NYR Top Post-Lockout Moments #15-11

Part 3 of an 8-part series. Up tomorrow: Top Islanders' Moments #15-11.

15) Messier Night / Jagr Scores in OT
MSG - January 12, 2006
Can you imagine how angry the fans would have been after spending $500 on one ticket to Mark Messier Night only to see a loss? Granted, the ceremony itself was great - albeit very long. But during the last retirement ceremony (Mike Richter’s), the Rangers blew a 3-2 lead and lost 4-3 to Minnesota.

Steve Rucchin started the scoring, but then Edmonton scored 3 straight to take a 3-1 lead. The Rangers jumped ahead 4-3 on an early 3rd period goal by Petr Prucha, but Mike Peca’s shorthanded goal was his second of the night scored his 2nd goal of the night and tied it at 4 (his first goal tied it at 1 and it was a power play goal with Martin Straka off the ice for an illegal stick penalty!).

Maybe predictably for a fast-paced, back and forth game, overtime didn’t last very long. Just fourteen seconds in, Jaromir Jagr whipped one past former Ranger Jussi Markkanen, capping off a great night for Rangers fans.

How fitting of an ending for a 75-minute ceremony than an extra session of hockey?

Oh, but my overall favorite moment? Christopher Reeve’s widow (now deceased herself) Dana singing Carole King’s “Now and Forever.”



14) Leetch Announcing Adam Graves’ Night
MSG - January 24, 2008
For how good the game was during Mark Messier Night, Brian Leetch Night’s game was a rolling disaster.

Sure, the Rangers won in dramatic fashion, but it was more a matter of desperation than anything. They needed the points badly (they were merely 2 games over .500 at the time) and they had played a lackluster, downright boring game so far. Michal Rozsival potted one with 11 minutes left in the 3rd period to finally give the Rangers something to cheer about since the ceremony ended.

(Brendan Shanahan wound up scoring the only shootout goal to give the Rangers 2 points, but the game, overall, was still very boring.)

The ceremony, of course, was excellent, and definitely shorter than Messier’s marathon. The highlight was definitely when Leetch took the time out of his own night to announce that Adam Graves Night would be held the following season.

They played great together on the ice, and it was a great touch for Leetch to do this. He was never completely comfortable with the spotlight on him, and even on his special night, he shone the light on someone else. That’s a good teammate.

13) Jagr Scores :29 Into Season
MSG - October 5, 2006
Five months ago, Jaromir Jagr couldn’t even lift his shoulder after hurting it throwing a weak, awkward punch at then-Devil Scott Gomez. He had surgery to repair it, but there were doubts surrounding the team coming into the start of the 2006-07 season. The three main questions concerning the team were about Jagr’s shoulder, how Henrik Lundqvist would be after his problems in the ’06 playoffs after the Olympics (he played awful, if you remember, after coming back from Italy grinding his teeth while he slept and with migraines), and if Brendan Shanahan was a good signing.

Well, 29 seconds into the season, newly-introducted Captain Jagr stormed up the ice, cut across center, and fired one past notorious Ranger-killer Olaf Kolzig on the first shot of the season. The crowd chanted “MVP! MVP!” to Jagr, as he should have been crowned it the season before, but Joe Thornton won it when he overtook him in the points race at the end of the season.

Shanahan wound up scoring 2 goals in his Ranger debut, goals 599 and 600, Lundqvist stood tall, and for a night, all was perfect in Rangerland.

Who knew that the deciding factor of the season wouldn’t be Jagr’s shoulder, Shanahan’s ability, or Lundqvist’s migraines, but a last-minute icing in May in Buffalo.

12) Lundqvist Robs Savard
Boston - October 20, 2007
The Rangers and Boston have played some very close games since the Lockout, but none of them could top the 1-0 shootout won by Boston in October of 2007. Lundqvist had 19 saves, Manny Fernandez had 26, and the game was won in a shootout by Phil Kessel after the first 5 shooters didn’t score.

It almost didn’t get to that shootout, however, if not for an excellent save by Lundqvist on Marc Savard.

If you remember, this was also the game where Marty Straka blocked TWO Zdeno Chara slappers from the point and broke the same finger in two separate spots on both shots. If we had this website during this game, I would have called Straka a Warrior.

On the same power play, a rebound came to Savard and he absolutely rocketed a shot to an open net, except Lundqvist whipped out his left arm and caught the puck. A shocked Savard fell to the ice (partly due to the force he took the shot with) and looked to the heavens.

Between Straka being immortal and Lundqvist making one of the Saves of the Decade, the winner of the game didn’t even matter.



11) Nylander’s Playoff Hat Trick
MSG - April 17, 2007
The last time the Rangers had won a playoff game at MSG, well, I don’t know, but I assume it was in 1997, a full 10 years before they beat the Thrashers 7-0.

The previous year, against New Jersey, they got outscored 7-2 in their two home playoff games, and even though they got a standing ovation after being eliminated, it stung.

This was the complete opposite.

Kari Lehtonen was reinstated as starting goaltender after being replaced by Johan Hedberg for Game 2. The Rangers made quick work of him, though he was never pulled in the game. Michael Nylander scored his first goal 32 seconds into the game and his second 9 minutes later. His 3rd goal was the team’s 7th, completing what he started.

