Rangers keep Rollin

The trade deadline passed, without any major deals for the Rangers. They went out on Monday night and shutdown a very tough Devil team, behind Henrik Lundqvist’s 7^th shutout and 30^th win of the season.  Tonight they went out and beat a surging Carolina Hurricane team, without Captain Ryan Callahan with Brandon Dubinsky benched after taking a bad penalty early in the game, and with Michael Del Zotto leaving the game early after reinjuring his hip. A game like tonight when Marty Biron, who has struggled lately, played a solid game this team showed once again, why they didn’t need to make a big trade. Why Glen Sather didn’t dismantle the roster, and showed why the fans of this team have a reason to believe. They stay the course, just like the coach has taught them, just like the GM showed by not making any trades.

This has become the true identity of this team, they are tough they are gritty and they are blue collar, just like many New Yorkers. Just when you think there could be a letdown, this team steps up, whether its Brandon Prust, or Brian Boyle or new comer John Scott who was picked up at the deadline, someone steps up and helps this team win. As it has been the case all season, this was another team win, a win where not just one player stepped up, but there were contributions up and down the line up. The GAS line of Anisimov, Gaborik and Stepan played big and they needed to, Marc Staal stepped up and played what could have been his best game of the season. Now could that be because he was playing against his brother Eric, for the first time since he gave Marc a concussion, or if it is because he starting to return to form is still to be determined, but he has been playing better as of late. The fact that Staal has been playing better is going to be a big key during this final stretch of the regular season and into the playoffs, especially if players continue to get dinged up. The continued growth of Ryan McDonagh has also started to become evident with each passing game, as he continues to play very well against the opposing team’s top players, another reason why Sather didn’t make the Nash deal because Columbus was asking for the young stud defenseman.

This team is showing that they belong in the top spot in the East and it doesn’t look like they are ready to give it up anytime soon. Tomorrow they play the Tampa Bay before a big home game on Sunday against the Boston Bruins, who are still chasing the Rangers in the East. The Rangers have a tough month ahead but this will be the final hurdle of the regular season, before the playoffs, so it will be a very good test before the playoffs and the drive for the Stanly Cup.  If you don’t think this team has a great chance to take home Lord Stanley’s Cup for the first time since 1994, watch this team play and I’m sure you will become a believer, I’m sure you will see what all the true blue Rangers fans see and love about their New York Rangers.

By Joe Clewell

New York Rangers: The Week Ahead

The New York Rangers (15-5-3) continue their red-hot play on the ice, rallying to win their fifth straight game in a 4-2 decision over the Tampa Bay Lightning (11-12-2) on Saturday night. Helping the Blueshirts in their second half comeback was Derek Stepan, who recorded the game-winning goal.

Stephan finished the game with two points, and a plus-one rating on the ice, coming back quickly from a swollen ankle from blocking a shot earlier on the year.  The Blueshirts will return back home to Madison Square Garden for two games, before making a trip to Buffalo before hosting Florida on Sunday.

The Rangers are now 12-2-0 in its last 14 games, and will have a busy week ahead starting with a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday. The Blueshirts will then take on the Tampa Bay Lighting on Thursday.

Stacy Podelski

http://www.smacksportvideos.com/

The 5 Best Movember Mustaches of the NHL

In honor of the end of “Movember” in the NHL its time to look around the league and find the 5 best mustaches in the league.  After searching through pictures and polls I have narrowed it down to what I feel are the five best staches in the NHL.  All five players had to be current active players in the league, and coaches were not considered(if they had we could very well have coaches holding 3 or 4 of the top five spots).  So without further ado here is the Top 5 mustaches from the 2011 edition of Movember.  Enjoy.

#5.Tim Thomas-Boston Bruins G

Thomas does not have the Best stache in the league however his efforts to grow one land him in the top five.  The Bruins goaltender not only got into the Movember mood with growing what one person called a “ ol gym teacher” stache, he also had a new mask made up.  If you haven’t taken the time to check it out I highly recommend you do so.

