RangerKnight

Peter Prucha as Tommy from Goodfellas

2008-03-29T20:33:00.003-04:00

It had been a rough one. My first night back on the Silver Sheet since I'd gotten run on a Sunday afternoon against the Capitals. Sixteen games, a black and blue shoulder that looked like it could have been served with a Pilsner Urquell and a side of sheep's testicles. I could see the smirk on my nemisis' face as I hobbled my way towards our bench.

Tom Renney had had it with me. My blundering of chances in front of the net. My failures at getting the puck deep in the zone. The Evil North American Doctor had his hopes diminished before by my ability to hop up and get right back on the sheet. After getting laid out like a Budejovice whore on the night that my countrymen won the gold medal in the Olympics back in Nagano. So many times I bounce back up. So many times I am ready for my next shift.

Some call him "Dandy Tom". Dandy if you come from Canada. Dandy if you look better with a stick impaled in your chin instead of weilding it like an artist waiting to toe drag and rip a wrister over Brodeur's shoulder in a shootout.Anyway, T.E.N.A.D. I'll call him Tenad for now, well, he'd gotten his wish. I had finally taken a shot that I couldn't just bounce back from. But I worked hard. I kept my training at a high level. I was fit to play soon after. There was one problem when it came time that I was ready to assume my position and regain my glory on slab a of ice in which the crowd would chant "Pruuuuuuuu". The team was winning. They hadn't lost in over a month. I could understand why Tenad would keep the players that had been performing well in the lineup.

I had started spending alot of time with Fours and Struds. I had even started to try to grow, as they say, a "Porn-Stache". All that happened though was a few whispy little hairs that made me look like an old lady that had given up on waxing her lip. I learned alot from Fours during my time away from the team, or "Up in the Halo" as it is called.What happened the other night is something that may come back to haunt me later in life. But I'll tell the story as best as I can remember.

I had a bit of a frustrating game, as did the rest of the team. J-squared scored a goal early in the game and Tenad gave strict orders that we were to protect that 1-0 lead at all costs. It worked well for the next period but things in the third period started to look bad. Orrsie took a penalty that by all rights should have led to a tying goal against us. Well my mates did a good job of killing off the penalty. A few minutes later I had my shift and it ended up in a scrum right around Hank.I tried to push the Flyer ahead of me off of Hank and then all hell broke lose. I felt a punch to the back of my head and then blind rage took over. I went right back at who I figured had hit me. Scott Hartnell, 6 feet 2 inches, 210 pounds of Saskatchewan Studliness. I gave a facewash and threw a few Grecco Roman manuevers at him that would make my former Eastern Block bretheren proud. I ended up on top of him. Two minutes of well deserved time on the Punisher's Pulpit.

What happened next was a horror to my eyes. Unlike how the boys picked up Orrsie and killed off his penalty, they were unable to kill off our Achilles Heel. The Four on Four. Mano-a-Mano. Couldn't do it. I skated back to the bench and felt the death stare from Tenad before I even looked up to meet it. In Tenad's eyes I had failed again.

The game ended up with us allowing another Quatro- eh- Quatro goal. This time with Aves giving up the puck and leading to a rush that ended the game. If things weren't bad enough, I hear Tenad say to Aves, "You'll get'em next time fella" while looking at me like I'd taken the 2% out of his fridge and replaced it with Whole milk.

After showering and answering a few questions from the writers I mentioned to Jags that I needed a drink. We decided to meet at this dive bar on 8th that we found out we can go to because if you don't play soccer, they don't know you.

So I walk in with Gretchen, a girl I'm trying to nail, and I see Jags and Rozi sitting at the far side of the bar. As I get near them I hear a voice I remember calling me from the far end of the bar.

"Shit, I didn't know you were having a reunion here tonight." I said to Jags"Don't worry about it." Jags said, "He just came back to the States.

""Yo, Little Petey, Pete, C'mere ya little prick ya."

There he is, Petr Nedved, back from the homeland, back in NYC."Ah, shit." I mumble to my teamates.

"Hey Big Pete, How ya doin'."

Big Pete is loaded, I could tell he'd been there for a while. He smells like a combination of cheap champagne, cheap vodka and Heineken. He was there with Cdeno Ciger, Thomas Kloucek and some broad I didn't recognize.

"Come here you." he says while grabbing me into an awkward hug.

"Look at you, Little Petey all dressed up and doin the town.""C'mon, watch the suit." I say frustratingly."Watch the suit? HaHa. Look at ya all grown up. I still remember you from when I played back in Czech Jrs."

My blood started to boil. The second I saw this old has been I knew this was going to come up.

"Now remember this was back before the Berlin Wall came down. This little kid used to hang outside of the dressing room at the rink in Chrudim and sharpen skates. And I ain't talkin about no mechanical skate sharpener. This kid had this pouch with all of these stones in it. Round ones, flat ones all that shit."

I started walking back to where Jags and Rozi were.

"Hell, he had any kind a stone needed. He could take a knick out of a blade in a few seconds. Make'em look like mirrors. We used to call him "Spit Shine Petey."

That was it. One thing from my past that I was trying to get away from was the whole "Spit Shine Petey" thing. And now he is bringing it up. I try to play it cool though.

"No more sharpening Nedved."

"What's that Little Pete?"

"I don't know, I know you been away long time maybe nobody come out to see and tell ya. I don't sharpen skates no more."

"Whoa, Whoa, Little Pete, I mean no disrespect, don't get all hot and bothered alright. We're just tryin to have a little party here."

"Yeah, Alright Nedved, I mean no disrespect. Salute."

"Salute, Little Pete"Everybody in the place took a shot to ease the tension. Until.

"Now go home and get your Fuckin Sharpening Box."

That was it."You Mutha Fucking Mutt"I started to try to get at Nedved but Jags and Rozi were holding me back.

"Yeah, C'mon Little Pete, Ya feel strong?" Chided Nedved from across the room.

"Hey P-squared, take it easy will ya" Begged Rozi.

