Coming Soon...

To be honest, I was going to write a little entry here about how important Johnny Tavares would be to the Islanders, and how much pressure it is on an 18-year old who isn't really thinking yet that he will have to be a savior for a franchise, but Bryan hit the points pretty well on his last post. Since he's the Islander blogger, I'll leave it at that for now. 

I also hope that this isn't a point that we write about and look back on and realize it never mattered at all. In that bucket are posts about acquiring Marian Hossa and Mats Sundin, Mike Comrie and Miro Satan being traded at the 2008 trade deadline, Petr Prucha being traded, and Brendan Shanahan/Sean Avery/Jaromir Jagr/Marty Straka returning.

Yes, as a devout, lifelong Rangers fan, I wholeheartedly hope the Islanders get Tavares. For the past 3 years, I had hoped the Rangers tanked the 2008-09 season so that they could get the #1 overall pick, but now that they have no chance at being in the lottery, I really wish the Islanders get their chance.

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By some divine streak of luck - aka my friend Tom texting me today - I will be at the Coliseum for the first time since the Rangers clinched the playoffs last year with a decisive victory.

In truth, it will only be my 4th game of the season, which is weird for me. Last year, I hit like 14 or 15 Ranger games (and one Islanders/Coyotes game as well). Most were at the Garden, but I traveled to New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Montreal as well to see them. This year, I saw "Opening Night" against Chicago (a victory), Avery's return against Dallas (a game in which my friend Tom passed out in the 2nd period, and the Rangers were playing so bad that I didn't wake him), and Petr Prucha's game-tying third-period goal against Pittsburgh in December (a shootout win). I'll probably be at 8, 9, or 10 games this year when all is said and done, including in Nashville in March.

Should be fun. I love going to the Coliseum for Ranger games. I like drinking in the parking lot and being in a 50/50 split. 

My hope is for some quality "Let's Go IslandersLet's Go Rangers!" chants (not a typo). My prediction is a Rangers overtime victory... not shootout... overtime! And as always, I predict Prucha scoring 2 goals.