NYR/ANA 11/23 Review: Rangers Trade Ryan Reaves For Scoring Help; Get Absolutely Embarrassed By the Worst Team in the NHL, Find-A-Way-to-Lose Blueshirts Play Slump-Buster Again (DING!), Too Many Excuses for Another Inexcusable Failure; M$GN’s Broadcast Just as Horrendous, Halak The Horrible, Puny Panarin & More

Greetings and salutations everyone and welcome to another blog here on BlueCollarBlueShirts.com. Happy Thanksgiving – assuming that the Rangers haven’t already ruined your meal.

Whether it’s the lack of sleep, alcohol intake or the six posts that the Rangers hit tonight – my head is still ringing.

However, it would’ve been all worth it had the Rangers done what they were supposed to do – beat the worst team in the league.

Had they, then the Rangers would’ve swept all three teams of the annual Californian road-trip for the first time since the 2014-15 season.

Instead, it’s the same old shit – “coulda, woulda, shoulda.”

I feel like I’ve used those three words a lot lately on this site.

Worse than all of that, and as predicted 24 hours ago?

This loss absolutely kills all of the good vibes from last night’s win over Los Angeles.

This loss was also akin to taking all of the air out of a float from the Thanksgiving Day parade.

You won’t remember the win over the Kings. You’ll remember this loss to the worst team of the league – a signature staple from this Rangers’ 2022-23 season.

No one props up bottom-feeders better than the Rangers.

SAD!

If you’ve been regularly reading these blogs this season, then you know the following to be true – it’s tough to get excited about Ranger wins these days – because once picking up two points in the standings – come their next game – the Rangers always find a new way to lose.

Tonight wasn’t any different.

After making a successful comeback against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night; just 24 hours later – the Rangers reverted right back to their losing ways – and excuses too.

As the two biggest Duck cheerleaders, Sam Rosen & Joe Micheletti (more on these two buffoons in the GAME REVIEW) reminded us all game – the team from Anaheim is no longer mighty.

Here are some “FUN FACTS” for you, valid information prior to tonight’s game:

— The Ducks are the worst team in the league.

— The Ducks haven’t won a game in regulation time all season.

— The Ducks penalty kill is the worst in the league.

— The Ducks have allowed over four goals per game this season.

— The Ducks were on a three-game losing streak.

— Ducks’ goaltender, John Gibson, had a record of 3-11-1, a 4.15 GAA and a .891 save percentage.

What did the Rangers do tonight besides lose? The same old shit:

— Lost to another cellar-dweller.

— Made the “we got GOALIE’D” excuse, as Gibson made 41 saves and finished with a save percentage of .935.

— Hit the iron six different times – where you have to wonder if these pucks have magnets built inside of them.

— Went 0-4 on the power-play.

— Didn’t play a full sixty minutes.

— Were happy with the way they played despite the loss.

And let me clear – there are no moral victories when losing to this bad Ducks team – especially when the Rangers have made a habit of losing to all of the bottom-of-the-barrel teams of the league.

You can stuff all of the stats inside of your Thanksgiving turkey.

I only care about the ones that matter most – wins and losses.

I know that across the mean streets of Rangerstown, USA, that back-up goaltender, Jaroslav Halak, will take the brunt of the blame for tonight’s loss. If that’s your narrative, then be my guest. I won’t stop you.

However, to simply point your finger at an aging veteran/back-up goalie in the swansong of his career is erroneous.

Yes, “The Halakness Monster” hasn’t really lived up to that nickname this season.

Instead, he’s lived up to his other nickname – “The Ranger Killer.”

And yes, this is true too – Halak gave up two questionable goals tonight. However, he’s still not as bad as previous recent back-up goalies who were at the end of their careers with the Rangers, Marty Biron (2013-14) and Ondrej Pavelec (2017-18).

That said – the Rangers had what felt like 789678667896786786876 scoring chances tonight – and again, against the worst team in the league – could only muster up two goals.

For the now 0-5-1 Halak, he’s only received two or more goals in support in two separate games. Otherwise, and in his four other games, the Rangers have scored one goal or less – and against some of the crappier teams of the league to boot (Nashville and Columbus).

To break it down – in Halak’s six games, the Rangers have scored a total of seven goals. That’s not a recipe for success.

