one isn’t there to see it, does it still count?  

As is my custom, I go skating on Wednesday night. When I left my car, the score was tied at 1-1. The Islanders were about to go on the powerplay. In the time it took for me to walk fifty feet from the parking lot into the rink, the Islanders scored the game winning goal. I didn’t find out the final score until I came off the ice at 10pm. When I heard the news, I wasn’t a bit surprised.

After watching the Rangers cough up the puck to the Islanders for the first goal less then one minute into the game, you could see where the night was headed.  I usually tape the game and watch it when I come home but frankly, I’m tired. Maybe I’ll watch it tomorrow. Maybe I won’t.  

I used to try to go to Ranger games at the Mausoleum. I stopped going because the results were always abysmal. After Matthew Barnaby left the Rangers, it seemed like the Islanders stole the Ranger’s mojo. Even though the Islanders have been one of the worst teams in the NHL, whenever the Rangers play them, whether at the Garden or the Mausoleum, they lose in some embarrassing fashion.

So, as the Rangers plummet in the power rankings, Ranger fans will start to panic at the realization that without Gaborik in the lineup, they have no legitimate scoring. If this team can’t hustle enough to beat a 1-4 -5 team like the Islanders, the future looks pretty dim.

I had my regular skate tonight. I’ll bet the Rangers will have their bag skate tomorrow.

Posted under New York Rangers

One Minute. Sixty Seconds. So little time. But too much time to silently honor The Big Whistle, Bill Chadwick upon his passing.

There I was considering wearing a black arm band to the Garden last night and the powers that be at MSG decided that one of the seminal forces and voices in the NHL did not deserve to be remembered and honored with a moment of silence.

Putting a video tribute on the scoreboard while fans are filing in, talking and otherwise not paying attention just didn’t cut it. About as many fans who pay attention to the foul language and inappropriate behavior warning saw the GardenVision Tribute to  Bill Chadwick. 

When I got home and saw the MSG presentation, it made me feel a little better. But it still didn’t make up for something that should have been done in the arena in front of  long time Ranger fans who grew up listening to Bill Chadwick and learning from him.

Thirty or forty years from now, if I’m still alive, and JD predeceases me, I hope that whoever is running the show for the New York Rangers won’t be so parsimonious with their time and will give JD his moment of silence.

Thanks for everything Mr. Chadwick. May you rest in eternal peace.

Posted under New York Rangers

Someone needs to send John Tortorella a memo and sling his own words back at him. Smart move to bench Dubinsky and Higgins in the third period but give Captain Minus 19.5 minutes of ice time in this game. Yes, the turnover by Dubinsky was terrible. But he didn’t deserve to be benched for the entire game. The Rangers were up 3 to 1 when that give away happened. Who was the center on the ice for Montreal’s first, third and fourth goals? Take a wild guess.

Maybe someone should ask Tortorella who he thinks his best players are. Drury? Voros ??  Redden ???  If he thinks these guys are his best players, then maybe that’s what’s wrong? Maybe that’s why his best players aren’t playing like the best players because they aren’t the best players just the most overpaid.

Michal Rozsival really answered the bell tonight at the Bell center. Ryan Callahan was offensively invisible in his 18 minutes on the ice but I understand he has the flu. Comrades Lisin and Anisimov need to be used with Gaborik , Avery, Kotalik and Prospal on the first two lines and let the remaining players fall on to lines 3 and 4.  That’s how I would make an example of the underachievers and boneheaded play makers.

Mark Staal struggled all night and was a -3. But the game winning goal in overtime was scored because Wade Redden did not step up and body check Cammallari off the puck. Plain and simple. No matter how much Joe Michelletti tries to pimp Redden on the air, it cannot disguise the fact that Redden is abysmal in key situations. Tortorella better wise up and learn that he made just as boneheaded a play as Dubinsky when he put someone as slow and soft as Redden out against a win hungry team like the Canadiens.

When is Tortorella going to wake up and see that those who he thinks are his best players aren’t. This overtime loss, like the ill advised goal tender choice against San Jose, is on Torts.

