Blue Notes

One more day here in the city of Lost Angels (when I finish writing, I'm looking forward to dinner with some old pals at The Grand Havana Room), then driving north to Anaheim and San Jose later in the week.

Whenever I'm out here though, my mind reels back to hearing Rodney Crowell's "California Earthquake", which I recall seeing the Grateful Dead perform following the San Francisco quake in October 1989.

So because the Rangers are teetering on the fault line out here---watching as the cracks open beneath their skates---thought I'd share some of the lyrics before we dissect the aftershocks of the mind-numbing loss to the Kings that has left many fans bitter and demanding some changes:

"There was a California earthquake, in the year of '83
It shook the living daylights out of the Owens County Seat
Not a building still left standing when the dust had cleared away
Just a rumble in the distance all the way to San Andrea..."

"California earthquake you just don't know what you've done
We may fall off in the ocean, but you'll never make us run
You're a partner to the devil, but we ain't afraid of him
We'll build ourselves another town so you can tear it down again..."

"Then came the quake of '99 that levelled Mission Creek
The earth was like an ocean churning, with waves of twenty feet
Lord it sounded like a thousand trains were screaming underground
Clean across to San Joachim, they heard that mournful sound..."

"Then came one day the holocaust on San Franciso Bay
Ninety miles of walls came down like old Jericho that day
Might near everything the earthquake missed, a holy fire consumed
And left 'em smoke and the ashes of the dreams that can't be ruined..."

"California earthquake you just don't know what you've done
We may fall off in the ocean, but you'll never make us run
You're a partner to the devil, but we ain't afraid of him
We'll build ourselves another town so you can tear it down again..."

Shake-up time. For the Rangers to rebuild their crumbling town, break out not only the shovels, but the cranes. They're treading on dangerous ground here, starting from the front office to the coach to the ice.

1. Tom Renney said yesterday he has no self-imposed deadline to determine what to do about his eight defensemen. Not acceptable. Sit down with Glen Sather as soon as possible and between them, pull the trigger. If some exec decision has been made to keep Rachunek, then bite the bullet and waive the immobile Kaspar or Malik or Ozo and play Thomas Pock, who will at least bring skating, energy and a PP point shot. Unless Leetch is ready...

2. Play Nigel Dawes on the third line. Bench Colton Orr or Marcel Hossa. If you need to play Orr for a "physical" presence to go with his zero points, then scratch minus-7 Hossa. How difficult can this choice be? Am I missing something? Renney praises Dawes' intelligence and speed and positioning, but his talents are wasting away. Revamp the second line, put Cullen back at center, and put Prucha or Dawes there with Shanahan.
Shanny and Cullen are both quality two-way players---and leave them there.

3. Bring Jarkko Immonen or Brandon Dubinsky up to center a third or fourth line. Drop Betts to center the other with Ward and either Dawes/Prucha. Put Hollweg back on left wing and Hall on the right. Make sure you roll four lines. Let them develop. What happened to that philosphy? Why wait until the end of November?

4. There are several schools of thought about practice and motivation. Renney adamantly told me last night that he didn't think skipping the game-day skate for a exercise and a bike ride on the beach affected the team. Fine. But FYI, last time they didn't have a game-day skate was in Buffalo. That worked out well at 7-3, didn't it?

5. I'm certainly no coach---well, in a Jersey Little League for one summer and wasn't totally successful and I have been a newspaper editor directing staffs of writers with egos and stubborness and quirks---and it seems to me that pro athletes are creatures of habit, they crave routines, want to be told what to do, where to be, not have to think too much. But they also want your respect. It's a balancing act.
And I'm a big believer in situations and adapting. The Rangers aren't playing particularly well; so why have no game-day skate and today off? Maybe they do need the rest, because the upcoming sked is formidable, but it's not even Game 12, right?
Finally, Renney says he's not "a guru... I'm no John Wooden or Scotty Bowman."
Memo to coach: You don't have to be either of those giants. But maybe the veterans need some extra fire under their butts.
Maybe game-planning and attention to detail, of which Renney and his staff excel, won't always cut it.
It's too early for Renney to be replaced---yet. Hitch is available though.
Maybe the honeymoon's over.

This just in: Rangers have sent veteran Darius Kasparaitis to Hartford for a 10-day conditioning assignment, breaking the log jam at D. I'd expect Thomas Pock in the lineup against Anaheim

Pick a seasonal adjective: Ghastly, ghoulish, frightening.

Halloween came a night early here in the Staples Center. The Rangers are playing like dead men walking.

Unless they somehow transform into superhuman beings, the lads will slip back to the dismal medicority of .500, with two of the best teams in the league ---the Ducks and Sharks---looming in back-to-back games tomorrow and Thursday.

The unearthly list of gaffes continued in the second, which ended 4-1

The odd man rushes were too numerous to chronicle.

Against a slumping Kings team that was averaging two goals a game, the Rangers made horrifying mistakes, including allowing a goal in the early minutes of the second period and another in the closing seconds. They couldn't score on three consecutive power plays. The Kings even broke in 2 on 1 shorthanded with during the middle one.

This was a ghost of the team that beat Phoenix 7-3.

