Okay so its not a full beard.
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]]>I found out from D.R.'s Comment (Thanks and confirmed with Yahoo) that Sean Avery was rushed to St. Vincent's last night with what Glen Sather is calling a lacerated spleen. No word yet on how he's doing, but he'll be out for the rest of the year, I'm thinking.
]]>I have absolutely no idea what happened. last night. We played like we were tired and just wanted it all to end. We now stand with our backs to the wall, with only two hockey teams ever climbing from a 0-3 deficit (The Leafs and Islanders). Even my confidence is hurt on this one, and I didn't even play.
What's sad is that at two of our guys may not come back. We all know about Jaromir Jagr's contract being up and his possibly leaving for Prague. For the playoffs, though, he seemed to wake up and play some great hockey. Brendan Shanahan's also going to consider retiring, as he's about 38 and the game tends to wear on the knees. He's talked about coming back for another season, but that remains to be seen. Either way, tomorrow could be their final games as Rangers or as players in the NHL.
Jay pointed out something to me regarding what both Renney and Lundqvist said. They both stated that they thought we didn't play bad last night. On the one hand, that cushions things for some of the younger players we have. We want them to feel as if they have something to contribute ( which of course they do). At the same time, we're looking for everyone to dig deep and understand that even when you think you given your all, you'd be suprised to find there more left in the tank. Yeah, we didn't play bad, and we can afford to lose a game or two in the regular season.
The goal in the Playoffs is just so much bigger, though. They don't say "Win or Go Home" for nothing. Just settling for "well, we weren't bad" isn't always great if you're unwilling to acknowledge the mistakes made (if any), regroup and come back.
So. What do we do now?
My boss has this saying he found. I don't know who said it, but it goes something like this:
"People can be remarkable when they believe they can do things. Those who believe they can accomplish their goals have already started on the path to success.".
We play one more game, maybe more if we're lucky. We keep trying. Impossible or bleak as it may appear, there still exists one more chance. The belief (or faith, if you choose to look at it as such) that this team could still climb out of the hole they're in is the first step. If they don't see it, we've already lost. A great deal of work (more than they may have ever known this season) is the next and bigger step.
I suppose that's easy to say, though, sitting on the other side of the glass. Tom Renney seems to believe this, though I'm not sure about the rest of the team. We lost leads due to our own mistakes, strange calls and a bit more speed in the Penguins favor. We'll just have to see what happens.
And if it doesn't work out, then there will probably be some rebuilding involved. This group will hit a quiet zone (as we would need to wait for the rest of the Playoffs to finish before seeing what kind of deals are going to be made coming down the pipe. Of Course, if I hear anything, I'll be sure to shout it out.
There's always another season starting on my birthday. :)
During my walk in Manhattan last night, I made my way to the NHL store. In the window, they had two mannequins: one in a Pens Jersey and the other in the Rangers one. That was cute.
What really caught my eye was the Montreal - Philadelphia game that was on all the tv screens there. In the last minute or so, it looked like Montreal pulled their goalie. The result of this was a madcap sliding/smacking/cracking and dishing by the Flyers. Now, I'm not a fan of these guys, but one has to respect the desperation they brought to that final minute.
And you know what? It paid off-they got the win and now lead their series, 2-1.
As for the Rangers, no more speeches. They know what the situation is. The game is tonight at 7pm on MSG, 1050 AM ESPN radio (if you're in New York) or streamed audio via NHL.com.
Let's Go Rangers!!!!
]]>The Moral of Matt Reeves' "Cloverfield" is this (in one run on sentence):
"If you have feelings for a friend that are reciprocated, let them know immediately. Just cut the crap. Life's made up of moments that shouldn't be wasted, because you'll never know when a 13 story tall monster will rise up and ravage the city, forcing you to realize just how much you really love them."
In short, it's the same formula used for Alias, which was "Felicity meets James Bond", only replace Bond with Godzilla. I'm expecting "Star Trek" to be "Felicity meets...well Star Trek".
I have to admit that the first time I saw this, it was late at night and I fell asleep on it. I just wanted to see monsters and it took too long to get to the goodies. Then again, Godzilla kind of did the same thing. The best way to have someone see this is to have them walk in right after the start of the film and let them think you're watching reality tv or a home movie. The visuals are pretty good (though the Statue of Liberty's head is not as small as it was rendered-people can fit inside it) and the handheld camera style has a shaky Blair Witch style to it, though not nearly as shaky.
The movie doesn't really contain any big name stars. There's Mike Vogel, who got his leg cut off and salt stuffed in the stump in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre Remake. There's
The story starts by telling you that what you are about to see is found footage retrieved by the government of a case known as "Cloverfield". The when is sometime in May. The story focuses on Rob Hawkins, who is getting ready to head out to Japan after landing some big job. His friends have decided to throw him a party and they've invited everyone, including his best friend, Beth MacEntyre(she's the Who, as in "Who's he doing all this for?"). It's viewed through the eyes of Hudson (nicknamed Hud, which makes sense as he's carrying the camera). Personally, Hud turned out to be my favorite of the characters.
Basically, Beth shows up to the party, but isn't alone. Rob confronts her regarding a secret and she leaves after some bitter words are said them. As Rob decides to fume, that's when all hell just breaks loose. He and his group of friends have to make their way out of the city, but Rob also realizes he has to get to Beth. This is the why when you ask yourself "Why haven't they gotten out yet?"
The where is lower Manhattan. The How is by a lot of walking.
