To Be Continued? Playoffs start in May?

The NHL is saying May looks like the earliest possible restart date. The AHL also released an official statement saying their suspension of "play will not be lifted before May." Major League Baseball wants to start their season in May. So we wait and hope that something will happen in May.

One rumor floated via TSN analyst Darren Dreger is that the NHL is looking at a 24 team playoff format. This means the Rangers are in the playoffs! Sounds good to us.

The proposal allegedly on the table would be a format that has the top 12 teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs. The top four teams in each league would get a bye to the second round. East bye teams would be Boston, Tampa, Washington, and Philly. West would be St Louis, Colorado, Vegas, and Edmonton. Then you'd have a 5 vs 12, 6 vs 11, 7 vs 10, and 8 vs 9 in each conference. How real is this idea? According to Dreger it is a "strong" option.

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ICINGS: Podcast List

• Game Misconduct - Don La Greca
• Up in the Blue Seats - Ron Duguay and Larry Brooks (NY Post)
• Spittin' Chiclets - Former NHL vets Ryan Whitney, Paul Bissonnette and Barstool Sports' Rear Admiral
• Hockey Central at Noon - With Jeff Marek, David Amber, Anthony Stewart, and Justin Bourne
• Puck Soup - Greg Wyshynski (ESPN), Sean McIndoe (The Athletic), Ryan Lambert (Yahoo)
• InGoal Radio Podcast - Daren Millard

Playoffs: Hunt or Hoax?

Mika Zibanejad's 5 goal game against the Washington Capitals on Thursday, March 5th, was a bolt of lightning that reanimated the corpse of the 2019-20 season. Two days latter the walking-dead Rangers took a full stride back towards the grave with a lackluster 6-4 loss to the Jersey Devils on Saturday, March 7th. The Russian rookie goalie, Shesterkin, had his first bad game. This is certainly understandably after a 6 game layoff, following his broken rib in that Brooklyn auto accident. But, all the bouquets tossed at the Rangers after Mika's extraordinary performance, might now need to be rearranged into funeral wreaths if Shesterkin can't find his game.

So which way will the Rangers season go now: over achieving young Frankensteins, or hopeless hunchbacks?

The Rangers have made it interesting. We're paying attention again. Just like when the Mets made their playoff run last year, with Pete Alonso hammering home runs. We know how that turned out. But, it was fun for awhile. So more fun please, less heartbreak is our hope for these our beloved Rangers this season.

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ICINGS: Current podcast list:

• Game Misconduct - Don La Greca
• Up in the Blue Seats - Ron Duguay and Larry Brooks (NY Post)
• Spittin' Chiclets - Former NHL vets Ryan Whitney, Paul Bissonnette and Barstool Sports' Rear Admiral
• Hockey Central at Noon - With Jeff Marek, David Amber, Anthony Stewart, and Justin Bourne
• Puck Soup - Greg Wyshynski (ESPN), Sean McIndoe (The Athletic), Ryan Lambert (Yahoo)
• InGoal Radio Podcast - Daren Millard