The unbelievable part about this trip is that I gave them no hope for doing anything as far as getting near a playoff spot and here they are with one game to go in Buffalo on Tuesday with a 4-0-1 record.  After that, they finish off with 2 of their last 3 at home and now have some control of where they can potentially finish thanks to all the teams around them not playing quite as well at this time.

Anyway, there is still some work to do, but we Ranger fans appreciate the fact that they didn’t mail it in when they were just about out of it.  I will keep hope that they can sneak in and plan on being at the Toronto game on Wed. night, cheering them on.  Well, that’s about it for now, so until Tuesday night…….

Have a happy Easter and Passover all,

Howie

One other note, I don’t think I’ve seen Tortorella act that happy on a goal ever behind the Ranger bench, but when Drury scored, he acted as if his job was just saved.  Let’s be clear, I’m not sold that just because they have crept to within 3 points of the 8th spot, they still have a couple of teams to jump over and not many games left.  They still have 5 games left on this road trip starting with a game in Toronto on Saturday and then to the Mausoleum for a game against the Isles on Tuesday.  With 8 games to go, it’s gonna be a tough task for them, but hey you never know with the way things go in the league.

Anyway, thats pretty much it for the time being.

Until next time,

Howie

Some who do not have much hockey acumen, like some of the MSNBC announcers…where last night’s game was buried as NBC went with pairs figure skating coveting the female audience over responsible sports coverage…will paint the US win over Canada as some David versus Goliath miracle win from some sort of mismatch.

Nothing would be further from the truth, as Brian Burke, the Team USA General Manager, gathered character players and youth to round out the US team to create something solid with an expressed purpose: <em>to compete and perhaps beat talent laden teams</em>.

So last night, hockey fans and one would gather, mostly men, watched Canada’s best versus a team made to beat Canada.

This was no Miracle on Ice. This was far reaching planning and the results of this stretched ice canvas showed on the faces of fans who watched a barn burner on cable television which will reverberate through the next few days as Canada and their team convalesces and the US gets a bye into the Quarterfinals.

Brian Burke, who is mourning the loss of his youngest son a few weeks ago in a weather-related traffic accident, looks like a genius whose plan to grab clutch game difference-makers and mix them with some youth of hungry up-and-comers have suddenly stolen the limelight from Canada; the ordained country who has produced the most prolific players of the sport.

“Playing the tournament favorite in front of a rabid crowd: It’s going to be a good test for our group”, Burke told Craig Custance of the SportingNews and other reporters. “We’ve got some size, too. We’ve just got to try and get some line matchups the way we want them. We purposely brought some beef for that reason.”

The US upended Canada in a close match that broke when one goalie could not keep up with the excellence of the other. Buffalo Sabres NHL and US 1st stringer Ryan Miller played like a god, as future NHL hall of famer NJ Devil’s Martin Brodeur played as a mere man.

Fallible and burned, Brodeur seemed unable to stave off the kids as the Canadian defense collapsed under some savvy play by the skilled US forwards that were also mixed with those who had size.

This disparity was further exemplified as Brodeur made a grave miscalculation trying to chase a puck with US forwards blanketing him. Chris Drury, who is known for his clutch play in the past, ripped one through, separating the two teams and making Canadian fans suddenly realize that they were in dire straits.

Meanwhile, when the US defense collapsed under the weight of the tremendously talented Canadian forwards, Ryan Miller somehow kept the puck from going in.

Hockey fans will walk away from seeing Brodeur’s off-kilter work as the difference, rather than Miller’s stellar performance. Or they will not give the clutch work of Chris Drury, Jamie Langenbrunner or Ryan Kesler their due.

Fact is, this type of match-up could have swung either way, and it was the US who stood tall as Canada’s invulnerability crumbled.

Hunger beat the lauded. Purpose beat what was merely on paper…the best.

Brian Burke’s plan paid dividends, and it is the US who stands undefeated, while Canada heads down the pike to a potential showdown with Russia that will remove the loser from medal contention.

The US and Sweden, who is the reigning gold medalist in the last winter Olympics, sit pretty as they now await who will emerge from the rest of the pack in the quarterfinals. Russia, the Czech Republic, Canada and others will all fight it out to keep their medal hopes alive.

For anyone looking for more Team USA hockey information, anyone who registers on Teamusa.org will have access to the latest info and will receive exclusive updates throughout the games.

