Rangers Report Blog

I’m on my way to Binghamton/Endicott in the rain, for a game that no doubt will be rained out today and (hopefully) played tomorrow.

So I just wanted to let you guys know I won’t be blogging much in the next few days.

Although if the game gets postponed, I will try to chime in during Game 6 tonight. And I will attempt to set the record for spiedies consumed. Can you have spiedies for breakfast?

Sorry for not posting today, but the old man (me) was celebrating his birthday with Mr. Titleist and happy to report that, having played just five holes (in a rained out event) since mid-April, the old man shot a career second-best 80.

My brother-in-law suggested that I shot my age. Then he asked me if I broke my hip.

Good thing I don’t drink anymore, or I’d be in no condition to post at 10 p.m. on a birthday. Usually kneeling in front of the toilet by this time in birthdays past.

Tomorrow I start trekking around the state again for state playoffs. Tomorrow Binghamton. Thursday Middletown. Friday or Saturday either Binghamton again, Cortland, Waterloo or Rochester. Maybe I will start drinking again.

Just saw this in the TV listings. Tonight at 10 on NHL Network: A Day That Changed the Game: Feb. 22, 1980.

CCCP and Kaspar, you might want to cover your eyes.

But it should be a good watch. Plus it’s an hour long, so it’s over just in time for the 11 p.m. Seinfeld.

According to a report in the Toronto Globe and Mail, the NHL and NBC will renew their deal through the 2010 Olympics, which of course are an NBC property.

Oh, good.

On a lighter note, did you see the story about the South Dakota cowboy who won more than $200 million in the Powerball lottery? My favorite part was the quote from a guy named Chris Assman. He must have Cosmo Kramer’s plates (which actually belonged to Dr. Cooperman).

The winner selected the lump-sum payout, which after taxes is going to bring him only $88.5 million. So now he’s getting closer to Wade Redden money than CC Sabathia money.

I thought you guys might enjoy this, sent to me a few minutes ago. Click here.

This just in from the NYR:

RANGERS AGREE TO TERMS WITH GOALTENDER MATT ZABA

            New York, June 4, 2009 – New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that the club has agreed to terms with goaltender Matt Zaba.
Zaba, 25, appeared in 41 games with the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League (AHL), posting a record of 25-10-0, along with a 2.33 goals against average, a .920 save percentage and two shutouts.  The AHL rookie ranked among the league leaders in several categories, including seventh in goals against average, tied for eighth in save percentage and tied for 12thin wins.  He made his AHL debut on October 18 at Toronto, and earned his first career AHL win on November 1 vs. Albany.  On January 9, he recorded his first AHL shutout with a 40-save effort at Springfield.  Named the AHL Goaltender of the Month for February, Zaba registered a season-high, seven-game winning streak from February 20 at Lowell to March 4 vs. Worcester, posting a 1.53 goals against average and a .952 save percentage during the stretch.  He closed out the regular season with a 14-2-0 mark, along with a 1.84 goals against average, a .937 save percentage and one shutout in 16 contests.  In addition, Zaba appeared in six playoff games with Hartford, posting a 2-4-0 record with a 3.17 goals against average, a .908 save percentage and one shutout.
In 2007-08, Zaba appeared in 28 games with the Charlotte Checkers and Idaho Steelheads of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL), registering a record of 15-8-2, along with a 2.64 goals against average, .915 save percentage and three shutouts.
The 6-1, 185-pounder, appeared in 110 career games in four seasons with the Colorado College Tigers of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) prior to signing with the Rangers, posting a 55-42-10 record, along with a 2.42 goals against average.  As a senior in 2006-07, he was named winner of the Thayer Tutt Award as team MVP, and was selected to the All-WCHA Academic Team for the third consecutive season.  In 2005-06, Zaba recorded 20 wins and four shutouts, both collegiate career-highs.  As a freshman in 2003-04, he turned in a 10-10-2 record, along with a personal-best 2.27 goals against average and was selected to the WCHA All-Rookie Team.  He was named National Rookie of the Month after posting a 3-0-2 record, along with a 1.35 goals against average and a .941 save percentage in five starts in November 2003.
The Yorkton, Saskatchewan native signed a professional contract with the Rangers on August 20, 2007.

