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.

Garden of Dreams Charity Event...

Thanks to Longtime Reader Lou (who was responsible for my seat upgrade a few weeks ago during that not-very-fun Sharks game at MSG), I got a ticket into the Garden of Dreams charity event last night at The Garden.

It was a great night with a free buffet (featuring prime rib), an open bar, Adam Graves, and 4 other Rangers patrolling the area all night.

Pictures? Of course I have pictures! But first, let me say...

- Donald Brashear does not like when you thank him for punching Aaron Ward in the face, even if you say that all Rangers fans wanted to do it.

- Marian Gaborik does not play fantasy hockey. And upon my request to slow down his scoring because my friend Dan has him on his team, he politely refused.

- Dan Girardi's Dan Girardi jersey looked a lot better than mine, although his was free and mine was the crappiest jersey NHL.com ever sent out. I probably should have returned it.

- Marc Staal will tell you he "dusted" me "for two goals" in air hockey. He would be correct, but I decided to let him score to boost his confidence. If he nets two goals against Florida on Saturday, I will accept kudos and congratulations.

- Time for the Worst Moment of the Night, brought to you by Amstel Light. Staal gave up his air hockey paddle to Gaborik and I decided I needed a picture of it. I put the paddle down a moment, reached for my camera to give Lou, and some 6 year-old girl jacked the paddle. Very rude. And since it was a charity event and she was a guest, I couldn't ask for it back.

- The coolest guy there was the PA announcer. He gave us really good inside information and even announced a line that we wanted to hear: "Ladies and gentleman, time for tonight's scratches. Number twenty-five, Petr Prucha."

If I knew Gaborik was going to be there, I would've worn my jersey!

This picture looks fake but I assure you, it is not. I was just afraid he was
going to hit me. Donald Brashear does not like me.

I'm 25. I shouldn't be taking this kind of picture with an athlete.

This is me teaching our youth to play air hockey. Protect the puck!

Reader Lou and Volunteer Brad after the event.

Just Brainstorming Here...

I'm back from Las Vegas (mid-September and still 100 degrees!) and I received a 2-for-1 in the week I was gone. Not only was Dany Heatley traded, but Phil Kessel was as well, leaving September only for training camp, and no drama.

I'm just brainstorming, but let's say for argument's sake, the 6 defensemen who make the Rangers roster for opening night are: Michal Rozsival, Wade Redden, Dan Girardi, Marc Staal, Mike del Zotto, and Matt Gilroy. Not a huge stretch, right? Sure, you could possibly sub Bobby Sanguinetti in for del Zotto, but that has no effect on my point today.

The newspaper today said that Rozsival and Redden would be top pairing, like they were together for most of last season. My question is: Why?

Now, it's well-documented that I am against having Redden and Rozsival on the team simply because this is a Salary Cap Era. If there was no Cap, then having a waste of space like Wade Redden on the team would simply be par for the course. They'd demote him to 3rd-line pairing or send him to Hartford, and spend big money on someone better than him.

Of course, since his $6.5M/year is looming large for the next 5 years, he has no choice but to play. And of course, it ultimately cost Tom Renney his job, as Renney's over-reliance on him led to his downfall.

Same for Rozsival. While I may personally like Rozsival and think he is a decent defenseman, he in no way warrants $5M/year, Salary Cap Era or not.

So why pair them together? They were horrendous separately and together last year. Plus, by doing that, you are putting 2 pairs of "kids" on the blueline.

Girardi and Staal should be a tandem. They were last year often, they play well together, one is a lefty, one is a righty. Both broke into the league near the same time and both are equally as good as the other.

So that leaves Del Zotto and Gilroy, two rookies together, no?

I say John Tortorella should put Gilroy with either Redden or Rozsival, and Del Zotto with the other one. That way the future top-pairing could learn from the veterans, who could (hopefully) cover the mistakes the rookies make.

Couldn't hurt, right?

My ideal pairings...
Redden - Gilroy (Redden is a left-handed shot, Gilroy a right-handed shot)
Staal - Girardi (Staal, lefty; Girardi, righty)
Del Zotto - Rozsival (Del Zotto, lefty; Rozsival, righty)

I mean, it's not like Redden and Rozsival were so dominant last season that breaking them up would be disastrous. They aren't MacInnis-Suter, Leetch-Beukeboom, or Stevens-Neidermayer. Hell, they aren't even Staal-Girardi. They're one step better than the pre-lockout pairing of Vladimir Malakhov and Boris Mironov.

