I was thoroughly upset by the Guardians display, but I'll pu that aside for now.
Team Lidstrom topped Team Staal by a score of 11-10 today. Two members of the Rangers, Marc Staal and Henrik Lundqvist took place in the event today, as well as the skills competition yesterday.
Marc Staal did not succeed to score in the game, had only one shot, and a -2 rating, tied for the team worst with Alex Ovechkin.
Henrik Lundqvist on the other hand, had a good night, despite letting in the final goals for the game. He made a historic save stopping Matt Duchene on a penalty shot after Alex Ovechkin tried to throw his stick in order to disrupt the breakaway. Along with that, for more than half the period, he managed to keep the pucks out of the net before letting in the beauties by Danny Briere, Johnathan Toews, and Marty St. Louis.
Overall, it was a fun weekend, and the Rangers will be back to work against the Penguins this Tuesday!
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
Rangers in the All Star Game
Team Staal vs. Team Lidstrom.
Brendan Shanahan has done something new to ramp up the All Star Game this year by allowing a draft between the two captains Eric Staal of the Carolina Hurricanes, and Niklas Lidstrom of the Detroit Red Wings.
As promised, Eric Staal picked fellow Hurricane goalie Cam Ward first, while Lidstrom took the young and talented Steven Stamkos. Jump to Round 6 of the draft, and you have the first Ranger, Henrik Lundqvist, drafted by Team Staal. Following shortly next round, after an anxious time of waiting to be chosen, Eric Staal stuck to the family tree and took brother Marc Staal. Marc, who told the crowd at the draft "I'm never buying him a Christmas gift again" will be joining his brother on the same team come the 30th, after constant jabbing between the two.
And finally, the final Rangers chosen in the draft was Derek Stepan for the Skills Competition. Stepan was chosen by Team Lidstrom along with Cam Fowler and Taylor Hall.
More news will be brought to you about the All Star Game as it approaches. Keep it here!
Brendan Shanahan has done something new to ramp up the All Star Game this year by allowing a draft between the two captains Eric Staal of the Carolina Hurricanes, and Niklas Lidstrom of the Detroit Red Wings.
As promised, Eric Staal picked fellow Hurricane goalie Cam Ward first, while Lidstrom took the young and talented Steven Stamkos. Jump to Round 6 of the draft, and you have the first Ranger, Henrik Lundqvist, drafted by Team Staal. Following shortly next round, after an anxious time of waiting to be chosen, Eric Staal stuck to the family tree and took brother Marc Staal. Marc, who told the crowd at the draft "I'm never buying him a Christmas gift again" will be joining his brother on the same team come the 30th, after constant jabbing between the two.
And finally, the final Rangers chosen in the draft was Derek Stepan for the Skills Competition. Stepan was chosen by Team Lidstrom along with Cam Fowler and Taylor Hall.
More news will be brought to you about the All Star Game as it approaches. Keep it here!
Thursday, January 27, 2011
NHL Guardian Project
As stated in one of my past posts, the NHL has been keeping this new project involving Stan Lee making comic book styled superheroes out of every team name in the NHL going. Most recently, the twenty third Guardian was revealed to the public, and what a beauty it is.
The Ranger was revealed late last night. As someone who has been voting to finally see this thing, I was extremely happy to see it. Without a doubt, out of all of the Guardians that have been revealed, the Ranger is the best one out of all of them. Sure you can make the attempt to say it is a rip off of Captain America, but that would be a huge stretch. The Guardian description on NHL.com describes the Ranger as the following...
"The Ranger is the vigilant protector of Manhattan. He never sleeps, and therefore is a regular in Manhattan's late night scene, although you're much more likely to find him in a neighborhood joint than at a trendy nightclub. His personality is as big as the city he protects, but like most New Yorkers there is humility to his bravado. There's a multi-cultural feel to him that's directly related to the many different nationalities that inhabit the world's most populated island.
As New York City is the nation's largest melting pot, the Ranger is one of the most diverse Guardians in his interests. He loves meeting people from other parts of the world and loves spending time in other iconic cities across the globe, but it's never long before "the city that never sleeps" calls him back home."
As New York City is the nation's largest melting pot, the Ranger is one of the most diverse Guardians in his interests. He loves meeting people from other parts of the world and loves spending time in other iconic cities across the globe, but it's never long before "the city that never sleeps" calls him back home."