Posted under New York Rangers

Rather then post the highly objectionable lyrics of this “song” by one Young Jeezy, I am using its title tonight because the New Jersey Devils trapped and the Rangers died. So far this season, John Tortorella’s “safe is death” system of hockey has entertained the Garden Faithful and has so far brought the Rangers a modicum of success. That is until tonight. 

Apparently Mr. Tortorella needs to school up on his cross river rivals and adjust the Rangers style of play when facing the Devils. Recall that Lamarillo has Grand Master Trap LeMaire coaching the Swamp Rats again this season. It doesn’t seem to matter how many different players run through the organization in New Jersey or how talented they are, they will still win if they deploy their trap and that is exactly what they did tonight.

You cannot succeed against a 2-2-1 trap by trying to make passes through the neutral zone. The only way to succeed against the Devils is to have one player either bull the puck over the blueline like Jagr used to OR dump and chase.  The Rangers did neither of those two things successfully tonight and as a result they were on the losing end of a 4-2 score. Hell, the Devils stood them up and the blueline during their powerplays.

Chris Drury had every opportunity to run Marty good but he stopped. He put on the brakes. He didn’t even snow Marty. Someone should tell him that nice guys finish last.  Once again, I didn’t see too many Rangers taking the body or  finishing their checks. Weak. 

Unfortunately, the officiating was atrocious for the first time this season. When you see all the clutching and grabbing by the Devils going uncalled, it reminds one of the bad old days before the lockout. Compound that by the fact that CryBaby Brodeur can get away with deliberately knocking the net off its moorings and not get a penalty. In fact, the net was off for more then 15 seconds and the Devils were allowed to keep on playing and went down into the Rangers zone and scored their second goal. That wouldn’t have happened if Marty had been called for delay of game and the Ranger powerplay faced off in front of him.

By the way, as if we didn’t know that the Officials in this league hate Sean Avery, we had to witness them let the fight between Avery and Mottau go on for over a minute before they stepped in. Were they secretly hoping Mottau would beat down Avery? If they were, they were sadly mistaken.

Lastly, in spite of doing all they could to insure that Marty got the win, he didn’t get the shut out. Too bad for Uncle Daddy.

Posted under New York Rangers

While the Rangers can hold their heads high after defeating the Leafs 4-1 in Toronto tonight , they did so by keeping their heads up. Winning their seventh straight game wasn’t exactly a walk in the park. The Maple Leafs are a desperate team and were looking to continue their intimidation of the Rangers by running Henrik Lundqvist. Fortunately, the Rangers new and improved powerplay makes taking penalties a less desirable option this season.

Still, Jason Blake continued to try and bowl over Henrik at the beginnig of this evening’s game. Another obvious goaltender interference penalty went uncalled. Before the start of the second period, Tortorella voiced his displeasure at the officials regarding Stempniak and Blake blatantly running Henrik and not calling them for goaltender interference.

On the broadcast Micheletti, Maloney and Giannone made mention of the fact that the league braintrust in Toronto is going to address the issue of goaltender interference next week. I guess this War Room Pow Wow is in response to Luongo getting run. Other teams have been routinely running Henrik this season and not one word is said by the league about roughing until Luongo got hammered. If CryBaby Brodeur had been bowled over by an opposing player, the league would have invented a rule the very next day. Typical Campbell double standard.

The difference between tonight’s game and the last time the Rangers met the Leafs was that Henrik’s teammates were more aware of who was around Henrik and kept the ruffians at bay. They also  got retribution against Blake by hammering him pretty good. Brian Boyle and Mark Staal both nailed the punk and put a hurting on him. He might think twice the next time he plays the Rangers. He’s got a target on his back.

The Ranger defense and the first line continues to get it done offensively but certain forwards on this team were pictures on milk cartons tonight, none moreso then Chris Drury. While I understand that Chris Higgins still hasn’t scored a goal, he made a few nice defensive plays tonight. Anisimov, Avery and Callahan also had a pretty quite night. But they pull their weight all the time so I will cut them some slack.