It worked 2 years ago when Staal paired with Paul Mara. Why not let the rookies learn from the veterans? At the very least, they could learn what not to do.

The Blueline...

For next season, which begins October 2nd in Pittsburgh, the Rangers currently have 4 defenseman with "guaranteed" spots. I put that in quotes because you never know who might get traded - let's hope - or injured - let's hope not - before then.

We have: Wade Redden, Marc Staal, Dan Girardi, and Michal Rozsival.

Matt Gilroy is probably going to play in the NHL also. Everyone is very impressed by him, and you don't pay $1.75M/year to keep a player in the minor leagues.

So that leaves one spot. Corey Potter? Mike Sauer? Possible on both fronts, but more likely they will be in Hartford until their contracts end out, then bounce around the AHL (with some rare NHL appearances). Their career-paths will probably look more like Bryce Lampman's and Lawrence Nycholat's than Brian Leetch's.

I figure it comes down to two players. Granted, I don't know a ton. I don't go to training camp, I don't travel to Traverse City. I just read about the Rangers online, a lot, and I know a certain bit about the NHL from watching it for years.

Those two players: 2006 1st round draft pick (21st overall) Bobby Sanguinetti and 2008 1st round draft pick (20th overall) Mike Del Zotto.

And the early edge goes to Del Zotto. He looks real sharp from all accounts in nearly every aspect, and a lot of people think he can push for a spot. Even if he is bound for the OHL this year (he is too young to play in the AHL), the Rangers can still have him in the NHL for 10 games before they decide to send him there. That's good experience as a 7th d-man, and a great chance to make the Rangers think they should keep him up here - much like Josh Bailey and the Islanders last season.

So where does that leave Sanguinetti? This kid grew up in Trenton, NJ, and was a Rangers fan even when the Devils were winning Stanley Cups when he was 7, 12, and 15. He had a great 2007-08 season in Brampton (OHL) and didn't play particularly bad last year in Hartford, either.

But is he improving? Has Del Zotto out-performed him? And this is the year that Sanguinetti's contract is up. Sure, he'll only be a restricted free agent and he is still only 21, but Del Zotto is two years younger and seems to have surpassed him.

This isn't an attack on Sanguinetti at all. It just seems that there aren't very many roster spots available for the taking - 2, possibly, but probably only 1 - due to a few heavy-handed contracts (as well as the fact that you need veterans on the blueline). Maybe if Gilroy wasn't signed last year, or maybe if Del Zotto didn't emerge, Sanguinetti would be the 6th.

What are the options? No doubt they'll keep him around in Hartford if he doesn't make the team, but he could be Al Montoya-ed during the trade deadline to get a real nice veteran for a playoff run.

At any rate, Del Zotto vs. Sanguinetti should be one of the best "fights" at training camp. I'm looking forward to it, and I hope both show incredible talent.

* * *

Oh, and if anyone wants half-priced tickets to the Rangers/Bruins pre-season game on Tuesday, September 15, please let me know. I'll be in Las Vegas (lobbying for an NHL team there) and can't make it. Each seat is $60 and I'll sell the pair for $60. Email: arson83@aim.com

Captaincy...

Last year, in Chris Drury's first as Ranger's Captain, he was flanked by Alternate Captains Scott Gomez and Markus Naslund.

This year, with Gomez jettisoned to Montreal and Naslund deciding to retire, coach John Tortorella has a big decision ahead of him. No, picking two players to wear an "A" on their jersey won't be the difference maker in going to the Stanley Cup Finals or blowing a 3-1 series lead in the 1st round, but it could signal a changing of the guard at Madison Square Garden.

Ever since the lockout, veterans have worn the A. Jaromir Jagr, Steve Rucchin, Darius Kasparaitis were the 3 Alternates in the Captain-less 2005-06 season. Since then, Brendan Shanahan, Marty Straka, Gomez, and Naslund have worn it. All older players, all on Broadway for a short time (although Gomez's wasn't planned that way).

This year, Tortorella can do the easy thing and give Wade Redden (please no) or Marian Gaborik the "A"s to wear, but I hope he doesn't. Logic says your best player should always get to be a Captain or Alternate (or, in Tom Renney's case, your highest paid players), but it doesn't always have to be. For example, can you guess who Washington's Captain is? No, not Alex Ovechkin. Chris Clark is the Captain. Chris Clark, who scored 1 goal and added 5 assists in 32 games last year.

Who makes a good choice? People who've paid their dues, who are probably going to be Rangers for a while, and who give 100% effort every shift.

