You know the strike last year really took me out of the game and I've watched sparingly this year to say the least and only went to one game. But thinking about tonights game and the start of the playoffs I haven't been this excited about this team since I was 13 and we won the title. It took me a while to come around but after suffering through seven years of crap, bottom of the barrel hockey, I'm not going to deny myself this playoff run and I'm not going to deny the fact that NY has a team it can love again. LET'S GO RANGERS.
Holy crap. We're screwed. First off, the inability to clinch the division. It was all right there. 2 points, and guarantee yourself the Atlantic Division and home ice for at least the first round. Couldn't do it. We're riding a 5 game losing streak into the playoffs, with the last 4, us getting our heads kicked in. After a decent first and second period, the team fell apart. After Tyutin made the turnover to allow the first goal, the Ranger fans got on him, and it seemed to have jangled his nerves. Even without Ozo in the lineup, the team made careless plays and were just downright irresponsible. Hank let in that softie of a third goal and got beat trying to poke check the puck away from Fisher. The Sens played as complete a game as you can play. They took little penalties and crashed the net and played hard. Even with Kaspar and Hank back, they still couldn't get it going. Their offense has escaped them, and with the top line barely producing, that puts more pressure on the rest of the lines, especially Sykora and Prucha. They've come up empty. I caught the end of the Devils game when they were down 3-1. Once they scored the second, I knew they were gonna win it, which they did. The Rangers don't have a snowball's chance in hell of doing anything against a supremely confident team that's clicking at the right time; especially if they play the way they are. I'm almost glad I didn't get any damn playoff tickets today, because I don't wanna watch this team get their faces kicked in, live and in person. I pray to god that Renney has some sorta plan, because at the moment, we're friggin screwed. I don't know if Rucchin and Ruckinsky are gonna play in the opener, and if they do, I wonder what kind of affect they'll have on the team. They just need something. Maybe they should go to that boot camp they did before the season started. One thing that I do know is that this series will be physical and nasty. With Kaspar's return, I'm expecting a lot of run-ins with Grant Marshall, Hollweg and Janssen. I hope Strudwick can find his balls, which seems to have escaped him through the second half of the season, and play some damn physical hockey. I know that this team has overachieved and surpassed all of my expectations this season, but damn. To know that they made it a lot harder on themselves, and are a much better team then we've seen the last 2 weeks, it makes me wonder what this team is really made of. Friday night, at the Meadowlands. I'm hoping for the Rangers to show up.
and you know what the most frustrating thing?? that they were actually disillusionized us to believe they are a competable team till a week ago or so
What has happened to Josef Balej? He looked really good at the end of last season. It was disappointing not to end up in first place but it was a good season overall, we can see Rangers playoff hockey at MSG, some of us for the first time.
I was at the game last night, and it was a loud and juiced atmosphere in the first period and changed. It got pretty loud again when we scored to make it 2-1, but after the 2nd goal I didn't think we had much of a chance, and they confirmed it by playing one of the least emotional games I've seen all year. They just didn't show the effort. We thinking that the Devils lost as they were down 3-1 at 9:35 when we got out of there. To get home and find out they won, and that we had dropped to 6th and would play them....Uggh. Made worse by the first game being opposite the Metro- DC game, crap. I think the Rangers will go 5 and out, but I obviously hope for better. It was a good season though, however it ends, and I stayed to thank them for that.
For those going to the Metro game (me included), does anyone have a portable tv then can bring so we can watch the game in the car park (NYR at 2pm on NBC). Of course it's supposed to rain so maybe Kenny Alnbert and Maloney will have to do. Kinda sucks that I'm going to be in the car park for another event during a NYR playoff game.
Oh, about Saturday, I'm gonna have to skip the Red Balls. I'm gonna witness my first ever Ranger playoff game, and I'm not missing that for anything.
You wind up with tix to the game? Or you talking about the telly? Effen idiots scheduling NYR playoff game opposite Metro/Bulls/Reds/Whatever game..... IDIOTS!
they should actually pay the fans to come after they've surrender a 9 pts lead 5 games to go to the Devs(and Flyers)
Nah, watch on tv. C'mon dude, I can't believe you're choosing Red Bulls over the Rangers! Geez, traffic must be horrible tomorrow, having the Red Bulls traffic (ok, not that much) and Devils/Rangers traffic combined. Have fun at the game though. And try to sneak into Contintental Airlines Arena! Yeah, it was a tough way to end the season. Don't know if Rucchin and Rucinsky will be ready, but Hank's a gamer and will be ready I'm sure. I'm expecting some physical, emotional hockey. Cam Janssen and Ryan Hollweg, Darius Kasparaitis and Grant Marshall. We'll see. Should be a doozy, regardless of the outcome.
