Rangers End Skid, Whalers Fest, and More!
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Hey Ranger fans… you can breath again after beating the Pittsburgh Penguins by a score of 5-3 and putting a halt to a season high 6-game losing streak. Those who were thinking about jumping off a cliff or off the bandwagon should relax. I know it’s only one win, but really folks knee-jerk reactions about the state of the team are just silly. Remember losing streaks happen in the NHL and how your team reacts to them shows what kind of personality they have. We will soon see how the Rangers deal with it. Are they out of the woods? Of course not, but they are still in a decent position to make the playoffs.
The team is finally getting most of their roster back minus a couple players and what is needed is finding that chemistry that made the Rangers a tough team to play against for most of the year. With the time off between Penguins game and the Kings game coming up on Thursday at MSG, hopefully the coaches and players reacquainted themselves during the practice sessions. Having a familiar lineup is the key to any team’s success and the Rangers are no different. What I’d like to see is line combinations that stay together and the PP chosen few the same. With games dwindling, this team needs to find that cohesive togetherness that made them a hard team to play against.
On to other NHL news. I have a few thoughts about Mario Lemieux’s comments after the brawl with the Islanders last week. First off, I totally respect Mario for what he has done as a player in his HOF career. All of us who had the great fortune of playing in the NHL wished we could have had the ability and skill of a Mario Lemieux. No one can deny that. I do realize that some cheap shots were obviously taken by the Islanders and they were subsequently dealt with fines and suspensions. That being said, I believe that his timing was very suspect to say the least. Not one time in his tenure as an owner has Mario ever spoke out about any of the transgressions that any of his players that he has employed. If Super Mario feels that strongly about what happened in Long Island… then why doesn’t he take the lead and start by purging players on his team like Cooke, Goddard, Rupp, Engelland, Asham and see how that works out for him? Self-serving? Hypocritical? Certainly looks that way to me.
As most of you know, I will be playing with the Hartford Whaler Alumni against the Boston Bruin Alumni this Saturday in the Whale Bowl at Rentschler Field the outdoors home of the UConn Huskies Football team. The game will take place before the CT Whale/Providence Bruins AHL game. I’m looking forward to seeing some of my former teammates and the die hard Whaler fans. Howard Baldwin and Howard (Bubba) Baldwin Jr. are the masterminds of the great event and have put in a ton of hard work and money to put this event on. It’s a showcase for the city of Harford and the state CT. So don’t be afraid to show up and let’s break the outdoor record for attendance for an AHL game. Check out the link!
Whalers Hockey Fest 2011 Link: http://www.ctwhale.com/default.asp?ctwhale=134
Don’t forget to check out the “Instigators Radio Show”. Tuesday night 8:30 with my co-host Pauly D and I as we talk everything hockey. Just hit the link below. Over and out!
Instigators Link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/pauly-d
6 comments:
Completely agree with your opinion on Mario's comments, Kotsy... Cooke is among the dirtiest players, year after year, and I don't hear Lemieux saying much about that...
As for our Bluehshirts? Definitely crunch time! that was a huge win against the Pens, and sometimes that's all it takes to get goin'!! Time is growing short.............
Dan S. Good to hear from you officially LOL. Look Mario was a great HOF player. One of the top 5 that ever played. However there has been times in his career where he has been self serving with his statements about the league. This is one of those times.
The Rangers needed that win over the Pens big time. Hopefully they worked on a few things during this time off and will get it together for the run to the playoffs.
Kotsy - play nice with the Bruins alums! We will miss you at the "Q" this weekend. Have fun! I know you will!!!
billymadison, I will do my best not to embarrass myself. One thing is certain you can count on me having a good time LOL.
Hello Chris, whether we make the playoffs or not is a mute point in my opinion as this is the season to develop the youth, with their success now comes all this talk of trades which are pointless, the team making the playoffs will only gain more experience which should be the concern, This team will not at this years experience win the Stanley Cup. In two years it will be a contender for the cup. We need not make any trades, and again only trade I would endorse would be that of Gabby to ONLY the LA KINGS for prospects Schenn and Forbort and a couple of draft picks.
Now, the state of the D, can you say WOW, I know a lot of fans are frustrated with MDZ, and I wonder if they will target him like Roszi. They seem to forget he is only 20 and an offensive minded D-man. The points are made about McD and Sauer being rookies. Fact is those two studs play a different game than MDZ. The addition of McIlrath will solidify that group. Now realistically Sauer should be playing with MDZ however the tandem of McD and Sauer are our legitimate number 2 pairing for years to come so I am glad they are left alone to play as one, The real partner of MDZ is McIlrath and that tandem willgive the rangers 3 pairings that most teams would salivate to have. we need a 7th D-man so why not Valentenko?
Finally the players have built this awesome foundation of a North American style of play, with Grit and perseverance. Gaborik is part of this team, what do you think will benefit him? I see only 2 options which are 1) trade him for more pieces to the core via LA, Schenn and Forbort and 2) surrounding him with a number 1 center and a wing, that wing I believe will be Krieder and the center, Who? Stepan? Richards as a UFA? Your opinion for Gabby and solutions are what to best impact the Rangers?
Leatherneck, You and I both agree that it is imperative for the Rangers to stick with the youth. Making trades only makes sense if you can immediately improve your team, Not speculate that it will.
The future on D looks very good. MDZ needs to play loose, He's a little tight at this moment. You can't play your game if you worry about every mistake you might make. Sauer, McDonagh have been a pleasant surprise. Mclgrath, Valentenko provide a more physical edge when they get here.
I'm Sure Gaborik's name has been thrown around in trade talks. We will have to see what happens now that he has suffered a concussion.
Overall not into making deals just to make a deal. It has to make sense. The "Brass" has done a great job getting themselves out of a horrendous cap situation and infused youth on this team. I see no reason to screw that up by doing something crazy at the trade deadline.
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