DEFENDING STANLEY CUP CHAMP BRUINS ATTEND SHADY WEST HOLLYWOOD SEX PARTY DURING WEST COAST ROAD TRIP

HAPPY HALLOWEEN from The Blueshirt Brigade!

in the spirit of Halloween, here are the Top Scary Masks in hockey

Gerry Cheevers. Tuff.


Best Ranger Halloween Mask? Gilles Gratton. Before my time, but imagine coming into the zone against this maniac. He may bite you if you're in his crease.


BOO! Then again, maybe the Rangers could take some shootout cues from Youngblood, ya think?


Clint Benedict. Creepy. This mask screams "I keep severed heads in my refrigerator."


Who own da Chiefs? Ownz. Ownz.


Hey Ref, what about that slash?


Marty Brodeur, straight chillin'


Even though they were the Oakland Seals, Gary Simmons takes matters into his own hands and has his guy paint a giant cobra in the center of his face. Kind of a "me" move, but I dig the paint job.


Blueshirts still looking for their first win at the Garden and their first 60 minute effort. Fans finally got a glimpse of our new offensive potential on Saturday, with Richards netting 2 and Gabby grabbing 3 points, but the afternoon was tainted by another terrible team collapse.

Let's turn it around already boys. Go Blue!

Torts Crossing The Line(s)--Rangers Dump Opener In Leafs' Lap

Frustrating return home last night for the New York Rangers, who jumped out of the gate with their best period of the season only to see their efforts crumble internally under the pressure of a better, more offensive Toronto club; frustrating for the fans who shelled out, on average, more money for a ticket to the freshly renovated Garden; frustrating for the Blueshirts themselves, who are collectively struggling to find offense, put together a solid 60 minute effort, and build on last year's gritty blue-collar identity which from what I've seen this year is severely diluted, if not completely lost, amidst soft fore-checking pressure, lackluster puck control and what seems like a different line combination every shift; lastly, and I know this may not be popular, but I think it's frustrating for the coaching staff who would probably love to keep the lines consistent but have their backs up against the wall with a group of forwards who are not executing the game plan, reverting to rookie mistakes, taking ridiculously undisciplined offensive zone penalties, and not, for the most part, scoring.

The problem is, what do you do? I know what Rockin' Ronnie Duguay would prescribe:



*artwork by Randi Fusco

And maybe Duguay is right. Torts seemed to think so in his post game, stating there are lot of guys struggling with confidence, but he also said that asa team we are mentally and physically soft. It was an honest assessment from the coach who defended his players by not slighting any one individual and saying that we'll work through this as a club. But is the way the coach works through problems a help or a hindrance to the Blueshirts?

14 different line combinations were used by the Rangers last night in a desperate attempt to create some offense. It could be argued that even when things are seemingly going well, Torts shuffles up his lines too much. It's hard to grow a garden when the seasons change every few minutes instead of every few months. It's going to take some time with this club. The coach has admitted it, the players have admitted it. Why not TRUST the assessment and let the lines grow a little, even if they fail for a while. I don't think the chemistry is the problem, we have almost the same group of guys we had last year and they all want to win--I think the problem is the players themselves. Keep them in more of a routine of linemates and force them to be better, not only culpable in postgame interviews, but from shift to shift.

Look at the defense, for example. We lose Staal unexpectedly but the D combinations have stayed fairly regular and the individuals have, for the most part, risen to the occasion. Keep the offensive lines fairly regular and push better individual efforts out of everyone. At least then you can't put any blame on "confusion" or a "muddled" approach. If we fail, we fail as a players.

