N.Y. RANGERS ~ The Blueshirts are a Tale of Two Teams

NEW YORK RANGERS

The Story of the Blueshirt's 85th Season is a Tale of Two Teams

NEW YORK RANGERS:  How It Started; Where It Wound Up; and Where Do We Go from Here..

This Rangers story is about the team Glen Sather gave John Tortorella to start the season with; what happened to that team; the team Coach Tort's turned them into; and how on the last day of the regular season, it all might have finally come together.

Seven to eight months ago, this team was assembled very differently if you remember.  As far as the big club, Glen Sather was still taking his yearly huge swings in free agency and missing just as big, as has been his custom to toss MSG dollars about like candy-corns on Halloween.  The teams he assembled along the way were just as scary as some costumes you'd might see on Halloween also.  This season figured to be no different.  At best, the experts predicted the Rangers to be an eighth place team.   And Ranger fans could look forward to just bobbing along the schedule again with no clear plan for building a consistent winner.

The GM is still trying to reconcile letting Colton Orr go.  He's spent far more money on futility than had he just given Colton Orr his money.  First, Glen Sather failed miserably by signing Donald Brashear, who was still on the Rangers' payroll this season.  He then followed that mistake with an equally huge gaffe and signed an overweight and out of shape Derek Boogaard for three years.  Derek Boogaard was a horrible fit in Coach Torts' system to begin with, as evidenced by the three and four minutes a game he was getting before he got beat-up.  And in every fight he had, he looked slow to the punch and usually wound up receiving more than he gave.  This once formidable heavyweight champ of the Minnesota Wild was nothing more than a disfigured shadow of his former self.  THEN he got hurt, and has never been heard from again.  But he still has two years left on his deal.

Wade Redden was too obvious and glaring a mistake that even Glen Sather had no choice but to make him the highest paid AHL player, when, after passing him through the waiver process, demoted Redden to Connecticut (Wolfpack of Hartford at the time).  The nightly negativity raining down on him would have been too much for everyone concerned had he remained on the roster.  But he'll be back next season to present the same problem again.

With Redden gone, Michal Rozsival remained as the other overly priced, ineffective, old, fading veteran defense-man, polluting the Rangers' back-liners.  Somehow, Glen Sather found a way to trade him for Wojtek Wolski.  But Wolski and company are for later in this post.  Rozsival was part of the original plan.

Think back.  Remember the savvy Alex Frolov signing and the hope of 20+ goals from him??   i.e.; Aaron Voros...aka, Nick Zherdev?  Yea; it's all coming back to you, isn't it? 

The returning Sean Avery did not and never had a friend in Coach Tortorella.  But Avery was thrown in the lap of Coach Torts by Glen Sather and was forced to just deal with it.  And for most of that time, it hasn't gone well for Avery.

Vinny Prospal and newly signed Ruslan Fedotenko were the smart vets who would nurture and teach the young Ryan Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky how to negotiate the NHL.  Marian Gaborik was another vet returning from a 40+ goal season the year prior.  Gaborik made another Glen Sather mistake named Scott Gomez go away.  Brandon Prust was a trade throw in and Brian Boyle was brought here to grind and help the Rangers possess the puck down low.  These were the players complementing the Captain of the team; Chris Drury.  This is the team Glen Sather gave John Tortorella.

This is the cast Glen Sather assembled for our entertainment in return for our hard earned dollars.  And frankly, I get more enjoyment criticizing these moves than I did anticipating another Glen Sather creation back in September. 

Behind the scenes, Glen Sather finally had things heading in a better direction.  When Don Maloney was still part of our drafting process, we still drafted small.  It's as simple as that.  Prucha, Moore, Ortmeyer, Hollweg, Tyutin, Dawes, Montoya....even Dubinsky, Callahan and Staal were products of the prior drafting models at the beginning of the prior decade and who began playing after the NHL lock-out.  But after Don Maloney took a job to work with Wayne Gretzky in Phoenix, Glen Sather made two key appointments. 

Gordie Clark and Jeff Gorton are calling shots in player personnel for the Rangers now.  As the Rangers' roster was crippled by injury this season, these two men were directly responsible for the club's ability to dip into the farm and promote some talent that not only kept the team afloat, the youngsters prospered and kept the Rangers in contention.  In some cases, they came up with size; in other areas they brought skill; and other matters they brought smarts and grittiness.

Near season long injuries to Chris Drury and Vinny Prospal opened up opportunities.  When Alex Frolov went down, it created another job opening.  When Boogaard went down, it created yet another job opening.  The disappearance of Rozsival and Redden opened up yet more opportunities on the back-line.  Limiting Sean Avery's minutes meant someone else was getting that ice-time.  And there were a myriad of other injuries the Rangers sustained all season long.  After suffering one of those mid-season injuries himself, the latest and most devastating injury to hit home was Ryan Callahan being lost again after the Boston game.  But prior to Callahan's second injury, all these factors and the surprisingly effective play of the call-ups had Rangers fans all buying into a rebuilding.  Suddenly, costly and aging players no longer were in vogue at MSG.

The fans have never had Glen Sather's ear.  Heck, he doesn't even have to talk to the Media.  So we can scream "Rebuild!!" till we're BLUE in the face and it won't matter.  It's never been that way between Sather and the fan base.

Enter John Tortorella.  When it was clear the Rangers had to make a break from Tom Renney, let's face it, John was the best available coach who just happened to be unemployed at the time.  Based on the strength of a Stanley Cup victory, his volatile disposition could be over-looked in NYC....right?  It had better; he was hired.

Coach came in and orchestrated a rather freakish ending to the 2008-2009 regular season and playoff series loss against the Washington Capitals.  The coach himself earned a one game suspension in that series.  But that's neither here nor there.  He came here like a mason.  From the beginning, he identified four players and dubbed them his core.  He came here wanting to build something from the ground up.  He wanted something built in stone.  That's how you build a club that can sustain success; - By building from within and growing a core of players together over time, with patience and a discipline for sticking with the plan.  Then you go about supplementing them with smart trades and perhaps ONE key free agent acquisition to fill a need.

John Tortorella identified Ryan Callahan, Brandon Dubinsky, Marc Staal and Henrik Lundqvist as his Core Four that all future Ranger efforts towards success should be built around.  When the injuries started mounting, and more kids were called upon, John Tortorella took these kids and in quick fashion molded them into men on the fly.  When they responded to his dictates he trusted them more.  They proved themselves again and Coach gave them roles.  And when they kids proved they could handle him and what he asked of them thus far, Coach Torts officially gave them jobs.

The trade deadline loomed for Glen Sather and John Tortorella.  The Rangers had glaring needs on the power play; they needed a pure scorer on the wing or help at center; and could have used more size on defense.  Of course, the call-ups were the only players other teams suddenly had interest in.  And the first name to arise in any trade conversation was Ryan Callahan's.  An organizational philosophy was either about to be adopted by Glen Sather if he sided with Tortorella and gave these kids the time and patience they needed to grow and develop or, and organizational philosophy would be brushed aside for more of Glen Sather's fantasy hockey league mismanagement and Salary Cap log jams.

It's my opinion, John Tortorella has been more influential on Glen Sather than the GM upon Tortorella.  I believe Coach insisted the Rangers stay the course with the young players and not trade them away for quick fixes.  I think the coming and passing of the trade deadline proved that out because there was so much interest in the new young Rangers.  But Sather was still able to pull off a surprisingly nice deal to acquire Bryan McCabe from Florida for someone unknown to most Ranger fans; I'm sure.   But make no mistake, Coach Torts asked the team to play a certain way and establish a certain identity, and they have collectively responded to validate their Coach on principle alone.

Coach Torts took four of the young, now veteran holdovers from before his time here; Callahan, Dubinsky, Staal, and Lundqvist and mixed in the even younger players together in continuously changing combinations and somehow made it work.  Artem Anisimov; Derek Stepan; Michael Sauer; Ryan McDonagh, Mats Zuccarello, and even Michael Del Zotto, have given the Rangers a whole new identity almost over night.  Even Newbury and Weiss came up briefly and played well for a handful of games.  Newly acquired Wojtek Wolski has provided sparks of his own.  There is still depth in Connecticut and all reports are last year's draft picks are doing well.

The system Coach Torts demanded they play brought out the most in Brandon Prust and Brian Boyle.  And by pairing Marc Staal with Dan Girardi, Coach is getting the utmost out of Girardi.  Girardi is a lesser player without Torts and having Staal by his side.  What's one of the pitfalls of Coach Torts' system? - Ryan Callahan's broken ankle.  He demands his team block shots.  The Rangers were number two in the League this year in that department.

