Rangers Beat Devils...

Am I really hearing positive things coming out of the hosts' mouths on the NHL Networks On the Fly?

He really was disciplined tonight, and got the same treatment from the refs that he normally does. David Clarkson attacks him, he gets a penalty. Martin Brodeur chops him in the crotch, no penalty, of course. Those just aren't Avery Rules, those are Marty Rules. He has immunity.

I liked Chris Drury hitting his stick along the boards in approval of Avery not being goaded into a fight. Avery was right - the Rangers were up 3-0 and a fight wouldn't have done anything to help them further... especially if he lost it.

Regardless, here's how the Rangers stand after a thrilling 3-0 win over the Devils...

They have 89 points. The most they can get is 99 (5 games left).

Buffalo has 82 points and can get 96 at the most (if they go 7-0 to end the season). Forget Buffalo, they might make 8th on a long shot but won't overtake the Rangers.

Florida Panthers, possibly in a last-ditch effort to save a crappy franchise (which I hope moves), might be the only team who currently sit outside of the top 8 who might crack the playoffs. They have 85 points and can get 97 total.

Say the Panthers get to 94 points. The Rangers in their 5 games left, would have to go 3-2 or 2-1-2 in their remaining 5 games to avoid a tiebreaker scenario (although they currently have 3 more victories, the first tiebreaker).

I didn't get to watch the whole game tonight because of work, but I watched some there and highlights online and on TV, so I apologize if my normally dead-on analysis is lacking tonight. But how about that diving pass from Nik Antropov to Dan Girardi on the 2nd goal of the game? Fantastic.

Should be an interesting 5 games against playoff contenders (Canes, Bruins, Habs, Flyers, Flyers). That Montreal game on April 7 will be huuuuuge.

* * *

For those keeping track of past Rangers, Petr Prucha scored the game winner in overtime today against Dallas, and also had 2 assists in a 6-5 win for the Coyotes.

Two Teams in Black and White...

(I would've posted this earlier, but I had work. Sorry to steal Bryan's spotlight.)

Pittsburgh is a tough team to beat. It's harder to beat the refs though. Today's game was atrocious. I was fine with Atlanta's disaster in refereeing, in which the first 7 minutes of the game took 30 to play, because the officiating was bad on both sides. But today's game reminded me of Game 5 of last year's 2nd round series between these two teams.

You remember.

Don't you?

Ryan Malone high-sticks Chris Drury. Drury has a blade-shaped slice on his cheek. The game pauses for 5 minutes so they can clean the blood up. No penalty. Later, Drury nicks Malone. 4-minute penalty.

I'm not saying there is an anti-Ranger bias, no way. I am saying there is a pro-Penguin bias in the league, and it's been there for quite some time now.

But boy, the Rangers made them look silly with all of those flawless penalty kills.

If only they could've scored on their own power plays, but that would involve Wade Redden being off the ice, but he was out there, comically, for every single man-"advantage". (For all of John Tortorella's benching of Mike Sauer, who played 1:59 in the first and nothing else, he let Redden play a lot. Redden was directly responsible for 2 Penguin goals, Paul Mara the other two.)

A bad ending to a good back-and-forth game (once the Rangers realized, about 14 minutes into the 1st, that it was late-March and not early-November). A 5-minute interference call? I've never seen that before.

But hey. It was an important game for the Penguins. Time to bring out the obscure penalties.

Skill vs. Will

As tonight's Islanders-Flyers game unfolded, I couldn't help but think I'd seen it somewhere before.

The game reminded me of another battle, one that also involved the fighting city of Philadelphia. Only in this game, the Islanders were reminiscent of Philadelphian Rocky Balboa, while the Flyers played the role of Apollo Creed. The Flyers, not unlike Creed, appeared to think they'd coast to victory without putting in any work. And why wouldn't they? The Islanders, after all, had just played the night before in Detroit. That they squeaked out a victory over the defending Stanley Cup champions is irrelevant. The Islanders would be sore and tired; in a season like the one the Islanders have had, it'd be perfectly understandable.

Nobody bothered to tell any of this to the Islanders, who came into the game with nothing to lose - just like Rocky. And just like Rocky, the Islanders started out with a bang, scoring in the first period. Only the NHL's rule to only count goals that are in the net at the buzzer (as opposed to shots that are taken before buzzer, but go in after) prevented this from being a 2-0 game at the first intermission. Not only were the Islanders winning, but they were more than holding their own against the Flyers, who desperately needed the two points.

I imagine the scene in the Flyers' dressing room to be identical to the scene in Apollo Creed's corner after the first round. Apollo's trainer asks what happened, then delivers the words that say it all:

"He doesn't know it's a damn show. He thinks it's a damn fight. Now finish this bum, and let's go home."

Apollo woke up. So did the Flyers. The Islanders got a quick goal to start the second, perhaps the hockey gods' way of making up for the missed opportunity at the end of the first. But the goal woke the Flyers up, and the Broad Street Bullies started swinging. Daniel Carillo took on Nate Thompson. Exactly one second later, Riley Cote fought Joel Rechlicz to a minute-plus standoff, with both players landing some major punches. And you could hear the bell ring and watch the referee and trainers separate Rocky and Apollo at the end of Round 2. Cue "Going The Distance" - you could tell it was going to be a war.

The period maintained its chippy status, and as the second period would down and the third period began, the Flyers started to play hockey again. Eventually, they started to wear down their inferior opponents. And just like Apollo knocked Rocky down in the 14th round, the Islanders were dealt a knock-down blow of their own - three goals in 3:55 of game time.

You could almost imagine the Islanders on the canvas flailing, trying their best to get up. Mickey tells Rocky to stay down. Islanders fans figured it was over, that their impressive run had to run out sometime, and it may as well be now; no sense earning points that could jeopardize the first overall pick. But the underdog doesn't listen to reason, just to the challenge ahead of him. Rocky rose and hit Apollo so hard that the defending champion spits up blood. The Islanders scored a goal 32 seconds later to tie the score. With nothing to lose, there was no way they were going to stay down.

When Rocky and Apollo squared off in Round 15, the final round, it was a cautious meeting of two exhausted fighters who simply wanted to survive. The overtime between the Islanders and Flyers played out in a similar fashion. Both teams had their chances, but it was a draw and it was meant to end as such. The Flyers won the shootout. Apollo got the decision. None of it matters.

Ain't gonna be no rematch.

Don't want one.

For the Islanders, these past two nights were their Stanley Cup Final. They knocked off Detroit in their home stadium, traveled overnight, and took the Flyers, a legitimate Cup contender, to the brink just 24 hours later. That's a tremendous amount to be proud of. No matter what happens with the draft, this is the team the Islanders are going to be next season - tireless and with plenty of fight, with just enough skill to compete every night. If they land John Tavares, great. If they get a big-time free agent, even better. The moral of the story is, the Islanders finally have an identity, and if they can fight this hard with the odds stacked against them in a meaningless game, imagine what they can do when things are going their way.

Disaster in Atlanta...

One thing is for sure, if Atlanta keeps selling tickets like they did tonight, the Rangers will have very few more disasters in that city. Those disasters will be in either Kansas City, Seattle, Las Vegas, or Hamilton.

Which Ranger rose to the occasion tonight when the season hung in the balance? Not Steve Valiquette - he played good and had no chance on those first two goals, but the next two? C'mon! Wunderkid Marc Staal? "This wraparound attempt brought to you by #18's inability to check a player."

For the past 3 seasons, I had a joke with some friends. If a Ranger took a penalty while on the power play, he "Rozsival-ed," because Rozsival would often lose control of the puck on the point, and have to hook or hold a player to stop a short-handed breakaway. If the Rangers were already down a man and took another penalty to go 3-on-5, you "Tyutin-ed," because he had a penchant to take a bad penalty.

What's it called when you're about to have a 3-minute 5-on-3, and then 6 players hop on the ice? "Naslund-ing"? "Drury-ing"? "Why is Redden even on the power play-ing"? No... it's called "Sabatoge."

A 3-minute 5-on-3, nearly a guaranteed goal in other parts of the country (like in San Jose, New Jersey, Boston, or Detroit) was null-and-void before it got started because 6 Rangers were so eager to not score that they all had to be on the ice at once.

My friend, Dan, wants me to point out Markus Naslund is "slow, tired, and sloppy with the puck almost every night." I cleaned up the puncuation, but he makes a point. He is older than he was when they should have signed him - July 1, 2005. Someone made a real nice pass to him today, and if he accepted it, he would have had a real nice shot on net. I didn't even get excited when I saw the play because I knew he wouldn't settle the puck down, and if he did, he would wait 2 seconds too long to shoot. And he doesn't do much away from the puck. I do give him props, though, for not giving up on that goal he scored in the 2nd period. And atleast he's cheap (yes, $4M is cheap for a player with his resume). And I do like him as a person, he's just lost a few steps since he played with Brendan Morrison and Todd "Murder" Bertuzzi.

I want to take John Tortorella to task. You had a chance to send out 6 shooters in the shootout, and you send out Scott Gomez and Ryan Callahan while Nik Zherdev sits on the bench, clutching his stick in his golden hands, waiting for his chance? C'mon! I know you want to reward them for playing well, but there is an extra point to be had against a backup goalie on a weak squad, and you leave you best chance for that point riding pine?

