Dwayne Roloson...

Let me start by saying I'm a Rangers fan. My Grandpa Allan was a season ticket holder in the 60s and 70s; my dad was a huge fan; one of my happiest moments ever was when the Rangers won the Stanley Cup in 1994; I cried when Mark Messier skated his last game in 2004 against the Sabres; I chanted "We Want the Cup" when the Rangers clinched the playoffs in 2008; and I've been to every Home Opener since 2006.

That said, those 2 saves by Dwayne Roloson tonight might go down as the best combination of saves this decade.

I can only think of a few better saves off the top of my head: Marty Turco in the playoffs a few years ago; Henrik Lundqvist on Marc Savard in Boston; and someone getting a piece with the shaft of his stick (can't remember - Craig Anderson?).

But two in succession like that? That's Patrick Roy-Mike Richter territory. That was unbelievable. Of course, if the 2nd one was counted a goal, we wouldn't even be talking about it right now, but as it stands, incredible hockey by Dwayne Roloson.

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.

* * *

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.

Tom Renney...

The last two times that the Edmonton Oilers faced the Rangers, the Rangers lost in a shootout. Last time, they fired 42 shots on net and scored on only 2 - on a backup goaltender. Ah, the Tom Renney era...

Well, tomorrow, the Rangers meet Tom Renney again, and while not many current players were there for a lot of his reign (Henrik Lundqvist and Michal Rozsival were the only ones there from his first full season in 2005-06), it should be an emotional night for him. Imagine if the game were at Madison Square Garden?

While I rip on Renney a lot here, I do think he was a very good coach, and I'm sure he will be sometime soon. There are a few coaches who will "always be a Ranger," no matter where they wind up coaching or working. Mike Keenan, though he only had 1 season, is one of them. Renney is another.

No coach could have done what he did after the lockout. He took a team destined to fail -at least according to the experts - and brought them into the playoffs, one point away from winning the division. He got 123 points out of Jaromir Jagr - a man who would have refused to return to the NHL if he wasn't playing for Renney in New York, he once said. He turned a team of veterans - Rucchin, Jagr, Straka, Rucinsky, Kasparaitis, Nylander - and young no-names - Jay Ward, Ortmeyer, Dom Moore, Hollweg, Orr, Prucha, Betts - into a contender.

I still say that if not for the Olympics, the Rangers could have gone far that year. Jagr and Lundqvist came back injured - Jagr with hip and groin problems, Hank with headaches from grinding his teeth. And then there was Sandis Ozolinsh, who seemed like a good trade at first until he came apart in the Devils' series and cost the team 2 games.

Still, Renney was a huge part of the rebuilding process. While they rebuilt, he brought them into the playoffs. He just wasn't a good fit for the team last year and going forward. His style had stopped working, and he continued to play people based on their paychecks rather than skill (see: Wade Redden on the power play while Petr Prucha sat in street clothes).

For all the good he did, he will be remembered for 2 things: being fired when the team couldn't score and for Game 5 in Buffalo, where Fedor Tyutin and rookie Dan Girardi were on the ice with 30 seconds left with a 1-0 lead. When they iced the puck, Tyutin and Girardi had to stay on, they couldn't clear the puck, and Chris Drury scored.

Besides that being the one game that still upsets my stomach (and the only time I ever lost sleep over a sports event), you know that if they won that game and went up 3-2 in the series, they would not have lost Game 6 at MSG. I'm not saying they would have won the Stanley Cup - hell, they might not even have beaten Ottawa in the Conference Finals - but they would have beaten Buffalo. And maybe Chris Drury never would've been signed the following summer, and maybe everything would've been different.

But this is how it's played out, and I wish Tom Renney the best in Edmonton - no matter how often I make fun of his healthy scratches or his power play.

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.

Ales Kotalik...

Well, he's no Alex Tanguay, but Ales Kotalik is now a New York Ranger. He comes fresh off a 43-point season (in 75 games), but he scored 11 in 19 after being sent to Edmonton from Buffalo. In fact, he's had 2 43-point seasons in a row and has only cracked 60 once, in 2005-06, where he had 25 goals. That was the only season of his career where he's had a full docket of 82 games also.

So another injured player for the Rangers, another 3rd liner for John Tortorella's "system," but I do like him. It's an upgrade over Aaron Voros, Donald Brashear, and Mark Bell.

The term is suspect though - 3 years, $9M. Are 43 points really worth $3M per year? (His Cap hit was $2.333M last season.) I hope this doesn't screw the team at the trade deadine, when they'll need to get a scorer on the market to make a push for the playoffs. I'm afraid they won't have any cap room to get a player they need, because they also need to make atleast one more medium-sized signing this offseason (a center or a defenseman, I would guess). To be honest, I was hoping for a 2 year, $4M contract (or maybe $5M for a Cap hit of $2.5M per).

He is 30, will be 31 in December, but he's a fast player and he's big. He's 6'1", 230 pounds. He also plays the power play - of his 43 points last year, 23 were on the power play. (For comparison, Scott Gomez had 17 of his 58 on the power play, and he played nearly every power play.)

I'm not upset about this at all. Nik Zherdev will be gone, a right winger who can pot 20-25 can be a positive move. Hey, there were worse options out there, right? And while he had a -5 on the 2006-07 Sabres, his +/- was better in 05-06 than Chris Drury's on the same team.

But now, the real rivalry begins. Who will wear #21, Kotalik or Chris Higgins?

Requiem for a Team...

Superstitious as I am, to prepare for tonight's Game 7, I did what I did for their last Game 7: Went to my fourth-grade class, headed to the Sunrise Mall, changed the lyrics to a song on the radio in my mom's Volvo to words about the Rangers winning the Stanley Cup, and sat down in my den to watch the game.

What can I say about the game itself? Not much. You watched it, I watched it, we know what happened. A great defensive play by Ryan Callahan turned into a double-deflection. Henrik Lundqvist was in position to stop a shot, but he couldn't get over to stop the freak deflection. Not his fault, not Callahan's, not Dan Girardi's.

