Perseverence Pays Off This Time

The calendar said it was the day after Christmas. But it felt more like Groundhog Day to Brendan Shanahan. "The room was a little quiet," he said of the mood when the Rangers went into the second intermission trailing 2-1. "Maybe a sense of, 'Is this gonna happen to us again?' We come out and dominate in the first period, fall behind in the second. " But this time, enough was enough. "Rather than let it happen to us, we decided to go out, take everything to the net, play it with a determination that we were going to get chances, create chances, or drop helmets. We just said, 'Let's go to the net, take the puck to the net, take each other to the net.' If we stay on the perimeter, we're gonna be an easy team to play this period. It was that drive and intesity that drew the penalties, and then on our power play, just throwing the puck on the net, having guys camped out in front, pouncing on rebounds."

On the strength of two third power play goals (after going 0-for-4 and allowing a shorthanded goal during the first two periods against the league's worst penalty kill) and Jaromir Jagr's two goals (breaking a ten game goalless streak), the Rangers roared back for a 4-2 win that made this iteration of Groundhog Day different than the previous eight losses in ten games. "The last half dozen games or so have been like this one, where we haven't finished it off correctly," Shanahan said. "Going into the third period, we were just fed up with the way things have been going for us lately, coming up short." Shanahan started things off with a shot that Chris Drury deflected up and over the goalie that he was screening. Then he took a harmless looking shot through Drury's screen that created a rebound for Dan Girardi to put home.

"We really had to stick to the game plan," Girardi said. "That's what keeps things on the right track. Being down one goal going into the third, we had to keep it simple, just get pucks to the net, get traffic, put in the rebounds. We tweaked [the power play] a bit in the third, just to get pucks to the net, get guys going, putting in rebounds, and it worked." Shanahan said the same thing. "We talked about [it in the] third period," he said. "Getting more pucks to the net on the power play. We threw two innocent shots at the net, found a way to get goals out of them. It doesn't have to be pretty, just get the puck to the net." Chris Drury picked up on the theme as well. "There are going to be ugly goals," he said. "We just need to get a lot of traffic and a lot of shots."

The win let the air (bad air) out of the Rangers' ballooning desperation. "Urgency is good, panic is bad," Shanahan explained. "Walking through the halls the last few days, we were sensing urgency turning to panic, and that's never a good thing -- it doesn't help. We all have higher expectations and we want better results. We all had this anger and urgency." "We've been preaching about getting a win like that," Drury said. "It's nice to actually get it done." "We had to get it together," Scott Gomez said after assisting on both of Jagr's goals. "We could only talk about it so much. We've got to start making a run." "It's one thing to say we're doing the right things, to say we're having good spurts of hockey," concluded Shanahan. "But you gotta get a win!"

The win was highlighted by the Jagr's pair, by the power play winning a game, by the penalty killers wiping out a second period major and a six-on-three in the final minute, and by Henrik Lundqvist, who had little work until the closing moments, sealing the win with a series of highlight reel saves late in the third (including a pair on Ray Whitney that had him looking to the heavens). But it also featured a frightening collision reminiscent of that between Shanahan and Mike Knuble last season. Former Ranger Matt Cullen cut across the high slot with the puck and skated right into Colton Orr, who was lining him up for a check. "Cully had the puck, had his head down," coach Tom Renney said. "Colton braced himself, and even, rather than all shoulder, he used the front of his body to make contact -- his face would suggest that, he got helmet in his face." With Orr's gloves hitting Cullen high in the chest, the players' helmets collided, knocking Cullen out.

The referees totally botched the call, giving Orr a major and a game misconduct -- they penalized him for interference, even though Cullen had the puck. "I thought it was a clean hit," Renney said. "And judging by the fact that no [ref's] arms [were] in the air, it took a discussion to determinte that it was a penalty. It was a discussion." "It's a bit of knee-jerk reaction, the blows to the head, players laying in the ice," said Shanahan. "Matt Cullen did look like he was in bad shape. For a referee thinking, 'If I miss this one and it was bad, I look bad. If I call a five and a game and it wasn't really a five, it's not going to be replayed all over Canada tomorrow.' The referees see a guy laying there hurt, they're gonna try to err on the side of [caution]. But if you watch the replay, it was clean hit. What happened was their heads collided. Colton Orr is cut in about three different places from Matt Cullen's helmet. I was over talking to the refs and one ref was telling me that it wasn't a penalty. Then all of a sudden they had a little meeting and it's five and a game. They weren't gonna call it, they talked about it, thought about it, changed their mind."

