Kane and Able

So the streak of twenty-something Captains winning the Cup continues as the Chicago Blackhawks doubled the number of wins over the Philadelphia Flyers to take the 2010 Lord Stanley Cup last night.   Congratulations to Chicago for earning it, over the course of the entire season and for not allowing thugs to bully take-the-Cup from your grasp!

Official recap here.

Blackhawk's Captain Patrick Kane scored what will be a historic 'under-the-radar' overtime 'goal winning goal', literally under the radar of the goal light, the goal referee - through Flyer goalie Leighton's five-hole undetected by anyone wearing orange & black, while Kane skated theatrically pumping his fists and stick in the air, embracing the hesitating Hawk bench, defying what the officials or the Philly bench deemed "upon further review."  He knew.  There was nothing to review.  It was over for Philly.

NY Rangers fans across the globe felt elated at that very moment toward those responsible for ending our season prematurely - they would not drink champagne from the cup, they would not stand taller in the Atlantic Division, and they would no longer remind us that it could have been us.  We lost to Philadelphia in a skills competition and it ended our season, but toward the end of regulation we were on a winning streak, the team started to come together, not all that different than a path the Flyers took which brought them to the finals.   We were jealous during the playoffs, we felt down on our Blueshirts - but not now.

Losing the Cup when it's standing before you, in front of the fans that have continued to show up over two horrendous seasons, unable to close the dream and make your home city proud is worse than not making the playoffs.  As a fan, you have to live with that 'empty' for the entire off-season.  Go home Flyers and enjoy your vacation.   Nice job.  Now you have more to prove next season because second best doesn't cut it.

We know it hurts.  We visualize Lundqvist missing that shootout game to a fifth-stringer goalie named Boucher in the final-deciding-playoff game.  But you all probably feel much worse than we do, so have a couple of Yuenglings and cheesesteaks on us.  As the City of Brotherly Love, Hartnell and Carter can go back to hugging each other's wives, 'bully-camp' or whatever it is thugs do with time in your hands. 

We'll see you at the Garden in October ready to pick it back up where we left things....

Happy Off-Season Hockey Fans and Players.  It's been quite the ride and we'll see how things go with the approaching draft and July 1 free-agent day.

tdr

This Feels Right

...one more to go, Chicago!    tdr

HEART'S not Enough..

RANGERS FALL TO PENS, DESPITE ARTISAN EFFORT

Artem Anisimov’ first 2-goal game opened some eyes from fans wondering when the youngster would finally live up to the potential he was rumored to have before being brought up to the Rangers. Last night, its hard to say he didn’t do his best to live up to that. His cut across the middle and using the defensemen as a screen was definitely pro move on the 1st goal and the effort on the second goal is something the Rangers should be looking for in their young players. Unfortunately , it wasn’t enough.

Official recap here , if you can stomach it.

So here we are again Ranger fans… A good effort from few players and the rest of the team that took turns being invisible. It was kind of expected, wasn’t it?  I mean we can all act surprised now and go, "I can’t believe that one got away from us…". Or we can admit to feelings going in that we were going to get run ragged by a Pens teams with a balanced offense and all that fancy stuff, like guys that stick to their defensive assignments, make intended passes and an offense that sets up immediately and follows the plan. Trivial details on a team such as ours, where our D-men do just fine being steamrolled along the boards every 5 seconds and our forwards break out like packs of Vietnamese soldiers trying to outrun a firestorm. All this complaining is still getting nowhere… Unfortunately, as fans, its sometimes all we’re left with and it is the tie that binds us. So maybe it’s time we start taking stock in this team.

Now before I start, I am not saying the defending cup champs (that were practically escorted to and through the cup finals) are the model team. In fact, taking a look around the league, there are a few young teams (like Chicago) that are showing a lot of promised and proving themselves a force to be reckoned with. So how is it that stalks of youth players are shooting up all over the league and ours is growing slowly and unevenly? It’s common knowledge that a seedling growing in the shadow of an old tree will never get enough sun to reach full size, if it survives at all.

