Two Teams in Black and White...

(I would've posted this earlier, but I had work. Sorry to steal Bryan's spotlight.)

Pittsburgh is a tough team to beat. It's harder to beat the refs though. Today's game was atrocious. I was fine with Atlanta's disaster in refereeing, in which the first 7 minutes of the game took 30 to play, because the officiating was bad on both sides. But today's game reminded me of Game 5 of last year's 2nd round series between these two teams.

You remember.

Don't you?

Ryan Malone high-sticks Chris Drury. Drury has a blade-shaped slice on his cheek. The game pauses for 5 minutes so they can clean the blood up. No penalty. Later, Drury nicks Malone. 4-minute penalty.

I'm not saying there is an anti-Ranger bias, no way. I am saying there is a pro-Penguin bias in the league, and it's been there for quite some time now.

But boy, the Rangers made them look silly with all of those flawless penalty kills.

If only they could've scored on their own power plays, but that would involve Wade Redden being off the ice, but he was out there, comically, for every single man-"advantage". (For all of John Tortorella's benching of Mike Sauer, who played 1:59 in the first and nothing else, he let Redden play a lot. Redden was directly responsible for 2 Penguin goals, Paul Mara the other two.)

A bad ending to a good back-and-forth game (once the Rangers realized, about 14 minutes into the 1st, that it was late-March and not early-November). A 5-minute interference call? I've never seen that before.

But hey. It was an important game for the Penguins. Time to bring out the obscure penalties.

Skill vs. Will

As tonight's Islanders-Flyers game unfolded, I couldn't help but think I'd seen it somewhere before.

The game reminded me of another battle, one that also involved the fighting city of Philadelphia. Only in this game, the Islanders were reminiscent of Philadelphian Rocky Balboa, while the Flyers played the role of Apollo Creed. The Flyers, not unlike Creed, appeared to think they'd coast to victory without putting in any work. And why wouldn't they? The Islanders, after all, had just played the night before in Detroit. That they squeaked out a victory over the defending Stanley Cup champions is irrelevant. The Islanders would be sore and tired; in a season like the one the Islanders have had, it'd be perfectly understandable.

Nobody bothered to tell any of this to the Islanders, who came into the game with nothing to lose - just like Rocky. And just like Rocky, the Islanders started out with a bang, scoring in the first period. Only the NHL's rule to only count goals that are in the net at the buzzer (as opposed to shots that are taken before buzzer, but go in after) prevented this from being a 2-0 game at the first intermission. Not only were the Islanders winning, but they were more than holding their own against the Flyers, who desperately needed the two points.

I imagine the scene in the Flyers' dressing room to be identical to the scene in Apollo Creed's corner after the first round. Apollo's trainer asks what happened, then delivers the words that say it all:

"He doesn't know it's a damn show. He thinks it's a damn fight. Now finish this bum, and let's go home."

Apollo woke up. So did the Flyers. The Islanders got a quick goal to start the second, perhaps the hockey gods' way of making up for the missed opportunity at the end of the first. But the goal woke the Flyers up, and the Broad Street Bullies started swinging. Daniel Carillo took on Nate Thompson. Exactly one second later, Riley Cote fought Joel Rechlicz to a minute-plus standoff, with both players landing some major punches. And you could hear the bell ring and watch the referee and trainers separate Rocky and Apollo at the end of Round 2. Cue "Going The Distance" - you could tell it was going to be a war.

The period maintained its chippy status, and as the second period would down and the third period began, the Flyers started to play hockey again. Eventually, they started to wear down their inferior opponents. And just like Apollo knocked Rocky down in the 14th round, the Islanders were dealt a knock-down blow of their own - three goals in 3:55 of game time.

You could almost imagine the Islanders on the canvas flailing, trying their best to get up. Mickey tells Rocky to stay down. Islanders fans figured it was over, that their impressive run had to run out sometime, and it may as well be now; no sense earning points that could jeopardize the first overall pick. But the underdog doesn't listen to reason, just to the challenge ahead of him. Rocky rose and hit Apollo so hard that the defending champion spits up blood. The Islanders scored a goal 32 seconds later to tie the score. With nothing to lose, there was no way they were going to stay down.

