B R O A D W A Y***B L U E S H I R T S

Bathgate66

Jagrs back, and theres no television coverage ?

wtf ? :mad:

is he wearing the " C " ?

I think MSG should have preempted " The Vault " and televised this game- regardless if its pre season or not !

wtf ?

Bathgate66

too bad we have to wait until December to face them for real in the regular season !




https://www.nypost.com/seven/09302006/sports/rangers/jagr_clears__first_hurdle_rangers_evan_grossman.htm

JAGR CLEARS FIRST HURDLE
By EVAN GROSSMAN
HE'S BACK! Jaromir Jagr, playing his first game since the playoffs last year, takes a shift on the power play in the second period of last night's exhibition against the Islanders.September 30, 2006 -- PRESEASON Isles 2 Rangers 1

There are cozier and more hospitable rinks in the NHL for Jaromir Jagr to have taken his surgically repaired shoulder for the first test run.

But resigned to the belief that the target on his back was no bigger at the Coliseum than anywhere else, Jagr made his preseason debut last night against the rival Islanders. It was the first time No. 68 played in a game since he was helped off the ice on April 29 with a dislocated shoulder in the playoffs.

Jagr survived the first test - a 2-1 Islanders victory - just fine, though his timing seemed off and his devastating shot was held under wraps by a stingy Islander defense.

Jagr's shoulder was never tested by any hits as heavy as the one Brad Lukowich laid on him in Game 4 against the Devils, the check that ultimately ended Jagr's season. But it was a start for Jagr, who is expected to play again today in the exhibition finale against the Bruins.

"My goal was to survive," Jagr said after logging 21:08 of ice time. The one shot he took went wide of the Islander net.

After skating in an abbreviated warm-up before the game, Jagr came on for his first shift 58 seconds into the game with the teams skating 4-on-4. Obviously still shaking the rust from his game, he was admittedly not in midseason form last night.

"To be honest, I was practicing twice a day and it's a lot harder to practice than play in games," Jagr said. "In practice they don't let you rest. Here, you get tired, they let you go change."

But more important for the Rangers, seeing No. 68 tee it up on a 5-on-3 advantage from the right point - opposite Brendan Shanahan blasting away from the left - was a fearsome sight to behold.

*


Alexei Yashin scored the winner at 13:09 of the third period and finished with a goal and an assist.

Islanders signed goalie Mike Dunham, a training camp invitee, to a one-year, $500,000 contract yesterday.

NY PJ1

good to see the PP get going today.. not to mention all of the big boys scoring
looks like Dawes is gonna get a spot,, he has played well and deserves it


LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!!!!!!!!!







LET'S GO RANGER'S!!

Bathgate66

and how about that Dubinsky ( spelling ? ) kid ?

it cant start quick enough, for me !



[size=+2] - _/ Lets Go Rangers \_ - ! [/size]

Bathgate66

Amen to That ! !

https://www.nypost.com/seven/10012006/sports/now_you_can_die_again__sports_larry_brooks.htm

NOW YOU CAN DIE AGAIN!
RANGERS WILL BRING CUP BACK TO BROADWAY

JAROMIR JAGROctober 1, 2006 -- SLAP SHOTS
THE past two Stanley Cup Finals each featured a small-market team from the southeast United States defeating a small-market team from western Canada in a seven-game series. The first came under a collective bargaining agreement which contained no salary cap, the second under a CBA that contains the most restrictive cap of the modern sports era.

Five different teams have won the past five Cups, which means the NHL is tracking its parity on a course equal to the '90s, when six different teams won championships in the six years from 1992 through '97.

Then, of course, marquee teams with star power were capturing titles and the imagination of the U.S. sports public. Then, on either side of the first lockout, teams filled with recognizable future Hall of Famers were winning championships, remaining intact for repeat runs and challenges, setting the bar for their competition in the way that a rising tide lifts all boats. But that was before Sixth Avenue became obsessed with establishing a lowest common denominator for the league and its teams. That was before the fall.