Awesome. When I first saw the silhouette of the Ranger, I got my hopes up, and they were not let down. The only thing from my imagination that I wish was on the Ranger was a long flowing blonde beard. But, you can't have everything you want.
There have been some harsh words about the Guardian Project, some who call it a blatant gimmick and hope they do not go recognized by anyone. I disagree with those views entirely. While yes, there have been some very obvious rip offs of already made superheroes, but its fun for everyone. How can anybody not like the idea of superheroes? Really, people are too uptight about stuff truly, and I'm enjoying this little project no matter how gimicky it may be.
Thats just my views on it. If your interested in seeing what the guardians end up doing (because God knows I have no clue) tune in to the All Star Game on January 30th.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
1/25/10 Rangers vs. Panthers
Zucc-zucc-riot!
Rangers against the Florida Panthers.
The Rangers, managed to pull off another stunning win in the shootout yesterday against the Washington Capitals. Wojtek Wolski, Matz Zuccarello, and Artem Anisimov all scored for the Rangers to win by a score of 3-2 (the score I predicted I might add). Despite losing a few players to injuries, the Rangers have done anything but show their weaknesses. The players like Chad Kolarik and others have showed the depth of this Ranger team, and have helped carry the weight put on by all the players sitting with injuries. The Rangers have split 3-0 wins with Florida this season, as they head into their third meeting with the Panthers this season at MSG tonight. However, the only player who scored against the Panthers so far this season that is the most healthy is Derek Stepan. The other goal scorers in Brandon Prust is injured, but not bad enough that he has had to sit out any games, and Ryan Callahan who has been sitting for the past few weeks with a broken hand.
The Panthers have not had the best of luck as of recently, going 3-4-3 in their last 10 games. They're power-play, however, has picked up to an 11.4 percentage, which may not sound like much, but its better than a 9.8%. On the Panthers injury front, they are in the same boat as the Rangers. Chris Higgins, Byron Bitz, Bryan McCabe, and Dimitri Kulikov are all out for the Panthers.
My Diagnosis
Every time I mention the word "momentum", the Rangers ultimately decide to tank in the game I mention it, so I'm going to avoid that word tonight. Wojtek Wolski is hot for the Rangers, and has paid dividends since arriving to the Blueshirts. Expect him to be very noticeable tonight on the ice. However, the Panthers' penalty kill is better than the Rangers', so I'm expecting some special teams struggles tonight. In all, I think the Rangers will pull out another victory tonight at MSG. Henrik Lundqvist sat for the game against Washington last night, and is fresh and ready to go for tonight.
My Predictions
Rangers win 2-1
Wojtek Wolski will get the first goal for the Rangers early in the 1st period.
Stephen Weiss will tie the game half way through the 2nd.
And finally, Mats Zuccarello will get the game winning goal for the Rangers in the 3rd.
Enjoy the game!
Rangers against the Florida Panthers.
The Rangers, managed to pull off another stunning win in the shootout yesterday against the Washington Capitals. Wojtek Wolski, Matz Zuccarello, and Artem Anisimov all scored for the Rangers to win by a score of 3-2 (the score I predicted I might add). Despite losing a few players to injuries, the Rangers have done anything but show their weaknesses. The players like Chad Kolarik and others have showed the depth of this Ranger team, and have helped carry the weight put on by all the players sitting with injuries. The Rangers have split 3-0 wins with Florida this season, as they head into their third meeting with the Panthers this season at MSG tonight. However, the only player who scored against the Panthers so far this season that is the most healthy is Derek Stepan. The other goal scorers in Brandon Prust is injured, but not bad enough that he has had to sit out any games, and Ryan Callahan who has been sitting for the past few weeks with a broken hand.
The Panthers have not had the best of luck as of recently, going 3-4-3 in their last 10 games. They're power-play, however, has picked up to an 11.4 percentage, which may not sound like much, but its better than a 9.8%. On the Panthers injury front, they are in the same boat as the Rangers. Chris Higgins, Byron Bitz, Bryan McCabe, and Dimitri Kulikov are all out for the Panthers.
