On Face(off) Value

When you're a fan of a losing team, you generally don't watch them expecting to win. Instead, you watch hoping you'll see something amazing. For example, even though the Mets were out of playoff contention in July, I still watched them most nights, just in case they finally pitched a no-hitter (yeah, I know) or did something particularly special. In hockey, there are no milestones that would compare to a no-hitter, so I hope for very memorable games, the kind that transcend a losing season. Last year, beating Detroit and Chicago on the road were such games, and Opening Night would have been such a game had the Islanders pulled it out.

Wednesday night's game against the Rangers would certainly qualify as what I'd call a memorable game. If the Islanders to produce a 2009-10 highlight video, highlights of Wednesday night would be heavily featured. The Islanders played their game, were intense throughout, and won their first regulation game by sheer will. The Islanders also won because of a growing trend in their play - their success in the faceoff circle.

Over the summer, I read Moneyball by Michael Lewis. Moneyball, for those who don't know, explains how the small-market Oakland A's of Major League Baseball were able to stay competitive with teams like the Yankees by building their team around undervalued assets like walks and on-base percentage. As I read Moneyball, I tried to figure out what statistics in hockey could be the basis for a winning team in today's NHL. One of these days, I'll post my thoughts. For now, though, perhaps the most important stat I'd build around would be faceoff percentage.

Think about it. There are approximately 60 faceoffs in a game. The average team, of course, wins 50 percent of those faceoffs, meaning that they begin play with the puck 30 times a game. A team that wins 60 percent of their faceoffs, on the other hand, begins with the puck 36 times. That's twelve times more than their opponent. So, not only do you have the edge twelve more times than your opponent, that's twelve times that your opponent can't score until you give up the puck.

As of right now, the Islanders sit at third in the NHL with a success rate of 54.1% in the faceoff circle, with the Isles dominating faceoffs in their past few games. And while this success hasn't resulted in wins just yet, there's plenty of reason for optimism - aside from the Islanders (.409), Minnesota (.250) and Nashville (.458), every team over 50% in faceoffs has earned more than half of the points it could have possibly earned so far this season. What's particularly telling about the Islanders' success is that it's been widespread. Every eligible Islander is over 50% in faceoffs this year, including John Tavares at 50.3%, Josh Bailey at 53.9%, and both Doug Weight and Nate Thompson at 58.8%.

What does all of this mean? Simply put, if the Islanders are better than their opponents at controlling the puck off the draw, they're that much more likely to control play and potentially generate good scoring chances. In addition, their opponents will have to make more plays on defense than usual in order to get the puck. And if the Islanders can get past their third period hiccups - as they did on Wednesday night - their faceoff skills can help them become a truly dangerous team.

Weak Night at the Coliseum...

The Rangers played tonight like they played all of last season - tentative, over-thinking hockey. While they had over 30 shots, most of them were bad-angle shots like Chris Drury, Markus Naslund, and Scott Gomez did over 89 games last season.

While I'm all for getting the puck to the net to see what happens (you never know how it will get deflected or where the rebound will land), these soft shots from the boards at awful angles are going to be scooped up by the goalie or easily cleared by a defender.

Nearly everyone tonight passed up shots, most notably Michal Rozsival and yes, Michael Del Zotto. Get the puck to the net! See what happens!

Marc Staal and Dan Girardi played well tonight, regardless of their accountability on the 2nd goal. They were physical and cleared the crease for Henrik Lunqvist a bunch of times. Staal hits nearly everybody who gets near Lundqvist, and Girardi has started to protect him after the whistle, getting between him and an opposition forward who is still skating towards Hank.

Lundqvist had a good game tonight, and for the Rangers to be competitive, he had to have had a good one. Without Marian Gaborik out there, the Rangers often looked lost. With Gaborik, it would've been a whole different story. That 0-for-3 on the power play probably would have changed, and there were a lot of times where you could tell Vinny Prospal needed him out there but had Enver Lisin or P.A. Parenteau on his wing instead. Not that they are bad players - not at all. But there is a world of difference between them and Gaborik, and that was evident in the 3-1 final tonight. (This is not meant as disrespect to Lisin or Parenteau; in fact, Parenteau had a very good game, especially for an NHL debut, and I would love to see him on the ice instead of Voros or Brashear in every single game not against the Flyers, Ducks, or Maple Leafs this season.)

Just look at who replaced Gaborik on the power play to see why they didn't score on it. Rozsival played the point for an entire 2-minute power play in the 2nd period, and he was just as ineffectual as last year during those 2 minutes.

* * *

You can fault Madison Square Garden all you want for being expensive, but a 22 ounce beer there is $9, and that comes in a mug you can keep and with a pretzel. A 16 ounce plastic Bud Light at the Coliseum? $8.50. That's crazy! I know you have to fund Rick DiPietro's salary somehow or another, but that's ridiculous. I'll stick with my overpriced, oversyruped Diet Coke.

Even my pretzel twist was poor tonight. It tasted like hot, salty dough. And the gridlock in those narrow Coliseum hallways must be what Hempstead Turnpike and the Meadowbrook Parkway are going to be if the Lighthouse ever gets built.

Islanders-Rangers, Game 1

Most teams look forward to April and beyond for their most meaningful games. The Islanders, on the other hand, play Game 1 of their annual six-game "playoff" against the Rangers tonight. It's not a stretch to say that these rivalry games can save a season, particularly for a subpar team. For example, the Rangers didn't make the playoffs in 2003-04, but did beat the Islanders six times in six games. The 2009-10 Islanders obviously aren't going to be anywhere near the playoffs this year, so a good showing against the Rangers would do a lot to please their fans, who are losing patience after nine losses in ten games.

Both the Rangers and Islanders are playing similarly to their counterparts from last season. The Rangers have jumped out to the third-highest point total in the NHL so far in this young season. The Islanders, on the other hand, are blowing third-period leads left and right, but at least they're competing on most nights and have taken some of the league's best teams (Boston, Montreal, Pittsburgh, Washington) to overtime. We all know how last year turned out - the Isles stopped blowing leads and simply began getting blown out every night, while the Rangers slowed dramatically off their hot start, fired Tom Renney, then blew a 3-1 series lead over Washington. In short, this writer isn't sure what to make of either team just yet.

One unfortunate thing about tonight's game is that we aren't likely to see the physical play and fighting that has made this rivalry so much fun over the years - and the absence of which has made this rivalry much less fun in recent years. The Islanders simply don't have the toughness to match up with the likes of Donald Brashear. Perhaps we'll see some fights involving middleweights, but it's not likely. Add in the trend of Rangers fans taking over the Coliseum when the Rangers play there, and things suddenly don't look too promising for the Islanders.

That said, these are games both teams routinely get up for. Nobody takes anything for granted when the Rangers meet the Islanders. Even when there's nothing to play for, there's everything to play for. Here's hoping tonight's action reflects that sentiment.

One last note about tonight's game - for the first time in the NHL, John Tavares and Michael Del Zotto face off. These former teammates with the Oshawa Generals and London Knights are the early front-runners for the Calder Trophy, and it should be interesting to see how they play against one another.

---

NOTE: A big thank-you goes out to Zach for holding down the fort while my wife and I welcomed the newest addition to our family. And thanks to the NHL Network's non-stop repeats of NHL On The Fly for keeping me company during 3 AM feedings.

The Good...

It's been a slow week here at The Rivalry, due to Bryan having a new baby to take care of (poor excuse) and me having work and a marathon 24 session the other night (better excuse).

I wanted to write something Saturday night after the Rangers overtime loss to Montreal about how, even though they lost, there was still some good to take from the game. Mainly, I wanted to write about the good surrounding the goals they scored.

For example...

Rangers fan favorite Michal Rozsival had a nice shot on Jaroslav Halak moments before Artem Anisimov scored to make it 1-1. It was good to see Rozy shooting - I guess he finally realized there's no Jaromir Jagr to pass to and he decided he better shoot. And Anisimov? That goal was beautiful - patient and surgeon-like in accuracy.