Scratch Redden off the list. Has less heart than Barry Bonds.
Scratch Gaborik off the list. First season in NY.
Scratch Michal Rozsival off the list. Probably won't be a Ranger for the entire 3 years left on his contract (it is heavily front-loaded so any team that takes him will take a big Cap hit but won't have to actually pay much money).

Blair Betts would've been a great choice. However, since he probably isn't returning, he can't put the "A" on his sweater. (He did last year for a few games, though.)

Brandon Dubinsky, Sean Avery, and Marc Staal would all make good choices. Avery, maybe not so great, but if he gets it, I'll be the first to say it's a good move. He plays hard every game, he loves being a Ranger, and we know he's here to stay this time.

However, the 2 I think should get it are Ryan Callahan and Dan Girardi. You can't argue with Callahan getting it, can you? He defines what a Ranger should be. Plays hard not just every game, but every shift. Scores goals. Happy to be in New York. Loves playing at MSG. Doesn't complain. Hits everyone in sight. Doesn't take bad penalties.

And Girardi? Well, the main reason is because he's one of my 3 in NHL '09. (I'm the Captain, and Girardi and Joe Thornton are my "A"s.) But I love Girardi. I love his poise, his hitting, his passing. I love how he was undrafted and then just came out of nowhere to join the team. I remember how he was picked to the AHL All-Star Game, then got called up in late-January '07 and had to miss the game. He was happy to be called up, but upset his family and friends wouldn't get to watch him in the All-Star Game. Plus, I think his talent, as of right now, is better than Staal's. You can debate me on that, and you might be right, but I think he is a better defender right now, and if every player on the blueline played like him, this team would be a lot better than it was last year.

Just my 2 cents. Would love to hear your choices.

Saw That Coming...

People were getting mad at me for telling them the Rangers would be crushed today, and lo and behold, they were. I hope I'm right in saying that they would also win at MSG on Sunday. And I'm glad that if Henrik Lundqvist was going to have a night off, this was it, in a game the Rangers could afford to lose so long as they remember to show up for Game 6.

What I didn't see coming was 30 year old players not playing the body. When Alex Ovechkin blew by Dan Girardi and Marc Staal to score, I understood it. They are young, they might not know how to play defense. But Chris Drury is 32, Derek Morris is 30. Do they not know to play the puck, do not play the player!

I expect it when Michael Rozsival or Wade Redden make that mistake; they're awful at their jobs. But Morris and Drury? C'mon!

Wade Redden and the Defense...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

* * * 

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

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

* * * 

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

All-Star Stuff...

Let's be honest, the All-Star Game is a joke. From the ballot - where Sergei Gonchar was on it without playing a single game - to the voting process, to the suspensions, to Nicklas Backstrom refusing to take part in an 18-minute game so he can rest, it's all a bunch of crap. (The way to fix it is to make the entire ballot a write-in and not have boxes to check next to pictures of "super stars".)

That said, I do normally look forward to the Skills Competition. Last night, however, was not a shining moment in NHL history as Doc Emerick would have you believe.

There was so much down time during the broadcast that I felt like I was watching an NFL game (I'm pretty sure I could have cooked a steak in the time between the Young Stars game and the accuracy contest). The commercial breaks were so long I felt like I was watching an MTV show. The commercials themselves were so overplayed that I felt like I was watching a Rangers game, where I see the same Bud Light commercial 8 times in 150 minutes. Except last night, it was Chris Berman "going all the way!" and losing 41 pounds.

And if they show that unfunny chump who hosts "Sports Soup" one time during the All-Star Game, I'm going to turn it off. Okay, that's not true, mainly because I won't be watching the game fully (I'll be working so I will catch it in pieces).

They also dropped the ball terribly with the Young Stars game. There were 14 goals scored in it, but they might've shown 8 being scored. Every time a goal went in, they were showing some half-motion replay of a shot hitting the post or one of Carey Price's 4 saves in the game. They spoke in great length about Marc Staal - which I appreciate - but I would have rathered them show me the goal being scored while speaking instead of his babyface. They had Pat LaFontaine speaking throughout the whole third "period" at a low-volume so I couldn't hear half of what he said. The 2nd period started while I was still watching Chris Berman's diet, and when the broadcast returned, we were treated to the sight of a young girl enjoying some food with her little brothers instead of the game. By the time they showed the ice, we were 34 seconds in.

It was just a mess of a broadcast. If the NHL is going to such great lengths (as a one-game suspension!) to get all of it's stars there (look, it's Mike Modano and Stephane Robidas!), you think they wouldn't have hired a high school AV club to do the event and would've shelled out money for a real crew.

