Speaking of scratches, I benched the Adam's Mark for the Hyatt, so things have been delayed...
A few of us waited more than 20 minutes for a cab there to get to the skate: And this was after the bellman called. As Gary Cohen would say: Outta there!
Anyway, Hollweg skated with Betts and Ortmeyer and slapped me on the left shoulder after practice in the dressing room. The bruise is subsiding, but I'm thinking he's ready.
Lundqvist and Jagr didn't skate but all is well: No brain teasers from Jags as he was working on his sticks, and when Colin Stephenson of the Star-Ledger suggested that he should be taking advantage of the new rules regarding the curves of the stick blades, Jagr responded. "I have....If it hadn't changed (before) I would have 700."
Meaning goals. He has 621. And eight points in the last four games against Buffalo.
Here's some quotes from Shanny, the other playoff vet, on Avery: "It's a high wire to walk in your career, knowing when to be physical and when to contribute offensively and he's done a great job of that since he's joined our team. He's been a very good hockey player for us and he hasn't lost that edge."
"We all felt in Detroit that he had offensive upside. I went through it when I first came in the league, fighting a lot; you try to establish yourself and a reputation and a code and you use that to try to get yourself room. I think coming to New York, for him, was a fresh start. I think he was trying to do that in LA, but sometimes you need a fresh start on a team to kind of re-invent yourself as a player."
Asked about Avery's "beware of me" quotes, which have been a major topic here: "I don't really get all caught up in that, I've been around a while...kinda hear these things, it comes down to what you do on the ice."
As for Buffalo's prowess, Shanny said: "Give Buffalo credit for finishing first in the regular season and they won that trophy, but it's a whole new trophy we're after now."
Newsday's Mark Herrmann has joined me here for the duration, so the double-team is on....
Comments (61)
OK, Hollweg is in, I am excited and also fearful he is playing.
I look forward to some serious body checks but PLEASE no hits from behind.
Jim, agreed. I sure hope Renney spoke to Hollweg and mentioned the term "controlled aggression". If he takes himself out of position to go for the big hit we're in trouble.
I hope Ruff dresses Peters. If we can take one of their regulars out of the lineup to dress that clown than Avery has already begun to work his magic.
Come on Hank, we need you now more than ever! Long live the King!
looks like rachuneck is in too..his shot from the point could be huge, wonder how he'll handle his long layoff tho.
peters in.. drury out!!..nice to dream :)
why does mark hermann pretend to care about hockey once a year?
Hey ranger fans have you checked the score of the game? 3-0 Buffalo in case you did not hear. Looks like you are well on your way to another year of cup futility!!!! LOL!!!!
Do not worry though you always have 2048 to look forward to.
This is a Ranger DYNASTY
1940...1994...2048!!!!
Nice performance tonight. Very impressive gameplan.
Disappointing game, though it was nice to see them light the lamp after inconsistent pressure in the latter half of the game. Rachunek looked overmatched - if Roszival's healthy, wonder if Renney will go back to Pock. (My instinct says no, based on this season's experience. I can't tell what the development plan is for him, but it's good to see they re-signed him. Do you think the contract extension came with his own cushy leather seat in the press box for next season? I digress.)
Couple of questionable calls, but I'm by no means a conspiracy theorist. Not sure how Straka can hook someone with one hand - looked more to me like a stickcheck and his stick got stuck because of the way the guy was turned. In any case, we need to avoid any appearance of impropriety and stay out of the box.
Nick - we noticed the score, thanks. Don't know what your beef is (Islanders or Sabres fan?), but your insight (or lack thereof) is pretty much useless here. Be an actual hockey fan and go watch Canucks-Ducks.
-T
Great Game! Woo Hoo. Awesome. Stanley Cup... here we come. Oh Yeah!!!! It's time to plan the parade.
Boy those Rangers are looking real good! Three goals given up in less than four minutes! How could that happen? Oh, thats right, the RANGERS SUCK!
Hope you didn't get too excited about the Atlanta thing, 'cause the BROOMS are coming out, fellas. Best get yourselves ready.
sabres in 4! nice game tonight. hahahahahaha
omg sean avery is soooooo good. solid stats tonight, -3 and 4 PIM. nice job avery.
HEY TODO WE AINT IN ATLANTA NO MORE HA HA RANGERS SUCK AND THE QUEEN GOES DOWN
the sabres are just too good for us. wave the white flag
wait, how do i skate again?
i wish deb kaufman would pay attention to me.
Must be some bored Islander fans out there. Truly sad and pathetic in a lot of ways actually.
Paybacks a bitch.
Sean Avery, -3, if you are going to run your mouth in the papers, you have to play better than that.
Bored Islander Fan - if you're so bored, why don't you look up the definition of 'payback?'
Gimme an S!
Gimme a U!
Gimme a C!
Gimme a K!
Whats it Spell?
RANGERS!!!
Isles fans
1993 the last playoff series win you'll ever see.
Now run along to your little Islander blog or play some golf. Nice Smyth trade. How many games did he play for the fishsticks.
