N.Y. Rangers ~ First Team to Sixty Points

From the desk of:   RAISE GRESCH WITH THE GREATS

SUNDAY

NEW YORK RANGERS

vs.

Montreal Canadiens

From,

The Great White North

Canada

*     *     *     *

NEW YORK RANGERS:  Blueshirt Gain Measure of Revenge; Correct Past Losses To Maple Leafs With a 3-0 Shut-Out. 

Marty Biron Stops 20 Shots and Had One Assist.

NEW YORK RANGERS

28-10-4; 60 Points

#1

in

National Hockey League

So how does a team respond after losing to an opponent who out-hit you; out-skated you; out-skilled you; and out-scored you by an 8-4 margin in two previous meetings against said team?  And before answering that, consider this opponent knocked out one of your prized young defensemen (Michael Sauer) with a concussion who's been missing considerable time as a result.




You can start with the best back-up goalie in Hockey continuing his superb play by shutting-out a good, and currently hot Toronto Maple Leafs team.  He faced twenty shots and stopped them all.  This was Marty Biron's second shut-out of the season, and the Rangers' fifth overall.  He is now 9-2 on the season.  Marty also accounted for an assist on Derek Stepan's third period goal.  Biron made a strong pass to mid-ice where Carl Hagelin then forwarded the puck to Derek Stepan who skated and held the puck with veteran-like patience, then faked Toronto goalie; Jonas Gustavsson; to score on a backhand and turn Saturday's contest into a 3-0 final.




The Rangers finished a scoreless first period on a power play that went for not.  They were 0-2 on the power play for the game while successfully killing off two Toronto man-advantages.




Veteran Michael Rupp played the role of steadying force again.  He was the one who got the Rangers started in the second period, just like he did in the Winter Classic.  The veteran took charge of his line and together they demonstrated a picture perfect three-man rush where-in they moved the puck with the rapid action of a pinball executing three marvelously crisp passes en route to a score.  Rupp's goal made the score 1-0 and was assisted by Derek Stepan and a returning Wojtek Wolski.




Then at 16:20 of the second period; Iron Man; Brian Boyle was finally rewarded for all the hard work he's put in this season with a goal assisted by his partner in grind Brandon Prust, and Ryan McDonagh. Boyle and Prust were relentless on the fore-check making Boyle's first goal in almost twenty games possible.  He paid a price a little later in the game though.  Deon Phaneuf caught Boyle at mid-ice with his head down and crunched him good.  It hasn't been lost on Ranger Fans that it was Phaneuf who laid the hit on Michael Sauer which has since kept him out of action with concussion symptoms.




So add this item to the list growing longer with every Rangers game regarding things good teams do:  Lets add being practiced at the art of revenge.  Toronto as I mentioned, hammered us in two prior games this season.  Answering back with a convincing 3-0 shut-out on Toronto's home ice was a great way to settle a score so to say.  And with this win over Toronto, the Rangers have pretty much settled all accounts on their schedule to date.




Even though Ottawa kind of took us to town the other night, it was still only a rubber game after two previous meetings in which both teams won a game each.  Toronto was the only foe which really stood out that handily turned the Blueshirts away this season.  Until Saturday this is. 




With the first half of the season officially complete, it can now be said with confidence the Rangers have stood up to all-comers the schedule makers put on the ice against them.  They've either struck first, exchanged body blows, or have counter-punched their way to redeeming themselves, as was the case against Toronto.




Before I end this installment, add yet another item to the list of things good teams do:  Exhibit Poise.  Like the poise Marty Biron exhibited stopping twenty shots in hostile territory knowing full well, the Rangers needed a good showing against the Leafs.  He provided his team with a shut-out.  And poise, like Derek Stepan exhibited on his delayed move against Jonas Gustavvson.  Many of these kids are acting and playing like they've done this before.  That's on Coach.




The Rangers list of things good teams do is growing longer indeed.  They keep adhering to the mandates of their Coach, and forever keep mindful the little things that need to get done in order for big things to happen.  The correction against the Maple Leafs has been chilled, shaken, and served, Toronto style.




The Rangers are only half way up the mountain.  Teams like Boston; Chicago; and Detroit loom ahead to test us.  But as of January 14th, the New York Rangers have achieved sixty points before any other team in the NHL this season.




Toast!  Here's to you Boys!  Shaken.  Not stirred.






Mike.BTB

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 ~ Bigger Heart Wins Out Over Big Bodies

Sunday's Games:


FINAL ~ S/O
New York Rangers 3
Philadelphia Flyers 2


NEW YORK RANGERS:  Blueshirts restore hope with a huge win over Philadelphia and wipe the horrible memory of the Islanders debacle out of our minds.


It was just about a year ago around this time that the Rangers lost to the Flyers in a shoot out and let an opportunity at making the playoffs spiral down a fifth floor MSG toilet.  The Rangers desperation for two points was just as dire then as it was today.  That fateful game last season was Henrik's 17th consecutive and last start of the season for the Blueshirts.  It was also the end of a season run that wore the goalie down.

This year, today's game against Philadelphia was consecutive start number 23 for King Henrik.  But with only three games left on the schedule (all at home), Henrik will not quite match last year's total of 73 starts in net.  He'll end close though.  But maybe, just maybe, Marty Biron served his role well enough and early enough before he got injured.  He did start 21 games in net before going down.  And Henrik appears to be a fresher goalie for it.