Disaster in Montreal...

Jeez, do they really miss Blair Betts that much?

I will be quick tonight. Since the Rangers didn't show up to play, I shouldn't show up to write much about it.

Nigel Dawes and Petr Prucha were the only highlights today, although Henrik Lundqvist didn't play bad. He just had no support in front of him and had to overcompensate many times. Scott Gomez, although a -4, wasn't awful, either.

On one goal, Marc Staal did nothing near the right wing faceoff circle while Michal Rozsival stood in front of Lundqvist. Tic, tac, toe, goal. Rozsival barely moved his head, didn't move his feet. Was he tired? Do the Rangers need a 7th defenseman to come up if only for back-to-back games when Rozsival - a professional athlete, mind you - is too tired to skate? You would think $5M you don't deserve would be motivation enough, never mind the fact that you're playing in freakin' Montreal tonight.

On another goal, Paul Mara went after the puck carrier on Lundqvist's right. Dmitri "Not a Defenseman" Kalinin left his post on Lundqvist's left to attack the same guy Mara was going after. That player passed to the person Kalinin should've been guarding. Goal. Game over.

Dan Girardi, can you repay me for my jersey and the damage you caused my fantasy team today? I'm already getting crushed this week in +/-, I don't need your -2 hurting me. And what a -2 it was! Standing like a tree in a storm as Canadien players thrash by you and you don't move. Great! You're still one of my favorites on the team, but tonight you had a stinker indeed. 

The only reason Wade Redden wasn't horrible tonight is because he only played half a game before getting hurt.

I can deal with a bad game. They happen. You're tired, I understand. But bad effort? I can't stand for that. I wish my ticket money wasn't paying Rozsival and Redden to do nothing continuously.

* * * 

Seriously, though. I joke about it, but why did Kalinin ever decide to be a defender? Was he the only kid on his high school team in Chelyabinsk, Russia, who could skate backwards? He pinches on the rush, chases the puck behind the enemy's goal line, and today, I caught him leading the rush into the offensive zone.

At no point does he make smart defensive plays, check players hard, or use his body to block the shot. His positioning is even horrible, and at least 3 goals in the past 2 games are completely his fault.

We need a 7th d-man up from Hartford if only to have him sit for a game.

Notes From the Garden, 12/3/08...

A solid night overall at a packed Madison Square Garden. Lots of people there tonight, including most of the lower bowl where tickets are always sold but the businesses that own them rarely show up. Apparently all it takes to get people there is a Staal Family Rivalry.

- I don't see as much of the Western Conference as I would like to, but from what I see, one of the only people in the NHL better at handling the puck than Nikolai Zherdev is Evgeni Malkin. Zherdev was a true magician out there tonight, and on no less than 3 occasions wowed the audience, but Malkin is incredible as well, causing the guy next to me to say "Wow" to himself for 65 seconds.

- Dmitri Kalinin should, once again, never have become a defenseman. He pinches more than an Asian businessman at a strip club, and would make a better 4th line winger than a crummy 6th defender.

- Jaromir Jagr shooting from the right faceoff circle in 2005 is much, much more intimidating that Chris Drury shooting from the left faceoff circle in 2008.

- In a stunning show of solidarity with the NHL and Gary Bettman, the referees were strongly rooting for the Penguins today. With no double-minor penalties to avoid (like Game 5 last year when Drury had a blade-shaped cut on his face and the ice had to be cleaned of his blood while no penalty was called), one of the zebrae actually ran into a Ranger during what would've been a breakaway. I'm interested in listening to the replay of the game to hear how Sam and Joe play off the "A**hole" chants.

- The Rangers should have blasted Danny Sabourin. When they pressured him in the 3rd, good things happened, and they could've had more than 1 goal if they knew how to finish. Once it went to a shootout, you knew the Rangers would win because Sabourin wouldn't be able to stop Markus Naslund, Zherdev, and Freddy Sjostrom.

- That said, the Rangers managed 5 shots in the 1st period. They were credited with 6, but the 6th was a dump as they were leaving the zone on a line change. Five shots, 20 minutes. That's a shot every 4 minutes. What was happening the other 3:59?

- Petr Prucha's emotional goal was an incredible moment that goes down as one of my favorite in-person hockey memories. His goal in his first game back after being scratched for 10 (and refusing a conditioning assignment) ranks up there with these post-lockout goals...

    :: Jed Ortmeyer's shorthanded penalty shot against Boston, his first goal since returning to the lineup after being out for half a season with pulmonary embolism.

