Peepin' Foes: Buffalo Sabres

The Blueshirts will follow up Saturday night's tilt against the Caps with a duel with the Sabres tonight at the Garden (7 p.m., MSG). If you get to Penn Plaza early, there will be a Fire Sather rally at 5 across the street.

Where We Are: Losers of two in a row. Tenth place in the conference, even with ninth place Atlanta who has two games in hand on us. Only two points behind eighth place Montreal with a game in hand ... making this almost a must-win.

Where They Are: Tied for first in the Northeast with Ottawa with 77 points but with three games in hand, so you can imagine they are thinking they can start seizing the division crown by winning tonight.

Who To Watch For: Team USA star Ryan Miller - without Scott Gomez to injure him and end the Sabres playoff hopes like last year, Miller should be able to easily handle our pop-gun attack. Buffalo added Raffi Torres to their lineup at the deadline and he promptly assisted on the game-winning goal against Philly. Torres has a five-game point streak going back to before the break. Thomas Vanek has been disappointing this season but is always a threat. Patrick Kaleta is certainly worth watching, as he will likely try to decapitate a Ranger to two. Tyler Myers is just amazing to look at in a 'Zdeno Chara gigantaur I can't believe he is human' kind of way.

What To Watch For: In the past Hank hasn't looked the greatest when coming off of a forced night off, see how he reacts this time around - especially considering what happened in his last game (hung out to dry and make 50 saves ... only to lose). Marian Gaborik's health and effort. Former Islander Tim Connolly trying to stick it to us yet again.

What We'll (Hopefully) See: A better effort than the Rangers have put out in the last four periods. Gaborik to score. Hank to face less than 55 shots and to shine better than Miller. Kaleta to get his comeuppance. The population of Pominville to stay right where it is.

Also Check Out: Shots off the Crossbar and SBN's Die By The Blade.

29-28-8: At Least It Was Close

Looking at the NHL-best Washington Capitals, and looking at the New York Rangers, you would think that a matchup between the two would be a energetic, exciting blowout of Druce-ian proportions. Saturday night's tilt was not. It was a tight 2-0 affair with a few moments of edge-of-your-seat action. But no matter the final style, the result remained the same - a Ranger loss.

Seeing as the Blueshirts will be back in action Sunday night, I'll get right into it:

*Two Rangers, just two Rangers should be able to look in the mirror and be satisfied they gave it all after this one: Brandon Prust and Alex Auld. Prust saw limited minutes with the fourth line but he pressed the action every second he was on the ice - something no other Ranger did. And Auld had a fantastic debut with the Rangers wasted thanks to the guys in front of him.

*Granted, Auld nearly gave me a heart attack by straying so far from the crease a couple of times but he managed not to get burned so it is hard to hold it against him ... as long as Hank doesn't get any ideas.

*This had better be a pivotal game in the career of Brandon Dubinsky - one where he realizes just how close he is to stardom and what it will take for him to get there. Dubi made a great interception deep in the Caps end in the first period but couldn't beat a falling Jose Theodore. In the second he was just a half-step behind Eric Belanger and couldn't stop the new Cap from making it a 2-0 game. And in the third he subverted any thoughts of a Ranger comeback with a bad penalty; even though he barely touched Green, there was no reason to do it in the first place. He get sout of the penalty box, has a 2-on-0 break and gets cement hands. There have been games where Dubinsky has shown that he can be great, there have been games where he has disappeared and then there is tonight - he was so close, but not quite there. He just needs to put in that extra umph (and a little extra smarts) to be a star. Let's hope he has it in him.

*Chris Drury's streak of great performances came to a close this evening not with a bang but with a whimper; I had no idea he played until I looked at the event summary. Ryan Callahan was much more visible and had some great moments but he couldn't seem to put them together and get the puck in the net. Not for lack of effort by him and credit must be given to Jose Three-Or-More as Jose made a stellar save on Cally's spinning shot at the top of the third.

*Talking Drury and Cally leads to penalty killing leads to the officiating. The Rangers got off to a bad start with two quick, tic-tac calls against. It wouldn't be so bad had the officials made the call on the ensuing power play, the diving on Mike Green. Green burst in on Auld with Rozy behind him. Rozy got his stick around the left hand of Green and somehow the Washington defender had both of his skates go out from under him. The Oscars are Sunday night, hopefully for Cap fans their boy will get his proper consideration.

