8-7-1: Smacking Cindy And Co. Around

The Rangers won tonight, yay! My Scotty Hockey jersey is 5-0 at games so far. Boo ya and all that. I am stuck on a train that is stopped due to a 'pedestrian accident' so I have some time to craft my rants. Something tells me they still will be random ...:

*In warmups Dubi was tossing pucks up into the crowd to kids. It is always heartwarming and proved to be good karma as the kid scored his first goal and had a helluva game.

*Other warmup notes (that I scribbled on a napkin):
-Georges Laraque did his hair up in cornrows now; how ridiculous -- it still won't give him any ghetto cred, he plays hockey.
-The pucks used during the warmups are no longer plain black, they have a NHL shield on them. Its a nice touch and makes for a great souvenir.
-Marc Andre Fleury's pads looks like the color of pee after you have some vitamins and not enough water. Gross.
-Do you think Mark Recchi and Gary Roberts are members of AARP yet? Recchi skated like he was wearing Depends and Roberts played like a grumpy old man - and thankfully acted like it when Sean pissed him off. Go Sean!

*Marcel Hossa. Goddammit. Dude. Seriously. You suck. Yes, there were two nice board-shaking hits. Yes, there were also two, maybe three serious scoring chances that you blew. With Straka out this is your time to shine so better shape up because Dawesie has played great and earned that roster stop of yours.

*I have to mention Cindy Crosby. The Rangers did a really good job limiting his chances but man, that girl has skill. Thankfully it wasn't enough this evening.

*His boy Malkin also played a good game, in a sneaky-good kind of way. He slipped through the Rangers D to pop up and get really good scoring chances. Good thing Hank was there to save the day.

*I know that I am going to sound like a broken record, and I know that some of you are going to wave his goal in my face, but Rozy has to sit a game. He has become virtually incompetent in the Rangers end. Thank goodness Staal has been there to bail him out most times. When Malik returns, we may not be so lucky.

*I mentioned Staal. Ours greatly outplayed theirs (who looked like he got hurt at one pojnt). Marc's little brother was serviceable this evening but Marc just played a fantastic game shutting down the Pens and making up for Rozy's mistakes.

*The last two games Tyutin and Girardi have played well but not as well as they had. Maybe it is because they are seeing more ice time than ever and are tired, or it is because they are now being matched against the opponent's top line so life is harder for them. But they have to step up, if only because Mara and Studwick are so bad.

*Ring a' ding ding, the Rangers rang a few off the iron this evening. It sucked that they didn't go in and make the game the blowout it should have been, but at least the Rangers were putting the puck on net.

*Speaking of such, Avery's one-timer goal was sweeeeeeeeet. Finally he made his swing more compact to get it off in the limited time he gets out there.

*You know, I bust on him quite a bit because he is not a physical deterrent and loses many of his fights, but Colton Orr played a good game. For that matter, so did the entire HBO line of Orr , Betts and Hollweg. HBO line ... just not the same without Jed being the O ...

*It was nice to win, but the Rangers caught the Pens playing on the second night of back-to-backs - much like the Isles caught us. They are professional athletes, but there really is no reason for games on consecutive nights. It isn't like its college and travel costs are prohibitive so they have to make the most of every trip.

*PHW Three Stars
3-Dubi - first NHL goal.
2-Gomez - goal and an assist.
1-Sean - goal and an assist.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-Dubi - Yes Jagr is still getting points, but Dubi has really been the one creating chances on that line. It should be great to watch him as he continues to grow.
2-Hank - 26 saves and several were huge, especially since the D was quite porous.
1-Sean - For once I agree with the PHW ... Avery had a great game doing what he does best ...