Ryan Callahan also scored twice on this night, 11 minutes apart in the 2nd period, and even Marek Malik scored on a great shot from the left circle. Shanahan scored the other goal for the Rangers, and Jagr had 4 assists.

It was a great night to be a fan from start to finish, and the sweep of Atlanta the next night made for a flawless first round victory.

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.

Souring On The Shootout

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

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

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

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

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

Thanks to the incomparable NHL Shootouts for the shootout data.

I Often Sleep Too Much...

I recently got a new job.

In my previous employment, I would often work at 5:00 at night, waking up sometime around 11 in the morning. Sometimes, I would go to bed at 2 a.m. then wake up at 11:30, sleeping over 9 hours.

I would actually be more tired when I woke up then when I went to sleep. I would feel... groggy. Sometimes, I would work better on short rest (say, 4 a.m. - 10 a.m.) than an entire night's rest.

I think that's what happened to the Rangers tonight. They played Calgary on short rest, and played well. They just couldn't beat that hot goalie.

Tonight, they had too much rest. Imagine if I slept all of Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday? I would've been lost on Thursday.

I probably would've given up a goal 19 seconds into the game. I probably would've taken a penalty a minute later. I probably would've shown up only for the last 15 minutes of the 3rd period. I probably would've taken lazy, offensive-zone penalties. I probably would've relied on my incredible goaltender to save our hides against a weaker team. I would've let a player playing for the first time in 3 weeks get a goal and 2 assists.

I also probably would've put an APB out on Sean Avery. Has anyone seen him? A healthy Sean Avery without the edge is just like any other player. I miss having an abrasive forward who turns games in our favor. Has he impacted any game except the Toronto game at MSG where he scored two goals? Has he been himself? Knee injury? A fear of taking penalties? Something's up, and it's not helping the Rangers.

I probably would've cut this short, too.

Why Stay?...

For the past few months, I have been mulling around a question in my head...

Why Stay?

Why would the NHL even want to stay in Phoenix? The team averages under 15,000 fans per game, yet Gary Bettman keeps saying how committed the NHL is to hockey in Phoenix. In Hamilton, Ontario, 12,000 signed up for season tickets a few years ago without even having a team. They didn't just put their name on a list, they gave Jim Balsillie a deposit for them, hoping he would bring them a team.

But this isn't about Hamilton. You could easily replace Hamilton with Seattle, Toronto, Winnipeg, Kansas City, Quebec City, or (my personal choice) Las Vegas.

Why stay in Phoenix? The team is a drag to the owners of the teams who actually make money because of revenue sharing. It is an embarrassment to the league to have a team file bankruptcy.

Are the 14,632 fans they averaged last year really that important to the rest of the league? (By the way, their attendance is dwindling, the year before they averaged 14,820.)

Other cities are begging for teams. Balsillie is intent on moving them to Hamilton, which has been hockey-ready for years. Seattle just lost its basketball team, its football team is garbage, and its baseball team lost over 100 games last year. Las Vegas has said it wants a team, regardless of league. Same for Kansas City, who offered up their Sprint Center for free. Winnipeg wants their team back; Quebec is such a good market that it houses entire leagues in the city. A 2nd team in Toronto would do so good that the Maple Leafs actually had to nix the idea out of greed, not necessity.

Is Gary Bettman really that stubborn to admit his decision to grant a franchise to Phoenix was a mistake? I've made mistakes, and I admit them. Mine don't cost people millions of dollars.

Hockey in Arizona is a joke. For that matter, hockey in Miami and Atlanta is ridiculous also, but that's for another day.

Is it about expanding the game within the U.S.A.? There are better ways to do that then with a 25% empty building, and the four letters for that are E, S, P, and N.

There are probably 13,000 people who would actually care if a young-and-coming team left the desert. A ton more would care if Canada got another team.

Come on, Gary. Admit your mistake. Eat your crow. Stop backing the Coyotes. Sometimes, you have to kill your weakest link. Or at least move them to a place where people want them.

Which Series is This More Like?...

The Capitals won the Southeast Division this year, and are down 2-0. So, which series is this most like?

2005-06 - Southeast-winning Carolina Hurricanes lost the first 2 at home to Montreal, then replaced Martin Gerber in net with Cam Ward. Ward led the 'Canes to victories in the next 4 games, then they went on to win the Stanley Cup.

2006-07 - Southeast-winning Atlanta Thrashers lose the first 2 at home in the series against the Rangers. They lose Game 1 4-3, then replace goalie Kari Lehtonen with Johan Hedberg. Hedberg loses Game 2 by a score of 2-1 (on a freak bounce-shot by Sean Avery), and they go back to Lehtonen for Game 3. They lose that game 7-0, and Hedberg is back in net for the loss in the elimination game, Game 4.

Will Jose Theodore be back in net for Game 3? He accepted responsibility for the loss in Game 1 and wanted a chance to redeem himself, but Caps' coach Bruce Boudreau went with the rookie, Simeon Varlamov. Will he do a switch, even though Varlamov only let in one goal? Hedberg had a decent game in Game 2 but sat the next game.

* * *

That was great defensive coverage by Tom Poti on the Ryan Callahan goal. Poti went to cover Markus Naslund on his right side, and with his left hand, motioned for the other Capitals defenseman to cover Callahan. Thing is, there wasn't another D-man there, Callahan easily accepted a good pass from Naslund, and scored the only goal of the game.