Not only did Orr not deserve a penalty, the Rangers should have gotten a power play when Mike Commodore instigated a fight with Orr. A similar scenario recurred later in the game when Sean Avery was in the middle of a scrum -- Andrew Ladd instigated a fight with him despite Avery being held by a linesman, and Tim Gleason roughed up Petr Prucha (a brave move there by both players -- sarcastically so in Gleason's case), but Avery got the extra minor as well as a game misconduct. "The problem is that their guy is not getting held and he's seeking Sean out," Renney said. "You can't just tie one guy up and let the other guy roam around. Let 'em scrap and get it over with, and that's it." Meanwhile, after calling Orr for interfering with a player who had the puck (well, they couldn't call him for elbowing, charging, or roughing, could they?), the refs let frequent Carolina interference go routinely unpenalized.

But in this instance, as Renney had suggested after bad breaks cost the Rangers the last game, the Rangers persevered through the bad calls and bad breaks (more goal posts and shots deflected just wide and juicy rebounds just missed, etc.). They recovered from the few moments of dominance Carolina enjoyed after their second goal, and blew the Hurricanes away in the third period. After the game, Renney went around the dressing room and shook each players' hand, one by one, congratulating them for their effort.

Game reports: Daily News, Journal News, Newsday, Times, Post ("an obscene display of officiating from a four-man unit that had no control of the match at all and simply invented a major penalty against Colton Orr"), AP, SNY (photo of Orr's bloodied face), NY Sports Day, NYR.com, and the Raleigh News & Observer. Hockey Rodent breaks down the 'Canes' broken down penalty killing. More on Cullen and the Orr hit at Slap Shot, Sports Ticker, and the N&O, and more from the reporters' blogs -- Rangers Report, Slap Shot, Stan Fischler at MSG.com, and Blueshirts Blog, the latter on the rumored trade of Petr Prucha to Columbus.

The Columbus Dispatch, however, says that "we've been told that no trade between the Blue Jackets and Rangers is in the works. The two teams have talked, but nothing has been agreed upon and nothing will be announced when the roster freeze is lifted." Spector at FoxSports looks at every team's prime trade bait -- Rangers: Malik. Greg Cimilluca places Renney on the hot seat at CBS Sports. Howlings has a story on the Wolf Pack's team photographer, whose work has been used to illustrate Blueshirt Bulletin articles on the Pack for several years. At WP.com, Bob Crawford has the Wolf Pack Weekly. The Rangers have avoided a rehash of the Knicks' ugly public lawsuit by settling the case against them (Daily News).

Artem Anisimov had a goal and was +2 in Russia's 7-4 World Junior tournament opening win over Finland yesterday. This morning, Anisimov assisted on Alexei Cherepanov's goal that completed Russia's comeback from a 2-0 deficit en route to a 5-4 win over Kazakhstan. Anisimov and Cherepanov, who missed the opener with bronchitis, combined for twelve of Russia's incredible sixty shots on goal. Canada swept the Czechs and Slovaks in their first two games. David Kveton had five of the Czechs' 44 shots on goal yesterday and David Skokan led Slovakia with four shots on goal this morning, but both were blanked along with their teams by the tournament favorite. For more on the WJC, see Prospect Park, and for a look at Team Russia, see Hockey's Future.

Comments

[JohnM]

Great article. The Shanahan quotes say it all. No Perimeter and everything to the net. That is the differnce in this game versus all the losses and some of the lucky wins. The Rangers did not sit back and play for a tie tonight.

[Colton Orr says Trade to get TOOTOO !!!!!]

Good to see Jags and Dru score, Hank make sick saves, and Aves doing what he does best.

Gomez is on fire, he is playnig damn good hockey.

As for the Orr hit...Totally clean, it was pathetic that they gave him 5 mins. I cant understand it, for the life of me !!

Either way hopefully Orr doesnt get suspended from nothing, and we can build a streak.

BTW

Why was Lindsey Lohan at the game...is she dating someone?? Avery? Maybe Staal? Trautwig mentioned her to him during the intermission. Eh what do i know.

Oh yeah, and Aves should have had a goal, that puck was laying right in the crease, and Ward didnt have control of the puck.

These refs !! Again, a horrible game.

Someone needs to step up and tell these refs off, whether they get suspended or fined. This is a terrible year for refs.

[craigz]

Agree refs stunk up the joint tonight. Dubinski is playing with much confidence and Cally has added an edge to his game. Good efort all around but I think Mara needs to pick up his game very soon or he may have splinters in his butt...Z

[BlueClue]

Just noticed how only 5 out of 30 NHL teams (only two in East) have losing records so far this year.

