The New York Rangers will invade the Verizon Center on Wednesday in what amounts to a rematch of the first round series in 2009.  The Rangers were able to steal the first two games of that series.  The Capitals ultimately battled back to win the series in seven games, but that is scenario not worth repeating.

The Rangers were one of the few teams to dominate the Capitals this season.  In the four games this season, the Rangers outscored the Caps 18-6, including two wins in which the Rangers outscored the Caps 13-0.  This certainly will play into the psyche of the Rangers who will use those wins as a vote of confidence.

But the not-so-secret weapon arming the Rangers is Henrik Lundqvist.  If the Rangers are to have any chance of winning this series, it must be on the shoulders of the King.  The Rangers will go only as far as Lundqvist takes them.  He is the straw that stirs the drink on Broadway.  In the first round series in 2009, Lundqvist just about won the series for the Rangers if not for the third period heroics by Sergei Fedorov.  But the fact that the Rangers were able to stretch that series to seven games was due to the play of Lundqvist.  Over the course of his career, Lundqvist’s numbers in the playoffs are far from spectacular.  A .907 save percentage and 2.66 GAA are good, but not great.  Lundqvist will have to improve these numbers if the Rangers are to have a chance at stopping the likes of Ovechkin, Backstrom, and Semin.  If history is any indication, we know the Capitals are going to rack up a ton of shots.  But will they be quality shots?  No team blocks shots better then the Rangers, so a combination of Lundqvist playing at an elite level and solid defensive play in front could spell trouble for the Capitals.  The Capitals must make Lundqvist work.  He played the final 26 games for the Rangers so fatigue could become an issue if this turns into a long series.  The Caps need to get to Lundqvist early.  Allowing the Rangers to get on top could spell trouble as the Rangers were a perfect 29-0-0 when leading after the second period.

The Capitals have seen this before.  The style the Rangers play is eerily similar to the style the Canadiens implemented against the Caps last season.  The Habs were able to stymie the Capitals attack by keeping everything to the outside and from the blue line.  They clogged up the neutral zone, had sticks in the lanes, and sacrificed their bodies whenever possible.  Now that the Caps have experienced it, will they make the appropriate adjustments to combat this?

Capitals three keys to victory

Goaltending: The biggest question surrounding the Capitals is who will be the starting goalie in game one.  All indications point to Michal Neuvirth getting the start in game one.  If history is any indicator, any early struggles by Neuvirth will be answered in the form of Semyon Varlamov.  The last two trips to the post season saw Boudreau pull his game one starter after the first game.  In both instances, Jose Theodore was tasked with game one duties and on both occasions he was relieved by Semyon Varlamov.  Neuvirth was the more consistent of the two this season, racking up 27 wins to just 12 regulation losses.  The Rangers are far from an offensive juggernaut, but are amongst the stingiest of teams defensively at even strength.  You can expect all games in this series to be low scoring, which means solid goaltending will be paramount.  Neuvirth likely will not face an inordinate amount of shots, but he must make the saves he is supposed to make.  Any soft goals or ill-timed goals could spell doomsday for the Capitals as scoring on the Rangers will be no easy task.  Granted Neuvirth has no NHL playoff experience, that doesn’t mean he hasn’t performed in pressure packed situations.  In four seasons in North America, in the OHL and AHL, Neuvirth is yet to lose a playoff series.  Neuvirth has two Calder Cups under his belt, so one can infer that he has what it takes to win.  But again, nothing in his experience compares to the fire he is about to be thrown into; the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Special Teams: This series will likely be determined by the special teams.  Neither team’s power play is particularly dangerous at this point.  That has to change if the Capitals are going to win this series.  A season ago, the Capitals managed just one power play goal against the Canadiens.  That ultimately cost the Caps the series.  The Rangers finished 5^th in the NHL is total goals against, and 10^th on the penalty kill.  The Rangers have allowed just one power play goal against in their last 10 games.  On the flip side, a Capitals power play that has been asleep for most of the season now have five goals in their last four games.  This trend must continue for the Caps.  This will be a difficult task now that we know Dennis Wideman will be inactive for the first round series.  A leg hematoma landed Wideman in the hospital and reports suggest the Wideman won’t be ready until the second round at the earliest.  This is bad news for the Capitals power play that ideally would have a one-two punch of Wideman and Mike Green on the points.  Mike Green should be back from a concussion he ironically suffered against the New York Rangers.  Nevertheless, the return of Mike Green will be huge for the Capitals power play; most importantly will allow Ovechkin to move down either the left circle of the high slot.   Brooks Laich, who has been getting time on the point, has done a magnificent job.  It just so happens that the recent power play success the Caps have enjoyed coincides perfectly with Brooks Laich being moved to the point.  He has simplified the duty of the point person by putting hard shots on net.  Jason Arnott has also shown the ability to play the point as well.  The good news for the Caps power play is that they have a plethora of options.  Hopefully the power play struggles are a thing of the past.

