For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
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BLUESHIRT BELIEVERS
SHANNY SAYS: 'I EXPECT TO WIN'
By LARRY BROOKS
April 12, 2007 -- ATLANTA - It took nearly two-thirds of the season for last year's Rangers to fully evolve into this year's team. What happened a year ago against the Devils no longer matters. What happens over the next two weeks does.
What happens over the next two weeks in the first round against the Thrashers will define the Rangers' 2006-07 every bit as much as the impressive stretch run to a playoff spot.
"From my standpoint, the fact that we played as well as we did the last six weeks isn't going to mean a whole lot if we stink the joint out in this series," Sean Avery said following yesterday's skate at the club's practice facility. "I don't think people are going to remember the regular season so much if we go down in the first round.
"I think we have a good opportunity here to accomplish something special, and I think we have the group here to take advantage of that opportunity."
The Thrashers will come hard at the Blueshirts tonight in what is not only Game 1 of this series, but Game 1 of franchise playoff history. The Rangers expect that.
"I think they'll be emotionally charged and physically engaged," Tom Renney said of the Southeast Division champions. "It's going to be a passionate Atlanta team."
But if the Rangers expect a blitz, they also expect to be able to withstand their opponents' assault. The Blueshirts aren't entering the tournament with a sense of bravado, rather with realistic expectations created by their ability to withstand adversity (most of their own making) and gain an entry to the dance off a 13-2-4 kick.
"I expect to win; I don't think I've ever gone into a playoff series, even in minor hockey, expecting to lose," three-time Stanley Cup winner Brendan Shanahan said. "I think we have to carry confidence with us and build expectations.
"You have to see yourself as successful in order to be successful."
Over the course of the season, Jaromir Jagr said he believed he would need to score in order for the Rangers to win in the playoffs. Yesterday, No. 68 amended his assertion, saying, "I don't necessarily have to score, but obviously the more I score, the easier it will be for our team.
"I don't look at this series as [the standard] for whether we had a successful season," Jagr said. "I'm going to play to win the Stanley Cup. If we're good enough, I don't know, but I'm going to give it a try.
"If we lose in the second or third round, people are going to say we had a great season. Well, it might be good, but we would still have lost, we still wouldn't win it."
The Rangers' eyes are on the prize, there's no doubt about that, but they're not getting ahead of themselves. Tonight, and for however long necessary, their focus is on doing what's necessary to outlast Atlanta.
"I think we're going to play well enough to win, and that doesn't come from arrogance," Avery said. "We're going to try to take the game to them every night, every period.
"By no means am I suggesting this is going to be over in four games, but however long it lasts, I expect us to win. I'm sure we all do."
Reading 2004
Albany 2006 Camden 2006 E. Rutherford 2, 2006 Inglewood 2006,
Chicago 2007
Camden 2008 MSG 2008 MSG 2008 Hartford 2008.
Seattle 2009 Seattle 2009 Philadelphia 2009,Philadelphia 2009 Philadelphia 2009
Hartford 2010 MSG 2010 MSG 2010
Toronto 2011,Toronto 2011
Wrigley Field 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Philadelphia 2, 2013
Philadelphia 1, 2016 Philadelphia 2 2016 New York 2016 New York 2016 Fenway 1, 2016 Fenway 2, 2018 MSG 2022 St. Paul, 1, St. Paul 2 2023 MSG 2024, MSG 2024 Philadelphia 2024
"I play good, hard-nosed basketball.
Things happen in the game. Nothing you
can do. I don't go and say,
"I'm gonna beat this guy up."
For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
Playoff hockey rocks. There is no two ways about it. Just take a look at some of those games last night. FOUR overtime periods? Talk about drama.
Well, the Rangers' quest begins this evening. I am excited at the prospect of this playoff-win drought coming to an end. I am not saying it will happen for certain tonight, but it's possible.
Instead of rambling on about how pumped up I am, let's just get right to the news.
NY Post: "From my standpoint, the fact that we played as well as we did the last six weeks isn't going to mean a whole lot if we stink the joint out in this series," Sean Avery said following yesterday's skate at the club's practice facility. "I don't think people are going to remember the regular season so much if we go down in the first round.
NY Daily News: A year ago, the Rangers entered the playoffs unprepared to beat anybody. But then, Renney concedes that they might have greased their own skids by over-preparing for the Devils. "As a coach, you can overshoot the runway," Renney said. This time around, Renney says his Rangers don't need as much fine-tuning. "We've placed the same value on all of those things this year," Renney said. "But we've created some momentum for ourselves to the point where, as a coaching staff, we feel we have our heads around certain points of our game that we don't need to spend as much time on."
The Journal News: "It's experience and it's preparation, but it's up to us to use that experience in a positive way," said Shanahan, who had a goal and seven assists in nine games since returning from a month-long absence with a concussion. "We had a lot of situations this year in tight games where we might have given up the first goal of the game and we stuck to the game plan. We were behind late in games but we stuck to the plan. There were a lot of experiences that we had to draw from where we stuck to our style. The temptation to go off on your own is greater in the playoffs. But ... the experienced teams will kind of stick to the plan."
