March 7th, the day had been circled on my calendar for weeks. The disenchanted masses were gathering for a showdown.  Time to let the fat cats at MSG/Cablevision know us Blueshirt faithful weren’t going to take it anymore… that Glen Sather was no longer welcome in our town.

The Fire Sather Rally was scheduled for 5pm sharp on 7th avenue side of the Garden. Mike Zippo and his crew did a wonderful job setting up and pushing this shindig. Even the credentialed press like Steve Zipay, Larry Brooks and Andrew Gross were mentioning the event in their online blogs.

So what went wrong? Well other than Cablevision brass being distracted by their own ABC fiasco?

With 1,200+ confirmed guests on Facebook plus those attending the game that would most likely filter in; I was half expecting a 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention moment. Tear gas, riot gear… Hubert Humphrey.

Here was the golden opportunity to take full advantage of having a public forum to express our dismay and rage at how our beloved team has been run amok for the last decade.

OK, maybe riot gear and tear gas was going a tad overboard. However, having hundreds upon hundreds of die-hard Rangers’ fans gathered in unity and showing the Rangers’ brass that here were fans no longer willing to take it… no longer willing to watch sub-par mediocrity being shoveled on the ice season after season like steaming horse dung.

So, why did only 100 something people bother to show up?

Where were the masses?

Where was the outcry??

Don’t get me wrong, I tip my hat to the 100 who came with their signs and chants. I especially enjoyed the fella behind us yelling, “Sather is a baby killer!”

What truly irked me were those passerby fans that may have not known about the event but stumbled upon it. I mean, you’re heading to the game you just spent hundreds of dollars on tickets to watch a team who despite their overinflated salaries were once again going to have to scrounge for every last point just to make the playoffs…

Hark, what’s this? A mass of angry fans gathering to protest the man that has single handedly brought disappointment to our lives with his dreadful decisions and bloated contracts! Shall we join in? Nah! Let’s just gape and watch for a few minutes then aimlessly wander inside to piss away more money.

And, that’s how the great Fire Sather Rally went down that fateful day. 100+ faithful stood closed together in barricaded pens outside the Fuse building as onlookers casually watched from across the street. Two very bored members of NY’s Finest held the peace and urged everyone to keep clear and stay within the barricade. Whoopity doo.

On a positive note even though Rangers’ suits snickered and sneered from across the street the NY press did take a serious notice. The Fuse Building sidewalk was lined with the press elite all jotting notes and witnessing the event. Larry Brooks even received his own chant to which he waved playfully to the crowd.

Zippo’s efforts were not completely in vain. In the end the Rally did get mention in the Post and Newsday; however what cannot be ignored is that our fellow fans failed to do their part and show their support as they promised to do behind their Facebook pages.

Mike Zippo attempted to spearhead a coup, a movement. Instead it was more like a newest version iPhone pre-sale at an Apple store. He was undone by the very people he was trying to help.

Apparently Rangers’ fans are angry, just not angry enough. Or maybe, just plain apathetic.

After the 7-2 shellacking of the Toronto Maple Leafs last night and utter dominance over the Mighty Ducks on Sunday; most of us our wondering to ourselves are these really the NY Rangers… our Rangers??

The Rangers are now 5-1 which exactly matches last season’s red hot October so far. Of course last season the best October in franchise history slowly morphed into an atrocious November through March. So what are the differences from this season to last? How do we know that this team will not eventually cool off and slip back into the mediocrity that we all know oh so well?

The main difference so far from this season to last year’s is the offense. This is not a team that sits back and waits for the opposing team to make mistakes. This Rangers team thus far is a team that makes their own opportunities, constantly forechecking, constantly hitting and constantly attacking the net.

John Tortorella will accept nothing less. The Rangers received another verbal outburst from the coach last night after letting their play slip in the 2nd period. Once again they responded, this time with 4 unanswered goals in the third period.

The second main difference is that this team now has guys that can finish. The Rangers newly outfitted first line of Gaborik, Dubinsky and Prospal have now combined for a total of 22 points in just 6 games. Gaborik has tallied 9 points, Dubinsky  has 6 points and Prospal has been nothing but solid back under the glare of Tortorella with 7 points.

The scoring doesn’t end there, the Rangers have enjoyed scoring from all their lines as Ales Kotalik has 5 points and he’s now playing on the 4th line since Avery’s return . And, of course the “Grate One” himself, Sean Avery has slotted 3 points in the two games he has played including the two goals he netted last night.