Basically, the entire Atlantic has just about the same record. The only terrible team in the league is LA.

This is gonna be a ratrace right till the end-

[Colton Orr says Trade to get TOOTOO !!!!!]

I hope Cullen is okay and all, and i wish the hit was on someone else. But that was a perfect hit.

The Rangers never get hits like that, but too bad it had to be on someone like him.

Good job by Orrsie.

[laserman]

I would've felt better if he could have put a hit like that on Chris Neil as that bastard deserves it. We need a D man who can dish out solid hits like that on a nightly basis. You wouldn't see so many forwards coming through the slot then...

[Paul Arensburg]

JohnM, on the previous thread and this, I've enjoyed your contributions...

[Jameson]

Great physical play by the Rangers. Orr had that huge hit but a lot of other guys really threw their bodies around and we really put a lot of hurt on the canes. Callahan and Avery more notably.

Gomez is playing awesome, and man where would we be without him, he helped Shanny get back on his game and now that he's with Jagr and Straka that line has taken off.

Great perseverance to win this won, we needed it.

[Jameson]

err *one, not won.

[ivrydov]

No question Commodore should have got an instigator. He goes after a guy who's just been in a head-on collision, his face bloodied. Most players would have skated away. Full marks to Orr. This guy is getting better and once he learns like Laraque to muck in around and behind the net more, he's going to be an even greater asset.

Refeering is like the weather, you can talk about it all you want, you can't do anything about it. But like coin tossing, it should even up over the long run.

[Godot]

It was a great game last night though I wish the Garden wouldn't get so quiet when the team goes down a goal. As soon as the Rangers went shorthanded immediately after killing the major, i thought "uh-oh." It's when the team is down the fans need to go crazy.

The refs, as usual, were horribly disappointing, but the team wans't. They played an powerful, entertaining hockey game. And now that Jagr is clicking with Gomez and Straka: look out.

G

[representing the rangers in the great white north]

im happy to see gomez turn it on. Its also nice to see jj score a deuce.
All and all good game!
henricks blocker save at the end of the game should be up for save of the year the mans a god!
I was kinda sad when i watched cullen hit the ice in a bloody heep. I like the guy, but orr had him in the cross-hares and im glad he took the body, shame he hurt the guy though. oh well it happens!
I hope we beat up on the makebeleafs being from ontario if we loose I'll never hear the end of it!!

[Chris QCT]

I guess Petr Prucha is the only player who takes hits like that without the other guy getting a penalty.

It's also funny (sad?) how when Avery is in the lineup, this team finally decides to get sick and tired of their recent play and turn the battle level up for the third period. Coincidence? I think not. He simply does not let his teamates (or the fans) get their heads out of the game. And his antics seem to keep his teammates very alert...lol.

The officiating was very poor. It seems like the refs have gotten worse this season across the league. Read other team's blogs and it seems everyone thoroughly believes there is a conspiracy against their team by the refs. But, like my coaches always used to say, the refs cannot do much to influence the outcome if you keep putting pucks in the net.

[John]

My wife is a Hurricanes fan, so she wasn't too pleased with me last night. I told her to look at the bright side, this game exposed the Hurricanes' greatest weakness: lack of toughness. I've never seen them get pushed around like that. Tim Gleason and Mike Commodore are big defensemen who are willing to drop the gloves, but they lose just about every fight. Scott Walker will drop the gloves with anybody--he fought Mike Komisarek a few weeks ago--but he's only 5'10" and 185 lbs. Craig Adams is the closest thing they have to an enforcer, if "enforcer" means "guy that gets smacked around a lot." There's been a lot of talk about trading Andrew Ladd. Maybe now they'll realize his value to the team.

Did you see Avery absolutely plaster Kaberle? Frantisek Kaberle is no Tomas Kaberle. He is completely useless. He's got no D, no O, and no physical presence. I would say Frantisek is to Tomas as Marcel is to Marian, but at least Marcel Hossa is defensively responsible, even if he can't put the puck in the net.

[Godot]

until the NHL decides to do something about the poor standard of officiating, the league will remain a second-tier sporitng league.

G

[REDPLANET4]

NHL referee's are a Joke!!!!!! They have been screwing the rangers for over a decade now and it seems there is no end in sight. I remember Scott Stevens and Denis Potvin line guys up coming across the blueline jumping in the air knocking players out and it was no penalty. This league is a joke. The league is turning this into a politcally correct sport. Like Figure skating with sticks... What happened to old time hockey? If that was a canadian team, it would've been a great hit and no penalty...