I don't care if you're reading this as a Ranger or Islander fan. Be happy Tom Poti is on neither of these teams anymore.

Today's Games

It wouldn't be a stretch to proclaim today as the biggest day in New York hockey so far this season.

Last night, the results went the way of the local clubs. The Rangers were spared a huge blow when the Panthers inexplicably lost to the Atlanta Thrashers at home. The Islanders' faithful are more than happy with the point Tampa Bay picked up last night against the Devils. The events of last night only serve to make today's action more interesting - as if things weren't already interesting enough.

Boston will have plenty to play for against the Rangers this afternoon - while home ice in the East seems a certainty for the Bruins, they'd love to nab the President's Trophy from San Jose. The Rangers were hardly inspiring on Thursday night, but perhaps last night's debacle in Florida will inspire the Blueshirts. Not only do they control their destiny once again, but a tie in points between the Rangers and Panthers will almost certainly result in a Rangers playoff berth, as Florida would have to make up two wins in four games. If the Rangers can pull off a win today, they'll be infinitely more secure in the top eight.

As for the Islanders, this one is going to be ugly. Both teams will obviously play hard. The Islanders have not laid down for anybody, while Tampa Bay silenced any talk of tanking with a valiant effort against the Devils last night. The atmosphere of the Coliseum will be bizarre, as Islanders fans will be rooting for the home team, but secretly hoping for a Lightning win. How will it play out? Only time will tell. But if the Lightning win, the Islanders will only have to "beat out" Colorado for the first seed in the Draft Lottery. In reality, the odds of the Islanders losing their spot to anybody are extremely long, but for Islanders fans who feel they've earned their crack at John Tavares or Victor Hedman, nothing is secure just yet.

By night's end, we'll know a lot more about the fates of both the Rangers and Islanders. Until then, though, this is going to be one exciting day of hockey.

EDIT, 12:35 PM: Odds are pretty good that I'll be doing a live blog of tonight's Islanders-Lightning game. If any of the other Blog Boxers are doing a live blog, I'll post a link to it later. Either way, this game promises to be excruciating, so there will be plenty of booze involved. There has to be.

Disaster in Atlanta...

One thing is for sure, if Atlanta keeps selling tickets like they did tonight, the Rangers will have very few more disasters in that city. Those disasters will be in either Kansas City, Seattle, Las Vegas, or Hamilton.

Which Ranger rose to the occasion tonight when the season hung in the balance? Not Steve Valiquette - he played good and had no chance on those first two goals, but the next two? C'mon! Wunderkid Marc Staal? "This wraparound attempt brought to you by #18's inability to check a player."

For the past 3 seasons, I had a joke with some friends. If a Ranger took a penalty while on the power play, he "Rozsival-ed," because Rozsival would often lose control of the puck on the point, and have to hook or hold a player to stop a short-handed breakaway. If the Rangers were already down a man and took another penalty to go 3-on-5, you "Tyutin-ed," because he had a penchant to take a bad penalty.

What's it called when you're about to have a 3-minute 5-on-3, and then 6 players hop on the ice? "Naslund-ing"? "Drury-ing"? "Why is Redden even on the power play-ing"? No... it's called "Sabatoge."

A 3-minute 5-on-3, nearly a guaranteed goal in other parts of the country (like in San Jose, New Jersey, Boston, or Detroit) was null-and-void before it got started because 6 Rangers were so eager to not score that they all had to be on the ice at once.

My friend, Dan, wants me to point out Markus Naslund is "slow, tired, and sloppy with the puck almost every night." I cleaned up the puncuation, but he makes a point. He is older than he was when they should have signed him - July 1, 2005. Someone made a real nice pass to him today, and if he accepted it, he would have had a real nice shot on net. I didn't even get excited when I saw the play because I knew he wouldn't settle the puck down, and if he did, he would wait 2 seconds too long to shoot. And he doesn't do much away from the puck. I do give him props, though, for not giving up on that goal he scored in the 2nd period. And atleast he's cheap (yes, $4M is cheap for a player with his resume). And I do like him as a person, he's just lost a few steps since he played with Brendan Morrison and Todd "Murder" Bertuzzi.

I want to take John Tortorella to task. You had a chance to send out 6 shooters in the shootout, and you send out Scott Gomez and Ryan Callahan while Nik Zherdev sits on the bench, clutching his stick in his golden hands, waiting for his chance? C'mon! I know you want to reward them for playing well, but there is an extra point to be had against a backup goalie on a weak squad, and you leave you best chance for that point riding pine?

Say what you want about Tom Renney, Lord knows I have, but atleast he threw out Zherdev each and every shootout.

Valiquette did well in the shootout, very well. A goalie should be allowed to let in 1 out of 6 breakaway attempts. You only hope that your coach can throw out the best chance to win, not "make a statement" by benching someone or rewarding someone in what is a skills competition. Skills competition, not "heart & soul competition."

* * *

A horrible ending to what was setting up to be a good win. Maybe I'm too hard on the Rangers tonight because they've done decently well lately, but in late-March, against a lottery-bound team in a half-empty building, you need 2 points. Two. Not one and an inability to get one past the Penguins 2001-02 starting goaltender in a shootout. Because, guess what? The last 7 games are ALL against playoff teams - Flyers x2, Bruins, Devils, Penguins, Canadiens, and Hurricanes.

