Beware of Boston

OK well I will get this out in the beginning and say that lasts night performance was not a terrible one as we only lost 2-1, but I can definitely say that it was not nearly good enough. With the exception of two separate 5 minutes stretches, I thought we looked lethargic, Slow, old, and many other words I will refrain from using.. We came out early in the game like we were shot out of a cannon, skating hard, hitting, getting good shots off, and even scored an early goal albeit off a lucky bounce, not to take away from the finish. I thought we ended the game on a great pace as well, had amazing urgency and determination, the ice definitely flipped to the Boston end for the last 5, with the exception of the last 40 seconds when we could not assert ourselves to get a last chance to tie it up.. I hate to say it but I have to agree with the Hockey Rodent who said on Twitter post game, " All the Hustle, all the Scrambling that we saw NYR do at the end.... where was that hustle in P2 and P3? SHAMEFUL EFFORT." I dont' always, in fact really never agree with the way the Rodent sees the game as he is very negative, but I have to agree here..

Just a little bit on some of the players. I thought Mac played a sub par game, he made a few pinches that really put some of his forwards in bad spots, and really didn't do much on the back end. Dan G is showing some serious signs of wear, both physical and more importantly mental. I know what he was trying to do on the play that lead to Bergeron's goal, but during a PK, you just can't afford to do that unless you are 100% sure.. I hope torts gives him a night or two off leading up to the playoffs assuming we clinch here in the next game or Pitt helps us out.. Artie has to bury that shot that TT saved late in the game, he has to lift that up. Mitchell had a few great chances and wasn't able to convert, BR played a bit slower then he has all month, and Hags is basically insignificant lately, scoring 1 point in his last 7 games and 2 goals in the last 15 games... Simply put, not good enough to be on the first line...

I want to throw something out there that I think should be thought about come playoff time.. I know the lines have been doing fairly well  as of late with the exception of last night, but I think we need to look further into who plays with who starting either the 11th or 12th... Here is what I think need to happen..

Cally-Gabby-BR ---- I think that gabby and BR need a bit of grit on this line to help them down low and be there for some physical play in case that happens, and we know it will in the playoffs.. Cally skill level has improved on a nightly basis it seems and I think he would be an awesome fit with those two...

Step-Dubi-Hags----  Hags would bring some much needed speed to that lineup, a guy who can be creative and get to open areas for shots.. With Dubi really improving and playing better nightly, he Step and Hags could be a great combo..

Boyle-Prust-AA---- Makes this line tough with Boyle and Prust and somewhat skilled with AA... I think this is the ideal 3rd line, two centermen just in case one gets kicked out, AA has really become a solid two way player, and we know what wee get out of the other two..

Mitchell(or anyone else)-Rupp-Feds-- Don't really need to say much about this line, it would be nice if they chip in with something here and there... I think Torts has a man crush or a bromance with John Mitchell..

So boys, lets take care of business on Tuesday night against Philly and call it a division... I think we will all find out if as they all say they don't care about the standings or pay attention to it, if that is in fact true. If we clinch do we sit a few guys to get them as close to 100% as possible? Or do we go for the president's trophy as if we win out its ours?? Those are the questions...

The magic number now is 16... That's the number we need to focus on, win one and then we lower that number... GO NYR......

Twin City Two

I know I haven't been around in quite some time and that is basically because I am writing this and no one is reading it so like anything else, I gave up.. With that said, I wanted to briefly write about last nights game.. I thought that was a lethargic game, for the most part we let Minn set the tone, yes we had more hits and won more faceoffs and basically controlled the stats, but if you watched the game, we did not look near at the top of our game. That said, we found a way to win a game like that which has been part of the late season mini slump, which is a great thing heading into the playoffs.. I thought dubi was good as well as the Top line when they were together. Boyle was solid all night, Prust made a few nice plays, and overall the team played OK, but won and that's all that matters.. The Isles gave us a gift and now we have a three point lead with 6 games to go.. Here are the schedules for both us and Pitts..

NYR-

@Winn- 2 Points
Mon- 2 Points( Only because its at home)
Boston- 1 Point
@Philly- 2 Points
@Pitt- 1 Point
Caps- 2 Points

Total= 10 Points and 113 Points for the season

Pitts- 

@ Isles- 2 Points
@Sabres- 2 Point
Flyers- 2 Points
@ Bruins- 1 Point
NYR- 2 Points
Flyers- 1 Point

Total= 10 Points and 110 Points for the season...

So my take is, we take care of our business the way we should, we will get the division and home ice throughout, we will take on either Ottawa or buffalo in the first round and go from there... Time for Hank to get hot again, the first line to continue to produce, the second line to step(no pun intended) it up and the rest of the team do what they do best.... here is to another big two points tonight... Lets GO NYR.....

NJD

NJD tonight. We should come out fired up, hit them all over the rink and score some goals.. Two points are needed for sure, lets get back on track....

A True Test for the Blueshirts Tonight

So its now 11am and within the last 10 minutes off the twitter wire I just saw that we will not have Ryan Callahan nor MDZ int he lineup tonight. Also noted there will be no lineup changes from the Carolina game, and torts has yet to declare who will start in goal for the Rangers. So with that said, does this now become a game where we have to fight to not make it embarrassing or do we still have a shot at winning? All eyes in the hockey world will be on the worlds most famous arena because of the return of the kid, but I think the return of Letang is bigger then that of the Kid.. Granted they have been winning without both in the lineup, but that's because Geno is not human, when he feels like playing to his ability, not so sure anyone is better int he league, he is a freak. The problem for the Pens is that when Sid is around and the focal point of the offense, Geno tends to lose interest a bit and become truly second fiddle and not produce as well. I don't have the stats to back it up because I am not tied into all those statistical companies, but I can assure you that his numbers without Sid are ten fold better then with.. With all that stated, here are my keys to the game...

1. Control Center Ice and Sid and Geno getting the puck there. If you stop Geno and Sid from getting the puck and slithering up the ice with it, then you have a better chance of containing them all night long. Go after Sid, hit him hard and often and get under his skin. The same goes for Geno who really doesn't like contact even though he is a big guy. He tends to take retaliation penalties when he gets beat up in a game often.. So control neutral zone play and control the amount of time Sid and Geno have on the puck in the neutral zone.

2. Continued production from the BLING line, and some additional production from the others. The BLING line coming off a 9 point +11 outing against Carolina should look to improve on that with their skating, passing and finishing skills of late. BR and Gabby need to keep on the streaks they are on and Hags needs to keep skating and creating... We definitely need more production from the 2nd and 3rd lines and a good steady game from the 4th line. If and when we get PP chances, execute and score goals, it will be crucial..

3. DO NOT take to many penalties. With the return of Sid and Letang to add to Malkin, Neal, Stall, etc, that equals scary in PP scenarios.. So to keep this one short and sweet, stay out of the box..

Here is to a great game tonight, its to bad we won't have a full squad, but I still think we can put a scare into the Pens. Even if we lose, make them aware of where they came to play, make them understand that come playoff time, we are ready to make their lives miserable, and make them aware that the greatest arena in sports belongs to the NYR... GO NYR....

E-No Out....

On the Eve of the Battle of the Year- First Take care of Business Tonight

Carolina comes into the garden tonight for the 2nd game in a 7 game home stand for the rangers. The Rangers come into this contest riding somewhat high off a come from behind victory over the islanders in OT on Sunday evening and the canes come in off a 2-0 loss at the hands of the Florida Panthers. With Carolina all but eliminated from playoff contention, they will relish playing the role of spoilers for sure and will come out playing hard. The Rangers need to continue their fine play of the PP, coming off three PP goals including the game winner on Sunday night. They must continue to be physical, but also know when to pick their spots and play a skill game as well...

