Ugh. Get well soon Anton! (Photo: Sarah Connors/flickrs)

It’s over twelve hours later and I still don’t feel any remorse for the post I wrote last night. Usually I do by now but that’s how badly I think they played. And to hear Torts say “the effort is there”… I honestly just want the season to be over. Which means I expect them to pull out a couple of wins to prolong our agony. As I said, their motto should be “the hard way”.

As for practice today, a couple of good and bad notes. First off, it was an optional practice. I want an explanation of why. I get it’s late in the season (but let’s be honest, it’s really February for these guys) but after a game like last night and their backs completely against the wall, how do you not have an actual full practice today?

The good news is the three guys who missed yesterday’s game, Marc Staal, Darroll Powe and Ryane Clowe, were all on the ice. Clowe, in particular, is a great sign as I was beginning to wonder if he was still with the team. He only skated briefly but even getting on the ice is a good start. I have no idea if any of them are close to being ready but my guess is it won’t matter too much. Carl Hagelin, who was hurt during the third period last night, also skated so he should be fine to go tomorrow.

» Continue reading “Practice Updates From Possibly The Last Rangers Practice Of The Season”

Denied. No goal for Crosby. (Photo: Screenshot from NHL.com game highlights)

So, if there was an upside to losing to the Penguins, it was not letting Crosby or Kunitz get points in. It’s the first time in 16 games against the Rangers that Crosby did not score a goal. The Rangers were able to shut down chances by the Penguins’ top two scorers, but let in goals by Pens rookie Bennett, and then two in less than a minute by Kennedy and Dupuis. The downside was handing Fleury his first shut out of the season.

Let’s break it down period by period:

» Continue reading “Penguins Freeze Out Rangers; Rangers Freeze Out Crosby”

Angry/ disappointed Torts face is back. (Photo: Screenshot from Senators post-game interview/ BlueshirtsUnited.com)

Sometimes it’s nice having a coach who wears his heart on his sleeve and won’t take any nonsense, because you always know when your frustration with the team is justified. And boy, has Tortorella been frustrated with the team this week. Let’s hit the week in review:

» Continue reading “The Week In Review: You Win Some, You Snooze Some”

Welcome back Captain Cally! Glad to know you’re finally healthy. (Photo: Bridget Samuels/flickr)

I debated placing a pun in the title but figured you will be seeing those everywhere so went with a standard for this team. I guess it’s what fans should expect when there really is only one line going. Unfortunately one member of that line just couldn’t seem to finish tonight.

In regards to the lineup, a few changes due to the injuries. (Side note: Credit to the Rangers for not using that as an excuse and really trying in this game. This lineup, while all good players, just can’t compete as a unit with NHL teams.)

Up front, the Rangers got Darroll Powe back. He didn’t make the difference I expected him to in his twelve minutes of ice time. I hope that doesn’t mean he rushed back. On defense, well this tweet says it all:

» Continue reading “Too Little, Too Late As Rangers Fall To Jets”

Boyle’s back. Next time, how about you don’t draw a penalty when we
need you on the ice? (Photo: Bridget Samuels/ flickr)

So, this week sure happened, huh? The weekend was okay, beating the Caps was pretty nice. Losing Powe to an awful mid-ice collision wasn’t great. I just don’t know what happened to the rest of the week. I miss Rick Nash. And Darroll Powe.

» Continue reading “The Week In Review: Mixed Bag Of Blues”

This man had quite a night. Horrible penalty but incredible assist and nasty shootout move to help secure the win. (Photo: Bridget Samuels/flickr)

All night I heard people saying how the Rangers had momentum in this game and the Bruins needed to do something to change that. Sam and Joe said it on the MSG broadcast. Rangers beat writers as well as fans of both sides said it on twitter. And while I saw what the scoreboard showed, all night I said I didn’t agree.

I wish I wasn’t able to say this but at the end of the night, looked like I was right.

» Continue reading “Rangers Try To Choke But Escape Boston With Two Points”

Two of these guys played great last night. The third? Not so much. (Photo: Jesse Spector/flickr)

In my haste to recap the lackluster play of the Rangers last night, I forgot to mention a couple of things which will come into play in tonights’ game.

First off, as you probably noticed, there were some numbers out there that didn’t look right. My favorite comment of the night came from twitter as someone said the line of “Dubinsky, Anisimov and Betts” looked great out there. Obviously they weren’t on the ice but some fans can’t let go of numbers. I can accept other people taking 15 at this point. The other two? Not going to lie, it’s a little soon.

Anyway, here are the number changes:

» Continue reading “A Couple Of Notes From Last Night”

What does this man claim to be? (Photo: Bridget Samuels/flickr)

Anyone who knows me, knows my one strength (or weakness depending on how you look at it) is useless hockey trivia. I can barely remember what I ate last night for dinner but give me a random hockey fact and I’ll reiterate it back months later.

So where do I get it from? Well, one of the best places to find out about the boys is by reading their bios on the team site. They contain all the boring stuff such as stats and teams played on, but every once in awhile you can find a gem. Recently, the Rangers updated their site so here, in no particular order, are the top ten things I bet you didn’t know about the guys on the 2013 New York Rangers.

» Continue reading “Who Knew? Random Facts Found In NYR Bios”

Who scored the overtime winner a year ago on a slap shot? Yes, a slap shot. (Photo: Bridget Samuels/flickr)

Throughout the lockout, many blogs are doing fake recaps of the games that should’ve been taking place. I’ve decided to go another route by doing real recaps…of the games that happened on that date one year ago.

After a huge win against the Flyers in the spectacle that is the Winter Classic, it would’ve been understandable for the Rangers to have a letdown game against the Florida Panthers three nights later. Tortorella wouldn’t have accepted it but everyone else would’ve understood. Fortunately the players were worried about what Tortorella would think as they dominated the game from the seven minute mark of the first period on.

The biggest news of this night? Former President Bill Clinton had a front row seat to the game while showing he’d been following the boys a little bit:

» Continue reading “One Year Ago Today: Former President Sees Rangers Win”

This man had the best comment of the night. No we didn’t know it till after the game, but we didn’t forget it once we heard it. (Photo: Robert Kowal/flickr)

Throughout the lockout, many blogs are doing fake recaps of the games that should’ve been taking place. I’ve decided to go another route by doing real recaps…of the games that happened on that date one year ago.

Rangers-Flyers, round two of six. The night before, the Rangers had beaten the Islanders 4-2. The Flyers had sat in their hotel rooms or a local NYC bar watching the game. You would think it would’ve helped them. It didn’t.

The preview to the Winter Classic had as much hype as you would expect it to, especially with two crews from HBO taping every move. Surprisingly the game started quietly. In fact, the first fight wasn’t until late in the first period. But before that, we have video of a textbook hip check. Seriously kids, this is how it’s done:

» Continue reading “One Year Ago Today: A Preview Of What Was To Come”