[zzyzx]

1) Good to see Jagr lighting the lamp again. Hopefully, this keeps up and he proves me wrong.

2) Gomez is the best player on our team right now, other than Hank.

3) Cherepanov from Anisimov to tie the game against Kazakhstan. I like the way that sounds!

[rangerbill94]

If that was Scott Stevens everybody would be saying..."come thru the center of the ice with your head down, and that's what going to happen." Prucha can get hit after hit to the head with elbows and anything else and that's a hard hit. BS. If this is what it takes to win, then I'm all for it. We have been the object of many of these plays, most of them WERE penalties that just were not called. The Rangers organization needs to put Bettman and Campbell on notice (behind the scenes, of course). If the officiating continues to call us for non-penalties, then we'll step up and take real penalties. It is SOLELY the NHL's role to CONTROL the game through the CORRECT ENFORCEMENT of the rules. No matter what team of who the player is. I go back a long time and see the Hunter late hit on Turgeon as the beginning of the higher ups in the NHL looking the other way. Hunter should have been banned from the NHL, as should Simon for his latest "incident". Same with Bertuzzi and a few others. You want to fix what broken in the NHL, start with that. We also need to have the NHL hold the refs accountable. Reviews should be made and poor officiating should be met with suspensions and/or sending an official down to a lesser league to improve his game.

[wicky229 (no longer cromagnon or IITH)]

Very good game by the boys (not perfect) last night. Man, gomer and hank have been our two best players all season,besides the d-men as a whole. Avery is really really needed, when he plays like he did last night, he really brings something to this team. Nice to see jags kick in a couple. I am so glad we signed gomer and drury (drury does the little things day in and day out) and they are both on the way to good scoring (not great) seasons. Hope matt is ok, I thought a clean hit that had helmet to helmet. And yes, we need to be hitting in every game like we did last night.

Question can anisimov play wing?

I hope renney never tries to put avery at center again like last season, he really can't play his style of game from the center position.

Again, very good game and let's all remember defence wins championship and 18 choir boys never won a stanley cup!!!!

[Tucson Ken]

Nice to see Jags willing to get in front of the net past couple of games, as well as the others, and lo & behold, scoring chances and actual goals. All because of Sean Avery showing the pretty boys what it takes and how to pay the price.
Henrik made some great stops to save us after our continuing trend of too many dangerous turnovers.
Also troubling how we once again let the opponent score quickly after, 2 min. or so, on a Short-hander no less, we had taken an infrequent 1-0 lead. This seems to be a pattern we need to correct and develop a killer instinct, instead of being happy with ourselves.
I thought coverage in front of Henrik was better and in general liked the more physical play we will have to maintain to go anywhere, & others beside Avery will have to show the way, because staying injury free for him as hard as he plays is going to be problematic. Others need to show his kind of heart on a consistent basis.
Gomez is a joy to watch, flying all over the ice & paying the price.
If guys will continue to create traffic in front they will continue to score. Who cares if they are pretty or not.
If Prucha can somehow remember how to find the back of the net with those quick soft hands he displayed his rookie year, we will be all set. He works hard, takes a beating, & deserves some results. I'm sure he's pressing too hard. Don't want to give up on him yet 'cause as soon as we do I know he'll come back to bite us.

[wicky229 (no longer cromagnon or IITH)]

Do away with the STUPID instigator rule, and you would have a much cleaner game as well as a more entertaining game.

This Columbus trade rumor thing seems to be gaining some credibility, I certainly hope there is a banging d man in it, that would be the only way I would feel ok about losing prucha.

[Jasper]

The quotes from the players are nice to read and yet puzzling at the same time. Shanahan- "Rather than let it happen to us, we decided to go out, take everything to the net, play it with a determination that we were going to get chances, create chances, or drop helmets. We just said, 'Let's go to the net, take the puck to the net, take each other to the net."

My question: Isn't this the way the team should be playing every period of every game? Not just when their backs are against the wall and they decide that enough is enough?

We heard a similar statement from Shanahan earlier in the season when the power play was not being effective. He and Jagr decided that somebody should be parked in front of the net at all times on the power play (what a novel idea). They did it for one game and it brought success, but it only lasted that one game for some reason.

Hopefully last night's third period philosophy will continue from here on out.

[cwgatti]

jody shelley may be part of the deal. . . . . .