NY Newsday: "They can score in a number of ways," Rangers coach Tom Renney said. "In watching them play, they have a tendency to want to make the perfect shot," he said, a trap into which the Rangers' first power-play unit - which includes Jaromir Jagr, Michael Nylander and Michal Rozsival - has sometimes fallen. Since Atlanta acquired those players, Renney said, "I'm not sure they haven't done what we have, created a second unit to have two different looks."
Newsday again on Lundqvist.
NY Times: Jagr entered this season by taking the reins as the Rangers’ captain, aiming to improve on the team’s first-round playoff collapse a year ago. He scored his 600th career goal early in the season, but little else went smoothly. Jagr, bouncing back from off-season shoulder surgery, struggled to score. The team began to reshape itself with a desperate, defensive mind-set. And after Jagr’s proclamation coming out of the All-Star Game break, they started to claw their way up the standings.
NY SportsDay: It’s said the 82 game NHL regular season is just a tune-up for the playoffs. If that’s the case then the season starts tonight.
The Rodent engages in debate on the postseason with a reader.
Tonight, it's the Stanley Cup playoffs . . . Rangers versus the Thrashers in Atlanta. The puck drops at 7:00 pm EST. LET'S GO RANGERS!
For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
Howdy from Atlanta, where we're competing for hotel and elevator space with teenagers in town for a massive robotics convention.
But over at the rink, the notebook filled rapidly, so let's get right to it.
"Two young roosters."
That was Thrashers' coach Bob Hartley's unusual pre-game description of goaltenders Henrik Lundqvist and Kari Lehtonen.
It began with a question about former Ranger Pascal Dupuis and how much inside information Hartley could glean from a player who spent just a few games in February in New York.
"A lot," Hartley joked. "We both speak French...it's always valuable. I picked his brain on certain stuff, but you know at the end of the day, it's not about scouting....it's what will go on on the ice. When you look at Jagr, Shanahan, Avery, Straka, Nylander, then you look at our side; plus, if you look at both ends, you have two young roosters who will try to make a name for themselves. On offense you have some big cannons, some world-class talent and you have two kids and all the lights will be shining on them." Then, in an apparent reference to boxing, Hartley said: "Those two guys will try to come up with the belt."
The question: Who'll be crowing at the end of the series?
****
The Rangers held a 10:45 a.m. power play meeting before their optional game-day skate at 11:30. Lundqvist, Jagr, Straka and Avery took a rain check.
Asked if Lundqvist was up late watching the four-overtime win by Vancouver over Dallas---Lundqvist's twin brother Joel plays for the Stars---Renney said, " I hope not...no, he wasn't. He was in the room next to mine. Every time I got up to turn on the TV, it was still going. That's why I turned mine off to make sure his wasn't on."
He said that Lundqvist, who pushes himself hard, is realizing "that it's not real necessary to skate every day, including the game skate."
****
LW Marcel Hossa, who missed a month with an MCL sprain, will rejoin Jaromir Jagr and Michael Nylander on the first line, wearing a brace on his left knee. "I can't wait to play," he said. "It's been a long month." Hossa said that playing against his older brother, Marian, in a playoff game was more exciting for their parents, who are here and will be in New York for Games 3 and 4. "I think for us, it's not a big difference...I don't think there's going to be any joking around. I'm sure he wants to win too." When they spoke in the last few days, Marcel said, it was business-like: "We just say to each other good luck, it's hockey, we're both professionals."
****
It appears Colton Orr and Brad Isbister will be healthy scratches and Steve Valiquette will dress as the backup goaltender. So the 2,3 and 4 lines will remain intact.
****
For the Thrashers' first ever playoff game in the rink they call "Blueland", the facade above the lower bowl in Phillips Arena is hung with red, white and blue bunting, and Thrashers flags are in holders in various locations along the wall of luxury suites. Midway through the Rangers' skate, while Renney was standing by the sideboards, Hartley came out of the locker room area, climbed over some railings and leaned into the rink to say hello.
****
Random, but telling, quotes:
Shanahan on the difference in the team late in the season: "We worked very hard to establish the identity we now have, we've been through some growing pains.There's a little bit more attention to detail on defense...our team's gotten more comfortable playing 1-1 or zero-zero games."
Jagr, wearing a dark grey suit over a violet t-shirt, told TV crews: "We proved we can beat anybody; I have a good feeling about this team."
Hartley: "Discipline will be a key. You don't want to put their power play on the ice for unnecessary reasons. We have speed, they have speed. The most important part is to avoid the distractions, the retaliations, the scrums after the whistle."
More Hartley: "They made some great trades. Shanahan got hurt, a terrible injury, and came back. Lundqvist has been a very nice story in the second half for those guys...Now all of your pieces fall in place and all of a sudden, your team is firing on all cylinders. We went through a similar season."
Renney: "We'll just work with the ebb and flow of the series. We're anxious to get started."
*****
Call it wishful thinking on the part of the Thrashers---and a gaffe by the NHL: The Rangers roster provided to the media in the notes package delivered to our hotel was a little off. Well, more than a little. It's last year's, listing the departed Darius Kasparaitis, Tom Poti, Petr Sykora, Dominic Moore, Steve Rucchin, Martin Rucinsky and Sandis Ozolinsh.
****
Both the Rangers and Thrashers will practice tomorrow morning at the Ice Forum in Duluth, Georgia, about a half-hour's drive north of the city on Highway 85. Six New York-area writers are planning to car-pool. Better not be a subcompact we're leasing. Note to editors: See how we're trying to be cost-efficient?