Brendan Shanahan (who else?) who had been stopped by Mathieu Garon with 11:40 left, wristed a shot from the right dot past Garon at 17:35 after gathering a pass from Aaron Ward. It was his tenth of the year, but the Rangers couldn't hold any momentum into the intermission. With 48 seconds left, Sean Avery zipped the puck past Lundqvist while Blair Betts vainly attempted a check in the left circle.

You've heard of trap games? This was a trap period.

The Kings, 0-4-1 in their last five, averaged fewer than two goals a game in their first 13 contests of the season;
Meanwhile, the Rangers are scoring almost four times a game, with Jaromir Jagr, Martin Straka, Michael Nylander and Brendan Shanahan in the league's top 30 in scoring.

The Rangers eschewed their morning skate for a bike ride in Santa Monica "to loosen the legs", said Ryan Hollweg. "It was good." Maybe they should have just kept pedaling towards Mexico.

That's because the KIngs had the legs in the first, outworking and outshooting the penalty-ridden Rangers 21-5, and Brent Sopel scored twice--the first on a deflection off Blair Betts' skate and the second on a bouncer that went under Henrik Lundqvist outstretched left leg---for a 2-0 lead. Five different Rangers took penalties.

The coach was concerned before the game.
"They're in no way as bad as their record (3-8-2) at all....we're very cognizant of that," said Tom Renney. "They have had a little bit of a tough time scoring, but that's not without the appropriate work habits. So I expect a very, very hard game. I don't know if these next three teams (Kings, Ducks and Sharks) will separate themselves by the nature of their work habits and attention to detail."

Among the lowlights:

The Jagr-Straka-Nylander line was on ice for about six minutes and didn't register a shot.

The defense, falling into bad habits, couldn't clear the puck, with the chief culprits being Marek Malik, Michal Rozsival and Darius Kasparaitis.

As on Saturday, the opponent scored first. This time, the Rangers didn't respond quickly.

Just another manic Monday in cloudy LA, where the freeway is a dull roar downtown.
But I can squeeze in some responses to your comments---sarcastic and supportive:

For Robby: As a newspaper guy for 30 years, I've never been one to avoid the road not taken in the media scrum because readers may enjoy a different approach than the other publications. You can look it up. Felt that way as an editor as well.

Yet sometimes circumstances dictate that there's one timely---and intriguing---story a day. Both Dellapina and I were at the skate Sunday morning and had the same idea about Hollweg and his SoCal roots; no thievery at all; we interviewed him together when he got off the ice. The Rangers aren't scheduled to be out here for three years---who knows where we'll all be in three years, right?---and the setting was too good to pass up. So 2 writers, one story, sometimes it happens. If Renney had said "that Jagr guy just can't play anymore''-- you'd have the same piece in all the papers, too.

For Bob: More numbers.
If the Rangers go 12-46, I won't be writing "Wait until next year"
Even before that, at 12-23, it would be "Back Up the Moving Van, Housecleaning time at MSG!"
And there would be a mass arrival of "yutes" from Hartford....

As for the tired old calculation that there are only 18,000 Rangers fans, well, your abacus may be on the fritz.
There's a waiting list for season tickets, I receive emails from all over the U.S. from former New Yorkers---and yes including some expatriate Long Islanders---who follow the team on the internet and satellite, even some commentary from Canada and Europe. NBC would love nothing more than the Rangers to advance deep into the playoffs to tap that deep base, trust me.

For NIck: Trading a veteran defenseman could happen, but the salaries of Kaspar ($3 mil, with one more year), Malik, Rozsival and Rachunek (around $2 mil each) are prohibitive for many teams. Feelers are out there, I understand, and not keeping Marc Staal here instead of sending him off to Sudbury looks more and more like a miscalculation.

Tyutin, Pock and Ozo, if he continues to re-invent his game with a two-way presence, are probably the most attractive and something could happen at the trade deadline. A waiver or trade for a draft pick is more possible in the short term. They can't stick with eight D for much longer. The numbers don't lie.

Again, thanks for the positive response to this evolving forum in the ether.

Circle back here later for on-site, exclusive (and I know that word is bandied about a lot, but this is legit) pre-game and between-periods info, ruminations and critiques from the Staples Center tonight.

'Til then.....

Watched the sunrise at Phoenix International Airport and upon arrival at LAX, decided to point my rented G-6 in the direction of practice at Toyota Sports Center in nearby El Segundo.

Almost took longer than the flight to find the joint, located in the shade of a freeway on a one-way boulevard.

Now, El Segundo is a funky little suburb. Porches boasted inflated Halloween pumpkins. You can see some of the LAX runways from the dog park, which was filled with mutts and masters on this sunny, but slightly smoggy Sunday. I know, because I had to pull over and ask for directions to the rink.
Twice.
The clearest answer I received was from a Irish setter who joyously pranced in a westerly direction.

Eventually located the place, three rinks in one, filled with mini-LA Kings, parents and siblings dutifully watching from folding chairs on a gallery while sneaking peeks at the L.A. Times. and sipping coffee.

Two different folks connected with the Rangers agree with my assessment that the Coyotes may be the worst team the Rangers will face all season...and perhaps will be sellers come the trade deadline. Even if Ken Hitchcock is brought in as a coach or consultant for his tactical skills, this is a crazy stew of a team, as we noted yesterday.

Nonetheless, fresh from the 7-3 defeat of the woeful 'Yotes, practice was spirited and lighthearted. Same lines and defensive pairings.

