NOTE: I went longer than usual, which really says something. Then again, with three days off until the next game, you have plenty of time to play catch-up. I also felt by hitting everything, I purged the negativity out of my system….at least until the next game! Thanks for reading!
What’s up everyone and welcome to another blog here on BlueCollarBlueShirts.com. Less than 24 hours after being thumped by the lowly Senators, once again, the Rangers found a new way to sink to a new low. In a Sunday matinee game, at the World’s Most Expensive Arena, M$G, the Philadelphia Flyers laid the smackdown on the Rangers, to a tune of 7-4. For the Rangers, this was their fourth loss in a row and their third consecutive three goal loss. In other words, this sucks.
When you’re losing game after game, and piling up multiple 4+ game losing streaks, there’s going to be a lot of negativity and finger pointing. I talked a lot about this in yesterday’s blog. Oh, that reminds me – THANK YOU to everyone who read yesterday’s blog. Yesterday’s blog, on the Ottawa loss, was the most read blog this season.
Seriously, before getting into today’s train wreck, I just want to take time out and thank everyone for spending 10-15 minutes reading these manifestos. I know people don’t have long attention spans. I don’t really care about web site traffic, twitter followers and all that crap, because if I did, I’d break up these 6000+ word affairs into 10 pages, and artificially raise site traffic like that.
What really surprised me, was that a Saturday afternoon game, during a three-day holiday weekend, was the most read blog of the season. Usually blogs posted on a Friday or Saturday night, do the least amount of traffic. When you factor in that there was a game today, yesterday’s blog had only a 12 hour shelf life, before becoming old news.
It’s one thing if you write a 500 word blog and call it day. However when you have a short amount of time between games and when you spend two-three hours on these things, it’s nice to see that people actually read it!
Speaking of yesterday’s blog, in case you’re one of the few that missed it, (I kid, I kid) you can read that blog and my most recent blogs below:
NYR/OTT 2/17 Review: The Cold War Between Vigneault and Lundqvist Intensifies; Lundqvist Bails On The Rangers in a Brutal 6-3 Loss, Lettieri Becomes an Innocent Victim, The Future of NYR, Oz, Trade Rumors, Goalie Talk, Day Drinking, Inept Refs, NYR Reporters Drop The Ball Like the Team, Fan Comments & Much More w/Pics & Video
NYR/NYI 2/15 Review: King Halak’s 50 Save Shutout Performance Derails the Playoff Hopes of the Rangers, Rangers Pull a Terry Schiavo on Ice, Questionable Vigneault Decision Making, Get McLeod Out of Here, Predicting a Likely Outcome, McBackup, The “See Ya” NYR Train & Tons More About “The Singing the Blues” Blueshirts
NYR/MINN 2/13 Review: The Wild Out-Last the New York Wolfpack, Lundqvist Falls Apart Early, Blames The Team in Narrow Loss to the Wild, Why Lundqvist Shouldn’t Be Allowed Near These Rookies, Grabner Finally Gets PP Time, Michael Sauer Sighting, The Brutal 6 vs 5 Game, Kreider Return, Big Trade, Rangers Desperate For Your Money, Hartnett Plagiarizing the Post, New Young Defense is an Upgrade & Much More From an Infuriating Loss
NYR/WPG 2/11 Review: Rangers Rise From The Ashes & Ground the Jets, Screw The Tank, Young Money Hits While Big Money Sits, AV Riles Up Lundqvist, Will the Letter Be the Turning Point, Alexandar the Great Gets The Royal Call-Up, Skapski, M$G Networks & The NHL Screw Ranger Fans, Get Rid of McLeod Already, Response to Steve Valiquette & Much More, From A Big Rangers Win!
NYR/CGY 2/9 Review: Rangerstown May Be Burning Down, But NYR Fans the Flames, Brendan Smith Gets Redden’d to Hartford, New NYR Call-Ups, AV Buries Lundqvist, More NYR Injuries, Thoughts on The Confirmed Rebuild & Much More News, Opinions & Pictures From M$G
Let me let you in on a little secret. There are two things, no matter what, that will always sell. Sex and negativity. Just watch the news. All the lead stories are about sex and/or have a negative vibe.