But the feel-good about the newest Rangers on the rise and their success on the ice was a by-produce of Glen Sather's original plan being an utter failure.  And let's not forget that.  We already spelled out all the names.  And if were not for John Tortorella, Glen Sather would have most likely dealt away many of our prospects long ago.  But that's just an opinion.

The "Newer" York Rangers served notice to the Eastern Conference and the rest of the NHL they can play in this league.  They left tell-tale signs all over the National Hockey League.  The early going was sluggish.  They played to a 5-5 record in October.  In November before Thanksgiving, they went 7-5.  And from Thanksgiving to the end of the year they played to a 10-7 record.  They played down to some teams; or did they?  But they pock-marked their 2010 portion of the season with victories over Chicago; Boston: Washington; Pittsburgh; Buffalo; Philadelphia; Calgary; and Nashville.

By the new year, injuries were really taking their toll on the team.  In January they went 7-7 marked with victories over mighty Vancouver; Carolina; Dallas; St. Louis; Atlanta; and Washington again.  February brought less welcome results.  They suffered through a five game losing streak and were 4-8 in the month, but still showed gamely spirit against Pittsburgh; Carolina; Los Angeles; and Washington yet again.

Before Saturday night's news the Rangers made the playoffs, without a doubt, the way the Rangers played through March and April endeared this bunch of Blueshirts to their fans unlike many editions who came before this group.  They rebounded from February to go 8-6 in March highlighted by huge wins down the stretch over Philadelphia; San Jose; Montreal; Pittsburgh and Boston.  A long missed electricity returned to the Garden along the way also.

April -  In the end, the Rangers did what they had to do.  They put their backs against the wall by losing to Atlanta, but they wouldn't have been in a position to advance without a huge win over Philadelphia, a most glorious comeback against Boston, and closing out the season in convincing fashion against the Devils.

Vinny Prospal finally came back from his injury 20 games ago and has played like a man possessed.  He has scored twenty points in his twenty games back and fittingly, scored the last goal of the 2010-2011 regular season for Glen Sather's new Rangers against the Devils Saturday afternoon.  Vinny Prospal has indeed been a god-send for the team and his contributions should not go underspoken.  He'll be even more important in the playoffs due to Ryan Callahan's absence.

So let's credit Glen Sather for Prospal, but only after finally making it back from a most lengthy injury.  Let's also give him credit for acquiring Wojtek Wolski in a trade and shipping the little liked Rozsival away.  When it comes to Prust and Boyle, Sather might have brought them here, but I believe it was Coach Torts that turned one of them into a 20 goal scorer and the other into an Officer Steven McDonald Award recipient.  Additionally, I'd credit John Tortorella for guiding this team through an on-the-fly transitioning, as the roster flipped mid-season.  Coach managed to get into the minds of the team quickly and molded them into a unit of one.

Then Saturday afternoon, something happened that both Coach Torts and Glen Sather can both be happy about.  Glen Sather's much maliegned Captain; Chris Drury waited for Rangers' game #82 to score his most important and only goal of his very short season.  In a blast from the past moment for Drury, he scored the Rangers first goal of the game which tied the score at 1-1 early in the first period.  That goal did everything to keep everyone in the game; both players and fans at MSG alike.  Then it was time for one of Torts' kids to be a hero.  Ryan McDonagh scored his first ever NHL goal to put the Rangers up 3-2 against the Devils after Wojtek Wolski tied it.  McDonagh's goal was the game winner.

The people's player, Brandon Prust gave the Rangers an insurance goal.  And then the Ol' Glen Sather vet, Vinny Prospal slammed the door shut on the Devils with the last goal scored in the New York Rangers' regular season.

It seems as if finally, at least for a game a combination of the old team planned for this season joined forces with the new team that saved this season and came together as one to play the Devils and win the Rangers' most important game of the year on the final day of the season.

So depending on which team you're grading you might have a differnt outlook on 93 points and an eighth place finish.  If you're considering Glen Sather's continuing riegn as the Master of Mediocre, 93 points might seem too much for us considering how miserably most of his acquisitions underperformed.  If Zach Parise doesn't get hurt the whole season and the Devils play just a little better to begin their season, we might not even be having this conversation.  If the Hurricanes win, we're definitely not having this conversation. 

But if you're grading the team Coach Tort's is trying to build, 93 points and a spot in the playoffs is a tremendous uptick from last season.  And I'm behind his method of building this team up from the ground regardless of my differences with his handling of Sean Avery.  That's a situation where the results speak for themselves.

The Rangers Start Their Quest For The Cup Wednesday Night.

Mike.BTB

N.Y. RANGERS ~ Devil of a Game; Hell of a Night

The Rangers Are In The Playoffs!



The Sounds and Voices Of An Instant Classic:
Game #82 was especially excruciating for me.  I had tickets to the game but had to work and was forced to listen to the game on radio.  All Hail Dave Maloney and Kenny Albert who never, ever call anything short of a great game!  From the streets of Bay Ridge, I was shouting HEY! HEY! HEY! during all of early Saturday afternoon.  Their radio call will be one of the more memorable games I've ever listened to.  But of course, it will be memorable only because we won.

GAME #82

Saturday, 12:30 p.m.

FINAL

New Jersey Devils ~ 2

NEW YORK RANGERS ~ 5

NYR Finish Season ~ 44-33-5 ~ 93 Points

3:00 p.m.

NEW YORK RANGERS:  Blueshirts Turn Back the Reaper!  But Denying The Devil(s) Only Bought Them Four More Hours Of Life.

The game every Ranger fan dreaded versus the New Jersey Devils got under way at Madison Square Garden early Saturday afternoon; much earlier than Carolina's game against Tampa Bay would.   In the their final game of the regular season, they absolutely needed two points and a Carolina loss in order to qualify for the playoffs.  Anything less, and they'd be out, having let a playoff spot they've held on to for so long, get away.

It did not start well for the Blueshirts.  With only 2:03 gone by, Ilya Kovalchuk literally found a puck that took a not so funny bounce off the boards.  He cashed in on a good break for the Devils and gave them the early 1-0 lead.

Then, in what must undoubtedly be one of, if not the most important contributing factor in deciding this game for the Rangers was the return of Chris Drury.  At his best, he's been known to be in the right place at the right time and score the big, important, gotta have goal.  He hasn't necessarily been quite that guy here and his Captaincy is repeatedly questioned by many.  But on his first shift, in his first game back from a second lengthy injury this season, THAT old, great moment-Drury showed up when he came storming in from the far corner towards net and backhanded the tying goal under Marty Brodeur, only 1:11 after Kovalchuk's opening goal.  It was the Captain's first goal of the season and it could not have come at a more critical time for the Rangers.  That goal was a reward for an unheralded good guy, who throughout all his setbacks and self-admitted ineffectiveness, always maintained a correct attitude about his status on the team.  But that goal kept the Rangers and their heads in the game because it was such a quick response.  And maybe just as importantly, that goal kept the MSG crowd loud and raucous in support of their Blueshirts.  Even Coach Torts, if you watched the highlights, for a split second, could be caught smiling behind the bench when Drury scored, but quickly wiped it off.  That speaks a ton as to how Coach feels about Drury.  Coach was never known as an in-game smiler.

Now think of something in life that really makes you angry.  Here's one of mine; - Giving up a goal with less than a minute to go in a period.  And so, I was angry when Ilya Kovachuk scored his second goal of the game with only 0:42 left in the first period to put the Devils back up by one.  That left MSG's crowd with the coming 20 minute intermission to stew over their dilemma and ponder their future.

Commenting on the second and third periods after the game, Coach said they didn't necessarily out-hustle the Devils more-so than they scored opportunistic goals.  But we know opportunistic goals in Coach's system are by design.  And so the Rangers began to exert what little control they held regarding anything beyond tomorrow.   However way you classify the three second period goals scored by the Rangers, they were greatest trio of goals they'd score in a second period this season.

Opportunistic goal number one of the second period came quickly at 1:52 of the period when Wojtek Wolski's shot found net.  With the score now even at two goals apiece, the Blueshirts had themselves a new game.  Opportunistic goal number two of the period came at 11:59, when Ryan McDonagh, like Drury, found the most crucial time in the Rangers' season to score his first goal of the season.  Incidentally, it was the first NHL goal of his career and the most important goal of the Rangers' entire season.  McDonagh's goal eventually proved to be the Rangers' game-winner.

