Ahem.
I appreciate that on Sam Weinman's blog at the J-News, (or Lohud, or whatever new name Gannett is coming up with for its multi-media empire-building) he's lobbying for me to grab a job covering the D-Rays.
Poor guy. All the podcasting and TV voice-overs that the young man is doing has addled his brain. And he's wondering how he got that cold.
He's trying to relegate me to the sunny south to cover another Brendan (Harris), a Duke(s)---Elijah---instead of King Henrik and B.J. (Upton) instead of J.J.
Not to mention Ruddy Lugo and Akinori Iwamura.
It's an insidious plan devised by Sam, who lives in fear that my eventual V-casts or pod-blasts or audio-slaving will knock his off the airwaves.
Well, pal, it ain't happening.
Unless you can make a quick call to the Trib for me, huh? Please?
Here's the deal, I'll move to Tampa if you bring the family to Tulsa. (Jayhawks and John Hiatt fans have to be astounded with the two refs in one sentence.)
Sorry Sam, we'll be blogging in Buffalo or night-owling in Ottawa before you know it.
And I'll be pining for cigars in Ybor City and some beach time. The next round's on you.
Comments (8)
Well, we are going to face one of four possible teams: The Lightning, the Penguins, the Senators, or the Sabres.
Lightning: This is where our defense must continue to break up plays in the neutral zone, as well as Henrik's stone wall-like play in net. With players like Lecavalier, Richards, St. Louis, and Prospal, we cannot afford for temporary breakdowns in the defensive zone. We need to anticipate plays in the neutral zone (or even in the offensive zone, if we can keep our unbelievable forechecking) and end plays before they get a chance to begin. We must score as much as possible, because we need to assume they'll be scoring many as well.
Penguins: A deep roster, with talent on all sides of the puck. Shutting down Malkin, Crosby, and Stall would be huge, and again, we need solid defense and goaltending. Where our forwards are concerned, we need to forecheck aggressively and shoot high on Fleury- he goes down very quickly and eats up rebounds like the cookie monster. Stop their big line, and shoot a lot- we've shut them down before, and can continue to do it if we stay out of the penalty box.
Senators: Another offensively-solid team, who converts on their power plays and is physical. This is where you bring in Hollweg, because his skill and speed surpass Orr's grittiness and decent offensive mindset. Keep Heatley/Spezza/Alfredsson off the power play, and keep the puck in their zone when they're on the ice, and we can win the long series.
Sabres: The team I'd least like to see in the next round, but from the way they've been lackadaisically going through the motions in the opening periods against the Isles, I might like to see them before the Sens. Their firepower comes from all angles, offense and defense; we need to avoid making turnovers, because that's where the Sabres are the most effective. Solid goaltending and a strong defense could both be shaken up with constant onslaughts from shots at the point and with our first three lines shooting all the time. The Sabres are another team who will go down swinging if we can break up neutral zone offensives, and we need to draw penalties by skating hard. Score early, and keep a solid, well-mannered defense intact through 60 minutes, and we'll have a great opportunity to win it.
This week off is a great result for the hard-working Blueshirts, but too much time off will slow our momentum down considerably. We need to open the second round with vitality and poise, avoiding any signs of fatigue or rustiness, and I can say confidently that we have a shot of beating any team we could possibly face come the Eastern Conference Semis.
Bennett- Agree with your points except the Sens scare me more than Buffalo....and It looks like we'll play either of these two teams right now.
Does anyone else agree that the islanders have made the sabers look less unbeatable?
I agree, I think I am more afraid of the Sens than Buffalo.
I think Chris Neil is one nasty S.O.B.
The Sens would be more physical too so they scare me more in how they manhandled the Pens. At least if we play them we're operating off similar rest.
I agree, kind of the lesser of two evils though. In the category of be careful what you wish for I'll take Buffalo over the Sens in the next round as well.
I think the Sens would be a tougher out because of their style of play versus our style of play. Buffalo, while quicker, isn't as physical. And, it seems to me that Miller will give up the bad/fluke goal more often than Emery (see Gervais' goal in the Islander series). In addition, I think that bad goal rattles Miller quicker.
Still, Vanek, Briere, Drury, Afinogenov, Pominville, Campbell are pretty intimidating. If we get Buffalo I think you bring Hollweg back (scratch Orr) and we try to bang them as often as possible without running around and getting caught up ice. They will kill you in transition.
Good points Brian. I too think the Sens are a tougher matchup. I think we can match skill, defense and goaltending with Buffalo any day. Although the Sabres are probably a bit quicker than the Blueshirts overall. The Sens just have one of those menacing type teams that have such a good mix of strength, toughness and skill.
Either way, I think the Rangers can win. I don't think we'll even come close to seeing a sweep. Most likely more of a knockdown drag out type fight over six or seven games.
I think the rest is good for the Rangers as well. And I too would like to see Hollweg back for the next series if it's against Buffalo. If they get the Sens, then I'd put Orr back out there just to see if Ottawa tries to pull some nonsense with Chris Neil.
Let's Go Rangers!
JimJam,
Yep, I'd stick with Orr against the Sens as well.
Just love being able to talk Rangers hockey in the late April!