-Jeff Lynne, Electric Light Orchestra

I cannot fathom how a man who has won three Stanley Cups and four Vezina trophies can let the New York Rangers and their fans get into his head the way Martin Brodeur has done.

Here is a guy who kept his composure while going through a very personal and public separation during the playoffs in 2003. His then estranged wife taunted him that she was having affairs with his opponents.  It had so little effect upon him that he and his team went on to win the Stanley Cup. 

The gist of Martin’s personal life has been grist for the mill of taunting Ranger fans ever since. And while all the listeners to the Versus broadcast may have heard last night was “Maaarty”, fans in the Garden could hear chants of  ”Uncle Daddy” and “Al-i-mony” reigning down from the rafters of MSG.

Brodeur is currently involved in a law suit with his ex-wife who is seeking longer and larger alimony payment’s from Martin. Uncle/Daddy will have to work for as long as he can to support two families. I doubt he needs to be reminded of this but Ranger fans stick it to him at every opportunity.

Among the other chants I heard were, “Marty —–  his sister-in-law, do dah, do dah” and “Fatso”, the later courtesy of Sean Avery from last years playoffs. So, the media may think that it is only Sean Avery in the heads of Marty and the Devils but in actual fact, the Ranger fans in MSG are as much there as Sean.

Last night Sean Avery, the bad boy of the NHL, the anger management poster boy, fashionista bad boy, retained his composure while Marty and the Devils lost theirs. Oh yes, the fact that most of the Ranger players were engaged in the game and John Tortorella backed his defense away from his “safe is death” policy had something to do with the victory.  

But, deep down the whole Brodeur vs Avery rematch was in the hearts and minds of the Devils.  It was put there by the media and the fans. The fans are the Rangers seventh man whenever they play the Devils, be it at the Garden or the Rock.

Unlike 2006, should the Rangers make the playoffs, I live in hope that the first round is against the Devils. Question is, based on their late season slump, will Sutter still be behind the bench or will he be Lamarilloed?

-John Lennon/Paul McCartney

I know that many Ranger fans out there aren’t as old as I am. I have seen many of my favorites players traded from the Rangers. From Ratelle and Park, to the Maloneys to Leetch. We all have our favorites. They traded the best looking Ranger ever, Pat Hickey,  for Barry “Shoot the Puck” Beck.  Yes, Pat was better looking then Duguay. It turned out to be a bad trade in both the hockey and handsome sense. But, I digress.  

I know many are upset about all of the changes that have transpired in the last week or so.  I revered Tom Renney and was saddened and angry to see him go before Sather.

Today, many are  angered to see Petr Prucha and Nigel Dawes, two former cornerstones of the Rangers youth movement, traded for a rental, a salary dump. Even if Derek Morris proves to be the second coming of Brad Park, losing Prucha has hardened many a heart.

My heart will always be True Blue. But there are times when  a little Red Wing seeps in there. And that’s okay.  We can like and admire other players and other teams as long as it’s not  the Islanders, Devils and Flyers. You just can’t root for your alternate teams and players over the Rangers.

If the Rangers fail to make the playoffs or get tossed in the first round, pick the team you want to see advance and sit back and enjoy their ride. You can watch in stress free peace. It’s just hockey. 

Good luck and God’s speed Tom Renney, Nigel Dawes, Petr Prucha and all our favorite Rangers whereever they are.

In my life, I loved them all. 

Granted, the Caps played without two of their best players, Kozlov and Semin, thereby making them easier to play against. But, their number one player, Alexander Ovechkin, was stymied all night by Ranger defensemen Mara and Staal.  AO was indeed growing more frustrated as the game went on. Holding the league’s leading scorer scoreless in regulation is no easy feat.

Not only did the Rangers take the body, they actually took some shots. Fans around me in 409 were feeling a little fatigued from all the goal celebrations.  For a team that has only scored 4 goals in their last 4 games, 4 goals in regulation was a pleasant surprise. Too bad the jubilance didn’t last too long.

After each hard fought goal, we saw the Rangers get scored on by the Caps with equal alacrity. I guess you have to give something to get something. If the Rangers are going think and play more offensively, it might come at the cost of  their defense first play. 

It just irks me that the Rangers always seem to get scored on late in periods.  Their heads seem to go out of the game as periods come to an end. The Caps goal at the end of the first period was the result of  the failure of  Gomez  to pick up the check on Fehr who was behind him. The Rangers were lucky to get out of the period without getting scored on again.

The Rangers tied the score at 3-3 in the second. They then scored a fourth goal to take the lead. With one minute left to play in the period, three Rangers were chasing Nylander with the puck. No one was near Green as he came off the bench.  Nylander dishes to Green and he scores his second goal of the game with 58 seconds left in the period.  C redit where due,  it was a great shot by Green. That made two long shots that Henrik missed. Very un-Henrik like.

The Rangers held the Caps to six shots in the third period but they had only nine themselves. Ordinarily that stat would seem good. But  the Rangers had a full four minute powerplay in which they only managed to get one shot on goal. One shot.  Truly sad.

