As the Rangers ran out of gas in the third period and allowed the Penguins to run the board, you can look back at all the opportunities the Rangers pissed away in the first two periods. Both at even strength and during their three powerplay opportunities, the Rangers failed to bury the biscuit. But that isn’t where the story ends.

What really ticks me off is that the Rangers allowed themselves to be embarrassed again by the Penguins, the lesser team. The Rangers played two decent periods and got blown out in the third for two reasons. Lundqvist’s head was still in Montreal and the Rangers failed to exact pounds of flesh from the Penguins on a night when Crosby was hurting. 

If my team is down 4-1 midway through the third period, I would be telling them to pound the snot out of Crosby, Malkin, Satan and Sykora at every opportunity. When you’re down by three goals, defense first doesn’t matter. Sometimes you’ve gotta just cut your losses and say WTF . They should have started running the opposition’s talent and made them pay every time they touched the puck.

I don’t want to hear any crap like the fluky goal by Sykora, tying the game at 1-1, took the wind out of the Rangers sails. That’s weak BS. The Rangers stopped skating and stopped hitting in the third period and that’s why they lost. Lundqvist had a bad third period. So what. It happens. How many games has he saved for them this season? It’s a team game.

The problem with this team is that they rely on Lundqvist too much. They did not take responsibility for the game individually or as a team. The  entire team let the Penguins walk all over them. I don’t want to hear that they were tired after playing Carolina last night. Carolina wasn’t hitting at all last night. Physically, the Carolina game was a walk in the park . The Rangers coasted to a 3-2 win in a lightly contested game. So, no one should play the “tired card”.

This game was a test of the intestinal fortitude of the Rangers and they failed miserably to a miserable team. How many more times this season will the Rangers let themselves be embarrassed like this?  For God sake, this team needs to man up and go down fighting. They had no edge in the third period tonight. No meanness. No snarl. No discernible passion.

Maybe they do need someone like Avery back to shake them up and get under their skin and the opposition’s skin.  After watching this debacle tonight, maybe they should just cut their loses, concede Saturday’s game in Boston and save themselves and everyone else the grief of seeing them get their butts kicked again.

All this said, I would rather watch the Rangers win a “boring” game then watch them get their asses handed to them by Cindy Crosby and Crue.

Posted under New York Rangers

While the NHL  celebrates it’s big weekend freezing in Montreal, I took my  “all star break”  on a cruise to sunny, warm Mexico. Taking a winter vacation around this time insures that I miss fewer Ranger home games. In fact, I missed just the one against the Ducks but I got to see whales and dolphins instead.

I got my hockey fix in LA before the cruise. We scored two tickets 15 rows behind the Kings goal at the Staple Center on January 15th. The tickets were $75 a piece. The Red Wings spanked the Kings 4-0 with grinders Maltby and Draper each scoring goals. Swedes Franzen and Samuelson potted the other two. Ty Conklin pitched the shut out. It was like a home game for Detroit. There seemed to be more Red Wings fans in attendance then Kings fans.

The Staple Center is a beautiful venue. We saw Pat Sajek sitting in the second row of our section. The cheap seats at the Staple Center are as nosebleed as those at the Belle Centre in Montreal. They make the blue seats at the Garden seem a bargain. If the planned renovations to Madison Square Garden render it even close to the amenities offered by the Staple Center, it will be worth the price.

In the time I was gone, the Rangers took six out of a possible 8 points. Not to shabby. I am just watching the games I missed. Except for the stinker in Pittsburgh, the boys played well. Nice to see Redden and Kalinin starting to turn it around a bit. The powerplay is looking better and Chris Drury is showing what has been missing for the last season and a half.

I picked up a copy of the NY Post yesterday at LAX and now I understand why Larry Brookes was gushing about the Rangers penalty kill (especially Betts and Sjostrom). Hasenfratz and Morton should be criminally prosecuted for the game they destroyed in Chicago with their atrocious officiating. Even Tom Renney, looking as dapper as ever in  that brown suit, was steaming and spouting off like one of the humpback whales I saw off Cabo San Lucas.

