Rangers Rolling, Cooke Strikes Again
Monday, March 21, 2011
Rangers fans you have to like what you see with Boys in Blue lately. After a lousy effort on the road against the Anaheim Ducks (A horrendous 5-2 loss) the Rangers have been on quite a roll winning 4 games in a row. Starting with the 3-2 shoot out win in San Jose over a strong Sharks team, 6-3 over the Islanders, 6-3 over the Canadiens (both at home) and finishing up with a tough hard-earned win in Pittsburgh, 5-2. Yes, you could say the Rangers are rolling and the timing couldn’t be better as the playoff race is winding down. Great goaltending by Henrik Lundqvist, solid play by all 3 defense pairings, and just super all around effort by the forwards has led to this nice run by the Rangers. With 2 home games coming up against Florida and Ottawa the Rangers can further distance themselves from the teams that are chasing them and solidify there spot in the chase for Lord Stanley’s Cup.
Couple of thoughts by the big man (That would be me LOL.) I was present for the Rangers win over the Montreal Canadiens, a team the has given the Rangers all sorts of problems over the past few seasons. The fight to start the game involving Brandon Prust (How good has he been for the Rangers) and Travis Moen was a perfect way to get the team and the fans going at MSG. I mean come on, one second into the game? Just perfect, in my opinion, and the Rangers used that to dominate the Habs to a tune of 5-1 at the end of the 1st period. When was the last time the Rangers had a lead like that over anyone in the 1st period?
One other thing from the that game was the constant hammering of Henrik Lundqvist. Intentional or not- this has to stop. For some reason the NHL seems to do a poor job when it involves the Rangers, sorry that’s just how I see it. That being said the Ranger players must come to his aid and make it quite clear you touch our goalie- you pay the price. Every now and then it’s okay to take a message sending penalty in order to protect your biggest asset which is the King himself. I’m okay with that and I’m pretty sure coach Torts would be too.
Now let’s talk about the Matt Cooke blatant elbow on Ryan McDonagh. To me this one was so obvious as Cooke cocked his elbow straight out a good 5 feet before the contact with McDonagh’s jaw. When Matt Cooke hit Marc Savard a few years back he followed through with the elbow and we all know the end result in the damage to Savard’s health and his career. This might sound like I’m a homer, but to me this one was much clearer on the replay than the Savard hit. Ryan McDonaugh was and is fortunate the damage was very limited. As for Cooke what his penalty will be… who knows? I will go on record and repeat what I’ve saying for years when will the NHL realize that all it’s rules and suspensions have done nothing to deter players from incidents like this. The more they tinker with these type of plays the worse it has gotten Anyone who thinks that the NHL can remedy this alone is sorely misguided.
I’ll say it one more time 1st take the instigator rule out, make these players face the music immediately by letting the players police their own game. It will not eliminate all the cheap shots, but I will bet anything the numbers will decrease to a livable number. If the NHL feels it has to be the overseer then makes the fines substantial. A player like Cooke as well as others have made a small fortune and have plenty of money put away in the bank that 20 to 50 thousand (Can’t believe I’m saying this about these numbers, just crazy isn‘t it?) doesn’t hurt them like most would think. Make the fines 100 to 200 thousand and then watch if they will continue to play on the edge. I think not. Over and Out!
Remember to check out the “Instigators Hockey Show” as my co-host Pauly D and I will be discussing the Rangers and the Cooke hit and much, much more.
Instigators Link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/pauly-d
4 comments:
Chris, couldn't agree with you more about the Cooke incident and the fact players nowadays have no fear of on-ice reprisal. The NHL, in their attempt to sanitize the league, have actually made the game more dangerous.
As far as the Rangers, these upcoming games against Florida and Ottawa will be a test of their maturity. Without the emotion of the Islander, Montreal and Pittsburgh games, they'll have to reach down and grind out these games to get a big four points.
Thanks, Chris.
Billy.
bp7589, Thanks for your comments. It's incredible that the NHL powers that be don't see this. I understand that you need to control your league and all that. However their are parts of the game that belongs to the players. On ice justice is one of them.
The Rangers are in a good position at this point a couple of wins at home this week will really give them some breathing room. You are correct though in saying they find a way to get emotional about them and secure 4 points.
Hi there Chris...It was awesome to hear you and Bubba chatting it up, I was a huge Beck fan and still to this day have Reijo abd Barry on my all time Ranger team though I must say if Sauer keeps up his play for years to come he will displace Reijo...I am very quickly becoming a Sauer fan favorite but quickly will add the whole entire D to include Eminger, Gilroy and McCabe have been what I call a unit of 7 that have performed above and beyond the call of duty...Kotsy..did you ever drop the gloves with Barry Beck or Ed Hospodar..thinking of all the players that fought in that game in LA...were you and Fotiu team mates in Hartford as well? ..How was the the outdoor re union game by the way?
Leatherneck, No I did not drop the gloves with either one. Bubba and I goofed around for fun once in practice and I'll keep it to myself as to who got the upper hand.
No Nicky and i were not teammates in Hartford. just in NY. Sauer has become a steady Eddie back on the blue-line for the Rangers. My only hope is he doesn't forget the physical part of his game.
The reunion game was awesome, Cold as hell but we had a lot of fun. Seeing some of the guys for the first time in over 25 years was nice. Chatting it up with some of the Bruins was great as well.I'd do it again in a second.
Good to hear from again...
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