Let There Be Blood

It's been a while.

It's been a while since this rivalry has reached the next level. It's been a while since something has happened to really spark things between the Islanders and the Rangers. It's been a while since we've seen a good bloodbath. And, even though the playoffs are possibilities for both teams and these two games mean a lot, I hope that changes this week.

Last season, we saw Chris Simon whack Ryan Hollweg. Say what you want about the cleanliness of that play, but it was definitely something to get the blood boiling in the rivalry. However, since it was so close to the end of last season, the big payoff occurred in the pre-season. Hard to get excited about anything that happens in the pre-season, even if it's a series of brawls that even the goaltenders get involved in. Since then, the teams have focused mostly on playing, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

It's just that we haven't had a big donnybrook in a long time. The last big brawl I can recall between the Islanders and Rangers occurred at the Garden in 2002, when Alexei Yashin had a hat trick in the first period and broke Tomas Kloucek's nose in the second. That was a pretty awesome moment, particulary if you're an Islander fan. But since then, there haven't been many fireworks. Even when the Rangers beat the Islanders six times out of six in 2004, the Isles never dropped the gloves to start something. That's a shame.

Yeah, the games have been excellent in recent years. We had the first game after the lockout that went into a shootout. We had DiPietro's 56-save performance last year. We had last year's mad dash for a playoff berth, one that both teams (and their fans) won. But there hasn't been that singular moment to push this rivalry over the edge. Simon's thuggery should have done the trick last year. Let's hope some of that bad blood still remains twelve months later.

Remember, the NHL knew exactly what it was doing scheduling two home-and-home series between the Islanders and Rangers in the final month of the season. As much as the NHL loves to pretend it hates violence, that's exactly what it was asking for with their scheduling. They want these two teams to beat the crap out of each other as they vie for playoff berths. They want this to get ugly. They want something to happen to get these teams on the back pages, even if it might give the league a black eye of sorts. After all, any publicity is good publicity, especially with a rivalry as heated as this one.

It's been a while. The NHL wants it. The fans want it. Let's see some rough stuff in these two games. If we can't both have the playoffs, let's make sure we have something to watch for as the season winds down.