While Ales Kotalik had a great shot on his goal that made it 2-1 and Sean Avery had a nice pass from behind the net (which he does quite often), the real credit lies with Dan Girardi. If not for him quickly catching the puck from midair and passing it behind the net from the point, the puck would've been cleared and play would've gone down to Henrik Lundqvist's side of the ice.

On the 3-1 goal, all 3 players who got points had excellent plays. Marian Gaborik fought off a defender and passed to Vinny Prospal, who saw danger coming and softly hit the puck off the boards to Matt Gilroy, who had an absolute bomb from the point. He also was patient and followed it up with a booming shot. Very good to see that.

Gaborik made it 4-2 on nice passes from Mike Del Zotto and Enver Lisin. In two quick, long passes, they sprung him for a breakaway, and of course, he scored.

Sure, there were some defensive breakdowns. I guess Gaborik's back-checking could be a little stronger. And yes, they blew two 2-goal leads before losing the game. And yes, they gave up a hat trick. And they even made Scott Gomez look good in the game. But they did have a few good plays that shone through - most notably Gaborik's offensive skills and Girardi's great play on the Kotalik goal.

* * *

I want to talk about two things now, both related to last night's win against Phoenix.

1) Chris Drury - He hasn't been playing incredibly well, and he definitely hasn't been lighting it up on the stats sheet, but I think that's okay this year. Last season, the pressure was on him to score, and he came up with 56 points in 81 games, just under his career average of 59.53 points per game. (You could even say he had a lot of pressure to score in 2007-08 when Brendan Shanahan was hurt, Jagr was hurt and slower, and Rozsival and Marty Straka wouldn't fire a puck to the net to save their lives.)

However, everyone expected more from his. Add up his giganticly inflated contract, his first year as Captain, and the departure of the other veterans (including Avery), and people expected numbers that he put up under Lindy Ruff in Buffalo (his 2 seasons in Buffalo post-lockout: 67 and 69 points... still not huge numbers).

This year, with Gaborik, Kotalik, Prospal, and Avery here, he can stop trying to score and just be a good defensive forward, which he has been. He is killing penalties and blocking a ton of shots and being a behind-the-scenes player. That's what his role always was, and that's what it should be.

Of course, Blair Betts did all that for 11 times less money.

2) Enver Lisin - The season is still young, but I would call trading Lauri Korpikoski for Lisin a good trade. Korpikoski scored 14 points in 68 games last year and looked lost for most of the season. Not very good for the guy drafted 10 spots ahead of Mike Green in 2004.

Lisin is fast as hell, and what's even more surprising is that he's keeping up with Prospal and Gaborik on the 1st line. That gives John Tortorella so many more options, including putting a struggling player - say, Chris Higgings - on the 4th line.

He's been an exciting surprise, and I'm curious to see where he goes from here. Now let's just hope Tortorella keeps him on the 1st line for a while, and doesn't "Tom Renney" him back to 7 minutes a game.

The Difference in Games...

Not too much to say about tonight's game that you won't read elsewhere since I recorded the game since I was out and watched it quickly.

However, notice the difference in the two games between the Rangers and Devils this year, most notably in penalties and power plays.

Arguably, the two teams played basically the same in both games. Sure, maybe the Rangers weren't as good tonight, but they both played the same style - fast-paced, slightly gritty, kind of dirty.

Yet, on Monday, October 5, 18 penalties were called in 3 periods. That does include some co-incidental minors that didn't result in a power play (an Ales Kotalik hooking call with a Nicklas Bergfors diving penalty; Aaron Voros and David Clarkson both for roughing in the 3rd), but there were no fights. All 18 penalties were two-minute minors. Each team had 6 power play opportunities.

On Thursday, October 22, 6 penalties were called. Two were from the same fight, and there were only 4 two-minute minors called, and one of them was with 24 seconds left.

What was the difference, you ask? Was it John Tortorella showing the Rangers videos of their penalties so they don't repeat the same mistake? Possibly, but how to account for the Devils only taking 3 minors as opposed to 9? I think there was another factor in play.

Dare I say it? The difference is the network that the games were played on. The first game (10/5) was on Versus, where they want to bring in new viewers. What do "fringe fans" want? By fringe fans, I mean, say, people who normally don't watch hockey but turn it on from time to time; or people who have no rooting interest in one of the teams playing but are watching anyway; or people at a bar watching it because it's on. Fringe fans want to see goals. More penalties = more power plays = more goals and exciting chances.

If Calgary is playing Columbus, I have no reason to watch a 1-0 game since I'm a Ranger fan and have no rooting interest in it. But if it's 6-5, 4-3, or even 6-5, I'll watch because it looks like an exciting game. Same for people who don't ever really watch hockey - they won't watch a 2-0 Devils shutout but they'll watch a 3-2 Rangers win with back-and-forth action and breath-taking saves by both goalies.

Now, tonight's game (or technically, last night's game) was on MSG or MSG+. Odds are, if you're tuning in to a Rangers/Devils game on MSG instead of the Yankee playoff game where they have a chance to win the pennant, you're a big fan and will watch the game no matter what. If it's 5-on-5 play the whole game, I'm still watching.

I constantly say how much I dislike the games on Versus, not only for their annoying broadcasts (although last year was much worse than this year) but for the facts that the referees constantly blow the whistle for phantom calls and bogus penalties.

If you don't believe me, keep an eye out during the next Rangers game on Versus. That game is November 17 at MSG against Washington. Think the NHL doesn't want Poster Boy Alex Ovechkin, Nik Backstrom, Mike Green, and Alex Semin to score 8 power play goals that night? That game might break the record for two-minute minors.

A Few Notes on an Off Day...

First off, I would like to thank longtime loyal NY Hockey Rivalry reader Lou for the seat upgrade at Monday's game against the Sharks. Thanks to Lou, who had two extra tickets, me and my friend moved up to Section 94 - the purple seats in the lower bowl, 10 rows from the ice. Lou deftly knocked off a 22 ounce Heineken, a footlong hot dog with kraut, and a pretzel with mustard. Yours truly had his own 22 ounce Amstel Light, a pretzel, and popcorn. Pretzel was tasty (though not Nassau Coliseum-esque). Popcorn was not very good. Actually, of the 4 words on the box of popcorn, only one was true: Fresh Popcorn, Delicious! Crisp!

Second, I want to mention that Cory Murphy was placed on waivers by the New Jersey Devils. A few times in the past, I'd mentioned that I wanted to see Murphy in a Rangers sweater. While it's not a pressing manner, I still think he'd be worth a shot as a 7th defenseman. He is 31, played college in New York (Colgate) and pro in Finland before coming to America in his late 20s. He can lead the power play pretty well but was never given the chance in Florida or Tampa Bay, and the Devils apparently gave up on him after being a -1 in 3 games.

Third, I am making my glorious return to Montreal in early 2010. In February of 2008, right before this website started, I went to a Rangers game at the Bell Centre. It was actually Super Bowl Sunday, the day the Giants beat the Patriots, and it was the only NHL game on the docket. The Rangers were down 3-0 but wound up winning 5-3 in an incredible game.

So this year, I return. January 23. Anyone else going to be there?

Tom Renney Would Be Proud...

It appears I'm alone over on this website as Islanders Writer Bryan celebrates the birth of Baby #2. He doesn't answer any of his texts, no matter how funny I am, or how hilarious the picture I send him is. And no, rumors the baby being named Avery Henrika are greatly blown out of proportion.

Without further ado...

4 Reasons I Think Tom Renney Was Coaching Tonight's Game vs. San Jose Instead of John Tortorella...

1) The first clue I had that Mr. Renney was behind the bench and not Mr. Tortorella was that Steve Valiquette wasn't pulled after the 4th goal was given up. Mr. Tortorella would have put in Henrik Lundqvist at that point, regardless of whose fault the goal was. He would have switched goalies to wake his team up. This inkling that Mr. Renney was coaching tonight was only made stronger when the game became 5-2 and Valiquette stayed in net.

