While awaiting the transcript of the Brian Leetch conference call, here’s a story from NHL. com on No. 2, and also a story about John Davidson—who is going into the broadcasters’ wing—talking about Leetch.

I will either post the whole transcript below, or link to it, when it becomes available.
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Here are tonight’s pregame notes. The wait must be tough for a 10 p.m. game. Enjoy.
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EVENING UPDATE, 6:42 P.M.: Hey, sorry about breaking a promise. I have the Leetch transcript, but it’s really, really long and there’s no link available at this point. So I’m trying to figure how to post it. Maybe NHL.com will eventually have it, so I can put up the link. Otherwise, I’ll try to figure a way to post it tomorrow.
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I figured it out. Actually, Josh Thomson, 26, told he how to do it. So here it is:

BRIAN LEETCH

Q.      And also, do you look back on that, many of us do, as perhaps the U.S.’s finest moment, other than 1980? 
BRIAN LEETCH: Well, I certainly agree we had a lot of strong personalities on that team. The locker room was pretty much set with the roles everyone played. And personality?wise, I mean, with Jeremy Roenick and Tkachuk  and Guerin,  Hull, and we had Chelios come later, but we had a lot of individuals with strong personalities, yet they were all very competitive. 
Everyone wanted to win, and we had the one common goal in that regard. So I think as captain, it was a role that, you know, I was publically representing the team, you know, trying to do your best when it came time to maybe talk to the coaches or something. 
Otherwise, our team really did everything together. It’s such a short time, that by the time they announce the captaincy you’re right into the tournament and there’s not a lot ?? (operator interruption.) 
Didn’t just rely on good fortune or a hot goaltender to get you through. We had guys that were nearer some of the peaks of their career. We had good young players. We had good size both on defense and up front. We had a great mix of players where we hadn’t had in the past. We might have had a lot of small skaters or not the goal scorer or maybe not the mobility or size back on defense. 
We seemed to have all of that and had Richter and all that, so it was exciting for sure. Obviously different circumstances than ‘60 or ‘80 at the Olympics. But to get the best players from the NHL together and be Americans and be able to compete straight up with the best of the rest of the world and then be successful was a big moment for us for sure. 

Read more of this entry »

Byfuglien!

If the Yankees had finished it off last night, I’d be free and clear for some hockey this week—even with the Rangers in the Northwest corner of the continent. Instead, it’s back to the new Stadium for workouts this afternoon and evening, and Game 6 tomorrow and  … Murphy’s Law … Game 7 Thursday.

Well, at least those nice Canucks start their home games late enough for me to see tonight’s tilt (Beninati-ism), after not having seen the last two until Rangers in 60. Here’s the preview from the Rangers’ site.
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Starting today, the new inductees into the Hockey  Hall of Fame will hold conference calls with the media. Another reason I’m abdelkaded about going to the Stadium today. I’m going to miss one of my all-time faves: (Hint: 18 seasons, 1205 games, 247 goals, 781 assists, 1028 points, Stanley Cup, Conn Smythe Trophy, two Norris Trophies, Calder Trophy, nine all-star games, one of the greatest American-born NHL players, the greatest home-grown Ranger ever).

His conference call is at 2 p.m. (at which time I hope to be exiting the Major Deegan). The plan is to post the transcript of the interview here later in the day.

See youse later.
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AFTERNOON UPDATE: Here is the official word on Michael Del Zotto being named NHL rookie of the month. Good for him. He deserves it.
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AFTERNOON UPDATE 2: Laurel here. Also on the nhl.com site are a couple of neat stories about THE GREATEST American-born NHL player, the greatest home-grown Ranger ever.

Like a lot of New Yorkers—judging by the numbers here yesterday—there was too much going on yesterday to fully focus on the Rangers, and even Rangers in 60 was in the way of the World Series. (I also has the three-hour leaf-blowing interruption).

To see some of the highlights of yesterday’s game, click here.

Some quick thoughts:

1) Michael Del Zotto. How good is this kid?

2) I thought some guys bounced back yesterday, especially Dubinsky and Gilroy.

3) I think that a lot of the improvement in the play of a lot of players was strictly, and specifically due to Marian Gaborik’s return.

4) If Gaborik doesn’t play, that game goes into OT and the Rangers lose there, or in the skills competiton that follows tie games, and everybody’s totally negative here today instead of totally positive.

5) It still amazes me how people jump to one side or the other of the emotional fence regarding this team after each and every game.

6) All in all, this was a better performance than they’ve had in weeks.

7) The Bruins are still a difficult team to play, but they are a lot less so without Milan Lucic. Incredible that in a team sport like this, one player (Gaborik, Lucic) can make such a huge difference.

8) I liked Derek Morris crying that Gaborik’s goal was lucky, that he fanned a little bit (he did) and it still found the upper corner. Funny how that happens to the real snipers.

9) I think the Rangers would be better off with Morris than some of their other defensemen. He’s playing on the No. 1 pair with Chara on a much better team.

