Battle Of Hudson

Kovy (Derek) beat me to the recap of Sunday’s loss to Dallas, and hit the nail on the head several times throughout his post. I’ll add a couple of things and then get to new stuff.

The Rangers looked unbeatable for a couple of weeks, but it looks like they have a weakness that was exploited in both the Florida and Dallas games. They are vulnerable to the fast skating teams. All three Dallas goals were the result of some kind of speed burst or breakaway. Florida exploited it too. Jusse Jokinen, one of the league’s fastest skaters only had a half stride on our defense, yet looked like he was on a penalty shot on his breakaway goal on Sunday. The partial breakaway goal was also a killer, and it was the speed of the Stars that led to that. Maybe we were flatfooted, not expecting those kinds of bursts, but our defense needs to work on making sure we can keep up with the Sidney Crosbies and Jussi Jokinens of the league.

Henrik Lundqvist cannot carry the team every game. He only stopped 15 out of 18 shots on Sunday, which would be considered an off day for him. Granted, breakaways are hard to stop as a goaltender, but if the Rangers could just find that scoring touch, we wouldn’t have to worry about Lundqvist giving up three a game. Four goals a game from the likes of Jaromir Jagr, Martin Straka, Scott Gomez, Chris Drury, Brendan Shanahan, Petr Prucha, Ryan Callahan, etc should not be unattainable.

Now on to today’s news:

Callahan will return for Thursday’s game against the Islanders, barring some unforeseen setback. His return, coupled with Sean Avery and Straka being in the lineup despite some bumps and bruises, raises the questions the Rangers’ brass has been dreading for a while: Who gets a seat on the bench?

Jagr – Dubinsky – Straka
Shanahan – Gomez – Avery
Callahan – Drury – Prucha
Hollweg – Betts – Orr

That’s my suggestion. Marcel Hossa has been solid along the boards, but he has hands of stone, and has shown no finishing ability except for in the shootout. With the star power that we have, he should be a replacement winger. With this lineup, you have three solid scoring lines and a checking line. The fourth line hasn’t chipped in any offense, but they are not expected to. They go out there and shut down the opposing teams, and it’s great.

Greg Moore was returned to Hartford of the AHL, the same place Nigel Dawes is tearing up since his demotion. Dawes had a 2 goal, 2 assist night the other night, and is now up to 10 points in only six games played in Hartford. First sign of injury, he has to be back with the Rangers, maybe even playing with Jagr and Dubinsky if Marty isn’t quite clicking. Ivan Baranka was sent down the other day too. He was good in his one game with the club, but he is still a year or so away from being an NHL defenseman.

We’re off until Thursday’s matchup against the Islanders, who we have yet to beat. We need to come out flying, play a physical game and bury some past Rick DiPietro to win. More on that later in the week.

Congratulations on the year anniversary as well. As a new blogger, it’s great being a part of this website. Thanks for the mention in the top 10 as well. It’s my first crack at this and I love every minute of it. I hope to get you guys some more of those caliber posts throughout the season.

More of our good stuff:

8. My Take on the Rangers vs. Islanders Game Last Night
by Lenny
September 25, 2007
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By now anyone who follows hockey knows about the Rangers v. Islanders game last night. A fight filled affair that saw the “enforcers” as well as the common players, and goaltenders drop the gloves. On one hand, it was great to see the players, preseason or not, stick up for each other. On the other hand, it was disgraceful to watch. Here’s my take on everything:

Chris Simon. We’ll start with the worst I guess. Because of loopholes in the NHL rulebook, Simon was able to play preseason games, even though he still has an outstanding suspension to serve. One has to think, if Simon is not in the lineup last night, half of the fisticuffs that occurred would have been avoided. Give it up for Orr, who stuck up for Hollweg by scrapping with Simon early in the first and then again on Simon’s unnecessary, dirty hit from behind on Hollweg setting off the brawl. The league should be reviewing tape right now, and tacking on 10 more games to Simon’s suspension.

