I’m sure when he was growing up, like many kids from bluecollar families, Brendan Shanahan partook of his share of leftovers. It’s just too bad that in his role as a left wing on this season’s incarnation of the New York Rangers, Brendan is being feed the leftovers again.

After two games, there are certain people on Ranger message boards that want to throw Shanahan under the bus because he hasn’t scored a point. He looks old and lumbering when paired with Scott Gomez.

Let us not forget that in the preseason, Gomez was initially paired with Jagr. It didn’t seem to work. I wonder why? Could it perhaps be because Jagr isn’t exactly a speed demon either? Could it be because he had trouble keeping up with Gomez?

Heaven forfend anyone who would even utter such a thought! Jagr, not fast enough for Gomez? Ridiculous! The answer some would give is that they weren’t a good fit. Different styles of play. Try Drury with Jagr for a better fit. Drury was quickly assigned to Jagr’s line.

Once again, Shanahan is put in the “make do” position. Like last season, when Shanny was assigned speedster linemates like Cullen and Prucha, he looked out of place. He still scored 29 goals. But’s its okay. Shanahan will play with whomever he is told. Brendan will fill whatever role he is given. That’s the kind of player he is. He doesn’t need to be catered to. He’ll take the left overs.

It’s two games into the season. The only fair thing would be to put Drury on a line with Shanahan for a while and see how it works out before certain people start slamming Shanny. Why not give Brendan the opportunity to play with someone who might compliment him?

If Drury continues to click with Jagr, that won’t happen. Just two games into the season and fans are pressuring this team to win every game. No matter if you have to hammer square pegs. The really sad thing will be if Drury develops a serious case of “pass-itis” by playing an “East/West” style of hockey.

I wonder if, the center position was reversed and Jagr failed to produce, these same fans will throw Jagr under a bus too?

Wait! I am forgetting that some people always get the benefit of the doubt.

Tonight, Tom Renney was wearing his blue suit but he should have been wearing a blue pointed Sorcerer’s hat with Moons and Stars on it. If only he could wave a magic wand and, through Alchemy, give the Rangers the chemistry they needed to defeat Ottawa.

Thank goodness the Rangers have Henrik Lundqvist, the “Magic Broom”, to mop up after them. Against Ottawa tonight, Henrik Lundqvist was the difference between The Senators shutting out the Rangers 2-0, not 10-0. And that’s good news.

The bad news is that once again, just like last year, just two games into this season, some people all over Rangerland are playing the blame game already. This loss is down to Tom Renney. How dare he sit Pock and Mara in favor of Jason Strudwick! ;)That’s it. Playing Strudwick was the reason the Rangers lost this game.

I’m telling you, it’s enough to try the patience of saint…

The scores for last night’s home opener and last season’s home opener were identical. A Ranger scored the first goals less then a minute into the games. But, this is where all similarities end. Last season, the Rangers played 60 minutes of hockey and were dominant throughout. Last night the Rangers played 30 minutes of hockey and took the entire second period off.

For a team proported to be one of the leading contenders for the Stanley Cup, let’s hope last night’s game was a hiccup on that road. The Rangers may be able to get away with this type of game now, against a team like the Panthers but that won’t be the case in Ottawa on Saturday.

What we can take away from this game is that a player like the much maligned Marek Malik can turn his game around. We can be overjoyed that the exuberant youth are playing so well and could be the Rangers salvation. We can be grateful that we have one of the best goaltenders in the NHL that can keep his team in games when they do decide to take a nap.

The other thing about last night that was different then the 2006 season opener was the homecoming of Brian Leetch. It added a nice touch to the game. The last of the ‘94 old guard dropping the puck and passing the torch to this Ranger’s team of the future.

Here’s a shout out to Section 409. Nice job on the opening night balloon drop.