Prospal...

If Vinny Prospal actually does become 1st-line center and has a pretty decent year, it will be a huge bargain.

A "pretty decent year" for a 1st-line center in the Rangers' eyes is probably somewhere over 60 points, seeing as Scott Gomez had 58 last year (in 77 games). As in, "Oh, well, it was an improvement over Gomez."

A "pretty decent year" for someone making only $1.1M/year is somewhere around 30 points. As in, "Prospal played 3rd-line winger and scored 30 points. Not bad for 1.1 mill."

So imagine if he does score 65-70 points at only $1.1M? It will make a failure to trade for Brad Richards - a highly rumored, if possibly majorly incorrect school-of-thought - seem like the best thing that never happened.

No, before you attack and ask how many points Gomez would've had with Gaborik on his wing instead of the Ukranian Harry Houdini and an older, slower version of Markus Naslund, the answer is "a lot."

Gomez probably would've hit 80 points with Gaborik knocking the low-angle shots from the perimeter that he always took. But, with Gomez's money on the books, there is no way Gaborik in Manhattan ever would've happen. Thanks to the Great Fleece of '09, Gomez is wearing #91 next year in Quebec and Gaborik resumes the storied career of #10 on Broadway (as long as he triples Nigel Dawes' career-high of 29 points, I'll be happy).

Okay, I've said enough. All I meant today was that I do like the thought of Prospal playing for the Rangers, and if he happens to bounce back from a poor year last year (to be fair, everyone in Tampa Bay had a poor year - St. Louis, 80 points, Lecavalier, 67 points) than that would be fantastic.

And, yes, a great deal.

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.

A Vacation...

As the Rangers disappear, so do I.

Been watching a little of the NHL Playoffs (mainly Anaheim/Detroit). I'm rooting for Vancouver, even though I wouldn't be angry if Boston won.

Read about Markus Naslund retiring also. Some outlets (New York Times, for one) claim that if he didn't retire, he would've been bought out. The outcome of a buyout or a retirement would've been the same - him not on the ice - but now he saves the Rangers cap space (if my calculations are correct, about $1.3M per year is saved in cap space). Class act from a good guy. He could've done the scumbag think and taken the buyout like most people in NY would have done (Stephon Marbury, Alex Rodriguez, etc.), but he chose to go out on his own terms. It's just sad that the news of an upcoming (and unconfirmed) buyout had to leak.

Naslund had the will, but he didn't have the legs anymore. He tried every game, but his skills declined severely, from a career-high 104 in 2002-03, to 84, 79, 60, 55, and now 46. He did have a decent showing in 7 postseason games this year, going 1-2-3.

* * *

So what can the Rangers, saddled with 4 cumbersome contracts, do next season?

Of the pending UFAs, Blair Betts and Colton Orr should be invited back. Betts is the best penalty killer in the league and is good on faceoffs (49.3% this year, not great, but serviceable). Orr is needed so goons like Donald Brashear don't take liberties with Betts or Sean Avery. Nik Antropov should be back, I think. I know other fans don't agree, but I think he plays with a passion in NY and likes being a Ranger.

On D, Derek Morris and Paul Mara are UFAs. I like both of them, but there won't be room unless Wade Redden or Michal Rozsival get traded. Redden is nearly immovable, but Rozsival might be moved if the Rangers lose picks in the process.

Of the restricted free agents, a lot of people are torn on Nik Zherdev. I think he has all the talent in the world, but can he mine it? I wouldn't mind him coming back on a one-year deal, maybe to play with Artem Anisimov and Antropov, but if they let him go, fine. A friend of mine said it would be good if another team offers him a contract and the Rangers take the draft pick compensation.

Ryan Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky will obviously be re-signed. Corey Potter probably will, the be a 6th defenseman this year, or just to serve as a backup incase injuries occur.

Now, Fred Sjostrom and Lauri Korpikoski.

I vote in favor of Sjostrom. He is one of the fastest on the team, and he gives it his all every single shift, much like Petr Prucha did. Plus, him and Betts are a great tandem on the PK, and Sjostrom is so versatile, he can play 2nd line or 4th line.

Korpikoski? Dump him! I know the Rangers didn't have dynamic offensive skills this year, but he didn't help. I know he is a first-round pick a few years ago (in 2004), but who cares. Let him go. Either trade his rights on Draft Day for a pick or prospect, package him with someone, or let him walk.

That's all for tonight. I have in-depth thoughts on this, but they're still muddled right now.

For now, let's just enjoy the playoffs.

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.

Ranger Fan...

Listen, I might rail against half of the Rangers 75% of the time on this website. I might not care if Wade Redden plays another game or is banished to the AHL for the rest of his career and ruins their blueline. I might not even care if Scott Gomez is traded to Detroit for a 7th round pick at this year's NHL Draft. I think their GM is clueless and quite possibly never read the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and I think their owner is a ruthless, heartless idiot whose father gave him everything. He was voted worst owner in sports by ESPN, and I agree.

But one thing is for sure, I want this team to win tonight against Philadelphia. Win And In. And I want them to win.

I don't care about Redden, or Gomez, or even Michal Rozsival for that matter. I don't like that Markus Naslund and Chris Drury can never live up to their contracts (which isn't their fault).

