Sod16

It was really all a matter of sponsoring junior teams, and MSG ownership was too cheap to do that. One problem was that during the 40s and 50s, the Norris family owned both the Red Wings and a major stake in MSG Corp., and they put all of their junior team apples in one basket (the Red Wings). The Rangers were viewed as a filler of dates in an arena that was focused on boxing and the circus. The Rangers did sponsor one great junior team in the 50s, the Guelph Biltmores, who produced Gilbert, Ratelle, Howell, Prentice and others. The league as still skewed that even when the universal draft was begun in 1969, they let gave the CANADIENS the first pick so that they could take the top French Canadien player. Give me a break!

Stupid franchises. TB and Carolina should have these two locked up long term. Let's get some NJ Gerard Gallant rumors started.

For the reasons stated, the league was rigged in favor of Montreal, Toronto and Detroit, which finished first every year between 1943 and 1966 and won all but one cup in that period. Before the War, the Canadian junior system was not as well developed and was not the exclusive feeder, so the Rangers, Boston and Hawks were competitive. As far as Kreider being in the top 5, remember that the schedule was 48, 60 and then 70 for a good chunk of the 100 years. The game was also more low scoring during large swaths of that time. And hey, how many of the Rangers from the 1950s could jump out of filled swimming pool?

No. The first round may not end until Sunday, and they won't start the second until everyone is done with the first, and even then they add a few days.

They won't start the next round until all of the first round series are over, and if one of those goes 7, that will be Sunday. They then take off a few days needlessly, pushing the whole thing further into June. My guess is that our series will start Tuesday or Wednesday.

Islanders take it to triple OT in Game 7 before losing, leaving Carolina spent and Lou thinking he ought to stand pat again. I'll take that.

It will be interesting to see whether the Caps are more interested in winning the game or chasing Rempe around. This could get ugly if we're up by more than a goal in the third period.

He's doing some good things for us, but I worry that the playoffs are not the best time for education. Some of those lame penalties being called on him are going to result in PPGs against Carolina.

In Game 3 I came to see why the rest of the league is suffering from Rempe Derangement Syndrome and challenging him to fight on every shift. It's because operating at one-third speed and gliding, he packs more wallop than most anyone else at full speed. He unnerves them, probably with good reason. I just want him to learn how to line someone up in open ice, like Trouba, because he's exponentially more likely to get called for penalties along the walls.

Lou has stood pat more than he should have. More recently, I think he's made a couple of good moves in the Horvat and Romanov trades. Looking at their roster, the problem is that moving on from the older players doesn't do much good if you don't have good younger ones in the pipeline, and Brock Nelson is probably the only one of their older players who would bring a good young player in a trade.

Somehow I doubt you were talking about him being the softest power forward ever when he scored with speed in OT against Boston in 2013, or when his one man effort broke the Rangers 30 PP funk and turned Game 5 of the Pitts series in 2014 in our favor when we were down 3 games to 1, or when his 6 on 5 goal in the last minutes of Game 5 of 2015 Wash series staved off elimination setting up a great comeback, or when his game winner with less than 90 seconds left in Game 6 against Pitts in 2022 got us to Game 7 so we could come back, or even his 6 goals in 7 games against NJ last year. Guess he's just soft, except moments like those.

Just called up again. But as goalie or next RW to play with 93 and 20?

I am genetically predisposed against ever rooting for the Islanders under any circumstances. The only times I can recall rooting for them were when they upset our then arch rival Bruins 9-7 in Boston in their first season and in 1975 when they played the Soviet Wings. Now, I suppose I have to root for them to win three games. NHL Network's oddsmakers gave the Caps a better chance against the Rangers (30%) than the Islanders against the Canes (24%). That's nonsense. My gut tells me that Carolina is a bit jinxed by all the love they are getting from the pundits and oddsmakers.

It's known as "The Trouba Factor."

Rosen points out that the Rangers are ranked even higher on the PK than the PP. With all the gumbling that some do about 93 and 20, the fact that they are perphaps the best PK combo in the league is just as important as their prowess on the PP.