Then came the insurance goals.  At 16:06 of the second period, Brandon Prust netted the Rangers' fourth goal of the game slamming home a rebound off a Brandon Dubinsky shot taken from Brodeur's right.  And after a full forty minutes played in the Rangers' last game, they were now owners of a 4-2 lead with only twenty minutes left in their regular season. 

This was a 4-2 lead the Blueshirts needed to protect in order to just stay alive for a playoff spot.  After eighty-one games and two periods of Hockey, the Rangers were charged with winning the final twenty minutes if only to have the rest of their fate determined later in the day when the Hurricanes would host the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Many would argue the best defense is a good offense.  The Rangers gave a little credence to that notion.  Insurance goal number two came at 10:35 of the third period.  Vinny Prospal returned to the Rangers' line-up twenty games ago after what seemed to be an eternity for the team and the forward.  And he's been Hercules in a Blueshirt ever since.  With twenty points in his returning twenty games back to action, it was only fitting that he should score the last Rangers' goal of the afternoon and seal this desperately needed victory for the Rangers.
The final score was Rangers 5;  Devils 2.  Happily, instead of the Rangers' season being over, the Blueshirt's day was only half done but not without being riddled by anxiety.  The Rangers and their fans still had the matter of a Hurricanes/Lightning game left determining their playoff status.

7:00 p.m.

Rebuffed in New York, The Grim Reaper Sought To Snatch The Blueshirts' Season In Carolina.

A win by Carolina and the Rangers were out of the playoffs and the Hurricanes were in.  With a Carolina loss, the Rangers would return to the playoffs after missing out last season by one point. 

With so much going for them over the final quarter of the season, the Rangers somehow found themselves in less control of their future than they did this time last season when they were trying to claw their way into the playoffs.  But their chances of making the playoffs last season remained in their hands right up until that last shot got by Henrik Lundqvist in the shoot-out versus Philadelphia which definitively ended everything for the Blueshirts.   This year as the season wound down, they were desperately trying to hold on to what they fought to so hard to achieve.  However, when game eighty-two on the schedule rolled around and went final, to Coach Torts' dismay, the Rangers found out 93 points still wasn't good enough to earn a playoff spot (yet).  After a season which brought so much injury, reconstruction on the fly, growth, on-ice improvement, and large strides forward as an organization, there was only so much the Rangers could do to remain alive.  They played their way into a situation where they needed help.

How ironic is it, that the fate of the Rangers' playoff hopes now rested with the team who fired John Tortorella and making him available to become coach of the New York Rangers?  John Tortorella's former team, the Tampa Bay Lightning and their willingness to beat the Carolina Hurricanes, because this game would have no bearing on their own payoff slot, were what stood between the Rangers and the post-season.  The Rangers already did what they could earlier in the day.  They'd have to wait now, for a final score from Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina.

Hurricane goalie Cam Ward has had some pretty incredible games this season stopping what seemed like millions of shots to me.  He was a horse down the stretch leading the League in starts and was third in wins with thirty-seven.  But in all honesty, I felt the Tampa Bay's pure scorers would be just a little too much for Cam Ward to overcome this game.  The Hurricanes and Lightning split a home-and home back on March 25th and 26th.  So, I was counting on him being off for one night.  After losing a 2-1 OT duel to Buffalo, Ward stifled and shut out Detroit 3-0 while stopping 42 shots on goal in game #80 for Carolina.  He followed that up with a 6-1 near blanking of Atlanta in game #81 leading into the finale versus Tampa Bay.

Once they dropped the puck, from a Rangers' point of view, things went very right, very early for the Blueshirts and Tampa Bay.  Half way through the first period, the Lightning were already staked to a 2-0 lead and Ranger fans were feeling slightly better about their chances.  When the first period ended, the Lightning were ahead 3-0.  A fourth Tampa goal in the second period forced the Hurricanes to go into panic mode.  They scored once, but the session ended with Tampa Bay leading 4-2 after two.  Two Tampa empty net goals late in the third period ended any chance the Carolina Hurricanes had of coming back.  By 9:30pm Saturday night, Carolina was done, and I'm sure their fans will debate whether they ever showed up last night in the first place.

Above the Mason/Dixon Line, news of Carolina's 6-2 loss was met with Blueshirt Fan exuberance.  The New York Rangers are in the Playoffs.  In the end, 93 points was just good enough.

9:30 p.m. Saturday

We can all exhale now.

Mike.BTB

N.Y. RANGERS ~ Good News; Bad News

RECENT POSTS:
Blueshirts Claw Back At Bruins
Seize The Night And Go Beat Boston
Bigger Heart Wins Out Over Big Bodies


Vinny Prospal:  The Veteran Is Leading The Way.
His contributions to the team since his return from injury have been enormous.  Start with being near great, and keep crediting him from there.  While he was down, many of the Ranger Kids got called up and brought a lot of spunk with them.  They effectively kept us in this Eastern Conference race through the middle of Winter.  So, I was leery of the older players returning looking for playing time.  It's just a mindset I get into when I see a change towards youth and exuberance.  I start tuning out players I envision no future with.  But Vinny Prospal has provided the Rangers with a blast from the past, and has been one of the biggest leaders on this team.  His return didn't exactly reignite Marian Gaborik's game like many thought.  But his over-all effect, and personal effort have been tremendous.


...And Down Goes Ryan Callahan!

The win over the Boston Bruins proved costly to us after-all.   Personally, the news was deflating upon receipt this afternoon.  And honestly, I'm at a loss for words.

The jubilation of last night's win over the Boston Bruins was short-lived wasn't it?  If you were there or were watching yesterday's game on TV, you saw Ryan Callahan block a Zdeno Chara shot and go down.  He struggled off the ice and didn't return.  Today we received the bad news; Ryan Callahan will miss the rest of the season with a broken ankle.  The Rangers' unofficial Captain is done.  The Rangers best forward line is done.  Their leader; the core; the identity of the Rangers is down.

Unbelievable!
That's my reaction to the news.  More to come.




Mike.BTB

N.Y. RANGERS ~ Blueshirts Claw Back At Bruins

NEW YORK RANGERS:  Never Say Die Attitude Nets Blueshirts A Huge Win!!

The Bruins attacked early.  The Rangers clawed back late.

The Blueshirts turned in a game for the ages tonight.  It was an MSG Special.  They played up to another of the League's elite and out-worked them; out hustled them and out fought them.  Boston feasted and ate us up early. Then got sloppy and sleepy while the Rangers stayed hungry and alert.
For three fourths of the first round period, the teams shadow boxed.  Then the Bruins stepped up their jab.  Then they double-up on the jab and gave the Rangers a puffy eye when Daniel Paille scored at the 15:16 mark.  And then a left-right combo by Boston; a Nathan Horton goal at the 16:53 mark turned that puffy eye into a full blown mouse.  It made the Rangers wobble to the tune of a Boston 2-0 lead.  The bell rang and the Blueshirts staggered back to the locker rooms.

Tim Thomas was impenetrable in the first period against a flurry of all five Ranger shots on goal.  Yes, that's sarcasm.  In the Rangers' defense, they were good opportunities.  But it's Tim Thomas we're talking about.  He demands defense in front of him and vacuums up the rest.   On the other side, Henrik Lundqvist got blistered with nineteen shots on goal.  Two found their way passed him as the Rangers defense played less than gamely in the first period.


After a few smacks in the locker-room administered by Coach Torts and some smelling salt for the team, it was back on their feet for Round Two.  A Boston left hook immediately had the Rangers reeling again.  They were against the ropes and in trouble.  The body blow suffered from a third goal for Boston by Chris Kelly had everyone in the Garden thinking they'd fall at any second.  It was just a matter of time.  But the Rangers showed strong legs, held on, shook loose some cobwebs, and composed themselves.  They withstood the barrage and started to counter-punch their way back into this fight game. 

The half way point of this fight game marked the beginning of the Blueshirts comeback.  They doubled up on a pair of Vinny Prospal goals.  At the 11:34 mark, a Prospal left hook found it's mark.  At 18:26 Prospal punished Boston again with an uppercut and that snapped Boston's head back.  And then the Rangers found themselves down by only a point on the judges scorecards.  The bell rang signaling the end of round two the second period.  And back to the dressing room they went for more smelling salts.

