NYR/TBL 12/29 Review: Powerless Play Dooms Blueshirts Again; Lose a Goaltending Clinic Via Shootout, Igor vs Vasilevskiy More Than Delivers, Panarin Comes Out as Anti NRA; Won’t Shoot, Lafreniere Scratch Floods the Streets of Rangerstown, USA, Pissed Away Points Adding Up, One Goal in 125 Minutes & More

Greetings and salutations everyone and welcome to another blog here on BlueCollarBlueShirts.com. Suffice to say, scoring just one goal in your last 125 minutes played isn’t going to cut it – no matter what CZAR IGOR does in net.

On Thursday night in Tampa, and following a busy past 48-hours in Rangerstown, USA; the Blueshirts held their own with the reigning-and-defending three-time Eastern Conference champions.

And go figure, after playing the then two-time reigning-and-defending Stanley Cup champions last May – in the two games since that 2022 Eastern Conference Final six-game series loss, the Rangers have only surrendered one goal per game.

After knocking off the Bolts at M$G during their home opener (10/11) by a final score of 3-1; ten weeks later, the Rangers held Cooper’s Crew to only one goal allowed in sixty-five minutes of action.

A top of the sixth shootout goal scored by Alex Killorn was the difference at the end of the night; where prior to this eventual skills competition game winner – the Rangers had plenty of chances to bury the Bolts.

As I sit here and try to quickly recap this game for you guys and gals tonight (that damn 5AM train that I have to catch for work is nearing ever closer – especially following a game that needed bonus theatrics to end it); my emotions/takeaways are pretty much a mixed-bag.

The positives? The following:

— Again, the Rangers held one of the best offenses in the league to one goal.

— CZAR IGOR, as usual, was fantastic. Unfortunately, the only other player on the ice tonight better than him was his counterpart, the best goalie of his generation, Andrei Vasilevskiy.

— There was never a time where you questioned the Rangers’ effort, nor their desire to win either – two things you couldn’t have said following the team’s loss to Washington.

— To their credit, the Rangers sent 46 shots on goal, but again – “The Big Cat,” #88, Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Once the game concluded, my first reaction was that if the Rangers had handled business earlier this year, rather than pissing away over a dozen points to bottom-of-the-barrel teams (Chicago, San Jose, Nashville, Anaheim, Columbus, etc), in addition to blowing multi-goal leads left-and-right this season (Islanders, Devils, Oilers, etc) – then it would be easier to accept what this game truly was – a shootout road loss to the most dominant franchise of the last five years – and again – a skills competition loss to the best goalie of the past five years too.

However, the fact remains – the Rangers have allowed numerous bad teams of the league to pillage them – especially on home ice.

While you have to tip your cap to Tampa tonight, and in a case of “two opposing points can be true” too; due to all of their multiple failures this season – all of the pissed points are coming back to haunt them.

Take a look:

One last time – had the Rangers not blown over ten games this season – then you’d go to bed tonight somewhat happy, or at the very least, in a “move on” mood about getting the point.

Instead, and as the team approaches the half-way mark of the season; there is cause for concern.

After all, for all of the good stuff that occurred tonight – there was also plenty of negativity, including:

— Trouba’s never-ending troubles with turnovers, where fortunately for him – CZAR IGOR bailed him out every time.

— Artemi Panarin remains as a liability. You also know that he’s not part of the NRA, as there were about a half-dozen times tonight, when wide-open and with no obstructions in front of him; rather than shooting the puck, Panarin forced passes for freshly baked turnovers. One of these plays led to Tampa’s equalizer goal during the latter stages of regulation.

— The power-play, absolutely abysmal these days, posted another goose egg. Despite seven shots on goal, the Rangers finished 0-3 on the man advantage and are now one of their last fourteen on the power-play. The third failed power-play hurt the most, as with under three minutes to go in overtime, and a chance to put the game away – the Rangers saved their worst for last.

— In addition to their 0-3 power-play, the Rangers were stoned on three separate breakaways (Trocheck, Kravtsov and Gauthier). In other words, the Rangers had six excellent scoring chances and Vasilevskiy denied all of them.