I just don’t see how anyone can blame an over-the-hill goalie for these losses – especially with a first power-play unit earning nearly $50,000,000 – where again, they went 0-4 tonight against the worst penalty kill of the league.

For whatever reason, instead of lifting up their own goaltender – the Rangers have allowed struggling goalies, and all throughout the league, to have their best game of the season against them.

For the Rangers, the excuses are old – especially since we’re now past the 25% mark of the season.

The “it’s still early” excuse no longer applies.

The only stats that matter are wins and losses, and time-and-time again, the Rangers always invent new ways to lose to the bottom-feeders of the league.

Worse than that? The Rangers have an uncanny ability, a knack if you will, for allowing negative firsts all season.

This time, they allowed the Ducks to win their first game during regulation time of this 2022-23 campaign.

The Rangers are great at talking the talk, but when it comes to executing – they rarely walk the walk.

Another problem? There are a lot more “worst loss of the season” contenders than “best win of the season” candidates.

And this is no recency bias either – this 3-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks was not only the worst loss of the season, it was also the most embarrassing, most disgusting, most disappointing and most inexcusable loss too.

Before getting into the GAME REVIEW and everything else – the trade of “The Grim Reaver,” Ryan Reaves.

Traditionally, you don’t see trades made right before a holiday, but the Rangers bucked that trend on Wednesday afternoon, when they tweeted out the following at 2PM:

Before breaking this trade down, let’s take a look at what the two teams had to say themselves.

Here’s what the Rangers are saying, courtesy of https://www.nhl.com/rangers/news/rangers-acquire-fifth-round-pick-in-2025-nhl-entry-draft/c-337952118?icmp=int_web_nyr_news_rightrail:

Here’s what the Wild had to say, courtesy of https://www.nhl.com/wild/news/wild-acquires-ryan-reaves-112322/c-337950290:

Just a few more things before giving you my opinions and breakdown of this trade.

Michael Russo, one of the best reporters in the league (he’s basically the Larry Brooks of Minnesota – as there aren’t that many team-specific reporters who are as dialed-in on the team that they cover as Russo), reported the following, once news of the trade broke:

I just talked to Ryan Reaves in the Anaheim airport. Rangers’ g.m., Chris Drury, talked to him about the trade to the Wild yesterday, and “it happened really fast even though I understand they’ve been talking for a little bit.”

Reaves also said:

“Being 35, I’m playing to win and playing to try to get another contract next year. Getting in the lineup only 20 games in a season at 35-years old, it would be hard to catch another contract. A fresh start probably needed to be in the cards.

“No general manager ever traded for me because they needed goals or points. I bring energy, I bring physical play, I bring swagger. I look forward to bringing that in Minny. I’m excited. They had a good run last year, they’re a good team, just fell short.”

The Wild, to their credit, had fun on social media following the trade, as they released this video of the Reaves/Foligno altercation from October 14th:

Moose 🤝 Reavo
teammates #mnwild pic.twitter.com/iMI48zTn99

— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) November 23, 2022

I don’t know if I would say this trade was coming for some time; but as redundantly mentioned on this site all season long – the Rangers had to shed a player from their 23-man roster.

And heck, even after this trade – it wouldn’t hurt to get down to a 21-man roster either.

That “a-word” that I’ve been talking about all season, you know, the word “accrue,” was the genesis of this trade.

After being made a healthy scratch in the Rangers’ last seven of eight games played – Reaves, due to his salary, had become too expensive to hold onto.

Reaves’ salary/cap hit of $1.75M per-season was no longer a luxury that the Rangers could afford.

There’s no need to remind of you last year’s salary cap when compared to this season’s cap number – but suffice to say – the Rangers are very limited with their options.

By trading Reaves (rather than waiving him/sending him to Hartford – where in that scenario – the Rangers would still be on the hook for some of his salary) – the Rangers no longer have to worry about #75’s cap hit anymore.

As opposed to other fringe players, like Vitali Kravtsov and Ryan Carpenter – Reaves was the biggest cap-hit of the lot.

As is always the case – it came down to a numbers game.

Should all things work out according to plan (and we know how that goes); then the Rangers will have accrued a tad over $6,500,000 come the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline (March 3rd).