2) The 2nd clue was the Intermission Switch. Classic Tom Renney right there. Mr. Renney doesn't switch goalies mid-period. He waits until the 2nd intermission, then sends the new goalie out. He doesn't like to hurt anyone's feelings.

2) Michal Rozsival and Wade Redden were defensive partners for much of the game, especially at 4-2 and 5-2. Mr. Tortorella would never do that, he has too much sense. However, Mr. Renney still seems to be relying on players' salaries, not players' skills, to win the game.

3) The 4th line was on the ice in the 3rd period. While Mr. Tortorella "shortens the bench" when he wants to win the game. In previous seasons, Mr. Renney often would use Colton Orr, Blair Betts, and whoever else was on the 4th line to "shut down the opposition" while they added no offensive value whatsoever. Notice tonight's 4 shifts in the 3rd period for Donnie Brashear when they needed a goal.

4) Petr Prucha didn't play tonight for the Rangers. That's a staple of Mr. Renney's reign.

No, of course, I jest. There are 3 reasons I know Tom Renney didn't coach the Rangers tonight...

1) He works in Edmonton, and Edmonton won a 2-1 game. If that doesn't scream Tom Renney, I don't know what does.

2) Redden and Rozsival played a grand total of 0 seconds on the power play. If this was a Renney Game, they each would've had time at the point, passing up on shots, missing the net, and letting the puck bounce over their sticks and out of the zone.

3) Jed Ortmeyer scored tonight. He never scored in a Tom Renney game!

* * *

Redden and Rozsival were especially atrocious tonight. Any good that Redden did in those games against Toronto was washed away tonight. He wasn't physical (okay, he did land one check when he fell onto a Shark); he couldn't pass the puck correctly; he let people fly by him. To those who say I'm too harsh on him, were you watching this game?

When either of them are on the ice, I want the Garden fans to chant "AHL! AHL!"

* * *

That said, I did see two firsts at MSG tonight. One was my first Michael Del Zotto #4 jersey - the first of many, no doubt. (I saw my first Matt Gilroy #97 jersey Wednesday against the Kings).

The other first? The first time I ever saw a Wade Redden #6 jersey on a Ranger fan. Don't believe me? Look!

Wade Redden's cousin, or nephew, or some other family member, at Madison Square Garden. 10/19/09

Beating the Weaker Teams...

What was refreshing (I hate that word) about tonight's 4-1 Rangers' victory over Toronto was the fact that the Maple Leafs are a weaker team.

I know what you're thinking, and you're right - a good team should always beat a weaker team.

The Rangers have had a horrible problem with losing to teams below them in the standings. It didn't matter what the numbers on the back of the jersey were - whether they were 2, 9, and 11 or 68, 82, and 92, or 35 or 30. They would always play pretty tightly against better teams. They had good records against New Jersey and the Penguins, and they would keep up with Detroit (although they are 0-3 vs. the Wings since the lockout), yet they would give up 2 goals leads against Atlanta and they'd lose to Chicago when the Hawks had 5,000 fans in the crowd.

And tonight's game was setting up for a fall. A 6-game winning streak; a team they just beat 7-2; a road game after a few days off; the opponents were looking for their first win of the season; and a nationally televised game in Canada where the refs might've called a lot of bogus penalties against the Rangers. In previous seasons, this would be a game they would be up 2-0, then disappointingly lose 4-2.

(To be fair, the referees called a good game although I would've liked to have seen Jason Blake get a penalty for running into Henrik Lundqvist on his breakaway.)

Is this team different? Very. Marian Gaborik and Vinny Prospal don't quit; Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Callahan aren't intermittently good like last year (ok, Callahan played hard every shift last year but Dubinsky disappeared for weeks at a time); Chris Drury isn't relied upon for offense so he can be a "behind-the-scenes" type player (killing penalties, blocking shots, etc.).

Yet there are 3 huge differences in this year's team...
1) The defense moves the puck and shoots. Most "SHOOOOOT" shouts from the Garden crowd should be silenced this year. Wade Redden and Michal Rozsival aren't passing up shots or missing the net as much since Mike Del Zotto and Matt Gilroy are passing and shooting on the power play. Hell, Dan Girardi had a two-goal game.

2) John Giannone said tonight that the Rangers lead the league in power play chances. Of course, they've played 8 games now (no team has played more than 8; a few have played as little as 5 or 6), but they're also fast and hard-charging, which makes opponents more likely to hook, slash, grab and pull in order to get back into the play.

Think about it: Marek Malik used to take tons of penalties because he was slow. He would get beat, turn around, and have to grab a jersey or use his stick for leverage, gaining nothing but 2 minutes in the penalty box.

Now, you have Enver Lisin, Artem Anisimov, Sean Avery, and Gaborik skating. A defender is going to have to yank them when they get passed, and then it's a power play.

3) Well, #3 is the whole point of the post. The Rangers are beating up on lesser teams. And to be honest, of the 8 games, only 3 are from teams who won't make the playoffs (Leafs twice, Senators once). The Penguins and Capitals and Ducks are going to be in the playoffs, and the Devils and Kings have good chances of it.

But what happened when they played those non-playoff teams? They pounced. And that's what good teams do.

Sabres 6, Islanders 3

Another game, another loss for the Islanders. That's five straight losses to open the season, in case you lost count. Personally, I don't care about the wins and losses; this season is about improvement and developing young players, and these things don't always show up on the stat sheet. Far more significant than the end result is how the team played on the way to that result. Tonight... um... they didn't play that well. Here's what I saw tonight...

- As the puck dropped tonight, I thought about how strange it was that the Islanders completely changed their goaltending. It's not common for teams to get rid of both of their goalies, but the Isles did just that. Most of us were glad to see this. However, Dwayne Roloson's five-hole is giving me nightmares of the Ron Hextall era. Please let Martin Biron start tomorrow night.

- Speaking of roster moves, Rob Schremp should find himself in the Tambellini position tomorrow night, as he had a rather Tamby-esque game tonight. Here's hoping Schremp finds the pretzel twists as delicious as Zach and I do. I also hope Tambellini can make the most of his opportunity, assuming it does come his way tomorrow.

- Mark Streit is usually pretty reliable on the defensive end, but he got caught napping twice in the offensive zone tonight. One of those times led to the penalty shot that put the Sabres up 2-0. What happens if the Sabres don't score that goal? Who knows? But these mistakes don't make losses easier to stomach.

- Tim Jackman and Joel Rechlicz played 10:46 tonight. That's 10:46 COMBINED. Even with their totals added together, that's less than any individual Islanders player, just edging Josh Bailey. This brings up two points. First, why waste roster spots with guys who barely play; furthermore, why play guys who can't, you know, play? Second, it's not very smart to totally stunt Josh Bailey's development as a player by teaming him with stiffs like Jackman. Josh Bailey is a playmaker. Tim Jackman has seven goals in 142 NHL games.

- If I were Scott Gordon, I'd take every young player the organization is trying to build around and give those players serious minutes on the penalty kill. Letting up power play goals doesn't matter in a lost season (yes, the season is five games old, but we all know the Isles aren't going anywhere), but it can pay dividends down the line. John Tavares played 56 shorthanded seconds tonight; let's see that number go up. And for the record, Gordon does a great job of spreading out his minutes, but it'd be great to see him essentially force players to learn the defensive side of the game as they develop.

- Speaking of Tavares, every single time he touches the puck in the offensive zone, he's liable to create something. He managed to score a goal tonight, but of more interest to me were the two open nets he missed and the countless times he stickhandled out of trouble. Every time he touches the puck, I'm amazed. His hockey sense is uncanny and can literally make something out of nothing; given the lack of quality NHL players on this roster, often times, he'll have to do just that. What a tremendous player, and what a treat it is to watch him play.