But I will root for them.

I personally wish Redden will never get his name on the Stanley Cup, but as long as he is wearing a blue jersey at Madison Square Garden, I'm rooting for him to score the game-winning goal in Game 7 of the Finals.

For all of the bashing I've done here, most of it deservingly so, for all of the times I've said this team doesn't care (you can't honestly believe Redden wants this team to win), for all of the negatives I've written, there has been one common factor...

I want this team to win. I want them to succeed. I want them to make the playoffs, and I want them to make a strong run at playing hockey in June.

While some of the players anger me, namely the five I've mentioned in this post, there is nothing I want more than to see them taking a victory lap around Garden ice after the handshakes.

Much like that tired cliche, "Don't play for the name on the back; play for the logo on the front," I don't root against the name on the back, I root for the R A N G E R S going down the front of that RBK Edge jersey.

I don't want Redden to fail; he just happens to and I point it out. What I want is for him to have a booming slap shot, impeccable defensive skills, and a wicked passion for the game.

Tonight, all that goes out the window. I couldn't care less how they get it done. All I care about it them winning.

Oh, and being on the ice after the game to receive a game-worn jersey would be sweet to.

As long as I'm not second in line...

Pretty Horrible Game...

The Rangers never got a break today. Sure, the refs gave them some when they whistled Carolina for 4 straight penalties in the first. But they never took advantage, never pounded while the iron was hot, never cashed in, never put a nail in the coffin, except possibly their own.

John Tortorella said last night that if the Rangers can't wake up for a big game against a team in the same boat, then they don't have the right players. He said, "But we do." No, he doesn't, and he knows it.

Twelve forwards were all shut-out tonight. Twelve. Nik Zherdev tried for some of the game; Sean Avery played well; Ryan Callahan tried his best; Blair Betts was there for them as was Fred Sjostrom.

But where was everyone else? Scott Gomez took a few crappy shots straight at Cam Ward. Markus Naslund had 3 shots, all at even strength and all in the 2nd period. Useless the rest of the way. Chris Drury, the "new point man on the power play," had 1 shot all game, and none in the first period during those 4 failed power plays. Wade Redden? One shot, lots of ice time.

Let me put this in bold lettering...

The Rangers will not win with Wade Redden on the power play.

Tom Renney couldn't figure that out, or didn't want to admit it, and look where he is now - getting paid by James Dolan without working (okay, maybe that isn't actually horrible). I'm not a coach, far from it, and I can see it. Can John Tortorella not see that he does more harm than good for this team? I know GM Glen Sather gave him a monstrous, absurd contract. But he is good as a 4th or 5th or 6th d-man only, not a top player, and NOT a power play quarterback!

The Hurricanes scored to make it 3-2, and once the puck dropped, I said, "They're gonna score again." Sure enough, 10 seconds later, it's 4-2. Carolina scores fast and the Rangers unravel quicker. Once again, not a coach, but I know this. Tortorella should've called a timeout, given them a chance to regroup, not yell, and sent them back out to score. Instead, it was a quick faceoff and a quick goal.

Four games left, all against playoff teams. One is the best team in the East, one is now in 7th and will need a huge road game at MSG Tuesday, and two are against a Philadelphia team who plays real tough against the Rangers.

* * *

If they miss the playoffs, I won't be heartbroken, but I will be pissed. Pissed that only a handful of players play like they care (Antropov, Girardi, Betts, Callahan, Dubi, Mara, Orr, Sjostrom, Lundqvist, Avery), and even madder that players like Gomez, Redden, Rozsival, and Naslund are wearing a sweater that I've sworn by since I was 3 years old. They put shame to the blue and red, even more than Kevin Stevens, Stephane Quintal, and Alexandre Daigle did.

For the record, on the goal that made it 3-2, Redden's stick was behind him. He wasn't hitting anyone, he wasn't swinging his stick, it was behind him, he stood, a goal was scored. Crease-clearing defenseman? Offensive threat? Noif. Defensive threat and offensive liability is more like it.

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.

The More Things Change...

If you didn't know any better, you'd think Tom Renney was still coaching the Rangers.

Sure, there were moments that inspired you. Markus Naslund dropping the gloves with Ian White. Chris Drury, Michal Rozsival, and Wade Redden collaborating on a power play goal. Petr Prucha getting 15 minutes of ice time. But in the end, you got the same results you're used to getting - yet another shootout, and yet another loss against an eminently beatable opponent. A point is a point, but this probably should have been two.

After 62 games, the Rangers have won 31 games and lost 31, although eight of those losses came in overtime or the shootout. They have 20 games left, 14 of which are against the top ten in the Eastern Conference. Tomorrow night, the Rangers host Florida in what is not only a four-point game, but is the biggest game either team has played all year. Who would have ever thought that would be the case? If you're a Rangers fan, you hope John Tortorella can at least inspire a solid effort in back-to-back games; however, tomorrow's game will not be easy. The Rangers have to travel overnight from Toronto, while the Panthers are steaming after getting destroyed by Boston last night. Should be a good one.

