Congratulations to the New York Giants, and their fans on winning the Super Bowl!

I am actually a San Francisco 49er fan myself, but, I am also a baseball fan. In fact I am a huge baseball fan. And as a huge baseball fan who roots doggedly for the New York Yankees, nothing brings me more joy than to watch Boston fans in misery…especially when it is a New York team that is doing it. So from the fans of all the other teams beside the Patriots, I salute you Giants, for giving those arrogant bastards what they deserve.

So for all you Bostonians I leave you with this…

Rangers Review | Comments Off

I can’t remember another game this year where the team showed more heart than tonight. Its exciting to watch as a fan, a team battle back from the brink of being blown out to win a game they really had no business winning. We earned 2 points on pure heart.

I think all of us, even Renney haters like myself need to give credit where it is due. He settled the club down, and even after going down 3-0 he had them playing hard and believing they could come back. I give the guy a lot of crap, but one thing he never does is panic, and it certainly payed off today. Another thing you have to give him credit for is playing Drury with Dawes, and moving Dubinsky rightfully up to the second line (although today they were kind of like 2 3rd lines). Since that move our secondary scoring has gone through the roof, while our primary line is getting all the attention from the defense.

THAT WAS THE PLAN! Remember how before the year all of us were excited. This is the reason, because the Rangers have 3 legitimate scoring lines, and if you want to match your best defensive line on Jagr, Gomez and Straka, then Drury, Shanny, et al will torch you. The plan hasn’t been executed like its supposed to have been till now, but could it be we are seeing that plan start to work? Again, I refuse to get my hopes up, but they certainly have piqued my interest, and I think it is now a foregone conclusion that this team will be buyers, not sellers come the trade deadline.

Let’s also spend a few minutes talking about Brandon Dubinsky. I mean, what more can you say about the kid? Even if you take his offense away, his play has been nothing short of outstanding. Watch him on any given shift, and I’ll bet you he goes straight to the net at least once in the offensive zone AND is the first man in deep to help the defense in the defensive zone. The kid is everywhere, on every shift. Talk about proving me wrong (I thought he was a 3rd liner, nothing more), the kid is downright humiliating me (and I couldn’t be happier!).

Nigel Dawes definitely deserves some space as well, he is a big reason Chris Drury is performing offensively of late. As I mentioned before, I don’t think Drury has changed anything in his game, it’s just that now he and his linemates are actually on the same page. Dawes has impressed me in his play all over the ice. While his offensive game is undeniable, his play away from the puck has improved leaps and bounds since his last demotion. I think it’s a safe bet that he has realized what it takes to play in the NHL, and he isn’t going anywhere. You gotta be impressed with a kid who takes being sent down as a personal challenge to elevate his game, and does just that. Kudos Nigel, you deserve it.

Rangers took 8 out of a possible 10 points, and actually lost the one game I thought they would win. Color me impressed.

Rangers Review | Comments Off

Instead of talking about how impressed I was with the heart this team showed in the 2nd, im forced to talk about Ryan Hollweg. Give the guy 20+ games for that. Want to give him 30+? Fine with me. 50+? That’s ok too.

If ever you needed to see an example of intent to injure in a non baseball swing type play, that was it. Hollweg had only 1 thing on his mind. Inflict as much pain as possible, and while that is ok when you are playing within the rules, Hollweg was clearly not thinking about rules in that example. You may remember the way some of us Ranger fans laughed at Chris Simons excuse of being hit high and temporarily losing his mind, and while clearly Hollweg took a cheapshot elbow to his face (also warranting a suspension imho) there is no excuse for doing what he did. So I say, throw the book at him. I don’t want the Rangers to be associated with that kind of play. Hit hard, sure, but hit legal. That was disgusting.

Anyway, as usual the best player on the ice for the Rangers continues to be Brandon Dubinsky. There really hasn’t been a single game in the past month or so where he hasn’t been the best, or one of the best guys on the ice. Keep playing him, that’s all there is to it.

By the way, where was the interference penalty when Avery was picked off at the blueline on that last rush? That’s 2 blatant calls by the Habs that have gone uncalled.

Rangers Review | Comments Off

Coming into this game, I really had only one thought. The Rangers need to steal one here. Not win one, but steal one. Why? Because the Habs are flat out better than we are. They are faster, stronger, more aggressive, have an outstanding power play, and they are much younger and therefore hungrier. They looked every bit of that in the first. Out hitting, out shooting, and flat out humiliating the Rangers. Michal Rozsival who took 2 horrendous penalties, both of which ended up in the back of our net did not miss a shift. I wonder what the Habs would do if a player of their did the same thing.

Ever notice that Rozsival never really plays mediocre? I mean, the guy either plays fantastic, or is the worst defenseman I have ever seen. Granted for the most part he plays fantastic, but today is one of those days where he looks pretty terrible out there.

Don’t put all the blame on him though, Mara and Gomez each could have cleared the puck seconds before the 2 goals. Neither did, and both times they scored. That’s what good teams do, they make you pay for your mistakes.

Rangers Review | Comments Off