Mental Toughness: Possibly the biggest question is whether or not the Capitals are thinking about the debacle they endured last season.  Will they enter this series thinking about what happened to them last season?  This will not be an easy series.  The Capitals will certainly have some adversity to face as this series progresses.  The two teams are just too similar for there not to be.  So when things aren’t going the Caps’ way, how will they react?  One can only wait to find out, but surely they must handle the adversity better than they did a season ago.  This is where the acquisition of Jason Arnott and Marco Sturm really pay dividends.  Arnott for one is a Cup winner.  He entered the Caps locker room after being acquired at the trade deadline and instantly had the attention of every member on the team.  He said the things that needed to be said and the team has responded.  The Caps went on a nine game winning streak soon after the Arnott’s injection into the lineup.  The same goes for Marco Sturm.  Sturm isn’t as vocal of a leader as Arnott, but he demands respect just the same.  A major indicator of the Caps’ new found mental toughness has been the success they have had in one goal games this season.  The Capitals finished 26-9-11 in one goal games this season.  The Capitals faced an exorbitant amount of adversity this season, none greater then the eight game losing streak they endured in December.  I can’t stress the importance of enduring that adversity then, as opposed to now.  Theoretically they have learned from that experience and will be able to handle any forthcoming adversity.

Prediction

When scanning the potential opponents the Capitals could face in round one of the playoffs, the Rangers were the team that scared me most.  The reasons for this were Henrik Lundqvist and the defensive scheme they implement.  I was reminded of how Lundqvist almost single-handedly beat the Caps two seasons ago.  Additionally, the Capitals are not the offensive juggernaut they were a season ago.  They have struggled to score goals for most of the season, and don’t have the power play they had a season ago either.  But in comes Jason Arnott and this team has been completely different.  The Rangers may have humbled the Caps in their season series, but they haven’t faced the Caps since the trade deadline acquisitions.  The loss of Ryan Callahan will be huge for the Rangers.  He is the heart and soul of their team; a guy who plays in every situation.  With the defensive style the Capitals have implemented, it will difficult for the Rangers to put goals on the board.  Assuming they Capitals remain disciplined and refrain from taking dumb penalties, they should be in good shape.  The Capitals are far and away better offensively.  And last but not least, I just can’t see the Caps losing to an eight seed two years in a row. 

Capitals in 6

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Offensively, they have have done decently with Dubinsky and Callahan stepping it up as well as a couple of others.  One real disappointment has been Frolov who needs a GPS to find the net and has looked lost during some games.  In goal, they have gotten steady play from Lundqvist, but haven’t always given him enough support. 

If this type of play keeps up, the season may be over sooner than we think since they can’t continue to think they can win at all playing blah hockey like this.  I’m hoping that when Gaborik comes back that they can get back to some better efforts on the ice to stay in the race for a playoff spot.  I know it’s only late October, but playoff spots can be won and lost in the first 20-25 games and if they start to go in reverse, the last 70+ games could be agonizing to watch.