Even though the Rangers were outshot by Toronto, they still managed to dominate Toronto in the third period and shut them down. They are looking a little better in the check finishing department but they still need to be meaner.  I thought something was going to happen at the end of the game when both Brashear and Orr were on the ice at the same time but I guess they thought the better of it.

Dave Maloney made the best point of the night. Henrik needs to stick up for himself and lay some lumber on Blakey or anyone else who tries to run him.  Micheletti suggested the King get an old wooden Victoriaville stick and protect himself. For once, I agree with Joe.

Posted under New York Rangers

Apparently it’s open season on Henrik Lundqvist. If I were Benoit Allaire I’d be searching for old videos of Billy Smith. Henrik needs  to school up on the fine art of lumberjack goaltending. If Henrik sees an oppostion player taking a run at him, he should make horizontal with his stick. Let the player trying to run him  take a spear to his midsection or better yet, his wedding tackle.

During the intermission Al Trautwig asked Chris Drury if he thinks other teams are deliberately trying to run Henrik Lundqvist. In his usually mealy mouth fashion, Captain Milquetoast said “ah, I don’t know if  it’s on purpose. In this day and age, it’s hard to believe that other guys are trying to hit our goalie but we don’t like guys coming that close to him”. Oh really, Captain? You wouldn’t call what Jason Blake did on Monday and what Harrold did tonight an accident? Please. For Chrissake they took Henrik down like he was a bowling pin.

The problem with the Rangers is that they need a leader that will man up and say that the next team who tries to run Henrik Lundqvist will pay. Would Mark Messier have ever let other teams run Mike Richter like that? You’re damn skippy he wouldn’t have. It reminds me of the Bobby Granger/Darius Kasparaitis commercial where Darius puts Bobby on his ass for even mentioning running into Henrik in the corridor of the Garden. Maybe Sather should hire Darius as a special “toughness” coach. Is Joey Kocur available?  

The Rangers need to up their ”mean quotient” and it needs start from the “leadership” down. Maybe Ryan Callahan should wear the C instead of the A. They need to hit other teams until they hurt where it hurts. You don’t see any Rangers face washing other players. You don’t see any pushing and shoving. You don’t see any mean.

Posted under New York Rangers

After being away for the last week, the Rangers came into the Garden for a Sunday holiday weekend matinee and shut out the always dangerous Anahiem Ducks. I too came back after spending the week with a duck named Donald and a mouse named Mickey at Walt Disney World. There were plenty of screaming children there as well. Too bad Disney World wasn’t nearly as entertaining as this game. Man, I’m glad my kids are grown. If you think a Ranger’s season subscription is expensive, you should see the wads of cash people drop to amuse their rug rats at Rat Disney World.

The Ducks dragged their tails into the Garden yesterday afternoon after playing 65+ minutes and winning a shoot out in Philly on Saturday night. You know that the Flyers exacted more then a pound of flesh from the Mighty Ducks. The Rangers received poultry on a plate yesterday afternoon. You should think they’d have had no problem pressing the ducks. But for Mr. Giguere, Mr Pipe and a quick whistle, the Rangers would have been on the board in the first period.

The Rangers out-shot the Ducks 13 to 1 in the first period but failed to bury the biscuit. The Duck’s Finns, Koivu and Nokelainen took back to back penalties resulting in almost a minute of 5 on 3 time. The Ranger powerplay looked disorganized, with only one shot on goal in that four minutes.

The Ducks got their legs under them and matched the Rangers shot for shot in the second period but failed to light Vally’s lamp. Valiquette came up big. He was first star of the game. Credit the lack of shooting on the part of the Ducks and the Rangers offense for keeping the puck at the other end of the ice most of the night. When Teemu Selanne only gets credited with one shot on goal in a game, a goaltender can rest easy. My key to the game was for the Rangers to lock up Selanne. They made a good job of it. In fact, the Ducks couldn’t Finnish last night. Don’t you love bad puns?

