17-8-4: Listless in St. Louis

This season we have seen the Rangers grow an identity of a hard working, forechecking, tough young team. On Thursday night they played a hard working, forechecking, tough young team that worked harder, forchecked more and were grittier then they were. The Blueshirts were found lacking against the Blues to the tune of a 4-1 failure.

St. Louis worked the boards, battled their way into the trenches and made tough for the Rangers. The Rangers ... well, they didn't do any of that. They certainly didn't look like a team motivated to bounce back from another woeful lack of effort against another hard working, forechecking, tough young team in Dallas. Perhaps John Tortorella didn't curse at them enough in the locker room - guess we'll see during the next episode of 24/7.

Late Hits:

*While a power play probably wouldn't have solved their woes, the Rangers simply did not earn a single one. When you swarm, when you press the action and you keep your feet moving you force the other team to play catch up and often that draws penalties. There was just one infraction in the game and it came to a Ranger defenseman who was scrambling around his own zone trying to keep up with the relentless Blues attack.

*Can't hang Hank for the goals against, the King was under siege and he got screwed by that bad hop off Girardi's goal. The King and his fellow Swede Carl Hagelin were the only ones to show up all night. Even Captain Cally looked off at times.

*No timely time out, no motivational fight by Prust, nothing.

*The Blueshirt blueliners were awful from one to six. Girardi was utterly victimized and McDonagh was bounced by Backes while Del Zaster, Stralman, Eminger and Woywitka were all caught waving their sticks at attackers rather than playing the body.

*Credit due to Del Zaster for his goal, it was purty. The kid simply had no desire to actually play defense in this game (why should this be any different then any other game) but his insistence on joining the attack paid off in a goal.

*Given the gritty role that Ruslan Fedotenko plays night in and night out it is hard to harass him but he has had several bad games in a row and this one was his worst of the year. Instead of everyone roaring against Erik Christensen, perhaps Feds should take a seat for a night to recharge and heal up what are surely some bad bruises. Sean Avery has the speed and willingness to grind to fill the Ukrainian's role and you can be assured that he won't give a halfhearted effort.

*Christensen was useless, as expected. No point in adding a shootout specialist if your team can't get to a shootout. Funny seeing him trying to pick a post-whistle fight and hide behind a ref in the third period. I believe that is called 'Pulling a Crosby.' Given the winter doldrums this team is heading into, taking this clown out and inserting Mike Rupp, while making the Feds/Avery swap could inject some life back into the boys. The Rangers have to do something soon, they won't want to ruin their Christmas ...

*Did you notice that the Scottrade Center had a proper organ? There was still some of the eardrum-piercing pop garbage but regularly they just let the organ release its simple, classic tunes. That's hockey.

*While that was pleasant to hear, nothing matched the sheer delight that was John Davidson back on a Ranger broadcast - music to my ears. What an utter delight - what a stark contrast to the caustic, incorrect imbecile who replaced him.

*Nice stat for the night - Derek Stepan won 10 of 14 faceoffs. That has been a major problem area for him so it was nice to see him win some draws.

*The laugh of the night was the empty net sequence with three minutes left in the third - it was just pure comedy and I, for one, was incredibly glad that former Devil Jamie Langenbrunner wasn't the one to finally capitalize.

*PHW Three Stars
3-Brian Elliott - 25 saves.
2-Alex Steen - one goal and one assist.
1-David Backes - no points.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-Backes - A hard-working, hard-hitting, responsible captain with a scoring touch who was born in America? That sounds familiar ...
2-T.J. Oshie - No wonder the St. Louis fans love him so, he never stops and he hits everything that moves.
1-Steen - I remember rooting for his dad. I feel old.

Peepin' Foes Preview Edition: St. Louis Blues

The other day I was talking about the huge mistake that it was letting Don Maloney go instead of installing him as GM in Sather's spot. Well, with the Blues come John Davidson. I mean, what can you say about JD? For some he was the big goalie who came oh-so-close to the Cup in 79 but to many of us he was the warm voice that taught us the game of hockey, night in and night out on MSG. And now he is teaching St. Louis to care again about their team. Long gone are the days of Hull and Oates but the new generation that JD built is slowly coming together. He has to be hoping that the kids he has accumulated are ready for prime time as this year's team will be without old stars Paul Kariya and Keith Tkachuk.

Familiar Foes: The Blues have built a core of players and have stuck with them. Olympians David Backes and Erik Johnson are the two most prominent faces but the rest of the names will ring a bell: Brad Boyes, Pat Berglund, Alex Steen, TJ Oshie, Cam Janssen, Eric Brewer, Barret Jackman and Carlo Colaiacovo. The Blues will be praying last season's 42 point performance by Boyes was an aberration after two straight seasons of improvement. Oshie is one of the most exciting young players to watch in the NHL but his production has yet to match his energy level. Jackman and Brewer, the two pillars of the defense, will attempt to get through a full season without injury.

N00bz: They will be called upon to keep the crease clear for Jaro Halak, the biggest offseason acquisition by the Blues. And all it cost them was Lars Eller and Ian Schultz - two middling prospects. Halak has a safety net in Ty Conklin but he has a big beard to fill, coming in and taking Chris Mason's job. That St. Louis was able to take Montreal's playoff hero and not have to give up blue chip blueliner Alex Pietrangelo was a pleasant surprise and should be quite the boon if he can live up to half of the hype. TJ Hensick (Colorado) and Vlad Sobotka (Boston) were also added in the offseason but neither one will be called upon to star.

Last Year: Saturday, January 16th, 4-1 Blues win and Thursday, March 18th, a 4-3 Blues win.

This Year: Sunday, November 7th at MSG and Saturday, January 8th in St. Louis.

What They Mean To Blue: It is hard to say that they are a look at what we could have become with JD at the helm as the situation he stepped in to there was significantly different than the mess he walked away from here. But when you look at the four points the Rangers pissed away in two pathetic performances last season, you see two games where the Blues completely outworked the Blueshirts - something JD surely would not have allowed.

Congrats J.D.!!!

I just grabbed a press release here in Pittsburgh (and saw up on NHL.com) that said that John Davidson will receive the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award from the Hockey Hall of Fame!!

The Foster Hewitt is a pretty big deal, showing that the hockey world recognizes what we in New York knew for years: J.D. did an incredible job covering hockey. So congrats go out to J.D. for an honour well deserved.

On a side note, a few feet away from me Joe Micheletti just got a blueberry muffin. He wasn't given it. He wasn't bestowed it by a panel of peers as a reward for work well done. He just picked it up off of the breakfast table.