New York Rangers Have a Long Way to Go but Reasons to be Hopeful

After I got home from Madison Square Garden last night, I realized I forgot to post a "View from the Seats" on the blog. But you aren't missing much (that doesn't mean I wasn't appreciative for the tickets, though, so thanks to Ben W and Glenn). The Rangers lost 3-1 last night to the Pittsburgh Penguins and playing one of the top teams in the NHL showed the Rangers weakness: they don't have enough difference makers. That doesn't mean they don't have a good core--Brandon Dubinsky, Ryan Callahan, Henrik Lundqvist and Marc Staal make up a pretty great young core--but they don't have players who you rely on to finish. 

Sean Avery's Rangers couldn't get the puck into the net last night (WaPo)

Brandon Dubinsky leads the team with 12 goals, Brian Boyle has somehow notched 10 (considering he generally seems to have bad hands), and Marian Gaborik has 5 despite only playing in 13 games, but with the game on the line, there's few guys you want to stop from getting the puck. I admit that I haven't watched as much Rangers hockey as I usually do, but watching the Rangers gameplan for Sidney Crosby (who should have been ejected for a slew-foot and I think has cemented his place as the most hated opposing player in the NHL) and Evgeni Malkin made me realize the Rangers need to find a way to develop more scorers. Maybe a guy like Derek Stepan (6 goals) or Artem Anisimov (7 goals) develops into that sniper, but right now, who from the Rangers really scares the opposition besides Dubi and Gaborik?

The real problem is that the Rangers have been killed in free agency and did the right thing this year going with lesser cost moves to try to fill holes. Unfortunately, guys like Ruslan Fedotenko, Alexander Frolov (who The Blueshirts Blog points out got 1:37 of icetime in the 3rd period last night) and Todd White haven't produced for the Rangers. Ditto Sean Avery, who is stuck at 1 goal on the season. If you're going to have a team that has problems finishing, you need to be dynamtie on defense and the Rangers last night showed they have way too many lapses there. Michael Del Zotto (who has developed into quite a good player despite his propensity to miss the net) made a great defensive play coming back but besides D-Z, no one really looked overly fast or overly skilled which is not good when you're not putting the puck in the back of the net.

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Wo Canada! The Day After Canadian Front Pages After USA Hockey's Shock On Ice

After last night's "Shock On Ice", I was curious to see this morning's Canadian newspapers. Thanks to Newseum, here are a few of the better Canadian front pages:

Calgary Sun: "Uh-oh: Hockey nightmare in Canada"

The Province - "Lost Weekend: Canada suffers disappointment on the ice and on the slopes"

Edmonton Journal - "Oh-oh Canada..." and "The Team couldn't deliver: U.S. wins historic game on a weekend when it seemed we've blown the podium"

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Shock On Ice: USA Hockey Defeats Canada 5-3

It wasn't exactly "The Miracle on Ice" which captivated the imagination of the United States public 30 years ago tomorrow. But it was a huge shock to anyone who watched the tremendously entertaining hockey match tonight between the United States and Canada that the United States came away with a 5-3 victory.

The Canadian team is loaded with stars from Sidney Crosby as the star forward to Martin Brodeur as the goalie. The United States was said to be "too young", "too small" and had "not enough offense". And all day NBC and MSNBC showed non-stop highlights of the "Miracle on Ice" team from Lake Placid in 1980. Al Michaels even did the narration. The United States team was wearing jerseys paying homage to its 1960 Championship team--and haven't beaten Canada since. It was a picture-perfect set-up for another huge upset for a United States team that didn't even medal in Turin four years ago.

"The Miracle" it was not, but the riveting hockey match was a huge shock to anyone who watched it. The United States was outshot 45-22 but found a way to win. The Canadians came on hard late in the game, making it 4-3, but a great effort by Ryan Kesler to beat the defense and score an empty-net goal sealed the deal. Ryan Miller turned away 42 shots and the New York Rangers Captain Chris Drury scored the go-ahead goal to help beat the New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur.

Beating Marty Brodeur (and beating him badly as he let in 4 goals on 22 shots) is extra sweet for me being a Rangers fan. "Marty!" as he is known around Madison Square Garden is one of my least favorite athletes on a rival teams joining the ranks of Michael Jordan, Reggie Miller, David Ortiz, Pedro Martinez, Terrell Owens, and others. Seeing Brodeur in his rival Devil colors while the USA team skated with jerseys that could be confused with the Rangers road unis helped to dial up the passion.

The biggest problem with this game is that many couldn't find it and others couldn't see it at all. NBC decided to bury this game on MSNBC instead of allowing it to be shown on the network, a curious decision especially considering there was nothing that exciting that NBC was showing. And the ratings for the hockey game had to have dominated anything shown on the Mother Peacock network. NBC has made a lot of curious moves this Olympics, but as far as bad ratings-generating decision go, this has to rank towards the top. And many cable carriers don't even have MSNBC in HD, making the viewing experience difficult for many.

For those who did watch it, tonight's hockey game was one for the ages. Team USA is now 3-0 in the Olympics and has a bye in the quarterfinal round. The United States beat Canada for the first time in seven tries and now will set themselves up for a run at medals many thought was out of the reach of this team. Many also criticized the United States selection of Chris Drury to the team, but his game-winning goal proved that his clutch play and leadership are an asset of this team. Many of this will not matter if the United States doesn't find a way to play in the gold medal game--but judging by how they looked tonight, this United States team is looking just as good as the 1960 and 1980 teams before it.

Picture from Masslive