"C'mon." Commanded Jags. "Everyone settle down, P-Squared, Nedved, Everyone settle down. Let's have a drink."

"Yeah alright. C'mon everyone drinks on me." Said Nedved

"No, Petr Drinks are on the house." Corrected Jagr.

I downed my shot and grabbed Gretchen by the wrist and said "Come on we're leavin'.""I'll be back in a bit J-Squared. I'll be back in a bit. You keep him here."

Heading Towards Climax

2008-03-18T02:58:00.002-04:00

Well, here we are. 72 down 10 to go. 10 games left in the regular season. Tonight kicks off the homestretch of the 2008-2009 NHL season. The Atlantic Division title still within reach. The conference title still within reach. 10 games in the next 20 days that will, if nothing else, be entertaining. Five games are at the Garden where the Rangers are 22-13-1. Five games are on the road where the Rangers are 15-13-8.

One thing the Rangers have going for them is that each and every game of the final ten are against their own division rivals. The Blueshirts are 15-6-1 in divisional games this season. 3 games against Pittsurgh who they are 3-2 against. 3 games against the Devils who they are unblemished in 5 meetings. 2 games against Philadelphia in which they are 4-1 against. And last, and least the Islanders who they are 2-3-1 against despite the Isles being in last place in the division.

Fun times are ahead in the next three weeks. The chips will all be on the table, now we get to see who gets them all at the end of the hand.

Jagr Retiring A Possibility???

2008-03-10T13:28:00.002-04:00

Reading an article on yesterday's 1-0 shootout win in today's New York Post, a pretty glaring quote comes through Larry Brooks' pen/typewriter/tape recorder/iPod/keyboard, whatever he uses.

Jagr, in Brooks' article said:"I have a pretty good idea what I'm going to do next year, and I've known for three or four weeks, but I'm not going to say anything. I don't want that to become an issue," Jagr said. "I'm not going to say something that's going to be a distraction to the team."

I know it is sort of vague but it just sounds like the type of quote that seems to come when an athlete has decided to retire.

Jagr, who is in his 17th season as an NHL player, is having his least productive season ever. Now while an undetermined portion of the blame for that could be attributed to having a very difficult time finding a center who could help Jagr play his game, the point still remains that the Ranger captain's skills may be deteriorating.

In the past, poor performances by Jagr were always attributed to him either sulking, or just not caring about the overall result of his past teams. I can thankfully say that has not been the case in his tenure as a Blueshirt. While he may have coasted at times and seemed to give up on occasion due to sheer frustration of having to fend off multiple defenders anytime the puck came near him, one thing remained. He cares. He hates losing.

The past month or so I've watched him closely and he is putting in a very strong effort each and every night. While the points totals may not show it, the effort is there.

If this indeed is the home stretch of a distinguished NHL career, there is only one more thing I can say when it comes to Jaromir's final games as a Ranger. Cheers, it's been a pleasure watching.

NHL TRADE DEADLINE:LIVE BLOG

2008-02-26T08:01:00.040-05:00

8:00 AM: NHL Network is on, Kids are running around, TSN feed on NHL Network reporting Hossa to either Ottawa or Montreal.

8:09 AM:Trade Proposal, Brad Richards to Vancouver for... Minor Leaguers. The returns for Hossa's proposal respectively, Vermette and prospects from ottawa. Higgins, Lapierre and, Ryder.

8:27 AM: One negative about having the TSN broadcast on NHL network is the Canadian slant. They've just spent 15 minutes talking about Mats Sundin and his refusal to waive his NTC.

8:40 AM: Trade Proposal, Richards to Dallas for Smith, Halpern and Jussi Jokinen. Goaltending help in Smith could be the deal maker here.

9:02 AM: Marcel Hossa is already in Montreal. The Thrashers are playing the Habs tonight. Still no mention of any team south of the Canadian Border. It's all Habs, Leafs and Sens.

9:10 AM: I'm starting to understand how Geraldo felt. Darren Pang's top 5 cup favorites. Anaheim,Detroit, New Jersey, Montreal, Dallas Pittsburgh. John Buccigross, Ducks, Devils, Wings, Sens, Stars. Millbury, Red Wings, Stars, Ducks, Devils, Habs. Pierre McGuire, Ducks, Stars, Wild, Pens, Rangers.

9:27 AM: This Just In!!! The Toronto Maple Leafs have decided to have a team workout on the beach in Florida. They even have a guy live outside the hotel on the beach reporting. Holy Hell guys this is airing in the US, how about a little love for the US teams.

10:07AM: Guys on TSN mentioning there will be fewer trades. Reasons, Parity in the NHL, Teams looking for large returns, Not wanting to trade young cheap talent. WOW where have I heard that before. These guys are geniuses.

10:33AM: Trade: New Jersey Devils acquire Bryce Salvador from St. Louis for Cam Janssen.

10:45AM: Janssen being interviewed on TSN, Happy to be heading to St. Louis apparently his hometown.

11:00AM: Doomsday alert set to 5hrs. TSN/NHL network is turning into THN, The Hossa network. Earthshattering news out of Montreal, Hossa will not skate with the Thrashers in the morning skate. At this point I hope Hossa goes anywhere other than Montreal. It would be great to see the looks on these broadcasters faces. No news as to what he had for breakfast or what color underwear he is wearing,if any.

11:18AM: Spoke too soon. TSN reporter"Marcel Hossa is sitting in his hotel room with a beautiful view of Montreal having a nice Brunch."

11:20AM: Trade: Toronto Maple Leafs trade Wade Belak to the Florida Panthers for a 5th round draft pick.

11:26AM:Trade: Brian Campbell to the San Jose Sharks, return unstated as of yet.

11:35: The return on the Campbell deal is Steve Bernier and a First Round pick.

I must admit I thought Campbell would fetch more than that.

11:38AM: Brad Richards to Dallas, terms have been approved by both sides, Richards has to waive his NTC.

11:44am: Trade: Brad Richards has waived his No Trade Clause and is headed to Dallas, along with Johan Holmqvist for Mike Smith, Jussi Jokinen and Jeff Halpern.

