Last night Ranger Season Subscribers were given the opportunity to enjoy a private skating session under the stars at Wollman Rink in Central Park. What a glorious night for outdoor skating!

Under clear skies and with balmy temperatures, Ranger fans had a chance to skate and meet Alumni Players Steve Vickers, Glenn Andersen, Jay Wells and Nick Fotiou. Door prizes were raffled off. Hot chocolate and popcorn were served. And, as usual, a good time was had by all.

I don’t know about anyone else but I relished the chance to skate outside. While I can understand that new subscribers would be angry to have been denied their chance to skate on the Garden Ice, they should have embraced the opportunity to enjoy the fresh air and exercise. It was unfortunate that a scheduling conflict forced the cancellation of the subscriber skate in October but Wollman Rink was a great alternative. It’s huge. Plenty of room for all to skate.

The only downside was there was no television there so fans could follow the game in Carolina. This subscriber skate could have been turned into a viewing party. In fact, the powers that be at MSG should think about incorporating an outdoor “skating/viewing” party for next season. Open it up to Subscribers and to Blueshirts United Fans. Maybe it could be a reasonably priced Garden of Dreams fundraiser and anyone could go to it.

As you know I love to skate. We had fun. Thanks to my friends Jim Wilde and Nick Annunziata for sharing their tickets to the event with us. Nice to see Subscriber Rep. Stephanie Groia and the rest of the Garden crew.  They do a great job.

The best part of the night was hearing that the Rangers tied the game late. I got to listen to the Rangers win the shoot out on the drive home.

Let’s Go Rangers!

Posted under New York Rangers

Imagine an entire NHL team perishing in an airplane crash on their way to the Stanley Cup Final. That is exactly what happened to the US Figure Skating Team on their way to the World Championships in Prague in 1961.

In memory of the United States World Figure Skating team that was wiped out in that horrific plane crash in Brussels, Belgium on Valentines Day 1961, US Figure Skating has produced a documentary film called “Rise”.

The premiere of the film is Thursday, February 17, at select local theatres.

http://www.fathomevents.com/sports/event/usfs_rise.aspx

The film highlights the state of figure skating in this country before and after the loss of our entire national team and coaches. Those who died weren’t in this sport for profit, only glory. At that time skating was an amateur sport. Figure skating was an arcane discipline of school figures and difficult testing. Free style skating and ice dancing were the icing on the cake. There were no costumes with plunging necklines and sequins. Those who excelled in the sport were more then likely bound for colleges and the professions. There was no “Stars on Ice”.

Figure skating came front and center into the living rooms of America when ABC Sports starting televising it during Wide World of Sports and the Winter Olympics. It took 7 years after the plane crash for Peggy Fleming to win gold in Grenoble. After gaining such a high profile, there was no looking back. Figure skating has become the hottest ticket at every Winter Olympics since then. The sport has at times been steeped in controversy, with scandals about skaters and judging.  But at the end of the day, it always comes down to who skates best on that day. Ask Sarah Hughes.

Hosting and narrating the film are some of the greatest that US Figure Skating has produced, Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill, Scott Hamilton, Brian Boitano and Michelle Kwan.

While I usually write about New York Ranger hockey on this blog, I feel compelled to share some history of the sport I love the most and practice several hours per week. I am first and always shall be a figure skater.

I dedicate this column in loving memory to my coach, Joseph Scherer.

Posted under New York Rangers

“Hockey is a tough, physical game, and it always should be,” said Lemieux, the Penguins co-owner. “But what happened Friday night on Long Island wasn’t hockey. It was a travesty. It was painful to watch the game I love turn into a sideshow like that..if the events relating to Friday night reflect the state of the league, I need to re-think whether I want to be a part of it.” -Mario Lemieux

Is this guy freakin’ kidding me?

The mayhem on the Island on Friday night can be directly attributed to the NHL and its officials not taking action against a dirty cheap shot artist like Matt Cooke sooner. The league has let the Pittsburgh Penguins get away with murder since returning from the lockout. They reap what the sow.

Cooke isn’t the only culprit on the Penguins. It’s street justice that the Penguins whining, diving Captain and his slewfooting teammate Malkin are out of commission. They’re cheap pieces of crap. What goes around comes around, eh?

As a Ranger fan, it pains me to offer any congratulations to the Islanders. But, I have to say my hat is off to them. Way to go  boys. Everyone in this league that is not a Penguins fan should be thanking the Islanders for bitch slapping the Penguins and putting them in their place.