Keys to the game:

1. Contain Stall and Skinner. Don't let Marc Stall get to many shots off and keep him out of the dirty areas with physical play. Do not let Jeff Skinner get his wheels going, the figure skater turned hockey star will embarrass people with his dazzling moves on the ice..

2. Need to continue the great performance on the PP. Keep MZA out there as he adds another dimension that teams have to think about. Get someone in front of the goalie and let BR control the play in the Zone..

3. Continued solid play defensively and solid goal-tending. Even though the Isles got 3 goals, two of them were fluke goals off strange bounces and the one was off a bad pass that was deflected... D played well, Hank played well and they need to continue that trend..

Here is to a victory tonight, staying focused and not looking past Carolina to Pittsburgh. Thursday nights game is arguably the biggest of the season to set a tone and let the rest of the league know whether or not we are contenders or pretenders. This team always talks about staying focused on the present and not getting to far ahead of themselves and tonight is the perfect test for that with a tough game lingering a few days down the road... Let's see what our boys are made of... Go out and get the two points and send a message tonight.....

E-NO Out...

Gabby and BR to the Rescue- Hank Big in OT

Sorry this got up so late folks, but I have some stuff to take care of around the and out of the house.. With the Wife 4 months pregnant, I basically have to do everything around the house and it sucks, but those are the breaks. So on to last nights win, we all breathe a sigh of relief on that one for sure.. I know games with the isles are always tough, but man those late in the season games, all I wanted was a blow out win so I could relax a bit.. They certainly made it interesting.. Here are a few major points that I liked and would like to continue to see happen..

- Love to see Gabby and BR together, they were both flying all night long, doing exactly what we pay them for. Gabby game winner was a thing of beauty, but BR's patience was what made the whole play happen.

- Love seeing MZA open up the PP, he seemed to give us another option and therefore scare the isles a bit, he was on the ice for all three PP goals.. Would have loved to see him get some more 5-5 time, but we all know how torts is. If he wants to use his as a specialist and he continues to help the PP, then so be it. Everyone is saying where does he slot in when Cally comes back, I say lose Mitchell, put Dubi back to his natural position in the center and have Rupp, MZA and Dubi on a line.. That would make two 3rd lines and two 1st lines if you really think about it, torts could roll four and keep them fresh for a playoff rush.. Thoughts???

- Hank looked much better last night even though he gave up 3 goals. The first one was tough as Dan G made what otherwise would have been a great play, but Tavares was in the right place( goal scorers and stars always put themselves in those areas). The second goal came off the back boards and I must admit, Moulson made a great play, the guy has 29 goals, he got lucky with the bounce, but to bang it in off hank is a bit of skill for sure.. The 3rd goal is one Hank would tell you he wants back. Even though it was a break a way, he should have stopped McDonald who is a D-man and beat Hank like he was a 2nd string AHL goalie... Hank was plain surprised by the timing and placement of the shot... I have to say that the save he made in OT was vintage Hank, he came up huge there for sure and we all know what that lead to..

-  Seriously no need for John Scott anymore unless Bick isn't in the lineup... With Rupp, Pruster, and Bick, that is plenty of toughness even for the likes of the Bruins, Flyers, etc.. We need to keep the skill of MZA in the lineup and keep Scott and Mitchell in case of injuries... Seriously folks you with me on this one???

- So that start of the 7 game home stand starts with a good solid victory and two points. We remain 4 points adrift of the second place Pens with a huge showdown looming on Thursday night. Now let's not look past the Canes as they have been playing much better of late, lets get the two points, go into the game against the pens with at least a 4 point lead and then focus on taking it to them and stretching the lead.... Here is to another two points tomorrow, a good win last night and all in between...

- Oh yeah, quickly on John Tavares, WOW... The guy looks to me to be a better version of Rick Nash. He is fairly big, can take a hit and dish one out, has a sick set of paws, and his skating has gotten progressively better.. He is a star now and has been for a few years, for his sake I hope the Isles get better so the fringe fans can see how good a player he is.. Here is to hoping Chris Krieder is 75% of the player John Tavares is....

E-NO Out...

Re-cap of Hawks Games and Look ahead at Isles tonight

      All those connected to the team, all the bloggers, reporters, commentators, etc will tell you that the rangers played an excellent 40 minutes and basically a poor 10 minutes out of the 3rd period. I am not so sure I can see it that way as I guess with this team I am seeing things half empty..
      The start of the game against the Hawks looked like a replay of the game a few weeks back when Hossa scored really early, and in this game he had another chance 15 seconds into the game and Hank came up really big up high.. Continuing in the period, Gabby had some great chance early, Boyle had a chance from the slot and neither could convert. Hank looked much better in the first then he had in previous games. We had a PP late which I thought looked very good, but we couldn't convert which is a shocker.. AA scored late in the period off a good play by he and Mitchell defensively and we ended up the period 1-0.
         The second started with some good end to end action from both teams. Hank made a super play off the boards after a wild shot bounced off the back boards and Hank made an over the shoulder catch, one that the New York Mets could use in center field. Rangers had another PP and it did not look at good as the one int he first. Chicago I thought took it to us in parts of the second, beating us at our game, grinding, fore-checking, etc... which eventually lead to a goal from the point, it was deflected so I guess we will give Hank a pass.  Hank played really well again in the second and again it looked like he had gotten over the last three performances which were suspect at best. On to the third.
      The third period starts with some similar play like the second, end to end with excellent speed and creativity. A really nice play from prust and the crew in the o zone and Mac takes a shots from the point and Pruster buries it. 2-1 Rangers, we feel good, we can lock it down and take the two points to the house right? Wrong.. A give a way from Cally and Boyle leads to a beautiful passing play from Kane to Hossa to Sharp for a world class goal, nothing Hank could have done.. The one that Hank will want back is the 3rd goal which happened 60 seconds later on a  nice move from Johnny Oduya at the point, he then takes a big slap shot and beats Hank over the pads and under the glove, the seven hole which he will tell yo he should have stopped, no deflection, no screen, just slapper against the goalie.. We pulled Hank with 2 minutes to go which is shocking from Torts who usually does not do anything like that, and this time we would say it didn't pay off. Chicago scored an empty netter with 45 seconds to go to secure the game. BR scored a goal a few seconds later to make the final 35 seconds interesting, but it did not help

- 3rd Straight loss in regulation
-Hank had given up 14 goals in last 4 starts
- Pens four points out of 1st place and Thursday night against the Pens will be huge..
- We have Isles tonight and Carolina on Tuesday, we need to get all four points, bottom line. Shall we give up any points and Pittsburgh continues to do its thing and Sid comes back, then we are in serious trouble.
- Bottom line is we must take the two points from tonight, Isles games are always tough, but we need to fight through it and win.
- I am sick of all the players saying that we need to do this and we need to do that, play our games, etc. SHUT UP AND PLAY AND WIN HOCKEY GAMES..  We know you are trying hard and are in a funk, so do what you have to to get out of that funk and stop talking until you do....
- Early signs this Sunday morning is that Delz is not on the ice at the morning skate and therefore will not be playing tonight, however Dubi is and I would assume he will be playing. It also appeared that Cally was out of the morning skate. I have to agree with the masses, if ever there were a time to give Erixson and MZA a shot to get some playing time with the big club, get some confidence while some of the top players are injured it would be right now.. The isles and canes are not overly physical teams and we don't need the three goons( Rupp, Bickell, and Scott) in the lineup at the same time. We know the isles are talented and the canes can be when fully healthy so players like Erixson and MZA with a little bit more talent and skill than Scott and either Bickell or Eminger... Give them a shot...