[zzyzx]

Wicky: From what I've read, the Rangers are projecting Anisimov as the future 3rd line center. I think the Rangers are really happy with his progress as he's showing some offensive flare and is very good in his own zone. Long-term, I think Drury will shift to the wing, Gomer will center the 1st line, Dubi the 2nd, and Anisimov the 3rd. I wouldn't be surprised if the Rangers hold on to Betts for a while.

It's kind of crazy that Cherepanov will probably be playing in North America next season. I read something about him playing in Hartford. If it were up to me, I'd bring him over as soon as his season is over in Russia and try to get him to bulk up then just let him play with the big club. He's ultra talented.

Speaking of bulking up, I don't understand why the club didn't have a sit down with Prucha at the end of last season and tell him to put on weight. At his age, that should be a really easy thing to do. Christ, I think I put on 15 lbs of muscle in two months when I was 22 and that was without professional trainers and nutritionists. If Prucha is still here at the end of this season, the Rangers have to tell him to shape up or ship out.

[Dubi]

Dov -- There is more to the weather than just accepting it and hoping it averages out. If you don't like the weather -- move! There is no reason the NHL can't "move" its weather from New York (120 days of rain a year on average) to San Diego (300 days of sunshine a year). Seems like the NHL, taking its cue from the kinds of weather we get here, likes to "rain on our parade" as often as it can.

wicky -- Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems as if the refs last night did away with the instigator rule in its entirety. At least when it was Hurricanes instigating fights.

[Cuch]

Here is a clip from the Columbus Dispatch this morning. They say the Bluejackets are denying a trade but since the author also thinks Michael Nylander is Czech his sources are clearly lacking. Interesting though to read whats coming from the other side.

Jackets notebook: Rangers discussions include Vyborny's name
Thursday, December 27, 2007 3:14 AM
By Tom Reed

Blue Jackets forward David Vyborny is good friends with Jaromir Jagr of the New York Rangers.

They have been teammates on Czech Republic national teams and have trained together in the offseason, and they might be reunited in the coming weeks.

The Blue Jackets and the New York Rangers have been discussing a possible trade, an NHL source told The Dispatch yesterday, and one name mentioned has been Vyborny, an original Blue Jacket and the franchise leader in points and games.

Vyborny, who played in last night's 2-0 win over Atlanta, said he was aware of the rumors.

"It's part of the game," he said. "If it happens, it happens. It's only hockey."

The holiday trade freeze ends tonight at midnight, but the source said no deal is in the works. Contrary to reports in New York, neither Blue Jackets captain Adam Foote nor fellow defenseman Rostislav Klesla has been discussed, the source said.

The Rangers have had three scouts, including player personnel director Gordie Clark on Sunday, attend recent Blue Jackets games.

Any deal likely would involve multiple players. The source confirmed that Vyborny, 32, is of interest to the Rangers. He has just two goals and eight points in 29 games. He's in the final season of a contract paying him $2.2 million.

Jagr, who scored twice last night against Carolina, has just nine goals. Until recently, the right winger had struggled to develop chemistry with new linemates, a season after the Rangers allowed fellow Czech Michael Nylander to walk away via free agency.

The Blue Jackets, meanwhile, are believed to have an interest in former 30-goal scorer Petr Prucha, but only as part of a package deal. Prucha, who's making $1.6 million this season and next, has just two goals and six assists in 36 games.

Prucha, 25, scored a combined 52 goals the past two seasons but has been demoted to third-line duty and rarely sees time on power plays, where he has accounted for 24 of his goals.

New York is believed to be shopping high-priced defensemen Paul Mara ($3 million) and Marek Malik ($2.5 million), both of whom will be unrestricted free agents after the season. The Rangers are unlikely to part with defensemen Dan Girardi, Fedor Tyutin or rookie Marc Staal.

The Blue Jackets might have an interest in several young forwards, including center Brandon Dubinsky and wingers Ryan Callahan and Nigel Dawes.

[zzyzx]

Cuch: You beat me too it. I was just about to post that a lot of sources are pointing to Prucha being shipped out of town in the next few days. Although that nut Eklund posted about it, which would make you think it's BS, the talks are now being substantiated by the beat writers for both the Rangers and Blue Jackets. It looks like a trade will only happen if it includes multiple players with at least Prucha and Vyborny involved.

This makes me a little nervous especially when you see the names Callahan, Dubinsky, and Dawes also being mentioned. But when it comes to trades in the cap area, I have faith in Sather. His track record the past few years has been decent. I've been looking around the net for a list of trades Sather has made, but can't find any.