Our youth right now is growing in the shadow of more experienced teammates that play a soft game. The money and the contracts dictate that these vet players are important. That might be true if there were used effectively to bring along and teach the fine points of the game to the youth. Instead, they dictate the pace of the games, and the pace of the practices and breaks (hear about anymore Tortorella bootcamp practices lately? Yea me neither.) Moreover, they are dictating the mood of this team on the ice. Earning a contract on star power and then playing the diva that has had their ego shattered by a tough crowd at the garden has gotten to some of these players and they are setting a bad example for their younger counterparts.

What’s more telling is that the younger players are full of energy with nowhere to go because they have no idea where they belong… in the play, on the ice, or on this team. Young Anisimov is a classic example of this. Last night, he either sat around waiting around for someone else to score or he took upon himself to do it. Too often these young kids are waiting for their older counterparts to lead the way only to hear the final buzzer and think “$hit… I could have done that…”. The vets on team don’t do crap because they are either afraid of getting yelled at or can’t be bothered. What is clear is that, they need to be turned before anyone else. It’s no secret that of the players that stood out on this team this season.... Callahan, Gaborik and Lundqvist aren’t waiting to be told to do what they know how to do … And between the other two, Avery yelled back at the coach during the game and Prospal told the coach where to stick his criticisms once upon a time in Tampa Bay.

The others however are looking for validation and correction and it needs to be dished out with authority. Young teams like the Pens, Chicago and LA have drafted well, but their players are made well aware of what they need to do to stay in the NHL and get ice time with their respective teams. How is it that rebellion of youth can accept guidence and take direction better than proven NHL players. The answer must be in the delivery of the directions.

Rangers blow it in windy city; Hang King out to dry.

For any Ranger fan still reading, I feel your frustration and know your pain. I don’t normally watch the team’s postgame show. Watching the loss live is enough for me and the recap just seems to be icing I can do without. I did manage to catch Iron Mike’s commentary on how this team completely disappointed when it came to winning this game for a goaltender that stood on his head all night and blocked 30 shots through the first 2 periods. I probably just should have posted video of it instead of writing another long winded post from a disappointed parent’s “you’re not applying yourself” point of view… However for all their honesty, our beloved commentators still have to fill their daily quota of sugarcoating, soft soaping and homerism to keep the casual fans from working themselves into the frenzy us die-hards hit a while ago and have slowly worked into a numbing dementia that resides just beneath the surface.

Official Recap here.

Here, we can give it to you straight without fear of calls coming in from marketing teams and blowhards in suits kicking down our doors. It’s not surprising that we folded in the final moments after spending 63+ minutes doing windsprints while chasing a Hawk team that streaked up and down the ice like they had redbull exploding from every vein. Even still, though we killed ourselves to keep pace, we put a cap on their offense for most of the game. With stellar plays, rubber ligaments, and lightning reflexes... Henrik backstopped his team for the entire night and triggered a hockey version of Tourette’s syndrome for every hawk fan in the United center. Sadly it wouldn’t be enough as the rest of the team grew rather comfortable knowing he was there to erase their mistakes, and gave a soft effort in the 3rd. Why else would a trio of Rangers (including gentle giant, Boyle—Susan? , no Brian but I could be wrong) stand by and watch as the hawks top line jabbed Henrik relentlessly and buried a rebound, after he made a diving save in the crease?..... Why else would a defenseman like Marc Staal be caught too deep on a 4 on 4 against a team that feasts on open ice with their speedy offense? These are questions that may unfortunately go unanswered. We can only hope they don’t go unasked by the man behind the bench.