Well on the bright side, at least they have found ways to find the back of the net unlike last year, where it was a struggle to get goals from anyone besides Gaborik.  I do hope that this trend continues since it will keep them in games all season long.  I know that I have been rambling on for a bit, but I just wanted to get my points across about what I have seen so far. 

They finish the month tomorrow in Toronto where for some reason, they are meeting the Leafs for the 3rd time this year.  I am still at a loss to figure out how the league schedules these games, you’d think they would break them up so they meet early and late in the year.  Great going NHL Office, finding ways to screw things up on a daily basis. 

Anyway, that’s about it for tonight so until the next time,

Howie

After they had a somewhat sluggish first period, they exploded for 4 goals in the second to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 4-1 lead which they would not relinquish for the rest of the night.  The team defense limited the Sens big-time and kept the home crowd quiet for most of the evening.  It would be nice to see them carry this effort over into Thursday night, but that will remain to be seen since this team has been up and down all year.

What I hope doesn’t happen is that Sather does something foolish like trying to get a quick fix for a one and done playoff run.  I’d rather see this team build around its youth and turn this crap into a cup contender for years to come so we Ranger fans have something to look forward to.

One other thing, I’m still at a loss at Directv’s stubbornness at the whole Versus issue; come on already, the playoffs are 6 weeks or so away and subscribers can still not see the games on that channel.  Time for both sides to get it done and stop the BS that has been going on for now 6 months and newsflash – the ones who are suffering are the subscribers and no one else, so cut the s__t Comcast and Directv.

Well, their next few games are as follows:  home against the Pens and Sidney Crybaby on Thurs, in DC to face Ovie and the Caps on Saturday, and home against Ryan Miller and the Sabres on Sunday Night as they continue to wind down their season schedule.

Until next time,

Howie

Well, the Olympic break is about a week away and the Rangers are in a tight race with a bunch of other teams fighting for the bottom 4 playoff spots.  The only thing that concerns me is I don’t want to sacrifice any kids to bring in an over the hill vet for a futile one round playoff run.  Let’s think about the future since this has become a lost season in some respects as they haven’t shown any kind of consistency for most of the year.  They have shown ability at times that gives us hope, but then they play like absolute crap at other times that make you scratch your head.

Well a couple of things that are driving me nuts is still the horrid officiating on a nightly basis and the fact that all the league wants to do is put the Pens on national tv all the time.  I know they want to promote the sport, but there are 29 other teams in the league that deserve exposure too and it’s time to give them a chance to be on as well.  I forgot though, according to Bettman, there are only a few teams worth putting on national tv. 

One more thing, now that Kovalchuk has been traded out of Atlanta, how many people are going to go to the arena down there, like 10?  The franchise is in trouble and there is no sign of relief coming for them as well as many other franchises that don’t draw flies and have attendance issues.   Maybe it’s time to consider relocations for some of these teams or maybe contractions since there have been issues with some teams  financially before the economy went in the tank. 

Anyway, the Rangers have a few games left before the break and they are Wed at MSG vs. Nashville Predators, Fri. in Pittsburgh to face Sidney (Crybaby) and the Pens (Gary’s Boys) and then lastly, host Tampa on Valentine’s Day.  It would be nice if they could win a couple of these before the break to at least have a good feeling going into it since the league will be shut down for 2 weeks.

Until Wed. Night,

Howie

TheFourthPeriod also states that the Boston Bruins, Ottawa Senators and Calgary Flames have all balked at the asking price for the Russian sniper.

Micheal A. Aldred

www.checkingfrombehind.com
twitter.com/michealaldred

Looking at this game tonight, the top performers for this game were:  Callahan, who had a pair of goals including a PPG, the first in 6 games as well as 2 assists; Dubinsky, who had a pair of goals including a SHG; Gaborik with a goal and 2 assists; Drury, who had a goal and 2 assists; Prospal who had a pair of assists, and Lundqvist; who once again was solid in net when he had to be as the Rangers D limited the number of chances to score the rest of the evening after allowing 2 in the first.

