In a stunning upset the President’s Trophy winning Washington Capitals were blown out off the playoffs by the Montreal Canadians tonight.  After taking a commanding 3-1 lead earlier in the series, the Caps have to be considered the biggest choke of the new millennium. That’s good. It takes that dubious distinction away from 2007 New York Mets.

The Rangers also had a 3-1 lead in their opening round series last season against the Caps and went on to lose in 7 games. The  two outcomes are hardly comparable. Last season the Rangers barely squeeked into a playoff spot. The Caps had  121 regular season points this year.

And, the Rangers, as a team, really didn’t choke last year. Their coach did.  Talk about turnabout being fair play. This crushing loss wiped last year’s sh*t eating grin off fat Bruce Boudreau’s face. I remember how he gloated when the Caps bounced out the Rangers in game 7. 

Montreal should just concede now and let the Posterboy and the Penguins move on. I don’t know which is more distasteful, watching Cindy Crosby or  Smirking Scott Gomez go to the Conference Final. My best possible outcome:  Boston and Montreal move on to the next round along with Detroit and Chicago. We have ourselves an Original Six final. Choke on that Gary “Expansion Boy” Bettman.

I have little sympathy for Caps fans. They got to watch their team play great hockey all season and make the playoffs. We got to watch drek and too little effort until it was too late. They’ll blame their coach and Ovechkin and Semin but the fact is they have no goaltending. And, that little jerk Green lost them the game with that stupid cross checking penalty.

Somewhere I hope Ollie Kolzig is smiling. The way the Caps dumped him was a disgrace. Maybe they would’ve had a better chance if they kept him in net instead of  Jose “Three or more” Theodore. What goes around comes around.

Posted under New York Rangers

Just as Messier’s words were construed to guarantee that win in game seven against the Devils, so too may my words come back to haunt me. I prefer my inference to be a not so bold prediction rather then a guarantee. Ever since the announcement of Messier’s hiring as a “special assistant” to President and General Manager Glen Sather, I have believed the handwriting on the wall. At one of the preseason games I saw Messier coming out of the Geico Suite followed closely by Mike Keenan. That vision convinced me the handwriting was indelible.

My favorite schmoozer, Steve Somers, interviewed Messier yesterday afternoon on WFAN. Apart from asking Messier the requisite questions regarding his present endeavours, The Mark Messier leadership program and general managing Team Canada in the upcoming World Championships, Somers ask Messier if he was ready to be an NHL General Manager. Messier’s response was that he was born ready.

Messier was born and bred to be a hockey player. He was bred to be the Captain. He was bred to be a Hall of Famer. I am just starting to get my head around Messier being “groomed” to be the next General Manager of the New York Rangers. In the interview Messier acknowledged his mentor, Glen Sather and gave props to Sather for allowing him to see and experience all aspects of running an NHL franchise from an executive’s point of view this season. He sited Sather for encouraging him to take the job as Team Canada’s GM for the upcoming World Championships.

Somers asked Messier if he would be interested in any position in the league as a GM and of course Messier said he would be if all the pieces came together, right situation, right people, yada, yada. Somers went on to explain to Messier how fed up the fans and the media are with the Sather Silent Treatment, hoping to solicite a comment from Messier. Messier went on to say, and I paraphrase, that since Sather has been a mentor to him and other guys like Gravey, MacTavish, Lowe and Gretzsky, he’d have a hard time criticizing Sather. Fair enough.

Moose was as forthcoming with Somers as a kid caught with his hand in a cookie jar. To his credit, Messier was able to complete the interview without giving away anything important about his future or that of the franchise. He is perfecting the art of hockey double talk. I guess you could say that is a prerequisite to becoming a Ranger GM and a Dolan employee. I wonder how many interviews he’ll give after he ascends to Sather’s throne in the Two Penn Plaza Ivory Tower..

Posted under New York Rangers

Come in here, dear boy, have a cigar.
You’re gonna go far, fly high,
You’re never gonna die, you’re gonna make it if you try
they’re gonna love you.

And did we tell you the name of the game, boy
We call it Riding the Gravy Train.

- Pink Floyd

It was close but no cigar and no playoffs for the New York Rangers. After their shoot out loss in Philly yesterday evening, one wonders how many more cigars we will have to see Glen Sather smoke before he either steps down or is fired.

It has been estimated by Ken Belson of the New York Times that the Rangers missing the playoffs represents a potential loss of $6 million dollars from three possible first round playoff games. That’s a lot of Cohibas my friends.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/09/sports/hockey/09playoffs.html?ref=hockey

I’m not here to break down the game or complain about the officiating or blame individual players. There’s no point.  What Ranger subscribers need to do right now is get on the phone with their sales representatives and pledge not to renew if Sather isn’t fired or forced to step down.