The NHL may have its most appealing product in more than a decade, but not by definition. For this appealing product somehow appealed to fewer people than ever, if TV ratings are the measurement by which all leagues live. But have no fear. The league in which all games have a winner but nearly a quarter of them don't have a loser is about to be saved from itself for the second time in 12 years by its most important and most loathed franchise. The small-market league is going bright lights and Broadway again.

The NHL will rest in peace no more. The Rangers are on their way to another parade up the Canyon of Heroes, this time 41 years ahead of schedule.

Our lightning elimination round eliminates more teams than the Lightning, but it sure is ironic, isn't it, that this small-market champion became the first victim of the cap that penalizes success regardless of geography. The question in Atlanta - Bobby Holik and Steve Rucchin in the middle; we must have missed the punch line - is whether GM Don Waddell or head coach Bob Hartley will pay first with his job when the Thrashers miss again. The Islanders will compete harder than they did last season and, with both Miro Satan and Viktor Kozlov, may never lose a shootout, but will remain adrift. That is better than capsizing.

Boston will be better and better organized, but its goaltending isn't close to good enough. Florida is a joke franchise with a GM/coach in Jacques Martin who has never met a talent he hasn't tried to suppress. It would have been interesting had Pittsburgh and Washington actually tried to attract formidable support people for the glittering Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin. It will be as interesting to watch the league attempt to sell itself by marketing players who work for teams that have virtually no chance to be in the playoffs; in other words, this isn't exactly Magic and Bird.

Colorado and Detroit, the glamour teams of the old CBA era, are commoners now, neither with much chance of winning, each likely to lose customers and corresponding cache. There isn't much sadder than Hockeytown believing in 155-pound Dom Hasek, is there? St. Louis is years away, Chicago doesn't count; Phoenix doesn't look like any team for which Wayne Gretzky would have enjoyed playing; L.A. is building very smartly; and Vancouver got the goalie a couple of years too late.


We'll be curious which excuses Doug MacLean makes this time when Columbus struggles; Dallas is no longer among the elite; and, given fair talent, isn't it finally time for Jacques Lemaire to be in the mix to actually win something in Minnesota? Edmonton, which crunched the numbers hard and well, looks like a one-and-done finalist, anyway.

No GM has benefited more from family than Brian Burke, who acquired Scott Niedermayer (the world's best player if Jaromir Jagr isn't) and Chris Pronger in successive summers because of familial tugs, though of different natures. Nashville has kept its work ethic while acquiring talent, and Calgary remains as tough to play and score upon as anyone. These are the three best teams in the West - San Jose a meter behind - that stand in the way of a fourth consecutive Eastern champion.

The Hurricanes were as determined to remove Oleg Tverdovsky's $5M over the next two seasons from the books as they were to trade Jack Johnson for immediate help on defense, and that is why the Rangers - and numerous other clubs - backed off. Carolina will be good again, so will Buffalo and so will Ottawa. The Flyers have an abundance of ability of up front, less so in the back, and what else is new? The Devils, as usual, will stand in the way of anyone serious about winning.

Which the Rangers are, from the front office to the coaching staff, from King Henrik of, no, not Sweden, but now of Broadway, to the pre-eminent Jagr. The Rangers added winners to their lineup this summer. They have young players who are likely to emerge over the course of the year. The roster - and ice time - in March is likely to be significantly different than the one that opens the season.

And there is the approximate $5 million of cap space and overflow of attractive prospects with which the team has to work at the trade deadline. In other words, when John Davidson seeks to move Keith Tkachuk, St. Louis will be dialing 212, not 911.