Sean Avery definitely looks like a cup winner to me! He surely does belong on a team that went more than HALF A CENTURY without winning anything. That would be the same team that had 60-70 MILLION DOLLAR payrolls annually and could not make the playoffs for almost TEN YEARS! You guys keep those novacaine syringes at the ready to stick in your colons, because you know this one is going to hurt, even if that female named Jagr scores a cheap goal or two. It is time to face the facts: You are going down, and going down hard.
I was at the game. The Rangers really sucked .. HAHAHAHAHA. Tune in to watch the Sabres win the Stanley Cup :D
Hey, all you Islander fans with your blogs. Didn't you already get eliminated by the same Sabres?
I would worry more about another of your illustrious owners going to jail.
Anyway, I will laugh like hell when we sign Ryan Smyth in the off-season.
Getting back to the Rangers, that's what NEWSDAY gets for canonizing Tom Renney on Sunday. He did not have his team ready to play and he NEVER adjusts during the game. Jagr is a poor excuse for a captain. He, Nylander, and Straka took the night off, as the p***y European players too often do.
Regardless of how the Sabres do in this series, Renney was right in what he implied: they're not the "cream of the crop." An idiot with half a brain whose watched Anaheim or Detroit this year already knows that.
Hey Steve,
Stop crying about waiting for a cab. If you're at the Hyatt, go out the back and take the trolley. It's free and takes you straight to the arena. I see you get around town with as much insight as your column. Rangers in 7? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
is this the rangers team of 98-05? no passion, no heart.
I would mess up Jagr in a street brawl.
GREAT TO SEE YOU READ BOB. MORE THEN THE OTHER PEOPLE UP THERE IN BUFFALO. JUST WONDER THOUGH IF ZIPAY IS SO DUMB. YOU READ HIS BLOG AND POST ON HIS MESSAGE BOARDS?
ALANIS MORISETTE LOOKED SHARP IN GOAL LAST NIGHT. (THANKS JIM FROM WOODBURY)
What does that make us if we can't beat alanis morisette?
WELL JIM, THAT MAKES US THE TEAM THAT LOST GAME 1. SABRES FANS DONT REALIZE TODAY THAT THERE IS 6 MORE...FRIDAY WILL BE DIFFERENT
I didn't write that, that last comment was an imposter Jim from Woodbury.
Lots of people sure change their names around here.
I keep the same name because I am confident I make valid points and know as much about hockey ANYONE who posts on here.
Yeah, Friday will be different....CLICHE'!!! Yeah, there's six more games...CLICHE'!!! You guys don't have the talent to roll with us...let's face the facts. All you NYers talked a big game but couldn't back it up. By the way, where was Avery last night? Oh, that's right - on his a** all night. I thought he was supposed to be a big hitter. Funny how easily the hunter becomes the hunted...Sabres in 4...but you ignorant NYers can always dream of 5 games...
One game DOES NOT a series make.
We aren't going to blame the officiating or a bad goal review like the Islanders did.
We were outplayed handily in a 6 minute spurt in the 2nd period, can't do that against this Buffalo team.
Forget about it, lets move onto Friday.
And all you geniuses who came onto this blog after the loss, especially you Islander fans, hopefully will come back on here after the Rangers win Friday night.
Hey Anonymous, is that what your Mom named you?
You guys were SUPPOSED TO WIN.
You are the best team in the league, with home ice advantage, playing a lowly 6th seed.
Keep patting yourselves on the back and start looking to next series already and you'll be sorry.
Oh, and in response to the high school graduate who was surprised anybody can read in Buffalo. FYI...Buffalo has an extremely higher educational level than NYC, in fact one of the highest per capita in the country. And our taxes would only be 1/4 of what they are if we didn't have to support all your uneducated, jobless, homeless, welfare scumbags. By the way, I never had rat before...how do they taste? I'm sure some of you have had a taste considerig they run rampant around your dirty a** city.
Anonymous - are you forgetting who drives the economy of New York State? Last I checked, it was a bit further south of Buffalo..
We might as well just concede that there will never be any sort of intelligent hockey dialogue here and forget about it. Silly me for holding out hope this long.
Enjoy the playoffs, those of you who are actually hockey fans.
-T
Tough break guys, I know how you feel. While I do fully hope the Rangers lose, the Isles lost by the same margin the first game and came back to tighten it up. I see the Rangers doing the same thing.
Oh and to the Buffalo fan dumping on NYers...aren't you supporting a New York team?
Anonymous-
Without the NY Metro area your entire city would be trailer parks instead of only 50% of it. You're welcome for the money we pay to the state. Without having to support rundown cities like Buffalo my state taxes on LI would be a lot less. So again, you're welcome. Jobless, homeless, welfare scumbags? Very classy, now go back to your mother's trailer and get some rest, you have to go to your carnival job soon in your '72 Ford pickup.
The boys have to stop with the penalties. That's 16 minutes that Jagr, Nylander, etc. aren't on the ice. The Sabres score goals in bunches and that's exactly what happened. We outplayed them for the first 10 minutes. If only Prucha had put in that rebound behind Miller the game may have turned out differently.
The Sabres deserve credit and I think they are the "cream of the crop". But we can play with them. Game 2 should be a different story.
