I did cringe a little bit when I saw that Bob Gainey resigned as Canadiens GM … because I always fear how great players might damage their legacies when they go into management or coaching. So my first thought was with Mark Messier, and wondering what would happen if he ever became Rangers GM and didn’t succeed, or flat-out failed.

So I wonder how Gainey is now perceived in Montreal. Of course, in Montreal, they have been hiring legends in various front-office capacities forever.

I don’t even like to think about it what it might be like for Messier if he was promoted here and didn’t do well, especially when I remember how many people misinterpreted the circumstances in which he was booted out the door in 1997 and blamed him.

Whatever. I am sure if Messier did become the Rangers GM, he would fully accept the challenge head-on, as he has always done, as well as accept whatever else comes with the job.
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One of the really popular and common ideas being passed around these days is the comparison of the Capitals to the young Edmonton Oilers. Didn’t we just do that all last year with the Penguins?

Let’s see how serious the NHL is about hits to the head after that Carter on Salmonella hit.

Anyway, you guys should be sending Gainey “Thank you” cards for the Gomez for Gaborik deal.

You know I like to sprinkle in the good with the bad, the positive with the negative. Right?

Well, we talked the other day about how the Rangers are right in the thick of the race, and how there’s nobody going to run and hide from everybody else in the race. (and how pathetic that race actually is).

So that’s the good, right?

Here’s the bad news I have for you: The fact that the Rangers just got four out of a possible 18 points and are today tied for ninth in the Least means one thing to me:

They’re going to be buyers, not sellers, at the deadline. Most of you don’t want to hear that.

And by buyers, I don’t mean trading top prospects and top draft picks for washed-up rentals. I mean buyers, like last year, when they shed some players they weren’t going to re-sign for better players they weren’t going to re-sign, in an attempt to beef up for the playoff run. I don’t know, for example, that they will now try to dish off an Olli Jokinen for prospects/younger players/picks, even though he will go unrestricted in July and not be re-signed. I don’t know that they will try to unload the only one of their remaining albatross contracts—Michal Rozsival’s—that might have some value to a contending team at the deadline.

Instead, I think they’ll be trying to get people like Raffi Torres from Columbus, even if they have to give up another second-rounder, as they did last year with Nik Antropov.

I think they will make this team marginally better in a hell-bent effort to make the playoffs and to have a chance of winning one series.

In other words, spinning their wheels again.

By the way, there are three games before the Olympic break, one more (at Ottawa) after the Olympics and the day before the trade deadline, then 19 after the deadline.
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On another note, did you hear Ken Daneyko’s damning remarks about Sheldon Souray on the MSG hockey show Saturday? Daneyko twice suggested that winning is not necessarily Souray’s top priority. Wow. Daneyko played with Souray. I would take those words to heart if I were an interested GM.

Just pass the byfuglien Buffalo wings and pigs-n-blankets.

Kickoff (also known as K.O. Time!) is supposed to be 6:25 p.m.

Oh, there is one rule. If you’re going to drink, DO NOT DRIVE!

This break marks the end of the grueling schedule of 21 games in 36 with only two breaks of two days between games, and in one of those breaks they were traveling to Phoenix.

So how’d they survive it?

The Rangers went 8-10-3 (or 8-13, depending if you’re a NHL Kool-Aid drinker or a realist), scoring two or fewer 13 times and being shut out five times in that stretch.

So now they have three left—against Nashville Wednesday, at Pitt Friday, and home against Tampa Sunday—before the Olympics. Which also means they have a week left before the roster freeze, and when the roster unfreezes there will be three days until the trading deadline. Interesting times ahead.

Thoughts:

1) What do you think the Rangers’ record might look like if they defended around their net the way they have defended against the Devils this year? Their lack of scoring aside (and most teams are in the same boat in terms of offense) the Rangers have lost plenty of points because of their stick-checking, poke-checking, style around the net. Last night bodies were being piled upon bodies, cross-checks aptly applied to spinal columns, etc. That’s how you defend your goalie. (though, good as they were defensively, the Devils still fired 42 shots).

2) The goalie, Henrik Lundqvist, was splendid. It looked as if he were out of his net just a tad farther, and on his skates a split second longer, all of which may have allowed his glove hand to be better. Whatever he did, the glove hand was unusually good, and Lundqvist—as he is in most Rangers wins—was spectacular. They will need more of the same the rest of the way.