Near the end, Aaron Ward skates with his helmet pushed high and backward on his head, then asks to see the NFL lines in the sports section I'm reading.

A fan leans in past the curtained off area and asks Darius Kasparaitis: "Any way I can get a stick?"
"No, $200," he responds.

Coach Tom Renney, standing outside the rink afterward, says he's toward starting Lundqvist again as well tomorrow against the Kings, but is annoyed at the unfairness of seeing some youngsters, in full equipment except skates, running laps in the parking lot after playing.

Spoke with Ryan Hollweg, from nearby Downey, about his experiences playing youth hockey in this area and how the sport has grown in Cali. Check Monday's editions for that.

The Rangers are staying on the beach in Santa Monica; I'm downtown at a Marriott. But I still may go for a swim anyway.

Will get to those emails when I'm dry....

Some territorial dominance for a change, huh?
But at 1-1, not equitable results.

Some random thoughts between periods:

The Rangers could have had two or three goals instead of one on their 14 shots.
Shanahan rang the iron soon after Straka's goal at 10:06.
Jagr's skating well tonight, so the Jagr-Nylander-Straka line is starting to resemble last season.
The first power play---which produced five shots---was among the best two minutes of the season.
The shot that beat Lundqvist was a deflection off Aaron Ward's stick.
When we saw Ozolinsh playing with Kasparaitis in practice, we gulped.
But Ozo has been focused so far, and made all the right decisions.
Anybody miss Karel Rachunek?
Don't get too giddy yet: These are the Coyotes.
The signs are encouraging, however.

The Great One met with the NY media here earlier today. His musings on coaching as he begins his second season, and my musings on Wayne's World and the Coyotes, are in Sunday's editions along with some Rangers notes, as well as an NHL Insider column. Feel free to browse and respond to Blue Notes.

Finally, a laugher.

With a four-goal explosion in the first 11:46 of the second period, the Rangers charged toward .500 with a 5-1 cushion with twenty to play.
Eight points for the Jagr-Nylander-Straka line.
Crisp breakout passes, speed in the lane, what's going on?

As one wag in a Mexican restaurant in the Desert Springs Marketplace told me last night, "That's why we call 'em the Desert Dogs."

Still, the Rangers, 5-5 unless something totally disasterous occurs, needed this one.
But Hollweg should be reprimanded for the charging/unsportsmanlike call that gave the Coyotes an opening at 3-1.
Straka (two goals) is rewarded for his hustle, which he brings every game
Nylander is plus-4 at this point; Shanny has six shots
Upset of the night: Kaspar has a point...as do eight teammates
A rarity: The Rangers are winning two of every three faceoffs

Boy, this could've been a layup.

My plane is delayed for two hours at O'Hare and our ever-vigilant sports editors immediately---and gleefully, I hear, in their nightly meeting---surmised that the Blue Notes would open with a Jimmy Webb reference.

You know, something like (and feel free to join in....)

"By the time I got to... Chuck Barkley's base for his political career...

the cactus...
was molting...

the nachos...
were wilted...

the sage...
wasn't... so savvy."

Well, I refuse to lower my already lobby-level standards.
Imagine that. Me getting predictable at my age. Ha!

I did tune in a country-music station in the rented Malibu and promptly made the wrong turn a mile out of the airport and ended up on a lovely terra-cotta-toned byway with, of course, no signs.

Revelation: This area has grown so rapidly the Avis maps are outdated.
I swear I saw two javelinas on the roadside hawking vacation condos.

What hasn't spread rapidly is Coyote fever. The Rangers are expected to draw a healthy crowd, but really, why would someone here otherwise pass up a comfy evening outdoors under a technicolor sky to watch past-prime duds like Jeremy Roenick and Owen Nolan collect paychecks?

At any rate, the Rangers better show some spirit Saturday or some of them may be back here selling Zuni trinkets and beads at the mall. They need points here and in Los Angeles, because Anaheim and San Jose won't be easier.

Karel Rachunek (about time), Nigel Dawes and Thomas Pock apparently will be scratched for the 'Yotes game, judging from practice. Translation: Colton Orr is in to provide some muscle for about four minutes and Sandis Ozolinsh gets Game No. 2 on the comeback trail.

More tomorrow....Think I hear a taco salad calling.

Don't believe for a moment that the Rangers aren't serious about correcting their errors.

But when everything seems to be going against you, when the future looks darker than the sky before a thunderstorm, sometimes only a classic pop-culture reference will suffice.

Animal House, of course.

"We were all sitting there after the game (Wednesday's 4-2 loss to Florida)," Brendan Shanahan said following today's morning skate. "Looked around, and it was like, “These guys were just thrown out of their fraternity house, and what’s the solution?” Shanahan asked. "We said: 'Road trip.' "

Next up: Eight days in the west, with the Rangers searching for a road map to restore some balance to the season.

Shanahan, who had a cortisone shot for a lingering bout of tendonitis in his left elbow that he's had since the second game and didn't skate today, said the team "deserved a better fate" at the Garden.

"As a team, it's a step in the right direction as to how our forwards need to back-check," Shanahan said before the Rangers charter whisked them to a Scottsdale resort. "They had seven scoring chances at even strength. If you can hold a team under 10, that's pretty good. But it doesn't take away from the frustration."