11:50am: Trade: Montreal trades Cristobal huet to the Caps for a 2nd Rnd pick.

Strange move by the Habs unless they have another deal set up. Hard to believe they'd bail on their #1 goalie now. Maybe Hedberg will be part of a deal with Hossa to MTL.

12:05pm: Deadline less than 3 hrs: Well three hours to go and one big name remains. Marian Hossa. This past hour has flown by with the activity. This live blogging stuff is fun. Fast paced, mind going in 20 different directions at once, feeding kids lunch. Craziness.

12:16pm: Trade: Florida has traded Ruslan Salei to Colorado for Dmitri Skrastins and a 3rd round pick.

12:22pm: Trade: Chicago Blackhawks trade Tuommo Ruttu for Carolina's Andrew Ladd.

12:47PM: Just dropped my daughter off at school, now I get to play catch up.

12:49PM:Trade: At 12:36 Matin Lapointe was traded from Chicago to Ottawa for a 6th round pick. My guess is this is to add some grit and depth with Chris Neil being injured.

1:00PM: 2hrs left until trade deadline.

1:03PM: Trade: Adam Foote has been traded to Colorado from Columbus for a First round pick. Rob Blake also rumored to head back to the Mountains, no word on if Roy and Borque will come out of retirement to have a reunion of the '02 cup winners.

1:12PM: Trade rumor, Sergei Fedorov to Washington for ??? Fedorov with Ovechkin will be alot of fun to watch.

1:26pm: Trade:Fedorov to Washington is confirmed for Theo Ruth? Freshman at Notre Dame. Way to cash in Columbus.

1:37pm: Trade: Vancouver has traded Matt Cooke for Matte Pettinger, Washington is going to make a run at the Southeast title. Good trade for them.

1:40pm: Trade rumor, Davidson from San Jose to The Islanders. for a possible 7th rounder. No confirmation yet.

2:00PM: 1 Hour until trade deadline.

2:06PM: Trade: Rob Davison D from San Jose to the Islanders for the Isles 7th round pick. Special thanks to TSN's trade tracker crapping out and their site running at the pace of a Marek Malik wrist shot.

2:32PM: I'm starting to get really antsy here. I want an upgrade on the blueline for the Rangers. An upgrade over Malik and Strudwick would bode well, the clock is ticking though. I'm expecting a flurry of deals to go down to the wire with the announcements not occuring until later in the afternoon. I'll do my best to keep up.

All is clear on the mail front.

2:45PM: 15 minutes until deadline.

2:50PM: 10 minutes and the crickets are still chirping.

2:53PM: Trade: Rangers Acquire Christian Backman for a fourth round pick
2:53PM: Trade:Penguins acquire Hal Gill from Toronto for 2nd round pick and 5th round pick

2:58PM: Trade: Penguins acquire Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis for Eric Christiansen, Colby Armstrong , Angleo Esposito.

3:11PM: Trade:Chris Simon traded to the Minnesota Wild for a 6th round pick.

3:14PM: Trade: Detroit Red Wings acquire Brad Stuart from LA Kings for a 2nd round pick and a 4th round pick.

3:20PM: Trade: Rangers acquire Fredrick Sjostrom, and prospects for Al Montoya and Marcel Hossa.
3:21PM:Trade: Anaheim acquires Marc-Andre Bergeron for a 3rd Round Pick
3:21PM: Trade: Florida acquires Chad Kilger for a 3rd Round pick.

Trade Deadline: Prelude

2008-02-25T14:24:00.000-05:00

The trade deadline looms just over the horizon. In 24 hours we will finally know what NHL rosters will look like for the remainder of the season, barring any waiver moves of course. So as far as the New York Rangers go, what should we expect. Not much, in my opinion.

There are a few reasons why I don't think anything major will happen, some linked together, some legitimate roadblocks on their own.

1. Parity in the NHL: With the standings, particularly in the Eastern Conference, being so bunched up, leaving so many teams with realistic playoff aspirations the amount of NHL general managers willing to give up quality players are few and far between.

Four teams fall into the "Put a fork in them" category, Tampa Bay, Toronto, Los Angeles and, Edmonton.

A few other teams are nearing that stage, Chicago, St. Louis, Atlanta and, Florida all probably fall into the "Seller" group that those below them in the standings are in.

Other than those eight teams, there are 20 teams looking to improve themselves between now and 3pm tomorrow February 26th. This means it's a sellers market and teams looking to make a big impact on their roster will be paying through the nose to do so.

2. Cap space: The Rangers have $2.3 Million in cap space to work with, not a whole lot when considering any player that would be a significant addition would likely cost quite a bit more than that. Of course you have to factor in the salary of whatever player is leaving and adding that amount to the cap space. Cap space at this point for THIS season is not really an issue. With the 2.3 million and whatever goes the other way it is enough to add just about any player in the NHL. But it what needs to be considered is, if a high priced guy is acquired, and reasonably thinking that a significant ransom was sent the other way, that player would have to be re-signed, and at what price, could end up hurting the team's cap effect in the long run.

3. Chips to deal with: With Paul Mara now injured, Glen Sather has one less chip to trade with. The only defensemen that I could see as being a part of a trade would be Thomas Pock and Marek Malik. Forwards that could be part of a deal, Martin Straka, Petr Prucha, Marcel Hossa.

These players are not going to be enough to bring in a player or players that will have enough of an impact to make trading them worthwhile. Which means then you come to prospects and draft picks. The hot commodities for the Rangers are Artem Anisimov and Bobby Sanguinetti. Now I'm not going to get into the many reasons why I don't want to see them traded, that's another issue. Plain and simple, Do Not Trade These Players.

Part of the reason why Sather has done a fairly decent job at building this organization is that he has acquired a lot of players through the draft. Sather and his staff have done a pretty good job of stockpiling 2nd 3rd and 4th line wingers, and a pretty impresive corps of defensemen through the draft. My point is, draft picks are valuable, proceed with extreme caution when giving them up.