I am pretty positive that when the players were gathering around Lundqvist at the end of the game, they were saying, "Sorry. We know you're the best in the game. Wish we could help you out. You don't deserve this." And I'm pretty sure he regretted signing a multi-year deal to be here.

I didn’t want to say anything earlier just in case the Rangers pulled out a Game 7 victory in Washington, but since that dream bubble has burst, I will say it: I had the same feeling going into Game 7 tonight that I did going into Game 6 in Buffalo in May 2007: defeat.

I did not, however, have this feeling for Game 5 in Pittsburgh, when I thought the Rangers could win. My theory was, win Game 5, Game 6 would be a guarantee, and Game 7 a 50/50 chance.

However, after Buffalo won Game 5 in overtime, you knew what would happen. Beaten, the Rangers would return to MSG and put up a half-hearted effort, and the Sabres would pounce upon them. And that did happen, with the Rangers going down 4-2 in the 2nd before a futile third period brought the score to a respectable 5-4.

The difference in Game 5 in Buffalo and Game 6 at MSG this past Sunday? Chris Drury scored in Buffalo.

I won’t blame this series or this season on Chris Drury. He is given 1st line money because of a great opportunity he was given: He beat the Rangers when he tied the game with 7.7 seconds left, then became one of the 3 best free agent forwards available less than 2 months later. Fact is, he is a 2nd line player. It’s not his fault that Glen Sather thought his career-high 69 points (37 G, 32 A) in 2006-07 was worthy of Jaromir Jagr/Joe Thornton money.

However, it again might be dark times ahead for the Rangers. As I’ve mentioned before, this team is handcuffed with Scott Gomez, Wade Redden, and Michal Rozsival. I’m actually getting sick of writing it, but here goes one more time:

This team has these insane salaries on the books for 5 more years (Gomez, Redden) and 3 more years (Rozsival). Once again, it isn’t their faults they’re getting paid this much money. Gomez got lucky also - him, Drury, and Daniel Briere were the top free agent forwards that summer, and he capitalized. The only this Redden is at fault for is accepting NY’s offer when another team offered him the same exact contract, but he wanted to play in NY (I can only guess that team was Toronto, though it is unconfirmed). Rozsival liked the Rangers for giving him a chance to comeback after the lockout, and Sather apparently thought his lax defensive play and his over-passing on the power play was worthy of Rob Blake/Sergei Zubov money.

No GM in their right mind would accept a trade for these underachievers (or I guess they are just “achieving” to their potential, which isn’t very high). In a salary cap world, who would take a $7M center until 2014 with a 5.9 shooting percentage (including empty netters) and who can’t crack 45 assists? Who would want a $6.5M defenseman with 3 goals and limited defensive skills? Is a $5M player who is responsible for more shorthanded goals against than power play goals for going to be high on anyone’s summer trading list?

Be sure, the darkest days are coming if these salaries are still on the books. No good free agents can be signed when the team teeters so close to the edge of the salary cap. That is $18.5M that can’t be alloted to re-signing Paul Mara or Derek Morris instead, or can’t be used to make a move at a real first line player, either via free agency or a trade.

Think Atlanta would accept Scott Gomez for Ilya Kovalchuk? Get real.

I had said numerous times that $39M can't buy you heart in this Emerald City. Tonight, Redden proved that. He actually did have one good play - I told my girlfriend to write down that after 8 pre-season games, 81 regular season games for him, and 7 playoff games, he finally had a good play. He then went and ruined everything by standing in front of Sergei Federov and refusing to drop down to block a shot. Apparently, Drury isn't the one with the broken hand, Redden is, as he also couldn't throw his stick out fast enough to try to block the shot once he decided he was too precious to drop down.

Five more years of Gomez. Five more years of Redden.

Something's gotta give.

Nik Antropov...

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

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

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

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

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

Quick Hits

Just a couple of quick thoughts...

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

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

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

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

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

Hockey on the Radio...

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

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

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

An Interesting Night Of Hockey

There are a handful of times each year when fan loyalties are put aside in favor of certain results that are favorable to playoff position. This is one of those nights.

The free-falling Rangers face those juggernauts from the West, the Colorado Avalanche. Meanwhile, the Islanders face the Buffalo Sabres, who are 8th in the East with 69 points, just one behind the Rangers. It's too early to be doing all this, right? Wrong. If the Sabres beat the Islanders and the Rangers don't take advantage of two gift points againt an awful Colorado team playing 2000 miles from home, the Rangers are in deep trouble. Because if these things happen and if Pittsburgh beats Dallas, the Rangers will find themselves out of the East's top eight. That might not sound like a big deal, but Rangers fans are furious and the players are under a ton of pressure. They don't need to add to this by dropping out of a playoff spot, something that will surely get the fans even madder than they already are. Islanders fans, on the other hand, would love nothing more than to put the screws to their biggest rivals; with a considerable cushion at the bottom of the league, this is a win they'd love to have.

Again, another quality night. It's always awesome to see these teams play on the same night. I just wish they'd start 30 minutes apart so they wouldn't go to intermission at the same time.

The Rangers Make My Job Easy...

It sure saves me time when the Rangers lose continually - I just keep rehashing old points. Okay, I won't do that today, for sure, because I don't want to bore everyone like the Rangers bored me today. Yes, the first 8 or 9 minutes were good, and they have a furious - for them - flurry in the final 6, but for those other 45 minutes, I was teary-eyed and bored.

They lost to a mediocre-at-best, heavily-injured St. Louis Blues team. They barely beat a bottom-feeding, injury-depleted Islanders team. Then tonight, with a huge 2 points on the line (call it the first "four point game" of the season), they blew it. No rebounds, no hitting, no Colton Orr attacking Patrick Kaleta for his constant attack of the Rangers (Kaleta, by the way, grew up about 20 miles from Buffalo in Angola, NY).

