Those are the two geniuses that Jaromir Jagr "quoted" today after practice. One reporter tried to get Jagr to discuss the wisdom he relayed to Brandon Dubinsky from Stevens, the former Penguin, former Ranger and all-around goof who, apparently, guaranteed a Penguins comeback from a 2-0 series deficit once upon a time.
"I told (Dubinsky) something, but I was lying," Jagr said when pressed on what words he took from Stevens, known as "Artie" in his playing days. And now, too, I guess.
The Einstein stuff was similarly made up, and not quite exciting enough to retell here.
As for actual work from the Rangers today, Paul Mara took Christian Backman's spot at the first-unit PP point. In fact, Backman was the seventh defenseman during practice, paired with Marek Malik, while Jason Strudwick worked with Mara.
Brendan Shanahan was still on the second-unit PP, but he was a fourth-liner today in practice, with Petr Prucha alongside Scott Gomez and Sean Avery. Renney cautioned not to read too much into it, but Mara seems a good bet to have some PP time, given that he, you know, actually shoots the puck from time to time.
That is all from the Rangers for today. Zip will (hopefully) return from Pittsburgh, ready to chronicle tomorrow's morning skate before I live-blog the joint up for Game 3.
Comments (32)
So what did he tell Dubinsky? "Don't worry its just a game, it doesn't matter the sooner we lose the sooner we get to go on vacation"?
Since it came from Stevens it was probably something about the best hotel to shack up in with hookers and coke.
Hopefully Backman doesn't play in game three, he's looked awful out there
Hopefully Backman never wears Rangers uniform again.
hospo - in the previous thread you advocated Hollweg in the lineup. I'd rather anybody else than him even if the other guy just opens the door for players to return. or just 19 guys dressed. hollweg is terrible - unfortunately he's signed for 1 more yr.
Posted by anders | April 28, 2008 16:09 I say if Cindy Crosby is going to hit the ice if he's breathed on, we might as well really hit him and plop his a$$. If the Rangers are going to get a penalty anyway, at least make Crosby pay for it.
Exactly. If he's "so strong", "such a great skater", "such a great player" and "such a great competitor" that he is being compared to TGO (which is a huge insult to 99 btw), he should be able to take the punishment. I completely agree Anders. If they are going to get the penalty anyway, make the SOB pay for cheap play. Make them good hard hits and maybe he will quit dropping to those "strong" knees of his...and I'm not whining. I WANT to see the BETTER team win. If that is Cindy and the Pens, so be it, but I want to see GOOD PASSING, GOOD SHOOTING, HARD FAIR HITS, and LEGITIMATE PP opportunities on BOTH sides. Hit em hard boys. The code has no room for diving. Teach him a lesson, and any other $%^#stick that takes issue with honoring the code. Take 2 or 4 in the first period hitting him hard enough that he is still dazed by the third. If he feels the pain he won't pull the crap anymore. How many of you are going to the garden? Maybe the chant of the night should be...
"Cinnnnn-dey"
"Diiiiiiiiiiii-ver"
"Cinnnnn-dey"
"Diiiiiiiiiiiiv-er"
reposted from last thread, since I had not noticed there was a new one:
Black N Gold -- If you're having an argument with Ranger fans about "class," you need only point out one thing to end the argument: When Pat LaFontaine, then of the Islanders, incurred a concussion in a game against the Rangers at MSG, Ranger fans surrounded LaFontaine's ambulance and tried to tip it over.
You can also point out that after Pelle Lindbergh was killed in an auto accident in his Porsche, and Ron Hextall succeeded him as the Flyers' goalie, Ranger fans at MSG chanted "Buy a Porsche, Hextall, buy a Porsche!" These are the lowest lowlifes in all of sports fandom. Arguing about "class" with them is like arguing about human rights with the Iranian government. There are exceptions -- I've met some decent Ranger fans -- but most of their fan base is not worth trying to reason with.
please put prucha on the second line and shanny on the 4th he's been horrible.
buy a Porsche, Renney!
what does everyone think about letting Hutchinson play
the man prob could QB one of the powerplay units
Yeah... Thanks... as a displaced Pens fan who's been living in NY for the last 9 years... I get subjected to Rangers fans constantly. Could be worse though, I could be living in Philly :-)
Even in Philly though, the sportswriters stay professional.
JON: I had the same thought about Hutchinson. I am not sure if they will put in him a pressure cooker of a must-win game three but I wish they had called him up earlier, In addition to his scoring, i believe he is something like +27 in the minors. He should take the place of Malik and/or Backman.
Anyway, I have been hoping to see Struds in the lineup for a while. Strudwick leaves a lot to be desired in mobility but at least he clears the crease and brings in a toughness element. Malik has that rare magical combination of being soft AND slow. And, Backman is just an outright embarrassment.
Despite the fact that Orr seemingly doesn't bring anything to the table in the playoffs, I think you need his presence, especially at home in a crucial game three. Especially, if you want Avery to do what he does best. If Avery is successful and the Pens get a little crazy and the likes of Gill and Laraque start going after some of the Rangers, we are going to want Orr and Strudwick in the lineup.