Overall I don't think the Rangers have chips, that they could justify giving up, to acquire the type of player it would require to push this team over the top. Again the sellers market may push the Rangers out of the running for impact players.

Premature Ecapulation Volume 2.

2008-02-13T21:46:00.000-05:00

Okay, first things first. When first looking at the contract cost of Henrik Lundqvist's new deal it obviously jumps out at you as a huge land mine just waiting to obliterate everything from the waist down. But when thinking of contracts I always try to take a deep breath and look at the overall picture with regards to the salary cap.

A few months ago I dove into the Rangers cap situation and tried to see where they were headed going into next season. I had predicted Lundqvist to have a cap hit of $6.5 million for next year so really the scenario that I presented then pretty much still stands up. Having 3/4 of a season to see how things are developing however leaves me with a few revisions to my previous speculations. So here we go, the 3/4 pole edition of Premature Ecapulation.

Forwards under contract for 2008-2009: Scott Gomez, 7.35. Chris Drury, 7.05. Petr Prucha, 1.6. Brandon Dubinsky, .633. Blair Betts, .615. Colton Orr, .538. Ryan Hollweg, .507. Ryan Callahan, .489. Dane Byers .608.

That is nine forwards under contract for the season, total cap hit for that group is $19.39 million.

Restricted Free Agents and their current salaries: Sean Avery,1.9. Nigel Dawes, .475. Greg Moore, .740. Marcel Hossa, .780.

First, Sean Avery. I love watching him play. He adds alot to the experience of being a Ranger fan. If it's not arguing with those that love or hate him, it's laughing at the outlandish things he comes out with in interviews. The entertainment factor alone would want me to see him come back. Since he's been injured alot this season, and will have surgery in the off season, I could see the Rangers getting a decent deal for Avery's services. I'd like to see a 1 or 2 year deal at $2.5 million. Nigel Dawes, when in the lineup, has shown some very nice things. He seems to be the kind of guy that has gotten all he will get out of AHL experience. It's time he became a legit NHLer. I could see him getting a deal a bit lower than Petr Prucha's since Prucha's deal was based on two seasons in which he scored a total of 52 goals. In the sample I've seen from Dawes I would think a 2 year deal at about $950,000 would be about right. Greg Moore would probably be signed for a bit less than his current deal, putting him in the Brandon Dubinsky range of $630,000. Marcel Hossa, Ughhh. Do the Rangers give it one more shot? Only if his brother comes at a discount. More on that later.

So with resigning RFA's for a total of $4.o8 million that brings the total to 12 forwards for $23.47 million.

Defensemen under contract for 2008-2009: Marc Staal, .827. Thomas Pock, .667.

Yep that's it. Obviously the defense corps is going to look a bit different than this year. Or will it.

Restricted Free Agents and current salaries: Fedor Tyutin, 1.02. Daniel Girardi, .750. Ivan Baranka, .521.

Back during Volume one of this thing I had projected Tyutin and Girardi to continue to develop and in turn demand a higher pricetag to retain their services. Well fortunately for cap reasons this hasn't exactly been the case. Both are having difficulties this season, but not so terrible that I'd like to see them go the way of their UFA brethren Marek Malik and Paul Mara.

I'd re-sign them both, Fedor Tyutin for 3 years for $4.75 million and Girardi 3 years for $3.3 million. Tyutin's cap hit would be 1.58, Girardi's 1.1. Baranka I would resign 2 years for $1.5 for a cap hit of .750.

I would also re-sign Jason Strudwick for 1 year for .550 as a depth guy.

That is 6 defensemen for the low low price of, $5.53 million . Add the 23.48 million for the forwards and that brings the skaters under contract total to $29.01 million.

Goaltenders: Henrik Lundqvist, 6.87
Well any speculation about the goaltending situation is gone. The haircut is the #1 goaltender and will be until he turns 31. Case closed. Steve Valiquette has shown that he can be a very capable backup I'd re-sign him and even give him a little raise for his troubles. 2 years at $800,000 per year.

Goaltenders total $7.67 million

That brings us to $36.68 million towards the cap. I'll even prudently add $3.00 million to that figure in bonuses that may or may not carry over to next season so that is $39.68 million of eaten up cap space. If the salary cap does not go up from the $51.00 million that it is this year that would leave a shade over $10 million to sign a top free agent defensemen and a forward. If the cap goes up, even better. If the Rangers re-sign Jaromir Jagr that would obviously put a bit of a dent into that cap space. And what about the prospects that may or may not be available next season. I myself think it's time to let the Jagr era go. I'd make an effort to sign Brian Campbell in the neighborhood of $5 million and hope that works. If it doesn't I roll the dice with prospects and see what they have. If Marian Hossa can be had for less than say 6.5 to 7 million I might consider it, but I'd be hesitant. Would he come at a discount if his brother was re-signed, I doubt it, but I'd still look into it.

So it's back to the "wait and see" game until July for as far as next season's roster goes. The trade deadline looms not too far off so we'll see if there are any shakeups that throw a wrench into my little plan here.

Prucha Sets NHL Record Book On Fire

2007-12-31T01:54:00.000-05:00

Anyone who watches the NHL Network particularly late at night has seen the bit about Darryl Sittler's 10 point game. He tells you he usually had a little Bass and Steak as his pregame meal and so on. I found it really cool at first, much happier than the suicide inducing "Don't Give Up" cancer awareness commercial. Don't get me wrong, I fully support cancer awareness, but that tune on that commercial simply has to be the most tear inducing half a bar of music I've ever heard, but seeing it over and over again while watching on the fly has made me think. Wouldn't it be awesome for someone to break Sittler's record? This way they'd stop running that damned piece every 20 minutes. So then inside my little brain, half awake, is what popped into my head. Al Trautwig of MSG Network interviewing Petr Prucha after Prucha not only broke Sittler's record, but also the single game assist and goal records, in the same game.

