1- AVERY

2- Brian Campbell

3- Marian Hossa…

Well, after the first 2 days of free agency, those 3 guys are off the market and none of them will be wearing Broadway Blue next year.

Avery will take his game to Dallas, Brian Campbell got quite the deal to go to the Blackhawks and the rich get richer as Marian Hossa heads to Hockeytown.

While we didn’t nab any of those guys, the Rangers were quite busy during the first 48 hours of free agency as Glen Sather tries to build next years squad.

Here is a rundown of the Rangers activity thus far…

Resigned: D-Michal Rozsival

Terms: 4yrs, $20million

Analysis:  Rozsival has proven himself to an extent with the Rangers since joining the team after the lockout year, while he wasn’t my first choice, I can see why Slats went out and got him locked up. At times, he is very capable of ‘Quarterbacking’ the Power Play and when he started playing alongside Marc Staal toward the end of the season, he seemed to be at his best while helping the youngster grow. In the end, he’ll be fine in the long haul but that is a lot of money and we probably could have gotten him for a bit less.

Resigned: G-Steve Valiquette

Terms: Undisclosed

Analysis:Vali held his own as King Henrik’s backup last year, whenever he got the chance to play he did what he could. Highlights for him included 2 shutouts of the Flyers, both coming on the road at the Wachovia Center.  It is hard to find a serviceable backup anywhere in the $1 million per year range and I would imagine that is close to (maybe less than) what Valiquette will be receiving. Great job by Sather on this one.

Signed: D- Wade Redden

Terms: 6yrs, $39million

Analysis:Funny how these things work. A few years ago, Glen Sather was shocked that the Bruins gave Zdeno Chara such a lofty contract. Now, the Rangers missing a big defensive presence, seemed to buckle a bit and go grab Redden.  Redden was a proven leader in Ottawa and has great skills on both ends. I like the idea of bringing in a big name defensemen and once Campbell was taken off the table, Redden was probably seen as the best available.  Like the Rozsival deal, this is a lot of money- hopefully he earns his worth on the ice.

Signed: RW- Aaron Voros

Terms: Undisclosed

Analysis: Not going to lie here, I don’t watch much of the Wild so I never really saw this guy in action.  But what I did see of him, he seems like an energy guy with an above average passing game.  I doubt this was a big contract, whatever it is I’m sure it will suffice for a guy who seems like a third liner at best.

Signed: W- Patrick Rissmiller

Terms: 3yrs (around) $3million

Analysis: Like Voros, I don’t know that much about Rissmiller but he would appear to fill the void of ‘energy guy’. He stands 6′4”. Granted, he is no Avery I think he has fan favorite written all over him.  He has 3 years to prove himself at MSG.

Acquired: RW- Nikolai Zherdev and C- Dan Fritsche *for* D- Fedor Tyutin and Christian Backman

Analysis: I’m indifferent about this one. On one hand, you can tell that in our signings, our 2 big hits were Redden and Rozsival, both Defensemen- Therefore, there is a need for offense and we could get it with a guy like Zherdev, who had 61 points (26 goals) last season, by far his best year in the league.   The former first round pick (4th overall) had 76 goals in  4 season with the Blue Jackets. He has potential but I don’t think he is ready to make the jump from Columbus to New York… No offense, but Nationwide Arena and MSG are two completely different places to play.

We also brought in Dan Fritsche who has 22 points in 69 games last season.  His most telling stat is that he finished the year with a +2 rating which is very impressive considering he played for Columbus, one of the worst teams in the league.  We already have plenty of Centers so it will be interesting to see how he will fit in with the team.

Now, as for who is headed to Columbus, Christian Backman didn’t live up to the hype when he was traded from the Blues and he is slated to make $3 million this year so I don’t mind parting ways with him… As for Fedor Tyutin, I can’t help but question letting him go.

Tyutin’s coming off his best year with the Rangers and he really blossomed into a solid D-man. He was a crowd pleaser, did just about everything right and was a  fan favorite as MSG.  He and his pairing, Dan Girardi played every game together and each received contract extensions during the season, so it looked like they would be together for a long time. Now, Girardi is left standing without Tyuts who I wish all the best in Columbus.