Senators were in session last night, must stop the Hawks from flying tonight.

I want to be quick about last nights game and move on from it in the hopes that the real NYR team shows up tonight in the windy city..

- Stall got burned on two of the goals and as I have been saying I don't think he is near back to what he was last year and who knows if he ever will be. It seems like he is tentative with the puck in his own zone, doesn't want to joint he rush as much as he did last year and seems to be shying away from contact. Now none of us know how he is really feeling and most importantly whether or not he is mentally fully back, but we know that we need him in order to get things back rolling...

- Here is another point I will say that I have been saying for quite some time. Gabby needs to stop playing around with the puck and get to open areas of the ice and go. He is not Malkin, kovy, crosby, ovie, etc, he is not big enough and strong enough on the puck to stick handle into the zone all the time. His best attribute is quick hands around the net and from the circles and in and that is where he should be all the time, let BR handle the puck, let AA, cally, step, or whoever it is grit it out down low and you move around and get open.. He got beat off the puck on multiple occasions last night and it lead to immediate chances down the other end. Get the puck deep and let the grinders do their jobs..

- Is torts message wearing thin on these guys? I spoke to my cousin another die hard fan after the 24\7 documentary was put on and I said to him then, we could have another Bruce boudreau type disaster on our hands with Torts. I never played at a high level like these guys, but was a division one caliber baseball player and was offered scholarships and I know one thing a coach who gets all over players, one who tries to assert his dominance over players even at the college level, it can get old really quickly. I know every player is saying the right thing, continuing to work hard, but I worry as we look like the capitals from a few years ago... So I ask you again do you think Torts' message is wearing thin? do you think the players are over it? Do you think he needs to find that happy middle ground of yelling and cussing, but also being a players' coach?? Thoughts please....

- As for tonight, hank back in the net, having given up 10 goals in his past three starts with a record of 1-1-1, he needs to get back in the swing of things for sure and get back to the Vezina style play he had been producing prior to this latest downturn. No news on whether dubi will go tonight, but its easy to see that we need him in the lineup. Even though he is not producing goals like he did last year, his presence is a worry to other teams and allows the star players to have a little load taken off their shoulders. As for those star players, they are all saying the right things to the Larry Brooks'  and the Steve Zipays' of the world, but at this point in the season, players shouldn't have to say anything. It should be known what they have to do, how they have to play and who needs to produce when and where.. Its truly as simple as that, SHUT UP AND PLAY HARD AND START WINNING AGAIN..

Keys to tonight's games-
-Try to limit the amount of touches that Kane and Hossa get on the puck. Do not let Hossa control the play from center ice like Kovy did in the NJD game.
-Try to get the PP going and do not take penalties as Chicago with their talent on the back end and up front will kill us.
- Need a big game from Hank, a comeback game from Girardi and Stall, and more production and creativity from the big 6 guys up front...

Here is to two points in the windy city in front of 20K+ after that debacle last night... Go NYR

E-NO Out....

Must Win Tonight???

I only have ten minutes so I have to get this going. As I have been saying for some time now, the biggest worry we have is Pittsburgh coming from behind us to grab the number one spot pushing us down to #4 and a first round match up against Philly. It would be intriguing to play Philly, but I don't want that and I know you all don't either. Here are the remaining games for both teams:

NYR-

Home- Isles, Hurricanes,Pens, Avs, NJD, Detroit, Sabres, Montreal, Boston, Wash
Away- Pens, Philly, Jets, Wild, Leafs, hawks and Sens

Pitts- 
Home- Fla, Boston, Jets, Nash, NJD, Isles, Philly, NYR, Philly
Away- NYR, NJD, Philly, Sens, Isles, Sabres, Boston

So If we win tonight we enjoy an 8 point cushion with 16 games remaining and two crucial games against the Pens. If we lose we are 6 points ahead of the pens for the top spot and would be riding a two game losing streak, to me its as close to a must win game or at least a must point game as we have had all season. We have to go out there and send a message to another one of the top teams in the east the Sens by playing physical but smart, gritty and determined and score goals early and often. Step and AA need to continue to pound the net with shots, Hags needs to use his speed to create space and time in and around the net, BR needs to wake up, gabby need not make dumb errors with the puck, Cally needs to continue to progress and get his stride back, the Boyle line needs to produce more goals and scoring, and the Mitchell line needs to just play their 5-7 minutes well and don't take any stupid penalties.. That's easy enough isn't it?

Here's to a big time W in Ottawa against a really solid and potent Ottawa team... Play hard, stay focused and get back on track already would ya....

E-NO Out

Ugly is all I can say...

As the title states, all we can say about lasts night game is UGLY... We got outplayed from the get go and throughout. kovy ran circles around Mac and Girardi and all the other d-men, which is why I said it was one of the keys to the game to slow him down. I am not going to go into much detail about it as we have to throw this game out and start over from scratch on Thursday night against Ottawa.

- Girardi saw the pine in the last half of the 3rd period after multiple give a ways and just simply put some poor play. He looks tired, beat up and in need of a break and unfortunately there in no time for that right now. Mac didn't help him much on the 3rd goal I believe when Girardi just gave the puck away cross ice and then Mac stood on the blue line flat footed and let Josefson and Carter in behind him for the 2 on 1 and eventual goal. Here is a thought for all you guys who think Marc Stall is back in full form or at least near full form, why not put Stall with Mac and let Girardi slip down for a few games to the second line with Delz or third with bickell? Is it a righty lefty thing? Why not give Dan G about 18 minutes a night and move Stall up to 22-23 a night? Think about that, it will keep Dan G fresh for the playoff run, get Stall his wind back from the long crazy playoff games and perhaps give the whole team a bit of a boost...

- I liked the changes in the lines yesterday with Gabby, BR and Cally and Hags moving to play with Step and AA. I know that had to due with Dubi being injured and being down a man, but Torts did that for spurts in the previous game also. I have said this before, gabby wants the puck on his stick way to much, he needs to get to open areas and get ready to shoot and score, that's his game, that's what we pay him for and got BR for, to put straight forward for you. Cally obviously was a bit rusty last night and will be for a few until his foot is fully healed so not much can be said there. As for the 2nd line of AA-Step-Hags, I loved it, we can call it the "Kick you ASH" line. They could be dynamic with both Step and AA having killer shots when they take it and Hags using his speed to create long range plays with Step who we know has great ice vision. I like that line and would love to see them get a bit a run at it over the month of march. The Boyle line are what they are, not much can be said, for what they are supposed to bring, they do night in and night out. It would be great if we could get a little more goal scoring from our 3rd line, but one can't be picky. As for the 4th line before dubi got hurt, Scott-Rupp-Dubi, really.. Was John Mitchell really hurt or is torts so stuck on this overly physical game that he needs to play John " Flat Footed, Slow as a snail" Scott? At least Rupp can skate when he gets his motor running and we know what Dubi brings when healthy and mentally there, I am not a fan of Scott at all.. I hope Mitchell is back in the lineup and Scott can take a seat on the pine...

- Hank as of late has been fighting the puck a bit and his weaknesses are starting to linger back into his game. The upper 3rd of the net was a soft spot for him in previous years, but this year he has remedied that situation until these last few weeks. Hank has surrendered 10 goals in the last three games, that's not good enough for this team which has trouble scoring at a high rate. He went through a similar stretch in mid January where he gave up 10 goals in 4 games against Ottawa, Montreal, and Pittsburgh with a shutout of Nashville stuck in between. So hopefully he has just hit a little pothole in the road as we all know how bumpy the drive can be in NYC and the surrounding suburbs, and will get back on track soon... We will need him if we want to make any run through the playoffs for sure...

