Thank you Paul Newman.

Jaromir Jagr’s 2nd goal puts the Rangers up 3-0. Stanley Cup Playoffs, 2nd round, Game 4. May 1, 2008

comment on this photo at flickr

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The Blueshirt Bulletin with: Rangers Hab Another Comeback in Them

The game was certainly an interesting note to end the year on for the Rangers. Coming off a blowout of the Leafs the night before they came out strong but faded quite a bit in the second period. It is nice to see the team has a little fight and the ability to come back when down. That instinct and drive is something that hasn’t always been there in recent years.

Lets hope 2008 starts like 2007 has finished for the Rangers.

The NHL season is now in full swing — and though the ride has been a little bumpy the new season has brought some new or upgraded hockey web sites and game coverage.

Its déjà vu all over again.

The Rangers defenseman Michal Rozsival scores on the first shot on goal of the NHL season just 37 seconds into the game.

Last season Jaromir Jagr scored a goal on the first shot of the 2006-2007 season.

Not to be missed, off season acquisition Chris Drury getting his first point as a Ranger with an assist on the Rozy goal.

Its great to have hockey back.

Congratulations to the Anaheim Ducks for beating the Ottawa Senators 6-2 in game 5 of the finals to win the Stanley Cup.

I thought it was a tremendously fun series to watch from the sidelines. Even though Ottawa never seemed to be able to finish when they needed to the action was great, and for two teams that almost never play each other the familiarity and animosity built through the whole series. And the fans in both arenas totally into it for all 5 games.

Not DOM I, but Tie Domi.

Tie Domi set to announce retirement

The longtime Toronto Maple Leafs enforcer will officially make the announcement on Tuesday afternoon, a source told The Canadian Press.

Gonna miss him being in the league. He’ll always be one of my favorite Rangers even though he’s been one of /those/ Leafs for a decade. Always seemed to find his way into my FHL drafting too.

Look what showed up in my MyYahoo! sidebar:

There’s a ton of hockey stuff one can talk about this off season… from management who seems intent on awarding big contract after big contract just a season out of a lockout, to trade rumors about where Leetch will end up or if they’ll ever be another Pavel Bure or Theo Fluery sighting in North America. But the story I didn’t want to let just go by was the news that a group including Dan Marino and Mark Cuban made a bid for the Pittsburgh Penguins which has been rejected by the team.

While I’ve never really liked any of the logos in Buffalo Sabres history the newly proposed (leaked?) logo for the 2006-07 season is just far too swooshy and generic—and far too close to identity of the Buffalo Bills.

I’m clearly not the only one who doesn’t think much of the work. Fix The Logo is a site set up by Sabres fans hoping to gather support and convince the powers that be not to go through with these particular graphics.

Via new hockey blog On Frozen Pond comes word that the world’s oldest hockey stick will soon be put up for auction on eBay with proceeds going to charity.

Comes with its own custom 150lb glass display case—imagine the shipping!!!

That isn’t about the draft…

If you haven’t been up on some of pre-draft and during draft trades around the league here’s my quick take.

Demitra playing alongside Gaborik could turn out to be interesting.

The Toronto trade to get goalie Andrew Raycroft is an interesting one, but I think how some of their other roster issues flush out will be just as interesting if not more so.

I’m not all that surpised at the earlier deal moving Luongo although he seemed shocked by it. I had really expected him to wind up somewhere at the trade deadline but that obviously didn’t happen.

And then there’s Pronger.

It won’t be a boring off season for sure, though by the end of it I’m sure I’ll be sick of hearing the phrase “new NHL” by the end of it.

And if you want some more info on who actually got drafted yesterday check out Blueshirts Bulletin Liveblogging of the event (though he gets a bit crazy around 11:17pm).

What a great series that finished with a great game 7.

Huge props to the Oilers for making it close, trying to press for a comeback both in the series and in the 3rd tonight, but the ‘Canes deserved the win in the end.

Great end to a great hockey season.