— Since returning from the Christmas break, the Rangers have only scored one goal during their past two games. Need I say more?

As redundant as the Rangers losing this season are my daily reminders of my work schedule.

In other words, I gotta jet through this tonight – and then look forward to a three-day weekend.

Let’s cover all of the pregame news first, and then get into the GAME REVIEW.

In case you missed it, I covered Gallant’s newsworthy “TURK TALK” from Wednesday last night.

You can find the full report here: https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/122822/

While I thought that I made a ton of great points during that blog (what a shameless self-pat on the back – what a maroon!); here’s the one that proved to carry the most weight:

I’m not going to get into everything Lafreniere tonight, because after all – I did that last night.

However, in an update, and as already noted – #13 was a healthy scratch tonight, as #91, Sammy Blais, a fellow French-Canadian, drew back into the line-up.

Here was Gallant’s pregame “TURK TALK” from Thursday morning:

As you’d imagine, and as stated last night – this news set off the clueless millennial beat reporters – where fortunately for “The Turkmaster General;” both Mollie “I Don’t Give a Shit” and Wince “According to NaturalStatTrick.com” Mercogliano didn’t make the trip down to the Sunshine State.

In other words, Gallant won’t have to see his two least favorite “reporters” at the end of 2022, nor at the start of the 2023 either – the only Rangers’ “win” for him tonight.

And of course, the younger fans of this team, fans who possess no knowledge of names such as Pavel Brendl, Manny Maholtra, Bobby Sanguinetti, Jamie Lundmark, Al Montoya, Hugh Jessiman and the list goes on-and-on; were absolutely irate over Gallant’s decision to scratch Lafreniere.

Rather than taking a deep breath, looking at this rationally and saying what it was – a temporary reset for Lafreniere – instead, and you knew this would be the case – they all belted out “FIRE GALLANT! – you know, the former Jack Adams Award winner and a second-runner up for that Coach of the Year accolade last season – his first as bench boss of the Blueshirts.

(HOLY hyphens/dashes BATMAN!)

But in the interest of fairness; you also had “established” league reporters posting click-bait on Thursday too, suggesting that a trade for Lafreniere was now on the table.

I found all of that junk to be irresponsible, because there has been no such talk – nor does Drury discuss his daily day-to-day talks with anyone either.

However, and as noted last night: the state and standards of reporting have never been lower. It’s all about those clicks, where rarely, does the truth ever get in the way of a good story, a fictional tale at that.

Bottom line – don’t expect this Lafreniere scratch to be permanent, as if he’s the second coming of Libor Hajek.

Instead, this was just a learning lesson for Lafreniere, and similar to the last time when he was scratched (he scored two goals in his return game) – I’m sure this public call-out will do him good.

As far as anything else from Thursday’s “TURK TALK;” while not exactly slamming both Hajek and Zac Jones – Gallant didn’t exactly give them a vote of confidence either.

In fact, if any player is involved in that never-ending and potential trade talk for Patrick Kane, I think Jones may be at the top of the list. However, don’t be confused – I’m not reporting this – this is just my opinion!

When asked by the esteemed Hall of Fame Larry Brooks what he saw in Ben Harpur; Gallant praised Harpur’s size, as if he was an NBA scout seeing a seven-foot player for the first time at some random street court.

Gallant also praised Harpur’s ability to be reliable and steady, then added that he tried so many times with Hajek and Jones, and how he wanted those two players to succeed – but it just never happened – at least not consistently – where the word “consistent” was also used no less than ten times when the head coach spoke about Lafreniere.

(I’m really going overboard with the -‘s tonight! Bear with me!)

If anything was learnt by these recent TURK TALKS, then it’s this – Gallant wants consistency.

Of course, perhaps Gallant, who you know I’m a fan of, needs to be consistent himself.

If players are being scratched for being inconsistent, then maybe it’s time for players like Panarin and Trouba to take a timeout too.

However, I just can’t see Gallant shaming his highest-paid players like this either.

I should note, that when it comes to the young players who have either been scratched and/or demoted – they also don’t have the track records as the “FAT CATS” do.

And that’s all I have to say about that!

