God, I hate these long stretches with no games. I’m sure the teams need them with the condensed schedule … but you have to wonder why a team (the Rangers) plays just three games in 13 days, then crams in five in the next eight days.

Apparently, Ilya Kovalchuk was set to skip the trip to New York after feeling pain in his healing broken foot Wednesday. But a weather delay of the team flight gave him enough time to reconsider. So he’s on the trip and will decide today whether to play according to NHL.com.

Here’s the game preview on NHL.com.

And here are tonight’s pregame notes.
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With a lot going on at GMs meetings regarding rules, etc., Gary Bettman’s radio show with guest Colin Campbell might be a good listen today at 3 p.m. on NHL.com and Sirius XM radio (XM channel 204 and Sirius channel 208). You can call with questions at 1-877-645-6696.

I’m off to the Garden. See youse tonight.

It was reported in different places yesterday:

Ilya Kovalchuk is expected to return from a broken foot tomorrow against the Rangers.

Don Maloney and Phoenix are considering talking to Chris Chelios about playing for the Coyotes.

Buffalo decided to keep Adam Mair after he cleared waivers.

The NHL will keep the trapezoid behind the goals, and is discussing hits to the head at GM meetings.

The Flyers have interest in Peter Forsberg if he’s healthy.

Michael Nylander may go play in Russia.
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I’m getting in the car and going upstate (Shenendehowa, in Clifton Park) for assignments today. I may not be able to update at all. So if you guys see some scoops on Drury, etc., elsewhere go for it. But please credit the source. If it’s from Zipay or Gross, for example, say so.

I still hope to get to the Garden tomorrow.

• Did you know that when Brian Leetch first showed up to join the Rangers as a teenager, his teammates—I think Ron Greschner might have been behind it—nicknamed him “Norm” after the Cheers character? I think it was because he had a fat little face when he was young. But that chubby mug turned into one of the most fit, aerobic, durable athletes in any sport ever.

  * When Leetch signed his first big contract, it was soon followed by the arrival of Mark Messier and his own heftier contract. Somebody asked Leetch if he was going to ask to renegotiate. Leetch didn’t think that was a joke. But he answered: “I would really have to mess up for this (contract) not to be enough.”

• Does anybody remember the late-1980s end-to-end rush against the Flyers (not the one they showed during the induction ceremony)? He went through every one of them once, and one of them twice, before scoring on Ron Hextall. The last guy he faked out of his skates was a kid named Mark Freer. John Vanbiesbrouck said, “That kid must have thought he was in a Michael Jackson video.” (I can’t believe I wrote Vanbiesbrouck’s name in three different posts the last 24 hours).
• The other goal I’ll never forget is the one he scored against the Devils in Game 7 in ‘94, the spin move on Bill Guerin and the shot past Martin Brodeur. But it was the stop and spin, and the noise that Leetch’s skates used to make when he made that hard stop or hard spin, that stands out in my memory.
• Perhaps his greatest assist was the one in Vancouver during the Stanley Cup final, when he came through the middle. His shoulder was wrecked by then, frozen by the trainers and doctors about every game. He came across the blue line and two Canucks—and, boy did they target him for punishment—hacked him on the way in. Leetch still made the play and sent Alexei Kovalev in for a huge goal, breaking a 2-2 tie with under five minutes left in Game 4. He was slashed so hard, and because his shoulder was so bad, Leetch couldn’t raise either arm to celebrate the goal. By the way, he had a goal and three assists in that game, and pulled down Pavel Bure for a penalty shot that you might recall.
• There are so many memories. Some of them, I have no idea why they come to the forefront. But one is Phil Esposito—I don’t know why or how, if he was disillusioned of if he’d had a a couple of drinks or if he was just lying—claimed he drafted Leetch. It was Craig Patrick who drafted Leetch, of course.

  *Nobody, nobody, nobody ever kept the puck in at the point like Leetch. Did I say nobody?

• On a personal note, when I wrote my book about Mark Messier, I asked Brian to write the foreword. I told him that I couldn’t possibly pay him to do it, and my publisher was way too cheap to pay him. Not only did he say he would do it, but he did a great job, and on the day we did it he first treated me to a round of golf with him at his club, and lunch at a nice restaurant.

  I could go on for hours. Adam Graves is the nicest person I’ve ever met in sports. But Brian is probably the player I know best, from the moment he arrived to now, and probably my favorite Ranger ever.
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  I owe the Rangers an apology. I always get on them for their supersecrecy regarding injuries … and I must have missed it Monday, but they did indeed announce that Dubinsky has a broken hand. Sorry. My bad.