The Rangers finally found their groove and twine in the third period, out-shooting the Ducks 14 to 6. Good to see Artem Anisimov finally light the lamp. Anisimov works hard. It was nice to see him finally rewarded. Brian Boyle’s smart handling of the puck after losing his stick showed agility of mind and body for the big man. Sean Avery doesn’t look like he’s lost a step with 3 shots and an assist on the night.

The new Czech mates, Prospal and Kotalik, came through tonight with a goal and an assist.  These boys aren’t afraid to shoot. Gaborik had four shots as did Girardi, Anisimov and Higgins. Other then the first goal that was waived off, Captain Chris Drury was all but invisible. On a few occasions, Brandon Dubinsky should have passed instead of shot.

I guess when you are out-shooting the opposition 2 to 1, hitting goes out the window. As usual, the one player finishing his checks was Ryan Callahan. Seeing as the Rangers are playing the Leafs tonight, perhaps they were wise to conserve their energy and not take the body. Know that they will be pounded tonight by the Leafs. With the acquisitions of Garnet Exelby and Mike Komisarek on defense, the Leafs will come out loaded for bear.

The defense was on top of the situation all night and that meant that, while not spectacular, Redden and Rozsival did no harm. In fact, they each had two shots. In fact, Mark Staal was the only player on the entire team without a shot on goal. His play in the first period disturbed me. I had Poti flashbacks watching Staal use his stick instead of his body to part the puck from a Duck. It’s a disturbing trend I will be closely watching.

I hope Donald Brashear has been working the speed bag after losing his first three bouts of the season. Tonight he’ll be facing much loved ex-Ranger heavyweight Colton Orr. Brashear’s noggin and reputation are on the line. I doubt Orr will be healthy scratch tonight. The Leafs need to prove a point more then win two.

This three games in four nights thing  is going to exhaust me. It’s been trains, planes, monorails and automobiles for me these last two weeks. If you have to take your brood to Disney World, the best place to stay is the Boardwalk Inn. They have a self contained entertainment and restaurant complex right there. Best of all is the ESPN Zone with more then 72 screens. I caught the game there on Thursday night. More games, more fun.

Posted under New York Rangers

Opening night is a national holiday for most Ranger fans. Yours truly is no exception. It’s the night when you get to see a new team come together for another season in the quest for the Stanley Cup. It’s the night you get to see if the recession has caused any attrition in your section or if your friends are back for another season of Blue Seat mayhem. It’s a social night all over the Garden.

I’ve been reading some message boards wherein the posters didn’t get the whole Blue  Man Group thing. “Blue” get it. They are BLUE. Ranger Blue. Blue through and through. I thought it was an interesting way to drum up the fans support.  DRUM UP. Get it? Actually Blue Man Group is currently one of the hottest acts in Vegas and will become the featured entertainment for Norwegian Cruise Lines. Very propitious of the organization.

One would have thought that because the organization has so many new, young,  faces, they would have chosen to introduce each player individually. I hate to think the team’s ensemble introduction  was planned by the organization to deflect the derision of the fans. That’s a shame. Matt Gilroy and Michael Del Zotto worked hard for their moment. Too bad it had to taken away to spare the feelings of the hated and/or underachieving members of the team. No matter. Matt and Mike showed their worth to the crowd. We know who they are.

As for the game itself, Tortorella has promised an up tempo style of game and that’s exactly what the fans got last night. At the end of the game, one of our seatmates turned to me and said, “when was the last time you saw the Rangers score five goals in a game”? Being a Renney supporter, I kind of took it as a shot across my bows. While scoring five goals last night might be something to think about, consider last night’s opponent and our goaltending.  

Consider that we didn’t have a bonafide goal scorer like Marion Gaborik last season. Consider that we didn’t have fast, young defenseman to rush the puck  and get back to defend. Last season on opening night the Rangers beat Chicago 4-2. In fact, they won their first three games on this continent by scoring 4 goals.  The Rangers went on to win the first five games last season. 