According to Shanny, who will practice tomorrow: "Confidence for each and every player isn't sky-high.
But nobody in this room is pointing fingers. Not only did we not get rewarded, we had some isolated mistakes and they end up in the net."

The turnovers and giveaways, according to Rangers coach Tom Renney, were due to players being "indecisive" and probably won't result in any imminent shakeup, except perhaps some healthy scratches.

We've been lobbying here for Thomas Pock to play, and that could happen on the four-game journey. "I thought about him last night," while watching the 1-for-6 power play, Renney said. "He's a good skater, he's a little bit reckless, but he's not out of position too often. Never mind that he's got a good shot and he can distribute the puck. He's got a great one-timer."
Psst. Ground control to Major Tom: So just put him on the point for three games in a row and see what develops.

Goaltender Kevin Weekes, who has played just one of the first nine games, will likely play one game---either in Anaheim or San Jose, we assume, because they are back-to-back. Renney seemed to lean that way, but also hinted that depending on the outcome of the trip, Weekes could possibly be sent to Hartford afterward to play more regularly, and Al Montoya summoned from the Wolf Pack as a backup.

Meanwhile, your erstwhile correspondent will be jetting to the Valley of the Sun at a frightful hour tomorrow morning in order to catch Rangers and hopefully, Coyotes, practice. Check in then---and all during the journey for news, opinions and observations from the desert, and then California.

Thanks for reading---and commenting on---these dispatches so far
And because of the time difference, I'll be blogging during the games against the 'Yotes, Kings, Ducks and Sharks.

Immediacy and context. You can't go wrong touching base here.

Sandis Ozolinsh won't play tonight against the Panthers, but will on the upcoming West Coast swing. The reasons: Coach Tom Renney wants to assess underperforming veteran defensemen, as we have been reporting.
And Ozolinsh is thus spared the slings and arrows of the Garden boo-birds, who can't forget his April miscues.

“He played well enough in Toronto, but what I’d like to do is really get him going on the road, get him three or four games under him and get him on a roll,” said Renney. “He feels good and was disappointed [when told]; that’s a good sign.”

So tonight, Marek Malik, Darius Kasparaitis and to some extent, Karel Rachunek are under the microscope. Malik will be paired with Aaron Ward and Kaspar with Karel. Fedor Tyutin will skate with Michal Rozsival. Thomas Pock is a healthy scratch again, which appears to mean that he will stick around. The lines from Saturday, which Renney likes because each has some defensive conscience, he said, will continue, which means Prucha-Straka-Jags;
Cullen-Betts-Shanahan; Dawes-Nylander-JWard and Hossa-Hollweg-Hall.

Ozo took the news in stride. He said he was "very happy" with his performance in Toronto, but that it was just one game, and needs to keep proving himself. "I want to play," he said while catching his breath in deep draughts after post-practice laps. "Right now, I'm trying to earn the trust of my teammates, the coaches and the organization," More on the conversation with the veteran defenseman later...

On the wall above my desk at home hangs a collection of four postcard-sized prints from a trip to Donegal, beautifully framed by Andy Bart---a friend, neighbor and, I must say, a smashing guitarist.
There's a dark-cloaked fiddler with his back against a seawall; a man with a newsboy cap seated indoors, stretching an accordion; a Lennon-like figure reading from sheet music and plucking a round-bodied lute, and outside O'Leary's pub, a man serenading two passers-by with a tin whistle.
All of the musicians are playing, but each is peering in different directions.
Just like the Rangers recently.
"You're dealing with a group of guys now that has to come to grips with their identity as being a complete team," Rangers coach Tom Renney said after practice yesterday. "You have to score less to win more, if that makes any sense at all...and with that comes sacrifice. I think we're getting there."
On the third day without a game since evening their record at 4-4 with a shoot-out win in Toronto Saturday, Renney met individually with virtually every player. "They know what's expected of them now, everybody," the coach said after practice. "Certainly going into tomorrow night, everyone will have a very clear picture of what we expect individually, and as a team."
But tomorrow's home game against Florida, in which Saturday's line will probably remain together---isn't the only barometer. Renney suggested yesterday that he will bring these 23 players---including eight defensemen---on the road to Phoenix, Los Angeles, Anaheim and San Jose, and continue his evaluation of who should stick. Referring to the defensive surplus, he said: "My guess is, we'll have had a look at all of them."
Jaromir Jagr drew a fairly stark---but hopeful---comparison to last year's defense-first team.
"Last year, I knew we needed three goals to win hockey games and I was pretty confident we could do it," said Jagr. "This year, they way we play defense---all five guys on the ice---we need six goals. How many times is that gonna happen?...We're behind and we're just pressing, so you make more mistakes....We are a better team than last year, that's for sure, we just haven't played that way yet. It's up to us how quickly we can fix it."
Last season, Jagr shouldered the burden of giving the Rangers leads. With more secondary scoring, perhaps now the captain---still not as strong as he had hoped---must set an example not only with points, but with more two-way play.
That might just get everyone playing the same tune. And moving in the same direction.

It's not official, but you get the sense that defenseman Marek Malik will be returning to the dentist tomorrow or Wednesday to finish his multiple root-canal surgery.

