As you’ve heard by now, Brendan Shanahan announced his retirement today. Here’s the story from NHL.com which also has his career stats, etc.

Yesterday we were talking about Hall of Famers in the comments section. Well, here’s one that won’t be debated. Wonder if he’ll pull a Favre around the trade deadline, though. Why not? I’m sure he could make some money and help some team down the stretch and into the playoffs.
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With this being Game 20, I will probably do a column about the quarter-pole of the season, and maybe do a report card tomorrow. I will update here pregame if there is anything newsworthy. Enjoy.
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Ooops. Game 21. So the quarter-season mark is at 10:00 of the second period. No Knuble tonight. No Semin.

Behave.

Good news. Bad news. Worse news.

The Rangers finally have a game tonight. It’s on Versus. Alex Ovechkin is expected to return from his “upper body strain.”

Could be worse than Versus. You could be in Edmonton where some games are on pay-per-view. Egads.
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Did you see that Markus Naslund un-retired to join his buddy Peter Forsberg playing for Modo? Maybe he’ll do some recruiting for Glen Sather.
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Here are tonight’s pregame notes. I’m headed to the Garden later on.

The Rangers play Washington tomorrow … the only game in six days, and the third in what will be a 13-day stretch. Just awful. Then, as we mentioned earlier, the Rangers get busy, with five games in eight days, and six in 10.

Hope to go to the game Tuesday or some practices this week. No idea yet if that will happen.
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If you’re in the city Tuesday,Theo Fleury will be at Borders at 2 Penn Plaza at 6 p.m. to sign his book, Playing With Fire. I imagine you’d have to buy the book to get his autograph.
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I was watching Seinfeld after that incredible Colts-Patriots game (don’t know if you saw it, but Bill Belichick coached like John Muckler at the end of the game).

Anyway, the Seinfeld was the Face Painter episode, and a couple of things bugged me about the hockey scenes.

1) Kramer tells Puddy, “There are still three games left in the series.” Well, there is never a situation in a playoff series when you know there are three games left. I mean there are times when there are at least three left, but you never know there will be exactly three to go.

2) They’re at the game at Madison Square Garden and Stephane Richer scores and the siren sounds. When would that ever happen for a visiting-team goal?

3) Kramer twice says the word hockey “Haw-ckey.”

I know. Get a life.

See youse later Monday.

The Rangers tied Ottawa yesterday in Kanata, Ont., and then won a skills competition.

So technically, they won.

Anyway, some other thoughts.

1) I think P.A. Parenteau should get a shot to stick around for a while. I know, the Rangers are concerned about his skating. Yeah, he’s not one of those speed guys you want to play that puck-pursuit game. But, geez, the guy has done nothing but score in Hartford, and he’s scored a goal in his first two-game callup, and the skills competition winner yesterday. All I know is that, for two years now, the Rangers have often been starved for goals. Here’s a guy who might be able to give them some. Maybe he can play with Gaborik and Prospal. Or maybe he works on one of the power-play units. At the worst, keep him up for that, and let him take Aaron Voros’ spot on the fourth line at even strength. Give him a shot.

2) Whenever I see Alex Kovalev I wonder … what if? What if he had a fraction of the will to score, and the scoring instinct, that a guy like Gaborik has. Gaborik wants to score every shift, or set up a goal every shift. Obviously, if you score a goal every other game you’re a star. But Kovalev doesn’t have those things. In a pure skill sense, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Ranger with more, except maybe Jagr. He has more skill than Leetch, more than Messier, more than Gaborik. Shot, strong skating, hands, passing. And then you hear Joe Michelletti say that he doesn’t have many shots this year. What a shame.

3) I saw some signs of turnaround for Staal and Girardi yesterday. They really need to get it together. Maybe they will.

4) It was a 1-1 game, and yet there were stretches when both teams made each other look like the Penguins.

5) Did you see what the Penguins did to Boston and Tim Thomas? Tied it on a Guerin goal with 0.4 seconds left, won it in OT on a Thomas mistake behind the net.

From the NYR:

NEW YORK RANGERS POST-GAME NOTES
November 14, 2009 – New York Rangers 2, Ottawa Senators 1 (SO) (Game #20, Road #11)
* The Blueshirts defeated the Ottawa Senators, 2-1, in the shootout today at Scotiabank Place; it was the Rangers first shootout of the season.