In other words – the Rangers, who have been linked to Patrick Kane since day one of the off-season – could make a trade for #88 without a third team being needed (thus saving Drury from having to deal off more assets in order to get a third team to pick up a piece of Kane’s salary – or anyone else’s cap hit for that matter.)

Then again – if you can’t beat the Ducks – is it worth dealing assets for a rental?

As Reaves told Russo – he had to move on.

Similar to what I wrote about Cam Talbot during the off-season, when he wanted out of Minnesota after the Wild extended MAF to a two-year deal – Reaves is a pending unrestricted free agent.

At his age, the summer of 2023 may be his last chance of earning another seven-figure salary in this league – as a player. (I think he’d be a natural for television once retired.)

Being scratched in New York is detrimental in that goal.

Reaves, who sees himself as an every-game player in the first place, had to move on, in order to put himself in the best position to earn a new deal this summer.

While Reaves hasn’t publicly said anything yet; during tonight’s game, Joe Micheletti said that #75 wanted to thank the fans and that he enjoyed his brief stint in New York.

Right back at ya.

As everybody knows, the NHL is a business. This trade was just that – business.

As fans, especially if you know your Rangers’ history – Stanley Cups and deep playoff runs are far and in-between.

Since Reaves was part of that “Cinderella” 2021-22 “One Game at a Time” team – I think he’ll always be fondly remembered.

Of course, who will “release” Shesty now?

And oh yeah – it hasn’t been a good last several months for the Ryans’ in Rangers’ blue.

Last season, the Rangers created a new YouTube series, “Off the Boards with the Ryans’.”

Since that time, Ryan Strome moved on and Reaves has been traded. And I don’t see a long future for Ryan Carpenter either.

At least we still have Ryan Lindgren!

When you fully assess this trade, I think fans should have good memories of Reaves. He was needed at the time.

While the Rangers and their roster have undergone a significant shake-up since the 2022 ECF loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning; Reaves was a huge part of that team. This season, he just fell victim to the numbers game, including both the roster and the salary cap.

As far as the fifth-round pick received in return for Reaves? It’s whatever – but a win – as there was no room for #75.

This was mainly a salary-cap influenced trade – where Drury didn’t have to include a sweetener in order to make it happen.

Good luck to Ryan Reaves moving forward, where I must also say the following:

The Rangers traded Reaves in order to become players at the trade deadline.

They couldn’t even beat the Father Finkin’ Ducks.

Ugh, let’s get into this game now.

Here was the Wednesday pregame edition of “TURK TALK”:

Since the Rangers played last night, they didn’t have a morning skate on Wednesday morning.

As far as what Gallant said, the head coach praised Reaves and brought up the business aspect of the NHL.

When it comes to his line-up, Gallant said he was running the same line-up from the last two games played, except for one switch – Halak in net.

And really, I don’t think CZAR IGOR would’ve made much of a difference had he played. Maybe he steals a point – but if you need your starter to carry you against the worst team in the league, then you have bigger problems to address.

In other words – two goals for is the story in my eyes.

Here was tonight’s line-up from “The Pond”:

FIRST LINE: Kreider/Zibanejad/Vesey

SECOND LINE: Panarin/Trocheck/Goodrow

THIRD LINE: Lafreniere/Chytil/Kakko

FOURTH LINE: Blais/Carpenter/Gauthier

FIRST PAIR: Lindgren/Fox

SECOND PAIR: Miller/Trouba

THIRD PAIR: Jones/Schneider

STARTING GOALIE: THE HALAKNESS MONSTER CZAR IGOR

BACK-UP GOALIE: CZAR IGOR

BOX SCORE time.

The following graphics and information come from ESPN.com:

SCORING:

PENALTIES:

TEAM STATS:

GOALIES:

Come 9:30PM, and after waking up from my pregame nap, I turned on the M$GN. Once I saw that the useless Sieve Vagistat was there by himself, I switched to the end of the Devils/Leafs game.

No joke – while I won’t watch these Vagistat exclusive pregame shows anymore, I had many of you guys and gals tell me that Vagistat was worse than usual, where for thirty minutes, all he did was talk about his made-up arts-and-crafts charts & graphs and about his own pathetic career. I also heard that he was suggesting that he was a better goalie than John Gibson too.

One more time – Sieve Vagistat is the worst ANALyst in the NHL and doesn’t belong on Ranger broadcasts. He’s an ex-Islander after all!