I personally have not played hockey in a professional matter. To be honest, I'm not even great at the amateur level (I have a good shot and nice stick-skills, but I skate like a koala). But even I know that if you're a defenseman you should not be behind the other team's net chasing a puck when you have 3 forwards capable of doing it. ("Capable" might be a kind word for this team.)

That said, when Wade Redden pinched behind Patrick Lalime's net (and in doing so directly caused a 2-on-1 which turned into a goal and a 4-1 Sabres' lead), my first thought was, "Who does he think he is? Dmitri Kalinin?" And my second thought was, "How did this guy ever fool people into thinking he was worth more money than Jason Strudwick is?"

Scott Gomez wasn't bad tonight. He also wasn't good, regardless of what Joe Micheletti tells you. Chris Drury was a non-factor, again. I think he almost had a power play shot, though. Redden had one good play, followed by bonehead ones galore. Henrik Lundqvist was repeatedly out of position for the 2nd straight game. Michal Rozsival doesn't deserve to be wearing Harry Howell's #3. Markus Naslund has been awful lately, as well, "goal" or not. Ryan Callahan, Brandon Dubinsky, and Lauri Korpikoski also did as much to contribute to the team today as I did (and I sat on my couch with my chubby dog).

Two good things about tonight: Nigel Dawes had a strong game all around (that was a great pass from Nik Zherdev). And I made a pretty delicious guacamole around 5:30.

* * * 

Accuse the Rangers of a lot of things and you might be correct. However, one thing they aren't is dirty. Dubinsky hit someone - I think Adam Mair - on the knee today, and it looked dirty but it was an accident. He was lining him up, the guy turned, and he got upended.

And once again, say what you want about Gomez - second-line player, can't score, can only skate the puck through the neutral zone than gives it away - but he isn't going to run a goaltender. It's not how he plays. It was an accident, contrary to what Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff thinks. He's a clean player who doesn't take the game too seriously - obviously - and he isn't out to hurt anyone.

Is Tom Renney's Time Up?...

I was discussing Tom Renney with a native of the Czech Republic the other day (the one man from there I have ever met who was not on the Rangers in 2005-06).

He said that Renney's time is up and he should be replaced. I said that we should give him to the end of the season, partly based on past performances. 

I don't think you should replace a coach mid-season when they do happen to have a good record (thanks to an early hot streak, a great goalie, and the addition of the shootout to the NHL), and I also think that Renney is on a good level with the team. They respect him and trust him.

Plus, honestly, I don't think GM Glen Sather is going to pull the trigger this early. However, if Renney and the Rangers fizzle in the 2nd round of the playoffs again, I think an unceremonious firing might happen. What's the point of keeping a coach around if he cannot bring his squad past the 2nd round of the playoffs in 4 full seasons (not counting when he took over from Sather in 2004).

As for past performances, what he did with the team the past few seasons can't be disputed. He took a Jaromir Jagr who was seemingly past his prime, got him on board with a new system, and got 123 points out of him. He took a team of misfits (Steve Rucchin, Jay Ward, Blair Betts, Ville Nieminen, Jason Strudwick) and Czechs and made them part of a dream season in his first full year behind the bench at MSG. He has made the playoffs in every season he's had, and truthfully, they could've beaten both Pittsburgh last year and Buffalo two years ago. 

 

If it does happen, though, I can't entirely say I disagree with it. At some point, the coach has to accept responsibility for what is happening with this team. (And remember, they didn't beat the Penguins and Sabres.)

Now, as for this year, it is his fault that the power play isn't working. What's that, you say? He doesn't play on the PP or even really coach it? That's true, but doesn't he tap the players on their oversized shoulder pads to go out on the ice?

What justification does he have to keep sending Michal Rozsival out on the ice. The man doesn't shoot (probably for a reason, as when he does it goes wide) and has more shorthanded goals against than he has power play points this season. Renney puts too much trust in Wade Redden, also responsible for shorthanded goals, while not scoring a goal himself since very early in October. 

Is it stubbornness or does he think these broken parts will actually work if he uses them enough?

Petr Prucha is another example. Nigel Dawes gets Prucha's spot in the lineup after Prucha scored a goal in his three-game audition. Dawes has 6 points this year in 23 games, on par for a huge 21-point season spread out over 82 games. Yes, I know Prucha's numbers are even worse, but he is viciously under-utilized. No power play time, 4th line minutes. And did I spot Renney call Prucha a "Jack@$$" when Prucha stood up for himself and his teammates in Montreal?

There are probably more examples, but I'm tired now and I think I've typed enough. For the record, I'm in favor of sticking with him for the remainder of the season, but if Renney can't lead this team to the 3rd round or later, than it's time for a fresh face back there.

A Lackluster Weekend...

Nobody has written on our blog since Thursday, when Bryan typed about optimistically venturing the following day into Newark to drink beer and boo Zach Parise.

It is now technically Monday morning (although I will still consider it Sunday until I go to bed or see the sun). I almost posted on Friday that if the Islanders beat the Devils, then the Ottawa Senators would be the worst team in the East.

Since then, the Rangers technically showed up for a game in Ottawa, although I don't know how much of a presence really they had if they were outshot 14-0 for the first 13 minutes of the game. Yes. 14-0. Although I guess it is hard to generate shots off the rush when you are shorthanded 3 times in the first 6 minutes. To be honest, they never stood a chance in the game, and it's not because this is the same Ottawa team that used to pick apart the Rangers and Islanders in years past. The Rangers never stood a chance because they took themselves out of the game by taking lazy penalties, not hustling, not getting traffic to the net, and not caring.

Since then, the Islanders lost ground in the Hummer Metro Ice challenge, aka the battle-of-the-backup-goaltenders when Scott Clemmensen beat Joey Mac. In Backup Bowl II, they happened to beat Patrick Lalime and his Buffalo Sabres. Brian Boucher, Johan "The Moose" Hedberg, and Ty Conklin were watching intently.