Here was tonight’s line-up:

FIRST LINE: Kreider/Mika/Kakko

SECOND LINE: Panarin/Trocheck/Goodrow

THIRD LINE: Kravtsov/Chytil/Gauthier

FOURTH LINE: Blais/Brodzinski/Vesey

FIRST PAIR: Lindgren/Fox

SECOND PAIR: Miller/Trouba

THIRD PAIR: Harpur/Schneider

STARTING GOALIE: CZAR IGOR

BACK-UP: Jaroslav Halak

BOX SCORE time.

The following graphics and information come from ESPN.com:

SCORING:

SHOOTOUT:

PENALTIES:

TEAM STATS:

GOALIES:

Tonight’s game was one of the better broadcasts of the season. Not only was Sieve Vagistat out, but so was Sam Rosen, who was reported as being under the weather.

And while you know that I’m not a fan of Vagistat, and how I think that Rosen has lost his fastball about a decade ago too; may they heal up and get healthy soon. I don’t root for people to be sick!

That said, without both of them on-air tonight – this broadcast was significantly better for it.

Kenny Albert, who should be the successor to Rosen (and if Rosen wasn’t a legend then Albert would already be the guy in that chair on a full-time basis), had the call. With a solo John Giannone in studio; M$GN relied on both Joe Micheletti and Dave Maloney, live from Tampa, to present their opinions.

All of these changes made the broadcast a joy to listen to.

Between not listening to Rosen rave about the Rangers’ opponent for three hours (although Micheletti couldn’t help himself at times), having goals accurately called and not having to listen to Vagistat’s repetitive junk – this is what a Rangers’ broadcast should be.

Again, since time is an issue tonight, I can’t rundown everything here, but if you want the full play-by-play of the broadcast, and more importantly, the game too, just check out my Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/NYCTheMiC

When it comes to the most notable things said during the broadcast, both Maloney and Micheletti, old school players and who know the game better than both the millennial beat reporters and young fans; both of them agreed with Gallant’s decision to bench Lafreniere.

Micheletti also mentioned how Barclay Goodrow, who Jon Cooper said was irreplaceable, leads all Rangers in even-strength goals (8).

While that’s great for Goodrow, that also explains all of these piling-up losses too – as Zibanejad and Panarin aren’t doing their jobs – at least not… wait for it…. CONSISTENTLY.

GAME REVIEW time.

FIRST PERIOD:

One last time – my job, my train, my hemorrhoids and blah-blah-blah.

In turn, I’m going to have to do this review BULLETPOINT style, and then return to my normal ways on the first day of 2023, when the Rangers try to neuter the Cats in Sunrise on Sunday.

— After showing us how the Amalie Arena was largely dressed in Rangers’ blue (Tampa wore their white 1990s “Spencer Gifts” inspired jerseys – sweaters that go real well with a pair of JNCO jeans and a STUSSY hat); Mika won his first face-off the game. (He beat Stamkos.) He’d then go on to win three of eleven afterwards. Elite.

— Following a strong shift from the new first line; Trouba and Panarin came on, and immediately, the captain turned over the puck twice and Panarin, for good measure, flubbed a puck too. As would be the case all game – CZAR IGOR, CZAR IGOR, CZAR IGOR – a goaltender who single-handedly saved the plus/minus stats of his skaters tonight.

— The first ten minutes of this game were pretty much all Tampa, but to the Rangers’ credit, the final ten minutes of this period were largely all them.

— At one point, the Bolts were out-shooting the road team at a ratio of 7:1, but by the time that the period had concluded, the Rangers had out-shot the home team 12-11.

— In game where the ELITE goaltending lived up to the billing; with 11:15 remaining, Vasilevskiy (AV from now on – not to be confused with Alain Vigneault) stoned Trocheck’s breakaway attempt. At least he didn’t hit the iron.

— Under ten minutes to go, Sammy Blais, during a Rangers’ line change, kept a possession alive, as despite three Tampa skaters surrounding him, Blais won this 1 x 3 forechecking battle. However, when soon joined by his teammates, Vesey set-up Blais for a shot at a vacated AV net – and he failed to score his first goal of the season.

