Not to Be Unfair to Cam Ward...

Not to be unfair to Carolina Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward, but any goalie tonight would've stopped 37 of 38 shots against the Rangers tonight.

I think the Shot Clock Man has a bad angle of the ice. At one point, a puck was passed parallel to the goal line. He took his stick, reached out, and pushed it towards the blue line. I took a glance at the shot clock and it went from "11" to "12".

Brandon Dubinsky rifled a shot - absolutely blasted this puck - that was caught by Ward. The only hitch? It was going high if Ward didn't touch it. He actually had to move out of net to catch it. Shot clock increase.

I'm not saying most of those 38 shots never actually were shots. In fact, most of them were. However, how many really tested Ward? Three? Four? The Rangers had a couple of good chances, but at least 29 of those shots were crappy, low-angle, easily-saved shots.

The Rangers do that; they have been for years. They make goalies look amazing. Remember when Rick DiPietro made over 50 saves one day in March '07 and everyone said how incredible he was? Guess what? Most of those shots were right to his chest - they would've hit the Gordon's Fisherman right in the head.

Tonight, the Rangers must've seen the logo on the Ward's jersey as a bulls-eye. Because they kept aiming for it.

Did You Expect a Different Result?...

Did you really expect something different than what happened tonight?

Did you expect Donald Brashear to do more than Erik Christensen or Ales Kotalik would? Look at this stat-line: 5 shifts, 5 minutes 35 seconds, 2 hits, minus-1.

With (essentially) a 6-minute power play and Michal Rozsival running the point, what did you expect? A shot to hit the net? A goal?

Get real. With Kotalik watching from above and Mike Del Zotto playing the opposite side (so he can't get a real shot off), there was nobody to blast the puck from the point. And with no Rangers wanting to stand in the crease, even if they did, there was nobody to bang home a rebound.

Kotalik sits during the "winning streak" against Montreal and Tampa Bay, so he sits again in Philadelphia. Okay, I see that. If it's working, run with it. They lose, but he sits again in Montreal. Interesting, but I see what John Tortorella is doing. But now they've been shut out 2 straight games and their cannon-shot is still not dressed, while gutless players like Brashear and Chris Higgins get to go in.

At one point during the extended power plays in the 3rd period, all four Penguin penalty-killers and their goalie were facing the same direction - towards the corner so Marc-Andre Fleury had to turn his neck left to face the puck. Rozsival, for some unknown reason, was on the left point (maybe Wade Redden was changing his tampon, I don't know, I'm not the bench boss).

Now, if this was a team playing the Rangers - say, Montreal, Philadelphia, or Pittsburgh - that point man would have skated down so that he was facing the penalty-killers' backs. He would have received a pass and banged it home before Henrik Lundqvist had adequate time to slide back to the other post.

However, this is Mikey Rozsival we're talking about. What did he do? Waited for a pass. Just to pass again. Just to have the puck fumbled out of the zone, thus killing any chance of a good play.

Apparently, the PK-men on Pittsburgh weren't the only ones not paying attention on that play.

I'm not saying that Kotalik himself would've saved this game. But if he was out there shooting and someone wanted to get dirty in the crease - hey, Sean Avery can't play every shift, can he? - then maybe a garbage goal would've gone in and all of you would be singing the praises of this team for coming back from a 1-0 deficit and finally winning at home.

But no one wants to shoot. No one wants to get dirty. No one wants to hit.

And I guess no one wants to play in May, either.

The Difference in 2 Players; Montreal Update Coming Soon...

I will update later today about the Rangers game in Montreal. For the record, it's the 1st time I've seen them lose in an opposing building (not including the Nassau Coliseum). I saw them win in Nashville, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Montreal before the 6-0 disaster I witnessed first-hand Saturday night.

* * *

Do you know the differences in Dan Carcillo and Donald Brashear? Carcillo has 6 goals and 6 assists this year; Brashear had no goals and 1 assist. Carcillo dresses for games while Brashear stays nice and clean in a suit and tie. Carcillo wins fights (his record this year is 7-3-2, including beating Marian Gaborik and losing to Sean Avery last Thursday) while Brashear skates away from confrontation. In fact, the last fight Brashear won was against Jared Boll of Columbus three days before Thanksgiving. Brashear's record this year stands at 3-4-2.

As for Brashear's claims that he wouldn't fight Carcillo - "I don't even fight a guy like Carcillo. I don't think he's in my league." - and then his claims that he isn't a guy who only goes out and fights staged fights... well, what? Do you fight everyone or will you only fight heavyweights?

"If I would have played" Gaborik would not have been fought by Carcillo, Brashear said. Oh yeah? If you're out there fighting people like Matt Carkner, Eric Boulton, Eric Godard, and Shawn Thornton, is that really a deterrent for people like Carcillo? Will he not get under Gaborik's skin just because there is a chance that Brashear might lose a fight to Aaron Asham or Ian Laperriere?

Did Brashear's presence in the first half of the season stop any team from running over Henrik Lundqvist? Were they afraid he was going to go after Ilya Kovalchuk or Johan Hedberg, or did they know that, no matter what, he would fight Boulton and leave everyone else alone?

