Dolt that I am, I forgot to Tivo last night’s game on Versus. When I got home, I had to watch the game highlights on NHL on the Fly. Bill Berg, a commentator who once played for the Rangers made some excellent points about the rivalry. He said that no matter what position either team had in the standings (for this go round, bottom dwelling Islanders against the division leading Rangers), the outcome of all Islander/Ranger games is always unpredictable and thus very entertaining.

He also went on to say he felt the rivalry between Islander and Ranger fans is unique in the league. He found the originality and vociferousness of the Ranger fans very amusing. He cited the famous game at the Coliseum when the Islanders introduced the Gorton’s Fisherman jersey back in the 80’s. He was playing for the Rangers then. The Ranger fans in attendance started the “We want Fishsticks” chant. He didn’t go into the “Potvin Sucks” or “Beat your wife Potvin” stories. That would have been unsuitable for the young viewers in the audience.

In this day and age, high scoring games like last night’s are few and far between. The Islanders are a better team then their record suggests. Right now, regardless of their first place standing, the New York media and some fans would have you believe that the Rangers are a worse team then their record suggests. While I won’t deny that the Rangers are still abysmal on the powerplay, 0 for 5 last night, they managed to score 5 goals and not give up any powerplay goals or any shorthanded ones. That’s definitely an improvement over their last three games.

This match ran the gamut for a hockey game, short of a penalty shot. We saw the return of Petr Prucha who scored a nifty goal and played his usual high energy game. When his goal was announced and assists were given to Dubinsky and Redden, the crowd chanted Proooooo for Prucha, Doooooo for Dubinsky and Boooooo for Redden. The Garden crowd gets an A for originality. Both Colton Orr and Nigel Dawes won their respective fights. I give Orr a lot of credit. Mitch Fritz is a behemoth with a far greater reach then Orr. Orr made chop meat of Fritz’s face. Ah but a hockeyfighter’s reach should exceed his grasp or what’s an enforcer for. Callahan made a highlight reel hit on Trent Hunter that Hunter won’t soon forget. Fewer pansies on the Rangers in this game.

I am really starting to feel sorry for Kalinin. He falls down, takes Drury out of the play and the puck is coughed up to two lone Islanders for an easy goal. Sather better send this guy down to Hartford before a lynch mob forms on Seventh Avenue. As bad as Kalinin has played, I think Redden deserves the derision of the Garden faithful more then Kalinin. Redden better clean up his act and start busting his butt or he’ll really be the target of the Boo-Birds. It’s already starting.

Lastly, King Henrik certainly is in the December Doldrums. He has allowed an un-Kingly 13 goals in the last three games. Last night he let in 4 goals on 24 shots. He should have had the third goal last night. Notwithstanding the Rangers swiss cheese defense and that atrocious powerplay, Henrik needs to be the best he can be. Seems long layoffs are not good for him. I don’t know if it’s something physical, knees maybe. He just doesn’t seem to be tracking the puck as well as usual.

The Rangers won last night but not before a seat of your pants finish with the game in jeopardy to the final buzzer. Okay, it was against the Islanders, the team with the worst record in the league. But like the astute Versus commentator Bill Berg pointed out, anything can happen during a Ranger/Islander game. This time the Rangers came out with the two points.

The crowd walked out of the Garden smiling and, dare I say, sufficiently entertained.

Posted under New York Rangers

I am literally sick and tired. I have had a terrible head cold since Tuesday. I also buried my Aunt on Tuesday. I spent Christmas Day alone at home nursing this cold and to top everything off, I had to have minor surgery on Friday.  

Through all this, I still went to work and did my job. I also went to both the games on Tuesday and yesterday only to see the Rangers turn in two embarrassing and lackluster efforts. This has been one Christmas I won’t soon forget.

Aside from being physically sick and tired, when it comes to the Rangers, I’m mentally tired and sick to my stomach. What in the world is going on with this team? They haven’t played a full 60 minutes of hockey since they defeated Anaheim on December 16th.