Reading 2004
Albany 2006 Camden 2006 E. Rutherford 2, 2006 Inglewood 2006,
Chicago 2007
Camden 2008 MSG 2008 MSG 2008 Hartford 2008.
Seattle 2009 Seattle 2009 Philadelphia 2009,Philadelphia 2009 Philadelphia 2009
Hartford 2010 MSG 2010 MSG 2010
Toronto 2011,Toronto 2011
Wrigley Field 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Philadelphia 2, 2013
Philadelphia 1, 2016 Philadelphia 2 2016 New York 2016 New York 2016 Fenway 1, 2016 Fenway 2, 2018 MSG 2022 St. Paul, 1, St. Paul 2 2023 MSG 2024, MSG 2024 Philadelphia 2024
"I play good, hard-nosed basketball.
Things happen in the game. Nothing you
can do. I don't go and say,
"I'm gonna beat this guy up."
****
It appears Colton Orr and Brad Isbister will be healthy scratches and Steve Valiquette will dress as the backup goaltender. So the 2,3 and 4 lines will remain intact.
****
Orr is in
Hollweg scratched
sorry- i know i am partial- but that was not a penalty on Roszival.
For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
had i not returned to work this week after a 2 year disability stunt and being a healthy scratch, id be in my car driving there right now !
enjoy !
Ok man...I'll cut you some slack then.
Glad to get the first one in their bldg. I'll be there on Saturday hopefully enjoying a 2 games to love lead headed back to MSG. It's awesome to see them back in the playoffs agin and winning since last year didn't count. LOL
Hope your getting better dude, and I'll be cheering like crazy on Sat...
"I want to go...but I don't want to go alone...With you I could never feel alone..."
since game two is a day game, anybody want to meet up and watch it.. i got nothing to do saturday..
Reading 2004
Albany 2006 Camden 2006 E. Rutherford 2, 2006 Inglewood 2006,
Chicago 2007
Camden 2008 MSG 2008 MSG 2008 Hartford 2008.
Seattle 2009 Seattle 2009 Philadelphia 2009,Philadelphia 2009 Philadelphia 2009
Hartford 2010 MSG 2010 MSG 2010
Toronto 2011,Toronto 2011
Wrigley Field 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Philadelphia 2, 2013
Philadelphia 1, 2016 Philadelphia 2 2016 New York 2016 New York 2016 Fenway 1, 2016 Fenway 2, 2018 MSG 2022 St. Paul, 1, St. Paul 2 2023 MSG 2024, MSG 2024 Philadelphia 2024
"I play good, hard-nosed basketball.
Things happen in the game. Nothing you
can do. I don't go and say,
"I'm gonna beat this guy up."
Ten years. Or, to be more accurate, nine years, ten months, and twenty-two days. That's how long Ranger fans, who thought they could die in peace after the 1994 Stanley Cup, had to wait for the Rangers to win a playoff game. The wait finally ended last night in Atlanta with a 4-3 win over the Thrashers in a city that has not had an NHL playoff game since the Flames lost to the Rangers 27 years ago. Four years ago, the Rangers stopped even trying to make the playoffs, choosing instead to gut the team and rebuild. Three years ago, the joke was that the Rangers still missed the playoffs despite tying for the league's best record at 0-0-0. Last year, their long awaited return to the playoffs became a disaster of a sweep.
Not this time. Coming in with a hot streak and hot goalie, after three days of practice that was loose and easy, the Rangers let the Thrashers focus on hitting, while they just focused on hitting the net. As playoff teams are wont to do, the Thrashers tried to dictate the terms of the game with body checks, led by former Ranger and Devil Bobby Holik. But the Rangers absorbed every hit Holik and his team threw their way, bouncing back up to continue their dominant control of the puck and their newfound fervor for throwing pucks at the net. Jaromir Jagr and Michal Rozsival scored on first period one-timers, Marcel Hossa scored on a deflection of a Fedor Tyutin shot/pass, and Michael Nylander converted the rebound of a Petr Prucha shot after Prucha stole the puck back from Marian Hossa.
Down the other way, Lundqvist was not as sharp as usual, allowing three Ranger defensive mistakes to get by him to halve two-goal leads, and letting three other shots get by him to hit the goal frame. And he had a ton of help from his defense, especially during a two-man Atlanta advantage to close out the game (power play plus pulled goalie) -- although the Rangers were not credited with half the shots they actually blocked. But Lundqvist was as good as he had to be to win this game, which was better than his counterpart, Kari Lehtonen, who let in a bad one on the game winner and gave the Rangers way too much net to shoot at on other goals and on some missed shots.
Marcel Hossa returned to action after a long absence due to a knee injury, and despite appearing to tweak the knee in a knee on knee collision, he actually got more ice time than his 100-point scoring brother, outscored him 1-0, outshot him 2-1, and out-plussed him +2 to -1. Marian also hurt himself, hitting his face into the boards when boarding Thomas Pock without penalty, but he didn't miss any shifts because of it. Colton Orr dressed instead of Ryan Hollweg and was hit more often than he hit, which is guaranteed when you are credited with zero hits. Four Rangers made their playoff debuts -- rookies Ryan Callahan, Dan Girardi, and Pock, and Sean Avery. Callahan was the most assured of the three, Girardi and Pock playing generally well but committing key errors. Avery mixed it up, as expected, with Keith Tkachuk, who was as much of a non-factor as Hossa.