It was nice to see them play a full team game even though they played short a couple of guys as Gaborik tried but couldn’t go after about 4 minutes of ice time in the first as well as Del Zotto, who was cut early in the game by an accidental skate into his side. This also was their first win over the Pens in their last 8 tries and was their first win in Pittsburgh since 2007, so this turned out to be a huge 2 points for them. Even though I don’t see them going anywhere, they remain in the hunt for the last few playoff spots.

Well, the final game before break is on Sunday vs. Tampa and then it’s 2 weeks off while Olympic Hockey is being played. I plan on doing a summary of the pre break highlights and lowlights as well as preview their final 20 games afterwards so stay tuned.

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

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

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

What I’m hoping is that maybe this team can build off of these 2 wins and continue to climb up the standings and that they play as a team like they have in these last couple after the disaster at MSG on Wednesday evening.  The team most certainly looked like they actually cared about winning in these last 2 and if they can carry that attitude over from game to game, they might actually still have some hope yet this year.  Other than that, there’s nothing else to talk about today related to today’s game.

Their next game is in Carolina on Monday evening where they will face the worst team in the league followed by another 3 game home stand.  As I have said before, I still want to reinforce that these games are important and the continued need to pick up some points is vital if they want to remain in the playoff race.

Well folks, that’s it till next time.

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

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

Lundqvist played extremely well as he kept them in the game for most of the evening.  The one major problem is that Gaborik was held in check all evening by the Red Wings defense and the only goal was scored by Dan Boyle, again showing the clear lack of secondary scoring.  This was the kind of game that made you just shake your head since there was at least a point in the bag until that awful goal, which left me at a total loss for words long after the game was over.  It was an incredible letdown to such a great game and I was still on a high from the Giants win over the Cowboys earlier in the day.

This long stretch of mediocre play since their 7-1 start has me scratching my head as to where this team is really headed and at this point, I’m starting to wonder if this team has any heart at all since the only time I saw any emotion was when Drury (Capt. Invisible) smashed his stick on the bench at the end of the game.  They need to show that on the ice more often so that they actually look like they care about winning games instead of looking like they are going through the motions.

The weekend started off so promising with the big win in Buffalo on Saturday and finished with such a downer after the loss last night that it seems that this team takes one step forward and then two steps back.  This continues to happen too often and it’s quite frustrating not only to watch but to write about as well.  I can only hope that Torts can rally the troops before it’s too late.

Their next game is Wednesday night in Chicago where they will take on the much improved Blackhawks at the United Center and as has been the case, it will be another tough test to see if this team can get its act together before it’s too late to save the season.

Well folks, that’s it till next time.

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

 Lundqvist was his usual great self as he was solid throughout the game and shootout and P.A. Parenteau, who got his 2^nd Shootout winner for them.  Captain Chris Drury made his return and didn’t miss a beat from the games which he had missed from a concussion that he suffered from a hit by Curtis Glencross.  It was truly nice to see a team effort this evening and hey, maybe this is the start of a nice streak of wins for them.  These 2 wins have pushed them up to 6^th from 10^th place on Monday and not that it’s a big thing now, these points are really important to rack up, especially the intraconference ones as those become 4 point games which can affect their standing in the conference.

It looks like they might have to call up a D-man from Hartford if Redden is hurt badly as he left the game about 5 minutes in.  It’s a shame since he had been playing well going into the game tonight and actually was one of their best D-men.  I guess we will wait and see what happens with him.

On another note, it has become a trend in the league with the head shots and I personally would love to see the instigator rule go away as its being in the rules has prevented the players themselves from taking care of business.  If the rule was gone, you would see less of these kinds of cheap plays from certain players and they would have to deal with the other team’s enforcer usually with an ensuing fight.  It’s a shame that the league has become so soft that they allow this to happen and have selective punishment based on the players reputation is a joke.  A suspension is a suspension and should be in black and white, not a gray area which has become a huge issue.

Well enough of being on my soapbox as I’m just beside myself with the league and their policies.

Anyway, their next game is on Friday night in Tampa Bay where they will face LeCavalier and St.Louis as they take tomorrow off for the Thanksgiving holiday.  Hey even they deserve a holiday to be with family if they can be.

Well folks, that’s it till next time.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!

Your NYR blogger,