[Dubi]

zz -- Eklund is actually quite accurate with his rumors -- when he steals them from legit reporters who actually talk to real sources rather than just making things up.

[wicky229 (no longer cromagnon or IITH)]

ZZ- I was hoping that they do keep betts quite a while, as well as drury, gomer, and dubi (both of them, ha ha). I was curious if anisimov was able to play wing, but moving drury there is a possibility as well, anisimov has the size and seems like the real deal!

Dubi- I would say last night you are correct, instigator rule was not in effect. Did you get the voice msg about my subscription?

Everyone- I think columbus also has a d man from norway that is pretty rugged and will drop them. He had a couple of fights the past week or two in games against the flames. Con't remember his name though. Just an FYI.

[wicky229 (no longer cromagnon or IITH)]

Trading dubi and cally would be a HUGE mistake in my opinion unless it is for someone named phaneuf, iginla, nash, or lecavilier or AO.

[The Dark Ranger]

I know, I know...we all like Matt Cullen because he's a great guy, personality, solid hockey player. Most of us don't believe Colton Orr hit the intentionally, but the truth is he probably saw this guy coming at him with the puck as an opportunity to hit hard. He did just that. It was suspiciously clean and during play, and Cullen shouldn't keep his head down regardless of where on the ice he is.

That type of behavior will get you the Eric Lindross Award of Concussions as long as he keeps his head lowered.

The Dark Ranger

[Jess]

A peek at the future Artem Anisimov feeding Alexei Cherepanov for a goal in Russia's 5-4 win over Kazakhstan in a game where Russia really did not look all that good.

Rumors

Yes the Rangers are scouting the Bluejackets, they are also scouting the Kings, Sharks, Flames, Oilers, Flyers, Bruins, Canadians, Canucks, and several others as teams do that all the time.

Yes the Rangers are talking to the Bluejackets they are also talking to Kings, Sharks, Flames, Oilers, Flyers, Bruins, Canadians, Canucks, and several others as teams do that all the time.

You will talk to one team to send messages either to someone else regarding a possible deal, to your own players and to the teams you are playing against for a playoff spot.

In other words do not read too much into anything at this time of year because rumors fly all over the place.

From the "I wonder how much this cost them" dept

MSG settles sexual discrimination case with former Rangers cheerleader
December 27, 2007

NEW YORK (AP) -- Madison Square Garden settled Wednesday with a former New York Rangers cheerleader who sued for sexual discrimination, avoiding the potential of another embarrassing trial.

Courtney Prince was fired in January 2004. She later claimed MSG failed to properly protect the dozen skating cheerleaders from being touched inappropriately when they went into the crowd at games and required them to be glamorous and to wear padded bras, fake eyelashes and hairpieces

A statement released on her behalf said: "We resolved this matter with no admission of wrongdoing on the part of any party, and I will have no further comment."

Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Madison Square Garden refused to settle with former Knicks team executive Anucha Browne Sanders when she accused coach Isiah Thomas and MSG of sexual harassment. Instead, she was awarded $11.6 million in October after a trial that embarrassed the organization and the NBA.

MSG eventually settled for $11.5 million shortly before both sides were to return to court for the punitive phase.

How about this for a poll

Which ESPN sportscaster annoys you the most?

Mine is a tie between Dana Jacobsen who should have someone take her clothes shopping and Rachel Nichols who looks like someone should hold her down and feed her food.

[wicky229 (no longer cromagnon or IITH)]

Speaking of great lines how about this one "Defenseman Ulf Samuellson was a Swedish linebacker". That one never gets old. Man I miss the BIG NASTY, he was great to watch.

ESPN sportscaster....michelle tofoya!!!

[Cuch]

For those of you who get the NHL Network (I am fortunate enough to get it on DirecTV), they will be broadcasting the Medal Rounds of the WJC next week from the Czech Republic (in HD no less). It will be a good chance to see AA and AC playing together as well as team USA who had a nice win yesterday verse Khazikstan. I will personally be watching to see James vanRiemsdyk this years #2 pick from NJ who grew up a Ranger fan (and who I coached as a 12 year old roller hockey player) play for team USA. Here is the info from USA Hockey's website:

NHL Network to Air 2008 World Junior Championship Medal Round Games

December 19, 2007

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — NHL Network in the U.S. will air live HD coverage of the medal round of the 2008 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship, including both quarterfinal games, both semifinal contests, the bronze-medal game and the gold-medal game, it was announced today by USA Hockey.

In addition, NHL Network will re-air each game of the medal round at least one time.

The complete NHL Network broadcast of the 2008 IIHF World Junior Championship schedule is below.