Ted Nolan. The Rangers had their lineup posted 3 days in advance. Each team plays about 6 preseason games. Simon could have played in any of the other five and not this one. He knew there would be fireworks if Simon was in the lineup. It surprises me that with the players that he did dress, that Brendon Witt wasn’t also in the lineup.

Rick DiPietro. Was there any reason for him to jump in? And why did he have to bait Montoya into the fight. It was apparent the Monty didn’t want to fight, he has a spot to win. I give him all the credit in the world for sticking up for his team.

Tom Renney. Anyone read his post game comments? Sure the elbow to the head of Callahan was dirty. And sure it was probably a contributing factor to the rest of the night’s activities. But to dismiss blame on Simon just makes no sense to me. He did it with the stick incident last year and then again last night. He should be saying how much Simon should be suspended, and how proud he is of his players for sticking up for each other. Here’s to hoping Orr, Hollweg, Strudwick and Avery are all in the lineup come the first regular season game between these two.

Just my opinion on the game. Give it up to players like Dubinski, Pock, Hossa, Strudwick and Orr. I enjoy the occasional scrap. Especially when it comes from sticking up for your teammates. Without them, there would be no way to police the sport, ridding the league of incidents like Marty McScorley, Todd Bertuzzi or Chris Simon. I don’t even hold anything against the rest of the Islanders, minus Simon and Sutton. Anyone else feel like sharing some thoughts?
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7. Blah Blah Blog
by Rob (Long Island)
September 26, 2007
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Thankfully, most readers of this blog site are hardcore fans who actually watched the game, otherwise one might think the Isles were the second coming of the ’75 Flyers.

Reading these Rangers blogs is kind of like watching the Fox News channel. Fun for a couple of chuckles, but with biases that run that deep, all objectivity is out the window. When Hollweg is defended regularly, you know that the looking glass is a bit foggy. Hollweg will hurt someone the same way McAmmond got hurt, and then we’ll revisit this discussion. Funny that Hollweg averaged 1.7 pims per game last season vs Simon’s 1.1 pims per game. How can that happen? Hollweg is a future Lady Bing candidate. And Simon is Charles Manson.

Anyway, it has been funny being tag-teamed by the Rag Bloggers the way Simon was double-teamed by Strudwick and Hollweg. Maybe one day Hollweg will fight his own battle without needing help from a teammate. Hollweg = Gutless Puke.

Let the games begin.

We’re about 23 days from the 1st anniversary of the creation of The Battle of New York Blog. Here’s what I said when I pondered just why I was doing this, in December of 2006:

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Why create Battle of NY?

Because, well, Rangers, Isles and Devils fans are a fun bunch, and we figure you’d love to hear how different our perspectives are on various issues, including our teams’ performances.

I started this site so that you could get a fresh perspective on hockey from 3 sides of the NHL’s most intense American rivalry.
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REAL REASON? Wanted a blog, didn’t wanna do all the work.

Anyway, we’ve accomplished some of the goals in this first 1000, we’ve had some great perspective from all three angles of the mighty New York hockey triumverate, and much of it has been fresh.

Overall, I’m proud of what we’ve done here. So, this week, we’ll be counting down the 10 Best Posts from our first 999. Two a day. Here’s Numbers 10 and 9.
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#10. “What Have I Gotten Myself Into Exactly?”
by Derek Felix
December 18, 2006

I am still trying to figure out why I decided to participate in this. If you know me, then you know I will give you my no-nonsense take on anything to do with sports. Particularly the NHL (soon to be renamed the No Hitting League). Sorry Steve. Couldn’t resist!

It’s been a while since I actually sat down at the computer and wrote something worthwhile about sports. To be quite honest, I’ve been in a funk since covering the repeat champion Staten Island Yankees. I’ve only covered two Devils games and now have no time to get out to the arena due to helping out with Berkeley Carroll High School basketball. It’s been a fun gig so far and actual money. Imagine that. Good god. Today, I ran into an old friend who was coaching the Staten Island Academy Girls Varsity team. We go back 10 years and I once worked for him in a similar capacity when he coached the Tottenville Boys team. P.S. I discovered just before that his former school hasn’t won a game this year and has been blown out as much as the Knicks. Good! He got the shaft over a year ago. So justice is being served.

