Thoughts: 1) Sixteen regulation losses in 65 games. So please don’t go Full Chicken Little today. Though I’m sure some of you will, and some of you, in the back of your warped little minds, are finding some “told you so” satisfaction of the first regulation loss in six games,... Read More →
Thoughts: 1) The Rangers have thieved games like this the past couple of years, but in most of those, it was Henrik Lundqvist doing the stealing. This one was hard to explain. Except that, as usual, the Rangers stuck to the plan, kept on playing, and somehow got two critical… Read More →
Without arguably their two most valuable players and leaders, the Rangers just chug along. Then they have to come from behind, have guys benched and banged up during the game. Doesn’t matter. No problem. Thoughts: 1) Martin Biron needed a good game, and let’s be honest, the Rangers needed him… Read More →
The Rangers leap into the final quarter of the season tomorrow in Carolina. I was looking at their record again and thinking, if they go 12-9 these last 21 games—which is conservative—they’ll have 52 wins and 110 points. The 1993-94 team holds the franchise records with 52 wins and 112… Read More →
Thoughts: 1) 40-15-6, 86 points with a quarter of a season left. You kiddin’ me? 2) Henrik Lundqvist. Seven straight seasons of 30 wins. Forty-three career shutouts. Eight this season; 10-2-0 with a 1.24 goals against average, .952 save percentage and four shutouts in his last 12 games. A record… Read More →
I don’t know what you guys thought about the game, but I sure thought it was a fun game to watch, even if it took the Garden crowd 50 minutes to get into it. The second and third periods were pretty wild. Thoughts: 1) Not to be one of those… Read More →
First things first. Nobody won the contest. I mean, nobody had the right score, nobody had the GWG. I’ll have to chat with my official contest staff to decide whether to A) move onto the shots tiebreaker, B) scratch the whole thing and have another contest Thursday or C) give… Read More →
I truly believe that these four wins over the Flyers won’t mean jack-squat if the Rangers wind up in a playoff series against them. It doesn’t work that way. But I also truly believe that the Rangers are better. And here’s the thing. The Flyers have more skill. The Rangers—can… Read More →
Game 49. First, about the ticket contest. I’m still tabulating the results. Looks like we had two contestants with 4-3 Devils, and neither had Kovalchuk with GWG. Hope to make it official shortly. Next, we’re planning a live chat tomorrow, Thursday, at 11:30 a.m. So plan on bringing questions/comments and… Read More →
Hockey Gods. John Tortorella referenced the Hockey Gods the one night this week, when Marian Gaborik was incorrectly called for a double-minor penalty when one opponent’s stick. and not Gaborik’s, hit the face of another opponent. And the Rangers, rightly, killed the penalties. Tortorella said the Hockey Gods have a… Read More →
Welcome to the second half. The best team in the East, battling for No. 1 overall, better expect that these bottom-dwellers are going to be fired up to play them. That these teams think it’s a barometer game when they play the Rangers. That there’s no more sneaking up or… Read More →
Shut the front door. That’s how you smother a good team, how you make their night miserable, how you bounce back from a loss. Fact: The Rangers are quickly becoming the team you don’t want to play, because they will make you absorb a beating, fight for every inch and… Read More →
For all the complaining we (I) did about the outdoor game, it was a downer going back indoors, especially at the World’s Quietest Arena. What a shame. Could you imagine a first-place team in the middle of a season in the 1970s or ‘80s and the kind of intimidation MSG… Read More →
Game 38. HBO’s finale of “24/7” debuts tonight at 10, replayed again at 11. The Winter Classic and all the other distractions are now in the rear-view mirror as ya boys approach the mid-way point of the season and the all-star break having won two in a row and seven… Read More →
Glad that’s over. The NHL will be thrilled—and Gary Bettman clearly was, bogarting the stage as NHL Network’s first interview on the never-ending post-game show—because it made a ton of money, got a zillion eyeballs to watch, sold a gazillion pieces of merchandise. But the all-Philadelphia presentation of the Hyper… Read More →
This is what’s special about this team. The most hyped game they have played in years, if not decades, coming up next, a bad loss in the game previous. I know some of you guys worried about this being a trap game during the live chat yesterday and we talked… Read More →
This is what happens when you play well for an extended period of a season and people take notice … teams that might not be so good, or not playing so great, find another gear when they play you. It becomes a big game for them. And that really hasn’t… Read More →
Short and sweet. Same lineup tonight. Jeff Woywitka re-injured his foot this morning and won’t play. Not sure if it’s now worse or if he’ll be out longer. He talked about Martin Biron very briefly, and about Mike Rupp. Wouldn’t answer questions on “24/7” John Tortorella:
Thoughts: 1) Another staged fight to start the game. Whatever floats your boat, I guess. Maybe it’s hypocritical, but to me they don’t seem as senseless when it’s archrivals playing. I did think Rupp had some good, solid hits, though he wasn’t credited with any, officially. 2) I liked the… Read More →
Very nice way to end a two-game losing streak and a very complete win over the Baby Buffaloes for No. 2,500 in franchise history, for No. 4 in a row on the road, No. 13 in the last 17 games overall. Right back at it tonight against the Cats (7:30… Read More →