Say what you want about Tom Renney, Lord knows I have, but atleast he threw out Zherdev each and every shootout.

Valiquette did well in the shootout, very well. A goalie should be allowed to let in 1 out of 6 breakaway attempts. You only hope that your coach can throw out the best chance to win, not "make a statement" by benching someone or rewarding someone in what is a skills competition. Skills competition, not "heart & soul competition."

* * *

A horrible ending to what was setting up to be a good win. Maybe I'm too hard on the Rangers tonight because they've done decently well lately, but in late-March, against a lottery-bound team in a half-empty building, you need 2 points. Two. Not one and an inability to get one past the Penguins 2001-02 starting goaltender in a shootout. Because, guess what? The last 7 games are ALL against playoff teams - Flyers x2, Bruins, Devils, Penguins, Canadiens, and Hurricanes.

No one showed any heart in the 3rd period until a minute left. Redden? Did you see when Ilya Kovalchuk cross-checked Sean Avery and then went down with him? Watch the replay... Redden gets on the ice, looks at them, and turns to head back to the bench. A real teammate would have gone and checked Kovalchuk to make a point and stand up for his mates.

Apparently, in Emerald City, $39M can't buy you heart.

Are We Safe?

After tonight's loss to the Wild, the Islanders have 56 points in 73 games. They're eight points clear of Colorado and Tampa Bay, each of whom have played 73 games as well. Atlanta has 66 points in 74 games; they're not catching the Islanders. Nor are the Coyotes, even though they've won like five games in 2009. So, in essence, it's a three-team race for the first overall pick.

The Islanders and Lightning play a proverbial "4-point game" on April 4th at the Coliseum. It'll be interesting to see how the fans respond to that game if things are still in doubt. Quite frankly, I don't think they will be. Aside from the Lightning, the Islanders have road games against Detroit, Washington, Carolina and Pittsburgh, and home games against Philadelphia (twice), Montreal and Boston. That's a lot of playoff teams. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay has games against Ottawa and Atlanta on the docket, while Colorado still has to play Phoenix and a Dallas team that could be out of contention by the time they play on April 9th.

Long story short? It's looking good. Still, we must remember that these are the Islanders we're talking about; NOTHING comes easy. That said, I've already requested a personal day on April 14th to recover from the excessive drinking that will surely come after the Draft Lottery. We can only hope it'll be celebratory drinking, not despair drinking. But hey, even if Tampa Bay wins the Lottery, they're likely to choose Victor Hedman. So, if the Islanders have the worst record and lose the lottery to the Lightning, they may land John Tavares after all.

---

Tonight's game was a bit frustrating. The Islanders dominated the first period, which ended in quite the fracas. And it's possible that the kerfluffle inspired the Wild to wake up and start playing. It probably had more to do with the Wild's goal with just a minute left in the first, but however you slice it, the Isles were outplayed in the final two periods. Hey, it happens, especially against a team fighting for its playoff lives.

But tonight's game was also inspiring. It seemed like once the Wild got comfortably ahead, they wanted to coast to the finish. The Islanders wouldn't let them. It was great to see guys like Blake Comeau and Kyle Okposo assert themselves physically; the only unfortunate part is that Okposo didn't throw down for the first time in his NHL career. Even so, the game proved to be quite the chippy tete-a-tete, the kind nobody thought they'd see between two teams that never play each other. In the middle of all of this was a Wild player named Cal Clutterbuck, a rookie who's proven quite adept at antagonizing pretty much everyone. Last night, he fought Sean Avery. Tonight, he was in the face of every Islander. He's a keeper.

It's always better to see teams play against the teams directly competing with them for playoff position. But this game proved to be a fun one. Or, at least, as much fun as the Wild and Jacques Lemaire will allow. The final eight of the East is almost sewn up. The West has a lot to be resolved in terms of playoff teams and playoff positioning. It's cool to be a part of that. But as for the Islanders' struggle for the first overall pick... it might very well be over.

NOTE: Colorado is getting killed 5-0 by Anaheim - at home, no less - in the second period. Thanks for showing up, guys.

Suspension Update...

Suspension for pushing an NHL referee (and a linesman) and shooting a puck in his direction: 3 games.

Suspension for disparaging remarks about a Hollywood actress: 6 games and anger management treatment.

For those who didn't see it, Martin Gerber stuffed a wraparound attempt, and Brooks Laich comes and pushes Gerber into the net with his stick, like he was spearing him in the stomach. The play wasn't stopped, the goal counted, and the game went to overtime. As Gerber was arguing the call, he touched a referee and pushed a linesman. He then shot a puck near them when he was ejected.

With all due respect to him, he didn't push them hard or maliciously, he was trying to get their attention. But the rules say that contact is forbidden (happened to Mike Peca this year, too). And it never should have been a goal. But him shooting a puck at them, albeit weakly, was wrong.

And with all due respect to Sean Avery, Elisha Cuthbert wasn't "sloppy seconds," as he said. She was "sloppy thirds." Mike Komisarek was there before Dion Phaneuf was, also.

So there you have it. If you are factually incorrect, you will be banished from the league. But Gerber had a point, so he only got a 3-game ban.

Rare MSG Guests: Minnesota Wild...

The last time the Rangers played the Minnesota Wild, it was a disastrous occasion that culminated in Marion Gaborik scoring 5 goals and being desperately fed the puck for a sixth goal that never actually happened. That was December 2007 in Minnesota.

Tonight's game (on Versus, don't forget) marks only the 3rd time since the lockout that these two teams are going to meet. It's the second time since then that the Wild will be at Madison Square Garden.

As it happens, I will be at tonight's game (thankfully, so I won't have to watch the Versus telecast... someone please inform me who the Bud Light Drinkability Player of the Game is). And as it happened, I was at MSG the last time, as well.

Since that game was in December 2005, let me remind you how it went down...

... Dwayne Roloson was in net for Minnesota. He nearly won a Cup later that season with Edmonton.

... Henrik Lundqvist had just starting playing regularly when Kevin Weekes got injured in November.

... Petr Prucha (remember him?) had 2 power play goals, his 8th and 9th goals of the season.

... Martin Rucinsky had 3 assists.

... Martin Straka scored the other Rangers goal (an empty-netter)

... Future and former Ranger Pascal Dupuis scored the lone goal for Minnesota. Alexandre Daigle (remember him?!) had an assist during his short-lived comeback tour.

... Mikko Koivu, far and away the team's leading point-getter this year, was a healthy scratch. he will miss tonight's game as well with a knee injury.

... And my $36 seats in Section 333 are now closer to $60.

* * *

It doesn't matter if the Rangers win tonight in regulation, overtime, or the shootout, so long as they win. Giving an extra point to Minnesota doesn't hurt them at all, they just need 2 themselves.

The Wild sit in 10th place. Two points tonight puts them tentatively in 8th place, as Nashville and Anaheim will have a game in hand.

Both teams desperately need a win tonight, the Wild maybe a little more, so I expect a pretty fast moving game. It should be more like last season's game as opposed to the 2005 Neutral Trap Game I witnessed.

The Rivalry on the Radio...

Check out this link to hear us on CW Post's radio station discussing hockey.

Bryan is the one who talks very quietly. I'm the one who sounds like a robot who's smoking a cigar. And the host, Tony, is the one who sounds like the Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons.

Morning Draft Lottery Links

Sorry to usurp Zach, but I had to link to this excellent piece by Chris Botta regarding Islanders fans who may be rooting against their team right now. The truth is, ANY fan who even cares about the Islanders right now deserves to root for anything they'd like. This whole debate reminds me of a Bill Simmons article about a similar issue that occurred with the Celtics fanbase in 2007. What's the right answer? It's hard to say. I, for one, think that if the Islanders play as hard as they can, the draft will take care of itself. That said, you only get one chance to draft a superstar who can immediately contribute, and in the Islanders' delicate situation with the Lighthouse, that can be the difference between staying on the Island or moving elsewhere.

I also wanted to link to a rather interesting article by Larry Brooks regarding the draft lottery. Brooks claims that the NHL needs to expand its lottery to all non-playoff teams because it's too tempting for a team with, say, the 6th-worst record to tank just to get into the lottery. And you know what? He has a point. The NBA allows all non-playoff teams into its draft lottery, though only the top four even have a 10% chance at winning; this is a far cry from the days when the Orlando Magic won the lottery despite having the 13th-worst record in the league. Brooks' system suggests that the team's lack of playoff berths and any recent 1st overall picks they may have had be incorporated into the formula, which would make things VERY confusing. But it also might help. Last year's NHL Draft Lottery ended up shaking out exactly as the standings did, and since the team with the worst record has a 48.2% chance of getting the first pick, that makes a lot of sense. Then again, the whole point of a draft lottery is to discourage teams from tanking, not to punish bad teams by not giving them top picks. In short, there might be a better answer, but the odds of the NHL finding it are virtually nil.

Nik Antropov...

Patrick Kaleta is a punk, we know that. Paul Mara broke his eye socket and cheek bone in a collision last year with him, and in their first meeting this year on October 15, he left his feet for a hit then taunted Mara about his face.