- Dubi hurt himself in a fight that he got rocked in. Ryan Carter who as the Announcers stated is not a fighter, took it to Dubi during that square off, and to top it all off, dubi hurts his hand in the fight and doesn't return for the remainder of the evening. I know he was trying to jack the team up a bit and get himself going, but there are guys on the team(Rupp & Scott) who are supposed to be the guys who take care of that stuff. Torts is supposed to have so much control over these guys where they listen to him, they buy into all he is teaching and talking about, yet each and every night lately we have seen stupid things like this. Just go back to Prust fighting Lucic, what a dumb idea. Why didn't torts put Rupp out there once he saw Lucic? I don't know where to lay the blame, some on the players, some on the coach, where? Bottom line is the we can't afford stupid mistakes and we need to limit them the rest of the season and int he playoffs for sure...

That's all for this entry as there really isn't much else to go into. Here is to hoping that we get a full compliment of players back for Thursday night and we see the lineup the following way..
BR-Gabby-Cally
AA-Step-Hags
Boyle-Prust-Feds
Mitchell-Dubi-Rupp

Mac-Stall
Delz-Eminger
Girardi-Bickell

Here is to Hank getting re-focused and getting back to playing the way he has all season, BR getting back on a hot streak and waking up, more production from the 3rd line, and a healthy enough Cally to make a difference(the heart and soul)... Let's Go Rangers beat Ottawa on Thursday night..

E-NO Out

NJD at the Rock

With about an hour to go before the puck drops at the rock in NJ I wanted to get a quick blog up about tonight's game. To it will come down to and it quite obvious slowing down the praise line and especially limiting kovy's touches in mid ice and not allowing him to get a full head of steam going up the ice. Looks like emitter back in the lineup and cally might be back which is good, Scott out with woywitka and stralman whose play has slowed as of late will sit on the pine. Need continued production from the gas line and with cally back assume he jumps right back in with br and hags. I would like to see a good game from Dan Girardi for sure as he has had a few sow ones of late and it appears the fatigue has sent in a bit. With that said, stall can keep climbing up the ladder and getting better each game and Mac and delz can continue their solid play.. Here's to a good solid hard fought game with Hank outlasting Marty again.. 3-2 Rangers.. Lets go rangers.....

Well I have had my time to digest what happened in the game yesterday and I figured now is as good a time as any to get it going on my blog... First and foremost, a very impressive win yesterday with the absence of one Ryan Callahan for the 3rd straight game and who Ek is calling perhaps the best "C" in the game. Do you agree with that assessment? If yo haven't seen it, check out his article on hockeybuzz. Cally to me is the true heart and soul of a heart and soul type team, he personifies everything a current NYR rangers stands for, grit, determination, hard work, guts, skill, and a whole host of other attributes. Even though we have been able to get points and win games without him, the team truly misses him for sure and needs him back asap...

So onto my thoughts of the game yesterday. I don't want you to think i am trying to steal Carp's way of blogging, but its just a lot easier to put bullet points and opposed to writing an article type blog.. So Carp I thank you for generating the idea and I hope its ok that I do it with my own style and flair..

- Let's start by talking about Hank. We know he has been nothing short of spectacular for us all season, but as of late he seems to be fighting the puck. Back in the past when Hank was playing to the levels of his career stats and not playing off the charts like he is this year, the only way you could beat him was high. He was always the best far and away down low in the league, but glove side and stick side high, he couldn't stop a pee wee league player. This year he has remedied that problem a bit which is why his GAA is significantly lower then in years past, but as of late he seems to be getting back to his old ways. maybe the HBO real sports interview was on his mind or the concerts he does were preoccupying his thoughts, but whatever it is, he better start to focus, get his wind back and start playing the same way he has all season or it could be an early exit out of the playoffs for the NYR..

- Let's talk a bit about Gabby, he is currently riding a 3 game goal scoring streak which he has done only twice before this season.. Gabby has 5 two goal games and 22 one goal games so far this season yet it feels as if he is as inconsistent as a minor league fringe player. He has been highly relevant in a lot of games, but has disappeared off the score sheet on way to many occasions for my liking.. Here is to hoping that he finds the consistency we need down the stretch and into the playoff run. If he has to go quiet for a few games to get his head back, them let it be this month and not next, need him firing on all cylinders for sure..

- Now let's talk a bit about the defense and what I see happening.. I think we have a tired crew out there. I think the 25+ minutes a night is starting to wear on girardi and Mac, and delz picking up a knock certainly had something to do with his being tired and not being able to fight off the bump that jarred him into the net.. Girardi seems to be making a few more boneheaded passes of late, which is very uncharacteristic of him for sure. Unlike everyone else, I don't think Marc Stall is playing nearly as good as he should by now and he is nowhere near where he was last year. He is still very tentative on the puck in his zone, not decisive enough and getting beat off the puck which rarely happened last year. He seems to be a bit scared of serious contact and is going to have to get over that come April for sure... I can't say much about Stralman, Bickell, Woywitka, Eminger, etc as they are really fill ins and have done their jobs admirably when asked for the most part...

- Tuesday starts another 3 games in 4 nights on the road starting with the NJD, then off to Ottawa, then to the Windy City. I would expect to see hank in Net against NJD, then Marty against Ottawa and Hank again against the hawks. We always have trouble in Canada so that will be a tough one, you know Jersey will come out fired up and the Hawks in Chicago will be a tough one, so if we could get 4 out of 6 points I think I would be happy... Thoughts???

One last thing and this it totally off the topic of Hockey. I want to congratulate Rory Mcilroy on his Honda Classic win and becoming the number one golfer in the world. It was well deserved as he played a tiger like tourney even with Tiger charging from behind yesterday. Rory went out and shot 66,67, 66, 69 which is amazingly consistent and purely flawless. When Tiger was playing in his prime it was rare for him to shoot ultra low scores like he did yesterday (62 which marked his lowest final round score ever), and Rory did exactly that, he put together four really solid if not spectacular round of golf and made a tough golf course(I would know as I have played it about a dozen times) look moderate.. Congrats for sure, now you have to get your Girlfriend to win a major and you will be the power couple of Sports, the Brad and Angelina of the professional sports ranks.. Can't wait to see that day..


E-No Out for Now......

I blame the loss on torts...