The Rangers will be going for a ride. Once again, the league is welcome to hop on their backs. If that doesn't upset its small-market strategy.

larry.brooks@nypost.com


Larry Brooks Crystal Ball :

East :

1) Ottawa
2) Rangers
3) Carolina
4 ) Buffalo
5) Devils
6 ) Philadelphia
7 ) Montreal
8 ) Toronto
9 ) Boston
10 ) Islanders
11 ) Washington
12 ) Atlanta
13 ) Tampa
14 ) Pittsburgh
15 ) Atlanta

West :
1) Nashville
2 ) Calgary
3 ) Anahiem
4 ) Minnesota
5 ) San Jose
6 ) Dallas
7) Los Angeles
8 ) Detroit
9 ) Vancouver
10 ) Edmonton
11 ) Columbus
12 ) Colorado
13 ) St Louis
14 ) Phoenix
15 ) Chicago

East Finals :
Rangers over Devils in 5

West Finals :
Anaheim over Nashville in 7

Cup Finals :
Rangers over Anaheim in 7


how sweet it is !

Bathgate66

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/story/457847p-385292c.html


[size=+2]It's all according to plan

Rangers ready to chase Cup[/size]

BY JOHN DELLAPINA
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
http://www.nydailynews.com/ips_rich_content/987-shanahan_rangers.JPG
Brendan Shanahan in a Rangers uniform doesn't mean Blueshirts are back to old ways of throwing money around just to make headlines.
The rebuilding that never really was, clearly is over. The reprogramming of the Rangers' franchise, however, continues on a daily basis.

Because it does - paradoxically because the management team of Glen Sather and Don Maloney has maintained its vow to maintain a long-term view even with short-term success tantalizingly attainable - the Rangers go into the 2006-07 season with legitimate Stanley Cup aspirations.

Because they do - with Tom Renney and his superb staff of assistant coaches beginning Year 2 of the Rangers' transformation by paying the same attention to detail and maintaining the same standards for work ethic and professionalism they instituted 13 months ago - the Rangers now are a model for how an NHL team under the salary cap should be run.

The signing of Brendan Shanahan in July did not signal a return to the bad, not-so-old days of trying to buy shortcuts to success that only compound and extend failure. Rather - as were the signings of center Matt Cullen and defenseman Aaron Ward and the acquisition of winger Adam Hall - it was a surgical strike aimed at strengthening a weakness (too much Euro-style weaving) without abandoning an overall philosophy of team-building.

Shanahan was signed to a modest deal (one year, $4 million) that said as much about his desire to play on Broadway as the Rangers' desire to get him. And his acquisition, like the others, was as much about focusing and toughening on-ice style of play and adding locker room character as loading up on statistics and star power.

Which is why this Rangers' summer, though it didn't produce an opening night roster that includes more youngsters, must be viewed as another carefully considered step forward after a long organizational retreat of haphazard missteps.

Having stayed that course after a year in which success came out of the blue, the Rangers open their 2006-07 season Thursday night at the Garden against the Washington Capitals thinking big.

Three Keys to Victory

1. Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist must be as good as he was a year ago, with no major injury.

2. Jaromir Jagr must remain happy and healthy while Brendan Shanahan provides depth scoring.

3. Defensemen must minimize own-zone chaos for team to fulfill higher expectations.

Forwards:

Unless the NHL goes back to its old rodeo-style rules enforcement, the Martin Straka-Michael Nylander-Jaromir Jagr line will possess the puck for entire shifts and pile up the goals and assists again. Brendan Shanahan, Matt Cullen and either Adam Hall or the scrappy Petr Prucha figure to form a more straight-ahead second line that should give the Rangers badly needed scoring depth.

Blair Betts and Jason Ward formed two-thirds of a reliable third line last season. It didn't score much and wasn't matched against opposing top lines but it gave an honest effort.

Young winger Nigel Dawes gets his chance to be this year's Prucha.

Defense:

Aaron Ward will add grit and winning know-how where both were in short supply. Fedor Tyutin must take his all-around game to another level, as no other Rangers D possesses his skills. There are plenty of question marks.

Michal Rozsival and Marek Malik are coming off a stunningly successful season as partners. Can they reproduce it or will they regress? Can Darius Kasparaitis overcome a summer of inactivity after surgery to regain his wrecking-ball form? Can Karel Rachunek play at a high level in his return to the NHL after a year in Russia and an unimpressive preseason? Can Sandis Ozolinsh handle playing before booing Garden fans or must he be traded once he's back from knee surgery?