#4. Nate Thompson-Tampa Bay Lightning F

The handlebar mustache is a look that many players have tried to pull off this Movember.  Few players, however have managed to pull it off like Thompson. 

#3 Mike Brown- Toronto Maple Leafs F

While Brown is one of the few players in the league who maintain a stache year round, his was too good to be left out of the Movember Top 5. 

#2. George Parros- Anaheim Ducks F

Parros is easily the man with the best mustache year round in the league.  While he shaved his famous stache before Movember started he still had one of the best ones of the month.

And finally the mustache you’ve all been waiting for.  Coming in at number one is Cal Clutterbuck of the 

Minnesota Wild

#1.Cal Clutterbuck-Minnesota Wild F

Clutterbuck tops the Movember charts for the second year in a row with his unbelievable stache.  While Clutterbuck got a jump start on Movember this season his thick epic stache is to for lack of better words epic to be left out for that tiny fact. 

Honorable Mention

Lanny McDonald

Ok so I said current players and that’s why Lanny didn’t make the top 5, but lets be honest.  Can you really talk hockey mustaches without having Lanny McDonald’s name somewhere?  If you don’t know Lanny’s stache you are missing out on the greatest mustache of all time.  

- Isaac Berky

Bad Boys And Bruisers - The NHL's Toughest Characters

Everyone’s attention at the start of this season has been on the stars of the NHL. The point scorers leading the charts and the netminders who have been on fire have been on the lips of most fans on both sides of the Atlantic.

I thought I’d take a few minutes to look at the bad boys and bruisers so far and look at who is leading the way in fights and penalty minutes. The so called “role” players that have been sparking wars and lighting fires across the ice.

Tied at the top of the PIM’s list are Ottawa’s Zenon Konopka and Philadelphia’s Zac Rinaldo with a whopping 73 minutes.

Konopka has taken a whopping 572 minutes in his past 2 seasons split with the Islanders and Lightning and looks set to come close to the 307 minutes he posted last season. In his last 6 games alone he has dropped the gloves 4 times, taken a major for boarding against the Rangers, picked up a 10 minute fight instigator misconduct and had a 2 fight game in the 7-2 loss against the Flyers.

One of those fights was against Rinaldo who is tying him on 73 points at the top of the bad boy leader board.  He has managed 5 fights so far this season but has been picking up numerous 2 minute minor penalties as well as 3 10 minute misconducts that have seen him shoot to the top of the list.  Infact, out of his 14 games played he has failed to take a penalty in only 3 of them.

3^rd on the list sees our 2^nd player from the Ottawa Senators, Chris Neil who is slightly lagging behind his team mate Konopka with only 52 points. In all fairness, Neil took 19 of those in one incident in a game against the Maple Leafs Luke Schenn when he got 2 for roughing, 2 for instigating, 5 for fighting and a 10 minute misconduct. Since then he has only dropped the gloves one other time and taken another 10 minute misconduct but a 3 minors against the Bruins and 2 against The Capitals have helped bump up his number. With 2 out of the top 3 so penalised players so far it is no wonder Ottawa are the team to have been shorthanded 2^nd most so far this season, with only Winnipeg being shorthanded more times.

Steve Downie of the Tampa Bay Lightning sits 4^th on the list with 49 points, however 29 of these were taken in back to back games against close rivals Florida.

This brings us to 5^th place and Brandon Dubinsky of the New York Rangers. Maybe it was early season frustration whilst trying to get that 1^st goal that led to Dubinsky taking 37 of the minutes in his opening 4 games but since then he has only picked up 5 minors over 12 games so don’t expect him to be here come the end of the season.

There you have it, a look at the 5 most penalised players so far this season!

- Adam Yates

Isles winning streak snapped by turnovers in 4-1 loss to Bolts

The New York Islanders (3-2-0) had a three game winning streak snapped by the Tampa Bay Lightning (2-3-2) in hockey action on Thursday. The combination of four days off along with costly turnovers in their own zone cost the Isles a shot at their first victory on the road.