Team USA is in Pool B of the 10-team event and opens preliminary-round play on Dec. 26 against Kazahkstan at 10 a.m. ET. The United States will also play preliminary-round games against Switzerland, Russia and Finland before competition in the medal round begins. Team USA must finish in the top three of its pool to advance to the medal round.

For complete information on the 2008 IIHF World Junior Championship, visit usahockey.com.

IIHF World Junior Championship Schedule

NHL Network US Coverage

Date Event Time (EST)

Jan. 2 Quarterfinal #1 10:00 a.m.

Quarterfinal #2 2:00 p.m.

Jan. 3 Quarterfinal #1 re-air 3:00 a.m.

Quarterfinal #2 re-air 12:00 p.m.

Jan. 4 Semifinal #1 10:00 a.m.

Semifinal #2 2:00 p.m.

Semifinal #1 re-air 5:30 p.m.

Semifinal #2 re-air 10:00 p.m.

Jan. 5 Bronze Medal Game 10:00 a.m.

Gold Medal Game 2:00 p.m.

Jan. 6 Gold Medal Game re-air 3:00 a.m.

Bronze Medal Game re-air 5:00 p.m.

Gold Medal Game re-air 7:00 p.m.

NHL Network reserves the right to change the schedule to get games involving Team USA additional prime-time airings.

NOTES: NHL Network is available through all major distribution channels, including DirecTV, Dish Network, TimeWarner Cable, Cablevision, Comcast, Cox Communications and Charter, among others … The 2008 IIHF World Junior Championship will be staged in Liberec and Pardubice, Czech Republic, with all medal-round games in Pardubice … A live audiocast of all Team USA games in the World Junior Championship will be available at usahockey.com … USAHockey.com will provide in-depth coverage of Team USA in the World Junior Championship, including exclusive, behind-the-scenes video content via its free All-Access Pass.

[laurie]

Jess, how did you manage to see the Russia - Kazakhstan game? I've looked all over, in multiple languages, and have been unable to find one.

[zzyzx]

Cuch: We probably know each other. I'm from Red Bank/Middletown and grew up playing MYAA and American Eagles hockey and later captain'ed RBC's team. Isn't it mind blowing that VanRiemsdyk went #2? I looked at his stats for his Freshman year at CBA and they were good, but they weren't great. A guy I used to play with at RBC who was two years older had much better stats and size than VanRiemsdyk, though he certainly wasn't playing against the state's best players as VanRiemsdyk did. Regardless, NJ hockey has really come a long way.

[iceycup]

despite the win, i gotta tell you all that the refs are driving me away from this game. will there ever be any sort of accountability on their behalf? are they unionized? i meaa, what can be done about this? what does steve walcom ( or what ever his name is ) do to refs who tilt the ice or just simply make bad calls? the reporters can comment on it but if the players or the coaches do, they get fined. what kind of system is that?

[Jess]

Laurie

I got a report from one of my sources who is attending the event. The person is an experienced scout who I have known for years.

Nick

Thanks for visiting next time watch your language this is a family site please.

[Jess]

No offense to John Dellapina but I think he forgot that BJ GM Scott Howson is a member of the EOOCC (Edmonton Oilers Old Cronies Club) and has known Sather for years.

As I have discovered over the years, Sather has a loyal following in the hockey world as so many have told me how Sather gave them a job when their playing days were over.

With the Rangers struggling we are going to see an almost daily rumor of them making a deal. Wait until next week when the Rangers hit the Canadian West Coast as I bet we will see rumors with the Flames, Canucks and Oilers because Sather will be on that trip too.

[Colton Orr says Trade to get TOOTOO !!!!!]

DUBI

Do you think Orr will get suspended??

He better not cause that hit was as clean as any. Unless Orr tried to bump heads with Cullen, then that would be moronic, and Orr wouldnt do such a brainless thing.

Clean clean clean, andyone who says its not, lol, im sorry but you are a word that would get me kicked out of this blog.

[zzyzx]

Here's highlights from the Russia - Finland game:

http://www.worldjuniors2008.com/u20tv/index.asp?id=103

Anisimov's goal is around 45 seconds in.

[laurie]

Thanks Jess... I was hoping you'd found a feed I missed. Ah well.

[laurie]

zzyzx, here's a little better view of Anisimov's goal:
http://rutube.ru/tracks/365599.html?v=229760fc78ffc42fbb257c8f8734a379

[zzyzx]

Thanks Laurie. Man, Artie is tall.