Goaltending

Their roles reversed from a year ago, Henrik Lundqvist and Kevin Weekes could give the Rangers one of the best goaltending tandems in the NHL.

NHL history is loaded with goaltenders who sparkle as rookies and never again approach that level. But Lundqvist appears to have the game, the demeanor and the position coach (Benoit Allaire) for lasting success.

Late last season, veteran Weekes adjusted to the unwanted role of spot-starting No. 2. His ability to perform under those conditions again could make the difference in the Rangers winning a division title and having a fresh Lundqvist for the playoffs.

Special Teams

With Jaromir Jagr in one circle and Brendan Shanahan in the other, the Rangers have the potential to unleash a frightening power play. But is there a point man in the house? Tom Renney will have to find a forward pair to go with the Jason Ward-Blair Betts penalty-killing duo. But given the caliber of the goaltending and the coaching staff's acumen, penalty-killing shouldn't be a problem.

Outlook

Sneaking up on the rest of the NHL is no longer possible. But just who in the Atlantic Division is going to leave the Rangers in their dust? Expect another three-way fight with the Flyers and Devils in the division, with the Blueshirts pulling it out this time.

NY PJ1

BATHHHHHHHHHHHH 54 HOURS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh baby!! in honor of JD

PatrickBateman

I can't wait for this Ranger season to begin.



plus Netflix is starting to ship all 15 discs of the 94 season. ( good thing I prcrastinate and didn't transfer all my old 94 tapes to dvd)

Bathgate66

http://newyorkrangers.com/pressbox/pressreleases.asp?id=2310



RANGERS ROOKIE DAWES DEFIED ODDS TO REACH NHL
10/3/2006

Three years ago, NHL teams drafted smaller players at their own risk.

In a league where clutching and grabbing were still very much in style, and where speed often died in the neutral zone, size was at a premium. Teams needed players who could fight through heavy traffic and overpower those intent on obstructing them.

Even at the 2003 NHL Entry Draft in Nashville, the search for talent was often dwarfed by size concerns. How else can one explain why 148 picks were made before the Rangers were "bold" enough to select left wing Nigel Dawes.

Dawes had better offensive numbers than most first-rounders that year. Playing for the Kootenay Ice in 2002-03, he had placed third in the Western Hockey League with 47 goals and 10th in the league with 92 points. He was top scorer on his team, and had also played a key role one year earlier when Kootenay won the Memorial Cup as Canada's major-junior champions.

Despite all these accomplishments, Dawes lasted into the fifth round in 2003 simply because of a few inches. He stood 5-foot-8, which was undersized by NHL standards, and scouts were obviously concerned that his stellar junior game would not translate to the pro level.

Who back then could have known the NHL was on the verge of a major change in philosophy that would make players like Dawes more attractive than ever. Two years after that draft in Nashville, post-lockout rules changes put an emphasis on speed and finesse, opening up the ice for smaller players who no longer had to worry about the behemoths hired to make their lives miserable.

"I don't know if I necessarily expected to go any higher in that draft," said Dawes. "I knew I was going to get drafted. It was just a question of whether a team would take a chance on me. Especially then with the old rules. There wasn't a lot of room for smaller players in the league."

In 2003, the Rangers added Dawes as an absolute steal at his draft position. In the three years since, he has bolstered his hockey resume, and few 21-year-olds in history have been able to claim all the achievements Dawes can list. These include:
A Memorial Cup championship (2002 with Kootenay)

World Junior Championship gold and silver medals (2005 and 2004 with Team Canada)

50-goal scorer in major-junior hockey (2004-05 with Kootenay)

A major-junior franchise's all-time goals record (Kootenay, 159 goals)

Two WHL First Team All-Star selections (2003-04, 2004-05 with Kootenay)

No. 2 rookie goal-scorer in AHL (35 goals for Hartford in 2005-06)

Five-point game in AHL (March 31, 2006, for Hartford)

The Rangers' Lars-Erik Sjoberg Award as top rookie in training camp (2006)
The list of Dawes' accomplishments already seems endless. Now, as one of 23 active players remaining in the Rangers' training camp, he has officially broken through to the NHL and earned a spot on the Rangers' opening-night roster. He certainly helped his cause in the preseason, finishing third on the team with four points in five games.