Speaking of Toronto, how ridiculous is it that they played the Rangers at home tonight, but will be traveling to New York overnight to play the Islanders tomorrow? It makes no sense, at least if you choose to ignore the fact that the Knicks played at home tonight. Anyway, the Islanders probably deserved a little more than they got against Pittsburgh, losing 1-0 on a Petr Sykora goal with less than three minutes left. Yes, it's true that the Islanders didn't manage a shot on goal on the power play. But they also hit the crossbar twice, got some great saves from Yann Danis, and were more than up to the task for facing a reeling, Crosby-less Penguins team. However, as all good teams do, the Penguins answered the call with about five minutes left, finally turning the intensity up and shutting the door once they finally scored. It didn't help that the Islanders were extremely sloppy after allowing Sykora's goal, a telltale sign of a young, inexperienced team.

Watching the Pittsburgh Penguins, the defending Eastern Conference champions, celebrate their only goal against a 30th place team like they had just won the Stanley Cup was a bitter pill to swallow. Forget the whole race for the first overall pick for a second. This one hurt. This is the point we're at with these Islanders - they'll play well enough to be competitive, but more often than not will fall just short. The Isles are a somewhat respectable 5-7-1 since the All-Star Break, and they have a better chance than you might think at finishing the second half with a .500 record; of course, should this actually happen, you'll never see it mentioned once in any newspaper or on any talk show. The Islanders dug their grave long ago, and a lot of it has to do with Scott Gordon's stubborn refusal to bench Joey "12-24-4" MacDonald in favor of Yann "5-8-2" Danis. Nevertheless, each game is an opportunity for these Islanders, and there are 22 chances left to watch these young players learn and show the occasional flash of brilliance.

Two New York teams, two results we all saw coming. Both teams are back in action tomorrow night. The Rangers desperately need a win; the Islanders, on the other hand, are 16 points back of Toronto and can play as well as they'd like. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better night for New York hockey than this one.

The Rangers Make My Job Easy...

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

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

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

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

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

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

* * * 

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

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

Homegrown Talent (aka I have no interesting title)...

I could make myself angry and harp on the same stuff I've been saying for months about what flaws the Rangers: always staring at the puck and never looking at who is sneaking up behind them; over-reliance on overpaid players; Wade Redden; Scott Gomez; taking bad shots; lopsided ice time; same crappy players on the power play who continually give up short-handed goals and can't score.

I will just say one thing. In the first period, Markus Naslund was skating down the left wing and took a "shot" from a bad angle that Martin Biron easily covered for a whistle, and we go to commercial. What was Naslund thinking? It appeared that he actually wanted to get the whistle so he passed it to Biron. I had to watch this about 5 times on TiVo and I still can't come up with why he thought this shot was a good idea. It was an awful angle, no one was there for a rebound, and it was a weak shot.

But anyway, all I really wanted to write tonight was...

Did you see that play by Ryan Callahan on the Lauri Korpikoski goal?!!? Great! Being chased and hit, he somehow pokes the puck out to Korpikoski, who himself made a great spin-move for the goal. Excellent, excellent play.

Give them some power play time, Coach Renney. Your livelihood depends on it.

Rangers Finally Score Goals...

The Rangers didn't play great last night, but they outplayed Washington, finally scored more than 2 goals in a game, didn't play atrociously, and got two points out of the deal.

I wonder if Scott Gomez has watched the replay of Paul Mara's goal a few dozen times. If Tom Renney still had control of this team, he would probably make him do that to show him what can happen when you fire from in front of the net as opposed to a crappy, low-angle shot from the boards. (He also should be force-fed replayed of Ryan Callahan's, Lauri Korpikoski's, and even Markus Naslund's goals so he can learn to crash the net/shoot from the slot to score goals).

Gomez's play has gone from serviceable to inconsistent to poor to horrendous. Nobody making $7M/year should be described as "horrendous" now that we have a salary cap in place. It was different when Eric Lindros and Val Kamensky ate up money, because it only affected the wallet. Now, it affects the entire team like an 800-pound gorilla in the room. As opposed to when it used to just cost money, it now handcuffs the team from making other moves because they have a non-performing player with an un-trade-able contract.

He's not just a non-performer. He actually hurts the team with his giveaways near his own goal, in the offensive zone, and his blown coverages that lead to goals (namely, when he was staring at Henrik Lundqvist instead of the man who eventually scored the Capitals' 2nd goal last night).

Between him and Wade Redden, $13.8M in salary cap room is alloted to players who actually help the other team. For the next 5 years after this year, as well.

Think these two are bad now? Wait to see them slower and older in 2013.

* * * 

I want you to look, next time the Rangers give up a goal, at where the players are standing/looking. Nearly every goal they give up, including the first 3 last night, the players were looking at the puck-carrier and not paying attention to the rest of the ice. Joe Micheletti brought it up on the first goal, where everyone (biggest error was Redden) was staring at the puck. 

It was also evident on Mike Green's goal to make it 3-2 Capitals, when he was alone just above the right circle. Four Rangers were "hounding" the puck-carrier - who in reality wasn't pressured at all - and Green was wide open as the 5th Ranger was nearer to him but was also staring at the puck.

* * * 

Aaron Voros was in the lineup presumably because Renney likes his "size" and ignores the fact that he is a poor skater, doesn't punish people with body checks like a man his size should, and doesn't put pucks in the net. 