Another difference between the 2009-10 NY Rangers is that the defense is pitching in offensively, 19 year old Michael Del Zotto is leading the blue liners with 5 points, Daniel Girardi had two goals last night giving him 4 points and Wade Redden finally got involved scoring his 3 points last night.

The main stat difference from this season from last season is the goal differential. Last season the Rangers had 17 goals for and 11 against. This season they have 24 goals for and 12 against. This team has already shown chemistry with each other that it took all season to develop last season. Hell, this team even has scored 7 power play goals so far!

—

But before we get too ahead of ourselves let’s remember the season is a marathon not a sprint, I remember saying that last year too, ugh. This team must stay healthy and not let themselves get run down playing their aggressive style. I don’t think there is Ranger fan anywhere that isn’t holding their breath every single time Gaborik takes some abuse along the boards.

So far Marian Gaborik has been everything as advertised. He’s opening the ice for his teammates and is a valid threat each and every shift he plays. Toronto GM Brian Burke lamented last night that Gaborik is one of the few players in the league that makes him nervous every single time he has the puck. Burke’s nervousness is quite warranted, Gaborik was responsible for last week’s win over the Capitals with back to back goals to tie and win the game.

The Rangers will attempt to continue their 5 game winning streak on Wednesday against the Kings at the Garden.

~Scott Gallof
Follow me on Twitter

The Blue Man Group helped the Rangers’ kick off their new season during the Home Opener. Those guys sure look vaguely familiar…

So what does the 2009-10 season have in store for the Rangers? Most of the so called experts are calling for the Rangers to flounder and fall out of playoff contention. Can Gaborik actually play more than 60 games? Can Lundqvist handle the workload along with the grueling schedule of the Olympics?

The main glaring weakness as per the peanut gallery is the Rangers’ young untested defense. The Rangers are carrying two rookies on the blue line in 19 year old Michael Del Zotto who jumped up to make the team from the OHL and Matt Gilroy who last season was playing for Boston University.

The main workhorses of the Rangers’ “D” will be Marc Staal. Staal had a substantial 24 minutes of ice time in both games so far. Much pressure will be placed on young Staal as he is still in the adolescence of his career. Where Ryan Callahan received the “A” on his jersey, would it really be that farfetched not to see Staal wearing one in the not too distant future?

Meanwhile the Rangers’ actual veteran defensemen seem to be the biggest question mark. Wade Redden and Michal Rozsival have been split up to work alongside the two rookies. Rozsival had a less than spectacular preseason and has been quite rocky in the first two games of the season so far. Redden has shown improvement since last season when Tortorella took over the helm, yet to say he has been earning that bulbous paycheck would be quite the stretch.

Franchise goaltender Henrik Lundqvist will be put to the ultimate test this season. Lundqvist was quite solid this past Saturday making 32 saves including stuffing some breakaway attempts when the Rangers were caught with their pants down. Lundqvist made 28 saves against the Penguins Friday night allowing three goals past him from the Stanley Cup champions.

Oh Henry, where oh where would we be without you? Shot from my section 342 seats… 18x optical zoom is pretty sweet, eh?

The powerplay will be another point of contention for this team after last season’s utter failure in this department. So far the Rangers are 0-9 with the man advantage; however from Saturday’s game they were certainly getting their chances. The hope is that the power play will work itself out with the new offensive weapons at hand.

Marian Gaborik so far has been up to his task with 2 goals and an assist so far. His presence on the line with Brandon Dubinsky and Vaclav Prospal has been quite effective. The Rangers’ top line has combined so far for 8 points in just two games. The question is can they keep it up? Brandon Dubinsky after all the off-season contract drama has showed up with 4 points including two goals and an assist in the home opener.

Aaron Voros and Ottawa’s Mike Fisher have a minor disagreement about quantum mechanical physics.

Some Random thoughts:

The weak link so far for the Rangers’ offense has been the third line of Artem Anisimov, Enver Lisin and Ales Kotalik who are combined for -4 +/-.

Brian Boyle in Saturday’s game was a stand out on the penalty kill, twice taking the puck deep in the zone on his own thus killing precious seconds off the clock.

Brashear received smatterings of boos when he touched the puck. Hey look, he’s on our team now. Best thing to do is get behind and root for the guy. Least, let him royally tank before you start the Rozsival treatment.

Rangers celebrate their first win of 2009-10. Del Zotto dead center scored his first NHL goal.