The Rangers were the ones pressing the play in the second period and won the battle of shots on goal; nine for the Rangers while they limited Boston to four.  And of course, they outscored Boston in the period 2-1 to claw back to within one goal with a period to go.

A tenacious third round period was surly to be expected.  You have to had been dead to not understand the magnitude of the situation the New York Rangers were facing if you were in Madison Square Garden tonight.  Some reports say even Lester Patrick was rockin' the grave tonight over the excitement of the game.  The Rangers needed to complete this comeback because anything less would be keeping some travel agent very busy in a few more days.


The third and final round period tonight at the Garden played to a draw for the first ten minutes.  With every minute that went by, the second goal scored by Boston in the first period loomed larger and larger as being the Rangers' downfall.  That was a preventable goal, because three Blueshirts around the crease did little to even nudge a Bruin jersey away from the front of the net.  Their strategy of just standing around failed miserably in that instance.

The third period kept winding down shortening the Rangers season with every tick of the clock.

Then at 3:48 Brandon Dubinsky unloaded and the Garden went BOOM!  A Ranger goal and this game was tied!  It was a Dubinsky straight right!  You know...the ones behind a pawing jab that no one ever sees coming.  The Bruins' knees buckled.  They were dazed, confused and back-peddling away from a stalking Ranger team suddenly refueled on adrenaline and smelling a kill.

The Blueshirts chased Boston down and got them into the corner and POW!  They dropped the hammer at the 2:57 mark.  Down went Boston!  Down went Boston!!  Down went Boston!!   Michael Sauer delivered the knockout punch and the Garden went bonkers.

The Boston Bruins made it back up before the count of nine but they were still out on their feet.  The guys with the stripes on their arms let them continue and the Rangers stepped in to finish them off.

One more measured shot and the Boston Bruins were knocked down again by a Derek Stepan goal at 19:07 (an empty net goal).  And this time Boston wasn't getting up.  The clock on the scoreboard said their time was up and that they had endured too much of an onslaught by a resilient, and very game New York Rangers team.

The Blueshirts win this game on a 5-2 TKO.

Boston; the NHL's 2nd best ranked defense had no answer for a fierce Ranger counter-punch. In the second half of this game they got out-toughed.  Zdeno Chara might be big.  But our smaller New York Rangers played bigger; just like they did against the bigger Flyers.  How many times have you heard it?  It's not the size of the fighter; it's the size of his fight that matters. 

Most times this team will play you tough and keep things close.  It's what we have to do because our scoring isn't always there for us.  But on numerous occasions this season, the Rangers have shown an ability to deliver knockout blows as well.

Madison Square Garden was always a Mecca of the Fight Game.  And every once in a while, a Hockey game breaks out.  And sometimes they turn out to be classics.





WHAT A DIFFERENCEA DAY MAKES; How They'll Wake up Tuesday Morning:
#6 ~ Montreal  91 points 
#7 ~ NY Rangers  91 points
#8 ~ Buffalo   90 points
------------------------------------
#9 ~ Carolina  89 points


Rangers win season series against Boston 3 games to 1.

The Rangers have two games remaining; Atlanta Thrashers; New Jersey Devils; both at Madison Square Garden.





Mike.BTB

N.Y. RANGERS ~ Blueshirts Get Pucked-Up By The Islanders

NEW YORK RANGERS:  The Blueshirts Got Punked!

FINAL
New York Rangers  2
New York Islanders 6

Rattled; Battered; Bullied; Demoralized; Embarrassed; Humiliated: Disrespected; Intimidated:

In addition to all the above, - We Got Punked!  The guys from the city went out to Long Island with a throng of fans in tow, thinking they were going to roll a bunch of hicks in their own school yard.  The city boys flat out got their asses kicked!  News at Eleven!

It's not like the Islanders haven't been involved in these game-long melees before?  Coach Capuano's club had absolutely nothing to lose and most reasonably minded Hockey fans could have seen this game coming.  Do not get me wrong.  I'm not disparaging the Islanders in any way.  I'm not blaming them for anything about this game.

My ire is reserved for the New York Rangers for allowing themselves to get punked-out.  I blame them for leaving their spines in Buffalo.  The New York Islanders made the Rangers look like jelly-fish Thursday night.

The Blueskirts got shut-out by Buffalo's back-up goalie then followed it up with one pathetic goal against their former draft pick; Al Montoya.  It might have well been a shut-out because the Rangers never had a chance.  The Rangers first goal to open up the scoring was nothing more than a pretty smile before a date from hell.

The Islanders pretty much dominated the early portion of the first period until Vinny Prospal got the Rangers on the scoreboard.  Then our Long Island neighbors spent the rest of the first period trying everything in their power to give us the game. But the Rangers wouldn't accept. The Islanders started running wild taking punk-penalties; four to be exact, and the Rangers never capitalized.  All hostilities were precipitated by a Marian Gaborik Boarding penalty. 

After four unanswered goals in the second period?  Ponderous.

Dejected;  - A raucous Rangers' crowd travelled all the way to Uniondale for nothing and went back home with less.  If anything, the Rangers loss against the New York Islanders was a clinic in how to buckle under pressure.  They bloodied us, battered us and beat us.

We're going to Broad Street to meet the Bullies next.  They better be ready!





Mike.BTB

N.Y. RANGERS ~ Momentum and Power of a Glacier

As of FRIDAY, March 18, 2011
Montreal Canadiens at New York Rangers


NEW YORK RANGERS:  Sacre Bleu!  Le' Blueshirts trounce Montreal Canadiens.


FINAL
MONTREAL  3
NEW YORK   6

The crowd was crazy from the time they turned down the lights and played the introductory "I Am A Ranger" clip on the scoreboard until somewhere in the neighborhood of 10pm.  I'm a real sucker for that clip.  It always manages to bud a tear in my eye, especially when they get to Greschner's goal in '79.  

The crowd action was nice!... and the arena had a great feel.  But I was most happiest for my son.  Over the last eight years The Garden hasn't rocked like I know it can.  We had our moments.  But Friday night was an absolutely terrific atmosphere.  He was electrified by it and asked me if this is the way it used to be...?  I said..yea Dude - After tonight, will you catch up on something that's been missing from your Ranger Experience.  When you leave here tonight, you will finally have understanding into why Ranger Fans are who we are.

This game was one of those games that connects and binds generations of Ranger fans.  Every once in a while, a game like this sneaks up on you.  You go into it thinking and feeling one way, but you leave having been part a regular season game that transcends 85 years of Ranger hockey and why it's so special in our lives.

I hadn't heard the Garden drown out the National Anthem in quite some time; Not like this - Not since John Amarante was a little younger and could really belt out a tune; and all the while egging us on.

I'm going to give credit where credit is due.  Thank you Montreal Canadien fans.  That's right!  Montreal Canadien fans abounded Friday night.  Their enthusiasm whipped a rambunctious Ranger crowd into a frenzy.  And this was all before the opening face-off.

Triple-Witching was in full effect.  I knew it would be raucous.  An Original Six match-up against the Canadiens, on a balmy Friday Night, as the season winds down with the Rangers desperate for points would provide for an interesting night one way or another.  Right?

A fight one second into the contest set the tone for the rest of the game!  Oh Yea!  The night would be grand indeed!  Brandon Prust and Montreal's Travis Moen dropped gloves as soon as the puck slapped ice during the opening face-off.  There were no clear punches connected, as they did more wrestling.  But Brandon Prust got Moen down then picked up; put him down again then picked him up before the Zebras intervened.  The Garden went BONKERS!

The Rangers scored first.  Artem Anisimov's breakaway goal ignited a Fan reaction that cracked the walls and had dust falling from the ceiling of Madison Square Garden.  Oh wait, that was the renovation work Dolan is making us pay for; Sorry.  But Anisimov's goal was Fandom Dynamite; The Garden blew up with cheer.

Montreal's PK Subban tied the game at 1-1.  But then the Rangers turned into a Big Blue Bulldozer  and plowed through the Canadiens all period long.  Actually, Montreal gave us the crease all night.  Ryan Callahan was doing pirouettes in front of the net.  So many scoring chances came off a pass from behind the net to numerous, unmolested Blueshirts in front of the net.

The Rangers powered-up for four more goals in the first period, chasing Montreal's Carey Price from net in the process.  Girardi, Callahan, Gaborik, and Boyle all would score for the Blueshirts.  When the horn blew ending the first twenty minutes of carnage, the scoreboard red Rangers 5;  Canadiens 1.  The crowd rained down adulation for their team.