It’s become fairly obvious, that our team has become a mere sparring partner for teams that are stepping up. While you and I know it’s a contest... a competition. .. The team seems satisfied to provide their opposition with a training tool to test their persistence, hone their skills ... oh and practice their crushing body checks. Sadly, our one man offense that is often attributed to frivolous spending via cell phone from a fishing boat somewhere in Edmonton..should not be soley to blame. I’ll contend that even with a few more high scorers, our record might be temporarily improved but still eventually fall back to this state of impotence that has us playing our game according to whatever our opponents decide we should get away with. It’s obvious now that we have receded to being a team with no will and no resilience. We score when the opposition lets us and while we diligently await our cues from our adversaries and have success in 5 second spurts when someone on our teams flashes back to their pee wee heydays.. and it happen to coincide with momentary breakdowns in the other teams defense or line changes; we fail to force them to do anything consistently throughout the game. We have no balls with the puck. In fact, the only line that has aggressively worked the puck in the offensive zone instead of cycling it off the damn end boards is the 4th line. Hell, Brashear looked like a top line power forward on this team last night as he, Parentau and new guy, Christensen seemed like the only players with enough guts to enter what seems to be the no fly zone between the hash marks. So why is it, that the leaders on this team, branded or unbranded would rather break sticks back at the bench or approaching the tunnel after a loss, rather than acting when it counts for something during the game? Even the bright sparks of our kids, like Del Zotto hip check has dissolved as this bunch of pu$$ies hobble back to the dressing room and comfort each other after another tough loss. This mope and shake your head in confusion crap is contagious and if there’s one thing I can say about that phone wielding idiot on the fishing boat, it’s that it is time to stop being a buyer and start selling. Ok, no one wants the contracts we are saddled with…. Well then cut someone and get someone to set an example or we’ll ride this infectious funk all the way to the Olympics. In the past, it was as easy and going out and getting Sean Avery. What the hell do we do now that he’s already here and the team still found a way to lose its heart and its balls? The best option now starts with stripping Drury of the captaincy and put him on notice that its sink or swim time.

P.S. - if anyone's thinking of making a pull-string Henrik ornament, don't forget my cut.

"C"oming Out Party in Chi-town

What to say about Friday's game? How about -- too bad if you missed it. Perhaps one of the most entertaining games in some time. NYR 3, Hawks 2 OT

The Rangers arrived with their fathers along (it's father's weekend for the team) to face the feel-good story of the NHL this season -- the rising Blackhawks in the Windy City. The Blackhawks are a top team in the Western Conference, led by their rising young stars, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, and lead the league in attendance. More than 22,600 were on hand to support them against the Blueshirts. Goalkeepers' NYR Lundqvist (23-12-3) and Hawk's Nikolai Khabibulin (13-2) started.

What the fans witnessed either live or on t.v. (but not in HD) were the efforts of Captain Chris Drury who demonstrated why on this night he is the captain. His overall skating was tremendous. His work on the penalty kills was magnificent (and he got a lot of work in), his 2 powerplay goals were wonderful -- a laser shot in the 2nd and a deflection in OT. He skated for 19:52 and was awarded the first star but made a strong case for having a star named for him.

In the face of a hostile environment, the Rangers came to play and nearly every player brought their "A" game. A for attitude, that is. Lots of hitting came from the Rangers. Dan Girardi (my personal favorite, I wear his jersey) threw his body around like he was auditioning for The Wrestler. But it had its consequences. He pummeled Dustin Byfuglien late in the first period and clobbered Kris Versteeg in the second. After that one, Cam Barker took exception to the checks being delivered by Girardi and attacked the usually peaceful Girardi (who does not play dirty) and body slammed him headfirst into the ice after a brief but energetic fight. Dan did not return and you get the feeling he will be out for a while if he has a concussion. Barker received 17 penalty minutes for his efforts.

Early on, it looked like the refs wanted to call penalties to get control of the game. Still, the first period was pretty even with the Rangers skating well (especially Gomez) and some nice chances were not converted. The Blackhawks scored late in the first period on a deflection by Jonathan Toews that hit the crossbar and dropped in behind Henrik.