In today's game both goalies gave up two goals while stopping thirty-four shots each in regulation time plus the extra five.  Then, sure enough and to no one's surprise, the Rangers went into a Shoot-Out against the Flyers; just like last year.  Unlike last year's match-up when the Rangers (and both teams) were in a do or die situation to make the playoffs because it was the last game of the season, the Blueshirts still have the slimmest of margins to wiggle their way into the second season with three games remaining if all they managed today was just the one point.

But this year's team is a radically different product than the unit which fell short last season.  Sure, the standings and their situation seem similar to last year's end of season dilemma.  But this team unlike last season's edition has already sold us on the notion they are a never say die squad.  These young guys got spunk.  And when things seemed to break down before and the fan's hopes seemed to be crumbling along with them, time and again, these young Rangers came back and did something to reassure us they will not go quietly into the night and left us feeling good again.

It's so frustrating watching them play down to the likes of the Islanders, Senators and Florida, then suffering a back-breaker against the Sabres.  There was only a fraction of an inch of space for error in that Buffalo game, and we were the ones who found it and slipped.

But we can't lose sight of how young many of the present skaters are and how little NHL experience they have.  So considering the team we were supposed to be starting out the season compared to the team we are now, I'd say the transformation of this team on the fly has been quite remarkable and they don't deserve to get the Rangers 85 Year History book thrown at them.

These guys did things like what they started against the Flyers back in early March.  They pounded them for seven goals.  Then they beat the Sharks; Canadiens and the Penguins.  They muzzled the Bruins with a one goal shut-out.  They've pounded on the Caps a couple of times this season for good measure.  By doing things like that they've shown us they can contend and extend their season deep into Spring.  But then a drubbing like the one we endured against the Islanders makes one think if we really can and if we'll get the chance.

But today, The Rangers; The Road Warriors; - Today the Blueshirts rose to the occasion.  They did what needed to be done.  They went to Broad Street and beat the Bullies on their own ice.  There was a price to pay.  There always is when you visit Broad Street.  Marc Staal got a busted nose.  But Hockey players don't miss time.  They're not baseball players.

Now the Rangers get to finish the last three games of the season all at Madison Square Garden starting Monday night against the Boston Bruins again.

Monday's game still means something to us because Brian McCabe scored on the power play today, just as he was brought here to do.  Tomorrow's game still has major significance because Ruslan Fedotenko gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead in the second period with the team's second goal after Philly opened the scoring in the first period.  We are still in control of our destiny because Henrik Lunqvist is playing like a franchise goalie when his team needs him to be a King most.  And we still have continuing, meaningful Hockey to play beginning tomorrow night because Erik Christensen and Wojtek Wolski complemented Henrik's no goals allowed in Sunday's shoot-out against the Flyers.

Like you, I watched today's game on TV-NBC.  The guys name escapes me right now, but whomever was calling the game with Doc Emerick said upon the Flyers first goal scored in the first period, "Big Bodies Matter".  In describing the Flyers goal, that may have been true.  The notion continued to hold true for several minutes, and bore more truth when a Rangers' attempt on net was denied because a Blueshirt got pushed and tossed out of the crease by the Flyers' defense.

If Big Bodies Matter, then this game was proof that sometimes a Bigger Heart and more Fortitude can get you through a game.  Size certainly helps.  I know it; Ranger fans know.  It's something we always wished we had for a very long time.  But on a day like today, Size came in a distant third to the Rangers' intangibles they brought with them to Philly.

Bring on the Bruins.



BUFFALO vs. CAROLINA:
Final: Buffalo 2; Carolina 1   S.O.
Our neighbors from Long Island didn't care to respond to the Bat Signal the Rangers sent up during the Islanders' game against Carolina, but our cross-state friends did.  The Rangers received much need help from the Sabres as they beat Carolina today.  These two teams also played into over-time.  Buffalo's Chris Butler scored in the first period and Carolina's Eric Staal scored in the second period.  The third period remained scoreless and off to over-time they went.  At 2:56 of the five minute session, Buffalo's young Defenseman - Marc-Andre Gragnani scored the first NHL goal of his career and second ever point to win it for Buffalo.



And here's what the bottom of the Eastern Conference Bracket looks like now:

EASTERN CONFERNECE STANDINGS:
#1 ~ *Philadelphia ~ 103
#2 ~ *Washington ~ 103
#3 ~ *Boston ~ 99
#4 ~ Pittsburgh ~ 100
#5 ~ Tampa Bay ~ 97
#6 ~ Montreal ~ 91
#7 ~ Buffalo ~ 90
#8 ~ NEW YORK ~ 89
------------------------------------
#9 ~ Carolina ~ 87
#10 ~ Toronto ~ 84



RANGERS Remaining Games:
BOSTON ~ April 4th
ATLANTA ~ April 7th
NEW JERSEY ~ April 9th


OTHER STUFF:
Now that Mats Zuccarello is back with the AHL-Whale, it's unlikely Sean Avery will be the designated healthy scratch anymore.  But it doesn't look like Coach Torts will use him any differently that he has the majority of the season; which is very little.  Against the Flyers he was allotted 5:20 minutes and nine shifts; by far the fewest on the team.  Rounding out the rest of the bottom three ice participants were Christensen playing 9:07 minutes with thirteen shifts while Wojtek Wolski, who on the other side of this line logged 9:17 minutes and 13 shifts.