Callahan’s goal broke a 147 plus minute goalless drought and the floodgates just seemed to open with goal after goal coming.  It then became a boxing match with a few fights with Redden and Avery being some of the featured pugilists.  Hey even Drury scored tonight and he played solidly for a change and acted like the Captain that he is out on the ice.  It was nice to see the Garden rocking and really loud for a change as it has not been pretty in the building lately.

Going forward this month, they will face Tampa on Tuesday at MSG and then they are off to Philly on Thursday to take on the Flyers at the Wachovia Center.  I will be in the building on Tuesday evening for the Tampa game.

Anyway, that’s it for tonight folks.

Until next time,

Your NYR blogger,

Howie

I want to give out some kudos tonight to several players for top performances tonight.  Avery, who was all over the ice, scored a goal for the first time in ages and had 3 assists and even took a 10 min. misconduct; Cally – EN Goal; Drury – 1 goal; Gabby – 1 goal; Kotalik – 1 goal; Henrik, who was solid in net and had a rare assist; and Christensen, Gilroy, & Del Zotto with solid efforts as well.

It’s finally nice to see this team put a stretch together where they don’t want to make me rip my hair out or want to throw the remote through the TV.  Hopefully they can keep this going for a nice stretch to pick up more points before the break.  I just want to be able  see them get another playoff spot this season which would make it their 5th straight if they did.

Anyway, their next games are on the road in Atlanta on Thursday and then face the Bruins for the 2^nd time in less than a week on Saturday up in Boston.

Well folks, that’s it till next time.

Your content NYR blogger,

Howie

I want to tip my cap this evening to Callahan, Kotalik, who had his first goal since the flood, Christensen, who has seemed to find his scoring touch and of course, Henrik, who is just awesome as usual.  I just wish that they would play D in their own zone a little better as they once again gave up a shortie.  Another thing that drove me nuts is that they got caught in their own zone and allowed the Bruins to tie the game in 1:26 in the 3^rd after they had built up a 2-0 lead through 2 periods.

I want to quickly get on my soapbox with my next comments.

My beef with these games on Versus is that I have to watch them on a pc since Directv still doesn’t have it on their lineup, which totally sucks.  The issue that I have with watching on the pc is that the picture is really small, but I guess being able to watch something is better than nothing.  I really think that it would be nice if both Comcast, who now owns NBC Universal and Directv would stop being stubborn and finally put their damn heads together to solve this issue before the playoffs come around. 

Anyway, their next game against the Stars on Wednesday at MSG and then they are off on the road in Atlanta on Thursday and then face these same Bruins on Saturday up in Boston.

Well folks, that’s it till next time.

Your quite happy NYR blogger,

Howie

The bright spots tonight were that there were goals from Gaborik (SH), Prospal with 2 goals (broke a 14 game drought), and Drury who scored his 3^rd goal in 4 games and looks like he has come out of his funk.  This also was their first home win in a month, which shows you how bad it’s been at the Garden lately, maybe this will help them to play better at home going forward since they need the home cooking in order to get on a huge streak.  The other key at home tonight was that they had the crowd in the game all night long which gives the players extra confidence out on the ice to perform a little harder. 

It’s also nice to see the Rangers show some edge to their game this evening as well as Avery having returned to his annoying style of play and Callahan showed a ton of hustle all over the ice.  In addition, they played as a team again defensively and limited the Panthers for a lot of the night despite them having 4 power plays to work with.  This style of play can go a long way to them continuing to climb up the ladder and hey even some secondary scoring is beginning to appear as well.  The secondary scoring is important because without it, there is no way they could even stay in the hunt for a playoff spot. 

I now believe that whatever Torts is preaching in the locker room and practices is beginning to sink in during games as I haven’t seen them play this well since early October.  This is the time to pick up points as they are playing teams that are behind them in the standings and they should not throw away these potential points as they have over the long slump that looks like they are now out of.  If they lose to the teams ahead of them, that’s not a good thing, but is understandable if it happens, but losing to the league bottom feeders is a sure way to miss the postseason.