No one showed any heart in the 3rd period until a minute left. Redden? Did you see when Ilya Kovalchuk cross-checked Sean Avery and then went down with him? Watch the replay... Redden gets on the ice, looks at them, and turns to head back to the bench. A real teammate would have gone and checked Kovalchuk to make a point and stand up for his mates.

Apparently, in Emerald City, $39M can't buy you heart.

0-4-1...

Let me regale you a tale about a fellow hockey fan - and hopefully, avid reader of this blog - named Lou.

I’ve known Lou since 1997 or 1998, and while I don’t follow other sports as much as hockey, we share the same teams in all sports (Rangers, Mets, Jets, nobody likes basketball).

I like Lou, and consider him a good friend. However, we have one problem: We have never been together at MSG to see the Rangers win a game, and we try every year. 

Sure, we’ve had our successes alone. We’ve been to the Coliseum a few times when the Rangers beat the Islanders (including the game where Jaromir Jagr broke the Rangers’ points record with a slew of first period assists). 

Oh, we’ve even seen wins at MSG when we were both there but not together. We both saw the shootout victory on Brian Leetch Night, and we both were at a Penguins game where they won 4-2 (his seats were much better than mine).

But together, we are the Buffalo Bills of Ranger games - there once a year, can’t win.

And they lose in majestic fashion as well. This tradition started in 2002-03 and here are the games...

2002-03 :: 3/26/03 :: A game against the Penguins (we had a total of 3 Ranger fans and 1 Penguins fan with us) where the Rangers got thoroughly outplayed by the equally-crappy Penguins (Rangers ended the year with 78 points; Penguins had 65). The Penguins didn’t have Mario Lemieux, hadn’t won a game in over a month, and had Sebastian Caron in goal. Of course the Rangers would lose this game. PIT 3, NYR 1

2003-04 :: 1/20/04 :: We lost the Penguins fan, and me, Lou, and another Rangers fan went to see Boston on Vintage Night, where both teams wore retro 1970s jerseys and prices on cotton candy and popcorn were rolled back to 75 cents. Disco music even played during the game. Apparently the Bruins beat the Rangers a lot in the 70s, because it happened this night too. The one saving grace was me yelling “SHOOOOT!” (which, ironically, I don’t like when people yell that now) when Leetch had the puck, and he shot, and scored the Rangers lone goal. Joe Thornton didn’t play in this game. BOS 4, NYR 1

2005-06 :: 3/12/06 :: The Rangers were beating the Thrashers 2-0 entering the 3rd (on goals by Jagr and Marty Straka), and then gave up one midway through the period. “Sweet Caroline” came on with 5 minutes left in the game, Ilya Kovalchuk scores, and the Rangers lose in overtime. Quite a depressing ending, and if the Rangers had won the game, they would’ve had an extra point in the standings, and at the end of the season that would’ve translated to home ice advantage in the 1st round. One point. ATL 3, NYR 2 (OT)

2006-07 :: 2/5/07 :: Okay, so seeing Detroit play probably wouldn’t help our winless streak, we admitted, but we wanted to see an Original Six matchup, as well as Brendan Shanahan’s first game against his old club. Two red-clad females sat in front of us and asked us not to hurt them (we didn’t). I was on the phone with my friend Dan, talking about the Sean Avery trade that just went down, when I saw Shanahan skate down the wing and I said, “I’ll talk to you later. Shanny’s about to score.” Shanahan actually scored 2 minutes in and then 13 seconds later Michael Nylander followed suit. A Marcel Hossa goal gave them a 3-1 lead after the first period.

In the third, the Wings made it 3-2, and the whole place fell silent. When it was 3-3, we knew what was happening. Keep in mind, the Rangers weren’t on their “run to the playoffs” yet, and they had blown mutliple 2-goal leads. They lost 4-3 in regulation, dropping their record to 25-24-4. DET 4, NYR 3

2007-08 :: 12/6/07 :: Desperate to break the streak, we picked an easy game. A slumpbuster, if you will. Toronto. One of the worst teams in the league. How could they not beat Toronto? This was also the 3rd Original Six matchup we'd gone to.

Tied 2-2 after one, Nik Antropov took over and scored 3 straight goals. The final was 6-2 Toronto, and the Rangers completely mailed in the 3rd period. I have memories of Michal Rozsival giving up (what? him?) and having Alexander Steen ravage him for the 6th goal. Toronto actually only had 10 shots in the first 2 periods, yet had 4 goals. TOR 6, NYR 2 

* * * 

So the point of the story is that me and Lou will be going to the matinee against Philadelphia at the Garden today, carrying an 0-4-1 record when going to a game at the Garden together. If the Rangers lose, please blame us (unless it's squarely Wade Redden's fault - entirely possible), and we promise we’ll pick a game against Tampa Bay next year.

Not Much to Say...

What do you say about a game in which the Rangers were nearly shut out 1-0 for the second time in a row?

Well, for one, it was a miserable performance. Losing 1-0 to Boston proved to be an exciting game where the Rangers relied on defense and couldn't penetrate Boston. (Not that they played great, but atleast they weren't atrocious on Saturday.)

