The Dark Ranger: Goal-Ski!

Bio of TDR

TDR is a working professional in entertainment and is obsessed with the game of hockey. More fourteen years ago, this site emerged as a means (or an outlet) to tell some truth'isms about the game post-lockout, rather than the crud fed to us through knuckleheads like Jimmy Dolan and his lemmings universe. Today, there are a hundred Rangers sites and is thankful and grateful to all those that have come after him, but honorable thanks go to his fellow Dark-writers, Graying Mantis and J_Undisputed. And "Let's Go Rangers!"

Bio of General Ganz

General Ganz is a cynical yet well-informed student of the human spirit. He's a professional of sorts, with a post-graduate education, some experience working in real companies, and some limited athletic ability. The total small package. He got picked on a fair bit as a kid, and he experienced his first human-non-relation kiss in his teens. He also grew up on the other side of the tracks, thereby helping to cultivate a healthy contempt for dreamers and optimists whose rosy upbringing gave them something to smile about, even when "life produced lemons." Like it or not, his only mission is to point out the potholes you're lucky enough to miss on your drive to work. To find the blemish on your daughter's carefully-stitched (and not-yet-paid-for) wedding dress. To take that little smidgen of hope that your favorite hockey teams fill you with, and pour orange paint on it. Oh, and he is a Blueshirts fan, and takes most of his fashion direction from Ron Duguay (whose name he dropped as a way to close the deal on that first kiss).

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Goal-Ski!

WOLSKI TAKES WIND OUT OF CANES IN SHOOTOUT.

It was a fiercely contested game. How fierce was it. It turned brother against brother as older brother Eric had no problem delivering a headshot to younger brother Marc when the Staals met along the boards. Marc who was skating with his head down would eventually leave the game with a slight knee tweak that Tortorella would later describe as nothing serious.

Get the official recap here.

Our blueshirts showed life early with heavy hitting, while Caroline did their best to get the run and gun game going with the speed of Eric Cole and an aggressive as usual Eric Staal. While we seemed to be taking the fight to the Canes, and even managed to score the first goal. The sheer amount of odd man rushes and semi breakaways in their favor was enough to make every Ranger fan facepalm about every 2 minutes. With Henrik making great stop after great stop, we managed to scamper into overtime and netting at least one point, thanks to a lot of patience and puck handling of Wojtek Wolski in the Carolina zone, in the closing minutes. In Jagr-esque fashion, Wolski showed his potential weaving through red Cane jerseys and drawing attention away from the far side of the net. Michael Sauer would come down from the blue line to chip in, but it would be unnecessary as Wolskis pass was batted in on a defensive attempt of a Cane defensemen.

With the Rangers surviving a 5 minute overtime in which 4 on 4 would have almost spelled doom for the team considering the Canes speed and even more breakaway opportunities, the attention turned to the shootout. We seemed to have a pretty decent first 3 for shootouts in Christensen, Zuccs and Wolski. With Ward stopping Christensen and Zuccs shooting wide, Wolski took his time winding his way down and drawing Ward off center. While many of us were expecting Wolski to do his divide and conquer move (body and skates going left and his Stick and puck going right) around Ward, Wolski took advantage of the non centered Ward and smoke one top shelf over the glove.

Prior to the shootout, Wolski could be seen in the corner consulting with Marty Biron on what his options were on Ward. Perhaps Zuccz and Christensen could have benefited from the Back up sage. At this point we should be doing everything we can to close out games and win and separate ourselves from those behind us. Wolski showed an awareness and appreciation for that urgency. It is, however, a concept that hasn’t seemed to resonate with some members of the team. We must move forward every chance we get. Every second of every period or every game or we’ll find ourselves in that dreaded or die last game of the season again.

Till next time Ranger Fans,

J_Undisputed