    :: In the 14th round of a shootout against the Capitals, the Rangers were down 3-2, and Jason Strudwick had a beautiful wrist shot to keep the shootout going, setting up Marek Malik's between-the-leg game winner.

    :: Brendan Shanahan's breakaway goal for his first goal in his first game as a Ranger, his second goal of the game that was his 600th career tally, and Jagr's goal :29 into the game during the 2006-07 season opener vs. the Capitals.

- If Wade Redden is known as a first pass defenseman, Michal Rozsival is a pass-first defenseman. 

- Prucha was buzzing all night and the crowd was rooting for him. He missed a nearly-open net in the 2nd period, but had a good game otherwise. Tom Renney must've liked what he say, because he was getting double-shifted too, being put on the 4th line with Blair Betts and Sjostrom at times. Brandon Dubinsky played well too, and Renney had a lot of confidence in the Voros-Dubi-Prucha line.

- When Scott Gomez stole the puck with 11 seconds left in the 3rd period and rushed up ice with Naslund and Zherdev, the whole Garden thought they were going to put it in the net. They almost did.

- I've never seen a standing ovation from a check before, but when Marc Staal rocked Sidney Crosby (who should've had a penalty against Colton Orr as well when Brooks Orpik took his 4 minute penalty) in the extra frame, the crowd spontaneously stood up and cheered. I assume nobody chanted because his name doesn't sound good in a chant. (Try it.)

- Sign me up as someone who loves the shootout, if only because I hated ties with a passion. Nothing was worse than sititng through a game and having it be a 2-2 tie. Here, atleast someone gets an extra point. If it's your team, great, if not, well, you still get a point. They only time I hate shootouts is in March and April when everyone clamps down and we see 3-point games everywhere when the Rangers are fighting for a playoff spot and Boston and Pittsburgh each get points.

I know people hate on the shootout, but for me, it could be a shootout, it could be a game of Three Post (where you take out the goalie and have to hit both posts and the crossbar to win), it could be an accuracy contest like in the Skills Competition, whatever, as long as there are no ties.

- Great resiliency today by the Rangers. They went down 2-0, and while they didn't play incredibly well, they did fight back. Prucha had a great game and deserves his spot back instead of Dan Fritsche. They had no goats today in the lineup on offense. Everyone contributed, from Betts and Orr to Lauri Korpikoski and Ryan Callahan.

17-8-2?...

From the Looks Can Be Deceiving Department, the Rangers are simply the worst 17-8-2 I've ever seen in my life.

First of all, yes, they have 36 points, and that's very good at the 27 game mark, and right now they are "in" first place. However, they've played more games than the followers. Boston has the same 36 points and have played 3 less games. One shootout loss, and the Bruins have more points. The Penguins have 31 points in 23 games. Hell, is the Devils go on a 5-game winning streak again, they would have the same exact record as our Blueshirts (they're 12-8-2 right now).

What I'm saying there is that while it's impressive, the numbers being spouted by Tom Renney (he said something like "we're 14-7 so I'm not worried" earlier this week) and MSG (specifically Stan Fischler) are false. First in the Eastern Conference. I guess. Until Boston plays their next game.

I don't even want to talk about today's game against Florida, but I guess I have to a minute. Florida, perennial basement-dwellers who came in with a dismal post-lockout, shootout-heavy 19 points in 22 games. The Rangers should've been angry about being taken to a shootout in the first game of this home-and-home, come out strong on home ice, and attacked them.

However, this roster isn't built for attack. Scott Gomez is strong on the puck, so is Chris Drury. Yet, both can't finish. If it's not Drury's stick breaking in half (not his fault, I know), it's Ryan Callahan shooting way too high on a shot 4 feet from the net (on a shot that seemed like an 85 degree angle), or it's Brandon Dubinsky, Drury, or Dan Girardi shooting directly into the Panther logo on Craig Anderson's jersey. 

Dubinsky, by the way, had 12 points in 13 October games and has had 4 since then. I should never have dropped Simon Gagne for him on my fantasy team. (I thought Gagne would get hurt again!)

Defense? What defense? On Thanksgiving, when the Detroit Lions gave up 47 points in their game against the Tennessee Titans, I was pretty sure I saw the Titans' RB Chris Johnson burning past Michal Rozsival while Marc Staal fell down.