Al Trautwig: Welcome back everyone to MSG. What a night it was here. Petr Prucha, with his 8 goal and 8 assist night has broken three seemingly unreachable records in one night. He broke Joe Malone's record of 7 goals, Billy Taylor's record of 7 assists and, Darryl Sittler's record for points in a single game. Ah, and here he is joining us in Studio 16, Petr, welcome, quite a game you had.

Petr Prucha: Yah, it was uhh, fun, great night.

AT: I'll say, you gave the Garden crowd quite a thrill. I'm sure you are overcome with excitement right now and it hasn't soaked in yet, but tell me. How huge did Sean Avery come through in helping you achieve what you did tonight?

PP: Whole team was, mmm, great, Aves had goal on power play, I thought was mine but went in off of his helmet, like soccer.

AT: Well yeah and he had an assist on your fifth goal do you remember?

PP: Mmmm not right now.

AT: He had come out of the penalty box and dumped the puck down the ice. Gomez beat out the icing call and found you in the high slot. Anyway, I'm sure you'll remember, as soon as you can sit back and appreciate the moment.

PP: Yah, was great, I always say I not real goal scorer so always is suprise to me when I score goal.

AT: You said that alot during your rookie season and I think people around here are starting to think you were right.

PP: Oh, Ha Ha.

AT: Tell me when Sean Avery came to this team, did you think he would have such a positive effect on your own performance?

PP: Uhh, I don't know, all I really know him from is talking lots of curses and diving from when Jags bump him. Jags had hat trick and two assists tonight and Gomer had goal and 5 assists, G-man and Toots had goals and couple of assists, they play great.

AT: Oh of course they did, and I'll bet you guys are all going out on the town after this one.

PP: Yah, we go to club and have few drinks and dances.

AT: HA! And you know I'll bet if you ask Sean Avery he could get you guys some dates for tonight.

PP: Uhh, maybe, yes.

AT: What did you think, I think it was soon after your tenth point of the night that tied you with Sittler, when the Crowd started the familiar chant of "Ave-Ry Ave-Ry" after he had gotten into the fight he had to complete the Gordie Howe Hat-Trick?

PP: I don't know, we all were suprise he fight with big lead and take instigator too.

AT: Well that is part of his game and these things will happen. As Joe Paterno always says, Boys just being boys.

PP: Joe who?

AT: Haha, doesn't matter, Hey did you ever notice how perfectly Sean Avery's eyes match the home blue of the Rangers jersey?

PP: Umm no have not notice, But I wa...

AT: Sorry to cut you off Peter but John Giannone is standing by down the hall with the man of the hour, Sean Avery. So Peter thank you for joining us here at Studio 16, again congratulations on a great night.

PP: I thought it was studio 11.

AT: We renamed it, cya later.

Is The Paint Dry Yet?

2007-12-10T12:19:00.000-05:00

It's bad enough that the Rangers and Devils played their game on a Sunday during the NFL season. And since it was at 5pm of the final week of the regular season for most Fantasy Football leagues it was probably even more of an afterthought for a casual observer. Really the only positive thing that came out of the game was the final result. A 1-0 win for the Rangers in overtime.

Brendan Shanahan scored 30 seconds into OT on a play that simply defied anything the Rangers have shown offensively over the past week/ month/ entire season. A play in which all four Blueshirts on the ice were involved in the play. Crisp, decisive passing. Scott Gomez passes from the right corner to Dan Girardi. Girardi passes to his defense partner Fedor Tyutin, across the ice along the blueline, Tyutin diagonal pass back to Gomez in the right faceoff circle. Gomez passes to Shanahan in the slot for a one-timer that hits the top corner above Martin Brodeur's blocker.

Was it an abberation? Was it luck? Was it because it was four-on-four and the Devils had one less defender on the ice? Was it because it was four-on-four and Shanahan and Gomez were not saddled with their linemate Marcel Hossa? I happen to think it was a combination of all of the above.

Strangely not much has been mentioned about Henrik Lundqvist's performance yesterday. He was not tested often but made 3 or 4 saves that were legit robberies. Aside from that there was not much to discuss. However I am going to harp on the next issue for a while, until the Rangers change their thinking, or until Sean Avery returns. And that issue is toughness, or lack there of.

The softness of this team is beginning to wear on me. During the second period of yesterday's game Zach Parise tried some sort of half gainer-double toe loop-triple lindy combo which he failed to land cleanly. He landed on his shinguards and slid, full speed into Lundqvist, the play was blown dead. Well the tv coverage (for lack of a better word) went to commercial, and I expected to see Parise in the sin bin when the game came back on. Well I was incorrect apparently. Parise was not penalized. Not only was he not sent to do penance for his sins, not one Ranger took it upon himself to distribute any justice for running into the franchise goaltender.

Soon after Brendan Shanahan, while trying to bull rush through a duo of Devil defensemen, while carrying the puck, took a stick to the forehead from Colin White. Again no penalty. No retribution either.

Now I understand that these occurances happened during a 0-0 hockey game where it seemed that one goal could/would win the game. But Come On. Somebody on the Rangers has to stick up for themselves and their teamates. Hell if that isn't what 2/3 of the fourth line isn't in the game for, than what in the hell are they doing in the lineup? This was fourth game in a row where an opponent has started to show that getting rough against the Rangers is something that can be effective and also can be gotten away with. I just hope the Rangers answer before an injury at the hands of an opponent is the result of this Charminism.

Ecstasy & Agony

2007-12-05T15:59:00.000-05:00

Two words that could describe the Rangers last two performances. On Saturday afternoon, against the Ottawa Senators, the Blueshirts played possibly their best first 20 minutes of the season en route to building a 3-0 advantage after the first period.

Dan Girardi, Jaromir Jagr and, Brendan Shanahan all lit the lamp in the first period, with Jagr's goal coming on the Power Play. Shanahan also scored a Power Play goal in the second period on a beautiful deflection from the high slot off a feed from Martin Straka.

The first line was dominant in the Ottawa zone throughout the game, playing a puck possesion cycle with Brandon Dubinsky having a strong game. This made the third game in a row that the top line played like a top line. A mere coincidence that Straka returned and Marcel Hossa was moved down the lineup?