— Of course, Blais’ miss was met with this predictable reaction – “LAFRENIERE WOULD HAVE SCORED!” Not mentioned – how Lafreniere missed the biggest vacated net of the season a few games back. However, and to be fair – Lafreniere later redeemed himself and scored in that same game. Blais didn’t do the same.

— As Panarin continued to bake turnover-after-turnover, I was reminded of a question I posed to you last night – “who does Panarin truly have chemistry with this season?” I guess maybe Trouba, as the two continue to one-up each other for most turnovers per game. (And if they were ever fined one dollar per turnover – then they might owe the Rangers millions, rather than cashing paychecks for over millions of dollars!)

— Down to 7:15 remaining, the Rangers struck first, where besides scoring the first goal being (and obviously) important, this was also big for this reason: Tampa is 13-0 this season whenever entering the first intermission with a lead.

Here’s Mika snapping his eight-game goal drought – and scoring the only Rangers’ tally of the contest:

sprinkle some Mika magic and get this beauty😤

Rangers lead 1-0 pic.twitter.com/wEozkuePzn

— Rangers on MSG (@RangersMSGN) December 30, 2022

— 1-0, GOOD GUYS, where originally, both Lindgren (primary) and Kakko (secondary) were credited with assists. However, these apples were rotted away by the official NHL scorers – as apparently, a Tampa defender touched the puck before Mika got to it, thus negating both #55 and #24 of points.

— While Lindgren and Kakko were screwed over a bit here, especially since the box score doesn’t reflect their contributions (outside of the plus/minus stat) – this goal doesn’t happen without Kakko getting the puck deep and Lindgren fighting to get the puck to his center.

— Down to 6:23 remaining, Kravtsov had his breakaway chance denied by AV. The people who were saying that Lafreniere would’ve buried the puck that Blais failed on didn’t say the following after this monster save/failed opportunity – “PATRICK KANE WOULD’VE BURIED THIS PUCK!” I don’t think anyone is surprised about this!

— As the Rangers were building momentum and with 5:13 to go; JONNY HOCKEY nixed it, as he took another o-zone penalty, this time for tripping Nick “Who?” Perbix, as the Bolts’ d-man was behind CZAR IGOR’s net.

— While the Rangers did kill this penalty; had Tampa scored here – I wonder if Gallant would’ve scratched Brodzinski on Sunday. And who knows – he may very well do that anyway. (Gallant has previously scratched players for taking dumb penalties this season. In fact, that’s what led to Blais’ most recent timeout.)

— As we neared one minute remaining, AV stoned Gauthier’s breakaway. Kravtsov, for really the first time this season, also showed off his mitts with some razzle-and-dazzle, but like everyone else tonight – couldn’t finish.

— Down to twenty seconds remaining, Kakko did the same exact thing that he did a few games back, when he started to puck handle, made moves from the opponent’s goal line and then drifted to the blue line. If you recall, the last time Kakko did this, he turned over the puck and the rubber was then put into the Rangers’ net. However, Kakko learned from that mistake, as just as you were about to say, “oh no, not again;” Kakko smartly dumped the puck deep.

We remained 1-0 after twenty minutes, where at the time, you were feeling good about the lead, but you also knew that the Rangers would need to score more than one goal to win this game.

Here’s what I said at the time:

1-0, GOOD GUYS, after 20. 1P Thoughts:
— First ten minutes felt like #NYR played last night. Second ten minutes showed that TBL played last night.
— Another masterclass from CZAR IGOR.
— SOG 12-11 NYR; Hits 15-14, FO’s 9-7 TBL
— Nice to see Mika get off the schneid.
LGR!

— BlueCollarBlueShirts (@NYCTheMiC) December 30, 2022

SECOND PERIOD:

— CZAR IGOR opened this middle frame by making two excellent stops on Cirelli (15 second mark) and Kucherov (65 second mark). Again, the goaltender prevented his skaters from all finishing with minuses next to their names.

— Despite stud defensive-defenseman, Erik Cernak, done for the night, thus rendering Tampa down to five defensemen for about fifty or so minutes tonight; the Rangers could never make AV and the Bolts pay.