From the Rangers:

NEW YORK RANGERS POST-GAME NOTES AND QUOTES
November 1, 2009 – New York Rangers 1, Boston Bruins 0 (Game #15, Home #8)

• The Rangers defeated the Boston Bruins, 1-0, in front of a sold-out crowd (18,200) at Madison Square Garden; the last time the Rangers won 1-0 was October 17, 2008, vs. Toronto.


• New York have sold out 164 consecutive regular season games, dating back to November 5, 2005 against New Jersey; the last regular season non-sellout was October 31, 2005 vs. Montreal (17,697); including the playoffs, the Rangers sellout streak is now at 178 games.


• The Blueshirts improved to 9-5-1 overall, including a 6-2-0 mark at home; the Rangers are 14-3-0 in their last 17 regular season games at MSG, and have out-scored their opponents, 60-32, during the stretch.


• New York is now 34-16-9 against Original Six opponents since the 2005-06 season, including a 12-3-2 mark against Boston over the span.


• Henrik Lundqvist turned aside all 29 shots faced to record his first shutout of the season and 21st of his career; the win is his 150th career NHL win.


• Marian Gaborik tallied the game’s only goal at 15:51 of the second period and logged 21:37 of icetime in his return to the lineup after missing the previous two contests; he has recorded a point in 12 of 13 games this season, including five goals and seven points in his last four contests, and now ranks second in the league in goals and is tied for third in points.


• Vinny Prospal recorded the primary assist on Gaborik’s game-winning goal, and has registered seven points in the last six games; he is now tied for second in the league in assists and ranks sixth in points.


• Rangers defenseman Marc Staal collected one assist in 22:23 of icetime, and has recorded a point in back-to-back games (one goal and one assist).


• The Rangers practice schedule for tomorrow, November 2, is 1:30 p.m. at General Motors Place in Vancouver.


• The Rangers return to action on Tuesday, November 3, when they will face-off against the Vancouver Canucks at General Motors Place (10:00 p.m.), in the first game of a three-game Western Canadian road trip; the game will be televised live on MSG Network and can be heard on 1050 ESPN Radio.

POST-GAME QUOTES

John Tortorella on the team’s effort… “That is a tough team to play against – the way they play, how strong defensively they are, how they play in the neutral zone.  It needed to be a patient, grinding type game.  I think if you open yourself up, that is when they counter and that is when they become successful.  I thought our decision making was good.  I thought our grinding was better.  Cally (Ryan Callahan)…I thought (Christopher) Higgins had a good game in the grinding part of it.  (Ales) Kotalik, as far as being strong on the puck.  We found a way to score a goal and found a way to win.”
Marian Gaborik on Vinny Prospal… “His work ethic is unbelievable.  He is a great playmaker.  He goes there and works hard.  He sees the ice, you can see that every night out there.  He is looking to pass and he did tonight.”

Henrik Lundqvist on today’s game… “It was a fun game.  This is what I was used to last year…low scoring and tight.  I got a little spoiled this year.  We have been scoring a lot.  The feeling was one mistake could cost us big time.  I like that feeling.  I have to be on my toes all of the time.”

Vinny Prospal on today’s game… “Obviously Hank (Henrik Lundqvist) was great for us in net. He made some huge saves throughout the whole hockey game. We were able to score the goal and it proved to be the winner. They are a really good hockey team. They have everything that a hockey team needs. They have the playmakers. They have the goal scorers and they have a great goalie as well.”
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Here are the official game summary and event summary.

Laurel here: OK, no jokes heads, alright. It’s just a saying. Anyway, Carp may chime in with post-game notes, but for now, you can watch Torts post-game here. Or check out the game story recap here. By the way, if you read the last link, curious what you think about the list of Rangers “leaders” on the right. It’s stat based, but look who’s first…..On to Tuesday.

P.S. I can’t believe nobody made a Dr. Seuss reference to that Habs uniform. Or did I miss it?

There were some ugly ones on my porch last night, but none compared to the Habs’ throwbacks (CP photo).

I know I told this Halloween story before, but it’s worth repeating for those who missed it.

Remember Scott Fraser, the terribly over-rated, good-skating winger signed for ridiculous, silly, money by the Rangers back 1998-99?

Well, the Rangers always had a team Halloween party. Fraser shows up with a bag and wearing a ski mask.

“What are you supposed to be?” one of the Rangers asked.

“My agent,” Fraser said.
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Did you remember to move your clocks  (and gain an hour of sleep)?

My wife always says that I gain an hour when we move the clocks ahead, when we move them back, and when we don’t move them at all. I just always sleep an hour later than I should.

Also, if you’re going to the game today, take the train. The NYC Marathon will make driving a disaster.
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Here are today’s pregame notes.

And a preview from NHL.com.

Boston goalie Tuukka Rask had a shutout yesterday. Remember him from another shutout in another matinee last season?
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MORNING UPDATE, 11:44 A.M.: Marian Gaborik will skate in warmups today and could possibly play against the Bruins. Higgins and Avery, who also missed Friday’s game in Minnesota, will be game-time decisions as well.

