Just wanted to let you guys know, effective tomorrow I am flying out to LA to see my father. He’s not doing to well and is hospitalized. I’ll use his laptop to check the scores and read some thoughts on the msg boards, but for the next ~2 weeks, I will be outta commission.

Regarding this game, all I can say is, good teams beat bad teams. It’s what they do to pad their record with gimme points. Rangers were lucky to take a point out of Washington, in a game in which they got terrible goaltending, terrible defense, and terrible ice (both teams had that though).

OK, that’s it for now, I need to pack, and get to bed, flight leaves in just a few hours.

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I’m sorry, you just can not lose to the Caps. I know I picked em to be a powerhouse team, but I was wrong. Let’s face it, they aren’t that great, and these Rangers, after winning an emotional game against the Devils need to pick up 2 here.

Apologies for the abruptness of these posts, I am getting ready for a trip, and I have to pack and get stuff ready in between periods as well.

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Running a little late on this writeup, but the Rangers looked fairly solid in that period. I liked the way they played to be honest.

I think the reason they gave up 1, and almost 2 goals is because Henrik is hurt in an area god meant only to be treated nicely.

Youch.

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You guys knows me by now. You know Im more concerned with how the team plays than what the end result is. But this is the rare instance where I would have been quite upset if they didn’t pick up the 2 points. I think it all comes down to a team that needs a win, plain and simple. Sometimes you just gotta have those 2 points, particularly when you play a full 60 minute game, where I can’t really pick on a single player being a goat. So yeah, I’m ecstatic they picked up the win.

Uncle Daddy was strong, there is no denying it. It took a picture perfect corner shot off a gorgeous passing play to beat him. But Henrik was no slouch either. While he had to face a bit more than 1/2 as many shots as Uncle Daddy, almost all of his saves were of the extremely difficult variety. Give credit to Henrik, he proved his last few starts were flukes, nothing more.

I really liked what I saw from Scotty Gomez in this one. He had the afterburners on all night, and only made a few turnovers in one on 3/4 situations. He’s gotten better at either slowing down to let his teammates catch up, or taking the puck wide and around letting his teammates get into areas to sustain the pressure. That is probably the biggest difference I am noticing in his game. Its a subtle thing, but its the difference between 2 seconds of attack time followed by a rush against, or 35 seconds of attack time followed by a dump and change against. THAT is what I mean by playing defense by controlling the puck.

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In pretty much a carbon copy of the first period, both teams continue to play near flawless hockey, and when there are any breakdowns both goalies have been phenomenal….yes, even Uncle Daddy.

I believe (and I’ll double check during my post game thoughts) Henrik has never given up more than 2 goals to the Devils when Uncle Daddy was in the other net, it looks like that trend will continue tonight, as the Rangers are getting the goalkeeping that they have not received over the past 3 brutal games.

During the game you continue to hear John Giannone (who I am actually a big fan of, we generally think very much alike) mention how the Rangers are committing themselves to win games 2-1, etc. I don’t see this game like that, they are using their offensive skills to augment their defensive skills by controlling the puck in the offensive zone for long stretches of time. THAT is what Rangers hockey is all about. Control the puck, and play 5 men in the picture. So far in this one, they are executing it to a T.

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Now that, was a fun period. Some spirited play, both teams looked sharp, and neither team looked particularly better than the other, even though the Rangers have the decided shots on goal advantage (Devils had super high quality chances on just about every shot).

I really like the way we are playing, not just sitting back and being content at playing defensive hockey, but actually playing Sutter-style hockey where you use physical play and smart defensive hockey to transition into rapid fire attack hockey as well as sustained forecheck hockey.

Its the kind of style I’d love for us to play night in, night out.

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So, about 2 hours before game time I decide to go with my brother and take the trek to Atlanta (I am in a suburb about 45 miles north), even though I have been pretty disenfranchised with the Rangers play as of late. I decided showing my team support in a semi-hostile building is worth the chance of seeing another putrid performance. And while the team didnt exactly lay an egg out there, they really did not play all that great. They gave up another 5 goals (yes, I am counting the one that was waived off, to me it looked legit), and probably should have given up a 6th if not for a mind blowing, make your jaw drop, make several thousand Thrasher fans near me shake their heads in disbelief save made by Vally. You know the play I am talking about, where he sprawled to make a stop on the goal line. The team was just sloppy out there, again. And Marc Staal had some truly great plays, and some ridiculously terrible plays in this game, including one stretch where he whiffed on a one-timer, then failed to keep the puck in the zone, then turned the puck over for a partial breakaway, then didn’t skate back with all his might on said play. Ouch Marc, you can’t do things like that on this level. I hope this was a growing pain, because I can’t stomach too many more plays like that.