I was supposed to report live from Atlanta on this game, but I never made it. Sam Weinman got stuck for awhile in Charlotte on the way down today, but for him it was just a delay (see Rangers Report). My flight from Newark was canceled due to this morning's bad weather, so they sent me to DC to make a connection, but my flight was late and the connection wasn't, so I was stranded. With hundreds of other travelers in the same boat, my choices at that point were to wait four hours to go standby on a flight that would arrive too late to make the game, or wait eight hours for a confirmed flight that would get me in after midnight. I opted to return to New York, but they couldn't even fly me back, so I took the train and got home after eleven hours of travel at ten to seven, just in time to watch the game I should have been at on TV.
Catching up on news reports from this morning, here are the final pre-game articles from the Daily News, Journal News, Newsday, Times, Post, Record, Star-Ledger, and NY Sports Day. Detailed series match-up from Newsday. More from during the day in the reporters' blogs -- Blueshirts Blog and Blue Notes. More on Lundqvist from Newsday and from Joe Micheletti at MSG.com. Article on Ryan Callahan from the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle. And a strange piece from something called the Baytown Sun on the Penguins and Rangers that predicts the Rangers winning the Cup.
For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
I told you they are physical(Atlanta)but im tellin ya they might even get a little dirty, id have Orr on the bench know matter what, cause if the rangers get ahead say like 5 goals then Atlanta will go head hunting and you'll need Orr to straighten them out lol.
London 2005
Toronto 2011 night 2
Hamilton 2011
London 2013
The reason the Rangers got out hit was because the Rangers had the puck most of the game. Holik just went nuts in the first 7-8 minutes of the game, Rangers have to shut him down. But besides that, the Rangers had some good body checks, they took out Atlanta's top scorers
2003: Uniondale, MSG x2 | 2004: Reading | 2005: Gorge, Vancouver, Philly | 2006: East Rutherford x2, Gorge x2, Camden 1, Hartford | 2008: MSG x2, VA Beach | 2009: Philly x3 | 2010: MSG x2, Bristow | 2011: Alpine Valley x2 | 2012: MIA Philly | 2013: Wrigley, Charlottesville, Brooklyn 2 | 2014: Milan, Amsterdam 1 | 2016: MSG x2, Fenway x2, Wrigley 2 | 2018: Rome, Krakow, Berlin, Wrigley 2 | 2021: Sea Hear Now | 2022: San Diego, LA x2, MSG, Camden, Nashville, St. Louis, Denver | 2023: St. Paul 1, Chicago x2, Fort Worth x2, Austin 2 | 2024: Las Vegas 1, Seattle x2, Indy, MSG x2, Philly x2, Baltimore
The reason the Rangers got out hit was because the Rangers had the puck most of the game. Holik just went nuts in the first 7-8 minutes of the game, Rangers have to shut him down. But besides that, the Rangers had some good body checks, they took out Atlanta's top scorers
sometimes u have no choice but to get hit hard,, because u have to play the puck,, which we did well
players knew they were gonna get hammerd but still made the play
that being said the team needs to do a better job with picking off the oncoming checkers
so far so good, although marek malik was standing too close to the net at the end and almost knocked it in. new rule, he can't stand that close anymore. i like the start time for saturday, right in the middle of the day..
Reading 2004
Albany 2006 Camden 2006 E. Rutherford 2, 2006 Inglewood 2006,
Chicago 2007
Camden 2008 MSG 2008 MSG 2008 Hartford 2008.
Seattle 2009 Seattle 2009 Philadelphia 2009,Philadelphia 2009 Philadelphia 2009
Hartford 2010 MSG 2010 MSG 2010
Toronto 2011,Toronto 2011
Wrigley Field 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Philadelphia 2, 2013
Philadelphia 1, 2016 Philadelphia 2 2016 New York 2016 New York 2016 Fenway 1, 2016 Fenway 2, 2018 MSG 2022 St. Paul, 1, St. Paul 2 2023 MSG 2024, MSG 2024 Philadelphia 2024
"I play good, hard-nosed basketball.
Things happen in the game. Nothing you
can do. I don't go and say,
"I'm gonna beat this guy up."
bump, looks like johan hedberg tommorow for atlanta..
Reading 2004
Albany 2006 Camden 2006 E. Rutherford 2, 2006 Inglewood 2006,
Chicago 2007
Camden 2008 MSG 2008 MSG 2008 Hartford 2008.
Seattle 2009 Seattle 2009 Philadelphia 2009,Philadelphia 2009 Philadelphia 2009
Hartford 2010 MSG 2010 MSG 2010
Toronto 2011,Toronto 2011
Wrigley Field 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Philadelphia 2, 2013
Philadelphia 1, 2016 Philadelphia 2 2016 New York 2016 New York 2016 Fenway 1, 2016 Fenway 2, 2018 MSG 2022 St. Paul, 1, St. Paul 2 2023 MSG 2024, MSG 2024 Philadelphia 2024
"I play good, hard-nosed basketball.
