Blue Notes

In honor of the game against Nashville, wore the Justin cowboy boots and had the Steve Earle cranking while driving to practice, which was an optional one for the Rangers.

Not for the working press, though.

As was the case several times last year, Jaromir Jagr, Michael Nylander and Michal Rozsival didn't skate and coach Tom Renney wasn't on the ice, so assistants Mike Pelino and Perry Pearn put the lads through their paces.

Colton Orr (flu) also was missing, so expect Nigel Dawes to play again tonight. Otherwise, the lineup appears to be the same for tonight as against the Devils, with Henrik Lundqvist between the pipes. The next game is in Toronto---Kevin Weekes' hometown---on Saturday, so he may get the nod against the Leafs.

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It'll be Adam Hall's first game against the Predators, for whom he had played for three seasons, but don't expect any extra snarl or revenge factor.

"It's nothing new to me playing against friends or people that I know," said Hall, who has two goals and an assist here, "especially growing up playing on (U.S.) national teams and having those players sign with different colleges and different pro teams."

The Michigan-born right wing, acquired in a mid-July swap for Dominick Moore, seems to have cut the cord with Music City. "I talk to some of the guys and you catch the scores on the news, other than that...I had a lot of fun there, made friends, but you always refocus. New York's an incredible city."

Whenever I'm in Nashville (was most recently there covering Jets-Titans on Sept. 10) and off-duty, I try to swing by the Bluebird, Tootsie's Orchid Lounge, Ernest Tubbs' Record Store, the Station Inn (for bluegrass), Robert's Western World or 3rd and Lindsley. Even took a colleague to the Charlie Daniels Museum last time, which was quite an experience.

Hall said he and his pals didn't hang at one particular spot. "All over the place, you change it up, keep things fresh," he said. You certainly can do just that if you're adventurous in Nashville.

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Stat of the Day: Four Rangers (Jagr, Nylander, Brendan Shanahan and Martin Straka, are among the Top 13 in scoring; Steve Sullivan, with three goals and three assists, is the only Predator in the top 60. But watch out for Paul Kariya tonight.

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Petr Prucha, who scored 30 goals as a rookie, has yet to dent the twine, but has five assists skating with Shanahan and Matt Cullen. "The kid's just gutsy, as usual full of the second-effort things," according to Renney, who has told Prucha not to worry about when the goals will come. "I would rather have him end up with 15 goals and plus-15 than be 30 and minus-15. To me that spells a championship team; Pete understands that."

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Ryan Hollweg's aggressive approach isn't being reined in, despite the thinking that No. 44 is being targeted by referees. "I'm not gonna stop playing hard," Hollweg says. "I'm effective that way. If I take a charging penalty every now and then, well, we want to be known as a tough team. He (Renney) told me on the ice, 'Holly. we'll take those penalties.' " Renney thought that neither of the two on Hollweg in the Devils game (boarding and interference) were legit. "I'm extremely disappointed because this is still a passionate, physical, spontaneous game, and if we penalize people for playing that way because that is part of what they're all about and what teams require, we're doing the game a disservice," he said.

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Question: Buffalo wiped out the Flyers 9-1 on Tuesday night. It may not be too early to ask: Will Ken Hitchcock be the first coach fired? I'll get to those e-mails later...promise.