- My last note for tonight - why, oh why, must the Islanders constantly be relegated to the dregs of MSG Plus 2? They played on Channel 414 tonight and they will be there again tomorrow, despite being at home and despite the Rangers being on the road. I understand the Islanders' ratings do not compare well to those of the Rangers and the Devils, but if the Islanders are at home, they really should be shown in high definition. It's a bit depressing to look for the Islanders game on TV and see that they can't even crack the double digits on the dial. This only helps perpetuate the image that the Islanders are a second-class organization, which surely doesn't help the Islanders as they attempt to rebuild all the facets of their team.

Busy night tomorrow. My predictions: The Rangers win 4-2 over the Maple Leafs, while the Isles lose 5-3 to the Sharks.

No Comment

Regarding the Long Island Press story stating that Charles Wang has pulled out of the Lighthouse Project...

As of right now, the only thing indicating that the Lighthouse Project is no more is a small local paper citing a singular unnamed source. In other words, that's not even close to reliable. Is the story true? Possibly. But until we know either way, this blog will refrain from commenting.

Look, as an Islanders fan, I can't help but fear the worst. And I can't help but think back to Wang's attempt to create "Old Plainview", something that ended with an abrupt announcement saying the project was over. But this shouldn't be a funeral. We have no proof that the Lighthouse is not going to happen. Yes, it's a little shady that nobody involved with the Lighthouse will go on the record to say anything. Yes, this news totally ruined my night. At the same time, with no confirmation of anything, we shouldn't get too carried away. After all, we have no certainty - there's that word again - that all hope is lost.

Here's hoping that the morning will bring confirmation that the Lighthouse Project is still a possibility.

5-1...

For the second straight year, our heroes are 5-1.

Last season, they started hot by beating an atrocious Tampa Bay team two games in a row (squeezing by with 2-1 wins in each while outshooting them 80-40 in those two games). That should've sent up red flares that they could only score on 1 out of 20 shots, but it didn't, because they kept winning. They beat Chicago in the home opener, then went into Philly and won and then beat the Devils at home.

Then the wheels fell off the bus. Buffalo found out how to defeat the Rangers, and just like that, they were beatable. They ended October 10-2-1 on the strength of 2 shootout victories. In fact, they had 10 shootout wins last year, and without them, making the playoffs would've been a lot tougher. (And you say Nik Zherdev contributed nothing to that team...)

A 10-2-1 start, 21 points in 13 games, and they still barely make the playoffs due to a lack of scoring and an over-reliance of Wade Redden and Michal Rozsival on the power play. The team would never really give up in games, but they couldn't finish when they needed to.

Take Game 7 in Washington. Oh, they tried very hard. Nik Antropov had a good game. Markus Naslund even played well. Henrik Lundqvist was spectacular. But a bad bounce off their own players tied the game 1-1, and no matter how hard they tried and how fast they scrambled, they couldn't put the puck in the net.

So, at 5-1 this year, I'm a little wary. Sure, it's a great record and 10 points so early in the season is very nice to have. And of course, a 4-goal 3rd period in the 2nd game of back-to-backs shouldn't be sneezed at. And it was a nice team-effort in shutting out Anaheim Sunday. And beating Washington and NJ in back-and-forth games was exciting.

But still, I'm wary. Although I must say, I have more faith in this team than last year. The rookies are playing great, Enver Lisin looks like Petr Prucha out there, Brandon Dubinsky looks better than he ever has, Chris Drury doesn't have pressure on him to score so he can play his game, and they can actually score when they need to.

It's early on though. Last year I mentioned words like "core" and "real deal" and "unstoppable" to describe their play in October, and look where it got them.

* * *

Just a question for those of you who were at the game. Did Wade Redden get cheered when he was came out as 3rd star of the game? I had a wedding so all I could watch were parts of the replay and Rangers in 60.

Isles Lose In Shootout - Again

As the New York Islanders played the kind of third period only they can play - you know, the kind of third period that starts out with a three-goal lead and ends in a tie game - I felt a certain calmness. Maybe it's because I was watching the game with friends. Maybe it's because I'm waiting for my wife to go into labor and hockey isn't as important as it ordinarily is. Maybe it's because I saw it coming from a mile away. But I think it's something different. Namely, I'm cool with losing this game because, quite honestly, wins and losses don't matter right now.

Nobody is going to confuse the 2009-10 Islanders for a great team, a playoff team, or even a mediocre team. This is a young group who's going to have plenty of tough times before things improve. Yes, it's troubling that many of the key players in tonight's loss also blew many third-period leads last season. At the same time, the Islanders' young players need experience when an opposing team finds it second gear and makes an all-out push to preserve one (or two) points. That's what the Islanders saw tonight.

Make no mistake about it, the Bruins thought they were going to get two easy points tonight. We've seen it a million times. Boston started its backup goalie and didn't exactly play with a ton of urgency in the first two periods. Their fans seemed more preoccupied with the floundering Red Sox than anything the Bruins were doing. But when the Bruins needed to turn it on, they did. The Islanders, on the other hand, simply proved what we suspected all along - they aren't at the Bruins' level just yet.

It's one thing to play well when your opponents are barely showing a pulse. It's another to weather the storm when they're playing at full capacity and you've got to take their best shots. Last year, the Islanders were in this position many times, but it happened mainly before injuries forced the team to truly rely on its youth. Now, the young players are the focal point of the team; they will learn more from this loss than they would have learned if they'd won.

So far, the Islanders have played three games and have forced overtime in each of these three games. These three games have been against the defending Stanley Cup champions, an improved Ottawa team and a team that finished one point shy of the President's Trophy last year. This is nothing to be ashamed of. If anything, Islanders fans should be proud that their team is pushing elite teams to the brink. They should also be pleased that players like John Tavares and Matt Moulson are contributing right away. Sure, Dwayne Roloson hasn't made a save in five shootout chances, but at least they're getting that far. There's still plenty to be excited about in Islander Country.

Orr vs. Brashear, Round I...

If Colton Orr and Donald Brashear square off against each other Monday night when the Maple Leafs come to town, who are you going to root for?

A Few Thoughts on Rangers/Capitals...

- There is this really cool place called Black-Eyed Sally's in Hartford that has decent food and always have awesome rock/soul/blues musicians. You can get a table, drink, and eat cajun food all night long while listening to sick guitarists and singers. I should email Aaron Voros and tell him. What's his email address? Oh, there it is. AVoros34@hartfordwolfpack.com.

- No, seriously. Who will come out of the lineup when Sean Avery returns? Enver Lisin, who plays hard, is fast as hell, and hits people twice his size on every shift? Brian Boyle, who had a rocky first game but then picked it up tenfold and now even kills penalties? Donald Brashear? What happens when you take the enforcer out of the lineup? Well, just ask Donald Brashear, who took liberties with the Rangers in the playoffs when Colton Orr sat out. It's got to be Voros, who took an awful penalty with a 2-2 game (of course, Brashear took a horrible penalty of his own late in the game, but Brashear serves a purpose while all Voros brings is a pretty cool beard).

- Artem Anisimov seemed to have a breakout game. The assist aside, he played well offensively. He finally seemed comfortable out there, especially on the shift where he had the assist. He was controlling the play and if Ales Kotalik didn't score, Anisimov was waiting for the puck with an open net.

- I was ready to berate Chris Higgins for a very selfish play when he stole the puck in the Capitals' zone then shot instead of passing to Drury. But on replays (both MSG's and my TiVo's), you can see that Jose Theodore was showing a lot of 5-hole, then snatched it away as soon as Higgins shot. So, no, not a bad play by Higgins at all, but I think Theodore trapped him into shooting when he knew he would close the hole immediately.