Things happen in the game. Nothing you
can do. I don't go and say,
"I'm gonna beat this guy up."
Comments
[size=+3] - _/ _/ _/ Lets Go Rangers \_ \_ \_ - [/size]
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES
http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
let the butterflies swirl
LET'S GO RANGER'S!!!
post a note to the team
SHANNY SAYS: 'I EXPECT TO WIN'
By LARRY BROOKS
April 12, 2007 -- ATLANTA - It took nearly two-thirds of the season for last year's Rangers to fully evolve into this year's team. What happened a year ago against the Devils no longer matters. What happens over the next two weeks does.
What happens over the next two weeks in the first round against the Thrashers will define the Rangers' 2006-07 every bit as much as the impressive stretch run to a playoff spot.
"From my standpoint, the fact that we played as well as we did the last six weeks isn't going to mean a whole lot if we stink the joint out in this series," Sean Avery said following yesterday's skate at the club's practice facility. "I don't think people are going to remember the regular season so much if we go down in the first round.
"I think we have a good opportunity here to accomplish something special, and I think we have the group here to take advantage of that opportunity."
The Thrashers will come hard at the Blueshirts tonight in what is not only Game 1 of this series, but Game 1 of franchise playoff history. The Rangers expect that.
"I think they'll be emotionally charged and physically engaged," Tom Renney said of the Southeast Division champions. "It's going to be a passionate Atlanta team."
But if the Rangers expect a blitz, they also expect to be able to withstand their opponents' assault. The Blueshirts aren't entering the tournament with a sense of bravado, rather with realistic expectations created by their ability to withstand adversity (most of their own making) and gain an entry to the dance off a 13-2-4 kick.
"I expect to win; I don't think I've ever gone into a playoff series, even in minor hockey, expecting to lose," three-time Stanley Cup winner Brendan Shanahan said. "I think we have to carry confidence with us and build expectations.
"You have to see yourself as successful in order to be successful."
Over the course of the season, Jaromir Jagr said he believed he would need to score in order for the Rangers to win in the playoffs. Yesterday, No. 68 amended his assertion, saying, "I don't necessarily have to score, but obviously the more I score, the easier it will be for our team.
"I don't look at this series as [the standard] for whether we had a successful season," Jagr said. "I'm going to play to win the Stanley Cup. If we're good enough, I don't know, but I'm going to give it a try.
"If we lose in the second or third round, people are going to say we had a great season. Well, it might be good, but we would still have lost, we still wouldn't win it."
The Rangers' eyes are on the prize, there's no doubt about that, but they're not getting ahead of themselves. Tonight, and for however long necessary, their focus is on doing what's necessary to outlast Atlanta.
"I think we're going to play well enough to win, and that doesn't come from arrogance," Avery said. "We're going to try to take the game to them every night, every period.
"By no means am I suggesting this is going to be over in four games, but however long it lasts, I expect us to win. I'm sure we all do."
Albany 2006 Camden 2006 E. Rutherford 2, 2006 Inglewood 2006,
Chicago 2007
Camden 2008 MSG 2008 MSG 2008 Hartford 2008.
Seattle 2009 Seattle 2009 Philadelphia 2009,Philadelphia 2009 Philadelphia 2009
Hartford 2010 MSG 2010 MSG 2010
Toronto 2011,Toronto 2011
Wrigley Field 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Philadelphia 2, 2013
Philadelphia 1, 2016 Philadelphia 2 2016 New York 2016 New York 2016 Fenway 1, 2016
Fenway 2, 2018
MSG 2022
St. Paul, 1, St. Paul 2 2023
MSG 2024, MSG 2024
Philadelphia 2024
"I play good, hard-nosed basketball.
Things happen in the game. Nothing you
can do. I don't go and say,
"I'm gonna beat this guy up."
LET'S GO RANGER'S!!!!!!!!
Toronto 2011 night 2
Hamilton 2011
London 2013
Rangers start off losing 0-2 in the series
or
Rangers win one of the first 2 games in atlanta, and then win every home game
Sammi: Wanna just break up?
to keep everyone safe and play to the best of their abilities
I FEEL BETTER NOW ,,GETTING ANXIOUS
NERVES KICK IN ABOUT 6 ISH
PLAY STRONG PLAY HARD PLAY TO WIN !!!!!!!
ENJOY THE GAME KIDS
LET'S GO RANGER'S!!!!!!!!!!!!
i left work early ( sick- yeah, right
been a long time coming
for nearly 10 years now
since we had a post season victory
and what better thing to spoil then Game 1 of franchise playoff history at philips areana in hotlanta.
trash the trashers.
[size=+3] - _/ _/ _/ Lets Go Rangers \_ \_ \_ - [/size]
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES
http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
Showtime!
Playoff hockey rocks. There is no two ways about it. Just take a look at some of those games last night. FOUR overtime periods? Talk about drama.
Well, the Rangers' quest begins this evening. I am excited at the prospect of this playoff-win drought coming to an end. I am not saying it will happen for certain tonight, but it's possible.
Instead of rambling on about how pumped up I am, let's just get right to the news.
NY Post: "From my standpoint, the fact that we played as well as we did the last six weeks isn't going to mean a whole lot if we stink the joint out in this series," Sean Avery said following yesterday's skate at the club's practice facility. "I don't think people are going to remember the regular season so much if we go down in the first round.