And oh, remember what I said last night about this seven-foot braying jackass, when Vagistat said that the win over Los Angeles was “a turning point of the season?” (He’s said this after ten different games now.)

If that’s the case, then what’s this loss? A turning point (and to be specific – two points) down the toilet?

On November 22nd, Arda Ocal, former host of the M$GN Hockey Show, tweeted out the following:

Make that another game without a regulation win for the Anaheim Ducks. 19 straight. Tied for second longest streak to start an NHL season (99-00 Flames).

If the Ducks don’t win in regulation on Wed against the Rangers, they will tie the all time record (20, 17-18 Coyotes)

— ᴀʀᴅᴀ Öᴄᴀʟ (@Arda) November 22, 2022

When the member of Mensa tweeted that (Ocal really is in Mensa – that’s not a joke), I immediately said the following:

“You know that Sam Rosen will have a raging hard-on about this and will mention it no less than 89678679696786 times.”

And that’s what happened tonight.

I’ve brought up Sam & Joe and their undying love of Ranger opponents for the better part of the last eight years on this site.

Tonight, HANDS-DOWN, was the worst that the duo have ever been.

I’ll get more into this during the GAME REVIEW, but if you didn’t know better – you would’ve thought these two mooks were the Ducks’ home broadcasters.

In fact, let’s now get into both the wretched Rangers’ performance and these two bumbling dolts too, as there’s no reason to prolong this pain any further.

GAME REVIEW time.

FIRST PERIOD:

More redundancy? This sentence that I’ve written a lot this season: “it wasn’t all bad…”

To open the broadcast, and following a well-produced Thanksgiving video package; Sam and Joe immediately talked about how the Ducks haven’t won a game in regulation time this season. They’d later repeat this fact 8976879668796976 times during the next three hours, only stopping for air in order to fawn over Trevor Zegras, Troy Terry and John Gibson.

I’m not even kidding – at one point, I thought that the M$GN was going to show these two in the booth, while wearing Mickey Mouse ears and talking about “The Flying V.”

Rosen, a complete sell-out these days, especially whenever he’s praising gambling; told us how great Taco Bell is and how he eats it for Thanksgiving. Sure. Has he no shame?

After Rosen brought up the Ducks’ record for the second time prior to puck drop; Mika lost the first face-off of the game. Once again, Zibanejad was horrid at the dots tonight, only winning four of twelve face-offs (33.3%).

But to be fair – Zibanejad’s disgrace at the dots isn’t why the Rangers lost tonight.

Twenty seconds into the game, John Gibson made his first of forty-one saves, when he denied Kreider. A minute later, Gibson denied a Goodrow wrap-around attempt.

As Sam and Joe were waxing poetically about the Ducks’ rebuild and every defenseman in their system; the “dynamic duo” ignored another frustrating and stupid play from Kakko.

On this occasion, Lafreniere set-up Kakko for a one-timer. Instead of shooting, Kakko tried a touch-pass to Chytil. Turnover.

As Gibson made a few more saves, Sam and Joe continued to talk about the Ducks and their farm system. Seven minutes into the game and the bumbling bozos hadn’t mentioned the Rangers once. However, we did have this lovely conversation:

Joe: “Sam, Ryan Strome’s kids love the weather in California.”

Sam, after cackling like a hyena, and why he thought this was hilarious I do not know, replied: “the weather is great Joe!”

Hard-hitting commentary.

With 14:11 remaining, McTavish, another Duck that Sam and Joe had hearts in their eyes for, tripped Chytil. Instead of talking about the penalty, Sam & Joe talked about McTavish’s summer at the World Juniors.

During the first of four failed Ranger power-plays, Gibson stopped the predictable Mika one-timer, Panarin hit a post and the goalie made a robbery save following Trocheck’s rebound try after a broken play.

As Sam and Joe pulled out their lube and talked about Troy Terry; with 11:09 remaining, this happened:

What an effort from Goody! 🥵 pic.twitter.com/90D7F0B73U

— Rangers on MSG (@RangersMSGN) November 24, 2022

1-0, GOOD GUYS.

This was all Goodrow – you know, the player who has more goals this season than Lafreniere, Kravtsov and Kakko combined.