When Rocky and Apollo squared off in Round 15, the final round, it was a cautious meeting of two exhausted fighters who simply wanted to survive. The overtime between the Islanders and Flyers played out in a similar fashion. Both teams had their chances, but it was a draw and it was meant to end as such. The Flyers won the shootout. Apollo got the decision. None of it matters.

Ain't gonna be no rematch.

Don't want one.

For the Islanders, these past two nights were their Stanley Cup Final. They knocked off Detroit in their home stadium, traveled overnight, and took the Flyers, a legitimate Cup contender, to the brink just 24 hours later. That's a tremendous amount to be proud of. No matter what happens with the draft, this is the team the Islanders are going to be next season - tireless and with plenty of fight, with just enough skill to compete every night. If they land John Tavares, great. If they get a big-time free agent, even better. The moral of the story is, the Islanders finally have an identity, and if they can fight this hard with the odds stacked against them in a meaningless game, imagine what they can do when things are going their way.

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.

Are We Safe?

After tonight's loss to the Wild, the Islanders have 56 points in 73 games. They're eight points clear of Colorado and Tampa Bay, each of whom have played 73 games as well. Atlanta has 66 points in 74 games; they're not catching the Islanders. Nor are the Coyotes, even though they've won like five games in 2009. So, in essence, it's a three-team race for the first overall pick.

The Islanders and Lightning play a proverbial "4-point game" on April 4th at the Coliseum. It'll be interesting to see how the fans respond to that game if things are still in doubt. Quite frankly, I don't think they will be. Aside from the Lightning, the Islanders have road games against Detroit, Washington, Carolina and Pittsburgh, and home games against Philadelphia (twice), Montreal and Boston. That's a lot of playoff teams. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay has games against Ottawa and Atlanta on the docket, while Colorado still has to play Phoenix and a Dallas team that could be out of contention by the time they play on April 9th.

Long story short? It's looking good. Still, we must remember that these are the Islanders we're talking about; NOTHING comes easy. That said, I've already requested a personal day on April 14th to recover from the excessive drinking that will surely come after the Draft Lottery. We can only hope it'll be celebratory drinking, not despair drinking. But hey, even if Tampa Bay wins the Lottery, they're likely to choose Victor Hedman. So, if the Islanders have the worst record and lose the lottery to the Lightning, they may land John Tavares after all.

---

Tonight's game was a bit frustrating. The Islanders dominated the first period, which ended in quite the fracas. And it's possible that the kerfluffle inspired the Wild to wake up and start playing. It probably had more to do with the Wild's goal with just a minute left in the first, but however you slice it, the Isles were outplayed in the final two periods. Hey, it happens, especially against a team fighting for its playoff lives.

But tonight's game was also inspiring. It seemed like once the Wild got comfortably ahead, they wanted to coast to the finish. The Islanders wouldn't let them. It was great to see guys like Blake Comeau and Kyle Okposo assert themselves physically; the only unfortunate part is that Okposo didn't throw down for the first time in his NHL career. Even so, the game proved to be quite the chippy tete-a-tete, the kind nobody thought they'd see between two teams that never play each other. In the middle of all of this was a Wild player named Cal Clutterbuck, a rookie who's proven quite adept at antagonizing pretty much everyone. Last night, he fought Sean Avery. Tonight, he was in the face of every Islander. He's a keeper.

It's always better to see teams play against the teams directly competing with them for playoff position. But this game proved to be a fun one. Or, at least, as much fun as the Wild and Jacques Lemaire will allow. The final eight of the East is almost sewn up. The West has a lot to be resolved in terms of playoff teams and playoff positioning. It's cool to be a part of that. But as for the Islanders' struggle for the first overall pick... it might very well be over.

NOTE: Colorado is getting killed 5-0 by Anaheim - at home, no less - in the second period. Thanks for showing up, guys.

Suspension Update...

Suspension for pushing an NHL referee (and a linesman) and shooting a puck in his direction: 3 games.

Suspension for disparaging remarks about a Hollywood actress: 6 games and anger management treatment.

For those who didn't see it, Martin Gerber stuffed a wraparound attempt, and Brooks Laich comes and pushes Gerber into the net with his stick, like he was spearing him in the stomach. The play wasn't stopped, the goal counted, and the game went to overtime. As Gerber was arguing the call, he touched a referee and pushed a linesman. He then shot a puck near them when he was ejected.

