The  NHL season consists of four score plus 2 games. For two local teams, one score of those games are in the books. The journey to twenty has been surprising and unsettling, especially for the Rangers and their fans.

The New York Islanders have certainly been on a roll lately. First round draft choice John Tavares has come through for them big time. As I expected, their tag team goaltenders, Roloson and Biron, have started to come through too.  After going 1 in 9 in their first ten games while Charles Wang threatened to move his team if the Town of Hempstead didn’t approve his Lighthouse Project, things were looking pretty grim at the Mausoleum. I must confess that their sad state of affairs delighted many a Ranger fan, myself included. But, much to our chagrin,  the Fish have turned things around. 

It all changed for the Icelanders when the Rangers crapped the bed in their first meeting of the season with the Fish at that concrete tomb they call home. The Rangers let the Fishsticks out-play them on October 28th.  This defeat sent the Rangers on a downward spiral.  The Rangers enjoyed a 7 game winning streak at the beginning of the season and were 7 and 3 in their first ten. Like last season, once again the Rangers suckered their fans into thinking that they had a chance of  having an outstanding season despite the fact that over half their roster were noobs.

Since October 28th, the Fish have strung together a respectable and improbable winning streak, going 6 and 4 in their next ten. Conversely, the New York Rangers went 4 and 6 in their next ten games.  The Ranger’s play of late has some fans in the World’s Most Impatient Arena making book on how long Tortorella has to turn it around. What with Moose now in the management fold and his good buddy Mike Keenan in the Geico Suite, the Schoenfeld/Tortorella regime could be feeling some heat.

While I am not the biggest fan of Tortorella, I think it’s a little premature to be writing the man’s epitaph as coach of the New York Rangers after 20 games.  Just because the start of this Ranger season is playing out in an eerily similar fashion to last year, I wouldn’t write off the Rangers yet. The Rangers are missing their top two centers in Drury and Dubinsky. There is still time to right the ship.

By the same token, I wouldn’t crown the Islanders the Metro Ice Challenge winners either. They have inconsistent goaltending and a porous defense. Except for the 5-0 blowout of Buffalo and the 6-3 beat down in Atlanta, the Fishsticks haven’t really dominated in any of their wins. Yes, Tavares has been is red hot lately. But, like the Rangers with Gaborik, the Icelanders so far lack consistent secondary scoring.  It’s a good thing that Tavares is playing up to being the number one draft pick. At least he might put some more asses in seats at the Mausoleum and drive up the asking price for Wang.

It’s too early to say whether either the Rangers or the Islanders are for real or just a flash in the pan. It really pains me to say it but once again the New Jersy Devils seem to be the real deal. No matter what happens to this franchise, they always land on their feet. They lose key players to injury or free agency and some other player in their system jumps in to fill the void. Last season Brodeur was out and Clemmenson comes in and saves the season. Couldn’t you just scream?

This season Gionta leaves to be with his boyfriend Gomez in Montreal. The Debbies are playing without Pandolfo, Niedemayer, Oduya and Martin and they are still winning. First round draft pick, Zach Parise, an Icelander legacy that both the Rangers and the Fish took a pass on, and Travis Zajac have taken the place of Gomez and Gionta and then some.  The only way the Devils will fold is if Brodeur goes down. We all know the league won’t let Marty be run like Lundqvist has been. They’ll make another new rule for Marty. And, the Devil machine keeps on rolling…