Since the Islanders won Saturday, I have no good way to end this post. If they lost, I would've said, "Let's hope next weekend's recap isn't as half-hearted and depressing as our collective heroes were this weekend." Well, 2 out of 3 ain't bad. (Does that make sense?)

What A Ridiculous Night Of Hockey

It's going to be a busy night in the NHL On The Fly studios...

 - In Boston, the first period ended 4-3 Bruins. After two, it was 6-4 Boston. It's currently 7-4 with 12 minutes left.

 - At the Garden, the Canucks scored two first-period goals. They quickly scored two more to make it a 4-0 game. The Rangers got one back. Vancouver had a near-goal which got reviewed and was called a no-goal, then scored like five seconds later. Lundqvist pulled himself from the game. The Rangers got another one, making it 5-2 at the intermission.

So that's two games. Roughly five and a half periods played. Eighteen goals.

I'm a total dork for statistics, so I follow this stuff a lot. Goals per game are up this year. A lot of people love to dump on the current state of the game, stating that goals are only up because power plays are up. That's probably true. But who cares?

Heading into tonight, teams scored an average of 2.92 goals per game, which means the average game features 5.84 goals. That's up from last year's numbers, according to Drop Your Gloves. Goals per game were over six at one point, but have taken a bit of a dip lately. It's all good. Scoring isn't as high as it was just after the lockout, but it's nice to see scores like 5-4 in at least a couple of games most nights. The truth is, hockey needs goals to keep the non-diehards interested.

The other big thing this year is for people to criticize the shootout. Why? You're telling me you liked tie games? I know a lot of traditionalists don't like giving out an extra point for a "skills competition", and that's fine. But as long as they're going to give out points just for getting to overtime and allow the first team to score on a four-on-four to take a point - because, you know, teams play so much hockey at four-on-four - why not have the shootout? It's exciting, it keeps viewers glued to their TVs, and it rewards teams with dynamic offensive players and clutch goalies. How is this a bad thing?

Long story short, there's too much good in the game to nitpick over stupid things. According to Hockey-Reference, 35 players that have played ten or more games are averaging a point a game right now. That's pretty good. Of those 35, eight are on pace for 100-point seasons. Last year, there were two 100-point players, Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin. This year, guys like Ryan Getzlaf and Patrick Kane are poised to join their ranks. It's a great time to be a hockey fan, and more offense can only help our game.

Who Improved and Where the Rangers Stand...

Last year, the Eastern Conference was a crapshoot. Much like David Caruso's career, Ottawa started real hot then dropped off the face of the Earth. Montreal and Pittsburgh, boosted by strong power plays, were the obvious best teams in the East, but they only rose to the top of the standings around early-March. Every other team was mediocre. 

If it was pre-lockout, the Rangers might not have made the playoffs, but they did last season because of Brendan Shanahan, Nigel Dawes, and Henrik Lundqvist's shootout performances. Washington clinched the playoffs on the last day possible. Carolina lost out on a playoff spot on the last day possible. Even the Islanders were relevant until March's injuries piled up. Boston made the playoffs for the first time since 2004 and nearly beat the #1 ranked Canadiens.

What I'm saying is that it's anybody's conference to take. In the West, you knew Detroit will be up there, and Anaheim, San Jose, and Dallas should make the playoffs, while Phoenix, LA, Chicago, Edmonton, St. Louis, and Columbus would be awful. 

Will anything change in the East this year? Probably not. Who really improved in the East in the offseason?

* * * 

Far and away the winners of the East are the Tampa Bay Lightning. Vaclav Prospal returns next season, Matt Carle is in on defense, and they signed Ryan Malone, Radim Vrbata (both people I think the Rangers should have tried to get), Gary Roberts, Olaf Kolzig, Mark Recchi, and power play QB Andrew Hutchinson. Oh, and Steven Stamkos should transition well in the NHL playing alongside Vinny Lecavilier. While their goaltending still is a question mark (Mike Smith and Kolzig are both a half-step up from being backup goaltenders), their beefed up offense should make up for a shaky back half. The only one missing from their team is expensive Dan Boyle, but now that they have an owner who wants to spend money, a trade deadline deal for a top defender is certainly possible.

Atlanta was awful last season and should be this season. They did rob the Penguins blind in the Marian Hossa deal, but Angelo Esposito probably won't catch fire this season, even if he makes the roster. The additions of Erik Christensen and Colby Armstrong from Pittsburgh do help, but they are role players who aren't going to pot you 40 goals like Hossa would have. When your big offseason acquisition is named Ron Hainsley, you aren't moving forward.

Florida is also a team that is going nowhere. They might be the worst franchise in all of professional sports, Knicks included. They traded Olli Jokinen for a bundle of nothing, somehow re-signed Jay Bouwmeester even though we all know that he will not be there next season. Their lone spotlights are Nathan Horton and Tomas Vokoun. These guys are not a threat for anything except John Tavares in next year's Entry Draft.

Finishing off the Southeast, the Hurricanes and Capitals stood pat. While cash-strapped Carolina would up getting the defender they needed in Joni Pitkanen, it cost them heart-and-soul man Erik Cole. Yes, they signed Darcy Hordichuk, but can a 4th line goon lift you over the hump and into the playoffs? After making the playoffs last year, the Capitals decided to go with the same team this year. Sergei Federov, a good deadline deal, is back for another older, slower season, and their goaltending tandem of Jose Theodore and Brent Johnson is not as good as Kolzig and Christobal Huet were last year.

Long story short: One team will make the playoffs from the Southeast, and that's just because those are the rules.

* * * 

In the Northeast division, the Toronto Maple Leafs aim to miss the playoffs for the 4th straight year, which would be a new team record. Overpaying for Jeff Finger, trading for Jamal Mayers and Ryan Hollweg, not-yet-re-signing Mats Sundin or moving Bryan McCabe. I like GM Cliff Fletcher, but what exactly is he doing?