tell you the truth i wouldn't be so upset if we'd play the sabres but Devs win at montreal was the last straw in a gloomy gloomy eve
Jagr might be out tonight with a bizarre injury to what seemed like his left arm. He looked to put a hit on Gomez, then ended up leaving the game. Ward will also be out indefinitely; possibly the rest of the playoffs, with an isolated strain of his MCL. This happened after he tried to hit someone, then left the game. Both bizarre incidents, and symbolic of the way things are going for this team right now. It's also possible Lundqvist might not play as well. He got shelled against Ottawa in his first game back, giving up 5, then gave up 6 to the Devils. We know Weekes is a proven playoff goalie, so maybe it's not such a bad thing to have him start in place of Hank. Losing Ward is tough, since he's been one of our best penalty killers all season long. Not having Jagr might be even tougher. Although it was hard to find any good out of game 1, he made some terrific passes, and set up Prucha for the lone Ranger goal, on a beautiful feed. Of course, not to mention that he's pretty much carried this team the whole season. It's gonna be tough. We'll see what the Rangers do in game 2. For most of the game they played well. They played well the first period, and ok in the second. The third is where it all unraveled, thanks to countless stupid penalties. 5 PP goals by the Devils. That's not good. The Rangers need to step up and get their heads out of their asses. One good thing about their PP was that they shot way more than I've seen all season long. They weren't looking for only Jagr, but taking the shot when they had the chance. You'd think doing that enough times, and they'll convert. We'll see though. The road just gets tougher for the Rangers without Ward, and even tougher with the possibility of not having Jagr. I'm hoping and praying. If not, I guess I won't miss 24 tonight after all. At least I know where I stand with Jack Bauer.
Ugh. 4-1 is your final. John friggin Madden with a hat trick. Game started out well, with both teams playing safe hockey. Not many penalties and not many bone head moves. Then with the Rangers on the PP, Sandis Ozolinsh tries to pinch, gets caught, and the Devils break out with Madden getting a shorthanded goal. Keep in mind, the Devils only had 3 shorthanded goals all season long. I guess when you got things going, you get them going. Then a beautiful PP goal by Gionta made it 2-0. The Rangers had golden opportunities in the second, who seemed to control most of the period. The beautiful passing abilities exhibited by Martin Straka all season long burned him. He looked to make that extra pass a couple of times when he was in a much better position to shoot. Of course they amounted to nothing. Then, the Rangers had a 2 min 2 man advantage. Amazingly this team didn't do much. Straka once again looked to make that extra pass with no passing lanes available. I wanted to much him in the head. As soon as the 2 man ended, Madden got out of the box and tried to put one past Weekes. The puck slowly rolled to the line, and Ozo tried to pull it out, only to put it in, for another shorthanded goal. Luckily 24 came on to spare me the agony of defeat. The Rangers played much better than they did on Saturday. Without Jagr, they went back to their blue collar, hard working, grinding style of hockey, which was pretty much all they could rely on anyway. The Devils are a well oiled machine who don't make mistakes. They've been absolutely lethal on special teams. Take away the dumb penalties, and maybe this series would be looking a little different. The score lines would definitely be different. The series heads to the Garden with the Rangers down 2-0. It'll be the first playoff game the Garden has seen since 1997. Hopefully the boys will come ready for this one. We'll see. I'm not counting on anything though.
Well, that sucked. Another dissapointing loss. Devils scored in like 1:10 or something to go up 1-0. Sandis Ozolinsh sucks. The guy boosted the PP once he got here, but since, he's been nothing but a bunch of bad mistakes, over and over again. I feel for him, since I fear that the mistakes and the Garden crowd booing him will lead him straight back to the bottle. Cynical, I know. Jagr was basically useless. It took guts to play, but he didn't provide much. I got nervous everytime he took the body. Offensively, the Rangers had 2 golden chances to get on the board, but all were terrible misses by Petr Sykora, hitting the post twice. Other than that, they really had nothing. Brodeur was hot, and it seemed like the Rangers were limited to outside shots. Game 4 is on Saturday afternoon. I'm not expecting some sorta Broadway miracle, although I haven't quite thrown in the towel. It's weird.
It'll take some time before I start looking at it that way, but eventually I will. It's just tough to go out this way, to the friggin Devils. Gotta respect them though. They're playing unbelievable hockey, and they always manage to do so, year after year. Props to the team across the Hudson. Even if I do hate your guts.
Well, it's do or die time for the Blueshirts. Today's game at 3pm, on NBC. I have no clue what's in store for us. Am I expecting some sorta miracle comeback, ala the 2004 Boston Red Sox? Of course not. But I guess stranger things have happened. Sounds weird, but I think all the pressure is on the Devils. Yeah, the Rangers are a game away from elimination, but if the Rangers win one, they can gain some sorta momentum and push the Devils to the limit. We'll see though. I'm not expecting anything today; just a hard fought hockey game.
The chances of them coming back from a 3-0 deficit is Slim by none plus Jagr isnt helping the cause with his Poor Play.