That’s a line from Blazing Saddles, by the way. Sigh, I have to work today, on this beautiful, sunny, warm spring day that was made with Mr. Titleist in mind. Oh well, there will be others. I can rest in the comfort that the Rangers are enjoying themselves on golf… Read More →
This announcement just in from USA Hockey. That among the players added to its World Championship tournament roster, from teams just eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs is: “Chris Kreider (Boxford, Mass./Boston College), who helped the U.S. to the gold medal at the 2010 IIHF World Junior Championship, will make… Read More →
First of all, I was just imagining what our beards might look like by now, had the Rangers, you know, won the skills competition in Philly, gotten the No. 8 seed and done to Washington what Montreal just did. But the Festivus/Paul Mara Memorial Playoff Beard Extravaganza and Picnic had… Read More →
Washington is playing a Game 7 for the fourth consecutive series—all of those at home: 2008: Lost to Philadelphia, 3-2. 2009: Beat the Rangers, 2-1. 2009: Lost to Pittsburgh, 6-2. It still strikes me as incredible that those rag-tag Rangers had a 3-1 series lead on the Caps and were… Read More →
So, to sum up the Leastern playoffs: No. 1 Washington is in a Game 7 tomorrow against lowly Montreal. No. 2 New Jersey is out. No. 3 Buffalo is out. No. 4 Pittsburgh—which happens to be the defending Stanley Cup champion—is in the next round. No. 9 Rangers are playing… Read More →
Here’s a little game I started playing in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Play along if you like. Name the former Rangers still alive in the playoffs (and there are plenty of them, and some just jump right off the scoresheet lately). Include players, coaches, assistants, GMs, etc. Sort… Read More →
This is the first time since 1992 that seven of eight first-round playoff series have reached Game 6, with Pittsburgh and San Jose (sigh of relief!) moving on to the next round last night. Today’s Game 6s: Phoenix-Detroit (Wings up 3-2) (On NBC, 2 p.m). Vancouver-LA (‘Nucks up 3-2). Tomorrow’s… Read More →
And we’ve seen over the years … and heard from guys with Stanley Cup rings all over their hands … how important it can be to end an early-round series when you get the chance. First of all, obviously, you don’t want to give the opponent any life at all…. Read More →
Some thoughts about the first series to end: 1) The NHL does a few things better than the other big-league sports, and one of them is the post-series handshake, one of the coolest things in sports, still. That’s why it bothers me when a Scott Stevens—when he was a younger… Read More →
We apologize for the technical problems. I still have no idea what happened, but obviously something did. Sorry. ——————————————- I was thinking last night, as we post the finalists for the major awards each day, that I haven’t heard much from my Boneheads about the awards—except for the Vezina, and… Read More →
The Rangers took the Flyers beyond the end of the regular season, beyond the end of Game 82. They also beat the Flyers three times during the season, twice down the stretch. Granted, if the Rangers had won the skills competition they’d have gotten Washington in the first round, not… Read More →
The best part about the first round is that there are so many games, and games every night. As soon as they get down to eight teams, the games dwindle. So enjoy this while you can. Tonight’s sked: Game 4s in ‘Yotes-Wings, Pens-Sens, Devils-Flys, Hawks-Preds and Sharks-Lanche. —————————————— I’m going… Read More →
I can’t ever recall a first playoff round in which every series was tied 1-1 (and hence every one will be, or is, 2-1). But the games have been sick so far. Great action. Hitting. Offensive chances. Good stuff—with the exception of some of the NHL’s replay-challenged broadcast partners and… Read More →
While I find it repulsive that the NHL has to follow the NBA’s lead and host events in Las Vegas—instead of, you know, an NHL city—the nominees for the major awards will be announced this week. Here’s the announcement from the league: 2010 NHL AWARDS FINALISTS ANNOUNCEMENTS BEGIN MONDAY WITH… Read More →
OK, so he’s 5-7, not 5-5. It appears that Mats Zuccarello-Aasen will be a Ranger. He’s 22. He plays the off-wing (I like that, and don’t ever get why more left shots don’t play the right side, and vice versa). Apparently there is some technicality with his transfer rights that… Read More →
As the Boneheads have reported, Damien Cox is reporting, and Steve Zipay is reporting that Damien Cox is reporting while denying that it’s done: The Rangers are about to sign Mats Zuccarello-Aasen, the 5-foot-5 Norwegian Olympic forward, out from under the Maple Leaves’ noses. Just what the Rangers need? Or… Read More →
So I picked eight series, seven of which have begun already. And in six of the seven Game 1s, the team I picked to win the series lost. My only winner, Wancouver (as Esa Tikkanen might say) had to go to OT to win. But I’ve always been a big… Read More →
The sons of byfuglien take as much as they want. A couple of things about the playoff prediction contest: 1) It is now officially called The “inaugural Olli Jokinen Five-Hole/Beat the Blogfather Challenge and Picnic.” 2) I am overwhelmed by the response, so this is how it’s going to work…. Read More →
So since we can’t do the second annual Paul Mara Memorial Boneheads/Festivus Playoff Beard Extravaganza Contest and Picnic … how about we have a little game to see who can best predict the first round of the playoffs? Anybody got a catchy name for that? I have a copy of… Read More →
I’m skipping some of the guys who said the same things about the inconsistencies, and for example Dubinsky, who kind of repeated what he said Sunday in Philly. Henrik Lundqvist: “It’s been tough. It was definitely not the ending we were looking for. I’m so disappointed right now. I’ve been… Read More →