Whatever could go wrong, did. Rangers took a beating from the Senators. Both Philly and NJ showed they could turn up the heat and come from behind to win important games. End result the Rangers go from first in the division to 3rd, and will play NJ in the first round of the playoffs as the away team.

But you all probably know that already.

Elsewhere, capping off the down night the Hartford Wolf Pack lost the first game of their AHL semi-finals round.

All in all a good night to forget capping a season that you can’t forget and it all starts from square one at 3:00 on Saturday.

OK, who was it that said the New York Rangers will make the playoffs again when hell freezes over?

With the 2 points gained in their shootout win over the Flyers tonight the New York Rangers are officially playoff bound for the first time since 1997.

I’ve nearly forgotten what post season hockey looks like when you care what team wins. I can’t wait to get reacquainted.

In the midst of a race for first place in the division the New York Rangers can back from beind down 4-2 to winning 5-4 in a shootout.

Opening his press conference after the game coach Tom Renney states:

The biggest concern is I’ve got to wear this blazer again.

So, was the win attributed to the luck of the blazer, or was it Jaromir Jagr who seems to be breaking Rangers records on a nightly basis, tonight tying Graves for most goals ever by a Ranger in a single season with 52 and tying the point total record of 109 dating back to Jean Ratelle.

Or Henrik Lundquist who came off the bench after two periods to make the game winning saves in OT and tie the Rangers record for most wins by a rookiee?

You decide.

Via Battle of Ontario comes a short list of The Worst Hockey Logos Ever!. It’s an interesting list of mostly non-NHL logos all of which I agree are pretty bad. Like this Vancouver Voodoo’s logo:

But I think there’s something old-tyme-y about this Brandon Wheat Kings logo:

Congrats to Team Sweden on winning the Gold in today’s final game of the 2006 Winter Olympics. Congrats also to Team Finland on a great tournament, winning Silver, and a hard fought and great final game to watch.

Final NY Rangers medal count form these games:

• Henrik Lundqvist, Goal, Sweden—Gold Medal
• Ville Nieminen, Forward, Finland—Silver Medal
• Marek Malik, Defense, Czech Republic—Bronze Medal
• Jaromir Jagr, Forward, Czech Republic—Bronze Medal
• Martin Rucinsky, Forward, Czech Republic—Bronze Medal
• Martin Straka, Forward, Czech Republic—Bronze Medal

Also making a showing for NYR and keeping me watching throughout the tournament:

• Darius Kasparaitis, Defense, Russia—Finished 4th
• Fedor Tyutin, Defense, Russia—Finished 4th
• Marcel Hossa, Forward, Slovakia—Lost in Quarterfinals

So, I guess my predictions didn’t come to be, but overall it was a great tournament to watch. For every blowout game there was great one to follow it up.

... and Marty Straka … and Martin Rucinsky … and Marek Malik.

As a Rangers fan there really is no winning outcome to todays Sweden vs. Czech Olympic hockey match up, is there? Either 3/4 of our scoring gets stopped, or the great rookie goalie Lundqvist gets pounded and takes a chunk out of his confidence.

But it very much is a must watch game and I hope to get to watch some between work.

Best possible outcome seems to be a 1-0 Czech win via shootout goal by Malik that Henrik can easily shrug off and lauch about the rest of the season (after going on to win bronze, of course).

From the game Preview @ TSN, Jagr on facing Henrik: ‘’I don’t know where I’m shooting, how is he supposed to know?”

How am I expected to get any real work done when theres Olympic hockey on all day every day?

Ugh!?

Emotional 4-3 win in overtime against the Flyers puts the Rangers in 1st in the Atlantic Division.

Just thought you should know.

Here’s the setup…

A goaltender decided to pay homage to Mike Tyson on a new helmet design.

Enough people were upset by this move and saw it as an endorsement by a sports star and role model of Tyson’s out of ring antics that the goalie was convinced not to wear the helmet again.