Not for nothing, but someone from the Rangers  (hint - maybe their Captain) needs to stand up and be accountable to the fans for what has transpired over these last two games. I just learned that Gomez has the flu.  That’s a good reason for not skating hard or hitting.  Why did Renney play him? His lost 13 out of 15 faceoffs. Anyone else on the team have the flu?

I don’t need Chris Drury telling me to put anymore games in the garbage can. Maybe some player’s can  needs to be put in the garbage.  Nice pass to Dubinsky last night that lead to the shorthanded goal, Captain. I don’t blame the kid. I blame Drury. What the hell was he thinking? Jagr wouldn’t have been able to handle the puck Drury dished to Dubinsky. Nice Job, Cap’n.

It is a really bad state of affairs when little Dawes throws one of the few and best hits of the game. Can Drury, Naslund, Gomez or Redden please take a body? Can they finish a check? These are the veteran leaders on this team and they do not lead by example. 

For goodness sake why is Kalinin still on this team? Why is Voros playing and Prucha and Fritsche sitting? If Voros isn’t using his size and his grit, then sit him. At least Prucha will finish checks and hit.

When this  team has played the system, when they commit to playing 60 minutes of hockey, they have won.  The powerplay has never worked. It has been a problem since the first season after the lockout. And yet, Perry Pearn is still here.

What really sickens me the most is the knee/jerk reaction of fans who call for Renney to be fired. They should be calling for Sather to be fired. He signed the bad contracts. He put this squad together. He is ultimately responsible for the result on the ice.

Last time I looked, an NHL team needed at least 6 defensemen. Sather has given Renney 3.5. Last time I looked, an NHL team needed at least one scoring line.  Trying to take the host of spare parts Sather signed and mold them into scoring lines would try the patience of any coach. He can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.

What are the remedies to what ails the Rangers? Larry Brooks would have the Rangers re-aquire Avery. Yeah Larry, that will work. Not.  Avery burned his bridges here. There’s no coming back for him.

Here are my remedies.

The team, coaches, players and management all need to acknowledge to the fan base that this is not the year for a Cup run. It ain’t gonna happen.  

Forward - Either get rid of Drury or Gomez. Drury is a center not a winger and has been misused. Drury also has a no trade clause. If the Rangers want to resign their RFA youth this summer and Zherdev,  they need to move salary. If that means Adios to Gomer, que lastima.  No hard feelings Scottie just don’t resign with New Jersey.

Defense -Embarrass Redden into agreeing to be traded to any team that will take him off our hands. Give him the Malik treatment. Redden is the worst signing Sather has made during his tenure since Holik.  Waiving  Kalinin would truly be addition by subtraction. Bring up Potter permanently and get a rental to replace Redden.

Scoring - Resign Shanahan. He’ll bring leadership and scoring for the rest of the season. Say what you want about his having lost a step and his grit, Shanny has it in him to still score goals.

Coaching- Renney has worked with everyone Sather has thrown at him with a great deal of success, more success then anyone should have expected. Firing Renney is not the answer. Pearn must go. Three years with no powerplay is not acceptable. Shanahan could be their powerplay coach.

Management - Sather must go. What the hell does this guy do with his time?  Sather had to go out and hire  “Cap Expert” Cam Hope to help him do the job a GM is supposed to do. Sather needs to get off his ass and do something. Renney didn’t sign these ineffective players, Sather did. Time has past Sather by. He clearly is incapable of operating as a GM in this salary capped environment.

Posted under New York Rangers

I think many people who read Chris Drury’s comments after last night’s games are missing the point. I certainly do not think Drury was being flippant or cavalier in his dismissal of last night’s miserable loss to the Caps in overtime. What I think he was saying is that the Rangers have had losses like this before.

They have come back from such devastating losses and won their next games (ie in Anaheim after losing badly to the Devils.) To dwell on this loss or the losses in Montreal and Pittsburgh last season or the loss in New Jersey two weeks ago is counterproductive in the short term. As a player and a team, you have to keep positive and focus on the next game.