Anyway, their next game is at MSG on Saturday evening where they will face the Islanders and the reeling Flyers on the 30th before they head back out on the road on New Year’s Eve to face the Hurricanes after which they come home for another 3 game home stand on January 2nd to begin the 2010 portion of the schedule which leads up to the Olympic break in mid February.

Merry Christmas to everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well folks, that’s it till Saturday night.

Your NYR blogger,

Howie

One huge thing that Tortorella did was to sit a couple of veterans who were not playing well after last night’s game and they were Redden and Kotalik.  Hopefully watching the game from the press box sent a message that the coach is no longer tolerating lousy play from any of his players.

Lundqvist played extremely well as he made some great saves tonight and was the best player on the team in last night’s debacle at MSG.  The bright spots tonight were that the power play scored three times with Gaborik on a 5 on 3 and Callahan tallying twice, there was a Drury sighting as he scored his first goal in what seemed like ages (20 games) and Anisimov tallied on a beautiful move.  One huge moment came in the 3^rd when they were short handed for 4 minutes and played well not allowing the Isles anything.

What I hope is that maybe this team can build off of this win and maybe start a vertical climb up the standings and that they can finally put the puck in the net on a more regular basis.  I’m still not letting Sather off the hook though; he still is responsible for the team that is on the ice that for the most part has been awful a lot of nights with Wednesday’s game being true rock bottom. 

I know I’m going back and forth between games, but I had to get the point across that after the disaster against the Isles on Wednesday at MSG, I wanted to talk about the effects of what a team meeting and being lambasted by the coach can do for a team.

Their next game is Saturday afternoon in Philly where they will face a reeling Flyer team and then they are off to Carolina on Monday evening where they will face the worst team in the league.  Once again, I just want to reinforce that these games are vital and they need to pick up some points soon before the playoff train leaves them in the dust.

Well folks, that’s it till next time.

Your NYR blogger,

Howie

I want to give full marks to Lundqvist, who played well again last night and kept the Atlanta from getting a go ahead goal in the 3^rd when they were on a 3 on 5 shorthanded situation with some great saves.  Higgins also had a great game, but just can’t seem to finish the opportunities as the majority of the team has the exact same problem.  The need secondary scoring and continue to get none and it’s a huge concern now.  Another issue is that even though they scored 2 on the PP last night, they pass the puck way to much, flashing me back to last season’s inept PP.

As I’ve said before, its time that Captain Invisible (Drury) (2 goals, 7 assists) gets this team to step up already, they do have talent but the chemistry just doesn’t seem to be there and it’s a head-scratcher at this point.  Maybe it’s because our schmuck of a GM Sather put a lousy team together and this is what we are stuck with thanks to the awful, overpriced contracts of Drury, Redden and Rozsival, who are totally untradeable at this point.

This was their 6^th loss in their last 7 games and 4^th straight at MSG and the fans are getting restless with the team.  Again, the only thing that helps them is that nobody has pulled away in the conference yet as it’s a tightly packed bunch from 5^th place on down to 14^th.  There still is time, but it’s starting to run out on them as lost points cannot be regained and the worst of it is that they continue to lose at home where they should make it a house of horrors for the opposition.

Their next game is day at home vs. the Islanders on Wednesday in the first half of a home and home set.  This set will end on Thursday at the Coliseum (Mausoleum).  I’m hopeful that facing the Isles is maybe what this team needs to turn things around; it always seems to bring out better play so let’s hope for the best.

Until the next game,

Your NYR blogger,

Howie

Lundqvist played extremely well as he kept them in the game again for most of the evening. It would really be nice if they could give Henrik some goal support for a change.  The lone bright spot was that the power play finally showed up and did score twice with Gaborik and Callahan tallying.  One huge moment came in the 3^rd when they had a power play and a chance to tie; they spent almost the entire time in the Buffalo zone, but took no shots.  This had me wanting to rip my eyes out after watching that abomination unfold out on the ice.