Sound entirely too odd for you? Well that’s exactly what happened this week with Ray Emery of the Ottawa Senators. From the CBC story:

Emery stirred up some bad press when he wore a Mike Tyson goalie mask in a 5-0 home loss to Boston on Monday night, so much so that he won’t be wearing the protective artwork again.

“We didn’t ask him not to wear the mask,” Senators general manager John Muckler said Tuesday. “We just had a discussion about what was right and what was wrong. He said he would take it off.”

Emery is a big boxing fan and has two other masks painted with his favourite pugilists — one with Marvin Hagler, a former middleweight champ, and another with Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight champion.

“He told me the reason he put Tyson on his mask is because he was an idol of his, as a boxer,” said Muckler. “He knows now that [Tyson] he’s lost that right because of his conviction as a rapist and also as a female abuser. And he told me he would take the mask off.”

Also covered by SportsFilter and commentary on a related poll at Battle of Ontario. The poll question: Should Ottawa Senator’s backup goalie Ray Emery be told (by Sens management) he is a role model to children & should get rid of his helmet saluting disgraced boxer Mike Tyson?

As if one bad logo wasn’t enough, it appears the NHL is set to introduce a handful more. Posted on the SportsLogos.net boards are what are reportedly the new logos for the Conferences and the Stanley Cup Finals (Final?).

Bad Logos, Bad Bettman!

• 2006 Stanley Cup logo
• NHLs ‘new’ conference logos

While none of these can touch the style of Malik’s shootout goal earlier this season, The Toronto Star writers have gathered together video of some of this year’s best regulation goals.

That Zherdev goal is great.

We’re halfway through the regular season and as a Rangers fan who didn’t think we’d do much of anything I’ve been very pleasantly surprised. I’m still not convinced on a number of rules changes, (and its not just the bad officials), the goalie trapezoid is odd, the automatic penalty for delay of game when a puck goes over the boards has no brains, and I can’t say I’m upset about not seeing a shootout in a few weeks.

But enough about me, here are some stories worth checking out:

• Some fan hopped on the ice during a Canadians practice and took a few shots on Jose Theodore. The Toronto Star wonders who is this fan?.
• Former Devil Petr Sykora is now a Ranger and Joe McDonald of NY Sports Day tells us why its a good deal.
• And the Rangers rookies keep burning things up and making a name for themselves in the league. Newsday on Lundquist’s last shutout. Hopefully that trend continues tonight.

The shootout in last night’s Rangers – Caps game went to the 15th round (yes.. 15… ). You get that deep into your roster and you end up with the oddest choices of players to come off the bench and “win” the game. But after the goal I saw scored by Marek Malik on Kolzig I’m thinking maybe coaches should start at that end of the lineup.

Through the legs for the win!!!

Video Here

[link and image grabbed from the Hockeybird Forums]

It was a hat trick by Pavol Demitra on free hat giveaway night. Watch the video [WMV] from Friday night’s game in Los Angeles and take cover!

After a close game earlier in the week the “first place” Rangers got blown out by first place Carolina... and though Eric Staal had a goal early, he wasn’t the huge offensive factor you’d expect with a 5-1 score. Instead it was Kevyn Adams with his first NHL hat trick.

But enough about that ugliness, here are some hockey links from around the web the last few days:

• Author of blog Off Wing Opinion got invited to watch a game with caps owner Ted Leonsis (hmm.. if I started writing about hockey more do you think the Dolans would notice? nahh)
• I came across Battle of Ontario this week after seeing a link to their coverage of Tuesday’s game. Tossed in my regular reading list.
• Also in regular rotation after launching a month ago The New York Hockey Report—a downloadable video based hockey show.
• And lastly, rewind to the beginning of the week for this story from the Daily News on Tom Renney

Now that was a fun night of hockey that ended in Henrik Lundqvist’s first NHL shutout – not even OLN’s coverage could ruin it. Here’s a little roundup from the hockey blogs I’ve been following to help get you in the mood:

