Some Fight Left in Them

One thing about eating at Kabooz, it is never dull. Mark, the manager, makes sure of that. He was in full bloom last night walking around his domain. "Put it down Blogger Man, Mark Messier is the next coach of the Rangers. This team needs a kick in the you know what and Mark is the man to do it."

Maybe the Rangers heard Mark's comments last night. Kabooz is right under the Garden and maybe that is what stirred them up. After all if you were an overpriced under performering player who would you want as coach, a disciplinarian like Messier or Mortimer Milktoast, aka coach clueless?

Yes, the Rangers played with desperation perhaps led by Colton Orr challenging and holding his own against Cap goon Donald Brashear. You don't believe it was a locker room speech do you? However, it was a spirited and an entertaining game and one that showed that despite Ovechkin and Mike Green, Washington is not unbeatable. They have an Achilles' heel and that is their goal tending. Jose Theodore was not impressive.

Ranger goal scorers were Callahan, Korpikoski, Mara and Naslund. Mike Green got two for the Caps and he now has 22 goals, more than any Ranger. Ovechkin's only goal was in the skills competition, the shootout, but Callahan got the winner by knocking one off the crossbar and it rebounded in off of Theodore's leg. What a way to end a very good hockey game.

Are the Rangers woes over with? Hardly. The power play was awful and why not? On one two-minute power play, Wade Redden was on the ice for the entire two minutes and did absolutely nothing. So before you sing the praises of coach clueless, reflect on the fact that Wade Redden gets the most ice time of any player on the ice and accomplishes nothing. The Ranger charge was led by the young ones and the so called stars went along for the ride. But a win is a win so on to Florida and then the big bad Flyers next Sunday at the Garden. Mark should be in top form by then. Maybe The Dark Ranger will be there to watch his "beloved" Flyers.

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ICINGS:

If you are wondering why the Rangers have larded their roster with toxic assets (overpaid under performing players) then you only need to look to Glen Sather's boss to find where the inspiration for this suicidal strategy originates. James Dolan, who is the Chairman of the Board of Cablevision and Sather's overseer, has blown $350-to-$450 million on his ill conceived purchase of Newsday last summer. Dolan now needs to raise $500 million in debt to cover the write down of this toxic asset.

Unfortunately, Sather can't raise the salary cap.

The bottom line is that if you are a Rangers fan, Knicks fan, or Cablevision shareholder you are in perpetual state of getting screwed. Jeff Matthews skewers the business acumen of our very own Stealth Owner.

Jeff Matthews Is Not Making This Up:
How to Lose 60% in Less Than a Year, Without Bernie Madoff --

Who in their right mind thought spending $650 million for Newsday—a marginal newspaper in a media-saturated market, being peddled by a desperate seller into a fatal newspaper down-cycle—was a good idea?

Nobody outside Cablevision that we know of—not even one of Wall Street’s Finest—thought for one minute Cablevision had a shot at even getting its money back, let alone making a reasonable rate of return.

But Cablevision does what the Dolans want to do, and so the poor non-Dolan Cablevision shareholders must now watch as their company absorbs a $350-to-$450 million write-off on last summer’s Newsday purchase, before the next year’s baseball season has even begun...

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John Chandler / HockeyFights.com:
Brashear and Orr, A History --

One of the most-anticipated matchups heading in to Wednesday night that could have taken place, and did, was another round between Caps enforcer Donald Brashear and Rangers tough guy Colton Orr. In their previous five meetings, it was Brashear that had Orr’s number.

Go ahead and see for yourself...

However, Orr faired much better this time around as he and Brashear exchanged punches in an entertaining, even bout. Seconds after the two heavyweights went at it, Aaron Voros and Matt Bradley dropped the gloves in a fast-paced scrap off of the ensuing faceoff. New York goaltender Henrik Lundqvist stated after the game that the back-to-back fights contributed to the club’s eventual win...

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HockeyFights.com:
Donald Brashear vs Colton Orr -- Who won?

• Colton Orr -- 39.4%
• Donald Brashear -- 34.9%
• Draw -- 25.6%

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