The Rangers could have had a bevy of solid Defensemen had they not made this trade. Redden, Rozsival, Staal, Girardi, Tyutin and Backman would have been a very solid 6. It will be interesting to see how things shuffle and I can’t help but assume that Bobby Sanguinetti is going to be looked at a lot in camp.

So you see, a busy 2 days for the Blueshirts and free agency is still far from over.  We are still on Jagr and Sundin-watch plus you never know what will happen with Brendan Shanahan or who else Slats will grab off the F/A market.

Jaromir Jagr, Sean Avery and Michal Rozsival are all slated to hit the market come July 1st

As the July 1st Free Agency period gets closer and closer, Rangers GM Glen Sather has already said that he will not re-sign any of the Rangers UFA’s prior to the 1st of July.. .

What that means– Jaromir Jagr, Michal Rozsival and Sean Avery will all be able to talk to other teams before making a decision on which sweater to wear in 2008-09.

The 2 biggest Rangers that will hit the market are Jagr and Avery, each appear to be heading in separate directions when it comes to returning to Broadway.

–PLAYER UPDATES–

Jaromir Jagr-Currently out of the country on vacation, Jags and Sather appear to be on the same page which means that the Rangers captain should be returning for at least one more season. 

Jagr, like Evgeni Malkin have been offered lucrative deals to play over in Europe but Jagr seems poised to stay in America, specifically New York.

Sean Avery- This does not look good at all, Sather has announced that that he will not even attempt to re-up Avery before July 1st.  The one man we can’t afford to lose will hit the market because Avery and the Rangers are on the outs in terms of a new contract ($$$). Avery has asked for over $3.5 million per season.

Letting him go is a mistake because I can assure you that all 31 teams will be lining up to talk with him.  BUT I can’t see another team giving Avery the dollar amount he asked for- which could give the Rangers a shot to get him at a cheaper price. 

–On a lighter note, Avery’s internship at Mens Vogue has ended and here is one of his articles, which you can check out here.

 Brendan Shanahan- Shanny will have to wait to see what the Rangers do with other personnel before seeing if he will fit in with next years club. 

If we are to re-negotiate with him, it would most likely be at a ‘discount’.

Now for some guys who could be wearing Broadway Blue next year.

Mats Sundin- A lot has been made of the Leafs allowing their rivals, Montreal to talk to Sundin but other teams including the Panthers have Rangers have shown interest.  From what I have heard, Sundin wants to play in New York.

Adding him would pretty much mean its now or never for this team. There was even mention of putting Sundin on a line with Jaromir Jagr.

Brian Campbell:The hottest defensemen on the market, Campbell is going to receive a serious paycheck from someone in the league.  If we land him he would make things hard on the payroll but he would make things even harder on opposing players.

Marian Hossa:  The hottest forward on the market, Hossa could be the spark this offense needs. Sure, we have already had a bad experience with one Hossa, but this one is legit.

Last year, the Rangers made a big splash on day 1 of free agency landing both Chris Drury and Scott Gomez. I don’t expect a big signing on opening day, however Glen Sather knows that this team has room for improvement and some of these guys are highly capable of helping.

Coming into the season, it was obvious that our focus was offense, the defense seemed to lack star power and forced a lot of young guys to step up, which, for the most part they did.

Here are my grades for the Rangers defense this past season.

Christian Backman- C

When we acquired Backman from the Blues, I wasn’t mad, but I wasn’t overly thrilled either,  I would have preferred a leader like Adam Foote but instead we get Backman, who needed a long time to adjust to The Big Apple.

In his first few games he took a lot of penalties and garnered plenty of Boos from the Garden Faithful, which (a-la Malik) seemed to phase him a bit. At other times he played great and proved his worth, to me at least.

Outlook: If he makes the team next year, I expect him to play much better.

Dan Girardi- A-

Girardi really stepped his game up for the Rangers this season, with the exception of some dumb penalties here and there, I think he was one of the strongest players our defense boasted this past year.  He and pairing Fedor Tyutin (more on him later) stayed together all season, played well and earned contract extensions.

To me, Girardi is only going to get better as he grows, he is going to become a staple at MSG for years to come.

Outlook: I hope to see less penalties in ‘08-’09 and a little more aggressiveness on offense couldn’t hurt either.

Marek Malik- D

Ranger fans haven’t exactly been fond of Malik the last few years, but frankly, he doesn’t deserve cheers. With a body like his, he should play a lot bigger game than he does.