While I’m not giving you sex here, although I do assume that Joe Micheletti, Sean Hartnett and the Lundswiss culties, have had some sort of homoerotic thoughts about the Swedish goaltender, I do tend to be negative. However, I only work with what I’m given. I mean after all, how am I supposed to be rah-rah about these games or this season?
In other words, to close up on the topic of “blog hits”, I think that my last blog was so well read just because it was negative in nature. People want the dirt. They want the mud-slinging. I know that. Using AV vs Lundqvist as a headline drew them in! I’m sure that out of the thousands of hits I did yesterday, while many of the hits came from fans of this blog, I also got hits from the people drinking, and I quote Steve Valiquette here – the haterade. Like Howard Stern in the 1980’s, the Lundswiss bots, seeing red, click this blog to see what I’ll say next. Whatever side of the line you may fall on, thanks for reading!
What’s a BCBS blog, without going off on a tangent, while in the middle of a tangent? Shit, that’s what I do, so let me give you a few words about the aforementioned Lundswiss bots.
The Lundswiss bots/fanboys were out in full effect, after yesterday’s clap down to the Senators. However, as this season goes along, more and more, I’m seeing fans come out of the woodwork, even previous “haters” of mine, saying that it’s time to move on from Lundqvist.
When I first started doing these blogs, when I brought up the sacrilege idea of you don’t need an expensive goalie to win a Cup, I was blasted by a lot of these Swedish fetishists. When I suggested the Rangers keep Cam Talbot and trade Lundqvist, when his stock would never be higher, I got the following reaction from a lot of these people:
- YOU ARE A GAY FAGGET
- YOU ARE A FAYKE FAN
- I HOAP YOU DYE
Fast forward three years later, and yes, I know Talbot is having his first bad season of his career, was I wrong? I don’t think so. You have Matt Murray, with two Cups at the age of 23. He made $575,000 during each Cup winning season. Look at the year Vasilevskiy is having in Tampa. It just all goes back to this – you have to build around a center and a defense, and not a goalie, in this league. You know my spiel by now.
However, why I bring this topic up, is that many readers of this blog, are now openly saying that it’s time to move on from Lundqvist. They aren’t name calling. They aren’t calling him LUNDSWISS, like I do. They are just stating the obvious. However, in turn, the Lundswiss fan boys have revved it up. NOW, regular fans, who don’t do these 6000+ word “War and Peace” blogs after every game, are getting the following tweets and direct messages sent to them:
- YOU ARE A GAY FAGGET
- YOU ARE A FAYKE FAN
- I HOAP YOU DYE and a now, in a new one…
- YOO HAVE NO CREDABILITEE!
To say it’s a dark day for the Swedish Cuntie Culties, would be an understatement.
Some of my critics, despite me doing the best web traffic I have ever done, say, “YOU’RE BLOG DOESN’T GET MANNY COMMENCE!”
I can tell you that my email account is non-stop. I converse with nearly 50 of you on email, 100’s on twitter and 100’s on FB. The problem is this – being someone who wants Lundswiss traded is akin to being a Trump voter.
I’m not doing politics here, but hear me out.
However you feel about Trump, bottom line is he won the election. That means people voted for him. It pretty much means all these fake news polls about him are bullshit. Every poll you see has Trump having a low approval rating and if the polls meant shit, Hillary Clinton would’ve walloped him in the election. That didn’t happen.
Being a fan who wants to move on from Lundqvist, is just like being a Trump voter, because it’s easier & calmer to be quiet, than to share your opinions. I mean, you got life long Ranger fans, season ticket holders mind you, getting shit from kids who live at home with their parents. Who needs that? Personally, I don’t mind it. I’m used to being a heel! Shit, I root for the bad guys in the movies!
Just like Trump, there is a huge groundswell of support for moving on from Lundqvist. However, it’s easier to keep it to yourself, than deal with the Lundswiss bots. That said, as this season has moved on, I’m seeing more and more people willing to speak up and fight the good fight!
In other words…
LET THE CZAR IGOR ERA BEGIN!
If you’ve been with this blog from day one, (and if you haven’t, you can check the archives on the right hand side of the site) this season has been everything I’ve ever predicted. They should’ve rebuilt. They should’ve got rid of Sather long ago. The Hagelin/Etem trade was, for a lack of a better word, retarded. Dumping Stralman and signing Boyle, for the same amount of money that Stralman got from Tampa, was something right out of the movie “Idiocracy.” Giving up number 1 draft picks for MSL was something a video game would reject.