In the Rangers’ end, Goodrow blocked a Klingberg shot. Goodrow got the puck, raced up ice, and with Klingberg draped all over him – squirted the rubber past Gibson.

At this point in the game, you thought that the Rangers were going to handle business and would cruise to victory.

Ha.

Just 31 seconds later, Halak gave up a juicy rebound to Kulikov and McTavish capitalized.

1-1, as Sam and Joe were happy about McTavish getting on the board.

And with the way the rest of this game played out – the Rangers held a lead against the worst team in the league for all of thirty-one seconds. They’d never regain the lead again.

After M$GN ran a Reaves commercial, and I’m not making this up – we returned to Anaheim – where Sam & Joe started to rave about John Gibson – with slick graphic packages attached to boot.

Are you sick of all of my Sam & Joe talk yet? For as sick of this talk as you may be – I was infinitely sicker listening to these two maroons.

Down to eight minutes remaining, Kulikov blocked a Fox blast – with his face. He immediately went to the locker room for repairs – and would return at the start of the second period – a big return at that.

As Sam and Joe continued to tickle the nut sacks of every player to have ever worn a Ducks’ sweater; Gibson, who had a ski mask under his goalie mask tonight, made his second robbery save of the game, when he stopped Kreider with 6:30 remaining.

Following the save, this is when Sam and Joe put their Duck pom-poms down, and finally talked about the Reaves trade.

It only took them nearly fifteen minutes or so to do – but at least you learned Troy Terry’s blood-type, if he likes long walks on the beach or not, his favorite color and all other sorts of inane information prior to talking about a major Blueshirts’ transaction.

As we hit 5:45 remaining, the moldy and crusty Breadman went wide from two feet away. A minute later, Chytil split the Ducks defense – and we heard our second Rangers’ <DING> of the period.

In all of my years of watching hockey – I can’t remember a team that’s hit more iron than these Rangers. And six times in one game? You can’t even do that if you tried!

With 3:53 to go, Sam and Joe’s favorite team blocked a Trouba Bomb and then Gibson made his 13th save of the game on another.

Down to 3:36 remaining, Gauthier, who pretty much forced Reaves out of town, drew another penalty (he leads all Rangers in penalties drawn), when McTavish held him.

Just 21 seconds later – Kreider hooked Fowler.

In other words, the Rangers’ power-play was now 0-2.

And oh yeah – Sam & Joe missed all of this, as they were debating if Trevor Zegras wore boxers or briefs. (Okay, I made that up, but they were talking about Zegras and completely missed this Kreider penalty.)

With nothing doing on the foreplay, and once returned to full-strength, we remained at 1-all after what was a good Rangers’ period – but again – they remain completely snake-bitten against these bottom of the porto-john teams of the league.

Here’s what I said at the time:

1-1 after 20. 1P Thoughts:
— Needless to say, a better first than last night.
— This may be the worst M$GN broadcast of the season.
— Gibson & his near 5.00 GA has 3 robbery saves and 2 posts.
— Will Panarin kick his leg ever again?
— SOG 15-10, Hits 9-8, FO’s 13-8 #NYR

— BlueCollarBlueShirts (@NYCTheMiC) November 24, 2022

SECOND PERIOD:

To open up the period, Sam and Joe immediately started talking about Zegras again and just ignored the first thirty-eight seconds of action. Unbelievable.

They couldn’t ignore the 39th second of the period, as Kulikov, now returned to the game, beat Halak.

2-1, bad guys.

I haven’t said a cross word about Halak this season – even if there’s a loud majority who wants Halak waived, traded or being asked to retire.

However, you can’t defend this goal – this was horrid.

Even worse – Sam and Joe’s excitement after this soft goal, a shot from the boards to the left of Halak, which then squirted past #41, with all of the force of the rub-and-tug squirts Sam and Joe were giving the Ducks all game.

Bad, bad, bad.

Following the goal, the third line came on and had a decent shift. Gibson stopped Kakko and Chytil while Lafreniere shot wide.

As Sam and Joe told us about their breakfast with Ducks’ head coach, Dallas Eakins; Panarin did one of his patented cross-ice passes to nowhere. Another baked turnover. This then led to a Ducks goal.

Once Panarin turned over the puck (the usual), Sam & Joe’s heart-throbs, the Zegas and Terry pair, raced up ice. Zegras found Terry at the 5:25 mark and that was it.