The Canadiens got a goal back in the second period but neither team did much else.  Then Montreal scored again to begin the third period.  The Garden crowd stayed strong.  And Vinny Prospal rewarded The Garden crowd's Friday Night Fever with another goal (power play) to ice things up.

The Rangers won 6-3 and from start to finish, it was glorious.  But no hard won battle is without it's casualties.  Montreal ran our King which stopped the game for a very long and uncomfortable few minutes.  Henrik finished the game to earn his 30th win of the season, but it cost him a stiff neck, and for the fans a headache.

This was the Rangers' third win in a row.  They are stringing together points at the most crucial time in their soon to be ending regular season.  This team refuses to fold.  They've been under duress and due to injury, have been stretched to their limits and beyond at times.  The Blueshirts have had to bend mightily.  But right now the recoil from all that stored up potential energy is providing for a strong Ranger finish.

May they continue.





Sunday, March 20, 2011
New York Rangers at Pittsburgh Penguins

FINAL
New York Rangers   5
Pittsburgh Penguins  2

NEW YORK RANGERS:  KINGs of the Ice Age.

From Midtown Manhattan, through the St. Lawrence River Valley to the Allegheny Mountains - those aren't scars carved in the bedrock and left behind as a signature of the last Ice Age.  No...that's the New York Rangers grinding their way through the north east corridor on their way to the playoffs.  It just so happens they've started to advance forward with the steady momentum and power of a glacier.

Montreal ran our goalie Friday night and the Penguins would try too.  Brandon Dubinsky and Michael Sauer would have none of it Sunday afternoon.  When Pittsburgh tried, Dubinsky took on two black jerseys and Sauer flattened another.  Our Liege would take care of the rest with a stiff neck and all.

Ryan Callahan took a high stick to the nose which drew blood. 
Matt Cooke; Yea! That Matt Cooke - Mario Lemieux's Matt Cooke, delivered another very high and unnecessary elbow to McDonagh.  Gasp!

Yea well, Good!  Because that would be Pittsburgh's last indiscretion and the beginning of their unravelling.  McDonagh would get the last swipe.  He'd have two in fact.  He skated in untouched against PITT-Fluery and had his shot; then a second shot off his own rebound.  Fluery stopped them both but Derek Stepan was there to slam a loose puck home to make the score 4-2 Rangers.

There was a moment for the Rangers when this game could have really fallen apart like Charlie Sheen.  During the 5-minute major for Matt Cook's elbow, Pitt's Chris Kunitz started the third period scoring with a short-handed goal to break the 1-1 tie.  That's when the Blueshirt glacier decided to just grind Pittsburgh's new little igloo down to a snow cone.

Crunch ~ Marian Gaborik on the power Play;
Crunch ~ Ryan Callahan 11 seconds later;
Crunch ~ Derek Stepan slamming home a McDonagh rebound;
Crunch ~ ...and an empty-netter by Brandon Dubinsky finished off the Penguins in a most formidable fashion.  It was a great follow-up performance to Friday night's display of force.

Keep Crunching Boys!



ALL IS FAIR IN LOVE AND HATE:

Ryan Callahan said Torts is "...great..blah blah" ..as part of some post game comments.  OK...we know all about their mutual Man-Love they share for each other.  But I wonder if Sean Avery feels the same way?  He was a healthy scratch again for the third time in the last four games.  I wondered aloud how long it would be before Sean Avery saw ice again after his game against the Islanders last Tuesday night.  Well, we're finding out.  Coach Torts is making Avery pay a stiff price for his last on-ice effort. The thing is, the Rangers are 4-0 in their last four games and 3-0 with Avery scratched.  Avery's last game came against a team (the Islanders) that is not near to being on-par with San Jose, Montreal and Pittsburgh; the three teams the Rangers beat with Avery benched. 

We are playing must win games and Coach is saying Avery must sit.  Beating the Pens; Habs; and Sharks is no easy task.  So for Avery, there's no challenge to the Coach's decision.   What happens from this moment on is now any-body's guess.  It's clear Coach Torts has no use for Sean Avery.  There is a complete disconnect.





Mike.BTB

N.Y. RANGERS ~ The Battle For A Playoff Spot Has Begun

So Chris Drury is pretty much done huh?  Bye! 

Does this mean Sean Avery will officially get the least amount of ice time now that Drury and Derek (what ever happened to) Boogaard officially won't?  Does anyone even know where Derek Boogaard is anymore?

So who gets the "C" now?!  That's the $7 million dollar question isn't it?
Watch Torts give it to Prospal.  I just know it!  WHY do I sense that?
GRrrrrr!

Let's do this one more time:  Give the C to either Marc Staal or Ryan Callahan.  Then Dubinsky is the A along with whoever isn't Captain.

Remember what I said about Carolina?  Well it's coming true.  They just leapfrogged Atlanta.  And we're next!  And you know what I'm going to say next right?  G'head..take a second and guess.

If we don't get our game together, the Devils are going to keep winning and beat us out for the 8th playoff spot.  How miserable would that be?  I know you feel it too.  Don't lie to yourself like I'm trying to do.

By the way...Congratulations to Jacques LeMaire on his 600th NHL win as a Head Coach!!

But as far as the Rangers moving forward?  Gaborik doesn't seem like he's going to start scoring in bunches for us ever again.  So I don't know how we are going to score.  I don't know who's going to score.  I don't know if we'll ever score on a Power Play again.  I just don't know right now. 

Back in October, we all knew more or less, we'd be battling for the 7th or 8th playoff spot. 
So here we are; in the heat of the battle I guess.  Fight on Boys... in-spite of the zany ways Coach Torts doles out ice-time.  You can start tonight with a win over Atlanta.  And hey, we're pretty good on the road right?  It's at home we can't win a damn game.

...And that was my cranky Pre-Game:  Here's to hoping they don't get me mad.  I'm going to wait and see how tonight's game plays out first, before I apply some actual coherent thought to this.  (All I know is Avery better get AT LEAST 17 minutes tonight).

Game Time is T-minus 15 minutes.  Better lace-em up tight Boys!

TONIGHT

NEW YORK RANGERS

vs.

Atlanta Thrashers

..somewhere down in Georgia

Let's Go Rangers!

Mike.BTB

N.Y. Rangers; A Crowd Of BlueShirts Headed Back To Montreal

NEW YORK RANGERS: 

It's up To Coach Torts To Maintain Crowd Control


DEVILS 3;  RANGERS 2

We've seen the last game against the Devils played out many times before.  We know what it looks like when we see it coming.

*A lethargic start and a furious third period.
*The Henrik Stinker; three goals allowed on twelve shots taken by the Devils, followed by a call to the bullpen. 
*The Rangers were 1 for 6 on the Power Play.  It took a two man advantage in the third period to finally score a PP goal (by Prospal).  For most of the other man-advantages, they could hardly either gain, or maintain the zone.
*Brandon Dubinsky has turned into a Human Turnover.  His legs spread wide, stick-out, puck-handling style is a real hit with defenses; especially when he's headed one way, while the puck and a skater are headed in the opposite direction.  (It's not as big a hit with the fans though).
*Sean Avery receiving the second lowest amount of ice-time.

Then..., there was...

*Steve Eminger was a healthy scratch for the second straight game.  Michael Del Zotto has been getting the ice-time....and of course has been struggling.

"I Say...I say, that kid is about as sharp as a bowling ball" - Foghorn Leghorn.

I think we're all in agreement on two things regarding Michael Del Zotto:
ONE - We like him.
TWO - He has no business being on the team and would be better served playing with the Whale and learning his craft there.  No jokes...He's just in need of some good old fashioned Minor League experience; that's all.

And then..., getting back to Avery, - he did it.   ...Coach Torts that is.

Sean Avery had only 9:43 time on ice against the Devils Thursday night.  It was the second lowest time after Chris Drury's 8:43, > and who now seems to be suffering from a bum knee.  Vinny Prospal?  16:33 worth of ice time.  AND he was reunited with his old line-mate Marian Gaborik.  Just because I didn't want to see it happen, doesn't mean we all didn't see it coming.  But, yea, I have a problem with that and last night's game.

Vinny Prospal actually played a good game (at Center) for his first time seeing action this season.  He scored on a Power Play.  But don't be fooled.  He played well when the ice got crowded down low and wasn't forced to skate about in open ice.  I was there and watched.  When play along the boards broke-up and the action skated the other way, he looked like he was skating in sand with stilettos on.  But this is what had me grinding my teeth Thursday night; - Prospal got sixteen minutes in his first game back while Avery was limited to nine-plus?