Like what Carcillo did or not, he got the Flyers an extra 2 points that night. He got the best player on the team to thrown down his gloves and fight him. He threw an entire team off their game, because they then stopped trying to score and started looking for revenge. The only person nearly capable of getting under a team's skin like that on the Rangers' roster is Avery. Not Brashear.

Guess what, Donald. Carcillo might not be in your league for long - because he'll still be in the NHL for the next decade.

What a Night; Emails...

A week ago, I never thought there'd be a day when Aaron Voros and Christopher Higgins both score in Rangers uniforms.

Well, here it is. That Voros goal was very nice, but the thing that was excellent was the Brian Boyle pass - through traffic, an excellent pass for a primary assist.

Not much I can add here that you won't find elsewhere, but it's huge when 8 different Rangers can find the net - and none of them have the initials MG.

I've been saying all along that the Rangers need offense besides Marian Gaborik, and that the Rangers need to hit the other team and stand up for themselves.

Tonight, they did that. If the players that don't score often - Callahan, Dubinsky, Drury, Lisin, Anisimov, Avery, Higgins ... ... ... - can find ways to score, this team can be be a playoff team. If they go back to only having Gaborik and Vinny Prospal scoring, it will be a long offseason.

* * *

Two emails in my inbox today from a site I used to write on. And I stopped, because it was ridiculous.

1) Should the Rangers trade for Vinny Lecavalier?

2) Should the Rangers buy-out Ales Kotalik?

No, they should not trade for Lecavalier. He is a decent player this year and was alright last year. What about in 8 years from now when he's 38, has millions of dollars in the bank, a Stanley Cup ring already, and couldn't care less about playing?

And buying out Kotalik? Scratch a man 3 straight games and this crap gets written. Do people really not have any other ideas in their heads?

There are at least 5 guys ahead of Kotalik in the Buy-Out Department, not the least of whom would be Vinny Lecavalier if they traded for him. Plus, if they buy out his contract, who would shoot the puck for the next 2 and a half seasons? Michal "Miss the Net" Rozsival? Wade "Pass First, Defense Later" Redden?

C'mon. Have something original to write... or work for the Jay Leno Show.

Do Moral Victories Exist?

You knew the Islanders had to lose sometime. And you probably knew that the Islanders sweeping three of the East's top four would probably be too good to be true. Yet, you're disappointed that the Islanders lost tonight.

That's a good thing.

I keep waiting for the Islanders to fall off the pace and out of the playoff picture. It hasn't happened yet. At this point, I'm not so sure it's ever going to happen. These Islanders looked like they belonged in this game, and they looked like they had a great chance to win. It's a shame it didn't work out.

Some thoughts on tonight's game...

- Over the past two years, the Islanders have written the book on blowing three-goal leads. Tonight, they flipped that book around, coming back from three goals down on the road against the defending Stanley Cup champions. Even though the end result wasn't there, the comeback was a great sign.

- If Garth Snow does nothing else next year, he has to get a big winger to play with John Tavares. He's not big enough to do it all by himself, which is to be expected at 19 years old. Even so, it's hard to watch him getting knocked around so frequently.

- Sidney Crosby didn't do a whole lot to silence his "whiner" rep after Richard Park's goal to tie the game. I get that it's the captain's job to let the ref know when he's missing calls, but yapping with Park and Doug Weight doesn't really accomplish a whole lot.

- The Sutton hit... just an unfortunate incident. Clearly, Sutton felt bad; he stayed on top of Pascal Dupuis until the whistle blew to make sure nobody else hit him. The refs got the call right, but it's unfathomable that the ref behind the play made the call before the ref standing right next to the play. Even more unfathomable than that, though, was the discussion on MSG Plus that followed the play, in which the announcers - particularly Butch Goring - suggested that the hit was Dupuis' fault for being in a bad position. We here at The Rivalry regularly sing the praises of the MSG Plus crew often, but this was uncalled for.

- The Isles got destroyed on faceoffs tonight. Not good when you're facing a team with as many playmakers as the Penguins.

- Not to jump on the "The refs give Pittsburgh preferential treatment" bandwagon, but there were a few calls that probably didn't need to be made. The two that stick out in my mind were the call on Kyle Okposo that set up the game-winning power play goal by Evgeni Malkin and the delay of game call on Dwayne Roloson. But that's life. Good teams always get the calls.

- Kind of a dick move by Crosby, taking a shot on Roloson as time expired and the Penguins protecting a two-goal lead. The Isles and Penguins meet again in three weeks. Here's hoping the Islanders haven't forgotten by then.

All in all, an excellent effort for the Islanders, who probably deserved more than they got tonight. That said, giving the likes of Crosby and Malkin seven opportunities on the power play is usually a recipe for defeat, something which was the case in tonight's game. Despite the loss, the Islanders should feel great about their play of late. The days of the sad-sack Islanders are rapidly coming to a close and are being replaced by this young, energetic team that can hang with anyone.

Jed Ortmeyer...

A job well done to one of the few men who still get cheered at Madison Square Garden even though they are an opponent.

