Drury’s simple, "He's a Ranger. He's our guy. I would take a bullet for him any time, any day. We all would." But that’s just one example.

“I could regurgitate the long list of people Avery has offended,…”

He’s alone in this? My boss offends a long list of people by lunch time.

“…I can reference the on-ice racial epithets he's hurled…”

Prove it, on video tape, just like we can do with Wayne Simmonds. Facts are that Avery was accused of a racial slur but it was never proven. All Star Shane Doan was in a similar situation before. I very much hope that Sean Avery never said a racial slur, but that’s all I have- hope. And all you have is the suggestion that he might have.

Remember that time when Sean Avery *didn’t* make fun of Jason Blake’s cancer? Maybe- just maybe- this was one of those times.

“… and break down the calculated misogynistic comment in Calgary that was so egregious the League suspended him and the Dallas Stars terminated his contract, but most know these too well.”

To us people who, I don’t like, like heads better than we like feelings, that was a ridiculous overreaction by a league who is watching player after player go down with head injuries and yet has not come up with a way to manage it. That being said, I sincerely hope Avery meant it when he says he regretted the statement, and he made a follow up apology to Elisha Cuthbert. He went entirely too far, and he has a more than paid a fair price for his words.

“Only when the Rangers' GM Glen Sather became the bigger fool and thought his act was worthy of a second run on Broadway did Avery find another safe haven to chirp on the ice about Martin Brodeur and Scott Hartnall's ex-wives, likely only because the cap hit was half of his $3.8 million price tag.”

Glen Sather is a fool. This is true.

“Through 135 games over two seasons, he scored only 14 goals and is a minus player. This alleged vital cog to the Rangers' success was a healthy scratch by head coach John Tortorella for six games down the stretch last season and the opening game of the playoffs. His injection into the lineup resulted in one win and three losses, as the Capitals dispatched the Rangers in five games.”

So a mediocre player who barely is going to make the Rangers team this year should have been able to change the fate of the Rangers last postseason… how? This is besides the fact that Tortorella keeps Avery on a VERY short leash, and thus is unable to be as a effective as he once was. (Although I do cede the point that many Rangers fans feel Avery’s not a strong enough player or not worth the trouble he brings in the eyes of the refs. This is besides the point, however.)

“So, now that we've established the fact that this is a fringe player (who may not even make the Rangers roster), let's get the heart of the matter and this column.”

Rangers fans realized this a page and a half ago, but yes, let’s get to the heart of the matter of this column- that a homophobic slur is WRONG, regardless of who said it or who it was said to, and we need to start making changes within hockey culture AND our culture in general to eliminate this as an acceptable status quo.

“Intolerance is wrong in every way, shape and form. It's ugly and you're very lucky if you haven't experienced it in one way or another.”

Yes! Exactly. We agree.

“Operating with full disclosure, I'm apolitical for the most part and feel that the freedoms we enjoy in North America should be available to all regardless of their color or whom they choose to spend their life with, that's not negotiable. Human rights should include all humans, a premise not too hard to figure out.”

We’re so on the same track right here.

“I'm Jewish -- you're likely familiar with the tribe…”

I am a New Yorker, after all! =)

“…a bunch of cats hanging around for about 6,000 years despite all the efforts to eradicate us from the planet by various forms of evil. Whenever something bad in the world happens, we're always at the top of the list as the cause, so I'm well aware of what discrimination looks like.”

Exactly! So as someone who has faced discrimination, you understand why racial slurs have gotta go. It cannot be acceptable to use the “F” word on the playground, at work, or in a hockey jersey, because it unfairly discriminates against a whole group of people, and screams of hatred and bigotry.

“I've also covered Wayne Simmonds during his first three professional seasons in Los Angeles. He's the anti-Avery; a great kid, always approachable, gives interviews even after tough losses, universally well liked by his teammates, and most importantly, gives and earns respect.”

That’s great! Simmonds really impressed me after that whole- extremely unfortunately and offensive- banana incident. While I obviously don’t know him personally, he seems like a good enough guy. That being said, that doesn’t excuse him for the hatred that dripped out of his mouth on Monday. Maybe he didn’t realize just how offensive it is. I hear high school kids dropping the “N” word all the time- knowing that it’s racist, yet probably not feeling all of the hate that actually comes with the term. I don’t immediately assume that all people who have ever used the “N” or “F” word in their lives are deplorable human beings, but I know that it needs to be taken seriously in schools and in the workplace- including hockey arenas- so people can start to see just how hurtful it really is.

“One of the reasons I cover the sport of hockey is because the nature of the men like Wayne that play it; fortunately there's only one Sean Avery and hopefully there won't be any imitators in the future.”

I thought you were just lucky. We all wish we could watch and talk and write about hockey for a living.

“But on the night in question at Wells Fargo Center, Wayne did make an unfortunate mistake in judgment, but not of character, and it was caught on camera.”

Exactly! That’s what I said! It doesn’t make him the devil, but it certainly makes him responsible for continuing to spew hatred in a society that is having a rough time containing it’s discrimination.

“Avery is an opportunist.”

It’s why he’s the most effective in a league full of trash talkers, isn’t it?

“He uses people and situations to his advantage, while admirable on the ice (where this sad incident took place), it's despicable off the ice.”

Yeah, he’s a jerk, I know. And this has to do with the word that WAYNE SIMMONDS said, how?

“I watched the preseason game against the Flyers and there was a preamble to the Avery/Simmonds incident. Inside of the game's first five minutes, the microphones at ice level picked up a lone voice dropping half a dozen f-bombs and threatening to kill Flyers' center Claude Giroux. I'll give you three guesses who was the author of the verbiage that was heard on live TV throughout North America, and the first two don't count. Here's a hint, it wasn't Nicklas Lidstrom.”

He was probably the first player to ever drop the f-bomb on the ice, too. While threatening to kill Claude Giroux certainly wasn’t very nice, if Giroux felt threatened he could take it to the on-ice officials, or the off-ice officials after the game. If he really doesn’t believe Avery will stab him while he’s sleeping one night, then Avery was probably saying something that many players say on the ice every single night.

“Looks like the fees for those anger management classes Avery attended should be refundable at this point.”

Well, why should you go to anger management classes for an obviously calculated comment, anyway? What Avery says isn’t out of anger or spite; it’s about pissing off his opponents, and it works. You don’t have to like it; plenty of people don’t, and I respect their opinion. But let’s not make it as though Avery is in need of more anger management, when anger is clearly not his motivator.

“With Avery already hot under the collar, he spied the ice for his next victim of his antics and the target was Simmonds.”

Poor, innocent Simmonds! Avery target him and *MADE* him say those mean, bigoted words!

“There was a dust up and words that were used by Simmonds (yes, he did say them) have been heard throughout the decades in this violent-at-times game played by very tough men.”

So it’s okay that he said them then?

“While it's never right, that's the reality of a testosterone driven game.”

The reality of a testosterone driven game is that we have to discriminate against gay people? Wait, I’m confused.

Even if that deplorable “F” word is used every single game, this instance was unique in that the television cameras caught it, in perfect line of site. And what a great way to open the conversation on what is acceptable and what isn’t acceptable on the ice! Am I to understand that making fun of an ex-girlfriend off the ice and making racial slurs on the ice is unacceptable, but making homophobic slurs is?

I don’t think Simmonds should be suspended- I believe that ugly word is used too often within the game of hockey, and in some ways, it would be unfair to punish Simmonds when there is no previous warning or rule in place. And to the NHL’s credit, I think this is a great time to bring up homophobia in hockey, and perhaps start asking those important questions, such as what kind of derogatory language is not acceptable on the ice. But maybe it is time to start holding players accountable for their homophobic words. Actually, scratch that “maybe”.

“While the Flyers didn't feel the need to send the video the League office to review the clear threat Avery delivered to one of their stars (as that’s what happens in the heat of battle), Avery seized the opportunity to portray himself as a victim. He inferred that because he wears nice suits and came out in favor of same sex marriage that he was the target of a homophobic slur.

What hypocrisy.”

No, hypocrisy is someone who points fingers at others for throwing around (a never proven) racial slur, but says homophobia is okay on the ice because it happened “in the heat of battle.” Avery inferred that he was the target of a homophobic slur because HE WAS THE TARGET OF A HOMOPHOBIC SLUR. Avery could be the manliest man-man who has ever walked around in his man clothes doing man things, and it would not change the fact that someone called him a “faggot.”

And let me help you.

RT @jessespector So, Danny Briere is not a lip-reader. Again, note that Avery didn't make the accusation. He merely confirmed what everyone plainly saw.

So Avery did NOT seize the opportunity to portray himself as a victim, but that’s okay. It’s obvious your reporting is fair and balanced.

“I'm sure when Avery sucker punched the Edmonton Oilers' Ladislav Smid in Madison Square Garden and Theo Peckham wanted to rain down punches on him, it wasn't because of his stance on gay marriage.”

Haha, oh yeah, I remember that fight. Re-watch the video. Smid CLEARLY drops the gloves and Avery bounced on him after Smid challenges Avery. Smid may have been sucker punched, but it wasn’t like Avery Bertuzzi’d the guy. Gloves were off. Challenges were set. But did you forget the part where Peckham tried to chase Avery down the hallway?

Two words for that guy- Anger. Management.

“When Avery carefully orchestrated his 'sloppy seconds' comment about an actress who works in an industry where a high percentage of the employed are gay individuals, I don't think GLAAD would be pleased having a connection to a man who is unafraid to voice public hatred against women.”

“Public hatred against women?” I think that’s a little bit of a stretch, although I already- and gladly- admit that this wasn’t a shining moment in Avery’s career. It was a jerk move by a guy who can be a real jerk.

See? I admitted it! The guy is a jerk! Can we just accept this a move on now, please?

“Rangers fans should root hard for their team, but there are so many other class acts on their team to pick as their favorite, whether it's Brad Richards, Henrik Lundqvist or Ryan Callahan.”

We do, thanks.

“I covered Tortorella for six months in Tampa, the year before he won the Cup, and knowing his reverence for the game, he must bite down hard when he bears witness to this behavior.”

Right, ‘cuz throwing f-bombs around during interviews and squirting water on fans is much more classy.

“There's always room for more tolerance. Brian Burke is right, there is no place for mean spirited bigotry in the sport, but it will continue. The NHL is not alone, if you mic'd up every NFL player this coming Sunday, one could only imagine what you would hear on the gridiron.”

So let’s just accept it, like we accepted all forms of racism and sexism and bigotry in the past. Right? Right?!

…No.

“It benefits everyone that the NHL came out with a release stating fines will be levied for words that have no place in the game or, in reality, life. We can never have enough reminders about tolerance and what is the wrong thing to do.”

Agreed!

“But when Colin Campbell chose not to fine Wayne Simmonds, despite the fact that there was ample video evidence in support, it was really about who was the other party.”

That’s disgusting, plan and simple. Next time Avery gets boarded, should we let it go? If Avery gets a concussion from a blind-sided hit, should that player not be suspended?

That’s flawed justice. But I suppose there’s a reason why Shanaban has taken over for Colly Campbell to begin with, hm?

“If you had to choose which of the two would be involved in the next act of wrong doing of this nature, it would be a landslide.”

You mean, using a discriminatory word against another player? Since Simmonds is the only one with that one on his record…

“Could have the league have fined Simmonds? They could have, but $2,500 in the grand scheme of things means nothing. The maximum degree of punishment was negotiated into the CBA by both the League and players, so those pointing a finger at Commissioner Gary Bettman for not doing more are so far off course they needs a GPS to get back to reality.”

It would have sent a message about what is tolerated in the NHL. And apparently, discrimination is tolerated. Tolerated against homosexuals and Sean Avery, because a different set of rules apply.

“What makes this situation especially tricky is that if this was any other player in the League, there would be no discussion and I'd have written no column. I'll support the cause every time, but never this 'advocate' as I operate with the credo that people earn respect with their actions and not entitled to it.”

I wish I lived in your black and white little world. It must be all puppies and diamonds and rainbows. The facts are that bad things happen to good people, and bad things happen to bad people. There are some really mean people out there who are a part of a discriminated minority group. Should I not stand up for their rights not to be discriminated against just because they’re nasty? Mean comes in every color, every religion, every gender and every sexual orientation- but so does good.

This is where you miss the point, Mr. Bernstein. The point is not that “Sean Avery” was called a mean name. The point is that somewhere along the line, our great sport decided it was okay to let those mean words fly around. Would you be as unwilling to stand with Avery if you were gay, Mr. Bernstein? It doesn’t matter who said the word or who it was said to as much as it was said, and it was blatantly obvious to those of us watching the game that night. Upon hearing that it was true, that those words were really spoke, I was personally offended- someone very close to me is homosexual. There were children in the room watching the game with me. I, a straight, grown up female, did not want to be subjected to that kind of hatred.

Gary Bettman- explain this one to your daughter.

That’s an embarrassment to the league, and it’s insulting to fans who don’t want to see that garbage on our televisions.

“The only consistency this player ever has shown has been…”

*coughoffsidescough*

“…his blatant disrespect for the game and the people involved in it, yet now he asks for respect for himself and his values?”

Wrong again. This is not about AVERY, this is about BIGOTRY against gay people. We have, what, a thousand hockey players in the NHL, but NONE of them are gay? Are we supposed to believe that?

Or do you believe as I do, that they suffer in silence, because they would be singled out and persecuted by their fellow players?

“The NHL should be a leader in eradicating bigotry from sport in general, but to make Avery the poster boy for tolerance and to portray him as a martyr would be far worse than turning a blind eye to the incident.”

You have turned a blind eye to the incident.

The incident has nothing to do with Sean Avery, besides the three pages littered with half-truths that you wrote attempting to prove otherwise.

It has everything to do with Wayne Simmonds, a man who was just recently attacked with a particular brand of evil bigotry, dishing out more bigotry to others. End of the story.

“In a sport with hundreds of great guys, it's sad that the rotten egg gets such disproportional attention.”

This is a story you made about him, when it never was about him in the first place. So thanks to adding to the pile.

“If Sean Avery has fooled you into thinking he's a victim, you need to look real hard and see if he's really worthy.”

Puppies and diamonds and rainbows. Victims don’t earn their status through anything other than being victimized. Jerks can be victims.

And this article is just false equivalency.

On life and death...

2011-09-07T20:08:00.004-04:00

“For the sword outwears its sheath, and the soul wears out the breast. And the heart must pause to breathe, and love itself have rest.”—Lord Byron

It would be too much to bear if this were about a fifth death of a hockey player this summer, but it is not merely that. It is the fifth, and the sixth, and every interceding number between that and forty-first, with the crash of the Yak-42 carrying the players and coaching staff of the Yaroslavl Lokomotiv team. Among the names on the list of passengers who perished were several former NHLers, including former Bruin and Whaler Brad McCrimmon, longtime Blues superstar Pavol Demitra, and longtime Hurricanes forward Josef Vasicek.

On the hockey side of things, the only player I followed closely was Vasicek, who played for parts of seven seasons with the Hurricanes and had his name etched on the Stanley Cup in 2006 despite playing in few of the games that season. He was one of my favorite players when I was younger because he always seemed to work harder than the rest, and had a knack for scoring big goals. I was saddened when he left for Nashville, thrilled when he returned in a trade, and then disappointed again when he left for the Islanders. He was not a superstar by any means, but he was certainly the kind of player that a fan could support.

This is, however, not really about hockey. In the sense that we have now seen a lot of hockey careers this summer end too soon, perhaps it could be. However, this is different from the retirement of Doug Weight, and even from the sad forced retirement of Marc Savard due to concussions. If we only lost the Boogeyman or the Czech Condor as hockey players, it would be acceptable. People move on in life. This is not the same. We fans have lost them as hockey players, but there are parents who have lost sons, aunts and uncles whole have lost nephews, wives who have lost husbands, children who have lost fathers.

That is the true nature of this tragedy. Those were more than hockey players--

they were human beings, with families and friends, hopes and dreams. Those families and friends have been torn apart; those hopes and dreams ended abruptly. It is a reminder of just how fragile and valuable life can be, in case the four prior deaths of Tom Cavanaugh, Derek Boogaard, Rick Rypien, and Wade Belak were not enough and the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001 would not suffice either.

There are different lessons to be taken from each tragedy. From the four deaths of Cavanaugh, Boogaard, Rypien, and Belak we ought to come to grips with the fact that mental illness is real, and the impact it has on those who suffer from it can be more punishing than any punch thrown by an enforcer. We need to stop stigmatizing mental illnesses like schizophrenia and addiction, and start offering help with battling them and a warm hand to hold during the worst times. From the deaths in Russia, we ought to learn that no price is too high when it comes to ensuring safety, not just on the ice but off of it--whether that means better pads for players to wear or demanding more thorough safety inspections of team airplanes.

From all of these tragedies, and from every other one of any kind, though, there is one overriding lesson: tomorrow is not guaranteed. Take the time today to tell those around you how much they matter to you, and then set aside time every day to do that, because the day will inevitably one day come when that becomes impossible, as it did for these people far too soon.

Seth

In memoriam...

2011-08-31T20:49:00.003-04:00

Some Derek Boogaard vs. Wade Belak action...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpcGi0M3qOo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd73JecHk8w&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2dHeRPke1I&feature=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2Yt3PdWif4

Sad to think that they, along with Tom Cavanaugh and Rick Rypien, will never skate again, all of them taking their own lives (either by accident or intentionally). RIP to all four.

Ladies and Gentlemen: Your Connecticut Whale schedule!

2011-08-18T23:45:00.005-04:00

First, the full schedule:For the "TL;DR" crowd, here are the highlights:

Opening weekend: Sat. Oct. 8 at ADK and Sun. Oct. 9 at WBS...good preview of future Rangers, Flyers, and Penguins, and in the case of the WBS game, an early test against a top-tier team.
Home opener: Sat. Oct. 15 vs. BPT...divisional rival, first of ten meetings between the AHL Rangers and Isles.

Home-and-home in the I-91 Rivalry, Part 1: Sat. Oct. 22 and Sun. Oct. 23 at then vs. SPR...the best rivalry in the AHL kicks off with the first two of a DOZEN regular season meetings.

The new guys: Fri. Nov. 4 vs. STJ...the first time the new IceCaps come to town.

Give thanks: Wed. Nov. 23 vs. POR, Fri. Nov. 25 at BPT, Sat. Nov. 26 at SPR...who needs turkey for Thanksgiving when there's hockey?
New Years Eve puck drop: Dec. 31 vs. SPR...special 5 PM start time for another edition of Falcons-Whale bloodbath, er hockey.

Home-and-home in the I-91 Rivalry, Part 2: Sat. Jan. 7 and Sun. Jan. 8 vs. then at SPR...another pair of SPR-CT games...the PIM total will likely be record-setting.

Set your alarm: Tue. Feb. 28 vs. WOR...an 11 AM start time on a weekday. Ouch.

St. Patty's Day Massacre: Sat. Mar. 17 vs. SPR...the last of 12 meetings between the Falcons and Whale and everyone will show up drunk, which means we'll get a bar brawl.

Last stop before the playoffs: Fri. Apr. 13 vs. MAN and Sat. Apr. 14 at SYR...the final two regular season games before the playoffs start!

OK, so that was just as long...point is, there are a lot of great games on the schedule this year! If you can make it to just a few, that'd be swell. You'll love it, trust me.

The Islanders and the Arena

2011-08-02T14:46:00.005-04:00

So, as everyone knows by now, the vote on Long Island regarding financing for a new arena did not go the way that Isles fans wanted. By a margin of over 21,000 votes, Nassau County residents rejected the 30-year, $400,000,000 bond--perhaps the first time in Islanders history that such a contract was not taken. (I kid, I kid) Understandably, hockey fans in the New York area--including Rangers and Devils fans--are frustrated, while at the same time, there is a lot of joy in markets like Quebec City and Hamilton, who see the Islanders as a potential franchise that could come to their city. All of that consternation and wishful thinking over a vote that, as I have realized over the last twelve hours, does not necessarily mean anything for anyone.

First, there is the vote itself. Even though this was set up to help the vote come out in the other direction by the Islanders and County Executive Edward Mangano, the fact remains that only around 15% of eligible voters actually cast a ballot. That means the 88,000 or so votes against the deal represent the will of just 9% of the population--though that also means that only 6% of the population cared enough to vote yes. Attached to that is the fact that the vote was hardly the be-all-end-all scenario that supporters made it out to be. Any deal still had to get past a skeptical legislature and a very hostile NIFA that had a laundry list of complaints about it. Even if all 154,000 votes had been "yes," it only would have taken four "no" votes from NIFA to kill the entire thing.

Second, there are a pile of possible options for keeping the Isles on the Island without public financing from Nassau County. We all remember the Lighthouse Project, which was Wang's original plan to build an arena with his own money. It is possible that Wang simply buys the land, builds a new building himself and keeps the profits rather than leasing from the County as the voted-down deal would have had. It's also possible he moves the team to Brooklyn or Queens with the help of the Mets or Nets; the NBA team deal is more likely since the Nets used to share a building with the Devils anyway and even though Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov does not want to buy the Islanders, his building has a rink that is NHL-ready.

Finally, there is the one point everyone is missing: time. This is not the situation that the Thrashers were in or the Coyotes are in, where a move is impending NOW. The lease that the Isles have with Nassau County is through 2014-15, and Wang has already stated that he intends to honor that lease. That's four years. Four years is an eternity in the business and sports worlds, and in that time any number of unforeseen possibilities could come up. Perhaps there will be a development in Suffolk County, or in New York City itself. Perhaps the residents of Nassau County change their minds. Perhaps Wang decides to just stick it out in the current building in hopes that a team that succeeds on the ice is the only change that needs to happen. Perhaps...well, perhaps anything. Four years is what the Islanders and their fans have to figure out how to keep the team on the Island.

Of course, it remains a possibility, and admittedly a stronger one with the rejection of this referendum, that the team does leave Long Island. However, even that might not be the massive disaster that Islanders fans and their friends think. Quebec City won't be the new destination for the team--the odds are good that their market will already be filled with the Coyotes franchise come 2015. Other markets have issues--a team in Hamilton would be fought to the end by the Maple Leafs and especially the Sabres; Seattle has little in the way of arena infrastructure, while Kansas City has a rink but no one who wants to put a team in it, and the NHL is unlikely to move another team that far after already having to deal with two long-distance relocations. The odds are good that if the Isles do move, it's to a place that won't disrupt the entire format of the league--Hartford, Connecticut. This is actually somewhat good news for Islanders fans, because it means that even in the "worst-case scenario" the team is less than 100 miles away from its current location.

So, chin up, Islanders fans. All hope is not lost.

Six of one, half a dozen of the other

2011-07-23T02:52:00.007-04:00

As everyone knows by now, the AHL has totally realigned its divisions and conferences thanks to the Thrashers-to-Winnipeg thing that sent the Manitoba Moose (who were occupying the rink the Jets will play in) to St. John’s, Newfoundland, thus forcing the Charlotte Checkers into the Western Conference and taking the league from a four division structure to one with six divisions. Got all that?
Anyway, with three divisions of five teams in each conference, the AHL has adopted the NHL’s playoff format of top eight overall, with the three division winners getting top seeds. What it hasn’t done is adopt the scheduling format. The AHL’s scheduling format isn’t a format at all. It is rather as though they handed Jackson Pollock a paintbrush and told him to do the schedule. That is why the Whale play the Worcester Sharks, a non-divisional opponent, six times, which is twice more than they play either the Albany Devils or Adirondack Phantoms, who are divisional opponents. The whole thing makes sense from the perspective that costs need to be kept down and buildings aren’t always available, and yadda yadda blah blah [insert business jargon here].
The beauty of this, though, is that Connecticut will play against Springfield twelve times in seventy-six games (thirteen if you count the preseason tilt!). To those unfamiliar with the Whale-Falcons rivalry, think Red Wings-Avalanche of the late 90s/early 00s, if Genghis Khan played for Detroit and Attila the Hun dressed for Colorado. It is fierce, it is often violent, and every game is a nail-biter. As an example, I offer you the instant classic from this past season where the Whale pulled out a W with just 7.7 seconds left:

http://www.youtube.com/v/EB1Q7OOnHF8 (yes, you have to click it. Blogger won't let me embed Youtube videos.)

There are, of course, any number of fights you can find on the Whale and Falcons Youtube channels, as well as plenty of beautiful goals and fantastic stops. This one particular opponent is Connecticut’s biggest rival, even more than the in-state battle against the Islander-affiliated Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Springfield and Hartford are less than 25 minutes apart, a straight shot just two dozen exits down I-91. As a result, there is the inevitable large group of Whale fans in the MassMutual Center whenever the Whale are there, and equally as many Falcons fans who make the trip to the XL Center when the battle is slated for the Nutmeg State.
I am particularly invested in this rivalry not just as a fan of the Whale, though that alone is enough. It happens that I am from Western Massachusetts, and I go to school just up the street from the rink the Falcons call home. As a result, I attend dozens of Falcons games, generally cheering for whoever the opponent that night is. Many times, I have shown up in a Whale jersey for a Manchester-Springfield game, and chanted “Let’s Go Whale” at the most random times, purely for the fact that anything that annoys anyone in that organization makes the Whale fan in me very giddy.
But in the previous season and this upcoming one, I have an even larger reason to want to beat those birds into the ground. A certain ~~heartless no-talent bastard~~ former Wolf Pack captain named Dane Byers demanded a trade out of the Ranger organization last year and ended up on the Falcons, and even after the Falcons themselves later traded him away, he came back again this year. I am rather infamous for clever and annoying signs, so the first time Byers was in Springfield as a Falcon, I brought a sign reminding him of his awful record—his year as captain was the first and only time in the history of the AHL in Hartford that we did not make the playoffs—and he cussed up a storm at me. I won the war, though—the Whale won in OT, and Byers had all of seven shifts, yet still managed six turnovers. I look forward to tormenting number 34 quite a bit this coming season.

Because "Some Like It Green"

2011-07-12T15:34:00.003-04:00

Hi, everybody!
*pauses, waits a moment*
Come on…no “Hi, Dr. Nick?” OK, OK. Tough crowd. Shouldn’t have expected any less when I showed up on Broadway. It’s not easy to make it in New York, is it?
Actually, that’s precisely why I’m here. See there’s this hockey team in the American Hockey League that was called the Hartford Wolf Pack, and recently changed its name to the Connecticut Whale. Many fans most likely only know of this team because it is the AHL affiliate of the Rangers, and probably very little about it, or really the AHL as a whole. That’s a problem.
You see, the AHL has fans that are just as devoted as NHL fans. We paint our faces. We make cheesy signs. We buy lots of merchandise. We travel long ways to see our teams play. We salivate at the chance to get autographs from our favorite players, or even to bump fists with them before they head onto the ice. We go out and buy a referee jersey and sunglasses just to heckle one particularly bad referee named Terry Koharski that everybody BUT the league’s front office knows is the most incompetent official in the world…Well, OK, that last one may just be me, but the rest of it is what we as a fan base are all about.
Most importantly, though, is this: we support a league where most of the best of the best get their first taste of the pros. In fact, over 87% of NHL players graduated from the AHL. Brandon Dubinsky, Mats Zucarello, Artem Anisimov, Ryan Callahan, Dan Girardi…all of these guys benefitted from time spent in Hartford and are now household names among Rangers faithful, to say nothing of all-time NHL greats like Patrick Roy and Martin Brodeur (I'm sure it's painful to many of you to mention a New Jersey Devil, but yes, he IS an all-time great).
So who am I, and why am I blathering on about the AHL? I happen to be one of the biggest supporters of the Connecticut Whale there is. I know the lineup. I know the players. I go to over sixty AHL games a year. I live within an hour of four AHL teams, and within travelling distance of nine. I understand the importance of the second-best hockey league in the world to the best hockey league in the world, and what it means to be a fan.
Mostly, however…I live twenty minutes away from where future Rangers play their home games, not to mention near enough where I regularly see future Devils, Flyers, Blue Jackets, Kings, Islanders, Sharks, and Bruins as well. In other words, I know as much about the future of the NHL as I do about the present of the NHL, and I want to pass that along to you, the reader. I’m styling myself as Some Like It Green, as a way to denote my status as the biggest AHL fan going.
I’ll not only be giving you the info you need to know about the future of your team and several others, but also letting you in on a different fan perspective, where players appear and disappear at random, where you can have 12 new players on your team every year, and where there is still unmatched passion for a team that is supposedly second-class, but we all know better. It is my hope that you will enjoy everything about the Whale that I bring to you as much as I enjoy being along for the ride. I invite you to “Catch The Wave” with me!