First, look up and down the list of Forwards on the New York Rangers.  I'll wait.  Forget the stats, because they don't translate with all the injuries and Tort's allotments.  Just look at the names and draw a mental image of their on-ice efforts and effectiveness.

Now, I want you to ask yourself the following question; What Forward would you consider to be our most complete package Forward?  What Forward plays almost every aspect of a Forward's game quite well?

Consider instincts and Hockey smarts; correct positioning; being a good skater; good anticipation; being a good puck handler; very good passing; passing from behind the net; grinds and wins battles against the boards and in the corners; knows how to buzz the net; good in a crowd and in open ice; very good fore-checker; understands and plays responsible defense; takes the body; knows how to finish checks; and someone who is unafraid and tough...(without going on and on...).

So now let's answer that question.  I'm not going to debate who gets into the top three of the list.  But I will say Sean Avery must be among the three.  So I cede 2/3 of any debate on the matter.  All I ask is for the 1/3 being called correctly.

I also want to point out the last game we played against the Flyers.  Yea, we lost.  My point is Avery picked a fight because we were getting our butts kicked and the young-lings needed to be shown what it takes to play Philly.  I'm not comparing the two players, but do you remember who the last Blueshirt was that decided to pick and choose moments to get into a fight just for the sake of shaking up his own team?  I do.  Sorry, but it was Messier (I'm sure we can name others..just not any recently).  Of course I'm not comparing; they aren't in the same galaxy.  I'm just pointing to one trait.

Again Thursday, when the Devils were skating circles around us, Avery took it upon himself to try and get some feistiness generated among his team-mates and took-on Clarkson.  Those two instances (Phila/NJ) weren't Avery punk-jobs.  They were needed at the time and he seized upon the moment.  I'm not talking about anything heroic here.  I'm just talking about good, hard, Hockey and recognizing the team may have needed a spark to juice em up.

Here's another, I'm sorry, but I haven't seen better passing or a Blueshirt player, play better behind net than..., that's right!...I'm going to say it! - Wayne Gretzky.  Don't gasp.  Embrace the truth.  Again, I'm not comparing.  I'm just pointing out something Avery does very well for the Rangers.

And this is why I tie myself up in knots like I did to my sneakers when I was six years old!

But you know what?  That's old news, however much it's been my pet peeve.  My gripe is with the blatant misuse of a very effective player; nothing more..Nothing less. 


But, let me tell you why I'm really cranky about this team right now.


It happens all the time.  What you start the season with, turns out to be a dog.  Then a bunch of them get hurt and you have to call up reinforcements.  Young, hungry, eager kids step in and not only hold down the fort, they excel and affect your team enough into making strides in the standings.  Then when the collective dog gets healthy again, they force the youthful exuberance aside so the junkyard fence barkers may resume land-mining the lot again with their waste.  THAT's what has me a little ticked.

Erik Christensen is coming back for today's game against the Canadiens, and Coach Torts already said he has no idea where he's going to find time for him.  That might be a small problem for the moment.  But the log-jam is bound to create a bigger issue (especially when Fedotenko gets back) down the line and heading into April.

Oh yea..., about April; I am consumed with the Carolina Hurricanes.  I think the Rangers' playoff chances are caught somewhere between us and them.

Of course, if Vinny Prospal does play well down the stretch and wakes up a sleeping Gaborik, then it will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that I'm an idiot and the Rangers should be thankful they have Coach Torts behind the bench instead of me.

But, until that transpires, I'm going to keep pushing this issue like (a) dope.

TODAY

NEW YORK RANGERS

VS.

Montreal Canadiens

From The Great White North

These are the rest of the pictures from Montreal as of January 15, 2011:

You can see the first group of pictures HERE.

Let's Go Rangers!




Mike.BTB



Rangers/Devils ~ BATTLE OF THE HUDSON IV

BATTLE of the HUDSON   IV

Thursday; February 3, 2011


New Jersey Devils

vs.

NEW YORK RANGERS

MADISON SQUARE GARDEN

I'll be there!  Look for the #4 Greschner jersey.

New Jersey Devils:  It Just Keeps Getting Worse For Devils, Just When Coach LeMaire Has Team Playing Better.

The Devils are coming off a 2-1 win over the Ottawa Senators at The Rock Tuesday night.  Since January 9th, the Devils are 7-1-1 in their last 9 games.  They are playing for respect as a playoff spot is very unlikely at this point.  But they are still a talented collection of players that can make some of the Atlantic Division teams very miserable down the stretch.  They followed up a win over Pittsburgh back on January 20th by defeating the Philadelphia Flyers on the 22nd at a time when everybody is having problems with the Flyers.  Either it was just a matter of time before they collectively started to play better Hockey together, or Coach LeMaire is starting to have his affects on the team.  In either case, it's probably way too late anyway. 

In three meetings against the Rangers this season, the Devils are win-less.

The biggest news out of the Land of Devils was a Bloomberg report the Devils were put up for sale by Owner Jeff Vanderbeek.  The Devils have released their statement regarding the matter, and you can read the entire summary and Jeff Vanderbeek's statements HERE.  While there is potentially a stake of the team for sale, it's not Mr. Vanderbeek's.  His stated intention is to remain as Majority and controlling Owner of the New Jersey Devils.  Mr. Vanderbeek's partners are the ones who seem to want out.  Mike Gilfillan and Ray Chambers referred back to their original intentions for backing the Devils and the Prudential Center which was to help boost Newark along with revitalization efforts.  Feeling like they have achieved what they set out to do, their interests in the team are now up for sale.

Trouble has been pounding on the Devils' door looking to wreak havoc for years:

*First and foremost, the debt on the new arena and overall attendance are still not in sync.  The Devils continue to draw around 88% capacity (on the good side) in spite of the new arena and efforts to improve the surrounding area in Newark.  For the most part, they never really enjoyed the intended appreciable spike in attendance like they hoped.

*There has been for some time, a contentious battle with the City of Newark over back-rent payments, parking revenue sharing, and payments for infrastructure costs associated with the site the Devils were responsible for per the construction agreement.  Most of these issues may or may not have all been settled.  But it does nothing to take the sour taste out of their mouths after having gone through a bitter haggle with the City.

*Diminished results on the ice; beset with an onerous contract to Ilya Kovalchuv, and being dead-last in the NHL standings, I'm sure are exasperating any sentiment to sell the team.  The three partners were not all in agreement offering Kovalchuk that contract.

*The reality that the End of an Era is at hand, once Martin Brodeur retires, compounded by their spot in the standings my give one (an owner) a bleak outlook for the future of the team.

*Then there is the never-ending Devils' coaching dilemma to contend with.  Jacques LeMaire has already announce he will not be returning next season to Coach the Devils.

*Without knowing the details of their Partnership Agreement, it's possible Jeff Vanderbeek may have to sell his stake also.


Now here's a rub..  The Buffalo Sabres just got sold.  The Dallas Stars and the Los Angeles Kings are undergoing their own ownership turnovers.  The question is how many more buyers are out there looking to purchase into a Hockey team as a minority owner (if indeed Jeff Vanderbeek stays on) in an area/fan base that won't fill arena seats to capacity...and who have a restrictive Salary Cap problem on their hands.

And here's the food for thought...  There's always Kansas City and their brand new arena with no tenant, and Quebec who is clamouring for another NHL team.  What if the Devils are made to be sold in full?  A new owner can get out of the lease agreement with the Prudential Center with money of course.

The Devils escaping the NY/NJ area would shape up to be the easy part.  Keeping them here however, has a small but real chance of turning into something difficult to stop.  But of course these are just my speculations gone wild.

NEW YORK RANGERS:  Blueshirts Suffer From Getting Healthy.

*No Crosby; No Malkin; No Ranger Win.

*Vinny Prospal is Coming Back But There Is Only One Place For Him To Play.

**Jordan Staal was ejected from the game between Pittsburgh and the Rangers Tuesday night with a Match Penalty; for intent to injure, as he punched Brandon Prust with his glove on.  There will be no suspension for Staal.


The game?  With no Crosby or Malkin in sight, a 2-0 lead against the Penguins went "POOF"! 
They ALL skated with cement blocks on their feet...(eh hem; Girardi and Del Zotto I think may have broken an ankle pivoting on one of the goals against, if I'm not mistaken).