Losing 1-0 to an Atlanta team is unacceptable for a team that thinks it should be in the playoffs. One team in the league has given up more goals than Atlanta has, and the Rangers couldn't score one goal until 59 minutes, 50 seconds in? (For the record, the team with the most goals against in the NHL is Toronto - whom the Rangers battled to a 0-0 tie earlier in the year.)

What went wrong? Well, for one, the Rangers have an awful defense - regardless of the fact that Wade Redden actually played pretty well on Adam Graves Night. So since the defense is so bad and can't stand alone, they are forced into a "team defense" system. To be sure, if they didn't play that system, the forwards would be able (hopefully) to pot more than 0.5 goals a game. However, they would also give up 4 or 5 per game, regardless of how good their goaltender is.

So the team defense is stifling the Rangers, but it's also their only choice if they want to win games. They can't run-and-gun like Buffalo or Carolina, where the defense has holes but the team still wins games because if can score goals in an instant. And they can't sit back on leads and pounce when the opponent makes a mistake (like Boston does) because their forwards aren't that good.

But isn't Scott Gomez paid $7M/year for that reason? Yes. And he is overpaid. The year before he became a Ranger he only had 13 goals (and 47 assists... why that equals a $51M contract mystifies me). He is not a goal scorer, he is a playmaker.

Yet, he makes no plays. He had 21:17 of relatively useless ice time in Boston. Last night, his reigns were shortened and he played "only" 18:12. Yet, he still got 1:57 of power play time (the Rangers only had 4 minutes on the PP). 

Why does Tom Renney still employ the same personnel night in and night out on the power play? Aaron Voros played 1:57 on the power play also. He hasn't been effective since early-November yet still wastes space there (oh, I forgot, his size makes him more useful than Petr Prucha). 

Artem Anisimov - him of 9 power play goals and 2 shorthanded in Hartford - was brought up for 9 minutes, all at even strength. Why even bring him up? So he could play as much time as Colton Orr (who actually had a very good game)?

If you are going to bring up a scorer, use him. Tom Renney is overly loyal - we saw it with Jaromir Jagr when he was hurt and ineffective, and we're seeing it now with the shell of Scott Gomez, and with Chris Drury, and with Markus Naslund (who scores a goal then seems to disappear for 3 games). 

Until Tom Renney sits a "superstar" - in reality a 2nd line center who is making huge money to underperform on Broadway - who isn't playing well, this team will not chance. When ineffective players are ineffective and still get huge minutes, and players who give heart and soul sit on the bench (Ryan Callahan) or in street clothes (Prucha, Nigel Dawes), nothing changes. 

This team might have to fight to make the playoffs. And to do that, they'll have to give up something good at the trade deadline. Lord knows Gomez isn't going anywhere, except on the ice in overtime.

Saturday Night At The Coliseum

It's kind of late news now, but I wanted to share my thoughts about the Islanders-Thrashers "game" on Saturday. I put the word "game" in quotes because it was anything but; by the time the evening was over, the Islanders were getting blown out and found themselves resorting to taking cheap shots and instigating fights.

I'm a pretty big fan of what Scott Gordon has done so far in his tenure as Islanders head coach. But Saturday was one of those nights where I scratched my head, wondering if he was really as good as the press says he is. First, he went with Joey MacDonald. MacDonald, in case you haven't noticed, has started sixteen straight games for the Islanders. In the last five of those sixteen, he's allowed five, five, two, four, and five goals. Gee, you think he might be tired? You can't just take a career backup and throw him out there for a consecutive month of games. And yet, that's exactly what Gordon has done. Wasn't this the same franchise who swore they were going to rotate the goalies better this year? Or did that all go out the window when Rick DiPietro went down? Yann Danis has played exactly one game this year. It's hard to expect much from a backup when he never, ever plays.

Getting back to Saturday night, the Isles came out firing on all cylinders, playing much of the first period very well. We had ourselves a nice, physical hockey game. There weren't a ton of goals; there didn't need to be. It was a defensive-minded hockey game that had its share of big hits and good chances. However, once Ilya Kovalchuk scored in the second period, the Islanders stopped playing their game. Suddenly, they were trying to make the perfect play, which is something they don't do very well. Worse than that, though, they stopped hitting. Blake Comeau threw some nice checks, but that was about it. This was in stark comparison to the first period, when the Islanders hit everything that moved.

Then, in the third, everything devolved. The Islanders became completely unglued and started trying to hurt people. Or do you suppose it's a coincidence that Gordon threw Nate Thompson, Tim Jackman, Andy Sutton, and Brendan Witt out there as a four-man penalty kill unit? It seemed like Jackman was tapping an opposing player on the shins with his stick every other second. Witt was going after players with reckless abandon. Even Joey MacDonald came out to the f'ing blue line to play a puck down four goals in a game the Islanders had no chance of winning. All in all, it was an embarrassing display, one that has no place in hockey.

This isn't a seven-game series. This is a regular season game between two teams in the league's basement. What message are you trying to send? I'm sure the players were frustrated, which is fine, but it's no excuse to send your goons out there and try to start fights. But then again, discipline wasn't exactly the Islanders' strong suit on this night. At one point, Tim Jackman engaged Chris Thorburn in a fight while the Islanders were in the Thrashers' zone. Someone had actually just taken a shot on goal a second before the fight started.

