Saturday, March 1, 2008

Will We Get Berned?

As the Rangers, and my, trip to Europe later this year is never far from my mind, the New York Times Slap Shot blog pointed out that one of the Blueshirts opponents just finished the regular season in first place.

SC Bern took the top spot in the Swiss Nationalliga A table by winning their last three games. They won their first playoff game against Fribourg on Thursday 5-3 and appear to be a force. Although it appears that moments ago they lost game 2 in overtime so maybe there is hope yet.

But considering how Metallurg already won the European championship, the easiest opponent for the Rangers in Europe may prove to be the Tampa Bay Lightning! Let's certainly hope so as those games will count ...

Just a quick recap of the Rangers schedule:
Sept. 30th: Rangers vs. SC Bern exhibition game at the PostFinance Arena in Bern, Switzerland

Oct. 1st: Rangers vs. Metallurg Magnitogorsk in the Victoria Cup, also at the at the PostFinance Arena

Oct. 4th & 5th: Rangers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning "home-and-home" to start the '08-'09 season at Sazka Arena in Prague, Czech Republic

The league announced the trip at the All Star game but the Rangers have yet to acknowledge it, which is annoying. I, for one, am hoping they do so soon and set up some kind of travel package for fans because dealing with the logistics is proving to be quite the pain!

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