Say what you want about Jeff Gorton, while he’s pieced together some minor deals, his track record isn’t that great either. However, I tend to give him a pass, because he’s still dealing with the crap Sather left him. However, look at Gorton’s moves and tell me how he isn’t a failure in his short tenure here:
- Traded Stepan/Raanta for a number 1 pick and Tony DeAngelo. Raanta, despite several injuries, has had a strong season in the desert. (More on that to come.) Stepan, while he needed to go, the Rangers could’ve got more for him.
- Drafted Lias Andersson, thinking that Andersson would be be ready this season. When he wasn’t, the Rangers were left weak up the middle. If you need reminder #8976786789637434 about centermen – you need to be deep up the middle to win Cups in this league. No strong centers, no Stanley Cup.
- Bought out Dan Girardi instead of Marc Staal. Dan Girardi is having a fine season in Tampa, where he’s not relied on to play top pair minutes or block every shot, although he still tries to block every shot in the world anyway.
- Traded for Eric Staal and gave up on him after a half a season. Keep in mind, during his NYR tenure, Staal was placed on the third line and positioned as a winger. Now, as a first liner, at his natural position as a center, Staal is an All-Star with the Wild.
- Continued the insanity, with the thinking that only the way to win a Stanley Cup, is with the highest paid goalie in the league.
- Despite a terrible track record, retained Scott Arniel and his dreadful powerplay.
- With AV’s blessing, fired Jeff Beukeboom and replaced him with Lindy Ruff. In turn, the Rangers have one of the worst D’s in the league.
- Upon Ruff’s request, signed Adam Cracknell. That was a waste of time.
- Signed Brendan Smith to an ungodly contract. Smith is currently in Hartford, “Wade Reddening” it out.
- Signed Kevin Shattenkirk. The jury is out if this deal will pan out. I can’t fault Gorton yet on this one, as Shattenkirk, knowing that he signed a huge deal, tried playing while injured.
- Opted for Cody McLeod over Tanner Glass.
- Currently bouncing Vinni Lettieri up and down to Hartford, while making sure McLeod and Holland continue to get minutes.
We all know how Glen Sather was the longest tenured GM in NYC sports history, to never win a championship. Now, as Ranger fans, we are expected to trust that Sather and Gorton know what it takes to build a winner in today’s NHL. However you can’t point all the blame on them, because leadership starts at the top and the Rangers have the worst owner in all of sports, in a one James “Hey Isiah, let’s hit the strip club” Dolan.
I’ve written plenty on Dolan before, so while I don’t want to rehash everything, I just want to put this reminder out there and share some stuff with some of the new readers. I really don’t want to waste too much time on Dolan, because just looking at his face on that T-shirt, is giving me a flaring red hemorrhoid.
Like any organization, leadership starts at the top. When you look at the most successful sport franchises in the modern era, you had a guy who would do anything to win, like George Steinbrenner with the Yankees. Currently, despite their loss two weeks ago, you have Robert Kraft with the Patriots in the NFL. Great leaders know how to find great generals. The problem with the Rangers, they don’t have either.
When James Dolan acquired the Rangers, the Rangers, to him, were like a 25 cent pack of Winterfresh you get, while waiting in line, at CVS. Do you really need the gum? Nah. However, it’s right there, it’s cheap, so hey, what the fuck?
Dolan, and his family, got the Garden and the Knicks. The Rangers were just the opening course salad in this meal. To this day, outside of Lundqvist, I’d be surprised if Dolan could name three Rangers on the team. I would bet you my right nut that he has no clue who Frank Boucher is. Shit, he probably couldn’t pick Rod Gilbert, the other number 7, out of a police line-up. (And you know that Dolan pronounces Gilbert as “GILL-BERT.”
If I listed every Dolan infraction and misfire over the course of 25 years, I would be working on this blog until 2050. Even if I did a blog on Dolan and all his miscues, taking me to the year of 2050, the Rangers and Knicks would still be championship-less, under the watch of Dolan.
The guy is just a blithering idiot. I mean whether it’s employing Isiah Thomas or the bullshit with Charles Oakley, Dolan is completely clueless. He inherited a money maker, he didn’t make a money maker. When you own the most famous arena, in the biggest city in the world, it’s kinda tough to go bankrupt.