3) Did you see these two fights on MSG’s hockey night show: Colton Orr’s knockout punch of Matt Carkner? Wow! Too bad the Rangers couldn’t get him over the summer. What? They had him? And then there was Ales Kotalik’s fight for Calgary. Looked like Kotalik took hugging lessons from Brashear.

4) How about the captain ripping one inside the post instead of his usual blocked/wide shot. He’s got nine now. Maybe he can salvage something down the stretch.

5) Great game by Del Zotto. Pretty good games by Staal and Girardi. Best games in a while for Gilroy and Redden. I didn’t notice Rozsival much, which is probably a good thing.

6) It occurred to me while watching that the Rangers’ home-ice record can’t be very good since they started putting those eye-sore virtual ads on the end glass. It also occurred that MSG now misses a lot of between whistles stuff trying to squeeze in all its sponsored this-and-that, which means a lot to the network, but didley to the fans. And how do the Knicks bump the Rangers to one of those sub-channels? Because they were having the honor of being slaughtered by LeBron?

7) Sean Avery got Kovalchuk off the ice at the end of the game, which reminded me of the 2007 playoff series, when Avery was scoring and agitating at his best. He was asked, after a similar skirmish with Kovalchuk, if he would take that tradeoff every time.

“Not really, not right now,” Avery said. “Would you? I’d rather have me on the ice than him.”

NEW YORK RANGERS POST-GAME NOTES
February 6, 2010 – New York Rangers 3, New Jersey Devils 1 (Game #59, Home #31)
·         The Rangers defeated the New Jersey Devils, 3-1, tonight at Madison Square Garden, to improve to 26-26-7 (59 pts.) overall, including a 13-14-4 (30 pts.) mark at home this season.
·         New York has posted a record of 12-4-2 vs. New Jersey since the start of the 2007-08 season; goaltender Henrik Lundqvist improved to 17-6-5 in 28 career regular season appearances vs. New Jersey, including a record of 16-3-4 head-to-head vs. Martin Brodeur.
·         The Rangers tallied one goal in three power play opportunities (4:36), and are now five-for-nine (55.6%) on the man advantage in the last two games.
·         Henrik Lundqvist stopped 41 of 42 shots to improve to 23-21-6 on the season, including a 12-13-4 mark at MSG; he has now held opponents to two or fewer goals in 21 of his last 28 games dating back to a 2-1 win at Buffalo on Dec. 5, posting a 12-11-5 record, along with a 2.33 goals against average, a .921 save percentage and one shutout over the span; it was Lundqvist’s sixth 40-plus save performance of his career and second of the season, having registered a career-high 45 saves on Jan. 12 vs. New Jersey.
·         Rangers Alternate Captain Ryan Callahan notched the game-winning goal and added a power play assist in 22:22 of icetime; he has recorded four points (two goals and two assists) in the last two games; Callahan also led all skaters with six hits, and registered a team-high five shots on net.
·         Marian Gaborik opened the game’s scoring with a power play goal at 7:20 of the second period to extend his point streak to five games, registering eight points (six goals and two assists) over the span; he is currently tied for the NHL lead with 13 power play goals, which marks his single-season career-high.
·         Rangers Captain Chris Drury tallied the Rangers’ third goal at 9:59 of the second, registered four hits and won a team-high 10 faceoffs in 16 attempts (63%); Drury is now two points shy of 600 career NHL points.
·         Brandon Prust tallied his first point as a Ranger with an assist on Drury’s second period goal, and finished the contest with two fighting majors; he is currently tied for the NHL lead with 21 fighting majors on the season.
·         Michael Del Zotto registered an assist on Gaborik’s power play goal, and has now recorded a power play assist in each of the last two games; he leads the team with 14 power play assists and ranks third with 17 power play points.
·         Matt Gilroy recorded one assist in 14:00 of icetime, and now has two assists in the last two games; the Rangers have now posted a record of 6-3-1 when he registers a point.
·         The Rangers will conclude their three-game homestand on Wednesday, Feb. 10, vs. the Nashville Predators at Madison Square Garden (7:00 p.m.); the game will be televised live on MSG Network and can be heard on 1050 ESPN Radio.
POST-GAME QUOTES
John Tortorella on Henrik Lundqvist… “He played very well.  He made some good saves early.  When they mounted on us in the third period, he made some great saves.  We need it, that is how you win.  We are not the only team, every team that wins gets goaltending.  Henrik is the backbone.  He played very well tonight.”
Henrik Lundqvist on beating New Jersey … “It doesn’t matter who you play.  The top teams are not that much better than the teams that are in 10th place, they are just more consistent.  The game, itself, is not tougher.  They have been very consistent, that is why they are up there.  Don’t get me wrong, they are a very good team.  It is going to be just as tough to play a seventh place team.  It was a fun game, a lot of action.  We scored some huge goals in the second period.  It was a good game to get.”
Marian Gaborik on the upcoming Winter Olympics … “Everybody is focused on the season here.  The Olympics hasn’t started yet.  When the day comes we will focus on that but the main focus is the season right now.”