JIM, I KNEW THAT WASN'T YOU.
ANON-
MANHATTAN IS YOUR CITY TO PAL, IF YOU CAN'T REALIZE THAT THEN YOU ARE AS SAD AS YOU LOOK HERE. REALLY SAD THAT YOU CAN'T RESPECT THE GREATEST CITY IN THE WORLD. I LOVE THE FACT THAT BUFFALO FANS THINK THIS SERIES IS A WRAP. GOOD STUFF. IT WILL BE MORE PAINFUL IN THE END. MY HAT GOES OFF TO THE SABRES LAST NIGHT. THEY PLAYED WELL AND DESERVED THE GAME. TO THINK IT WILL TAKE FOUR GAMES LIKE THAT AND THE SERIES IS OVER, YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING. PLEASE, TELL US YOU ARE AND GAIN AN OUNCE OF RESPECT.
WHAT CHAMPIONSHIPS HAVE YOU WATCHED A BUFFALO TEAM WIN?
Last night was a bust. Oh well. On to the next one. Sabres looked pretty good, but they are vulnerable. They always push their D foward at any chance, so if the Rangers can get some fast breaks down the middle the vibe will change very quickly. Plenty more hockey to be played. After watching last night though, I'd like to see Orr and Pock back in the lineup again. It worked before for whatever reason, and I think it's worth going back to.
Anywho, Let's Go Rangers!
Okay guys, let's get back to hockey talk. I really don't see this team getting past Buffalo this round. Buffalo is too skilled for us and Avery and Hollweg taking penalties is not the recipe for success. We had a good run in March but we still need a lot more pieces to get past the 2nd round.
PS - Thomas Pock is cute.
Still not me
Probably the same guy who yesterday accused me of boasting I was from Woodbury.
Get a life.
Pock deserves a shot. I know that Renney and Sather for some reason, like Rachunek, but hes really nothing special.
Buffalo played a strong game. Rangers gotta stay outta the box. The 2nd line with Straka, Avery and Shanny looked a little out of place. 3rd line played well ! Jagr needs to go to the net more.
Sorry about anonymous guys, we're not all like him. Maybe it's because we've never actually won a championship & he's not sure how to act. Or, he's just a jerk. I know how much NYC contributes to us & although i've only been to "the city" three times,it is by far the greatest city in the world. I love it.Ok, enough of that. I don't really see much changing in this series,we have more talent,more speed & we're way deeper. Your best players are almost as good as ours but you can't play two lines all night long.We honestly have four #1 lines,you can't keep up with us.I thought you had the goaltending edge but not anymore.We aren't Atlanta,were much,much better.
I was watching the game with Denis Potvin and he said the rangers defense and the queen looked soft. Also napolean complex avery didn't back up his words ( that's OK because the MTV crowd thinks he's cute). And last but not least... hollweg didn't play his game ( hitting guys from behind).
ranger fans, funny how you say you ignore Islander fans yet you still cannot stay off the Islander blog. You and your team are pathetic! I loved seeing you play a team that actually knows how to play in the playoffs!! It was so funny to wacth your team show how clueless they are!! LOL.
ouch, my leg still hurts. someone please get me my vicatin.
Nick,
It's another step for this Rangers organization who is on their way to building something.
They have resisted the temptation to trade their prospects to make a quick run of things.
Considering the current state of affairs for both for the Rangers and Islanders organizations, I'd say the Rangers trump them in every way, particularly legit NHL prospects.
Personally I would be very quiet right now if I were an Isles fan, you boys definitely have your own problems.
hey ranger fans, how ya feeling today? feeling a little old? felling a little slow? feeling like you have an overrated goalie? feeling like your team's leader is a back stabbing, big mouth soon to be finger pointing little piece of crap? feeling like you have a captain with no heart?.....not to worry, it will all be over in another 3 games! how do you expect to beat the sabers, when the isles couldn't? everyone know that we're bettr than you. you were just fortunate to play the worst playoff team in recent years in the thrashers! see you on the golf course losers!!!!ha ha ha
Oh, I forgot to add. Messier was watching the game with Potvin and me. We had to run out and get more Kleenex " the captain" was blubbering so much.
Same ol' Mess!
Hey Brian Curran,
Feeling like you the Isles don't need to attend the draft because they traded their first 2 picks for rentals?
Feeling like you better keep Yashin because your best players will walk away as UFA's and you need to have somebody to put on the ice?
Feeling like you are worried about Dipietro having lingering concussion problems with 14 years left on his contract?
I have no life therefore I hang out on the Rangers blog and immediately respond to any negative post about the Rangers in 10 minutes or less. I must always get the last word because my P is small.
LOL, an Isles fan on a Rangers blog telling me I have no life.
My point exactly.
Well they will have no problem packing the Garden because THE RANGERS SUCK so much nearly all of Manhattan will be vacuumed in!
Islander LOSERS on the Ranger blog....too funny.
2007 playoff records:
RANGERS 4-1
ISLANDERS 1-4
enough said.
both the rangers and islanders are no good, lets go flyers!
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