Once in a blue moon, he would play a half decent game and he averaged one goal in every 21 games he dressed. That’s all I can say in a positive tone.

Outlook: He’s a free agent- get him the heck out of here!

Paul Mara- C+

Mara had fairly high expectations before this past season-too bad he didn’t live up to the hype.  1 goal in 61 games played and another guy (like Malik) who should have done a lot more with the body than he did. 

Granted, he stepped up at times but I thought he could be a lock with the defense Sather put together.

Outlook:Mara, along with Michal Rozsival are both free agents and I expect Sather to re-up one of them if the price is right.  If, in fact it is Mara, he better come ready to play next year.

Michal Rozsival- B

He was supposed to be the leader of this young defense and it seemed for a while that he was.  Early in the year, Rozsival was playing great defense and the offense was there as well.  If memory serves me right, he was the first Ranger to get to double-digit goals this season. 

Rozsival then hit a wall per-say, where he struggled pretty big. He really didn’t put things together until late in the season when both he and pairing Marc Staal started hitting their stride.  He was respectable during the playoffs but, since he was playing for a contract I think he could have stepped up a bit longer.

Outlook:As a free agent, he could probably benefit from a change of scenery but I believe there is a lot of hockey left in Rozie and if he still calls the Garden home next year, I wouldn’t mind.

Marc Staal- B

It took a while for Staal to come into his own at MSG, but when he did he showed a lot of his promise.  After struggling early on he seemed to peak at all the right times as as the year went on, you could see his growth. 

The only thing I didn’t really see from Staal was the offensive talent I expected to see, he only had 2 Goals and 10 Assists, which after following him in the minors I and other Ranger fans were looking for more. 

Outlook: To me, Staal is like fine wine, he is only going to get better with age, at 21 he is a part of the young foundation for this team, expect great things for years to come.

Fedor Tyutin- A-

Tyutin and Girardi went hand in hand all year, so it only appropriate that I give each member of our strongest pairing an identical mark.  Playing in all 82 games, Tyutin had a solid season finishing with 5 goals, 15 assists and a +5 rating. 

His defense was solid as well and as the chemistry between he and Girardi continued to grow they got stronger by the night.

Outlook:After getting a new contract extension during the year and recently winning a gold medal in Worlds with Russia, I think Tyutin will be on an all-time high next season and could be putting up career marks. 

Other Marks:

Jason Strudwick- B- As a fill in, Strudwick held his own, heck- he even played Wing for a few games when the injury big was hitting us hard.

Ivan Baranka- INC.1 assist in 1 game on a goal scored by Colton Orr, Baranka showed promise in his lone showing this year, if he makes the team out of camp he could be an asset.

As for goaltending, the Rangers knew that they had high expectations for Henrik Lundqvist, who played as expected, as for his backup Steve Valiquette, he played surprisingly well when needed.

Henrik Lundqvist- A

Team MVP if I had a say, Lundqvist had 37 wins en route to his 3rd straight nomination for the Vezina.  He led the league in shutouts with 10 and played his best when the teams offense was struggling. Early in the year when we had NO offense, Henrik was the reason we won games.

Outlook:I’m expecting 40 wins next year- which could actually be setting the bar low. Lundqvist had a rough period when hard times hit his family and after playing through them he was as strong as ever.  As he and the defense around him continue to grow, scoring won’t come easy for the opposition. 

Steve Valiquette- B

When you are the backup for one of the games greats, you know you won’t see much playing time- Steve Valiqutte knew that and took advantage of every shot he was given.  2 of his 5 wins were shutouts against the division rival Flyers and all in all, he held his own as a backup.

Outlook:He’s a free agent I hope Sather re-signs him at around $750,000 per year. If we could get a serviceable backup for under $1 million per it would be a great thing for the team.

–Stay tuned for grades for the Offense–

The first task for Slats and Co. will be to decide who will stay and who will go from this years team, our free agents include:

Martin Straka

Sean Avery

Brendan Shanahan

Marek Malik

Michal Rozsival

Jason Strudwick

Steve Valiquette

Fredrik Sjostrom (restricted)

Some notable Hartford free agents include- Josh Gratton, David LeNeveu, Ivan Baranka, Hugh Jessiman and Mitch Fritz.