Tourists and corporations will be feeding the Dolan bank account forever. It’s the true blue fans who get fucked, because no matter how low these Knick and Ranger franchises may get, like a good ATM, Dolan can always withdraw money out of these poor season ticket holding saps.
If the Rangers played in a Montreal, Toronto, Detroit or in any other hockey city, Dolan would be raked over the coals. However, among the franchises that Dolan owns, the NY scribes spill most of their ink (I guess that’s a dated reference, let’s go with smack their keyboards!) on Dolan’s Knicks. It also helps Dolan, that his Ranger messes are swept under the rug, as the baseball and football teams dominate the back-pages and talk radio air-waves.
Ranger fans, while very loyal and devoted, are tiny in comparison to the fan base that the Yankees, Mets, Giants and Jets have. The sports media has to focus most of their time on what their audience wants and in NY, hockey takes a backseat. That’s just the way it is.
Dolan, whose hockey knowledge starts and end with “DUH, DA OILERS WERE GOOD IN DA EIGHTIES” has given Sather a life-time contract. While Dolan knows who Mark Messier and Wayne Gretzky are, he doesn’t realize that the Oilers were so deep, that even a fucking idiot like Glen Sather could win with that roster.
Left to his own devices, and without 11 & 99, in the 18+ years as Team President (16 years as GM), Glen Sather has yet to produce a championship, in a city more thirsty for a championship than a THOT trolling for the beef.
Does Dolan say, “hey, maybe this Sather fuck isn’t working out?” No, because quite frankly, Dolan doesn’t care. It’s easier to let Sather do whatever the fuck he wants and cash the profits the Rangers make at the end of the season.
Has Henrik Lundqvist taken the brunt of my wrath on this blog? Of course. However, the biggest culprit in the Rangers failure is James Dolan. When you have too many Indians and not a strong Chief, you’re bound to fail. The Rangers have personified failure under Dolan’s watch, under Sather’s watch and now under the watch of Jeff Gorton.
While I believe the Rangers best chance at Cup is whenever Lundswiss moves on, a more glorious day will be the day that James Dolan either sells or walks away from the Rangers completely.
If you’re with me, TESTIFY! Fuck Dolan.
Only on this blog, will you find 3000+ words in an intro! Shit, I thought today would be easy, since there was no off-day to recap! However, as the calendar keeps moving, the Rangers hole keeps on getting deeper and deeper.
Enough stalling, let’s take a deep gulp (like Micheletti does to his Swedish sex doll at the Pines Lodge) and take a look at this shit show. As always, here’s the ESPN.com box score:
1st Period Summary |
||||
| Time | Team | Scoring Detail | PHI | NYR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1:30 |
 |
Kevin Hayes (14) Assist: Ryan Sproul |
0 | 1 |
| 4:53 |
 |
Andrew MacDonald (4) Assists: Valtteri Filppula, Jori Lehtera |
1 | 1 |
| 10:54 |
|
Rick Nash (18) Assists: Brady Skjei, Pavel Buchnevich |
1 | 2 |
| 12:11 |
|
Scott Laughton (10) Assist: Ivan Provorov |
2 | 2 |
| 14:53 |
|
Brandon Manning (5) Assists: Claude Giroux, Travis Konecny |
3 | 2 |
| 17:21 |
|
Mats Zuccarello (10) Assist: Peter Holland |
3 | 3 |
| Time | Team | Penalty Detail | ||
| 0:15 |
|
Shayne Gostisbehere: 5 Minute Major for Fighting | ||
| 0:15 |
|
Pavel Buchnevich: 5 Minute Major for Fighting | ||
| 11:23 |
|
Wayne Simmonds: 5 Minute Major for Fighting | ||
| 11:23 |
|
Anthony DeAngelo: 5 Minute Major for Fighting | ||
| 12:14 |
|
Dale Weise: 5 Minute Major for Fighting | ||
| 12:14 |
|
Cody McLeod: 5 Minute Major for Fighting | ||
| 15:16 |
|
John Gilmour: 2 Minutes for High-sticking | ||
2nd Period Summary |
||||
| Time | Team | Scoring Detail | PHI | NYR |
| 2:01 |
|
Nolan Patrick (6) Assists: Wayne Simmonds, Brandon Manning |
4 | 3 |
| 5:47 |
|
Peter Holland (1) Assists: Nick Holden, Cody McLeod |
4 | 4 |
| 15:40 |
|
