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In 2008, I thought I had seen the last of Sean Avery in a Rangers uniform.

Three years later, I know I have seen the last of Avery in a Rangers uniform.

The Instigator was placed on waivers today as the Blueshirts continue to cut down to their final roster.  Avery had clearly fallen out of favor with the coaching staff during the course of last season.  His production on the ice didn’t help his cause much.  He managed just 24 pts last season, with only 3 goals.

Avery was never a superstar, but there was just something about him that made fans take notice.  Obviously there were the verbal arguments and the fisticuffs, but it was more than that.  Fans always had the “What is he going to do next?” feeling while watching Avery.  If he was on your team, you loved him.  If he wasn’t, than you just didn’t understand.  When motivated, Avery was the spark the Rangers needed.

His career as a Ranger can be summed up as unconventional.  I remember sitting in The Garden watching him stand in front of Marty Brodeur during a Rangers playoff game in 2008.  As he completely ignored the play behind him, he focused solely on obstructing Marty’s vision.  I remember thinking to myself, no one on earth would ever have the stones to do this except Avery.

It was an interesting run.  Sad to see it come to an end.

Someone send the Carolina Hurricanes an Edible Arrangement, or a box of chocolates, or something.  Thanks to the Canes losing 4 straight, the Rangers still have a spot in the playoffs.

Our Blueshirts are hanging by a thread.  They have now moved down to 8th in the Eastern Conference by virtue of a tie with the Buffalo Sabres at 76 points.  After an embarrassing loss to Anaheim last week, the Rangers bounced back with a SO win against San Jose Saturday night.

Despite Carolina having a game in hand, the Rangers have a 4-point cushion between 8th and 9th place.  For now.

For the next 12 games, Rangers fans will become scoreboard watchers.  And for good reason. 

My theory is this: The light on the Rangers tank came on about 15 miles back and right now the team is coasting on E until they find a gas station.  As passengers, us fans can’t really get too upset about this.  Yes, I know that we thought 30 miles ago that the tank was full…but, the gauge was busted and it was giving us a miscalculation.  Honest mistake.  In reality, for our 82 mile trip, the tank only had enough gas for about 40 miles. But amazingly, the tank has given us every last drop it’s got and allowed us to keep rolling along (albeit slowly) this whole time.   You following this analogy?

In hockey terms, the Rangers are spent.  I know we all fell hook line and sinker midway through the season for this team, but they just don’t have quite enough to give a full on sprint to the finish line.  What they have is enough to cross and hope that the other runners pass out behind them (Damn analogies, I just can’t help myself).

If Carolina continues to stumble, I have faith that the Rangers can play slightly above .500 for the rest of the way and make the playoffs.  But, I do not expect this team to make a surge in the final 12 to fend off Carolina if they start to wake up.  Toronto, Atlanta, and Jersey are all still lingering, but right now my focus is on Carolina until they are no longer the 9th seed. 

The Rangers can still make it in, they just have to hang on and hope everything falls into place behind them.

As I sit watching the Rangers take on the Lightning, I can’t help but marvel at all the great young talent this New York team has.  There are true cornerstones on both sides of the puck, plus a franchise goaltender to boot.  The Blueshirts have done a great job developing draft picks over the past 5 years into real NHL difference makers.

But, even with the success of guys like Cally, Dubi, MDZ, Stepan, and Sauer, we can not forget the one big flop that taints them all.  That’s right folks, I’m talking about the man they call “Huge Specimen.”  The 2003 first-round draft pick of YOUR New York Rangers, from Dartmouth College, HUUUUUUGGGGGHHHHH Jessiman!!!!

Come on, admit it, you’ve got a soft spot in your heart for Hugh after all these years.

Jessiman battled injuries, played well below his potential and was ultimately traded by the Rangers in 2008 to Nashville.  It didn’t help Hugh’s case that he remained the only member of the star-studded 2003 first-round to not play in the NHL.  That is, until now…

After seven years, Hugh Jessiman has finally made it to “The Show.”

Jessiman will make his debut for the Florida Panthers tonight against the New Jersey Devils.  After being drafted ahead of guys like Mike Richards, Zach Parise, and Ryan Getzlaf, Hugh will finally join their ranks on NHL ice.

As much as Hugh has been the punchline for Rangers fans since 2003, you have to feel good for the guy.  I’m happy to see Hugh finally getting his shot.  Good luck tonight Hugh, take down the Devils for us.