*Mentioning Rozy, the Czech defender continues to make mistakes but he has somehow escaped the wrath of Tortorella. Anyone have any idea of why? Wade Redden makes more money and he has been scratched, when will Rozy be put in his proper place off the ice?

*I still hate Tom Poti. Too bad the Ranger power play - especially the lackluster Marian Gaborik - couldn't make Poti pay for his stupid penalty in the early moments of the game.

*Gabby, if you can't give it your all, don't give anything. Rest, relax, heal and let someone else take your spot. Believe it or not, a 100% Enver Lisin is far better than a 75% Gaborik when Gabby is skating scared of being hurt.

*It is amazing how the broadcasts alter perception for some people. I saw notes that raced about Erik Christensen's performance. I watched the Caps broadcast live and am pretty sure Beninati didn't say Erik's name once (and deservedly so from where I sat). I caught a bit of MSG's encore just now and heard Micheletti say that Erik was one of the best Rangers on the ice. Seriously people, you are letting your perceptions be clouded by Joe Micheletti? Scary.

*As I said before, I was impressed with Prust's work but think back to last summer. Tortorella said he wanted more offense out of his fourth line so he got rid of Freddie Sjostrom, Blair Betts and Colton Orr. Back to the future and the fourth line is Prust, Brian Boyle and Jody Shelley. Are you kidding me?

*There surely is more to be said about this one but, as I said at the top, the boys are back on the ice in less than 24 hours so let's just hope for a better result Sunday night.

*PHW Three Stars
3-Eric Belanger - one goal.
2-Eric Fehr - one goal.
1-Jose Theodore - 30 saves.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-Belanger - The former King (and most recently Wild) forward is a smart hockey player who makes good plays on both sides of the ice. His addition should be huge for the Caps down the line.
2-Auld - He gave the Rangers a chance to win, even while wearing that silly mask. As I tweeted, the paint job on that thing leads me to believe that he drives a van with a airbrushed unicorn on the side.
1-Three-Or-More - Jose didn't give up three or more. He didn't give up any. Now whether that was because he stepped up and had a great game or he was just strong enough to bat off the mosquito attack of the Rangers ... well, that is debatable. But if he didn't stop Dubinsky on that first period turnover, it would have been a different game so credit is due.

Peepin' Foes: Washington Capitals

The Rangers are entering the Phone Booth take on the Washington Capitals at 7 p.m. (MSG Plus) on Saturday. Hopefully someone will come out in a Superman suit to save the Blueshirts season ...

Where We Are: In a three-way tie for eighth place with Atlanta and Montreal. The Thrashers, however, have two games in hand so we have to start praying that they realize that they no longer have Ilya Kovalchuk and start losing like they should. As for our on-ice performance, the team - with some exceptions (Redden, Rozy) - has looked pretty good in the two games since the Olympic break. After the 4-1 win over the Sens, the Rangers took the Pens to overtime and grabbed a point that they had no right taking after being outshot 55-16.

Where They Are: Ehh, I knew you were going to ask that. Well ... the Caps are in first. Not just of the Southeast. Not just of the East. But the entire league. The Caps are the best team in the NHL. Greeeeeeeaaaaaaaat. They played back to back games on Wednesday and Thursday and won them both - with two different styles. The first was a tight 3-1 affair against Ryan Miller and the Sabres and the second was a wild 5-4 affair against the Bolts that had four goals scored in a three minute span of the third period. Wouldn't that have been a bad time to hit the bathroom?

Who To Watch For: You know what? It is probably easier to point out who not to watch. Shaone Morrisonn and Jeff Schultz aren't likely to score. Everyone else? Well, its possible. At the deadline the Capitals added a little firepower in Joe Corvo and a lot of character in Scott Walker and Eric Belanger. They also got Milan Jurcina back but he is hurt and wasn't particularly good for Slovakia in the Olympics so he doesn't count.

What To Watch For: Marian Gaborik's groin. The Rangers trying to keep pace with the faster, more skilled Washington forwards. Ranger discipline as they can't afford to let the vicious Capital power play on the ice too often. Any kind of changes that the Blueshirt may make to attempt to limit the shots on poor, shellshocked Denis Lemieux Henrik Lundqvist. Ovechkin vs. Marc Staal is usually epic.