Here's a question.  Does Brandon Dubinsky still really deserve to be getting 24 minutes a night; every night?

Here's another question.  Do you give Henrik Lundqvist a day off against Atlanta?  In a perfect world we'd be able to afford giving him the Devils game off.  Is this even a consideration right now?  It probably depends on what the Rangers do against Boston tomorrow and how the Sabres and Carolina fare until the Atlanta game rolls around.  But should we really risk giving Chad Johnson a start in one of the remaining three games?  I think we all agree Henrik can use the day off?  The the bigger question is do we actually do it?  Can we afford to?

I feared, some weeks ago, that the Rangers' season finale against the New Jersey Devils would loom large in the Blueshirts playoff push.  It still appears if that regular season ending game will have as much significance in deciding our playoff fate as tomorrow's game against Boston will.  This Blueshirt quest for a ticket into the second season is going to use every regulation minute permissible, and I just know the Devils game will be there to factor into our best laid plans.

*If the Rangers make the Playoffs, watch for the season long, tense but civilized relationship between Coach Torts and writer Larry Brooks to end.  That's a situation that is ready to go BOOM! and there's nothing like the playoffs to light that fuse.






Mike.BTB

N.Y. RANGERS; Start Growing the Beards! This IS Playoff Time

For the first time this season, the Rangers were threatened with getting eighth place jammed down their throats.  That pill would have been hell to swallow.  For the Blueshirts, a loss to the Hurricanes Tuesday night might have also started the slippery slide out of playoff contention everyone has in the back of their minds.  For a very brief time earlier this season the Rangers have been ranked as high as fifth in the Conference and are currently engaged in an all out defense of their precious seventh spot.  A loss to Carolina would have put one Blueshirt hand on the exit door with their other hand clutching on to a Hurricane jersey.

The Rangers fought their way, and themselves, through another game. We all know Cam Ward and Carolina have always seemed to have our number. Carolina has a habit of giving us fits. They always manage to beat us at the most inconvenient times. That's why in this game, it was so refreshing to see the Rangers get out to an early 1-0 first period lead resulting from some nifty work by Sean Avery and a goal by Brandon Prust. We gave back the goal for a first period tie, but Ryan Callahan put us back in front just in time for the second intermission with a Power Play goal.  Yes, you heard correctly.  I said a Power Play goal.


The third period turned into the Jussi Jokenin Show for Carolina.  He beat Henrik Lundqvist for two goals and there went the Rangers' lead.  So much more could have been lost right then.  The Hurricanes held a 3-2 edge and seemingly had a hand around the Ranger season's neck.  The resulting choke would have been money in the bank, even right up until last season.  But that's why these guys are a little different that past editions of Blueshirts.  We no longer sit around waiting for the other shoe to fall off.  We no longer wait around for third periods where the Rangers built a reputation for collapsing like a circus tent at the end of another bad show. We now hang in there and fight because it's what we do best.


Michal Rozsival Wojtek Wolski decided to play Super Hero for a night and saved the Rangers in the nick of time. With less than two minutes remaining in regulation, Wolski beat Cam Ward for the Rangers' third and game tying goal. Glen Sather's pre-pre-pre trade deadline acquisition continues to play hard, effective hockey; fitting in seamlessly into the Blueshirts' lines while scoring the occasional big goal for us. No other Wolski goal has been as big as the one he scored Tuesday night.  It was also the Rangers' biggest goal of the year.  Yes, I think Wolski's goal was that important.  The short term goal for this team should be to never taste eighth place...ever!  ...from now till April.


Regulation expired as did over-time and the Rangers were still no better off than they were 65 minutes earlier. The Rangers last chance to put at least another point of distance between them and Carolina; teams Seven and Eight in the Conference standings, would be decided in a shoot-out.

Wojtek Wolski stepped up for the Rangers again and delivered the only puck to get past a Goalie in the over-over-time.  The diminutive forward scored the biggest goal of his short Rangers' career since the biggest goal he scored way back..... in the third period!  Hey, even Super Heroes have to work overtime once in a while.

Wojtek Wolski Michal Rozsival, stepped up Tuesday and shielded the Rangers' collective backside from feeling the frost of getting left out in the cold.  Eighth place has a way of pressing your butt against the cold door separating you from late February's chill..., and you never know when that door will bust open. When that happens, you fall down and roll out while another team sneaks into the House of Eight behind you and slams the door shut.  It happens like that all the time.  It's like Fred Flintstone trying to put out the cat every night.  Every episode is a struggle.

But this game turned out to be a reminder why we shouldn't be such a knee-jerk bunch when reacting to so many things about the Rangers; and namely the lack of scoring and a not so spectacular Henrik lately.  I personally am having a hard time taking frustrations out on the players.  They work too damn hard for that.

There are periphery issues with some players, but none that trump the aggravation I'm sure most of us share due to Glen Sather.  But the players?  No; - They are a good bunch worthy of supporting.

Thus far, those were two of the most important points the Rangers earned this season.  There are three points between us and the Carolina Hurricanes now.  The Rangers must continue to use Carolina as a buffer to protect against Buffalo, Atlanta, Toronto, Florida, and the hard charging Devils.  We can not taste Eighth place!