WORKIN' THE POINTS

Secondary Scoring
Last year the issue was Gaborik. The team had guys come out of nowhere to put up career goal-scoring numbers and carry the squad while Gabby was struggling and everyone said, if #10 was in form this team would be unstoppable. Now Gaborik IS in form, consistently the best Blueshirt on the ice, and making the individual effort to drive to the net and create chances, but no one else is scoring. The pressure on Lundqvist and Biron to be perfect every night mounts and in all honesty, aside from the 4 goal 3rd period explosion in Vancouver, Hank and Marty have stolen 2 wins for their club with outstanding play, a shut out and a 27-28 save performance, respectively. Last night The King was off. It happens. Shots squeezed through him that normally don't, and he was caught out of his net twice during scrambles in front that fortunately didn't result in goals. But the team couldn't pick him up, even though he did what he could to pick up the team by stopping not 1 but 2 breakaways from the league's leading scorer Phil Kessel.

Boyle? Anisimov? Dubinsky? Stepan? Callahan? Richards?
Of course I'd like to see more offense from all of these guys, but what is more irksome and troubling to me is the puck control. Where is it? Last year Cally and Dubi could keep a puck in the offensive zone for minutes at a time, even if it was just them on the shorthand, this year--if they get it deep at all--they are one shot and out. Richards is clever but not consistently dynamic, a few times he's only narrowly avoided having neutral zone passes picked off when he's the last guy back on the PP breakout He is at his best on the perimeter: behind the net, in the corners and at the point, but we're simply not controlling the puck enough in those areas, having trouble most times even dumping it deep (cue the Anisimov giveaway last night off a rush, that led to a disheartening Leafs goal).

Eric Christensen
I know fans were ready to leave him at the bus stop in Northern Alberta, or anywhere along the way, but I've always liked him even though he's inconsistent and massively underwhelming--the thing is, he is one of the few Rangers who can be a game changer. His twisted wrister is so dangerous that he can take a seemingly harmless play and turn it into a Red Light rally from almost anywhere in the offensive zone...but he only has 1 shot this season! He is probably only in the lineup in case we go to a shoot out, which we've only done once so far, and he missed. And not on a deke either, which kills me.

Come on EC. When are you gonna release the beast on us??

*artwork by Randi Fusco


Fighting
I thought the tides turned for us right when Newbury got his ass pummeled to start off the 1st period. He took about 30 punches to the dome in a span of 15 seconds. I like Newbury a lot, and this isn't a critique of his toughness or his pugilistic skills, but during a home opener it's frustrating as all hell to have the only fight of the night be a one-sided affair that built momentum for the road team. Nobody else wanted to get involved I guess. Not too cool.




The good news is that it's early in the season--October--and we have a nice home stand to get used to the new ice, new boards and, as will likely happen, new linemates. Afternoon battle against the struggling Senators on Saturday. Let's get after it!

Welcome Back To The World's Most Famous Arena

So much to be pumped about tonight:

Rangers finally home.

Callahan captaincy official.

Richards' first game in front of the Garden Faithful.

New MSG renovations.

Michael Sauer back on D.

A chance to hold Phil Kessel in check.


but all I really want to hear is this:




LETS GO RANGERS!!!

Rangers Grab 2 Points To Close Out Road Trip

Damn, that's so tiiiiny. No offense to you, Marty


To a man I'm sure The Rangers would tell you that they weren't at their best in last night's tustle against The Jets--the final game of a 7 game road trip that brought them from Sweden to Manitoba--but they were good enough to get the win and that's all that matters. Offensively we didn't bring enough shots and pressure to the net, but we managed a Fedotenko power play goal and a long overdue Callahan score to eek out Winnipeg's lone tally. Defenisively, we showed a lot of resiliency as the puck was in our end most of the game. Biron was steady and at times sparkling in his first start since an injury took him out of the lineup last Spring, and an extra long, threatening shift for Richards and Prust in the defensive zone protected the lead. Again, I don't think anyone could say it was a good looking win, but it was 2 points nonetheless, gave us a 3 and 1 record on this Western Canada tour, and some momentum for the Blueshirts and their fans to gear up with moving into the awaited home opener Thursday night against Phil Kessel and the Maple Leafs.

Rangers No Show The Saturday Night Dance In Edmonton

Ouch.

What a diva.

True, though.