BLACK N GOLD & KH: Based on both of your postings, I think I can safely assume the following: You think Pittsburgh has much classier fans than NYC. You think Pittsburgh is a much better city than NYC. You think Pittsburgh has much better sportswriters than NYC. So, here's a thought, why don't you stop reading NYC papers, leave NYC and take your butt back to that cultural and sports mecca, that beacon of sophistication, equality and hope - Pittsburgh (?)
ZIP - how about we just keep the political commentary out of here and just make sure our venom is focused on the Pens for now
DK1994 So now you want to dictate where I live, who I root for, and which papers I read.
Not too arrogant are you?
Keeping the focus on hockey, the Rangers suck. 5-4 2-0 and best of all 2-0!
Well, good news for you anyway DK1994, you won;t have to change your "screen name" anytime soon. LMAO
Black and Gold--did I hurt your feelings?
Do you want a hanky?
I just ripped a smelly one. Care to sniff?
Hutchinson is as soft as Backman and Malik, with maybe slightly better offense.
Black N Gold - and Isles fans like KH have a history of throwing stuff (bottles etc)on the ice in the 1st round of the playoffs in recent years. I can't say whether that tradition carries to the 2nd round since the current generation has never seen that. It's been since 1993 after all when most of the Isles punks were in grade school at best.
Ranger fans are a bunch of volitile fems just like their team.
Im not volitile.
I wish we could bring in Keenan just for the remainder of the playoffs. Not for next season, just the playoffs.
Just seeing him behind the bench, having their backs, not taking any **** from the refs, would pump up the testosterone level of the entire team beyond belief. Instead they look over there and see Casper Milquetoast bowing and scraping to the refs even when they make outrageous, blatantly anti-Ranger calls. Not very inspiring.
The team toughness isn't the problem - it's the coaching toughness that will be our downfall once again.
Lenny - always good of you to post when the Rangers are down. don't remember seeing your posts during the Devils series. talk about a broken record.
The last post under my name is not by me, I'm not from Pittsburgh nor have I ever lived there, I'm not a fan of Pittsburgh team, I've never thrown a bottle on the ice, and I am old enough to remember the Islanders dynasty vividly (i.e., not a kid).
Notice the Rag fans have no response to the points about LaFontaine's ambulance or "Buy a Porsche, Hextall!" That's because no response, no defense is possible. I very rarely post on this blog, and actually rarely read it... but the claim that you guys are classy was just so completely contrary to reality that I couldn't let it go unanswered.
As far as the silly argument about booing Jagr: It's simple. Fans everywhere boo their former players who defect to a rival for the money. However, when the franchise, not the player, is primarily responsible for the player's departure -- and the player let it be known he wanted to stay -- then the fans cheer their alumnus. For example, Scott Gomez left for the Rags as an UFA. He got booed in New Jersey. If he'd wanted to stay but had been traded, he'd have been cheered on his return to play against the Devils. To say that Rag fans are "classy" for cheering Messier is absurd -- they acted like every other fan base in that situation.
*Oops -- that should say "I'm not a fan of Pittsburgh teams."
I gotta say that Marcel Hossa used to be way more noticeable on the ice than Sjostrom is. Hossa often did a great job along the boards, took away pucks and held on to the puck as well as throw some big hits.
DK & John
Re: Hutchinson
I was saying the same thing all year about calling him up so I looked into it. He was out of options so he would have had to pass through waivers, which never would have happened since he was having a great year and eventually won the AHL Dman of the Year award (forget what they call it).
So they were kind of hamstrung there. Now he will be a UFA.....
good job Sather...
oh.... and Backman sucks
oh..that was me..dont know why it says anon.
hopefully when Madison Square Garden erupts in rage over the notable stupidity of the refs that will pump up the Rangers.
To determine the lack of class with Pitts fans one only has to watch how they treat a superstar that delivered TWO stanley Cups to them (the only stank]ley Cups by the way), too boo Jagr the way they do shows no CLASS whatsoever. Not even close, no cities disrespect their stars regardless of what uniforms they wear. Mess and Grets were never BOOED in Edmonton, Mess was never BOOED in NY when he was wearing a Canuck jersey and Leetch was never BOOED in NY when he wore a Maple leaf and Bruin Jersey. This type of behavior is saved for the worst fan imaginable and Pitt is full of them. In two years get ready to hear tehm boo Malkin as he will be wearing a differnt uniform as well.
KH - you like living in the distant past. re 25 yrs and counting since 1983 and re Hextall LaFontaine both around 20 yes ago. as opposed to your teams fans dispicable display last yr re garbage on the ice. and your current streak of incompetence since 1993. so run along troll.
Kevin Stevens ?? was he giving hints on where to find crack ?
Ok, so the posting under my name at 22:46 wasn't me.
BLACK N GOLD: The real good news for me is that our Stanley Cup win is still 2 years closer to the present than yours.
Also, not being arrogant, just helping you find a way out of your masochism.
Ok, so the posting under my name at 22:46 wasn't me.
BLACK N GOLD: The real good news for me is that our Stanley Cup win is still 2 years closer to the present than yours.
Also, not being arrogant, just helping you find a way out of your masochism.
Ok, so the posting under my name at 22:46 wasn't me.
BLACK N GOLD: The real good news for me is that our Stanley Cup win is still 2 years closer to the present than yours.
Also, not being arrogant, just helping you find a way out of your masochism.