I am going to preface everything by saying exactly what the title of this blog is, I blame this loss on torts. Of course part of the blame goes to the players as it has to because the coach is not playing, but torts' line combos from the beginning of the game were just plain wrong. You sent a message to dubi through the last two periods of last game' then in the media, then you plant him on the 4th line, just wrong... All else in the media that cover the rangers will claim that move is what made dubi score, it's what fired him up, but that's just plain wrong. Dubi had the same jump in his step all night, but playing with rump and useless John Scott, ( gave up s 5th rounder, and for all you that don't know, Carl hagelin was a 6th rounder), looks to be pointless. Dubi should have been playing on the second line with br and hags from the beginning instead of Feds who is one of those guys that torts just loves. Torts plays the Boyle line way to much in to many critical situations in my eyes and one more critism I have is why do we even dress 6 defenseman? Woywitka and bickell played 8:20 & 9:26 respectively. So why not dress five d-men and rotate all night, torts is running them dry anyway... Oh yeah and why not call up MZA? It was a perfect opportunity to slot him in as a top six forward which is what torts always says when asked why he isnt getting a shot.... Strange... - hank is allowed a bad game here and there, but he can't let that goal in from Malone. On a night like last where we are missing two of our top scorers he needed to step up and play lights out and he didn't. - Dubi was wrongfully benched for two periods in the Carolina game which almost cost us and then he gets relegated to the 4th line which was clearly a mistake. He should have been on the second line all night, creating and playing down low with br and hags... - I feel as if Tampa took the game to us all night long, they were tougher, more productive and more creative. We did to keep stammer off the puck like we did against kovy in the devil game. Same goes for st. Louis. I feel like there is an unofficial rule that players like st. Louis, older, smaller, and star player types are not allowed to be hit, or the opposing team is not supposed to hit those guys.. Thats pure bs to me, he is the type of guy who you need to hit and get under his skin, and we didn't... - tough week ahead starting tomorrow against Boston, then away to njd, Ottawa and chicago and the last three of 3 in 4 nights... Right now we have a ten point lead with Boston having one game in hand on us which is today against NYI, so assume an eight point lead going into our battle with them tomorrow afternoon. We still have two games in hand on the western conference teams and currently tied with Detroit and one point behind Van. Need to get at least 5 of the 8 points in this tough four game stretch to keep up with the pace of the other eastern teams and more importantly the western teams. - Onto the injuries. How significant is the cally injury? Contusions can be worse then break as they linger, and of course the foot area for a hockey player is a tough area. The hip area is also one that is needed to push off and get the speed that delz needs to be productive. One top six forward and one top four defenseman down and no one to replace them, this is why we needed to trade for someone other then John Scott who reminds me of and may he rest in peace, Derek Boogard. Can't complain about it anymore as its over so we have to hope the cally and delz injuries don't linger... Here is too a toy game tomorrow and hoping the cally and delz can get back and if not, bring up some scoring threat from Hartford.... Let's go NYR E-No out....

3-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes who have been playing some very good hockey as of late, we will take it for sure. I want to make a few points and I don't want you all to think I am copying Carps style, so here goes..

- Injuries- Delz that could be concerning and something that could linger for a while. If I were the staff both training and coaching, I would seriously consider sitting him tonight against the TBL and that would give him two full days to rest up the bruise in the hopes that he will be ready for Boston on Sunday. I think the same goes for Cally assuming the injury is to the level that the team is leading us to believe, not so bad just day to day... Girardi took that slap shot last night to the chest/arm area so hopefully he shrugs that off and moves on. We have been lucky to be very healthy this year on the front end so lets not screw that up now...

Dubi- Look we all know what he did even though we or at least I didn't see it during the action or on replays was stupid and unnecessary. He is clearly frustrated with the fact that he is not scoring, but for torts to sit him for 40 minutes is absolutely insane and highly unnecessary in my view. There is a time to make a point to a player and to get out of the way and let the player make it back up to the team. Torts doesn't seem to know where that line stands and I worry about that. In honesty it almost cost us the game last night and proving a point of being the man on the bench is not worth two points in my view..

Marty Biron- He looked extremely solid in net, getting his body set, getting into the areas where he thought and knew the puck was going to be and making crucial saves to keep the team in the game when down 1-0 which eventually opened up the goal scoring for the rangers. If he plays this way in March where he is likely to get at least 5 more starts, then we are in good shape to secure the Eastern Conference title and home ice...

Buffalo Sabres- Watch out is all I am going to say... They have won 5 of 6 with points in all 6 games and only a SO loss to the rangers in between. Back to back shutouts for Ryan Miller and .970 Save % with a 1.17 GAA in the Six game run.. They currently sit in the 10th spot only 4 points from a playoff spot.. I will sure be rooting for the Winnipeg Jets and Florida Panthers to keep winning as I would not want to face Ryan miller and the sabres in the first round of the playoffs... Watch Out

Tampa Bay Lightning- This a prime opportunity to get over the hump of the first of four back to back games this month. We have to take the two points from the TBL who have always given us fits in their buildings. Go out early and take the body on Marty and Stammer assuming they are playing and make sure you all wear your surgical masks so not to get the flu bug that is going around that team... Get up early and shut them down all night, no penalties as Stammer will kill you from the face off dot with that nasty one timer... Play a solid NYR type game and get the two points and get ready for Boston on Sunday...

GO NYR

E-No Out...

          Well followers there is a lot to talk about in regards to lasts night game, but truly not a lot to write about. The bottom line is it was a less then overwhelming performance by either team. I felt like I was watching a pre-lockout game where there was very limited space on the ice, the neutral zones were clogged, everything was kept to the outsides and the puck movement was less then spectacular.
           With that stated, Hank out duels Marty again for his 8th Shutout of the season and he is well on his way to eclipsing his own personal record of 10 in a season. I thought the Richards line had a phenomenal shift which created the first goal and I am not sure Hags is getting enough credit for sneaking that shot past Marty, and Cally not enough credit for the pass.. You could see it in his eyes that he saw that opening in between the pipes and Marty's back and played it right off Marty knowing that he had no shot to actually stop it and would only help it in the goal when he moved. Very creative, quick thinking and move of all very well positioned, I guess they really are that smart at UM... Now as impressive as the first goal was to me, the goal on the empty net by Cally which was none of his doing was a thing of effort and determination. I can't say it enough how impressed I was with the effort that Hags gave to get to the puck after he was molested by Zidlicky's stick over and over again. He kept moving his skates and slide the puck over to Cally for the dunk, hag was well deserving of the first star of the evening for sure.. And Ryan Mac who played 95% of the game like a Mac truck was well deserving of the second star. All I want to say is the next time they play the Penguins he needs to do the same thing to Malkin. The key to shutting down those monster Russians like Ovie, Kovy, Malkin is to stop them from getting their speed up. If you watch them, they circle back a lot to get their speed and for the most part any d-man is literally scared to try to stop them and poke check all the time. If the forwards limit their speed and keep them to the outside, Mac and Girardi and Stall, etc. will have a better chance of riding them out of the play and ending that rush...
           So we picked up the two points we needed to keep the lead in the conference and inch closer to Vancouver with two games in hand on them for the race for the Presidents Trophy.. To me personally and I went over this in yesterdays blog I think that it is not only necessary, but our only chance if we want to win the cup to get home ice.. The garden and New York City will be rocking in June if we are still in it and man I would love to see it. Unfortunately I am stuck here in South Florida until I find a job in NY which I have been diligently looking for over the past few months.. If anyone has a lead, please let me know.. Thanks again for coming to my blog, please become a follower and lets open the lines of communication and get this game going.. Till the next time, a few days off, Ahhhhhh...

E-No Out

Remainder of the season...

So as we come onto 3:30PM, a full 30 minutes past the deadline and just about all the deals are done, how do we feel about our boys? I can go on and on about it, but I am in the minority and to be honest I am writing this to get my own stress out as no one really reads it nor gives two shits about it. That said, the NYR did nothing except get another goon on D who will probably go straight to Hartford and never see the ice as now we have 9 D-men and 10 if you want to count erixson. So on to the remainder of the schedule and where we finish in my eyes.

Devils, canes, TBL, Bruins, NJD, Ottawa, Hawks, NYI, Canes, Pens, Avs, NJD, Wings, Sabres, Leafs, Wild, Jets, Montreal, Bruins, Flyers, Pitt, Caps..

22 games- 11-11 equals 22 points or 106 points for the season- .500 Pace for Remainder
22 games- 14-8 equals 28 points or 112 Points for the season -Wins & losses as YTD numbers
22 games- 14-6-2 equals 30 Points or 114 points for the season- Exact % YTD for W,L,OTL

So of the teams we have to worry about for the Presidents Trophy
Vancouver would end the year at 52-21-9 for 113 Points based on their current pace.
Detroit would end the year at 53-25-4 for 110 points based on their current pace.
St. Louis would end the year 50-22-10 for 110 points based on their current pace.