NY Daily News: A year ago, the Rangers entered the playoffs unprepared to beat anybody. But then, Renney concedes that they might have greased their own skids by over-preparing for the Devils. "As a coach, you can overshoot the runway," Renney said. This time around, Renney says his Rangers don't need as much fine-tuning. "We've placed the same value on all of those things this year," Renney said. "But we've created some momentum for ourselves to the point where, as a coaching staff, we feel we have our heads around certain points of our game that we don't need to spend as much time on."
The Journal News: "It's experience and it's preparation, but it's up to us to use that experience in a positive way," said Shanahan, who had a goal and seven assists in nine games since returning from a month-long absence with a concussion. "We had a lot of situations this year in tight games where we might have given up the first goal of the game and we stuck to the game plan. We were behind late in games but we stuck to the plan. There were a lot of experiences that we had to draw from where we stuck to our style. The temptation to go off on your own is greater in the playoffs. But ... the experienced teams will kind of stick to the plan."
NY Newsday: "They can score in a number of ways," Rangers coach Tom Renney said. "In watching them play, they have a tendency to want to make the perfect shot," he said, a trap into which the Rangers' first power-play unit - which includes Jaromir Jagr, Michael Nylander and Michal Rozsival - has sometimes fallen. Since Atlanta acquired those players, Renney said, "I'm not sure they haven't done what we have, created a second unit to have two different looks."
Newsday again on Lundqvist.
NY Times: Jagr entered this season by taking the reins as the Rangers’ captain, aiming to improve on the team’s first-round playoff collapse a year ago. He scored his 600th career goal early in the season, but little else went smoothly. Jagr, bouncing back from off-season shoulder surgery, struggled to score. The team began to reshape itself with a desperate, defensive mind-set. And after Jagr’s proclamation coming out of the All-Star Game break, they started to claw their way up the standings.
NY SportsDay: It’s said the 82 game NHL regular season is just a tune-up for the playoffs. If that’s the case then the season starts tonight.
The Rodent engages in debate on the postseason with a reader.
Tonight, it's the Stanley Cup playoffs . . . Rangers versus the Thrashers in Atlanta. The puck drops at 7:00 pm EST. LET'S GO RANGERS!
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Roosters and bunting in Blueland
Howdy from Atlanta, where we're competing for hotel and elevator space with teenagers in town for a massive robotics convention.
But over at the rink, the notebook filled rapidly, so let's get right to it.
"Two young roosters."
That was Thrashers' coach Bob Hartley's unusual pre-game description of goaltenders Henrik Lundqvist and Kari Lehtonen.
It began with a question about former Ranger Pascal Dupuis and how much inside information Hartley could glean from a player who spent just a few games in February in New York.
"A lot," Hartley joked. "We both speak French...it's always valuable. I picked his brain on certain stuff, but you know at the end of the day, it's not about scouting....it's what will go on on the ice. When you look at Jagr, Shanahan, Avery, Straka, Nylander, then you look at our side; plus, if you look at both ends, you have two young roosters who will try to make a name for themselves. On offense you have some big cannons, some world-class talent and you have two kids and all the lights will be shining on them." Then, in an apparent reference to boxing, Hartley said: "Those two guys will try to come up with the belt."
The question: Who'll be crowing at the end of the series?
****
The Rangers held a 10:45 a.m. power play meeting before their optional game-day skate at 11:30. Lundqvist, Jagr, Straka and Avery took a rain check.
Asked if Lundqvist was up late watching the four-overtime win by Vancouver over Dallas---Lundqvist's twin brother Joel plays for the Stars---Renney said, " I hope not...no, he wasn't. He was in the room next to mine. Every time I got up to turn on the TV, it was still going. That's why I turned mine off to make sure his wasn't on."
He said that Lundqvist, who pushes himself hard, is realizing "that it's not real necessary to skate every day, including the game skate."
****
LW Marcel Hossa, who missed a month with an MCL sprain, will rejoin Jaromir Jagr and Michael Nylander on the first line, wearing a brace on his left knee. "I can't wait to play," he said. "It's been a long month." Hossa said that playing against his older brother, Marian, in a playoff game was more exciting for their parents, who are here and will be in New York for Games 3 and 4. "I think for us, it's not a big difference...I don't think there's going to be any joking around. I'm sure he wants to win too." When they spoke in the last few days, Marcel said, it was business-like: "We just say to each other good luck, it's hockey, we're both professionals."
****
It appears Colton Orr and Brad Isbister will be healthy scratches and Steve Valiquette will dress as the backup goaltender. So the 2,3 and 4 lines will remain intact.
****
For the Thrashers' first ever playoff game in the rink they call "Blueland", the facade above the lower bowl in Phillips Arena is hung with red, white and blue bunting, and Thrashers flags are in holders in various locations along the wall of luxury suites. Midway through the Rangers' skate, while Renney was standing by the sideboards, Hartley came out of the locker room area, climbed over some railings and leaned into the rink to say hello.
****
Random, but telling, quotes:
Shanahan on the difference in the team late in the season: "We worked very hard to establish the identity we now have, we've been through some growing pains.There's a little bit more attention to detail on defense...our team's gotten more comfortable playing 1-1 or zero-zero games."