What's more important - scoring goals or starting fights? Apparently, Gordon went with the latter; he himself got a bench minor for abuse of official. And even that didn't stop him from sending his goons out there to start something. This, despite barely playing Mitch Fritz when he was on the team, especially after the Frans Nielsen-Mike Mottau incident. You'd think Gordon, who came from the more physical AHL, would know the right time to start a fight. Apparently, you'd be wrong.

It's sad when you can't beat the Atlanta Thrashers at home on a Saturday night. But it's even more sad when you completely stop trying to win and just try to beat people up instead. And with four games coming up this week, now would be a good time for the Islanders to remember what worked for them in November. It wasn't passive play followed by thuggery. It was solid play and great goaltending. Maybe - just maybe - it's time to sit MacDonald and let Yann Danis have a chance to play. But that's probably too much to ask.

Two Thoughts

1) Ah, the joys of watching a young team. For those of you keeping count at home, that's three games out of four in which the Islanders have blown leads of two goals or more. In two of those games, they lost in regulation. In a third game, they ended up winning in overtime; thankfully, it was against a Western Conference opponent (Columbus), so the point they gave away can't come back to haunt them. But this is starting to get ridiculous.

It's about time for Howie and Billy to dust off the old cliche we've heard so many times on Long Island: "The Islanders need to play to win instead of playing not to lose." And it's true. The Islanders have a problem keeping the pressure on in the third period, something that happens to just about every team at some point. Truth be told, you'd rather it happen earlier in the season instead of later, not just so you can learn from the whole thing, but so that these things aren't fresh in people's minds when you miss out on the playoffs. But it's a process for this team, even if it probably shouldn't be since like half the team is over 30.

If you're an Islander fan, you have to try your best to forget the egregious choke job you just saw in the third period and focus on the positives. And there were quite a few of those. You saw a number of breakaways, the defense getting in on the offense and getting back in time, and you saw Frans Nielsen have a hand in two goals on the same shift. The record doesn't show it, but things are starting to come around on Long Island. You wish the big names would start scoring goals, but it'll come. For now, even though the Islanders should have at least four more points than they actually do, there's a decent amount to be excited about.

2) Watching this Thrashers team tonight, I thought about the whole "non-traditional hockey market" thing, as I often do when watching teams like Atlanta. What can I say, I'm a dork. Anyway, the arena looked pretty desolate in the early going and, though it filled up pretty well as the night progressed (the same cannot be said for last night's Devils home game), I got a little bummed. Here, you have one of the game's best young stars in Ilya Kovalchuk, the coolest blue scansions in the entire NHL, and nobody really cares. Now, usually when people bring these things up, it's because of the area and because nobody cares about hockey in the South.

I disagree.

Look at Dallas. Is Dallas a "traditional hockey market"? No way. And yet so far this season, the American Airlines Center is playing to 96% capacity. Last year, it was 97% full. The difference between Dallas and Atlanta? Talent.

Think about all of the struggling teams in these markets that are so often ridiculed. Florida hasn't won a playoff series since their run to the Cup finals in 1996. Columbus hasn't even cracked 80 points in a season yet. Phoenix hasn't made the playoffs this century. Nashville might be better off had they not run into Detroit and San Jose every time they made the playoffs. Can you really blame the people in these cities for staying away? What do they have to cheer for?

And consider this. How many of just happened upon a hockey team? I know I'm an Islander fan because my parents were Islander fans. These teams that are playing in "non-traditional hockey markets" are teams that have been implemented over the past fifteen years. In other words, the tradition, the passing down of sport between generations, hasn't happened yet. So it stands to reason that the problem isn't the game of hockey, it's that fans just don't have a reason to get all worked up about these teams with no playoff history and no familial ties.

What does all this mean? Pretty much nothing. People are still going to dump all over the Phoenixes and Nashvilles of the world, just because they're easy targets. However, nobody gives the same treatment to the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats or the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars, even though both of those teams are young and aren't top priorities in their respective cities. But as we saw in Tampa Bay just a month ago in the MLB playoffs, all it takes is one playoff run for fans to get excited. There's still hope for fans in Atlanta - even if tonight's announced attendance of 14,122 doesn't seem all that accurate.

Rick Tocchet and Sean Avery...

Today, I will be using simplified examples that never actually happened in my life to describe why Rick Tocchet is a backstabber and how Glen Sather might be insane.

* * * 

Let's say I was accused of something in a legal manner. For argument's sake, maybe I ran a gambling ring at my job (for the record, I work at a restaurant as a bartender). Okay, so I'm running this multi-million dollar gambling ring and I get accused, and it comes crashing down on me.

I don't face jail time, but I do get suspended for 2 years from my job. 

While gone, my bar manager supports me fully. I don't receive a paycheck, but he holds my job open while I'm suspended. Imagine that!

Two years to the day later, I return to my job as a bartender.

Four months later, an old friend calls me and tells me he just got put in charge of a new bar, and would like me to be a bartender there. Forsaking my old boss, who treated me very well and stood up for me while the media and the federal court system were against me, I join this new bar.

- - - 

 Tocchet gets suspended for running a gambling ring. Wayne Gretzky holds his position as assistant coach of the Phoenix Coyotes open for 2 full years, maybe as a "Thank you for not having my wife sent to jail," maybe out of the goodness of the Great One's heart. Who knows. Tocchet returns in February of 2008, only to join Barry Melrose (and Wes Walz) in Tampa Bay when the opportunity arose.