Pittsburgh answered back with three goals in the second period to take the lead 3-2.  Then with less than a minute left in the second period, Ryan Callahan scored on a deflection during a Rangers' Power Play to make the score three all.  That's the way regulation time ended.  And that's the way Over Time ended also.  They went to a Shoot-Out to decide who skates away with the second point.  Fleury outlasted Henrik Lundqvist in extra, extra innings, and a long night at the Garden due to the late VERSUS start time, turned into a long trip home for the crowd in miserable weather.  The Ranger lost at home again.  They are now 12-12-2 at Madison Square Garden. this season.

Sean Avery was limited to 9:32 minutes.  Ponderous!  Only Drury and Newbury had less.  In his nine and a half minutes, Avery had just as many shots on goal as anybody.  I just don't know anymore!  Everytime Coach Torts jacks up Avery's minutes, he takes them away the very next game.  His last game before the break Avery logged 22:00 of ice time paired with Gaborik.  And Gaborik hasn't played better than he does with Avery this season.  Ponderous!  ...The Rangers committed four penalties and none by Avery.  Isn't that part of the fear?  His 140+ PIM?  So, what is it Coach?  What's the deal?  Shift to shift, he's arguably one of the Rangers' most consistent players and he's caused ZERO trouble.  It's Ponderous now.

I was surprised to see Brandon Dubinsky play last night.  But I'm dreading Vinny Prospal's return tomorrow versus the Devils.  Newbury is probably on his way back to Connecticut as we speak to make room for Prospal.  That's fine.  But I'm dying to see where Vinny Prospal's playing time will come from; or more accurately, at who's expense?  I understand Coach Torts has a lot of good feelings towards Prospal, but he must be relegated to the fourth line to start out.  Being a healthy scratch over the next two months is a pipe-dream.  I get that.

But allow me to list the names and you tell me who you would deflect ice time from and give to Prospal:

*I'll stick to the Wingers.

*Marian Gaborik?  No.
*Ryan Callahan?  No.
*Brandon Dubinsky?  No
*Brandon Prust?  No.
*Sean Avery?  You know me...Hell No!
*Mats Zuccarello?  I wouldn't.
*Wojtek Wolski?  I wouldn't

Why even bother talking about players out of position. What Centers we have are set without Prospal causing a domino effect. It needs to be considered because of the way Torts mixes and matches within a game and breaks line integrity.



So where does that leave Vinny?  Yep...He must be in the fourth row!  The only factor alleviating this situation, if by only a fraction, is Ruslan Fedotenko will be out for another month.  If the roster stays healthy is it stands right now, Kris Newbury and Erik Christensen might have seen their last bit of action on Broadway this season.  For Prospal, that's fair enough.

The problem I have is I don't want Vinny Prospal and Chris Drury to disrupt any part of our game that was built with hard work in their absence (and/or for Drury) lack of productivity.  We are where we are and we are who we are this season with little to no contributions from those two players.  This team has evolved away from the team they signed-on to.

So far with Chris Drury, Coach Torts is getting it right.  Last night Chris Drury didn't see action in the third period and only had just over 9 minutes of ice time for the night.  Again, it's not my want to criticize Chris Drury, but he has become the most inconsequential player on the team.  And I'll say it until it happens...The C must be taken from his jersey, and applied to Marc Staal's.  Your team Captain can not be on the fourth line and missing whole periods due to lack of effectiveness.  In the face of the hustle, grit, and new, young, eager legs, now on this team, Chris Drury is completely mis-cast.  And now Vinny Prospal returns very far removed from game speed and timing, and I feel is similarly mis-cast on this New Rangers Team.  The last time Prospal played on Rangers' ice, we wore one of the "A" on his jersey.  All I'm saying is that should not be the case when he returns!

I'm already clear on all that.  Marc Staal should be the New York Rangers Captain, while *Ryan Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky are the two A.  That would be more truly representative of this team's identity.

But back to Prospal and Drury, let them be 2/3 of one of the most notable fourth lines in Hockey history (if by name only).  IF.. they can manage that.  But mark my word, if Sean Avery comes anywhere near the fourth line again, I'll flip.  From this moment forward, to relegate Sean Avery to eight and nine minutes or less, is indefensible and damn near impossible for Coach Torts to explain or rationalize without me yelling BULL.

As far as finally getting our forward lines in order, the excuse in the beginning of the season for all the line juggling was that Torts was in observation of..,  and feeling-out mode.  Before injuries really took effect, Torts juggled lines to try and infuse more offense.  Then the injuries did set in, and we were forced, obviously to juggle the lines like a circus clown out of necessity.  But what we all talked about was a return of our regulars to stabilize the lines and gain some continuity again.  Right?

Well, here we are.  Coach Torts has all his wingers back and according to the "past speak", our forward lines should get settled down now...right?  So why do I feel like Coach Torts is going to try and magically kick-start Marian Gaborik into high gear again by reuniting him with his old line mate from last season; a Mr. Vinny Prospal?  There is just now way the soon to be 37 year old (this month) is going to be up to snuff right out of the box.  I couldn't care less if he was able to chase down a chicken like Mick made Rocky Balboa do.  He should not be given minutes that are taken away from Avery, Zuccarello or Wolski.; - UNLESS they are earned the hard way; from the fourth line up.



Enough.  I'm going to the game.  That's why I'm posting tonight.


Let's Go Rangers!





Mike.BTB

N.Y. RANGERS ~ Back To The Ice vs. PENGUINS

Welcome to the Home Stretch.  The drive for a playoff spot starts now.
 
Ryan Callahan and Dan Girardi will return to action tonight.  
Brandon Dubinsky, Erik Christensen, and Ruslan Fedotenko will not.  Vinny Prospal is scheduled to return Thursday night.

For Pittsburgh, SID "the slew" CROSBY, and Ivgeni Malkin will be out of action tonight.

I can't think of a better way to start the drive towards April than by beating the Penguins at home.  The Rangers need to start winning more games on their Home Ice.  Improving upon their 12-11-2 record at MSG needs to start tonight and Thursday against the Devils.

Vinny Prospal is finally making his 2010-2011 season debut Thursday.  All I know when he does get back, he should not be wearing an A on his sweater as he did when he last skated for the Rangers.  I do not believe that will be the case.  But that time has past, and he no longer fits on this team. We are getting ever closer to number crunching time for Coach Torts with players returning from injuries.  When Prospal returns for Thursday night's game against the Devils, he had better be on the fourth line with Chris Drury, if he has to play at all.

If Vinny Prospal can play his way off the fourth line, fine.  It means he outplayed someone.  But not until then do I want the team chemistry, good play, and hard work ethic brought by Wolski, Newbury, Stepan or Zuccarello disrupted.

Avery and Gaborik will be paired.  Prust and Boyle will be paired.  Callahan and Dubinsky (upon his return) will be paired.

Where does Vinny Prospal fit now?  Answer ~ He doesn't!  And Coach shouldn't waste our time trying to get an OLD, Square peg in a round hole.  It's fourth line or bust for Prospal along with Drury and Fedotenko (when he gets back).

Oh Yea!  Drury ~ Take the C off his jersey and give it to MARC STAAL!!
RYAN CALLAHAN ~ A
BRANDON DUBINSKY ~ A

That's the way it needs to be now!

TONIGHT

Pittsburgh Penguins

31-15-4   66 Points

vs.

NEW YORK RANGERS

29-20-3   61 Points

MADISON SQUARE GARDEN

Mike.BTB

N.Y. RANGERS ~ Fifty-One Points? Blame Coach Tortorella!!

NEW YORK RANGERS:  As Design went out the window, The Rangers' GM Stumbled Upon the "Fortune of Youth".

Yes, yes, yes...We like these guys and the position we're in.  But, fellow Ranger Fans, it's time for us to face the "Devil" and give him his due.  I don't mean New Jersey's team and I don't mean Satan himself.  I can only offer you the next closest thing...No; not Jim Dolan.   I'm talking about Glen Sather.

But before I do something stupid and regret it...like crediting Glen Sather for anything, let's put on our Blueshirts and look at this in a totally biased manner.

