King(s) of New York

HENRIK MAKES 43 SAVES AGAINST DEVILS

It was fiercely contest game. Well the second half anyway. Despite assertions from on again/off again coach Lemaire that there was no rivalry till his team started playing better. The opinion either was the ramblings of a disillusioned soul or a strategic chess move from a would be evil genius.

Read the official recap here.

Apparently, we were too busy gloating from the beating we gave the other trespassers from Long Island to start this game full throttle. Its not often I find myself applauding anyone in a rangers suit for their honesty, but during the first intermission Sully hit it right on the head when we acknowledged we were being out played and getting "killed in the corners". I personally took as a bad sign when Girardi got hammered at the buzzer and moped away like it was nothing.

We were sticking close to the evils ones from jersey long enough to feel like applying ourselves and beginning the exorcism. Throughout the second we showed signs of life and and went 1 up off a lucky bounce and the tension started to build. Things would eventually Boyle over (pun intended) in front of the ranger net as Brian Boyle found himself paired up with Zubrus emerging from a scrum. After half a game of turning the other cheek, we had finally had enough and raised the level of our efforts completely shutting down Jersey in the final period.

Ron Dugay pointed out the exact difference between these two teams. "The Rangers can play without Marian Gaborik but the devils haven't found a way to play without Parise". It made all the sense in the world watching last nights contest. With cap problems abound, guys like Rolston being sent to the ahl and being rerun through reentry waivers in the hopes that someone would pick him up and ease the Cap Hell the devils are sinking in because Kovalchuk wanted prestige and notoriety as a hundred mil player. The last thing they need are returning guys like Arnott missing 2 chances at an open net and guys like Corrente stalking Avery while looking for blindside hits that haven't much to do with any plays developing in front of their net... and lastly, their aging backstop only showing glimpses of what earned him the leagues favoritism in seasons past. With one foot in the past and the other in the sh*thouse, maybe Lemaire was right. There is no rivalry. The domination of the islanders and sinking of the devils only alludes to the fact that we have risen to the top of the tri state area. While other teams we trampled regardless of the leagues favoritism will play each other in the winter classic, we may have to sit back and realize that the only thing standing in our way, is ourselves and that sooner or later .... There comes a time for every team to fulfill its destiny and recognize its own greatness....

First New York, then the Tri State Area, Next the Eastern Conference.... and soon Maybe the league.... Lets Go Rangers!!!!!!!

Till next Time Ranger Fans,

J_Undisputed

P.S. -For those watching the Crosby Streak. It's over... we now return to your your reguarly scheduled sensationalized NHL marketing campaigns. :P~

The Rangers, at Yankee Stadium, is a great idea.

Jibblescribbits here

Since The Dark Ranger is taking care of TtDR (The Tiny Dark Ranger, the small "t"is to highlight the tiny) on paternity leave, I thought I'd come in and throw some of my thoughts around. Since reports have surfaced that the NHL is in discussions to play an outdoor game at Yankee Stadium, I thought that would be as good a place as any to start.

To my surprise not everyone that (presumably) is in the NY area is on board with this idea, so I'll give my thoughts and respond to some of the doubts I've seen:

Sometimes I think you NYC folks must think anyone on the Pacific coast. west of the Mississippi, left of Pittsburgh must think the rest of us are a bunch of whiners. Why? well because we invoke the "East Coast Biased media" saying a lot, especially when we feel like our teams aren't getting the respect (i.e. coverage) they deserve. For the purpose of this discussion let's assume (accurately!) that there is an East Coast media bias, especially in sports media, and that it's especially concentrated in the D.C.-Philly-NYC-Boston corridor.

Now if you are trying to increase your media coverage, which the NHL is, why not have the showcase game, in the showcase American market, with it's showcase team (which happens to be steeped in tradition). Normally the NY showcase team is covered to the point it makes everyone else nauseous (See: Yankees) however since hockey isn't covered at all that overexposure contempt isn't really anywhere to be found for the Rangers. If you happen to have them playing in the most famous stadium in the country, the one the national sports media has crammed down our throats for the last 50 years, it gains even more exposure.

But the goal isn't just to get the NE involved in hockey, but everyone. Like it or not Yankee Stadium is the most famous stadium in the country right now. If the NHL can swing a game to be there, the last game ever there, it would get more attention than the NHL has had in the last 5 years... combined. The novelty alone is worth front page on the Times, Post, and every other NY-centric paper. That link, that familiarity, will get fans outside of the NE to feel at home too, watching a game in a stadium that everyone is familiar with.