By gaining one point, Drury is trying to see the glass as half full. Granted two points would have been better. Yes, the Rangers blew a point. In the grand scheme of things if it is this one point that loses them a playoff spot or home ice advantage, it will suck. But it might be the point that puts them over the top.

While many fans, this one included, were both angry and disgusted at last night’s game, we must ask ourselves some questions. Are we perfect fans? Do we always bring a perfect attitude to the game? Are we always supportive of the team? Do we sometimes unduly criticize them? It’s like we only expect them to win and win big. We want this team to dominate their opposition. We never seemed to be satisfied with the fact that they are leading their division. It’s either feast or famine with this team and its fans.

Chris Drury is right. I am not going to let what happened last night ruin my Christmas. I am looking forward to seeing the Rangers play the Devils on Saturday and the Islanders on Monday. I will go to these games with a positive attitude, a light heart and be of good cheer. Life is too short. Each day is a gift and an opportunity to start anew. Enjoy the time off with your family and friends.

The story of the Rangers this season is but half written. It is my humble opinion that the greatest story ever written was “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens. Even Scrooge saw the error of his ways and was allowed to make amends. Are we so perfect, so flawless, that we cannot extend that same charity to the Rangers.

Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world. Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset; and knowing that such as these would be blind anyway, he thought it quite as well that they should wrinkle up their eyes in grins, as have the malady in less attractive forms. His own heart laughed: and that was quite enough for him.

He had no further intercourse with Spirits, but lived upon the Total Abstinence Principle, ever afterwards; and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Every One!

“I have endeavoured in this Ghostly little book, to raise the Ghost of an Idea, which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it.” - Charles Dickens

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Happy Kwanzaa to All

Posted under New York Rangers

In spite of a third period where the officials swallowed their whistles, the Rangers showed they were  the equal of the Sharks last night. Were it not for the 5 on 3 the Zebrae awarded the Sharks in period one, the Rangers could easily have taken a point, maybe two from the Sharks. 

The Rangers weren’t exactly the chum the Sharks thought they were going to be feed.  Can’t really fault the Rangers powerplay for this loss because they only had two opportunities. No team in the NHL is 50% on the powerplay.

The Rangers showed tremendous work ethic and fortitude to come back and score two goals. They took the game to the Sharks in the third period, out shooting them 17 to 7. They did every thing but put the biscuit in the barrel.

You can’t take anything from Nabakov. He was great in net for the Sharks. Some are saying that Henrik should have had the third Shark goal.  Nabokov>Lundqvist. Maybe this game is just the dose of humility Henrik needs to keep him on the straight and narrow. Maybe he won’t go to the bench and complain to Renney when the defense falls apart in front of him. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes, even the King.

Naslund left the ice after Setoguchi brought his stick up into Naslund arm/shoulder and left his team down a man. If this were the playoffs, I would crucify Naslund for not sucking it up and staying out there. Blair Betts wouldn’t do that. Redden chasses over and watches Girardi with two Sharks around him. Redden doesn’t hustle to take out Setoguchi and maybe block Marleau’s shot. Zherdev just floats around between the circles and does nothing to help out down low either. Win as a team lose as a team, eh? 

The Rangers took 4 out of a possible 6 points from this road trip. Their record against Western Conference teams so far this season is 5-4-2. That’s a whole lot better then last year. Guess this means it’s time to fire Renney, she says sarcastically.

PS. Glad Tom got my memo about judiciously taking time outs. Last night was a perfect illustration.

Posted under New York Rangers

Mats Sundin signs in Vancouver for a prorated $10 million. 

Was there ever a possibility that Sundin would come to New York for the paltry sum Sather would have been able to offer him? Fill in that number here ____.

Frankly,  I’m glad this chapter of Ranger history is over. I could never see the upside of mortgaging the future to buy an aging marque player. No. Wait. The only aging veteran that has recently passed through New York Ranger locker room that was worth his price was Brendan Shanahan.

Since the Rangers are overloaded with centers and have a plethora of wingers, acquiring Sundin made no sense for the current team. Happily, Mats will make his cents from the Canucks and not us.  While Vancouver has the space under their cap now, the Rangers had no such luxury given the fact that the CBA is set to expire and bonuses can not be deferred for future payment. 