That would let Rangers coach Tom Renney off the hook in determining what to do with a surplus of defensemen until just before the eight-day Left Coast road trip that begins when the Rangers fly to Phoenix after practice Thursday.

He could see who plays best---or worst---on Wednesday against the Panthers. How's that for pressure? Or wait to see if someone gets dinged up (and I'm not wishing that on anybody, by the way).

Actually Malik, whose wingspan---not his speed or shot---is his best weapon, could be the guy left behind Thursday under the premise of medical reasons.

Personally, I wouldn't risk sending Thomas Pock down and risking someone snapping him up, but the Rangers are in a bind, with too many under-performing, $2-mil or so backliners on hand. Renney said that "would be a consideration" if Pock was only going to play "minimal minutes" here. On the other hand, the Rangers have Ivan Baranka with the Wolf Pack who could be summoned if Pock is snatched and another D is necessary down he road.

Or as much as it might damage psyches, Sandis Ozolinsh, the disappointing Karel Rachunek or even Darius Kasparaitis could go to Hartford to sharpen their games. Ward, Tyutin and Rozsival presumably are safe. For now.

Cheers until tomorrow.
Unless there's some news...

You know Alex, I can understand your thinking on D; two of those three pairings were in place last season. And Ward hasn't played with Pock, so why not? Ward's committed to D and it would allow Pock to play up ice.

Rachunek has been dreadful and Ozolinsh doesn't need to play again on Wednesday. But it seems they're committed to playing Ozo once more, and then perhaps assign him to Hartford while they're on the West Coast sojourn.

Disagree with using Cullen as a first-line center and Hossa as a No. 2 wing with Prucha at center. Pete's not a playmaker and has been turning the puck over in mid-ice. Three and four are OK, although I'd move Hossa down to 4 and Hall up. I think Hall and Dawes need more ice time.

So you thought I was kidding about Air Canada? We were headed back to New York late this morning, when the fuel computer data vanished from the screen and the cabiin crew decided to turn back to Toronto. After deplaning, waiting, and clambering on another plane at a different gate, the lucky passengers waited more than an hour for two other pilots. A 65-minute trip turned into four-hours plus. Grrrr...

Did pass the time listening to some blues, especially smoky-voiced William Clark's "Serious Intentions" on which he plays some outstanding harmonica and his band just out-and-out grooves.

While yours truly was circling and killing time, the Rangers celebrated Family Day with a gathering of the clans in Westchester and the Flyers had a divorce. Burnt-out Bobby Clarke (never one of my favorites) resigned and Hitch got the gate. The timing is probably right---only eight games into the season---which gives the club a fair chance to recover.

I've got a report on the fiasco in Philly in today's editions, plus a follow on Saturday's Rangers-Leafs game and the road ahead. Let me know which six D you would dress against Florida if you were Admiral Renney.

Also, if you missed it, there's an NHL Insider column in Sunday's paper. You can also backcheck newsday.com for my NHL Preview and needle me for some of the observations. One thing: My prediction of a Sabres-Sharks finals may have some legs.

Practice tomorrah at 11. I can drive there, thank goodness. Check here in the afternoon for the latest spinnings of the Rangers wheel....

Air Canada, Gate A7, LaGuardia to Toronto, 6:55 AM
Yawning like a lion, long and lazy.
Air Canada and I are never in synch: I'm always early; they are regularly late. Why should today be any different?
Settle in with coffee, blueberry muffin.

Nearby, a young boy chatters with his mom who resembles the lovely Joni Mitchell in the 70s.
They're headed for Montreal, Gate 7. More families arrive with cherubic, but cranky kids.
Plane for Toronto flight arrives at 8, when we are scheduled to board. Flight to Montreal delayed.
On board, the cabin announces a runway delay. Our 8:35 departure is fiction, the staccato grinding noise while taxi-ing on the runway is a tad unsettling, so time to put on the headphones and shutter the world with Fleetwood Mac's classic "Future Games" and voila! we land on time.
Unfortunately, Rangers have moved morning skate to 10:30, an hour earlier than previously announced.
Translation: Scramble and skip hotel, cab right over to Air Canada Center.

The news: Henrik Lundqvist will make his first start here, says he'll be too focused to worry about the Hockey Night in Canada crowd.

D Marek Malik remained behind in New York, undergoing triple-root canal, sort of a dental hat-trick, I guess. Can't believe he practiced yesterday.

Sandis Ozolinsh looked pleased to be here. Aaron Ward, who played with Ozo for five months in Carolina, says Sandis is in tremendous physical shape, but added "it's understandable"
that he's nervous. "It's good for him to start on the road, there's less pressure in Toronto than New York,"
Ward said.

The coach is sticking with the juggled lines unveiled in practice yesterday. Prucha-Straka-Jagr; Cullen-Betts-Shanahan; Dawes-Nylander-Ward, with Hollweg centering Hall and either Hossa or Orr. But after the skate, Renney said he wasn't committed to those combos the whole game. As for Lundqvist rather than Kevin Weekes, who started both games here last season, Renney said he wanted to have his breadwinner (my term) exposed to the atmosphere in this rink, which will be rocking. When asked if it also made sense because if Lundqvist didn't play, he would have had six days off before the next game (Wednesday at home against the Panthers), he said "That's a part of it, sure."

In his post-practice presser, Leafs coach Paul Maurice had some things to say about the Rangers, too. We'll get to that later.
Cheers for now...