TONIGHT

NEW YORK RANGERS

32-26-4   68 Points

7th Place, Eastern Conference

VS.

Washington Capitals

32-19-10  74 points

5th Place, Eastern Conference

Two points against Washington tonight gets us into the 70 point club.  All the Eastern Conference teams that matter have games in hand over us.  Any loss now by the Rangers shortens our season by a game on the back-end.  We'll have to play tonight's game without Marc Staal who got drubbed by his own brother during the Carolina game.  He'll be sitting out with a twisted knee and maybe even concussion issues.  This comes on the heals of losing Marian Gaborik to concussion symptoms.  Marian's return is still undetermined.  The Rangers have had to deal with a myriad of injuries to their forward lines.  Injury has now found our Defenses.  Marc Staal is the single-most player the Rangers can not afford to skate without.  We will see who Coach Torts will have out on the ice defending against Ovechkin's line.  But should Marc Staal miss any substantial time, I'll finally say we are in big trouble.  I've fought against feeling that way this long.  They've earned that from us. 

The playoffs have started early for the Rangers.  It's time to start growing those beards.  Playing with a sense of desperation is needed to carry us through to April.  There are exactly 20 games left on the schedule.  The battle to extend their season started Tuesday.  They need to dig deep within themselves now.



TRADE DEAD-LINE:
**The Trade Dead-Line looms and there's no sign of life coming out of Sather's office.  That may not be a bad thing.  I'm in no rush to start giving away any of our new young Blueshirts.  I'd rather see a cheap rental and more purging of the dead weight plaguing this roster.

** Ruslan Fedotenko returns to action tonight.



LET'S GO RANGERS !!




Mike.BTB

N.Y. RANGERS ~ More Grinding Awaits The Blueshirts

NEW YORK RANGERS

NYR ALL*STARS

Marc Staal - D

Henrik Lundqvist - G

Record ~ 29-20-3;  61 Points

Third Place - Atlantic Division

Sixth Seed in Eastern Conference

GOALS FOR: 148

In Conference ~ 8th

Overall ~ 12th

GOALS AGAINST: 126

In Conference ~ 4th

Overall ~ 7th

Current Relevant Injuries:

*Ryan Callahan

*Brandon Dubinsky

*Erik Christensen

....They are all due back and should be in good working order.

Apathetic Injuries:

*Alex Frolov - He became the new Nick Zherdev.  He was supposed to come here with a suitcase filled with 20+ goals.  Instead, he showed up with a brown paper bag filled with rocks.   He's done for the season and out of our hair.

*Vinny Prospal - Who knows when he's coming back and he'll turn 36 yrs old in February.  He must never again have the "A" on his jersey.  As a matter of fact, just don't give him his jersey back.  We've washed our hands of him.  Even if he comes back healthy tomorrow, there is no way to incorporate him into the plan now.  The team Vinny Prospal "played on" has moved on.  He should not be able to come back on the ice, (if cleared), and steal minutes from any of the Boys or more importantly, Sean Avery.  That's just rant-talk, but if he does come back, he must be a daily healthy scratch or relegated to the fourth line with Chris Drury.

*Derek Boogaard - He came in out of shape, over-weight, and in his fights he was slow and outmatched.  What happened to this brawling 28 year old Heavyweight Champ?  If you saw him in a WILD uniform, he was a beast.  Then, he came here to become the Least he could be.  I thought this was a great signing at the time!  Unbelievable.  He's most likely done for the season also.

GOALIE:

We love Henrik don't we?  He's our Liege...for sure.  Our All*Star Goalie is indispensable to us.  Well, our KING better get his House in order then.  I know you really can't compare the two sets of numbers, but Marty Biron has a better SV% and GAA than our starter.  That's just a little play on numbers.  But, Our Guy, the modern-day innovator of the Stinker, needs to be a lot more consistent; That's all.  He's had a peeks-and-valleys season.  His 21-16 reflects that.  In his last 5 games tending net, he - Lost-Won-Lost-Won-Lost.

Our inconsistent Goalie does however lead NHL Net Minders in Shut-Outs with seven.  But when he's bad, he completely falls apart.  But in Henrik we trust, and I'm sure we're in agreement that he'll be fine.

Marty Biron, after a hot start, has cooled.  But he should still continue providing us with capable back-up support.  Coach Torts should be able to get what he wants out of Marty, and that's a fresher Henrik Lundqvist in April.

DEFENSE:

The Human Turnover and Blueline Blunder, Michal Rozsival is gone.  Wade Redden, for the moment is safely toiling far away in NHL Siberia.

In the mean-time, Michael Sauer and Ryan McDonagh continue to learn and impress.  Steve Eminger, Matt Gilroy and Dan Girardi (who should be skating again when play resumes) should all be given their due credit for their parts in making the Rangers 7th in the NHL in Goals Against.

Marc Staal has not only emerged as an NHL Star, he's become the Rangers true leader on the ice.  He, and all our current young Defensemen, to include Michael Del Zotto (I heard you boo), have far exceeded the caliber of play in the neutral zone and defensive ends more than any other tandems of Blueliners in the last seven years.

