Hab Nots

What to make of yesterday's drubbing of the Canadiens. On the one hand, the Rangers were quick on the puck, solid defensively and Henrik Lundqvist exorcized, for at least one game, his past demons in stopping 20 of 22 shots.

On the other hand, however, Montreal was simply dreadful. They were slow, sloppy and, for the better part of the game, seemed to be hungover from their game 7 victory over the Bruins. How bad were the Canadiens? They allowed the Rangers to score three power play goals, one of them by Rick Nash, whose last playoff goal, if memory serves, was scored sometime in 1911. They left their goalie, Carey Price, virtually naked and made Chris Kreider look like Steve Shutt. Thomas Vanek and P.K. Subban, second round heroes over the Bruins, were invisible.

And yet, even with all that, it was a 2-1 game until the 18:59 mark of the 2nd period. That was when Steve, er, Chris Kreider split through both Montreal defensemen for a breakaway goal. Fifty seconds later Brad Richards caught Carey Price leaning the wrong way and shot the puck past him. 4-1 Rangers after two. The third period seemed almost anticlimactic.

Don't get me wrong, I love a good laugher as much as the next fan. Of the Rangers' eight playoff wins coming into this series, six were nail biters. Indeed, both game 7s were as excruciating as they were exciting to watch. So it was a nice reprieve to not have to sweat out a third period for once. Trust me, I have enough gray hairs.

But a reprieve is all this was, period. If anyone thinks for a moment that game 2 is going to be the cakewalk game 1 was, they're delusional. The Canadiens are a very fast and very talented team. And very proud. Despite what all their players said after the game about putting this behind them, believe me, the way they played will stick in their craw. They will look to exact revenge on the Blueshirts in game 2. There is no way Montreal can lose both games at home and expect to win this series. They know that and so should the Rangers.

In the last round, the Rangers beat the Penguins in game 1 by out skating them. Pittsburgh couldn't contend with the Rangers' speed. Then, for some reason, they stopped skating and checking. The Penguins won the next three before the tragic death of Marty St. Louis's mother sparked an emotional resurgence and miraculous turnaround. The Rangers rolled off three consecutive and decisively emotional wins to oust the Pens.

Know this, if the Rangers pull that against the Canadiens, there will be no miracle comeback. No way in hell Montreal will blow a 3-1 series lead. They are considerably better, deeper, sounder and more resilient than Pittsburgh. You don't defeat the Eastern Conference champs by letting up. They know how to deliver a knockout punch; a trait which the Rangers have been sadly lacking.

It's also worth noting that the last time a Rangers team found itself up one game to none against a Canadians team was 1979 in the Cup finals. That was a fairly lopsided win, too, if I'm not mistaken.

We all know how that series turned out.

Who Will Win Super Bowl 48?

Let's get something straight. If I really knew who was going to win the big game in February, I wouldn't be writing this silly blog; I'd be in Vegas planning my next villa in the south of France. But, if recent history is any indication, the winner will most definitely NOT be the number one seed in its conference.

Going back to the 2005 season, only two Super Bowl winners earned a first-round bye. They were the '08 Steelers (#2 seed) and the '09 Saints (#1 seed). The other SB winners were either low-seed division or wildcard teams. The '06 Colts, '11 Giants and '12 Ravens were low-seed winners while the '05 Steelers, '07 Giants and '10 Packers were wildcard winners. That's six out of eight winners that were not even favored to get to the conference championship game, much less the Super Bowl.

What that tells you is that in today's NFL, anything goes. Parody is the key to what drives the sport. It's what makes things so interesting and predictions so hard to make. In fact you could say the only predictable thing about the NFL is its unpredictability.

So, with that in mind, let me go on record as saying who ever wins Super Bowl 48, will NOT be the top seed in its conference. That means no Denver Broncos and Houston Texans (my picks for #1 and #2 seeds respectively in the AFC) or San Francisco 49ers and Atlanta Falcons (#1 and #2 seeds in the NFC).