—

The Rangers will return to action tonight against those loathsome New Jersey Devils tonight in Newark. The Devils will be looking for vengeance after Philadelphia embarrassed them during their opener. Martin Brodeur let up 5 goals against the Flyers, let us hope he does more of the same against the likes of Marian Gaborik and the Rangers.

Sean Avery who has been skating with the team is universally not expected to make his return to the team until at least Thursday’s game in Washington.

~Scott Gallof
Follow me on Twitter!

As the temperatures finally dip into the mild 70’s and 60’s and the sun begins to set earlier every evening you realize the summer has finally come and gone.  Hockey season is just now a week away.

This was truly a summer of transition for both the NY Rangers and the Gallof boys.

After two+ seasons writing for Hockeybuzz we decided we wanted to roll out a site of our own. It truly was a family affair as everyone pitched in with their own background of expertise. BD’s blogger networking skills, my web design back ground and Phillip’s coding work. It was both a rewarding and frustrating experience all rolled into one. Just a word of warning for all you would be site makers, if something can go wrong it most likely will.

Now that the site is alive and breathing I realized now after pretty much a three month hiatus I need to get back into hockey blogger mode and concentrate on the NY Rangers who has made some drastic changes as well.

The Rangers in their first round ousting after taking a 3-1 lead in the series fell short against the Capitals in game 7 and in expectations for that season.   After a surging October the Rangers plummeted back to earth with agonizing scoring droughts and a god-awful power play.

The defensive minded Tom Renney, who was responsible for coaching the Rangers back into the playoffs, was replaced with the wild gunning and water bottle throwing John Tortorella who got the Rangers into the playoffs with a late season grueling push.

Now Coach Tortorella will have a full season to shape and mold this team into his snarling guerrilla fore-checking outfit.

When you join my command, you take on debt. A debt you owe me personally. Each and every man under my command owes me ten power play goals. And I want my power play goals. And all y'all will git me ten power play goals…

In an effort to further transform the team for the new season, the Rangers conducted a major turnover of free agents as Blair Betts, Colton Orr, Fredrik Sjostrom, Nigel Dawes, Nikolai Zherdev were all were jettison loose. The biggest piece moved was Scott Gomez after being traded over to Les Canadiens.

Instead, Glen Sather jumped on the Marian Gaborik boat shelling out another lofty contract at the young Slovak. Much will be invested in Gaborik and whether his injury issues are behind him. Most of us Blueshirt faithful cringed when we heard he would be missing the first few preseason games with a sore groin. However sore groin and all he produced quite well in his first two games in a Rangers’ jersey.

With four points so far in the preseason he had two goals and an assist last night including a shorthanded laser beam through Jose Theodore’s wide open 5-hole, Theodore only seemed to realize Gaborik launched the shot after the red light was already on.

Newly acquired college hockey phenom Matt Gilroy has so far been quite impressive in both camp and the preseason. Gilroy has already made a YouTube highlight reel in his goal against the Devils last week where he undressed Mark Fraser on his way to the net.

Both he and first round draft pick Michael Del Zotto have started to make this team an actual threat from the blueline on the power play. The Rangers’ power play already seems vastly improved but it’s hard to gauge still in preseason.

Additions such as Christopher Higgins, Brian Boyle, Ales Kotalik and of course the loathsome Donald Brashear seemed to add both size and spunk to the squad. Yeah I’m still mad about the late hit on Blair Betts too, that said once Brashear slams that Sidney Crosby into the boards that causes his whiney teeth to shatter, I’ll get on the Brashear bandwagon real fast. Tortorella seems to be quite happy with having Brashear on the bench and seemed convinced that Ranger fans will eventually warm up to the notorious enforcer.

The Brandon Dubinsky off-season drama has finally concluded to much the relief of Rangers’ fans. Dubinsky made his debut last night and picked up just where he left off. Dubinsky showed off both his grace and physical prowess by taking the puck deep in the zone and sacrificing his body to get the puck over to Higgin’s stick for the game-winner. Tortorella had by the third period slotted Dubinsky in a line with both Higgins and Gaborik which seemed like a perfect picture fit.

With only one game left to the pre-season young players like Grachev, Anisimov and Del Zotto have one more chance to make their case for slot on the team when the Rangers start the season next Friday in Pittsburgh.

The Rangers’ home opener will be the following evening against Ottawa, I’ll be there with a Stella in hand to see the newly re-tooled Blueshirts prove all the analysts wrong this season, yeah I’m talking about you The Hockey News.

~Scott Gallof
E-mail me
Follow me on Twitter