I can’t wait to show off  my tan to everyone in Section 409 on Tuesday. I just hope no one tries to harpoon me. I need to drop some of the gross tonnage I put on whilst at sea. Cruising is diet suicide.

Posted under New York Rangers

I haven’t set foot in the Nassau Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum (hereinafter referred to as the Mausoleum) for a Ranger/Icelander game in two seasons.  The reason is simple. Whenever the Ranger’s play at the Mausoleum,  Murphy’ Law is always in effect.  I always walk out disappointed and angry for having given my money to the Fish.

Tonight’s game was no exception. The curious thing is that fate stepped in and saved me from myself and the Rangers from a certain doom, as I am the kiss of death when in attendance in Nassau. I was supposed to be at the game. In fact, I was supposed to be two rows off the glass at the center ice. 

My very good friend Scott called me yesterday asking me if I wanted his tickets to tonight’s game. He had a scheduling conflict. Seems the girlfriend had gotten other tickets and, being the great guy he is,  he felt obliged to fore-go the game in favor of  her show.  As Tom Renney once said of Marty Straka, Scott’s the kind of young man you hope your daughters will bring home to meet you.

Scott Fedex’d the tickets to my office this morning. When I opened the envelope, I found he had enclosed tickets to the Ranger/Fish game in March, not tonight’s game. When I called to let him know, he told me the tickets to tonight’s game were at his home. He could not leave work and get them. So, two prime seats sat empty at the Mausoleum. That’s okay. Their probably used to being empty.

I love Scott dearly but he’s always in too much of a a rush. He’s always dashing off somewhere, always on the go. Ah, youth! I just feel badly that he’s out the money, a considerable sum, because of the gaffe.  Still, he’s such a great guy I am sure the hockey gods will bring him better luck in the future. 

For those watching the Rangers from home,  I’ll bet an M-80 going  off under your old easy chair wouldn’t have woken most viewers up during this game.   In another low scoring affair, the Rangers took a 2-1 lead after two. It was shut down hockey the rest of the way.

Chris Campoli scored the only Fish goal in the final two minutes of the first period. What is with the Rangers? They are like a trail horse going back to the barn at the end of periods. I can’t count the number of times this season that the Rangers have been scored on in the final minutes of play. Surely they must  have as many late goals against as shorthanded goals against.

No matter.  Unlike the game in Buffalo on Friday, the Rangers were able to score the go ahead goal and shut the Icelanders down in the third period. It wasn’t entertaining. It wasn’t exciting, except for the heroics of Henrilk Lundqvist. The Rangers earned two more points and are back atop of the Atlantic Division thanks to, of all teams, the Penguins. 

Once again, the Icelanders played better then their record.  The premature departure of Icelander goaltender Joey MacDonald, Ranger Killer, was a bonus for the Rangers. In this five game segment, the Rangers earned 7 points out of a possible 10. I’ll take it. With three games left before the All Star break, the Rangers are 26-15 and 4 and have 56 points. Boring=Success.

I will also be taking a break. I’ll be in LA on Thursday hoping to score tickets to the Wings/Kings game. On Saturday I will be cruising to sunny Mexico. I’ll be back after the All Star game.

Until then, Let’s Go Rangers!

Posted under New York Rangers

Any enjoyment I might have had at last night’s game was sucked right out of me three minutes in when Kovalev scored the first goal. It wasn’t so much that Montreal got the first goal or that it was Kovalev who scored it. It was the boneheaded play of Henrik Lundqvist that allowed the goal to be scored.

When, WHEN, is Henrik going to learn to stay in his crease and stop trying to handle the puck? What does Tom Renney have to do, put an ankle bracelet on him that administers an electric shock every time he leaves the paint? What is wrong with this guy?

As good as Henrik is and has been for the Rangers, he never seems to learn his lesson. Is he that vain not to admit his weaknesses? Puck handling has never been his strong suit. I can recall at least five times in the past when Lundqvist came out of his net and failed to get back into position, resulting in an opposition goal.