Jesus Christ, enough with the whining already. Lemieux, Crosby and that entire team have be given every possible advantage from Bettmam, Daly and Campbell. Now when things aren’t going his way, Lemieux wants to take his toys and go home. Screw Mario and the Penguins.

Hey Mario, don’t let the screen door hit you in the ass on your way out.

Posted under New York Rangers

Right now I’ll bet there are more then a few Ranger fans out there ready to pull the plug on this team and the coaching staff. Because they have lost their last five games and are in jeopardy of falling out of playoff contention, fans are typically going to start screaming for heads to roll.

I would ask every Ranger fan to recall what expectations they had for this team at the beginning of the season. The playoffs were a pipe dream in September. It would serve everyone well to remember that.

It is up to the coaching staff to resolve the Rangers powerplay issues, same as it was the responsibility of Renney and Pearn. It ultimately turned into their Waterloo. I am of a mind to cut the coaching staff and the players some slack. They are trying to work the returning players back into the lineup and get their young defensemen more experience.

There is no lack of effort on the part of the players, just lack of finishing talent. And that includes someone to play with Gaborik. For all he is touted, Gaborik is not a Datsyuk or Ovechkin, who can make a plays out of nothing. Don’t make Gaborik the goat here or he’ll truly disappear.  The undue criticism of Lundqvist also needs to stop.  He’s not perfect. Very few players are. It doesn’t help when Tortorella throws Henrik under the bus. That is my only gripe with Tortorella so far this season.

I do not want Sather to take any extreme measures that would jeopardize our youth for a quick fix solution. We’ve been down that road too many times. Now is the time to stand pat and hope this team can pull it together and make the playoffs. If they don’t make the playoffs, so what. With all the talent in the system, saying there’s always next season is truly the right sentiment at this time.

Let’s Go Rangers

Posted under New York Rangers

Rumor has it that the Rangers are seriously scouting Sheldon Souray. Just when you thought Sather was starting to get it right, foregoing crazy free agent signings, Mark Spector of Sportsnet.ca is reporting that Souray could be a Ranger within a matter of days.

After a dismal performance against the born again Devils last night, Sather must be panicking. We can all agree that the Rangers need someone to quarterback the powerplay. Michael Del Zotto has certainly proven not to be that player just yet. Considering the symbiotic relationship Sather has with Kevin Lowe in Edmonton, the Souray rumor shouldn’t surprise any one.

If Edmonton places Souray on re-entry waivers and he is picked up, they would have to eat half of his salary, $4.5 million dollars for the remainder of this year and next. Every team beneath the Ranger in the standings would have a crack at Souray but I doubt they’d want to pay that much money for what amounts to a rental.

Souray is 34.5 years of age. He has had more injuries then a porcelain doll during his career. He suffered a concussion three games into the 2009/10 that kept him out for the remainder of that season. Souray is currently on loan from Edmonton to Washington Cap’s AHL Hershey Bears. So far this season Souray has been out with a broken hand and most recently a knee injury that has kept him out from mid-December until now.

Souray requested to be traded from the rebuilding Oilers during the 2010 offseason. That’s not the sign of a good citizen. We all know Glenn Sather has a soft spot for reclamation projects, Fleury and Lindros come to mind. We can all agree that the Rangers need an offensive defenseman and a powerplay quarterback. Souray is not the way to go.

This coming off season Sather has to re-sign restricted free agents Anisimov, Boyle, Callahan, Dubinsky, Gilroy and Sauer. Callahan, Dubinsky and Boyle are going to want a big pay day based on their performances this season. They deserve it. Signing Souray as a rental for a team that is not guaranteed to make the playoffs (or go far if they did) would  be the height of fiscal irresponsibility.

I liked the Brad Richards rumors better.

Posted under New York Rangers

MSGNetwork On Air Personality and New York Ranger commentator John Giannone lost his 18 year old nephew BJ Giannone on Monday when the boy collapsed after competing in a high school swim meet.

There are few words of comfort to offer any family when faced with such a devastating loss except to say that our hearts go out to them and that they are in our thoughts and prayers.

I have had the pleasure of meeting John on several occasions and conversing with him. He always has a smile on his face and a kind word. He truly is a gentleman. I cannot imagine but that his nephew was cut from the same cloth.

Deepest Condolences to the Giannone Family.

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Posted under New York Rangers