The Rangers are ailing, physically and mentally. Physically there was Henrik Lundqvist (flu), Michael Nylander (flu), Matt Cullen (knee) and Marek Malik (groin). Mentally there were "seven different Rangers taking penalties to leave their team shorthanded seven times in a 16:23 span bridging the first and second periods." No surprise the Isles won the game 4-3, and the Rangers have now lost three in a row.
Shanahan was also dealing with the the flu and was a question mark before the game, but he played and was honored with Jagr in a pre-game ceremony. Both were given silver sticks for their milestone 600th goals. They both tried to make a special night of it, with Jagr scoring twice and Shanny once. But the weight of all the penalties and the missing teammates sunk the Blueshirts.
If you're going to go off the grid and miss some games like the Ranger Pundit then you couldn't have have picked a better time to hand off those season tickets to the nose bleeds. This stretch of eight games in thirteen nights has caught up with the Broadway Boys.
The Blueshirts have started handing out the blues for the holidays along with joyless rides home on the LIRR. The only good news is that the Ozolinsh experiment is over and Thomas Pock is now backup from Hartford. That is something to build on for the second half of the season.
ICINGS:
NY Post
Rangers Hit By Blake-Out
Daily News
Rangers Slide Hard To Stomach
Newsday
Manpower Edge Is Crucial
It's Blake's Turn For Garden Party
Journal News
Good News/Bad News Night For Rangers' Jagr, Shanahan
Tuesday, Dec. 19th -
Daily News
Ozolinsh Out; Hello Nedved?
NY Post
No Quick Fix In Ozo's Exit
Newsday
Ozolinsh waived, Pock recalled from Hartford
Journal News
Ozolinsh Waived As Lost Weekend Echoes
Hartford Courant
Pock Gets His Rangers Callback
Rangers’ Kakko & Vesey Quietly Stepping Up
3 hours ago
www.hockeyfansunite.com
Good morning. Please take a second to check out this new site. It has been generating quite a bit of buzz. It is basically calling for the return of good old-fashioned North American hockey that many of us have missed over the past few years. It presents a pretty solid stance on why today’s NHL product is in trouble.
The end result - or day of reckoning if you will - is January 20th… what is being called the annual "Save the NHL" night. On January 20th, there will be a total of 14 games taking place across the NHL and it presents the best opportunity for fans to show their support for a return to something close to old time hockey, primarily by tweaking the current rules in “the new NHL.”
The idea is to make our (the NHL fan’s) presence known through fliers and/or signs (all of tasteful nature of course) in the hopes that we get someone’s attention and open their eyes to the demands of the fans. If you share in that interest for intense, passionate, and physical hockey, please check out the site and kindly show whatever support you can. The effort on your part would be minimal but your impact would be overwhelming.
Thank you and Happy Holidays!
Matthew