Last time the Rangers played the Sabres, in Ryan Miller's last game, he was doing the same stuff. He ran amok, hit dirty, got under their skin, and tried injuring players. In my post-game wrap that night, aside from calling the Rangers awful (as they most certainly were in the dead of February), I called out Colton Orr for not teaching Kaleta a lesson. Why have someone like Orr, who doesn't contribute offensively or defensively, on the team if he isn't going to punish the players taking runs at his teammates? Tie Domi or Bob Probert would've pummelled Kaleta into the hash marks.

Well, tonight, one of the sweetest things my eyes ever have seen was Nik Antropov using his 6'6" body to crush Kaleta, then seeing him dazed on the bench. I normally don't root for people to be injured, but when you intentionally attempt to injure someone, I'm all for you getting rocked hard.

For example, Domi never tried to hurt people. Trent Hunter is irritating to play against, but he's clean. Darcy Tucker takes runs at players (or at least did when he was relevant). Sean Avery, like him or not, will get under your skin, but he won't try to take you out of the game. Matt Barnaby and Ville Nieminen played the same way, just not as good. Gary Roberts, Chris Pronger, Chris Simon, and Jarkko Ruutu try to injure opponents, so when someone like them gets absolutely nailed, I smile.

Antropov creaming Kaleta fits that bill. It was awesome, and worth the 2nd round pick just to have him do it. (And yes, worth next year's conditional pick as well.)

Quick Hits

Just a couple of quick thoughts...

 - As stated in the post directly below this one, we were on the radio today and it was a blast. We ended up talking hockey for about two hours and (hopefully) a fun time was had by all. The show isn't available for download yet, but once it is, we'll be posting a link here. Thanks again to Anthony at the 3rd String Safety for having us.

 - Tonight's action featured two four-point games with the local teams. The Rangers beat Buffalo 5-3, which is a huge, huge win for the Blueshirts. The Rangers now have an eight-point lead on Buffalo, essentially meaning that the Rangers only have to beat out Florida for the final playoff spot, but that's just the beginning. Since Montreal lost tonight, the Rangers have a three-point cushion in the 7th spot; furthermore, they're only two points out of 4th place and the home-ice advantage that comes with it. Sure, Carolina and Pittsburgh sit between the Rangers and 4th place Philadelphia, but the Rangers have games in hand over both the Hurricanes and Penguins. Long story short, things are looking good for the Rangers.

 - The other 4-point game tonight would be the Islanders playing Ottawa in a game with some draft implications for the Islanders. Ottawa's pretty much out of the running for the first overall pick, but one win could change all that. Well, after Ottawa destroyed the Islanders 5-2 tonight, the Senators are no longer in the picture. While I can't stomach hearing Islanders fans proclaiming their joy after such an outcome, there was one positive - Josh Bailey had his first two-goal game. That brings his total for the year up to a robust five goals. Yes, Bailey scored 40% of his season's output tonight. It's worth noting that for all of the Islanders' great play of late, much of it has been at home; the Isles are now a horrendous 8-26-3 on the road on the year. One last thing - if we can agree that Buffalo can't catch the Rangers because they're eight points back, the same can be said for Atlanta and Colorado, each of whom are eight points ahead of the Islanders right now. The only team closer to the Isles is the 61-point Tampa Bay Lightning, who are five up on the Islanders. So it's eminently possible that the Islanders will get their 48.2% chance at John Tavares after all.

 - I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the wacky scheduling of this weekend. Last night, the Islanders played a 7 PM game in Carolina. They then had to fly overnight to Ottawa in order to play tonight at 7 PM. Ottawa, in turn, will fly to New York to play the Rangers at 7 PM tomorrow night. You may recall the same type of thing happened a month or so ago when the Islanders played Toronto on the road, only to have both teams fly home simultaneously so the Leafs could play the Rangers at the Garden the next night. And not for nothing, but only the Islanders would get stuck flying some 1,500-plus miles overnight to play a Canadian team. I'm pretty sure the important teams, such as the Penguins, Capitals and Rangers all would get the luxury of a good night's sleep in this scenario.

 - I'm heading to "Arena At Harbor Yard" tomorrow to watch the Bridgeport Sound Tigers face the Portland Pirates, the AHL affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres. Should be a fun day. It's Jeff Tambellini Bobblehead Day, so feel free to make your own Tambellini joke (and after tonight's game, feel free to make a crack about his breakaway skills). In any event, we'll have a report of the arena, the team, and the general minor-league experience sometime soon.

Hockey on the Radio...

Well, it's no ESPN, but hockey WILL be on the radio Saturday afternoon. Bryan and I will be on C.W. Post's sports radio show from 12 noon until 1:30 discussing hockey with Tony from Third String Safety. He admittedly has very little knowledge of hockey, but he's willing to learn. He runs a very good site with his partner, com Jason, as well. It is to UFC and the NFL what this site is to the Islanders and Rangers.

It broadcasts live at WCWPSports.com and YouCastr.com. After the show, there will be a link on this page so you can download the program if you'd like to.

Among the topics that will be discussed: Our probably horrendously-wrong preseason predictions; our thoughts on who should be nominated for the Vezina, Calder, and Norris trophies (who will get nominated is a completely different story); Bryan on his ever-widening love affair of Steve Mason; a Rangers-Sabres preview including how they've been doing since Scott Gomez injured Ryan Miller; an Islanders-Senators preview; the difference in rebuilding teams (like Phoenix) and bad teams (like Colorado); and we'll try to dissect the tight playoff races in the East and West.

Martin Brodeur*...

I think it's funny how little press is going to the fact that Martin Brodeur isn't really the winningest goalie in NHL history. Everyone is talking about him like he's Jesus on Ice, when in reality he hasn't broken Patrick Roy's all-time wins record.

See, Brodeur has won 27 shootouts, putting his real win number at 525.

(I see people comparing this to Roger Maris, which is completely untrue. First off, Maris played like 8 more games than Ruth did. It would be comparable if Major League Baseball added an extra inning to every game. Brodeur won an extra 27 games from 2005-2009 that would have been ties for Roy. Second, this milestone is not nearly as important as Ruth's record was. If you asked me before this year what the record for wins was, I would not have known.)

What also is a lie is his "record" of 48 victories in one season, "breaking" Bernie Parent's record. The record was 47, Brodeur has 48 in 2006-07, yet 10 of them were in the shootout. Technically, he wouldn't have even broken 40 if this were pre-lockout years. 

I'm not an opponent of the shootout. In fact, I hated ties with a passion and thought they were killing hockey (along with the two-line pass rule, the New Jersey Devils, and Jacques Lemaire). Nothing was worse than seeing a 1-1 hockey game. Unfulfilling. And Lord knows my Rangers need shootouts to make the playoffs, and Henrik Lundqvist's 4-straight 30-win seasons (a record to start a career) was definitely amplified by the tiebreaker.

And yes, Brodeur will eventually break the record cleanly. He plays 70 games a year when healthy. I would also say he legitimately has 3 or 4 more seasons in him as a starter, so that's atleast 100 more regulation/overtime wins without shootouts. 

Before Devils fans learn to read and come on this website and bash me for being a Brodeur hater...

1) I don't particularly like Brodeur. I've met him in person, and he has an awful personality. I think he's childish, he takes dives, he whines, and there's a reason he sits alone on the buses after games. 

2) I understand he's a great goaltender. I don't think he was as good as Roy was. But I know he should eventually own this record outright, just next season.

I just wish the coronation of Brodeur to God-like levels by the NHL would stop.

Wade Redden and the Defense...

At the Garden the other day, they were giving away "spots" for the Blueshirts Off Our Backs promotion. For those who don't know, that's after the last home game (April 9 vs. Flyers). They line everyone up on the ice, and the players come out in number order, take off their jerseys, sign them, and put them on your back.

No, I didn't win one of these spots (from what I know, about 1/3 of the people on the ice "overcome obstacles," and the remaining 2/3 are season ticket holders who are plucked from the crowds that night).

But my friend asked me what I would do if I got on the ice, noticed I was the 2nd person, did the math, and realized I would be getting a Wade Redden jersey. I had two reactions: 1) I would try to convince someone in line that they would rather have a Redden jersey than a Colton Orr jersey or 2) I would turn the tables on him, take off my jersey, sign it, and give it to him.

But today, he had a good game! He barely pinched, and when he did he joined rushes for shots on goal and didn't get caught out of position. He had a few shots that almost hit the net also (he was credited with 3 shots on goal). He even made a very good plan on Nik Antropov's goal. 

Joe Micheletti said it best today when he said all the D-men were playing good today. Paul Mara always plays to his ability. He shoots all the time (granted, does that thing where he misses the net on purpose to make a rebound way too much) and hits everyone he can. He's a 5th D and he's good at his job. When Dan Girardi messes up, Marc Staal is there to back him up (the rare exception is when he kicked in Nashville's 2nd goal Wednesday). 

I have no qualms with Derek Morris. He shoots hard and often. No goals yet, but he has been shooting a lot and it was his shot that Sean Avery deflected in for a 1-0 lead Sunday against Philadelphia. 

You know what you get with Redden and Michal Rozsival. Well, fans know what they get. GM Glen Sather thinks he's getting Scott Stevens and Brian Leetch for their combined $11.5M/year. You get players who are overpaid, underperform, don't shoot, and give up odd-man rushes when they "man the point" on the power play. However, even Rozsival played decent today. There was one play where a Canadien (I think it was Alex Kovalev) tried a fancy toe-drag-deke move, and instead of following the puck, he stood up and knocked him down, clearing the puck.