So assuming and baring any natural disasters from the NYR we are on pace to win the presidents trophy and quite honestly that is our only chance of making a big run this year. If we stay on this current schneid( no regulation wins in the last 5 games and 5 out of 10 points) then we will be in a bit of trouble. Tonight is a big game, the devils have won the last two meetings and have our number a bit but are coming off 3 in 4 nights and second of back to back.. Clearsly its not a must win, but we have to show up, dubi must be prime for a break-out game, GAS line needs to heat up again, BR line needs top keep creating and the boyle line needs to chip in a bit more.. Here is to two points and a good old fashioned ass whooping for the devils...

E-No Out...

I will be very quick on this one as I am in the middle of watching the Carling Cup final and its at half right now. Again we were quite lucky to get the two points last night and all the credit goes to Cally for that insane move on Kaleta in OT off a great dish from Mac. Overall if you other fans all 15 of you who read my blog are like me and you want to win this year, you can see what we need. We still have so much trouble finishing shots and producing goals.. I think we have seen how good Step, Mac, Hags, AA, Dubi are going to be in there careers and I believe they are all capped. That does not mean they have peaked, it just means to me that there skill level is capped and they are not All stars in my book, but very good pieces who can be a part of this team for years. I know Gabby scored again last night, but his inconsistency is scary and I will let BR get away with it for now because its his first year on Broadway and we know how that can go. So I will say it again, I think we need to make the deal for Nash unless Slats thinks he has the inside push for Parise in the off season... Right now we have to many pieces in the minors not to trade some of them for a run at the cup. Where are they going to fit in on this team in the future, guys like Miller, bourque, Krieder, Thomas, Other Mac, Erixson, Etc... Just a thought for you guys.. What are your thoughts??? Good win, will take the two points, and lets Kick the Devils asses on Monday night..

E-No Out

NYI get the better of the NYR and Torts

         I want to start this blog off and get right into it about Chemistry. Now all us fans out there, myself excluded have been talking about the proposed deadline moves as possible chemistry busters. I ask you this, where has the chemistry been in the last four games and even the win against Boston. One regulation win in the last four, 3 points total out of the four games and even in the Boston game which we won on the back of Hank's Stellar performance, we were outplayed. So screw chemistry, its clear to see that we need to make a deal, we need to get more skill on this team as grit, determination and hard work can only go so far. Look people, let me explain it to you this way, I am a huge soccer fan, I watch La Liga, BPL, Serie A, Bundusliga, and so on and simply put what separates the good teams from the great teams in the long run are the stars, the ones with all the talent that might not work as hard as the middle of the road guy, but were blessed with all the moves, speed, shot, etc in the world. In my book the same applies to the world of hockey. More to come on this at the end...
        As for last night, I thought John Tavares imposed his skill on the rangers from the first whistle all the way through the shootout. Although he missed his shootout attempt I thought by far he was the best player on the ice all night and his line was insane all night long as well with Moulson get 1 and 1 and Parentau getting 2 goals along with JT 2 assists. Our defense had a tough time staying with his moves and ability to see the ice and move the puck. Ryan Mac made a terrible breakout pass that led to an attempted clear from the isles that hit JT and he made an insane between the legs pass to a streaking Parentau who whistled a slap shot over Biron's shoulder, bottom line is mac has to do better with that puck. The first unit again looked sluggish on the PP and the second unit was buzzing everywhere which was apparent with the goal from Marc Stall that I am sure Nabokov wants back... We started to calm down and play a bit better after this PP and took it to them towards the end of the first... I thought Dubi played a great game, he was all over the ice, skating well, hitting, making plays, proving to the coaching staff that he is worth keeping around although I don't think that will happen. The Isles got their 3rd goal on the PP which is something that has become a ritual for the rangers as of late, giving up PP goals. Clearly in the fits 55 games of the season we did not give up that many at all which is why we are 3rd in the league on the PK, but as of late, the defense seems to be, perhaps a bit tired, or mentally drained, I am not sure what it is, but we are giving up way to much as of late. The game changed when Biron stopped Grabner on a break-a-way attempt in the middle of the second and then only minutes later Gabby buried a break-a-way attempt of his own off a nice dish from AA off the boards. The 3rd goal was a fluke goal from a shot by Step on the PP which went in off the isles d-man... The bottom line is we were lucky to get a point out of the game for sure and need to do a lot better thins evening..
        A lot was made after the game of how Torts kept saying the rangers played "sloppy", which is not wrong at all, but one has to ask the questioning why? Is Torts' message not getting to the players anymore? Is there a Bruce Boudreau type Washington thing happening in the Rangers locker room that we the public are not aware of? I remember saying to my cousin when watching the HBo series 24\7, I felt like this team was going to stop listening to the screaming and cursing of Torts after a while and that type of coaching in all but uselsss in the professional ranks. I love the fire he brings, but to me he doesn't bring enough ice to cool things down when necessary. Now I am not around the team like some of the reporters and blogers, and I am only judging on what I see and what I feel or have felt for the past few seasons, so you have to take that with a grain of salt. I worry that some guys just drown Torts out and to me rightfully so sometimes.. This will be an interesting sage to watch and see how it works out.. Tonight in my eyes is a must win game to get this team back on track and show they are ready to take on the eastern conference in the playoff run... A loss tonight and expect Nash ont he team for Sundays game, and honestly a win tonight you can probably expect the same.. Heave ho one in a row....

E-No Out..

         TGIF and bring on the Isles... Now most of this blog will be in reference to the latest rumors surrounding Dustin Brown being available and the NYR being hot on the trail Now all the lastest rumors from the inside guys have him as our second choice behind of course RN.. So with that said, I would like to give you my take on this and see where you all stand..
       
         If and only if slats was in on a top two or four defenseman, if any are still available, I would go after Brown. I know the argument that he would fit in and play our system and is another Cally, but do we really need another cally? I would say the reason we are going after a guy like Rick Nash is because we need his firepower and bringing in a guy like DB would only slightly increase the offense assuming you don't give an AA or Dubi for him...  With that said, if its a staright up Dubi for DB deal and a pick or mid level prospect and we all think Slats has the inside track on Parise or someone of that stature int he offseason, then by all means go for it, free up the extra million plus in cap space, rid yourself of the moderately bad contract given to Dubi and get Parise to come to Manhattan, and then you have the makings of a contender for years to come. I know I am thinking ahead, but isnt the job of a GM to be a master Chess player and see two or three moves ahead? Thoughts everyone??

       I woke up this morning and thought of this crazy trade and I really want to know your thoughts. When I ran it by my cousin who has been a fan and season ticket holder for over 45 years, he asked if I had taken LSD last night.. What is the Rangers Traded Gabby and one of their D propects for Drew Doughty and some mid level proscpet. The LAK have always had a slight infatuation with Gabby and the money works out perfectly. Then Slats goes and gets Nash under the same deal as he is running now.. I know your immediate response is are you bleeping insane, but think about it. Would there be a better defense in the league? Girardi, Mac, Delz, Stall, Doughty, Sauer(when healthy), all I can say is good luck scoring on that... So in essence you are giving up gabby who we all know has been a stud at times this season and been wildly inconsistent at times as well. He has gone on goalless streaks of three games or more 7 times this season. That includes a seven game goalless streak and the current five gamer he is on now.. He is getting older and softer and will wear down before his contract is up in my eyes.. I know I am going to get hammered over this and I can't wait to hear it, but the numbers bear out my point and it might be something worth taking a look at...

         So to summerize my thoughts, Go after Brown if you are getting a top four D-man to solidfy the Top to pairs, and only if you are getting a top four guy. If no top four guy, then get Nash, move who you have to and make it work and win the damn cup this year. However if you are moving brown for Dubi if the nash deal can't work, then I do it for the Cap space to go after Parise int he off season.. Also a little bit on gabby in here that I hope to get hammered about.. Bring it on folks, comments are always welcome and I will get back at you for sure... Let go Rangers Kick the shit out of the Isles tonight...