Seth

Welcome, Seth!

2011-07-12T15:23:00.001-04:00

Let's hear it for our new blogger, Seth! Seth will be bringing a new aspect to Rangers fandom to our blog; he follows the Connecticut Whale, where all of our baby Rangers grow up to learn what it's like to be a full-fledged Ranger. Despite being a bigger Carolina Hurricanes fan (RIP, Whalers) than Rangers fan, we think Seth's AHL expertise will be an excellent addition to our blog, and to get a little testosterone in the mix.

Thanks for joining, Seth- and good luck being the only male in the room!

Can You Hear Us?

2011-04-21T01:11:00.001-04:00

My last blog post was about the Verizon Center. I’ll continue the story from there.

The corporately named arena is beautiful, for sure- just like the corporately-named Prudential Center, which I have also visited. In fact, the two could be interchangeable- they both even, in a clear spurt of originality-“Rock the Red.” The open floor plan is great; the vertically positioned seats make for a smaller inner stadium, for better acoustics and good sightlines. But it sure is cookie-cutter.

For instance, there's no way a "can you hear us?" chant or any other blip of originality breaks through the flashy and pre-programmed atmosphere. Heaven forbid they all don't wear matching #8 jerseys!

The atmosphere is a perfect correlated to physical building, which is itself preppy and shiny perfection. For me, it’s missing a lot- especially that small narrow hallway in MSG over by one of the team stores, where I used to chase my cousins during second periods. It’s not a pretty hallway. It’s kind of dark and grey. That hallway is where I grew up; it’s where pictures were taken and secrets were shared, and parents were begged for cash for cotton candy or ice cream.

When I was growing up, times were much different. My first Rangers game was in 1996; only one season after, the Rangers made their last playoff appearance for the decade. At first I thought I had bad luck, because the Rangers lost most of the time I would make an appearance at Madison Square Garden. Actually, it was just that the Rangers lost most of the time.

Historically, this seems to be the case. The Rangers managed 54 years without a Stanley Cup, the longest drought in NHL history. Our pain became our identity.

Despite winning the Cup in 1994, that pain is still our identity. This is a franchise torn in two opposite directions; it’s a money-making machine, but also the passionate beloved of the blue collars. Owners who are desperate for more cash wherever they can grab lead to consistently average on-ice product.

And that’s what we have here in front of us today, folks- Average. Mediocre in every way, besides goaltending, which was simply a case of lucky drafting. So when the mediocre Rangers take the unbelievably-talented Washington Capitals to overtime TWICE, and win a game, I refuse to complain.

Oh sure, it’s disappointing. It’s disappointing to hear the roar of the Garden silenced by the very jerks who claimed the Garden had no roar. It hurts to be silenced by those who claim we were always silent.

Were we silent in 1928, Bruce Boudreau? Were we silent in 1933? In 1940, years before the Capitals were a conceptualized thought- were Rangers fans silent? What about in 1994, after years of long-suffering pain- how quiet were we?

Yes, it hurts to lose, in overtime, again.

You know what doesn’t hurt, though?

We lost in overtime. AGAIN. The Rangers managed to take the number one seed in the East to overtime for the second time this series. That’s right- that means the Rangers played with the Capitals for three whole periods. An entire hockey game. Plus, we won a game despite extremely ill-fated circumstances.

The only reason I’m sour about the loss is because it comes right after the nonsensical and unfortunate comments that Bruce Boudreau made about the Garden and the fans that fill it. It’s like he somehow forgot that the Rangers and their fans have been around a hell of a lot longer than the Capitals franchise, or the bandwagon fans that currently fill the building night in and night out.

...or that he somehow forgot the Garden he was judging had very little expectations from the 8th seed team, down 2-0 in the series , in a game that started with numerous whistles and interruptions and lacked the flow of momentum. Oh, and had a goal ripped from their hands. Yeah.

I love seeing hockey gain new fans. It’s a wonderful thing; it keeps our sport refreshed and invigorated, and- dare I say it- seem somewhat successful. But when those fans lack the respect of what came before, it’s hard for me to respect them back.

The personality-less Verizon Center is filled with personality-less drones who only chant when a random fan blows a horn. That’s great and all for Washington DC, but those fans and that organization has no right to call out this hard-working team. They have no right to bring down this franchise, and their loyal fans who show up for every game.

Every game. Even after fifty-four years we waiting- every game. Not only games when we have a superstar dressing in blue; not only games when a big name team comes to town. Hey- we ARE the big name team.

We saw hell through the late 90s and early 00s, but we filled Madison Square Garden, always hungry for more. Our captain Mark Messier played for a ravenous crowd. Our future captain, Jaromir Jagr, played for an empty arena.

Say what you want, Bruce Boudreau. The players who consistently choose Madison Square Garden disagree with you. The musicians who get the chance to rock Madison Square Garden disagree with you. And the fans who actually sit in the blue seats? Well, to us, you couldn’t be more wrong.

You can take this as victory, despite the fact that the first seed Capitals should be wiping the floor with the Rangers. I’ll take it as a victory, too. Because you reminded me why I love the Rangers organization, and why I’m so proud of this team this year.

Despite how the Capitals and all of their superstars will no doubt over-celebrate tonight‘s win, just like every other typical Caps win, the Caps are barely meeting postseason expectations.

By playing with the Capitals, the Rangers are far exceeding expectations, which barely included a postseason at all. I couldn’t be more proud.

And in ten years, when there’s not much left for the Capitals to be proud of, and when the fans start to dwindle down to nothingness, the Rangers will still be here, and the fans will still be packing Madison Square Garden.

Can you hear that, Bruce Boudreau? Can you hear that, Washington Capitals? Can you hear that, Gary Bettman?

Despite the loss tonight, we’ll all be glued to our televisions screens in hopes the Rangers can pull off one more win. I certainly hope they can, and believe that they can. If they don’t, I will be saddened. I will miss the Rangers all summer. But this team full of rookies and grinders just learned a lot about postseason hockey. One little step towards greater success, both personally for individual players, and as a cohesive unit.

We know that, and that’s why it’s different here. I can hear you, Rangers fans- I can hear you because you're always there, and you always will be! We learned offsides together as children; we became reaccustomed when the two-line pass rule was eliminated. And we’re used to losing. Boy oh boy, are we used to losing.

We didn’t lose this one, guys. The only team in this series that has anything to lose at all is the Washington Capitals. And they lost just a little more respect from me for being unable to see it that way.

Being a Rangers fan is kind of like being in that dark, narrow hallway at Madison Square Garden. It’s dark, and the ground is uneven. It’s claustrophobic.

But it’s claustrophobic because fans are always in it.

My Trip To The Verizon Center

2011-03-02T22:34:00.001-05:00

I haven’t blogged in quite some time, but I thought my visit yesterday to the Verizon Center merited a quick sum up.

My boyfriend and I sporadically decided to take a trip to Washington DC to see the Washington Capitals take on the New York Islanders. It was an interesting experience; especially the ‘driving home the same day as arriving’ part. Luckily, we didn’t hit traffic and made both trips in under five and half hours. I won’t discuss the game because odds are, if you are reading this, you’re a Rangers fan and don’t care. However, a quick summary: despite good pressure in the offensive zone for the majority of the game, the Caps were unable to score a goal until the very, very end of the third period thanks to Brooks Laich. Alexander Ovechkin scored the (beautiful) overtime game winning goal. Matt Moulson had the lone tally for the New York Islanders in the first period.

The Verizon Center is a beautiful building, with a lofty amount of space, delicious french fries and comfortable seats. They have televisions in elevators. Food was obviously expensive as it is in every arena, yet cheaper than at Nassau Coliseum or Madison Square Garden. There are more merchandise stores and stands than could ever actually be necessary, with products available for fans of all players. It’s ironic that despite such an intense collection of options, Caps fans chose to rep exactly one player; Alexander Ovechkin.

Capitals fans are certainly an interesting bunch. They are much more friendly than your typical New York sports fan; many fans stopped to talk to me, probably because my Rangers jersey was somewhat out of place during a Capitals-Islanders games. A couple of my favorite fans included a man who called me “absolutely hilarious,”- and was literally laughing while saying it- for wearing a #68 Rangers jersey. Better was the woman who complemented my jersey. When I remarked that I was surprised to hear such a complement at the Verizon Center, she smiled and said, “Well, I actually saw him play.” Not only did I laugh, but I now wished I would have given her a high five as a token of my appreciation for her fondness of Jagr, and her ability to laugh at the stereotypical description of the fan base. If you ever read this, my friend, here is a virtual high five to you.

Capitals fans are reluctant to boo their team and seem extremely loyal, however they are collectivistic to the most extreme sense of the word. Here are a couple interesting examples:

1) During the National Anthem, they chant “OH” and “RED,” similar to how the Stars yell “STARS” during the appropriate lyrics. Yes, the “Oh” is for Ovechkin. I think it’s… a bit much.

2) They never seem to start their own chants; they rely on what is either a “super fan” of the Dancing Larry prototype or a possibly paid horn blower to begin all of their chants. I heard an extremely rare “shoot!” or “hit somebody!” once or twice, but other than that, all cheering was done together as a group.

3) “Unleash the fury!” Well, I certainly wasn’t expecting THAT. After a montage of inspiration clips from various movies, the entire crowd goes from silence to collectively screaming “Unleash the fury!” I really can’t decide if it was insanely awesome or insanely hilarious. Probably a little bit- er, a lot a bit- of both.

4) To prove their collective nature, they all had decided to wear their matching #8 jerseys.

Ironically, the one time they tended to be more individualistic was after a goal. The fans hooted and hollered, but there was no set “thing” to do when the Caps scored. It was a concept hard for me to grasp, as only goals and Potvin chants bring Rangers fans together.

When my boyfriend- and Islanders fan- attended his first game at Madison Square Garden, he said despite his allegiance, he almost felt like he was rooting for the Rangers because of how desperately the crowd wanted the Rangers to win. At neither the Prudential Center/Continental Airlines Arena or Nassau Coliseum have I ever felt that pull to root for the Devils or the Islanders.

But yesterday, sitting in the very last row of the Verizon Center, I was desperately rooting for the Capitals to score. Partially because I drove all this way and wanted to see the place erupt. And partially because the fans are so passionate in DC that they were convincing me that the Caps were the team I wanted to see win.

After they won, the streets flooding with the Red Rockers, all screaming and celebrating the overtime victory. Chants of “Let’s go Caps!“ and just general screams and cheers of delight made me near-giddy with excitement, despite knowing my Rangers lost. I wonder if the place is usually that rocking, but I’m slightly concerned to report that the last time I heard Rangers fans quite like that was after witnessing my first playoff game at MSG, where, ironically, the Rangers had handed the Capitals quite the defeat. Despite their rowdy, happy nature, fans apologized to my boyfriend for dealing him a loss, and saying in solace that the Islanders ‘had a bright future’ and ‘at least they got a point.’

Did some site-seeing while we were there!

Despite my continuous alarm that the NHL had forgotten some of it’s more prolific and historical fanbases to spread the Ovechkin and Crosby love, and despite the fact that the Capitals have a current playoff history with the Rangers that makes them essentially unlikeable from a New York standpoint, I grew a hundred times more fond of the Washington Capitals after my visit to the Verizon Center. I adore the friendly fans and the happy, positive atmosphere, even though I still think the fans should for some variety and get some Brooks Laich jerseys. I mean, who doesn’t like Laich?

---

I hear Jed Ortmeyer is playing tomorrow with the Minnesota Wild. Somebody hold me.

Pee Wee Hockey

2010-12-24T01:47:00.005-05:00

How much fun was it to watch Mats Zuccarello play his first ever NHL game? In case you didn’t catch the post-game show, you missed the mushy-gushy moment when Zuccarello remarked that tonight was “probably the greatest night of my life.” I probably melted right then and there. Kid played his heart out, and it showed. How many one-game call-ups play 17:52 in their NHL debuts? How many hop onto the first power play unit, end up on the ice when the team desperately needs that tying goal, and start on the first line in overtime? How often do they score critical shootout goals to propel their team to the next round?

That line of Brandon Dubinsky, Derek Stepan, and Zuccarello created so many impressive scoring opportunities that I became exhausted after jumping out of my seat so many times during their shifts. ~~Prucha~~ Zucca displayed utter fearlessness with his willingness to mix it up with tough guys behind the net and somehow manage to come away with the puck. He made a fantastic pass to a streaking Dubinsky from that very spot, a pass which resulted in a huge scoring chance in the first period. (Dub—who hasn’t scored since his other half, Allahan, has been out—banked it right off the post. Try again, Dubi!) The NHL is bigger and badder than the Swedish Elite league, and Zuccarello has spoken about the difficulties of getting used to the more physical style of play in North America. Judging by the way Zucca was throwing his body around against guys who are several feet taller than he is, I’d feel pretty comfortable saying that he’s adjusted fairly well so far. To the bitter chagrin of many Rangers fans, the little Norwegian Hobbit was sent right back down to the AHL for the Whale’s Sunday game, presumably because that guy who’s supposed to be our superstar is going to be ready to go for Monday’s game against the Islanders. (Although there has been speculation that he could be back on Monday.) Guess the acupuncture massage worked, eh Gabby?

You may have noticed another little guy out on the ice tonight. His name is Martin St. Louis, and he is my favorite non-Ranger player ~~not named Petr Prucha~~. St. Louis is 5’ 8” to Zucca’s 5’ 7”…But hey, who’s counting? (In fact, I think they have to stand on each other’s shoulders to reach Brian Boyle’s height. By the way, friendly reminder that Boyle has twelve goals. LOL.) Now you see him, now you don’t. St. Louis represents the entire Tampa Bay squad with his lightning speed, and playing on a line with Steven Stamkos makes him positively deadly on the score sheet. He has the same amount of goals as Dubinsky does, but thanks to his record-breaking linemate, he also has thrity-one assists. When you see guys like St. Louis and Zuccarello go up against giant NHL players, it makes you realize why players that tiny are so rare in the NHL. In a league where Glen Sather will gladly chalk up $6.5 million over four years to pay a tough-guy enforcer who, by all accounts, probably doesn’t play hockey all that well, a player’s weight and height can be the ticket to a shiny NHL contract. Size does matter in the NHL, and in some cases it’s the deciding factor. St. Louis has the enormous skill and the quick set of hands to overcome the roadblock that is his diminutive stature, and from what we’ve seen tonight from Zuccarello, I’m cautiously optimistic. This hopefully won’t be the “greatest night of your life” for long, Zucc!

Lots of other players made a splash out there tonight, in addition to the little guys. Frolov seems to be slowly removing his invisibility cloak. Ruslan Fedotenko was rewarded for a season full of hard work with his sixth goal. And Derek Stepan--who is, inevitably, going to force me to impulsively buy his jersey one of these days—scored yet another clutch, game-tying goal to bring his team to overtime.

Gratuitous DStep Goal Celebration Picture! #GLEE

The Rangers’ defense definitely could have been better this game, and we all could have walked away with our pretty little two points and not let this loss ruin our Christmas. But despite the defensive gaffes and eventual shootout loss, I had fun tonight. Stamkos-St. Louis dominance aside, the Rangers and the Lightning match up very well, and I enjoyed the fast pace of the game. I’m past being shocked by the Blueshirts’ unbeatable work ethic and passionate level of play, so although I’m disappointed by the loss, I don’t have any fiercely scribbled notes of criticism to mercilessly throw their way. The boys battled, and they battled hard. This is what we’ve come to expect from the team, from Brandon Prust, Boyle, Dubinsky, Stepan, Sauer, Staal, etc, etc, etc. I’m not going to let this loss ruin my Christmas—and that’s not just because I don’t celebrate Christmas, but because I’m so happy with the way this team has been playing recently (and the way they played tonight) that I simply can’t find it in my heart to be mad at them.

Some more notes:
*I’m starting to get antsy about Chris Drury scoring a goal. He deserves it. Dru’s been pretty solid since returning to the line-up, and he picked up his second assist off of Frolov’s goal. I’ve never been especially fond of Drury, but I started to realize that it’s the little things that make Drury so important to this team. You wonder what everyone’s referring to when they mention Drury’s “locker room presence”, and we got a taste of that during last week’s game against Phoenix. After Marty Biron let in two quick, soft goals to the Coyotes, angry fans at MSG started sarcastically chanting, “Hen-RIK! Hen-RIK!” Drury skated over to Biron, tapped his pads with his stick and said, “Show them what you got.” By the end of the night, the whole Garden was chanting, “Mar-TY! Mar-TY!” And that’s why Chris Drury wears the ‘C’. Props, Chris.

*The Dubinsky-Prust shorthanded breakaway may have been the Rangers’ best scoring chance of the game. (I know Kerri had a moment there!) Brandon Squared outhustled the speedy Lightning squad and reminded us why we love the effort of this team.

*The shootout stresses me out so much, I swear it takes years off my life. Well, thanks to the third longest shootout in Rangers’ history, I’m going to die eleven years younger than I originally planned. Even so, there was so much to love about it. Zucca impressed once again with a few thousand nifty dekes to score the tying shootout goal, and Erik Christensen came up with another highlight reel shootout move. Next time we’re in the shootout we should just skip his turn, because we all know he’s going to score anyway. Cha-ching!

*Marty Biron’s dissertation on How To Beat Dan Ellis in The Shootout and subsequent reaction to EC’s goal were priceless. I wish he had shared his shootout tips with the rest of the team, though. Way to be exclusive.

When MZA finally cracks the Rangers’ roster for good, we’ll all get sick of those jokes about how absolutely bite-sized he is. But for now, they’re still pretty funny. A few highlights for your reading pleasure:

From Andrew Gross, over at Ranger Rants:

Kubina gets Zuccarello with an elbow to the head, it appeared. Could be considered a high elbow. Or, and not making a joke, Kubina had his elbow at normal height and Zuccarello’s head was there.

As for Zuccarello, liking his game, not afraid to try and take the body. The problem, and, again not trying to be funny, is the opponent doesn’t necessarily notice the hit.

From Jesse Spector, via his Twitter feed:

4:24 left in a tie game at MSG. Scrambling as usual. Zuccarello, meanwhile, tries to stare down Hedman. More of a stare up.

…can you believe I just wrote an entire post about little hockey players and managed to avoid the word “adorable”?

Happy Holidays to all!

I'm Calling April Hockey

2010-12-13T13:13:00.000-05:00

There’s usually a turning point or two in a season, when fans, players and management alike look back and think, “if only that would have went differently,” or “thank the hockey gods for that one.” This singular moment, just one game, can define an entire hockey season. Sometimes it’s easy to point out which moments have the potential to be this crucial, although it’s impossible to know for sure until the season begins to come to a close.

Duballahan: In Love

The 7-0 win from last night against the Washington Capitals had all the makings of such a critical game.

The Rangers were coming off a couple of weeks of undisciplined play, and despite a slightly more energetic game against Columbus Blue Jackets, the Rangers found themselves as the losers. Henrik Lundqvist managed to let in a goal by Rick Nash at an impossible angle. It was overwhelmingly disappointing for Lundqvist, not to mention fans.

Lundqvist had 31 saves.

John Tortorella, usually hard on his goaltenders, made the intelligent decision to play Lundqvist right away off the bat. Lundqvist had a great defense in front of him, but he came up big when he had to.

John Giannone, who called the game, had a bit of a tongue mix-up and ended up referring to Lundqvist as “their” - as in, the Ranger’s- Lundqvist. Although it was a funny slip at the time, Lundqvist certainly proved why we’re proud that he is theirs, and ours, too! It was a well-earned shutout (number 5 on the season) and big game from our franchise goaltender.

In Prust We Trust!

The Rangers dominated throughout the game, from the very first face off. Brandon Prust opened up the goal scoring gates late in the first period on a lucky deflection off of Tom Poti’s stick. Not for nothing, but that should have been the first time that this game was about to get awesome. When the Capitals hit their second post of the second period, you could feel it in the air; everything was on our side, even luck for once. When the Capitals hit their third post of the period, I exchanged a cinematic, jaw-dropping stare down with a fellow Rangers fan, who was equally in shock that the bounces were going our way.

OMGOMGOMG /fangirl

Brandon. Freakin’. Dubinsky. This game featured Brandon’s second career Gordie Howe Hat Trick, with Dubinsky notching a pretty assist on his good buddy Ryan Callahan’s first goal- out of two- in the third period, his own goal, and a fight with Alexander Ovechkin.

That’s right. A fight with Alexander Ovechkin.

DUUUUUUUUUUUUB

(I’m still waiting for the instigator to be called on AO, though. Dubinsky was jumped. If this were Sidney Crosby, all of the Ovechkin-lovers with Crosby-superiority-complexes would be calling for his head, no doubt. This is exactly the double standard that makes me abhor Ovechkin just a fraction more than that whiny annoyance from Pittsburgh.)

Lost in all the shuffle, because Dubinsky fought (!!) Ovechkin, was the beauty that was his goal. A no-looker? Oh HELL yes. Also lost was that considering the way the two players have been playing, Dubinsky was almost as bad for the Rangers to lose when sitting for his major penalty as Ovechkin was for the Capitals.

Yeah, it's love.

Other goal scorers included Artem Anisimov, who is slowly coming out of his slump, and Marian Gaborik, who I would like to see score against an actually decent team and/or in a competitive game.

On the defensive side, Marc Staal earned his money tonight. After a shaky start to the season, Staal has been increasingly steady, and managed a sweet shorthanded goal last night. Have I mentioned that I love Michael Sauer? He’s a tough cookie who’s looking confident, plus he scored his first NHL goal against the Senators the other night. Our other Michael, Del Zotto, has looked better post-paper. I would pay good money to read that four page report.

Although I know that Semyon Varlamov did not look sharp- does he ever?-, Ovechkin was a non-factor, and the Capitals’ defense was all types of atrocious last night, I am officially saving my pennies for a hockey game on a rainy April day.

Let’s continue this into Wednesday’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, and Thursday’s against the Phoenix Coyotes.

If you haven’t heard the news, Petr Prucha was waived on Thanksgiving and is now a member of the San Antonio Rampage, so we won't be seeing him on Thursday. Ow. It hurts.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2010-12-13T11:37:00.005-05:00

Today is my birthday, and it was awfully nice of the Rangers to pummel the Caps the way they did last night. I couldn't have asked for a better present from them (okay, well they could have shown up to play the Sens last Sunday when I was there to watch them play, and they could sign Jed Ortmeyer, but anyway...).

And Baby-Face Dubi - every time I see you step up the way you did, I have renewed love for you. Your Gordie Howe hat trick was nothing short of amazing, and beating the snot out of Ovechkin - icing on the cake, baby, icing on the cake.

December slump be damned!!!

Duballahan for President!

2010-11-01T23:50:00.005-04:00

Let’s hear it for Brydon Duballahan!

Duballahan throws hits like his house is on fire. Duballahan blocks shots on the penalty kill with sheer fearlessness. Duballahan had four points in this game, to boost his team-high count to 24 points. Duballahan is the reason the Rangers are winning games sans superstar Marian Gaborik. Duballahan is our all-American hero. Duballahan is the Rangers’ heart and soul, and the future of your New York Rangers.

Alright, I guess we’ll give Artem Anisimov some credit, too. Good job, buddy.

As I was saying…

Ryan Callahan has been on a steady, uphill climb for a while now. I’ve forgotten how many times I’ve yelled out, “Callahan for President!” because, really, who wouldn’t want this guy running your country? He never takes a game off, or even a shift off. Mr. Extra Effort Award has shown time and time again that he understands what it means to Be A Ranger. I have never questioned Cally’s work ethic, but I’ll admit I was never his biggest fan. I used to think he was too much of an automaton, and that he really only did what we expected of him (which, admittedly, was a lot). When he won the extra effort award last season I was disappointed, because Callahan had not performed “above and beyond the call of duty”—he had merely continued to fulfill our stratospherically high expectations of him. This season, though, I finally boarded the Callahan-Is-God bandwagon, and I’m never ever getting off. I knew, when Callahan was at long last rewarded for his relentless efforts with a goal against the Devils last Sunday, the floodgates had finally opened. Callahan is that rare player that has the skill to play top-line minutes, the incredible work ethic that endears himself to the fans, and the guts to tell it like it is. Cally has really grown into a leader for this team, and as much as I do like Chris Drury, I’m looking forward to the day where Ryan Callahan gets to wear that “C” with the pride and responsibility that it warrants.

Oh right, Dubinsky. Dubi, Dubi Dooo!

Did you know that MSG now has a Brandon Dubinsky goal skit/video/song? HELL YES! They played this random little “Dubi Dubi Doooo!” ditty on the Jumbotron tonight after his second goal. I just about died. On the subject of dying, I probably would have dropped dead of a heart attack right then and there if I had been at the Garden for Dubinsky’s first career hat trick. Even so, Dubinsky’s diving clear in the final seconds of the game undoubtedly sealed the win for the Rangers tonight. The Garden roared after that play, and my heart soared. (See what I did there??)

I was indescribably proud to walk around in my Dubinsky jersey tonight. The personalized, way-too-big Dubinsky jersey that my grandparents hand-delivered to me in summer camp four years ago (they didn’t make Dubinsky jerseys yet at the time) was certainly not the only Dubinsky jersey at the Garden tonight. But it used to be. People were down on Dubi a lot, especially when he held out for a higher contract last year.

Well, what were you all saying about Dubinsky again?

To be honest, I never really expected Dubinsky to be more than a fifteen goal scorer. I knew he had the guts, but I didn’t know that he had the skill. Now I know it’s still a bit early, but…

DUBINSKY FOR THE HART TROPHY!

…Nah, I’m just kidding you.

DUBINSKY FOR MY HUSBAND!

…Nah, I’m just…okaymaybenot.

In all honesty, I’m proud of ya, Dub. Keep making me proud.

Some other notes on tonight’s game:

-Remember when Dan Girardi totally spazzed in the last minute of the game and gave the puck away to the Blackhawks, and then took a penalty? I don’t, because I’m pretty sure I stopped breathing at that point. Aside from that, Girardi continues to dominate with the ridiculously awesome shot-blocking. His chin must be made of steel or something.