The Montreal Canadiens improved by leaps and bou-- no, they didn't improve at all. They missed the boat on Hossa, they probably won't get Sundin, but don't worry, Georges Laraque has arrived in Montreal! Alex Tanguay should help their already strong offense though and he came cheap in the form of just draft picks. They shouldn't miss Mark Streit on the power play too much, but can Alex Kovalev have another great season? While they are a good team still, the fact is, they aren't much better than last year, if at all.

The Boston Bruins signed unproven, unmotivated forward Blake Wheeler (although he did want to play in Beantown) and overpaid for Michael Ryder to replace Glen Murray. Is that any way to build a playoff contender? However, I think they would take a step forward if they would finally just admit to themselves that Tim Thomas is their starting goaltender. This guy is so motivated it's incredible.

Buffalo... uhhh, did the Sabres have an offseason? Yes, they traded away Steve "Brian Campbell" Bernier. Campbell's replacement is Craig Rivet, a journeyman who, while solid, won't stop a Crosby, Ovechkin, or Malkin from scoring. They also re-signed the aging, unhealthy Teppo Numinen, presumably as a locker room presence. 

Ottawa's big offseason move was what they didn't do - they didn't trade Antoine Vermette, which is huge. He can be a great player if any of their Big 3 - Heatley, Spezza, Alfredsson - falter or get hurt like in 2007-08. Their goaltending is a question mark as well, with Martin Gerber and the well-traveled Alex Auld standing guard. That shouldn't inspire confidence in Canada's capital.

* * * 

Now, the East. I won't dwell too much on the Rangers, but regardless of what you think of their offseason moves, they are a better team today than they were in May.

Wade Redden and Dmitri Kalinin, and whoever turns out to be the 7th d-man are better than the likes of Tyutin, Backman, Malik, and Strudwick. Plus, Paul Mara returned at a discount, and Marc Staal and Dan Girardi should continue to excel this season.

Markus Naslund and Nik Zherdev are being counted on to have comeback years, and that may be asking a lot, but atleast the offense is styled differently. Plus, their power play should click this year without Jaromir Jagr to receive passes from Michal Rozsival and Marty Straka.

The one big loss is Sean Avery, a winger who could change games with his gritty style as well as put the puck home in big situations (just ask Martin Brodeur). Losing Ryan Hollweg for a draft pick was a no-brainer, and Aaron Voros and/or Patrick Rissmiller will take over his role and make it more offensive as well.

Did the Pittsburgh Penguins improve? Not too much. As well as losing roster players in Christensen and Armstrong and a top prospect in Esposito, they essentially traded hometown-boy Ryan Malone and Hossa for Miro Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko, two middling wingers who had bad seasons. Their bright spot of the offseason was getting Brooks Oprik back when it looked like he would be on the way out. They still have their core, and they will be dangerous, no doubt. But they question is, did they improve? The answer has to be no, they did not.

We all know the Islanders' problems, starting with Charles Wang and Garth Snow and moving out. Streit should help the team and make up for losing Marc-Andre Bergeron and Bryan Berard with the man-advantage.  Doug Weight will help as well, that is until February, when he along with a bunch of other expiring-contracts are traded to contenders for draft picks and prospects.

It was Old Timer's Day in July for the Devils, as they signed former players Bobby Holik, Brian Rolston, and Scott Clemmensen as their 3rd goalie. Rolston is a great utility man, but I think the Devils will overuse him. Holik is a serviceable 3rd line center these days, but the days of him shutting down other teams top lines are over. They also overpaid for Bryce Salvador, but they did need a big body on the blueline. While Rolston was a good pick-up, their defense is still holier than the Bible Belt, and their offense can't make up for it. However, while I expect big years from Zach Parise and Travis Zajac, I can't say they improved much.

The Flyers were active in getting Glen Metropolit in his declining years, Steve Eminger, a few Finnish defensemen whose names I can't pronounce, and re-signing Jeff Carter, but it came at the cost of young gun R.J. Umberger and Prospal. Still, I would say the Flyers improved, if only slightly. Their defense is suspect with Derian Hatcher still there and Jaroslav Modry gone, but Braydon Coburn can only get better. Him and Kimmo Timonen on the same pairing could be one of, if not the best in the East.

* * * 

I didn't mean for this to be this long, and if you made it this far, I applaud you.

Who improved? Tampa, for sure. Probably the Flyers. Other teams just swapped one player for another, getting rid of a Malone for a Satan, or a Sergei Brylin for a Holik. That doesn't necessarily make them a better team, just the same team with different names on the back.

On paper, it appears the Rangers are one of the most-improved teams in the East, if not only by their additions then by their subtractions. That's not to say I didn't love Jagr and Straka and Shanahan, but it will be a completely different team, and that can't hurt.

On NHL Salaries

Note: This post has nothing to do with the Islanders or Rangers individually, but is certainly relevant to the plight the NHL finds itself in; therefore, it is quite relevant.

In the latest edition of their ridiculous feud, Anaheim GM Brian Burke called out Oilers GM Kevin Lowe and claimed that Lowe was responsible for the inflated salaries we're seeing this year. Apparently, because Lowe signed Buffalo's Thomas Vanek and Anaheim's Dustin Penner to offer sheets last year (Buffalo matched; Anaheim didn't), that's why $300 million in contracts were doled out on July 1 alone. Now, I don't mind Brian Burke, if only because his name is markedly similar to mine, but he's wrong on this one.

Burke's argument is as follows. Generally, a player gets an entry-level contract when he comes into the league. When he starts out-earning that one, he's supposed to be given a mid-level contract, which is eventually topped by the big-money deal he gets when he hits free agency. According to Burke, Lowe's moves have eliminated that middle deal entirely, meaning that a guy goes from his entry-level deal to the big bucks right away.

There are two problems with this statement.