After the second Shanahan goal the Rangers seemed to let up a little bit, and the Senators seemed to awaken. The final score ended up being 5-2 with Blair Betts sealing the scoresheet with an empty net goal, his first goal of the season, off of a beautiful pass from Tom Corvo. Unfortunately for Corvo, who scored the first Senator goal, he was not given an assist on the play.

It was a big win for the Rangers. A win that they haven't had many of through the first quarter. A win against a first place team, A win against the Eastern Conference leader. All signs seemed to be pointing upwards for them. It was a game where they could all look around the locker room and say that they took two steps forward. Well, I don't think I need to say the next part of the cliche'. But I will. Because the next game on Monday night was exactly that, well, maybe not exactly, it might have even been two steps back.

Monday night the Rangers had a chance to come back to home ice on a high after a nice road win and put the exclamation point on it. A win against the Southeast Division leading Carolina Hurricanes could have done so.

If the first period on Saturday was the team's best, a frontrunner for the worst would have been Monday night's first frame. The Broadway boys came out slow, they came out flat, they came out unfocussed. And the 2-0 deficit at the end of the first certainly showed it. Marek Malik, playing in his first home game in a month due to a back injury lasted a good shift and a half without being booed for a bad turnover.

Brandon Dubinsky made bad plays that led to both of the 'Canes goals. Jagr looked like his head was still in Ottawa, if not his head than his legs.

For one night Henrik Lundqvist seemed to say, "Hey boys, I don't have it tonight to carry you on my back, how about you guys take this one?" And the rest of the team replied, "Huh". I can't recall a decent scoring chance from the entire game for the Rangers. So Cam Ward got a shutout that may be the easiest shutout I've ever seen.

The final score was 4-0, and I don't think there was a single positive to point out, other than Sean Avery seemed to have a good time up in the Heavenly Blues again. He's out at least another 2-4 weeks after undergoing Arthoscopic Surgery on his wrist.

As he was shown signing autographs up in the rafters I thought, wouldn't it be funny if the Rangers recalled 20 year old defenseman Ivan Baranka and had Malik sit out. Would Avery be able to take Malik on a tour of the blue seats, without a riot ensuing?

The Rangers face Darcy Tucker and the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night and it's a shame we won't see Avery defend his home turf.

Let's Get Dirty

2007-11-23T23:18:00.000-05:00

There's been alot of talk about the lack of offense coming out of a pretty well pedigreed Rangers group of forwards. The team is still mired in dead last in the NHL in terms of goal production. Many of them seem too gun shy to pull the trigger in prime shooting positions. Is it a lack of skill? I don't think so. Is it a lack of chances? I don't think so.

The biggest problem with the Rangers, offensively right now is the inability to get to the front of the net and create screens and rebound opportunities. There does not seem to be a soul amongst the corps that has any willingness to camp out in front and take the punishment that is distributed while trying to score the "Dirty" goal. The only player on the Rangers that even attempts to "Get Dirty" is the all 4'3" 67lbs of Peter Prucha. And we all know he pays a hefty price when he tries to play like a big boy.

It's not like this team doesn't have a bit of size on it. There are guys, Marcel Hossa 6'3" 220 lbs, Bredan Shanahan 6'3" 220, Jaromir Jagr 6'3" 245lbs, Brandon Dubinsky 6'1" 224lbs and, Blair Betts 6'3" 210lbs, all have the size and save for Betts, the ability to pop home a lose puck in front. So why don't they do it? Let's put aside for a minute that they don't camp out in front in 5 on 5 situations. Why in the hell don't they park someone there on the Power Play? The only players that we see in front of the net, in either situation, are Peter Prucha, Sean Avery and, Chris Drury, all of which are undersized and can't withstand the punishment that is given out for trying to score from the Dirty Zone.

I hear a phrase "The Pussification of America" every now and then. Well I think somehow it has gone from the suburban soccer fields of the U.S. and now I declare that with the lack of cajones shown by the Rangers forwards it is in fact the Pussification of the New York Rangers.

Premature ECapulation

2007-11-15T13:58:00.000-05:00

In the Wonderful world of the salary capped NHL fans can always point to the future and speculate at what types of decisions management will make because they want to. They can also try to decipher what moves will be made because they have to.

I decided to delve into the New York Rangers cap situation regarding what we may see on the ice in the 2008-2009 season, just for some amusement. As I kept looking over things my mood got even better. The Rangers are in a pretty tight spot this season. However, with a decent amount of largerish contracts coming off of the books, along with an abundance of young talent coming up the ranks, the Rangers cap situation for next season is nowhere near as dire as it is this season.

This may get a bit long winded but well, that's the way cap talk goes.

Forwards under contract for 2008-2009 and their salary cap hit

Scott Gomez, 7.37 million

Chris Drury, 7.05 million

Jaromir Jagr, 4.9 million

Peter Prucha, 1.6 million

Dubinsky, 630 thousand

Blair Betts, 610 thousand

Ryan Callahan, 600 thousand

Colton Orr, 500 thousand

Ryan Hollweg, 500 thousand

Forwards that are Restricted Free Agents for 2008-2009

Marcel Hossa and Nigel Dawes

I'd have to say that with the young forwards with offensive potential in the Rangers system I'd have to say goodbye to Hossa. Hossa aside from the odd shootout goal hasn't shown enough to warrant keeping him on the roster and keeping more talented wingers in the minors. Yes he's been a decent penalty killer, there are other guys in the system that can kill penalties. Hossa has been given so many chances to shine alongside Jagr, and has come up relatively empty. Re-sign Nigel Dawes for 2 years at about 1.25 million. He'd still be arbitration elligible after that contract.
Forwards that are Unrestricted Free Agents for 2008-2009

Sean Avery

Love him or hate him, he brings alot to the table. The Rangers record when he is healthy and in the lineup says all there is to say. He seems to be the straw that stirs the drink. Hopefully another year to mature will help make him realize that being loved in New York is a situation that could only benefit his career. If he can curtail the pregame shenanigans and continue to play his game at a high level there is nothing stopping this guy from becoming a very important building block for the post Jagr Rangers. I'd like to see him re-signed for 3.oo per year for three years.

