...the Rangers will find out where the playoff breeze takes them tonight: across the border to Montreal or north and west to Pittsburgh.
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Power plays and PK were the order of the day at practice. Video reviews tomorrow when the next task is defined. My story for tomorrow will take a first crack at assessing the matchup.
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Nothing's official, but if Montreal faces the Rangers, the logical scenario is that the first two games would be Thursday and Saturday nights; Pittsburgh-Rangers Friday night and Sunday afternoon.
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My humble observation that this year's edition of the Rangers seems calmer and more circumspect heading into the next round than last year was seconded by Brendan Shanahan, other players and Tom Renney. "We were ready, but I'm we not sure what we were ready for," the coach said.
"We gave Buffalo pretty good motivation for Game 1---by shooting our mouths off a little bit," said Shanahan, who acknowledged that the team had been excited with the first opening round win since the lockout after sweeping the Thrashers. After beating the Devils, "there wasn't as much of a celebratory feel."
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Marc Staal is ready for the Staal vs Staal questions if the Penguins are the opponent and he squares off against brother Jordan.
"Sure would be convenient for my parents. But I don't know what they would do (in their seats). Do they cheer for both teams? Do they not react at all?," he wondered, while making a placid face and pretending to sit on his hands.
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Whenever Hartford is eliminated, Renney said some players would be added to go along for the rest of the ride.
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The taped Letterman appearance with Chris Elliott? One chuckle, but pretty contrived and forgettable. Did the writers go back on strike?
Back for more in a few hours...
Comments (28)
I think Hutchinson will definitely be one of those guys added from hartford for the rest of the ride,
He could be very helpful.
Zip,
I don't get how the matchups and dates are logical at all? The Pens and the Rangers are well rested, common sense would tell me that they want to play Thursday instead of Friday and give the Habs and Flyers the extra day as they both went 7 games in their first round.
Other than NBC dictating when they wanted the Rangers/Pens (Sat or Sun), it makes no sense and even with NBC, are Sunday games that much higher of a rating potential over Saturday? I find that hard-ish to believe. Again, no one will know for sure until 1am-ish.
I dont think the Hartford guys are allowed to play. I thought they had to be on the roster at the end of the season?
Anyone know?
Aw, come on... can we hold off scavenging for scraps from the Wolf Pack until after they get knocked out? I know it's not looking good, but I'm not ready to give up on them yet!
Busey,
Nigel Dawes played the last game of the Buffalo series after Hartford was knocked out last year.
It can be done, in fact, I think the Rangers are allowed two call ups from Hartford.
No offense Laurie, but I hope it ends for Hartford tonight.
I am selfish.
Dude -- why? You think you're going to see a single one of the players from Hartford on the ice at MSG? You're not. The only way that happens is the Rangers get wracked by injuries, and they'll call up whoever they need in that case anyway.
If the Rangers wanted any of them in the line up right now, they'd be here already.
I don't see how any Ranger fan can see a benefit in sending all but a handful of the kids home for the summer while the rest get to practice at the training center after the big club finishes every day. All that means is that if someone does get injured, his replacement will no longer be in game shape. Not to mention the extra development time and playoff experience that would be lost by all the prospects in the organization with Hartford's early exit.
Laurie,
hey, sorry, I understand the benefits of our kids going through a full playoffs down there.
But it is 3 games to 1 they are down, doesn't look good.
I could see Hutchinson really helping this blueline, he has NHL playoff experience with Carolina, he could not be any worse for us than Strudwick or Malik would be.
And Greg Moore or Dane Byers instead of Ryan Hollweg? It's a no brainer.
Dude, you may think so, but Renney will not make those moves. So having those players here is absolutely pointless.
P.S. I'd take Hollweg over Moore right now. Any any of our current top 6 over Hutchinson.
Regarding Letterman skit,
They should have had Jaromir on, he's funny.
They should have showed Jagr's stats for the year, that would have gotten a good laugh.
hollweg is by far the most useless ranger right now, maybe of all time. he does not score well, he does not pass well, he does not skate well, he does not play defensively well and you would think he would hit well but i didnt see him do much of that vs. jersey...other then that he's phenominal, lol. therefore if anyone - moore, byers, hutchnson, jessiman or even frickin' nick fotiu, i dont care who you name - wants hollwegs shift, thats fine by me. ever since that mtl game, ive hated hollweg . he takes bad penalties all the time and never brings anything to the table other then the occasional energetic shift.
with that said tho, renney will only replace hollweg w/ orr or possibly prucha i think so its a moot point
Laurie - you're right on in that it would be beneficial in many ways for the Pack to keep going. So Let's Go Pack. If they can come back I'd like to see them live in rd 2
Oh, I would be so freaking happy to see Orr back. He makes that fourth line complete, and when it was Sjo/Betts/Orr, they were great.