-Brian Boyle and Brandon Prust were the last Rangers players on the ice during warm-ups today, practicing a cute little give-and-go. Just thought I’d mention that, because those two have also been stellar for the Rangers this season, both in the points and effort departments, and they certainly got their support from the Garden Faithful tonight. (Kind of makes me nostalgic for Blair Betts and Freddy Sjostrom.)

-Derek Stepan's not doing so well because Glee is not on this week. It happens to the best of us. He’ll be back to his rockin’ self next week, when there’s a new episode.

And finally… You can’t believe I rambled on for this long without mentioning you-know-who’s game winning goal, can you?

Oh, Erik. I was all ready for you to slowly fade into obscurity. Now, it’s going to be even more painful when El Capitan finally re-returns.

As it turns out, I missed Erik Christensen's beauty of a goal because I was tweeting on my phone. (Somebody shoot me, please.) But I watched it again after the game, and it turned out to be a typical, point-blank Erik Christensen shot. This guy has skill, believe it or not. I know he doesn’t deserve to be on the top line, but I’m going to have a hard time seeing him with no line at all. At least he upped his value in Tortorella’s eyes with this timely goal.

I really, really like Christensen. The odd thing about him is that he seems to respond to pressure by slowing down, not speeding up. Most people mistake his apparent lethargy for apathy, but in reality I think it stems from lack of confidence and frustration. Last year, he couldn’t sleep at night when he missed a shootout opportunity. This year, he told Larry Brooks: "I go into every game wanting to score five points and if things don't go my way, I get ticked off and almost start working against myself. I have such high expectations of myself, that I make the mistake of not staying positive.”

One thing I can say for certain about Erik Christensen: He cares a hell of a lot.

And that can definitely be said about the rest of the New York Rangers these days. Let’s just hope that when Gaborik, Drury, and Vinny Prospal finally do return, the Rangers still play with the gritty, passionate heart that they’ve displayed thus far.

Edit: Oh, and that guy in goal played pretty well, too. Forgot his name. Henrik something? Oh well, it's probably not important.

Booooo.

2010-10-16T15:10:00.000-04:00

Remember the screw up that was Monday’s Islanders game? Marc Staal couldn’t control his stick and we ended up going down 5-3. The Islanders scored twice and won the game.

Remember the screw up that was Friday’s Maple Leafs game? Marc Staal took an interference penalty- questionable to be called in OT, but still clearly late contact- and we ended up going down 5-4 in overtime. The Maple Leafs score and won the game.

Not for nothing Marc, but we’re done with your penalties that lead to GWG for the wrong team.

I know the Maple Leafs are hot right now, but if the Rangers just bothered to show for the second period of their home opener, they could have won that game. They couldn’t bother to show up for their *HOME OPENER.* I don’t even want to touch that one.

Hey! More similarities! Losing in front of their own fans is something that was shared by both the Maple Leafs and Islanders games. So was bad defense. So was not showing up. TERRIFIC.

http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/getty/5c/fullj.115b23496968714d922358f9fee0be57/115b23496968714d922358f9fee0be57-getty-102826780ab008_toronto_mapl.jpg

Vinny Prospal is undergoing surgery on Tuesday and rumors are it could be season.

Chris Drury broke the same finger, only in a different place. LOL, who does that? Everyone keeps saying not to make fun of him because he can’t catch a break. LOL. All he does is break. That’s probably six weeks.

Marian Gaborik will be two-three weeks with a separated shoulder. That’s nothing to lol about.

But, thank the lord above, Erik Christensen will be ready to go on Monday!

…. I don’t even want to touch that one. XD

I also don't want to touch how bad the team was yesterday.

Don't get suspended, Avery.

-----

Anyway, no one on this blog mentioned the amazingness that happened a week ago so….

http://cdn.nhl.com/images/upload/2010/10/FrozenMoment_100910_slide.jpg

"I love Ponies and Rainbows and gLee and Hat Tricks." - Derek Stepan.

------

Blogger made half of my post disappear. =*(

Hocktober

2010-10-02T19:50:00.005-04:00

In case you were wondering, the answer is yes.

Finally, finally, finally, the question that hockey fans have been asking since June (or, in the case of us unfortunate Rangers fans, since that cursed Sunday in April) can be met with the affirmative: Yes!

Is it October yet? We asked in July. Is it October yet? We asked again in August. Is it October yet? We asked yet again in September. So…Is it October yet?

Why, yes. Yes it is.

And it could not have come soon enough. Personally, I am not what you’d call a summer person. I hate the beach. I hate the heat. I miss hockey. I hate the sun. I hate the way my brain seems to melt like the copious amount of ice cream that I eat year-round anyway. I miss hockey. I hate the lethargy. And did I mention that I miss hockey?

Even throughout the longest, hottest summer in recent memory, we did get to bear witness to several dramatic, NHL-related events: There was the Kovalchuk Krisis, the Great Purge of the Chicago Blackhawks, the banishment of @PaulBizNasty from Twitter, and the triumphant return of BizNasty in the form of @BizNasty2point0. (If you’re not following him, you should get on that, stat…and if you don’t have a Twitter, don’t worry, you’ll cave in eventually.) For us Rangers fans, there was the typical Glen Sather Exorbitant Free Agent Signing of the Summer in Derek Boogaard, whose dollars-per-point ratio would probably put my entire college tuition to shame.

But in all honesty, I only really care about how many zeroes are on Kovalchuk’s contract if it causes the impending Apocalypse (aka: an NHL lockout). Frankly, I find BizNasty and his industrious campaign to butcher the English language to be offensive and tiresome. And as for Sather’s latest off-season splurge: if Boogaard scares the BizNasty out of everyone and prevents Marion Gaborik from taking (another) beating…Well, I think I just may be able to deal with that.

There are some fans that thrive in the frenzied off-season. And while I enjoy going cross-eyed from reading about free agency signings all day on July 1st as much as the next hockey fan, I can’t help but miss MY team.

Like many Rangers fans, I was born into this mess. My father bought season tickets right out of college, and he’s owned them till this very day. (Or, at least, until I convinced him recently that I’d be attending more games than he would this year, and that I should probably just keep the tickets in my dorm room…for convenience sake, ya know?) But it was only after my first playoff game at the Garden that I transformed from a Rangers fan into a Blueshirts fanatic.

I can’t recall the exact chain of events that led me to that game, but I remember worrying that, by the second overtime period, my grandfather was going to go into cardiac arrest. I don’t remember who scored during regulation time, but I remember precisely where Michal Roszival was located when his slap shot bulleted by Ryan Miller in 16:43 of double overtime. And while I remember quite clearly the feeling I had when the crowd at Madison Square Garden leapt to their feet in unison and roared their celebration of that goal, there are absolutely no words in the English language to describe it.

And that’s when I realized I was hooked for life.

I studied abroad last year, and I really did miss home. (By “home”, you know I mean MSG, right? Glad we’re on the same page.) Over the summer, I had to walk past MSG every other day in order to get to my internship. Inevitably, I would end up standing in front of the big “MADISON SQUARE GARDEN” sign above Penn Station, just staring at the massive, cylindrically shaped building in front of me, physically swelling with a mixture of pride and nostalgia. (Or was it the 105 degree heat? )

We’re coming off an unbelievably frustrating hockey season. I doubt I need to go into detail about the reason the Rangers’ season was cut mercilessly short last year, because you’re probably still reliving that moment in your nightmares. (And then there was Sidney Crosby’s, um, moment in Vancouver, which never ceases to make me want to hurl something out of my window.) If summer is good for anything, it simultaneously dulls our feelings about the previous season, which in turn fosters our excitement for the upcoming one.

And so, hockey season is finally upon us. It’s all very overwhelming at first: Summer rolls on forever and ever, and then BAM- there are three, four, five NHL games a night, the “Players-To-Watch” list includes every single new/old/prepubescent player on the Rangers’ roster, and I’m just so excited to see my red, white, and blue out on the ice that I can barely register that there’s actually a hockey game going on right in front of me. And that’s only the pre-season.

As a relatively new fan, I’ve been praying for some of the Hartford kids to make the jump to the big leagues this year so that I can personally watch them grow and develop, instead of relying on other fans’ biases towards certain players who have been around for longer. As if in answer to my prayers, Sather’s new strategy of addition by subtraction (bye bye, Wade Redden!) seems to be opening up the roster for some new, young, Blue blood.

Even so, this team still presents itself as one huge question mark. That Henrik Lundqvist and Ryan Callahan will give 110% each and every game is a given. Alexander Frolov and Marion Gaborik seem to play well together, but will they become the goal-scoring powerhouse that we expect them to become? Will Marty Biron prove to be a reliable back-up goaltender and not just a pretty cool guy? Will Artem Anisimov have a breakout season, or end up wasting away on the fourth line or in Hartford? And although he’ll be starting the season in Hartford (much to the chagrin of many ~~female~~ Rangers’ fans), will Mats Zuccarello-Aasen soon show us some of his hobbit-like tricks… and is he distantly related to a certain ex-Ranger out in Phoenix?

Maybe we’ll find out the answers to these questions in the next month, or the next season, or never. As Rangers’ fans, we’re used to soul-crushing frustration.

But, hey: We’re being positive, right?

Game on, Rangers. Let’s see what you’ve got.

(In the meantime, I’d like to extend my gleeful, slightly fangirlish thanks to Kerri, Kristen, and Christina for the invitation to join this awesome (!!!) blog. Looking forward to an exciting season!)

Meet Our New Blogger...

2010-10-02T12:39:00.002-04:00

Tonight. =)

Good Reddence

2010-09-25T14:27:00.001-04:00

So I trekked into New York on Thursday for the first preseason match up against the New Jersey Devils. Since it was the very first game, it took all night to orient myself and understand that there was a hockey game being played live right in front of me. Hockey is walking out of the doors of Penn Station and feeling a rush of fresh, cold air hit on you the face. Since the opposite was happening and we’ve been an extra couple weeks without hockey thanks to last season being playoff-less, it was kind of unbelievable that this was really happening.

I was late to the first- since I have to save my school absences for regular season games- and was disappointed to see I missed the first two goals of the game, as it was tied with each team having one. I also apparently missed a Brian Boyle fight, but I would get to see a good old fashioned hockey fight in the third featuring my boy Brandon Prust (<3!!!).

Ah, hockey fights.

My very first thought about the 2010-2011 New York Rangers team: “Wow. We look alright.”

And we really did look alright! No, we looked better than alright; we looked downright good, being that it was preseason game. The Rangers out-shot the Devils, our defense was coming into the play to try some offense, and we were defensively aware. It was fun hockey. It wasn’t exactly inspired hockey, but for a team playing their first game back from a long summer, I was pretty excited.

lol, caption on Yahoo! sports says "Marion Staal"

I do like Marion Gaborik and Alexander Frolov together. Load the big boys up top and see what happens. I’m not very familiar with the style of play that Frolov executes, but he seemed to enjoy puck possession last night. Frolov had energy and a beauty- and I mean a BEAUTY- of a goal. I’ll keep him. Gaborik had the game winning goal, right after he made a great play to hustle back and prevent a breakaway for the Devils. Love the work, Gabby.

Our Eastern European wingers were centered by Derek Stepan, who’s probably know best throughout the hockey world as the kid that captained America to the under-20 world Championship. That’s when I decided I loved him, and I loved him even more last night. It’s kind of strange to put such a young and inexperienced guy on a line with Gaborik, but it worked. And it rang familiar; putting young American center Brandon Dubinsky with a Eastern European star like Jaromir Jagr did Dubinsky a huge service, and even worked out well for our superstar. Perhaps this can be rehashed in a Gaborik-Stepan relationship?


Kerri's favorite maybe-Ranger

Maybe I’m jumping ahead of myself, and I should just hope Stepan makes the team. We need a center who can pass to Gaborik. Clearly I enjoyed every second of our first line.

Moving down the list of forwards, Dubinsky had a solid game. There were times I would forget he was out there, but then he would turn around and do something awesome. Did his hands get softer over the summer?

His attitude certainly didn’t. I was instantly annoyed when I saw him throw his broken stick to the ice at the end of the first. I understood his frustration, but he *did* crosscheck the guy. Come on, Dubi. Play happy! It’s only preseason! Taking things seriously is a good thing, but coming to the ice with a positive demeanor couldn’t hurt anyone.

Did Erik Christensen play? Oh, he did? Didn’t notice. Come on, Christensen! If it’s true that everyone has to earn their spot, than you need to be working it. Maybe Dubinsky and Christensen should take happy classes together.

I certainly saw Brian Boyle on the ice for the first time since he was traded to the Rangers. Is it safe to say this random preseason game was his very best game in Red White and Blue? Boyle had a kick-ass goal, a fight, and was willing to throw his humongous body around. If he keeps it up, he’d be a perfect fourth liner!

Tim Kennedy was more noticeable than I thought he was going to be. He had some speed and controlled the puck well.

Ruslan didn't mean it, Martyyyyyyy.

Ruslan Fedotenko: bor-ing. He took a penalty right after he had a decent scoring chance. I briefly ran into him after the game; he was sitting by himself on a bench, shining his shoes. (I’m not even kidding) A fan noticed him, and walked over to get an autograph, so my cousin and I walked over too. The fan asked him if he thought he was making the Rangers, and Ruslan laughed and said no. I felt bad for him; he has no confidence in his ability to make the team. But, in an act that reminded me how much I love some Rangers fan, the fan said, “Dude, did you see out roster recently? You’ve got a chance just like anybody else.” I hope Ruslan takes it to heart and plays with a little more confidence.

Kerri's other favorite maybe-Ranger

It was impossible to miss Mats Zuccarello-Aasen. I can’t even say much about his play besides that he seems generally speedy because all I saw was how little he was. I remembered him from the Olympics, but it was honestly laughable looking at him out there. All I could think of was ‘isn’t this guy afraid? Isn’t he aware that he is so small?’ Clearly, I’m begging him to make the team for all the wrong reasons; I love the underdog. I love the smallest guy out there on the hockey ice. And I want to root for Zuccarello. I want to jump up and down in my living room screaming the first time he scores an NHL goal. I need him to make this team. I can see him as my emotional attachment to the Rangers already. Lord knows I need one.

Speaking of my emotional attachments, Brandon Prust <333. Please score a goal- or, um, even cross into the offense zone- next game, but the fight was awesome and went on for what felt like 10 minutes.

Nice helmet, Marty

On the other side of the blue line:

Alexei Semenov must change his number if he wants me to be OK with his presence on this team. I’m starting to doubt if that would be a likely scenario anyway, though, because out young guys looked awesome out there!

Ryan McDonagh: I don’t even know what you looked like, but if you asked me to marry you, I would say yes. I’m a McDonagh fan already; the kid looked so strong out there and he was where he needed to be at all times. So, so strong. Love. Can’t believe Montreal parted with him for Scott Gomez.

Dan Girardi and Marc Staal switched bodies for the night. Guys, it’s entertaining you like to mix it up, but it’s certainly confusing. I expect the hesitation to come from Girardi, not Staal. Ah, well, I have full confidence these two will be up-to-snuff by the time the regular season starts, although I certainly hope that Girardi raises his bar this season. Always looking for growth from Staal as well, but Girardi needs to take a step forward to prove he’s worthy of his contract.

I saw Girardi’s baby after the game, too. SO CUTE. SO, SO CUTE.

I’m trying to think of who else played, but John Tortorella only likes his top three lines and top two defense pairs, so who even knows anymore.

Oh yeah, Derek Boogaard played. If you could call that hockey playing. He also took a 10 minute misconduct I didn’t understand.

Anyway, onto Goaltenders:

We got to see Marty Biron and Chad Johnson in net for the Rangers. Biron was pretty good; made some solid saves. The guy has a great personality and I’m already forgiving him for his time spent with the Flyers and the Islanders. Chad Johnson (could this guy change his number to 85 pronto? ESPN would eat it up; nothing better than some good hockey PR!) was alright up until that TERRIBLE Parise 5-hole dribbler. Let’s not even talk about that because it was so incredibly awful I want to forget it to.

Thanks Gabby for saving the day anyway! Rangers won 4-3 in OT.

Yes!

Ultimately, I’m excited for the team this season. It really looks as though those draft picks and prospects that we were promised years ago are finally coming through and are ready for the challenge of being full-time NHLers. As much as I hate the Wade Redden, Chris Drury and Michal Rozsival contracts, it looks like a re-building process actually did go on. If we add our new guys to already established players like Dubinsky, Ryan Callahan, Staal, Henrik Lundqvist, etc, it looks like our re-build is turning prospects into an actual core of a team. That’s really exciting. And it means we just have to wait until 2014- the year Redden comes off the Rangers roster- to really have some fun.

…. Just kidding.

By waiving Wade Redden today at 12 noon, the Rangers solidified that Redden will not be a Ranger this year or ever again. This is a huge step forward in ridding the Rangers of unnecessary and disgusting contracts that ruin the team’s ability to make any productive trades or free agent signings. Sather has made four giant mistakes- Gomez, Drury, Redden and Rozsival- and one by one he is eliminating them.

This is not to say those players aren’t NHL-caliber. It is not to say that they’re even bad NHLers. Simply put, their product isn’t worth the output. In the pre-lockout era, that was OK because money meant nothing to a wealthy team like the Rangers. I truly believe Chris Drury’s and Scotty Gomez’s are good additions to a team.

Post-lockout, the decent contributions of a salary-hog like a Gomez or a Drury is catastrophically bad for a team; for every dime you pay Redden, you cannot pay a Ilya Kovalchuk or a… or a… (where there ANY decent free agents this year? Gosh.) Well, you get my point.

Anyway, back to Redden: whereas he is still a NHL-caliber player, he is not a 1st pair defensemen anymore. And we cannot afford to pay our bottom guy seven million dollars a year.

Prettiness does not make up for little hockey skills and large paychecks.

Good luck, Wade Redden. Congratulations on the birth of your first child. But enjoy her in Hartford, with the Whale, or whatever the dumb name the Wolfpack has now.

But no one should applaud Glenn Sather for the Scott Gomez trade or the Wade Redden waiving. Fans knew before what it took Sather years to figure out. And we still have Chris Drury and Michal Rozsival limiting our chances to sign decent free agents or trade for higher-salaried players. Something tells me that Wade Redden being waived is the worst thing that could ever happen to Michal Rozsival, who actually had a great game on Thursday. It Rozsival can keep it up, perhaps he won’t hear the boos from the 400 section, but my educated guess is that he’s going to be hearing it.

Chris Drury won’t be hearing it, at least not for four weeks due to a broken finger. Chris Drury, let me break it down for you:

Shot going 90 mph
+ your soft finger cartilage
Bone breakage

This is a simple equation any idiot getting paid 7 million dollars would have figured out by now. Someone please teach it to Chris Drury and tell him to stop getting hurt. Playing through injury is admirable and all, but when you’re always hurt it loses it’s nobleness and it just hurts the entire team. Try blocking shots with your stronger lower extremity bones, please. Or better yet, don’t throw your creepy-looking hands in front of shots during scrimmages in the preseason when you’re the captain with a No Movement Clause. GOD, HE’S SO INFURIATING. He’s even more infuriating because I sound mean complaining about selfless, injury-prone Chris Drury.

But seriously. Tortorella says Drury needs better equipment; I say Drury just needs a better brain.

Anyway, don’t have worry about him for four more weeks. This also opens up room for our younger guys to show what they’ve got.

PLAYERS STILL IN NEW YORK RANGERS TRAINING CAMP:
I took the liberty of underlining players that are almost-definitely making the team. I also took out Wade (GOODBYE) Redden, since this list was issued by the Rangers yesterday, before Redden was put on waivers.

Goal (3):       Martin Biron, Chad Johnson, Henrik Lundqvist

Lundqvist is our starter, Biron is our backup. No questions asked, unless Biron is ridiculously bad.

Defense (13):         Michael Del Zotto, Steve Eminger, Garnet Exelby, Matt Gilroy, Dan Girardi, Brandon Manning, Ryan McDonagh, Michal Rozsival, Michael Sauer, Alexei Semenov, Marc Staal, Pavel Valentenko

What an exciting, young defensive core we have! Staal, Girardi, Del Zotto, and Rozy (blahhh) are definite, meaning if we carry a 7th defenseman, we need three more guys on the team. I would like to see our regulars include Matt Gilroy and Ryan McDonagh, with an older guy like maybe Exelby or Semenov as our 7th?

Forward (22):         Artem Anisimov, Sean Avery, Derek Boogaard, Brian Boyle, Dane Byers, Ryan Callahan, Erik Christensen, Chris Drury, Brandon Dubinsky, Ruslan Fedotenko, Alex Frolov, Marian Gaborik, Evgeny Grachev, Tim Kennedy, Kris Newbury, Vinny Prospal, Brandon Prust, Derek Stepan, Dale Weise, Todd White, Jeremy Williams, Mats Zuccarello

Our forward lines are all out in the open. 23 slots are available, with 9 taken up by goaltenders and defensemen. We also have 9 definite forwards, leaving 5 spots open for some eager forwards to step up and make the team. I’m assuming Christensen and Sean Avery are in, leaving 3 spots. Stepan has been impressive, and I’m hoping Zuccarello gets a spot due to my own selfish hopes and dreams, but really, it’s all open for whomever can shine the brightest; exactly how hockey training camp should be.

Rangers in Newark tonight at 7. Should be fun, but I might have to mute the television. I heard Chico was in the box with Sam and Joe Thursday night? Ouch!

My ears are bleeding.

And thanks to those who left a positive comment about our new layout for the season! =) It’s appreciated!

2010-09-11T16:07:00.000-04:00

In memory of all those who died on September 11th, 2001, and all victims of terrorism and war no matter the color of their skin, their nationality, or their religion.

And God Bless New York, the greatest city in the world. <3

Ready to Go

2010-09-09T17:46:00.001-04:00

So excited for hockey season.

I could babble about how Alexander Frolov and Derek Boogaard are the missing pieces (you think??) but reality is that it has more to do with my utter summer boredom than it does the current state of the Rangers. Ilya Kovalchuk and Dan Ellis drama all summer? Please. Even though we'll be pulling teeth to get in this year, at least we won't have to sit through any more of that.

A couple things must get done before hockey season kicks off in Europe, however. Firstly, we had to join Fantasy Hockey Teams. I joined the usual one with my family and friends (draft date yet to be set) and an NYR Blogger’s Fantasy League as well, that includes some minor names in NYR Blogging.

Such minor names as:

Blueshirt Banter
SNY Rangers Blog
Greg Caggiano
Rangers Tribune
Scotty Hockey
Blue Seat Blogs
our best-blogging-buddy over at Natural Hat Trick Productions
and brought to us all by the phenomenal Eric at 5-hole.com

~~You can see the fabulous Petr Prucha goal watch over at 5-hole.com, if you're interested.~~

So clearly by "minor bloggers" I meant the Holy Grail of Rangers bloggers. So clearly I'm going to get my butt whooped. Clearly.

However, I'll probably update my current state of doom throughout the season, so stay tuned for that. Draft is set for Tuesday night, so we'll see what happens.

Secondly, our blog needed visual sprucing up. (Poof!....Ta-Dahhh!) Doesn't it look fantastic?

Thirdly, our blog needed some content sprucing since we rarely ever blog around here anymore. We're attempting to change that in two different ways; by first and foremost trying to make blogging more of a priority despite our busy lives, and secondly, by introducing a new face to the blogosphere. Hint: You probably know her already. We're really excited to have a new opinions and insight by a dedicated Rangers fan around this place, and we can't wait to introduce her to you!

Finally, and obviously of least importance, Sather needs to get Marc Staal signed. But it's really Sather's prerogative when or if that gets done since Staal isn't the best defenseman we have or anything.

…. oh wait.

As we enjoy what’s left of summer, the Rangers need to start making some major decisions. Staal needs to get signed, Wade Redden needs to be deposited of, we have an abundance of forwards who will be fighting for a spot, and all I know is that I’m ready to go.

Preseason starts Thursday, Sept 23rd at MSG, against the Devils.

I did it! I blogged!

2010-04-29T21:39:00.004-04:00

How am I going to commemorate the 2009-2010 New York Rangers?

By talking about the 2009-2010 Phoenix Coyotes, of course!

At first glance, these two franchises seem to have nothing in common. The Rangers play for the biggest city in the world; they are a proud, Original Six club, who make their owners a nice chunk of change every season. The Rangers seem to be stuck in an unhappy place of stagnancy, unable to shake their terrible GM and Owner. The Coyotes, an expansion franchise that relocated to Phoenix in the 90s, have difficulty filling their stadium night in and night out. And they are in the mist of much turmoil, between changing ownership (they are currently owned by the NHL, although they hope to have new owners soon), and threats of a forced change of scenery by being relocated northwards.

It was a forced change of scenery that led me to the Coyotes to begin with. The only reason; and trust me, it was the very only reason, that I turned on the Coyotes last year was because my favorite picked-on Blueshirt ended up in Coyotes err… maroon.

I only watched the last 20 games or so last season. But I was much more impressed than I thought I would be, despite that the Coyotes were in the playoff picture until an All-Star break meltdown. I enjoyed the chemistry between Upshall and Lombordi, and I was reintroduced to why Shane Doan is one of the most fantastic captains in the league.

Although everyone predicted them to come in thirtieth place, I insisted the team would be better than that. This was arguably a playoff team. They made several personnel changes, and a coaching change (thank goodness). If their goaltender could get hot… well…

Maybe it was fluff, though. Because as I became emotionally attached to the Phoenix Coyotes, I thought about how I felt when my own team was predicted to come in thirtieth place, coming out of the lockout.

I argued then too. We have Jaromir Jagr! He could re-surge! We have all these rookies and new players; who knows how talented they could be, or what kind of chemistry they could have?

You remember this story. To everyone’s shock, they put on a brilliant display of hockey skills and teamwork. On the backs of a federation of Czechs and a strong goaltending performance, they not only managed to make the playoffs, but posted over 100 points! The regular season effort caused a resurgence within the fan base, which started talking about hockey for the first time in several years. And this was the first playoff appearance in practically a decade! It was done with talent, sure, but mostly with heart. With heart twice the size of any of team in the recent history of the club.

The playoffs… well, they told a different story. It was unfortunate; the match-up probably could have been better, but the real kicker was when the captain, the emotional glue and heart of the franchise, got hurt.

When they lost on home ice, though… the reaction was different. The fans stood up, they clapped their hands, they chanted for their team, and they roared with approval when their team stick-saluted us; the fans. They may have lost, but this was an historic season for a franchise who has quite the history of losing.

Um… Rangers fans? I’m talking about the Phoenix Coyotes.

All season I insisted the 2009-2010 Coyotes reminded me of the 2005-2006 Rangers. They even went out in a similar fashion; captain aching in the locker room while the home team saluted their fans.

My bitterness the past couple seasons with the Rangers has been mostly due to the Rangers forgetting all about that season and what it meant to fans. When I see those mercenaries standing idle, while collecting their paychecks, it sickens me. When they come out with a piss-poor effort, I get nauseous. My Rangers never did that. MY Rangers worked their tails off from start to finish, every single night. When the Rangers traded or let go some of those heart players that the fan base clung to for this very reason, I felt disenfranchised and disconnected.