Jed Ortmeyer today had a goal and two assists in San Jose's 9-1 win over Calgary. Don't forget, he also scored the go-ahead goal in San Jose's 7-3 win over the Rangers in mid-October. The Rangers were winning 2-0, the Sharks made it 2-2, and Ortmeyer scored to make it 3-2.

A good guy who deserves nothing but the best.

And I leave you with a video from the penalty shot he scored against Boston in his first game back in 2007 after suffering a pulmonary embolism. He was awarded a penalty shot, got advice from none other than Ryan Hollweg, and scored against Tim Thomas.

Home & Home With Montreal...

Next Saturday, I will be venturing into Montreal to see the second game of the Home & Home with the Canadiens. Okay, it's a home-and-home with 2 other games in between, but still, it stands to be more intriguing than a home game against Tampa Bay and a game in Philadelphia.

So, which jersey should I wear?

Should I go with the autographed Dan Girardi jersey?
The autographed Sean Avery?
Superstar Marian Gaborik?
New addition to my collection Vinny Prospal?

I normally like to wear Sean Avery jerseys when I'm in other buildings.

I did it in Nashville last year about a month after the Rangers got him back on re-entry waivers, and a few fans yelled "Sloppy Seconds!" at me. To recap, I am not Sean Avery, I just wear the jersey. And the Rangers won that game.

I wore it in New Jersey amid death threats from the upper level (directed at me, my friends, and Scott Gomez, playing his first game in Jersey since signing with the Rangers). Those were quieted when the Rangers won the game.

I wore it in Philadelphia, where some kid tried to body check my friend. "How could you wear a Sean Avery jersey in Philly?" one cigarette-smoking man asked me. Well, the Rangers won that game.

And I wore it in Montreal on Super Bowl Sunday when the Giants beat the Patriots. As I was on the escalator, there was a man in a Mike Komisarek Habs jersey in front of me. We had an awkward silence, then discussed what it would be like to really date Elisha Cuthbert. The Rangers went down 3-0, then won that game 5-3.

Should I keep the tradition alive, or change things up?

Three Metro Teams in Action, 5 Points Given Out...

Can't be any disappointed hockey fans out in the NY-NJ area tonight, from the 17,000 Ranger fans at MSG, to the 1,000 Devil fans at MSG, to the 4,000 Islander fans who routinely sell out the lower bowl on the Nassau Coliseum, to the 17,000 fans that the New Jersey Devils have accumulated since Aaron Broten first led them on the ice in 1982.

Yes, Bryan, the Rangers-Devils game was excellent, except for one thing - it underscored how bad the Rangers are at mustering offense. Henrik Lundqvist was great in stopping 45 shots - downright incredible on a few.

And I won't bash Marty Brodeur as I normally would. Any time you stop 51 shots, you played great. Of course, the Rangers made it very easy for about 40 of those shots. He did make a few excellent saves, and while he didn't do much on Marian Gaborik's overtime-near-score, that save on Michal Rozsival with time running out in the extra period was good.

Shots from the boards, shots with no traffic in front, shots to Brodeur's glove. C'mon! Do you really think a wrister from the left circle is going past Brodeur's glove? You can tell me all you want about how many shots they had, and I will tell you until I'm blue in the face that it doesn't matter if they're 90% crappy shots.

And I guess that old hockey adage "If you shoot enough, one is bound to go in" was proven wrong tonight.

Remember March of 2007 when Rick DiPietro made, what, 56 saves in a shootout loss to the Rangers? The Rangers made him look like Jesus Christ that night - albeit he was clean-shaven, and Christ would wear #33 not #39. But they had so many awful, easy-to-save shots that it looked like nothing would get by him, and rarely anything did except for a goal in regulation and a Matt Cullen goal in the shootout.

Anyway, fast-paced, end-to-end action with good defense play that wasn't boring. It was a very good game to watch and would've been sweeter with a Rangers' win, but now the Rangers web site can say they are 9-1-3 in the last 13 games.

And I can't even get mad at the shootout result. It would've been nce to have had a Ranger score, but they couldn't, and Patrick Elias' wrister that beat Lundqvist was awesome.

* * *

Telling stat of the night brought to us by Versus and Jack Daniels Old No. 7: Marian Gaborik was 2-for-17 in shootouts going into tonight. Now, he is 2-for-18, around 11%. By comparison, Erik Christensen, Zach Parise, and Ales Kotalik are near (or over) 50%.

Why does John Tortorella keep putting Gaborik in? I know he's a superstar, I know he'd the "stud" on the team, and I know he scored in the shootout in Atlanta, but he isn't a breakaway artist.

Jaromir Jagr wasn't. Gaborik isn't either. Stick to Kotalik, Christensen, Vinny Prospal, Artem Anisimov, and maybe even Ryan Callahan. But keep Gaborik out of it until at least the 6th round.

Enver Lisin would've been nice to have seen pull some moves out of his bag. But alas, Donald Brashear needed to have his customary 8 shifts and 5:53 of ice time.

Hey, didn't Lisin score in Atlanta?

A Great Night For New York Hockey

Just got home from the Coliseum a little while ago... WOW. Of all the things I thought I'd see tonight, a 6-0 Islanders win would have been at the very bottom. A perfect performance from the Islanders tonight, and that is no exaggeration. Maybe the bright future of the New York Islanders isn't as far away as we all thought.