Sean Avery has to be priority number 1 for the Rangers. As of now Sather and Avery are on the outs when it comes to negotiating how much money he will receive, but if we let him get away, just about every team in the NHL will be chomping at the bit to grab him. 

As for the other guys on the list, frankly, I don’t see many of them staying on board, I would probably attempt to get one of the two main defensemen (Rozsival or Mara) and part ways with the others— GOODBYE MAREK MALIK.

There are two pretty big names on the list, Straka and Shanahan, once of which I could see staying, if the price was right.  Straka will likely be gone and if Shanny decides to play another year and wants to stay in The Big Apple, I’m sure that we could agree to terms if the future hall of famer would take a pay cut and play for around $2 million.

Valiquette is a very serviceable backup and I don’t see why we wouldn’t be able to work something out for a guy who MAY play 10 times a year.  

Ask me and that’s who stays on the roster… as for guys we should consider-

Defense is a must for the Blueshirts, Tyutin, Girardi and Staal are basically the only guys saying and unfortunately, I don’t think Bobby Sanguinetti is ready yet.

That said, the hottest free agent on the market, offense or defense could very well be former Sabre and Shark, Brian Campbell.  The guy the call “Soupy” (hence the last name) would look great on Broadway, Sather could bring in the star caliber D-man we haven’t had since Leetch, which could also make Ranger fans forget that we failed to bring in Zdeno Chara a few years back.  Teams are going to be lined up to talk to Campbell, hopefully the Rangers are one of them. 

Some other defensemen that could garner some interest are Andreas Lilja and John-Michael Liles. Someone like Sheldon Brookbank could also be a possibility.

As for forwards, the Rangers have a solid base, vets like Drury and Gomez can carry the load while Dubinsky, Callahan and Dawes will continue to become stars. But as usual, there is always room for improvement.  It would appear that the Rangers are in need of an ‘enforcer’ type player and if Jarkko Ruutu or Georges Laraque, currently with the Penguins get out on the market I think we should lock one of them up. 

Another thing it seems we lack is an “all heart, willing to do whatever it takes” guy. We had this a few years back with Jed Ortmeyer. If you ask me, Daniel Cleary could be that guy.

If we are going for star power, Marian Hossa is an F/A but I can only assume that Ray Shero will stop at nothing to keep him in Pittsburgh.

I mentioned before that Sean Avery is priority number 1, but a close second is parting ways with Jaromir Jagr, letting him go to Russia, I don’t care that he came alive in the playoffs, I don’t care if he still has plenty of game left in him- OMSK of the Russian Super League has offered him $8 Million to play over there, that price should be (although you never know with Sather) way too much for the Rangers to match.  If we do make an absurd offer to Jagr, you can pretty much say goodbye to just about any other high priced free agent on the market because cap space wouldnt prohibit much. 

Don’t get me wrong, Jagr is great, if he plays all of last year like he did in the playoffs he could be a Hart Trophy Candidate, but for the teams sake, I think I’d rather him win the Russian equivalent to the Hart.

Safe to say that Sather has his work but out for him, he has done a very good job of late and hopefully he keeps it up this time around.

picapp.com

 It all comes down to this…

The Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins will duke it out for the rights to hoist one of the finest trophy’s in sports.

Here are just some of the main storylines for the Final-

Young Guns:This term seems to sum up the Pens brass brilliantly, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are two of the best players in the league, in fact, many think Crosby will do for hockey what Magic and Larry did for the NBA not so long ago. Pittsburgh will also have Marc-Andre Fleury on display, the young netminder and former #1 pick is living up to his potential and has been undoubtedly the best goalie in the playoffs thus far.

Swede Emotion:  7 members of the Red Wings hail from Sweden. Nicklas Lidstrom, Henrik Zetterberg, Mikael Samuelsson, Nicklas Kronwall, Andreas Lilja, Tomas Holmstrom and Johan Franzen all hail from Sweden and each will have an impact on the series. Lidstrom will aim to become the first European Captain to win the Cup, Zetterberg is possibly the frontrunner for the Conn Smythe Trophy and Johan Franzen already has 2 hat-tricks in the playoffs.

Hometown Hero?: Ryan Malone of the Penguins wears Pittsburgh on his sleeve, not only is he the heart and soul of the team but he is a native of the Steel City, I’m sure he would love nothing more then to win the Cup for himself, his family and his city.