The midget line of Drury, Callahan, and Prucha show energy, but not much else (to me). They are consistently smashed all over the ice, and turn the puck over at said junctures. I think we need to split that trio up. Move Hossa to that line, and Prucha or Cally up.

Another thing that was very noticable to me was that the Rangers D can be VERY easily beaten with speed outside. If you take the puck to them, then cut to the boards, you lose them. If you try to cut back to the middle, the support picks the player up, and since we aren’t an overly physical group, even when we catch a player against the boards when they try to do that, they aren’t left plastered to the boards in a comical Wile-E-Coyote type display.

Another thing that was very very clear to me in this game, is this team just does not skate away from the puck. If they have the puck, or are in the vicinity, they work very very hard, if they are not, the coast. I know a lot of teams do that, but it’s not something I like to see championship caliber teams do…..unbelievably there was one noticable exception, Marcel Hossa. Say what you want about the guy (and lord knows I have said my share), the guy works very very hard, shift in and shift out, with the puck, without the puck, and in all aspects of the game.

I was terribly disappointed with Valliquettes goaltending tonight. Despite the miraculous save, he gave up 2 goals that appeared to me to be super super softies (goal 1, he directed a rebound a-la Marc Andre Fleury, and goal 3 was just….beyond words). Now granted I was sitting on the complete opposite side of the rink, in the very very last row, so I can’t be 100% sure till I watch the Rangers in 60 telecast.

Now a few final things. I have to share 2 stories with you guys, first and foremost 1 row in front of me and 2 seats to the right sat a 19-20 year old Ranger fan, who kept me laughing all night long. Not because of some witty commentary, nor because he made an ass of himself heckling….no, truth be told the guy kept laughing….laughing like a schoolgirl after sucking on a tank full of helium, each and every time Jagr touched the puck and did his usual puck control game. Words can’t describe how freaking funny it was. Like “tee-hee-tee-hee” for 10-20 seconds at a time, my brother and I were just dying, and he had no clue why.

Secondly upon exiting the stadium a Thrasher fan came up behind me and shouted..

Give me a T!

10 seconds later someone gave him a pity “T”

Give me an H!

25 seconds later he got a pity H…

Then he just stopped his cheer since it appeared Thrasher fans didn’t have the team spirit, so anyway, after seeing his chant die away, I decided to yell out…

What’s that spell??!?! TTTHHHHHHHHHH

Suffice it to say I got an earfull from some very unhappy Thrasher fans who couldn’t believe I had the gall to make fun of a Thrasher fan after yet another humiliating defeat at their hands.

Meh, you can’t please everyone.

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So, instead of coming on here, and pulling out my hair, and ranting, and raving, I decided it was a good time to just move the site over, and see what happens.

It is kind of dangerous to do that just after a game, since that is when I get the bulk of my traffic, but I guess that’s just the state of mind I was in. Well, with a few tiny hiccups that really only lasted about an hour, everything is done. The site appears to be working correctly, and has propagated through the net, and the old link should just re-direct back here.

While that went smoothly, the Rangers night DID NOT. It was a gross, disgusting, horrendous effort, that is seriously making me wonder if I should shell out some cash just to see the Rangers here tomorrow. I’ll mull it over and get back to you guys.

If last game was just a bump in the road, I’m not sure what this is. Is this the second game of a prolonged losing streak that my statistical analysis said should happen a week ago? Were the games against the Isles and the Senators just a mirage? Or is this just a mirage? Who knows, but tomorrow is huge. You have a much improved Atlanta team, and a Ranger team that is really really playing horrible, lazy hockey. This one could be over before it begins.

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My thoughts on that period….

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Disgusting. Gutless. Lazy.

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I know you’ve all seen the movie the Shawshank Redemption. Well watching the first period of this game was quite similar to what it must have been like for Andy Dufresne at the end of the movie. He crawls through several football fields of sewage and human excrement, but in the end, you finally get what you were after. The first 16 minutes of this game was painful to watch, one might say it was like watching human excrement on ice. The final 4 minutes was like crawling out of the pipe, and seeing glorious freedom. The Rangers came back hard and strong and tied a game they have no business being in. The Leafs were bigger, faster, stronger, and hungrier for the vast majority of that period. It was like watching my team act like zombies, and that is just unacceptable.

Luckily, were all even now.

Bring that late energy to the 2nd, and we should be ok.

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