As for the Blueshirts, they lost in the shootout to the Devils. However, by all accounts, this was one of the best games in the entire league this season. Unfortunately, a quick search of the iO Channel Guide does not indicate a replay of this game airing anytime soon, which means that those of us who didn't see this game missed out on something special. Hopefully, Zach will be by later on or tomorrow to post his thoughts.

In closing, thanks to the Islanders and the Rangers for giving us great performances tonight. Here's hoping the season's second half is full of many more nights like this one.

Who the Rangers Should Sign...

It appears Donald Brashear reads this here website. A few nights ago, after the overtime loss in Atlanta, I wrote that the entire team needs to start hitting more; I then singled him out for being a complete waste of money and being a shell of what he used to be. Teams aren't afraid to take runs at Marian Gaborik, Henrik Lundqvist, or the rest of the team, because Brashear isn't going to make them pay with a fit of violence like he used to.

Maybe it's being injured (I don't care, if you're too hurt to play, don't play); maybe it's being scared of the league suspending him (really?); maybe it's him just not having "it" anymore (most probably). Regardless, he hadn't been in a fight since Thanksgiving-time, and he hadn't stuck up for anyone in weeks.

In today's matinee tilt against Boston, he changed his tune. He was hitting people after the whistle, trying to get involved, and even had a fight.

Of course, he was ineffective. He lost the fight - pretty badly. In fact, it was embarrassing. Donald Brashear circa 2003 would pummel Donald Brashear 2010 into a bloody pulp, then sucker-punch Aaron Ward en route to the locker room. He wouldn't even care about the 2-game suspension that follows.

Hell, you know Brashear is useless when Ranger fans would rather see Aaron Voros in the lineup. Atleast Voros cares and sticks up for teammates.

So, you ask, who should the Rangers sign?


That's right, there he is. Ronnie from MTV's Jersey Shore.

Let's look at the facts...

1) He's from New York. He was born and raised in the Bronx. The team needs homegrown talent, not mercenaries born in Indiana and raised in Quebec. You know he'd do NY proud.

2) He comes to the defense of teammates. Who could forget when Snooki got punched in the fact by that guy at the bar and he went looking for blood? If that gentleman wasn't arrested, Ronnie would've delivered his own brand of vigilante justice.

3) He'd be a cheap Salary Cap hit. With virtually no ice hockey experience, he'd be signed for the league minimum and he'd be on a two-way contract. If it didn't work out, they could send him to Hartford and not fear him being picked up by a different team.

4) He's cocky. He has a swagger. He's overly confident. The last time the Rangers had an enforcer like that, well, it was last year with Colton Orr. Orr went into every fight knowing he was going to win. Ronnie has the same mentality. Maybe he'll even have the same sadistic win every time he knocks out Todd Fedoruk.

5) He'd be a great deterrent. And, uh, he's pretty strong. Look at those muscles! And did you see the size of the protein powder he brought with him for his month at the Jersey shore? No one in their right mind would run over Lundqvist in the crease with Ronnie sitting on the bench waiting to knock someone's skull in.

6) He whooped that guy on the Boardwalk. He delivered about 5 or 6 solid shots to that guy's head. And you know every time they play the Devils he would get up for that game.

If anyone has Glen Sather's number, let him know.

The Greatest Text Message I've Ever Received

October 5, 2006 was a pretty big night in my life. It was a hectic time - my wife and I had just been married for five months and were getting ready to move into a new apartment - but that night stands out. My mom came through with a quality birthday present (a brand new X-Box 360) and my brother came over to our box-filled place to watch Game 2 of the Mets-Dodgers NLDS, which the Mets won. At that moment, all was well.

However, unbeknownst to me, all was *NOT* well. Because Fox airs their baseball games ridiculously late even on weeknights, I was forced to miss the start of the Islanders' first game of the season. Since it was in Phoenix, I was able to join the game in progress. When I turned the game on, my jaw dropped. 5-1 Coyotes in the second. Phoenix would go on to win 6-3. Saddest of all, in the first game of his 15-year contract, Rick DiPietro was pulled after two periods.

I thought that was the end of it until the next day, when I received a text from Zach, the esteemed Rangers writer of this great site. His paraphrased text:

"6 goals per game… for 82 games… for 15 years… equals 7380 goals… that's DP!"

Zach's number-crunching made me cringe, but made me laugh even more. Unfortunately, Zach made one erroneous assumption - that DiPietro would even come close to playing in every game of his contract.

Welcome back, DP.

Warren Zevon; A Call to Arms...

Warren Zevon was an incredible singer-songwriter who died of cancer in 2003. For anyone who has never listened to him, I highly recommend listening to his album The Wind, which was released a month before his death. "Keep Me in Your Heart" is an absolutely amazing goodbye to the world.

Anyway, he had a hockey song once upon a time, off of his 2001 album My Ride's Here, a song the Rangers should take to heart...