What We'll (Hopefully) See: Less than 55 shots on Hank. Gabby looking strong and scoring a coupla goals. Tom Poti and "Uh Oh" Corvo doing something dumb to cost their team a goal. Rozy and Redden not doing anything dumb to cost their team a goal. Chris Drury to have another strong game - kinda weird that I'm saying that, right?

Also Check Out: I could give you a list but really, I just go to the best and leave the rest: Japer's Rink.

29-27-8: Oh No, Not Again

I did not expect the Rangers to beat Pittsburgh so the loss isn't all that upsetting. Having a team that I rooted for lose in overtime with a Penguin scoring the game-winner for the second time in a week, however, was quite crushing. As with Team USA, the Rangers had a chance to beat a better opponent and couldn't seize the opportunity. Unlike the Americans, the Blueshirts didn't soil any last second heroics with extra frame failure - they blew a 4-3 lead amid a horrific third period and lost in OT 5-4.

Man, aren't the Rangers great at raising your hopes only to dash them on the rocks of futility?

However, there is a lot of solace to be found in tonight's heartbreak, so let's get into it:

*The Rangers stood up for themselves and each other. Hank coming out to go after Crosby was just the first moment of greatness that saw the Blueshirts standing their ground and standing up for their netminder. It is quite basic - having some form of fortitude and pride - but neither have been present on Broadway for quite some time so it was a delight to see.

*And it was hilarious to see Sean Avery mocking Max Talbot's slap fighting skills.

*Marian Gaborik did not play and yet the Rangers put four goals up on the scoreboard. Remarkable. And two of them came with the man advantage - just who was it wearing blue tonight because we have hardly seen skill of this sort this season.

*Those four goals came on just 12 shots and chased Stanley Cup goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. That's pretty impressive.

*The Garden crowd gave the U.S. gold medal bobsled team a standing ovation that was truly heartwarming. The Olympic hockey players had one quick montage and that was it, with a smattering of applause.

*The Team USA penalty killing pair of Ryan Callahan and Chris Drury were together again and were just as good. In overtime I was looking at Cally when the puck dropped and mistakenly ripped on Dru for losing his stick. It was broken so he had to play without a twig and did a helluva job at it. It was another chapter to a great game by the captain and his cohort. I may just have to change my tune a little when it comes to Dru if he keeps up this quality play. That goal he scored was pretty damn sweet too.

Ok, it wouldn't be me if I didn't get into the notsogreat stuff:

*After chasing Fleury, the Rangers managed just four shots over the next half hour of play. Four. With the backup goaltender in net, they put four shots on him - and just one in the third period by Olli Jokinen from five feet out and none in overtime.

*That was the only time I noticed Olli doing much of anything. He collected a pair of second assists but I sure as hell didn't notice them. As has been mentioned before, most of the time second assists shouldn't count. They are just padding stats.

*Mike F-ing Rupp scored on the Rangers again. C'mon, Mike F-ing Rupp. What is it about the former Devil that equals goals in the Garden?

*And what is it about Wade Redden and Michal Rozsival that just equals failure? Redden, who actually wasn't doing too poorly early in the game, took a stupid, lazy penalty in overtime that handed the Pens the win. Rozy scored a goal (really, no lie) but, of course, had his piss poor defensive play end up behind Hank twice.

*As a unit, the blueliners have to be better. Marc Staal did a decent job chasing after Crosby for most of the night and Dan Girardi did what he could but that was about it. MDZ had some good moments but looked like he was a bit tentative - understandably so considering he was almost gutted the last time he took on Pittsburgh. Hobey doesn't seem to have the strength to hold off the opposition and Redden and Rozsival ... well, they just aren't good in their own end.

*I don't understand why the Garden entertainment staff hasn't stepped up to the plate - when Crosby threw his little fit for finally being called for a penalty (after Cindy got away with a number of clear infractions all night), they should have played "Big Girls Don't Cry" over the sound system.

*Enver Lisin tried to make at least two, if not three big hits ... and ended up flat on his behind each time. Kudos to the kid for tryin', but that was just sad. Much like his bff Arty's ability in the faceoff circle, or should I say lack of ability. Sure Arty got himself a goal in the first period but that was about the only thing he did right all night.

*The fourth line didn't see a second of ice time in the third period. Seeing as the forwards were playing on their heels through out the frame, perhaps a energy shift by the big, strong tough guys could have turned the tables and shoved the Pens back.