[Matty]

Last night's game made me extremely proud of our boys ...

They played angry ... that's what I thought while watching that third period ... I thought they looked sick and tired of teams coming into MSG and just doing whatever they wanted ... of course it is their own fault that that was happening but the point is that they finally got fed up ... Avery being in the lineup probably raised up the heat level but still it was going to happen sooner rather than later and I am glad it did ... but we don't know if this game starts the turn around ... we will see soon enough I guess ...

I am extremely happy with our first line ... we need lines to consistently score and not just one ... with Gomer with Jags the first line is scoring and then the 2nd line is scoring as well ... so it's good ... let's hope the third line gets in on the action and it would rock!

I liked Matt Cullen when he was here so seeing him laid out on the ice for a few moments was scary ... I am glad he doesn't seem to be seriously hurt ... HOWEVER .. the refs 100% dropped the ball ... I understand that they do not have the benefit of all the replays we saw that CLEARLY showed that the play was not

dirty OR late

Cullen had the puck and was dishing it off at the moment that Orr came across, Cullen's face hit Orr's helmet more than anything else which resulted in cuts to Orr's face ... it was defenitely NOT interference ... just because they wanted to call something doesn't mean that they should pull an imaginary penalty out of their rear and call it just because ...

My problem with NHL officiating goes straight to the top and it's not about what happens just at Ranger games because officiating is bad throughout the League ... The refs are NOT accountable for their mistakes and poor calls ... The League should take their officials to task but instead even when they are CLEARLY in the wrong and the head of officials gets asked about certain calls and situations they dance around the issue in a prepared statement that doesn't address the issue or the real problem and put a bandaid on the issue ... It's ridiculous, but with this commissioner who allows Colin Campbell to dish out punishment based on who you hurt and who you are instead of just the actions and history of the player the inconsistencies with calls on the ice will continue just like with calls off the ice ...

[Phill]

Matty is completely right.

I've almost come to the point of acceptance with the fact that, as long as Colin Campbell is running things, we should expect to see more of the same and not until he's long gone (hopefully). It's kind of like accepting the idea that you'll be paying taxes the rest of your earthly life.

I thought Stephen Walkom knew what he was doing? I'm beginning to wonder now.

[Phill]

Forgot to mention Gary Bettman. . . silly me.

[Matty]

Phill,

It is Bettman's responsibility ... he's the commissioner ... Campbell was asked if a lifetime ban of the NHL was considered for Simon and he said that only the Commissioner could make that decision ... The Commissioner's office should, like the NFL does, hold their League officials accountable for their inconsistancy PUBLICLY because I have ZERO faith that they do it privately even though they claim they do ...

Mich McGeough continues to call games like he always does and inject himself at crucial times with phantom calls ... happened to us this season and it happened to the Oilers and Flames last season ... Mike Leggo is horrendous ... I mean they don't get playoff games because they aren't good enough and YET they still officiate important regular season games? GMAFB!

No offense folks but it just does not seem the same without Matty here

Aw Jess, sorry I went shopping ... which unless is to Best Buy, isn't one of my favorite pastimes(yes, I love shopping for electronics =P) but I recorded the game and saw it ... I should post live on Saturday(maybe 'cuz there well a little football game going on that same night that I want to see live) and most defenitely Sunday :)

[i]

The NYR finally added grit to their game & went to the net. That was their 2nd come from behind win. The first one was game one. Avery helps a lot in that dept., but the TEAM has to play that way consistently. That's why the rumors. Their D does not punish puck carriers. What Orr did & what Prucha has received, needs to be added, or the other teams will continue to use speed & a hard forecheck to get them off their game. And will continue to plaster Prucha, until guys like Orr step up & do it to them. And I'm not talking about illegal head hunting with an intent to injure. I'm talking about good old fashioned hockey by hitting the guy with the puck, to separate the two. They finally should some heart & determination not to lose. This is not a gentleman's game. But it does need to rid itself of Simon & his ilk.

[Jess]

Matty

Aw Jess, sorry I went shopping

And where is my present then?????????????? I see how you are

Laurie

No it was my fault as I should have been clearer. I know 4 people who are attending the tournament who like myself are only interested in specific players not entire teams.

We exchange info during the season so this is their time to pay up so to speak. The hardest part about events like these is that it basically becomes Europe Vs Russia VS Canada and the US which at times can make the reports bordering on the silly.

I predicted a US win but I am not rooting for them. I am rooting for the 6 Ranger prospects to have a good tournament, to stay healthy and for one of them to win the gold so we keep our prospect streak alive.