There were Swedes to the left of him / Russians to the right / A Czech at the blue line looking for a fight / Brains over brawn, that might work for you / But what's a Canadian farm boy to do / What else can a farm boy from Canada to do / But what's a Canadian farm boy to do / What else can a farm boy from Canada to do / "Hit somebody!" was what the crowd roared

Man! Every game, I just want to yell "Hit somebody!"

Eric Boulton and Christoph Schubert had their way with the Rangers' roster tonight - hitting from behind, knocking them to the ice, leaping off the ice for checks. And what did the Rangers do? Nothing.

Mike Del Zotto and Eric Staal hit hard tonight, sure, but it wasn't a deterrent.

Donald Brashear makes $1.4M and hasn't been in a fight since November. Not that fights are the only measure of a man, but it's not exactly like people are scared of him. This isn't like 2006 when people aren't taking runs at Alex Ovechkin because they know that they - or their team's superstar - will have to face Brashear's wrath. He is a joke who skates away from confrontation.

To be honest, I don't care if he's playing hurt or not. If he is playing hurt, he should still contribute. If he's too hurt to play, take a seat, and someone will play in your absence. You can yap to the opponent all you want when you're on the bench, but if you don't follow it up with physical, punishing play, it's all for waste.

(Last year, Colton Orr was that deterrent for the team. And if everyone can now remember what Brashear did to Blair Betts in Game 6 when Orr was a healthy scratch...)

When Sean Avery plays his game, he is highly effective, but he's not a huge hitter. He will throw his body around, but he's smaller than most guys he hits.

They need to start hitting and taking control of the game. Wade Redden, Michal Rozsival, Brashear, Chris Higgins, Matt Gilroy, please wake up and start knocking people around.

* * *

One other thing they need to start hitting? The net!

I'm convinced that Brandon Dubinsky and Staal have an aversion to hitting the net. Combined, they must've shot high and/or wide 10 times in the back-to-back games against Dallas and Atlanta. Maybe they think Chris Drury is always there to deflect it on goal.

If Higgins ever made an All-Star team, he would go 0-for-everything in the shooting accuracy competition.

Ryan Callahan has 10 goals this year. If he knew how to hit the net, he'd have 20.

It's getting to the point where the power play is ridiculous because they shoot every puck wide. Two-on-ones, breakaways, doesn't matter. The puck rarely gets to the net.

* * *

And no, I'm not just saying all this because they lost. I would've said the same thing even if they won.

However, if they were able to smash people or hit the net, perhaps they wouldn't have lost tonight.

The Return of the Franchise

To say that Rick DiPietro was the most important New York Islander in the 2000s would be an extreme understatement. Outside of possibly Charles Wang, nobody has been as central a figure to the Islanders - and their current state - as DiPietro. Here's a look at the influence Rick DiPietro has had on the Islanders organization over the past decade.

- 2000: Islanders GM Mike Milbury trades Roberto Luongo, clearing the path for the Islanders to draft Rick DiPietro. Luongo goes on to become a star, as do Marian Gaborik and Dany Heatley, both of whom the Islanders passed on in favor of DiPietro. In exchange for Luongo, the Isles acquire Mark Parrish, who would become the team's most consistent forward for the first half of the decade and a key part of the 2001-02 team.

- 2001-02: DiPietro leads the Bridgeport Sound Tigers to the Calder Cup Final. While the Sound Tigers don't win the championship, future Islanders Trent Hunter, Eric Godard and Raffi Torres gain valuable big-game experience.

- 2003: DiPietro is called up to the NHL for good. This forces the Islanders to trade starting goalie Chris Osgood to St. Louis for prospect Justin Papineau. Papineau goes on to become a typical Islanders prospect - a "can't miss" guy who misses horribly.

- 2004: DiPietro takes over the starting load for the Islanders, who are eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by Tampa Bay. DiPietro earns his first playoff win, which is a shutout. DiPietro later appears in one game for the U.S. team in the World Cup of Hockey.

- 2006: DiPietro is named to the U.S. Olympic team. After the team loses its first game, DiPietro is named starter, a position he holds for all but game until the U.S. is eliminated from the tournament.

- 2006: Having gone on record stating he would like to finish his career on Long Island, DiPietro signs a 15-year deal with the Islanders. The deal ensures that DiPietro's prime years will be spent with the Islanders at well below market value, while his later years will cost the Islanders well above market value. Word is that new general manager Garth Snow and DiPietro's agent are barred from the negotiations so that Charles Wang can negotiate with DiPietro one-on-one.

- 2007: DiPietro suffers a concussion while charging for a puck well before it reaches the goal crease. The hot play of Wade Dubielewicz allows the Islanders to make a miracle run to the playoffs, where DiPietro returns and goes 1-3 in four games.

- 2007-08: DiPietro has the best three-month stretch of his career, resulting in a selection to the 2008 All-Star Game. Due to an injury to Martin Brodeur, DiPietro starts the game. He lets in one goal over the entirety of All-Star Weekend and is considered for MVP honors. He also "f***s up" his hip during the Skills Competition.

- 2008: As DiPietro leaves the team to mourn the loss of his grandmother, the Islanders win the first game of a home-and-home against the Rangers, thanks in large part to the efforts of Wade Dubielewicz. DiPietro returns for the second game, but coach Ted Nolan starts Dubielewicz instead of DiPietro. The Islanders lose the game as well as the next five, knocking the Islanders out of playoff contention and, if you believe what you hear, costing Nolan his job.