Plus, I don’t have anything to tell you, being at basketball games all day, including right now. So here’s your blank canvas. I’ll check in during the game.

I have a feeling there could be some fireworks in this one. Just a hunch.

I’ve got to tell you, though, I think this Devils visit is as good a time as ever: Super Saturday. The Rangers have played some outstanding games against the Devils this year, and they need one tonight. Plus, other than the improved roster via the trade with the “going-out-of-business” Atlanta Thrashers, the Devils were pretty vulnerable.

I watched the Toronto game Friday—granted Toronto’s playing better—but the Devils were not terribly impressive until the very end.

I see this as an opportunity for the Rangers to rise to the occasion, instead of sinking to the level of a bad opponent. And if you think about it, some of their more competitive losses lately have been against good teams: L.A., Washington. Plus three of their six wins in this calendar year (that’s right, six wins in 2010, and it’s  a week into February) were against Colorado and Boston (twice, although, we wonder why the Bruins’ don’t look very good in the standings).

Anyway, the snow held up so I have to go to a basketball double-header this afternoon—if it had been snowed out, I was going to the Garden.

I’ll see youse later.
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Question: I know most of you Boneheads are going to watch the Super Bowl tomorrow night. The NHL is dark Sunday night. Do youse want to watch the Super Bowl here? Do youse want to make it the Boneheads Bowl at the Festivus Blog? We can mock the announcers and the commercials and the fake fans and The Who at halftime, and the kid actors dressed up as The Who fans during the fake concert, and the whole TV show disguised as a football game.

Or we can just enjoy the game. But do it here.

What do you think? And does anybody have a SB pick? Mine is Colts 38, Saints 20.

Mostly, you can hang your hat on how dreadful the Leastern Conference is, because somehow, after getting two of a possible 16 points the last eight games, your Rangers are still only in 10th place, only two points out of seventh place, only three points out of sixth. It really is the Battle of the Incompetent.

Thoughts:

1) Your NYR are now under NHL .500 (25-26-7), but in reality they are eight games under .500 (25-33). That with a seven-game winning streak and a four-game winning streak. How?

2) On the four PPGs, one was lucky. Jokinen’s goal was a Prospal shot that hit a skate and landed right on his stick with an empty net to shoot at. The others were legit, going to the net, PPGs, including an absolutely textbook 5-on-3. Callahan and Dubinsky and Jokinen and Prospal and everybody finally going to the net. Did something click? Or was Washington’s PK that bad?

3) There were some colossal D-zone breakdowns that DIDN’T end up in Washington goals. Still a lot of stick-checking around Lundqvist, a lot of defensemen chasing the puck to the boards, like Redden and Gilroy on the first Washington goal. It’s bad when your defensemen are barely in the replay.

4) I thought Rozsival had a decent game, and that he actually defended Ovechkin very well on that unbelievable one-handed goal with 8.5 left in the second period. Ovechkin = Monster. Also, Ovechkin = Magician.

5) How’s that trade, insisted by John Muckler, of Mike Knuble for Rob DiMaio looking now?

6) Once again, a lot of Capitals fans in the building. You reap what you sow, MSG.

7) Boy, Jokinen takes some bad penalties.

8) I was watching some highlights on NHL.com today (sadly, had to listen to Joe Beninati’s play-by-play) and listening how they talk about the Capitals targeting Lundqvist’s glove hand.
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The Rangers did not want to be in the Kovalchuk stakes in a rental deal. They could have offered more than the Devils did. But here’s a good explanation of why they couldn’t have gotten him yesterday, regardless, by Larry Brooks.