• The Rangers improved to 11-8-1 overall, including a 5-5-1 mark on the road.
• New York is now 2-0-0 against Ottawa this season, having won 5-2 over the Senators in their home opener on Oct. 3 at MSG; the Rangers have now won their last two games at Scotiabank Place, dating back to last season.
• After falling behind early in the second period, Vinny Prospal tallied a shorthanded goal later in the frame to tie the score at one goal apiece; it was the Rangers third shorthanded goal of the season, and first since Dan Girardi’s shorthanded tally on Oct. 11.
• The Rangers’ three shorthanded goals tied them for second in the league, one behind Ottawa (four) and tied with Florida, Columbus, Atlanta, and Colorado.
• Henrik Lundqvist made 35 saves and stopped five of seven shootout attempts to record his ninth win of the season; he improved his career shootout record to 19-12 with a .781% (100-128) save percentage.
• Vinny Prospal finished with one goal and a game-high seven shots in 22:59 of icetime; he also converted his shootout attempt and won a team-high 13 faceoffs (13-24, 54%).
• Marian Gaborik recorded the only assist on Prospal’s shorthanded tally to extend his assist/point streak to four games (two goals and six points); he currently ranks second in the league in scoring with  25 points.
• P.A. Parenteau notched the game-deciding goal in the seventh round of the shootout and logged 14:14 of icetime after being recalled from Hartford (AHL) yesterday.
• Ales Kotalik converted his shootout attempt, and now owns a 53.8% (21-39) success rate all-time in shootouts.
• The Blueshirts practice schedule for tomorrow, November 15, is 12:00 p.m. at the MSG Training Center.

• The Rangers return to action on Tuesday, November 17, when they will face-off against the Washington Capitals at Madison Square Garden (7:00 p.m.); the game will be nationally televised on Versus.

Doesn’t it seem like forever ago that the Rangers beat the Senators and began a seven-game winning streak?

Well, now they’ve lost five of their last six road games and are coming off that woeful home performance against Atlanta (which, by the way, then went home and spanked the L.A. Kings 7-0).

I think we all agree that we hate afternoon games. I know I do. Especially when I can’t even watch it because I’m standing outside in a cold rain at another assignment upstate. Grrrrrrr.

After today the Rangers play once in the next five days (Washington at home Tuesday). Then they get busy—five games in eight days, six in 10.

Here are the pregame notes from the Rangers. Here is Jim Cerny’s preview from the Rangers site. And here’s a preview from NHL.com.

Enjoy the game. Behave yourselves.

From the NYR:

NEW YORK RANGERS TRANSACTION UPDATE
New York, November 13, 2009 – New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that forward P.A. Parenteau has been recalled from the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League (AHL), and forward Dane Byers has been assigned to Hartford.
Parenteau, 26, has skated in two games with the Rangers this season and tallied his first career NHL goal on October 28 against the Islanders.  He is currently tied for the AHL lead in goals (10) and ranks second in the league in points (20).  In addition, Parenteau ranks second in the league with six power play goals and is tied for third with six power play assists.  He has registered at least one point in each of his four games since returning to Hartford on October 31, tallying two goals and six points over the span, and is in the midst of a seven-game AHL point streak dating back to October 23 (six goals and 13 points).  Parenteau has registered seven multi-point efforts this season, including his first hat trick as a Wolf Pack player on October 10 against Springfield. Last season, he finished ninth in the AHL in points with 29 goals and 78 points, and was named a First-Team AHL All-Star.
The Hull, Quebec native was acquired by the Rangers from the Chicago Blackhawks on October 11, 2007, in exchange for a conditional draft pick.  He was originally Anaheim’s ninth round selection, 264th overall, in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft.
Byers, 23, skated in five games with the Rangers and recorded his first career NHL point with a goal on October 30 at Minnesota.  He returns to Hartford where he has registered two goals and five points, along with 26 penalty minutes in nine games this season.  He ranked second on the team in penalty minutes, was tied for fourth in goals and eighth in points at the time of his recall on October 30.  Prior to his recall, Byers was riding a three-game point streak, recording two goals and four points over the span.  Last season, Byers tied for the team lead in playoff goals (three) and finished second on Hartford in playoff points (four).
The Nipawin, Saskatchewan native was originally the Rangers second round selection, 48th overall, in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.
The Blueshirts return to action tomorrow, November 14, when they will face off against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Place (2:00 p.m.), in a matinee matchup. Last season, the Rangers penalty kill registered a 93.8% (15-16) success rate in four games vs. the Senators.  The game will be televised live on MSG Network and can be heard on 1050 ESPN Radio.
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My Thrashers-Rangers game in review is in the thread below.

And here’s my column from The Journal News and LoHud.com today.

The “first game home after a road trip of three games or more” theory is built on a solid foundation. Every NHL team has gone through it, and nobody has conquered it. The legs aren’t there, and nobody can explain why. So it’s a legit reason for the Rangers’ start last night. But it’s not a legit excuse for the defensive breakdowns, mindless turnovers or the penalties.

Some thoughts:

1) As I write this there’s some drunken idiot on the train with me, and he’s dancing and walking around like a freak in the aisle, chewing on his fingers. He looks like he’s having some sort of drug withdrawl, too. Maybe he’ll drive the porcelain bus tonight. Nice.

2) I know that had nothing do to with hockey. Neither did this: Butch Goring was in the MSG corrider between periods last night and some Ranger fan, probably in his 40s, was screaming at Goring, “Get out of here. You don’t belong here. Get out!!!!” I thought it was funny.

3) The penalty on Avery is questionable at best. OK, it was a penalty. But do all four referees’ eyes have to be trained on him when there are 11 other guys on the ice with him? Another two for being Avery. And maybe that’s the way it’s going to be forever, Avery paying for all the stupid, undisciplined things he’s ever done.