The Rangers finally seemed to be turning a corner and playing with some heart when their season ended abruptly by a shootout. But the Rangers waited too long; they didn’t deserve the playoff berth because they slept-walked though November, December, January and February, like they have the past two seasons.

When the Capitals lost last night to the Canadiens, the Verizon Center stood up and cheered for their team.

My question is why?

Why cheer for mediocrity when your team is better than that?

Why applaud a meltdown of historic proportions?

Rangers fans aren’t always the kindest, and in several cases, I have found them to be much too hard on the team that represents our city. But Rangers fans would NEVER stand up and cheer a Presidents Trophy team for an early playoff exit. And quite honestly, I would never ever expect them too.

Because it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game. I’m a sore loser; I hate to see the Rangers (and now, the Coyotes) skate off the ice with their hands hanging low. But the Rangers have 1 Cup in the past 60 plus years. There must be something that keeps us coming back, despite the losses. Every season ends in heartache for all teams except one.

But sometimes, the pain can be overshadowed by an intense feeling of satisfaction and of pride. Like if the team can skate off the ice knowing they played their game, and they gave 100%. Like if the fans saw evidence of that 100% in broken bones and sweaty brows and blocked shots.

Neither the Coyotes nor the Rangers will hold the Stanley Cup this year. These teams are no better than the Oilers, and no worse than whatever team makes it almost all the way, and has to watch in sadness as the other side hoists the Cup over their heads, because these teams, from number 2 to number 30, leave without that Cup.

But some teams, despite being losers, leave with a certain sense of satisfaction.

Some fans, who may be devastated now, will look back and think of that moment as maybe the greatest moment they have ever had as a fan.

Because I do. Because that moment, when the Rangers saluted their fans despite being swept by the Devils… that was the most proud I have ever been as a Rangers fan. (Granted, I was 6 when they won the Cup.)

They may both go home losers, but Coyotes fans can go home with a smile.

Thank you, Coyotes, for the great season.

As for the New York Rangers… well, better luck next year.

Out of Our Misery

2010-04-12T09:14:00.006-04:00

Okay, the title's a little harsh, but let's face it - as much as we love our team, most of us deep down knew the playoffs were a long-shot this season. Maybe not early in the season so much, but midway, blech.

I will admit that for the first time in my Ranger-fan career (whatever that means), I was hoping in a way that they would not make the playoffs, not prolong the pain, and maybe get a good draft pick out of it. And why put off the inevitable? Whoever landed the 8th seed would likely get bounced by the Caps in the first round, as would seed #7 by the Debs. However, stranger things have happened (*ahem - Pres trophy Sharks losing to Ducks in round 1 last year - ahem*).

It's almost a relief right now, and frankly I think the Western conf will be more exciting to watch due to the mere 18 point differential between seeds 1 and 8 compared to 33 in that of the Eastern conf. And not for nothing, but I would LOVE to see Prucha's and Ortmeyer's teams advance in the post-season.

So let's make some calls: Who's it gonna be in the finals? I'll go with the obvious and say Caps v Sharks (just to see if SJS can shake off the bad mojo from last year's round 1 performance). Make your predictions!

Appreciation Day!

2010-03-02T10:21:00.004-05:00

That's right! By popular demand, Appreciate Your Players Day is back in business.

Ok. Really, I know this blog has been totally abandoned by it's bloggers. I apologize for this. But something I really appreciated last year around this time was having a supporting group of people who have similar ideas and feelings about these players who are about to be caught up in a large-scale musical chairs.

Appreciation Day got started last year the day before the trade deadline. A couple of us were concerned that a certain player might end up traded away, and guess what? We were right. Knowing that it was probably his, and other well-liked players', last day as Rangers, we figured we would have one more day of smiles.

I think it was largely successful. We laughed about Paul Mara's beard and Marc Staal CRUSHING Sidney Crosby (and being bitch-slapped by Alexander Semin!), we re-celebrated Petr Prucha's first goal of the season, and we even got to bring back some Sean Avery memories when he re-joined the team at 12pm on Tuesday, the day before the Trade Deadline.

So with that, I ask you to post a couple of your favorite memories from this season. Although this is prodominantly a Rangers blog, fans of other teams and for those of us who follow a player or two who has already been traded away, those memories are more than welcome in our comments as well.

Our hope is that we remember the good times and keep a smile on our faces for just one more day before anything could happen.

And, like usual, we hope that Glen Sather will manage to keep our smiles.

Done Deal

2010-02-02T08:44:00.001-05:00

Looks like Kerri needs to make an adjustment to the banner picture:

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=515892

Disenfranchisement

2010-01-26T12:50:00.004-05:00

It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game. We’re taught that since childhood, although most don’t seem to buy in. Being a Rangers fan though; that will do wonders to your moral standard of “winning.” Because it’s not something that the Rangers seem to do a lot, from their four championships in eighty four years and counting, to the dark ages of the late ‘90s and early 2000s. So if this team isn’t going to win, the fans need to find something else to hold on to.

I know what I held on to. Effort. Hard work. Determination. That used to embody the Rangers. We’re reminded of it every time we look to the rafters at MSG and see the names of men who we watched get moved to tears over ‘being a Ranger.’

When Gaborik was punched in the face repetitively by Carcillo, and Dan Girardi just stood there like an idiot, I was literally embarrassed to be a Rangers fan. Adam Graves wouldn’t have stood there.

You know who else wouldn’t have stood there?

Paul Mara.

Colton Orr.

Dare I say it, Petr Prucha.

And that is essentially what this team is missing, and has been missing for the past few seasons. There are only a couple guys willing to stand up and take one for their team. There are only a couple of guys who give it their all every single shift of every single game. And the amount of ‘these guys’ on the Rangers roster continues to dwindle.

And that’s why Some Like It Blue has been MIA this season. Because I can’t get myself to give a crap about a team who doesn’t give a crap back.

It’s not about winning. It’s about being proud to wear Rangers blue on your back, and working hard to make New York proud of you. And there are few, if any, Rangers who understand that.

Let’s put it this way; there was a reason the San Jose Sharks, after some early playoff exists, ran out and signed ex-Rangers Malhotra and Ortmeyer.

Glen Sather understands this the least. He consistently makes decisions that leave this team even more void of energy, and more void of cap space. Most Rangers fans realize this trend will continue until he finally retires.

What else is there to say, hm?

Nothing. There is nothing left to say, which is why weeks go by without a peep from me.

The real problem with this year is that it’s identical to last year.

The Rangers cannot score goals, regardless of coach, system, or seemingly personnel.

The Rangers have a coach that flat-out refuses to make in game adjustments to system, but pounds away at different line combinations until the point your head starts spinning.

Thus the Rangers have been unable to create any chemistry.

The Rangers may not be the smallest team in the league, but they certainly play like they are.

The Rangers lack toughness.

The Rangers do not try that hard. Period.

The Rangers are going to trade someone with heart (Dubi? Cally?) for a rental before the trade deadline.

The Rangers are going to try to squeak into the playoffs with one or two days left in regulation.

The Rangers will either fail, or they will succeed, just to be blown out in the first round.

Fantastic . So glad I waste my time watching this.

When I used to complain about the Rangers, I did so with passion. Now I feel like I’m forcing myself to update the blog because no one else has in weeks. There is no passion here. The disenfranchisement only continues.

And then I look at my actual hometown team and think about how it might be really fun to be an Islanders fan these days.

And then I turn on the Coyotes, which used to be for Prucha, and has now turned into an actual fandom, and think how much fun the Coyotes really are.

It’s not so much the success of the Islanders or the Coyotes for this year, but rather the hope for the years to come. It’s not so much about how many games they’ve won, it’s about how even when they lose, they lose with pride.

The Rangers have hope, too. We have a great crop of kids coming up through our system, and they are our future.

But forgive me if I tune myself out, even just a little, while Redden and Rozsival and Drury still wear the jersey, and while Glen Sather still runs the joint. There's only so much you can give and not get anything back.

USA! USA! PRUCHA! USA!

2010-01-06T11:04:00.004-05:00

In one of the most fantastic and jaw dropping displays of hockey I have ever witnessed, Team USA defeated Canada in World Juniors last night to win gold.

Firstly, the game itself was outstanding. Great back-and-forth action. The teams were obviously very evenly matched; in the first game between USA and Canada, the Canadians won in a shootout, and the USA didn't manage victory until overtime. Actually, the good old American boys were up by two until a pathetic excuse for goalie interference call helped Canada close up the lead by one. Canada ended up coming back to tie the game with about a minute and half left to go, and then the US took it in overtime.

Props all around to both the Canadian and American squads for that fantastic showing of hockey they displayed. I wish we had the chance to watch the younger guys more often; not only is it awesome to watch Chris Kreider score a goal for Team USA knowing he'll be in Rangers blue in a couple years, but they're occasional defensive breakdowns make this game FUN and stressful to the max.

Anyway, for more of a rundown of the game, I point you here. Rangers prospects Derek Stepan, Chris Kreider, and Ryan Bourque all played big roles in the USA win over Canada, just to add to the excitement that this tournament already brings.

Hopefully, this is a new start for USA hockey.

While Team USA was winning gold and singing along to their national anthem (which literally brings tears to my eyes even when it's NOT America), my favorite little hockey player scored his ninth goal of the season. It was a really good couple of moments.

Especially because the Coyotes were playing the Oilers. And Renney had the best seat in the house to view it.

2009-12-30T22:23:00.001-05:00

Ow. ow. ow. ow.

Thank You Andy Sutton

2009-12-19T11:07:00.004-05:00

Update, 12/20/09:
This was found.

I tried to make this a little more... anonymous. But that's OK. They spelt the last name wrong anyway.

Original Post:
Here’s a story about the spirit of the Holiday season I’d like to share as we wrap up Chanukah and begin Christmas.

My cousins were all, like me, bred to be Rangers fans since birth. So it’s no surprise that my little cousin, who was born with Achondroplasia dwarfism, wore his Rangers jersey when heading to school last week, knowing that some of the New York Islanders would be in attendance.

Achondroplasia is a genetic disorder that affects the growth of bones. People with achondroplasia typically have large heads and extremely short limbs. It’s the most common type of dwarfism. Thankfully, do to new television shows such as “Little People, Big World,” people like my little cousin are finally becoming more exposed. Partially because of the lack of exposure to dwarfism, my cousin deals with a lot of stares and a lot of questions. It’s frustrating enough that his little brother has been taller than him for years, and his similar-age cousins and friends have all recently shot up to leave him behind, but he’s also subject to consistently feeling the eyes of rude strangers who don’t know when to look away. It’s not easy, to say the least.

My cousin lives on Long Island, just like me. So when a sports team comes around to do community service, such as going to a school for children with physical disabilities, it’s usually Long Island’s one major sports team that comes. My cousin has gotten to meet the Islanders a handful of times at these types of events.

His class was getting a question and answer session, so my cousin raised his hand. “Can you demonstrate a hip check?” he asked Andy Sutton.

Who said back, “Sure, get up here.”

My cousin stood up, walked over to Andy Sutton, received a fake little hip check from the Islander, and then proceeded to shake his hands, as if he was dropping the gloves. So Sutton went along with this, and my cousin literally tackled him.

What my cousin lacks in physical size, he makes up with a contagious laugh and a huge personality. If you met him, you become instantly endeared to him. My family laughs about it, as if my cousin really charm anyone into doing anything.

Well. He charmed Andy Sutton.

He never gave Sutton his name, Sutton had to ask around and find out himself. And the next day in class, my cousin was told that Andy Sutton from the New York Islanders called up the school, and requested that he be given tickets to both Islanders/Rangers matchups, one at the Garden and on at the Coliseum, including access to the back room where he (hopefully) could meet some players.

Unfortunately for me, my cousin is number three out of four boys, so number one and two each took a game. His eldest brother brought him to the Garden to watch the Rangers lose to the Islanders. They got to head into the back room, although they didn’t meet anyone. They had fantastic seats, too.

The next day, his other brother brought him the Nassau. Thankfully, they saw a Rangers win. On my cousin’s tickets, it said “To mister _____________, guest of Andy Sutton.” They sat three rows back from the glass, right behind the Rangers bench. “I could practically hear Tortorella cursing his brains out!” my cousin exclaimed while telling me the story.

After that game, they again got to go into the back room. There, Matt Moulson and Dwayne Roloson were waiting to meet my cousins. After chatting with a couple of the Islanders, Roloson said, “Hey, follow me. I’ve got a surprise for you.”

So my cousins followed Roloson to the exit of the locker room. When my cousin saw who was waiting for him there, his jaw dropped and he exclaimed, “You’re Marian Gaborik!” Later on, Henrik Lundqvist also walked by, so he got to meet him as well.

Meanwhile, I was at my boyfriend’s house, preparing myself for the worst to come out of the second Rangers/Islanders match up. (Typically boyfriend’s house means watching the Islanders broadcast.) Right before the game, Deb ~~Kauffman~~ Placey showed a quick little movie about the charities the Islanders were doing for the Holidays. When it ended, she mentioned that Andy Sutton had taken to a particular boy he met during his charity work, even though he was a Rangers fan, and that Sutton had given him tickets, so him and his older brother were expected to be in attendance that night.

This story was mentioned again the next day on NHL Live.

Oh. And did I mention my cousin now has Andy Sutton’s personal email address?

So I guess this blog entry was a thank you. To the Islanders organization. To the Rangers, for actually showing up to play on the night my cousin was there. To Dwayne Roloson, Matt Moulson, Henrik Lundqvist, Marian Gaborik, and all of the men who represent our sport by doing the right thing for their fans, especially when those fans face challenges that most of us are fortunate enough not to have. And mostly to Andy Sutton, who made a dream become a reality for my little cousin.

Now I’m going to stop being lazy, take a shower, and then get back into a comfy pair of pajamas. I’m going to turn the fireplace on, make myself hot chocolate, and snuggle up with my favorite fleece (Rangers) blanket to watch the Rangers take on the Flyers while it snows outside my window. Let’s go Rangers!

2009-12-17T00:02:00.001-05:00

Yup.

Fuck.

Gilroy: You Can Thank Drury's Paycheck

2009-12-11T12:32:00.005-05:00

NOW I know why I don't update this blog. Because the Rangers infuriate me so much, that a blood vessel in my brain might explode if I even start to think about it.

Look.

Gilroy's play had declined steadily from preseason to now, and no one is denying it. He had little offensive production, and even defensively has been shaky.

Valiquette also didn't look so hot in his couple of starts this season.

But the blame is being put onto them. Like moving these players will change anything at all? Of course it won't. The salary cap is still being squished to the max by contracts for players that are invisible (or worse, noticeably terrible).

Unless these players are being moved for a big trade that eliminates at least one of the three "big problems" I will remain unhappy with the decisions.

Valiquette may not have been great, but he was a good team guy and happy in his backup roll. Now we're forcing young goaltenders to take time out of their development to sit on the bench and watch Henrik play... and further more, are these players even ready for the NHL? God forbid something happen to Lundqvist, and then what happens?

Gilroy may not have been great, either, but has he stood out as worse than Rozsival or Girardi? Not to me. Does he stick out like a sore thumb compared to Staal and Redden? Nope. And although that might not be an acceptable compete level, it's not like he was doing anything particularly terrible. And although I am aware that because of waivers and contracts that Gilroy (along with MDZ) is the only defensemen of those I mentioned who can move up and down between leagues without clearing waivers first, he seems like the logical choice to go down.

But the question is WHY. If it's just to "shake up" this team, I hate the idea. I hate sending a kid down without him first getting talked to, without first getting benched for a bad play, without first being a healthy scratch after a terrible game. Teach him something; teach him a lesson. But no, the Rangers take the most severe approach and just send him down to Hartford. (Where, by the way, I wonder if there will be hard feelings since Gilroy came out of no where to take a spot that could have possibly belonged to one of our AHLers.)

If it's to clear some salary for a trade, I'd like to see what the trade brings us before I accept this move as a positive one for the organization.

And let's not get started on the on-ice productions. Taking one point out of Chicago was like a miracle.

A List of Selfish Things Tortorella has Done.

2009-11-29T11:48:00.004-05:00

1) Throwing a water bottle at Capitals fans because he can't control his own behavior, causing the league to thus suspend him during a playoffs series which the Rangers ended up blowing.

2) Scratching Sean Avery, who did deserve some type of punishment. In my opinion, your best players should play during the playoffs, whether you're trying to make a point or not. Bench him for a period, maybe? But healthy scratching him is a bit much, considering how hypocritical Tortorella is for asking others to maintain their composure.

3) The numerous instances where he refuses to take blame for his own defensive pairings or lines or the refusal to change his system when the situation calls for adaption. (Who are you, Tom Renney?) Instead, he calls out players; one instance, it was Matt Gilroy, but it has happened several other times.

4) Being part of the decision to sign Donald Brashear. Yeah, that's working out real great for us.

5) Playing Lundqvist, not against a division rival that also happens to be Stanley Cup Champions, but against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tortorella's old team.

6) Benching Lisin, a third liner who doesn't play stellar defense, instead of healthy scratching him because he wanted to make a show out of it, which set the Rangers off with a shortened bench from before warm ups even happened.

Not for nothing, and I'm not solely blaming Tortorella for the Rangers current slump or this travesty of a weekend, but Tortorella makes decisions that hurts the club for his own petty desire to prove he's the boss. He has done a couple things I really agree with, but I can't agree with petty moves that hurt the team to "prove a point" or "send a message" when the message is just that Tortorella is king.

2009-11-24T10:53:00.003-05:00

No seriously, that was so much fun. Let's do it again sometime.

We'll Miss You Shanny, and yeah, that team we follow lost again.

2009-11-18T10:52:00.005-05:00

On behalf of the three of us here at Some Like It Blue, as well as our readers (lmao), I would like to send the deepest of congratulations to Brendan Shanahan on his tremendous Hall of Fame career.

In fact, as I'm writing this, I just saw a tweet from @PuckCentral, "Throughout his career Brendan Shanahan had 17 "Gordie Howe" hat tricks -- the last of a dying breed unfortunately." Amazing, what Brendan Shanahan did day in and day out.

I'm slightly heart broken over the news of his retirement; he was one of my favorite players before he came to the Rangers, and I remember just how excited I was getting the news that Shanny signed with the Rangers. My brother was concerned about his age, but I couldn't stop blubbering about how SHANAHAN was going to wear a Rangers jersey. It was one of the moments I was most proud to be a Rangers fan, because Shanahan was built up so high in my own mind.

Sometimes, though, it's a negative to see your heroes play for your own team. The rumors of the Rangers signing Saku Koivu scared me for that very reason. You watch this guy from afar, and you see him in his prime, winning Stanley Cups with the Red Wings, but when he comes to New York... well, his prime was over. It's why the Rangers wouldn't take him back last year, and that's why the Devils didn't let him last the preseason. Rangers fans complained of how slow he was; I remember doing it myself. He was referred to as "grandpa" and "the old man" around the Rangers Internet community, sometimes not so endearingly.

But I feel so honored that I got to watch Brendan Shanahan play hockey, not only for the Rangers, but for other teams around the league, even the Devils. Because this man exemplifies what hockey is about; honor, courage, leadership, willing to stand up for yourself and for teammates, and a really, really wicked shot. His work during the lockout improved our game, and it will be forever appreciated. What he gave the game, both on and off the ice, is unparalleled.

I remember thinking during that stick ceremony, when Jagr and Shanny both reached the 600 goal milestone together, how silly it was that we were celebrating Shanahan's 600th goal, when next to none of them were scored as a Ranger. But you get a little older and you watch this great hockey player retire, and then you realize the significance of such an event.

It also makes us remember how lucky we were to have Jaromir Jagr and Brendan Shanahan skating on a team together.

And unlike that idiot @Stan Fischler, we realize how pivotal those Rangers were, and how Marion Gaborik cannot even begin to be compared considering how few games he actually has played as a Ranger.

I miss seeing Jagr skate for the Rangers just about every time I turn on a Rangers game. And I miss seeing Shanny there next to him. So even though Shanahan will always be a Red Wing... a part of him will always be a Ranger, too.

I'm such a girl, but I cried watching this, lol.

---

I really, really hate losing to teams to who kick us out of the playoffs. So I really, really hate the Washington Capitals these days.

There were some positives to the game. Firstly, the Rangers came out on all four cylinders, pressuring the puck and pushing the forecheck. It was a fun ten minutes to watch. Secondly, the second period wasn't so bad. It didn't look anything like the usual second periods that kind of make you nervous through the entire twenty minutes. Thirdly, Sean Avery decided to show up to this game. Good, because I missed you, Sean.

The downfalls have pretty pretty obvious. Poor passing, poor puck support, losing battles along the boards, and blatant inability to score. Marion Gaborik scored both of the Rangers goals last night. If he wasn't on this team the Rangers would be at the cellar of the East, and we might end up there despite him.

I've read a few re-caps throughout the Rangers-verse this morning, and three similarities stand out. People are already tired of Tortorella, for one, two, nobody likes our fourth line, and three, everyone thinks Drury and Dubinsky have nothing to do with our consistent losses.

The fourth line we have been seeing in action is Brashear-Boyle-Voros. They are unable to get much generated in the offensive zone; in fact, they can barely keep it out of their own net. Either that, or they're taking a penalty. It's annoying and frustrating, but the best we can hope for is that some of them need to take seats when Drury and Dubinsky come back. Maybe we can keep up PA or even re-call up Dane Byers; anything is better than watching this fourth line. (Concern there, though, is for our young developing players who need ice time if they are going to be called up.) A tiny plus from last night's work was that Voros actually won a fight; unfortunately, that brings us right back to why Brashear isn't the one doing the fighting.

Our fourth line hinders our other lines, as they must see more and more ice time because Tortorella doesn't want Brashear and Voros out there for any longer than he has to. Partially, this is because Tortorella is not a fourth line coach and tends to give his fourth line few minutes. But the other part of the equation is that they are really that terrible; they don't deserve more than the 4 minutes they are already getting.

And it reminds me of who we let go last season, who did their jobs for cheap and did their jobs well. Imagine if Blair Betts, Freddie Sjo, and Colton Orr were our fourth line. I think that dramatically changes the look of this team from back to front, because Tortorella would have the luxury of putting the fourth line out there and not having to worry about this having a disastrous outcome.

Plus, our terrible fourth liners weren't all playing when Dubinsky and Drury were in the mix. I'm really not sure how anyone could make the judgement that Dubi and Dru have so little affect on this team that their injuries don't change anything. The Rangers haven't leaned on these two for goals, certainly, but they have a better chance at goal scoring than Voros or Brashear do (...maybe??), and were a huge part of the penalty kill, which now is someone else's responsibility. As much as I'm not a Drury fan, none of us are in that locker room and knows how much of an impact he makes while he's there. Even Dubinsky, who hits and creates energy even if he's not playing a good offensive game, affects the locker room. At the very least, Drury and Dubinsky influence the PK, and the way the lines are set up, which goes back to Brashear and Voros having to be in the lineup every single night.

This is not supposed to be any kind of excuse for the way the Rangers have played; I certainly do not believe the Rangers keep losing because Captain Un-Clutch has a concussion. I'm not disputing those who suggest that this team would be losing with both Drury and Dubinsky in the lineup. A good team wins despite those injuries; and this team was showing signs of weakness long before Glencross blind-sided our seven million dollar man. But this isn't a good team, he's our captain, and yeah, his injury influences the on-ice product, even if it's not seven million dollars worth of influence.

Finally, the blame is being placed most firmly on John Tortorella's shoulders. In many ways these pundits and bloggers are right; Tortorella has not done his job the way he has promised in recent games. In the beginning of the season, we saw Rozsival, Dubinsky and Higgins all take a benching and they came back and played stronger because of it. Maybe it's only me, but I liked the handling of Christopher Higgins, who hasn't been all I dreamt him up to be, but he certainly is improving as time goes on. Recently, though, despite huge blunders from the defense and offense alike (I'm looking at you, Wade Redden, after last night) no one seems to be held accountable. I also am sick of the line-changing that reminds me of the Tom Renney days. If the team can't score, how does making sure that chemistry does NOT develop help in any way?

Of course it's time to point our fingers at Tortorella. Not to yell "fire," but to ask him to do something with this mess. It's his job to motive this team, to manage this team, to put players in the best positions he can to ensure we're scoring goals and the players stay confident. So let's see it, then.

I keep saying it, but I see a lot of my favorite ex-Ranger in Ryan Callahan. I hope that turns itself around, and I hope the coach takes notice. Guys who get their goals from working hard and get the chance to work with decent play-making centers on first and second lines score X amount of goals. When ice time and the decent centers go away, these players score way less than X. Sometimes maybe it's better to be Brandon Dubinsky, who never had "the breakout" year, and continues to plug along with a mediocre if not underwhelming amount of goals.

Dubiii don't be hurrrrtttt!

2009-11-11T21:14:00.003-05:00

“Basically, for lack of a better word, it blew my hand up, basically,” Dubinsky said.

Yup. Adorable. Not that he broke his hand. Just him. ^_^

Obviously, Drury is out for tomorrow with a concussion, Dubinsky out 4-6 week (*sob*) with a broken hand. We're short in the center department.

We play the Thrashers tomorrow. Woo-hoo?

Question of note: How is it with teams with track records like the MAPLE LEAFS and the RANGERS manage to be number 1 and 2 on Forbes list of most valuable hockey teams? Clearly, winning means nothing.

Prucha's Revenge

2009-10-30T11:44:00.008-04:00

It's hard to really dissect what happened in Nassau County two nights ago, mostly because it was just so terrible. There's nothing else to say besides that the Rangers didn't bring it. And there is just no excuse for that; especially not against a rival, and especially not when about half the fans in attendance were wearing Ranger blue.

Although there are no excuses, a big factor in the Rangers' defeat was that Marion Gaborik had to sit out due to a sore leg/knee/whatever, that he suffered on Monday during a leg to leg collision against a certain ~~little, loveable and hardworking~~ Phoenix Coyote we all know so well. Typical; I wanted a Rangers' win and a Prucha hat trick. Instead, I get a terribly-played game by Prucha and the Coyotes, but for good measure, they take out our number one guy.

Marion is extremely important. Period. For the first time in a while, we've got a forward on our team that can actually rival Lundqvist in the "all-important" category. Just as Lundqvist gives the Rangers a chance to win (and even a chance to steal a game) every single night, Gaborik is proving that he also almost just as critical to the Rangers' success.

If Gaborik plays, the focus of the opposing team is on him, leaving his linemates more open. It also keeps the focus on the number one line, instead of worrying about secondary threats. When Gaborik is missing, those defensive efforts are now straddled on Dubinsky, Callahan, Prospal, Kotalik, etc. And while all decent soldiers, none of these players can even bat an eye at the Gaborik.

This is just a small taste of the frustration that Gaborik can bring to a team. He is absurdly dominating at times, and he is the biggest pleasure to watch. But ugh, it's such a terrible feeling while he sits on the sidelines.

Before Rangers fans start jumping off the GW, Gaborik's injury is not said to be serious. In fact, he could even play tonight. (Of course, this is what we're all hoping, as the Rangers take on the Wild at 8. Gabby's return?... or not?) But just for one game, we saw what it was like to not have Gaborik. And already, it hasn't been fun.