Glen Sather can really do himself and his reputation some justice if he can plunk down a solid Defenseman at or before the trade deadline to reinforce a squad being spread really thin.  The Rangers need someone with size at the position who can Crunch!  Dan Girardi, give him credit, can not be the one sticking-up for Marc Staal when someone lays a questionable hit on him.  Additionally, we're not making teams pay enough of a price for loitering in front of Henrik.  Our Goalie resorted to taking matters into his own hands one game when he got his turf crashed into by Atlanta.

That must stop.  Glen Sather has to find someone that will give other teams something to think about other than taking liberties on our goalie and crashing our net.  We need someone who can stand somebody up and stop a rush cold in their tracks at the defensive blueline.  We need Crunch.

We play defense well.  We control the neutral zone more effectively than we did in the past; we make better outlet passes out of our zone and transition well; and over-all we're just being smarter under Coach Torts.  Offensively speaking, the D can work with what we already have in hand.  What Glen Sather needs to do is get that Cruncher who will stay home waiting for invaders.

FORWARDS:

We might still be waiting for Marian Gaborik to arrive at full force, but their is no denying he's been most effective this season when he's been assigned to a line with Sean Avery at his side.  Gaborik has clearly been putting in his work and has actually been skating well and positioning himself in the right places.  So maybe it's only a matter of a few more games following the All Star break before he'll start to put the puck past goalies at last year's rate.  His opportunities have been there and he's completely healthy now.  He stumbled upon some success earlier in his season with Ruslan Fedotenko at his side.  But he hasn't been better than when he plays with Avery.  And that's exactly where Coach Torts should leave THEM; ....Together. 

Without the aid of hyperbole, I think it's very safe to say, there are fewer players in Hockey today who play better down low and from behind the net than Sean Avery.  I can't express that sentiment enough.  He is at his best from behind the net; not just digging out pucks and winning battles; but by using vision, anticipation and precision, his passes from behind net are killer.  Marian Gaborik now has a new line-mate whom he can greatly benefit from.

Going into the break, Coach Torts had Avery's minutes cranked up to 22 a game.  But that was born of necessity.  Otherwise, Coach Torts has consistently limited him to about 6 minutes this season.  At this point, it's not a Man-Crush I have, it's just that Avery has been that good and well behaved to boot.  Sure his penalty minutes are astronomical.  But are they really?  Please!...ok?  Take away from his PIM the fact that he can't catch a break from the whistle blowers and his PIM time goes down to a more respectable and less detrimental "high" number.

Michal Rozsival Wojtek Wolski has paid-off handsomely since being acquired.  Artem Anisimov has been a little up and down, but mostly good.  He along with Wolski, Derek Stepan and Mats Zuccarello have provided the Rangers with youthful enthusiasm and inspired, hungry play.

And who are we without Brandon Prust and Brian Boyle?!  We'd quite literally be an ECHL level club without those two.  All conversations about this team's backbone and guts stop right here with them.  It wasn't the intended plan.  That's just the way it is.  And thank goodness!  Coach Torts has juggled every single player on his forward lines like bowling pins, flaming torches, and canteloupes; everyone except Brandon Prust and Brian Boyle that is.  They have been superlative together and Coach never even gets close to tampering with the pair.

The biggest dilemma facing the Rangers right now is not having Ryan Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky on the ice.  We've pulled out some gutsy wins in their absence, but they are the core, along with Marc Staal, of this team.  Not until their return can Coach Torts get some normalcy back into the lives of his Forward Lines.  That will go a long way towards eeking out more W's.

...AND

This may hurt, but it's the truth; - Chris Drury has become an outright drain on the system.  He is our least effective forward right now and he's bcome the most inconsequential player on the team.  Yet...! - this continues to go unspoken about by the Media experts.

Well folks, I have news for them.  I said this already once before.  It's time to take the C off Chris Drury's jersey and sew it on Marc Staal's.  He's your Captain now.  And when Brandon Dubinsky returns to action, he should do so with an A sewed on his jersey to go along with Ryan Callahan.

It's high-time the team made these changes to better reflect their identity.  Those three are the core of this team.  They should be made to wear the letters on their jerseys.  The way things stand right now with the Captain buried on the fourth line and Vinny Prospal's A out since forever...things remain skewed.

Make the change.

....So?

We've played 52 games... and in spite of our injuries, it looks like we are a playoff contender.  We are certainly a Top-10 NHL team.  In our conference we are presently 6th and of course only 8 make the tourney.  Montreal is in the 7th slot with 59 points and Atlanta is holding on to the 8th slot with 57 points.  The top team on the outside looking in would be Carolina.  The Carolina Hurricanes give me the creeps!  If any team is going to make life uncomfortable for us down the stretch, it's going to be them.

I think what we have now is what we'll go with after the trade deadline passes.  What can Glen Sather realistically do that won't cost too much in the way of losing players?  Which of our players would you make available?  I'm struggling with that aspect of the trade deadline as we speak.  And then does he try to secure a  defenseman or another forward, or both?

Coach Torts says this is more about building from the ground..up.  Glen Sather?  His original plan was such a complete failure.  And now thankfully to that failure, we have a very gritty, likeable, hard working, bunch of kids who apparently can play Hockey and can win games too!  Glen Sather's original plan was so bad, it's got us all buzzing about the playoffs on the back end of his mistakes.  Necessity was the Mother of this invention; Not Glen Sather; - So go figure.  But the reality is that if Sather's plan hadn't gotten injured in-mass, we wouldn't have been able to call up these kids and see how well they play together.

