Rangers coach John Tortorella was suspended for a game for throwing water on a fan, etc. in the Friday night game in Washington. Here is what the league had to say in its release:

NHL SUSPENDS NY RANGERS’ TORTORELLA FOR ONE GAME

NEW YORK (Apr. 25, 2009) – The National Hockey League announced today
that New York Rangers [...]

a) Apparently they were ineffective in actually “rallying” the Rangers and

b) The cool little blue lighting element can be extracted from the sticks and

c) Thrown onto the ice when you are really upset at the end of a 4-0 shutout in the first home game of the playoff series against the Capitals.

John Tortorella was asked [...]

Jane here to introduce our special guest blogger, a (former) hockey writer who looms large over this blog even though he doesn’t live here anymore. Ladies and gentleman, the Great Sam Weinman:

I am grateful to Carpie and Jane for letting me swing back by the old blog, a corner of cyberspace that I’m still adjusting [...]

A little more than nine hours until the Rangers take ice in D.C., but in the meantime Carp and I will be talking about the game during a noon video chat today at www.lohud.com/rangersreportlive.

Grab a sandwich and join us. We’ll try to help you get through the meaningless hours until they drop the puck. Henrik [...]

Chris Drury skated for the first time in four days today and said he felt good. Both he and Rangers coach John Tortorella said the captain was day-to-day, but Drury seemed optimistic that he would continue to improve.

Was his injury upper or lower body?

“I haven’t figured that out yet,” Drury said. “I’m still waiting to [...]

OK, so perhaps that is overstating it but tonight’s matchup with the Flyers is for all the marbles. Yes, technically they can still get into the playoffs even if they lose tonight, but clearly sewing up the berth with a game to spare avoids that sour air of desperation in Philly.

Don’t try telling that to [...]

The Rangers can clinch with a win over Philly on Thursday. The 3-1 win over Montreal and an assist from the Flyers with a 2-1 win over Florida means the Rangers just need one out of the next two games to mathematically eliminate the Panthers.

Here are some post game quotes.

John Tortorella on Ryan Callahan (below [...]

This is make or break for the Rangers tonight, no other way to put it. Nik Antropov (left knee) is playing, which Rangers coach John Tortorella said earlier tonight. Montreal is 41-28-10 and in seventh place in the standings, while the Rangers are 40-30-9 and in eighth. With 89 points, the Rangers are tied with [...]

Keep scrolling down to read Carp’s post about what is at stake tonight against visiting Montreal, but there was a little news off of this morning’s optional skate at the Rangers practice facility. Nik Antropov skated and will probably play tonight although neither he nor coach John Tortorella explicitly said as much.

But Antropov did say [...]

I’m bringing you part of the transcript of an interview Rangers season tickets holder Boomer Esiason and his partner Craig Carton did with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman this morning on WFAN:

“He is a marked man, Avery,” Carton said.

“Other teams are marking him,” Boomer said.

“I don’t think he’s a marked man at all, he’s come back [...]