Big Week

So Backman and Sjostrom score and we win a heart stopper in New York. What can I say? The team looks great right now 7-0-2 in our last nine and the only complaint is the power play. Tonight marks the first of two against the Islanders, and if there is ever a must win that isn’t a game 7 its this. The Islanders reside 5 points out of that 8th precious spot so back to back losses would propel us four points ahead of them and push them two games back of making the playoffs.

Expect one hell of a game. We should bury them but you know how it goes, never according to plan. Hopefully Backman took all the penalties he was going to take for the week in those past two games, and maybe we can keep them off their game. The Garden will be rocking as it always is when we play the Islanders. Should be a whole lot of fun.

On a sadder note Sean Avery has broken off contract negotiations and seems to be heading for free agency next year. Sather should have signed him when he was sucking so we could have signed him cheap. Ill keep an eye on this for all of you. More tomorrow or after the game …

Well … It Went Okay

Debuts are a funny thing, especially after the trade deadline. Generally he deadline is spent getting players you need for the upcoming playoff run, if you are buyers. All Ranger fans were screaming for a puck moving defenseman, and perhaps a defensive defenseman too. Personally this team needed a defensive defenseman more than a puck moving one but Jesus does our power play ever need help. That’s the funny thing about hockey though. Obviously the goaltender is the most important position on the team. But a puck moving defenseman are the rare breed that everyone wants. Its not a surprise that most of the greats never leave their teams. The Rangers could not acquire Campbell, if you do have to trade a player like that you don’t do it in your conference. So instead they took Backman, a solid defenseman from the Blues. He had a very bad first game. Chalk it up to nerves, before the third period he did play a very solid game. Sjostrom on the other hand had a terrific first game, and I’m already convinced hes worth Hossa and Montoya. He skated on all 4 lines and logged 12 minutes of play, while creating a quality scoring chance and not doing anything bad to note. Tomorrow is going to be a test, we need to beat Philly. More tomorrow.

After The Deadline

Okay so its 2:30 on the deadline, which is 30 minutes away,  and I’m actually trying to take a nap because I figured were not doing anything. Soothing me into my sleep was TSN’s GM’s corner on the radio streaming off my computer when they announced a flurry of trades which included Chris Backman for a 4th round pick to the Rangers. Hopping out of bed I looked up this guy and was slightly disappointed.

We got a solid defenseman, don’t get me wrong hes not bad, but he doesn’t hit and hes not an enforcer. Once Campbell and Boyle were off the market I removed my want for a big name and I replaced it with an enforcing defenseman. I hate to say this but we obtained a Malik defenseman. Speaking of Malik we really do not have the D depth to trade him right now so yeah … Hopefully he plays as solid as Malik did in 05-06. As for the trade to PHX Gratton is an enforcer who can relieve Orr from time to time, and Sjostrom has played the PP, PK and #1 line with PHX. Montoya and Hossa were just not working out for the Rangers. Unfortunately this means that Montoya’s 6th overall pick was an utter failure.

What Sather did was obtain depth something that we needed. Now we have 8 defensmen for the playoffs, if we go. And that is something you need … period. So good job slats, way to not trade youth for rentals that wont work. Pitt traded the farm for Hossa. Hope he works, not really I actually hope he breaks his leg and is out all year because they have become more lethal. Anyway more tommorow.

Looking Ahead

When Straka scored 9:32 into the third I looked at the score a winced. 5-0 Rangers with half the period left and the game that I have banished to the back of my head came creeping back to say hello and remind me that it happened. Thankfully if this did happen to the Rangers they didn’t show it, continuing to play brilliantly and completely demoralising the Florida Panthers. We hold 72 points walking into the trade deadline, which if you would remember was more points than I was asking for weeks ago at this point and time (I wanted 70).  

Good things continue to happen, as bounces FINALLY have started going our way. Gomez had a great game with a goal and two assists, while Jagr scored his second goal in as many games. Lundqvist was tested early, and answered the call, and finished the night with his 8th shutout. We are 5-0-2 in our last 7, which is the type of run we need to be going on in order to make the playoffs.

Tomorrow at 3:00 pm marks the trade deadline. I have to assume yesterday was Malik’s last game as a Ranger, incidentally it was his best. According to the New York Post Sather has been talking to the Lighting about Boyle but not only as a rental but he has sought permission to negotiate a contract with him. Apparently Boyle wants to play for the Rangers, something about him wanting to play for a big market team. Nothing like the bright lights of New York to satisfy that. Boyle would be a hell of a pickup if we don’t give up too much. (SIDE NOTE: This is one of the deepest drafts in a looooooong time, I don’t want us giving away picks) He was a big part of their cup run and he has been on fire thus far with 11 points in 13 games.

Other notes Sundin is staying with the Leafs. Classy move by a classy guy. Just my opinion but he doesn’t want to pull a Bourque.

Showing Some Life

There were many moments yesterday in which the old Rangers would have packed it away and gone home with no points. But they stuck it out, even after blowing two one goal leads, and eventually going down 3-2. The combination of Dubinsky’s goal and an assist, (how sick has this kid gotten??) another goal by Dawes, a game winner from Avery, and a goal by Jagr (finally). That was enough to keep the Sabers at bay. Drury had an assist in his return to Buffalo and had an overall good game. Lundqvist completely stole that game for us which was good to see since that colossal meltdown in Montreal, not that that game was completely his fault but good to see its out of his head.