E-No Out

With about an hour to go before the puck drops at the rock in NJ I wanted to get a quick blog up about tonight's game. To it will come down to and it quite obvious slowing down the praise line and especially limiting kovy's touches in mid ice and not allowing him to get a full head of steam going up the ice. Looks like emitter back in the lineup and cally might be back which is good, Scott out with woywitka and stralman whose play has slowed as of late will sit on the pine. Need continued production from the gas line and with cally back assume he jumps right back in with br and hags. I would like to see a good game from Dan Girardi for sure as he has had a few sow ones of late and it appears the fatigue has sent in a bit. With that said, stall can keep climbing up the ladder and getting better each game and Mac and delz can continue their solid play.. Here's to a good solid hard fought game with Hank outlasting Marty again.. 3-2 Rangers.. Lets go rangers.....

Predictions for the rest of the season... oh yeah and my pregnant wife has bronchitis

I got back from the doctors office with my 13 week pregnant wife and she has bronchitis so I am down in my home office listening to her cough and I feel terrible. I am sure she will be better in a few days.

So back to a bit more about the game last night and what lies ahead for the rangers pre trade deadline.
We have the Isles on Friday night and the Sabres on Saturday night.. Which one do you play Hank in or both? I think we have to get wins in both games, get the offense back on track and really set a tone for the remaining 22 games after these two post deadline day..
3 vs NJD
2 vs Carolina
2 vs Boston
2 vs Pittsburgh
1 each vs caps, flyers, Montreal, Jets, Minn, Leafs, Sabres, Wings, Colorado, Hawks, Sens, Isles, and Bolts.
So assume we take the four points from the weekend games vs. NYI and Buff, that would put us at 85 points through 60 games. So here is my take and I would love to hear all your input on these predication's..

NJD- 3 points of a possible 6, 1 win and 1 reg loss with one OT shootout loss..
Carolina- Take 2 points- Split
Boston- Split and take 2 points.
Pittsburgh- Split and take 2 points
Loses to Montreal, Hawks, Sens in reg
Wins against Jets, Minn, Buff, Colorado and TBL equals 10 points
OT or SO losses to Philly and Wash equals 2 points
OT or SO wins against NYI, Tor and Wings equals 6 points.

This brings our season total to 112 points..  Do we finish the season 12-7-3 or better? Does 112 points get us the Presidents trophy? Do we need the PT to win it all? Can this team as its constituted right now win the whole thing? Only time will tell.. Would love to hear your comments and get to know my followers a bit better.. thanks everyone and can't wait to hear from you..

E-NO

Pens beat us again

Have to make this one short as I have to take my pregnant wife to an urgent care facility just to be safe.. Last night I had the privilege of putting in a guest spot in Carp's Blog http://rangers.lohudblogs.com/ so you can see more of my critique there.. I will say this in my normal format, we did not come out physical enough, did not stop Geno from getting on the puck and creating and when we do that its simply put a recipe for disaster. I don't think we were heavily outplayed like we were in the first 10 minutes of the Hawks game (mind you the rest of the game we smashed them), but we just didn't have the quality of finishers as the pens do and that's what separates us from them.. As mentioned in Carp's blog, they don't fear us, the pens that is the same way it appears the Flyers and bruins do, the pens don't which scares me a bit... Will get back later and put some more thoughts down, but wanted to Thank Carp for the opportunity and get things rolling from here.. Till later...

E signing out...

Preview of tonights battle!!!

The NYR make their way to Pittsburgh to face the Penguins tonight in an Atlantic division battle. The Pens are coming off a bad loss at the hands of the Sabres (6-2) and the NYR are riding into town off an OT win over the CBJ (3-2). Here are some key stats for three key players for each team:

Pittsburgh:
Malkin- 12 Points in last 9 games, but he has slowed a bit as of late with only 2 points in his last 3 games. He and James Neal have come together quite well since Sid went down so watch out for that line.

Stall-(Jordan)- 6 points in the last five games since returning from an injury in which Mike Rupp was the culprit. He is riding a three game goal scoring streak.

Fleury- After a dismal performance against Buffalo where he gave up 3 goals on 12 shots and was pulled after 37 minutes, One has to assume he will be back in Net more focused then before. MAF has not been on his game as of late surrendering 16 goals in his last 5 starts including the Buffalo game. The

New York Rangers:
Brad Richards- 1 Point in the last 3 games, but 5 in the last five games. He has found his skating legs again and has looked much better in the past 10 days then he did in the previous 8 or so games. His confidence is high and he has to continue to create opportunities for Cally and Hags.

Gabby- 2 Points in the last 3 games and 6 in the last 5 games. The GAS line is back to the level of play it had in the middle of the campaign and needs to continue that hot streak. He needs to keep skating hard, get around defenders more and use his hands to make plays...

The King- Has won Four Starts in a row and 8 of 9 going back to January 21st. He has only surrendered 11 goals in those 9 games..

Keys to Tonight's Game for a NYR Win:

- Need to physically set the tone of the game early. We don't necessarily need a fight, but rather some good hard neutral zone checks to make them aware we came to play.
- DO NOT let Geno get the puck in the neutral zone and get his skates churning. Step up on him and force a pass and DO NOT let him past center ice with the puck.
- Stay out of the Penalty box- Pittsburgh converts nearly 20% of all PP so its crucial to not take stupid penalties.
- The GAS and BR lines must continue to gel and creating chances. Get pucks at the net, good hard low shots to create rebounds...

Here is to two more points tonight by our NYR....

Do we or Don't we, that is the Question???