- It's not that the Rangers of 2008-09 would've quit when the Capitals went up 3-2 with about 12 minutes left because they wouldn't have. However, they probably wouldn't have tied it up because they were missing a player like Marian Gaborik. There were a few games where Markus Naslund or Nikolai Zherdev tied it with under a minute left, but they were missing that certain something - call it a sniper, a game-breaker, a superstar, whatever you want to. They had the drive last year, most of the time, but not always the skills.

- Re: Marian Gaborik's 2nd goal of the game that gave the Rangers a 4-3 lead. That, Bruce Boudreau, is why you don't play Tom Poti on the penalty kill.

- The refereeing definitely wasn't as bad as a Penguins game, but it's obvious the refs let some calls against the Capitals slide. For instance, there was on play where the Rangers were pressing in the zone, close to scoring. Two different Capital players committed two different penalties right in front of the refs. No call on either, both Rangers go down to the ice, puck is cleared, play continues. There was one play where a Ranger beat out an icing, and I actually thought the ref was going to blow the whistle and send the faceoff down the other end, regardless.

- I used to formerly say that I would like to have Wade Redden on my team at $1.5M-$2M/year. I thought he was a decent 3rd-4th defender who was making top-5-in-the-NHL-money. So I thought he was okay on the team just eating valuable cap space.

Not true this season. He has simply become a bad player, and the emergence of Mike Del Zotto and Matt Gilroy only highlights his flaws. He coughs up the puck, he bobbles it when trying to clear the zone, he gets beat in footraces, he lets skaters blow by him, he doesn't finish checks, and for that matter, he doesn't start checks either. If, for some ungodly reason, a team would like to have him and would like to give the Rangers a 5th or 6th round draft choice, Glen Sather should accept that trade.

- You'll read about Henrik Lundqvist giving up that goal everywhere (who cares, they won, he's never done it before and he won't do it again). You'll also read about Ryan Callahan's play (spirited and gritty, but I've been saying that since we first started this website in February of 2008).

- Kotalik for Zherdev. Vinny Prospal for Naslund. A better Brandon Dubinsky. Chris Drury in a less-prominent role where he isn't relied on for goals. A young D who actually try. Two players from Long Island. And a Petr Prucha-lookalike in Lisin. I'll take it. It's not scary this year if the Rangers go down a goal or two like it was last year. Plus, if Lundqvist gives up a bad goal, it's not the end of the world because the forwards - and D - can put one home.

- Seriously, it's October. Why isn't Voros scoring? This is his month!

Dave Tippett Is The Greatest Coach In The History Of The 2009-10 Phoenix Coyotes

As soon as the Coyotes started out 2-0, you knew the media - the same media who has all but forfeited the team's games - would come out gushing over the Coyotes' "surprise start", right?

The Phoenix Coyotes could play their last home opener ever this weekend, what with the team in bankruptcy, the ownership situation unsettled and the possibility of relocation never all that far from the conversation about their future.

Relocation that, if you recall, requires a $750 million payment to the city of Glendale. Nice try, though.

If that wasn't bad enough, chances are the Coyotes -- a mix of minimally experienced young players, castoffs and a sprinkling of talented veterans -- will miss the playoffs for a seventh straight season while bringing up the rear in the Pacific Division, if not the entire league when all is said and done.

That's right, folks. The entire 2009-10 NHL season has already been played, and the Coyotes finished 30th out of 30 teams. But, like participants in a reality show, everyone has to act like it's all happening at the same time we see it on TV.

To call this a mess would be to understate the situation and how much it has consumed the organization at every level for the last five months. But for the time being at least, the off-ice problems seem to be on the back burner with Phoenix becoming one of the NHL's early pleasant surprises thanks to an impressive start that includes a well-earned road win against the reigning Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.

Phoenix is 2-0. They've played exactly 2.439% of their schedule. Settle down.

Dave Tippett took over the job when Wayne Gretzky resigned a few days before the season opened. He replaced the game's greatest icon and stepped into circumstances where failure seemed more likely than not. Yet in the space of a couple of weeks, Tippett has managed to instill a level of structure and discipline that has made Phoenix's game virtually unrecognizable from last season, and certainly a lot more effective than anyone realistically could have imagined.

Let's try this again. THE COYOTES WEREN'T THAT BAD LAST YEAR. They were fifth in the West at the All-Star break. They probably would have made the playoffs if not for their horrible late January and February where they netted a total of six points from fifteen games. They were 23-15-3 at home - you know, the place everyone is trying to move the Coyotes from.

Oh, and at least someone realistically imagined the Coyotes playing well this year.

More so when you consider Tippett really didn't have to be there. A veteran coach widely respected for his teaching ability and no-nonsense approach to things, Tippett was fired unceremoniously by Dallas' new management in June after averaging more than 45 wins in six seasons and with two more seasons remaining on his contract. Someone with Tippett's pedigree could have waited for another opening, but instead he took what might be described as a leap of faith and has become a steadying force for a team that was in disarray.

A leap of faith is taking, say, the Devils job, knowing that Lou Lamoriello fires coaches like every week. But taking a job in a place with really nice weather, with absolutely no expectations, and when everyone has already written your team off as a horrible failure? That's a win-win situation. It's even better than taking a cushy TV analyst job.

[Tippett:] "I think the players have done a phenomenal job blocking out all the distractions and stuff that was in the media. Now it's up to us, and the big thing now is that we're playing and we can control things on the ice."

No, you can't. According to Wes Goldstein, you already missed the playoffs. If you already forgot, scroll up a few paragraphs.

"I had a feeling we were going to need a coach, and it was clear there was one guy for us," Maloney said. "Back then, Wayne also thought Dave would be right for this. He's got a quiet strength to him, and knowing what our team looked like, we thought he was a perfect fit."

This is bullcrap. If Gretzky or Ulf Samuelsson was coaching this team and they won their first two games, Don "We Got The Better Lindros" Maloney would be singing their praises ad nauseum. In addition, I have no idea what "quiet strength" has to do with anything.

So far, he has been.

Perhaps we should wait until Dave Tippett hits the 2.440% mark on this season before calling him a "perfect fit" for anything.

Prucha Scores on His Back...

"It's a power play goal! Petr Prucha!"

Last night, the Phoenix Coyotes went into Pittsburgh and took on the Penguins, and they won 3-0. What's more impressive is that it was a power play goal. What's more impressive is that he scored it while on his back, laying on a Penguin.

Check out the video of Prucha scoring while lying on Mark Eaton.

Happy Thursday to everyone.

Kings Ransom Review

Tonight, ESPN aired Kings Ransom, the first part of their "30 For 30" documentary series. As someone who loves documentaries and worships Wayne Gretzky, I was really excited about this, even though Puck Daddy didn't exactly gush over it. Thankfully, Kings Ransom wasn't what I was afraid it'd be and, in many ways, it exceeded my expectations.

Like I said, I tend to obsess over the Great One, so the story isn't exactly new to me. It isn't new to many people, either; just last year, the NHL Network did their own documentary about the trade. Kings Ransom covers similar ground, but in a different way. By including a great deal of footage from the events leading up to the trade, we get an almost voyeuristic view of Gretzky's life at that time. We've all seen clips of Gretzky breaking down at his press conference in Edmonton, but seeing his whole speech is a bit jarring. The same can be said for the footage of his limousine just after his marriage to Janet Jones. Through these clips, we see the human side of Wayne Gretzky, which is welcome, as these 21 years have taken away some of the emotion of the moment.

So much has been said about this trade that we almost forget that this was probably the biggest trade in sports history. Director Peter Berg tries to remind us of this fact by demonstrating how big hockey is in Edmonton and how special Gretzky's time with the Oilers truly was. Kings Ransom doesn't make much of an attempt to absolve Peter Pocklington of the blame for the trade, nor should it, especially since Glen Sather, Janet Jones, Bruce McNall and Jim Matheson all point their fingers at Pocklington. What's interesting is, Gretzky is the only person to defend Pocklington.