Forwards rundown: With the players under contract and re-signing Dawes and Avery that would leave the Rangers with 11 forwards on the NHL roster for a total of 28.01 million dollars worth of the cap hit.

Defensemen Under Contract for 2008-2009
Marc Staal, 765 thousand
Thomas Pock, 685 thousand

Defensemen that are Restricted Free Agents for 2008-2009
Fedor Tyutin, Dan Girardi. I'd re-sign them both. And here the Rangers are in a great position. Neither player would get a huge award in arbitration due to limited offensive stats, yet both are very good young defensemen.They would each get a significant raise. I'd give each a three year deal, for Tyutin 2.5 million and for Girardi 1.25 million.

Defensemen that are Unrestricted Free Agents for 2008-2009
Michael Roszival, Marek Malik, Paul Mara, Jason Strudwick. I'd resign Roszival for four years at 4.00 million per year. It should be enough to keep him but it's not so high or long of a contract that he couldn't be traded two years down the road when younger talent is ready to push him aside. As of right now, and not knowing how ready the minor leaguers are, I'd keep Strudwick on a contract just like the current one he is on. 500 thousand for one year. I think it's pretty much safe to say that Malik and Mara will both be shown the door.

Defense Rundown: by re-signing Tyutin, Girardi, Roszival and Strudwick that leaves the Rangers with five legit NHL defensemen and Strudwick as a possible sixth but more likely a seventh Defenseman. The total cap hit for this batch would be a whopping 9.7 million. That would bring the total so far up to 37.71 million dollars.

The Goaltending Situation
Henrik Lundqvist signed a one year 4.5 million dollar deal in the off season. It is expected that he will be resigned long term after January 1,2008. I would think he will get a deal worth, for arguement's sake 6.5 million for 4 or 5 years. As for the backup, well Stephen Valiquette is a true NHL backup. He's good enough to play 8-10 games per season, he's a good locker room guy and he gets along well with Lundqvist. Might as well re-sign him. Two years at 650 thousand or so should get that done. The goaltenders would then count for 7.15 million dollars towards the cap.

If all of that happens: The Rangers would be looking at a cap hit of 44.86 million dollars toward the cap. If the cap doesn't go up again this year from just over 50 million, not likely by the way, the Rangers would have a little over 5 million bucks in cap room to spend. Or keep. They would still need a forward. The answer there could very well come from within in either Artem Anisimov, Alexei Cherepanov, Dane Byers, or Greg Moore. They would also need another defenseman that could also come from within in either Michael Sauer, Bobby Sanguinetti (more likely to be in Hartford though), David Liffiton or Ivan Baranka.

Final thoughts: The firesale of 2004 will have a major imprint on the Rangers for the next few years. The fruits of those trades and draft picks are beginning to ripen. It's very possible that the Rangers average age heading into the 2008-2009 season could be a little under 26 years old. And just think back to when it was a rarity that the Rangers even had a player under the age of 26 on the roster.

The big contracts that Glen Sather shelled out for Chris Drury and Scott Gomez may look like an 800lb gorilla in the room, but by the time those contracts are at their midway point $7million for a center will not be out of the ordinary. True it might be tough to keep all of the younger talent as these kids come into new contracts, but it is a much better situation than it used to be.

Really the main glaring question that pops into my head regarding the future of the Rangers is, "When does Al Montoya get traded?"

The Backup Puts Up a "W"

2007-11-11T00:17:00.000-05:00

After over a month of picking up dry cleaning, fetching coffee, and baby-sitting his teamate's offspring, Stephen Valiquette finally got a chance to actually have to add a cup to his gamenight attire on Saturday night in Toronto. Usually one would think that a backup goaltender for the New York Rangers would be getting the short end of the stick by having his only appearence of the first quarter of the season being away from the storied "World's Most Famous Arena". That was not the case for this game.

Valiquette, who last started a non pre-season game on March 3rd, was thrust into the spotlight of his hometown. A Saturday night, Hockey Night In Canada, on Hall of Fame Weekend is indeed a big spot to any hockey player from Canada. The game started a bit late due to a combined ceremony honoring this year's Hall of Fame inductees, along with a Remembrance Day ceremony honoring Canada's fallen soldiers.

So after having a little bit of extra time to soak in the atmosphere how did Valiquette perform between the pipes? I'd say he did pretty well. He stopped 32 of 34 shots and then stopped Nik Antropov and Mats Sundin in a shootout while both Ranger's shooters, Brendan Shanahan and Marcel Hossa, were succesful in their attempts.

Having Valiquette start tonight's game allows Tom Renney to give Henrik Lundqvist a full five days off between starts. With the season that Lundqvist is having, barring injury, these nights for Valiquette will be few and far between. Not that that is a bad thing, providing Lundqvist can keep up his performance there is no reason not to have him get the playing time that he has earned. The only numbers that Lundqvist has put up that are not incredible (W-L) are due to the other members of the team who are still in dead last in goals scored.

Perhaps this win could give Tom Renney a bit of confidence in Valiquette if he notices fatigue creeping into Lundqvist's game. One thing about sports though is that to win you need to have your best players playing. And that is certainly true in the Rangers' case. While the rest of the team takes it's sweet time trying to figure themselves out the one constant so far in the early going is that the Rangers have excellent goaltending. And tonight they got it from their backup.

Sidenote: Sean Avery had himself quite an active first 23 minutes to Saturday night's game in Toronto. He had 7 minutes in penalties in the first period, 2 for getting slapped around by three Maple Leafs, and 5 for having a decent fight with Darcy Tucker. In the second period, in one shift, he set up Brendan Shanahan's goal to make the score 1-0, with a beautiful backhand pass to the slot. 42 seconds later Avery made the score 2-0 with Shanahan getting the assist.