I think it’s a little to soon to judge the outcome of this season based on last night’s game. But, I would be remiss if I didn’t admit that it was an exciting game. The new New York Rangers certainly played well together for a team with such a high off season turnover rate. I did see a lot of movement on the powerplay. There was good cycling but no goals were scored. Based on what I saw in Pittsburgh and last night, I have every confidence that the powerplay will come into its own sooner rather then later.

Lastly,  a few deep thoughts by mhurley. First Messier is hired as “special assistant” to President Glen Sather. Then Mike Keenan starts making appearences on MSG as a “special” guest  commentator.  As the Church Lady would say, “isn’t that special”. Does Mike Keenan really want to begin a career in broadcasting at his age or is he here as Messier’s chosen heir apparent to Tortorella should Tort’s combust or fail?  Hmmmmmm?

Once again, the new “special assistant to president”  is hawking another product. As if Cold FX wasn’t enough of an embarrassment, Moose is now the spokesperson for a new concussion preventing helmet. Guess they couldn’t get the ShamWow guy. One would think that Cablevision is the manufacturer of this modern miracle of hockey equipment. Seriously, how mercenary can you get. I guess Mark has to have something to do since the job description of “special assistant” can’t be that demanding. Afterall, he’s not the Rangers “capologist”.

Look out Torts and Schoeny. Moose and Mike are waiting in the wings.

Posted under New York Rangers

Not withstanding that tonight’s game was the first game of the season, in Pittsburgh’s house, on their Stanley Cup banner raising night, the Rangers lost because they really need to get some better defensemen. Staal, Gilroy and DelZotto did well. The other three “veterans” should have their pictures on a milk carton.

If one were to find fault for the goals that were scored on the Rangers tonight, one would blame the following. On the first powerplay, four Rangers were down low leaving Gonchar alone for a long screened shot that deflected in on Henrik. He had no chance. So much for those worried about the Rangers penalty kill.

The second Penguin goal scored by Cindy Crosby can be directly attributed to Chris Drury having his back to Crosby and not taking him out of the play. As Rodent would say, swivel your head, “Captain” Chris, swivel your head. Just lifting Cindy’s stick ain’t gonna get it done. Use your body for God sake. The third Pittsburgh goal was a lucky shot that got through on a screen after the Rangers again collectively failed to clear their own zone. These things happen.

But the Rangers had several chances to come back and weren’t able to score. No more so  then the last minute of play. Gilroy, after playing a solid game, can’t keep the puck in the zone. Then, Redden does the same thing. Micheletti needs to have his eyes checked. The puck didn’t hop over Redden’s stick. It was sliding along the dasher and Redden failed to keep it in the zone. 

And, the “Worst Defensemen on the Ice Tonight” Award goes to Dan Girardi. His nonchalant back pass to no one along the boards, failed to clear the zone, resulting in Henrik having to stand on his head to keep the puck out of his net.

So, while many would say that some of the forwards were invisible, they did score two goals. Man, if Dubinsky and Gabork can get it going, they’ll light the lamp a plenty. I wouldn’t jump all over the forwards right now. They need time to gel.

For me, tonight’s game came down to defense. If you want to play a run and gun, offensive style of play, you have to have a solid defense to defend the transition game. The Rangers had 3.5 defensemen out there tonight. Staal gets an A. Del Zotto and Gilroy get a B. Redden get a C-. Rozsival gets a D and Girardi gets a big, fat F. These three guys make Semenov look like Bobby Orr.

If I’m Glen Sather, I’m working the phone, calling Mrs Semenov and offering her $800,000, a new Mercedes and a sable coat. If that doesn’t work, Corey Potter, come on down. You’ll finally get to be a New York Ranger.

Posted under New York Rangers

If Brendan Shanahan is indeed retiring, all the best to him 

Here, traveller, scholar, poet, take your stand
When all those rooms and passages are gone,
When nettles wave upon a shapeless mound
And saplings root among the broken stone,
And dedicate – eyes bent upon the ground,
Back turned upon the brightness of the sun
And all the sensuality of the shade -
A moment’s memory to that laurelled head.

- W. B. Yeats

Posted under New York Rangers