The biggest issue is that there is still no secondary scoring and tonight their 5 on 5 couldn’t even do anything to put a goal on the board.  I am at a loss for words to keep describing how this team continues to play like they are in quicksand and it’s totally frustrating for the fans to watch, whether in person or on TV.  Hey, at least on TV, you can change the channel and watch something more entertaining or at least a better game if you have Center Ice.

Again, this long stretch of mediocre, boring and sometimes unwatchable play since their 7-1 start has me scratching my head as to where this team is really headed and at this point, my conclusion is indeed, this team has no heart at all.  I ask myself at this point, if this team doesn’t care about the way it plays, why the hell should I?  I have invested 35 years of my life to this team and there has been more bad hockey than good and hey the 1994 Cup run was great, but I’d like to see another cup in my lifetime and share that with my kid as I did with my dad in 94.  To me, it looks like I may never see another cup with the way things are being run, starting with that moron Sather who has no clue at all what he is doing  by sticking the team with awful contracts which keep the team cap strapped.  I’m starting to wonder about Torts as well since whatever he is doing to prepare the team doesn’t seem to be working.

Their next game is Monday night against Atlanta who beat them the last time they were at the Garden in November.  After that, is a home and home with the Islanders Wednesday at the Garden and Thursday at the Coliseum.   I just don’t know what to make of it anymore, but again, these games are vital and they need to pick up some points soon before the train leaves them in the dust.

Well folks, that’s it till next time.

Your NYR blogger,

Howie

I want to give full marks to Lundqvist, who played his ass off again last night and kept the Hawks from blowing the game wide open with some amazing goaltending.  If not for him, the game could have easily been 8 or 9-1 without him bailing the team out.  It was quite nice to see him show his frustration at the end when he slammed his stick at the bench.  One other note, Callahan played a great game, making an awesome move while on the PK stopping the Hawks from getting a great opportunity.

On the flip side, I want to criticize the rest of the Ranger team since the majority of them failed to show up once again and allowed wave after wave of Hawks players to get golden scoring opportunities.  The D was on its heels all night and it was just a brutal watch since you sat there waiting for the other shoe to drop with tons of goals going in, but thanks to Henrik, they only got 2.  The man cannot do it alone and its time that Captain Invisible (Drury) get this team to step up already, they do have talent and yet other than a couple of guys, a lot of nights it just doesn’t seem to be appearing out on the ice.

This was their 5^th loss in their last 6 games and the only thing that helps them is that nobody has pulled away in the conference yet as it’s a tightly packed bunch from 5^th place on down to 14^th is separated by a mere 8 pts.  There still is time, but I believe that the next 10-15 games will tell the full tale of the season and whether they are going to the postseason or it’s going to be an early summer.  Maybe its time to think about rebuilding and bring up more kids to see what they have.

Their next game is Saturday at home vs. the Sabres and is the start of a 3 game homestand, which will be their longest of the season (they have 4 more of these) where they will also face the Thrashers on Monday and the Islanders on Wednesday in the first half of a home and home set.  This set will end on Thursday at the Coliseum (Mausoleum).

 Until the next game,

Your NYR blogger,

Howie

The bright spots tonight were that they finally got some secondary scoring from both Callahan and Higgins, who broke an 11 game goalless drought.  Gaborik continues to pile up the points as he now sits 2^nd in the league in this category as well as still leading the league in goals.  Lundqvist was as impressive as I’ve seen him be in a while with great stop after great stop keeping the Sabres at bay until the final minute of the game.  Lastly, I also want to mention that Drury had quite a game even though he didn’t score with his constant presence around the puck making sure that the Sabres would not be able to get great scoring changes.

There isn’t really much more to say other than that it was one game they simply had to have or I believe this team would have started to doubt themselves regarding their ability with the continued losing.  The fact that they played so well in a place where they have had a couple of nightmare games in the recent past could be a sign of positive things to come, one can only hope.

They will be back at home on Sunday night where they will face the defending Western Conference Champs, the Detroit Red Wings.  They already scratched out one win, I would be happy if they could at least pick up a point against these guys since they have not had much luck against them lately and playing them tough tomorrow would go a long way to turning their season around.