Travis Konecny (15) Assists: Sean Couturier, Claude Giroux |
5 | 4 |
| Time | Team | Penalty Detail | ||
| No penalties this period | ||||
3rd Period Summary |
||||
| Time | Team | Scoring Detail | PHI | NYR |
| 9:23 |
|
Claude Giroux (20) Assist: Travis Konecny |
6 | 4 |
| 12:46 |
|
Jori Lehtera (1) Assists: Dale Weise, Valtteri Filppula |
7 | 4 |
Goaltending Summary
Flyers
|
Rangers
|
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If you haven’t read my 1/13 blog, against the Islanders, check it out below:
NYR/NYI 1/13 Review: The Islanders “Pulp Fiction” the Rangers; Brutally Embarrass NYR at the Shithole Known as M$G, Lundqvist Steps Up & Speaks Out To the Deaf & Lame Blueshirts, McDonagh & Nash “Talk the Talk” But Can’t “Walk The Walk”, Family Day Fire Hazard Fiasco & More From A Game Where Fans Deserve a Refund
In that blog, I talked about the craziness of M$G during these “Family Day” games. The quick and dirty – it’s a fire trap in the 200’s rotunda, tickets are inflated, and it’s not worth your time. Just like that game against the Islanders, the Rangers were trounced by another hated rival and once again, the Rangers gave up 7 goals.
And not to be a grunting, knuckle dragging caveman here, but really, these Flyer and Islander games should be played at night. Not during the time usually reserved for Sunday Mass. And that’s coming from me, an atheist! Save these Sunday matinee games for non-rivals, like the Canucks or Coyotes. Let the beer and fists fly, in the stands, at night, for rivalry games.
Then again, M$G has changed so much over the years, that the life has been sucked out of the building long ago. I think my good friend, Ricky Otazu, summed it up best in a video he put out today:
Rangers msg good times https://t.co/nqUTxq3gOM
— Ricky otazu (@unclevols2) February 18, 2018
Like anything else, Madison Square Garden has changed so much. While it’s great for Dolan’s bank account, the blood has been drained out of the place.
Surprisingly enough, despite all the changes and the pussification of the place, Ranger and Flyer fans were treated to a bygone era in the first period. Unfortunately, by the time the final horn went off, Ranger fans were reminded that they were still in the Lundswiss era, as Henrik Lundqvist put on such a regal and majestic performance, by giving up 7 goals. KING!
Today’s game, as you can tell, was an NBC game. That means no M$G Networks and no pregame show. Instead, fans were treated to a 25 minute delay and to a bigger conman than James Dolan himself, in Joel Olsteen. Yes, Joel Olsteen was on the TV, rather than a normal pregame show.
There were some changes to the Rangers line-up from yesterday. Of note, Georgiev, after being ruled out all weekend, was back. Halverson was sent back to Hartford. Here’s what the Rangers brought to the ice:
Warmup:
Nash-Zibanejad-Buchnevich
Grabner-Hayes-Zuccarello
Vesey-Desharnais-Fast
McLeod-Holland-MillerSkjei-Pionk
Holden-DeAngelo
Gilmour-SproulLundqvist
— Justin Tasch (@J_Tasch) February 18, 2018
The first period, is what some people would call “Old Time Hockey.” If this was old time hockey, it shows you how much the game has got soft. I guess in the age of concussions, it had to. However, was this “OLD TIME HOCKEY”? I mean, there was not one drop of blood or loose tooth on the ice.
To compare this game to the days of the Broadstreet Bullies or to the days of Gordie Howe, would be wrong. This game had a few scraps, but this wasn’t the days of old.
15 seconds into the game, Pavel Buchnevich and Shayne Gostisbehere got into an abridged fight. It’s tough to say who won the altercation. Ivan Drago, Pavel Buchnevich is not. However, he did fall on top of his opponent, so I guess that’s a win:
Pavel Buchnevich with a late hit on Travis Konecny.
Shayne Gostisbehere steps in and fights Buchnevich. pic.twitter.com/yRxVCIrbPO
— Broad Street Hockey (@BroadStHockey) February 18, 2018
For the record, this is the first fighting major for both players.