Hey all. While I’m stranded up in Maine make sure you catch former NYRangerscaster on the mothership today. That’s right, our very own Steven Gelbs will be on MSG today at noon. He was interviewed as part of the “#24: Callahan” segment. This will air leading up to Rangers pregame at 12:30. If you ask me, I don’t know why they don’t just give him his own show. Oh wait, they have! Okay, yeah that’s on MSG Varsity, but the Emmy-nominated Gelbs is inching his way closer and closer to the Rangers. We’re proud of our buddy, even if he does charge us per minute just to speak with him. Eric and I are okay with it because we both know he’s not having nearly as much fun as we are here at NYRangerscast.

Anyway, check him out before the Ranger game today. Starts at noon! Great to see him doing so well.

Greetings from snowy Columbus, Ohio.  I traveled up from Cincinnati to enjoy a hockey game last night and, aside from the outcome, it was enjoyable.  Thanks to my Dad, I got a chance to sit 3rd row behind the Blue Jackets bench.  Quite possibly the greatest seats I’ve ever had a sporting event.  Nationwide Arena is a great place to see a game.  Very fan friendly and the Arena District with bars and restaurants is very impressive.

Unfortunately, not even my presence could bring the Rangers a win.  Shocking, right?  Isn’t it always the NYRangerscast fault when the Rangers do poorly?  It’s tough to watch a game live and really be objective and take away a lot of conclusions.  Most of your time is spent just enjoying the event, you don’t really watch with much of a critical eye.

However, live or not, there was one thing I took away from last nights game more than anything else.  Marian Gaborik needs help.  Serious help.  The Rangers star is on an island, aimlessly skating around waiting for the talent around him to step up and give him a lifeline.  Problem is, there’s no one that can do it.

Stepan, nope.  Frolov, not a chance.  Avery, Christensen, Boyle, Fedotenko…Nice players, not nice enough for Gabby.  The Rangers right now, in my mind have 1 2/3 set lines.  Dubi-Anisimov-Callahan, set.  They even got bumped to the first line last night against the Blue Jackets.  The other 2/3’s of that, Boyle-Prust.  The duo somehow combines for one hell of a tandem.  Outside of that, you have a bunch of guys without defined lines.

It becomes even more of a problem when you realize it’s not getting any more defined unless some new talent puts on a Rangers uniform.  The only way to do that is through a trade.  But, who do you trade?  Is this team at a point in 2010-2011, where trading away 1 or 2 young stars is worth bringing in a veteran All-Star to help out Gaborik?

Unfortunately, you can’t have your cake and eat it too.  It’s either stay pat and hope someone on the team miraculously emerges to aid Gaborik.  Or, it’s trade some future stars for a hopeful sudden surge. Not sure I like either option.

It’s a simple question really.  Does tonight’s game with the Penguins mean anything?  The reason I bring it up is because I was already thinking of the excuses I would use on the podcast once the Rangers lost.  Here’s what I was going to go with…

1) The typical, “The Penguins are a better team.” Fact.

2) The Penguins are one of the hottest teams in hockey right now.  Also, fact.

3) The Rangers have been playing well, 7-3 in the last 10, they’re due for a letdown. Again, correct.

Now, this is not to say I want the Rangers to lose.  But, when you look at the last game the Rangers played against the Pens, they were completely dominated even though they were able to squeak out a win. Since than, the Pens have gotten even better.

So, if the Rangers do win, does it mean anything?  A win would mean double digits wins in the month of November.  It would mean a second straight win against the, in my opinion, best team in the Atlantic.  It would mean a home win against a very good team. 

If they lose, it’s just another loss, right?

But what does that all mean at this point?  I thought the last Penguins game was significant because of the way the Rangers won.  This one, I don’t know, I honestly can’t decide how much tonight’s game means for the Rangers.  They’ve played well, better than anyone could have expected, but does a win or a loss really mean a lot to the Rangers season?

I don’t know.  I have perplexed myself.  What do you guys think?  I feel like I’ll know more after the game…that’s right, I’m taking the easy way out on my own question.  Live with it.

Look at our boy Plebian stepping up to the plate!  Had our last podcast been released, you would have heard Erik and I talk about how we wanted to encourage fans to write into the Fan Post section of the blog. 

We hadn’t gotten much of a response, so we called out loyal listener/e-mailer Plebian to write the initial Fan Post.  After much careful consideration, Pleb caved and sent in a post this morning.  Well done, Pleb.

I hope this encourages all of you to send your blog posts into hosts@nyrangerscast.com.  Doesn’t have to be long, or funny, or particularly intelligent (as long as you can take criticism), just has to be relevant to the Rangers.  So without further ado, Plebian…

Musings from Plebeian.