My Diagnosis
Every time I mention the word "momentum", the Rangers ultimately decide to tank in the game I mention it, so I'm going to avoid that word tonight. Wojtek Wolski is hot for the Rangers, and has paid dividends since arriving to the Blueshirts. Expect him to be very noticeable tonight on the ice. However, the Panthers' penalty kill is better than the Rangers', so I'm expecting some special teams struggles tonight. In all, I think the Rangers will pull out another victory tonight at MSG. Henrik Lundqvist sat for the game against Washington last night, and is fresh and ready to go for tonight.
My Predictions
Rangers win 2-1
Wojtek Wolski will get the first goal for the Rangers early in the 1st period.
Stephen Weiss will tie the game half way through the 2nd.
And finally, Mats Zuccarello will get the game winning goal for the Rangers in the 3rd.
Enjoy the game!
Monday, January 24, 2011
1/24/11 Rangers vs. Capitals
And he prays!!!
Rangers against the Washington Capitals.
The last time these two teams met was back in December 12th when the Rangers routed the Caps 7-0. Also, that was in the midst of the 24/7 HBO series filming, so anyone who gets that channel got to relive the magic all over again in all its profane glory. But tonight will be different from the last time these two teams met. The Rangers have only won two of their last five games. Also, in those five games, a nice hand-full of players went down with injuries. The Rangers lost Brandon Dubinsky, Ruslan Fedotenko, and Dan Girardi amongst those games, and have called up players from Connecticut to try and plug the holes. Tonight the Rangers will see the return of Michael Del Zotto, who was sent down to get himself settled from his erratic play earlier this season. Also, Martin Biron will be in net tonight in Washington to rest Henrik Lundqvist for tomorrow nights game at home against Florida.
The Capitals will also have their backup goalie, Braden Hotlby in net tonight. Aside from that, the Caps have been playing well as of late. Alex Ovechkin tallied a hat trick against Toronto in the Capitals' last game, and has been heating up going into the second half of the season. One of the downsides to this Capitals team though is that they've lost eight games in overtime or the shootout, which is the second most in the league. That being said, the Rangers are 4-1 in the shootout. Meaning, if this game tonight goes into extra time, the Caps may be in a bit of trouble.
My Diagnosis
The Rangers are heavily depleted on the injury front, but still have managed to hold on by the skin of their teeth. However, this is a different Capitals team since the last time they versed them. Also, with the loss of some players, the scoring for the Rangers has thinned out. In all, I believe the Rangers will be able to pull this one out, but it will be way more difficult then it was last December.
My Predictions
Rangers win 3-2
Marian Gaborik will get the first goal for the Rangers late in the 1st.
Brian Boyle will get the Rangers' second goal in the 2nd period.
Alex Ovechkin will get one for the Caps also in the 2nd.
John Erskine will get the second goal for the Caps to tie the game in the 3rd.
And finally, Marc Staal will pick up the game winning goal in overtime.
Enjoy the game!
Rangers against the Washington Capitals.
The last time these two teams met was back in December 12th when the Rangers routed the Caps 7-0. Also, that was in the midst of the 24/7 HBO series filming, so anyone who gets that channel got to relive the magic all over again in all its profane glory. But tonight will be different from the last time these two teams met. The Rangers have only won two of their last five games. Also, in those five games, a nice hand-full of players went down with injuries. The Rangers lost Brandon Dubinsky, Ruslan Fedotenko, and Dan Girardi amongst those games, and have called up players from Connecticut to try and plug the holes. Tonight the Rangers will see the return of Michael Del Zotto, who was sent down to get himself settled from his erratic play earlier this season. Also, Martin Biron will be in net tonight in Washington to rest Henrik Lundqvist for tomorrow nights game at home against Florida.
The Capitals will also have their backup goalie, Braden Hotlby in net tonight. Aside from that, the Caps have been playing well as of late. Alex Ovechkin tallied a hat trick against Toronto in the Capitals' last game, and has been heating up going into the second half of the season. One of the downsides to this Capitals team though is that they've lost eight games in overtime or the shootout, which is the second most in the league. That being said, the Rangers are 4-1 in the shootout. Meaning, if this game tonight goes into extra time, the Caps may be in a bit of trouble.
My Diagnosis
The Rangers are heavily depleted on the injury front, but still have managed to hold on by the skin of their teeth. However, this is a different Capitals team since the last time they versed them. Also, with the loss of some players, the scoring for the Rangers has thinned out. In all, I believe the Rangers will be able to pull this one out, but it will be way more difficult then it was last December.
