As I Live And Breathe, We Are Alive

No that was not a seismic roar you heard, it was not a big snow bank breaking loose and it was not a Canadian cold wind blowing down from the Arctic. By God, it was the New York Rangers having a party at the Toronto Garden, scoring seven goals for the first time this season. They did it against a Toronto team, 21-17-5, sixth in the Eastern Conference, that had just come off of a big shootout win over the Red Wings, in the Big House, before 105,000 fans, in the Winter Classic.

What happened? Who knows? It certainly wasn't anything the coach said. He makes Job look like a madman. Team meeting? Those things are usually held for the purpose of finding the great bars in town. Dominic Moore scored two goals. Up to now, he had trouble hitting the net, and now he has three goals. Brian Boyle scored his first goal in 28 games, his second of the season. Brad Richards scored his tenth, his first in 13 games. Other goal scorers were Hagelin (10), Pouliot (8), and Kreider (11), who also showed a Sean Avery type game, yapping at and finally tussling with Toronto D-man and tough guy Dion Phaneuf. The kid's a potential game changer and maybe by March the coach will discover that.

Can't go without saying something about Cam Talbot and the Ranger goalie situation. Cam made 24 saves and is now 9-3, however the Rangers put 50 shots on two Maple Leaf goalies which proves the old adage that the best defense is a good offense. The Rangers seem to play with more discipline in front of Talbot than in front of Lundqvist. Its time for the team to stand up for The King and pay him back for all the times he has bailed the team out. That should start tomorrow night against the Blue Jackets in the Garden.

The Rangers made a minor trade picking up tough guy Daniel Carcillo. The coach said it's an area where we needed to get better. If he is going to be used 4-6 minutes a game, forget it. It's questionable what help he will give the Rangers. Every 'supposed tough guy' the Rangers have played never got more than six minutes of ice time. He hits the ice, drops the gloves, and sits in the sin bin for five minutes. Real help, Six on the ice, five in the box. But we shall see. Maybe the Generals have a plan.

However, let's not get carried too far away. Let's enjoy last night. Maybe during the summer they will rerun it once a month to show us how things might have been. Kind of a Christmas carol for hockey. See what happens when the Rangers score seven goals. You go bonkers.

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