And I'm Back ...

... back in the New York Times.

More specifically, the kind folks over at Slap Shot have decided to renew Hockey Night in Blogdom and were kind enough to invite me back as the Ranger blogger. The first installment of this season is here.

I love that the Flyers and Isles bloggers decided to use some of the few words we were allotted to attack the Rangers. But seriously, who is Jim Butler to say that Colton Orr belongs in the minors when his team carries Riley Cote? Cote has less hockey skill than the pee wees who skate in between periods and has managed to have his hat handed to him by Orr several times before. Not to mention that Cote averages three minutes of ice time per game when Orr sees several minutes more. Whatever, no one said they grew them particularly smart down in Philly. And the Islanders ... they are just sad right now and at least Jim McGlynn realizes that, even if it has driven him to the bottle.

Whatever; before I end this I just want to send a big thank you out to Jeff Z. Klein and Slap Shot for having me back! I look forward to contributing more ...

Back In The Times

The New York Times blog solicited my input yet again, trying to get a Ranger fan's perspective on the upcoming Hudson River battle. Please check it out here! You can clearly see that I give a fair analysis of how we will win, rather than the clouded delusions of John Fischer from In Lou We Trust, who somehow thinks that going 1-7 against us this year is meaningless. He also mentioned the "Rock The Red" campaign that the Devils are pitching but if I were them, I wouldn't want to associate myself with the Bloods so deep in the ghetto ...

And, on a lighter note, I might as well put my other predictions out there, if only to be proven wrong in a few weeks:

EAST
(1) Montreal vs (2) Boston: Montreal in seven. This Original Six matchup should be quite the battle as the Habs like to play offense while the Bruins play the Devils' defense.

(2) Pittsburgh vs (7) Ottawa: Pittsburgh in six. Ottawa has been reeling of late. Neither team has solid goaltending but the Pens have a better offense as Sens star Daniel Alfredsson is out with an injury.

(3) Washington vs (6) Philadelphia: Washington in five. Marty Biron really isn't good and Alexander Ovechkin is. The Caps are the hottest team in the league right now and unless the wheels fall off in the week they have to prepare, they should romp.

(4) New Jersey vs (5) NY Rangers: Rangers in six. MAAAAAAAARRRRRRTTTYYYY, MAAAAAAAARRRRRRTTTYYYY, MAAAAAAAARRRRRRTTTYYYY. Sean Avery will beat you and bag both your wife and sister in law!

WEST
(1) Detroit vs (8) Nashville: Nashville in six. I love Detroit, but they have the bad habit of falling apart after romping through the regular season. The Predators are entirely underrated thanks to their coach, Barry Trotz. He has made them a contender even without any star power, and even without the injured Jed Ortmeyer.

(2) San Jose vs (7) Calgary: San Jose in five. The Sharks are awesome to watch nowadays. Jeremy Roenick deserves a good chance at the Cup and this team will give it to him. As classy as Jarome Iginla is, he is just one man and he can't carry the Flames to victory alone.

(3) Minnesota vs (6) Colorado: Colorado in seven. This series should shape up to be one helluva battle as the teams have had some bad blood of late. Watch out for the Boogyman!!

(4) Anaheim vs (5) Dallas: Anaheim in six. Dallas has a lot of players that I like but Anaheim has been showing the sheer of domination lately that took them to last year's Cup.

Shameless Plug: NY Times Edition

As I mentioned on Saturday, I've been selected to take part in a new feature on the New York Times Slap Shot blog.

The first post is up, check it out: Hockey Night in Blogdom.

So go there, say how wonderful I am, and then come back here and tell me what you think!

Thanks guys!