The hope here is that Coach Torts continues to exert his influence on Sather, and he continues to steer these kids the right way; which he has.  Is it safe to say Coach Torts has been the biggest influence on this entire club since he was brought in, but more particularly this season?  Yes indeed.  It's accurate and a fact.

He's cracking a hard whip.  And this team seems to like it.  Then he cracks it harder and they ask for another one.  That's the kind of team we have.  It's tough and gritty.  It's almost Spartan like how Coach Torts has brought them along.  They're just trying to out-work other teams while rising up to the challenges and adversity of playing physical Hockey without a reliable high-powered scoring threat.

The season will continue to be a hard grind towards April.  And now at the All*Star Break, I think everybody; Coach, Players and Fans alike, have finally grown comfortable in our own skin.  We know who we are and how we need to be in order to succeed.  That definitely means us fans too.

We've been a damn good Hockey club on the road.  But the Rangers need to be a better team at home.  If that means we fans have to make the place a little more nuts and hostile than usual for the visitors, then that's what we have to do!  It's not like we can't.  But all kidding aside, we do need to improve upon our home-ice record.

...And speaking of improvement, can anything be done to improve our Power Play?  Who knows!  It goes to show we're not a great team.  But we are a very good team and a tight bunch.

Being a 6th seeded team is a matter of perception as to whether you think that's the mark of a good team or not.  I guess that all depends which way your team is headed.  In our case, we've put in a lot of hard work and effort to earn our position.

More grinding awaits.



Tuesday night we host the Penguins who are still without Sid The Slew Crosby, as he still suffers from the affects of a concussion.  Then Thursday night, The Battle of the Hudson resumes against the suddenly resurgent New Jersey Devils at Madison Square Garden.


Let's Go Rangers!






Mike.BTB

N.Y. Rangers ~ Avery Shows Kids What It Takes vs. Flyers

NEW YORK RANGERS:  Sean Avery Not Enough To Beat Back Flyers.  Broad Street Bullies Give Kids A Philly Style Welcome into NHL.

Over their last 120 minutes of Hockey, the Rangers have stunk up the joint for four periods and found it within themselves to show up for the other two.  If they could have rearranged them better, they might have at least one win to show.

*Their first two periods against the Canadiens in Montreal Saturday night were forgettable.  The Rangers came apart like a cheap sweater.  They rallied in the third period to make it a game.

*Their first two periods against the Flyers in MSG Sunday night were forgettable.  The Rangers came apart like a cheap sweater.  They rallied late in the third period to make it a game.

Yea...the games were repeat performances. But, at least in the Flyers game we had chances.  We put a lot of shots on PHI Goalie-Boucher, but he kept turning us away.

Pre-Game Warm-ups;  Flyers vs. Rangers

I told you I had a really bad feeling about Sunday's game.  My section was polluted with Flyers fans because all the season ticket holders give their tickets away on Weekend Kid's Day.  But of all people, I had a slight problem with a mush-mouth, pumpkin-puss, 50-something Ranger female Rooter in my seat.  I'd love to tell you the story, but will take a pass.  It's just that sometimes kindness will get you nowhere.  I had a better time listening to Jody Shelley and Zherdev jokes, and barbs about the Flyers being in first place, than I did the nonsense coming out of Snaggletooth's mouth.  I digress.

I showed self restrain but Saturday night Henrik Lundqvist didn't.  He felt like he needed to throw his weight and a few punches around.  I gotta say, I love the spirit of our Goalie, but I'm perturbed by the fact no one fought that fight for him. 

Sunday, Sean Avery took matters into his hands, showing the younger Rangers what it takes to compete with the Flyers.  A round-house hook by Avery sent Flyers' Matt Carle to his knees and my section into a brief burst of celebration.  But it wasn't enough to get our youngsters past the Flyers.  It was a lesson for them to learn none-the-less, and one they had better grasp quickly.


Elsewhere on the Forward Front, Michal Rozsival Wojtek Wolski scored getting the Rangers on the board and providing another positive, but it was the start of something that came too late; as was the case in Montreal.  That withstanding, Rozsival Wojtek Wolski is paying instant dividends in losing causes.  So we're forced to take that with a grain of salt.

The Ranger forwards continue doing the Cha-Cha; taking two steps forward and two steps back.  The absence of Ryan Callahan continues to exact it's toll on the Blueshirt Lines.  Without him we lost alot of our 60 minute sustainability, physicality, and discipline we need to play with over a whole game.  He's been Tort's guy on the ice keeping eveything going Coach's way.  His absence has kept the continuing unsettled forward lines situation, that have plagued this team all year...unsettled.  And increasing desperation is setting in as the Blueshirts continue to endure a lack of production from Marian Gaborik. The effects of a shoulder injury should be long behind Gaborik now and serve as no excuse today.  One is only left to ponder what has last year's 40+ goal scorer stuck in the mud?  More and more it's becoming evident, the answer lies with last year's line-mate; Vinny Prospal.  His return and any possible effectiveness are still huge question marks. In the mean time, perhaps Gaborik should be reunited with Sean Avery on a line again, because the fact is, Gaborik hasn't played as good or better with anyone else.  But Coach Torts still refuses to commit Avery to big minutes and I continue to say that's a mistake.

