It was a hoot to see last week the hapless Rangers tied with the Isles who were exceeding expectations by not being dead last. Though for Isles fans, there is likely only one thing they want this holiday season…the Lighthouse Project come to some accord with Nassau, Suffolk, Brooklyn, Queens or Plum freakin Island at this point.

The Isles are floating in a possible playoff contention potential thanks to an effective 1st line: Matt Moulson, Kyle Okposo and John Tavares.  But everytime you break them up, only Neilsen and Hunter have been able to pop in a goal. Meanwhile they do this with one of the weakest overrated defenses. Marc Streit, Jack Hillen and Andy Sutton are the only bright spots. That’s half folks, with Andy McDonald looking good as a call up.

Ranger fans fondest wish might the removal of Glen Sather who has hamstrung the team with awful contracts to players who have not lived up to their deal. Their offense, until just lately, has been on the shoulders of now also overpaid, yet living up the bargain while healthy, Marion Gaborik. Their defense is godawful, with Dan Girardi (thanks Cris!) and Marc Staal being the only bright spots and reasonably paid.

Plus, at least they don’t have someone locked up in a 15 year deal with creaky knees.

So, upon this holiday season, we would like to hand out a few presents and holiday wishes…

ISLANDER GIFTS FROM Sibling Rivalry

Chosen by Scott Gallof

For the NY Islanders:

For the NY Islanders Offense

RANGER GIFTS FROM Sibling Rivalry

Chosen gifts by B.D. Gallof

BD is getting the NY Rangers some movies this XMAS . . .

For Coach John Tortorella – Anger Management

For The NY Rangers Defense: March of the Wood Soldiers

I think everyone deserves a Wade Redden slab of wood this Xmas. Why not make that the whole defense?

And a special gift from us both to NY Islanders Coach Scott Gordon who bean pot trotted in this piece of…err…history?

Click here to view the embedded video.

We give you the moves by video fitness guru, John Basedow, who actually did a rap for the holidays

Click here to view the embedded video.

Take notes, Gordo.

]]> http://hockeyindependent.com/blog/sibling-rivalry/8382/feed/ 4 http://hockeyindependent.com/blog/sibling-rivalry/6715/ http://hockeyindependent.com/blog/sibling-rivalry/6715/#comments Wed, 02 Dec 2009 18:01:28 +0000 Sibling Rivalry http://hockeyindependent.com/blog/?p=6715

To we Gallof boys, most situations hearken to a movie. Whether it be large or small, parody or tragedy, good news or bad, we tend to come up with some sort of twisted bent with images and other silliness to describe it.

So, in honor of this appreciation of movies, and with a huge hat tip to the boys at Yahoo’s Puck Daddy blog, we will kick off our first contest here on HockeyIndependent. Prizes are choices from a slew of movies from the Back To The Future Trilogy on DVD, to Blu Ray movies like Full Metal Jacket, Blazing Saddles, V for Vendetta, Ocean’s 11 and much more. Actually, not just one contest but two…so there are a few ways to win…

CONTEST #1

Photoshop your own “NHL Goes Hollywood”. Use you image skills, or complete lack-of, to create some funny NHL-to-movie renditions. Our own to kick this off are below. Points are for creativity, laugh-meter, and concepts. We Gallofs will judge and look for top 3 winners. Send as many images you’d like. We’ll attempt to showcase them (another hat tip to Puck Daddy) as we go along plus at the end.

Deadline for this contest is Friday, December 11th with the winner to be announced that following Monday.

Email your images to bd@hockeyindependent.com and please put in the subject: NHL Goes Hollywood Entry.

What, you don’t do Photoshop or are terrible with images? Your mouse hand hurts from clutching it everytime a team shoots on your poor Maple Leafs? Well, for you we have another contest that is about wit and tweets!

CONTEST #2

On Twitter Follow @HockeyIndie our new Twitter account for HockeyIndependent and help spread the word while also coming up with
your own #NHLgoeshollywood takes of Hollywood meeting the NHL.

Here there are two ways to win prizes!

1. Top three tweets of #NHLgoeshollywood wins a prize!

2. Top three “quality” #NHLgoeshollywood overall twitterers will also win!

Sibling Rivalry will judge both these contests. That means the two Gallof boys decide. Deal with it.

Deadline for the TWEET #NHLgoeshollywood Follow @HockeyIndie contest is this coming Monday, December 7th.

Questions? Concerns? Post them below for clarity. Otherwise, make some excitement as we all gear up for the Holidays and get some loot from HockeyIndependent along with it.

Scott and I have done some of our own to kick this thing off….

Scott Gallof ignores Kyle Wellwood and goes for the other portly punching bag

BD Gallof with the Curious Case of Chris Chelios

Scott Gallof with Patrick Kane playing a petulant Scorcese in the back of DeNiro's taxi in TAXI DRIVER

BD will probably rile Sidney fans as he uses him and Gary Bettman for his version of THE CRYING GAME

BD finds Theo Fleury in the worst bathroom in Calgary with this ode to TRAINSPOTTING

Scott with the new screwball comedy based on Threesome, called Sloppy Seconds!

And, it wouldn’t be a Sibling Rivalry without taking a shot at the Isles or Rangers, so, BD provides some NY Ranger seasonal observations a la Big Lebowski, guest-starring Sidney Crosby…

The Rangers face the NY Islanders over at the Coliseum. Sure, the Islanders aren’t exactly scaring anyone at dead last in the conference. But, hell, at least they aren’t Toronto. Meanwhile the Rangers have been on quite a run.