Who is going to stand up if Gaborik can't? If they can't get motivated for a match against a serious rival that should practically counts as a home game, I don't know what the Rangers will get motivated for. This was a terrible disappointing loss. And it just amplied just how important our newest seven-million-dollar piece of glass is to this team.

Avery (who seems to be a piece of glass, himself) and Higgins also didn't pratice yesterday, either. Uh oh.

As of right now, there is a 50% chance Gaborik plays tonight against his former team. I was really hoping he would score five goals against THEM this time.

On Edit: As I posted this, Andrew Gross reported that Dane Byers is here. I understand this as the following; three subs (Voros, Parenteau and Byers) so three of Gaborik, Higgins, Avery and Brashear are out tonight.

Also, a shout out to Amy Jo over at Yotesgurl/Sign Gurl presents... who captured these clips and put them on Youtube all for our enjoyment. You can check it out over at Kel's Natural Hat Trick Productions.

Edit 3pm:

Gaborik, Higgins, Avery out tonight. HURRAY. -_-

Welcome Back

2009-10-24T11:04:00.003-04:00

...to reality.

Reality is the Rangers haven’t had a strong game in quite some time. They were clearly out of their league against the San Jose Sharks, and struggled against the Maples Leafs despite the ending score. (Reality also is that the Maple Leafs apparently are just terrible. The new trend is Maple Leafs jokes, which are all over message boards, Twitter, and hockey blogs. I almost have pity, although it’s pretty hilarious.)

The good news is that the Rangers played a better game on Thursday, even though the outcome wasn’t so spectacular. Let’s face it; the Devils have to beat us sometimes. It’s just the odds of probability. Plus, even though we are top five (at last check) in goals per game, some of our (relatively) big guns have been rather quite. I would like to see more from Dubinsky and Callahan. Higgins just seems totally lost sometimes; other times he seems solid without the puck, but he’s still reaching for that first goal. Drury, like usual, is invisible to me. Then again, I’m biased against him and readily admit it. Regardless, we need some of these guys to step it up in the goal scoring department. Defense… well, we have what we have. Unfortunately, it seems like whatever issues have plagued Dan Girardi may have spread to Marc Staal?

Staal will improve, though. And Higgins will eventually get that first goal. It’s not all dire, but it would be great if these guys would pick it up instead of letting Gaborik and Lundqvist do all the work.

(Brief sidebar: I’m searching the internet for today’s possible line up and wanted to comment on Rick Carpiniello’s blog for a moment. I’m not really feeling it these days. I know he does it as a side project, so this is nothing personal about Rick or what he does, but it’s just not what it was before. Which greatly upsets me, because I would rather not turn to Steve Zipay for my Rangers coverage. With Zipay, it is kind of personal. I just tend to disagree with his assessments and ideas, and usually on issues that are near and dear to my heart. On top of that, you are going to need to be an Optimum customer or get Newsday delivered to your home as of next week if you expect to continue to read Zipay’s coverage of the Rangers. I happen to be both, but this is disappointing to fans who rely on Zipay’s coverage. Of course, we can go back to thanking the Rangers’ terrific owners for that, as they own Optimum and Newsday through Cablevision. I suppose that leaves Andrew Gross as my favorite beat writer, but even he doesn’t update as often as the great Sam Weinman, and I also hate having to click “read more” to read more. I suppose I’m getting really picky, and I’m lucky that the Rangers even have beat writers.

Although, trying to be a Coyotes follower has opened my eyes to the alternative; the Coyotes actually report on how practice went themselves, via their website, and post line ups and quotes and other interesting tidbits. I don’t even know if the Rangers do that, honestly; I rarely frequent the official website. Then you have the Islanders, who used to have beat writer that they employed themselves, Chris Botta over at Islander’s Point Blank. He’s no longer sponsored by the Islanders, though; I believe AOL has continued his funding. In any case, I’m less satisfied with the beat writers than I have been in the past, and just find the Coyotes and Islanders offer some alternatives to the current situation. OK, so that wasn’t so brief.)

Anyway, I went over to Steve Zipay’s blog in effort to find the line up for tonight, and apparently it is yet to exist. However, the Rangers were looking like this during yesterday’s practice:

Lisin-Prospal-Gaborik
Higgins-Dubinsky-Callahan
Avery-Drury-Kotalik
Brashear/Voros-Anisimov-Boyle

Our All American line of Higgins-Drury-Callahan has become the All American Line part two, with Dubinsky subbing in for Drury. Not my favorite, yet better than the alternative; I would like to take a look at Higgins and Callahan without Drury. (I actually really liked the idea of Avery on that line. Under rated passer, that one.) Also, I like reuniting Drury and Kotalik. Kotalik’s been impressive, and perhaps he’ll give Drury a bit more umph. I’m not sold on Lisin yet, either, so I’m unsure of my feelings about him on the top line.

Of course, there’s another reason for the title “welcome back.” A really cute story (also via Steve Zipay) came out of the Shark’s utter destruction of the Rangers last Monday night. A girl held up her Jed Ortmeyer jersey on the glass during warm-ups. Jed chucked her a puck. It was Ortmeyer’s first return to the Garden, and he scored a goal. It was good to see, even if it hurt the home team.

Christopher Higgins is going to get an interesting welcome back tonight, for sure, when the Rangers take on the Canadiens. Habs fans are notorious for being oh-so kind to players when they return. Hey! What could be better than Higgins scoring his first tonight, hmm? And although it’s not really a welcome back, we are going to be seeing Scott Gomez and Paul Mara for the first time since their departures. Seeing Brian Gionta alongside of Gomez in red may bring back some terrible memories, now that I think about it. They both are going to have something to prove tonight.

And of course, we will welcome back Lauri Korpikoski and Petr Prucha back to the Garden on Monday. I should have taken a vacation to Hawaii or some place equally as distant, but instead, I bought tickets.

Puck drops tonight at 7. Let’s go Rangers!

(Actually, about a million pucks drop tonight. Could we stop with the Super Saturday idea? We can't possibly keep up with all of it!)

--

On Edit:

OH! Before I forget, you must all see the awesomeness going on here. Unreal, this guy.

No Records Broken Here

2009-10-23T09:41:00.004-04:00

I hate Martin Brodeur. It’s no great revelation – I’ve mentioned my distaste for him before. And don’t give me that “you’re just mad that he’s not on your team” bullshit. I would hate him even more if that were the case. Arguable talent aside, he’s a pompous ass.

Last night’s game for NYR v NJD was not as much of a disappointment as the final score would indicate. Yes, it sucks that the NYR lost and girly-man Parise scored 2 goals. Yes, it stinks that NYR lost their second in a row. But…there was a silver lining. That pompous ass I mentioned before is chasing a shutout record, and he would have liked nothing more than to break said record against my boys. I started watching last night’s game with the thought that as long as NYR scores at least one goal, I’d be happy. Well, yes, the win would have been even better, but here’s what's behind my line of thinking, from NHL.com:

“Martin Brodeur is one shutout away from matching Terry Sawchuk's all-time record of 103. When he puts blade to ice Thursday night at Madison Square Garden, Brodeur can equal the mark in the most hostile of enemy territory. He has always said that playing -- and beating -- the Rangers is always a little more special to him since the Blueshirts are the Devils' biggest rival. So you'd have to forgive the 37-year-old goaltender if he's a little more excited than normal about having a chance to tie an NHL record against the Rangers.”

Screw you, Brodeur. Screw you and your record. Not this time. Not against my boys. How selfish to want to break it against a specific team. You are and always will be a jackass.

Just for the record, I can’t fault the NHL.com staff writer Dave Lozo for creating this article, because he did do a nice write-up on Michael Del Zotto earlier in the month. Marty can make an ass of himself without any help from the press.

Random stuff

2009-10-14T10:14:00.004-04:00

The hockey season is just flying right by, isn't it? The Rangers have already played six games, more than several other teams. It always seems like the Rangers have a heavy schedule in the beginning of the year, and the with the Olympics coming in February, the schedule is even more compressed. A lot of fans complain about compressed schedules, but for my own personal and selfish reasons, I love the schedule. Hockey, hockey, and more hockey. I feel like it's strange when the Rangers aren't playing a game that night.

Put the compressed schedule on top of trying to keep with the Coyotes (Prucha love doesn't fade) and the Canadiens, as well as being a Islander follower (because I can't bring myself to say "fan") and hockey has pretty much taken up every extra second of life. So, sorry if I ignored you, NYR Devotion, Some Like It Blue.

Very generally speaking, as there have been six games so far this season and none of them have been properly analyzed around here, we're finally getting some answers on who the Rangers actually are.

The Rangers are not Tom Renney's Rangers. Literally, obviously, we have had a coaching change. But the coaching philosophy has also changed, and in the most dramatic fashion. We saw some of these changes last season down the stretch, but in certain cases, John Tortorella reverted to a conservative approach as the Rangers didn't have the endurance or leg strength to push Tortorella's exciting style. They also just didn't have the firepower to get work done.

It seems amazing, looking back, that any head coach in the National Hockey League would accept the level of conditioning that Renney accepted. I don't mean this has a personal bash on Tom; I didn't noticed their poor level of conditioning, either, until I saw them struggle to move in third periods under Tortorella. I also have no idea what level of conditioning other teams are at throughout the league. But it's impossible not to see that obvious change from last year to this year.

Maybe their conditioning gives this team it's relentless attitude. These Rangers don't give up. Now, anything can change throughout the season, but I can't see these Rangers laying the Dallas egg like last year's Rangers did. They have outscored their opponents 12-3 in the third period so far this season. That is nothing like the Rangers who would give up third periods and allow for comebacks such as that December Disaster against the Capitals or the Canadien's comeback the year prior.

Would John Tortorella accept those efforts? No.

And that is why we've seen the benching of Michal Rozsival already this season. If you aren't going to play with intensity, and if you aren't going to earn that paycheck, you aren't going to play. Period. And that's another beautiful change. (As a side note; the better play of Wade Redden indicates that all of us who questioned why Renney would want a good outlet passer but a mediocre d-man on his defense-only squad were absolutely right. I'll take that GM job now, Sather.)

This team plays with intensity. I doubt I'll find myself falling asleep on them. Who can fall asleep with our dynamic All-American line is finding ways to smash into every moving opponent they can touch? Who can fall asleep when Marion Gaborik promises to be a threat each and every single time he has the puck?

The promise of this team isn't necessarily wins or even playoff appearances. We are first place in the NHL, literally, right at this moment, but we haven't had a particularly demanding schedule yet, and teams go through hot and cold spells all season. Remember just how hot we started last season? Despite how fast the Rangers took off last season, I still couldn't get behind them. Something felt missing. (I think his name was Jaromir Jagr.) And they didn't have an aura about them; not the way these Rangers seem to.

The promise of these Rangers are that they are fun. They are worth your money spent on them, because they will try hard every single game. They make you want to root for them. Even when they lose, you'll feel satisfied.

And maybe that will change. Maybe they'll be nothing more than the Rangers of last year. But at least right now, there is this promise of what they could be. And I'm really excited.

Although, those 2-on-1's could stop at any time now. Really.

The Rangers play the Kings tonight at 7pm. And I pretty much totally cannot even wait.

---

New York is one of the fashion capitals of the world and it just seems a natural fit that these two high-profile athletes, who are pretty good hockey players in their own right, are entrenched in the style scene there.

Although it's a good read and kind of funny, I still got a "how is it always the Rangers?" feeling out of this piece on Henrik Lundqvist and Sean Avery's fashion senses.

---

In case you missed it:

Petr Prucha scored a powerplay goal on his back last Thursday when Phoenix took on the Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins. Coyotes won 3-0.

Jed Ortmeyer scored the first goal of the night for San Jose on Saturday, who would go on to beat the Wild 4-2.

Hittin' the Nail on the Head

2009-10-05T10:27:00.006-04:00

I love this guy - the Hockey Rodent - He's a Rangers blogger who just tells it like it is, with some pithy choice words thrown in. It's opinion-based fact, if that makes any sense.

Anyway, over the weekend, he wrote something that I just had to post here. It was embedded in an article entitled "Here, Kitty", named so for reasons I don't care to elaborate on - you'll see why in the third paragraph of his article. He nails it by saying:

"Brashear remains a mercenary who takes stupid penalties and decommissioned one of the few gutfull contributors (Blair Betts) with an illegal high blow and gets rewarded by the victimized franchise. Shameful.

Don't speak to me of loyalty. There is no loyalty and pride in this dis-organ-eye-zation. Guys who phone it in get paid zillions. Role players who work their flesh to the bones get exiled. Jed Ortmeyer, Colton Orr, Betts, Petr Prucha, Fred Sjostrom.

Stiffs like Redden, Michal Roszival (tonight's über-p*$$#) and Drury play soft games and get financially showered while grunts who give everything to the team receive walking papers."

This sums up my general hangups with this team's management. With the guys he listed, we can all relate to what he's saying. And who does this all boil down to? Sather. To see any material improvement in this team's yearly outcome, he's the one who needs to go.

Letterman

2009-09-30T11:40:00.001-04:00

The Rangers will be doing the Top Ten tonight on Letterman.

That is all.

Anddd Our Starting Line Ups Arrreee....

2009-09-15T16:06:00.006-04:00

Christopher Higgins-Chris Drury-Ales Kotalik
Evgeny Grachev-Artem Anisimov-Ryan Callahan
Donald Brashear-Brian Boyle-P.A. Parenteau
Dane Byers-Matt Maccarone-Enver Lisin

Marc Staal-Matt Gilroy
Michael Del Zotto-Dan Girardi
Alexei Semenov-Mike Sauer

Steve Valiquette, Matt Zaba

Thank you, Andrew Gross.

We are less than three hours away from real live Ranger preseason action!

A couple notes:

Of course, Brandon Dubinsky is still not skating with the team. At this point, just sign the contract, Brandon. You need to be at camp and you have little leverage, as much as the offer is a lowball.

Interesting to see Ales Kotalik on a line with Chris Drury, trying to recreate that Buffalo magic. That first line looks like it could be the legitimate second line for opening day.

Christopher Higgins, Ales Kotalik, Donald Brashear, Matt Gilroy and Enver Lisin are making their Rangers debut.

Wonder how the crowd will react to Brashear.

Artem Anisimov, P.A. Parenteau, Dane Byers and Michael Del Zotto are just some of our prospects trying to earn themselves a spot on the big boys lineup. Anisimov seems to be a shoo-in, but anything could happen. John Tortorella has said he is expecting two rookies up front, two rookies in the rear. As scary as that is (on the defensive end, anyway) it's still very exciting to see our up-and-coming kids, especially if a handful make the team.

Ryan Callahan, Marc Staal, Stephen Valiquette and Dan Girardi: I've missed you!

Yeah, yeah, and Drury's playing too.

Marion Gaborik "tweaked" his groin. LOLLMFAOHAHAHAkillme.

Dubi, Dubi, Do

2009-09-11T18:20:00.005-04:00

We really don't know what exactly is on the table from the Rangers and we're not exactly sure of what Dubi is expecting. So it's kind of hard to piece together this whole saga considering we don't have much information to go on.

What We Do Know:

Dubinsky and Sather have been in the process of negotiating a contract since July 1st with seemingly no progress.

When training camp opens tomorrow morning, Dubinsky will not attend unless the Rangers call him tonight with a deal. (Edit: it appears that option is now over and Dubinsky officially will not be attending.)

The Rangers have also offered some multi-year deals, but all have fallen short of Dubinsky's expectations.

Dubinsky is (was?) expected to compete for the role of first line center playing with Marian Gaborik. If this happened, Dubinsky could realistically rack up 60 points this season, making him worth AT LEAST 3 million next summer during Free Agency.

Also according to Larry Brooks, today the Rangers offered Dubinsky a one year contract worth more than what he was making last season, $635,000. Dubinsky has rejected that offer, and thus will not show up to training camp tomorrow morning.

What Dubinsky Could Be Expecting:

GP-G-A-P

CAREER
Callahan 147-34-25-59
Dubinsky 170-27-54-81

LAST SEASON
Callahan 81-22-18-40
Dubinsky 82-13-28-41

PLAYOFFS CAREER
Callahan 27-6-3-9
Dubinsky 17-5-7-12

Dubi's agent must be using Callahan's contract as a measure for what Dubinsky should be making. While Callahan has put in more goals, Dubinsky has more assists (granted, Dubi is a center, and playing with Jagr may have helped that). But the fact that Dubi stayed consistent despite no longer playing with Jagr on the first line this season indicates to me that he took a step up even though his numbers stayed exactly the same. I would love to see him score a couple more goals this year, but I think he is progressing quite nicely. Callahan certainly had a better “break out” year than Dubi, but Dubinsky has better playoffs statistics than Callahan overall, and this season included.

I’m not trying to quantify Dubinsky’s worth as more than Cally’s (as Dubinsky is probably is a bit overrated), just that I can’t imagine Dubinsky (or his agent) being happy with something much lower than Callahan is making. Whether Callahan or Dubinsky actually merit over two million dollars a year is another question entirely.

Callahan also had arbitration rights, which also helps put some leverage in his hand that Dubinsky currently doesn't have.

What Now:

Although this is pure speculation, I have a feeling Dubinsky would have taken Callahan's contract (or even a bit less) and ran with it; even a one year deal for around 1.5 million would probably have been acceptable.

I'm surprised that Sather was so ready and willing to lowball a hard working draft pick like Dubinsky, especially now when the Rangers aren't so strong down the middle. How do these negotiations affect future contract talks with Dubinsky?

What if Dubinsky is never given an offer he accepts?

The longer Dubinsky holds out, the more and more likely a trade for Dubinsky's rights will occur. Unfortunately, it's hard to guess what the Rangers could get back for him, considering he's not actually under contract. Although swaps with Boston for Kessel have been whispered, Boston is clearly going to want more than Dubinsky in return.

In any case, this is not looking good for Dubinsky.

John Tortorella said, "I can't speak for Dubi, but for us, this kind of thing happens, I'm not sure where it's gonna go. It's not like we hold grudges....that needs to play out. It will not affect our camp, we're going to go out about our business as a team…Who knows what happens to the center position in the next couple of days..."

I cannot imagine why this was not taken care of throughout the summer. Dubinsky is an important, hardworking member of the Rangers, and it disheartens me to see how he’s being treated. From what I can tell, Dubinsky is not making outrageous demands; he wants a fair contract for how much he has done for his club the past two seasons.

If I’m Brandon Dubinsky, I cannot imagine taking those multiyear deals that are (in my assumption) under two million dollars. Dubi is quite possibly going to be looking at three million dollars plus deals next season, if he only takes a one year deal.

At the same time, the one year deal the Rangers are offering is just plain offensive.

However, my assumptions could be wrong. Maybe the Rangers are being more than fair, and Dubinsky’s overvaluing himself. I hope, and I trust, that Brandon truly does want to be a Ranger, and is doing everything in his power to making that a reality.

But after all; if we can pay Donald Brashear onepointfivemillion dollars this season, we should be able to give Dubinsky the same.

Get this done, Sather. You’ve got 10 and a half hours until training camp.

Yeah.

How come hockey seasons always have to start with some personal bitterness?

****

In other NHL news… apparently there is none. We were expecting some answer out of that Phoenix mess today but we got nothing. Nothing ever goes easy. Too bad Lauri Korpikoski doesn’t know if he should buy a house in Phoenix or Hamilton, yet.

Also, just a note on it being September 11th today. As a NEW YORK Rangers blog, a team that plays home games in Manhattan, and wears the colors red, white, and blue, it seems even more imperative than usual to remember those people who lost their lives in the terror attacks eight years ago. God Bless America, and the city that’s home to everyones favorite hockey team.

Training Camp Will Be Hell

2009-08-23T14:33:00.003-04:00

I miss hockeyyyy. I'm starting to get that itchy, impatient feeling. Training camp opens on September 12th for the Rangers.

I...can't...wait...

I think this is a really positive sign for my own personal love of the Rangers. Last season at this time, I was still too depressed about Jagr and Shanny and Avery and Straka and Tyutin to be excited about the next season. And even though I miss some of the 2008-2009 Rangers, I'm pretty sure this is a testament to how much we really needed the change that I'm so anxious to see Gaborik and Higgins and Prospal take center stage. I feel a different type of buzz this year when looking towards hockey season than I did last season. And I'm really, really excited about it.

The one damper on my parade is the lack of news on the Brandon Dubinsky front. John Tortorella said in a recent interview;

"Vinny and I had a long conversation prior to our even talking about this … I know, I’ve coached him for so many years — my question was, Does he want to play? Is life too good? Because he’s made a lot of money. He’s been successful. He’s a good... person. But I just wanted to make sure that he wanted to play. He’s ticked off. He was bought out. He has something to prove here. I think it’s a good situation on a one-year deal, and show us maybe for when another contract comes around. Some other people in the organization need to understand that too.”

As much as I'm against players being greedy and asking for too much, I have a feeling Dubinsky would immediately take a three year, two million dollar deal. And I really don't think that that's way too much to ask. Sather is purposely playing hard ball with Dubinsky, and I'm not liking it.

And we're all really not going to like it if Dubi DOES get settled on the first line with Gaborik next season and is suddenly putting up 60 or 70 points instead of 40. Because even if it has nothing to do with the development of Dubi's game and it all to do with him playing with Marian Gaborik, his asking price is still going to sky rocket.

Am I reading this wrong, then, or does anyone else get the feeling that the Ranger's organization is no longer considering Dubinsky a critical part of their future plans?

Since I'd rather not leave off on a negative note, here is a very very positive sign from the Rangers organization.

We all know that John Tortorella made a stink about the conditioning level of several Rangers when he first took over for Tom Renney. They were just not in good enough shape to play the aggressive, offensive hockey that Tortorella wanted. But that's not going to be a problem this year.

Training camp...will be hell.

YESSS!

At least two letters have been sent to the Rangers players warning them to report in the best possible shape.

YESSS!

And tip-top shape is necessary to play Tortorella’s up-tempo brand of hockey.

YESSS!

But, again, it’s relative. Coming out of last year’s training camp, Petr Prucha was touted as the Ranger in the best shape. All it got Prucha was a semi-regular spot as a healthy scratch and, ultimately, a trade to Phoenix.

UGH, why does this always have to be brought up to bring down my high spirits?

But that was with Renney.

It's different now.

And that's the reason we should be excited for next season.

Now This is What a Jersey Should Look Like!

2009-08-19T09:25:00.003-04:00

If you didn't catch it yet, Puckdaddy has gotten pics of the new USA Olympic jerseys.
I've gotta say, I like them.

The Canadians ones were nice, too. But the USA third jersey just has something about it, you know? It draws me to them. It makes me really want to root for them. Here's a picture from USA Hockey of Ryan Malone donning this awesome new jersey.

I mean, does he not look distinguished? Don't you want to stand up and chant "Let's Go ~~Rangers~~ USA?" Because I do.

And although I could only find a picture of Ryan Callahan in plain old blue, somehow I'm having a really easy time imagining him in that third jersey.

On the Rangers front, we also have Chris Drury and John Tortorella attending the Olympic Camp. Oh, and Bruce Lifrieri; the Rangers massage therapist. ^_^

Also, the local talent includes: Mike Komisarek (West Islip, LI NY), Rob Scuderi (Syosset, LI NY), Dustin Brown (Ithaca, NY), Ryan Callahan (Rochester, NY), Chris Drury (Trumbull, Conn), Patrick Kane (Buffalo, NY), and Bobby Ryan (Cherry Hill, NJ).

And just to wrap up my ramblings on Americans: Sign Dubinsky, Rangers. Please?

Something Actually Happened Today with the Rangers

2009-08-16T12:18:00.009-04:00

So today was kind of fun, wasn't it? It was a rare summer day that something interesting happened with the Rangers.

Firstly, Mark Messier has signed on with the Rangers to be a "Special Assistant."

I don't really know what that means, per say, but I do know that Sather could use any assistance he can get.

In all seriousness, I'm not sure what to think about Messier rejoining the organization. He was never my favorite Ranger (as I still harbor bad feelings after his stint with Vancouver... I was like, ten, but still) but Mark was a very talented hockey player and a tremendous part of the Rangers winning the Stanley Cup in '94.

It just feels right that Adam Graves is still in the organization. He does an excellent job dealing with the fans and PR. (Although, Graves, would you mind putting in a good word for the return of Bobby Granger?) So maybe the situation will be similar with Messier. It can't hurt to have him around our young players, I don't think. And I doubt he will have any serious influence over personnel decisions. Apparently Messier has been itching to get back into hockey, and this is the way he'll do it.

"I couldn't be more thrilled with the opportunity to move back to New York with my family, to learn from Glen and to work for the Rangers," Messier told the Post. "I'm going to come in and get my feet wet and get an overview of how the business runs and how the team runs and take it from there."

"I think I have a pretty good eye for talent, but really, there are so many things about the management and business side of the game that I've never been exposed to,” Messier said. “So I'm going to soak it all in and learn as much as I can about what it takes on that end to build a champion."

Build a champion, hmmm?

Secondly, the Rangers added forward Vinny Prospal to a one year, 1.1 million dollar deal.

This signing seems a bit random. But Prospal managed 71 points two years ago and an even rating. Although he had a difficult time with the Lightning last season, he was also making 3.5 million dollars. I think Prospal is worth a shot for 1.1 mill, which makes it an overall good signing for the Rangers.

1.1 mill is cheap. If he can get similar numbers to his disappointing last season with Tampa, this deal was well worth it.

The only complication, then, is Brandon Dubinsky, who remains unsigned. And according to Larry Brooks, contract negotiations have been going on for weeks with no consensus on either side.

Since Dubi is a RFA without arbitration rights, this means he will be forced into signing a one year deal of his pathetic qualifying offer of $600,000 and change.

Does this mean hard feelings when Brandon and the Rangers try to renegotiate next season?

***

on edit:

I forgot to mention that there is a fantastic piece on Christopher Higgins and his family. His father is a fire fighter with the FDNY, and his brother is a member of the NYPD. It talks a little bit about his father's fandom of the Montreal Canadiens, and his efforts on September 11th, 2001. I highly recommend it, and cannot fully express my joy of having a native New Yorker such as Higgins play for the Rangers. Oh, and did I mention he went to Yale?

"When you're a New Yorker," Chris Higgins says, "you don't ever feel at home unless you're back in New York, ya know?"

2009-2010 Schedule Released.

2009-07-15T16:00:00.004-04:00

Oct. 2 at Pittsburgh, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 3 Ottawa, 7:00 p.m.
Oct. 5 at New Jersey, 7:00 p.m.
Oct. 8 at Washington, 7:00 p.m.
Oct. 11 Anaheim, 5:00 p.m.
Oct. 12 Toronto, 7:00 p.m.
Oct. 14 Los Angeles, 7:00 p.m.
Oct. 17 at Toronto, 7:00 p.m.
Oct. 19 San Jose, 7:00 p.m.
Oct. 22 New Jersey, 7:00 p.m.
Oct. 24 at Montreal, 7:00 p.m.
Oct. 26 Phoenix, 7:00 p.m.
Oct. 28 at N.Y. Islanders, 7:00 p.m.
Oct. 30 at Minnesota, 8:00 p.m.