Soft loss for the Blueshirts late Saturday night. With an exception of Gaborik and maybe Brandon Prust, no one showed up to play the game the right way. Undisciplined offensive zone penalties continue to boggle fans and plague this team's sustain. Our no-urgency 5 on 3 man advantage was demoralizing and ill-timed, as a tally would've put us right back in the contest tied at 1 apiece. Instead, Dubinsky hesitated on the back door, Richards missed the net and sent Taylor Hall down the other way on a 2-zone breakaway, and Stepan sent the best chance of the entire PP up into the rafters on a shanked one-timer. Torts benched most of his team in the 3rd period and scrambled the lines with the leftovers-- I'm sure the ride to Manitoba wasn't a smooth one. Defenseman Brendan Bell had a decent start in his NHL debut showcasing some speed and defensive saavy, but it was overshadowed by a costly pinch that sprung Taylor Hall on a long 3 on 2 where he dished to the trailing 18 year-old phenom Ryan Nugent-Hopkins for the Oiler's first goal. Dubi got caught in no-man's land on the penalty kill as ex-Rangers Corey Potter blasted a slapper from the point for the Oilers other tally.

The only positives out of this game were that Lundqvist admitted he left the game because of his skates bothering his feet and not a more serious injury, and this seemingly unending road-trip (Sweden to Winnipeg and seven games between) comes to a close Monday night against the Jets and then it's time to get the Garden crowd factoring into this season. Hopefully that will help us in establishing ourselves and pushing better 60 minute efforts out of this road-weary bunch.

2 IN A ROW

A physical bout in Alberta last night brought the team even closer together as the Blueshirts didn't back down from the home team Flames and their first period fisticuffs. While we weren't always pushing the gas pedal into attack mode, The Rangers never released it either and kept steady pressure on Calgary who surprisingly weakened as the game went on, settling for puck dump-ins with no chase, and shotless power plays late in the 3rd period. The most involved the crowd got after a 2 goal first period was to jeer Ranger rookie Tim Erixon every time he touched the puck, a sour grapes reaction to the defenseman refusing to sign (and therefore ever play) with Calgary before being dished to the Rangers late this summer.

Heading into the 3rd frame with the game knotted, the Blueshirts found themselves with the same opportunity they worked for in Vancouver: a chance to steal a W on the road. Instead of a 4 goal explosion though they persevered with outstanding defensive and neutral zone play and tenacious penalty kills, including a nail-biter with less than 3 minutes left in regulation to earn the well-deserved point in the standings. But why not 2? Ok, sure. Ryan McDonagh took care of it, banging home a Girardi rebound that missed the net (did he do it on purpose?) to complete a phenomenal end to end effort by Brandon Dubinsky.

The clock had 0.5sec remaining. (human reaction time, I think it was 1.8)

The celebration was awesome.



So lets WORK THE POINTS, shall we?

1) G. Money and B. Rad -- Gabby is right where he needs to be, leading the Rangers with 4 goals in 5 games, and Richards is the only Blueshirt with a point in every game. They may not be Kane and Toews, but the combination is working for us and I think they'll just get better. Gaborik is getting tons of quality chances, a regular reward, and all in all just seems more confident on the ice. My brother observed he's "puck hungry" and I think that's a fair assessment. Gaborik's a shooter, and Richards is able to distribute once we get the puck in the offensive zone. And he doesn't necessarily have to distribute to Gaborik as we have seen--most of his assists are secondary--but his shiftiness, quick hands, vision and ability to anticipate make teams pay attention to him and Gaborik becomes almost an afterthought. And fortunate for the Blueshirts, a lethal one at that.

2) Henrik! Henrik!--Does it get any better than this? Un. Real.


3) Dubinsky --#17 has had a slow start, but he really picked it up last night in the second half of the game, spearheading two authoritative up-ice rushes, the latter of which resulted in the GWG. He also had a good OT 4 on 4 shift with Callahan and stood up for the Captain--who seemed to be getting keyed on by the Flames--early on when Iginla wanted to start the game off with a tussle. Once this second line hits full stride for the Rangers, watch out. Not there yet, but it's coming.