In the second period, it looked like the refs wanted to tilt the ice to the home team. Staal said some magic words to the refs after Roszival was penalized and drew a 10 minute misconduct. So the Rangers were down to 3 defensemen (with Girardi hurt) for a sizable portion of the 2nd period. During the 2nd period, the Rangers defended for 4:15 being down 2 men five separate times (and down 2 defensemen for a good portion of the time). The Blackhawks did not score, much to the vocal dismay of their fans. The penalty killing led by Drury, the skating of Gomez, the backstopping by Lundqvist and work of all the defensemen (with kudos to Redden and Kalinin) were simply fantastic. Unbelievably, only the Rangers scored in the 2nd period thanks to Drury's pinpoint laser beam of a shot during a Rangers powerplay, the Rangers scored the only maker in the 2nd period and the game was tied 1-1.

During the game, the Rangers mustered only 22 shots v. Chicago's 34 -- in the third period, the Rangers made their first one almost last. The Korpedo led a rush from the left side and broke free for a nice shot that was stopped by Khabibulin but Dubi was there to knock in the rebound for a 2 -1 lead.

The defense had succeeded all night long especially in the face of penalty kills by clearing slots, giving Henrik clear views, deflecting numerous passes during penalty kills and clearing the puck regularly (Mara, Roszival and Redden had more than 25 minutes of ice time). Henrik was particularly aggressive at times (no stickhandling fortunately) but he came out to the top of the crease on one sequence to block a shot and then retreated to the goal line to guard the post. Recently, it seemed he had been hiding at or behind the goal line. The Blackhawks were shut down for nearly the entire game. The question became whether the Rangers would have the legs to last.

Unfortunately, the Rangers were called for a 4 minute minor (Rozsival high-stick) and then a 2 minute slash on Callahan -- both questionable calls -- with less than 7 minutes to go. So the Rangers had to face a lengthy 5 on 3 starting with 6 minutes to go. The Blackhawks tied the score on some nice passing leading to a Brent Seabrook slapshot from the left point that eluded Henrik's right foot into the corner of the net.

Instead of a letdown, the goal ignited the Rangers led by of all people, Coach Renney. After the recent home loss to Montreal (a game that turned on 2 PP goals for the Habs early in the 3rd), Coach Renney told the press that perhaps he shouldn't be so gentlemanly to the refs during games. During the Blackhawk game, you saw his mild demeanor turn into something less placid. After the game-tying goal (the result of a 2 man advantage), the camera was trained on Renney marching over to the team's gate by the penalty box, throwing it open and delivering a diatribe of the type that he is rumored to give his players behind closed doors after lackluster play. I thought he was going to march out on the ice like Lou Piniella and throw sticks or overturn the goals.

The Blackhawks still had the man advantage but Renney's anger may have influenced the refs because Brian Campbell was called for a penalty after tackling two Rangers in the offensive zone. That penalty negated the remainder of the Chicago powerplay. That turned out to be a bad mistake as the game went into overtime.

In the overtime, Andrew Ladd drew a slashing penalty. The Rangers passed the puck smartly and Drury batted in (a skill honed in his Little League days) a nice shot form the point by Redden for the game-winner about halfway into the overtime.

In the home stretch of the road trip, the Rangers easily could have been excused for losing this game -- they were playing an inspired team in front of a full house. Referee calls were curious (some would say outrageously in favor of the home team), and you can accept a bad game after several stellar efforts.

Instead, led by their captain, the team displayed character, grit, perseverance and guts that we have come to associate with the team during this campaign. The PK unit successfully defended 10 out of 11 Blackhawk powerplays. They successfully defended 5 out of 6 (yes, 6) Chicago 5-on-3 advantages, totaling nearly 7 minutes. Only late in the game, did they finally succumb - but they at least had the lead so instead of a heartbreaking loss, the teams went to overtime. And for another game, the powerplay scored for the 2nd straight game, 2 PPG including the game winner.

I have to admit that after the game finished (I was watching it at the food bar at my local pizzeria), I was exhilarated because of how the Rangers played. To be honest, for this one game on a Friday night on a freezing cold day, I could not find much, if anything, to criticize -- their overall effort was that good. So now it's on to Pittsburgh for a Sunday noontime game. The Rangers have collected 7 out of an 8 possible points on the road trip and remain in first place. Right now, I have nothing to complain about other than the weather.

- Tony