Then, 1:15 later, with 90 seconds expired, Kevin Hayes re-directed a Ryan Sproul shot for a goal that Lundswiss usually gives up:
KEVIN HAYES REDIRECTS ONE HOME AND THE RANGERS LEAD EARLY! pic.twitter.com/8HkuK71elN
— NHL Daily 365 (@NHLDaily365) February 18, 2018
With Michael Neuvirth in net, the Rangers seemed hungry for goals. Hayes got the cheap one here, but hey, a goal is a goal and you can’t score if you don’t shoot. Sproul put it right there and boom, good guys up 1-0. However, you knew it wouldn’t last with Henrik Lundqvist on the other end, as Lundswiss has sprung more leaks than a levee during Hurricane Katrina.
Three minutes after the Hayes goal, Lundswiss blew his first lead of the game:
Wait. WHAT?!? pic.twitter.com/gCoSlci9yh
— Olympic Hockey on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) February 18, 2018
The best part about this goal was Micheletti and the announcers making up deflections. The puck wasn’t deflected. Lundswiss just sucked and didn’t track the puck right. By the time this game was over, it seems that Lundqvist gave up a goal through every hole and above & below every limb as well. Highest paid goalie in the league! To quote Andre from “The League”, CHILD PLEASE!
At the half-way mark of a really fun period of hockey, and really, this first period was exactly what the NHL needs for a national broadcast, Rick Nash scored on a rebound. Skjei took a long shot, Neuvirth over-extended and Nash played clean-up duty for the easy goal. 2-1 good guys.
After the goal, Wayne Simmonds and Tony DeMAGAngelo went at it. Not a strong showing for the Philly native, as Ranger killer, Wayne Simmonds, got the better of this one:
👊Wayne Simmonds vs. Tony DeAngelo 👊 pic.twitter.com/fqGfpuglpL
— Broad Street Hockey (@BroadStHockey) February 18, 2018
I have mixed feelings on Wayne Simmonds. On one hand, I think he’s a dirty piece of shit and I don’t forget that cheap shot on McDonagh, from two seasons ago. On the other hand, I’d love him on my team. He’s the player you love to hate, but want wearing your sweater. The guy is liable to have a Gordie Howe hat trick on any given night.
Oh and I guess the easy joke to make here, is Simmonds, a black man, was fighting Tony DeAngelo, a vocal Trump supporter. However, I’m too classy for that! Yea, right!
Seriously though, fuck Wayne Simmonds, but I’d be the first one cheering for him if he ever put on the Rangers blue.
After the fight and 75 seconds after the Nash goal, King No Cup blew his second lead of the game. Here’s Scott Laughton, making easy work of the overpaid one:
SCOTT LAUGHTON GETS WIDE OPEN IN THE SLOT AND TIPS ONE HOME FIVE-HOLE TO TIE IT BACK UP AT 2! pic.twitter.com/WyTcECP67S
— NHL Daily 365 (@NHLDaily365) February 18, 2018
2-2 game.
After the goal, we had another fight, this time with McLeod and Weise. I’ve had it with McLeod. The time to fight was in Nashville. Cut him.
With McLeod and Weise joining the penalty box, Lundswiss, despite being spotted two seperate leads, gave the Flyers the lead for the first time all game. Here’s Mr. “Give Me Two Goals And I Got This”:
BRANDON MANNING WALKS INTO THE SLOT UNTOUCHED AND SLAMS HOME A BEAUTY! FLYERS LEAD 3-2! pic.twitter.com/eeJH94bLzj
— NHL Daily 365 (@NHLDaily365) February 18, 2018
3-2 bad guys, with a little over five minutes to play in the first period. While this was an odd-man rush, Lundswiss was way out of position and you know, as the league’s highest paid goalie, it would be cool if he could stop a puck every now and then. I guess it’s just easier to blame your defense, stare at the coach and then cry about your split ends in the locker room.
At this point in the game, I thought with the momentum, the Flyers weren’t going to look back. However, Hank’s little buddy, Mats Zuccarello, gave life to the Rangers once again, as he scored with under three minutes remaining in the first frame:
Zuccarello, more goals #NYR pic.twitter.com/hv0GTA6Ptw
— Rob Taub (@RTaub_) February 18, 2018
3-3, tie game and that was your score as time expired on the first period.
This first period was a great period to introduce the game to a new fan. It had everything.