I've been harping on the fact that his size hasn't given the team anything lately except a blowout loss, a bunch of shutouts and one near shutout.

Well, I stand corrected. Last night, he correctly demonstrated to all those in the system how to effectively lose a fight to someone you tower over. 

Not sure, but I think even Petr Prucha would've stood a better chance against Matt Bradley.

Drop the Axe...

Aaron Voros's size, Chris Drury's leadership, Scott Gomez's incredible shots from the boards, Wade Redden's fantastic play from the point on the power play, and Petr Prucha looking snazzy in a suit and tie brought the Rangers another shutout - the 2nd in 4 games (and almost the 3rd if Markus Naslund didn't connect with 10 seconds left on Adam Graves Night).

Yet, the "coach" deploys the same players in the same situation, night after night. Gomez played 19:49 tonight, nearly an entire period of uselessness.

I can hear the axe coming for Tom Renney's head. The hammer should be falling sometime this week.

* * * 

Oh, and was that not the most boring fight you've ever seen between David Clarkson and Eric Reitz?

Henrik Lundqvist was sharp tonight, whcih was the one saving grace for them.

But seriously, Tom Renney's time is up. He's lost this team.

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.

A Call for the Head...

Well, another game, another ineffective power play, another weak performance by veterans, another short-handed goal against, another loss, another 2 points the Rangers will be missing come late-March, early-April.

Who's fault is it? 

The GM who assembled the team? Partly. Wade Redden should never have been signed. Michal Rozsival should have received less money so a real 1st- or 2nd-defenseman could have been signed. They should have signed Scott Gomez or Chris Drury in 2007, not both. (However, signing Markus Naslund has worked out, and the trade for Nik Zherdev was a steal.)

The players who play? Partly. A 7th defender should be brought up so Redden or Dmitri Kalinin can watch the game from the stands. 

The coach? Absolutely. When the power play continually doesn't score and gives up goals, why would he keep putting the same personnel on the ice? The GM gave him these players, the players play to (hopefully) the best of their ability, and when they faulter, he keeps giving them more and more chances. Petr Prucha seems to be a good player. I remember him having success on the power play in 2005-06 when he stood at the doorstep and banged in rebounds. Why not try them instead of the ineptitude of Drury-Redden-Gomez-Rozsival-Naslund? 

I don't know if anyone out there can coach this team better than Tom Renney, but it's becoming obvious that the Rangers might need to try a replacement. As long as said replacement is not Glen Sather again.

The real question, however, is this:

Can this be the first team in history whose power play ends up a minus in the +/- catergory?

* * *

Alex Ovechkin had 9 shots on goal last night. The Rangers' highest player was 3. Hmmmm. By the way, Ovechkin did score. It wasn't a picture-perfect goal, but if you get the puck to the net, good things happen.

What is This, October?...

A full 60-minute effort; clean line changes; a low-scoring game; backchecking and forechecking.

The only thing thing that would lead me to believe that I wasn't watching a tape from early October is the fact that Chris Drury scored a goal.

The first period was a little boring, but the next two were exciting, and watching Henrik Lundqvist shut the door was fantastic. Nigel Dawes had a good game even before making the violent criminal Chris Pronger look stupid. No, the Rangers weren't perfect against Jonas Hiller and the Anaheim Ducks tonight, but it's a far cry from letting in 8 against New Jersey or leaving it all up to Henke against Carolina. 

My personal highlight of the night was seeing Nik Zherdev score on one of my favorite rules in hockey: if you are taken down from behind on a breakaway to an empty net, you automatically are awarded a goal, making it a goal where technically a shot is never taken.

Not much to say as it's 2:36 in the morning here in the Eastern Conference, and I have less than 5 minutes left on my laptop battery. I will say, however, that I love these late starting games. I go out and do stuff during the evening and then I get to still watch the game. Today I went shopping for Christmas presents and tomorrow I'll work then get home to watch the game or watch it at my Wednesday night bar. Very exciting stuff. This also would've made a good road trip: 3 games in 2 and a half California cities in 5 nights.

Anaheim was the easy game this week; the Rangers always play them well (who could forget Blair Betts' stunning end-to-end goal in Anaheim in 2006-07?). LA is tough just because they are an unpredictable team and the Rangers traditionally play poorly against poor teams. San Jose is the real test. Beat them - in San Jo, no less - and you are worthy.

Until then the real question is whether Mats Sundin will do what Markus Naslund did and forsake Vancouver for Broadway.

Life is Filled With Regrets...

Life is often filled with regrets. Maybe I should've asked a different girl to my junior prom. Maybe I shouldn't have intentionally beaned a girl in co-ed slow-pitch softball. Maybe I should've had decaf coffee before bed last night and I wouldn't have stayed up playing NHL 09 on XBox 360 until 4:15 in the morning. Maybe I shouldn't have written a college paper on a Jane Austen book and compared it to making marinara and alfredo sauces.

Last night, while not scoring any goals in my video game, I had a great idea to make a bet online about tonight's Ranger-Oiler affair at MSG. See, since the economy went down and I stopped making a lot of money at work, I have been (trying to) supplement my income with online betting. Overall, I'm up about $200 from the $100 I bought in for. Not huge money, but it's nice to know it's there if I don't blow it.