First off, every other sports league has done away with the mid-level deal as well. Look at the NBA. Just a few years ago, Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, and Dwayne Wade each went straight from their rookie deals, which paid them roughly $1.5 million a year each, into deals that paid them $20 million a year until they become eligible for free agency. The NFL is no stranger to this phenomenom, either; with non-guaranteed deals, players are always holding out for more money and receiving extensions for years and dollars they'll never see. In Major League Baseball, the trend has turned toward young stars signing with their teams at sliding rates that take them through their arbitration years and, potentially, their first years of free agency. This is as close to what Burke considered a mid-level deal as we will ever see in sports again.

The second issue I have with Burke's blaming of Lowe is that the CBA has pretty much gotten rid of the need for mid-level contracts. Players don't hit free agency until they're 31 years old, by which time they've proven their worth. Very rarely is the case where a team doesn't know what it's getting. As for younger players who would normally be receiving these mid-level deals, that's a different issue entirely. If the player wants to continually prove his worth, thereby driving up his salary, and the team doesn't want to commit to a long-term deal worth big bucks, they can go to arbitration each year. While a player can only request arbitration after his fourth year, it occasionally takes that long for a player to develop; any player who is dominant right away is locked up as soon as possible.

So, to recap...
- Every other sport has done away with mid-level deals.
- Restricted free agents with four years service time can go to arbitration each year if they choose.
- Teams who have excellent restricted free agents are wise to sign them to long-term deals at market value.

Let's look at how Burke himself handled the case of Corey Perry. Perry is a former first-round draft pick, turned 23 in May, and scored 29 goals and had 108 penalty minutes in just his second full NHL season. Surely, someone was going to give him an offer sheet if the Ducks didn't do something. So what happened? Burke signed him to a five-year deal worth $5.25 million per season. That's less than what many of the big-name free agents received; it's half of what Vancouver reportedly offered Mats Sundin. In other words, Burke should thank his lucky stars that he gets to keep Perry for what may be five years of elite production. Sure, he'd rather pay less for that production, but that's the way the NHL is these days.

And the reason for that, of course, is the ridiculous deals given to unrestricted free agents.

We haven't discussed unrestricted free agents yet, and that's because they're the catalyst behind this whole entire thing. The trickle-down effect is unmistakable. Every time a Cliff Fletcher pays $3.5 million a year for Jeff Finger, every other defenseman of his ilk is going to want the same money. That's what drives salaries up, and as much as the GMs complain, they are the ones to blame.

A common cry in the lead-up to July 1st has been, "What was the lockout for?". Personally, I'm at a loss for words on this one. Coming off the lockout in 2005, the salary cap for each team was $39 million. The upcoming season's salary floor will be $40 million. Now, the NHL was smart to link the salary cap to league revenues, but it's not working. Too many teams are forced to put money into bad players just to hit the floor. Also, too many teams find themselves with too much cap room and make the wrong choices. This doesn't even begin to mention the nature of competitive bidding, which is presumably how Wade Redden is making $6.5 million a year to play for the Rangers.

And this is where it gets ugly. Let's use Redden as an example of how a big deal can ultimately ruin a player's career. It's fairly certain that Wade Redden did not request $6.5 million a year from the New York Rangers. However, given the cap room they had and the needs they had, they felt it was necessary to overpay in order to get their player. So, now, Redden has this huge deal, and with that huge deal comes pressure. The fans and media are going to be all over this guy if he doesn't perform at a superhuman level for the next six years. Same with Jeff Finger in Toronto. Nobody's going to turn down the money these guys were offered, but at the same time, their lives are going to get a whole lot complicated as a result of receiving it.

Getting back to mid-level contracts, they're not given because they simply don't exist anymore. Instead, they've been replaced by inflated salaries that aren't earned, just given out because GMs aren't being rescued from themselves. As much as I want to see the NHL succeed, I'm looking forward to the year when the cap doesn't increase; in fact, I'd love to see it decrease, just to see some accountability for all this spending. The GMs in the NHL have taken the most perfect salary system in sports and destroyed it. Instead of blaming each other for it, they need to look in the mirror and realize what they've done - preferably before we need another work stoppage to correct it.

Playoff Prognostications - Volume I

With the Isles' hopes looking dimmer than ever - the team's prayers rest on the shoulders of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers - now is an appropriate time to look at the rest of the league. Who's going to win the Cup this year? Who's for real? Who's going to choke in the first round?

Glad you asked.

Thanks to the wonders that are Center Ice and the NHL Network, I'm better equipped than ever to answer these questions. Let's face it - the league is kind of hard to follow. It's not easy to keep up on all the goings-on in the NHL, particularly out West, where we might see one game a week if we're lucky. Sometimes, the standings don't tell the whole story. Not that I'll be able to fill in the blanks or anything, but it's fun to speculate.

We all know what wins in the playoffs. Great goaltending. A favorable schedule. Balance between scorers and role players. These are the things that have traditionally separated the great from the good and, while we don't know everything about the Cup contenders yet, we have a much better idea than we did before the trade deadline.

With that in mind, let's look at who's out there and what their chances are at hoisting the Cup in June. These are just guesses as to what could happen, so don't take the predictions too seriously.