I saw some really good things yesterday. Avery played outstanding with a goal, a fight, and was an absolute menace on the ice. The most telling sign that I saw last night though?? When Mara was leveled by Patrik Kaleta and he hit the ice Staal immediately went over and buried Kaleta. It merited two minutes but that’s a good penalty to take. You cant let a team throw themselves around like that. The resilience of this team is also quite telling and if we keep playing like that then we can definitely win some games and make a playoff spot. Were 9-3-2 in our last 14 games. With 19 games to play we need to keep it up. Trade deadline is three days away … rumors are getting hot. Florida at the Garden tonight, a must win. More later …

Yeah Thoes Are My Rangers

Ever had one of those moments when your watching your team win and you get that sickening feeling that you know they are going to lose. I got that feeling as soon as it went 5-2. Let me bring you back to last year when we went down 5-0 against Ottawa. We rallied for 4 goals and never found a way to put home the fifth. I was at the game and afterwoods I turned to my friend and said “were the only fu*king team in the league that can come back from 5-0 make it 5-4 and lose the game. As the third peiod began last night and they scored their third goal to make it 5-3 I was in the fetal position rocking back and fourth telling myself “they are going to lose the game, they are seriously going to lose this game.” And guess what?9 second later, yeah 9 seconds, its 5-4. And eventually Kovalev tied the game and the rest was history. The kicker was when Jagr streaked down on a two on one with Gomez in overtime and had a clean lane to shoot and passed. And he wonders why he doesn’t score … Incidentally he went on the shoot out and deked himself out and DIDN’T SHOOT AGAIN. Don’t blame Lundqvist, I can only truly blame him for the fifth goal, and by that point the place was going nuts so nerves must have set in. This was a complete team collapse and I’m curious to see how we respond to Buffalo and Florida.

If you can put the whole 5-0 thing behind you this isn’t the worst thing int he world. We got a point on the road in one of the hardest places to play in the NHL. I said i wanted 5 of 6 points well there is our one overtime loss. If we beat both Buffalo and Florida we have 72 points walking into the trade deadline where Sather NEEDS TO GET A STAY AT HOME. To me when the score went 5-3 in the third if we had a big stay at home, take no crap defenseman, things would have been different. We would have sent him out and he would have buried someone, mainly Koivu, Kovalev, or Ryder.

Ugh … Shake this off, I know it sucks but don’t harp on it. Hopefully they aren’t either.

Montreal Up Next

After a big weekend the Rangers need to look to keep up the momentum they have gained. The Rangers play 4 games in the next 10 days, so I would fully expect Lundqvist to play all four. Three more games until the trade deadline; Montreal and Buffalo away and the Panthers at home. I had written before that i wanted at least 70 points before the trade deadline. Well we have 67 right now with three games to play. I want 5 points out of this three game stretch. The game tonight and the one against Buffalo are incredibly important since were fighting with both for playoff positioning. The Panthers is just a game we need to win.

Tonight the Habs are going to give us a hell of a game. Since they are probably still stewing about the 3-0 lead they blew on Superbowl Sunday. For the Rangers they have to play tonight like they played over the weekend.

We need to stay out of the box!!!!! Probably the most important part to this game because the Habs have a lethal power play and if the Rangers give them opportunities like they did the last time they played this game will get out of hand fast. We should also try to convert on the power play. If the Canadiens give you a gift you need to take it. If were on the power play we need to score. Simple.

Big Game tonight. We better come out with a whole lot of heart.

Two Games Four Points

The Rangers are not out of the woods yet but man what two great wins in a row does for moral. Ryan Callahan has been incredible since his return from Hartford. With 3 goals this weekend he has been on fire. It also helps that his line-mate Chris Drury has also been insane, scoring the game winning goal on an absolute cannon from the right circle. Gomez continues to contribute with two assists this weekend. Lundqvist was brilliant stopping 58 of 60 shots this weekend.

I know what your all saying, we have done this before and we can still screw all this momentum up. And its true we can. But this weekend I saw two games in which we could have come out flat and gotten slammed. We completely derailed a very hot Buffalo and we fended off the Sharks who hold the best road record in the league. This is the Rangers team we wanted and needed to see. Were getting a lot of help from the Flyers who have lost 7 straight. We currently hold sixth place in the conference, which means we would play Carolina.

With the trade deadline 8 days away we do need to discuss possible options. I have heard a lot about a power play quarterback. There is also some interest in Forsberg. More later.

Lundqvist Signs 6 Year Deal

TSN reports that Henrik Lundqvist inked the contract that was on the table. Its a 6 year 41.25 million dollar deal with a limited no trade clause which beings in 2008-2009. Hes making 6.875 a year for the next six years. Overall its probably a little more expensive then you all thought it was or wanted it to be, but when you have a goaltender you keep him. Good news either way. He should be able to focus on hockey now. More later.

Lundqvist Appears Locked Up

Well according to The Daily News Henrik Lundqvist has agreed, in principle, to a 6 year deal worth about 6-6.5 per year. TSN.ca also reported this here: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=229527&hubname=nhl. According to TSN the contract is being fixed up right now and should be announced by Thursday. If this is indeed true great signing by Sather, hopefully this keeps Lundqvist’s mind on hockey and not where hes playing next year.  

Sean Avery’s contract equally seems to be next on the list of Rangers to sign. And love him or hate him he brings snarl that this team, otherwise, does not have. He has had an injury riddled year, and he has not put up the same offensive numbers, but his contributions to this team are immense.  He is a fan favorite, and he most certainly throws players off their game. Last year in the playoffs he especially threw off Atlanta’s Ilya Kovalchuk, even taunting him into a fight, and not allowing him to settle and be the normal assassin he is. Avery is an incredibly important member of this team, and he has definitely cleaned up his game a lot. The rest remains to be seen. More later.