Should be an intriguing game in Toronto tomorrah.

In the first major reshufflng of the season, coach Tom Renney blew up his forward lines in practice and juggled his defensive pairings (one was D Sandis Ozolinsh, who would be making his season debut, with Aaron Ward).

Petr Prucha, for whom we lobbied for more ice time here yesterday, was moved up to Jaromir Jagr's line with LW Martin Straka shifting to center. Another line had C Blair Betts with Brendan Shanahan on his right and C Matt Cullen on his left. Rookie LW Nigel Dawes was on a third line with Jason Ward and centered by Michael Nylander and Ryan Hollweg centered a fouth line with RW Adam Hall and Marcel Hossa and Colton Orr taking turns on the left side.

On the backline, Marek Malik---who had two careless penalties Wednesday against Nashville and several defensive lapses---apparently will be scratched. Darius Kasparaitis was paired with Karel Rachunek and Michal Rozsival---Malik's long-time partner---was with Fedor Tyutin.

"We're 3-4, we've got to get this working," said Renney, who barked at his troops at mid-ice during practice because they failed to backcheck: "Don't (bleepin') stand around here," he scolded.

As we are so often reminded by philosophers and talk-show hosts, some things were never meant to last.

So batten down the hatches.

Don'tcha get the feeling this season's gonna be a stormy trip?

They say you can't change the wind, that you can only adjust the sails, and Captain Renney better check the rigging as the Rangers will soon leave the Isle of Manhattan for points north, west (Cali) and south. Ten of the next 13 games are on the road.

Maybe it'll be good to get fresh air in the lungs. Certainly the scent left in the Garden by Wednesday night's performance was unhealthy.

Having spent many summers near and on the water, whether it be the Jersey shore or Long Beach or the East End--and some glorious winter weeks in south Florida and the Caribbean---I've always believed "the sea air is my tonic", as some old salt wrote.

Actually, maybe we need to rub some salt in the Rangers' wounds.

The lads didn't skate today, so perhaps it's time to offer up some creative remedies, since all that that "team-building" has really worked out well so far, huh?

1. Get some more speed into the lineup. Petr Prucha and Nigel Dawes are woefully underused.
2. Send a message by benching a regular. Worked with Nylander and Poti last season. Candidates: Malik, Rachunek. Can we get a longer look at Pock?
3. Be careful with Ozolinsh. He might help the PP, but cost you elsewhere.
4. Practice breakout passes and vary the system. Teams are figuring out that you can press the Rangers and they'll cough up the puck.

We await to be illuminated by your suggestions. And let's keep it civilized, OK?
I'll check back later....
And if you're on your bike tonight, don't forget to wear white...
Cheers

In honor of the game against Nashville, wore the Justin cowboy boots and had the Steve Earle cranking while driving to practice, which was an optional one for the Rangers.

Not for the working press, though.

As was the case several times last year, Jaromir Jagr, Michael Nylander and Michal Rozsival didn't skate and coach Tom Renney wasn't on the ice, so assistants Mike Pelino and Perry Pearn put the lads through their paces.

Colton Orr (flu) also was missing, so expect Nigel Dawes to play again tonight. Otherwise, the lineup appears to be the same for tonight as against the Devils, with Henrik Lundqvist between the pipes. The next game is in Toronto---Kevin Weekes' hometown---on Saturday, so he may get the nod against the Leafs.

****

It'll be Adam Hall's first game against the Predators, for whom he had played for three seasons, but don't expect any extra snarl or revenge factor.

"It's nothing new to me playing against friends or people that I know," said Hall, who has two goals and an assist here, "especially growing up playing on (U.S.) national teams and having those players sign with different colleges and different pro teams."

The Michigan-born right wing, acquired in a mid-July swap for Dominick Moore, seems to have cut the cord with Music City. "I talk to some of the guys and you catch the scores on the news, other than that...I had a lot of fun there, made friends, but you always refocus. New York's an incredible city."

Whenever I'm in Nashville (was most recently there covering Jets-Titans on Sept. 10) and off-duty, I try to swing by the Bluebird, Tootsie's Orchid Lounge, Ernest Tubbs' Record Store, the Station Inn (for bluegrass), Robert's Western World or 3rd and Lindsley. Even took a colleague to the Charlie Daniels Museum last time, which was quite an experience.

Hall said he and his pals didn't hang at one particular spot. "All over the place, you change it up, keep things fresh," he said. You certainly can do just that if you're adventurous in Nashville.

****

Stat of the Day: Four Rangers (Jagr, Nylander, Brendan Shanahan and Martin Straka, are among the Top 13 in scoring; Steve Sullivan, with three goals and three assists, is the only Predator in the top 60. But watch out for Paul Kariya tonight.

****
Petr Prucha, who scored 30 goals as a rookie, has yet to dent the twine, but has five assists skating with Shanahan and Matt Cullen. "The kid's just gutsy, as usual full of the second-effort things," according to Renney, who has told Prucha not to worry about when the goals will come. "I would rather have him end up with 15 goals and plus-15 than be 30 and minus-15. To me that spells a championship team; Pete understands that."