Dawes enters the 2006-07 season as the only player who has never played in an NHL regular-season or playoff game. Not bad for a guy once thought to be too small to make it.

"Honestly, I don't think size is an issue in the NHL at all anymore," said Dawes. "I don't think they look at guys based on their size. If he's a good enough player and he can skate and he has the skills to play in the NHL, then he's going to play in the NHL."

Coming into training camp this year, Dawes said he felt more confident than a year ago, when he attended his first camp. In 2005, Dawes played in only one preseason game against Boston before being reassigned to Hartford.

"Last year I came to camp not knowing what to expect," said Dawes. "This year, I was able to prepare over the summer so that I could have a good camp."

Arrival on the NHL stage is something Dawes has dreamt about since his boyhood in Winnipeg, where he excelled in minor, bantam and midget hockey before entering the WHL. During those early years, Dawes was a big fan of hockey's best league, beginning with his support of the old Winnipeg Jets, who left town for Phoenix when Dawes was 11 years old.

"I was a big Winnipeg Jets fan, and I also liked the Avalanche because (Joe) Sakic was there," said Dawes. "I think I appreciate the Jets a little more now that they're gone than when they were there. But just seeing the whole NHL come back last year was great, and with the new rules, hockey has become an even more fun sport to watch."

Colorado's Sakic was always one of Dawes' favorite NHL players, but unlike some kids, he never made it his goal to emulate one specific star.

"I don't think I modeled my game after anyone's," said Dawes. "I kind of have a little bit of everything, I guess. I like to be physical and I like to be finesse and be solid defensively. I don't think there's one guy in general who inspired me, it's just kind of how the game fell into my hands."

With the Rangers organization, Dawes could follow in the footsteps of many famous Blueshirts who also grew up in Winnipeg. The organization's ties to that city go back to original Rangers coach and general manager Lester Patrick, who ran a prominent hockey school there in the 1930s. Winnipeg was also the boyhood home of Rangers stars Alex Shibicky, Don Raleigh, Andy Hebenton, Andy Bathgate and James Patrick.

At age 16, Dawes left Winnipeg for Cranbrook, British Columbia, where he joined Kootenay just in time for its championship season. The Ice blew out the QMJHL's Victoriaville Tigres in the final game, and one of the teams Kootenay beat in its march to the title was the Guelph Storm, which featured future Rangers defenseman Fedor Tyutin.

Dawes wasted little time becoming a star in major-junior, scoring 47 goals in his draft year, 47 more in 2003-04 and then 50 goals in 2004-05. Despite these accomplishments, there were still questions about his size. Those questions seem laughable today, since the new-era NHL is the perfect place for his type of player.

"I've never been discouraged in my life. I've been facing it (size concerns) since I started playing bantam," said Dawes. "When I went to the Western League there was always the size issue. It's such a repetition to me when people talk about it now. It's not even a question for me. I just kind of learned to deal with that and find other ways to stand out and to produce and move on in hockey. … There's definitely room for smaller players now. You've got be able to play the game, think the game, and be able to skate flat out to play the game now. I think it's just great for the fans. The game is more fun to watch and probably more fun to play as well."

In Hartford, Dawes continued his development, scoring 35 goals and 67 points last season. He finished second on the team in goals and power-play goals (15). Among rookies, only Houston's Patrick O'Sullivan – drafted 93 spots ahead of Dawes in 2003 – had more goals.

"It (the AHL) was a bit of an adjustment for the first four or five games, but after that it's just hockey again," said Dawes. "You get to where you're feeling more comfortable and more confident. I played with great linemates in Dwight Helminen and Colby Genoway. We just really jelled together and just grew as the year went on, and I grew as a player myself."

In his first pro season, Dawes said he tried not to get ahead of himself by setting a timetable for graduating to the NHL.