With all due respect to him, he didn't push them hard or maliciously, he was trying to get their attention. But the rules say that contact is forbidden (happened to Mike Peca this year, too). And it never should have been a goal. But him shooting a puck at them, albeit weakly, was wrong.

And with all due respect to Sean Avery, Elisha Cuthbert wasn't "sloppy seconds," as he said. She was "sloppy thirds." Mike Komisarek was there before Dion Phaneuf was, also.

So there you have it. If you are factually incorrect, you will be banished from the league. But Gerber had a point, so he only got a 3-game ban.

Rare MSG Guests: Minnesota Wild...

The last time the Rangers played the Minnesota Wild, it was a disastrous occasion that culminated in Marion Gaborik scoring 5 goals and being desperately fed the puck for a sixth goal that never actually happened. That was December 2007 in Minnesota.

Tonight's game (on Versus, don't forget) marks only the 3rd time since the lockout that these two teams are going to meet. It's the second time since then that the Wild will be at Madison Square Garden.

As it happens, I will be at tonight's game (thankfully, so I won't have to watch the Versus telecast... someone please inform me who the Bud Light Drinkability Player of the Game is). And as it happened, I was at MSG the last time, as well.

Since that game was in December 2005, let me remind you how it went down...

... Dwayne Roloson was in net for Minnesota. He nearly won a Cup later that season with Edmonton.

... Henrik Lundqvist had just starting playing regularly when Kevin Weekes got injured in November.

... Petr Prucha (remember him?) had 2 power play goals, his 8th and 9th goals of the season.

... Martin Rucinsky had 3 assists.

... Martin Straka scored the other Rangers goal (an empty-netter)

... Future and former Ranger Pascal Dupuis scored the lone goal for Minnesota. Alexandre Daigle (remember him?!) had an assist during his short-lived comeback tour.

... Mikko Koivu, far and away the team's leading point-getter this year, was a healthy scratch. he will miss tonight's game as well with a knee injury.

... And my $36 seats in Section 333 are now closer to $60.

* * *

It doesn't matter if the Rangers win tonight in regulation, overtime, or the shootout, so long as they win. Giving an extra point to Minnesota doesn't hurt them at all, they just need 2 themselves.

The Wild sit in 10th place. Two points tonight puts them tentatively in 8th place, as Nashville and Anaheim will have a game in hand.

Both teams desperately need a win tonight, the Wild maybe a little more, so I expect a pretty fast moving game. It should be more like last season's game as opposed to the 2005 Neutral Trap Game I witnessed.

The Rivalry on the Radio...

Check out this link to hear us on CW Post's radio station discussing hockey.

Bryan is the one who talks very quietly. I'm the one who sounds like a robot who's smoking a cigar. And the host, Tony, is the one who sounds like the Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons.

Morning Draft Lottery Links

Sorry to usurp Zach, but I had to link to this excellent piece by Chris Botta regarding Islanders fans who may be rooting against their team right now. The truth is, ANY fan who even cares about the Islanders right now deserves to root for anything they'd like. This whole debate reminds me of a Bill Simmons article about a similar issue that occurred with the Celtics fanbase in 2007. What's the right answer? It's hard to say. I, for one, think that if the Islanders play as hard as they can, the draft will take care of itself. That said, you only get one chance to draft a superstar who can immediately contribute, and in the Islanders' delicate situation with the Lighthouse, that can be the difference between staying on the Island or moving elsewhere.

I also wanted to link to a rather interesting article by Larry Brooks regarding the draft lottery. Brooks claims that the NHL needs to expand its lottery to all non-playoff teams because it's too tempting for a team with, say, the 6th-worst record to tank just to get into the lottery. And you know what? He has a point. The NBA allows all non-playoff teams into its draft lottery, though only the top four even have a 10% chance at winning; this is a far cry from the days when the Orlando Magic won the lottery despite having the 13th-worst record in the league. Brooks' system suggests that the team's lack of playoff berths and any recent 1st overall picks they may have had be incorporated into the formula, which would make things VERY confusing. But it also might help. Last year's NHL Draft Lottery ended up shaking out exactly as the standings did, and since the team with the worst record has a 48.2% chance of getting the first pick, that makes a lot of sense. Then again, the whole point of a draft lottery is to discourage teams from tanking, not to punish bad teams by not giving them top picks. In short, there might be a better answer, but the odds of the NHL finding it are virtually nil.