Jane’s all pumped up, and I am too. Today is our first live video chat since the playoffs ended (for the Rangers, that is).

So join us at 1 p.m. with questions and comments.

Click here or go to LoHud.com/protalklive to watch or take part.

Just a friendly reminder that Jane and I will field your questions and comments (or at least we’ll try) tomorrow, Thursday, during a live chat at 1 p.m. Hope you join us.

You can see it by clicking here, or by going to this link: LoHud.com/protalklive

WARNING: If you go there now, you might be confronted by my buddy Peter Abraham and his Yankees chat, which is always fabulous by the way. Pete kind of gets a little closer to the camera (he uses the one on his laptop) than we do. You don’t want to see me that closely.

I swear I’d forget my you-know-what if it wasn’t attached.

For two days I’ve been meaning to tell you guys that Jane and I will do a live video chat Thursday at 1 p.m. So get your questions and comments ready and plan to join us. We can talk off-season moves, although I don’t think you’ll be getting the moves you want, and you can talk draft (not my area of expertise at this point). Or you can talk about the Stanley Cup finals, or your ticket prices getting jacked up, or anything you want to talk about … within reason.

I’ll provide the link as we get closer to the chat.
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Jane just sent me this link to 5hole.com’s take on the Rangers’ new ticket prices. Pretty good. Check it out.
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Meanwhile, I just got this release about the TV ratings on NBC for Games 1 and 2. Tonight, of course, is a Versus game (oh, joy!). Just a note of my own here. The New York market (fairly significant) was not among the top 10 markets watching either game.

STANLEY CUP FINAL ON NBC SPORTS DELIVERS HIGHEST VIEWERSHIP IN 7 YEARS

Average Viewership For Two Games Up 21% Over Last Year, Best Since ‘02

Sunday’s Game 2 Ranks No. 6 in Primetime For Week in Adults 18-49

 NBC Wins Saturday and Sunday Night in Adults 18-49

 NEW YORK – June 2, 2009 – The Stanley Cup Final on NBC Sports is off to the best network start to the event in seven years in both viewership and in household ratings according to Nielsen Media Research. Games 1 and 2 between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings on NBC Sports (Saturday and Sunday night) averaged 4.87 million viewers, the best since 2002 (Detroit-Carolina, 5.35 million, Games 3 & 4) and 21 percent ahead of last year (4.04 million, Games 3 & 4, Wednesday and Saturday night). The two-game 2.8 average rating and 5 share was up 17 percent over NBC’s first two games in 2008 (2.4/4), and was again the best network start for the Stanley Cup since 2002 (3.4/7). NBC Sports’ Game 2 coverage of the Stanley Cup Final ranked No. 6 (tied) among all primetime telecasts last week in Adults 18-49.
  NHL ON NBC SPORTS RANKS NO. 1 IN PRIMETIME: NBC Sports’ Stanley Cup broadcast ranked No. 1 in primetime on Saturday in the key demos of Adults 18-49, Adults 18-34, Adults 25-54 and all key male demographics. The peacock also ranked No. 1 on Saturday night in Women 18-34 and tied for No.1 among Women 18-49.
  NBC Sports’ Stanley Cup broadcast also ranked No. 1 in primetime on Sunday in Adults 18-49, Adults 25-54 and other key demos.  This marks NBC’s first Sunday win in Adults 18-49 since the night of the Super Bowl, February 1. Hockey coverage won the 10 p.m. ET hour in every key demo and topped the combined ABC-CBS rating in Adults 18-49, Adults 18-34 and other key demographic measures.
  SUNDAY’S BROADCAST RANKS NO. 6 FOR THE WEEK: NBC Sports’ coverage of Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final ranked No. 6 (tied) among all primetime telecasts last week in Adults 18-49. It finished among the top five programs of the week in all key male demographics, ranking No. 3 among Men 18-49 and Men 25-54 and No. 4 (tied) among Men 18-34.
  STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS AND FINAL UP 18%: NBC Sports’ extensive coverage of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, including the first two games of the Final, has averaged 18 percent more viewers than last year (2.41 million vs. 2.04 million). The 1.5 rating is 15 percent greater than last year (1.3).
  OTHER RATINGS NOTES:
· Sunday’s primetime broadcast was the most-watched Stanley Cup Final weekend broadcast in seven years, averaging 5.39 million viewers (6-8-02, Detroit-Carolina, Game 3, 3 overtimes, 5.48 million).
 · Saturday’s Game 1 broadcast finished eight percent higher in viewers than last year’s first Saturday night broadcast of Game 4 between these same teams (4.4 million vs. 4.0 million).