Marc Staal is a different story. He is excellent sometimes, like in Nashville, he was great. He was good Saturday in Philly also. Sunday, however, "This odd-man rush is brought to you by Marc Staal getting caught up-ice."

* * * 

Anyway, got off track there. I still don't want Redden's jersey, signed, free, unsigned, or if I donate blood. But if the Rangers are going to make the playoffs, they need him to play good. Like it or not, he'll be getting 20 minutes every game (he was getting less and less, but he got 22:37 in Montreal). 

No, he isn't good enough to be a Top 2 D-man. Yes, he's brutally overpaid and probably doesn't care if this team wins or loses (I don't like to question an athlete's passion, but you have to with him sometimes). Yes, we are stuck with him for 5 more years or until he waives his no-trade clause, but we need him.

* * * 

From an entertainment standpoint, today's game was excellent. Even the first period, which had no scoring, was great. Avery vs. Mike "The Original Sloppy Seconds" Komisarek was shaping up nicely, and it was a fast-moving period. The only thing that would've been better was not giving up that 2nd point to Montreal, but right now, getting 2 points is the bigger picture.

Congrats?

There is no way Martin Brodeur is better than Patrick Roy.

Roy reinvented the position of goaltender in the NHL. Before him, the majority of goalies simply stood there and watched pucks fly by. Roy brought the butterfly to prominence and used it to dominate the most offensive era in NHL history. Here's a sample of how good Roy was, using his Vezina winning years...

 - 1988-89: 2.47 GAA; average goals per game was 7.48.

 - 1989-90: 2.53 GAA; average goals per game was 7.37.

 - 1991-92: 2.36 GAA; average goals per game was 6.96.

As for Brodeur? He won more Vezinas, but in not so impressive a fashion...

 - 2002-03: 2.02 GAA; average goals per game was 5.31.

 - 2003-04: 2.03 GAA; average goals per game was 5.14.

 - 2006-07: 2.18 GAA; average goals per game was 5.89.

 - 2007-08: 2.17 GAA; average goals per game was 5.57.

You'll never sell this writer on the theory that Brodeur is better than Roy. At the same time, I have to give Brodeur all the credit in the world for his record-setting achievement tonight. Here's a guy who has played at least 67 games in the past eleven straight seasons. You could argue that his workload over the past decade has changed the game just as Roy did; while goaltending used to be a tandem position, at least during the regular season, teams now look for workhorse-type goalies like Brodeur. It's also worth noting that Brodeur set recorded his 552nd win in 42 less games than it took Roy to win 551 games. And while Brodeur is often criticized for playing in a defense-first system, let the record show that many other teams have tried to play the same system as the Devils, but with much less success.

With all of this in mind... congratulations, Martin Brodeur.

(All statistics courtesy of www.hockey-reference.com)

Crossroads

Right now is an interesting time to be an Islanders fan. Half the fanbase wants the team to play as well as possible. The other half wants the Islanders to lose the rest of their games. Who's right? Who knows.

It's tempting to come out and say something like, "If you're rooting for the Islanders to tank the rest of the season, you're not a real fan." Because it's not true. We've seen this many times in the past - a season becomes a total loss, after which the Islanders suddenly start playing well and get everybody all excited about the following year. Remember the second half of the 1999-00 season, when the Islanders were better than .500 and played some pretty good hockey despite giving regular shifts to guys like Mark Lawrence and Mats Lindgren? After that season, the Islanders won the draft lottery, made the infamous Rick DiPietro deal, ended October 2000 in first place... and went on to finish dead last in the NHL. Similar late-season "flourishes" occurred in 1992, 1997, and 1998; only the '92 example yielded any sort of success the following season. So you'll forgive Islanders fans if they're not buying the hype this time around.

Let's face it - Islanders fans deserve something. Anyone who has supported this team, anyone who has bought a third jersey; hell, anyone who has so much as paid for a ticket this year deserves something. Islanders fans went into this year knowing it'd be rough, and they willingly went along. And all you have to do is look at the Islanders' DVD set to see how little they've had to cheer for lately. The past 20 years have brought about pretty much nothing. The 1993 team easily could have won the Stanley Cup, but lost out to Patrick Roy and the Canadiens. Nearly a decade of atrocious play followed, and when the Islanders lost to Toronto in that bitter seven-game series in 2002, many fans thought it was the start of something special. Turns out that the series itself was not just the only reward for years of mediocrity, it was the only significant two weeks of Islanders hockey to take place this century. I know you're supposed to pay a big price for winning four straight Cups, but the Islanders' faithful have had more than their fair share of heartache.

That's where all of this is coming from. It's not about tanking in the sense of wanting your team to lose. It's more about having gone through so much that it doesn't faze you anymore. To Islanders fans, a 30th place finish wouldn't mean anything except just one more bad year in a string of them. They've been the 8th seed before, and they've been anonymously awful before. Why not be awful when there's a reward for it?

On the other hand, it's hard not to be inspired by the Islanders' play of late. In fact, it's been nearly a month since they've laid a total egg. In that period of time, their only regulation losses have been a 1-0 loss to Pittsburgh, a tough 4-2 loss to the Rangers, and a well-played 2-1 loss to Boston. Those are three playoff teams, and two of those were road games. (Insert your own joke about how the Rangers game was really a road game.) Granted, the Islanders haven't exactly played the toughest schedule, but they've taken road games in New Jersey, Montreal and Chicago over that stretch and have developed a ton of confidence playing well against teams they should play well against. Today's lineup included one player who was waived earlier this season and eight players who have spent significant time in Bridgeport this year. And yeah, you might have seen this kind of thing in prior years, but this is pretty cool.

The difference between this Islanders team and the ones in the past is that this team has a plan. They have an organizational philosophy and stability at coach and general manager. They know what kind of team they want to build and they seem to have a pretty good grasp on how to build it. They also know which players don't fit and have gotten rid of these players. It's no coincidence that the Islanders are 8-3-2 since trading Chris Campoli and Mike Comrie to Ottawa; 4-2-1 since trading Bill Guerin to Pittsburgh. Not to denigrate these players, but certain players fit this system best and the Islanders deserve credit for weeding out the parts that don't fit. This isn't rebuilding with the likes of Eric Fichaud and Niklas Andersson - this is a team, and it's starting to show.

Of course, if you're of the mindset that the Islanders should intentionally lose every game for the rest of the season, that's your prerogative. You're certainly not incorrect, that's for sure. I, for one, believe in karma, and tanking sort of plays with the fates a little too much. Besides, you can't coach players to lose, and this experience will help them in the future. And there's always the chance that the Islanders could finish as high as 26th and still end up with the first overall pick. The moral of the story is, you can't worry so much about draft picks, because you can never control what will happen. What you can control, though, is the talent you have, and it looks like many of these players are starting to turn the corner. And in a season that has given Islanders fans very little to cheer about, I'll take it.

0-4-1...

Let me regale you a tale about a fellow hockey fan - and hopefully, avid reader of this blog - named Lou.

I’ve known Lou since 1997 or 1998, and while I don’t follow other sports as much as hockey, we share the same teams in all sports (Rangers, Mets, Jets, nobody likes basketball).

I like Lou, and consider him a good friend. However, we have one problem: We have never been together at MSG to see the Rangers win a game, and we try every year. 

Sure, we’ve had our successes alone. We’ve been to the Coliseum a few times when the Rangers beat the Islanders (including the game where Jaromir Jagr broke the Rangers’ points record with a slew of first period assists). 

Oh, we’ve even seen wins at MSG when we were both there but not together. We both saw the shootout victory on Brian Leetch Night, and we both were at a Penguins game where they won 4-2 (his seats were much better than mine).

But together, we are the Buffalo Bills of Ranger games - there once a year, can’t win.

And they lose in majestic fashion as well. This tradition started in 2002-03 and here are the games...

2002-03 :: 3/26/03 :: A game against the Penguins (we had a total of 3 Ranger fans and 1 Penguins fan with us) where the Rangers got thoroughly outplayed by the equally-crappy Penguins (Rangers ended the year with 78 points; Penguins had 65). The Penguins didn’t have Mario Lemieux, hadn’t won a game in over a month, and had Sebastian Caron in goal. Of course the Rangers would lose this game. PIT 3, NYR 1

2003-04 :: 1/20/04 :: We lost the Penguins fan, and me, Lou, and another Rangers fan went to see Boston on Vintage Night, where both teams wore retro 1970s jerseys and prices on cotton candy and popcorn were rolled back to 75 cents. Disco music even played during the game. Apparently the Bruins beat the Rangers a lot in the 70s, because it happened this night too. The one saving grace was me yelling “SHOOOOT!” (which, ironically, I don’t like when people yell that now) when Leetch had the puck, and he shot, and scored the Rangers lone goal. Joe Thornton didn’t play in this game. BOS 4, NYR 1

2005-06 :: 3/12/06 :: The Rangers were beating the Thrashers 2-0 entering the 3rd (on goals by Jagr and Marty Straka), and then gave up one midway through the period. “Sweet Caroline” came on with 5 minutes left in the game, Ilya Kovalchuk scores, and the Rangers lose in overtime. Quite a depressing ending, and if the Rangers had won the game, they would’ve had an extra point in the standings, and at the end of the season that would’ve translated to home ice advantage in the 1st round. One point. ATL 3, NYR 2 (OT)

2006-07 :: 2/5/07 :: Okay, so seeing Detroit play probably wouldn’t help our winless streak, we admitted, but we wanted to see an Original Six matchup, as well as Brendan Shanahan’s first game against his old club. Two red-clad females sat in front of us and asked us not to hurt them (we didn’t). I was on the phone with my friend Dan, talking about the Sean Avery trade that just went down, when I saw Shanahan skate down the wing and I said, “I’ll talk to you later. Shanny’s about to score.” Shanahan actually scored 2 minutes in and then 13 seconds later Michael Nylander followed suit. A Marcel Hossa goal gave them a 3-1 lead after the first period.