The likely teams to represent the AFC are: The Indianapolis Colts and Baltimore Ravens (again). In the NFC, I like the Green Bay Packers, Seattle Seahawks and New York Giants.  Since the big game is being played in New York, I'll go with the Giants over Ravens at Met Life Stadium.

Don't bet the ranch.  Remember, I'm a Mets' fan.

October in May

Well it sure was fun while it lasted, wasn't it? Seriously, it's news these days when the Mets manage to put together back to back wins, let alone sweep the most storied franchise in professional sports. In case you haven't been paying attention, Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dum (AKA, the Wilpons, Mutt and Jeff) have pretty much destroyed this team the last few years.

So you can imagine everyone's shock and amazement when the Amazin's did the improbable and took all four games against the Bronx Bombers, the last two coming at Yankee Stadium. Somebody pinch me, I must be dreaming.

Now to be fair, this wasn't your usual Yankee team. No Teixeira, no Jeter, no A-Rod. About the only two regulars in the lineup were Cano and Gardner. By all accounts, this was the weakest hitting team the Yankees have fielded in decades. They were bound to lose a few eventually.

As for the Muts, you know the old saying, on any given day...?  Well, the Mets had four of those in a row.  And, so long as we're being fair to the Yanks, let's just state the obvious: the Mets aren't the worst team in baseball; they just play like it most nights.  Indeed both teams were due for a change in fortunes.  It's just a little odd that the change happened at the exact same time. The Mets looked like champs; the Yanks chumps.

But while Mets' fans celebrated the moment and rightly so, if I were them I wouldn't go making plans for any post-season parties just yet. As we speak, their team is desperately trying to salvage the final game of a 3-game set against the Miami Marlins - truly the worst team in Baseball - after getting pummeled in the first two. So much for a winning streak.

Yeah, it sure was nice to see some wins; it was even nicer to see Yankee fans suffer, if only for a short while. But, like most vacations, there comes a point when you come back home and all you have left are the memories and the pictures.

It's back to business as usual. The Yankees will move on an, in all likelihood, win at least 90 games, which should be enough to capture this division. As for the Flushing faithful. Let's just say that 90 games sounds about right. Unfortunately, those 90 will be in the loss column.

Sather Deserves Some Blame for Rangers Collapse

It goes without saying that the dismissal of John Tortorella as Rangers' head coach will not cause any tears to be shed among the hockey beat writers who covered the team. Let's be honest, Torts was a bit of a dick and didn't mind letting the press know it every chance he got.

But putting aside his prickly manner, Tortorella was his own worst enemy. As Larry Brooks correctly observed in Monday's New York Post, you coach the team you have, not the one you wish you had. All season long, the Rangers looked like the proverbial square peg trying to fit into their coach's round hole. The power play was abysmal, the penalty killing only remotely better and, worse, their arguably best two-way forward, Brad Richards, looked lost. Not even exiling Marian Gaborik to Columbus righted the ship.

Consider this: had it not been for a mistake by Bruins' goalie Tuukka Rask in game four the Blue Shirts would've been swept in the second round. That they barely squeaked past the Capitals in the first was telling.

Indeed, even last year's team struggled to make it to the conference finals, needing a full seven games in each of its first two rounds to advance. Teams with championship aspirations don't get that extended that early in the postseason and survive.

The addition of Rick Nash was supposed to add to the team's scoring balance. Instead of helping, the team continued to struggle offensively. The entire shortened season was ripe with starts and stops. The team was never able to put together a sustained winning streak and, as a result, flirted with missing the postseason. Only a late-season surge prevented the unthinkable.

So now, the Rangers are shopping for a new coach for the third time in eight years. Tom Renney lacked discipline, so he was canned. Tortorella was a 180 and now he's gone. But lost in all this was the fact that both men were hired by Glen Sather.

Since taking over for Neil Smith, Sather has hired and fired his share of coaches and made a number of trades, some good, some bewildering. It is hard to imagine that Sather didn't know about Tortorella's style of coaching before he hired him. If he didn't, then what does it say about his vetting process?

