AVERY

I know you'll check the real news before coming here, but in case you missed this the Daily News is reporting that Avery was rushed to the hospital at 3am in cardiac arrest, unconscious and not breathing. Seriously. Story here.

Best wishes, good vibes, prayers and whatever else you got for a blueseat favorite.

UPDATE: Now ESPN is reporting that he has a lacerated spleen. Story here.

The Toronto Sun has a pretty complete story here confirming the lacerated spleen with Avery's mom.

According to Avery's mother, the Rangers' agitator suffered the injury during the first period of Tuesday night's game at Madison Square Garden after colliding with a Penguins defenceman.

Avery, not realizing how badly he was hurt, played the rest of the game in a great deal of pain.

Meanwhile, doctors at St. Vincent's are hoping that the spleen will clot on its own. Mrs. Avery said doctors were relieved the spleen had not ruptured.

Not going so well

The three things that won the Rangers the first round series against the Devils are the three things that they stopped doing in the second round v the Penguins. (Not counting the anemic power play. That's been a nightmare all season.) They're not clearing the crease, they're not crashing the net and Avery is no longer a factor. Sidney seems to have taken that roll effectively getting into the heads of everyone in the building. Jagr was great last night but the stellar play of one man isn't going to be enough to come back from what's now a 3-0 deficit. Only two other teams in NHL history have done that. If the Rangers can manage that, they're going to the finals, no doubt in my mind. Unfortunately at the moment that is a very big IF.

I'll be sure to bring my camera on Thursday; I know how you all love to see your smiling faces on the tiny screen! See you then.

Round 2

So Pittsburgh it is. We knew the Rangers would have to go through the Penguins at some point. I was hoping it would be after the Penguins got a little more beat up but that's not to be. I guess you can say that the Rangers are in top shape at this point as well, with only Orr hurt. So this in as good as it gets for the 2007-2008 Rangers. Is that going to be enough to get past Sid and Co? We'll see, the defense is going to need to step it up, it's going to be a lot harder controlling Sid, Malkin and that other Staal down the middle that it was to stop the Devils. The good news is that the Pittsburgh defense isn't all that impressive either, and the Rangers have a clear win in goal. I think we've got a shot. See you all on Tuesday.

Go Caps GO!

If the Caps win the Rangers get Montreal, if the Flyers win the Rangers get Pittsburgh. Call me crazy but I'd rather see the team just coming out of a seven game series than the well rested Penguins. The Pens are the team to beat in the east and I'd rather the Rangers face them after the Caps get through with them.


from the comments: HEY AL! Somebody's looking for you. Drop a note.

In 5!

Way to much on my mind at the moment.....just so excited they are advancing to round 2.
They played hard and looked determined. They did not seem as nervous as I was in the third period, that is for sure.

Avery took a beating throughout the entire game with not one call...surprise, surprise. I think the officials have to just cut the crap at this point. We get it. You are not happy with him but that does not mean he should be allowed to be beat on nightly.

The "kids" all had a great series! Tonight Callahan was amazing against the boards and Dubinsky with another goal. I look forward to watching them evolve even more as the rounds go by.....

Ok, I have to admit I wondered what would happen during the hand shake. I knew Brodeur would be cold toward Avery but I did not expect him to turn away....what a whiney b**ch! Get over it! I nearly fell off my couch when Avery called him fatso in the post game interview.

Now I am getting all fired up again. So I will end my rant here. I look forward to seeing you guys next round!!!!!

LET'S GO RANGERS!!!!!!!!!!

Redemption!

Staal get the game winner two games in a row with much better results last night. It's been quite a ride for the rookies in their first shot at the playoffs. Dubinsky leads all rookies on the playoffs with 4 points (2G 2A). Callahan has more shots (13) than any other rookie and is second only to Jagr on the Rangers thanks to his relentless drive to the net. And that's how you beat Marty drive to the net and get in his face. On the flip side the D needs to do a better job of keeping Lundqvist's crease clear. That last Devil goal is still bugging me. Henrik lost his stick, and there was no one in blue near enough to help him out he had two white shirts in his crease. That can't happen if we want to be going to games in shorts in June.

We had a great time upstairs last night, there's nothing like the blue seats in the spring. There were a couple of faces notably absent, where the hell was Mikey?! Julian has mastered the art of swinging a rally towel. I joined the guys up on the rail for the third period to avoid the jackass sitting behind me's racist ranting (who let that guy in?). The move worked out for the better I had a great time hanging with Jerry and Al, just like old times, and Al 405 and the luck was changed. I may have to spend more time up there next round.

Who's making the trip out to Newark Friday night? I hear Jon's going? Anybody else? I'm thinking of hitting the viewing party at the Ziegfeld. Anybody want to join?

I thought it was funny

Apparently the entire rest of the continent didn't find Avery's inventive screening techniques as amusing as we did. It's officially unsportsmanlike conduct, which i can't really argue with, it was pretty much the definition of unsportsmanlike. What really surprises me is no one has thought of it before! Well, congratulation Mr. Avery on having a rule changed in your honor.

Ps. This is the only article I've found in defense of Avery. He makes some interesting points. Would we even be talking about this if it had be anyone else?

Get the t-shirt here. Thanks for the link, Jon!

Is anyone going to game 2 tonight?

The playoffs make me crazy! Game 1 turned out great, but I was not so confident during the second period. I just hope they come out flying tonight......

On that note. Did anyone see this on the Ranger's web site? Sound pretty cool.

In appreciation of the many Blueshirts fans who are attending
Rangers-Devils playoff games at Newark's Prudential Center, the Rangers
organization invites fans to travel together in a show of solidarity on Friday.

Rangers fans holding tickets to Game 2 and planning to take the train to
New Jersey are invited to join Rangers and MSG staff members at The Garden lobby
entrance at 4:30 p.m.

The first 100 fans to arrive at The Garden
lobby entrance will receive free New Jersey Transit tickets to Newark, as well
as Rangers playoff towels and placards.

Once the group is assembled,
we will go into Penn Station and board a train to Newark as a group.

Keep an eye on this page during the day on Friday for more details about
this special event.

LET'S GO RANGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First Round....Here We Come

Wed., April 9, 2008 7:00 PM NY Rangers at New Jersey TSN
Fri., April 11, 2008 7:00 PM NY Rangers at New Jersey TSN
Sun., April 13, 2008 7:00 PM New Jersey at NY Rangers VERSUS, TSN
Wed., April 16, 2008 7:00 PM New Jersey at NY Rangers VERSUS, TSN
Fri., April 18, 2008 7:30 PM NY Rangers at New Jersey TSN
Sun., April 20, 2008 TBD New Jersey at NY Rangers VERSUS, TSN
Tues., April 22, 2008 TBD NY Rangers at New Jersey TSN

I missed the fun again

Dana, Mase, Julian, Jimmy and Tommy took the pictures below along to the Rangers "chalk talk" with Graves and Maloney last night. Graves was kind enough to autograph the pics for them. Seems that the Rangers had a win against Pittsburgh the night those pictures were taken so Graves was wearing the same lucky tie again last night. I'm glad for it! I hope we'll be seeing a lot of that tie of the next few weeks!