Nov. 1 Boston, 1:00 p.m.
Nov. 3 at Vancouver, 10:00 p.m.
Nov. 5 at Edmonton, 9:30 p.m.
Nov. 7 at Calgary, 10:00 p.m.
Nov. 12 Atlanta, 7:00 p.m.
Nov. 14 at Ottawa, 7:00 p.m.
Nov. 17 Washington, 7:00 p.m.
Nov. 21 Florida, 7:00 p.m.
Nov. 23 Columbus, 7:00 p.m.
Nov. 25 at Florida, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 27 at Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 28 at Pittsburgh, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 30 Pittsburgh, 7:00 p.m.

Dec. 5 at Buffalo, 7:00 p.m.
Dec. 6 Detroit, 7:00 p.m.
Dec. 9 at Chicago, 8:30 p.m.
Dec. 12 Buffalo, 7:00 p.m.
Dec. 14 Atlanta, 7:00 p.m.
Dec. 16 N.Y. Islanders, 7:00 p.m.
Dec. 17 at N.Y. Islanders, 7:00 p.m.
Dec. 19 at Philadelphia, 1:00 p.m.
Dec. 21 at Carolina, 7:00 p.m.
Dec. 23 Florida, 7:00 p.m.
Dec. 26 N.Y. Islanders, 7:00 p.m.
Dec. 30 Philadelphia, 7:00 p.m.
Dec. 31 at Carolina, 8:00 p.m.

Jan. 2 Carolina, 1:00 p.m.
Jan. 4 Boston, 7:00 p.m.
Jan. 6 Dallas, 7:00 p.m.
Jan. 7 at Atlanta, 7:00 p.m.
Jan. 9 at Boston, 1:00 p.m.
Jan. 12 New Jersey, 7:00 p.m.
Jan. 14 Ottawa, 7:00 p.m.
Jan. 16 at St. Louis, 8:00 p.m.
Jan. 17 Montreal, 7:00 p.m.
Jan. 19 Tampa Bay, 7:00 p.m.
Jan. 21 at Philadelphia, 7:00 p.m.
Jan. 23 at Montreal, 7:00 p.m.
Jan. 25 Pittsburgh, 7:00 p.m.
Jan. 27 Carolina, 7:00 p.m.
Jan. 30 at Phoenix, 8:00 p.m.
Jan. 31 at Colorado, 8:00 p.m.

Feb. 2 at Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m.
Feb. 4 Washington, 7:00 p.m.
Feb. 6 New Jersey, 7:00 p.m.
Feb. 10 Nashville, 7:00 p.m.
Feb. 12 at Pittsburgh, 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 14 Tampa Bay, 1:00 p.m.

Mar. 2 at Ottawa, 7:30 p.m.
Mar. 4 Pittsburgh, 7:00 p.m.
Mar. 6 at Washington, 7:00 p.m.
Mar. 7 Buffalo, 7:00 p.m.
Mar. 10 at New Jersey, 7:00 p.m.
Mar. 12 at Atlanta, 7:30 p.m.
Mar. 14 Philadelphia, 3:00 p.m.
Mar. 16 Montreal, 7:00 p.m.
Mar. 18 St. Louis, 7:00 p.m.
Mar. 21 at Boston, 3:00 p.m.
Mar. 24 N.Y. Islanders, 7:00 p.m.
Mar. 25 at New Jersey, 7:00 p.m.
Mar. 27 at Toronto, 7:00 p.m.
Mar. 30 at N.Y. Islanders, 7:00 p.m.

Apr. 2 at Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m.
Apr. 3 at Florida, 7:00 p.m.
Apr. 6 at Buffalo, 7:00 p.m.
Apr. 7 Toronto, 7:00 p.m.
Apr. 9 Philadelphia, 7:00 p.m.
Apr. 11 at Philadelphia, 3:00 p.m.
---

From Rangers Report

That's right. We watch the banner raising. ::eyeroll::

Thanks, NHL. You screwed us over once again.

Although I see we got our day-after-Christmas Islander game back. Good, because it's becoming a bit of a tradition for my boyfriend and I.

I still love you, Mara.

2009-07-10T13:32:00.006-04:00

Paul Mara a Canadien.

Because I'm not allowed to be happy, ever. This is a shame.

Kotalik a Ranger.

Eh. I like Czechs. So that's nice, I guess. Everyone says this means Z's a goner for sure, though.

-------

Name one current under-contract Ranger that was on the Rangers last year. Henrik doesn't count.

Ready... Set... GO!

A word about the Gomez trade…

2009-07-04T13:11:00.006-04:00

Bloggers are fast people, man. I may not be quick enough to stay in this business.

As things unfolded on June 30th, and again on July 1st, I could barely keep my head on straight, never less blog my person opinions on Donald Brashear and Marion Gaborik and Chris Higgins and Scott Gomez. So it might take me a couple days to settled back in and really understand what went on, or what still is going on in Glen Sather’s office. Apparently the Rangers have an offer still out to Saku Koivu, which I’m extremely torn about. I’m an “OMGhugefan” but I’m concerned with his age, and can see myself losing the respect I have for him as I get frustrated with his Naslund-like play. At the same time, if he pulls his weight and is a decent set up guy for Gaborik, all would be wonderful, and I would be thrilled beyond thrilled.

So here are some sporadic thoughts about the Gomez trade.

• If you take Gaborik out of the picture and think of the trade as an isolated event, this trade SUCKS. I know Montreal thinks they were schooled (and yeah, they probably were) but losing Gomez only loses the Rangers their best offensive player, and Higgins in return cannot fill Gomez’s sjoes. See, this doesn’t address a need for the Rangers, purely hockey-wise. We got another defense prospect (which leads me to assume something will happen, even if it’s just a swap of prospects, to get some offensive blood in our system) and essentially a role player while losing ourselves our best center. We’re a worse hockey team immediately after this trade. A LOT worse. It doesn’t address anything.
• EXCEPT cap space. So this trade needs to be looked at as a clear salary dump, which makes room for Marion Gaborik.
• If you look at the trade as Gomez for Gaborik and Higgins, the Rangers made a killing. The Rangers are automatically a better offensive squad this way.
• So the rumors were that Gomez was too much of a partier and didn’t put his best foot forward while playing his two full seasons with the New York Rangers. Like maybe he didn’t try hard enough. Of that I’m not sure… although I will say I wanted to smack that smirk off his face a couple times. But I was not nearly as angry at Gomez as I was at Drury for not letting anything to do with the Rangers sucking ‘ruin his Christmas.’ I would take betts that it is Ranger biased against the ex-Devil which makes fans “want to like” Chris Drury, and yet hang Gomez out to dry.
• I’m not saying Gomez doesn’t deserve to be hung out to dry. He was supposed to be a leader on this team, and neither he nor Drury could handle it. Sickening, considering the money they were given.
• I wonder if Gomez and Drury, and Wade Redden for that matter, actually think they deserve the money Glen Sather handed to them.
• For a change, Gaborik might actually deserve his paycheck. If he stays healthy, there is no doubt in my mind that he will.
• Gaborik played in a defensive system much like the Rangers played under Tom Renney. Actually, maybe even more “trappish” if you catch my drift. In which case… Gaborik may really, really shine under Tortorella.
• Orr get really, really, hurt, as the run-and-gun style may tweak his groin or tear at his knee.
• Although Gomez does not, and never did, earn his paycheck, there is something to be said for GOMEZ being the tradee. What does it say to me? That a team actually wanted Gomez. That Gomez has the potential to maybe slightly live up to that monstrous contract that we really didn’t see there. (Unlike, say, another overpaid center.)
• And that potential upside might come out while working with Gionta. Hey, if Gionta scores 40 again this year, we all know who to thank.
• In a bubble, this trade was bad for the Rangers and the Canadiens. But with the Canadiens addition of Gionta and Cammalleri, and the Rangers addition of Gaborik, it was probably the right move for both teams.
• I love Chris Higgins.

As an edit:

1. I forgot to mention that Gomez has five years on his contract and Drury has three. Although I think Gomez has far greater potential than Drury, I understand trying to drop the largest contract to just get us out of the mess.
2. I'm glad Sather admitted that he made a mistake by signing Gomez to such a huge deal. I hope he can acknowledge that he made the same mistake with Drury and Redden. But I'm very concerned about Sather's overall plan for the future.

He signs Gomez as the future and then trades him when he doesn't live up to his contract. But did anyone... anyone???... expect him to?

Is signing Gaborik and Brashear just more throwing shit against a wall and seeing what sticks? And is it possible that the shit hits the fan, sort of like it did when he signed Gomez and Drury and Redden?

This lack of foresight worries me. Did he know nothing about Gomez's "partying ways" or that Gomez, in fact, was not going to be a strong leader on this team? Did he know nothing of Drury's success on a run-and-gun team playing with players of a much high caliber than what is on the Rangers? Or did he just see coveted players and grab?

The trade of Scott Gomez really begs the question of does Sather even have a plan or an idea for the future. And that's kind of terrifying.

Second edit:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA :-D.

All this editing is making me late to a July 4th party!

I'm sad our fourth line is gone, if you haven't noticed.

What's the Diff?

2009-07-01T16:09:00.005-04:00

Sather unloaded Orr and acquired Brashear? That's like giving away a Crunch bar so you can get a Krackel bar instead.

Does he really think that Brashear will contribute to this team being successful?

One step forward, two steps back.

News Flash: Gomez to Habs

2009-07-01T09:36:00.003-04:00

Here's the NHL.com article: http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=432312

Multiple players involved.

It starts. Stay tuned...

Tortorella might actually hold someone accountable... for real.

2009-06-29T17:24:00.003-04:00

So I'm not happy Freddie Sjostrom probably won't be there.

And I'm not happy that Blair Betts and Colton Orr probably won't be there.

I'm slightly stressed that some big-named injury-prone suck-in-the-playoffs requested-a-trade-like-a-douche-bag player who-may-or-may-not-be-named-Marion might be there at the expense of Ryan Callahan, Brandon Dubinsky, and/or Marc Staal.

Maybe not happy and slightly stressed should read more like I-will-have-a-major-freak-out-and-quit-the-fandom.

But, Coach Tortorella, if training camp is anything like you say, I love these new Rangers already.

"As far as the lines are concerned, as far as the makeup of our team, from Scott Gomez right on down, the only guy I know is gonna be there is Hank. He's gonna be our starting goalie. But other than that, it's wide open. And I'm not afraid of youth. It's going to be done on merit."

"We need to grow in what we do in preparation, our practice habits, and that leads us to the game. That’s a huge part of winning, something we’re going to improve on. And if it’s not there, someone else is going to get an opportunity."

"We got two hot meals a day, we got a great practice facility, we got limos flying all over the place, we got New York City, the theaters, I need this, I need that," he said. "It’s time to put your hand, instead of asking for more, take it away and start getting things done.”

Are you in love with that? I'm in love with that.

I haven't been too over-the-top thrilled with Coach Tortorella so far. He's done his job, but I haven't seen the drastic measures I think I expected. He also had that water bottle incident, which I still can't condone, regardless of the reasons.

But if he can bring that culture of discipline and hard work and earning your right to be a New York Ranger, I'll take him.

And I also will take his nomination as Assistant Coach to team USA. He doesn't feel completely like one of our own yet, but congrats, anyway, to Torts.

I'm on vacation during Day One of Free Agency (I'll probably need it), but I get back that night. So no freak outs from this end... until like 11 o'clock. I'm bound to be ranting and raving.

Then we'll get on Blair Betts.

Who probably played his last game as a Ranger. :-( (Way to go, Slats.)

Welcome to the Hall of Fame...

2009-06-23T17:28:00.007-04:00

... Brian Leetch.

Leetch joined a pretty cool club today, as he will be entering the Hall of Fame with Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull, and Luc Robitaille.

That’s quite the class, if I do say so myself.

You’re officially old when you remember these players in their prime. Or maybe I’m just young because this has only been the case for a couple years or so.

Anyway… looking at these names… come on. It just oozes 1997, doesn’t it? It’s wonderfully nostalgic.

And it’s great to see Leetchy in the class, especially because it was his first time on the ballot. He was elected into the US Hall of Fame last year, thanks to 16 stellar seasons with the Rangers, including seasons that won him the Calder Trophy, Norris Trophy, Conn Smythe, and of course, the Stanley Cup. Not to mention a season in which he topped a hundred points.

In this postseason, Malkin and Crosby became the first two teammates to each hit 30 points since Messier and Leetch in ’94.

But Brian was a defensemen.

And despite what people may say about Leetch’s captainship, he was a very significant member, if not the most significant member, of the New York Rangers since until that jerk we have for a GM stuck his middle finger out at Ranger fans and traded him to the Maple Leafs.

-ahem-

Anyway, Brian was loved around these parts, and is still loved, and will be loved forever as his number hangs in his memory at MSG. And now, the entire hockey world gets to share in Brian’s great achievements. So congratulations to the man who, according to Mark Messier, was the greatest Ranger to ever wear the jersey.

(Hint to that jerk-of-a-GM; the Rangers drafted Leetch. DRAFTED. As in, he wasn’t bought.

So draft well this weekend. And don’t buy next Wednesday.)

In other news about old people, it has been reported that Chris Chelios will not be offered a contract by the Red Wings. I don't think I know what the NHL looks like without "Chelios is old" jokes.

Season Review: 2008-2009: Forwards: #13 Nikolai Zherdev

2009-06-19T22:25:00.005-04:00

In random news, Keith Tkachuk re-ups with the Blues.

Anyyyywayyyys, onto our continuing Season Reviews. Today, Nikolai Zherdev is taking center stage. Catch Blair Betts up and coming.

#13 Nikolai Zherdev

Kristen: Nik Zherdev. What can I say? In a season full of letdowns, he was probably one of the biggest ones. Let me just say, when he first came to NY and I saw him play in the preseason games, I have to say, I was unimpressed and pretty aggravated that we had traded away Tyutin for him. He could not make a pass to save his life and all he seemed interested in doing was figure skating...or something. So when the regular season started and he was playing amazingly well, I felt awful, immediately rescinded every bad thing I had been saying about him, and fell in love with him. Not only was he one of the few on the team actually putting up points, but he was so much fun to watch on a team full of boring, lifeless players. His moves were awesome and his goal celebrations were fun as hell (Ovechkin's, not so much). Basically I couldn't believe that he had gotten a reputation as someone who had potential, but never put it to use because he seemed to be working to his full potential in the early months of the season. However, as time rolled on and the season just got worse and worse for everyone, Zherdev's production dropped off and he seemed to get lazy about every play he made. I don't know if it was Renney's constant benching of him (when he refused to bench anyone else besides Dubinsky) that maybe shattered his confidence a little. I don't know if that's just how he is (which is entirely possible considering the reputation I mentioned). But towards the end he was just about as useless as everyone else on the team, if not more. It pains me to say this because I really did like him and I was a huge fan, but now, not so much. Now I don't really care to see him on the team next season. If he is, well, so be it. I hope he has a full season where he was just tearing it up like he was in the early parts of his season with the Rangers. If he's not on the team, well, no big loss to me. I'll give Zherdev a C.

Kerri: Skating a full 82 regular season games with the Rangers, scoring 23 goals and notching 35 assists, Zherdev was clearly an important producer for a Rangers team that had extremely limited offense.

Although it was the zero points in the playoffs that bothered me.

An assessment of Zherdev would be that he is your typical enigmatic Russian. He shows up on some days, but not on others. He’s extremely talent, but that talent disappears all too often. And sometimes, effort might be in question.

I think that is somewhat a fair assessment. It’s clear the potential is there, but he doesn’t always make the best of his opportunities. He has a good shot and great puck handing skills, but maybe doesn’t always use them to his advantage.

I’d love to see Zherdev skate without the worries of Tom Renney’s defensive system or John Tortorella’s aggressive personality on his shoulders.

Unfortunately, it is just that very problem that makes Zherdev flawed, almost so flawed it can’t be fixed, and it can’t be rectified. Zherdev doesn’t thrive in the pressure; Zherdev doesn’t want to feel the pressure at all. Apparently, he got extremely choked up in the playoffs. It was too stressful for him.

Similarly, when Tom Renney saw fit to bench Zherdev earlier in the season, Zherdev choked up. When he saw less and less ice time under John Tortorella, he choked up even further. Instead of that motivating him to work even harder, to push his level of intensity, it motivated him to seclude himself and stop trying what-so-ever. That wasn’t the same Zherdev I saw having fun with Brandon Dubinsky earlier in the season. It wasn’t the same Zherdev I saw who scored that game-tying goal with 8.1 seconds on the clock. It wasn’t the Zherdev I saw take on Steve Stamkos.

When he was initially traded to the Rangers for Fedor Tyutin, I was upset. I was quite the Tyutin fan, even though Tyuts had leveled off, development-wise. (Now I think… if we would have kept Tyutin, never signed Redden and used that money for Jagr instead… we would have had a legit goal scorer, and a better defensemen for cheaper. Save three mill by signing Shanny instead of Naslund… and played Petr Prucha… what kind of year could this have been? And how much heartache in the years to come will follow the trade of Tyutin, who has blossomed with the Bluejackets, while god forbid the Rangers choose not to re-up Zherdev. Not to mention, the hole was plugged in by Redden. And think about it this way; could we have kept Morris AND Mara if there was no Redden? Anyway, this speculation may haunt me, although not entirely appropriate for Zherdev’s season review.)

I didn’t think Nik deserved the boos that were heard sporadically throughout the blueseats during the playoffs. But that doesn’t mean Nik deserved an A. Z, you need to try harder next year. But I want to see you on the team, as long as coach will take you for what you are, because this talent is hard to come by. And if Z can be properly motivated, and let off the short defensively leash he was confined to for so much of the season… we may have a star on our hands.

But Tortorella may decide he doesn’t want to give Zherdev that chance. He probably doesn’t. In that case, is it worth it to carry Zherdev if he’ll never shine? It seems like such a huge waste.

You would have gotten a B, Zherdev. But after that pitiful post-season, you get a C+.

Prucha re-ups in Phoenix

2009-06-19T15:43:00.004-04:00

Petr Prucha must like the heat.

“We are pleased to have signed Petr to a new contract,” said Maloney. “He is a former 30-goal scorer and an emerging young offensive talent who competes hard every night. We look forward to Petr bringing a combination of speed and skill to our lineup.”

Monetary value was "undisclosed" but the number 1.1 million per year is floating around, two years total.

There ya go.

Is this like, the first signing of the brand spanking new hockey season or what? Oh wait, that was Ray Emery.

Am I the only one that thinks Emery was a good move for the Flyers? Even though I find it hilarious.

Anyway. At least Renney didn't drive him to Europe.

Sean-y was on TV :-D

2009-06-16T23:47:00.005-04:00

I just linked you to Sean Avery's Jimmy Fallon appearance.

Because when the hockey world stops... Sean Avery keeps right on going.

So, did anyone else get a horrified look of contempt on their face when Fallon told Avery if he lost the shootout he would have to wear a Flyers jersey? Because I certainly did.

I Feel Bad For Hossa

2009-06-14T12:01:00.009-04:00

I have to take an unscheduled interruption of our season reviews (I promise Zherdev real soon, lol) to mention that the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup on Friday.

This is kind of like my open letter of honesty.

I'm not happy about it. I dislike the Penguins on several accounts. Firstly, they are a natural rival with the Rangers as members of the Atlantic Division. It's never fun to see the Atlantic Division win. Luckily in my time as a hardre hockey fan, I have really only had to deal with the Devils in 2000. And really, guys, think about it; that was much, much worse.

Watching Scott Gomez lift the Cup? I almost puked. It was much worse than watching Sidney Crosby lift the Cup. I know, to those of you who are in mourning this weekend, it doesn't seem like it could be worse. But when Crosby is long gone, Pittsburgh will remain, and the hate will fade. But we will always hate the Devils.

Right?

Secondly, this was our nightmare, boys and girls. Pittsburgh was bad for years and gets gifted Crosby and Malkin. The Rangers are bad for years and get... Marc Staal. Brandon Dubinsky. Ryan Callahan. (You can't really include the crapshoot of 7th round Henrik Lundqvist.) Do you see the difference? I certainly do. The Rangers being bad for years bought us a couple decent guys. The Pens being bad for years bought them a Stanley Cup.

As often as they say the Rangers "bought" the Stanley Cup in 1994, it is clear that the Penguins were gifted this Cup. Awarded for being bad, for going bankrupt, for almost moving to Canada.

And the cashcow that is the Rangers just continue mediocrity, and aren't gifted anything, while still expected to make enough of a profit to help the league pay for the bills of the Phoenix Coyotes.

Quite honestly, I'm jealous.

Although at the same time, I wouldn't want to win that way. I would want to try to be competitive every single year. I wouldn't want to blow games. I wouldn't want to be "the team" who was so, so terrible they got to draft Mario Lemieux AND Jaromir Jagr to win the Cups in '91 and '92, just to be so, so terrible AGAIN and get to draft Sidney Crosby AND Evgeni Malkin to win the Cup in '09.

Thirdly, this is something we are going to have to hear about forevvvver. Or at least, it feels that way. We hear enough about Crosby. We are sick of Crosby. We are on Crosby overload and it is just going to continue as we hear about his heroics of leading his team to the Stanley Cup. The youngest to captain a Stanley Cup winning team, you know. Blah blah blah.

But, look. There is at least one positive; the Pittsburgh Free Agents stock is going to fly up, making them more and more expensive to buyers this summer. The team's good talent (although not their superstars) will hopefully disperse through the league to make a big paycheck, and the invincible Penguins will be not so invincible.

But they'll always be good, at least until Crosby and Malkin retire, or move on to a different team.

And then, we all know the cycle.

Crosby retires. Malkin demands a trade. The Penguins spiral into bottom-feeders.

And then the league gives them The Next One. And they win a Stanley Cup or two.

While the Rangers look on watching in continued mediocrity, with no gifts or help from anyone, with only one modern-era Cup to their name.

-------------

In fact, Pascal Dupuis(notes) of the Penguins was asked about whether he felt sympathy for his former teammate. From Craig Custance of the Sporting News:

"Not at all," Dupuis said. "Sorry, but not at all."

From Puckdaddy.

I'm not really a Pascal Dupuis fan. I hate his name, the way he talks, the way he skates... everything about him totally urks me, although I can't put a finger on why. I'd rather never, ever mention him and pretend he didn't exist (and was never a New York Ranger).

However, I must respond to this because I feel a real injustice has been done to Marian Hossa. He's made out to be this evil, conniving traitor, who cares only about money and himself, who left his team in the dust to play for Red Wings.

Um.

The way I remember it, last year Marian Hossa was an Atlanta Thrasher. He was an UFA who the Thrashers knew wouldn't be signed, so the Penguins sent Crosby's good buddy Armstrong to Atlanta to rent out Hossa...

...TO RENT OUT HOSSA...

...to try and win the Cup. When that didn't work out, Hossa signed a ONE YEAR DEAL with the Red Wings for relatively cheap so he could have the best shot at winning the Cup. He didn't sign their for the money, he signed to help make Detroit a Champion yet again.

I'm not a huge Hossa fan or anything, I'm relatively indifferent to him, and I don't think his playoff performances indicate that he is anything worth spending big money on. But I am pretty ticked that anyone on the Penguins would consider him a traitor. He was a Rent-A-Player, who spent a total of only two months on the Penguins until free agency, and he chose to try to win a Cup in Detroit.

I predicted Detroit would win again. It wasn't exactly a bad guess.

So, Pascal Dupuis, shut up. This wasn't personal... anyone could see that. So stop making shit personal.

-------------

Please Keep It Six?

Season Review: 2008-2009: Forwards: #12 Patrick Rissmiller

2009-06-10T12:06:00.005-04:00

Lol @ Flyers signing Ray Emery.

Anyway, sorry for the long delay between posts. We got a littttttttle bit crazy the past few weeks... my own excuse was a wedding that took up more time than you could imagine for someone not in the wedding party, and my graduation from college (!!!).

So now that I'm a jobless college graduate in a time when more and more people are becoming jobless, hopefully we can start to pull apart this season a little bit more quickly.

I'm all by myself with this post on Patrick Rissmiller, although when we hit Zherdev hopefully by the end of this week, I should have at least Kristen with me, and we're hoping Christina checks in as well.

Oh! And speaking of Christina, she and I took place in Liveblogging Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals over at HLOG, which you can see here, although reading the liveblog after the fact will mostly just confuse you, because no one says anything 'cept "OMG" and "YAAAY" when goals happen. -ahem-

Anyway... Patrick Rissmiller.

...

...

...

Right, well, there isn't much to say about Rissmiller. He had zero goals and zero assists and was a minus 2 in his two games this season with the New York Rangers. I can't really pick apart our good friend Pat because I know nothing about him. Seeing him in two whole games like eight months ago didn't really stimulate me enough to remember some intricate details about his skating ability or puck posession.

We could have just as easily skipped Rissmiller and jumped right into talking about Nik Zherdev, but I think there are two good points to bring up about Rissmiller.

For starters, Rissmiller has been a legitimate NHL player since 2006-2007, where he played a full 79 games for the Sharks, and 11 playoff games for them as well. He wasn't a prolific scorer, scoring 7 goals his first season and 8 his second while with the Sharks full time, but he was a consistent member of the Sharks lineup.

The San Jose Sharks. You know. That team who may suck in the playoffs, but who is really-super-good the rest of the time?

My point being that if Rissmiller was a consistent member of a team that goes on to win President's Trophies, why was he not good enough to crack the Rangers lineup more than twice? Apparently the Sharks saw some value in him that the Rangers did not. And maybe a two game tryout wasn't enough for us to see his true value.

Of course, there are always circumstances that are different from one team to another. Maybe the Sharks had a hole that Rissmiller could fill that the Rangers did not. Maybe we just had too many guys that were more talented than Rissmiller, or who could do the same things as Rissmiller, or etc...

Which leads to my second point.

Why was he even signed to begin with?

It's one thing if Rissmiller just fell into the Rangers' theoretical lap, and we had this extra, unneeded forward we could just waive or sit in the pressbox night after night. But Sather signed Rissmiller over free agency, when he knew damn well the Rangers had enough forwards. (And the 'maybe he just wanted one extra?' arugment doesn't fly, either, because Voros was also signed when his presence was unnecessary.)

I had made the argument that maybe Sather thought a certain player (coughPruchacough) would be made unavailable via trade or some other circumstance that would leave a roster hole, which is why he went out a signed an abundance of forwards.

But maybe Sather is just an idiot, as we're watching him do a similar thing this year by signing extra defensemen.

So although I couldn't critique Rissmiller personally, I can critique the system that brought him here, and the system that didn't allow for him to have a chance here.

Have fun in Hartford, Patrick.

Season Review: 2008-2009: Forwards: #10 Nigel Dawes

2009-05-25T11:28:00.004-04:00

Kristen and I teamed up to rate the man who wore #10 for the Rangers for most of the season. Don't worry, Christina's still kicking around and will add her two cents on some of the upcoming Rangers we need to pick and pull apart.

Without further ado...

