The twenty-mule team pulled out a 3-2 shootout win Sunday in Philadelphia. You get the feeling that nothing comes easy for our blueshirted burros, but they do maintain control of their playoff destiny. However, they controlled their destiny last year too.
On Saturday it was hard to stay confident when you heard that Coach Disagreeable was mess'n with the lines again. If someone uses the word "Chemistry" with any line combination that the Rangers throw out on the ice, they should be beaten with a hockey stick. The Rangers have no "Chemisty". None. Zilch. Gaborik said:
"We have to drive more to the net. We have to take more shots, even if they are from bad angles. We have to do whatever we can to create scoring opportunities. We have to score dirtier goals.”When your flashiest scorer is talking like that and about scoring "dirtier goals" you know that all the chemistry has been leeched out of this lineup.
Defense, shot blocking, and Lundqvist - that is the Rangers holy trinity. Goals are like mini miracles.
Who was it on the NBC broadcast who kept referring to the Rangers as "selling out" when they went down for one of their patented shot blocks? I guess that means "selling out" a healthy body for one that is not so healthy.
The blocked shot (BS) stat will have to be our new metric for Rangers success. The Rangers had 23 BS (blocked shots) against the Flyers, here is the breakdown:
Girardi - 7 BS (228 BS for the year)
Gaborik - 1 BS
Staal - 3 BS
Fedotenko - 1 BS
Stephan - 1 BS
Callahan - 3 BS
McDonagh - 4 BS
Sauer - 3 BS
If we are setting the new benchmark for Rangers success it looks to be something north of 18 or 20 BS per game.
So forget goals, it's all about the BS number for this Rangers team.
----
ICINGS:What do you do when your namesake gets demoted? The Abdelkader to Zuccarello daily hockey column will keep their name:
The New York Rangers may have sent Mats Zuccarello back to the Whale in the AHL but the morning column here at THW will maintain our name.
----
Comcast is a 63% owner of the Philadelphia Flyers and a 51% owner of NBC Universal. So is there any conflict of interest? Will the Flyers get their fair share of NBC's hockey coverage?NBC Sports / Pro Hockey Talk:
NHL on NBC Game of the Week 2011 schedule -- For those of you keeping track (and I know you will) the teams break down this way for the maximum number of times they could appear on NBC’s Game of the Week.
- Chicago, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and N.Y. Rangers – 5 times
- Detroit and Minnesota – 4 times
- Washington, Buffalo, and New Jersey – 3 times
- Boston, Dallas, Los Angeles , and Tampa Bay – 2 times
- Atlanta, Florida, N.Y. Islanders, Columbus, and St. Louis – 1 time
----
Did you know Theo Fleury was on Twitter? We do now.Jas Faulkner / The Hockey Writers:
The Bad Mojo Behind The Taunting Of Theo Fleury
----
update: Latest on the PHWA/Chris Botta/Islanders flap.Terry Frei / DenverPost.com:
Professional Hockey Writers Association statement on award voting, Islanders’ credential revocation -- I’m chairman of the Colorado chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association, and also finishing up a term as a PHWA vice president, representing the Northwest Division. Our president is Kevin Allen of USA Today. Other vice presidents are Larry Brooks of the New York Post, Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press, Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles Times, Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun and Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune.
We conducted a conference call of chapter chairs on Sunday, and I was asked to compose a statement summing up the sentiments on the call and the motion passed.
Here it is: ...
"Defense, shot blocking, and Lundqvist - that is the Rangers holy trinity. Goals are like mini miracles."
Great line. Unfortunately, it's true.
I know it's sad. We used to get on Tom Renney about being too defensive minded. But Torts has gone to whole other extreme. The interesting question is has he switched to a defensive posture because he knows he doesn't have the horses to play a wide open attack style. The Rangers might be one of the slowest teams in the league. 20 loyal, fearless, but slow mules. Mules can't charge, they just stand there and take it!