Nik Antropov...

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

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

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

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

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

Quick Hits

Just a couple of quick thoughts...

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

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

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

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

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

Hockey on the Radio...

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

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

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

Martin Brodeur*...

I think it's funny how little press is going to the fact that Martin Brodeur isn't really the winningest goalie in NHL history. Everyone is talking about him like he's Jesus on Ice, when in reality he hasn't broken Patrick Roy's all-time wins record.

See, Brodeur has won 27 shootouts, putting his real win number at 525.

(I see people comparing this to Roger Maris, which is completely untrue. First off, Maris played like 8 more games than Ruth did. It would be comparable if Major League Baseball added an extra inning to every game. Brodeur won an extra 27 games from 2005-2009 that would have been ties for Roy. Second, this milestone is not nearly as important as Ruth's record was. If you asked me before this year what the record for wins was, I would not have known.)

What also is a lie is his "record" of 48 victories in one season, "breaking" Bernie Parent's record. The record was 47, Brodeur has 48 in 2006-07, yet 10 of them were in the shootout. Technically, he wouldn't have even broken 40 if this were pre-lockout years. 

I'm not an opponent of the shootout. In fact, I hated ties with a passion and thought they were killing hockey (along with the two-line pass rule, the New Jersey Devils, and Jacques Lemaire). Nothing was worse than seeing a 1-1 hockey game. Unfulfilling. And Lord knows my Rangers need shootouts to make the playoffs, and Henrik Lundqvist's 4-straight 30-win seasons (a record to start a career) was definitely amplified by the tiebreaker.

And yes, Brodeur will eventually break the record cleanly. He plays 70 games a year when healthy. I would also say he legitimately has 3 or 4 more seasons in him as a starter, so that's atleast 100 more regulation/overtime wins without shootouts. 

Before Devils fans learn to read and come on this website and bash me for being a Brodeur hater...

1) I don't particularly like Brodeur. I've met him in person, and he has an awful personality. I think he's childish, he takes dives, he whines, and there's a reason he sits alone on the buses after games. 

2) I understand he's a great goaltender. I don't think he was as good as Roy was. But I know he should eventually own this record outright, just next season.

I just wish the coronation of Brodeur to God-like levels by the NHL would stop.

Wade Redden and the Defense...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

* * * 

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

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

* * * 

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

Congrats?

There is no way Martin Brodeur is better than Patrick Roy.

Roy reinvented the position of goaltender in the NHL. Before him, the majority of goalies simply stood there and watched pucks fly by. Roy brought the butterfly to prominence and used it to dominate the most offensive era in NHL history. Here's a sample of how good Roy was, using his Vezina winning years...

 - 1988-89: 2.47 GAA; average goals per game was 7.48.

 - 1989-90: 2.53 GAA; average goals per game was 7.37.

 - 1991-92: 2.36 GAA; average goals per game was 6.96.

As for Brodeur? He won more Vezinas, but in not so impressive a fashion...

 - 2002-03: 2.02 GAA; average goals per game was 5.31.

 - 2003-04: 2.03 GAA; average goals per game was 5.14.

 - 2006-07: 2.18 GAA; average goals per game was 5.89.

 - 2007-08: 2.17 GAA; average goals per game was 5.57.

You'll never sell this writer on the theory that Brodeur is better than Roy. At the same time, I have to give Brodeur all the credit in the world for his record-setting achievement tonight. Here's a guy who has played at least 67 games in the past eleven straight seasons. You could argue that his workload over the past decade has changed the game just as Roy did; while goaltending used to be a tandem position, at least during the regular season, teams now look for workhorse-type goalies like Brodeur. It's also worth noting that Brodeur set recorded his 552nd win in 42 less games than it took Roy to win 551 games. And while Brodeur is often criticized for playing in a defense-first system, let the record show that many other teams have tried to play the same system as the Devils, but with much less success.

With all of this in mind... congratulations, Martin Brodeur.