"It's a bat, I'm telling you, a giant Bat!!" -Batman (1989)
The what, however is the Big Bad. For a modern day Godzilla movie, Cloverfield isn't half bad. Actually, compared to a lot of things in Godzilla, it's pretty damn awesome, especially when you wonder how parts of New York were filmed the way they were. Add to that the creature and it makes for a creeped out "you are there experience". The only problem here is with the creature itself. Personally, I was expecting something more along the lines of the Kraken in Dead Man's Chest or that giant beast at the end of The Mist. At least Godzilla had fire. This thing just wanders around like a drunk monkey or something.
What do we get? Well, to me, it looked like a giant bat without its wings. You'll have to decide when you see it, but it really wasn't all that "Ooooh" inspiring (or awe-inspiring for that matter). Then again, I've grown up looking at H.R. Giger rendered images most of my life, so this kind of pales in comparison. That's not to say the movie didn't have its jumpy moments...it does, but it just takes a while to get started. After it does, the pacing's pretty good. The movie does run a bit fast though. It doesn't even feel like an hour and a half, but I suppose that's a good thing.
One element that I did like was that movie causes you to pay attention to the backgrounds you're seeing. Whenever the camera isn't on a particular hero or heroine, I've managed to spot something (whether it's the time or something else). That's one of the fun parts of Cloverfield.
So, for the most part its a rental that may have you staring wide eyed the first time around, but the effect wears off after the second watching. Still one you may find themselves watching it more than once to find all the pieces of the puzzle.
]]>That one goal by Martin Straka should have been considered good, but it wasn't. It would have tied the game if it did.
We took a chance in pulling Lundqvist but let the puck get out of the zone. That's entirely the Rangers fault.
That brings us to now. What have the Rangers learned?
Well, hopefully it's that if they really want this, they're going to have to go for it, tooth and nail.
We find ourselves down 2-0 in this series, just as we did last year with Buffalo. Winning in Pittsburgh is hard, but perhaps the Home Ice Advantage can give us something on an edge here (though we'll still need to rely on some strong effort by the team). Before anyone starts calling this the end of the postseason, remember that we had a similar problem with the Buffalo Sabres last season, but managed to get the two games at home. Granted, we managed to lose that one in Buffalo - because of Chris Drury - but it goes to prove that anything can happen in Hockey.
The more I watch this series, the angrier I get at seeing Sidney Crosby on the ice. I'm not saying he's not good, but as the league's media darling, it almost feels as if everyone wants to see him win this thing (and is trying to move things in a position where this is the case). Of course, this is me being bitter. I look at Crosby and I see half of the kids I've played with on XBox Live. Kids who relish the idea of using every trick in the book to get a desired result (even if it breaks the rules) and then pat themselves on the back when it works out. Then again, I can't say we haven't done the same thing with Sean Avery and Martin Brodeur. I can't call out the Penguins without recognizing our own actions on the ice.
Ugh. Shooting for the Cup makes one do some strange things, I guess.
Okay, next goal for the Rangers (which I'm sure Renney is bringing up in between tearing up the locker room) is just to win tomorrow's game. Easier said than done, I know, but that's what the tapes of earlier games are for. While Crosby and Malkin are good, they aren't hockey gods, and we shouldn't look at them as such. This team can be beat. Forget the refs, forget power plays. The league won't give the team any help (nor should they, for that matter), so let's not expect any luck. We attack them and let them chase us.
We just keep trying. Simple as that.
Let's Go Rangers!!!!
]]>Tonight, the New York Rangers will make their second Second Round appearance in three years as they face off against Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Daily News is saying we can take them in six. I'm hoping it could happen in seven. The bottom line is that the Blueshirts have to concentrate on tonight and that seems to be where their collective minds are set. One game at a time, one goal at a time.
We don't have all the advantages we had with the Devils. It's hard to fill up Pittsburgh's seats, considering the diastance. Jagr's going to get both booed by the Pens fans and focused on by Ruutu and the other defensive lines. This could work to our favor. All the focus on Jagr could mean that the younger players (like Brandon Dubinsky or Nigel Dawes) could break out for a scoring run. Anything's possible in Hockey.
Pittsburgh has managed to acquire an impressive lineup in many of its stars. Their team is built to go for the Cup, but then again, so is ours. These teams are pretty much related. Sykora and Dupuis were both Rangers once, and Jagr and Straka were both Penguins once. Marc and Jordan Stahl (I believe its these two...there are four brothers out there) are squaring off against each other, which should prove interesting (though it's been said that their mom isn't too happy having to watch one of her boys take the fall).
The game starts tonight at 7pm on Versus. Right after that will be the other Lundqvist (Joel) and the Dallas Stars against Thorton, Roenick, Marleau and the San Jose Sharks in their own game one.
Let's go Rangers!!!!
]]>Okay so its not a full beard.
Congrats go out to both the San Jose Sharks and the Philadelphia Flyers for winning the first round of the series against Calgary and Washington, respectively. Now that the Quarterfinals are done, it's time to move on to the SemiFinals.
Crosby. Malkin. Sykora. Hossa. Ruutu. Fleury. The Penguins are one team we can't underestimate nor feel we can take down easily. As referenced in today's Daily News, The Rangers made the mistake of making boastful remarks against the Buffalo Sabres, igniting them to rise up and eventually beat us. This time around, we're taking things down a notch. Respect all around to our opponents, with the understanding that the Rangers are here to get through and win this series as much as they are.
The Penguins are a young team, which is a big advantage for them. While we have a young lineup (Dawes, Callahan, Dubinsky, Stahl, to name a few), our big name players are made up of Veterans, which could slow us down.
Our biggest advantage may be experience. We stood toe to toe against the Pens and could take them, but its going to require a lot of discipline. I personally will be shocked if there are less than 6 penalties handed out in Game One. If our Special Teams (the Penalty Killers who need to keep the puck out of our zone during a man down and the Power Play lines) step up, we may come out of this okay.
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