#10 Nigel Dawes

Kerri: "Black Magic" skated during 64 NHL games this season, although 12 were with the ~~Southern Ontario~~ Phoenix Coyotes. He managed 10 goals this season, all with the New York Rangers, and he showed off his brilliant play making skills by setting up 11 whole entire goals this year, nine assists coming during his time in New York. In fairness to Nigel, he was bumped around from line to line (but who wasn't?) and was even a healthy scratch (-gasp-) at times. But when he played, the Winnipeg native saw about 13 or 14 minutes a night pretty consistently. Sometimes, Nigel flashed his brilliance and did his thing. He helped the Rangers get some valuable points in the shootout with that sweet shot of his, and had some moments of impressiveness, such as that cool move he used to make Chris Pronger cry. He has pretty good puck possession, which makes Dawes overall pretty valuable. However, all of his highlights are overshadowed by his lack of ability (or effort…?) to use his skills consistently. Dawes is the epitome of being an invisible man. He skates through whole games without ever becoming noticeable. And then, bam, suddenly the capable and talented player is back again, and he’s making things happen, be it scoring goals or setting them up. Why Nigel is so invisible half the time is anybodies guess; although there were some rumors of Dawes coming to camp a little out-of-shape. And it made sense, considering he had a difficult beginning to the season, but Dawes never really lived up to the potential that the Rangers organization saw in him even as the season progressed. Jim Schoenfeld said, "We brought some players in that we thought would be good offensive contributors and we also thought we might have other players emerge. Two that are no longer here, Petr [Prucha] and Nigel [Dawes], we thought they might be able to contribute a certain number of goals, and that didn't happen." (I’ll comment more… eloquently… about the first half of that duo of ‘under-producers’ when we get to #25.) But clearly, the Rangers organization expected Nigel to step up from his 14 goals last season, and if he would have chipped in 20, maybe the Rangers wouldn’t have the scoring woes that plagued them this season. Then again, maybe he didn’t score 20 because of the defensive system that suffocated all possible offense. In any case, if A is for outstanding and B is for decent and C is for ‘do better next year’ and D is for ‘you suck’ and F is for ‘buy him out RIGHT NOW,’ Nigel gets a C-. Minus because Nigel, sometimes you really did suck. But usually, you just could have tried a ~~teeny bit~~ hell of a lot harder and maybe you could have won my heart. C- for try better next year… albeit in Phoenix.

Kristen: I think people greatly overestimated him, which led to disappointment in him. I, on the other hand, always thought he was completely overrated so I never did get disappointed by his lackluster play. I always expected the mediocrity that he provided. Sure, every once in a while he was good for an awesome goal or a really pretty play, but he was never anything special like he was supposed to be. It was a similar thing with his defensive play as well. He would either totally blow it or he would make an awesome play. Because he was so inconsistent, I could never get behind him, and as such, I didn't really care that he was traded to Phoenix. That was the least of my worries during that trade. But to stop being so negative, I will forever be grateful to Nigel during the Flyers/Rangers game that Kerri and I went to in 2008. He scored in the shootout to win the game and it was awesome. But aside from that, my only other really good Dawes memory is when Scott Gomez decided to tell the whole world that their nickname for him is "Black Magic" and he only got away with it because he's a minority as well. Ohhhh boy. ANYWAY, going by Kerri's grading criteria, I will give him a C. I'm compelled to give him a D, but he didn't COMPLETELY suck. So C it is for Nigel. Have fun in Phoenix.

Average Grade for Nigel Dawes: C/C-

A-Rod likes Hockey

2009-05-18T11:34:00.004-04:00

He looked at the "Buffalo" on my press pass and smiled. "We can talk football," he said. "Or how about hockey? Want to talk hockey?"

:-D

I mean, I know you're a lying cheating steroid user, but A-Rod, is it true?

“I’ve watched more hockey in the last two months than my whole life, combined,” Alex Rodriguez said. "I never knew anything about hockey before, but I think I have a new appreciation for Canadians and the passion they have for hockey. It's been awesome. I can't get enough of it."

I think I love you.

"Every time I was at Mark Lindsay's getting a treatment, he would have the NHL channel on and he would educate me. Mark's the guy who got me back on the field and I owe a lot to him."

"I like that Alex guy, No. 8 (Ovechkin) and I love (Sidney) Crosby...

OK. Alex, we are no longer friends.

...and I like the Rangers."

<33333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333

Forgiven.

Love.

Season Reviews; Quick Updates

2009-05-15T23:34:00.003-04:00

http://www.beyondtheblueshirts.com/2009/05/reading-russian-rumors/

Nik Zherdev considering Russia.

I will not be happy. Less because I like Nik and more because I feel Fedor Tyutin has been officially wasted, but Zherdev's weak postseason might have had more to do with being in the doghouse with a take-no-nonsense coach.

http://www.newsday.com/sports/hockey/ny-spstaple0612734159may05,0,1789084.column

Markus Naslund officially retired. I wish I could say something a little more heartfelt for a man who carried himself extremely well while wearing a Rangers jersey... although he did so little for the team (in my opinion) it's hard to contain my glee that we have the extra cap room. Thanks for your time and your effort and for being a good person, Markus. The National Hockey League will miss you... although I will not miss your cap hit. The link above this is actually a very nice column about how Naslund did the right thing; and it is very appreciated by this Rangers fan, at least. Not everyone can stand up and do what's right, and Naslund, being the soft-spoken, proud man that he is, did. Thanks, Naslund.

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Ok, so we're currently working on a season review, player by player. It's a collab'd effort, so you know... give us props... or something. We're going to aim for about two players a week, starting with the forwards, then defensemen, then goaltenders, and then coaches/GM.

We could be at this all summer, now that I think of it.

Anyway, we're going in number order, so all you Nigel Dawes fans should be prepared. #10 is going to start us out for the forwards in a couple days from now.

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Keep It Six

Closure

2009-04-28T23:47:00.005-04:00

I wrote this originally as a reaction to Allyson and Luke in the last post. Instead, I'll post it here. This blog may become silent for a while, as we wrap up the hockey season and us students wrap up the semester. But something should be said for the saddest day in any hockey fan's life; when their team is officially done for the season.

The thing is? I'm not so depressed.

It kind of sucks. I mean, the Rangers played a good game. We kept up with them; we MORE than kept up with them. We had a great first, we kept the pressure on in the second. A fluke goal tied the game and got the crowd back into it.

It's not devastating me, though. And that speaks to the lack of heart this team really has. It speaks to the lack of faith I have in them. It speaks to the utter lack of skill on the squad, despite the way they're paid.

At the end of the day? I don't -well, I guess didn't- like this team. In a way, I feel relief; we can start over.

We get some closure. This awful season; awful for many reasons, which we will pick apart as the summer months dwell on- it is finally over. I hate to find relief in that, but in so many ways I do.

There is some sadness, though. Knowing how the Rangers played well enough to win tonight. Knowing how they blew a 3-1 series... watching the Capitals celebrate their victory while our boys don't move on.

The look on Lundqvist's face was a heartbreaker. He deserved more. Maybe only he deserved more.

And then there is sadness for the men we may have seen suit up for the red, white and blue for the very last time.

Sadness for those who were traded for rentals, for a team destined to fall out in the first round. Wasted.

Sadness for the end of another season. And as much as I love the nice weather, and will enjoy every day at the beach or hanging by the pool...

A part of me always gets left in the cold. Wishing for the cold. Waiting for the cold. And that part has already started the countdown.

156 days until hockey season.

Stop the Circus

2009-04-28T14:31:00.005-04:00

I just wanted to say one thing before this dreadful series comes mercifully to a close.

Thank you.

Thank you to all who made this playoff series a complete disaster.

Because Capitals and Rangers fans clearly don't deserve better.

Thank you Alexander Ovechkin, for proving you are a complete egotistical jerk. Stick saluting Rangers fans at Center Ice sure is classy. I hope you get pummelled tonight, and if not tonight, than four straight by your "mortal enemy" Sidney Crosby. Being disrespectful is my least favorite vice, and you wrote it all over yourself.

Nikolas Backstrom, ditto.

Thank you John Tortorella, for proving you are a hypocrite. For not doing the right thing, for embarrassing the Rangers organization, and then never apologizing for it. I don't care what a fan did. I don't care what a fan said. As pointed out by the guys on NHL Live, and the Hockey Rodent.... if it was so bad, march your team back into the locker room. You don't need to take being spit on. But you don't throw something at a fan, either.

Thank you Sean Avery, for losing your mind at the end of Game 4, almost costing the Rangers the game, and allowing Capitals fans to have the balls to suggest if Brashear gets suspended, you should be too. You're a great talent when you do your thing; I haven't seen to much thing-doing this series, if you know what I mean.

Thank you Donald Brashear, for laying out a classy, hard working guy like Blair Betts, for breaking his face on a high and extremely late hit. (Those who think this hit was clean need to take the Red-Rocking glasses off.) And losing Blair Betts for the rest of the season is a HUGE blow to the Rangers... (ironic Green scores on the powerplay right after our best penalty killer was helped off the ice? Considering the Rangers have made this a series based on great defensive play/the penalty kill...) Meanwhile, losing Brashing for six games doesn't hurt the Caps at all.

Thank you whoever bit Brandon Dubinsky. I mean firstly, I hope this story is true, otherwise that's just embarrassing that the Rangers would be making it up. Although I understand Caps fans' reluctance to believe that Morrisonn would do such a thing; I'd have a hard time believing a Ranger would do that as well. But the Rangers beat reporters all say Dubinsky has teeth marks in his wrist, and I'm inclined to believe them. There is nothing more vial than that. And yes; I am upset there will be no punishment.

Thank you Glen Sather. Because I blame you for everything. And you deserve it, for signing Redden and Rozsival and Naslund and Gomez and Drury...

Finally, the referees. I don't want to whine, and I know that they do the best they can. They can only call what they see. But to give Brandon Dubinsky a ten minute misconduct just for trying to show you there are teeth marks in his arm? But to tell Drury that Brashear's hit on Betts was clean?

At least it's interference; that puck was LONG gone.

See, the suspension doesn't help the Rangers. While a powerplay (despite how bad the Rangers are at it) might have, especially a five minute major. (And since Brashear was suspended because there was an intent to injure, it's clear this then deserved the five minutes.)

The complaints Capital fans are making about how Avery should be suspended are asinine. Avery pushed Varlamov's face to be annoying, not to injure. Avery's high stick was properly penalized. The difference here is that Avery's insane decision were actually penalized by the referees, AND they weren't intent to injure, thus they are completely not-comparable. Brashear's was not, and this was a dangerous, non-hockey play. Blair Betts may have lost his career, and that's unacceptable. (And yes his head was down, but I hate that argument; he didn't have the puck! That argument is only acceptable for the puck carrier.)

Tell me about those five-on-threes at the end of the game, and I'll just point to how this furthers conspiracy talk; of course NBC didn't want to show a 5-1 game! Of course they wanted the Rangers to come back and make it interesting. Why would we want to lose viewers who (rightly) wrote the Rangers off?

I don't believe the conspiracy talk I'm spewing (or am I just talking myself out of believing it?). I don't want to whine. The Rangers deserved to lose. They deserve to lose this series. But some of this has just gotten to be very, very fishy.

The Hockey Rodent:

I have been resisting temptation to blame Ranger woes on the referees this series. But if today's officiating doesn't convince you of egregious inequities, you've got your own agenda and just don't want to see the truth.

But it is unfortunately that Rangers and Capitals fans have resorted to complaining more about Avery's antics and Tortorella's antics/Brashear's hit and Ovechkin's antics. This is hockey... stop with the "antics!"

I love Avery's antics when they are within the rulebook, and when he is not physically hurting a player. I cannot stand antics that offends fans (see Ovechkin, Alexander or Tortorella, John), hurts the team (see Avery, Sean or Tortorella, John), or hurts a player (see Brashear, Donald). That is all uncalled for, and obnoxious, and hockey fans deserve better.

So, there it is. I want the Rangers to win tonight. But I want to see this be a classy game, without bullshit from either sides, with fair officiating, and with some good show of goaltending and offensive flair. If that's too much to ask... well, then I'm happy the birds are chirping and the flowers are blooming and hockey season has found itself over.

2009-04-27T16:26:00.003-04:00

Apparently the teeth marks aren’t enough because there are conflicting reports on which Cap did the biting.

sdfohioehioehklasfjiopashklerierkl !!!!!!!!!!!!osdhioasfjkasfjioasjiwrm

^$@&&#^*^$^($(@^*^@!!!!!!

No words.

Brashear got six, one for pregame, five for the hit. 'Cuz that'll hurt those Caps.

on edit: Shan thinks the whole Capitals team should get a penalty. Why didn't we all think of this? This is a genius point; call Campbell! Let's do it! Let's suspend the whole team. Call up them Bears!

This wasn't a critique on the quality of the NHL's ability to function highly enough to figure out who bit who or if there was even a bite to begin with; HELL no. This was blind outrage by a stupid American fangirl who totally wants to marry Dubi <3333 and really wishes he wouldn't get rabies before the said marriage!

This is getting ridiculous

2009-04-26T18:24:00.001-04:00

You know, the only thing I have to say about the Rangers right now is that I wish they could opt out of even playing game 7, admit their defeat, and move on to the offseason where hopefully there is a huge overhaul of personnel. Because this is getting painful. They don't even try. I don't see the point in being forced to watch this bullshit anymore.

So, NHL, I hope you're happy with yourselves.

Glen Sather wrote Gary Bettman a letter about security at the Verizon Center. Apparently Tortorella freaked the fuck out because the fans were harassing the team, throwing homophobic remarks out there, and spitting on the training staff. Tortorella AND Jim Ramsay (medical trainer) both told security about these assholes twice and nothing happened. So that's when Torts took it upon himself to take care of those jerks. Honestly...a fine would have been sufficient. A suspension, not at all. The way he was provoked and the fact that NOTHING was done about it when they repeatedly informed security tells me this should not be held agains him. Sure, he still shouldn't have retaliated the way he did, but I think there should be plenty of leeway for him.

In addition to that, today during the game, Donald Brashear took a cheapshot at Blair Betts. Deliberate hit in the head, waaaaay late of a hit. Betts went down. Didn't return to the game. Probably won't return for game 7. What punishment did Brashear get? Pretty much none as his only penalty was 2 minutes for roughing, which occurred when Paul Mara went after Brashear for what he did to Betts. Yes, he only got a penalty because he got into it with Paul Mara afterwards. No penalty for what he originally did. Should have been five minutes with a game misconduct. He should be suspended. Probably won't happen.

Not only that, but later in the game, Dubinsky boarded someone. I agree with the fact that it was a boarding penalty. But what did he end up with? 2 minutes for boarding, 2 minutes for roughing, and a 10 minute misconduct. That wasn't even close to being dirty like the Brashear hit, but he gets way more punishment for it. Not to mention losing one of the few players who actually gives a flying fuck for fourteen minutes is a major killer.

I've just had it with this team. I don't even want to watch game 7. I will, but I don't want to. They're just a bunch of jerks. Let me compile a list of players that I would actually want to keep come the offseason. I'll mark who's a UFA/RFA, too, so you can see the actual likelihood of those players staying on the team...

-Henrik Lundqvist

-Ryan Callahan (RFA)

-Brandon Dubinsky (RFA)

-Lauri Korpikoski (RFA)

-Nik Antropov (UFA)

-Sean Avery

-Scott Gomez (he is really lucky I love him so god damn much)

-Paul Mara (UFA)

-Dan Girardi

-Marc Staal

-Blair Betts (UFA)

-Colton Orr (UFA)

So you see, I'm probably screwed.

Random Thoughts

2009-04-26T10:27:00.004-04:00

1. We all cried accountability, and we finally got it. But no one was happy Avery sat out Game 5? Isn't that what we wanted, that we never got from Renney?

2. If Avery has to be held accountable for his actions, where is the accountability for Gomez and Naslund? Was just that they were taken off the powerplay? Why wasn't that acceptable for Avery, as well?

3. Because this is the playoffs, does that make the situation different as to what punishment Avery deserved?

4. Is Tortorella the biggest hypocrite ever? And did he just cost us the series?

I suppose it's for each of us individually to decide.

Gomez and Naslund SINGLEHANDEDLY will lose us this series if they don't show up today (or Tuesday, if necessary). The big boys need to step it up, and both have been completely useless. (Drury only gets a pass for his hand/wrist/arm being broken.) Actually, worse than useless; detremental.

Oh, and I heard Nik Zherdev was still with this team. I thought he was traded at the deadline since I haven't seen him since then, but it turns out he's still around. Who knew?

Benching Avery was the stupidest move Tortorella could make ~~besides chuck things at fans, of course.~~ Avery is one of the few forwards, along with Betts, Dubinsky, Callahan, Korpi, and Sjostrom that try their hardest EVERY night. Avery brings grit and energy, two things that the Rangers desparately need. And even if Avery couldn't change the score, at least he could be out there sending his message.

And I hate to call out everyone's favorite players, as I just slammed Gomez and now am moving on to Voros, but replacing Sean Avery with Aaron Voros is like replacing Derek Jeter with my 12 year old brother who is attempting to learn how to play shortstop.

It's the playoffs, Torts, and you need to put out your best lineup every game. Period.

What would have been wrong with telling Avery he was going to sit next game, let him think about it, and then put him in last minute? What would have been wrong with shortening the bench for the first period, but allowing him to play for the second and third? There were other ways to punish without putting a lesser team out on the ice on Friday. Lord knows the Rangers need to put out the best possible lineup every night if we expect to stay in this.

And for a man preaching accountability, it sure was ironic to see his "star" center Gomez set the tone of the game with a bone-headed penalty and then Tortorella himself has to be a moron and chuck water at a fan.

Please. Tortorella's an asshole and deserved the suspension. I can't believe, for one second, that he actually thought that was OK. And to do it after you preach a selective version of accountability?

Unbelieveable.

Now, the Rangers organization has every right to complain if the rowdy fans weren't being taken care of correctly by security. However, then Tortorella should of called a ref over during a commerical break and taken care of it the right way.

Embarrassing. I'm embarrassed this happened, as a Ranger fan.

At the same time, at least this team has some fiery personality. I'd still take Tortorella and this suspension over Tom Renney any day.

I was good luck on Wednesday; could I be there for the clincher today? I hope so!

Let's go Rangers, and Henrik Lundqvist; please be the King. We need you.

Fill in the Blanks

2009-04-22T00:15:00.007-04:00

So you decide.

Most people, myself included, have come to the conclusion that Ovechkin visiting the Rangers during their practice on Monday was no big deal. Ranger fans have been rather cool and collected about the whole matter. Although, it becomes an interesting question; do people react differently if a different player decided to do the same exactly thing?

Does this change things?

I think so.

General hockey fan reaction: "OMG DOUCHE BAG! Can you believe the NERVE?! This guy is such a joke; he never learns! Unreal! Suspend him! Kick him out of the league!"
League Reaction: "It is clear that Sean Avery has completely crossed the line of hockey etiquette. He will serve a 10 game suspension, along with 3 years of anger management therapy."

Does this change anything?

General hockey fan reaction: "OMG DOUCHE BAG! Can you believe the NERVE?! This guy is such an arrogant prick; he never learns! Unreal!"
League Reaction: "This is a nonstory. Sidney Corsby just simply did not understand that there was a rule against ~~stalking Henrik Lundqvist~~ sitting on the bench during the other team's practice. No harm, no faul, right? We <3 you, Sid! Call us??!!?!"

But since it was this...

General hockey fan reaction: "OMG AWESOME! Can you believe how COOL this guy is?! Ovie just never, ever fails to entertain! Unreal! :-D!!!"
League Reaction: "This is a nonstory. Alexander Ovechkin just simply did not understand that there was a rule against ~~stalking Henrik Lundqvist~~ sitting on the bench during the other team's practice. No harm, no faul, right?"

This is not so much of a critique on the methods Ovechkin is using (as we all know Avery's just angry he didn't think of it first) but it is interesting to note the devotion hockey fans show Ovechkin, whereas a certain other very talented (yet much more whiney) player could never get away with such a trick.

I thought your practice-crashing was funny. This, however, upsets me Alexander Ovechkin. Not the shoulder-bump, but the mock stick salute at center ice that came before it.

I understand that the Rangers didn't put a quality effort out on the ice on Monday night, and that if they didn't embarrass themselves Ovechkin would have nothing to brag about. But Ovechkin can say what he wants to say and do what he wants to do without making it a personal attack on the relationship between the Rangers and their fans. That crosses all types of lines, and I take personal offense to it.

I would have liked to see the stick salute walk out the door with Jagr and Straka and Shanahan and Prucha, but that salute staying is the remnants of what that bunch did still within the organization. The work they did to change the culture of this franchise (which in too many ways is going back to how it once was...) is the reason we're even in the playoffs right now. And since that post-lockout year completely changed the level of my devotion of hockey, just because of pure effort and excitement alone, that stick salute has become VERY personal to me and several other Ranger fans.

Shoulder-bump and practice-crash all you want, but leave the fans out of it.

Hopefully the Rangers give Ovechkin more to think about tomorrow night. And if not, and if the Rangers can't do it, then I hope another team does.

Playoff Picks

2009-04-18T08:28:00.003-04:00

We're a couple days into this, but I promise I did this before the playoffs started. I realize I don't have one sweep... but I just can't give it to one team to do such a feat.

Western Conference:

San Jose over Anaheim - 7
This is probably (and hopefully) going to be a bloody playoff battle, but the Sharks have some tools that the Ducks don't. Sharks are just going to squeak by.

Detroit over Columbus - 5
Sorry, Columbus. I'd love to see you kick some butt, but Detroit can overcome their shaky goaltending with their good... everything else.

Chicago over Calgary - 6
Calgary came into the playoffs shaky, and the Blackhawks have much less pressure, which I think will help them make a run.

Vancouver over St. Louis - 6
Vancouver is just the better team. I'd love to see JD's Blues kick ass and take names, but I can't see it happening.

Eastern Conference:

Carolina over New Jersey - 6
The 'Canes got this! This may be a little bit of wishful thinking, but the Hurricanes are coming on strong, whereas New Jersey limped into the playoffs. If Marty can't find his game...

Boston over Montreal - 7
Montreal's my favorite, but how can you not give this series to such a dynamic Bruins squad? That said, the Habs will make it more interesting then people believe... come on, this rivalry is HUGE.

Philadelphia over Pittsburgh - 7
Again, huge rivalry. I'd rather both teams blew up and eliminate each other from playoff contention, but if that can't happen... I'd rather the Pens move on. However, I picked the Flyers.

Rangers over Washington - 7
Oh, ye of little faith.

Yes, the Rangers struggle for offense playing against one of the best offensive teams in the league. But, and so ironically, defense is going to make this series.

The goaltending matchup is lopsided. Theodore will have to pretend he's in Montreal, and play like it, if he expects to compete with Lundqvist, who is the key to this whole series. Henrik will make or break the Rangers; fair or unfair, the world is on his shoulders.

The Capitals had much success against the Rangers this year. One of the biggest reasons for that was Tom Renney, who told the Rangers to sit back on their leads and stop aggressively forechecking. Ranger fans everywhere argued against this strategy, and, in every rant and rave I gave about Renney, I mentioned the Capitals as a nearly "unbeatable" team for the Rangers because of this very reason.

Ovechkin confirmed my thoughts in a postgame interview after the Caps managed to come back against a Ranger team who was up 4-0. ``They stopped playing hockey. They probably believed 4-0 they'd win the game. They tried to play conservative, but we play a different way. We play a hard, physical game and take lots of shots. You see the results.''

We play a different way now, too, Ovechkin.

The Rangers are playing an ideal team for them, if any top-seeded team could be an ideal team. Sure, we have a hard time scoring; but on several accounts, we should have an easier time scoring than we have against the Capitals all year. That starts with our new change in system, under Tortorella. Washington also has poor team defense and a shaky goaltender. So the Rangers will probably score more often than they would playing against a more defensive club. The Rangers happen to have great team defense, and a great goaltender, and a great penalty kill. This will all come in handy, considering Washington has a great offense and good powerplay. Hopefully, this means the Rangers can stop Washington from scoring a couple more goals than they usually would.

And I guess I just don't see why Theodore and Ovechkin are Avery-proof. Certainly, Semin is not.

In recap, I expect Washington to score less goals than they normally would in any particular game, because of Lundqvist and the Ranger's PK. I expect the Rangers to score more, because of our new system and Washington's poor defense.

Washington is without a doubt the better team. There is a reason they were number two in the Eastern Conference. But if Lundqvist is hot, and if the Rangers can chip in a couple more goals than usual, I have no doubts that New York can make in interesting, and squeak out to make it to round 2.

Rangers in 7.

Let's go Rangers.

Matt Gilroy

2009-04-17T18:54:00.004-04:00

My jaw just hit the ground.

http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/hockey/rangers/blog/2009/04/gilroy_inks_rangers_deal.html

It's totally like Sather just sees shiny objects and says, "me want." And then, it is. Regardless of cap situations, or chemistry, or needs...

We can dissect how this means my favorite Paul Mara won't be back in a Rangers uniform, and that Petr Prucha officially came for nothing at another time...

...you know, after the playoffs.

Oh, and apparently we outbid Sundin's Canucks... lol lol.

Anyway, let's go Rangers?

He is the Eggman

2009-04-16T09:40:00.003-04:00

From Merriam Webster’s online dictionary:

Latin combining form: ovi- : egg

Hence the title of the post.

Okay, I know it's a cheap shot, but I figured I should get it in while I can. As I mentioned in a comment to the previous post, I am a realist, and I am also an opportunist. You know the Caps are going to come back with a vengeance on Saturday, so who knows when I'll be able to gloat again.

Back to the game. In a word: stunning. Power play goals. Comebacks. Resurgence. Tension. I could hear my pulse in my ears when I muted the commercials. Even Sam Rosen was getting hoarse by the end of the game. True playoff feel.

I did miss some of the late third period, so when I was racing home I managed to get it on the radio, and I could tell that the crowd had quieted. When I left, the game was tied and I had a knot in my stomach. What happened in the 10 minutes I was gone? The analyst in me quickly determined that it had to be good if those nutsy Caps fans weren't going ape-shit this late in the game, and by the time I got that thought through my head, I heard Sam say that Theodore had gone to the bench. After having nearly driven off the road, I listened (and subconciously held my breath) as the last seconds ticked off and they pulled it off. What a game.

I would imagine the Eggman is especially steamed after none of his 13 (!) shots crossed the goal line. I anticipate that he will be uber crazy trying to level everything in his path on Saturday. So with that, I will enjoy this win for the next few days.

2009-04-12T02:04:00.000-04:00

HELLO TO A.O.!

Hey, Ranger fans!

2009-04-03T08:30:00.003-04:00

That sound you just heard was playoff hopes drizzle down the drain.

Bruins
Canadiens
Flyers
Flyers

The game is... very close to over, folks.

- Did anyone else almost pee their pants when watching Henrik Lundqvist just lay in the goalie crease, rolling in pain? I've never been so scared about an injury that was not life threatening in my whole life. Pleaseeee, please not Henrik. Anyone but Henrik, pleaseeee.

- I do like Nik Antropov. He didn't have his greatest game last night, but he has been doing his thing since he got there. That one move he made the other night against the Devils? ::Drool:: And I adore his size. The Rangers keep signing munchkins when we need a big body up front. But rumors of laziness and a past history of injuries concern me, say the Rangers try for him instead of Nik Zherdev this summer.

- I like Derek Morris. Alot. My dad begins every comment about Morris with "I know Kerri doesn't like him..." but that's simply not true. I like him a lot... I just didn't like what he cost. Too bad he's down to four games as a Ranger, unless some type of miracle happens that allows the Rangers to win a game between now and Easter Sunday.