"You just go out there and take it day by day and play your game," he said. "You go out there and do what's gotten you to that point in your career and hopefully improve on your weak areas and strengthen your good areas."

One of the factors that has helped Dawes enjoy almost instant success at every level of hockey is his self-confidence. Rather than be overwhelmed by the jump from one league to another, Dawes has always tried to adapt his own game to the new environment. The final jump from the AHL to the NHL is no exception.

"I think it's definitely a little quicker out there, so you've got to get adjusted to the speed of the game," he said. "You don't have a whole lot of time to make plays. You've got to think quickly and try to be a step ahead of the play and know what you're going to do before it happens. I think that's what I'm trying to do out there. Other than that, I'm not really trying to change a lot from what I did last year in Hartford."

Dawes said one of the toughest things about this year's training camp was competing for limited roster spots against many of his Wolf Pack teammates.

"Obviously, you're pulling for other players, but when it comes to the bottom line, you're going out there and you want to make the team yourself," he said. "When you skate together in Hartford, you're pushing each other all the time because you never know if an opportunity is going to come and whether you're going to be here. We're always pushing for each other and rooting for each other, but at the same time, we're working on our own things."

Whether or not Dawes follows in the footsteps of teammate Petr Prucha and becomes an instant star with the Rangers, one thing is clear: Playing in the NHL won't change Nigel Dawes' fundamental approach to hockey or the perspective he has on his own development.

"Things have worked out for me so far," he said. "I've continued to get better, and I think that's what you have to do after you're drafted. You can't sit back and coast. You've got to keep working hard."

NY PJ1

Colorado's Sakic was always one of Dawes' favorite NHL players


NOW I LIKE HIM EVEN MORE

NY PJ1

34 hours

Bathgate66

NY PJ1 wrote:

34 hours

totally psyched.

watch out for Brashear- he's a Capital now . Hope Darius is ready for him this time around.!

NY PJ1

Bathgate66 wrote:

totally psyched.

watch out for Brashear- he's a Capital now . Hope Darius is ready for him this time around.!

ORR baby lol

Bathgate66

NY PJ1 wrote:

ORR baby lol

Orr has actually evolved into a skillfull agile player.

the kids got hands ! and he can skate / make plays !

who woulda thought ? hopefully they have purinton waiting to make an impression and step up into the goon role !

NY PJ1

Bathgate66 wrote:

Orr has actually evolved into a skillfull agile player.

the kids got hands ! and he can skate / make plays !

who woulda thought ? hopefully they have purinton waiting to make an impression and step up into the goon role !

yea def. and we know we need him around to brawl
hopefully he can continue to get better

purinton,,, ive giving up on him

NY PJ1

tickets available for tonight as of 8 45 am ON TICKETMONSTER

had blue seats also


10 hours and counting !!!!!!!!!!!







LET'S GO RANGER'S!!!!!!!!!!!

Bathgate66

yeah baby !

let the ride begin !


::: tempted to looking at ticketbastard site right now :::

NY PJ1

Bathgate66 wrote:

yeah baby !

let the ride begin !


::: tempted to looking at ticketbastard site right now :::

cmon bath u gotta come opening night




LET' GO RANGER'S!!!!!!!!!

Bathgate66

Valliquette has already been reassigned.

and whats happening with the MSG Network tonight ? ? ?

I have been seeing these commercial spots on the MSG Network- & now check out their website :

http://www.msgnetwork.com/


probably just a media blitz- propaganda to get us to watch- as if we wouldnt be watching already . !


I hope they bring up Immonen in the wake of Valli being sent back down to Hartford.

Bathgate66

Cindy Adams- NY Post writes up Rangers ? ? ? :?: :?: :?:

http://www.nypost.com/seven/10052006/gossip/cindy/i_froze_to_hail_goalie_as_king_cindy_cindy_adams.htm



I FROZE TO HAIL GOALIE AS KING
By CINDY ADAMS

HENRIK LUNDQVIST
One of the most beautiful in People.


http://www.nypost.com/seven/10052006/photos/cindy020.jpg

October 5, 2006 -- TONIGHT is the New York Rangers' opening game. They play Washing ton. So how do hotshot hockey play ers mark the day? 10:30 practice, 12:30 lunch, 1:30 nap, call time at the Garden 4:30. And how do I know? Because I sat in on practice yesterday.