Reports that player dissatisfaction with their coach was a factor in Sather's decision are erroneous. Sather made the move to save his ass, period. The core of this team is still relatively young, with the defense among the youngest in the league. But his all-star goalie will be 31 next year. The GM knows the clock is ticking on King Henrik. At best, he has another four to five seasons at peak capability before time catches up to him. Whoever Sather gets to fill the coaching vacancy will need some time to get his system in place.

And then there's the matter of what to do with Brad Richards. He is owed $12 million next season and, with the league salary cap going down, the Rangers will most likely use their last exemption and cut him rather than risk a cap hit. In other words, Sather will be shopping for a replacement.

Bottom line, next season is far from set. The Rangers' new coach will probably want some input into player personnel. Sather will likely acquiesce and we can expect some more shuffling of the deck. And the spinning wheel will continue to go round.

Yes, John Tortorella is gone, but his ex-boss is alive and well and very much in control of the helm.

Drop the Puck, Already!

Now that the NHL and its imperial overlord, Gary Betman, have decided to end their self-imposed lockout, it's time to play some hockey.  Like in 1995, the league will play a shortened season: 48 games.

Ironically, this should greatly enhance the prospects of the New York Rangers, who last season looked more like an armored battalion that had seen one too many campaigns than a first-place team. Whatever else you may want to say about John Tortorella's coaching style, know this: it is very demanding and exacting. No matter how hard the Rangers huffed and puffed, they just didn't have enough in the gas tank for four full playoff rounds, not after a grueling 82 game schedule.

But with a 48 game schedule, plus the addition of winger Rick Nash, the blue shirts should be able to go long enough in the post season to capture their first Stanley Cup since '94. Overall, no team in the league is better balanced. Their defense, among the best in the NHL, returns with an additional year under its belt. Marian Gaborik, who had off-season surgery, is fully healthy, which will be welcomed news. He and Nash give the Rangers a legitimate one, two punch. And then there's Henrik Lundqvist, last year's Vezina Trophy winner, who will once more spin his magic between the pipes. At 30, he has at least another five to seven prime seasons left in him.

They are deep, young and determined. Assuming they get off to a fast start - an absolute must in a shortened season - they should challenge for top honors in the conference, if not the league.  Indeed, only one team should present any challenges for them: the Pittsburgh Penguins, who will have a fully healthy Sidney Crosby. The New Jersey Devils, who got more out of their lineup than most thought last season, will not be as much of a force. This will be the year Martin Brodeur finally looks his age.

My prediction for the finals: Rangers over St. Louis Blues in seven games.

Personal Ad

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Please send all inquiries to Jets’ front office. 

P.S., please have them there no later than end of December. No forwarding address will be provided after that.

Thrills and Shills

It's time to say it: Break up the Knicks!  They are 13 - 4, which, going into tonight's game against the Heat, was tops in the Eastern conference. Go figure.

After spending the better part of the last ten years being the joke of the NBA, this team has finally emerged as a legitimate contender. They are playing solid defense and their coach, Mike Woodson, has them playing with passion.

With the NHL on ice - no pun intended - basketball has returned to fore this winter.

While it's still too early to predict whether their fast start is for real, for now I'm enjoying the show.  It's been a long time since I rooted for this team.  It would be nice if their was something to look forward to this spring.

Which is more than I can say for the Mets.  Yes they locked up David Wright - pun intended - but unless Mutt and Jeff follow through on their promise to the homegrown third baseman and get a badly needed supporting cast around him, you can look forward to yet another long summer at shitty field.

It's the same old same old with this franchise. They spend just enough to make it look like they give a shit.  Meanwhile the team across the river continues to make post season after post season.

You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that one franchise is committed to winning at all costs; the other pretends to.

Christmas in July

Glen Sather fleeced Scott Howson.  Period.  There's no other way around it.  In what may well be THE trade that helps bring a Stanley Cup to New York, the Rangers' general manager managed to pry away one of the elite players in the league for a package of players that, while good, are hardly indispensable.

Think about it.  Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, Tim Erixon, and a first-round draft pick.  That's it.  No Chris Kreider, no Michael Del Zotto, no Derek Stepan, no Ryan McDonagh.  In fact, not one top player from last year's squad was sacrificed in the deal.  Sather held firm, Howson panicked.