The puck got a piece of Halak’s right shoulder before going into the net – a puck he probably should’ve stopped – but again – this goal would’ve never happened had Panarin not turned over the puck in the first place.

3-1, bad guys – and the game winning goal for the player that left the pants of Sam and Joe in an all-out white mess.

Down to 11:15 remaining – Benoit came about an inch away from scoring. To Halak’s credit – he made a bunch of big saves after giving up his third-and-final goal of the game – but the damage was already done. However, and one more time – the Rangers made an icon out of Gibson tonight. That’s on them – not some near forty-year old back-up.

As Sam and Joe were reciting every member of the Ducks’ roster, as if they were reading a phone book; Beavis and Michelettihead missed Kakko taking an interference penalty on Zegras with 10:20 left on the clock.

During this Rangers’ penalty kill – Kreider, while shooting a backhander – hit the post.

Once Kakko came out of the box, Trouba found him wide open for a “jack-in-the-box” breakaway – and you know the rest. (Kakko makes too many moves, refuses to lift the puck and looks like a confused jackass with his 0-fer breakaway goal stats.)

To fast-forward ahead here, as it’s now 2:30AM as I write this and I’m running on fumes – with 5:24 to go, Colton White interfered with Blais.

The Rangers didn’t get a SOG during these two minutes. In fact, the best save during these 120 seconds is when Halak stoned Vatrano on a breakaway.

Like many – I was sure that an ex-Ranger would score tonight – but Vatrano, Strome and Shattenkirk were all held off of the board. And when that’s your silver lining – that tells you all that you need to know.

Now under two minutes to go and with Gallant shuffling up the lines (and if you can believe it – Panarin looked even worse when bumped to the Mika/Kreider line) – it was Braden Schneider who brought back the Rangers within one:

Schneids does it again! pic.twitter.com/14A845iOU9

— Rangers on MSG (@RangersMSGN) November 24, 2022

3-2, bad guys – and the last Ranger highlight of the game. And that was the score after two periods of play too.

Here’s what I said at the time:

3-2, bad guys, after 40. 2P Thoughts:
— #NYR continue their negative reverse curse ways. Sam & Joe have been horrendous too.
— SOG 26-20, Hits 14-13, FO’s 18-17, all NYR, but PP is 0-3
— Second time Halak has received 2+ goals in suport this season.
— Someone fix Panarin.

— BlueCollarBlueShirts (@NYCTheMiC) November 24, 2022

THIRD PERIOD:

My eye-lids are getting heavier than Sam and Joe’s hard-ons for the Ducks.

Let’s just breeze through this final frame, bullet-point style:

— The Rangers out-shot the Ducks 17-2. That’s not a typo. They couldn’t score one freakin’ goal.

— The Rangers failed on their fourth-and-final power-play, where the first unit needed a minute and forty seconds to finally set-up. The Rangers didn’t register a SOG during this, but Mika did hit the post.

— The newly put together Vesey/Trocheck/Goodrow line was the best trio of this period. They were really humming out there. They were the most noticeable Ranger forecheckers – and played a strong defensive game too.

— Again – Gibson made 17 saves – you know, a goalie who currently has beer-league stats.

— Schneider kept shooting – a good thing. This would’ve received more play had the Rangers won, rather than being utter disgraces.

— Down by one, and with 6:30 to go, Chytil made sure to take a boneheaded tripping penalty.

— Once killing the penalty, Panarin came on the ice and hit another post.

— Once pulling Halak, Panarin made back-to-back turnovers. Maybe he bet the over of -5.5, but Terry wouldn’t make a winner out of #10, as he hit iron himself with 47 seconds remaining.

Yep – another period that the ANALytical morons will rave about – but it means shit – just like all of these charts, heat-maps, hieroglyphics, “game scores,” and whatever other junk these people come up with.

And even for as big of a fan of Gallant that I am – his “we worked hard, we played hard, sniffle-sniffle-sniffle” stuff is getting played out too.

WINS AND LOSSES. WINS AND LOSSES. WINS AND LOSSES.

The Rangers lost their worst game of the season.

Actions speak louder than words (and charts) – the Rangers let down both themselves and their fans.

INEXCUSABLE.

Before closing out, the following:

— Happy Thanksgiving.

— Let’s Go Giants!