• Hockeybird: Can You Say Shutout?
• Puck Update: Goalie Kings (on former Ranger prospect LaBarabara)
• Toronto Star Blogs Hockey Page: Who needs practice?
• SportsFilter: Havlat goes five-hole
• Hockeyrodent: Just 893 To Go – Sawchuk’s Shutout Record In Jeopardy Too (ok now, the rookies are doing well, but lets not get too excited)

And as much as I’m hating the OLN personalities, and Clement getting the name of the wining goalie wrong TWICE after the game, I’ll probably be watching whatever they air tonight.

I will be watching the Rangers play their first game that means anything in the last year and a half (or much longer, depending on your definition of ‘means anything’).

Messier retires after 25 NHL seasons

I can’t say the last couple years have been memorable, but for many other reasons then that I’ll be happy to see Mark Messier’s #11 up in the rafters at MSG come a fitting January game against the Oilers. No complaining from me today about the age of the Rangers, and no jokes about the senior league or photoshopped pics of Mess on the ice in a wheelchair. Just a simple…

Thank You.

Sorry Miroslav, theres a new “most fun” hockey name to say…

Yutaka Fukufuji, who played with the Japan’s national ice hockey team three times, displays his Los Angeles Kings jersey during a news conference in Tokyo Thursday, Aug. 18, 2005. The Tokyo-born goalie, 22, reported Japanese media that he and the Kings of the National Hockey League agreed to a two-year entry level contract earlier this month. Six-foot-1 and 170 pounds Fukufuji was selected by the Kings 238th overall in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

Hockey will be back, with some good changes, and some bad (I’ll try and keep the shootout ranting to a minimum, and maybe even give it a chance), but one change that I’m real iffy on is the fancy new NHL logo. Saw it online last week and was very meh, but over the weekend while watching Hockey Is Back (audio and vid available) it just didn’t click with me at all. Silver just doesn’t translate to sliver anywhere and I keep thinking I’m looking at the black and white version of the logo instead of the real one.

Hockey Players and Owners Reach a Deal! Though it still needs to be ratified its finally the real thing!

Thank God that’s finally over with, watching the hockey sites the last few weeks have been almost as painful as the first few weeks with all the rumors and leaks.

Time to gear up for a few months of trying to keep up with free agent signings, players staying overseas, learning the new players, salary cap troubles, and cursing at the freakin genius who thinks shootouts are a good idea.

Oh, and finally…

LETS GO RANGERS!

Now who in the world would want to start a hockey blog at the end of a season that never happened? I have no idea, but the folks(s?) at You Wanna Go? have and not only is it a clean and readable design, but its really nice to see something other then depressing news about the state of the labor talks. Instantly added to my Hockey category in NNW right next to Hockeybird and PuckUpdate.

If you care, you know by now… the talks last weekend were either bunk or went nowhere depending on what the reports you read. Seasons done. Again. For the last time.

Just when I thought that I was out they pull me back in.

I guess its finally, officially, no returning to the bargaining table at the last minute for the 4th time over. At long last I can stop visiting TSN and ESPN a few times a day hoping for some good news… I’m really in no mood to follow all the finger pointing and accusations that the next few weeks are sure to be full of.

Word from ESPN is that an announcement will come as early as today that the NHL season is officially cancelled.

An NHL team owner who is requesting anonymity said that — barring a major, unforeseen turnaround — he expects the league to make an announcement canceling the rest of the 2004-05 season either after Thursday’s meeting or Friday, EJ Hradek of ESPN the Magazine has learned.

It was pretty clear looking at the last ownership proposal that they had no real care to negotiate anything with the players. To take the 24% salary rollback proposed by the players and simply wrap it into the owners initial proposals… well I’m still flabbergasted. The folks at hockeybird seem to agree.

What next? Who knows. More rentals from Netflix to occupy my TV watching time while the players all move overseas and the owners find some people willing to play for peanuts.