So the bet I wanted to make was called a "prop bet." A prop bet is when you bet on stuff, like "Who Will Have More Points, Chris Drury or Shawn Horcoff?" "Will Either Team Score in the First 10 Minutes?" The one I wanted to do was "Will the Game Go Into Overtime?" For a $10 bet, you would profit around $38. I was probably going to bet $5. I don't like losing a lot, so if I bet $5 I'm fine if I lose it.

My basis was the last 2 games. One was Messier Night in 2006 when the Rangers came back from a 3-1 deficit to force overtime, and Jaromir Jagr scored in the extra frame on a great shot to win. Last year, Chris Drury scored with seconds left to force overtime, and the Rangers became one of the many teams to lose in a shootout to the Oilers last year.

It seemed natural that this game would then go into overtime.

Yet, I forgot to bet it. I did make other bets. I bet that the Rangers would win tonight while the Penguins, Islanders, and Maple Leafs would all win tomorrow. That bet became null and void when Markus Naslund was entered into the shootout.

Anyway, I haven't seen the whole game yet, since I was at work. And to be honest, I won't write a review. NHL.com does that better than me. I'm not delusional. I know why you really come here: to hear about my budding small-money gambling addiction.

* * *

While on the topic of the Oilers, I had XM Home Ice 204 on in my car and heard part of Glenn Anderson's "acceptance" speech. Very good speaker and an emotional speech. Good to see him finally get into the Hall of Fame, he deserves it and he was very grateful for it.

Notes From the Garden, 10/20/08...

A few notes from the Garden after a stinker that saw the Rangers play two spirited minutes and 58 boring ones.

1) First of all, kudos to the people who still wear the Charlestown Chiefs jerseys, 31 years after the movie Slap Shot was released. 

2) I don't think the guy in the Fedor Tyutin jersey liked me joking that "My Christian Backman jersey is at home."

3) Sean Avery gets crap from the fans when he wanted to remain a Ranger but they didn't return the favor. If Eric Lindros returns, will he get the same treatment for his mediocre play that Avery got for his inspired play over 2 seasons? Fact is, Avery and Henrik Lundqvist were the reasons this team made the playoffs in 2006-07 and 2007-08.

4) I think the girl who I drunkedly called "a dirty wh**e" on Saturday attacked me more than the Rangers attacked the Dallas Stars tonight. The scoreboard said 27 shots for the Rangers. How many of those were actual good shots? There was the Markus Naslund goal, the Brandon Dubinsky play where he toe-dragged then took a shot, and maybe one or two others that I don't remember. 

The games the Rangers won were good. The Detroit OT loss was acceptable because they gave a strong effort after a game the night before and a long plane flight. But the two losses - Buffalo and tonight - were utterly atrocious. The only bright spot is that they have exposed holes that Tom Renney can fix.

5) Chris Drury once again made his case to be captain of the Hartford Wolf Pack. Sixteen minutes of ice time, one shot, one shot that missed the net, one blocked shot, no takeaways, no hits. What exactly did he do when he was on the ice?

6) The only players who played well today were Lundqvist, Dubinsky, Dan Girardi, and Paul Mara. Both Mara and Girardi crushed Avery with checks. Naslund's goal was a good goal, but can you tell me he played good the rest of the game? He had 4 other shots, but once again, those were bad shots and not scoring chances.

7) I was told today by someone very high up in the Rangers organization that Petr Prucha is being actively shopped and the reason he is not in the lineup is so he doesn't get injured or lessen his value with a poor performance. The source is extremely credible, you would know his name if I said it, and it depresses me that he is the one to be moved because of the plethora of forwards on the team.

* * * 

Not to beat a dead horse, but a note on Bryan's Rick DiPietro post below: If DP is somehow a relevant starting goalie until the end of his career, then $4.75M will look like a steal 9 or 10 years down the line. However, with every head injury or skills competition injury, that looks less and less likely.

Your Notes from the Garden...

A few notes follow from the home opener at Madison Square Garden. It was the 3rd straight home opener I have attended (the previous two also being season openers) and the first in which a Czech player did not score a goal in under 30 seconds.

First off, I think either Aaron Voros or Brandon Dubinsky will hurt themselves this season if they keep celebrating goals like they do, although I love the enthusiasm (and I love that line with them and Nik Zherdev). Voros had an Ovechkin-like glass pound, and Dubinsky slid, fell, raised up, and got tackled by Voros.

Secondly, the worst item for sale that I saw was not the $5 16 ounce bottle of water (a 32 oz. soda is cheaper... go figure), but rather the $28 mini-bobble-head set. My friend Dan said it was on sale for $20, but that is an unsubstantiated rumor. The three players: Petr Prucha, Henrik Lundqvist, and Fedor Tyutin. That's a suit-and-tie wearing healthy scratch, a badly modeled replica of the best goaltender in the metropolitan area, and a Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman. 

Christian Backman mini-bobble-head sold separately. 

Thirdly, I keep winning money betting on hockey online. Relax, I'm not immoral. I bet between $5-$10 per game. I mostly bet parlays for hockey, where you pick two events to occur on the same night and you odds go up atleast 50%. For instance, I bet the Bruins would beat Colorado yesterday and San Jose would beat Anaheim. Since both occurred, I won. Last week, I bet on the Rangers and Pittsburgh and won. Today, I bet on the Rangers over Chicago and Columbus over Dallas. Thanks to Rick Nash's overtime heroics, I am a (slightly) richer man today.