(All statistics courtesy of www.hockey-reference.com)

Crossroads

Right now is an interesting time to be an Islanders fan. Half the fanbase wants the team to play as well as possible. The other half wants the Islanders to lose the rest of their games. Who's right? Who knows.

It's tempting to come out and say something like, "If you're rooting for the Islanders to tank the rest of the season, you're not a real fan." Because it's not true. We've seen this many times in the past - a season becomes a total loss, after which the Islanders suddenly start playing well and get everybody all excited about the following year. Remember the second half of the 1999-00 season, when the Islanders were better than .500 and played some pretty good hockey despite giving regular shifts to guys like Mark Lawrence and Mats Lindgren? After that season, the Islanders won the draft lottery, made the infamous Rick DiPietro deal, ended October 2000 in first place... and went on to finish dead last in the NHL. Similar late-season "flourishes" occurred in 1992, 1997, and 1998; only the '92 example yielded any sort of success the following season. So you'll forgive Islanders fans if they're not buying the hype this time around.

Let's face it - Islanders fans deserve something. Anyone who has supported this team, anyone who has bought a third jersey; hell, anyone who has so much as paid for a ticket this year deserves something. Islanders fans went into this year knowing it'd be rough, and they willingly went along. And all you have to do is look at the Islanders' DVD set to see how little they've had to cheer for lately. The past 20 years have brought about pretty much nothing. The 1993 team easily could have won the Stanley Cup, but lost out to Patrick Roy and the Canadiens. Nearly a decade of atrocious play followed, and when the Islanders lost to Toronto in that bitter seven-game series in 2002, many fans thought it was the start of something special. Turns out that the series itself was not just the only reward for years of mediocrity, it was the only significant two weeks of Islanders hockey to take place this century. I know you're supposed to pay a big price for winning four straight Cups, but the Islanders' faithful have had more than their fair share of heartache.

That's where all of this is coming from. It's not about tanking in the sense of wanting your team to lose. It's more about having gone through so much that it doesn't faze you anymore. To Islanders fans, a 30th place finish wouldn't mean anything except just one more bad year in a string of them. They've been the 8th seed before, and they've been anonymously awful before. Why not be awful when there's a reward for it?

On the other hand, it's hard not to be inspired by the Islanders' play of late. In fact, it's been nearly a month since they've laid a total egg. In that period of time, their only regulation losses have been a 1-0 loss to Pittsburgh, a tough 4-2 loss to the Rangers, and a well-played 2-1 loss to Boston. Those are three playoff teams, and two of those were road games. (Insert your own joke about how the Rangers game was really a road game.) Granted, the Islanders haven't exactly played the toughest schedule, but they've taken road games in New Jersey, Montreal and Chicago over that stretch and have developed a ton of confidence playing well against teams they should play well against. Today's lineup included one player who was waived earlier this season and eight players who have spent significant time in Bridgeport this year. And yeah, you might have seen this kind of thing in prior years, but this is pretty cool.

The difference between this Islanders team and the ones in the past is that this team has a plan. They have an organizational philosophy and stability at coach and general manager. They know what kind of team they want to build and they seem to have a pretty good grasp on how to build it. They also know which players don't fit and have gotten rid of these players. It's no coincidence that the Islanders are 8-3-2 since trading Chris Campoli and Mike Comrie to Ottawa; 4-2-1 since trading Bill Guerin to Pittsburgh. Not to denigrate these players, but certain players fit this system best and the Islanders deserve credit for weeding out the parts that don't fit. This isn't rebuilding with the likes of Eric Fichaud and Niklas Andersson - this is a team, and it's starting to show.

Of course, if you're of the mindset that the Islanders should intentionally lose every game for the rest of the season, that's your prerogative. You're certainly not incorrect, that's for sure. I, for one, believe in karma, and tanking sort of plays with the fates a little too much. Besides, you can't coach players to lose, and this experience will help them in the future. And there's always the chance that the Islanders could finish as high as 26th and still end up with the first overall pick. The moral of the story is, you can't worry so much about draft picks, because you can never control what will happen. What you can control, though, is the talent you have, and it looks like many of these players are starting to turn the corner. And in a season that has given Islanders fans very little to cheer about, I'll take it.