No, I don't know the whole situation. Maybe Gretzky or Coyotes' GM Don Maloney didn't want Tocchet to return. But the way I see it, it is a slap in the face of Gretzky and the whole Phoenix organization the way he handled this. When I first heard Melrose's press conference where he announced Tocchet and Walz as assistant coaches, I thought it was a joke.

And no, that picture isn't of Howie Mandel.

* * * 

Let's say that since the feds shut down my gambling operation, I now own a small, small business. Last year, I was given $50 in which to run this business. This year, however, I am given $56 in which to run it, due to a rise in profits last year.

Now, my seat-filler, my enforcer, my agitator, the guy who helped me so much last year and the year before, wants a raise. Last year, he made $1.90. Paltry, I know. This year, I offered him $2.75 and he wanted a whole $4. I could probably talk him down to around $3.75 or maybe $3.80. 

Once again, he is a seat-filler. He got my business national attention during a competition we had with a New Jersey store. Two years ago, we competed against an Atlanta-based store, and he closed down their best salesman, even goaded him into a fight. That's what I pay him for. Shouldn't I pay him?

- - - 

I like Glen Sather, I do. I think he has done a great job post-lockout, even starting with the "fire sale" of March 2004 (regardless of where Maxim Kondratiev, Josef Balej, and R.J. Umberger are playing now). 

However, he would be terribly remiss to not re-sign Sean Avery. When all is said and done, the NY Rangers are a business. Avery gets butts in seats (yes, they would still sell out without him there... probably), he creates excitement. The Rangers were plastered on TV sets all across the country when he danced in front of Martin "The Whiner" Brodeur in the playoffs this year and when Brodeur wouldn't shake his hand after the series.

He made headlines this week with his article in Men's Vogue. He is constant media fodder.

On top of that, he gets under the skin of every player who plays against him, from Brodeur to Jarkko Ruutu to Jaromir Jagr to Marian "Soon to be Overpaid" Hossa. 

On top of that, he scores. Sather compares him to Chris Kelly of the Senators. Kelly had 30 points in 75 games. Avery had 33 in 57. In 2007, he had 20 points in 29 games and was a +11 with the Rangers. This year in the playoffs, he stepped it up, scoring 7 points in 8 games with only 3 penalties. He has a wicked wrist shot, brings excitement to the team, and as a winger who can play center, has playmaking abilities.

I know you don't come to this blog for breaking news or inside information. Of that, we have little. You probably read elsewhere that the Rangers are 50-20-10 with him and 9-13-3 without him. I don't have to tell you that they went 8-1-1 with him to reach the playoffs in 2007, and 10-0-3 to rally when he was healthy in 2008. You come here because my first word was "Wangers" and because Bryan (my Islander fan friend) was named after a Hall of Fame Islander. We eat and breathe hockey. We've been watching since we were 3 years old. I believe we know more about hockey than any other person we know. 

With that said, I know talent when I see it. Chris Kelly is a marginal player. Ruutu is a pest at best. Ville Nieminen got under people's skin but he couldn't deliver in the points department. 

Avery's closest comparison is probably to Esa Tikkanen. An agitator who can fight and score. A player like him doesn't come along often. Remember when he danced in front of Brodeur? He scored about 15 seconds later.

A player like him doesn't come along often.

If I had a store, and my budget went up 6 dollars, I would gladly spend the 125 cents to bring back my moneymaker. And I would do it before July 1, when other teams can (and would) throw money at him.

Because a player like him doesn't come along very often at all.

My Rangers DVD Set...

Asked by Bryan to pick 10 games for a hypothetical NY Rangers DVD boxed set (essentially, a Top 10 Rangers games of all-time list), like yeast in dough, I rose to the occasion. Keep in mind, I was born in 1983, so anything before 1990 or so is based on what I have heard about, read about, or seen on TV. Tempted to only write about Ranger victories over the Islanders, my judgement caught up with me...

April 13, 1940 - NYR 3, Toronto 2, Overtime - Stanley Cup Finals, Game 6 - All-Star RW Bryan Hextall (he of 39 points in 48 games) scores in overtime to give the Rangers their 3rd Stanley Cup in just 14 seasons. Then, management burned the lease of MSG in the Cup, and the Rangers wouldn't win the Cup for another 54 years.

April 29, 1971 - NYR 3, Chicago 2, Triple Overtime - Semi-Finals, Game 6 - Pete Stemkowski scores in triple overtime to give the Rangers a Game 7 against the Blackhawks while at MSG. They wound up losing Game 7, but the game - and Stemkowski - are forever a part of Rangers's lore.

November 2, 1975 - Detroit 6, NYR 4 - Regular Season - The season before, Eddie Giacomin started less games than his partner, Gilles Villemure. In the off-season, Villemure was traded to Chicago. Giacomin lost his starting job to John Davidson, and in fact only played 4 games in blue before going to Detroit on waivers. Two days later, he returned, and when a Ranger scored on Eddie, they were boo-ed mercilessly. The Wings won the game, and Giacomin received a standing ovation.

May 8, 1979 - NYR 2, Islanders 1 - Semi-finals, Game 6 - The Islanders were the future, the Rangers an afterthought. However, in this series, John Davidson became a Rangers legend with his incredible play. Mike Lupica called the series "a gift" because of how good the hockey was. In a baseball town, it put hockey on the map and solidified JD's legacy in NY.