4) If the Avery penalty is called, then the Bogosian hit on Callahan absolutely has to be called. Absolutely.

5) More troubling, I think, was that after Callahan was thrown dangerously into the boards, nobody reacted. If he’d been hurt—this is the alternate captain, remember—there had to be a swarm to the perp. But nobody reacted. Callahan got up, saw there was no call, and defended himself. Good for him, but again bad for the Rangers. They are not a tough group in terms of sticking up for one another. Not at all.

6) I said this in the comments last night: Having Brashear is not a deterrent. Boulton ran Gaborik, and it was up to Prospal to step up. Brashear’s presence did nothing to prevent the hit, and when he and Boulton were on the ice the next time together, nothing happened. Perhaps it was because The Donald had fought Boulton already and maybe reinjured himself? I know Brashear’s primarily left-handed, but during that scrap he never went righty, even though the opportunity seemed to present itself and he has, often in the past, switched hands when needed.

7) So what do you do when somebody runs Gaborik: You jump him, every guy on the ice. Or you go after Kovalchuk. Simple.

8) I had no problem with the slashing penalty on Del Zotto (he broke the guy’s stick) and I think the diving call was fairly legit.

9) Tortorella to reporter before the game: “Carpy, they spent the money to send you to a game?”
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Our friend, the Mouth, has a special guest on his Blueshirt Banter blog radio show tonight (Friday) from 8-9:30 p.m.: Theoren Fleury, who’s hawking his book. Should be a good listen. Probably the biggest guest Mouth has ever had (in terms of significance, not size; after all, he’s had me, and I’m twice the man Theo is).

You can catch it by clicking here, or going to this link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Blueshirt-Banter.
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PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE TROLL

Thank you—Management.

From the NYR:

 November 12, 2009 – New York Rangers 3, Atlanta Thrashers 5 (Game #19, Home #9) 
Click here for the official game summary and event summary.
  • The Rangers were defeated by the Atlanta Thrashers, 5-3, in front of a sold-out crowd (18,200) at Madison Square Garden to drop to 10-8-1 (21 pts.) on the season and 6-3-0 at home.
• New York have sold out 165 consecutive regular season games, dating back to Nov. 5, 2005 against New Jersey; the last regular season non-sellout was Oct. 31, 2005 vs. Montreal (17,697); including the playoffs, the Rangers sellout streak is now at 179 games.
• The Rangers are 14-4-0 in their last 18 regular season games at MSG, and have out-scored their opponents, 63-36, during the stretch.
• New York out-shot Atlanta, 36-27, including an 18-5 advantage in the third period; the Rangers 18 shots in the final frame marked a season-high for shots in a single period.
• Marian Gaborik registered his eighth multi-point effort on the season with one goal and one assist, and led all skaters with seven shots in 26:02 of icetime; he has recorded a point in 15 of 17 games this season, including seven goals and 12 points in his last eight contests.
• Michael Del Zotto and Ales Kotalik each recorded two assists for the Rangers, including one power play assist apiece.
• Donald Brashear skated in his 1,000th NHL game; he made his NHL debut on Nov. 15, 1993 at Ottawa.
• Rookie center Artem Anisimov tallied the Rangers first goal at 4:08 of the first period, and won 10 of 15 (67%) faceoffs; Brian Boyle closed New York’s scoring with his second of the season at 6:18 of the third period.
• Christopher Higgins recorded an assist on Boyle’s third period goal while skating in his 300th NHL game; he now has three points (two goals and one assist) in the last four games.
• Vinny Prospal led all skaters with 27:52 of icetime and 20 faceoff wins; Ryan Callahan delivered a team-high six hits.
• The Rangers practice schedule for tomorrow, Nov. 13, is 12:00 p.m. at the MSG Training Center.
• The Rangers return to action on Saturday, Nov. 14, when they will face-off against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Place (2:00 p.m.), in a matinee matchup; 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 play after not playing for four nights…  “I think you just work yourself out of it.  Again, it is something all coaches and all teams try to figure out how to get through that part, just fighting through the staleness you have a little bit after a trip like that.  By no means is it an excuse but it happens.  It happens to teams.  I thought we worked through it.  I thought we played a really good third period.
 Henrik Lundqvist on giving up the early goal… “We get a good start and they put it in the net.  After that, we regrouped pretty well.  It is tough to let in a goal like that right away…you get on your heels.  We were 1-1 after the first.  What killed us was the last five minutes of the second period.  We played a great third period.  The guys played really hard.  We hit the post a couple of times.  It was close, but it just wasn’t enough tonight.”
 Ryan Callahan on playing without Chris Drury and Brandon Dubinsky… “Obviously they are big players for our PKs (penalty kills).  Some of our guys stepped up and guys did good on the PK (penalty kill), but we have to stay out of the box.”

So the Rangers think they’ve got enough NHL players to play without two of their top three centers? We’ll see. This is the first game without Chris Drury and Brandon Dubinsky, and I want to see how this is going to work.

That will probably be the column I write after the game.

Here’s your game thread. I’ll see you in the comments.

Please don’t feed the trolls. Have fun.
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Oh, my bad. Looks like Kovalchuk’s in.