Wouldn’t it be ironic if the Cap number for next season goes down and it puts Vancouver in an untenable position. Did these Owners and General Managers learn anything from the lockout? Did the fans miss a whole season for naught?

So, the whole Sundin Saga has becomes a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing. To Mats Sundin I say, enjoy those longer flights from Vancouver to Stockholm. You could have gone nonstop from Newark on SAS.

Posted under New York Rangers

Breathe deep the gathering gloom,
Watch lights fade from every room…

Cold hearted orb that rules the night,
Removes the colours from our sight.
Red is grey and yellow white,
But we decide which is right.
And which is an illusion?

When I got up to Section 409 tonight, I encouraged some of the Faithful to take a deep, cleansing breath and let it out. I went on to suggest that everyone should put the prior night’s fiasco behind us and to view tonight’s game with a positive attitude. I had no idea that it would actually work.

The Rangers won in a shoot out but not before letting Carolina come back to tie the game twice.  I thought Blair Betts shorthanded goal would have stood up as the game winner but the Rangers couldn’t get another goal on the powerplay or any other way.

After Friday’s track meet in New Jersey, the Rangers taking this game  to the shoot out was indeed miraculous, especially when you consider that the Rangers shut down Carolina’s powerplay.  By the time the two minute five on three was over, Blair Betts could barely skate off the ice.

But, the Rangers stayed in the game and won it in a shoot out. Another two points are in the win column. They didn’t dominate the weaker team. There was no run and gun. No fancy plays. Just fundamental and defensive hockey. It wasn’t exciting but a win is a win. Take it and move on.

The Rangers leave home on a high note for the Western road trip. Let’s hope they treat all these road games like playoff games.

Could someone please tell me why Tom Renney didn’t call time out when he had 1:28 seconds of powerplay time at 18:32 of the final frame? What is he doing, saving time outs to trade for Green Stamps?

Posted under New York Rangers

Recently I have been just as critical of the Rangers as any Ranger blogger. I have been angered, disappointed and downright disgusted quite a few times so far this season. I am sure that I will experience all these emotions many more times as the season progresses. But, to lambaste the Rangers for not soundly thrashing Atlanta last night is a tad unfair. 

As I previously stated in this blog and elsewhere in the Rangers blogosphere, the Rangers early success has lead to unrealistic, and might I say unwarranted, expectations. Let’s face it, the pundits over at ESPN and Fox had the Rangers pegged to be out of a playoff spot this season. All of the Rangers fire power, Jagr, Shanny, Straka and Avery,  left over the summer. The only saving grace for the Rangers was Henrik Lundqvist. One goalie cannot save a team. According to experts, the Rangers would finish near the bottom of the Atlantic Division and out of a playoff berth.

The Rangers came out of the box and surprised everyone, making some pundits look foolish. So, now that the Rangers are finding their level, various and sundry naysayers are having a field day putting down the Rangers for hitting one of many speed bumps on the road to the postseason. Who do these critics think the Rangers are, the Detroit Red Wings? The San Jose Sharks?

Notwithstanding their terrible powerplay, swiss cheese defense and the highest shorthanded goals against record in the league, the Rangers have earned 40 out of a possible 62 points. It means the Rangers have 51 games left in which they can earn 58 out of a possible 102 points to secure a playoff berth. How long has it been since the Rangers were this far ahead this early in the season?

All things considered, I find it annoying that some ”fans” out there are whining about the lack of entertainment value of recent games. The Rangers are attempting to play boring, defensive hockey like their cross-river rivals. I can recall how before the lockout the mantra was that the Devils were destroying hockey by playing the “boring” trap. They may have played boring “trap” hockey but they won. They won the Stanley Cup three times since 1994. The Rangers have won once.

My question to fans is: Do you want to be entertained or do you want to be in the playoffs? Not every game will be wildly entertaining. The Rangers need to score more for sure. But, I’ll take some hitting, scoring chances and yes, fighting, where I can get it and put up with ennui occassionally.