Puck Daddy's review criticized Gretzky for appearing unemotional about the trade in Kings Ransom, but the reason Gretzky is so composed is that he's discussed this trade a million times. He can't pretend to be as angry about it as, say, Sather was, simply because Sather has had less of a chance to vent in front of a camera. Gretzky has told his side of the story in his own autobiography and Ed Willes' Gretzky to Lemieux. By chance, I've read both over the past two weeks. The story doesn't change, but time (and constant discussion of the deal) has changed Gretzky's mindset. Gretzky's autobiography, written in 1990, reflects a bitter look at the trade. Today, Gretzky can calmly state that he understands why he was traded. That's great for avoiding trouble, but as Puck Daddy states, it takes away from the documentary.

That Kings Ransom barely touches on the successes of the Kings and Oilers is refreshing, as the impact of this trade had nothing to do with anything that happened on the ice. It would have been nice to hear about the 1989 Kings-Oilers playoff series, but I was glad that Kings Ransom was about the trade and not the 1993 Kings. Also, it was nice to show the real aftermath of what happened - while it was true that Pocklington sold Gretzky to raise cash, it is also stated that Bruce McNall bought Gretzky with dirty money.

Kings Ransom really excelled in the subtle areas. The montage of Gretzky highlights at the beginning of the documentary wasn't just any random highlights thrown together. Instead, they told the story of Gretzky's time in Edmonton. Among the goals shown were Gretzky's 50th goal in 39 games, Gretzky's goal to beat Mike Vernon in Game 2 of the 1988 Smythe Division final, Gretzky's 500th goal, and Gretzky's goal to open Game 5 of the 1984 Stanley Cup final. Berg showed his fandom and true understanding of Gretzky's career in this sequence. And I'd be remiss if I didn't tip my cap to ESPN for their handling of this documentary. We do more than our fair share of ESPN bashing in these parts, but they nailed this one. They kept the commercials to an absolute minimum and didn't run a score ticker at the bottom of the screen, even as the AL Central one-game playoff reached extra innings. Best of all, they didn't look down on hockey the way many of us accuse them of doing. Instead, they let Peter Berg tell his story. More than that, they chose Wayne Gretzky and the National Hockey League lead this much-hyped series of documentaries. That says something.

While Kings Ransom isn't a perfect documentary - in no small part because this is a story that we're all familiar with - it does succeed in presenting a familiar story in a different light. It's nice to see a hockey story on ESPN, in high definition, with a famous director using cutting-edge ideas and technology. The documentary does a great job of showing the conflicted nature of all parties involved with the trade; while all express regret on some level about the trade, all admit that the trade was for the best. Berg seems to agree, ending his documentary on the note that three NHL teams call California home. Though that's not all Gretzky's doing, Kings Ransom does an effective job of showing the trade's influence on the NHL and sports in general.

Brian Boyle is Like Flash...

Here are 4 reasons I don't like when Ranger games are on Versus:

1) Doc Emerick annoys me. Not just his homer-ism for the Devils - I understand that, and he leaves a lot of it behind when the game is on national TV - but the way he talks, his phrasing, his know-it-all attitude. I know a ton of you will disagree with me, but it's one reason I don't like watching Versus games.

2) It's one big advertisement. I didn't notice it as much tonight, but last year, it seemed like every 10 seconds I was being force-fed a Bud Light or rodeo commercial.

3) My DirecTV doesn't carry Versus anymore, so I have to find watch the game elsewhere.

4) It's one big power play. It always seems that every game on Versus has more penalties called than regular games that are only on local TV. I would imagine that the referees are conditioned to call more penalties than normal for these games so that "fringe fans" can see more power plays and goals, but it really screws over the real fans who are only watching Versus because MSG or MSG+ doesn't show the game. They make those phantom calls all game long, much like when a team is playing the Penguins.

* * *

- I saw someone speed down the ice to make a defense play. As I tried to see the number on the back of the jersey, my mind only had 3 names in mind: Callahan, Dubinsky, or Lisin. magine my surprise tonight when the number read "22" and the name on the jersey was "Boyle." It's looking like Aaron Voros will be the odd man out when Sean Avery returns.

- Speaking of Brandon Dubinsky, he looks like a beast out there. Besides his scoring, his skating looks excellent and he's stronger on the puck this season than last. However, don't get too excited. Remember how awesome he was last year in the beginning? He had 12 points in 13 games in October '08 before dropping off the planet. That probably won't happen as dramatically this year, but it's still something to think about.

- I wanted Alexei Semenov to be a Ranger this year, and I felt bad that he wanted to be a Ranger, Glen Sather wanted him to, and John Tortorella wanted him to, but his wife nixed it. However, I don't think that a 7th defenseman is entirely necessary right now. Matt Gilroy has been playing great and scored his first goal tonight; Marc Staal and Dan Girardi aren't lighting it up, but they haven't been messing up; and Mike Del Zotto has looked great. He scored the past 2 games, and he had two open nets in the Penguins game where he just couldn't get his stick on the puck. Plus, he's manning the point on the power play pretty well considering he's a 19 year old who was thrown into the fire.

- What happens if and when the Rangers do find a 7th defenseman? One would hope that Wade Redden or Michal Rozsival would take a seat, but would Sather let Tortorella do that? One of Tom Renney's big mistakes was not only never sitting either of them, but relying on them for the power play. Tortorella isn't relying on them, per se, but he is using them on the 2nd unit, which is a huge mistake. I know he said he didn't watch many Ranger games before he took over last year, but didn't he hear about why Renney got fired?

Only The Lord Saves More Than Ray Emery

There are a lot of people out there who write about hockey. Unfortunately, many of these people are awful at their jobs. Channeling the spirit of Fire Joe Morgan (but with a lot less snarkiness), here's our response to a recent article that was particularly loathsome.

Some teams in the National Hockey League have a reputation of struggling between the pipes, and the Ottawa Senators were one of those teams. But now with Pascal Leclaire in net, they can finally say they have a number one goaltender - maybe for the first time in the history of their franchise.

This would be a good time to mention that the title of this piece is "Emery-Flyers Marriage A Good Fit For Both Sides". As in, neither the Ottawa Senators nor Pascal Leclaire were mentioned. The Senators, by the way, have had above-average goalies for this entire decade, be it Patrick Lalime, Ray Emery, Martin Gerber or Dominik Hasek. And if Hasek isn't a number one goaltender, I don't know who is.

The Philadelphia Flyers are another one of those teams that have been plagued in goal since Ron Hextall left the team in 1999.

I know I said in my season preview that the Flyers haven't had a great goalie since Hextall. But they're hardly "plagued". They just happened to have a number of goalies that didn't have very long shelf lives. Since Hextall left, Brian Boucher led them to the 2000 conference finals, then Roman Cechmanek finished second in the league in GAA for the next three years. Cechmanek was followed by Robert Esche, who finished fifth in GAA in 2003-04. Does that sound like a "plague" to you? Me either.

OK, maybe they haven't had a ton of luck since the lockout, but they had stellar goaltending for the first half of this decade. It just happens that that stellar goaltending has come from a bunch of different people.

In the last 10 years, the Flyers have really struggled to find a goaltender that can do the job and now they have Ray Emery who seems to be a much different guy then last year based on opening night.

A different guy? What does this even MEAN? Has he converted to Islam? Does he tell different jokes in the locker room before games? It's okay to say he was a whiny bitch in Ottawa, but now he isn't.

He shut out the Carolina Hurricanes in the season opener

Good for him. But I was wondering how he did when the Hurricanes were on the power play.

and did a particularly good job when the Hurricanes were on the power play.

Wow! That's amazing, especially since the Flyers had the league's 6th best penalty kill last year, while Carolina was only 18th on the power play. It must have taken a Herculean effort for Emery to shut the Hurricanes down.

