Brendan Shanahan’s dart hit “1” on the dartboard. I’m not saying Brandon Prust shouldn’t have been suspended, because he did after all elbow Anton Volchenkov in the head (and I wonder if they’ve managed to scrape Volchenkov off the ice yet). I am saying that what Prust did was not… Read More →
First, Brandon Prust had his hearing with Brendan Shanahan via phone today, said he was able to argue his case for his elbow to the head of Anton Volchenkov, and then went out to join an optional skate, not knowing if he would be suspended. Some gamesmanship going on, too,... Read More →
Thoughts: 1) I am going to start off with the Brandon Prust elbow to the head of Anton Volchenkov, only because there’ve been so many such incidents in these playoffs and I want to be consistent, since I’ve pretty much led with all of them throughout. I thought Prust reached… Read More →
Thoughts: 1) Ya boys sure do stick with it, don’t they? And at 0-0 in the lockerroom after being pretty much pinned in the second, they sure must have felt that they would win this game. And then they did. Not surprised. 2) Dan (Block Ness Monster) Girardi had a… Read More →
Be there for a Live Game 1 Chat from the Garden at 3 p.m. tomorrow. Or else. ********************************************** Here are my matchups for the Eastern Conference finals: FORWARDS: How the roles have changed. Used to be that the Rangers had all the high-profile skill and the Devils had the grinders…. Read More →
FYI, before I turned on the recorder, Brandon Prust was saying that the teams don’t like each other. And he said it twice. I’ll have a link to transcripts, I think, from the Devils later on. John Tortorella: Henrik Lundqvist: Mike Rupp (former Devil): Brad Richards: Ryan Callahan: Brandon Prust:... Read More →
I’m sure you saw that Chris Kreider and Derek Stepan were elevated to a line with Ryan Callahan in practice today, with Brian Boyle being reunited with Brandon Prust (Artem Anisimov on the left) and Ruslan Fedotenko dropped to the John Mitchell-Mike Rupp line. FWIW. John Tortorella: Henrik Lundqvist: Ryan… Read More →
Thoughts: 1) During and after this game, I thought about a lot of stuff that didn’t completely have to do with the game. For instance, no matter how much we think we know, we don’t know. Example: Many of us thought Washington would be a much easier matchup that Ottawa…. Read More →
Thoughts: 1) Holy shishkebob. I’d been covering this team since 1978, and had never seen one of these triple-overtimes. Saw them with the Islanders, saw them with the Devils. Never with the Rangers. And in my lifetime, there had only been one—the Pete Stemkowski game in 1971—and I’m pretty sure… Read More →
The news: Brian Boyle skated during an optional practice, and said he felt better. Brandon Dubinsky did not skate and is on crutches, which doesn’t necessarily mean anything in terms of the severity of his injury. Remember that Ryan Callahan was on crutches between games when he was playing with… Read More →
FORWARDS: This is obviously where the Capitals are most dangerous, and most confusing. Alex Ovechkin is coming off what is seen as a bad year (yet he scored 38 goals). He was benched at times in the Boston series. But he loves playing against the Rangers, especially at MSG, and… Read More →
The news: Brian Boyle practiced, but there’s no way of knowing if he will return for Game 1 or Game 2 or at all in this series. Depends on how he feels after his first post-concussion skate, and tomorrow, and as we’ve seen, going forward. Brandon Dubinsky, who injured an… Read More →
So we’re getting closer and closer to dropping the puck on the Garden’s first Game 7 in 18 years. The Rangers held a full practice today in Greenburgh, but skated without both Ryan Callahan (finger) and Brian Boyle (concussion). Boyle was to be expected. There’s been no further update on… Read More →
Thoughts: 1) Yeah, it’s great to be at the game. But sometimes when you’re at the game, you’re writing on deadline and blogging and tweeting and getting e-mails and text messages from the office, and looking up teams’ all-time Game 7 records (Rangers 3-5, but 3-0 at home and 3-1… Read More →
Thoughts: 1) On the Chris Neil assault on Brian Boyle … not only did he drive-by, blind-side, head-target him, but after Boyle went down, Neil gave him another shot in the back of the head. I don’t think John Tortorella was correct in saying it’s the same as Raffi Torres… Read More →
The news: Daniel Alfredsson did not skate, and Paul MacLean said there was no change in his condition, so you’d assume he will not play in Game 4 tonight. Again, it’s playoffs, so never say never. MacLean would not divulge his lineup, but Matt Carkner, back from his one-game suspension… Read More →
The word on Ryan McDonagh is he got hit in the onions, according to John Tortorella. So he’s OK. So is Ryan Callahan, who appeared to take one off the collarbone. Walked in late on Paul MacLean’s presser, so I have only a portion of that. Brian Boyle would not… Read More →
Thoughts: 1) Oh, Captain. Ryan Callahan set a tone early, as usual, found a way to score an uglier-than-hell goal—and he’s made that an art form—and helped will his team to victory. I know, that’s a bit dramatic, because he sure wasn’t alone. You’d have a tough time finding anybody… Read More →
************************************************* FORWARDS: Ottawa’s known as a skill and finesse team, and that is certainly true of its first line. Jason Spezza scored 34-50-84, Milan Michalek had 35-25-60, and captain Daniel Alfredsson (who has scored more points — 1,082 — than any active player who hasn’t won the Stanley Cup,... Read More →
Happy Easter. In case you fell asleep, Vancouver won the Presidents’ Trophy by beating Edmonton. Big whoop. These are the first-round matchups, with the schedules to be announced today at 1 p.m. Since it’s a holiday, I doubt I’ll be interested at that hour, so youse will have to rely… Read More →