4) Monopoly Is Back At Mc Ds --We loved him last year when he stepped into a regular shift as a steady rookie blueliner, but this year so far Ryan McDonagh is controlling the board for the Blueshirts. His defense has been steady, but it's his skating which has allowed him to jump up into the offensive zone and cash in on some prizes. Not only did he light the lamp in overtime, but prior to that he also had our best chance in OT, grabbing a send-off pass from Gaborik and taking it in on a long 2 on 1 for a shot. American collegiate. Wisconsin. Getting it done with spirit. Love that NCAA!

5) Tim Erixon. --How bout this rookie? They boo him all game and he doesn't fold or make one glaring giveaway. Gamer.

WE'RE IN THE WIN COLUMN

"I know everyone is writing up their Season Recaps and taking a break from hockey, but it's not going to happen here"

This quote was from our season-ending wrap-up last April and as you noticed if you followed us this summer, we failed as a Ranger website. I'd like to apologize about that up front. This was our first year doing a full time hockey blog and I guess I underestimated how difficult it would be to stay interested in hockey when girls were walking around Manhattan in skimpy sundresses, the team was training in Europe and the Yankees were battling for a Pennant.

But now a slight nip in the air has begun to shred this comfortable Indian Summer, emails about men's league hockey have commenced, the renovations to the Garden are almost complete, and my hatred of the Red Sox has transitioned into a disdain for the Flyers, and the Devils, and the Penguins and the Islanders and any other team that stands in the way of a winning New York Rangers 2011-12 season!

And since the Blueshirts finally grabbed their first W, we can exhale and kick into gear here at The Brigade.

1) Lundqvist. PHENOMENAL effort and execution last night in Vancouver stopping multiple-scoring chance barrages for the shut out. We came out soft on our attack, but going into the 3rd tied at zero gave everyone the confidence we could pull this out.

2) Penalties. WTF? They completely kill our flow, and probably cost us the Islander game. By the way, did anyone else feel Torts' 10 pushup punishment was a little soft for this team's utter lack of discipline? I usually rip off at least a set of 25 while I wait for my morning toast to brown.

3) Del Z and Mc D. Both of these guys impressed me last night. Obviously Mc D had a big game with his give-and-go goal with Dubi and that unbelievable individual effort on Gaborik's tap in, but how 'bout Michael Del Zotto? The kid--and he is just a kid--recovers from a Sophomore slump spent mostly in Hartford after a highly touted rookie season as a 19 year-old and comes into the campaign this year with a humble, workhorse attitude to shoulder some big minutes while Staal is out. Despite getting burned outside/inside on a 3-on-2 he made some big plays defensively, and of course his offensive instincts got the Blueshirts on the board (Rupp slammed in the rebound on a Del Z slapper) to catapult a huge 3rd period.

Obviously the Rangers haven't scored a PP goal yet, so I can't truthfully say he's bringing a lot to the table in a man-up situation, but seeing the way he moved the puck with Richards in Vancouver was encouraging.

4) Powerplay. Speaking of which, we're O-fer. As usual our PP struggles to capitalize, but I think we've been getting good chances. I like how the puck moves across the blueline and then hits the opposite winger cutting in from the outer hashmarks through the high slot (last night it was Step). Seems like that lane stays open when other teams are aggressive to our points and it should provide some good scoring chances. I'd like to see us a little crisper along the wall with our decision making, but I think that will come.

5) Share The Wealth Last year the Rangers' production was pretty well-rounded and it proved essential because Gaborik had an off year and Prospal was hurt most of the season. This year, Gaborik is off to a much better start (3 goals in 4 games AND sunk a breakaway, finally) so if we can round out that scoring we may get that lethal Ranger 1-2-3 punch we've dreamed about. Glad to see Dubi, Prust, Feds and Boyle get on the scoresheet last night.

6) Enthusiasm. We've lacked it, but last night's 3rd period was as enthusiastic as I've been this season as a fan, and it's as enthusiastic as I've seen the squad. Big chance to pick up points tonight against Calgary and Saturday in Edmonton so let's pack the party bus for Alberta and work up another Win.