Rangers fans sometimes remind me of the actor George Sanders. He left a multi-page suicide note saying he was killing himself because he was bored.

Posted under New York Rangers

I have said that the Rangers failure on the powerplay is the reason for their lack of success, both in the regular season and in the playoffs. I have said it for the last two seasons and until I’m blue in the face. Nothing has changed. I do not understand why this team has failed s to execute on the powerplay for such a long time. The only thing consistent about the Rangers powerplay has been it’s coach, Perry Pearn. When nothing is working, you have to ask yourself if the Coach must go.

Once again last night at the Garden the “Fire Renney” chants began.  The Rangers had thoroughly outplayed the Flames for two periods and lead 3 to 1 in shots on goal. But the Rangers failed to put the puck in the net at even strength. They failed on four powerplay opportunities. They gave up another shorthanded goal.

The fortunate thing is that the Rangers did get off to a good start this season. The unfortunate thing is that the good start was kind of a fluke. It has lead to unwarranted high expectations, especially in light of losing the scoring power of Jagr, Straka, Shanahan and Avery. When all the free agent signings were made this summer and the Jagr era came to an end, many of my fellow bloggers laid down the gauntlet to Renney. Now this team was Renney’s with which to sink or swim. The problem is, this isn’t Tom Renney’s team. It’s Glen Sather’s team.

The buck shouldn’t stop with Renney. It should stop at Glen Sather’s door. Renney didn’t sign the Redden and Kalinin contracts. Sather did. Renney didn’t sign the third and fourth liners, Sather did. It’s Renney’s misfortune to have to evaluate so many surplus forwards acquired by Sather. Is it any wonder that the evaluation period ran to the end of November? Trying to see who fits with whom and how, is no easy task.

What is Renney’s problem is the powerplay. It has been a problem since the rest of the league figured out Jagr’s halfboard patty cake passing fest. Perry Pearn is not getting it done and his “system” doesn’t work. If anyone should go, it should be Perry. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out how to improve your powerplay. Show your team films of the NHL teams that have the best powerplay records and say, “Hey, why not try doing it like this?” It seems like a logical concept.

If the players followed what they were saw successful teams do and if they freakin’ practiced it enough, it might sink in by osmosis. What? Other teams would scout them and find the solution? So, you look at all the successful teams and emulate a few different strategies and mix it up when they are being stymied on the powerplay.

As for the screaming mimis in the stands, who do they think should replace Renney? Tortorella? Maurice? Melrose?  Calling for Renney to be fired is the typical knee jerk reaction of the disgruntled fan. They need to find a scapegoat. They want to fire the guy who got the Rangers to the playoffs for three straight seasons after the lockout. Extremely shortsighted.

For the record I have to sit at the games and watch the same old stuff game in and game out. I’m just as tired of this BS as everyone else. But, it’s not like being at home. At home you can turn the TV off. Last night, as soon as the red light went on for the shorthanded goal, I jumped up and walked out. Rather then boo and scream for Renney to be fired, I suggest everyone just get up and walk out. If enough people do it, it will send a better message then booing.

In the final analysis, it is Sather who has to do something and soon. Come on Glen, come down from your ivory tower and take some of the heat off your coach. Admit this is really your mess and do something about it.  Redden has been a bitter disappointment.  I think this lower body injury is just a smokescreen to save him from further embarrassment. For God sake, Dmitri Kalinin is a -15. Minus Fifteen.

Time to fish or cut bait, Glen. Put on you hip waders and make a few changes or a trade that will shore up the defense and make the powerplay work. Firing Renney is not an option. The last thing Sather should want to do is get behind the bench.

Posted under New York Rangers

After two games back to back against difficult opponents, the Rangers walked away with two points. That’s two more points then I was expecting. At least this time they didn’t blow a 5 goal lead in Montreal. They seemed to be turning it around before the fourth Montreal goal, which was allowed to stand despite indisputable goaltender interference.