… and plenty aggravated about what happened to it. We may never know, so I just want to repeat the base of the message:

Susie Arth, the sports editor of The Journal News and LoHud.com, worked her last day Friday. I don’t know if I can rephrase all I said about her, but she was the driving force behind all of our digital sports products, especially this blog. She was behind Sam Weinman when he started it, she was behind my return to hockey when Sam left and the contributions from Laurel and Jane and Josh, 26.

She was responsible for the video chats and the beard contest and the guest blogs, and the trade deadline and July 1 madness, and pretty much everything good we’ve ever done here, and she fought to keep this blog going, and to give me some time in my schedule to do it, and to continue to cover the Rangers to whatever degree was can still possibly do it. What I’m saying is we here all owe her a debt of gratitude; and also that, while she was here there was no chance this blog was ever going to go anywhere. Hopefully, her successor feels the same way.

She also meant an awful lot to me and my “second” career as a columnist, but I won’t get all mushy about that here. Plus she’s a big Walter’s Hot Dogs fan.
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Two reminders: One, if you’re going to the game tomorrow, remember that it’s NYC Marathon day, which means gridlock in the city. My advice is don’t even think about driving in. Take a train. Two, change your clocks tonight.
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No analysis from Rangers-Wild because I didn’t see any of it. Here are the official game summary and event summary.
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EVENING UPDATE, 8:30 p.m.: P.A. Parenteau was returned to Hartford.
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EVENING UPDATE, late: Laurel here….I’ll add this as a comment, too, in case you miss this update, but I had to add my thoughts about Susie since I’ve been absent a bit since Friday afternoon. Carp mentioned it, but I have to give Susie a personal shout out for embracing this non-sports reporter/Ranger fan and letting me have the time of my life here, and contributing to the live chat with her, and letting me host with Carp!
I worked with Susie on a lot of non-Ranger related business, too, and I am going to miss her immensely. BTW, congratulate her, she’s getting married in two weeks! Yay! Susie, I’m gonna miss you at the 3:30 :)

I have no idea what the byfuglien happened tonight, either in the Rangers-Wild game or at this blog!

No idea.

I was at a football game, and when the game was over and I got to my laptop to write my story—poof—tonight’s post and all your comments were gone.

I still don’t know what happened in the game, and I don’t really care at the moment. But I am desperately trying to find an answer to What In Holy Hell happened to the game thread.

If you guys can shed any light on when it all disappeared, time of day, time of game, roughly how many comments were up. Whatever. It might help the investigation.

Byfuglien!
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POST-GAME NOTES AND QUOTES, FROM THE RANGERS:

October 30, 2009 – New York Rangers 2, Minnesota Wild 3 (Game #14, Road #7)

• The Blueshirts were defeated by the Minnesota Wild, 3-2, tonight at Xcel Energy Center to fall to 8-5-1 overall, including a 3-3-1 mark on the road.
• Dane Byers, recalled from Hartford (AHL) earlier today, tallied his first career NHL goal at 5:33 of the second period; he finished the contest with three shots and a plus-one rating in 9:33 of icetime.
• Five Rangers players have notched their first career NHL goal this season, the most in a single season since 2005-06 (Dominic Moore, Petr Prucha, Ryan Hollweg, Maxim Kondratiev, Jarkko Immonen).
• Rangers defenseman Marc Staal recorded his second goal of the season early in the third period and logged 20:52 of icetime.
• Wade Redden registered an assist on Dane Byers’ second period goal and logged 15:25 of icetime.
• Artem Anisimov collected one assist and tied for the game-high with a plus-two rating.
• Vinny Prospal tallied his 13th assist of the season on Marc Staal’s third period goal, and he has now registered five assists in the last five games.
• Rookie defenseman Michael Del Zotto led all skaters with 24:01 of icetime, and delivered a team-high five hits.
• The Blueshirts practice schedule for tomorrow, October 31, is 12:00 p.m. at the MSG Training Center.

• The Rangers return to action on Sunday, November 1, when they will face-off against the Boston Bruins at Madison Square Garden (1:00 p.m.), in an Original Six matinee matchup; the game will be televised live on MSG Network and can be heard on 970 The Apple.

I told you guys I saw Frank Brown at Yankee Stadium last night and some of you spoke very highly of him as a gifted writer (he is; I almost said “was”).

By coincidence, today he wrote a story for NHL.com today on goalies’ masks. This week is the anniversary of Jacques Plante’s invention (NHL Network will do a big piece on the mask this weekend).
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Not sure of the timing, but NHL.com also has this story on the Rangers’ 54-year curse and the ghost of Red Dutton.
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Hope to have updates on Gaborik, Brashear, et al, later, then a new post for the game thread.
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AFTERNOON UPDATE: Higgins, Gaborik and Avery are all out tonight. Brashear is back in. And Dane Byers has been recalled from Hartford to play tonight, along with Parenteau.

I got nothin. But the previous thread was getting too long for a non-game night. So I figured I’d cut it off.