Eastern Conference
1. New Jersey (71 GP, 88 points). The Devils always seem to have the same type of season every year - they're right at the top of the conference, they fire their coach right before the playoffs, then they crap out in the first two rounds. To me, the Devils are a better version of the Islanders. Their main strength is the goaltending, but they can't always score the goals they need to win every night. The Devils have the second-worst power play in the East (guess who has the worst). That won't cut it in the playoffs.
Prediction: Second-round exit

2. Ottawa (72 GP, 87 points). Ottawa has been pretty much horrendous since the first quarter of the season ended. They're truly befuddling. You look at this team and think all the pieces are in place. Nobody in the East can match their personnel. They've got every kind of player you could possibly want, and the Big Three are obviously beyond compare. The only problem - and it's a huge problem - is their goaltending. As good as Martin Gerber has been this year, do you really trust him in a big game? When the alternative is Ray "Sorry I'm Late" Emery, you could be in trouble. Not to say they can't make a run, but they seem a good candidate to fall short.
Prediction: Conference finals exit

4. Pittsburgh (71 GP, 87 points). The wet dream of every NBC and NHL executive is for Pittsburgh to make a deep playoff run. Unfortunately, it's not going to happen. Call it instinct more than anything. There are two things working against Pittsburgh here; believe it or not, neither of them are named Ty Conklin. Their biggest concern is Sidney Crosby and his continuing health problems. Ask anybody who's ever played fantasy football - high ankle sprains linger for a very long time. Not only do you have a player whose health can't be relied upon, but also a player who will mess with Pittsburgh's line combinations and gameplans. He won't be as big a distraction as Eric Lindros in 2000, but he won't have a seamless transition into the lineup. Their second issue is that they haven't had one of those gut-wrenching, character-building playoff losses yet. This is an extremely young team, one that doesn't know what it takes to win it all. It's a shame, too, because their opportunity window will never be higher than it is with Marian Hossa in the lineup. But this isn't their year. If you're looking for a big-ticket upset in the first round, look no further than the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Prediction: First-round exit

5. Montreal (72 GP, 87 points). On the other hand, if you're looking for a Cinderella team, Montreal could very well be who you'd want to go with. If the Stanley Cup is going to come back to the East, it'll either be Ottawa or Montreal. No other team even comes close to being able to compete with the West offensively. Everyone knows Montreal can score and that they have a ridiculous power play, but they're also pretty underrated defensively. And Carey Price seems like he has what it takes to make The Leap in these playoffs. More than anything, what a team needs to advance is a hot goalie, and Price seems like he's up to the task. He's going to need it - Montreal plays six of its remaining ten games against Boston, Ottawa, and Buffalo. Odds are good they won't receive a favorable seed. Price is going to need to be huge early and often... but the Habs are for real, and this could be their year.
Prediction: Stanley Cup Finals

6. NY Rangers (71 GP, 83 points). The Rangers have performed significantly under expectations for much of this season; however, they seem to have found their legs for the stretch run. Good timing. As Zach said the other day, the Rangers will go as far as their seeding will take them. They're currently sixth, which is great, but should they slip any further than that, they could be in trouble. Hell, even if they move up, they could still end up playing the Canadiens or Penguins. It's tough to say what to expect for the Blueshirts in the playoffs, especially because Henrik Lundqvist has been extremely human over the second half. Still, this Rangers team has enough firepower to win at least one round, but a deep playoff run might be out of the question at this point in time.
Prediction: Second-round exit

Sleeper: Buffalo (9th in East, 72 GP, 77 points). No, the Sabres aren't going back to the conference finals. But they could make life very difficult for anyone they play in the first two rounds. Ryan Miller is capable of stealing a game if he has to, while their offense hangs 7's and 8's on other teams seemingly once per week. If they get in - and that depends largely on getting back the half of their team that's injured - they're going to stretch at least one series to seven games.

Western Conference
1. Detroit (71 GP, 100 points). For much of the season, Detroit has been the league's best team by a long shot. They gave us a bit of a scare in February, including a stretch where they earned just four out of a possible 24 points, but it looks like they're back now. After winning their last five straight, they're ten points ahead of San Jose, and that's including their horrid February. Not bad, eh? On paper, it's hard to take the goaltending tandem of Chris Osgood and Dominik Hasek seriously, but they've been great so far. Will they finally be exposed in the playoffs? Not in the first round, anyway. But Detroit has to be careful not to get too complacent - aside from one game against Colorado, all of their remaining games are against non-playoff teams (though three are against Nashville, just two points out). The Wings would be smart to not do anything stupid, like rest all their players once they lock up the President's Trophy - we've learned countless times in the NFL that it never works. Detroit is certainly beatable... I just can't think of any team who can beat them four times out of seven.
Prediction: Stanley Cup Finals

2. San Jose (70 GP, 90 points). I'm watching the Sharks on Center Ice as I write this, and they're just toying with St. Louis. Just 13 minutes into the game, they were up 4-0. The Sharks make me wish I lived out West; they're easily my favorite Western team to watch. The problem with the Sharks has nothing to do with their talent, or their goaltending, or anything else. Sure, they're a step behind Detroit, but they could certainly give the Wings a run for their money. The real issue is that they may have already peaked. Assuming they polish off the Blues, that'll be eleven straight wins. As we all know, it's most important to be at your best in April and May than it is to be unstoppable in February and March. I'm extremely high on this Sharks team... right now. I just get the feeling we're seeing their best hockey right now and they'll be ripe for an upset in the playoffs.
Prediction: Second-round exit

4. Dallas (73 GP, 89 points). A lot of people are loving Dallas and spouting off their Stanley Cup qualifications, but I'm not seeing it. I haven't seen a ton of Dallas this year, but I don't see what makes them better than any of the other West contenders. Brad Richards doesn't put this team over the top in my eyes; a healthy Sergei Zubov will do more for the Stars than Richards down the stretch. What it comes down to for Dallas is Marty Turco. He was awesome last year in the playoffs, but he'll have to show it wasn't a fluke. Dallas could very easily draw a team like Anaheim in the first round, and in that case, Turco is going to have to steal it for Dallas to advance. Call me crazy, but I don't see it happening.
Prediction: First-round exit

5. Anaheim (73 GP, 88 points). It's been a tale of two seasons for the Ducks - they were awful before Scott Niedermayer came back, and they've been good since he returned. Now that Teemu Selanne is back and playing to his highest capabilities, the team is getting ready to peak in the playoffs. The Ducks would do very well to secure home-ice advantage for at least one round; while they're under .500 on the road, they've got the best home record in the league. It never hurts to play at home, even under the worst of circumstances, let alone when you've only lost eight regulation games there. While the Ducks have plenty of guys who can score, they're also an above-average team on defense... and, as the cliche says, defense wins championships. However, if Chris Prongers ends up missing significant time due to suspension, they could be in trouble.
Prediction: Conference finals exit

Sleeper: Calgary (7th in West, 71 GP, 82 points). Phoenix is one of the most fun teams to watch in the West, and Nashville might be a better team, but Calgary is the one team that can make something of a run. They've been there before, they have a goalie very capable of getting hot, and Mike Keenan can convince this team that they can do the impossible. They're not going to beat a Detroit or anything, but if they end up meeting Dallas or Colorado... don't say you weren't warned.