Jagr, wearing a dark grey suit over a violet t-shirt, told TV crews: "We proved we can beat anybody; I have a good feeling about this team."
Hartley: "Discipline will be a key. You don't want to put their power play on the ice for unnecessary reasons. We have speed, they have speed. The most important part is to avoid the distractions, the retaliations, the scrums after the whistle."
More Hartley: "They made some great trades. Shanahan got hurt, a terrible injury, and came back. Lundqvist has been a very nice story in the second half for those guys...Now all of your pieces fall in place and all of a sudden, your team is firing on all cylinders. We went through a similar season."
Renney: "We'll just work with the ebb and flow of the series. We're anxious to get started."
*****
Call it wishful thinking on the part of the Thrashers---and a gaffe by the NHL: The Rangers roster provided to the media in the notes package delivered to our hotel was a little off. Well, more than a little. It's last year's, listing the departed Darius Kasparaitis, Tom Poti, Petr Sykora, Dominic Moore, Steve Rucchin, Martin Rucinsky and Sandis Ozolinsh.
****
Both the Rangers and Thrashers will practice tomorrow morning at the Ice Forum in Duluth, Georgia, about a half-hour's drive north of the city on Highway 85. Six New York-area writers are planning to car-pool. Better not be a subcompact we're leasing. Note to editors: See how we're trying to be cost-efficient?
Albany 2006 Camden 2006 E. Rutherford 2, 2006 Inglewood 2006,
Chicago 2007
Camden 2008 MSG 2008 MSG 2008 Hartford 2008.
Seattle 2009 Seattle 2009 Philadelphia 2009,Philadelphia 2009 Philadelphia 2009
Hartford 2010 MSG 2010 MSG 2010
Toronto 2011,Toronto 2011
Wrigley Field 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Philadelphia 2, 2013
Philadelphia 1, 2016 Philadelphia 2 2016 New York 2016 New York 2016 Fenway 1, 2016
Fenway 2, 2018
MSG 2022
St. Paul, 1, St. Paul 2 2023
MSG 2024, MSG 2024
Philadelphia 2024
"I play good, hard-nosed basketball.
Things happen in the game. Nothing you
can do. I don't go and say,
"I'm gonna beat this guy up."
Orr is in
Hollweg scratched
sorry- i know i am partial- but that was not a penalty on Roszival.
oh well.
lightem' up, boys.
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ahhhh it's nice seeing them win in the playoffs again
38 SOG....good way to start the series
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but those trashers were beating on us like a drum !
we need some physicality to match theirs, or they may wear us down ,
maybe throw hollweg in there, at least he throws his body around on a consistent basis.
at least weve taken their home team advantage away from them,...
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Ok man...I'll cut you some slack then.
Glad to get the first one in their bldg. I'll be there on Saturday hopefully enjoying a 2 games to love lead headed back to MSG. It's awesome to see them back in the playoffs agin and winning since last year didn't count. LOL
Hope your getting better dude, and I'll be cheering like crazy on Sat...
Randall's Island 96 and haven't stopped since...
This sucks....Rangers win on the road, and the Isles lose. Awful day. at least the mets won.
www.amazingathletes.com/northchi
Albany 2006 Camden 2006 E. Rutherford 2, 2006 Inglewood 2006,
Chicago 2007
Camden 2008 MSG 2008 MSG 2008 Hartford 2008.
Seattle 2009 Seattle 2009 Philadelphia 2009,Philadelphia 2009 Philadelphia 2009
Hartford 2010 MSG 2010 MSG 2010
Toronto 2011,Toronto 2011
Wrigley Field 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Philadelphia 2, 2013
Philadelphia 1, 2016 Philadelphia 2 2016 New York 2016 New York 2016 Fenway 1, 2016
Fenway 2, 2018
MSG 2022
St. Paul, 1, St. Paul 2 2023
MSG 2024, MSG 2024
Philadelphia 2024
"I play good, hard-nosed basketball.
Things happen in the game. Nothing you
can do. I don't go and say,
"I'm gonna beat this guy up."
thats def. the 1st adjustment
holly goes in for orr and we need to finish our checks alot better
they hit everyone
other than that great road game
plus they got a bullshitt pp goal ( no penalty)
and giradi's turnover
all in all a good defensive game
great to see the puck going at the net (and in)
WOOOOOOO ITS BEEN AWHILE EH BOYS !!!
BACK COVER OF THE POST
LET'S GO RANGER'S!!
April 13, 2007
Ten Years After
Ten years. Or, to be more accurate, nine years, ten months, and twenty-two days. That's how long Ranger fans, who thought they could die in peace after the 1994 Stanley Cup, had to wait for the Rangers to win a playoff game. The wait finally ended last night in Atlanta with a 4-3 win over the Thrashers in a city that has not had an NHL playoff game since the Flames lost to the Rangers 27 years ago. Four years ago, the Rangers stopped even trying to make the playoffs, choosing instead to gut the team and rebuild. Three years ago, the joke was that the Rangers still missed the playoffs despite tying for the league's best record at 0-0-0. Last year, their long awaited return to the playoffs became a disaster of a sweep.