****
Ryan Hollweg's aggressive approach isn't being reined in, despite the thinking that No. 44 is being targeted by referees. "I'm not gonna stop playing hard," Hollweg says. "I'm effective that way. If I take a charging penalty every now and then, well, we want to be known as a tough team. He (Renney) told me on the ice, 'Holly. we'll take those penalties.' " Renney thought that neither of the two on Hollweg in the Devils game (boarding and interference) were legit. "I'm extremely disappointed because this is still a passionate, physical, spontaneous game, and if we penalize people for playing that way because that is part of what they're all about and what teams require, we're doing the game a disservice," he said.

****
Question: Buffalo wiped out the Flyers 9-1 on Tuesday night. It may not be too early to ask: Will Ken Hitchcock be the first coach fired? I'll get to those e-mails later...promise.

Watch out for those clams...

Colton Orr (food poisoning) was scratched; not sure about the resturant. Or if it actually was clams.

Nigel Dawes will play the left side on the fourth line.

D Sandis Ozolinsh, recovering from off-season reconstructive knee surgery, "may be ready to go this weekend," head coach Tom Renney said, who is weighing using Ozolinsh on the power play. "I'll chat with him about it. He can provide a backside threat, a slot threat, he can move the puck and he can shoot it."

Left unsaid was that his defense is, shall we say, lacking.

The buzz around the lower levels of the Garden was that former Ranger C Petr Nedved was waived by the Flyers, along with RW Nicholas Dimitrakos and D Nolan Baumgartner. Nedved, 34, who is scoreless this season and making $2.356 million, likely won't interest the Rangers front office.

More later....

Ah yes, the type of bleak and dreary afternoon when the soundtrack should be Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue" or solo Keith Jarrett, which I've currently got spinning as accompaniment to arranging words on a screen....

The soaking rain didn't dampen the mood at practice though, with players more relaxed on the ice and in the dressing room.

Henrik Lundqvist, off his best night of the season in the 34-save, 4-2 win, talked amiably about the new, lighter headgear that fellow netminder Kevin Weekes is using. It's not for Lundqvist, who said he used a lighter mask in Sweden and that it wouldn't absorb jarring shots as well as the sturdier one. He also chatted about backhands being the most difficult shot to stop "because five out of ten times, I don't think players know exactly where they're going." Even if the puck is on a blade angled for a high shot, Lundqvist said, the puck can go low.

Brendan Shanahan received treatment and didn't skate in order to rest a nagging hip flexor muscle, but said he would skate tomorrow and likely Thursday. "I don't want to make too much of a deal about it," said Shanny, a class act who has delivered on the ice (seven goals) and in the dressing room -- as advertised.

Ryan Hollweg, nailed for a ridiculous third-period goaltender interference when he turned away from Martin Brodeur but was obstructed by Colin White, who fell, was defended by coach Tom Renney, not only for that play, but also on a boarding call late in the second.

"He took two strides and glided the rest of the way...and what ends up happening on impact, you explode and he finished his check," Renney said. "Maybe that part of the game unfortunately is gone now. In that case, I'm extremely disappointed because this is still a passionate, physical, spontaneous game and if we penalize people for playing that way because that is part of what they're all about and what teams require, we're doing the game a disservice, and that was not a penalty." On the third period call? "Complete obstruction," Renney said. "All of a sudden Ryan Hollweg has a target on his back."

During practice, Renney told Hollweg not to change his aggressive style. "We'll kill his penalties anytime," a defiant Renney said---except for lazy stick fouls. "All of the penalties that put a fear of God in the opponent we don't have a problem with."

*****

How about this for a new NHL stat? Most puzzled expressions after penalty calls. Rangers would be up there. You've got to hand it to the Devils, though, they must be the best coached team in the league. When around the league, more whistles are being heard than at construction sites in Manhattan when the ladies are strolling by at lunch hour, the New Jerseyites had only one penalty on Monday. If the penalty calls remain at these levels in December, I'm starting a campaign to revert to the one-ref system.

*****

Prediction: Sandis Ozolinsh will make his season debut on the West Coast trip that starts in Phoenix on Oct. 27, barring any setbacks. Don't be surprised if Ozolinsh, who thinks offense more often than defense and will be booed mericlessly at the Garden for his costly errors at the end of last season, is paired with defense-first Aaron Ward. Fedor Tyutin might be reunited with Darius Kasparaitis.

*****

Rumor Du Jour: Bruins, anxious to make a move, might be shopping Glen Murray. Could be tough at $4.1 mil.

*****

For those looking ahead: 1,224 games until Rick DiPietro is a free agent. We'll keep you updated.

On the drive south to the Garden down the Saw Mill/Henry Hudson, listened to a CD burned from "How We Operate" by Gomez, "RT", the fabulous Richard Thompson five-CD box set that my wife and daughter gave me for my last birthday, and some of "Silver City" by Sarah Borges, who, if you don't know, is a Boston-bred rising star who channels Patti Smith and Patsy Cline and who put on a memorable show at the Turning Point in Piermont last summer. So I'm ready...

Now for pre-game news:
Without Jed Ortmeyer (pulmonary embolism) and Dominic Moore (traded), and with head coach Tom Renney splitting up the tandem of Blair Betts and Jason Ward, the Rangers' penalty-killing has suffered.
Having yielded nine goals in 37 shorthanded opportunities---26th in the league overall---Betts and Ward were re-united last night. Betts had been skating with Adam Hall; Ward was paired with Marcel Hossa. Matt Cullen and Brendan Shanahan also have been used.
"Betts and Ward together were a combination that we used last year frequently," said Renney. "We'll come back to that and probably use maybe Hossa and Hall on the fly; after a stoppage, Cullen and Shanahan. Down the road, Ryan Hollweg also will kill penalties, Renney said.