In the third, the Wings made it 3-2, and the whole place fell silent. When it was 3-3, we knew what was happening. Keep in mind, the Rangers weren’t on their “run to the playoffs” yet, and they had blown mutliple 2-goal leads. They lost 4-3 in regulation, dropping their record to 25-24-4. DET 4, NYR 3

2007-08 :: 12/6/07 :: Desperate to break the streak, we picked an easy game. A slumpbuster, if you will. Toronto. One of the worst teams in the league. How could they not beat Toronto? This was also the 3rd Original Six matchup we'd gone to.

Tied 2-2 after one, Nik Antropov took over and scored 3 straight goals. The final was 6-2 Toronto, and the Rangers completely mailed in the 3rd period. I have memories of Michal Rozsival giving up (what? him?) and having Alexander Steen ravage him for the 6th goal. Toronto actually only had 10 shots in the first 2 periods, yet had 4 goals. TOR 6, NYR 2 

* * * 

So the point of the story is that me and Lou will be going to the matinee against Philadelphia at the Garden today, carrying an 0-4-1 record when going to a game at the Garden together. If the Rangers lose, please blame us (unless it's squarely Wade Redden's fault - entirely possible), and we promise we’ll pick a game against Tampa Bay next year.

Music City Hockey...

Hockey in Tennessee, who would've thought it! 16,241 tickets were sold, about 900 short of a sell-out. There were a few empty seats around me. I sat in the 3rd row, in the middle of the zone where the Rangers shot in the 1st and 3rd periods. I was to the right of the goalies.

The Sommet Center is very nice. Everything in Nashville is compact. It basically goes from 2nd Avenue to 7th Avenue, and then there are 3 main streets - Broadway, Commerce, Church. We stayed on 7th and Church, and the arena is at Broadway and 5th, a 4 block walk. (By the way, it snowed there Thursday.) The inside is nice also, although for some reason we didn't get food or drink there. But everything is clean, even the burger fix-ins bar, which if they had one at MSG I would steer clear away from. 

For those in Nashville, they play the Anaheim Ducks on 3/24 and are selling half-priced hot dogs until the 1st intermission.

Worst Things

- Nothing makes fans angrier than seeing a Sean Avery jersey, and nothing is unfunnier than fans who don't write their own jokes. Yelling "Sloppy seconds!" at a man with an Avery #16 jersey on is like yelling, "Hey, Uncle Jesse!" if you see John Stamos walking down the street. It's not funny. You're not original. It doesn't mean anything. And you're an idiot.

- The kids have stupid whistles that they blow whenever Jordin Tootoo is on the ice. Whistles go "toot, toot," get it? So whenever he's on the ice, we get to have annoying whistles being blown for 45 seconds. Oh, that's fun. I almost punched the 11-year-old in front of me, but settled on taunting his autographed Dan Ellis jersey when the Rangers kept scoring. "Hey, Kid, Pekka Rinne should be in!" It's a good thing Tootoo isn't a good player and doesn't get a lot of ice time, or it would've been unbearable.

- Lack of merchandise in the store. I bought an orange Predators t-shirt because I didn't want a jersey t-shirt of J.P. Dumont, Ellis or Tootoo. And that $124 sweatshirt was out of my price range. 

- Lack of a Colton Orr fight. I wanted to see him beat up Tootoo or Wade Belak right in front of me. At one point, Tootoo was in front of me and tried hitting someone else (Michal Rozsival, I think?), and ran away from Orr. I yelled at him. He didn't hear me, but my expletive wasn't appreciated by the southern folks.

Ranger Fans

I didn't really see any Ranger fans from NY. There was a wacky couple who follows the team around on the road (I've never seen them at MSG). They were speaking all the players names during warmups like they knew them ("Oh, Scotty." "What's up, Dubi?"). Brandon Dubinsky saw them, and rolled his eyes. Steve Valiquette saw them and smiled politely. She took that as a sign that he wanted to give her his stick. She went for it. She came back empty-handed.

Most of the other fans were from the South but fans of them. One from Mississippi, a couple in front of us from Arkansas who watched Center Ice and were big fans (they travel to Chicago, St. Louis, and Nashville to see the Rangers). One guy I heard lived in Brooklyn a while ago and now lives in Nashville. One lady lived on Long Island but moved to Alabama a while ago, so she drives up for Ranger games. I did see a guy at the airport who is a season-ticket holder at MSG and said he was at the game; and a guy and girl in a bar said they came from Jersey for the game and were glad they wouldn't be alone.

Overall

A good experience, and I'm glad the Rangers came alive in the 2nd and 3rd periods. The seats were incredible - we were so close that Wade Redden heard me when I told him he sucked - both times. I taught the kids next to us - they were from Nashville, first hockey game - how much he gets paid and how awful he plays. Eventually, by about his 10th blunder of the game, they were pointing it out to me. A real bonding experience.

(SIDE NOTE: Redden was awful against the Flyers today, and is making $6.5M to hurt the Rangers' playoff chances. He pinched in on that 2nd goal, then lost his stick, leaving Derek Morris and Ryan Callahan to do his work and their own. Awful play, one of his many this afternoon. Without that one, its a completely different game and maybe they get a point or two.)

When Blair Betts rushed in to the zone on the shorthanded goal, he was right in front of me, and I got nervous seeing it was him. I had previously told those kids next to me that he was the best penalty killer in the league. I jumped a few feet out of my seat when Freddy Sjostrom scored, and then asked the kids if they saw that. They did.

The fans are okay, but it always makes me laugh that in non-traditional hockey markets (like Nashville, North Carolina, and New Jersey) they have to announce when they are on the power play so people know. 

The goal song was awfully weak. They do the same song that 50% of the arenas do... "Na, na na na na, na, na na na na." And they threw in the awful, "You suck!" during it. Also, every player who was starting for the Rangers "SUCKS!" when they are announced. Nice building, no originality.

Not only did they have "ice girls" but they also "other ice girls" who didn't do anything. The one set were on skates and figure skated over the zamboni's work and tosses t-shirts. The useless ones slipped and slid to center ice, stood, waved, and left. It was like they were the back-up cheerleaders but the owners didn't have the heart to cut them so they had them do nothing. Very odd.

They had a mascot, Gnash (get it?), who flew from the rafters during pre-game. Nothing gets me more jazzed up for March hockey than a flying something (is it a saber-tooth tiger?) before the game.

The oddest part of the evening was during a commercial break when Gnash pretended to be in a video game. The Mario Bros. theme song came on, he jogged in place, and people walked by him with ducks, mushrooms, brick boxes, and pipes. It was very awkward, not entirely enjoyable, and made me question why they even paid a mascot at all.

Random Islanders Musings

Things are fairly quiet in Islanders Country. Or, at least it seems that way. They say winning cures all ills; we Islanders fans don't know much about that. But there's still some stuff to discuss.

 - A few weeks ago, I wrote the following about the Islanders... 

"The Isles are a somewhat respectable 5-7-1 since the All-Star Break, and they have a better chance than you might think at finishing the second half with a .500 record; of course, should this actually happen, you'll never see it mentioned once in any newspaper or on any talk show." 

And it looks like that's exactly how this second half is playing out. The Isles have improved to 9-8-3 since the end of January, and while a lot of people have noticed the Islanders' improved play of late, quite a few have not. The Toronto media loves to talk about how great they are, but they showed their ignorance when they asked Scott Gordon about the Islanders tanking down the stretch. What the Islanders are doing is not tanking. If you want to see tanking, look at the final weeks of the 2006-07 NBA season, where teams were falling all over each other to lose games. I'm talking, not playing their best players, inserting scrubs at crunch time, that kind of thing. Of course, among the most egregious of these tankers were the Boston Celtics, and their reward was an NBA championship the following season. Of course, they lost out on the draft pick they so coveted, but that's okay.

 - The demands of a real life prevented me from attending Point Blank Night II, hosted by the incomparable Chris Botta. I'm not mad because I missed out on the free food, but I am a bit upset that I missed some sort of announcement on the Islanders' third jerseys. We're all pretty certain these will become the Islanders' default jerseys at some point, and the sooner, the better. Even if it means my current home jersey - which I customized with #19 and no name specifically so it wouldn't become outdated - will be obsolete within six months. Those are the breaks, I guess. There's also quite the debate on Point Blank about what the Islanders' goal song should be. And let me just say this - if it's some classic rock song that came out 40 years ago, like The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again", I might consider becoming a Rangers fan. Look, this is a young team that's going to play an exciting style of hockey. The goal song should reflect that. As a fairly young person, I want to hear something unique and cutting-edge when the Islanders score, not the same old crap every other team does. For the record, I love classic rock, but come on already. Just about every classic rock song worth keeping around has been played to the point that it's a cliche. I don't want my team's goal song to be a cliche.