Disclaimer: I’m not a professional journalist…I’m not even an amateur writer, so excuse my diarrhea of the mouth, grammatical errors, spelling errors, my constant use of parentheses, my constant use of three dots (…), and oh yeah my persistent use of run on sentences.

Things I’ve noticed: John Giannone must have been a failed psychiatrist. Every question he asks the players starts with “What goes through your head when…” or What kind of mindset do you have when…” or “What kind of thoughts and emotions do you feel when…”   He simply has an obsession with the human mind.  Seriously pay attention next time he does an interview. Once you notice it, it will drive you nuts.

Things I hate: Officiating, Brodeur, the Penguins (not the cuddly kind, …I love them)

Things I love: Cuddly Penguins (see above), and this years NY Rangers team

Things I would like to see: Some rule changes (see below)

    Proposals:

1. The 2 minute penalty for shooting the puck over the glass has to go. In my opinion, the penalty is much too extreme for so minor an offense. It leads to so many unnecessary 5 on 3 Power plays. I hate to see the outcome of the game rest on a so simple mistake such as this. My suggestion is thus: change the penalty to that of icing the puck. The puck stays in the defensive zone, and the offending team cannot change lines for the new face-off. When you really think about it, the 2 infractions are almost identical. You are in a desperate situation, someone is bearing down on you and you have nobody to cleanly pass it to, so what do you do? You have to get rid of the puck in an illegal fashion, so you ice the puck, or you shoot it over the glass. Same difference people, either way it is delaying the game. I don’t see why one gives you a slap on the wrist, and one is a full 2 minute penalty. Come to think of it, they could use this rule change for any delay of game infraction, like a goalie playing the puck outside of the trapezoid, or stopping the puck out of the crease (which the refs never seem to call anyway). I think it would help balance the flow of the game and keep things reasonable.

(Wayyyyy more after the jump)

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Gritty performance last night by the Blueshirts.  A good back and forth battle with Calgary that had the Rangers emerge because of their special teams and physical play. Oh, and one other thing, their great goaltending performance.

This Rangers team is no stranger to great goaltending performances.  However, they are strangers to having more than one guy on the club who can produce them.  For the past four years it’s been one guy and one guy only, The King.

Yet, this year, the King’s crown has come a bit off kilter.  Henrik has started 15 games this season for the Blueshirts, posting a 7-7-1 record, a save percentage of 91.4%, and a G.A.A of 2.75.  He’s been inconsistent and has already sat out 8 games this season, only 2 less than he sat all of last year.  More importantly, he’s sat out games (last nights against Calgary the most recent) because of performance, not rest.

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So, here’s the deal.  I know I promised everyone a podcast last night.  And in theory there should be one posted right now.  But, unfortunately, after Erik and I recorded 58 minutes worth of a show, we realized there had been a malfunction.

Consider it the best show you’ll never hear.  While we did an entire show (which may I say was very good), for some reason, only 11 minutes actually got recorded.  The rest is floating around somewhere in cyberspace. 

Trust me, neither of us are very happy that we spent an hour recording a show that no one will hear.  There were quite a few expletives being yelled when we found out.

We apologize for the inconvenience.  Because of our schedules, we will not be able to record another episode until Sunday.  This time, hopefully all of it will get recorded.

So, I was getting ready to post a short blog about how Erik and I will be recording a podcast in about an hour and a half and how you should get your e-mail’s into hosts@nyrangerscast.com …But than I saw this on the Rangers Rants blog,

“Also, did anybody catch Henrik Lundqvist on Martha Stewart this morning? He was scheduled to bake an apple crosata with Stewart while chatting with some kids from the Garden of Dreams Foundation.”

Ummmmmm, come again now?  Henrik Lundqvist will be doing what with whom?  An apple what? Martha Stewart?  You can’t be serious.

Now, don’t get me wrong, kudos for the guy getting some love for the Garden of Dreams Foundation…But, come on Rangers PR! We couldn’t have found a better outlet?

I mean, isn’t this guy supposed to be The Intimidator?  He’s like Dale Ernhardt in net, no one wants to come close to him on the ice.  I know he’s dabbled in modeling, but even then I could excuse it because he looked like a bad ass. 

Martha Stewart? That’s just too much, Hank!  Too much!

I don’t know how I’m supposed to do a show now…I’m so flustered.  This has just rocked my foundation.

Kidding.

Show will be posted around 7.