TJ,
I agree with most of what you say about hollweg but he is a better than average skater. And the league/ refs killed his ability to take the body. I forget when it was in the season but I do remember him being notified that he was on the NHL "watch list" for his late hits. I can't imagine trying to play at the NHL level and worrying about what is going to be legal and whats going to result in a 20 game suspension. So again I do agree that he is the first Ranger to sit, but I do feel sorry that his one true angle to make the roster was all but taken away from him by the geniuses up in Toronto.
As far as Orr. I'm not sure we will need him unless Komasarik (sp?) gets out of hand with his play against Jagr. I really wished we could have gotten Orr in for the last game against the Devs. How sweet would it have been to see Orr destroy Clarkson in the first and then Rupp and White later in the game? There is always next year. I can't imagine what the preseason games will be like with the devs if Avery is still a Ranger at that point. I think the devs are going to try and literally end Avery's career.
now that I think about it I guess I am assuming that we are playing Montreal. If we get Pittsburgh then I think Orr will be needed due to Laraque and Ruutu and Roberts. Not so much against Montreal.
They should have showed the Icelander's team stats for the year, that would have gotten a good laugh on Letterman.
Don't any of you remember the post game from the final of the canucks series in 94? There were a slew of call ups from Binghamton that were there to practice with the boys and sit on the sidelines in case of an injury (Yes Binghamton was out). That way they were getting the benefit of getting to know the way their teamates play, hopefully get some chemistry, get a better handle on the differences in the system at the NHL level, for the sole reason of being available and ready immediately if they are needed. If the Pack is out, the BEST thing they could do for the entire team and the individual players (those on it and those in the system), is call up anyone and everyone that they can (im sure theres rules on the number of guys that can travel and practice with them etc).
it looks like pitt on fri
BRING ON THE PENS!
sam from westchester blog thinks 1st 2 games will be fri and then sun afternoon on nbc
well, we get Pittsburgh, woo-hoo!
it's gonna be very difficult, VERY
also, Hartford Wolfpack lose, season is over, we shall see if any of them get called up and have any impact.
Friday night at the Mellon, bring it on Crosby!!!
ya.
montreal game 2 is saturday nite. cbc must have hockey nite in canada ... montreal last east coast canadian team in tourney.
3 out of the 4 teams remaining r atlantic division. avery u got another whinner to deal with
I was kind'a look'n fwd. to hearing "Oh Canada" actually....playing the 'Guins is gonna be a challenge but at the same time, I'm confident we will take it to 'em. Believe me, the 'Guins would have rather played the Crapitals and not us!...This is gonna be fun folks!
its gonna be a war vs. pitt. i can see avery and roberts getting aquainted w/ each other very early on.
ruuttu is the avery of pitt, so we need not fall for his antics...he's gonna look to run jagr any chance he gets (ie- olympics)
i think a "run and gun" style could be a deathwish, jersey played that style in games 3, 4 and 5 and had success offensively. we need to bore the hell out of them, limit mistakes and pounce on theirs. hank is an advantage over fleury and starting on the road means less pressure again.
im hoping sid and the gang are overconfident since disposing the worst playoff team of all time, ottawa senators. they been sittin awhile, maybe thats a good omen for us
i say rangers in 6 again (i said 6 vs. jersey).
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(sidenote)
lmao!!..i just saw on versus, that years ago they only had 1 penalty box, and opposing playrs had to share it. imagine avery sharing the box with anyone?..omg, they may kill him..never knew that, i think thats awesome :)--
Ruutu vs Avery is gonna be interesting and yes, we need to play BIG D and limit our # of mistakes, esp in our own end. ...as far as one penalty box?....yeah, I just can't see Avery in there w/Roberts but would love to see him in there with the kid-that would be terrific!
tj - the Isles in 94 might have been the worst team in playoff history
The refs will give this series to the Pens no doubt. They did it to the Rangers last year in Buffalo and they will try to do it again. The bias against the Rangers is so obvious it's sickening. If Henrik and the PK don't perform miracles it's gonna be a short series.