The Rangers ratcheted up the entertainment value for that portion of the fan base that they continually bore. They earned two points for the fans who care about their position in the standings. Most importantly, they proved that they can win if they follow the game plan. Get shots on net and give and take hits to make plays.

Maybe  the threat of Avery coming back put the fear God (Glen) into them.  It’s amazing what can be done when most of the team shows  up.  Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy were each a +1 tonight. Woo-Hoo.

I hope the geniuses that run the NHL were watching tonight. The two bouts at the beginning of the game clearly illustrate why there is a need for fighting in hockey. When a gorilla like Brashear tries to set the tone before two minutes have gone by, your team needs to answer the bell. 

Colton Orr did just that. I gave the bout to Colton on points. We don’t have to play the Caps again in the regular season but we might see them in the playoffs. Hopefully a message was sent. Colton can take Brashear.

Voros was the clear winner of his fight  but most fans still wonder why he is out on the ice in the first place. He was a -2. He had one shot one goal and two hits. Spending 5 minutes in the box doesn’t show toughness nor is it an indication of value.

If  it’s all about putting pucks in the net, Voros should sit and Prucha should play.

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.

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.

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!

Through all this, I still went to work and did my job. I also went to both the games on Tuesday and yesterday only to see the Rangers turn in two embarrassing and lackluster efforts. This has been one Christmas I won’t soon forget.

Aside from being physically sick and tired, when it comes to the Rangers, I’m mentally tired and sick to my stomach. What in the world is going on with this team? They haven’t played a full 60 minutes of hockey since they defeated Anaheim on December 16th.

Not for nothing, but someone from the Rangers  (hint – maybe their Captain) needs to stand up and be accountable to the fans for what has transpired over these last two games. I just learned that Gomez has the flu.  That’s a good reason for not skating hard or hitting.  Why did Renney play him? His lost 13 out of 15 faceoffs. Anyone else on the team have the flu?

I don’t need Chris Drury telling me to put anymore games in the garbage can. Maybe some player’s can  needs to be put in the garbage.  Nice pass to Dubinsky last night that lead to the shorthanded goal, Captain. I don’t blame the kid. I blame Drury. What the hell was he thinking? Jagr wouldn’t have been able to handle the puck Drury dished to Dubinsky. Nice Job, Cap’n.

It is a really bad state of affairs when little Dawes throws one of the few and best hits of the game. Can Drury, Naslund, Gomez or Redden please take a body? Can they finish a check? These are the veteran leaders on this team and they do not lead by example. 

For goodness sake why is Kalinin still on this team? Why is Voros playing and Prucha and Fritsche sitting? If Voros isn’t using his size and his grit, then sit him. At least Prucha will finish checks and hit.

When this  team has played the system, when they commit to playing 60 minutes of hockey, they have won.  The powerplay has never worked. It has been a problem since the first season after the lockout. And yet, Perry Pearn is still here.

What really sickens me the most is the knee/jerk reaction of fans who call for Renney to be fired. They should be calling for Sather to be fired. He signed the bad contracts. He put this squad together. He is ultimately responsible for the result on the ice.

Last time I looked, an NHL team needed at least 6 defensemen. Sather has given Renney 3.5. Last time I looked, an NHL team needed at least one scoring line.  Trying to take the host of spare parts Sather signed and mold them into scoring lines would try the patience of any coach. He can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.

What are the remedies to what ails the Rangers? Larry Brooks would have the Rangers re-aquire Avery. Yeah Larry, that will work. Not.  Avery burned his bridges here. There’s no coming back for him.

Here are my remedies.

The team, coaches, players and management all need to acknowledge to the fan base that this is not the year for a Cup run. It ain’t gonna happen.  

Forward – Either get rid of Drury or Gomez. Drury is a center not a winger and has been misused. Drury also has a no trade clause. If the Rangers want to resign their RFA youth this summer and Zherdev,  they need to move salary. If that means Adios to Gomer, que lastima.  No hard feelings Scottie just don’t resign with New Jersey.

Defense -Embarrass Redden into agreeing to be traded to any team that will take him off our hands. Give him the Malik treatment. Redden is the worst signing Sather has made during his tenure since Holik.  Waiving  Kalinin would truly be addition by subtraction. Bring up Potter permanently and get a rental to replace Redden.

Scoring – Resign Shanahan. He’ll bring leadership and scoring for the rest of the season. Say what you want about his having lost a step and his grit, Shanny has it in him to still score goals.

Coaching- Renney has worked with everyone Sather has thrown at him with a great deal of success, more success then anyone should have expected. Firing Renney is not the answer. Pearn must go. Three years with no powerplay is not acceptable. Shanahan could be their powerplay coach.

Management – Sather must go. What the hell does this guy do with his time?  Sather had to go out and hire  “Cap Expert” Cam Hope to help him do the job a GM is supposed to do. Sather needs to get off his ass and do something. Renney didn’t sign these ineffective players, Sather did. Time has past Sather by. He clearly is incapable of operating as a GM in this salary capped environment.