An Odd Weekend...

Four years ago, you could have said the Rangers would get 2 points in this weekend's back-to-back games, one in Buffalo and then home against Detroit. They could've beaten the Sabres but would have been mauled by the Red Wings.

Three years ago, you could've written this weekend off as a total loss. The Sabres were flying on the wings of Danny Briere and Chris "More Than 2 Goals in 22 Games" Drury, and the Red Wings again would have mauled them.

This year, it could be interesting.

The Sabres are flying high at 16-7-2 and are on a 4-game winning streak. They are also 9-3-2 at home, while the Rangers are 6-7-1 on the road. However, the Rangers are well-rested and have arguably the best player in the league playing for them. If Marian Gaborik scores another 2 goals tonight and Henrik Lundqvist shows up with a good performance, they can steal 2 big points from a conference rival.

The Red Wings, however, are just 3 games over .500 and are breaking even on the road. Old incarnations of the Wings have mauled the Rangers every game. There was a cold January game in 2006 where Brendan Shanahan buried them for 2 goals (the Rangers lost 4-3, but there was a late 3rd period goal to make it seem closer); there was a game when Shanahan was a Ranger where the Rangers were winning 3-1 and then stopped playing and lost 4-3 (that was the night Sean Avery was traded to the Rangers); and then there was last year, where Aaron Voros scored 2 goals and the Rangers still lost, in overtime (Aaron Voros... two goals? What?).

Though the Red Wings are struggling, so are the Rangers, and the Rangers do have to travel back from Buffalo in order to play this game. Detroit has a game in New Jersey tonight; traveling from Jersey to New York, however time-consuming the traffic may be, is not as bad as a flight home from Buffalo.

This weekend is really a crapshoot. If I was guessing, I would say they win in Buffalo and get mauled by Detroit. However, knowing my betting record, they're going to beat Detroit but lose tonight to Buffalo.

Hey, maybe back being in Buffalo will wake Chris Drury and Ales Kotalik up.

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In answer to reader Eric the Lev, who inquired if I thought John Tortorella would get fired like John Stevens - no, I don't. It's way too soon to tell if he will last. The team is suffering injuries and are still treading water. However, I think the tide will have to sway in his favor soon to save some more jobs.

In my opinion, the GM should be gone. One coach (Tom Renney) didn't work. Another one is having problems. Time to point the finger at the man who signed Wade Redden, Michal Rozsival, and Chris Drury to a total of $19M per season, isn't it?

I also don't know why Stevens was fired from Philadelphia. The team is doing decent and most of the team is performing well. They don't have good goaltending yet are staying competitive in games.

I think he was fired because of pre-season expectations. Everyone predicted the Flyers to be great and go deep into the playoffs, yet they have a weak blueline (including overrated Chris Pronger) and poor goaltending (although Ray Emery and Brian Boucher have been playing better than I thought, they still aren't a top-notch tag team). So they fire the coach, bring in Peter Laviolette, and hope for the best. Bad move.