On the Rangers side, I thought Zuccarello played one of his stronger games of the season, as for once, he just kept shooting. He didn’t make the extra pass to nowhere, as he’s been so prone to. In fact, he led the team with 7 shots. Zucc leading the team in shots is like seeing Lundqvist hold onto a two goal lead against the LA Kings! It just doesn’t happen.
What I found funny, is NBC trying to sell Lundqvist as a relevant star. He was the focus of their advertising and the focus of most of the broadcast. The announcers had to keep making up excuses for the goals he gave up in the first period. They talked about the odd-man rush goal, but they didn’t extend the same courtesy to Neuvirth, who gave up a similar goal to Zuccarello. The bias just never ends. Having Micheletti there doesn’t help matters either.
Speaking of Neuvirth, it seemed like he tore his asshole when trying to make a stop on Zucc. He would be pulled from the game after the first period. In his place, out of the lair came Alex Lyon. For forty minutes, IN HIS FIRST GAME, the AHLer out-dueled the highest paid loser in the league.
You read that right. ALEX FUCKING LYON, A 25 YEAR OLD KID, SEEING NHL ICE FOR THE FIRST FUCKING TIME, OUTPLAYED SOME ASSHOLE CALLING HIMSELF A KING.
Oh and how about this:
ALEX LYON MAKES $875,000. HENRIK LUNDWISS IS A $8.5M cap hit.
The Brave and Strong Lyon would slay the Cowardly Swedish Lion, as Alex Lyon would make 25 saves on 26 shots. Lundswiss would finish up with a .811 save percentage. Get the man a scepter!
In other words, there was only one king in this game and it was THE LYON KING!
Oh and speaking of Lundswiss, how about these numbers, which don’t include his terrible performance from today:
The second period started off like so many Ranger periods this season – an early goal. However, instead of giving up a goal in the first two minutes, Nolan Patrick waited until the 2:01 mark. Good for you Henrik:
Here’s Nolan Patrick, taking advantage of Lundqvist’s juicy rebounds:
NOLAN PATRICK GETS ALL ALONE IN FRONT AND SHELFS THE REBOUND! 4-3 FLYERS! pic.twitter.com/QwkSgmHgPQ
— NHL Daily 365 (@NHLDaily365) February 18, 2018
4-3, bad guys. As a Giants/Rangers fan, all these Philly wins are nauseating.
The Rangers didn’t give up yet. Peter Holland, of all people, got his first ever NHL career goal:
PETER HOLLAND SCORES HIS FIRST AS A RANGER AND IT’S KNOTTED UP AT 4! pic.twitter.com/fbBYwub9ZJ
— NHL Daily 365 (@NHLDaily365) February 18, 2018
4-4.
Unfortunately for the Rangers, in the battle between a goalie lionized among his deluded fans and a goalie with the last name of Lyon, it was the rookie besting the overrated one. Lyon would clam up the rest of the game, while Hank, like a cheap hooker looking for meth money, kept spreading his legs. It was a goal party and Hank kept the feel-good vibe in Philly going. Too bad Philly fans won’t trash Sweden!
Damn, I’m going long, but shit, there were a ton of goals. I gotta say, this was a fun game to watch, especially if you had no rooting interest. I was proud to see the Rangers score four goals and keep on fighting, but when you have bad goaltending, you’re not gonna win many games.
With under five minutes to go in the period, Lundswiss gave up the five spot:
TRAVIS KONECNY WIRES HOME A BEAUTY! 5-4 FLYERS! pic.twitter.com/WdxoKL995Q
— NHL Daily 365 (@NHLDaily365) February 18, 2018
That goal was soft as shit and presented to you by Mr. Softie. It’s a shame, that goal was the game winner. 5-4 bad guys. Maybe Hank should amend his quote to “GIVE ME 3 TOUCHDOWNS, 2 FIELD GOALS, A SAFETY AND A MICHELETTI HAND JOB AND I GOT THIS!”
After this goal, NBC had to stop blowing smoke up Hank’s ass. Even the Garden started giving Hank the “Bronx Cheer” treatment. On cue, was Micheletti, fanning the flames and pouring out his undying love for Lundqvist.
Despite Henrik looking like doo-doo, AV did not pull Lundqvist, even with Alexandar Georgiev willing, ready and able.