And finally, I really like that the Rangers are excited this year. Everyone wants to be here, to win, not just for the paycheck. Paul Mara took a discount. Aaron Voros and Markus Naslund both wanted to sign here. Scott Gomez plays hard every shift. Chris Drury was a Ranger fan growing up and is now the captain of the team. Zherdev feels good and is in a real market now. Dubinsky and Ryan Callahan love being Rangers. Prucha missed school the next day to watch the Rangers win the Cup in 1994. Lundqvist loves the city and the spotlight. And for all I will beat on Wade Redden this year, he chose to come here when other cities offered him the same (bloated) contract as Glen Sather did.

Wanting to win is the difference-maker in close games. A few years ago, the Rangers left so many points on the table that they should have had just because they had no will to succeed. 

Here's hoping this year is different.

* * * 

And one non-Ranger note.

I am on record as saying I don't like listening to Doc Emerick when he does games I am watching. His voice irritates me, he's pretentious, and a know-it-all.

However, I would rather listen to him read the phonebook than ever listen to Chico Resch do color commentary. Actually, calling it color commentary is an insult to color men like Joe Micheletti and John Davidson. Is yelling "Whoo!" after a Martin Brodeur save something that enhances the game for the fans at home?

I guess it doesn't matter if no one is watching the Devils, to be honest. (They once had 736 people tune in for a game against the Panthers.)

Phrases...

I am one Ranger fan who really likes Joe Micheletti's color commentary. He's no John Davidson, but he knows his stuff, loves the game, doesn't play favorites, and is generally interesting enough to hold my attention even during a Devil's game.

And of course, I love Sam Rosen. I think he's one of the best announcers in the game, and I hate when we get John Giannone or some other guy because Sam is doing a football game.

That said, here are a bunch of phrases I'm sure Ranger fans will be sick of come February...

SAM: Mara SHOOTS! And it's wide.

JOE: Redden was caught pinching on that play, which leads to the Penguins' scoring chance here.

SAM: Parise, gets around Kalinin, and SCORES! The Devils take a 2-1 lead.

JOE: What happened here was Zherdev just trying to do too much with the puck and he winds up giving it away.

SAM: SAVE BY LUNDQVIST! And another! Another save! An outstanding performance by Henrik Lundqvist!

JOE: Colton Orr has really been working on his skating and play with the puck. No goals yet, but his skating is much crisper.

SAM: Chance for Drury up front! And he fans on the shot.

JOE: Naslund almost stuffs the puck in the net, but Biron closes the hole and we have a faceoff.

SAM: It's a power play goal! How about that, Brandon Dubinsky with a great wrist shot.

JOE: Rozsival with the shot, and he misses the net. You notice Michal Rozsival shooting a lot more now that he doesn't have Jaromir Jagr to rely on. 

* * * 

And in case you missed my 08-09 predictions, the Dallas Stars will win the Stanley Cup this year.

Quasi-Live Blog - Rangers vs. Lightning, Game 1

Note: Zach posted his predictions for the 2008-09 NHL season just a few hours ago. Don't forget to scroll down and check them out.

Well, here we are. Another season of NHL hockey. Thirty teams are optimistic for the seasons that lie ahead. Approximately 75% of the league has legitimate playoff aspirations. And then there are the teams that have Lord Stanley in their sights. Two of those teams, the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning, meet today in Prague.

Don't think the Lightning are legit Cup contenders? Think again. This Lightning team reminds me a LOT of the 2001-02 Islanders. New owners, new coach, new system, and expensive free agents. And had that Islanders team beaten Toronto in Game 7 of the first round, I guarantee you they would have gone to the Finals and gotten killed by Detroit. So just because the Lightning were awful last year, don't write them off this year.

Anyway, this Lightning has a "measuring stick game" right off the bat, facing the Rangers in a game that will either get Tampa Bay excited for the season or will convince fans they're going to suck again. For the Rangers, it's a chance to show their brand of hockey to an international audience. Part of the NHL's big plan is to create an international following, and getting the big-market teams recognition is part of that. So look for the Rangers to put forth their best effort in these games, both on the ice and off of it.

This isn't a true live blog; we're running a little behind here. How behind? Well, it's 1:33 PM, and the first period just ended. These, my friends, are the joys of parenthood. Anyway, let's get to the game!

- We're live, and we're in HD! Not to beat a dead horse or anything, but the Rangers can get a HD broadcast in Prague, while the Islanders can't even get a VHS camcorder at the Coliseum? Please. You've got to hand it to MSG, though; they're pulling out all the stops for this one. They even got Sam Rosen to take a personal day from his Fox NFL schedule and come over to Prague. Very well done.

- The pre-game show is highlighted by an absolutely excruciating exchange between Al Trautwig and Michal Rozsival in which Rozsival tries to tell Trautwig how to order food in Czech. Invariably, just about everything defaults to its English counterpart - pizza, hamburger, puck, so on and so forth. Hardy har har. Surely, Zach is thinking that it doesn't matter where Trautwig orders food, because he doesn't tip for take-out. Yes, there's a story there.