My Predictions
Rangers win 3-2
Marian Gaborik will get the first goal for the Rangers late in the 1st.
Brian Boyle will get the Rangers' second goal in the 2nd period.
Alex Ovechkin will get one for the Caps also in the 2nd.
John Erskine will get the second goal for the Caps to tie the game in the 3rd.
And finally, Marc Staal will pick up the game winning goal in overtime.
Enjoy the game!
Sunday, January 23, 2011
News Around The Rangers
The Jets losing got me in a blogging mood, so, here we go.
I've been kind of neglecting the blog when it comes to content recently. Mostly, I have not done anything except post game predictions and such. Recently I've been trying to get back on that, and heres my attempt to get the ball rolling.
First off, I would like to discuss Mats Zuccarello. Mats was called up in the midst of I believe the Christensen injury if I am not mistaken. Since then, hes proven his worth greatly and is earning his spot in the lineup every night. Its not hard when a good portion of the starting lineup goes down to injuries, but he has shown that he can be a cohesive member of the Rangers line up constantly. He is such a master when it comes to the shootout also. I like that we never really have to see the shootout as much as the Rangers have in past seasons, but with the combination of Zuccarello, Stepan, and Wolski, out shootout line is close to perfection.
While I'm close to the topic of injuries, I'd like to brush up on it. Two players went down last night against Atlanta, those players being Brandon Prust and Dan Girardi. That extends the list to Prust, Girardi, Boogaard, Prospal, Dubinsky, Callahan, and Christensen. These are the perils of playing the grinding style the Rangers have played all season. You cant expect to block shots and make big hits without ramifications somewhere down the line. All we can hope for as fans is for a speedy recovery without any post injury scoring droughts in the midst.
And the final thing I would like to talk about is the NHL Guardian Project. If you haven't heard, Stan Lee has made superheroes out of every team in the NHL, and at the All Star Game on the 30th, they are all going to fight some villain. So far, 23 guardians have been revealed, but neither is "The Ranger". Some of them are cool, some are very obvious rip-offs, and some are just plain horrible. The cool ones include the likes of "The Wild", "The Red Wing", and "The Shark". The obvious rip offs come with "The Oiler" which is clearly Juggernaut from the X-men series, or "The Flame", or "The Penguin" which are closely similar to Cyclops also from the X-Men. then the ones that are horrible, in my opinion, include "The Maple Leaf" which is a tree... I'm not kidding, look it up for yourself. "The Maple Leaf" is a tree. Or "The Coyote" which is basically Wolverine without the claws.
http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=66928
Here is the link in case anyone is interested.
Thats all I have to say today. There will be a pre-game post as always tomorrow against the Capitals. Night!
I've been kind of neglecting the blog when it comes to content recently. Mostly, I have not done anything except post game predictions and such. Recently I've been trying to get back on that, and heres my attempt to get the ball rolling.
First off, I would like to discuss Mats Zuccarello. Mats was called up in the midst of I believe the Christensen injury if I am not mistaken. Since then, hes proven his worth greatly and is earning his spot in the lineup every night. Its not hard when a good portion of the starting lineup goes down to injuries, but he has shown that he can be a cohesive member of the Rangers line up constantly. He is such a master when it comes to the shootout also. I like that we never really have to see the shootout as much as the Rangers have in past seasons, but with the combination of Zuccarello, Stepan, and Wolski, out shootout line is close to perfection.
While I'm close to the topic of injuries, I'd like to brush up on it. Two players went down last night against Atlanta, those players being Brandon Prust and Dan Girardi. That extends the list to Prust, Girardi, Boogaard, Prospal, Dubinsky, Callahan, and Christensen. These are the perils of playing the grinding style the Rangers have played all season. You cant expect to block shots and make big hits without ramifications somewhere down the line. All we can hope for as fans is for a speedy recovery without any post injury scoring droughts in the midst.
And the final thing I would like to talk about is the NHL Guardian Project. If you haven't heard, Stan Lee has made superheroes out of every team in the NHL, and at the All Star Game on the 30th, they are all going to fight some villain. So far, 23 guardians have been revealed, but neither is "The Ranger". Some of them are cool, some are very obvious rip-offs, and some are just plain horrible. The cool ones include the likes of "The Wild", "The Red Wing", and "The Shark". The obvious rip offs come with "The Oiler" which is clearly Juggernaut from the X-men series, or "The Flame", or "The Penguin" which are closely similar to Cyclops also from the X-Men. then the ones that are horrible, in my opinion, include "The Maple Leaf" which is a tree... I'm not kidding, look it up for yourself. "The Maple Leaf" is a tree. Or "The Coyote" which is basically Wolverine without the claws.
http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=66928
Here is the link in case anyone is interested.