Brad Richards now has a true scoring winger to feed the puck to.  Someone who, hopefully, won't turn to jello once the playoffs start.  Want to know how lopsided this trade really is?  Sather managed to get his man while only adding about $500K to the payroll, meaning he has enough cap room to do some more damage if he wants.  According to Larry Brooks of The New York Post, Sather has set his sights on signing Shane Doan.  If that falls through, there are other avenues he can explore.

All in all, a damn good day if I do say so myself.  On a scale of one to ten, this ranks as a nine.

I've been tough on Sather in the past, but it's pretty hard to deny him his props on this move.  About the only thing that could sour all this is if the league had a lockout, which hopefully won't be the case.  Barring that, the Blueshirts just got one step closer to the Holy Grail.

The Boys of Spring

Now that the L.A. Kings have dispatched the Devils - and in so doing did every Ranger fan out there the favor of a lifetime - what to do until football season?

Naturally being a Mets' fan, summer can be a little, shall we say, lacking in suspense, unless of course the suspense you're talking about is trying to determine how the Amazins will collapse down the stretch.  The last three years, even that has managed to allude us.

But this year, the Boys of Spring have done something rather unusual.  With a payroll almost half of what last year's was, team Wilpon has been the surprise of the 2012 season.  The starting pitching has been the envy of the league and David Wright - the last holdout of the '06 team that was one strike away from going to the World Series - is having an MVP season.

Going into a weekend subway series at Shitty field with the Yankees, the Mets record stands at 38 and 32 and they are three games out of first.  Of course the summer has just begun and that's the time of year that every Mets' fan knows all too well.  The tease of spring turns into disappointment as the dog days of summer eventually wilt yet another promising season.  Oh death where is thy sting?

Wait till next year has become the mantra for us.  In fifty years - yes, it's been that long - this franchise has been to four World Series and won two of them.  In that same time the team that plays across town in the Bronx has been to fourteen and won eight.  Just admitting that is painful enough.  The hardest part is knowing that even if this team manages to get close - say stay within four or five games of first and a game or two out of the wild card - the owners, in all likelihood, will not shell out the dough to get the missing chip that might actually put them over the top.

And that has been the most bitter of pills to swallow for Mets' fans for half a century.  Not only is this team clearly the second team in a two-team town, its owners won't commit to doing whatever it takes to change that reality.  Mutt and Jeff, fresh off of catching the break of a lifetime when the Madoff trustee settled for less than half of what he was seeking, decided not to invest in the team (e.g., go shopping for some free agent talent).  Instead they sat on their wallets and played Moneyball.

As if that wasn't bad enough, they managed to convince ten very rich suckers to pony up $20 million each for a non-voting piece of this marvelous second-place team.  One of those suckers - Bill Maher - apparently must be doing very well with his HBO gig.  If I'm Obama, I'm thinking where's my other nineteen mill, Bro?

There's no sense denying it.  This season is shaping up as yet another huge disappointment.  I can just see it now.  The team - lead by the clutch hitting of David Wright and the stellar pitching of R.A. Dickey and Johan Santana - will flirt with first for most of the season.  Then, just before the trading deadline with a pennant in reach, Frick and Frack will issue orders to dump Santana's contract for a couple of minor leaguers, who we'll be told will allow us to challenge for the title in future years.

Yes, it's always about the future in Queens.  Always the bridesmaid, never the bride, as they say.  Fortunately, right about the time the Wilpons shit all over the 2012 season, I'll be watching Eli Manning taking snaps in pre-season football games as the Giants prepare to defend their Super Bowl title.

I don't get the chance to say this all too often, so here goes.  I root for at least one New York team that hasn't choked and has managed to win a couple of championships over the last five years.  That team is most definitely NOT the Mets!

No Mess, No Way

This time there was no Messier.  This time there was no Miracle on the Hudson.  The team that worked hard all season to have a game seven in their building never got the chance to use it.  The New Jersey Devils' superior depth proved too much for the New York Rangers to overcome and now it is 18 years and counting since the last championship, and the team that has won three Stanley Cups since 1994, is four wins away from their fourth.

