Thoughts: 1) I gotta tell you, I’m really torn on the whole sitting Marian Gaborik thing. He was ineffective on the wall, pushed off the puck a couple of times in front, failed to clear and did the unforgiveable flamingo on the game-tying goal, on a team that sacrifices everything… Read More →
John Tortorella: Henrik Lundqvist: Marian Gaborik: Marc Staal:
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 →
Happy Mother’s Day! Thoughts: 1) I am almost without speech because I don’t know what to say. Other than that was a fabulously hard-played hockey game, the kind you’d really hope to get in a Game 7. The Rangers were really good from the start, and to the finish. In… Read More →
John Tortorella: Brad Richards (Part I; I believe Josh, 26, will have more later): Henrik Lundqvist: Marian Gaborik: Brian Boyle: Marc Staal:
Headed to the Rangers’ practice today as they return from their one-day respite. Will have some audio later on. We’re at that point in the playoffs now where there are nights with no hockey. Awful. Then NBC stretches it out an extra day. More awful. So we’re here to try… 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 →
Here’s Josh (age 26) Thomson’s story from The Journal News and LoHud.com today: By Josh Thomson, 26 NEW YORK — With a young team on the verge of contending in the Eastern Conference, John Tortorella found himself motivated to land Brad Richards as a free agent. The 32-year old was… Read More →
Thoughts: 1) I’m not going into a gigantic rant about the Alex Ovechkin cheapshot on Dan Girardi because it’s a distraction and the Rangers don’t deserve a distraction with the way they played Game 4. … And I don’t want to call for a suspension because Brendan Shanahan and the… 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 →
John Tortorella: Marian Gaborik: Henrik Lundqvist: Dan Girardi: Brian Boyle:
Thoughts: 1) This from Braden Holtby, the kid goalie, who has it figured out right, better than a lot of youse who have been watching hockey for years: You look at the difference in the two games … We hit two posts last game, and they hit two this game…. 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 →
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 →
By now you’ve heard that Brian Boyle has a concussion and is out, presumably for the series, or at least Game 6. John Tortorella compared it to the Raffi Torres hit that drew a 25-game suspension earlier today. Not sure if it was that bad, but there’s also no doubt… Read More →
Thoughts: 1) Well, there goes my Rangers in 5 prediction. Back to Kanata Monday. Yee-freakin-hah! 2) This has been an odd series, IMO, in that I thought Ottawa’s best game start to finish was Game 3, a game the Senators lost, and one of those many, many games this season… Read More →
Morning skates are dull. I already knew that, but it’s been a while (since the Bryan Trottier regime) since I attended one on the road. The big news? Well, Daniel Alfredsson said he did suffer a concussion, and the Senators are not ruling out that he will play in Game… Read More →
John Tortorella: Carl Hagelin: Brad Richards: Marian Gaborik:
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 →