****
As was the case last year, the Rangers aim for six points or more for each five-game segment of the season.
For the first segment, they came up with four. "We talked about that," Renney said. "We had an opportunity to close out our segment (in Buffalo) and we didn't do that." After tonight's game, the Rangers have only four others in the next 12 days, closing out the second segment in Phoenix on the first leg of a four-city West Coast road trip beginning Oct. 26. I think they make the six this time.

****
Henrik Lundqvist, who was 2-0-1 and posted a 1.64 GAA during the regular season in three games against the Devils, was back in the nets after a game off. "He seems real bouyant," said Renney, "and as usual on game day, he's very focused. Certainly he gives me all kinds of confidence. He's been very workmanlike."

****
Going into last night, Shanahan---who came from Detroit as advertised: tenacious on the ice, eloquent and approachable in the dressing room----was tied for first in NHL with six goals... Jaromir Jagr led the league in assists with eight; Michael Nylander was tied for second with seven....Rangers killer Brian Gionta had seven goals and an assist in eight games against the Blueshirts last season...The last time the Devils defeated the Rangers at MSG was Dec. 20, 2005

*****
No surprise to Rangers fans, but former captain Mark Messier is included among the "Sixteen Coolest Sports Heroes of All Time" in the November issue of GQ.

Rookie left wing Nigel Dawes, who watched the last two games from above after playing the first three, is back in the lineup tonight against the Devils. One man's opinion: Wise move.

"It's never fun being up there," Dawes said after practice today, where he skated with Jason Ward and Marcel Hossa on the fourth line. "The game looks pretty easy from up top." What did he specifically notice? "Keeping guys up high on the forecheck, having a low guy in the defensive zone...that's been one of our problems of late, it's something to work on. I was just watching the whole game, the system, taking it in, seeing how some guys play and learning from that."

The speedy Dawes, who averaged about seven minutes on ice in each of the three games, needs to play more. "I don't want to keep guys out too long," said coach Tom Renney. "I think there is something to be said for a young guy who's got a touch to help out on the offensive side of things and I also like the way he thinks the game defensively. He'll continue to learn and we'll bring him along at the appropriate pace."

The 21-year-old scored 35 goals for Hartford last season and made the cut in camp. If he's not going to play, send him back, right? Renney apparently thinks so, saying Dawes might move between the third and fourth lines. Colton Orr, still a one-dimensional player in this observer's eyes, will be scratched

Dawes said he "did a little bit of stats for the game in Buffalo," but didn't take any notes while watching. "It's mostly in my head." Let see how it translates on-ice. Got a hunch it will sooner than later.

As reported in today's editions, veteran defenseman Darius Kasparaitis will play for the first time this season, and Thomas Pock will sit. Kasparaitis, a left-handed shot, will pair with Karel Rachunek.

One player moving under the radar is defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh, recovering from knee surgery and a off-season in the league's substance-abuse program after being arrested for a DWI in White Plains in May. Renney said Ozolinsh is "still day-to-day...we're within games of playing. He and Kaspar have been working hard. It's not like they're catching up to something that's been real prolific here and doing an outstanding job." Hmmm....

Rummaging through a basement bookcase the other morning for an old mystery novel, (just finished reading "The Blood-Dimmed Tide" by Rennie Airth, which I can recommend), I discovered a thin, paperback-sized New York Rangers Blue Book from the 1965-66 season with Harry Howell and Stan Mikita on the cover. Cost a buck back then.

Sat down, paged through the hidden gem and was briefly spellbound. The hunt for the novel was abandoned.

Yeah, life is full of detours and in these hectic, no-time-to-smell-the-roses days, some of them can be quite enjoyable.

Perhaps this venture will be one of them.

As in the late 1960s and 1970s, when the best music came from free-form radio, this endeavor won't have a defined structure or timetable, although I envision some regularity: One or two daily posts, regular updates on prospects in the system, report cards on the team at various points during the season.

In a way, this will be a running travelogue, from practice in Westchester to the dressing room and press box at the Garden to the morning skates in Montreal and Toronto.

Please check back here for observations, quotes, inside info and presumably, some hidden gems on the Rangers and the NHL---and rock and roll, jazz, art, television, movies, hotels, restaurants, weather, lost highways---that you won't easily find elsewhere.

M.C. Richards once wrote that "poetry often enters through the window of irrelevance." Writing about the Rangers here will be far from poetic, in fact, much of this may trend closer to hurried dispatches from the battlefront.

But hopefully, these Blue Notes will act as a relevant gateway, and for fans, maybe strike the right chords.

Steve Zipay is an award-winning journalist who has covered events from Super Bowls to World Series and issues from sports marketing to stadium financing.

Based in New York for 25 years, Steve also has been a news editor, a business editor and sports media columnist for Newsday.

In 1997, Steve was a member of the Newsday team that won a Pulitzer Prize for spot news reporting on the crash of Flight 800. This is his third full season covering the New York Rangers.