What I'm saying is that it's an awful defense. And it shouldn't be. Rozsival was good once for the Rangers (actually, he had 2 good years... the first season after the lockout he wasn't good and didn't deserve an extension). Staal was rushed into the NHL and while he plays well a lot, when he makes mistakes, they glow. Dmitri Kalinin was a filler because they needed a 6th defenseman and were too short-sighted to use Andrew Hutchinson (who led the Wolfpack last year and is now a Dallas Star). Kalinin should've been a 4th line winger instead of a 6th d-man. Wade Redden was bad last year. He is bad this year. How bad will he be when he turns 37 and is in the last year of his Ranger contract? Paul Mara and Girardi do what they can, and while they don't light up the ice, I have no problem with them. In fact, I will proudly wear my Girardi #5 jersey Wednesday night at the Garden.

I know there apparently weren't many good defensemen on the free agent market last year (although Mark Streit is working out for the Islanders pretty well), but Redden was the worst choice they could've possibly made. Yes, he can make that all-important first-pass out of the zone. And yes, he sometimes has good defensive plays. But for $6.5M, was Glen Sather looking for sometimes?

The thing with the Rangers this year is that they normally try hard. While teams past would go down 2 goals and then phone it in the rest of the game, these Rangers normally fight back, and have erased a handful of 2-goal deficits this year. I say normally, because every now-and-today, there is a stinker. Two goals in 12 seconds to Florida? Florida had scored 52 goals in 22 games! And I'm pretty sure that figure includes shootout wins.

There are other good things about the Rangers (mostly Gomez, Blair Betts, and Henrik Lundqvist), but after today's frustrating, emotionless, passionless, half-hearted, heavy-legged "performance" in front of thousands of little kids, I choose not to dwell on them.

The Rangers played well against Phoenix, and well against Tampa Bay this week. Yes, they gave up a last-minute goal to Tampa, but they played well all game until that moment. However, that last-minute goal is beginning to be a problem. When you play two games against Florida and give up a goal with 90 seconds left and then get blown out in the next game, something is wrong. 

They got 6 points in 4 games against mediocre-at-best teams. However, it took an incredible Lundqvist (uh, today notwithstanding) and 2 tiebreaking shootouts for those points.

What happens when they face Montreal, Pittsburgh, Carolina, and Calgary in December? Not to mention 2 games against the suddenly-streaking Devils, a game against the notoriously hard-to-beat Islanders, and a 3-game swing out in California against Anaheim, the Kings, and San Jose?

This ship, starting from different personnel on the power play and out, needs to be righted, or a 7-game losing streak isn't far away. 17-14-2? Not as impressive, is it??

A Scoreless Tie...

If tonight's Rangers vs. Maple Leafs game had occured during the 2003-04 season, it would have been a scoreless tie, and the fans would have been angry. However, it was a very exciting game besides the final tally, and the third period was especially fun to watch. 

Personally, I have been in attendance for one game that went 0-0 through regulation, and it was horribly boring. NHL.com doesn't let me search for all games after the lockout like they used to anymore (hmm... am I missing something?) so I'll guess on the day. I believe it was January 2, 2006, the first season back. Rangers vs. Tampa Bay, at MSG. It was an awful, boring, horrible game. Both teams played with a complete lack of passion and I believe Vaclav Prospal scored the game winner quickly into overtime. Awful game.

Tonight's atleast was interesting. While the Rangers did have 32 shots, most of them were bad, low-angle shots that didn't test Vesa Toskala. However, the 8 or 9 good shots they did have that tested the Toronto netminder were turned away, and Toskala did indeed have a very good game. 

Likewise, Steven Valiquette also played good. He wasn't tested tremendously, but when he was called to action, he responded very well. A great showing by the backup, and that is very good news. As good as a team player Kevin Weekes was in his tenure as Henrik Lundqvist's backup, it was always a scary moment when he was announced as starter. Anyone remember 1/11/07, his last game as a Ranger, when he gave up 4 goals on 8 shots against Ottawa and was pulled?

Some other notes...

1) The Rangers should start declining penalties like they do in football. I mean, technically, when they negated two power plays by taking penalties themselves, they almost did that. However, on one power play they stunk it up, and as soon as the Toronto offender left the box, the Rangers played great 5-on-5 thanks to Marc Staal and Aaron Voros. 

2) Chris Drury should either a) play on the fourth line with Colton Orr and Blair Betts or b) be sent to Hartford for a conditioning stint to regain some scoring touch. 

No, I don't think he should be sent to Hartford. I know how the waiver wire works. I do, however, think his playing time should be reduced or he should watch a game in the best suit $7M can buy. Never has a player making so much money whiffed on the puck so many times since Eric Lindros played on the Rangers. 