  Still hoping to get to the game Thursday, but not guaranteed.

I just wanted to put this up because the Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremony is going on right now on NHL Network, and if you can watch it, please do.

I thought we might have some discussion here about the Hall, especially about Brian Leetch, one of my favorite all-time athletes and people.

Right off the bat, when they introduced Brett Hull, I was surprised that I forgot just how unbelievable he was. I forgot he did 50 goals in 50 games, which is so rare. And I forgot that he slapped up three straight seasons of 70, including 86, I believe the third highest-total ever.

I do remember when the Rangers’ blockbuster for Eric Lindros fell through—a judge awarded him to Philadelphia, which had a simultaneous deal with Quebec worked out. John Vanbiesbrouck, who was part of the package offered to Quebec, asked, “Why wouldn’t you make the same offer for Brett Hull?” I never could come to a reasonable reason why they wouldn’t. But they didn’t. Hull was lazy at times, and a detriment in his own end, but boy, few ever scored goals like him.

Shhhhhhh. Brian’s next!!

The Rangers say that no call-ups are expected today, but of course there are no games until Thursday (I hate these long breaks).

In case you missed it, Steve Zipay is reporting that Chris Drury is not ruled out of Thursday’s game at this point, and that Lundqvist was among those who did not skate today. Also, he cited sources yesterday as saying Dubinsky has a broken bone in his hand.

I will get over there for some of my own news this week, I promise (I think). (I hope). (I’m guessing). Or maybe to the game Thursday. (Maybe).
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AFTERNOON UPDATE, 1:55 P.M.: Here is the news of the Glencross suspension from TSN.

And we keep hearing that Dubinsky’s broken hand will be a 3-6 week thing. The Rangers have offered nothing, of course.

The NHLPA e-mailed me about its Goals and Dreams world tour to celebrate the program’s 10th anniversary. Former players will donate $180,00 worth of hockey equipment to grassroots hockey programs in Sweden, Finland, Russia, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bosnia, Germany, the U.S. and Canada starting Friday.

Those who will make the entire 10-day trek across the globe are Rob Zamuner and P.J. Stock, ambassadors for Goals and Dreams, and Devin Smith and Matt Langen, who oversee the program for the NHLPA. Also participating: Pavel Bure, Adam Graves, Arturs Irbe, Jyrki Lumme, Jaroslav Modry, Markus Naslund, Martin Rucinsky, Martin Straka, Esa Tikkanen, John Vanbiesbrouck and Kevin Weekes.

I guess the reason this caught my eye is the number of ex-Rangers involved (including Devin Smith, who was around the Rangers as a young man when his father, Ron, was an assistant coach, then the team’s minor-league coach, and ultimately the interim coach between Roger Neilson and Mike Keenan).

It’s no coincidence that guys who come through the Rangers organization do things like this. For all the whining and complaining we all do about the on-ice team, the Rangers have long been the model franchise for off-ice good deeds, not just among hockey teams but among all sports teams at any level.
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Also, in another belated bit of housekeeping, I forgot to tell you that NYRangerscast.com has an interview with Rangers’ first-rounder Chris Kreider. Click on this link: You can hear it here.

I’ll see youse later.

Drury had been a near-zero some nights, and Dubinsky maybe a 3 or 4 on a scale of 1-10 so far. … and yet now we will see how much they mean to the Rangers. We will also see how thin this roster actually is. And we’ve had an idea of that right from the start of the season, because some nights they barely have 20 bodies to put in uniforms.

Can they recall a Grachev and a Parenteau? Yeah, sure they can. But can they count on those guys to play serious minutes at this level, or will that  just mean more minutes for Voros, Boyle and Brashear (if he ever plays again)?

The one potential positive is that Anisimov should get more playing time, and he has deserved more so far.

Drury’s probably going to be a while. Concussions are a nasty thing, and they get more severe with each one, and each one makes the next one more likely, or cause by a lesser collision. We know that from many experiences here with LaFontaine, Richter, Beukeboom and Lindros. Drury’s had some (upper body) concussions. This will be tricky.

Dubinsky, we don’t know what he has, but we know it’s his (upper body) hand or arm. And Tortorella seems to think he will be out for some length of time, too.