Now there, above, are three words that won’t make you guys very happy.

The three finalists for the Mark Messier Leadership award were announced this morning, and one of them is your least favorite player: Sidney Crosby.

The other two are Zdeno Chara and Jarome Iginla.

Anyway, the Captain will be in Pittsburgh tonight to discuss the award, the finalists and, of course that story that has gotten so old by now—the 1983 and 1984 Oilers, the last team to play a rematch of the Stanley Cup finals. And the comparisons everyone is trying to draw between Sid’s Penguins and Mess’s Oilers, who won the rematch and stopped the Islanders dynasty at four Cups and 19 consecutive playoff series won.

But if the Penguins go down tonight to Detroit, well, you can pretty much stop all that comparison talk.

By the way, I loved the comment from Mike Babcock before the series about all the promo highlights from last year’s series. He said that, from watching the highlights, he thought Detroit had lost the ‘08 final.
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I know you’re not happy about the ticket price increase, and I wouldn’t be either. But considering what the Giants, Jets, Yankees and Mets have done to their fans re: prices and PSLs, this isn’t bad. Of course, they all got new stadiums and made you pay for them. The Rangers are just making you pay Wade Redden.
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MID-DAY UPDATE, 11:39 A.M.:

JD is honored (or honoured). Here is a release I just received from the Hockey Hall of Fame:

Hockey journalist Dave Molinari and former broadcaster John Davidson honoured

TORONTO (June 2, 2009)—Bill Hay, Chairman of the Hockey Hall of Fame, announced today that DAVE MOLINARI, the newspaper voice of the Pittsburgh Penguins will receive the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award for print journalism. Hay also announced that JOHN DAVIDSON, a long-time broadcaster who is currently the President of Hockey Operations with the St. Louis Blues, will receive the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for outstanding contributions as a hockey broadcaster. 
Molinari is described by his colleagues as a survivor. A survivor whose subtle blend of dry wit and unending sarcasm got him through a series of devastating newspaper strikes in Pittsburgh, the disintegration of his newspaper, The Pittsburgh Press.  Most notably he was the lead chronicler for all of the tragedies and triumphs of Mario Lemieux’s career as the lead hockey writer for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. 
“Since 1984 Dave Molinari has been telling the Pittsburgh Penguins story with the perfect blend of insightful analysis and entertaining prose,” said PHWA President Kevin Allen. “The fans of Pittsburgh of been fortunate to have highly skilled players such as Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby. And they have been equally fortunate to have a highly skilled writer such as Dave to chronicle their successes. With his dry wit, Dave is also the leading press box humorist in the hockey writing community. He is one of the most respected hockey writers in the game today.” 
Davidson, a former goaltender for the St. Louis Blues and the team’s first-round draft choice in 1973, boasts an impressive hockey career on and off the ice, including as an analyst for the Madison Square Garden (MSG) Network, CBC and various other national hockey broadcast partners in the United States and Canada. Awarded the Lester Patrick Award in 2004 for his contribution to American hockey, Davidson’s distinguished broadcasting career includes lead analyst work at the past five Olympic Winter Games. 
“John Davidson has had a remarkable career in almost every aspect of professional hockey, and we as a broadcast community benefited immensely from his expertise and professionalism,”said Chuck Kaiton, President, NHL Broadcasters Association. “He is an incredibly deserving recipient of this honour.” 
Molinari and Davidson will receive the awards at a luncheon presentation on Monday, November 9, 2009.  This year’s Hockey Hall of Fame Induction Weekend will take place November 6^th to 9^th, culminating with the Induction Ceremony beginning at 7:30 P.M. (EST) on Monday, November 9.