— After Kakko just missed on a chance to score a rebound goal; those lovely douchebags in Foot Locker employee gear, the officials, screwed the Rangers again.

— With 15:11 remaining, CZAR IGOR made another massive save, this time on Hagel. As Igor was just waiting for the whistle, as the puck was dead; Hagel ripped the puck loose with his hand (thus covering the puck) and then threw it into Igor’s net. The officials ruled good goal.

— As Hagel was literally laughing his ass off (no buns were to be found – but the heads of the officials were up theirs), CZAR IGOR demanded a video replay/review. He got it, and for whatever reason, and despite this PENALTY being committed as clear as day – the referees took a long time to get to the right call – NO GOAL.

— While the officials accurately came to the conclusion of NO GOAL; they screwed the Rangers here, as this should’ve been a penalty (delay of game/hand over the puck). Then again, with how putrid the Rangers’ power-play is – it wouldn’t have mattered.

— Case in point: no less than thirty seconds after this play; Nick Perbix airmailed a puck over the glass, thus affording the Rangers their first power-play of the contest. Panarin, who had about three GOOD LOOKS on this, didn’t shoot. And when he did with 23 ticks remaining – <DING> – as Trocheckitis is extremely contagious.

— Down to 12:01 remaining, another failed opportunity, this time from Chytil, as somehow and someway, he couldn’t beat a sprawling AV when trying to go top shelf. However, this save/missed goal was more about what AV did rather than Chytil not converting.

— A minute later, our first scrum of the game, as kicked off by Sammy Blais – as his line and the third pair got into Tampa’s faces – our first SNARL moment of the match.

— For what it’s worth, there were three different physical scrums tonight – and the referees didn’t call off-setting penalties on any of them. I liked that. Let them play and as long as nothing is egregious, this is the way all of these post-whistle theatrics should be handled.

— As we hit 10:38 on the clock, Kreider was held by Ian Cole. This was a borderline penalty shot infraction but instead, the refs (and they were right) gave Cole two minutes in the sin bin.

— This was another mess of a power-play, as Mika peppered the boards, Panarin wouldn’t shoot, Fox was denied and when the PP2 unit came on, Killorn and Kravtsov collided at center ice. Silver lining? Jim Ramsey didn’t have to run out and attend to the malcontent.

— The next five minutes of this game continued the goaltending clinic, as each Russian net-minder made enormous save after enormous save.

— The final five minutes of this period was the Rangers’ latest example of playing with fire. CZAR IGOR made eight saves in total during this time, where each save felt bigger than the next. While the Blueshirts didn’t get burnt here – they’d need the aloe by the end of the night.

— And for good measure, and as the period was set to expire; Joe Micheletti went into Tampa cheerleader mode, and was practically on his hands-and-knees begging for either Hedman, Point or Kucherov to score. He’d later get his wish.

1-0, GOOD GUYS, after two periods.

Here’s what I said at the time:

1-0, GOOD GUYS, after 40. 2P Thoughts:
— The two top goalies of the league are living up to their billing. Masterclass in the nets.
— You don’t feel safe at all with this lead.
— SOG 30-27 #NYR; Hits 33-28, FO’s 25-13 TBL
— Three failed breakaways and PP 0-2…
— Finish

— BlueCollarBlueShirts (@NYCTheMiC) December 30, 2022

THIRD PERIOD:

— Another third period collapse – where right away – Stamkos rang a puck off of the iron.

— The first five minutes of this period were all Tampa, where the Rangers would later challenge AV – but not much. In fact, it wasn’t until past the half-way point of this period when the Blueshirts registered their fourth shot on goal – where prior to that – it was more of the same – Mika wide and Panarin won’t shoot.

— At just the 5:32 mark; Panarin, while three feet away, absolutely refused to shoot at a wide open net. In turn, this latest turnover wound up in the back of Igor’s net, in what was really a fluke goal allowed.

— Following Panarin’s latest blunder, Tampa rushed up the ice, hit the post and Brayden Point got some “puck luck,” when during this mad dash of frantic action – the puck dribbled past Igor and he accidentally kicked it in his own net. Not a Rangers’ defender was to be found.