After it happened you could visible see Henrik’s game deteriorate. Were I Renney I would have pulled Lundqvist immediately and put in Valiquette. No one is above the team. When any other player does something stupid like that, they should be sat. Lundqvist is no exception, regardless of his star status.

The officials did their best to ensure a Montreal win by screwing the Rangers at every opportunity . There  were some ridiculous calls against the Rangers and non-calls on Montreal.  Montreal usually comes in and pounds the Rangers unmercifully. Not so last night.

Last night they appeared to ease up on their physicality, as though they had been forewarned to reign it in. Devorski and Morton should be called on the carpet in Toronto and sanctioned for their incompetence and stupidity. If it wasn’t incompetence and stupidity then the fix was well and truly in against the Rangers.

And as a  final insult, the row behind me in Section 409 had six Canadiens fans that looked like they were the cast of the Francophone version of  “Trailer Park Boys”. There must be a lot of inbreeding in Le Provence de Quebec to produce such a  motley crew.  These same six seats seem to be for sale on Rangers ticket exchange all the time. Whoever the season ticket holder is who sells these seats to opposition fans should have his subscription revoked.

Posted under New York Rangers

Well, I guess this game should quiet the doom and gloomers until at least Wednesday. If any one out there can point to a Ranger deficiency in this game, let them speak now or forever hold their peace. Statiscally, the Rangers were better at every aspect of the game, with the exception being shots on goal (27 Penguins/ 26 Rangers).

The Rangers out hit, out faced off, out fought, out goaltended, out penalty killed, out powerplayed and out hustled the Penguins tonight. This was their best game of the season. And yet, I still am reading message boards with the vindictive, bitter ravings of a lunatic fringe out there who attribute this victory to some perceived notion that it was a “walk in the park” against the slumping Penguins.

Please. Although the Penguins may be slumping, they are still the Penguins, with CryBaby Crosby, Genie Malkin and MA Fleury and the refs of this league in their pocket. The geniuses on Versus attribute the decline of the Penguins to the loss of Sergei Gonchar. I think these guys are hitting the same bong their tech crew was hitting tonight that caused the HD feed to black out. Versus must be owned by Disney because it continues to prove itself to be a Mickey Mouse network.

The Rangers held the Penguins off the boards despite ice-tilting by the referees in what I would characterize as one of the most brutally called games all season. These refs were embarrassingly trying to turn the game around for the Poster Boy and his buddies. Weak calls on the Rangers and no call on the Penguins. Shameful. Great job by the Rangers to kill all those penalties. Despite the bogus calls on the Rangers, Renney remained his usual controlled self. Those who want Renney gone would prefer to see a hot head like Tortorella behind the bench throwing folding chairs and cursing.

All of this aside, the biggest question one must ask oneself is, Why don’t the Rangers play like this all the time? They had 2 powerplay goals on 8 opportunities. (25%). They won 100% of their face offs, 8 for 8, on the powerplay. They even had a shorthanded goal when they were down 6 on 4. Does that Shorthanded goal expunge 2 of the 12 shorthanded goals previously scored against them. It damn well should.

Looks like every player bought into the “system” and that the “system” worked tonight. How is that? I thought this coach had lost this team. I though that this team had turned Renney off, that they weren’t buying in to his game plan. Did every single Ranger on the ice somehow have an epiphany tonight? Was every single Ranger suddenly blinded by the light like St. Paul on the road to Damascus?

Why can’t the Rangers play like this all the time? I am not saying that the coaching staff is perfect, far from it. But when the players execute the game plan, they win. When one sees a complete turn around like tonight, it clearly demonstrates that winning and losing is in the hands of the players themselves. The coaches and training staff can do their best to ensure the team has every advantage. But, at the end of the day, it’s up to the players  to play like they know they can and they will win.

I’ll shut up now and savor the two points. I encourage everyone to do the same.