But when they play one another, it doesn’t matter who is first nor last. That’s what makes the rivalry so special. Sometimes, well, it’s all you have.


That’s right, it’s time for Sibling Rivalry, as two blogging brothers square off debate-style on HockeyIndependent.

Scott Gallof - (Occasional Hockey Independent Blogger)

Well, well, its been a long, long offseason hasn’t it? Well not so much for you guys and this silly Lighthouse hoopla. How is that all going anyhow? When do they break ground, soon? Hell it’s only been a decade.

I can’t even poke all that much fun at you, even I a Rangers’ fan is pretty irked on how both sides have conducted themselves in this giant mess. You guys are supposed to be a hockey team not a platform for silly non-essential Long Island legislators to flex their slovenly, pizza greased muscles over. Just build the damn thing already, I’m sick of hearing about it.

Btw, a belated congratulations on your first win of the season. Don’t let anyone tell you how pathetic it is to take 7 games for your first win. With the steaming piles of fecal matter you have in goal and everyone you have playing minus your first line and Marc Streit, I’d say it was quite the achievement.

They say if you spent 100 hours a week bashing your head against a concrete block, eventually a piece will fall off.

BD Gallof – (Owner, HockeyIndependent.com)

Laugh it up, fuzzball. I think it is a nervous laugh as your contractual leap of faith, Marion Gaborik is now out from tonight’s game due to an undisclosed ailment. The man with the glass hip and nads clearly is encased in Carbonite when traveling with the Rangers for away games.

Yeah, I get it. We suck. What else is new? We signed two goalies that make Valiquette look good when our defense is in front of them.

But don’t look now, slappy, but your team is an injury away from a tip over the edge. Amazing how a hot start has Ranger fans getting all hyped up. Paper chumps is more like it.

Talk to me in December to let me know if you have the real thing. San Jose’s whupping you should already give you a clear idea that you have along way to go.

Scott Gallof - (Occasional Hockey Independent Blogger)

The only reason he is out tonight is just a precaution and since we aren’t playing a real team ole Tort’s figured he’d give the big guy some rest. He twinged his knee at the end of his last game, which has nothing to do with either his groin or hip. So let’s not get all panicky kid.

The fact of the matter is our “leap of faith” has been paying off quite splendidly with 18 points in just 12 games. But what you fail to mention up on your pulpit is that the Rangers are also getting plenty of scoring from other places as well.

Prospal 16pts, Kotalik 12pts, and our rookie gem Michael Del Zotto who also has 12pts racked up and at the tender age of 19 is already quarterbacking the now productive power play. Measure that against your prized first draft pick, with his 7 points and -6 +/-.

So suck on that.

B.D. Gallof - (Owner, HockeyIndependent.com)

Yes, a precaution. Surely. Because if it’s anything more, your offense falls faster than Owen Hart. Then watch all those players: one rookie and two guys: Prospal and Enver Lisin who are clearly reaping rewards of Gabby-Gabba-Ouch.

Let’s hope they are encasing something else in Carbonite, so that offense you tout so highly actually stays afloat.

Oh, speaking of dinged up, how bout Henrik Lundqvist hitting a guard rail when his car slid off the road on the way to practice. There’s another collective breath from the Rangers faithful, who would have slid right through the standings without their fashion-plate fop who was probably trying to fix his quaffe through the rear-view mirror.

Maybe you could have asked his brother to play goalie had he hurt himself . . .

Scott Gallof - (Occasional Hockey Independent Blogger)

You know really, as an Islanders fan you shouldn’t even be allowed to type Lundqvist’s name let alone ridicule him. You know deep down in that flakey deep battered fish fry heart of yours you’d give up one of your own metal balls to have him in net for your team. But alas you got the first round pick that year, how is ole wobble knee/hip/upper/lowerbody anyhow?

It’s completely ironic to me that you can do an image of Gaborik frozen in Carbonite yet your own franchise goaltender has played a total of 5 games in the last two years… those in glass Mausoleums should not throw pucks.

Speaking of the Mausoleum did it ever occur to you that perhaps the Rangers’ were so embarrassed to having to play in such a scrapheap hellhole tonight they are sitting Gaborik just so that building’s taint would not reach a player of his skill and caliber. It would certainly be something I would consider.

.

The building is an abomination as is the team that plays there. Maybe instead of passing out Lighthouse posters to their fans maybe it’s due time the Islanders’ brass just hand out cyanide capsules to put you all out of your collective misery.

Btw,  that Lighthouse hat I got, will it be a collector’s item at any point?

B.D. Gallof - (Owner, HockeyIndependent.com)

Yeah, yeah. Well, it is true that you might be the only Ranger blogger ever invited to a Lighthouse Project meeting. Just having you walk into the room to a round of boos from the staff and Isles bloggers was quite a treat.

Rick DiPietro is just fine, btw. The Isles brass said so, so it must be true.

Speaking of people who love the media, how is old Hot Head Torts? One wonders if he’s just a day or two away from a complete blowout with Larry Brooks or some fan in the seats.

See that water bottle he’s heaving into the air? That is about the closest you will get to heaving a cup as long as you have Glen Sather and Chuckie Dolan as the brain trust.

So, you can strut your way in to the Coliseum, rump roast. But, methinks there is a lot of concern and fear behind that strut. That any second that the Rangers will suddenly be shown for the posers they are.

How you like them apples, paunchy? Oh that’s right, I get to finish this.

So…suck it.