Anyway, you probably are thinking why am I even filling you in on this? Because maybe me and the old coach could be reunited at the JCC like old times. We’ll see.

In any event, when it comes to this intro title, I may as well be discussing the Jekyll and Hyde nature of this year’s Rangers. Can anyone honestly figure this team out? After winning five straight in which they only managed to allow six goals mostly due to great netminding by both Henrik Lundqvist and whipping boy Kevin Weekes, the Blueshirts had one of the worst weekends an NHL team could have- losing by a combined score of 15-3 at Toronto and then back home to the archrival Devils. Or as I like to call them the Satans!

Now it’s one thing to not have it and lose 9-2 at the Air Canada Centre but quite another to get thoroughly embarrassed by a bitter rival on your own home ice the following night. A loss of discipline cost the Rangers big time last night as they allowed the Devils to connect three times out of five on the power play. That’s like a week’s worth for the offensively challenged team from New Jersey. (They also gave up six to a team that might be lucky to reach that total in the next three games). And in the same game, while the Blueshirts made their fans including myself feel eternally blue (no thanks to that vintage little Giant performance against the Eagles) with an awful 0-for on just as many PP opportunities, not only did they quit and force the home crowd to a quick exit reminiscent of what goes on in the Swamp. But also allowed the contingent of Devil supporters to turn MSG into their own adopted home. It is kind of ironic though that these fans who turn up in Manhattan are almost never found at their own abysmal arena which has morphed into a 24 hour construction site. I also found it funny that these “great fans” bragged about the “Let’s Go Devils” chants with six or so minutes left with their team comfortably in front. Where were those chants earlier when the game was still close? Guess they feared another monumental Devils collapse or just weren’t brave enough to pull it when the building was still full. That’s what I’ll never get about Devil fans.

So what’s wrong with the Rangers? Well, the effort certainly hasn’t been there the last two games. But also, they were lucky to beat Dallas before this weekend thanks to Lundqvist. What did he finish with? 43 or 44 saves? They are a weird team. But then again, you could say that for almost any of the four Atlantic teams who are separated by five or six points. The Devils looked like world beaters recently also winning five straight before coming down to earth with three consecutive losses before a strong response last night. So who wants this pathetic division? Stay tuned.

So today, the Rangers finally waived defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh. Carrying his $2.75 million salary wasn’t making much sense. But neither does basically placing the blame on the much maligned vet who worked hard to return early after such a tumultuous offseason which included taking part in the league drug and alcohol rehab program and recovering from offseason surgery. For the most part, the former Av who helped them win the Cup in 1996 acquitted himself well. He didn’t take as many chances in Tom Renney’s system and tried to make pairing with Karel “Poti II” Rachunek watchable. So when does Poti II stop cashing a paycheck? Nevermind.

With Ozolinsh out of the picture and Marek “Big Bird” Malik straining his groin and missing the final two periods last night, the Rangers recalled Thomas Pock from Hartford. The 25 year-old Pock who was once a Hobey Baker finalist has lingered for most of the season waiting for another chance to break into the lineup. Why Ranger management is so afraid to put him in is mindboggling. Is he really worse than what they got? The best D on the roster is Michal Rozsival. Malik gets bashed a lot but the team is actually worse without him. Recently, Fedor Tyutin and Aaron Ward have struggled. When an out of shape Darius Kasparaitis is outperforming most of your regulars, you know things are bad. And I like Kaspar but come on. Aside from that, the fans have grown tired of the predictable man-advantage where the pointmen never shoot and continue to overpass to Jaromir Jagr’s right side allowing for opposing PK units to just overplay and leave the points vacated. Brendan Shanahan is given little space. The fans last night chanted, “Bring Back Leetch.” And really, can the aging Leetch look out of place running the Blueshirts power play? At this point no. A move I have been against for seemingly ever now makes sense because the one thing No.2 can do is run a PP and take some pressure off Jagr, Shanahan, Martin Straka and Michael Nylander. So will it happen now that Ozo’s salary is coming off the cap? We’ll see.