If you want an in depth analysis of last night’s game, visit my friend The Hockey Rodent. Based on his rant today, I’d nominate him to replace Tortorella, Sather and Bettman tomorrow! Read this:

http://hockeyrodent.com/R2322.HTM 

and this:

http://hockeyrodent.com/R2323.HTM

If you are a true Ranger fan, a true hockey fan, it should make you angry.

As I was walking through the Garden on Friday night, I ran into one of the Subscriber Reps I know (not my own). I asked why MSG was sending out emails to purchase playoff tickets to me (read all subscribers) every day? I speculated that the fans were fed up with the management and coaching of the team and were turning down their playoff tickets in droves.

I further speculated that renewal subscriptions for next season would be measurably down after the team’s poor play this season. If the Rangers failed to make the playoffs, that might put undecided subscribers over the edge. She looked at me like I was crazy and assured me that such would not be the case. Renewals would be just fine. I always thought her an intelligent and savvy woman. Clearly she is drinking that MSG Kool Aide.

I divorced myself from this team emotionally after Sather fired Tom Renney. I harbor no ill will toward most of the players on this team. The kids do try their best. Too bad the same can’t be said for some of the veterans, their Coach and the General Manager.

Fire Sather, Fire Tortorella and continue the rebuild sans the two most arrogant men in hockey. This is the only way MSG will be able to hold on to this subscriber and many more, I’ll warrant.

Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em.

Posted under New York Rangers

Could it be? Yes, it could.
Something’s coming, something good,
If I can wait!
Something’s coming, I don’t know what it is,
But it is gonna be great!

Something’s Coming - from West Side Story by Stephen Sondheim

If one were to compare the The New York Rangers to Broadway musicals, they would definitely be Sondheim and not Rogers and Hammerstein. Rogers and Hammerstein wrote idealistic shows filled with hope and faith, the nobility of the human condition.

You’ll Never Walk Alone from Carousel

Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart
And you’ll never walk alone,
You’ll never walk alone.

Climb Every Mountain from The Sound of Music

Climb every mountain, ford every stream
Follow every rainbow, till you find your… dream…

Sondheim wrote shows about the everyday travails of men and women, the gritty, not so pretty things that happen while living life. In West Side Story, Tony sings his own song filled with faith and hope. On the one hand he finds the love of his life in Maria. On the other, he finds hate and violence and death at the hands of her brother Bernardo’s knife. It seemed to happen all in one night.

Maybe the Rangers can beat the Flyers and grab that last playoff spot. Or, maybe they won’t. I must confess that after this season I find it difficult to espouse the philosophy of that cockeyed optimist, Nelly Forbush from South Pacific. I am more the unromantic and practical fatalist, Anita,  from West Side Story. It’s 9:00 am on Sunday morning, the last day of this regular season. Is it time for me to channel my inner Nelly? Could be. Who knows?

Cockeyed Optimist from South Pacific by Rogers and Hammerstein

But I’m stuck like a dope
With a thing called hope,
And I can’t get it out of my heart!

Nah, I’ll stick with West Side Story:

The air is humming,
And something great is coming!
Who knows?
It’s only just out of reach,
Down the block, on a beach,

Maybe tonight . . .

Posted under New York Rangers

After being pulled from the game for letting up three goals in Buffalo on Monday night, I read on a few messageboards that some fans are toying with the idea of trading Henrik Lundqvist. It never ceases to amaze me how ridiculous some fans are. “Everybody has their price” they say. “Henrik Lundqvist isn’t a top tier goaltender” they say.  They’d trade Lundqvist for a Malkin or a Stamkos or (insert name here) in a heart beat. Anyone who espouses these ideas has no heart because they fail to recognize who the heart of the New York Rangers is. Lundqvist may be a heartthrob but he’s not just another pretty face.

If Henrik was on a team where every player on the team came to play every night, where every player gave 100% in every game and didn’t leave their goalie hung out to dry every night, he probably would have a Stanley Cup by now. Henrik Lundqvist has won 32 games this season. He has won 30+ games in every season he’s played for the Rangers. By the time this season ends this Sunday he will have played 70 of 82 game. 70 games! He has a 2.42 GAA and a .919 SV%. Even on a dog of a team like the Rangers, he is 11th in a 30 team league in goal tending.

The only reason I would ever want to see Henrik go is if he were traded to team that was a true contender. I’d rather see him go to a winner then piss away his best years on a team that puts out two mutts like Redden and Rozsival in front of him game in and game out. I’d like to see him go to a team who has a General Manager and a Coach who don’t have their heads up their asses. I like to see him go to a team with an owner who really cares. Maybe Ken Holland would take Henrik off Sather’s hands for Datsyuk, Zetterberg and Jimmy Howard. I wouldn’t give him up for anything less.

You can’t place a value on good goaltending. Without it, you can have all the great goal scorers you want and you still won’t win. Henrik Lundqvist is untouchable. Anyone who thinks he isn’t should go back and watch the games this season where Lundqvist singlehandedly keep this team in the game. You only have to rewind to last week.

Trade Lundqvist, my ass.

Posted under New York Rangers