Os-Fest:Since replacing Dominik Hasek in round one, Chris Osgood has brought his A-game and the Wings have ridden their hot goalie this far and hope he can get them 4 more W’s. By no means does Osgood have to ‘win’ a game for Detroit, but he has to manage it well enough and hope the O can get to Fleury.

Now, we all know Detroit has a defensive intensity like no other and  Pittsburgh’s offensive attack can score at will, but here is a matchup that nobody seems to be paying much attention to-

When Detroit goes on the Power Play, they have 5 players that can score, however for one of them, that isn’t his job…

Tomas Holmstrom will be in front of the net doing whatever it takes to distract Fleury and get his attention off the puck. 

Sure, it may not be as fun to watch as Avery vs. Brodeur (back when it was legal) but Holmstrom does an amazing job of doing the dirty work down low, which can easily lead to a lot of goals.

The schedule for the Stanley Cup final is

Game 1: Sat. May 24th  8:00 @ Detroit

Game 2: Mon. May 26th 8:00 @ Detroit

Game 3: Wed. May 28th 8:00 @ Pittsburgh

Game 4: Sat. May 31st 8:00 @ Pittsburgh

Game 5: Mon. June 2nd 8:00 @ Detroit

Game 6: Wed. June 4th 8:00 @ Pittsburgh

Game 7: Sat. June 7th 8:00 @ Detroit

(Games 5-7 are “if necessary”)

Games 1 and 2 will be broadcast exclusively on Versus and the rest of the games can be seen on Versus’ parent network, NBC.

After all is said and done, I think Hockeytown will be rejoicing- Wings in 5, but don’t worry Pens fans, Sid the Kid’s time will come.

2 weeks after being eliminated in the playoffs, one Ranger may have settled for the next best thing…

Fedor Tyutin and team Russia stunned Canada with a 5-4 overtime win in the finals of the IIHF World Championships.

Trailing 4-2 headed into the 3rd, Tyutin picked up an assist on the goal which brought the game within 1, after tying it up- Ilya Kovalchuk scored the OT winner with helpers coming from Alex Ovechkin and Sergei Fedorov.

Paired with Vitaly Proshkin, Tyutin logged 10:43 on the ice, finishing with an assist and a +1 rating. 

For those who haven’t followed Worlds, Canada was the overwhelming favorite, them losing is the equivalent of Big Brown winning the Derby and Preakness but coming up just short in the Belmont.

Henrik Lundqvist’s team Sweden fell 4-0 to Finland in the consolation game and failed to medal (Henrik did not play).

Congratulations to Tyutin, this is something he will remember for years to come, maybe next year he adds some heavier, silver hardware to his collection if you catch my drift.

When the Rangers were eliminated by Pittsburgh, the team sent 4 players to the IIHF World Championships in Canada-

Henrik Lundqvist (Sweden), Michal Rozsival (Czech Republic), Brandon Dubinsky (USA) and Fedor Tyutin (Russia) all left Broadway behind to play for their countries.

Both Lundqvist and Tyutin would see time in the Semi-final round as The Swedes took on host nation (and favorite) Canada and the Russians clashed with Finland.

King Henrik’s team was ousted by the Canadiens, 5-4 while Tyutin stayed alive as the Russians blanked the Fins, 4-0.

Canada and Russia is the dream matchup for the finals as they are two of the most talented teams, much in part to their NHL talent.

Canada is loaded with weapons including Martin St. Louis, Eric Staal, Dany Heatley, Jason Spezza, Rick Nash, Chris Kunitz and Mike Green (just to name a few).

To see Team Canada’s full roster, click here.

The Russians have their fare share of fire power as well as Ilya Kovalchuk, Maxim Afinogenov and the Washington trio of Alex Ovechkin, Sergei Fedorov and Alexander Semin will all suit up for the finals.

For Russia’s complete squad, click here.

The battle between the pipes will likely be Evgeni Nabokov (Sharks) for Russia and Cam Ward (Hurricanes) for Canada.

If you haven’t been watching the tournament so far, I highly encourage you to tune in, sure… the NHL playoffs are in full swing, but in my mind there is nothing quite like the thrill and pageantry of international hockey…

So buckle your seatbelts, because come 1:00 on Sunday all you’ll want to do is sit back, relax enjoy some world class hockey and hopefully watch Tyuts win the Gold.  