With the dreaded Islanders coming in for the second match-up of the season tomorrow (a game I’ll be at in 411), the team needs to show a pulse. Especially after getting shellacked this weekend and outclassed by those same Fishsticks two weeks prior 7-4 once again at MSG in the Viktor Kozlov career game (4 goals). It’s hard to say what will happen. But it’s another big game between two rivals in a division nobody wants. Will someone please step up already? Till tomorrow.

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9. Tranny-han?
by Steve Lepore
March 20, 2007

Interesting stuff from today’s Post:

March 20, 2007 — LINDSAY Lohan continued her New York party over the weekend. On Saturday night, she and her pals, deejay Samantha Ronson and p.r. powerhouse Lisette Sand-Freeman, hit the Beatrice Inn before going to The Box at 1 a.m. – where Lohan got up on the stage and sang while doing a “stripper dance” to thunderous applause. She got off easy – after her, New York Ranger Brendan Shanahan was blindfolded and ball-gagged as trannies danced around him.

Didn’t get a chance to check it out, but Brendan Morrow’s goal sunk New York, 3-2.

At this rate, NJD will be in first by New Year’s.

A Big 3-2 victory for the Devils. Two goals for Brian Gionta, and one by David Clarkson on a brilliant feed by John Madden.

Four consecutive ROAD wins for New Jersey. They come home for Dallas, Montreal, Atlanta, Boston and Washington. Consecutively.

I’m scheduled to go Friday (MTL), Sunday (ATL) and the Friday afterwards (WSH).

8 Points out of 10 is particularly possible for this stand. Hell, 10 out of 10 is if Brodeur keeps playing at his God-ly standards. No Elias for 2 nights in a row and 2 wins.

The Rangers lost in a shootout tonight against the Florida Panthers, 3-2. Stephen Valiquette got the start tonight and really looked great for every shot he faced, except for the two that went in during regulation and the one in the shootout. All three goals were somewhat soft, but the amount of great saves he made outweighs the soft goals. Chris Drury broke out of a scoring slump and recorded both of New York’s goals, but couldn’t get the equalizer in the shootout.

The Rangers were really outplayed in the first period, but came out with a 1-0 lead. From there, their play picked up and was extremely sharp towards the end of the third period. The Rangers downfall, however, was the speed of Florida. They were quicker than almost every Ranger defender, which led to three breakaways in regulation, and several partial breakaways that led to scoring chances.

Sorry for the lack of updating over the last couple of days. I’ll be busy again most of the weekend, and probably won’t get a chance to update again until Sunday night or Monday morning. The Rangers take on the Dallas Stars at 1pm at home on Sunday afternoon on My9 for those of you in New York. Ryan Callahan is expected to return to action, which may be a good sign since Martin Straka, who returned today, left the game at the end of the third period. Enjoy the rest of the shopping weekend and I’ll check in after the Dallas game.

Scoreless after a lifeless first period until about the final minute.

Devils, Rags coming up later. Enjoy your day of hockey!

What a game. The Devils save their season with a huge win over Pittsburgh 2-1. Zach Parise got both goals on the power play. Marty Brodeur played a fantastic game, only an Evgeni Malkin goal off a redonkulous turnover by Johnny Oduya (sigh) kept him from the shutout.

Great game, including a key 5-on-3 kill by the Devils in the third period.

Devils take on the Thrashers on Friday at 7.

Tonight’s Ranger game against Tampa Bay will feature a bit of a lineup shake up. Here are the tentative lines for the Blueshirts, which is subject to change based upon how many times Tom Renney changes his mind.

Drury – Dubinsky – Jagr
Avery – Gomez – Shanahan
Hossa – Moore – Prucha
Hollweg – Betts – Orr

Tyutin – Girardi
Mara – Staal
Strudwick – Baranka

Michael Rozsival is nursing a sore knee. Strudwick is also skating on one leg after suffering a bruise on Monday. It’s the NHL debut for both Baranka and Moore. Should be an interesting game.

The game is also on MSG2, which sometimes I get and sometimes I don’t. So any updates will be pending I am watching the game. If’ not I’ll check in later on.