In what can only be described as poetic justice, the Devils ousted the Eastern Conference top seed in overtime in game six.  No Stephane Matteau this time around.  Indeed, not once in the six games did the Rangers dominate play.  By my count they played a total of seven good periods the whole series and it was only due to the sheer brilliance of Henrik Lundqvist in games one and three that the Rangers were even in position to win, so bad was their play.

For the Rangers, it is a bittersweet moment.  Not since 1997 had they gone so far in the post-season.  Fans understandably felt that this was the year this team would drink from the Cup.  But in reality this team, as hard as it worked all year - and no team bought into a team concept better than this - had some profound problems that almost cost them in the first two rounds.  The Ottawa Senators and Washington Capitals both pushed the Rangers to a game seven.  Teams with Stanley Cup aspirations don't allow clearly flawed teams to extend them that deep in preliminary rounds.  The '94 team needed a grand total of nine games to dispatch their first two opponents.  Yes, the NHL of today is far different than the NHL of the '90s and yes, the President's Trophy Vancouver Canucks were ousted by the L.A. Kings in five games.  So what?  Great teams can overcome the parity of their league.

But the Rangers, despite what the standings said, were hardly a great team.  Indeed they had many flaws and the Devils, the most dangerous lower seed in the tournament, exploited those flaws brilliantly.  Consider this, had it not been for Lundqvist, this would've been a four-game sweep.  That's how lopsided this series was in so many ways.

And now the Rangers' brain trust will have to deal with those flaws, not the least of which is to find a way to build some depth on a team that was terribly thin up front.  You can only go so far with a system that demands your players turn themselves into human piñatas and relies on all-world goaltending.  You need to put the puck in the net.  Since scoring four goals against the Senators in the first game of the playoffs, the Rangers failed to score more than three the rest of the tournament.  Even in today's NHL, you need to at least make your opponent aware that you can light them up. Throughout most of the season and most of the playoffs when the Rangers gave up more than two goals, they lost the game.  This issue must be addressed by Glen Sather during the offseason.

Then there's the issue of leadership.  Marion Gaborik was simply dreadful.  Scoring one goal in the Conference Finals is unacceptable.  Brad Richards' performance was equally abysmal - no goals, two assists - but he gets a pass because of his superior play in the first two rounds.  Sather has to find a goal scorer that isn't afraid to grind it out and can score in the clutch.  The team that worked harder than any other team in the league, in the end had nothing left in the tank by the third round and it showed.  If this team has any intentions of winning a championship next year, they will have to fix all this and perhaps more.

The bright spots were obvious: great goaltending and arguably the best four defensemen in the league.  Ryan Callahan is a fine captain and a natural leader.  He's no Messier, but then who could be?  But he needs some help.  The Devils' fourth line outperformed the Rangers' third and fourth lines combined.  Chris Kreider had a marvelous playoffs and has a promising future.  His speed and deceptive shot should give the team a solid number two winger.  If Sather can get creative with the salary cap he might be able to land a proven scorer via free agency and/or trade.  At the risk of second guessing a prior posting of mine, it's time to revisit Rick Nash. In hindsight, he might've made a difference against the Devils, assuming Sather could've pried him away without trading one of his prized defensemen.  If he can land him during the offseason, he should go for it.  Then dump Gaborik for a center who can win faceoffs and score.

Daunting tasks for sure, but that's why they pay him all that money.  The window of opportunity will be open for a few more seasons.  Lundqvist is 30 and the defense is young, so the future remains bright.  If the above flaws are effectively dealt with a Cup may be in the offing.  If not, 1994 may go down with 1940 in a few more years.

Devil Dogs

So it's round two of The Battle of the Hudson.  The Rangers and the Devils face off for the first time in the conference finals since 1994 and, if history is any indicator, this series should be one for the ages.

Eighteen years is a long time.  Only one player from either team has appeared in both series.  Whatever else you may say about Martin Brodeur, know this: he's still an elite player and he would no doubt love the chance to avenge the loss he suffered at the hands of Messier, et al.