It's obviously going to take longer than one game for the Ray Emery experiment in Philadelphia to work

BUT HE WAS PARTICULARLY GOOD ON THE POWER PLAY!!!

but at this point in time, considering what his cap money is

According to NHLNumbers.com, Ray Emery is the 29th highest paid goalie in the league at $1.5 million. Goalies making less money than Ray Emery:

- Chris Osgood ($1.45m)

- Martin Biron ($1.4m)

- Jonas Hiller ($1.3m)

- Scott Clemmensen ($1.2m)

- Steve Mason ($0.9m)

- Semyon Varlamov ($.85m)

- Jonathan Quick ($.57m)

- Pekka Rinne ($.725m)

Just about all of these goalies have either had better careers than Emery or have more potential than Emery. So let's stop pretending he's on some great contract. He's got your typical take-a-flier contract (see Biron, Martin). If he sucks, no biggie. If he does well, he'll cash in elsewhere. This is the NHL equivalent of Michael Vick's contract with the Eagles, only no dogs were killed.

and considering that he came back with a lot to prove after having been in exile for all intents and purposes in Russia, it's going to be a good move for the Flyers to have this guy.

Emery signed with the KHL on July 8, 2008. He could have competed for a starting job in the NHL if he really wanted to. Instead, he went to Russia, dominated an inferior league, and suddenly he's a valuable commodity? If you say so.

The Emery-Flyers marriage is a really good fit for both sides. In other words; a team who desperately needs a goaltender to step up and do something for them and a goaltender who desperately needs a good team to surround him and allow him the opportunity to get back in the good grades with the NHL.

I'm not sure what it means to "get back in the good grades" with someone. But hopefully it means Emery does well. If he doesn't, it could get ugly. Emery couldn't handle things in Ottawa. Philly fans are a bit more... um... angry than Ottawa fans. Thankfully, we have seen that the Flyers and Ray Emery are a match made in heaven and that Ray Emery will go 82-0 with 82 shutouts as the Flyers sweep through the playoffs. After all, he was particularly good on the power play.

An Almost "Notes From the Garden"...

I would've done "Notes from the Garden" last night, but I got home late and passed out nearly immediately. I drank what turned out to be way too much, so some of the night is a blur. I don't normally do that at games, but hey, it was the home opener.

However, I would now like to reproduce the team introductions...

"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome your 2009-2010 New York Rangers!"

That's it? Really? No individual introductions of Marian Gaborik, Vinny Prospal, Brian Boyle, Enver Lisin, or Ales Kotalik? You know newcomers Mike Del Zotto, Chris Higgins, and Matt Gilroy would've gotten huge ovations. And didn't Ryan Callahan deserve a moment in the spotlight after being named sole Alternate Captain?

One might assume they didn't do it to save time, but I think that's garbage. They do it every other year - even if the home opener isn't the 1st game of the season - and the crowd loves it.

Maybe it's because they know Wade Redden, Michal Rozsival, and Donald Brashear would get booed? Maybe John Tortorella chose to not do individual introductions based on his own reasoning.

I would have much rathered gotten to cheer Gaborik skating onto Garden ice for the 1st time in the regular season than to see some painted men bang drums for 2 minutes to advertise themselves. And where was George Bluth?

They really dropped the ball on that one. The Home Opener is normally a great night, but last night it seemed like just another game in October.

Islanders Lose, But...

The Islanders lost tonight in a shootout against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The cynic in me thinks that these are the same old Islanders who can't hold a lead against a good team. That part of me is legitimately crestfallen after this loss. After all, this was one of those nights that just seemed too perfect to screw up, and we won't have many of those nights this season, especially with the specter of the Lighthouse Project looming large.

Having said all that...

How can you possibly be upset about tonight's game? The Isles looked pretty awesome for much of the game. John Tavares made his debut in just about as grand a fashion as you could imagine, and that's the biggest thing. For those who attended the game, his first goal is a memory that will never be forgotten. From a practical perspective, it's great that Tavares got all of his firsts (first point, first goal, first shootout attempt) out of the way in one night. Hard to knock that kind of performance.

I'm not saying wins and losses don't matter. What I am saying is that this season is about developing young talent, and we saw significant evidence that John Tavares is ready to contribute to this team right now. If the Islanders focus on developing Tavares and his young counterpart, the wins will come soon enough. Good teams always get the lucky bounces, as tonight's shootout showed. Someday, the Islanders will get those breaks.

For now, we have four days to reflect. Not on the loss or the expiration of Charles Wang's "certainty" deadline, but on the spectacular debut of John Tavares and what other tricks he may have in store for us. If Tavares is even half the difference-maker he was tonight, we're in store for a special season, regardless of the Isles' win-loss record.

Happy Certainty Day!

Finally, we're here. October 3. Opening Day... and Charles Wang's "certainty" deadline.

It comes as no surprise that Wang's deadline was not met by the Town of Hempstead. Bad news, sure, but not at all unexpected, and that's good. Because this should not be a sad day for Islanders fans.

Instead, it should be a celebration. Tonight should be a celebration of what we still have. We get to watch this team play instead of worry about the future. We get to spend the night in Nassau Coliseum; warts and all, it's one of the few remaining arenas with a real home-ice advantage when the crowd's involved. We get to reacquaint ourselves with pretzel twists, easily the greatest arena food available anywhere. Most importantly, we get to welcome John Tavares to Long Island.

On many occasions, I've tried to put into to words what John Tavares means to the Islanders and their fans. I've failed each time. You never want to give a player the dreaded "savior" label, and it's not fair to give it to Tavares. However, it's okay to admit that Tavares is a bigger deal than just about anybody the Islanders have brought in since Pat LaFontaine. He's the kind of player the Islanders would never have a prayer of signing as a free agent and the kind of player they'd never be able to trade for, and yet John Tavares begins his NHL career as a New York Islander. Even better, he's a very willing and happy New York Islander.

It's a night to forget all the Lighthouse stuff. It's a night to cheer and to finally be proud of the Islanders. That's something no politician can take away.

Rangers Lose...

The Rangers did something today they haven't done since before the lockout - they lost their season opener.

Of course, the difference between this year and the past 4 years is the quality of the opponent they played. Since the lockout, they haven't played any teams that made the playoffs that season for their first game. They beat, in order, Philadelphia, Washington, Florida, and Tampa Bay. This year, not only did they have a team that will make the playoffs, they faced a team that won the Stanley Cup.

So, how have those teams who played the defending Stanley Cup Champions done when they got to see the banner raised?

Last year, defending champions Detroit played Toronto on the night they raised the banner, who missed the playoffs for the 4th straight year.

In 2007, defending champions Anaheim played Boston when they raised the banner (they played their first 2 games vs. LA in Europe, then went on a road trip, then played Boston in their home opener). Boston snuck into the playoffs but lost to Montreal in the first round.

In 2006, Carolina played Buffalo in their home opener when they celebrated winning the Stanley Cup. Buffalo had a fantastic start, a great year, and lost to Ottawa in Game 5 overtime to be eliminated from the playoffs in '07.

In 2005, Tampa Bay had a delayed celebration at home against Carolina. Carolina had a dream season and won the Stanley Cup.

In 2003, New Jersey played Toronto. Toronto wound up losing to Philadelphia in the 2nd round (the Flyers were very good in those playoffs, and the only reason they didn't go on to the Finals that year is because Keith Primeau couldn't play every shift and Brad Richards played the game of his life in Game 7).

In 2002, the Red Wings played Montreal, who missed the playoffs and ended up 5 games under .500.

Which will the Rangers be more like? Will they be #1 in the league like Buffalo and run out of steam in the Conference Finals? Will they miss the playoffs like last season's Toronto and Montreal of '02? Will they win the Cup like Carolina did in '06? Probably not any of those scenarios. They'll probably go hot, go cold, and then fight for a playoff spot in mid-March. They'll clinch in early-April, and then have a 2nd round exit like Toronto in '03.

Of course, I'm hoping it's different. But I'm also realistic.