- 2008-09: DiPietro has knee surgery over the summer. Both the Islanders and DiPietro claim a clean bill of health has been given. However, DiPietro only plays five games all season, forcing the Islanders to juggle the craptastic duo of Joey MacDonald and Yann Danis for the duration of the season, which for all intents and purposes is over by Christmas.

- 2009: Concern about DiPietro's short-term and long-term health force the Islanders to sign both Dwayne Roloson and Martin Biron. Many fans are convinced that DiPietro will never return to the NHL. Rumors persist that Biron's contract includes a clause stating that Biron is to be traded if/when DiPietro returns.

- 2009-10: Roloson's play keeps the Islanders within breathing distance of the playoffs as 2009 ends. DiPietro plays rehab games for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and is called up to the Islanders roster in January. DiPietro joins the team on a West Coast trip, where he is to play his first game in over twelve months.

So yeah... it's been a busy decade.

As Rick DiPietro returns to his place as Islanders goalie - not to mention the face of the franchise - it will be interesting to see how people will react. Many fans have completely turned on DiPietro, to the extent that they don't even want him back.

In the eyes of this writer, this attitude towards DiPietro is juvenile at best and reprehensible at worst. In all of struggles Rick DiPietro has gone through over the past four years, the person who is least to blame is Rick DiPietro. He has worked harder than any of us would have just to get back to the Islanders, and for what? To play in front of a half-full arena of people who hate him? Please.

When Rick DiPietro signed his 15-year contract, there wasn't a John Tavares to get people excited about the team. The Islanders were coming off a non-playoff year in which the only two players who even qualified as decent were Miroslav Satan and Alexei Yashin. The signing came after the Islanders were also exposed as the laughingstock of the NHL after the hiring and subsequent firing of Neil Smith. Furthermore, the year after DiPietro signed his contract, Islanders fans watched Jason Blake, Ryan Smyth, Tom Poti and Viktor Kozlov sign with other teams on the first day of free agency. Instead of following the money like most players, DiPietro pledged loyalty to an Islanders team that, quite honestly, had no hope whatsoever for the future.

What is the reward for Rick DiPietro's loyalty? An angry fanbase who doesn't want him back? I would certainly hope not. I understand that many Islanders fans are skeptical that DiPietro can stay healthy over the long haul. But DiPietro is as much an Islander as anyone who has ever worn the uniform, and we should be proud that he would fight so hard just to wear the Islanders crest again. Remember, this is a team that nobody wanted to be associated with us... and yet, Rick DiPietro chose us at a time when he could have commanded more money on the open market. It's time we, as Islanders fans, repay DiPietro for his commitment to the Islanders and Long Island in general.

It works out well that DiPietro will make his debut on the road. This will give Islanders fans a chance to see DiPietro in action from a distance and evaluate his performance in an unemotional setting. However, when Rick DiPietro makes his return to Coliseum ice, anything less than a standing ovation would be a disappointment.

Notes From the Garden...

:: My lead off today was going to be "Chris Higgins couldn't score at a bar near Arizona State University" until about 90 seconds remained in the Rangers/Bruins game tonight.

Still, I guess even the fat mathlete can find the drunk sorority girl every now and then.

:: To the people who said the following regarding my Steve Rucchin jersey...
- "Isn't Prospal number 20?"
- "It must be his own last name."
... is this your first season watching the Rangers? Do you know know who the best - and only competent - second-line center on the Rangers since the lockout is? By the way, both Jason Krog and Freddy Sjostrom wore #20 between The Rucch and our favorite player named Vaclav.

I understand it's an obscure jersey, but when you go to a lot of games, it's nice to dig deep into the closet once in a while.

But to the guy in the Scott Gomez jersey... please... retire it.

:: Best jerseys of the night...
- Marco Sturm #19 German Olympic jersey
- Marc Savard # 33 Rangers jersey

:: Fun game tonight, and it was a relief from the 1-0 Bruin/Ranger games we're used to, but it definitely got a little hazy in the 3rd period. My head still hurts from when I involuntarily hit it after Blake Wheeler scored to tie it 2-2.

:: Paging Sean Avery: Eventually, you're going to have to score. You have still only scored in 2 games this year. I appreciate that in both games you scored 2 goals, but a 5th goal in forthcoming, no?

:: I know it's a little premature, but I'd like to keep Erik Christensen with Brandon Dubinsky and Marian Gaborik when Prospal returns. Christensen has found his niche - playing with superstars like Gaborik, Sidney Crosby, and Ilya Kovalchuk - and it's relieving to see him fitting in. When Prospal returns, have him center Ales Kotalik and Ryan Callahan. Have Avery play with Chris Drury and Artem Anisimov, and then have a 4th line that doesn't do anything. I'm never one to speculate on line combinations, but that sounds good, no?

Souring On The Shootout

The shootout has not been kind to the Islanders in 2009-10. The earlier shootouts were plagued by the spotty goaltending of Dwayne Roloson; while Roloson has significantly improved his play, the Islanders still entered this week with a record of 1-4 in the shootout.