1-1.

— After AV made two saves on Schneider; back on the other end, Zibanejad was stripped by Hagel and CZAR IGOR kept #93’s positive plus/minus stat of +1 in tact.

— As the goalies continued to show us why they are the two best in the game today; with 9:05 to go, Zach Bogosian, and in a somewhat similar, yet absolutely cleaner play when Dmitri Orlov did this to him last game; defiantly clowned & rag-dolled Kravtsov off of the puck. I can’t wait for this experiment to be over with, but I guess to be fair – at least Kravtsov didn’t get hurt here. CALDER HERE WE COME!

— The remainder of regulation saw the two goalies match each other save-for-save, and where as a Ranger fan, you just wanted to get to the overtime. The clock couldn’t hit triple zeroes fast enough.

1-all after sixty minutes.

Here’s what I said at the time:

1-1 after 60. 3P Thoughts:
— Wouldn’t say #NYR are playing bad, Tampa is just great and so is their goalie.
— SOG 41-37 NYR, Hits 40-all, FOs 31-21 TBL
— 3 Stars: Igor, AV and whoever scores the game winner
— At least they got a point, get another. LGR

— BlueCollarBlueShirts (@NYCTheMiC) December 30, 2022

OVERTIME:

— The same stuff we saw all game happened here – Panarin wouldn’t shoot, Mika went wide and Igor continued to keep this game alive.

— What should’ve been the turning point of the game was when with 2:54 remaining, the Rangers were gifted a power-play, following a Hedman tripping/interference penalty committed on Chytil.

— In other words, the Rangers now had a 4 x 3 power-play – and with Tampa’s top two defensemen gone (Hedman’s penalty and Cernak’s injury).

— The Rangers, who don’t believe in “third time’s a charm,” saved their worst for last on this power-play. This was an all-out abortion and they did absolutely zilch here.

Up next, the shootout, where it should be mentioned that no less than eight different Ranger shot attempts went wide during this bonus period.

SHOOTOUT:

Both goalies looked good here. Point beat Igor in the top of the second, which put Tampa up 1-0. Then in the rare Panarin highlight of this game, and with the game on his stick, he did his stall move and beat AV in the bottom of the third.

With the two teams now in bonus frames, each goalie came up with a pair of stops. However, come the sixth inning, Killorn beat Igor and Fox, who had scored that pretty top-shelf backhander last season on his first shootout try; wasn’t successful here.

2-1, bad guys, in the shootout. 2-1, bad guys, your final – another point pissed away.

Here’s Double G. after the game:

Gallant was right with everything he said – this was a fun game to watch, both goalies were excellent, there was a playoff vibe and you couldn’t knock the team’s effort.

Of course, and as repeated all night in this space – this was exhibit 78967668668 of the team pissing a point away in the standings. It’s hurting them.

I may try to return prior to Sunday’s matinee in Florida. If not, thanks for reading this rush job tonight (although I do think these recaps are more detailed than anything else that’s out there) and HAPPY NEW YEAR.

And this too – Let’s Go Rangers!

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.”

The greatest volume-set of books on Rangers’ history today!

“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:

Gerard Gallant Gives His Most Interesting “TURK TALK” Yet; Full Recap, Alexis Lafreniere Demoted (And Why That’s Not a Bad Thing), “We Want To Win Games” and “Line-Up Sparks,” GG Joins Torts, AV & DQ In The Never-Ending Fan Overreaction Cycle; Herb Brooks Not So Much, Beat Reporters, NYR/Bolts & More

NYR/WSH 12/27 Review: Blueshirts Bomb in One Of Their Most Dreadful Games Yet; Gallant Calls Game “Garbage;” All-Around Stinkeroo; Refs Ridiculous Too, Mika Drought Up To Eight, No Baked Cookies from Breadman, 0-5 Powerless Play, Gauthier’s Alleged Affair with the Wife of an NHL Official, Igor & Ilya, M$GN Hearts Ovi & More

The New York Rangers Christmas Gift Wish List: One or Two Presents For Every Player, Coach, Fan and the General Manager Too!

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