This is all great news, but Avery was a bit invisible after that. Maybe he wore himself out during warmups where he began his agitating of Darcy Tucker, which set off a bit of stick jabbing, pushing and shoving matches between players from both sides.

Postgame comments From Nigel Dawes

2007-10-29T22:28:00.000-04:00

Ya know, If I were a foot taller and still had the same athletic ability I'd be raking in so much money that it would make Jaromir Jagr blush. Here I am a little fireplug that can barely touch the top of the doorway when I walk thorough it (yeah I still do it just because I can). And Mr. captain can barely keep up with me in the goal scoring department. I'm gonna call Al Sharpton and see if he can get the goal that Jagr got credit for revoked. It went in off of Shanahan. Meanwhile, hell, the goal I scored tonight, well, all I gotta say is when you are good you are good. Wait till you see what happens when I actually try to shoot a puck on net. I rule. The NHL is mine. Fo Shizzle.

Rangers Looking for First Hat Trick

2007-10-26T23:04:00.000-04:00

The New York Rangers season is off to a bit of a rough start. True it is only
nine games old. And, although,with a 3-5-1 record in those nine games all hopes of a
great season are not lost, things need to change.

One thing that really needs to change is the offensive, ummm, offensive production.
For example the Rangers to this date in this infantile season do not have a player whe
has had a hat trick. "Well most teams don't" you might say. But you miss my point(Yes
there is one). The vaunted, heralded, insert other adjectives here, offense isn't as much
as looking for a player to score three goals in a game. They are still waiting for someone,
anyone, to notch his/her third goal of the season. With names like Jagr, Drury, Gomez,
Shanahan, Straka, Avery and, Prucha among the corps of forwards one would think that
at least one of them would put the puck in the net at least once every three games.

Heading into last night's game three Rangers were tied for the team lead in goals scored.
Scott Gomez and Michael Roszival were joined at the top with injured teamate Martin
Straka, all having two goals apiece. Ranger fans were on the edge of their seats, some more
prominent than others, as to who might take a stranglehold on the inter-team goal scoring
lead. Instead of someone among the names up on the marquis taking the lead, another name
joined them. One who nobody outside of the MSG broadcast booth could have even thought
capable of joining this illustrious triumvirate.

Last night's first minute goal by Nigel Dawes was the first goal for the Rangers after being
shutout the previous two games by Boston and Pittsburgh. Dawes repeated his feat roughly
55 minutes later to finalize the scoresheet for the evening. This is where it gets fun though.
Dawes' second goal gave the Rangers 2 goals aggregate in the three games. Henrik Lundqvist
did not allow a goal against Boston for 65 minutes (He gave up one in a shootout), and allowed
a second period powerplay goal against the Penguins. Lundqvist shutout the Devils last night.
So over the course of three games Lundqvist allows one goal and has a 1-2 record to show for his
troubles.

So the Rangers head into a Saturday evening at the Garden that will be brought to you with all the pomp and circumstance with the announcement of, "Madison Square Garden presents the New York Rangers and the Toronto Maple Leafs", with the incredible sub plot of, WHO THE HELL IS GONNA STEP UP AND START PLAYING SOME DAMNED HOCKEY!!1!!!1!

Shoot the Puck My Brotha

2007-10-26T22:50:00.000-04:00

Nigel Dawes was off da hook last night yo. Homie was straight up nasty.
He had that cracka in front of dat cage straight up cumfuddlefuzed fo shizzle.
The Rangers did right by lettin homie get some PT in front of the little brothas
and sistas from Harlem sittin up in the phat crib of a luxury box. Now he be sayin'
"Yo, Prucha, dis is ma spot now."

Rutgers Hosts #2 USF Thursday Night

2007-10-14T22:10:00.001-04:00

Just over 11 months ago as many would recall, The Rutgers Scarlet Knights defeated the #3 Louisville Cardinals and launched themselves into the national spotlight with the 28-25 upset victory. On this coming Thursday RU will again host a highly ranked opponent but instead of trying to launch themselves onto the scene it's more of a self preservation game for the un-ranked Scarlet Knights.

This year's new kid on the block, The University of South Florida Bulls, come to Piscataway with an unblemished record and a swagger usually reserved for more traditional powerhouses. Sophomore Quaterback Matt Grothe, a dual threat QB , is a true playmaker and can get things done with his arm or by pulling it down and taking off operating out of a spread offense.

On the other side of the ball Senior linebacker Ben Moffitt leads a relentless, speedy, defense that is actually more responsible for USF's so far undefeated season. To beat USF you need to wear this defense down, something that obviously hasn't been done yet this season. At no time yet in this season has Ray Rice been more needed as he will be on Thursday night.

Rice ran for 196 yards and three touchdowns in the Scarlet Knight's 38-14 pasting of the Syracuse Orangemen. If Rice, who goes into this game with 818 rushing yards, can eclipse the 1,000 yard mark for the season on Thursday then RU will be in a great position to win this game. Any success that Rice has will open things up for QB Mike Teel and recievers Tiquan Underwood, Kenny Britt and Timmy Brown.

On the defensive side of the ball the Rutgers young and improving defense will have a good bit of work to do. The secondary will need to account for the 4 and 5 wide reciever sets that Grothe will have at his disposal. If the DB's can force Grothe to try and run the linebackers will have to answer the call. I will keep my eyes on Senior Linebacker and Draddy Award Semi-finalist Brandon Renkart who will likely have the job of spying on Grothe for the duration of the contest.

Although Rutgers will be an underdog heading into this game I would not be in complete shock if they were to pull of the upset. On the other hand I wouldn't be shocked if they get completely blown out. One thing this College Football Season has shown us is that nothing should be shocking anymore.

Here I am

2007-10-14T13:03:00.000-04:00

Well after some chiding, here I am with my very own un-sullied little spot on Mr. Gore's internet. I'll basically blog here regarding the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the New York Rangers, I'll also dabble in some baseball and other sports whenever the hell I want to.

Let me know what you think, any requests will probably be denied :P