 - Islanders fans who are clamoring for more Islanders action are going to be pleased with the New York Islanders 10 Greatest Games DVD set. I bought this set for myself last week and was very impressed. The games are solid and are pretty unclipped, which is a good thing. I'm watching the Easter Epic as we speak, we're in the first overtime, and I can't recall an instance where any gameplay was edited out. Each game has an introduction by Billy Jaffe; these introductions sort of spoil the endings, but odds are pretty good you know what happens in just about all of these games. Some of the older games look a bit dated, but you're going to have that with games that are 25 or more years old, especially with modern upconverting technology. You'll be able to deal with the shoddy quality of some of these games, but you might be a bit disappointed with the commentary tracks. Since this is an NHL Productions release, we don't get to hear the likes of Jiggs McDonald; instead, we get the national feeds of these games. So if you're not a die-hard Bob Cole fan, you might want to either skip this set or employ the use of the mute button. Speaking of announcers, Gary Thorne is not present on this DVD despite his commentary being used in the commercial. That's a letdown. Anyway, little things like the packaging are nailed, and it's nice to see our team presented in such a flattering light. It's about time. Needless to say, we'll be making some sort of drinking game so that you can fully enjoy these games over the summer months.

 - If you really think about it, this Islanders season has been completely remarkable. The Islanders are essentially using the Bridgeport Sound Tigers' lineup - and winning. Meanwhile, the Sound Tigers, almost all of whom have played for the Islanders at some point this year, have the most points in the Eastern Conference. Looking at the Sound Tigers' stats for this year, I can count seventeen players off the top of my head that have played for the Islanders this year. Sure, guys like Mike Sillinger and Jeff Tambellini really don't count, but still. That's just insane.

It goes to show you how important it is to be on the same page throughout your entire organization. Both the Sound Tigers and the Islanders play the exact same system. Compare that to the Dallas Stars, who don't even have an AHL affiliate. I know the Stars are a bad example because they're a good team, but they're also not exactly known for breaking young stars into the NHL. It truly helps to have a minor-league affiliate that is not only playing the same style of play, but is also close by. Players can easily be called up to the big club without boarding an airplane. When compared with the Islanders' former minor-league locations in Chicago, Denver, Utah, and even Capital District, this set-up with Bridgeport is perfect. And the coming years should show even more evidence of this win-win relationship.

I'm actually taking a trip to Bridgeport in a couple of weeks to see the Sound Tigers play, and I can't wait. As excited as I am to see Jon Sim again, I'm really looking forward to seeing more of these young guys that I've only heard about. Selfishly, I hope guys like Jesse Joensuu are still in Bridgeport, but I understand if they aren't. After all, a number of current Islanders are reportedly headed back to Bridgeport once the season ends for the Calder Cup run. This group includes Kyle Okposo. It's a great idea to get these guys professional playoff experience; it can only help them down the line.

So many people have trashed Garth Snow for so many things, but he's done a great job with the Islanders as an organization. Hopefully, the draft thing works itself out, but even if it doesn't, it looks like the Islanders are on the right track. Again, it's about time.

Playoff Tickets...

I got my playoff ticket invoice today. Madison Square Garden is telling me that for $3,888, I can 2 tickets to 16 home playoff games. That assumes that not only will they have home ice advantage throughout the playoffs, but that every series will go 7 games. 

Home ice advantage? They aren't even technically in the playoff picture. They had two objectives today - get 2 points, and stop the Carolina Hurricanes from getting any points. They failed in both.

But don't worry. If I pay nearly four grand, anything left over from games not played or series (don't know the plural of "series") not played goes towards my tickets next year. 

All of this on a day when the offense thought Tom Renney was behind the bench. And to be honest, with all the ice time - and power play time - that Michal Rozsival and Wade Redden had, I thought Tom Renney was behind the bench. Wasn't one of his biggest problems his over-reliance on players who didn't ever help the offense? John Tortorella comes in claiming "change" and "hope" and "a better economy" and we get #33 passing the puck continuously and #6 getting busted on goals time and time and time again.

The first period of tonight's game was sporadically exciting but mostly boring. The second period I enjoyed, very fast, up-and-down. Steve Valiquette was excellent for most of the game. Sean Avery was a monster all game, especially on one shift when he left the penalty box and rocked 3 hits in 10 seconds. The 3rd period made me wish I hadn't napped earlier in the day. It was boring, horrendous hockey with uninspired play.

Wade Redden is making $6.5 million dollars this year (or enough to buy 3,433 people playoff tickets for all 16 home games). Maybe he can take some of that money, catch up with Dorothy, go to Emerald City, and buy some heart.

* * * 

I must say, as much as I hate the Hurricane's "cheerleaders," I hate the Versus broadcast even more. I appreciate that they take on hockey and lead in with shows about dead deer, but every Monday night game on that channel makes me cringe. The first 3 minutes were like watching a stop-motion movie (I think Coraline was more fluid than the Versus' choppy camerawork). I knew before the game that the Canadiens fired Guy Carbonneau, I didn't need everyone to tell me throughout the whole game and intermission. I can't stand hearing Eddie Olczyk being referred to as "Edzo." 

But above all else, I wish they would leave a non-commercial-time-out alone. Every time the whistle blew for an icing, penalty, or offsides, we were treated to the Marines.com Player of the Game (where you could find out for the 8th time that Rod Brind'amour was in his 600th game as a Hurricane). Or maybe it was the Bud Light Drinkability Stat of the Game. 

Ridiculous. Thankfully they only have 2 games left on Versus, and I'll be at one of them so I won't have to watch it. 

Nashville...

One of my favorite things in life - besides Americanized Mexican food, Internet pastimes not including this blog, and TV shows on DVD - is going to Ranger games outside of New York. I go to enough Ranger games at MSG (I have a half-season package) and I go to a few at the Coliseum every year (although this year I've only been to one, the January 13 2-1 win).

In 2006-07, I went to Boston. The Rangers killed them, 6-1, on a Monday night. Petr Prucha had 2 goals, and the Prucha-Jed Ortmeyer-Matt Cullen line all had 3 points. I also would have gone to both playoff games in Atlanta that year, but I owned a business at the time and couldn't just up and leave, although I was tempted to (and good seats were available in that hockey hotbed the day of both games).

In 2007-08, I planned a 3 in 4 Extravaganza. Three games, 4 nights. The Rangers were playing Wednesday in New Jersey, Thursday in Philadelphia, and Saturday in Pittsburgh. We ended up just going to the first 2, because Pittsburgh is 5 hours from Philadelphia and 7 from NY.

So me and 3 others went to the game in Jersey, which I believe was the 3rd at the Rock ever. Nice place, though it was unfinished then (I have since returned for a Metallica concert, and while the drinks are crazy expensive, it is a nice place... but $10 for a shot of Jameson is nuts). The Devils scored 35 seconds in, Nigel Dawes scored 50 seconds later, the crazy fans behind us shouted "Die, Scotty, Die!" the whole night, two of us moved to very nice seats to see Marc Staal score his first ever NHL goal, and the Rangers won 4-2.

Then, the next day, we went to Philadelphia. Prucha scored on a great shot to make it 3-2 in the 3rd, but the Flyers tied it and the Rangers won in a shootout on a Brendan Shanahan goal.

We didn't go to the Penguins game, but they won 4-3 in overtime on a Jason Strudwick goal. The weird thing about this game was that all 4 goals were by defensemen. Michal Rozsival scored 2 within 4 minutes (one shorthanded), Dan Girardi had one, and then Struds got the winner.

On Super Bowl Sunday, the day the Giants beat the Patriots, I was in Montreal for the NBC game - along with 35 other Ranger fans. The Habs were up 3-0, and then the Rangers scored 5 straight for the great win. I'm pretty sure you could hear the Ranger fans on TV that day. Ryan Hollweg got crushed by Alex Kovalev at one point, then boarded (of course) one of the Flying Kostitsyn Brothers (Sergei?) and got tossed from the game, and I think suspended.

Great city, that Montreal.

* * *

Point being, Thursday is a jumping off point for me. I haven't been to many games this season, for a few reasons. 1) The economy stinks, so if I'm supposed to work a day when I have a game, I sell the tickets to friends so I can work and make money. 2) The team has been mediocre, which I can watch, but for a while the team wasn't even likable, so I didn't want to spend the money (train, bar, food, tickets, etc.) to go.

Thursday, though, I'll be at the game, then I'll be at Sunday's game vs. Philly, then a game March 24th vs. Minnesota, and finally April 7 vs. Montreal.

Thursday's game is in Nashville, Tennessee, marking my 2nd foray into Music City, and first for a Predators game. We got very good seats, and I'm jazzed. Okay, to be honest, I'm not sure if the seats are good. It's a goofy system they have, with row A, then row AA somewhere. I think I'm in row CC, which is either 3rd row or like 14th row or something. Couldn't make sense of floor plans there, and I'm not an idiot either. Hockey hotbed, it is not.

Nashville is a great city though, and I'm very curious to how their fanbase is. I think they have a good core of fans, somewhere around 12,000 season subscribers, but they only sell a little over 13,000 tickets per game, so the city isn't rabid about the Predators. I do also hear people from Nashville calling the XM Home Ice channel (channel 204) once in a while.