As for retribution … I don’t think it would have proven much, but you still have to stick up for a teammate—especially your captain, for God’s sake—in a situation like that. It’s hockey, for crying out loud. Somebody brashears your captain and you let it slide in a November game in Calgary because the two points are too important? Not. Not.

And then you make it worse by not getting the two points? Or one? Sorry. You have to act there.

As for a suspension, well, that does the Rangers no good whatsoever. If they suspend the guy one game, it’s not enough. If they suspend him 15 (they won’t), so what?

And I’ve been saying this for years: The NHL has to make hits to the head illegal, whether they are delivered with the elbow, forearm, shoulder, whatever. Clear-cut. And suspensions need to follow, especially in the cases where there is no injury. If you let the lucky ones off the hook because nobody got hurt, then you’re just begging for somebody to get hurt.
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I’m off for two more football games. With the Yankees out of the way, my week looks light until Friday. Hopefully I’ll get to spend some time with your favorite hockey club. What’s left of it.

From the Rangers:

NEW YORK RANGERS POST-GAME NOTES
November 7, 2009 – New York Rangers 1, Calgary Flames 3 (Game #18, Road #10)

• The Blueshirts were defeated by the Calgary Flames, 3-1, tonight at Pengrowth Saddledome to conclude their three-game road trip through Western Canada.
• The Rangers are now 10-7-1 overall, including a 4-5-1 mark on the road.
• New York out-shot Calgary, 33-22, including a 13-5 advantage in the third period.
• Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi tallied the team’s only goal of the contest at 17:16 of the first period; he finished the contest with a Rangers season-high, seven blocked shots in 20:56 of icetime.
• Vinny Prospal recorded an assist and led all skaters with 25:59 of icetime; he is currently tied for third in the NHL in assists (16) and eighth in points (20).
• Marian Gaborik registered one assist in 24:49 of icetime; he has posted a point in 14 of his 16 appearances this season.
• Michael Del Zotto and Ales Kotalik tied for the game-high with four shots.
• Steve Valiquette made 19 saves in net for the Rangers.
• The Blueshirts next practice is scheduled for Monday, November 9 (11:00 a.m.) at the MSG Training Center.

• The Rangers return to action on Thursday, November 12, when they will face-off against the Atlanta Thrashers at Madison Square Garden (7:00 p.m.).

I’ve got nuthin’ but frozen fingers… just finished my second of three football games. So I have no idea what happened today, if anything. No idea what you guys have been talking about. No idea about anything except where the heat button is on my dashboard as I attempt to get this post up for your game-time pleasure before trudging back out to the frozen tundra (or artificial tundra).

Have fun and be careful. And behave. I’ll check in around 10 or so, so please let me know what the score is around then.

—————-EVENING UPDATE—————-

Laurel here! Hey Staal and all, slow here so far for late Saturday game. Understood. Until Carp gets back, respect MAKO as the substitute bloguncle, as assigned by me….LGR! and have fun.

Calgary. The other Alberta meat.

Once upon a time, this was a deadly double-stop. I actually kept track of stuff like this.

In the 1980s through ‘90, for a span of eight years, either Edmonton or Calgary was in the Stanley Cup final.

And back then, most seasons, every team played in every city twice. And also, pretty much every trip out West by every team from the East included the Alberta twinbill.

So that’s why it was so stunning that in the 1980s, only six teams—SIX! —went through Edmonton and Calgary, or Calgary and Edmonton, and swept both games. SIX!

In the 1990s, at least until the point at which I stopped counting, it happened 32 times. I have no idea how often it has happened in this decade, but teams don’t do the Alberta two-step as often as they used to do it. And it sure isn’t as daunting a task, even though both franchises have been to Cup finals in recent years.

Which reminds me, that MSG promo for tonight’s game is kind of disrespectful … the one that brags about the Rangers being an Original Six team and mocks the Flames’ logo because it has fire coming off it. Especially since both franchises have won the same number of Stanley Cups in the last 69 years (and counting).

And MSG doesn’t see it fit that this proud Original Six franchise go on its regular station tonight, but rather gets bumped to MSG+, and probably with backup play-by-play guys on TV and radio because it’s a football weekend.
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I’m going to be working and away from the laptop pretty much all day and night. I will try to put up a pregame thread. Not sure if I will be able to do it.

Lundqvist, no doubt, will be back in goal. Not sure if Brashear will play. But you can certainly expect more resistance and belligerence from the Flames than you saw from the Oilers two nights ago.

Here are the pregame notes.