As a Rangers' fan, my main concern is not the match ups, which favor the Blueshirts.  It's stamina.  No team has ever won a Stanley Cup being extended seven games in each of its first two series.  Fatigue is bound to play a role sooner or later.  The Devils, meanwhile, are well rested, having dispensed with the Broad Street Pussies in five games.  Though it is worth noting that it took them the full seven to beat the Putty Tats from Miami.  Still, going into this year's tournament, I felt the Devils were the most balanced and dangerous team in the hunt. They can come at you with three solid lines, while the Rangers pretty much will rely on the Brad Richards' line for the bulk of their offense.

And let's get one thing straight.  Unlike '94, whoever wins this war is NOT a lock to win the Cup.  L.A. has played a whopping ten games this post season and won nine of them.  Their goaltender is as good as any in the league.  With all the talk about Henrick Lundquist winning the Vezina trophy this year, Jonathan Quick has been his team's most valuable player.  Period!

Of course I'm picking the Rangers, but barely.  This is going the full seven, no doubt about it.  So buckle up and get ready.

Three Ring Circus

I don't often find myself admitting this - at least not in public- but there are worse things than being a Mets' fan.

BEING A JETS' FAN!

With the acquisition of Tim Tebow finally complete, Jets' fans can now officially kiss the 2012 season goodbye.  In one of the most ridiculous and befuddling moves of all time, the Jets managed to bring to New York, not one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history in Peyton Manning, but the quarterback Manning displaced in Denver.  In so doing they undermined their current number one quarterback, Mark Sanchez, who not only will have to deal with the chorus of boos when he stinks up the joint next season, but will now have to contend with an onslaught of chants for Tebow every time he throws an incomplete pass.

Can you spell STUPID?

At least Mets' fans have the satisfaction of knowing their ownership just doesn't give a shit; the moron who owns the Jets - Woody Johnson - apparently spent so much of his time as a boy going to the circus, he can't resist the urge to turn his team into the NFL equivalent of Ringling Brothers.

Here's a trivia question for Jets' fans.  What do you get if you put Tim Tebow and Mark Sanchez together?  A quarterback who still can't throw a spiral more than 30 yards!

Yep, I am SO looking forward to September.

Two Wild

So baseball has finally figured out what every fan has known for years: that having a single wildcard team doesn't make for a more exciting home stretch in September; it actually has the unintended consequence of being about as interesting as watching a tied hockey game in the third period.

So to fix it they've decided to add a wildcard team to each league.  Both wildcard winners would then meet in a one game playoff.  The hope is that the wildcard contenders - rather than coast knowing that they have a playoff berth in the bag - will pull out all the stops looking to win their respective divisions and avoid a winner take all playoff game.

Baseball hasn't done many things right over the last few years, but this one they nailed right on the head.  It's about time. 

With that in mind, maybe the NFL should tinker with their playoff format, too.  Given that three of the last five Super Bowl winners have either been wildcards or lower seed division winners, I'm thinking that the playoff Bye should be eliminated altogether.  By adding two wildcards per conference you would simply have the first seed play the eighth, the second play the seventh and so on, just like the NHL.  The division winners would host the wildcards in the first round.

While not perfect it would deal effectively with the one nagging issue which has plagued the league for the last few seasons: rustiness.  While taking nothing away from the Giants' playoff drive, the simple truth was that the Green Bay Packers looked like a team that hadn't played a meaningful game in a month.  They were out of synch pretty much the whole game against New York and Aaron Rodgers looked nothing like the MVP he had been throughout most of the season. 

I'm not saying that a first-round playoff appearance would've guaranteed a different result - who knows maybe they would've lost that game too - but it's quite clear that the present playoff format isn't working as intended.  Instead of being a reward for a season of excellence, the playoff bye ends up being an anchor that drags the supposedly better team down to the same level as their opponent.  These teams end up discovering the hard way that you just can't turn it on like a switch.  As the old saying goes, "You snooze, you lose." 

Something to think about...