- I know Sam and Joe are calling the game and all, but I'm not entirely convinced they're actually in Prague. For one, in the open to the game, the arena is completely empty. Joe says something about how "it's going to be full", but I'm not buying it. We'll come back to this one.

- Whoever sings the anthem at the O2 Arena (funnily enough, last season's European opener was played in the O2 Arena in England) deserves a raise. She puts the Americans to shame. Ronan Tynan, you've got some competition.

- Sam's mic is too loud. Joe's is way too low. And you can barely hear the crowd or any of the other hockey noises. Again, it sounds more like they're commentating from a remote studio. If that's the case, boo to MSG. They do this when the Red Bulls are on the road, and the difference is night and day. It's one of those things that saves a ton of money, but ultimately makes the game sound like crap. I'm sure they really are there and are just having technical difficulties, but still.

- Classy move by both Tom Renney and the goatee-less Barry Melrose, putting all their Czech players into the starting lineup. I love little things like this.

- Tampa Bay's goalie, Mike Smith, might have the narrowest leg pads in the league. He actually looks the way a goalie is supposed to look. Maybe it's because he's so tall, or maybe it's because his pads are a horrid purpleish color, but those pads do look rather narrow. Either way, he's good. Get him for your fantasy team.

- Joe is back from his hiatus, and thank God for that. He reminds us that the boards are more curved in the corners (good point), while Sam points out the low endboards which could play tricks on the defensemen and goalies. There's also a neutral zone that might be ten feet long. Personally, I wish they'd play this game with the European-styled wide rinks. That would be cool.

- Our first big chance of the game comes when Vincent Lecavalier gets a breakaway and falls down before he can get a good shot off. It almost looked like he was doing one of those flashy breakaways they did in the All-Star Skills Competition last year.

- Nice benches, O2 arena. It looks more like the Rangers are waiting for a bus than getting ready to take the ice.

- Your Rangers captain: Chris Drury. Your Rangers alternate captains: Markus Naslund and Scott Gomez. It must be frightfully reassuring for Ranger fans that their entire leadership corps has a combined two years of Ranger service time. Then again, who else were they going to give a letter to? Blair Betts? This is a young team, by the way. The only guys who are older than 30 are Drury, Naslund, Wade Redden, and Steve Valiquette.

- Speaking of Redden, he earned his paycheck in the first period. Not only did he blow a wide-open chance from the slot, but his giveaway at the blue line led to a three-on-one rush for the Lightning. Redden, by the way, is being paid $79,268.30 to play in this game. That's approximately the amount of money I've made since graduating college.

- Drury gets open for a quasi-breakaway on the penalty kill, but doesn't have a clear path to the net and has to take a crappy shot from the faceoff circle. Not good for either team, to be honest.

- A note on the uniforms tonight. The Lightning have shoved the NHL Premiere patch on the front of their jerseys because God forbid they remove one of their shoulder patches for one weekend. The Rangers have the patch on their shoulders, as they usually do. One thing about the Rangers, though - they're wearing curved shirttails, which look ridiculous. They'd fixed this at some point last year - NHLuniforms.com shows the Rangers were the only team not to wear curved shirttails last year - but the stupid look is back. Come on. These are hockey jerseys, not dress shirts.

- We end the first period with no score and two quality goaltending performances. The intermission brings yet another airing of that stupid Trautwig-Rozsival Czech "lesson". Ugh. At least it's better than another interview where Al's mic goes out in the middle of a question.

- Random notes on the Lightning's roster. First, Jamie Heward just signed a one-year contract with them. Jamie Heward wasn't even good on a 50-point Islanders team in 2000. Good for him, though. They also have Chris Gratton, who always seems to go to other teams, only to come back to Tampa. This is his third tour of duty with the Lightning. Fun fact about Gratton - he hasn't broken the 20-goal mark since 1997-98. Lastly, there's modeling yourself off of a different team, and then there's out-and-out ripping them off. The Lightning have FOUR players who played for Pittsburgh last year - Gary Roberts, Ryan Malone, Adam Hall, and Mark Recchi. We haven't seen this kind of "emulation" since the Kings and Rangers were fighting for ex-Oilers in the early 90s.

- A short list of things I haven't heard today - a goal horn, a whistle, a slapshot, a received pass, a crunch into the boards, or just about any of the sounds you normally hear while watching a hockey game. That's kind of annoying. Then again, I'm the same person who turns the commentary in NHL 09 off in Be A Pro mode just to hear these sounds, so maybe I'm a bit biased.

- Apparently, Steven Stamkos is living with Gary Roberts this year. Oh boy. Stamkos has the opportunity to learn about the finer points of dirty play from one of the most notorious cheap-shot artists in recent memory. There are parts of Kenny Jonsson's brain that are still stuck in the Air Canada Centre boards. Thanks a lot, you prick.

- I think I've figured Wade Redden out on one level. He seems to know exactly where to be - i.e. when to pinch in from the point, etc. - but he has trouble finishing. He also doesn't seem to be able to get back on D very well. This is going to be a fun six years, Ranger fans.