They also have a good team who is hot. They've won 6th straight although they didn't get any help at the trade deadline.

Please answer the poll question on which jersey I should wear to the game.

If I'm lucky, I'll get to see Hugh Jessiman's first NHL game! (No, that's not true, he won't be there.)

* * *

By the way, 78 goals were scored in the NHL tonight! Not one of them was a shootout goal, either! The Islanders beat the Devils 7-3; Carolina won 9-3 over Tampa Bay; Columbus beat the Wings 8-2. Crazy night. There was also only one 1-goal game (LA over Minnesota, 4-3).

Day in the Life...

The NHL Network has a show entitled "Day in the Life," which follows a player around from morning to night on the day of a game. Most episodes are pretty cool, and show a player at home with his family, eating (creepy, I know), going to morning skate, going to lunch, interacting with fans, taking a 2-hour nap (they don't show that), then playing in the game.

The Shea Weber episode was boring. I think he lives with his parents - I could be wrong there. For the most part, that episode was them sitting in meetings and Nashville Predators' coach Barry Trotz warning the team that Zach Parise is a good player. (Uh, yeah, he is.)

The Ryan Clowe episode also was boring, because they were on the road in Columbus so we saw nice shots of him eating eggs in the hotel (he also eats oatmeal sometimes). Clowe also has the personality of a pineapple.

Right now, I'm watching Derek Morris. I know that it sucks that Petr Prucha was traded for this guy, who is going to be an unrestricted free agent in less than 4 months, but he is a good player. He also has a big, big, big shot from the point. (His oldest son also has a huge slapper... I think the kid is like 8). He's got a good personality and he seems like he cares about winning. Ah, if only Don Maloney was stupid enough to take Aaron Voros instead of Prucha.

Anyway, point of the story is 1) I think Morris will really help this team and 2) to tell you to TiVo this show. They show random episodes at random times. I know Mike Green is sometime this week.

Oh, and Scott Hartnell's wife is really hot.

Crap

Tonight might have been one of the best games the Islanders played all season.

It wasn't good enough.

This is what life as an Islanders fan is like. This game represented the final two points that meant anything for the rest of the season. And thanks to Dean McAmmond colliding with Andy Hilbert and Radek Martinek deflecting a puck into his own net, the Islanders lose while their hated rivals take over the Coliseum. Again.

I know this is supposed to be a "rebuilding year" and that we're supposed to be taking our lumps and all that. Well, guess what? These losses hurt. It hurts even more to know that there might not even be a payoff; as Charles Wang stated in the pre-game, if the Lighthouse doesn't get approved by the start of next season, the Islanders will look into moving elsewhere. AWESOME.

The Islanders played a great game tonight. Botta points out that only four - FOUR - players on the roster tonight have never worn the blue and orange of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. But that didn't stop the Islanders against the deep-pocketed Rangers. Not only did the Islanders make a game of it, but they almost came out with a point. Unfortunately, "almost" is they key word.

Every time the Islanders play the Rangers, the Islanders always play extremely well, just well enough to make you think they're going to win. But it's never to be. Instead, the Rangers actually do the things they're supposed to do - the things that, if they did every game, they wouldn't be clinging to the 7th seed. The Rangers' super star players actually earn their paychecks, and the Rangers win going away. Chris Drury has 10 of his 43 points against the Islanders. Scott Gomez has 7 of his 47 points against the Islanders. Is it the inferior competition, or is it a sign that these are the players who raise their game in the most intense of games? Rangers fans hope for the latter, for sure.

Rangers fans can also look forward to seeing more of Sean Avery. His impact was felt immediately. You get the impression that Avery belongs on the Rangers. Despite his "sensitivity training", he played his old role to a T, and it's a role these Rangers need. The Rangers' big-ticket players need someone to draw the ire of opponents, get them off their game, and give the stars the room they need to create offense. Avery provides this in spades. He was tested in this game a number of times, but passed each one. If he wasn't going to go after Trent Hunter after having his face smashed in the boards in a hostile environment, it's hard to see him losing his cool against anybody. This could be the turning point of the season the Rangers have been waiting for - but then again, that's what we all said the last time these two teams played.

As an Islanders fan, I know these are the losses that will someday make the team better. These are the losses that open wounds that future wins will repair. All you had to do was watch even one period of tonight's game to see that these Islanders are starting to get it. This is going to be a good team in the not-so-distant future. But losses like this one are the toughest of all. You get to see your team play a great game, but still see them lose. In a way, it's a microcosm of being an Islanders fan. You get the joy of seeing your team play and be competitive, but you never seem to see them get over the hump. In a reference I never thought I'd make in a hockey blog, it's not unlike Sisyphys perpetually pushing the rock up the mountain, only to have the rock fall each time. But as Albert Camus said, "The struggle itself... is enough to fill a man's heart." As much as it sucks to see the Islanders lose to the Rangers, it's hard not to be proud of the way they played. Their road only gets worse with the Devils and a six-game road trip coming up. It's not easy right now - it never is for us Islanders faithful - but the fight is worth watching. These guys deserve the payoff, and I hope they get it sooner rather than later.

Real Quick, Real Funny...

Just heard a comment on NHL on the Fly on the NHL Network, about Jay Bouwmeester not being traded. "This is good news if you're a Florida Panther fan."

Yeah, buddy, just in case any of the 9 Panther fans have the NHL Network and happen to be watching it at 2:34 in the morning.

Lest we forget when the Panthers laid off 10 employees in order to pay Jassen Cullimore's salary?

Trade Recap via Zach...

Now we know why Petr Prucha has been in the lineup for the past few games. A showcase. But does Don Maloney really need to know what Prucha brings? He was a big proponent of him in NY. Did Tom Renney pull the strings on this deal?

The Rangers effectively sold the heart and soul of their team (along with sporadically-gifted Nigel Dawes and always-horrendous Dmitri Kalinin) for Derek Morris.

They tell me Morris is going to QB the PP. For those who actually watch hockey, Morris has 12 points in 57 games this year. Not one of those is on the power play. He has 35 career power play points. Petr Prucha had 16 power play goals in 2005-06 alone, as a rookie.

The one bright spot is that now atleast Prucha will get ice time.

* * *

My computer were haywire before. I was typing letters and they would end up in random spots on the screen. Not fun. So I closed the laptop, shut it down like Vesa Toskala this season, and so I couldn't post.

I do indeed like the Nik Antropov deal. I think he is going to be good in NY. Maybe he can play with Zherdev. He is a UFA next year as well and if he re-signs (I realize we are talking about this before he even plays a game in NY) he will come around $3M.

Best deal of the day? I don't know. Seems like Boston stole Mark Recchi along with a 2nd round pick. Then again, Buffalo got a 2nd round pick for former Ranger Dom Moore? Uh... 12 goals (a career high), 41 points (same), and a shutdown center for a 2nd round pick in a deep draft? Get real. I'd rather have Antropov, for sure. (Granted, Buffalo basically sent the 2nd round pick they received for Ales Kotalik.)

Worst deal? Why would LA trade Patty O'Sullivan? Boston receiving Steve Montador for someone who couldn't stick on the Islanders roster? A win for the Bruins. In fact, Anaheim made a lot of bad trades today, trading Travis Moen, Montador, Sam Pahlsson, and others for a bunch of nobodies. The only one that might stick is Nick Bonino, a late-round pick from 2007. They did also receive Erik Christensen.

This Toronto/Tampa Bay deal sending Jamie Heward, Olie Kolzig, and others for some guy seems ridiculous, and I have to check on this one.

Favorite trade? Antoine Vermette for Pascal LeClaire. Helps everyone, and I am rooting for Columbus whole-heartedly.

Someone should re-name the Hurricanes to the Carolina Rentals. (Bad joke, I know.) In 2006, they traded for Doug Weight and Mark Recchi. Both players won the Cup with them, then re-signed in their respective cities (St. Louis; Pittsburgh). Then, Matt Cullen signs in NY. He later gets traded back. Over the summer, Erik Cole went to Edmonton. Today, he came back to Carolina. What, was Aaron Ward not available today?

Calgary and Phoenix definitely won today, though. Calgary got Jordan Leopold, Olli Jokinen, and a 3rd round pick, automatically strengthening them this year. Phoenix nailed Prucha, Dawes, Scott Upshall, Matthew Lombardi, and a slew of picks including a 1st round pick, helping them now and in the future.

Teams that stood still in the past few weeks: Vancouver (although they did get Glen Metropolit off waivers; they considered Mats Sundin their trade deadline deal); Nashville (no improvment and no fire-sale means they will probably miss the playoffs and not get a good draft pick); Washington (I guess that they wanted Bill Guerin but couldn't trade Michael Nylander's $5M contract). Am I missing anyone? A few teams, like the Devils and Canadiens, made moves in the past 2 weeks so I didn't count them.

* * *

I know it's wishful dreaming, but how sweet would a Wade Redden for upcoming UFA Jay Bouwmeester be?

Trade Deadline Wrap-Up

The post directly this one was truly exhausting. What you see on this page is the result of five hours of rumor scouring, quick posting when the boss wasn't looking, and general hockey obsession. We got a ton of hits for it, which is awesome, but that's not the point. Instead, the point is that this was a pretty unique trade deadline. We didn't see any superstars move; hell, we barely even saw any good players dealt. Probably the biggest name dealt today was Olli Jokinen, he of his zero games of playoff experience.