3) I'm not saying I'm a psychic or anything, but I do watch enough hockey to correctly predict events. How many times today did Sam Rosen or Joe Micheletti tell us that Michal Rozsival shot the puck... and missed the net? Three? Four? Five? 

I'll give it to him, though. At least he was shooting. His overtime shot probably would've gone in on a goalie who wasn't as hot as Toskala.

It's Friday...

1) Of the 4 Veteran S's, one has finally re-signed. Joe Sakic is back in Colorado, presumably for his last season. Now, if only Sundin, Selanne, and Shanahan would come to a decision. To be honest, I'm not losing sleep over it, but it would be nice to get a glimpse of how rosters are going to shape up for the 2008-09 season.

I don't think any of these guys will land on Broadway (not that there ever has been a Selanne-to-Rangers rumor), but it is a remote possibility, and some closure on the issue would be nice.

2) While I still think Florida is the most poorly run organization in the NHL, the LA Kings might be the winners of Worst Offseason Ever. While they did trade for Jarrett Stoll, they did not sign one unrestricted free agent this summer. They did lock up a few draft picks and restricted FAs, but they have just over $27M in payroll for the next season. I don't even know if that would have been enough to hit the Salary Cap floor in the season after the lockout, and it certainly isn't enough to hit the floor this year.

While they do have a big future (think of them as the Penguins from a few years back), they need to sign some veterans to overpriced contracts just because they need to add salary to meet the NHL's minimum requirements. I have been expecting a Glen Murray signing ever since he got released from Boston, and there are still a few other players out there who haven't signed on with an NHL club or jumped ship to Russia.

Okay, so their future isn't as bright as the Penguins, but they do have a plethora (nice word) of young talent on the club and in the pipeline, and they will have a lot of high draft picks this year too, as long as they sign veterans to one-year deals and then ship them off at the trade deadline.

3) Two thumbs down to whoever writes the ticker on the bottom of the screen on the NHL Network. Yesterday, I put the channel on at work (I'm a bartender) and it was a classic series between the Washington Capitals and the Rangers from 1991. Fantastic.

Anyway, I had turned it on to see if the Joe Sakic news had broken yet (I knew there was a press conference scheduled so he could announce his decision). The ticker listed what they have listed all summer, free agents on every team, in alphabetical order. Once again, this bored me to tears, because I know who they are, and most of the un-signed free agents left are middling, Ryan Hollweg type players who should be signed to two-way deals. Case in point: the Chicago Blackhawks signing a guy named Tim Brent is not news, nor was the fact that he was a free agent at one point.

Not only did they have this "news" feed scrolling the bottom of the TV, but they also had not updated it in over a week. They told me that Aaron Downey of the Red Wings was a free agent. Well, a quick glimpse at TSN shows me he re-signed on August 20th. Yesterday was the 28th. On top of that, did anyone besides his immediate family and close friends really care if Aaron Downey was still a free agent?

That's like CNN scrolling false facts on the bottom of their feed that nobody cared about even when the facts were true.

4) I did it. I signed up for a package. Didn't even hesitate. The Rangers emailed me, and 10 minutes later I was on the phone. I hesitated so little, in fact, that I forgot to ask how much the package was. Luckily, a letter with prices came, only to confirm my theory: prices had gone up. And why wouldn't they? I mean, the Rangers won 5 playoff games last season, including 2 at home in the Garden. So, why wouldn't Jackass Jim Dolan raise ticket prices?

Prices didn't go up the year after the lockout, not because of the lockout, but because the Rangers hadn't made the playoffs in 2003-04. Every year since, however, prices have steeply risen, and a ticket that would have cost $44 then now costs $60. I believe it's even more money if you don't have a package (I think someone else would pay $64.50 for my $60 tickets).

What kills me though is preseason. You would think that since those games don't sell out, they would give some tickets to real fans who can't afford them, or at least put preseason tickets on sale for like $30 for the $60 seats. I don't really want to go to the preseason game, but I will, because they make you get it when you get a package. It's fun to watch the young kids - I saw Marc Staal's first NHL point in a preseason game last year - but it's very expensive, not to mention it's an extra $14 for the train, I might have a beer, maybe a soggy pretzel, and now a preseason game featuring Brodie Dupont has cost me $100.

Two for Tonight...