March 6, 1994 - NYR 5, NYI 4 - Regular Season - The Rangers hadn't won at the Coliseum since October of 1989. The night before, they tied 3-3 at MSG. With a young, chubby, 10-year old me at the game, the Rangers won on a Sergei Zubov power play goal with just over a minute remaining in the game. In this game, Mike Richter started, Glen Healy replaced him, and Richter replaced Healy later on. (By the way, Islanders goal scorers that night: Pierre Turgeon, Ben Hogue, Ray Ferraro, and Marty McInnis.)

May 27, 1994 - NYR 2, Devils 1 - Conference Finals, Game 7 - How was this not one of the best games - if not series - ever? Up 1-0 with 7.7 seconds left, Val Zelepukin scores for the Devils to bring it to overtime. If the Devils won in OT, the Rangers would still be cursed to this day. However, the Stanley Cup was their Destiny in 1994, and Stephane Matteau (he of the Tony Amonte deadline-day trade) scored his second double-OT goal of the series. Not only did this game cement his legacy in Rangers lore, it put Howie Rose's call on the list of greatest calls ever. By the way, Howie, there is no Mount Vancouver.

June 14, 1994 - NYR 3, Vancouver 2 - Stanley Cup Finals, Game 7 - What can be said about this that hasn't already been said? This was the apex of Ranger fandom and might be forever, regardless of how many Cups they wind up winning. After 54 years and a turbulent playoffs where they went 3-0 in elimination games, who else but Mark Messier scores the Cup-winning goal. Looking back, it was an amazing game, with all the stars scoring - Mess, Adam Graves, Brian Leetch, and Trevor Linden had the only 2 for the Canucks. Richter also played off the wall in this game, saving history for the Rangers.

March 31, 2004 - Buffalo 4, NYR 2 - Last home game of the regular season - Not wanting his last game to be on the road, Mark Messier played his final game - and scored his final goal, number 694 - at MSG, followed by a few victory laps and a lot of tears from him. A disappointing end to another disappointing season, the game was only remarkable because he scored a goal and was surrounded by Jaromir Jagr, Bobby Holik, and a bunch of people named Green, Green, Balej, Murray, Larose, and other names you won't care to remember.

October 5, 2005 - Rangers 5, Flyers 3 - Regular Season, First Game - I remember sitting on my couch, depressed, as the Flyers took a 3-1 lead in the first game since the lockout. Some dude named Jason Strudwick scored the Rangers goal early in the first, but the Rangers gave up 2 quick ones and another in the 2nd before Jamie Lundmark (boooo) scored. Then, Jaromir Jagr took over, scoring 2 power play goals 5 minutes apart, and Marcel Hossa scored a half-minute later to make it 5-3. Jagr's goals were a pre-cursor of things to come, as we have never seen a Ranger score so many points in all of their years.

This also marked a turning point for the franchise. No longer were they going to go down by a few goals and not fight to stay in the game. No longer were the superstars going to stand around and collect paychecks. This was a team made up of grinders, stars, and established vets who played with heart and soul, not to mention a superstar goalie waiting in the wings. To this day, I call the 2005-06 season a dream season.

April 4, 2006 - NYR 3, Flyers 2 - Regular Season - This was the game where the Rangers clinched the playoffs for the first time in 9 years, with starter-turned-back-up Kevin Weekes in net. The Rangers needed just one point to clinch the playoffs, so when Marty Straka scored in the third, we all felt it. The shootout win was just icing on the cake. This was a great, great moment that took the gorilla off of the Rangers' backs, and on top of that, the game itself was excellent. Of course, the Rangers would only win two more games until October, but this was a night of celebration, a night the Rangers fans hadn't seen since Wayne Gretzky was in blue and Jagr was still on his first team.

April 5, 2007 - NYR 3, Montreal 1 - Regular Season - The last home game of the season, and as per usual, Steven McDonald was there to give out his Extra Effort Award (Jed Ortmeyer won). He also fired up the crowd and the team, who needed a win to clinch the playoffs again. His speech went something along the lines of this...

"When I lay dying in my hospital bed after being shot, the NY Rangers came in and gave me a challenge: Live. Today, I give you the NY Rangers a challenge: Win."

The Rangers won on with goals from Petr Prucha, Jagr, and Marek Malik (!). And the Chili's to-go I had gave me stomach pains for about 12 days.

April 17, 2007 - NYR 7, Atlanta 0 - First round, Game 3 - The 06-07 season was mediocre at best, with the Rangers again finishing in 6th place, although they drew a weak opponent in Atlanta. Still, it was a good sign when the Rangers won both games down south, then came back to MSG and demolished the Thrashers, 7-0. Michael Nylander scored one in the first minute and ended up with a hat trick. Malik (!) scored, rookie Ryan Callahan scored 2 in the second, and seasoned-vet Brendan Shanahan scored as well. It was also Henrik Lundqvist's first postseason shutout, and proved the Rangers were to be taken seriously in the playoffs on the heels of being swept last year. (They were the only team to be swept in 2006 and the only team to sweep a series in 2007.) Oh, and I had Subway for dinner.

Okay, okay, so it's 12 games, but I wanted to include the 7-0 game and Messier's final stand just in case it's hard to come by footage from 1940.