NEW YORK RANGERS POST-GAME NOTES
February 4, 2010 – New York Rangers 5, Washington Capitals 6 (Game #58, Home #30)
·         The Rangers were defeated by the Washington Capitals, 6-5, tonight at Madison Square Garden; the 11 combined goals were the most at MSG since a 7-4 win on Nov. 23 vs. Columbus.
·         The Blueshirts tallied four goals in six power play opportunities (4:57), the most since they notched five power play goals in a 6-1 win on December 29, 2007 at Toronto; eight Rangers players registered at least one power play point – R. Callahan, O. Jokinen, V. Prospal, M. Del Zotto, M. Gaborik, B. Dubinsky, M. Gilroy, and H. Lundqvist – the most for the Rangers in a single game since a 4-1 win on Mar. 15, 2009 vs. Philadelphia (eight players).
·         New York has now posted a record of 25-26-7 (57 pts.) overall, including a 12-14-4 (28 pts.) mark at home this season.
·         Rangers Alternate Captain Vinny Prospal notched two goals and two assists for a season-high four points; the four points also ties Prospal’s single-game career-high, accomplished six times before, the last time on Nov. 14, 2005 vs. Philadelphia (three goals and one assist); Prospal has now registered 11 points (three goals and eight assists) and a plus-seven rating in the last 10 games; he also tied for the game-high with five hits, which marks a personal season-high.
·         Olli Jokinen registered two power play points (one goal and one assist) and led all skaters with seven shots on goal in his Madison Square Garden debut; his assist on Callahan’s power play goal at 8:58 of the first period was his first point as a Ranger; he has now recorded four points (one goal and three assists) in his last four games.
·         Rangers Alternate Captain Ryan Callahan opened the game’s scoring with a power play goal at 8:58 of the first period, added a power play assist and tied for the game-high with five hits; Callahan now ranks second on the team in power play goals (eight) and power play points (17) on the season; he also logged a team-high 23:52 of icetime.
·         Marian Gaborik recorded two assists, including one on the power play, and six shots in 20:51 of icetime; he has now registered 14 points (six goals and eight assists) and a plus-seven rating in the last 10 games.
·         Rookie defensemen Michael Del Zotto and Matt Gilroy each recorded one power play assist and tied their career-high with four shots apiece; Del Zotto leads the team and ranks first among all NHL rookies with 13 power play assists on the season; Gilroy has now tallied five of his six assists at MSG.
·         Henrik Lundqvist made 26 saves and registered his first point of the season with an assist on Dubinsky’s power play goal at 18:48 of the second period; it was Lundqvist’s first point since he recorded a power play assist on the game-winning goal in a 3-1 win vs. the New York Islanders on Feb. 18, 2009.
·         Forward Brandon Dubinsky notched one power play goal in 18:10 of icetime; he has now recorded 20 points (nine goals and 11 assists) in 27 games since returning from injury on Dec. 14 vs. Atlanta.
·         Defenseman Marc Staal registered an assist on Prospal’s even strength goal at 16:50 of the first period; he ranks fourth on the team with 22 points at even strength, and has now recorded seven points (one goal and six assists) in the last 10 games.
·         The Rangers will continue their three-game homestand on Saturday, Feb. 6, vs. the New Jersey Devils at Madison Square Garden (7:00 p.m.), in a matchup between Atlantic Division rivals; the game will be televised live on MSG 2 and can be heard on 970 The Apple.
POST-GAME QUOTES
John Tortorella on tonight’s game… “We created a number of scoring chances but being undisciplined and also giving up too many chances ourselves.  We can’t lose that in our game as far as our defense.  They are a great offensive team but we have to continue to work on our defense and let our offense go off of that.”
Olli Jokinen on tonight’s game… “The bottom line is that I have to help this team win hockey games.  We have to find a way to win because everyone knows where we are in the standings.  We have to play every game as a playoff game.  We have to take something positive out of every game – we scored five tonight.  We have to play a lot better defensively.”
Vinny Prospal on the team’s power play success… “I think we just shot the puck more. We shot the puck and went to the net and we got some bounces. We got some rebounds too. Our goals were on the rebounds, one was a five-on-three play and one was a tip in. That’s what you have to do when you’re struggling.”

The Rangers come in having gained just two out of the last possible 14 points, which puts you in a fast boat to the depths of the Leastern Conference. As we’ve said, tough week to try to get it fixed, but it has to be fixed.

Jokinen and Prust make their MSG debuts as Rangers, obviously. Lisin is in, Voros is prucha’d.

I fear I will have to depend on bits and pieces from the static that is Rangers radio, and then Rangers in 60 for my info tonight. Enjoy.