Welcome to the semis (in the East)
In this round, locker rooms are jammed with media, so players and coaches are brought to a podium to ease the congestion. As in other arenas, in the aging but classic Igloo, a curtained area with podium and folding chairs is set up next to a working-press room with long tables on ice level not far the from the Rangers locker room. First Sidney Crosby, then Michel Therrien and finally Tom Renney held court there.
So much has been said and written in the past week; here's a pastiche of the fresh stuff:
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Renney on the decision to insert Colton Orr, whose broken toe has healed, for Ryan Hollweg on the fourth line: "It's time. This is a big, strong team. We feel Colton can get in on the forecheck. I don't think we lose anything at all and think we gain a little bit by his size."
Crosby, asked if he's changed his game after accusations of diving: "No. I never dove; I don't, so this is part of the playoffs, part of the gamesmanship. If I go down, it's because I've been forced down. If not, I'll fnd a way to stay on my feet. I think he should be the one worried about guys diving.”
Pens have juggled d-pairs: It's Gonchar-Orpik; Gill-Scuderi, Letang-Whitney...
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Crosby on Avery: "He's not gonna change what I do. He's gonna be a tough guy to play against. That's what he prides himself on....If he expects to talk to me, he'll be doing all the talking, not me...If he's gonna do something stupid, it's up to the refs to make that call and make sure he's penalized for it."
Therrien on Avery: "There's a fine line to be aggressive and being undisciplined. He's gonna do his thing. They've got some dangerous players who've you've got to focus on and we don't want to have any distractions. This is what he's looking for and we're gonna have to keep our focus. What goes around, comes around....If they want to target our best players, we’re ready. And I’m sure those type of players are always ready for this. But in the meantime, we’re going to target their best players as well.”
Goaltender Marc Andre-Fleury on Avery: "I'll try not to get involved with him. Skate away."
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Jagr, before his first playoff series as an opponent at Mellon Arena: "I got a lot of good memories, the fans, the building, it's where I learned to play hockey." Told that Petr Sykora, who rents Jagr's suburban house here, reported that the place is overrun with ants. Said Jagr: "He's not scoring right now, maybe he can do some work. He's a good guy; if he has some problems with the house, I'm gonna go and fix it."
"We just have to pepper the net like we did with (Ottawa's Martin) Gerber, our game plan doesn't change," said Ryan Malone, who I noticed sports a large, Dead-like, skulls-and-roses tattoo above his left knee. "Shoot and crash the net, that's what playoff hockey is. If you wind up for a shot at the point and they go down you've got to keep your head up and skate around them."
Malone on the ice: "Nothing compares to the Winter Classic (outdoor ruts and slush); it was in bad shape, but the ice was better today, we're both gonna have to play on it, so there's no excuses."
More from the rink later...
Comments (13)
I seem to notice alot of Pens fans coming out of the woodwork talking smack...where were all of them when the franchise was a complete joke and they were about to move because no one cared??....
must be nice to be a fairweather fan, lowers the stress of the bad times...
Busey they seem to be very delusional with a lot of them saying Pens in 4. Come on any person with an ounce of intelligence would know thats not gonna happen. I said in the last series even though i knew the rangers were better than the devils i predicted rangers in 6. Im gonna say rangers in 7.
i am also confused is Bob a ranger fan?
Just because I hate Renney and dislike Jagr, Shanahan, Straka, Malik, Betts, and Backman I am not a Ranger fan?
bob,
we fired you as a Rangers fan a looooooooooong time ago
Bob I have never seen u write one positive thing about the rangers. And i think ur smarter than all of the penguin fans ur agruing with.
yes Bob.
I use message boards to express my unhappyness in something or a need for something to change or point out flaws. I don't waste time to express that I am happy or content.
pastiche? i don't think so, z...
pas·tiche
–noun
1. a literary, musical, or artistic piece consisting wholly or chiefly of motifs or techniques borrowed from one or more sources.
2. an incongruous combination of materials, forms, motifs, etc., taken from different sources; hodgepodge.
bzzzzzzzzz....bzzzzzzzzzzzzz...BOB, STOP IT!!!!..bzzzzzzzz, bzzzzzzzzzzzz..DAMIT!!..bzzzzzzzzzz, bzzzzzzz...GRRR, BOB!!...bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...SWATTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!, ah got the bastid!
..I..
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rangers in 6
Crosby not a diver
my God thats the biggest joke ive ever heard since the y did the chicken cross the road joke
to everyone with an opinion (bob not included),
see if you think this makes sense considering just how crazy, loopy, wacky, zany, dumb, mindless, eerily weird the person actully is...
..but is it possible that bob made up all those names on the previous thread (the one with all the penguin fans) ?..we very rarely have "enemy" bloggers here other then an occasional islander fan..he was "arguing" with 3 or 4 pen fans if im not mistakin, that makes me wonder where all these pen fans came from and where have they been in the past. also, is it possible that this is a "made-up" arguement in his head? a ploy by bob to make us think he likes the rangers by defending them? if im right, that truly makes bob the oddest human being on the face of the earth doncha think?
just a thought..please comment (bob excluded)
hey bob ..I..
Steve - actually it's the qtr finals not semis (or at least east semis)
re the Pens fans - I see them now on Sam's blog and Bob was banned from there in his many identities a long time ago. so they're either 1 or more pens fans or one of the locals most likely Isles fans.
Bob is probably a group of posters, as no one person could be this ignorant. Shakespeare was a master of the human condition, his understanding was unique and that made the material impressive. Bob is a compendum of human behavior most of which is negative, so wither he is a massive multiple personality or more likely a group of bloggers who like to jump in and be passive aggressive. Either way the blogs come from morons, and certainly should not be taken with any seriousness. Bad enough to have to bear the Pens Fans ignorance (which will only be evident when the Pens win) but stupidity such as Bob is simply unbearable sufferage. Rangers in 6!