New York had plenty of momentum to open the first period of play, but all of the shots the Isles took were just wide of the cage.  Meanwhile the Lighting got all sorts of shots on the cage of Al Montoya-ringing the pipes on several occasions.

Montoya did everything he could on his part to keep the Lighting off the board, making 26 saves in the cage. It was just the turnovers on the defensive end that cost his team the victory.

Tampa Bay cashed in on their first goal of the game, on a power play opportunity when Ryan Malone struck for a 20 foot wrister at the 16:32 mark.  The Isles just did not have the legs to keep up with the speedy Bolts, who had the ice tilted in their favor for most of the night.

The Lightning cashed in on their first goal via the turnover when Vincent Lecavlier (3) found the back of the net on a 26 foot wrister at the 15:14 mark. Tampa Bay scored twice in the third, thanks to Steve Stamkos and Brett Clark, both off the lack of hustle by the Islanders.

New York found their only goal of the game, at the 7:55 mark, when Michael Grabner (2) scored on an odd-man short-side shot. 'Grabs' used his blinding speed and a wicked wrister, to find the back of the net.

One stat that stands out in the eyes of most fans is the fact that the Isles only had 17 shots in the night. Looking at the bright side of the night, the Isles defense and penalty kill continue to shine, as the team recorded 23 total blocked shots in the game.

New York looks to end the Florida road trip on a high note, as the team will take on the Panthers on Saturday. Face-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. with the game slated to air on the MSG Plus network.

Isles Milestone Moment: The New York Islanders had a milestone moment when forward Brian Rolston played in his 1,191^st game, which ties him for 92^nd place all-time with Gilbert Perrault and Marc Bergevin.

Stacy Podelski

http://www.smacksportvideos.com/

Tavares tallies four points to lead Islanders to 5-1 victory over Lightning

Forward John Tavares recorded four points (two goals, two assists) to lead the New York Islanders (2-1-0) to a 5-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning (1-2-1) in hockey action on Thursday night. Tavares took some big hits in the game, including one that made him miss out on his First Star honor of the night.

There has been no word yet on if the forward has to miss out on action with the team with the injury. Tavares opened up the scoring at the 0:36 mark, on an unassisted writer. The alternate captain set up the second goal of the night at the 9:28 mark, helping on Matt Moulson’s first goal of the season.

Tavares tallied his second goal of the game and season at the 15:15 mark, on a writer, which was set up by Moulson and P.A. Parenteau for the 3-1 Islanders lead. Parenteau recorded his first goal of the season about three minutes later, which wrapped up the scoring in the first period of play.

New York found the back of the net one final time, as Michael Grabner wristed home his first goal at the 6:47 mark. Isles keeper Al Montoya continued his stellar starts in the cage, making 34 stops in the game. The lone goal given up by the keeper was at the 7:10 mark in the first period, when Lightning star Steve Stamkos recorded his first goal of the season.

Montoya and the rest of the Isles defense kept Tampa Bay’s potent offense blanked for the rest of the game, to pick up their second victory of the season. Blue liner Mark Eaton had a great game on defense for the Islanders, finishing with a plus 3 night along with two blocked shots.

The Isles will now square-off against their Atlantic Division rivals the New York Rangers on Saturday for the first round of what should be a spirited rivalry. The puck is slated to drop at 7:00 p.m. with the game scheduled to air on MSG Plus.

Stacy Podelski

http://www.smacksportvideos.com/

The Highlights from these Season Openers Show Promise

Tyler Seguin’s pass to Brad Marchand for the opening goal of the season for last year’s Stanley Cup Champions was a stunning play. The length of the ice pass that put Marchand in the clear was a stunning play for a player that just keeps getting better. We expect big things from him this season.