Sabres Game Wrap and the Dreaded Three-Point Game...

Rangers Post by Zach

Despite the best efforts of the referees tonight, the Rangers beat Buffalo in the infamous 3-point game.

Now, I don't mind giving the bonus point to Buffalo, because the Rangers got the deuce, but I'm sure Philadelphia fans, Islander fans (like my counterpart with the Islanders namesake, Bryan), and Bruin fans all care about it.

Imagine the voting for the Oscars are going on. Someone loves the overrated Juno, but they also think the No Country for Old Men was excellent. So they vote once for Juno but then they also give a half of a vote to No Country. Meanwhile, Michael Clayton is running strong and is only trailing No Country by a few votes for first place. How is Michael Clayton supposed to feel knowing that when someone likes his movie, he only gets one vote, but when a member of The Academy is undecided, he or she can give an extra half-vote to the team ahead of them.

Get it?

I think a win in regulation should be worth 3 points, a shootout or overtime win worth 2 points, a loss in those two situations worth 1, and a regulation loss worth nothing.

The only drawback would be that if a team is up 2-0 or 3-1 with 10 minutes left in the 3rd, the Trap would make its return (although don't be fooled, teams playing in Newark and one of the Twin Cities still use this method). That is why this scoring method wasn't - and will probably never be - brought into use after the Lockout.

But isn't it very infuriating when an exciting game is tied 4-4 with 9 minutes left in regulation, and the action stops? No team wants to take a chance until they get their guaranteed Christmas bonus point.

Anyway, just my thoughts for today. I'm happy with the system as it is if the Trap never comes back as prominently as it was in the Dark Days of the NHL, aka June 2004 and before.

One-Year Anniversary...

This is both a Rangers and Islanders post by Rangers writer Zach.

After I saw Borat and Superbad, I got depressed. Not because I hated both movies, but because I believe I will never see a comedy as funny as either of those two movies were. In all of my cinema-adventuring years, I have never seen another movie I thought were comedic gold quite like these two.

I had the same feeling last March, after a home-and-home series with the Islanders and Rangers. The games in question were the March 5th game at the Garden and the March 8th game at the Coliseum, both won 2-1 by the Rangers. (For NHL.com recaps, click the links.)

March 5 - Rick DiPietro makes 56 saves, an Islander-record. Admittedly, many of those saves were bad-angle shots or shots that Marty Straka shot right at the logo on his jersey. However, some were incredible stops, including one he made with his head that no goalie short of Jesus Christ himself should have stopped. The lone regulation goal was a rebound by Petr Prucha on a Jed Ortmeyer shot from the hash marks. Carolina's-own Matt Cullen scored five-hole in the shootout, and then Henrik Lundqvist stopped Randy "Not Luc" Robitaille for the win.

As a strong opponent of DiPietro, saying that this was all his game kills a little piece of me inside. But, as a smart hockey fan (after all, I am a Rangers fan), I have to admit that he played spectacularly. Yes, like I said before, some of those saves were ones my Shooter-Tutor could have made. However, DiPietro stood on his head, figuratively, and in some instances, literally. The shootout was a perfect end to one of the most exciting regular-season games I could remember.

March 8 - Forever tainted as the "Chris Simon Game," where he Paul Bunyon-ed Ryan Hollweg, this game stood on its own as a fantastic match. Simon happened to score the lone Isles goal that game, and 8 minutes later, newly-acquired Paul Mara's howitzer from the point tied it up.

With the score tied 1-1 in the third, Hollweg hit Simon into the boards, Simon swung his stick at Hollweg's face, and Petr Prucha scored on the 5-minute power play to give the Rangers the lead. With 20 seconds left, Trent Hunter thought he scored the tying goal. One of the longest video reviews I can remember followed. There were 16,234 people in the Nassau Coliseum that night, and 8,117 were chanting "GOAL!" with 8,117 throwing in a "NO!" before it. The ruling: Inconclusive Evidence. The puck might have crossed the line, but the War Room in Toronto had no evidence and had to stand with the referee's initial decision. If the ref had initially ruled a goal, that decision would have stood also.

The parking lot was ripe that night. Ranger fans chanted "Inconclusive Evidence," "Eighth Place," and "No Goal!" Islander fans griped - rightfully so - about the now-infamous No Goal call.

And I questioned whether or not we will ever see such passionate, intense, well-played hockey again.

Of course, we would, and we wouldn't have to wait long. From a Rangers standpoint, every game in the sweep of Atlanta was great. The 7-0 game stands out, but it was a far cry from the home-and-home. I would put Games 3 and 4 of the series against Buffalo up there, where Michal Rozsival slapped home a double OT winner in Game 3 and another no-goal call went the Rangers way with 17 seconds left in Game 4. However, that was the playoffs. Playoff hockey is a whole different beast.

The current home-and-home just finished were good games, with the Rangers getting 3 out of 4 points and moving into 6th place in the East. This March's series did lack the excitement of last March's games, though. I guess we will have to wait to this year's playoffs to see if we can find some more games as exciting. Hopefully for New York, both teams will be in there.

Maybe comedy movies like Borat and Superbad are the regular season of movies. Great, great movies like those two games last season. I might never see a funnier movie than those two like I might never see better regular season hockey games than I did in March of 2007. However, there are better movies that have been made, just not better comedies, movies like Braveheart and American Beauty. Those are the playoffs of movies. A different standard, a different level.

Playoff hockey. I can't wait.