You didn’t expect the calls to go the Rangers way in this game, did you? Seriously? In Montreal, at their 100th Anniversary Game? Of course, these are all rhetorical questions. Going in, you had to know that based on precident, the Zebras would give the benefit of the doubt to Montreal and the punitions to the Rangers. Be thankful it wasn’t a Saturday and a HNIC broadcast, eh?

I am willing to put another embarrassing loss out of my mind because it was offset by the joy of seeing the Rangers kick the snot out of Cindy Crosby on Wednesday. Every time Cindy got hit or dumped on his ass, all I could say was, “This is Great” in my best Flounder from Animal House voice.

Posted under New York Rangers

Updated 12/03/08

As recently as October after Avery’s altercation with MSG’s John Giannone I was willing to rip Avery a new one. I also said I would never want him back on the Rangers. I still stand by those sentiments. I wrote my rant of yesterday not to defend the behavior of Sean Avery but to hold a mirror up to the duplicitousness of the NHL. I also said if Avery were a defenseman, I would want to trade Redden for him. That was a little hyperbole. It was more of a reflection on the poor play of Redden, not a real desire to have Avery back. Without Shanahan to keep Avery in check, Avery would be a problem.

I just want to be clear on these points.

Talk about your tempests in teapots, the National Hypocrites League is suspending Sean Avery in a war over words.

Apparently, Avery made a somewhat disparaging remark about his ex-girlfriends being “sloppy seconds” (the slang term for when a man has intercourse with another person who already has received another man’s semen in the relevant  orifice) for other players in the league.

This remark was made in advent of the Dallas/Flames game tonight, so the assumption was that he was speaking about Dion Phaneuf and Elisha Cuthbert. Cuthbert was allegedly also involved with Mike Komisarek of the Canadiens. Another ex-girlfriend of Avery, Rachel Hunter is engaged to Jarrett Stoll of the LA Kings. Sean was just calling it as he sees it. Sloppy seconds? If the shoe fits….

While his terminology was indelicate to say the least, this joke of a league has once again made up a new rule to stymie the irrepressable pest/free spirit that is Sean Avery. Avery has been suspended and will not be allowed to play in tonight’s game. To add insult to injury, the gutless owner of the Stars is backing the league. 

This is the same league that has let a criminal like Todd Bertuzzi play again after he criminally assaulted and ended the career of Steve Moore. This is the same league that will not recind the instigator rule. The goons of the league can get away with all the cheap crap they pull because they haven’t got talent. They are playing because the talent pool has been diluted with over expansion.This is the same league that made up the “Avery Rule” last playoffs to assuaged the whining of Marty “CryBaby” Brodeur.

Why wasn’t Brodeur suspended when his personal life was bringing bad publicity to the league. (Least we forget, Marty was carrying on an illicit affair with his sister in law, while his then wife taunted him that she was “doing’ players on opposing teams to get back at Marty). I’d say that was pretty unseemly behavior. Uncle Daddy got a pass. Guess there’s only a morals clause with respect to what a player says, not what one does. 

John Torterella on TSN during the intermission of the Montreal game tonight said something to the effect, and I paraphrase: It’s a tough call as to whether I’d want him on my team. He’s a good player, but I’d ask him, “Do you want to play, or make a fool of yourself.

Is this guy kidding me? He publicly called out his best player in the press (LeCavalier) and made disparaging remarks about him. I recall that Mr Tortorella used to slam and throw things behind the bench. Kind of the pot calling the kettle black, eh. 

Gary Bettman and his whole hierarchy disgust me.  Brett Hull and the owners of the Stars should have known exactly what they were getting in Sean Avery. Now these pussies aren’t backing up their player. We all know Sean Avery isn’t a saint but he is being made a scapegoat here by a league lead by a disingenuous pair of hypocrites like Gary Bettman and Bill Daly. They make me sick. They are ruining this league and the sport. They should go, not Avery.

PS. If Avery were a defenseman, I’d trade Redden to Dallas for Avery in a heartbeat and eat the difference in the contract.

Posted under New York Rangers