The plan, as always with Glen Sather, was to spend big money and then watch the team fail and get hurt.  The 2010-2011 RUIN STONES called for high-priced Chris Drury coming back from surgery and giving this team another year of nothing.  The STONES of Sather called for an expensive 35 year old, injured winger named Prospal to miss the first four months of the season.  Not to mention, Sather's ancient Stones still called for ruing the glory that is the Rozsival contract and being thankful for the still lingering euphoria of Redden's deal (just in case anyone forgot that one).  Fate dealt Sather a blow when Scott Gomez was swapped out for Marion Gaborik.  Otherwise, Sather's failure would stand nearer to being complete.  But even Gaborik felt Sather's displeasure and eventually acquiesced by succumbing to injury for a lengthy spell earlier this season.  And of course , the Crowning Achievement of Glen Sather's Post-Cap ruin..I mean reign, is not re-signing COLTON ORR!!  He is still paying for Donald Brashear while having to import an out of shape, over-weight, former "pugilist" Hockey Champ; Derek Boogaard, who impressed absolutely no-one while in a Ranger jersey as he was continually getting the worst in his bouts against opposing players and his playing time.  And I might add, all for the same money they could have signed Orr for..  Tortorella continually limited Boogaard to 2:30 minutes a night otherwise he could have been even worse for us.  Shame on Torts.  But again, to Sather's credit, Boogaard too, has recently been lost to a lengthy injury just like the others.  What a great waist of money by Sather covering up for the Colton Orr gaffe a full two years later!  Bravo!!

But gone are Sather's earlier triumphs of the decade.  Aah, the days of our Little Head Coach Tom Renny; our little Hartford call-ups like Petr Prucha, Domenic Moore, Hollweg, Ortmeyer.....adnausiam.  And how Coach Renny positioned his modern-millennium Smurfs on the wide hips of the Paleolithic Hockey, Pre-Cap Age survivor, Jaromir Jagr, like lil' birds on the hips of a hippo, hitching a ride.  Nothing lasts forever folks.

While we were all miserably drifting and bobbing about on our ocean of tears, hopelessly pondering one Stanley Cup Championship in the last 70 years, Sather did something horribly wrong to alter the plan on us. 

They say necessity is the mother of all invention.  But with Coach Tortorella, it's been more a matter of trying to run away from impending doom.  He's ruining everything Glen Sather sat on his ass to achieve.  He came here as a Coach who garners just enough respect from players and one who can impose his will on a team.  And he's been doing just that with our team.  Damn him!

It was Coach Torts who came in here like Big Bad Bart in a Black Hat and stuck his spurs into Sather's loins...so to say.  The slashing and burning of the Ranger landscape we all became accustomed to, got a big bucket of water dropped on it.  Who exactly let John Tortorella sneak on TEX's RANGERS' RANCH is still unknown.  But he needs to be trapped, roped and hog-tied before he's able to cause any more improvement around here and shed Glen Sather in a good light.

Everything was perfectly fine around here when Coach Renny was content being the minder of Sather's pig-pen of undersized sows with one big Hog in the middle.  But they, Renny and Sather, got sloppy.  Their Cash-Hog Star upped and squealed-off to Russia.  Renny got caught in the ensuing raid, and is now in Coach Re-Location.  He agreed to talk and said there was some talent the Boss didn't ruin yet and told TORTS where to find it.

Back at TEX's RANGERS' RANCH, from the rubble, Coach Torts was able to recover a Goalie, a Defenseman, and two young Forwards.  He looked upon them and said, "They are good.  This will be my Nucleus."

Since then, as if by some JEDI COACH mind trick, John Tortorella got Glen Sather to believe in kids again.  It's as if Burger Meister Meister Burger was given a Yo-Yo for the first time.

Miraculously, Coach Torts got Sather to slow himself down and give kids a chance.

WHoooooaa Nelly!  Like I said before, Necessity is the Mother of ALL Invention.

Glen Sather had no choice this season, and perhaps last season, to rely on so many rookies and young players as he has.  If left to his own devices, he'd gladly pay for someone else to don a Blueshirt and get hurt while earning an absurd amount of money doing it.  I'd venture to say he'd even pay some 37 year old from his own pocket, and under the table, to come play for the Rangers and suck!  But that would be silly, so I'll refrain.

Here's the biggest difference.  Coach Tortorella is making these kids matter and Coach Torts is the difference in their play being effective.  Not only did Torts get Glen Sather to slam the brakes on his own lunacy, but he's done to the veterans what Tom Renny and Sather himself would not; keep them accountable.
Coach Torts has taken his biggest producers, skilled skaters, top goalies, high-priced talent, high potentials, and most disciplined players, as he has his worst head-cases and misfits, and pounded them all into fine powder.  None has been excluded from the heat generated by The TORTS' Temper.

The players he has hounded most are the players, playing at their best.  Young veteran; older veteran; Torts has molded or re-molded them all.  His young players being called up all salivate for his instruction just like young impressionable men should be.  Boys, Kids, young men, older men..., we all love ORDER if we know it's for the best and it works.

Coach Torts has not only, in a literal sense, physically molded Ryan Callahan, Brandon Dubinsky and Marc Staal into NHL Approved Men and League stars, he's taken "iron-workers" like Prust and Boyle and made them into difference makers for this Rangers team.

This is not a question of what Coach Torts wants, or demands his team to be in the ideal sense.  This is all about what Coach Torts thinks this team CAN be with the personnel afforded to him by, a one Glen Sather, and the system he believes they can best employ to the best of their ability.  He doesn't tell Prust and Boyle to adhere to his ideal game plan.  He creates a system Prust and Boyle are good at to help us win.

He demands hard work, accountability and above all, discipline to the system and a trust in their team mates.
His players, don't appear..., they ARE responding to their Head Coach even though he's about as smooth as a Brillo Pad, (Just ask Larry Brooks).  Whenever Coach Torts has felt compelled to come over to a player on the bench and pound him on the shoulder and back a couple of times, be it for motivation, confidence building, a wake-up call or an act of disgust in a player, no one has yet seemed to mind at all.  That means they are all on board.  Even the contentious relationship between him and Sean Avery has seemed to find a middle ground in-which the two exist.  The fact is Avery is a good player and even Torts knows it.

But you must look at the home-grown and over-all youth on this team and correlate the quantity of it on the roster with the quality of their play on the ice to John Tortorella.  Injuries have presented many of the kids with an opportunity but Coach Torts put them all in positions tailored for them and the boys have responded with responsible play for their Coach and team.  The fact is we have only 5 skaters 30 years of age or older on the roster as of today.

Who are those thirty-somes?  Rozsival-32; Prospal-35; Drury-34; Fedotenko-31; and Avery-30.

There is no doubt Michael Del Zotto needed to go to Connecticut.  He knew it as well.  And Torts was correct in saying the best thing for him is to play; but play for the Whale.  The boy is only 20 years old and will have another day.  And Christensen is still a work in progress.

But look around and the evidence is clear, Coach Torts has the attention of his youngsters and the entire team. 

Artem Anisimov; Stepan; Weise; Zuccarello, Saur; have all given more in effort and results back to their Coach than Frolov, Boogaard, Drury, Prospal, Rozsival and Redden have given back to their General Manager.

Sure Sather has chips with his name on them before Coach Torts took over the thinking-man's part of our Operation.  But Coach Torts has cashed those chips in the most.  These Over-Time and Shoot-Out wins used to be Ranger losses back in the third periods of games.  These Rangers are fighting the fight by consistently grinding out everything they do.  Torts has turned it into a way of life for them and it's working.

The hope here is that maybe Coach Torts has indeed gotten Sather to see the usefulness and enthusiasm of kids and the things they're willing to do as opposed to continually throwing bad money at the teams' problems and never addressing how they will get better while also ensuring old, over paid players rule the day.

Torts has come here like a raving but earnest Mason, and is trying to build a winner from the ground..up, brick by brick.  If you want to blame anyone for the New York Rangers' fifty-one points and a 6th place positioning in the playoff bracket so far..., Blame Coach Torts for his instigations.  He's your culprit.  How dare he push and bull his players to 50+ points.  Yea; his players...Look no further for his accomplices.

Rest assured Ranger fans, DARK DAYS have not escaped us yet.  Be as sure with the knowledge the sun will rise tomorrow, as with this little piece of knowledge, -  Glen Sather will ruin this team again with his Dollars and NON-Cents and we can all go back to our lives as usual.

How dare you get excited?  Shame on you Ranger fan.  Shame on us all!

TONIGHT

NEW YORK RANGERS

VS.

ST. LOUIS BLUES

FINAL:
RANGERS  2
BLUES       1

N.Y. Rangers
secure points number fifty-two and fifty-three.

Mike.BTB