Even worse than our Forward Line Merry-go-Round is our Power Play.  It gets more impotent with every passing shift and with no improvement in sight.

Things they go over in practice get applied in the short term but fade over games.  Remember all that stuff Coach Torts preached about the Power Play; about passing and moving without the puck..blah blah?  Well, they've gone back to playing Frisbee around the perimeter again and the pigeons have returned to their favorite statues.  Remember how he instructed his team to put shots on goal from bad angles, or any angle as a general rule; at even-strength or other-wise?  I remember.  You might remember too.  But it seems after a night or two of remembering things, the Rangers revert to old habits.

The real problem here is the same problem we've been facing since the opening of the season back in October.  When you struggle to score, it's easy to think of every reason why, and point to this, that, or the other.  You orchestrate a Forward Line system of musical chairs because as a Coach, you get paid to do things, try stuff, and invent something from nothing.  We are where we are truly based on the strength of our grittiness and willingness to out-hustle other teams.  When our tenacity takes a night off, the Lights go out on Broadway.  When our tenacity takes periods off, we lose games.

Scoring and winning makes all that go away.  So, it is what it is.  Toronto comes to MSG tomorrow and we've been able to rely on them this season for games that make us feel better about ourselves.  We also get to say hello again to an old friend; Colton Orr.

The Rangers play four games in the next six days.  Only tomorrow's game against the Maple Leafs is at home.  So maybe a road trip is what they need to get out of their little funk.  After tomorrow, it's off to Carolina to play a team that always gives us fits!  After that we go to Atlanta.  The last time we played them in our place, they THRASHED the place with six goals.  We finish the road trip with a stop in the Nation's Capitals to play.....uh, the Capitals and the Tasmanian Devil.  We played a great game against them last time around.  Let's hope these kids of ours can repeat the feat.


Let's Go Rangers!


Mike.BTB

N.Y. RANGERS ~ Young Kids Out-Spunk Vancouver for Win

FINAL

Vancouver Canucks  0

NEW YORK RANGERS  1

26-16-3   55 Points

NEW YORK RANGERS:  Play their Best Game against the League's Best Team.


HENRIK LUNDQVIST ~  Career Shut-Out #30; Ties him for 3rd Place on Rangers' All-Time Career Shut-Outs List.



A goal by Michal Rozsival Wojtek Wolski in the second period and his first as a N.Y. Ranger, was all the Blueshirts needed to white-wash the League's number one team Thursday night on our home-ice.

Tuesday night, the N.Y. Islanders took the Canucks all the way to a shoot-out but still lost.  Tonight, the Rangers were working on the same amount of rest time since their last game against Montreal.  That was supposed to be the only aspect of the Rangers/Canucks match-up looked upon as being competitively even.

But tonight, the Rangers were flat out quicker than a lightning fast Canucks team.  They were smarter, grittier, tougher, hungrier and more disciplined than Vancouver.  It was arguably their best game of the season.  It just so happened it came against the League's best team.  This is right up there among their best efforts in the Torts Era.

This victory comes despite the Rangers still waiting for their top scorer; Marian Gaborik to show up.  With 7:30 left in the third period and the Rangers still nursing their slim 1-0 lead, the home crowd thought for a moment their sniper had finally arrived.  But it wasn't so.  Marian Gaborik skated a fine game against Vancouver, but with a break-away opportunity and nary a Canuck jersey in sight, he was thwarted by Corey Scheider, goal tending in place of Roberto Luongo.  Corey received one of the Game Stars reaffirming what a really good game this was.

Facing the League's #1 Power Play unit, the Rangers killed off a first period penalty and in the second period, withstood a 5-on-3 Power Play opportunity for Vancouver on penalties to Staal and Drury.  One of the League's most disciplined teams penalty wise, the Canucks, committed three penalties of their own.  The Rangers cashed in on one of them, for the only goal of the game.

McDonagh, Anisimov and Wolski would combine on a series of events that staked the Rangers to their one goal lead.  A great neutral zone stop; a pick and pass by McDonagh to Anisimov who shortly drew a penalty as Artem was bearing down on net with the puck set up a Power Play opportunity.  The Rangers converted on the man-advantage when the newest Ranger, Wojtek Wolski, acquired in the Michal Rozsival trade, slapped home a loose rebound left in front of the net.

The Rangers would ride the back of Henrik Lundqvist the rest of the way.  King Henrik ruled the third period majestically.  And the last minute of the game which seemed to be spent all in the Rangers' zone was frenzied and furious!  Henrik Lundqvist did everything humanly possible to make that one goal stand up for the Rangers on his way to gaining his 30th career shout-out.  He stopped 31 shots tonight and the Rangers' defense blocked at least 8 more.

Henrik Lundqvist sits in third place on the Rangers' All-Time Shut-Out list.

BUT, the master stroke of the night gets credited to Coach Torts for sticking the Boyle/Prust/Fedotenko Line on the SEDIN SQUARED KESLER Line.  Our boys were all over the Sedin Line like a cheap suit and couldn't have caused them to have a more inconsequential night.  What a great job by them.  I said in my PreGame Preview,  if the Rangers can stymie the SEDIN SQUARED Kesler Line, the Canucks had nothing else, and that we actually had more scorers than they did.  We scored from a new unlikely source, but we did shut down their highly touted line.  Prust and Boyle in particular had them frozen all night.
 