The practice rink in Tarrytown is Madison Square Garden's size. The differences are, although I brought a sweater and heaters were overhead, I nearly froze to death. Also, there's no raked stadium seating. I sat at ice level. Exactly where the goalie crouches. Exactly where the puck slams into the protective Plexiglas. It's terrifying. The puck travels at 100 mph but, I was told, "This is only 60 percent of the intensity of real play where teams don't like each other."

Right. Okayyyyy then.

A goalie being the most important player, I was introduced to goalie Henrik Lundqvist. He's 24, 6-foot-1, 195 pounds, although who could tell with his massive leggings, shields, face mask, body protection and huge gloves. After leading Team Sweden to gold at Torino's Olympics last year, he joined the Rangers and broke the rookie record for wins.

Called King Henrik, this hottest new name at the Rangers, whose follow-up contract will net him multi mega multiple millions, who was featured in People's "100 Most Beautiful" May issue, said: "Yeah, I've gotten hurt a few times. And I get sore. I've had problems with my hips and knees. Ask me in 10 years how my knees are holding up. I sometimes have to ice them.

"In Russia, I had my jaw broken at a practice session. The puck hit one side of my mouth. I couldn't open my mouth. It wasn't totally broken but it was a little bit cracked. I thought I'd lost all my teeth." Smiling broadly, what he flashed were whiter and larger than those 18 mm South Sea pearls Ellen Barkin is unloading at Christie's. Clearly he still had them. "They wanted me to go to a hospital, but I wouldn't. I wanted to wait until I got back to Sweden two days later. It was hard for a while. I could eat only soup.

"A goalie must be flexible. Unfortunately, I am not a very flexible person. I've started doing yoga to help. I use my muscles, but if you look at my body you'll see I'm stiff."

I might've lingered on that part of looking at his body, but King Henrik forged onward. "In hockey you have to be focused. No matter what's going on in your life, you must get it out of your mind when you step onto the ice. I play visual situations out, things that could go wrong, in my head before I play so if something does happen it's already a familiar situation to me and I know what to do because I've already pictured it.

"I go through ritual superstitions. Before I go out I hit the wall with my stick. I hit a certain post with my stick. You need that to feel comfortable. It's stressful out there. And I try to eat the same things. I love junk food. Pizza, hamburgers, Mexican, pasta. I'll eat pasta. I love pasta."

The guy talks easily. No accent. Off-season he lives in Gothenburg, Sweden. His twin plays hockey for whatever's in Dallas. Christmas his parents flew here to see him play at the Garden. He sports a beard and moustache "because I don't like to shave when I'm carrying a lot of equipment. It itches. I shave more in off-season." His Swedish girlfriend Therese lives with him. "I hope she thinks I'm one of the 100 most beautiful," he said and again flashed those Ellen Barkin pearls.

So when did New York Ranger No. 30 begin playing? "I started skating at 4. I could barely walk, let alone skate. My father's a ski instructor. We lived in a ski village, and at 8 I started in hockey.

"So what will I ever do someday when I can no longer play? I'm still young, so that's way off. If I play here 10 years, I should have enough money to maybe open a restaurant." Yeah. Or to buy his entire native country.

The season lasts until mid-April. Playoffs are first week in June. Tonight a family room's open following the game with food since they're all starving because they don't eat beforehand. Trust me, these Rangers eat good. I toured their cafeteria. Lunchtime it was pork chops with gravy, pasta, sweet potatoes, thick pea soup. We are not talking tuna tartare and asparagus spears here. But will he do anything special afterward?

"Maybe go out. I love New York restaurants. I love New York. I only don't love that Wollman ice-skating rink in Central Park. Their skates are terrible. Thick and dull. Ours are like steak knives. Cut yourself, and you'll bleed. Except for those Central Park ice skates, New York's got everything."