*PHW Three Stars
3-Chris Drury - one goal.
2-Alex Goligoski - one goal.
1-Jordan Staal - two goals and one assist.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-Pascal Dupuis - The former Ranger was all over the ice. Luckily he doesn't have the skill to do much damage but his persistence was impressive.
2-Jordan Staal - Perhaps, for once, he played better than his brother. Perhaps.
1-Hank - The Ranger defensive effort was awful and this game very well could have been 14-4; instead the Blueshirts had a chance to win. The King collected 50 saves - most of which were fan-friggen-tastic - and showed the nerve to call out Crosby for being a diving baby.

Peepin' Foes: Pittsburgh Penguins

The Blueshirts are back on Broadway tonight to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins at 7 (MSG for you NY folks, VS for everyone else). Nothing like being able to honour our Olympians against the gold medal game-winning, soul crushing Cindy Crosby, right?

Where We Are: Coming off a 4-1 win over Ottawa. It wasn't a convincing performance whistle to buzzer but it was a winner so we'll take it and move on. It gave the Rangers 65 points in 63 games. Montreal has 66 in 64 and sits in seventh in the East while Boston has 65 in 61, Atlanta has 64 in 61 and Tampa has 63 in 62. Don'tcha just love parity?

Where They Are: Third in points in the East with 78 but in fourth place due to division winners taking the top three spots. Like the Rangers, the Penguins came off of the Olympics with a win - they survived a late surge by Buffalo to beat the Sabres 3-2. It was a nice win but should be noted that both teams started their backup goaltenders.

Who To Watch For: Not Alexei Ponikarovsky. Despite being added on Monday, Poni boy is being held up by the fine folks of U.S. Immigration. His fellow Ukrainian Ruslan Fedotenko must be buoyed by his acquisition as he broke a 17 game goal drought with a tally on Tuesday. Neither that Crosby kid nor Geno Malkin scored against the Sabres but they are kinda good and worth watching out for. But, this being the Rangers, you have to watch out for everyone; remember Mike Rupp's hat trick? I still have nightmares.

What To Watch For: The Rangers couldn't seem to win faceoffs in Ottawa (losing 31 of 52) and need to do better - they can't let the Kid control play with his puck possession. Sean Avery's restraint - he took a bad elbow from Matt Cullen late against the Sens and chased him down. He got a two and a 10 for the effort and you can be sure that Matt Cooke and Max Talbot took note of the retaliation and will do their best to get Sean to do something dumb early. How Avery toes the line pretty much dictates his success - when he can play his game to its best, he gets goals and infuriates opponents; when he takes it just a hair over the edge, the refs are all too willing to make him, and the Rangers, pay mightily.

What We'll (Hopefully) See: Ryan Callahan's scoring touch to continue. Crosby to be the nonentity he was for the majority of the Olympics. A hearty roar for Cally and Dru (and Jokinen) when their medals are acknowledged. More than the usual booing and jeering for Cindy should the Garden even mention his accomplishment. Hank to get good eyes on all of Sergei Gonchar's point shots. Few members of the Penguin bandwagon - Pittsburgh fans have invaded the Garden during recent visits and that just shouldn't happen - especially not in the return from a two week break.

Also Check Out: Empty Netters is the Pittsburgh Post Gazette's stellar link-happy blog, The PensBlog is the site of the web's best puck-related Photoshopped/photo heavy snarkiness and SBN has good ole Pensburgh.

Deadline 2010: Much Ado About Nothing

Trade deadline day has come and past and the New York Rangers you know and love (har har) are still New York Rangers. After rumours of big package deals, Glen Sather and company made just two minor transactions on Wednesday, neither of which should have a big impact on the Blueshirts.

First they traded Hartford's Jordan Owens to the Detroit Red Wings for Kris Newbury and then they dealt goaltender Miika Wiikman and a seventh round pick in '11 to Phoenix for Anders Eriksson.

Eriksson is a good addition should the Blueshirts actually make it to the playoffs or suffer a injury on the blueline (please be Redden, please be Redden). Much like the finally-healthy Mathieu Dandenault, Eriksson has a Cup on his resume and a helluva lot of experience. Even if he never steps on Broadway, he should be able to help Bobby Sanguinetti and the rest of the cubs on the Pack make a real run at the Calder Cup playoffs.