So what did we see? Glad you asked.

 - There were something like 25 teams buying and 5 teams selling. So we had the usual assortment of "veteran role player for premium draft pick" deals.  We expected this. But one thing we didn't expect would be this little nugget - not one first-round pick was traded today. In fact, the only first-round pick dealt in this entire trading season is the one the Islanders received for Chris Campoli and Mike Comrie.

EDIT: Zach - Olli Jokinen fetched a 1st round pick from Calgary to Phoenix. Phoenix sent Jokinen and a 3rd round pick for a prospect, Matthew Lombardi, and a 1st rounder.

 - There wasn't a single trade made today that helps both teams win now. Similarly, there weren't any "my problem for your problem" trades, unless you count Derek Morris for Petr Prucha. Most of these trades were horribly lopsided - and the vast majority of those deals favored the teams getting good picks for rental players.

 - Let's get into the local teams for a second. A lot of Islanders fans are already killing Garth Snow, not just for failing to get more for Bill Guerin, but for only making one deal today. We'll respond to each of these gripes individually.

Regarding the Guerin deal, I am convinced that the deal the Islanders received on Saturday - assuming this deal actually existed - was far better than the deal the Islanders made with Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, all the buzz regarding this mystery trade caused everyone to, pardon the expression, shoot their collective loads and quickly sour on the idea of a Guerin trade. And when that initial deal fell through, Snow was kind of stuck. But here's the thing. Everyone's complaining that it's a fifth-round pick. It isn't. The Penguins are going to make the playoffs. And they learned enough last year to steal a round. So it could easily end up being a third round pick. If it's not, does it matter? Not really. It's still a crapshoot; even a second or a first round pick doesn't guarantee a future NHL player. So let's back off Snow on this one. He got what he could; outside of the Dominic Moore deal, it's not like any other teams got much better picks for their rental players.

Sure, Snow only made one deal. But what people seem to forget is that next year's team will not be comprised entirely of kids. You still need veterans to lead the team. Brendan Witt is signed to a reasonable contract. Doug Weight could be resigned. And you never know, Guerin could end up back here next year. The point is, Snow is aware that guys like Weight and Witt have value, and that's why he kept them. Hockey is not just about sticks and pucks; there's a lot of stuff behind the scenes we never see. And Weight is reportedly as good as they come in the clubhouse. Besides, the same people who bash Snow for not being active are the same people who bitch about the Islanders never having a consistent core over a number of years. If there was a deal to be made, the Islanders would have made it. It's over now. Let's move on.

EDIT: Zach - I think the deal was to Washington, but Washington had to make room and couldn't move Michael Nylander and his $5M contract.

 - As for the Rangers... um... it's almost as though Glen Sather found out it was the trade deadline at about 2:30 and hastily threw together some Sather Staples (TM) - you know, the type that makes the team a little better now, but at a great future cost. Nik Antropov is a good pick-up - if you can sign him. The Rangers are screwed cap-wise from now until eternity. Derek Morris isn't a bad rental, but at the cost of Petr Prucha and Nigel Dawes, two of the better players to come out of the Rangers' organization in recent years? Prucha should fare very well with a change of scenery, and Dawes will probably out-perform Morris this year alone. But hey, least they addressed a need instead of picking up yet another anonymous forward.

The Rangers are taking a huge risk. You could make the argument that since Prucha is a healthy scratch most nights and Kalinin is horrendous, it's not really a risk. That line of thinking is incorrect. The Rangers, who should have had a playoff spot sewn up months ago, had to give up a second-round pick, a conditional pick, and two young players just to get into the playoffs, where there are few guarantees. It's one thing to sacrifice a bit of the future for the present, but it's much easier when there's a good chance of success.  The Rangers, not unlike the Islanders of two years ago, stand a great chance of getting into the playoffs and being unceremoniously bounced in the first round. The Rangers obviously feel they can make a run, and good for them, but now would be a good time to start thinking about the future. Especially since the present isn't all that much to write home about.

EDIT : Zach - The only thing that this does for the Rangers is clear cap room for next year. Antropov and Morris are both UFAs on July 1. Prucha and Dawes were RFAs, and Kalinin is a UFA.

---

All in all, a trade deadline that wasn't super-exciting, but had its share of interesting trades. Only time will tell how the Rangers' deals will work out. But if you're an Islanders fan, just be happy you got anything for Bill Guerin. Given the quality of players who were waived just this week, it sure beats the alternative.

Reported Trades & Quick Reactions...

We're going to use this space to mention trades and quickly react on them. Everything will be on this post. I also highly doubt that there will be as many trades as in the past 2 seasons (I think each one had 25 trades). Teams seem to be re-signing their players quickly (Filip Kuba also re-upped in Ottawa). The only "blockbuster" deal out there might be Jay Bouwmeester, if Florida - in the middle of a playoff race - decides to trade their best player.


3:17 :: BUF gets Dominic Moore. TOR gets a 2nd round pick.
- Bryan :: Must be nice to play for a Canadian team and be overvalued as a result. Moore was awesome for the Rangers in 2005-06 and had a resurgence this year, but a 2nd round pick? Come on. Guerin only fetched a fifth-rounder for the Islanders. And if you don't think this trade wasn't at all influenced by the pompous Toronto media, I don't know what to tell you.


2:45 :: PHX gets Scottie Upshall and 2nd round pick. PHI gets Dan Carcillo
- Zach :: A steal for Phoenix? I loved Carcillo... last year. This year he has no edge and isn't contributing offensively.

1:59 :: PIT gets Bill Guerin. NYI gets Conditional Draft Pick.

- Bryan :: It doesn't matter what kind of pick the Islanders get back. It beats the alternative of not getting anything back for Guerin, a supposedly unhappy player who will probably walk at season's end anyway. Good pick-up for Pittsburgh, who needs something resembling all the role players who helped them get to the Cup Final last year.

- Bryan :: Scratch all that. The pick is a fifth-round pick that becomes a fourth-rounder if the Penguins make the playoffs and a third-rounder if they reach the second round. A far cry from the second-round pick we were all expecting. Great to get Guerin off the books and get something back, but this is a severe let-down.

- Zach :: I think they should've gotten a prospect instead, but what do I know.

1:33 :: BOS gets Mark Recchi, 2nd round pick. TBL gets D Matt Lashoff and F Martins Karsums.

- Zach :: Not just a rental for Recchi because of the 2010 pick they received. Lashoff definitely has potential and was probably the sticking point here for Tampa Bay.

- Bryan :: This is a tremendous trade for both teams. Boston gets better over the short term, but gets a second-rounder. Tampa Bay gets Lashoff, a great defensive prospect. This the kind of trade the Islanders should be making today, but for some reason, they aren't.

12:42 :: BOS gets D Steve Montador. ANA gets F Petteri Nokelainen.

12:40 :: CGY gets C Olli Jokinen, 3rd round pick. PHX gets C Matthew Lombardi, F Brandon Prust, 1st round pick

- Zach :: Jokinen was rumored for years to be traded from FLA and never was, now he's been traded twice in 9 months. Lombardi is good but no Jokinen, but Phoenix had to get what they could on this upcoming UFA. Good for both teams.

12: 13 :: Eric Reitz claimed off waivers by TOR.

12: 10 :: DAL claims C Brendan Morrison. TOR claims G Martin Gerber.

- Zach :: Dallas re-fills their Brendan M. quota. This helps them a lot.

12:07 :: BUF gets G Mikael Tellqvist. PHX gets 4th round pick.

- Bryan :: Pretty obvious one. Phoenix gets to rebuild yet again, while Buffalo gets a nice option until Ryan Miller returns, not to mention insurance should Miller get injured again.

11:49 :: CGY gets D Jordan Leopold. COL get 2nd round pick, D Lawrence Nycholat, and D Ryan Wilson.

- Zach :: Originally traded to Colorado for Alex Tanguay (2nd round picks also exchanged hands), Calgary gets him back. Leopold is an improvment on Nycholat, who they plucked off waivers yesterday. Very interesting, it's like they picked up a dollar off the ground and then bought something with it (as in they took someone they didn't used to have and then got a player for it, even after the Avs could've taken Nycholat).

- Bryan :: Nycholat was actually sent to Colorado as part of this trade, along with defensive prospect Ryan Wilson. Calgary still wins this trade, though, as Leopold was a huge part of their Cup Finals run in 2003-04.

10:57 :: BUF resigns F Tim Connolly to a 2-year, $9M deal.

- Bryan :: Tim Connolly has played 79 games since the start of the 2006-07 season and has 67 points in those games. Not a bad point-per-game ratio. But $4.5M per year for a player who doesn't even play half your games is a lot. This is a deal only Buffalo would sign. Sabres fans are tired of seeing their players walk away via free agency, so this is a bone thrown to them... but I'm sure they'd rather have Chris Drury, Daniel Briere, or Brian Campbell.

10:12 :: CBJ gets F Antoine Vermette. OTT gets G Pascal LeClaire and 2nd rounder

- Zach :: Good for both teams. LeClaire has been hurt and is irrelevant now that Steve Mason is the future in Columbus. Vermette hates playing in Ottawa and was almost traded this year, so he should help the Jackets immediately.