Not this time. Coming in with a hot streak and hot goalie, after three days of practice that was loose and easy, the Rangers let the Thrashers focus on hitting, while they just focused on hitting the net. As playoff teams are wont to do, the Thrashers tried to dictate the terms of the game with body checks, led by former Ranger and Devil Bobby Holik. But the Rangers absorbed every hit Holik and his team threw their way, bouncing back up to continue their dominant control of the puck and their newfound fervor for throwing pucks at the net. Jaromir Jagr and Michal Rozsival scored on first period one-timers, Marcel Hossa scored on a deflection of a Fedor Tyutin shot/pass, and Michael Nylander converted the rebound of a Petr Prucha shot after Prucha stole the puck back from Marian Hossa.
Down the other way, Lundqvist was not as sharp as usual, allowing three Ranger defensive mistakes to get by him to halve two-goal leads, and letting three other shots get by him to hit the goal frame. And he had a ton of help from his defense, especially during a two-man Atlanta advantage to close out the game (power play plus pulled goalie) -- although the Rangers were not credited with half the shots they actually blocked. But Lundqvist was as good as he had to be to win this game, which was better than his counterpart, Kari Lehtonen, who let in a bad one on the game winner and gave the Rangers way too much net to shoot at on other goals and on some missed shots.
Marcel Hossa returned to action after a long absence due to a knee injury, and despite appearing to tweak the knee in a knee on knee collision, he actually got more ice time than his 100-point scoring brother, outscored him 1-0, outshot him 2-1, and out-plussed him +2 to -1. Marian also hurt himself, hitting his face into the boards when boarding Thomas Pock without penalty, but he didn't miss any shifts because of it. Colton Orr dressed instead of Ryan Hollweg and was hit more often than he hit, which is guaranteed when you are credited with zero hits. Four Rangers made their playoff debuts -- rookies Ryan Callahan, Dan Girardi, and Pock, and Sean Avery. Callahan was the most assured of the three, Girardi and Pock playing generally well but committing key errors. Avery mixed it up, as expected, with Keith Tkachuk, who was as much of a non-factor as Hossa.
I was supposed to report live from Atlanta on this game, but I never made it. Sam Weinman got stuck for awhile in Charlotte on the way down today, but for him it was just a delay (see Rangers Report). My flight from Newark was canceled due to this morning's bad weather, so they sent me to DC to make a connection, but my flight was late and the connection wasn't, so I was stranded. With hundreds of other travelers in the same boat, my choices at that point were to wait four hours to go standby on a flight that would arrive too late to make the game, or wait eight hours for a confirmed flight that would get me in after midnight. I opted to return to New York, but they couldn't even fly me back, so I took the train and got home after eleven hours of travel at ten to seven, just in time to watch the game I should have been at on TV.
Catching up on news reports from this morning, here are the final pre-game articles from the Daily News, Journal News, Newsday, Times, Post, Record, Star-Ledger, and NY Sports Day. Detailed series match-up from Newsday. More from during the day in the reporters' blogs -- Blueshirts Blog and Blue Notes. More on Lundqvist from Newsday and from Joe Micheletti at MSG.com. Article on Ryan Callahan from the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle. And a strange piece from something called the Baytown Sun on the Penguins and Rangers that predicts the Rangers winning the Cup.
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Toronto 2011 night 2
Hamilton 2011
London 2013
Since I didn't watch the game. I need a question answered. Does Shanahan still get some power play time on the number one line?
I think he's still on the second PP unit.
sometimes u have no choice but to get hit hard,, because u have to play the puck,, which we did well
players knew they were gonna get hammerd but still made the play
that being said the team needs to do a better job with picking off the oncoming checkers
expect holly to be running around tom
Albany 2006 Camden 2006 E. Rutherford 2, 2006 Inglewood 2006,
Chicago 2007
Camden 2008 MSG 2008 MSG 2008 Hartford 2008.
Seattle 2009 Seattle 2009 Philadelphia 2009,Philadelphia 2009 Philadelphia 2009
Hartford 2010 MSG 2010 MSG 2010
Toronto 2011,Toronto 2011
Wrigley Field 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Philadelphia 2, 2013
Philadelphia 1, 2016 Philadelphia 2 2016 New York 2016 New York 2016 Fenway 1, 2016
Fenway 2, 2018
MSG 2022
St. Paul, 1, St. Paul 2 2023
MSG 2024, MSG 2024
Philadelphia 2024
"I play good, hard-nosed basketball.
Things happen in the game. Nothing you
can do. I don't go and say,
"I'm gonna beat this guy up."
Albany 2006 Camden 2006 E. Rutherford 2, 2006 Inglewood 2006,
Chicago 2007
Camden 2008 MSG 2008 MSG 2008 Hartford 2008.
Seattle 2009 Seattle 2009 Philadelphia 2009,Philadelphia 2009 Philadelphia 2009
Hartford 2010 MSG 2010 MSG 2010
Toronto 2011,Toronto 2011
Wrigley Field 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Philadelphia 2, 2013
Philadelphia 1, 2016 Philadelphia 2 2016 New York 2016 New York 2016 Fenway 1, 2016
Fenway 2, 2018
MSG 2022
St. Paul, 1, St. Paul 2 2023
MSG 2024, MSG 2024
Philadelphia 2024
"I play good, hard-nosed basketball.
Things happen in the game. Nothing you
can do. I don't go and say,
"I'm gonna beat this guy up."