I remember watching Wiikman in the morning skates in Switzerland before last season and seeing some good things but he has been bouncing to the ECHL and clearly has been passed by Zaba and DosNueve on the depth chart. So no big loss there. I saw Owens play twice this season for Hartford and was impressed each time but will ultimately defer to Laurie at Beyond The Blueshirts for analysis (and she agrees):

"Newbury, a 28-year old center, gives the struggling Wolf Pack another option down the middle, while adding veteran experience and a player who’s not afraid to drop the gloves.

The cost, Owens, will be a tough pill for Wolf Pack fans to swallow."

The full piece is here and is well worth a gander. Both Newbury and Eriksson are pegged for Hartford and Mitch over at Howlings will be talking to both on Thursday so make sure you head over there to see what they have to say.

Sather had nothing to say today and he didn't bother meeting with the media. But he did make a statement and it isn't a bad one: 'this is the team I built and this is the team I think will make the playoffs.'

I had hoped he would use his Jedi ways of persuasion to get rid of Redden but have to admit that I don't mind that he failed. I mean, I mind that we still have to deal with Redden, but I'm glad Glen didn't do anything dumb to get rid of him - like package him with Ryan Callahan or Brandon Dubinsky and a top pick. I don't like that Corey Potter got the boot back to the bus league but I guess nothing can sway Sather that the team would be better off with the kid instead of Redden or Rozsival. Or nothing can sway him from taking the ego hit that would be demoting the multimillion dollar mistakes that he signed.

That is to be expected, it is the same old story. The final chapter of this season's tale will be written by the same players who are currently on stage, strutting and fretting. Let's hope it is more than a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

But I wouldn't bet on it.

Brian Burke Is The Man

“I’m not a big trade deadline guy. I view it as, if you’ve got to make major adjustments to your team in March, then I think you’ve screwed up badly on the fundamental structure of the team before that." --Brian Burke, post deadline press conference 3-3-10

This guy is smart, and not in the Homer Simpson SMRT way. I would love for him to be our GM or even to get a chance to learn from the man. He holds basic edicts and builds winners. Brilliant.

29-27-7: Welcome Back!

The Rangers returned from the Olympic break the way they entered it - with a win. They beat the Ottawa Senators 4-1 to get the second season started in good fashion.

After a sluggish first period, they woke up for the second period to take the lead and cruised through the third period to take the victory. It was like a mirror image of a normal Ranger game where they take an early lead, blow it in the second and have to hustle in the third. They didn't hustle in the third and it would be easy to harp on them for taking their foot off the gas but it was clear that the Sens didn't have the fuel to mount a comeback - even with Rozy opening the door for them with a bad penalty. So it was a pretty sluggish game but we should still be happy with the result and get ready for Cindy on Thursday.

Before then, some quick notes I jotted down as I watched:

*Matt Carkner is a pleasure to watch. Carkner is a tough defenseman who isn't afraid to throw his body around and he picks his spots well. Sure he is slow but wouldn't it be nice to have a player like that in a Blueshirt? Jeff Beukeboom, we miss you so. Haha, I just typed that and Mike Keenan just compared Carkner with Beuk during the first intermission break. Priceless.

*It was a nice piece of revenge for Cally to come back from getting crunched by Carkner in the first period with a goal in the early seconds of the second. It came off a burst of speed, some nice stickhandling and a helluva wrister. He followed it with another goal when he cut down to the net and scooped a backhand off of Elliott and into the net. It would have been nice to have Cally score against Canada, but this performance certainly showed that the Olympic experience added a little jump to his step.

*Remember kids, going to the net is gooooooood. You can't play on the periphery and expect to score goals in this league - goalies and defenders are too skilled and too well padded. Keep in mind, those pads let them stop pucks but you wear pads too and they stop most of the pain that comes as a cost of skating in the trenches - "Pain heals. Chicks dig scars. Glory... lasts forever." Yes, I just watched The Replacements the other day.

*Brian Boyle played less than 10 minutes but made the most of them - he may just yet develop into something good. Key word there? May.

*As I tweeted, Chris Drury was used as a fourth line center at the Olympics and excelled. So the Rangers put him on the first line to start the game. What a braintrust. Olli Jokinen makes a nice steal at the end of the first period and feeds it to Dru, who was facing the wrong way and nearly tripped over the netminder in the crease. His shot blocking and penalty killing was great in Vancouver and it got him a breakaway here in the third period - one that he aborted himself by passing the puck back to the Senators. Eesh.