If you look at some of the numbers from Versus, you would have to believe it is…

Viewership of “Hockey Central” during the first two rounds of the postseason has increased 65% from a year ago and it should only conitune to rise as Versus has exclusive rights to conference finals games as well as the first two games of the Stanley Cup final. 

So far, the biggest hit for Versus was their exclusive telecast of Game 4 between the Rangers and Penguins, which garnered a 1.0 household rating as attracted 1,184,589 viewers.  It was the most watched NHL game ever on Versus and the third most watched telecast overall. 

Household rating for the 2008 Semifinal rounds showed an increase of 50%, viewership was up 51% from a year ago and certain male demographics show significant gains in viewership, Men 18-34 (up 77%), Men 18-49 (up 79%) and men 35-54 (up 84%) are all way up from where they were in 2007. 

The ratings increase for the Conference semis come after a strong increase of 50% during regular season broadcasts and 33% increases from the Quarterfinal round.

A big reason why Versus viewership is up is because their telecasts are done very well. Brian Engblom and Keith Jones do a great job during intermission reports and frankly, who doesn’t enjoy listening to Mike Emrick call a game?

So what does all of this mean for hockey, well- you have to look at it as a major positive. While Versus may not be available in as many homes as desired, the bottom line is that a lot of people have been tuning into hockey this year and the NHL is clearly starting to gain its popularity that was lost during the lockout year. 

There was a time in the mid ’90’s where a lot of people placed hockey higher on their list than basketball, while the NHL may not be there yet, they are certainly on their way.   

Not like we’ve been there any time soon, but all Ranger fans had very high expectations this year, the Eastern Conference finals and the Prince of Wales trophy were minor road blocks on the Rangers road to Lord Stanley… Instead we were ousted by Pittsburgh in round 2. Here’s my view on the Blueshirt-less playoff series…

Let’s start out West where the top-seeded Detroit Red Wings will face the Dallas Stars starting Thursday night.  The Wings (also known as NHL-Sweden) are led by guys like Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk, with Norris favorite Nicklas Lidstrom anchoring the D. 

Dallas has playoff experience with proven winners like Mike Modano, adding Brad Richards at the deadline only helped their playoff experience. 

Between the pipes, the matchup will be Chris Osgood vs. Marty Turco, finally a Marty that Rangers don’t love to hate… Osgood didn’t start the playoffs, as he replaced Dominik Hasek who was less than stellar in his 4 starts (2-2). 

If i had to choose a catalyst for each teans playoff success, you need to look no further than Johan Franzen (Det) and Brenden Morrow (Dal). Both would be Conn-Smythe favorites if their teams were to go all the way. Franzen’s offensive numbers have been unreal in the postseason and Morrow has led Dallas through two tough tests, Anaheim and San Jose.

Who NYR Fans Should Root For: Both teams have a lot of likable players, but for the Rangers fans it is hard to go against Dallas, who have Joel Lundqvist playing Center.  Joel is Henrik’s twin brother so if one Lundqvist can’t win it, might as well cheer for the other one. 

My Prediction:  Stars in 6.  The Red Wings have struggled in the playoffs every year since the lockout, I think Dallas has the intangibles to get it done… No matter who wins, it will be a great series to watch.

The Eastern Conference finals could be hard for Blueshirt Faithful to stomach, as it is a clash between 2 teams we cannot stand, the Penguins and Flyers. 

The Pens rolled through Ottawa in the first round and took care of us in 5, they have been led by their big 3, Crosby, Malkin and Hossa who have sparked their potent offensive attack night in and night out. 

The Fly Guys went from the cellar to the top thanks to a new attitude and some new players, Daniel Briere will be playing in his 3rd straight eastern final, but is still looking for his first Cup appearance.  Mike Richards is a great player who, despite wearing the “A” has played like he is the true captain. 

The crease-battle will be amazing as the two hottest playoff goalies will go toe-to-toe.  Marc-Andre Fleury is finally playing to the standards that a #1 overall pick is given, and Martin Biron has been the main reason for the Flyers playoff success. 

As for unsung heroes, Pittsburgh will rely on Pascal Dupuis for offense and Philly’s playoff MVP to this point has been R.J Umberger who was nothing short of spectacular in their second round series vs. Montreal.