There was a HUGE performance on defence from Philly on their opening night. Not only did Bryzgalov stand tall in between the pipes but when he was beat his defence were there. A fantastic goal saving clearance from Timonen was a highlight of the game. The Flyers must have been wondering where that kind of performance on D was in last year’s playoff series. The Flyers took their opener with a 2-1 win.

In Toronto James Reimer posted a shutout against the Canadiens, turning away all 32 shots as the Maple Leafs took it 2-0.

Marc Andre Fluery went from ridiculous to sublime. He let a Lappiere shot bounce in off his leg from a stupid angle then made an amazing glove save on Daniel Sedin and a post to post sliding save on Burrows.  He then snuffed out Vancouver in the first shoot out of the series and Pittsburgh took the game 4-3 after penalty shots. Both Fluery and Luongo looked shaky at times – early season legs that need to be shaken off sooner rather than later.

Tomas Vanek picked up 2 as the Sabres won 4-1 against the Ducks in Helsinki. Around free agency time when the Sabres picked up Leino, Ehrhoff and Kaleta I decided to put a little wager on the Sabres for the cup this year. After this performance I feel a little more excited rather than it being a stab in the dark!

The new boys got on the score sheet in the Rangers v Kings game with Brad Richards and Mike Richards picking up points. It was extremely good to see Anze Kopitar back and scoring too. The end result was a 3-2 OT win for LA in Stockholm.

A 3^rd period blitz by the Redwings saw them take their game v Ottawa by the scruff of the neck. The eventual score was 5-3 to Detroit. After taking a 5-1 lead they allowed Ottawa back into the game but the result was never in doubt. Neither team impressed but Detroit upped their game when needed.

Five different scorers tallied for the Lightning as they came from 1 down to beat the Hurricanes 5-1. The Lighting were  one of the impressive teams of last season’s playoffs for me and they continued to impress in the opening game of the season.

Nashville started their season with a 3-2 win over the Bluejackets. It was a tight game that saw Rinne make 32 saves on 34 shots to earn him the 1^st star. This was the best performance so far for a goalie who is a potential Vezina Trophy winner??

Kari Lehtonen plays a blinder!! He faced over 20 shots in the middle period alone and carried  Dallas manage to a 2-1 victory over the Blackhawks. His shut out was only broken with 14 seconds remaining in the game.

By Adam Yates

TOP 3 MODERN DAY RIVALRIES LOOKING TO GET HEATED THIS SEASON

 1) CHICAGO VS VANCOUVER

The Vancouver-Chicago rivalry is probably the most entertaining rivalry hockey has seen post-lockout. Forget about Capitals-Penguins. This isn’t just about two players, its about hatred given and received by both teams. Both teams are stacked with Superstars (Toews, Hossa, Kane for Chicago, and Daniel, Henrik and Luongo for Vancouver.) But the best part is that they’ve been meeting in the playoffs for seven game series every year. Both teams are basically stacked at every position, which makes it even more fun to watch. They’ve each been to the finals the past two years, so it’s going to be interesting to see how close series is, especially after Chicago focused on experience this summer instead of speed and skill

2) SAN JOSE VS DETROIT

Even though the Sharks have gotten so close, they have yet to get to the finals in team history. And it seems as though any trip in the playoffs means a meeting with the Wings.  This year looks to be no different, with one key addition to the Sharks blueline, and a key departure to that of the Wings. San Jose got Brent Burns this past summer, and also forward Martin Havlat. Detroit lost Brian Rafolski to retirement, which has not helped them, but they are looking at Ian White to take on a defensive responsibility, and help out the team as much as possible. This year, both teams should be stronger then last year, meaning I expect the Western Conference champs to be, or meet one of these two teams in the conference finals. It is a great rivalry that the players really get into, and especially after last years Sharks got so close to the finals, they will be thirsty to drink from the cup.