- The nicest one-on-one move so far has come from Colton Orr, who pulled off a beautiful move along the boards to drive to the net. I'm impressed.

- Mike Smith can handle the puck. He's headed for Brodeur/DiPietro territory, and soon. Smith showed promise in Dallas, but he wasn't going to play in front of Marty Turco. He's got his chance in Tampa. You just hope the defense can hold up. Melrose isn't exactly known as a defensive-minded coach.

- Cliche alert! Joe (paraphrased): "Your goalie has to be your best penalty killer". Soon to come from Joe - if the Rangers want to win this game, they have to take it one shift at a time, win the one-on-one battles, and not try to do too much.

- The second period has honestly been pretty uneventful so far. And by so far, I mean there are two minutes left in it. Some chances for both teams and some technical difficulties from MSG, but that's about it. And just as soon as I type that, Naslund gets open and takes a shot from the faceoff dot. Smith gets a pad on it, but it still goes in. So your first goal of the season is Naslund from Gomez, the two A's getting it done. And, of course, technical difficulties ruin the replay.

- We end the second period with the Rangers winning 1-0 and outshooting the Lightning by a count of 30-11. Wow. Who knew the Lightning would be this bad defensively and offensively? The Rangers have had far more chances on offense, but Smith has been excellent so far.

- The intermission report takes us to the Bohemia Beer Garden, which has been mentioned like five times by Sam. Ron Duguay is there. He's a good-looking guy. Someone painted the Rangers logo on his face. Oh boy!

- Every time they show a shot of Prague, it looks gorgeous. It looks like a town you'd encounter in a role-playing game. What a place. If they attempted to get a picturesque shot of Uniondale, you'd end up looking at the beaten-down facade of a bodega or something.

- Interesting note from Dave Maloney - of Tampa's 11 shots, five belong to Lecavalier. This game is going to break wide open in the third, guaranteed.

- One of the perks of being behind is that I can put the Ottawa-Pittsburgh game on picture-in-picture. It's already 1-0 Pittsburgh just four minutes in. Must be nice.

- Mike Smith is hurt after a nice shot by Dan "Don't Call Me Joe" Girardi. We'll most likely be seeing Olie The Goalie tomorrow, if not sooner.

- Every time they show an ad in the top left corner for MSG programming, I keep thinking it's the Optimum Voice Caller ID thing. A quick recap - the Rangers play again tomorrow at noon, and the Red Bulls play tonight at 7:30. I love soccer, but I can't get into the Red Bulls. Nobody wants to watch soccer being played on a field full of football markings in front of a sea of empty seats. The proposed MLS team in Queens will be a huge hit. The Red Bulls might never be.

- Just a second after Smith makes a huge save, Martin St. Louis skates right by Dmitri Kalinin and backhands one over Lundqvist to tie the game. How often does that happen? Meanwhile, on the little screen, Shean Donovan ties it up for Ottawa; in so doing so, the Senators match their goal tally from the entire first round of last year's playoffs.

- Paul Mara fires one in from the point; Naslund whacks away at Smith's glove to no avail. That had to have killed Smith, who is still feeling the effects from being shaken up earlier this period. The Rangers are now 0-for-6 on the power play.

- Looks like the new ad-nauseum commercial for this year is going to be anti-tobacco commercial with the "hole in the throat" guy. Not that there's anything funny about permanent tracheotomies or anything. But if you're a Mets fan, you've seen these commercials a billion times already on SNY. Now, you get to watch them even more on MSG. But hey, that's what you get for being a Rangers fan. If this ad is as omnipresent on MSG Plus, I'll give myself a permanent tracheotomy by shooting myself in the throat.

- First overall pick Steven Stamkos gets clear on a breakaway - again, blowing right by Kalinin - but Lundqvist makes a tremendous save. Joe tries to give Kalinin credit for good stickwork, but the truth is he's been a statue back there all night. You don't need to whack someone with a stick if you keep him in front of you. His contract terms were not disclosed, so I can't tell you how much he's getting paid to suck today. But you're probably better off not knowing anyway.

- The game finally sounds good. It only took them like 50 minutes to figure it all out. At least tomorrow's broadcast will be much improved.

- "It's a power play goal!" Sam Rosen's favorite phrase comes out for a goal by Brandon Dubinsky on the Rangers' seventh power play of the game. You'd almost expect Smith to make that save, but he was screened by a total of three people. 2-1 Rangers, about five minutes left.

- Speaking of favorite phrases, have we had any Panasonic Digital Replays today? I can't recall one. How am I going to bring back family time without Panasonic - Ideas For Life?

- Chris Drury takes an atrocious offensive-zone penalty. Way to lead by example, moneybags. Anyway, the Lightning get an extra 30 seconds of power play time and get a decent shot off.

- The Lightning get two beautiful chances on the power play, but Lundqvist is capable and the defense does a great job clearing out the crease. Down the stretch, Melrose doesn't pull the goalie until the 20-second mark, Tampa doesn't threaten, and the Rangers win 2-1.

- Good players today - Naslund, Gomez, Dubinsky, Staal, Lecavalier, and Stamkos. Particularly awful players today - Redden and Kalinin.

- We'll do it again tomorrow, same two teams, same location. Only we probably won't be live blogging it. Hope you enjoyed!