Who NYR Fans Should Root For:  Pittsburgh… I always root for the team that eliminates mine (unless its the Red Sox) and that is the case here. Ranger Fans hate the Penguins and Flyers, but if we have to pick one…

Prediction: Pens in 6. Too much fire power and Biron can easily be flustered in net.

I had a feeling coming in that it was going to be a tight game and the first period showed exactly why.  No goals, good goaltending and 3 penalties, all of which involved Jaromir Jagr, who took one and forced the other two. 

In the second, The Pens broke the scoreless tie on the Power Play when Marian Hossa beat Lundqvist. It was a fantastic set up by Pittsburgh, you could tell they were on the verge of scoring and it was only a matter of time.  In need of a goal, the Rangers gave up another one thanks to a brilliant play by Evgeni Malkin who never gave up on the puck and truly deserved the goal.

The Refs missed what could have given the Rangers a 4:00 Power Play as Chris Drury took a high stick to the face and was bleeding profusely. But as I’ve said so many times in the series, a lot of the calls favored the Pens and this was no exception. A lot of times when a Ref sees blood you assume something happened and call something; It’s has happened numerous times this season both helping and hurting the Rangers, but of course-when we needed it most, no call…

The Power Play would have been nice, but when on the man-advantage we were absolutely dreadful today and I actually realized that playing 5-on-5 may actually benefit the team.

To the third we go, desperation time for Tom Renney’s club and if you were in the bathroom or heating up some food you missed the Rangers get on the board, thanks to an unlikely source.

2 minutes into the Period, Lauri Korpikoski scored the first goal of his career. He hadn’t played in a game all season and had not even 2 minutes of ice time before he got his first career tally.  The Rangers bench looked ready to pack it in, but with this goal we had new light…

The Rangers would tie the game up a little over a minute later when Nigel Dawes beat Marc-Andre Fleury.  Both Ranger goals scored, 5-on-5.  The 3rd was flying by, it felt like with the exception of the goals there were no whistles in the first 10 minutes, as both teams played carefully. The only penalty came with less than 2 minutes remaining, a 4:00 high stick on Chris Drury, the same Chris Drury was was laying on the ice, bloodied after being hit with a high stick gets called for the same penalty.

The Rangers would kill the first part of the Pens Power Play and with the game deadlocked at 2, they would head to OT, with over 2 minutes of Power Play time remaining for the Pens.

A strong kill by the Rangers as they held their own killing off the penalty, with Drury, one of if not the best penalty killers on the team looking on.  That said, we had one chance shorthanded and gave it away. The offense had no momentum what so ever in the extra session and a favorable bounce off the skate of Dan Girardi put the puck right on Marian Hossa’s stick as he wound up and beat Henrik 5-hole.

The Blueshirts had their chances to win it but either missed wide or got stopped by Fleury, who did great all afternoon- on the other side of the ice, Lundqvist did an outstanding job keeping it close, he never allowed a soft goal as Pittsburgh simply out grinded us and capitalized on their chances more than the Rangers did.

The Ranger fan in me, again wants to blame the refs, after the Drury non-call, a missed call on Malkin for kicking Korpikoski, the fact that the Pens may have been offsides before scoring the game winner, in addition to a few other miscues but then the hockey fan in me came to terms with the fact that Pittsburh was the better team and deserved to move on. 

The Rangers season ended in round 2, much like last year- Tom Renney and Co. will now pack it in and go on vacation while Sidney Crysby will lead his team in an all Pennsylvania Conference Final, Pens vs. Flyers… A nightmare for Ranger Nation, two teams we absolutely cannot stand duking it out for a chance to win the Prince of Whales trophy and play for the Cup… The matchup raises the question of, who do Ranger fans root for?

My answer is neither, pray that a team from the West brings home the Cup, but if a team from the East has to get it, let it be Pittsburgh, Crosby is the face of the league and it will bring in better ratings and more fans, also then it looks better that we lost to the team that won it all.

For more Rangers news, check out RANGER NATION and for coverage of the winning team (deservedly so) be sure to read Tony Ferrante’s MVN Blog, The Confuence of the Three Rivers.

Although the season is over for the Blueshirts, I will still be giving thoughts on the Conference Semifinals, as well as the Stanley Cup finals as they are happening and once the playoffs come to an end, I will be keeping tabs on what should be an interesting offseason for Glen Sather and the Rangers.