- I think it's weird they play hockey on Easter, isn't it? The Islanders have a home game. No one goes there as it is, and you're making them play on Easter?

- Speaking of the Islanders, it's looking really bad for them staying in Nassau. Kanas City here we come? Not necessiarly, as Queens may be interested.

My thoughts:
1. I'd hate to lose the Islanders. Hate. Hate. Hate. I get to see hockey games for ten bucks, it's 40 minutes from my house, and I get to stalk the Rangers and other hockey players outside of their arena. The Islanders/Rangers rilvary is probably the best rilvary between two American clubs and if the Islanders get good (maybe one day?), I want to be there for it.
2. Queens is not Long Island. Well, it is geographically, but it's actually a part of New York City.
3. The Rangers play in New York City.
4. Even though the Islanders had to pay money to the Rangers to put a hockey team within the 50 mile radius that the Rangers own (as the Devils did has well), does it change things that the Islanders would actually be in New York City? What would the Rangers organization think about that?
5. People might actually go if they're in Queens.

- Why doesn't Paul Mara play more? Renney went through his anti-Mara phase, and now it seems to be Torts' turn. I see so much more in Mara than our coaches do, I guess.

- Marc Staal? Are you there? Or is Wade Redden wearing number 18 these days?

- Sean Avery, I love you, even though I wasn't happy about the Clarkson-incident. You make me love hockey.

- I am thrilled Dubinsky is finally scoring, that Callahan is doing so wonderfully, and that Sjostrom is finally being given a chance to prove why he was

- Turning to Phoenix...

I turned a Rangers blog to a Petr Prucha blog, and I'm not going to change it further to a Coyotes blog. However, forgive me if from time to time I need to update on my favorite hockey player, regardless of the color of his jersey.

While all Ranger fans turned VRS off after watching the Rangers crush the Devils Monday night, you missed a great 6-5 game between the Dallas Stars and the Phoenix Coyotes. It wasn't perfect hockey, but it sure was fun!

Tom Renney rolled in the "Ranger Ex-Coaches' Retirement Home" as Wayne Gretzky made this crazy decision to play Prucha on the powerplay.

This wasn't just any powerplay. This was overtime.

Two situations that Renney would have never, ever allowed Petr Prucha to be in.

53 seconds into over time, and Petr scores his first career OT goal. :-D

For comparison purposes...

GP/G/A/P/+/-
Petr Prucha 15 2 8 10 1 6
Nigel Dawes 11 0 2 2 -4
Nik Antropov 14 6 5 11 -3
Sean Avery 14 4 6 10 1

Which, by the way, if Prucha continued his current pace of 10 points in 15 games, he'd be on pace for almost 55 points a season, which would beat his career high of 47points. (Although with only two goals, he'd be on pace for only 12 goals a season).

So I guess I'm trying to say Petr's a playmaker?

Not really. But he is doing well in Phoenix, which is sort of my point.

I'm good at math when hockey's involved. :-D

- Finally, staying in Phoenix, Al Montoya became the first Cuban American in the NHL, and began his career with a bang- a shutout. And last night, Al led the Coyotes to another victory, only allowing one goal and claiming second star of the game.

saaa - WEEEEET!!!

2009-03-31T09:28:00.003-04:00

I have two words for Sean Avery: rag doll. He’s been called a lot of things, but last night, this role served him well. He drew penalties, assisted on goals, annoyed Marty – what could be better? Maybe just one thing could be better: THE RANGERS SHUTTING OUT THE DEVILS!!!! Now THAT is sweet. I’m sure no one was more nervous about last night’s game than the diva herself – Marty. He probably wrote off having any more serious interactions with Avery once he went to Dallas. I would have paid money to see his expression when he heard about Avery returning to the NYR.

I was amazed at Avery’s discipline. He planted himself in front of Marty, which I was hoping he would do, and boy did he annoy the hell out of them devils (hah – see what I did there?). They tried and tried to egg him on to no avail. He even let Clarkson toss him around a bit, which annoyed the hot-head devil even more – enough to get him a game misconduct on top of his double minor to Avery’s 2 minutes.

But enough about that – how about them younglings? Dubi and Cally did it again! It’s great to see them come into their own and kick ass. Nice to see Girardi get on the scoreboard as well. I just hope it’s enough to make a difference at this point in the season. They have a tough schedule ahead. Henrik has his work cut out for him, and luckily standing on his head last night paid off with a big s.o. for him.

Just one more thing about my favorite diva: did you see on Dubi’s goal how he floundered to the ice before the shot was even taken? World class goalie my ass. Henrik is ten times the goalie he is.

I had to watch the game with the sound off because Mike Emerick sickens me when he calls Devils games. Put him with Chico Resch and I’m running to the toilet.

No matter what happens from here, it won’t take away from the sweetness of last night’s win.

Playoffs = Beards

2009-03-25T21:17:00.004-04:00

So Kerri and I were texting, like usual, and we feel bad that we neglect this thing, but hey, we're busy. BUT we got on the subject of Scotty Gomez looking fabulous with scruff on his face, which then blossomed into excitement about playoff beards. So now, for your viewing pleasure, a picture of Scotty with some thick scruff:

It's not a beard, but it's thicker than he usually lets it grow...and it is very pleasing to the eyes ;)

Take this opportunity to spam this post with pictures of playoff beards!

Ignore-The-Fangirl

2009-03-10T20:40:00.003-04:00

Some Things Never Change

2009-03-06T20:45:00.003-05:00

Leave my Prucha alone, Chara. -sob-

lol. I'm watching Prucha right now. And I wouldn't say I'm happy. But I'm not... that sad.

Scratch that. (haha, get it because the Rangers scratched... ok, nevermind) Prucha just almost scored! Deflection right in front, great save by Lalime! Close up on his face...

And I could cry again.

Oh. Now he takes a hooking penalty. WHAT A FAKER.

Whatever. It was somewhat parallel. Whatever.

They scored on it.

Oh, Petr. Oh, Petr. 3-0 Buff.

THREE ONE BUFFALO! PRUCHA WITH A GREAT PLAY IN FRONT OF THE NET, Assist to Prucha on Lombardi's goal!!!!

All I hear is his name, and it's wonderful.

And so awful.

My Boy- the Final Part

2009-03-05T22:16:00.008-05:00

Wayne Gretzky's last game.

Mike Ritcher's retirement.

Brian Leetch's trade.

Jaromir Jagr's contract with Omsk.

Petr Prucha's trade to the Phoenix Coyotes on Wednesday, March 4th, 2009, at 2:50pm.

The five times hockey has made me cry.

My whole world was traded to Phoenix yesterday. My whole entire world.

If you want to read a really nice tribute, go here www.naturalhattrick.blogspot.com or here www.petrprucha.com. You'll cry... just a warning. If you want to read my ramblings... well, apologies to you.

I heard the Rangers won tonight. I didn't watch. My boyfriend skimmed through hockey games on Centre ice, and I stayed wrapped up in my favorite fleece blanket. I tried to ignore the red, white and blue symbol on the top of it.

I got text after text, "hey, are you here?" I always attend Ranger/Islander games at Nassau. It's just too close and too cheap to pass up. I wasn't too busy to go. I wasn't too poor to go. I just couldn't go.

I saw some of the Ranger/Islander game. My boyfriend tried to figure out the lines. Antropov with Drury and Dubinsky, I think he said. I check lines every single day. At least I did check lines every single day. Tonight, I really, really didn't care who was playing with who.

Which overpaid asshole was playing with who.

Today, I could care less if they won or lost.

I saw some of Petr Prucha's game. The Coyotes won against Buffalo... good for them. Very young team, Phoenix. They have a lot of energy. #16 played on a line with Shane Doan. The first line.

Part of me wanted him to score a hat trick.

Part of me wanted to shut the game off and close my eyes and make it go away.

He didn't get a point. And actually, he was a minus. He was laid out by Chara, so I hear.

Rambling. That's what I'm doing, because I can't get a coherent thought out of my head. I've been a zombie since yesterday.

Eventually, the tears will stop. When I stop torturing myself and let him go, they will stop. But I don't want to let him go.

When Renney told me to let him go last season, I squeezed tighter.

When Renney tried to pry him out of my hands this season, I squeezed even tighter.

And when Sather finally cut the cord, I held on. To nothing.

My passion for this team has gone. My passion for Prucha, even, has dwindled, I think. I'm not sure if the apathy is from pure sadness or a real knowledge that my love for the Rangers, and my love for Prucha, were somehow interdependent.

They were. As much as I say I'll get Centre Ice and watch every single game, I know that goes away. You miss a game. Two. Three. He gets traded or signs somewhere else, and you barely realize it. "Oh, that used to be my favorite player!" type-of-deal. I don't want to let go because of that very reason.

I might sound crazy to a lot of people. But to those of you who saw the last game Prucha donned Ranger blue, and heard MSG chanting "Pe-tr Pru-cha" for the heart and soul of the roster who was dragged out to center ice and then sent to the dressing room... well maybe I don't sound so crazy.

I lost more than just Petr Prucha yesterday. I lost my undying passion for the sport I love, the team I'm loyal to.

This was a long time coming. A difficult off season, losing Avery and Shanahan, and mostly Jagr. A difficult beginning to the season, if you were a fan of Prucha's. A difficult middle, as Renney squished any life the team had into a ball of nothing.

Just as I thought I couldn't do it anymore, Renney got fired. Tortorella came in. And for one week... just one week... I was a happy Ranger fan.

But then Petr Prucha was taken from me. Petr Prucha, my rookie sensation, who got none of the press he deserved because of those other two rookies named Crosby and Ovechkin. Petr Prucha, my powerplay specialist who has the Ranger's record for powerplay goals scored by a rookie (16). Petr Prucha, my spitfire, my ball of energy, who would hit anything that moved. Petr Prucha, my tiny, 170 pound forward who really thought he was a man twice his size. Petr Prucha, my boy, who would get laid out at least once a week, but always jumped right back up. My boy.

Petr Prucha, who cut his hair because his mom asked him to while she was in town. Petr Prucha, who cited his mom as the reason he would always jump right back up after a hit (so in case she was watching, she wouldn't think he was hurt.) Petr Prucha, who scored 52 goals in his first two seasons in the league. Petr Prucha, who lived with Jaromir Jagr when he moved to the biggest city in the world, and couldn't even speak the language. Petr Prucha, who was drafted by the Rangers. Petr Prucha, who cried when he couldn't play for his country in the Olympics. Petr Prucha, who took a skate to the face and came right back out, barely missing a shift. Petr Prucha, who has his own celebration song at the Garden. Petr Prucha, who Ranger fans "Pruuuu" for. Petr Prucha, who no one could wipe the smile off of his face.

Until he was told he was traded. Sam said that Prucha "took it hard."

Prucha didn't cry through his whole first game in red, so I guess he didn't take it as hard as I did.

Maybe I was wrong this whole time. Maybe Prucha will never regain production he had back in 2005-2006.

2005-2006. Why I love the Rangers more than anything in the whole entire world.

But it would have been nice to give our boy a shot. A real shot. With some decent ice time. With a decent center. With some powerplay time.

Thanks Tom Renney. You officially have made this hockey season the worst, the most painful, that I can ever remember.

I bought my tickets for the Sunday Islander game against the Coyotes. I wonder if the tears will be gone by then. Otherwise, what will I do? Be the lone Ranger fan in Nassau, sitting with my signed Petr Prucha jersey, crying the whole time?

Hockey has never made me so sad. And I've never cared so little about the New York Rangers.

And the Phoenix Coyotes don't even know that they have everything that makes hockey wonderful, all wrapped up in a young Czech winger who has broken my heart.

I think his heart is broken, too.

Everything is different. Everything. Because my everything is in Arizona, and I'll never be OK with that. I'm so crushed. I'm so defeated. I just can't believe he's gone. That it's over.

I love you, Petr Prucha. With all of my heart that is reserved for hockey, I love you. So play hard. I'll be watching.

Link to Trades

2009-03-04T11:00:00.001-05:00

Here's a link to the trade activity as it happens:

http://www.sportscity.com/NHL-Trade-Deadline-Tracker

Keeping a close eye on this one.

Deadline Doldrums; Tuesday is "Appreciate Your Boys" Day

2009-03-02T21:42:00.006-05:00

So what's it like being an Islander fan, hm?

On Saturday, Bill Guerin was pulled out of the lineup as a last minute scratch. He skated warm ups, but was forced to undress. With the trade deadline approaching, it became clear what was happening; Guerin had been traded. Rumors flew about the Bruins, the Flames, the Caps, the Devils, even the Rangers. The trade was expected to be announced either late Saturday night or early Sunday morning.

Then Sunday came. Then Sunday night came. Then the snow came. Then Monday morning came. Now it is Monday evening, and there is still no word on why Guerin was a healthy scratch on Saturday. Barry Melrose Rocks tried to give this situation a little more flair, and it's pretty funny.

To add to the excitement, Trent Hunter found himself a healthy scratch tonight. Just... wow. Really, Islanders?

But the feelings Islander fans are feeling right now are closely tied with the feelings several fans of many different teams are going to be feeling come tomorrow and Wednesday. Wednesday being the NHL's trade deadline, of course.

As we spoke in the comments of the previous post, Kels over at Natural Hat Trick Productions mentioned that we should keep morale high, despite the trade deadline. The deadline can do many things to a team and to fans; it can demoralize them. It can give them hope for the future. It can push a good team to being a great team. The outlook of the next couple months can completely shift in one day. The outlook of the future 5 years down the road can shift in one day.

But like we've determined, the trade deadline CAN bring tears. I have an awful feeling that Wednesday will bring tears to someone who blogs, and/or comments, around here at Some Like It Blue. I'm hoping we can get through the deadline with a morale boost; with excitement. But to get, you've gotta give.

However, we are going to make Tuesday a happy day, even if Wednesday cannot be.

Appreciate Your Boys Day. Yes, I know. A super creative name. I'm full of creative genius.

But Appreciate Your Boys Day is doing just that; appreciating what we have, right now, regardless of who stays and who goes on Wednesday. I ask anyone who wants to take part in our festivities to post a favorite moment with a favorite current player. (Until 12 O'clock tomorrow, girls, Mr. Sean Avery is thus off limits).

Let us hear it. Was it a personal moment, between you and a player? Was it an on-ice moment? An interview? A funny Gardenvision clip? It doesn't matter what it is, if it is cute, endearing, or funny. Whatever you want it to be. Help us appreciate this roster, which is bound to look different come Wednesday.

Fans of other teams, say they stumble across us, are more than welcome to join in. You might be cryin', too

We've got 23 boys on the roster. Let's appreciate them.

And if it catches on, we could make in annual. Or something.

And the Goals Come in an Avalanche

2009-03-01T10:38:00.005-05:00

Well… that was fun.

Fun!

Hockey is… FUN!

What a concept!

But since I have no time to do anything anymore, never-the-less blog about the greatest hockey team on ice (what, too soon? :-P), I want to go back to Monday morning to start. Of course, that was the day that Tom “I like backchecking” Renney and Perry “I’m in the charge of the powerplay” Pearn were let go by the Rangers organization. It was change that was desperately, desperately needed, on several accounts.

I do want to extend my best wishes to both Renney and Pearn, but particularly to Tom Renney. While I have always thought that he got way too much credit for the Rangers resurgence (I point to Omsk if you want to know who to really thank) he was a good coach during his time here. He worked well with the “uncoachable” Jaromir Jagr. He was able to build up our youth. He was somewhat responsible for that 2005 team that makes my heart flutter to think about.

Glen Sather is responsible for his offseason acquisitions that really have not worked out. The players are responsible for quitting on their coach, for not pressing harder and harder, despite still going home with their huge paychecks. But Renney was responsible for several issues that he refused to change. He never held these veteran players accountable for their actions, meanwhile Zherdev and Dubinsky would be sat for silly defensive risks. Z and Dubi were never sat for inability to produce, whereas Prucha, Dawes, and Korpi were treated to that pleasure. The coaching staff was responsible for the too-many-men penalties that were piling up, and for the powerplay being one of the worst in the league.

Most importantly, Renney had to go for a reason he was not fired for. The Rangers had turned into the most passive team in hockey. Teams walked all over them; they were an easy team to play against. And this affected two very, very critical things; the fans psyche and the players psyche. Fans were bored. I was bored. I would turn on the Rangers and find myself asleep! How’s this for an embarrassing fact; the Rangers made it through overtime. The shootout was about to begin… I was snoring on the couch.

I just wrote "snoring on the coach." Freudian slip, or what?

It speaks to the apathy Ranger fans had been feeling for months and months and months. It speaks to the anger I’ve been feeling since this incident in October, that made my blood boil like nothing I had ever felt (hockey-related, of course) before. It speaks to the dead atmosphere at MSG.

Because HOW can you get up for this type of hockey? HOW can you get excited for a lifeless team, who can’t score, who won’t even give itself the chance to score? For a coach that makes no changes despite the obvious lack of effort from Drury, Gomez, Redden, among other high-paid players not producing. For a coach who helped build this squad bottom up, who stood in the way of the Rangers requiring Brendan Shanahan, who made our rookie-goal-scoring-phenom into a perennial healthy scratch!

And as for the players; I worried. I still worry. We can see just by looking at stats and numbers; Fedor Tyutin has seen success with the Bluejackets like nothing he saw with New York. Petr Prucha… well, is it even worth talking about? Is it worth explaining how Tom Renney took a 30 goals scorer, an energy, all heart type of guy and crushed him until he all but disappeared? Brandon Dubinsky was turning into the world’s next Blair Betts instead of the world’s next Mike Richards.

I worry because there is damage to sort through. If Petr Prucha somehow survives in the league, it speaks to his strong will and desire to be here, because that is one damaged player if I've ever seen one. If Brandon Dubinsky can resurface into what we all thought he would be last year, then I will no longer have to worry. Nik Zherdev… well, it speaks for the whole team. The defense-first mantra is fine. It works. It wins championships. But when you don’t have the firepower to score a lot of goals, the defense-first approach damages. Confidence is at an all time low. Players like Chris Drury, Brandon Dubinsky, Petr Prucha, and Nik Zherdev must be thinking, can I even still score? Can I put the puck in the net? The more games that go by that the goals don’t come, the more these players wonder if they can break out of their slump. And that even hurts Henrik Lundqvist’s confidence. We’ve heard him say, over and over again, “if this team could one score one more goal a game…”

Enough on Renney. I’ve harped on it enough. That was my last Renney rant. And take it for what it is; I appreciated Tom Renney. But it was time for him to go. And I am having a really easy time saying goodbye.

I have my reservations on John Tortorella. He’s a funny guy, that’s for sure. He brings a lot of attitude and a lot of spunk. He probably is the best man to revive this team’s lifeless attitude. I love that he holds players accountable, and that his ice time distribution favors the big boys. I love his aggressive forecheck. However, I worry about him calling players out in public and about his reputation as a goalie-killer.

This is the Rangers, guys. It’s still a country club. It’s still the destination of over-paid super stars who would rather get paid than work hard. It’s hard to change that type of atmosphere, especially when you have a GM willing to overpay any super star who has an interest in signing here. Tortorella does NOT run a country club. The Rangers are finding that out, or will find that out, quickly. This is great for the club. I just hope he doesn’t go too far.

So I had the pleasure to go to the game Thursday night and watch the Rangers blow their one-nothing lead in the third period. The first goal was weak by Lundqvist, but what can you do? Dubinsky needs to put the puck in the net. Ryan Callahan needs to put the puck in the net. They get chance after chance, to no avail.

But there were positives from Thursday, and from Tortorella’s first game back on Wednesday. The team was getting good chances. They came out hitting. They came out with a strong, aggressive forecheck. (Did YOU notice the two-men-high? I did!!!) Wade Redden looked like a changed man, I tell you!

But the Rangers still couldn’t score. Hasn’t that been the problem all along? Isn’t that what Torts was suppose to change? Yes. Yes. But the lack of confidence that is running throughout the Rangers lockroom hasn’t disappeared just because of a change of coach, or a change of strategy. Renney-supporters pointed their fingers at these games in which the Rangers only managed to score one goal a piece and said, look, it wasn’t Renney! It was this team, this awful team that Sather put together, that can’t score. They are never going to score!

And then the hockey gods looked down from above, and said you know what? We give the Rangers a lot of grief. A lot of grief. One Cup in 70 years type of grief. Their poor fans have taken enough beatings this season. Let’s just give them one break. Just one break.

They can play the Colorado Avalanche. You know, that team with the awful, awful goaltending.

When Callahan scored thirty seconds in, I was baking cookies (lol, stupid cousins made me). I didn’t see the goal, so I prepared for the worst. Nope, I said. I know this deal. I saw this deal on Thursday. This won’t count.

But those hockey gods. They were on our side, for once.

And the floodgates opened.

Zherdev. Prucha. Gomez. Drury. Naslund.

And it was fun. SO MUCH FUN. Lundqvist made a couple of beautiful saves along the way, and the Rangers were able to hold the Avalanche, save for Ryan Smyth, off the goal sheet.

It may be silly to get so excited after beating down one of the worst teams in the entire league. But when you think about what this does for confidence levels, this was an amazing game. The Rangers will not, officially, start to buy into to Tortorella’s system. This “scoring goals” thing isn’t just all talk; they can do it. All three lines expected to score delivered the goods. Players with a real need to boost their confidence, such as Prucha and especially Chris Drury, scored. (Brandon Dubinsky really needed one… maybe Thursday, Brandon). But all in all, this was a solid effort for the boys to take pride in.

And for fans to take pride in. Because your team was fun, for the first time in a long, long time.

With only a few minutes left on the clock, things got a little testy. Sjo took a crosscheck to the face. Dubinsky got into a scrum in the corner. Prucha came rushing to Dubi’s rescue, and was serenaded by the crowd with “Pruuuu.” Scott Gomez wasn’t about to be out-done, and jumped in as well. (Kristen believes it was Gomez who took a slap in the ass; I’m not sure who that was, but I laughed pretty hard, I’ll tell you that.) Wade Redden was a little bitch. I hate to put it like that, especially because he’s been playing so well under Tortorella… but come on, Wade! You’re entire team is in a scrum, and you just stand there! Even Michal Rozsival got in on the action! Orr went at it, and then, to my horror, Paul Mara took to swinging it with Darcy Tucker. Don’t get me wrong, I love Mara for it. But with that bum shoulder… Anyway, PetrPrucha.com has an interesting take on the action, lol.

Not every game is going to be like this one, obviously. But what a really good, solid effort by this team. And fun!

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As we approach Wednesday, there’s has to be a lot of “stuff” on the minds of Ranger fans. The team is off until Thursday, when we take on the New York Islanders; who apparently will be without Bill Guerin and maybe a couple other vets as they sell them off for draft picks.

What are the Rangers going to look like on Thursday? Will we be without a couple ‘margin’ players like Prucha, Nigel Dawes, or Aaron Voros? Will we sell off a Drury or a Gomez or a Rozsival to clear some cap room for our impending restricted free agents? Will the Rangers stand pat?

Personally, I would like to see the Rangers sell off at least one big contract, although that might prove to be impossible. Other than that, I have no suggestions. This team isn’t going deep in the playoffs. This team needs a lot of work. But I’d hate to lose Zherdev, Dubinsky, Dawes, Prucha, Callahan and etc for nothing, since they are all restricted free agents.

And then there is the question of Sean Avery. According to TSN.ca, the Dallas Stars are planning on waiving Avery Monday, meaning by Tuesday Avery will know where to report. If no one claims him, he’ll probably stay in Hartford, although he’ll probably find himself on a NHL team. The question really is if a team below the Rangers in the standings is brave enough to pick up Avery.

If Avery finds himself with the Rangers, an additional question would be who sits for the winger? Maybe a Dawes or a Prucha will be traded so this isn’t even an issue.

In any case, I’ll be holding my breath from now until around 6 or 7 o’clock Wednesday evening.

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It would seem like Petr Prucha was at the end of his rope. Ok, so we’ve talking about Prucha being at the end of his rope since the trade deadline three years ago.

To my pure enjoyment, MSG played “the Petr Prucha Song” last night after he scored. I haven’t heard THAT in a long time. So I’ll post it here now, just for my own enjoyment, and for the enjoyment of anyone else who may a) like Prucha, b) like that post lockout team that I loved so much, c) miss Darius Kasparaitis’ choice in music, or d) just think this song is hysterical, like I do.

I think this might be good news for Petr Prucha fans. Playing up Petr Prucha at Madison Square Garden is something the Rangers haven’t done in two seasons; partially because Petr fell from grace, and partially, in my opinion, because they wanted to get rid of him without making a scene. By playing “Genghis Khan,” MSG appealed to nostalgic fans who want Prucha to stick around, if only for nostalgic reasons.

We’ll see if I’m right on Wednesday.

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There’s a lot of reading to do on Tom Renney’s demise, but I found this to be an interesting one, particularly his comments on Brendan Shanahan from the Post.

"Jaromir's situation was different, but as I told Brendan when I saw him around that time, I was the one standing in his way."

I wanted Shanny gone, too… particularly to a nice place called retirement, but reversed my opinion when the New Jersey Devils were mentioned as possible contenders. I didn’t think it was OK to let Shanny walk to New Jersey, which is exactly what he did. There were rumors that Tom Renney was the reason behind the door being closed in the Rangers organization for Shanny to come back. Interesting Renney mentions his role in that decision. The rest of the read is good, so I recommend it.
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Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow, and give me a day off of school! Please?

Going, Going...Gone!

2009-02-23T15:05:00.002-05:00

Looks like Sather finally pulled the trigger on not just Renney, but Pearn as well.

All the usual places will have the full story. Blueshirt Bulletin has some interesting suggestions for replacements. NHL.com has it for its headline story.

That should shake things up a bit!!

Lindy Ruff: Still a Whiner

2009-02-23T07:10:00.002-05:00

Unfortunately I am already lateish in leaving for class so I'm really gonna make this pretty brief, but I need to get this out because I'm pretty pissed off.

Going back a couple of games because, really, I don't want to talk about last night. But apparently Lindy Ruff was "irate" at Scott Gomez for what he did to Ryan Miller. He said it was intentional so that the Rangers could draw a penalty and get a PP with Lalime in net.

...

Yes, yes, Scott Gomez is the most evil man in hockey! Forget about Patrick Kaleta who gives cheap shots game in and game out, broke Mara's face last season, took a run at him again this season, and proceeded to say, "How's your face?" Class act, huh?

What Scotty Gomez did was PLAY THE GAME. He hustled to get the puck and put some pressure on the goalie. Yeah, I'm so sure that Scotty is the most malicious man in hockey and he wanted to purposely injure your precious little goaltender. I'm sure he picked out exactly what injury he wanted to give him, too, right? A high-ankle sprain. Keep him out for a while.

GIVE ME A FREAKING BREAK.

Also, there is a major flaw in Ruff's argument. The Rangers were trying to get a powerplay? Really? Have you SEEN their powerplay? It's pretty awful. Nobody would wish a powerplay on the Rangers.

So I guess I know what to expect the next time these two teams play each other. Gomez is gonna get run at in a deliberate attempt to injure him!!!!!!

Just kidding. I'm not a moron.

But seriously, I'm just happy that Gomez is playing the game the way he should be.