         So I'm glad to be back sitting at my desk, staring outside into the 75 degree heat of Sunny South Florida. To be honest with you all, its boring waking up to the same weather every day, I miss the seasonal change of NY and that's why we are planning on going back. With that said, I have to say I was not overly impressed with the game last night however we pulled out the victory and that it all that matters in the grand scheme of things. I thought we got excellent games from the GAS line who in my opinion were buzzing all night long, BR's Line played quite well also, and the D played a fairly solid game as there really was nothing they could have done differently on the goals.
          Here is my take period by period. The first started with the rangers buzzing, creating chances all over the ice and the first two lines (gas and BR line) playing excellent. Hags and BR used there speed to create a beautiful give and go finished off by a beautiful slapper to the top right corner from BR. There is nothing else to report other then total dominance from the NYR. We got back to the basics of what shapes this team, fore-checking in the offensive end, hard checking all over the ice, getting in passing lanes and blocking shots on the defensive end. This is what is going to take us far in the playoffs.
          Onto the second period and where we created a few chances early and didn't get anything out of it, that's a rarity with this team, HAHAHA.. Hags took a penalty early and we killed it off, but a few moments later, Gabby got stood up at the blue line trying to enter the zone and proceeded to slap the defenseman in the head with his stick and get another 2 minute penalty. Before going further, I want to ask you why a guy with the speed that Gabby has gets stood up at the line so much, he never seems to be able to squeak by the d-man and get into the play as of late. I know he is still producing and has a lot more good plays then bad, but he is getting beat off the puck a lot as of late and is showing some signs of weakness in his game. Will that be exploited in the playoffs when things get tighter or does he get a second wind? So back to the Columbus PP, Boyle gets beat of the face off and a slapper from the blue line beats Hank through a whole group of bodies. Just a bit of bad luck, but can't keep losing face offs at the rate we did last night. Now onto the beautiful thing known as the NYR Power Play, as you can ascertain I am joking with that. All season with the exception of that 4-5 game spell where we were like 6-15 or something like that, the PP has been a liability for us. 5-3 last night was obismal to say the least and to be honest it will be forever until we have someone with a hard slapshot from one of the points. To win it all and get deep in the playoffs we have to figure out what is going on with the PP and start scoring at least at a 17-18% clip as opposed to the 14% we are at now.. After the PP we did continue the pressure on the CBJ and Mason and a really high shot from Danny G took a very favorable bounce and AA pounced on it and put it in the back of the net. I thought he played a very good game and has been back on track in the last 10 days or so..  The only thing I can say about the official time clock is why is it not synched to the television broadcasts? The CBJ broadcast had .02 ont he clock where the MSG feed had .01, and then the official feed had .00, that should NEVER happen in this technological age we are in now... Hopefully that gets fixed in all the arenas in the near future...
          The 3rd period started with The NYR coming out and playing well again, creating chances and playing a solid game while up 2-1. John mitchell was stoned by one of the d-men and overall the CBj were playing quite conservative and trying to pick their spots. Hank made a great save off a determined play from an otherwise unforseen Jeff Carter(more on him in a bit). Then the Wrist shot heard all the way through the NYR front office, another face off loss lead to a beautiful sniper style wrist shot from Rick Nash, man I dislike late goals, but at least we did not lose the game on that slapper, we just had to extend it a bit.
           Not much I have to say about the play in OT expect WOW.. The play to get out of teh zone from Delz was classy, then the drive into the zone finding Gabby at the point, who found Delz on the wing, and once Delz realized he wasn't going to be able to shoot, he saucered a pass to Step who steamrolled it into the goal for a highlight reel goal. One has to ask themselves, why we don't score more goals like that, I know 4-4 there is more room, but we clearly have skilled guys and can clearly make plays like that more often, and perhaps we should..
         Overall thoughts are as follows, solid win as I said we will take the two points. Solid play from the top two lines, but need more from the other two for sure. Can't get tired like we have done in previous seasons leading into the playoffs. Is it me or does the boyle line get caught in our end way to many times for long stretches. I feel like it happens at least once a game if not more. I know they give a lot on the other end and all over the ice, but they can't get caught like that, its nots going to be good.. I think its time to let Bickell sit a few games, I mean he and Rupp are playing like 5-6 minutes a night which is pointless. Torts has been doing so well rolling all four, keeping guys fresh and please do not let him revert back to his old ways of playing 3 lines and tiring out the boys to quickly.. Well with all that said and I could go on for more, heres to Pittsburgh on Tuesday and hopefully two more points, got to track down the Red Wings.....  GO NYR......

So as we were on the eve of a potential great battle between the two teams that sit atop the eastern conference standings last night in Boston, those who watched I don't think were disappointed one bit. From the start you could see that this was going to be a playoff type game with the rangers playing like Bayer Leverkusen did against Barcelona earlier in the day(sorry for the obscure Soccer reference). With a very defensive posture and making sure not to make any mistakes, the rangers let the game come to them and really started to frustrate the Bruins. Then when we got a chance on the PP which has been much prettier of late since the boys started to move the puck, and oh yeah move their skates, we put one home on a beautiful cross ice pass from Gabby to Delz, then Delz to Cally for the tip in finish, almost the exact same play as they did against Philly on Sat. Then as we settled in with a one goal lead we kept frustrating the bruins by making all or most of their shots come from poor angles outside the circles. Late in the period after an excellent shift of pressure and more pressure, Ryan Mac threw the puck and the net and Big Z was too big for his own good. If it were any other player it hits him in the gut area and drops easily to the ice, but Z being like 7 foot tall on skates, it hit him in the leg\thigh area and careened into the net for a nice 2-0 lead going into the second..

The second period was a tough one, the Bruins came out flying, skating fast, taking shots from everywhere, had serious grit in their game, but through all of that, they could not score.. I texted my cousin saying I feel like the bruins look like we usually do or did last year, lots of shots, great control of the puck and nothing to show for it. Perhaps the counter attacking style truly is working,but living on the edge scares me more then I would like to tell you.. So we escape the second still up 2-0 and we know Boston is going to come out hot and bothered and we must hang on and counter as we see fit.. The third starts the same way as the second with Boston buzzing everywhere. Finally a little play from stralman up the boards to dubi who made a great play to get the puck to AA led to the third goal which was a beauty of a wrist shot past TT... I will say this, if AA were to put on 10-15 lbs, learn how to get his shot off quicker and not blocked so much, he would score 30 every year easily... As the period progressed I noticed lucic  had came out with a nasty side to his game and really started to get physical, sometimes leaning towards the goon side, and sometimes looking legit. We withstood attack after attack, great puck possession from the bruins in our end, and shot after shot. Hank stopped a total of 42 shots from Boston with some beauty's down the stretch including a break-away attempt with about 45 seconds to go.. He lowered his league lead among full time starters in GAA to 1.77 and SP to .941%.. The real king in in NY, not MIA..... Lets go beat the Hawks at the garden tomorrow night, then get two much needed days off until the CBJ come to town.. Do we want to make a move for Nash? Do you give up CK for Nash knowing what you get out of nash and what the upside might be for CK? Tough choices ahead for Sather, hope he doesn't screw it up...

         So here we sit on the eve on a big game against Boston Tonight. We sit atop the Eastern conference standings with 77 points through 54, one point behind the Red wings who have 78 points, but have played 3 more games then we have. Coming off what can only be described as a majorly successful long weekend with wins over the TBL, Philly, and Washington, we no have Boston and Chicago to go to finish off this 6 game gauntlet. I said to my friends before the start of the game last Tuesday against the NJD that if we took 8 out of a possible 12 points I would be very satisfied. Right now as we sit, we have taken 6 out of 8 with 4 more up for grabs tonight and Thursday... 
          Here is the question that has been posed all over the blog, Newspaper, pre-game, etc world.. Do you mess with the chemistry to get a big name player like a Nash, carter, perry, Ryan, etc???? I will answer the way I have for some time, if you get a stud and its not going to cause any major cap issues from here on out, then you get him as long as it doesn't cost a kings ransom.. I would give Dubi, AA, and a first or Erixson for Nash or Ryan.. I would soften that up for Carter or perry.. Unless you flash an absolute stud in front of me, no way I get rid of Kreider, period.... I think miller, Thomas, McCaralth, and some of the other youngsters are trade worthy, but Kreider is not in my book... What is every ones thoughts???? Let's go NYR, kick some Bruin ass tonight....

Robbed not by the goalie but the Ref

           So I want to welcome all the nearly zero viewers to my Blog. I have been trying to figure out how to get my feelings out for a while now and through the help of my cousin, I was able to figure out ho wot start this blog. This journey will take us through the end of the NHL season, giving my personal comments of the games I get to watch. This blog comes to you from Florida which shows how dedicated I am to making the best out of it. So this is it, lets get started and hopefully the zero viewers will turn into tens, then hundreds, then thousands, only time will tell..
            I will be brief on last nights game, I believe it was a horrible call with 3.5 seconds to go. I think you have to take into affect the player that the penalty was called on. Is gabby someone who crashes the next on frequent occasions? Is gabby the big hard around the net pounding type guy who is going to run into the goalie like that? Oh and then when you have a 225 lb man behind you all over your back riding you into the goalie, what are you supposed to do? How do you stop even after clearly making the effort to stop? I think i stand alone on this one as it appears that all the experts(if we can call them that) say that the right call was made, I believe otherwise.. I think we were robbed of at least a point and I completely disagree with the call.. Well with that stated, we are now on our way to the second game of the the 6 in 10 night schedule against a gauntlet of opponents. In my view we have to get the two points out of this one for sure.. Let Go Rangers...