This week, the Islanders played three games. Each of them went to the shootout. The Islanders won on Tuesday night against Columbus, lost on Thursday in Ottawa, then beat Atlanta tonight. In two of those games, the Islanders used the same three shooters - Jeff Tambellini, Frans Nielsen and Rob Schremp. No surprise there, especially since each of them were 50% or better in the shootout heading into tonight's action. (On Thursday, John Tavares replaced Tambellini in the shootout, but only because Tambellini was scratched.) In fact, you could make the argument that the main contributions of Tambellini and Schremp are their skills in the shootout. But that's an argument for another day.

My issue is this. Not only have the Islanders used virtually the same shootout lineup for three consecutive games, but all three guys - Tambellini, Schremp and Nielsen - have used the same exact moves each time they've appeared in the shootout. Tambellini used his wrister from the hash marks, Nielsen did his backhand move, and Schremp did an odd combination of like 40 moves that made it look like he was having a seizure as he skated down the ice. You'd think opposing coaches would take note of these things and go over them in meetings. Apparently, this isn't the case.

Now, I might be in the minority here, but I've always liked the shootout. Anything added to the game that appeases the fans is a great thing, and that's exactly what the shootout was intended to do - to ensure that paying customers see a winner and a loser. The Columbus game on Tuesday was the first time I got to see a shootout live, and I loved it. However, I'm starting to see where the "skills competition" aspect comes into play. If players are just going to recycle the same moves over and over again, nobody benefits. Shooters risk doing their moves one time too many and being figured out, while the fans - the reason for the shootout in the first place - get cheated because they're not seeing anything new.

Don't get me wrong. I'd much rather see the shootout in its current form than watch a game end in a tie. But maybe there's a better way to go about this. I have no idea what that better way would be. I just wish the shootout was the exciting, creative event it's supposed to be instead of the same old moves night in and night out.

Thanks to the incomparable NHL Shootouts for the shootout data.

US Olympic Team...

The US Olympic team should re-name themselves Team Ryan: Ryan Suter, Ryan Miller, Ryan Callahan, Ryan Kessler, Ryan Malone, and Bobby Ryan.

* * *

Why the big deal over Doug Weight, Bill Guerin, and Keith Tkachuk not making the 2010 US Olympic team? The US wants to win, right?

Weight had no goals in 11 games before being injured... again. His first game back was the night before the Olympic selections were announced. Guerin is actually scoring around the same pace he was in 2002 when the team won the Silver Medal, but he's 39 and the chances that he'll have anything left for 8 games in 11 days is very slim. Tkachuk hasn't been a force on any team since before the lockout, and he would just be taking space for a young power forward - say, Ryan Callahan (or Ryan Malone).

Scott Gomez was an interesting name left off. He just turned 30 last week and he played well in the 2006 Olympics in Italy, but those of us who watched him the past 2 years (and anyone following him in Montreal this year) know that he just isn't as good in another system as he was with the Devils.

I would also venture to guess that it came down to Gomez and Chris Drury fighting for a spot, and with John Tortorella as an assistant coach, Drury got the nod.

I like Callahan and Drury being on the team. I'm very excited for Callahan and I think the experience can only help him. As for Drury, he won't play 20 minutes a night for them so he won't come back burnt out. Plus, being there could inspire him to play better - he said so himself after being selected to the team.

As for Henrik Lundqvist and Marian Gaborik? Awful.

Remember how good the Rangers were playing in 2005-06 before the Olympic break? They were 20 games over .500, then ended the season 9-11-4 after the break. Lundqvist came back grinding his teeth and with migraines and was utterly awful in the playoffs against New Jersey (he'll admit it). Jaromir Jagr came back hurt from a Jarrko Ruutu check; on top of that, a nagging hip injury was made worse by the lack of off-days in the compressed Olympic schedule.

Without Jagr and Lundqvist, that team was just a bunch of role players who played great together and had a dream season.

Without Gaborik and Lundqvist, this team is a bunch of young players who haven't really meshed yet (and a few overpriced veterans who are just waiting for their careers to end).

What happens if Lundqvist gets hurt? The season is officially over. What if Gaborik gets hurt? So far, he hasn't injured anything that was hurt in previous seasons, but you shouldn't press the matter. An injury to him in Vancouver could have negative effects on him - and this team - for the next 4 years.

Plus, Hank could use the rest for 3 weeks before the stretch-drive.

Four reasons I am very against NHL players playing in the Olympics...

1) It should be an amateur competition.
2) You're stopping an exciting NHL season for 3 weeks and expecting people to pick off where it left off 21 days later.
3) The chance for injury is too great. (Ask the Ottawa Senators how the rest of their season was when Dominik Hasek was injured in the Czech Republic's first game in '06.)
4) It can be a career-maker for a young kid. Paul Kariya and Peter Forsberg in the 1992 Olympics in the shootout was an instant classic. I'd much rather have that than see Chris Pronger snuff out Evgeni Malkin in the bronze medal game because they're division rivals.