I could be wrong. John Tortorella's system could be good. Marian Gaborik looked very good vs. Pittsburgh in Game #1, and he might score 45 goals. Brandon Dubinsky even looked good last night. Plus, the defensive pairings I wanted were put on the ice tonight (Staal/Girardi; Redden/Gilroy; Rozsival/Del Zotto).

I'm not going to dissect last night's game. You probably saw it. Sure, there's a lot I can talk about - poor officiating; an excessive amount of odd-man rushes on Henrik Lundqvist; Mike Del Zotto being in the right spot twice but not being able to get good wood on the puck; Wade Redden's $6.5M body check on Evgeni Malkin; Redden being near the net and playing physical until he sucked the last 6 minutes of the game; Marc-Andre Fleury's game-breaking save on Vinny Prospal. But it's a long season.

And with 5 more games against Pittsburgh, expect plenty of confusion about phantom penalties called in favor of the Penguins. (I say "in favor of the Penguins" instead of "against the Rangers" because for years, this site has been saying that the NHL doesn't have a bias against any one team, but they do have a bias for Pittsburgh.)

It was an exciting game. They had some good chances. Gaborik can be incredible. Ales Kotalik and Prospal played good. Sean Avery can help a lot and hopefully will soon. But there were way too many odd-man rushes against Hank is too many. He is a great goalie, but he shouldn't have to be the hero every game. And what are you going to do when he isn't playing that game?

I'm also disappointed Alexei Semenov didn't sign with the Rangers. Having a 7th d-man is a luxury they haven't had in a while. Jason Strudwick was good in the locker room a few years back, but he wasn't a great player. Last year, no d-man was help accountable because there was never a threat of benching one player. A veteran 7th man would mean a struggling player could take a seat, or a rookie with nerves could watch a game from up high one night to get his bearings back.

Anyway, it's a long season. It's been nice to start the season with 2 points every year, but there are 81 games left.

The NHL Is Absolutely SCREWED

There are a lot of people out there who write about hockey. Unfortunately, many of these people are awful at their jobs. Channeling the spirit of Fire Joe Morgan (but with a lot less snarkiness), here's our response to a recent article that was particularly loathsome.

A new season is dawning and life for the NHL can't get any worse ... or could it?

Yes, it could get worse. MUCH worse. Remember five years ago, when there WASN'T a new season dawning?

I'm talking about a league that in three months went from showcasing one of the greatest exhibitions of playoff hockey in decades -- the seven-game Stanley Cup Final between the Red Wings and Penguins -- to dismissing Wayne Gretzky as collateral damage in a bankruptcy case that even with a judicial decision remains unresolved. There was also the dispute between DirecTV and Versus that threatened to black out opening night games, rumors of fiscal distress in South Florida, Atlanta, Long Island and elsewhere, yet another owner (Boots Del Biaggio) doing the perp-walk for investor fraud, fallout from Dany Heatley's ugly forced trade, a hijacked players association, and a young star in handcuffs for allegedly pummeling a 62-year-old cab driver over 20 cents change.

OK, let's compare this to the NFL. This year, the NFL reinstated the recently jailed Michael Vick after a whopping two-game suspension. They have a top-10 draft pick who intends to sit out the season because he wants more money. An insane amount of retired players are either dead broke, horribly brain damaged, or both. One of their star players is in jail for shooting himself in a night club. NFL players are suspended on a weekly basis for drug abuse or off-field discipline problems. And the NHL is the league with a problem? Please.

BTW, that "great exhibition in playoff hockey" aired on a Friday night and wasn't even shown in New York bars because most New Yorkers thought a regular season game between the Mets and Yankees was more important. Great game (Wings-Pens, that is), but let's not pretend it was some seminal moment in sports history.

You want to say it can't possibly sink any lower. Not even the NHL can slide so far so fast, but there is cause to wonder: If all that was what the summer brought, what's on the horizon for fall, winter and spring? Thankfully, there is some good news:

The games are back.

Whew. I was really beginning to wonder what was on the horizon for fall, winter and spring. I forgot hockey players actually play games. Thanks for the reminder.

Joining Ovechkin at the top are the twin stars of Pittsburgh: Sidney Crosby (the Penguins' second coming of Lemieux, albeit in a much smaller package) and Evgeni Malkin, last season's scoring champ and playoff MVP. In Boston, Vezina Trophy-winning goalie Tim Thomas and Norris Trophy defenseman Zdeno Chara are the inspirational forces for a surging team. They are supported by the vastly underrated Marc Savard, who feeds slick passes to a player many Bruins fans consider the Next Cam Neely: winger Milan Lucic.

There is strength of size and number in Philadelphia where the complete game of Jeff Carter and heady play of Mike Richards have fans speaking in tones reserved for the days when Bobby Clarke and Bill Barber carried the Broad Street Bullies to glory. It doesn't hurt (unless you're the competition) that the Flyers brought over the much-feared Chris Pronger to anchor their improved defense. If Ray Emery competes to the level of his ability in goal, the Flyers should contend for a spot in the Cup final this spring and could well win it all.

In the West, the still-potent Red Wings will try to blend the usual mix of veteran stars and emerging talent and reach the Cup final for the third time in as many seasons. Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Nicklas Lidstrom anchor the group, but the supporting cast is hungry for a chance at redemption. That will happen only if the multi-talented Sharks can't find their game again in the postseason, or if the swift, determined Blackhawks of andJonathan Toews continue to grow.

This thing reads like a NBC press release. A whole paragraph about the Flyers, who lost in the first round last year. Half a paragraph about the defending Stanley Cup champions. Half a paragraph about the Bruins, who have had exactly one good season since the lockout. Meanwhile, the Red Wings get two sentences and the Sharks and Blackhawks get to share one whopping sentence. Sounds about right.

After building on a startling jump in momentum coming out of the 2004-05 lockout and largely delivering on its promise for a better, faster, more exciting game, the league's momentum, at least regarding public perception, appears to have stalled. One might argue that it has actually crashed.

Public perception has "crashed", even though the league has better TV ratings than it did before the lockout. That the NHL has done this with ESPN going out of its way to avoid covering hockey, if not sabotage the league altogether, is huge. Furthermore, good luck finding even one hockey fan who gives a rat's ass about the "public perception" of the NHL.

A rising tide of anger doesn't bode well, especially when the league, which might have laid claim to the higher ground after the costly lockout brought the owners' much-wanted salary cap, is grieving almost every issue that comes before it, costing the players time and money and building an overriding sense of ill will. As a fan, you might argue that all this shouldn't matter, that these are professionals who are (highly) paid to play. But hockey players are people, too, and the issues that are rocking their usually secure world are taking a toll.

I have no idea what this paragraph means. That's especially true of the 80-word introductory sentence.

Most aren't likely to go away, not without another fight or three, but at least there is hockey on the ice now, hope in the hearts of fans, and a very good chance the game will produce a season every bit as memorable as the last. For those who truly love hockey, pretty much all we can do is hope...that we can see the games.

OOH! A shot at the NHL's TV contract! How original!

In what has become an eternal quest to find a TV provider other than ESPN, the league's current U.S. cable provider, Versus, is in a snit fight with satellite distributor DirecTV. The dispute has scuttled some 14 million viewers. It's a problem that may yet be resolved, but it smacks of the kind the league had with Madison Square Garden over internet rights, and it seems to open the door for MSG or some other regional network to cut a deal separate of league partners and concentrate on serving places where hockey draws an audience without trying to air games in areas where people simply refuse to watch.

These run-on sentences are making me nauseous.

Oh, and MSG can barely service New York and New Jersey. I'm sure the other 48 states will be no problem.

Of course, those people will be missing some good stuff on the ice. So, yes, let us hope for the best -- especially that things don't get worse.

YES. Things are SO awful now. Patrick Kane punching a cab driver is far, far worse than a lost season and the legitimate fear that the league would fold. Godspeed, NHL.