— I should have my “Quarter-Pole Progress Report Card” blog posted on this site by Friday.

The Rangers, who didn’t fly home late Wednesday night (they are flying out on Thursday morning instead – the NHL schedule makers don’t care about their families), return to action on Saturday afternoon, with a matinee tilt against the Oilers.

The Oilers have been in town since Monday, when they lost a 5-2 game to the Devils. They were shutout, 3-0, by the Islanders on Wednesday.

In other words, expect a 8-1 Edmonton win on Saturday – that’s the Rangers’ way.

And of course – after tonight’s choke and the expected loss to Edmonton – I also expect the Rangers to then beat the best team in the division on Monday night, when they host the red-hot and pissed-off NJ Devils.

Sorry for sounding so down tonight, but I can only work with the material that I’m given.

Enjoy T-Day.

As Sam and Joe did with the Ducks all game – GOBBLE GOBBLE!

PLUGS TIME!

My first plug of tonight’s blog – the mandatory plug for my book, “The New York Rangers Rink of Honor and the Rafters of Madison Square Garden.”

As mentioned previously, the book is now available in hardcover, in paperback and in Kindle formats. To purchase a copy of the book, visit this link:

https://www.amazon.com/Rangers-Rafters-Madison-Square-Garden-ebook/dp/B09CM5N2WD

For those still looking for signed paperback versions of the book, I have re-ordered more copies. I now have a few signed copies for sale at $25 a pop (includes shipping price) through me directly. Here is all the information on that:

Order “The New York Rangers Rink of Honor and the Rafters of Madison Square Garden” Book Today

My four-volume set of books, “One Game at a Time – A Season to Remember,” is a game-by-game recount of the Rangers 2021-22 campaign.

My second title as an author, “One Game at a Time – A Season to Remember,” is now available in eBook, paperback and hardcover formats.

To obtain signed copies, visit: https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/onegamebook/

To purchase all four volumes on Amazon, visit: Amazon.com – “One Game at a Time.”

“Tricks of the Trade – A Century-Long Journey Through Every Trade Made In New York Rangers’ History,” a four-volume set of books that meticulously covers every trade made in franchise history, is now on sale.

All four volumes of the title can be purchased on Amazon.com and are presented in three different formats – eBook, paperback and hardcover.

To purchase Volume I: Conn Smythe (1926) – Craig Patrick (1986), visit Amazon.com

To purchase Volume II: Phil Esposito (1986) – Neil Smith (2000), visit Amazon.com

To purchase Volume III: Glen Sather (2000-2015), visit Amazon.com

To purchase Volume IV: Jeff Gorton (2015) – Chris Drury (2022), visit Amazon.com

To purchase signed copies of all four volumes, visit https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/tricksofthetrade/

Here are my last few blogs, in case you missed them:

NYR/LAK 11/22 Review: Roller-Coaster Rangers Escape LA; Blueshirts Finally Receive Breaks, Kreider Lifts Kakko; CZAR IGOR Carries Team, Lindgren = Unsung Hero, Gallant’s Moves Pay Off, Feckless First But a Fantastic Finish, Fox Keeps Streak Alive & More

NYR/SJS 11/19 (NSFW) Review: Rangers Eke Out Victory Over Struggling Sharks (But At Least They Won); Gauthier & CZAR IGOR Prevent Full-Blown Panic; The Odd Math of 12 >74+75, Panarin = Not a NRA Member; Horseshoes & Hand Grenades Kaapo Kakko, M$G Hearts EK65, Gallant, What’s Next & More

NYR/SEA 11/17 Review: KRACKED! Rangers Can’t Find Fix in a Krakhouse; Find a New Way To Lose Instead, Moldy Bread, Pissed Points = Pissed-Off Igor, Jekyll & Hyde Resigned Rangers, S.O.S., No Surprises, Turk; Eye-Popping Quotes, M$GN & More

If you haven’t already, subscribe to this blog for the next update:

Don’t forget to order my new four-volume set of books, “Tricks of the Trade!”

If you don’t order through me, all four volumes are now available on Amazon.com

For more details, check out: https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/tricksofthetrade/

Thanks for reading.

LET’S GO RANGERS!

Sean McCaffrey

BULLSMC@aol.com

@NYCTHEMIC on the Tweeter machine