Thats all I have to say today. There will be a pre-game post as always tomorrow against the Capitals. Night!
Saturday, January 22, 2011
1/22/11 Rangers vs. Thrashers
Your guess is as good as mine.
Rangers against the Atlanta Thrashers.
Another must win game for the Rangers will take place tonight in Atlanta. Atlanta and New York are separated by 3 points in the Eastern Conference, and both are looking to get a leg up on one another. The Rangers are +21 in the goals for/goals against ratio, while Atlanta is -8. The Rangers, who romped Toronto earlier this week 7-0, got pushed back by Carolina two days ago by the score of 4-1. With the extenuating list of injuries on the team, many rookies have been brought up to fill some gaps. Most recently, Chad Kolarik was called up, and for the most part played well for a rookie in the game against the Hurricanes. However, with this many rookies on the lineup, the scoring is going to start to be a little more scarce.
The Mistfit Blackhaw... excuse me, the Atlanta Thrashers have been up and down this season. With more cohesiveness on this team than ever before, and leadership from Dustin Byfuglien, the Thrashers are making waves in the Eastern Conference. However, they also have some injury problems of their own. Andrew Ladd missed practice due to illness, and Chris Mason and Fredrik Modin are on injured reserve at the moment.
My Diagnosis
The Thrashers beat the Rangers 6-4 earlier this season by a score of 6-4 at the Garden. Martin Biron was in net for the Rangers that time, so I do not expect him to be in net tonight in Atlanta. Also, in the past four times the Rangers have been to Atlanta, they haven't lost in regulation going 2-0-2. In conclusion, I believe the Rangers are going to pull out at least one point tonight. The Rangers, while they are quite depleted, have some weapons left after all the injuries, so in order for them to win, they'll need to show their worth tonight in Atlanta.
My Predictions
Rangers win 2-1
Dustin Byfuglien will get the Thrashers on the board first early in the 1st period.
Derek Stepan will score the first goal for the Rangers in the 2nd period.
Brian Boyle will get the game winning goal also in the 2nd.
Enjoy the game!
Rangers against the Atlanta Thrashers.
Another must win game for the Rangers will take place tonight in Atlanta. Atlanta and New York are separated by 3 points in the Eastern Conference, and both are looking to get a leg up on one another. The Rangers are +21 in the goals for/goals against ratio, while Atlanta is -8. The Rangers, who romped Toronto earlier this week 7-0, got pushed back by Carolina two days ago by the score of 4-1. With the extenuating list of injuries on the team, many rookies have been brought up to fill some gaps. Most recently, Chad Kolarik was called up, and for the most part played well for a rookie in the game against the Hurricanes. However, with this many rookies on the lineup, the scoring is going to start to be a little more scarce.
The Mistfit Blackhaw... excuse me, the Atlanta Thrashers have been up and down this season. With more cohesiveness on this team than ever before, and leadership from Dustin Byfuglien, the Thrashers are making waves in the Eastern Conference. However, they also have some injury problems of their own. Andrew Ladd missed practice due to illness, and Chris Mason and Fredrik Modin are on injured reserve at the moment.
My Diagnosis
The Thrashers beat the Rangers 6-4 earlier this season by a score of 6-4 at the Garden. Martin Biron was in net for the Rangers that time, so I do not expect him to be in net tonight in Atlanta. Also, in the past four times the Rangers have been to Atlanta, they haven't lost in regulation going 2-0-2. In conclusion, I believe the Rangers are going to pull out at least one point tonight. The Rangers, while they are quite depleted, have some weapons left after all the injuries, so in order for them to win, they'll need to show their worth tonight in Atlanta.
My Predictions
Rangers win 2-1
Dustin Byfuglien will get the Thrashers on the board first early in the 1st period.
Derek Stepan will score the first goal for the Rangers in the 2nd period.
Brian Boyle will get the game winning goal also in the 2nd.
Enjoy the game!
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