3) PANTHERS VS LIGHTNING

The past few years have been very good for the Florida rivalry, with Stamkos vs Vokoun. But this year will be much more entertaining, with Florida filling up their roster with players like Brian Campbell, Tomas Kopecky, and Tomas Fleishmann. The Lightning are still going to be in the playoff hunt, with Stamkos, St. Louis and Lecavalier staying put. This rivalry has always had tons of goals, with both teams being based around the forwards, and goaltending being mediocre. The series should be much closer then it has in the past, with Florida evening out their roster over the summer.

Article by Noah Goren.

LOOKING FOR THE BRUINS TO BOUNCE BACK !! TIM THOMAS IS KEY !!

The Lightning have been firing on all cylinders during the current playoff round versus the Bruins.  Tampa Bay has a high flying group of sharpshooters which have proven to be somewhat of a problem for  Tim Thomas and the Bruins' blue liners.  Young forwards like Purcell and Bergenheim are consistently good and  Stamkos and Lecavelier are always a problem for opponents.   The Bruins have to come out tonight and keep the Bolts back peddling.  The B's are stronger and they have an in your face game that should put Tampa on their heels.  Once the Bruins lose control of the middle of the middle of the ice, it's game over.  

The obvious question here is how far can Tampa go on the back of a 41 year old goaltender.  Roloson  looks a little tired and more heroics could be hard to come by.  Tim Thomas is ten times the goalie that Roloson is on any night.  Thomas led the Bruins past the Habs and he was a big reason that the Flyers were sent packing with ease.  Bergeron, Chara, and Seguin will also have to play a decisive role if Boston is to take a lead tonight. This team is better rounded than Tampa and they will have to take it up a notch.  Our writers have been on top of Boston all year so we have high expectations.   

http://getrealhockey.blogspot.com/2010/10/cup-aspiring-bruins-ink-bergeron-to.html

http://getrealhockey.blogspot.com/2010/12/old-man-recchi-still-very-much-wrecking.html

Boston is a beast when they are locked and loaded.  The question is, which Boston team will show up tonight ???

BOLTS AND Bs - GOING TO BE A ROCKING SERIES !!!!

Even though I am a dejected Flyers fan, I figured it was time to make some picks for next round. Losing in the second round of the playoffs is like losing to 3^rd graders in four square when you’re a month away from graduating the 4^th grade, it sucks, big time. Playoff hockey has this indescribable fixation on TRUE hockey fans, that’s hard to describe. I get so wrapped up in it that I forgot to do simple things like laundry, dishes and sleep. All my brain thinks is beer, hockey, beer, hockey, over and over again.

With that being said, I just don’t see the Bruins advancing past Tampa. I’m not sure what happened to the Flyers in round 2, it might have been fatigue, or just a continuation of goalie issues, but Tampa will not falter. Let me explain. The bolts dismantled Washington in four straight games. Their power play is operating at just under 27%, an unthinkable number. But if you actually think about it, with a PP unit like Stamkos, St. Louis, Lecavalier, Gagne and Marc-Andre Bergeron what can you expect? Comparing the Bolts and Bruins power play is like comparing cats and dogs.

After a dominating Game 1 victory, Tampa looks to take a commanding 2-0 series lead Tuesday night in Boston. To me the most surprising part of Tampa’s victory in Game 1 was the productivity of the second and third lines. At least one of the Bolts big three; Stamkos, Lecavalier, and St. Louis generally find the score sheet when the team puts up 5 or so goals. This was not the case Saturday night as Tampa’s goals came from Bergenheim , Clark, Purcell, Bergeron and Gagne. If the Big 3 finding the twine and the second and third lines see success like they did in Game 1, the Bruins will soon be golfing right next to the Flyers.

I predict Boston to come out hard in Game 2 in front of a home crowd who will be anxious, to the say the least. If the Bruins can grab a win before heading to Tampa for two games, I think they can extend the series to 6 or 7 games, but if Tampa steals the show again on Tuesday night I’m taking the Bolts in 5 games. Either way, expect to see a tighter game Tuesday night, with lots of defense and physical play in all three zones as these teams look for the chance to play for Lord Stanley’s Cup. Bolts in 5.