It was at this point in the game, that I realized AV was going to make Lundswiss pay for the stare and his post game comments from the Ottawa game. I think if Philly scored 100 goals (possible with Hank in net) there was just no fucking way AV was going to pull Hank. Like Pig Vomit in “Private Parts”, he was going to house-train this bitch puppy. I think when it’s all said and done, as stated yesterday, AV, like Tortorella, will lose this battle against the coddled and entitled goalie.
The Rangers would try to come back in the third period, but to no avail. Rookie goalies are the Rangers kryptonite. The Flyers would add two more goals in the third, from Claude Giroux and Jori Lehtera, pushing the score to 7-4, in favor of the bad guys. Of note, for Lehtera, it was his first NHL goal. How many first ever NHL goals has Hank given up over the years? It’s gotta be 100+ easy.
I said this last night – every time you think the Rangers can’t get any lower, they find a new way. Whether it was the consecutive Islander drubbings, the Senators having their way or today against the Flyers, it just gets worse and worse.
As stated, I think we’ve now reached the point where we have Vigneault vs Lundqvist. As I’m doing this blog, I’m hearing rumors about a Rangers press conference tomorrow. By allowing Lundqvist to hang out there to dry, despite it being the right move, AV may have sealed his fate. This organization will always support Lundswiss no matter what.
Speaking of Hank and AV, take a look at their press conferences. I found each man taking veiled shots at the other:
Lundqvist needs to stop using the tired excuse. You’re paid the most money in the world at your job. Man up bitch. I just came off working 7 days a week, for three months straight. No one wants to hear you whining about being drained.
In closing on this game, I just think it’s gonna get worse. I feel bad for anyone who overpaid for a ticket today to see this shit.
I know the NHL season is a roller coaster and I’m aware of all the NYR injuries, but really, even me, still clinging hope for the playoffs, just a week ago, is throwing in the towel.
There’s no way this AV vs Hank thing gets better, and with Hank in Montreal, where he routinely gets shellacked, maybe we’ll have our Patrick Roy incident for real. Then again, who knows if AV even makes it to Montreal?
I really sympathize with AV a bit, because he doesn’t have his full roster and it’s not his fault management failed him. He’s stuck with Lundswiss. It’s a losing battle for a coach when the star player wields more power than you. That’s why the NBA is in the terrible shape that they are in.
When a player has more influence than a coach, it lessens the authority of the coach. However, the Rangers can dig up Jack Adams, beg Scotty Bowman to come out of retirement, give Keenan another go, cross their fingers that Chicago tells Quenneville to take a hike, but at the end of the day if the goal of the franchise is to build around this goalie, it will only add that much more time to an eventual Stanley Cup victory.
The Rangers have two days off, practice Wednesday and will play Montreal, in Quebec, on Thursday. For both Original 6 teams, both saddled with bad goalie contracts, both took a huge step backwards from the teams they once were, just a year ago.
I would say see ya Thursday night, but I have a feeling, with these three off days, something is going to happen. Whether it’s “See Ya AV”, some sort of major trade, or whatever, I just don’t see this team, that got spanked by Philadelphia, being the same team that pounds on poutine, come Thursday. We’ll see if I’m right.
If something major happens, I’ll be back with a quick update. If not, be prepared to hear this all Thursday night, with the King in the net:
Through the good and bad….
“Let’s Go Rangers”
Sean McCaffrey
BULLSMC@aol.com
@NYCTHEMIC on twitter
I respect your words as a fan of the Rangers I for one am very tired of Henrik Lundqvist and want him to go. I’m sick of the way he is playing sick of the excuses tired of the BS. Lundqvist gets paid 8.5million money we dream of yet normal people have to work bust there butts and get crapped on. Yet he has shitty games and goes back to work again. How can anyone call this guy their hero or king. He’s a freaking princess at best. We gave up our Cam Talbot for this BS. Talbot is missed big time and as a fan of him I was so glad Talbot got the time he did when Lundqvist went down. He took over and was excellent. He should have been given the playoff games. Something else I find interesting I think they keep putting him in nets (Lundqvist) just so he gets 20 to 30 wins. I mean really he can lose 10 straight and the 11th he will be in nets again. Do they really care about his personal stats or do we care about winning games to get into the playoffs. How about when he lost to Ottawa last playoffs, why wasn’t Raanta put in nets after game#2 or game#6 even. I’m hoping one day to wake up and the bad joke will be over with…………