They're Already Starting With This Crap

As soon as the Winter Classic ended, you knew everyone was going to start gushing about what a wonderful event it was - even if there was a whistle approximately once every six seconds during the first two periods. This one, hot off the presses, is entitled "NHL Sets Higher Bar with Latest Classic".

For Marco Sturm, it was his son wanting to stay on the ice at the family skate the day before the Winter Classic.

Doesn't every kid want to stay on the ice when the session is over? I mean, I'm 28 years old, and when the sessions at Cantiague Park end, I start to cry and beg the attendant for five more minutes on the ice.

Maybe it was James Taylor's lyrical version of the national anthem.

Isn't EVERY version of the national anthem performed by a singer considered "lyrical"?

It is not a stretch to suggest that for every Boston Bruins player, every Philadelphia Flyers player, every coach and manager, and the 38,112 who jammed into the Fenway Park stands, there will be a separate memory of the Winter Classic that they will tuck away forever.

OK, first of all, this is a one-sentence paragraph. Second of all, this isn't even possible. Third of all, people are going to have exactly two memories of this game - it was cool to see a rink at Fenway, and the Bruins won in overtime. In that order.

First, would this audacious plan work? The Buffalo experience on Jan. 1 2008, answered in the affirmative.

Fun fact - if the Winter Classic didn't debut in Buffalo, it would NEVER be held there. Somehow, I doubt the allure of Ralph Wilson Stadium could attract non-hockey fans.

Corporate sponsors are clamoring to get on board and NHL teams are now bidding to host the event.

Keep this sentence in the back of your mind.

"It is a cornerstone of the strategy we began over three years ago to build scale and connect with our fans in ways we haven't done before, using all of the platforms available to us," commissioner Gary Bettman said Friday.

Except, of course, ESPN. This game was listed ninth in ESPN.com's top stories just an hour after the game was over, behind non-stop college football coverage. That'd probably change if ABC was airing the game. Not saying it's fair, but that's the way it'd be.

Success is said to breed success, but at the same time, the bar has been set extremely high and the risk of backsliding, of having an event that doesn't measure up and therefore becomes subject to criticism or disappointment, goes up.

The bar was never NOT high. Last year's game set the bar as high as it was going to go. This year's game just happened to have a better finish. Now, every Winter Classic will have to be held at an iconic stadium and feature two major-market, media-friendly teams.

The NHL has for the first time opened up a bid process to come up with a host for the 2011 game.

Hey, this sounds familiar! I think I read this somewhere before.

The process will force teams to think outside the box in suggesting venues and activities that will "wow" the league.

I'd imagine the bids of teams like Nashville and Columbus will be pieces of paper stating simply, "We know we have no chance of ever getting a Winter Classic. However, we're submitting this so we can tell our fans we're in the market for a Winter Classic someday."

The New York Rangers, for instance, are the only U.S.-based Original Six team that has yet to play in a Winter Classic, and it is important they are involved given their heritage and importance to the league.

Wrong. A GOOD Rangers team is important to the league. The current Rangers team doesn't do anything for the casual fan outside of New York. It'd be like putting the Knicks on a Christmas Day game... oh wait, nevermind.

Yankee Stadium may not be a possibility, though, with word college football will be using the facility over the holidays; so, the league must consider ways for the Rangers to host a game somewhere else or invite them to play in the contest as a visiting team.

Let's also not forget that the new Yankee Stadium has been open for exactly one year. A game there isn't what it would have been a year or two ago. I'd rather see a Winter Classic at the decaying carcass of Giants Stadium than at new Yankee Stadium.

One memory many fans will cherish from Friday's Winter Classic was watching former Bruins great Bobby Orr skate onto the ice as the team's honorary captain. Former Philadelphia captain and GM Bob Clarke was the Flyers' honorary captain, and to see the two Hall of Famers skate to center ice together for the ceremonial puck drop was a nice moment.

It was also a "nice moment" when Clarke pulled the ultimate dick move, "winning" the ceremonial faceoff despite being the road team. What a prick.

Are we saying that places like Tampa, Atlanta, Carolina or Phoenix should never have an Outdoor Classic?

What's an Outdoor Classic?

Wrigley and Fenway were no-brainers, but now it becomes more difficult to find those iconic venues.

This is actually a good point. I guess there's a first time for everything.

The game also has to celebrate its biggest stars, and that's why we don't have any problem with Pittsburgh and Sidney Crosby being involved in a second game, or Detroit hosting a Winter Classic in the near future even if the Red Wings have already been in one.

We are guessing it is a formality that wherever the game is held next year, the Washington Capitals and Alex Ovechkin will be involved in some way. It is mystifying that three events have passed without the Caps being involved.

You can bet that Ovechkin and Crosby will each play in three Winter Classics before they retire. God forbid NBC and the NHL promote the other teams in the league.

In the end, the challenge of maintaining the Classic's magical spark isn't about being fair, it's about making the right choices.

Awesome. So teams like the Islanders will always be stuck playing second fiddle to the "big" teams and attractive venues. And the "right choices" will always be what yields the biggest TV ratings, not what hockey fans want to see. Get ready for Rangers-Capitals next year, which will be followed by some regurgitation of past Winter Classic matchups. Thank goodness NBC is here to expose the unheralded talent in the NHL.