Well folks, that’s it till next time.

Your NYR blogger,

Howie

One continuous bright spot is Gaborik who scored both NYR goals and leads the league in that category. The other bright spot is Prospal who has been a great complement to Gabby on the top line. As far as the rest of the team goes, there is zero secondary scoring and it’s getting much worse by the game. The scary thing is that is simply isn’t getting better related to this problem. Higgins, Callahan, Kotalik, Drury, Lisin, and a cast of others have simply not done enough to contribute to the scoresheet which has been a huge part of this long slump. As far as the goaltending, Lundqvist is taking a lot of heat, but cannot do it all by himself and there have been times where the D has left him hanging out to dry by not clearing out the crease and leaving the middle of the ice open way too often.

To me, it looks like this team has no sense of direction, sense of urgency or any heart right now and things don’t seem to be looking up anytime soon unless by some miracle the secondary scorers begin to put some pucks in the net. I was in the bldg. last night and it just seems that something is missing besides that issue, maybe there is no team chemistry which also causes problems not only on the ice but in the locker room as well. They need to start having some fun when they are on the ice because it doesn’t seem like they are right now. Also, losing all of these games early means that they have thrown away a ton of points and giving away games at home which is also a bad trend.

The latest three game slide, where they have been outscored 18-6 and played tons of non-competitive, unwatchable hockey is just a continuation of a prolonged slump that has now spanned 19 games. I’m starting to believe like some other fans I have talked to that it may be time to show Sather the door since in his 10 years of running the team, they only have 2 2nd round exits and 2 1st round exits, some really bad trades, and a boatload of over the hill, overpriced free agents that haven’t worked out. As far as the bad free agents go, I wouldn’t know where to begin since the list is so big. The Dolan’s seem to have a love affair with this guy, but I think his time has run out with the team. At least Neil Smith in his 10 yrs won a Stanley Cup in 1994 and had them in the Conference Finals in 1997. I’m not sure who should replace Sather, but anybody has to be better than him to run this organization.

Anyway, their next games are on Saturday night in Buffalo against the Sabres at the HSBC Arena and then on Sunday night at the Garden where they will face the Detroit Red Wings. This is going to be a rough weekend, but maybe they can scratch out a win out of one of these.

Well folks, that’s it till next time.

Your NYR blogger,

Howie

One of the bright spots was Callahan who scored the lone goal tonight and Bobby Sanguinetti made his NHL debut as a replacement for the injured Redden who is going to miss 5-7 days with a shoulder injury.  It was a truly embarrassing performance and there was no life in the team which is a scary thing to see.  The bottom line tonight was that the whole team sucked from top to bottom and there’s really not much more to say other than that they need to pick it up tomorrow in Pittsburgh or the same result is going to happen.

Briefly on my soapbox, I want to mention that I’m still miffed by the league’s inaction when it comes to helping get the DirecTV/Versus (Comcast) dispute resolved.  All the league keeps saying is that they want the subscribers to continue to call and we have done so and nothing that we have told them is taken seriously.  The bottom line is that the league made a mistake with its US TV contract.  They should have stuck with ESPN instead of going for the small $$$ offered by Versus.  It is now going on 3 months since DirecTV subscribers have been blacked out from this channel due to a few pennies.  We’ve been told that the cost to bring it back would jack up our rates a bunch, what from the $100+ per month that it costs already, give me a break DirecTV and Comcast, cut the crap already and settle this dispute before the playoffs or viewership could fall off even more.  I would want to continue, but I don’t want to take up too much of this blog entry related to this issue.

Anyway, their next game is on tomorrow night at the Igloo where they will face “Crybaby” Crosby and Malkin in the final game of their trip.  They then return home for a rematch with the Pens on Monday at the Garden, a game which I will be attending.  I do hope to see a better performance there than I witnessed on TV tonight.

Well folks, that’s it till next time.

Your NYR blogger,

Howie