1) As I have written about before, I have bad luck with Ranger jerseys. I currently own no jerseys of anyone on the team. I bought a Pavel Bure jersey when he was injured and he didn't return (it's a Russian jersey). I got an Eric Lindros one and then he got injured on a cheap shot by Jason Doig (currently a scrub in the Swiss leagues). He never returned as a Ranger and went to Toronto after the lockout. My Steve Rucchin jersey was short-lived, as he signed in Atlanta the next year. Then, I got a Ryan Hollweg jersey that lasted two seasons, although he was awful in both seasons. My Sean Avery jersey lasted one entire season until he signed in Dallas. I did, however, turn a vintage Rangers jersey into a Jaromir Jagr one, and although I didn't wear it much, it was available to me over 3 seasons.

This afternoon, I went to NHL.com and bought a new one. It's a road white Dan Girardi #5 jersey. I did research and made sure friends didn't want a Girardi jersey so we wouldn't look like tools in the same exact jersey. It helped that I put the word out towards the end of last season that I wanted a Girardi, and that my friends should get Marc Staal or Brandon Dubinsky or Nigel Dawes.

I think it would have been easier to just replace the nameplate on my Dale Purinton #5 jersey with a Girardi nameplate, but, alas, I never had a Purinton jersey. I did see one though, once, after a game, in Penn Station. The lady was too far away but I wanted to ask if she was related to him. Who gets a jersey of a 7th defenseman with marginal skills even for the AHL?

2) I watched Olympic soccer between Argentina and Nigeria on TV last night, which is the only thing more boring than Islanders hockey. Hey-oh!

Game 3: An Instant Classic

Who won tonight's game?

The fans.

- Tonight's game was an instant classic. Had the Rangers won, you'd be seeing it on Al Trautwig's MSG Vault for years to come. You got everything you wanted out of this game. Great goaltending, plenty of hits, and some pretty good offensive skills as well. And you got overtime; truly, this was the only way to decide such an even contest. Sure, the last goal of the game was pretty soft, but almost every tight playoff game that goes to overtime ends on a garbage goal.

- Devils fans, see what happens when your team stops whining and sticks to their gameplan? Those two power play goals really helped out tonight, didn't they? The Devils only had six shots on their eight power plays, but they made their chances count. That said, the Devils probably could have had even more power play time (they only had 9:26 in power play time despite being credited with eight power play chances) if they had kept their cool in the scrums that followed many of the plays in tonight's game.

- Speaking of the scrums, it's my personal opinion that if you drop your gloves, you should be charged with a fighting major. Two Devils had dropped their gloves in one scrum, but were only given roughing penalites. That's not right. I also think that if you drop your gloves and the other guy is turtling, that's an instigator and a game misconduct, but the officials don't see it that way. If the refs saw things the same way I do, Arron Asham would have been thrown out of tonight's game.

- Say what you want about Martin Brodeur being a whiner, but give him credit for getting knocked out in the third period, shaking it off, and staying in the game. Head trauma is a scary thing - even though I don't like Brodeur, I'm glad he was okay. It wouldn't have been the same if Kevin Weekes came in for the overtime session. I'm sure plenty of Devils fans are going to be up in arms at the Garden crowd chanting derisively at Brodeur as he was recovering from the hit. However, nobody could possibly be accused of thinking rationally in a packed house that had just seen over ninety hits in under three periods.

- Ranger fans, you've got a lot to look forward to as you look toward the next game. Sure, the Devils won tonight's game, but three of the four goals were extremely shaky. You had a puck go off a Ranger's stick, a puck somehow trickle over Lundqvist, and a puck ricochet off Marc Staal's skate and into the goal. On the other side of the equation, you brought in a packed house that tore the roof off the building. You stood up to each and every hit the Devils tried to throw at you, and you never lost your cool. You probably played your worst game of the series so far, yet still managed to force overtime. However, that 6-1 shot differential in the extra frame is something to be concerned about.

- Two random points about the Rangers: First, they seem to have modified their jerseys so that the curved "guy's dress shirt" shirttails now look like they used to. Second, it's remarkable how many of their young guys play significant minutes. They don't have to restrict themselves to their top two lines like some teams have to. They can roll three power play lines, which is insane. And none of the young players look out of place; if anything, they out-perform their senior counterparts. They remind me of the New York Yankees in that way - although the big-money guys get all the attention, it's the young guys who make peanuts that really make the team tick.

- The best part about tonight's game? We're now guaranteed at least two more games of this series. Each game is better than the one before it. The games are testy, but the hits are mostly clean and the rough stuff hasn't gotten out of control yet. There's a defensive feel to the series, but both teams (mostly the Rangers) have had their chances offensively. And both goalies have stepped up when necessary. It feels like there have been more cheap goals than good ones, and that's a good thing - it means that we're seeing some spectacular saves.

This is going to be one hell of a series. Wednesday can't come soon enough.