*Ottawa opened the scoring with a one-timer by Milan Michalek. The Sens came down on a 3-on-2 break, Dan Girardi gave Spezza too much space, Wade Redden stood in the middle watching the play and the puck go right past him and Hank had no chance on the shot.

*Other than that and the seemingly mandatory shot off the iron, Hank looked pretty good. As I wrote before, Sweden getting eliminated early was huge for the Rangers as Torts will ride the birthday boy (he turned 28 today) until the end of the season. If Alex Auld starts more than two of the 20 games, I would be shocked. In fact, I can see him only starting one - in Florida at the beginning of April.

*Mentioning Florida made me think of Olli Jokinen. Olli had a strong first period and pretty much disappeared the rest of the way - much like the Sens Olympians. Let's hope he can get his wheels going full speed by Thursday and Gabby won't need a game to get back into the flow.

*Alex Kovalev showed why he wasn't a part of Team Russia. Our former phenom was either playing bad or barely there - no that I'm complaining, it is far better than what he did against us during the Montreal Massacre.

*The only time I spotted Dubi in the first period was when Wade Redden skated into him from behind while trying to get across the Ottawa blue line on the power play. Then he popped up to take a puck to the face and score a goal in the second period and then promptly disappeared again. I still believe that he can be an Arnott-esque force but he needs to put forth Arnott-esque effort first; this inconsistency is maddening.

*Can you imagine Jason Spezza skating with Marian Gaborik? That would be sick. Just sayin'.

*Corey Potter was solid, yet again. Every time he has suited up for the Rangers so far - all seven games - he has been a more than adequate defenseman. What will it take for the braintrust to see that as well? In a salary cap age, you would think they would realize that he is a far better option than Redden and/or Rozsival. When MDZ returns it should be one of those colossal contracts that gets the bus ticket to Hartford.

*PHW Three Stars
3-Milan Michalek - one goal.
2-Michal Rozsival - two PIM.
1-Ryan Callahan - two goals.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-Hank - No softies allowed.
2-Sean Avery - I pissed off some people in Vancouver by wearing my Avery jersey one day. When they confronted me, I said that all he does in New York is win. And it is true; when Sean is skating, he is the sparkplug that moves the Rangers. As they slogged through the first period, Aves was the only one hustling and that effort paid off in the second.
1-Cally - Of the nine Olympians in the game, he was the only one to give an Olympian effort. Stellar effort.

Hope Amazon Doesn't Take Returns ...

Yet another gem from the comic genius of Down Goes Brown. Click on it for the total awesomeness ...

Peepin' Foes: Ottawa Senators

The Rangers return from the Olympic break with a 7:30 start Tuesday in Ottawa with a game against the Senators (on MSG).

Where We Are: Folding our five Olympians back into the lineup for a 20 game stretch run towards the playoffs. The Blueshirts have 63 points in 62 games and are just one behind eighth place Montreal. We may be with Dan Girardi, we may be without him - all of the trade speculation has muddied up the internet (as it is apt to do) so the best thing to do is await confirmation from the Rangers themselves or TSN.

Where They Are: Folding their five Olympians back into the lineup for a 19 game stretch run into the playoffs. Ottawa is 36-23-4 for 76 points in 63 games; they are second-best in the East with a 23-8-3 home record.

Who To Watch For: Daniel Alfredsson was one of the few Swedes to look good in Vancouver with three goals in four games and some great chemistry with Eriksson and Backstrom. Alex Kovalev and Jason Spezza were both overlooked by their respective nations and were sticking it to them with red hot play going into the break. Ryan Shannon was just re-signed and he has pretty good speed off the wing. And you can't forget our old friend Matt Cullen, who the Sens added just before the break.

What To Watch For: Any kind of Olympic hangover by the players who were there, and the ones who weren't. See who had a little too much fun with their break from the NHL grind.

What We'll (Hopefully) See: Chris Drury playing as well as he did for the other team in red, white and blue. Brandon Dubinsky starting his campaign for inclusion on the 2014 U.S. team. Wade Redden having a flashback to when he played in Scotiabank Place and didn't suck. A undercard of Brandon Prust vs. Chris Neil prior to a heavyweight battle between Jody Shelley and Matt Carkner. And anyone kicking the crap out of Jarkko Ruutu.

Also Check Out: If you never read the final post of Sens Army, you should - it really encapsulates the frustrations that come with blogging a team day in and day out. Five For Smiting and Black Aces are still up, as is SBN's Silver Seven.