This time Colton Orr was dressed for the Flyers.. The last time he wasn't and the Flyers led by Todd Fedoruk and Ben Eager pounded the Rangers in a 5-3 Ranger loss. Acting like an involved, active owner, James Dolan, after that game, read the riot act to Glen Sather and Tom Renney for not playing Orr against the Flyers.
It didn't take long for Orr and Fedoruk to get together. Twenty one seconds into the game they met at the blue line and after some grappling Orr landed a haymaker on Fedoruk's face which knocked him out cold. He hit the ice and was taken off the ice on a stretcher and taken to St. Vincent's Hospital. Preliminary reports indicate a concussion and he will be ok. It was eerie. On a night when Shanahan was returning from a concussion against the same team that he accidentally got injured. Ben Eager acted like he wanted to revenge his partner but only made half hearted efforts to tangle with Orr and later with Jason Strudwick. Next time we play them Renney should put young defenseman David Liffiton in the lineup, he would be a good backup for Orr.
Petr Prucha (19) opened the scoring and the Rangers were up 1-0 after the first period. Avery (15) and Jagr (26) made it 3-0 after two and Avery (16) and Ortmeyer (2) wrapped it up in the third for a 5-0 win. The Prince closed it out with a total of 17 saves and with the crowd chanting, "Hen-Reek", "Hen-Reek", he coasted to his fifth shutout this year and his seventh career shutout.
After losing two one goal games in a row the Rangers have now won three straight by a combined score of 14-1. In these three games the Rangers have outshot their opponents 115-69. The last game against the hot shot, high scoring Penguins the Rangers outshot the Pens 42-22. The Rangers keep up this offensive and the shots against them will be low and with Lundqvist on top of his game right now they will be very tough to beat. They have to keep it up because six of the final eight games will be on the road. The Rangers are now 19-15-5 at home.
The three stars of the game were Avery, Lundqvist and Shanahan in that order. One of the stars could have been Colton Orr but then that would be an acknowledgement by the NHL that toughness counts in the NHL. The liberal drive by media will probably plaster the sports and editorial pages with articles condemning fighting and violence in hockey and demanding an end to it. However, it is an integral part of the game and hopefully Tom Renney won't forget it soon. The Flyers have been dishing it out for years but tonight they met their match and got their comeuppance. I'm sorry Fedoruk was hurt so badly and hope he recovers soon. Our prayers are with him. However, if you live by the sword...........
ICINGS: Coming home from the RR station I was listening to WFAN and a Flyer fan calls in and complains about how this fight was a blot on the game and that Orr and Hollweg are dirty players. The kettle calling the pot black. He said the Flyers will remember this when we play our last game there. Good. The Flyers invented hooliganism in hockey. Remember the Broad Street Bullies? They gave the Bobby Clarkes of the hockey world all their toughness. I remember the goon Dave Schultz beating up Dale Rolfe of the Rangers one night without anyone on the Rangers lifting a finger to protect Rolfe. What was the outcome? Schultz and a bleeding Rolfe got five minutes each for fighting. Hypocrites.
March 22, 2007
Newsday
Knockout, Shutout
Daily News
Shanny, Rangers By KO
NY Post
Shan-To-Hand Combat
Journal News
Rangers KO Flyers
I can't remember a hockey fight for the Rangers that was more satisfying than this one punch KO. But, I'm sure there are others. Any fights from the past that stand out like this one?
wes putnam-I remember a big center who played for the Rangers in the late sixties Orland Kurtenbach, 6'2", around 200 pounds and I saw him deck a guy with one punch. Unfortunately can't remember the guys name. He was one tough dude. Also in the early 40's, Muzz Patrick also ko'd a guy with one punch. You are really testing my memory.
The Shanahan-Callahan-Avery line has been dubed the Shamrock Line. We need more "han's" and fewer czech's. Where can we find another 'han'?
$20nassau-Internally. Jagr-han, Girardi-han, Avery-han. Han enough?