Let’s Go Rangers

Last night I was a guest on the New York Hockey Talk Radio Program.  Have a listen here:

http://www.nyhockeytalk.com/

Download here:

http://sportsradiony.hipcast.com/download/0f1ec7a3-3c02-f498-94d1-cbe23ce13609.mp3

Posted under New York Rangers

Unlike the loss to the Caps where the Rangers blew a 4 goal lead, last night’s loss to the Caps was not due to a lack of effort on the part of the Rangers.  The first period was pretty much even. The Rangers killed off two penalties and failed to score on their one powerplay. No harm, no foul. 

Again, up until Prucha’s deflected goal on what was probably a blown offside call, both teams were playing an even game. That says a lot to me about the Rangers defense first system. Marc Staaal was able to rag Ovechkin. The Rangers were able to keep the Caps, who are tied for 4th place in goals in the league with San Jose, off the board for almost 30 minutes.

Once the Rangers failed to clear the puck and allowed Green’s powerplay goal less then 1:30 seconds after Prucha scored,  the Caps had the better of the play for the rest of the period. The Caps had the puck in the Rangers zone for almost the entire  4 on 4, following an improbable altercation between Gomez and Nylander, of all people.  

Valiquette was the difference between the score remaining tied until the Caps short handed goal. With about four minutes left in the period, the Caps were out-shooting the Rangers 14 – 7.  Still, the Rangers (Valiquette) were able to keep the Caps off the board. With 1:58 left,  the most dangerous time of any period for the Rangers,  the Caps took a delay of game penalty. Too bad  the Rangers can’t decline powerplays.

The Rangers worst nightmare of this season happened again. Ovechkin comes back  to score a shorthanded goal after a shot by Dubinsky careens up the boards and lands on Greens stick.  Green and Ovechkin come up ice as the Rangers are changing. Green, along the boards, passes cross ice to Ovechkin.

Ovechkin goes around Redden and takes a shot that deflects off Redden’s stick and goes over Valiquette’s right shoulder for the shorthanded goal. Would Henrik have had that? Maybe. But, if I’m Redden, I trip Ovechkin before he can get that shot off. Take the penalty. The Rangers once again fail to score on the powerplay and are burned for their 13? shorthanded goal of the season.

That’s all she wrote in the scoring department. The Rangers once again play the third period to a tie when they are down by one goal and lost based on the shorthanded goal they allowed at the end of the second period. The Rangers actually outshot the Caps 7 to 5 in the third period and continued to keep the Caps off the board. They just couldn’t put the puck behind Theodore, who played well for the Caps.

You got to see Wade, the Wimp, Redden show some fire by nearly knocking out Clark. You got to see Gomez and Nylander getting jiggy with each other. As if that wasn’t enough grit and enough fire, you got to see Renney deploy Marc Staal. Staal got so far under the skin of  Ovechkin that Ovechkin took a run at Staal in retaliation for  Staal’s clean check on Semin at center ice.

By the way, another nice double standard by the officials in this league. How was that not a charging/boarding call for Ovechkin’s hit on Staal. After Staal is hooked and grabbed by Schultz behind Theodore, Ovechkin takes at least four big strides and brings his stick up into Staal head as he slams Staal into the boards. No headhunting there? I guess a different set of rules apply to Crosby and Ovechkin when it comes to cheap shot penalties.  Too bad the Rangers only play the Caps once more. Ovechkin better keep his head up on February 11th at the Garden.

There was no dishonor in this game for the Rangers. They were in it to the end and the showed the Caps that they aren’t going to get pushed around. The Rangers still must solve their special teams issues but right now there is no use in beating a dead horse.

So, to all the Ranger fans out there who are peeved and are still calling for Renney/Pearn to be fired, players to be waived/traded etc. I ask, was this game sufficiently entertaining for you or would you rather have gotten a point or two in a shootout?

The Rangers are winning games against teams they should be beating and holding their own against the tougher teams.  This week they play four games in six nights. They need to beat the teams that aren’t playing well of late, the Penguins, the Senators and the Sabres.  The game against Montreal should be a good test at the Garden.

Let’s Go Rangers!

PS. Note to Alex Semin: If you are going to fight like a little girl, keep your jersey tied down so the rest of the league can’t see your pink underwear!

Posted under New York Rangers