The Rangers caused the Canucks to sustain their first regular season loss since December 5th, 2010.  That's nice.  It could have just been time for that streak to end, but the way they both played tonight, it's just not the case.  The Rangers earned this one through a lot of hard work.  Who am I to deny just rewards?  There's this game, several more O.T. games, and third period thrillers, where we've come out on the winning end where once, we all were waiting for the "other shoe to fall off" in yet another late game collapse. 
 
When you look around this locker room now, it's undeniable how amazing it is when you have a group of young kids who are willing to do things through pure want to help the team and their sheer exuberance in doing so, as opposed to what older veterans expect to get paid handsomely for and still fail at, too often to count.

So without a doubt, this puck is getting put into the trophy case back home. 

"Look Ma!  Look what I can do!!"



Mike.BTB

N.Y. RANGERS ~ Things Looking Simply ROZSY

NEW YORK RANGERS:  Michal Rozsival Traded! 


Winces of Pain; Winds of Change; Crack Open the Champagne!

Ranger fans are trampling over themselves for a chance to drive Michal Rozsival from MSG to the airport and Alex Frolov to the farthest suburban hospital.  As we speak,  Rozsival Fat-Heads are being ripped off maybe two walls in America and Rangers fans have donned fake EMS uniforms willing to ensure Frolov gets the proper neglect he needs.  The taking back of our Blueline from Rozsival's occupation is akin to Gen. MacArthur returning to liberate the Philippines.  The loss of Frolov is like donating your car to Cars-For-Kids.  You're just happy to have it off your hands with free pick up service.

Two of Glen Sather's numerous gaffes have for all intent and purpose, played their last games as Rangers. Alex Frolov is out for the rest of the season befallen by injury like the rest of his imports and Michal Rozsival was traded to the far, far away Phoenix Coyotes for Forward Wojtek Wolski.

In what is pure addition by subtraction, the Blueshirts are better already!  I would have taken an empty Snapple bottle, a roll of tape, and a broken whistle for Rozsival and his incessant defensive end turnovers, feeble outlets, and BlueLine blunders.  The fact we got a 24-year old for him is down-right remarkable.  As for Frolov, he was skyrocketing up the list of the Rangers' Most In-Consequential Player.  He was only the latest, worthless, Zherdev....As Wolski will be the next Zhredev-Frolov.  But who cares at this point.  This is a time for celebration.

Rejoice!  We are free of Rozsival; the GRIM SLEEPER; killer of clearing attempts; slaughterer of outlet passes.  His turnovers in the defensive end will torment our sleep no more; not to mention our season (although he has been "less harmful" this season).

On the serious side of this, the Michal Rozsival trade means the New York Rangers gain a little bit of desperately needed Salary Cap buoyancy.  This probably means Glen Sather is maneuvering into position for a follow-up trade to compensate for the loss of Frolov and his season ending knee injury; the prolonged absence of Vinny Prospal; the rest of the time the Rangers remain without Ryan Callahan and Derek Boogaard; and the lacking play of Christensen.  I'm sure Wolski isn't being looked to for much right now.  Expect him to make appearances on the fourth line.

However, if the Rangers were desperate for size and experience on the Blueline before, they're going critical now.  Rozsival was the only Blueliner above 30 years old.  The other extreme age was Michael Del Zotto at 20 years old.  It's unlikely the Whale have any more Defensive help to give and a trade for a Defenseman with substantial size who can throw his weight around is also unlikely.  Maybe Sather can find Girardi a backbone on the trade market?  We'll see.  But there's probably another forward in our near future who's committed to a two way game, if much else.

There is always this question ~ What are the Tampa Bay Lightning going to do?  Everyone has been waiting for the Big Fire Sale for three years now, and it never comes.  They just added a goalie so they appear to be buyers at the moment.  The play of Roloson in net might determine which direction the Bolts take.

Another obvious question would be, are the DEVILS buyers or sellers?  They should be big sellers if you ask me.  Parise, Elias, Zajac, should all go.  They should even try to trade Brodeur.  The Devils should just tear it down and refit a new cast around Kovalchuk.  It'll be the new PC Devils falling into harmony with the rest of this screwed up world.

The Buffalo Sabres are a team still teetering on a massive, but still pending overhaul since their shaky start to the season.  Calgary might be at the end of their window of opportunity also.  Will they be buyers or sellers?  Ottawa Senators?  Ditto.  Toronto might have some pickings too...Like getting Colton Orr back!  I digress.

The days leading up to the Trade Deadline suddenly look a little more intriguing for the BlueShirts.  A key transaction on the wing, a return to health from injured players and the continued enthusiasm and respectable play by the rookies...and the Rangers could be looking good heading into the early days of Spring.

But for right now, we're expecting another foot of snow and we're still only in January.  But what a happy day it was.  Without even playing, we win.

But back in Reality, what the Rangers ultimately need is for Marian Gaborik to start scoring goals.  Chris Drury will never be mistaken for Phil Esposito, but he too, needs to start making a difference in front of the net.  And the loose cannon; Sean Avery, needs to seize the moment with his opportunity playing on the higher lines.

LET'S GO RANGERS!

TONIGHT

Montreal Canadiens

vs.

NEW YORK RANGERS

from

Madison Square Garden

Mike.BTB