As long as they pair the Rangers with a non-NY based team, with a star or traditional rival. (My picks, in order: Washington, Philly, Boston, Detroit, Whoever the Rangers play in the playoffs this season,Toronto) It will generate a ton of buzz, which is exactly what the purpose of the game is.

I don't think anyone is arguing the above points, I see mot people arguing against Yankee stadium specifically, so I'll go over my responses to the two main arguments that I have seen.

But the Yankee Stadium should be closed out by a baseball game. Bah! Sentimental Rubbish! I get the sentimentality of it, but "last event in a stadium" doesn't really matter. The most meaningful stadium to me, ever, is Mile High Stadium. My dad had season tickets during the 80's Super Bowl seasons and I remember going to nearly every home game for the better part of 4 seasons as a 6-9 year old kid. That stadium is like a football holy site, in my mind. But the funny part is, now that it's gone, I don't care what the last event there was. It may have been a Broncos game, it may have been a Rapids game, more than likely it was a concert for some washed up pop-rock band from the 60's. It doesn't matter though. That "last event", whatever it is, doesn't diminish my memories of watching the Broncos there. It doesn't diminish the "holyness" of it. Just as a Rangers game at Yankee Stadium won't diminish any of the baseball memories made there over the years.

And let's face it, even if the Winter Classic doesn't happen there, the Yankees are not going to close it out anyways. If Hollywood can get Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore on the field to "celebrate" the Red Sox first World Series win in 86 years, they damn sure are going to be able to get into Yankee Stadium after there are no more baseball games to be played there. Yankee Stadium's last hurrah is bound to be some crappy movie with B-B+ list actors. Why not have a great hockey game instead.

Yankee Stadium is a dump, And the sitelines won't be good for a hockey game. Poppycock! (You can see my theme for the day is stereotypical British dismissive exclamations) Having never been to NY, and obviously the stadium, I can't argue this, I've only seen this response. However it doesn't much matter. If you are attending this game in person you aren't going to watch a normal hockey game, you are going for a giant party that surrounds a hockey game. The game in Buffalo this season was exactly that. It's tailgating (which is probably hard in the Bronx, like I said I wouldn't know), drinking off your hangover from the night before. It's an event. You don't go to the Superbowl to watch the game you go for the atmosphere. What provides a better party atmosphere than Yankee Stadium on New Years Day?


Here's a longer blog post that agrees with me as well.

Yankee Stadium game likely for Rangers, and NYR 1, Bruins 0

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/2008/03/09/2008-03-09_yankee_stadium_game_likely_for_rangers.html

The Dark Ranger is thrilled that this may be a possibility as long as the MSG season ticket holders are guaranteed first buy-in. As it would be a historic final game at Yankee Stadium - and strangely odd - you can count on the Dolan family (owner of MSG and The NY Rangers) to give something back to the fans and keep the ticket prices low. (not!)

Knowing there were disputes with Penguin Igloo ticket holders for this year's Winter Classic, we can only hope for smooth sailing for those - including myself - that shell out our kids' college 529 plans to attend the playoffs this season!

Sorry to have missed posting yesterday's game against the Boston Bruins, as Little Dark Ranger will be brought into the world tomorrow morning. Not much to say about the game, except we will take the two points and we will also take that level of goaltending. Henrik Lundqvist was stellar in goal -- deserving of his contract. The Lundqvist we once knew.....confidence.....sharp.....the goalie who will steal two games in the playoffs and bolster the confidence of our zero defense. Rozy played well toward the end of the game, but still needs to be reminded that he can be replaced if necessary.

There were numerous scoring opportunities; if a 0-0 game in regulation could be judged on goal post-hits the Rangers would have won 15-1. Luck didn't go our way in scoring: Jags failed breakaway, Chris Drury's beautiful far corner miss, Sean Avery's hustle for nothing. But all in all, Henrik took the game from Boston and Nigel Dawes (the lone scoring goal in the shootout) took the game for the Rangers!

Everyone welcome a guest Flyers fan who will objectively attempt to cover the Buffalo-Rangers game this evening, 7PM EST. I have no idea what will happen!!!???

Let's go Rangers! Lookin' good these days.....but for how long?

TDR