Nilan

i live in new york.... honestly, i've had 3 friends (rangers fans) email me to congratulate us. i think they're more freaked out than we are!!!

refs BLEW the begin call. it was a beautiful hit. only reason his feet left the ice was because he blasted thru him so strongly. how smith doesnt get the instigator is beyond me. sweet sweet goal by cube. playoff hockey and the habs are playing a great physical game.

I don't see any reason to trade youth for a short term fix here. this team has improved from last year - and hopefully will continue to improve into next year with the same stategy. we are not a stanley cup contender and won't be with the addition of a superstar. i wouldnt be surprised to see gainey do nothing till the offseason.

amen to that. this is so silly. two thoughts after reading the press this morning: -Red Fisher is a complete hypocrite. if this had happended to serge and larry (and i know they did much worse), he would written a pithy little article about boys needing to blow off steam. -Hickey is also a knob for accusing Guy of being soft on his players. Why does he need to rip them publicly? (for hickey's sake of course). they are adults and they don't need a curfew. he (and they) know full well that this team will fire any player that lets his personal life become a distraction (way better players have been kicked out of this city in the prime of their career.)

:hlogo:

girlfriend?? if he was out with guys from the team, there was no girlfriend involved. wasted, trying to get a girl's attention, big mouth to the cops, friends backing a buddy, etc. will get WAY overblown in the montreal press, good thing they're in florida for a couple of days.

lapierre can't tie lemieux's skates. that guy was a playoff monster and very very underated.

hell, im not saying they can. im sayng, "why aren't they??" i should have rephrased my question - "why are they on this team if they wont stand up?" honestly, they are both young and developing, but neither of them bring the intesnsity needed for mid tier players trying to win a spot. think these guys are going to win you playoff series like c. lemieux, mcphee, skrudland, corson etc. did. ever? ever? im not seeing it. and its bringing me down.

i missed most of the game. why is the smallest guy on the team fighting? Lats, Laps and Begin are on this team for one fricking reason, so guys like smurf 74 don't need to fight.

dude! good post.

last summer a number of us were discussing whether Sheldon had sold out, screwed the habs, etc. Think this article clarifies a little bit why he wanted to go back to Alberta. Losing him was a great move in hindsight, but I miss that shot and his willingness to take anyone on.... http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/columns/stor...&id=3220618

two thoughts: -why does koivu have to play with higgins? higgins really hasnt been the same points guy since he messed up his ankle last year. both are underperfoming. -why is kovalev getting a free pass on his assist on dubinsky's goal? he also took a dumb penalty, stupidly elbowed that guy to tee off the other team, and spent too much time mucking it up.

holy bandwagon. crosby is a wizard and has x10 the press/media/canadian boy pressure that caveman does. im not saying he's better, but he aint worse.

yep

we'd never get him ,but wouldnt Erik Cole be a great pick up? (assuming his neck isnt giggly any more)

....and you guys should have heard sutter in the post game press conference. He was PISSED with his players.

frankly, with the benefit of hindsight, Im glad carbo lost it. his players were playing flacid hockey, and the refs needed a wake up call. easy to say after they killed the ensuing 5 on 3, but they were down by 2 goals in jersey - why not take a chance? i dont think carbo is getting the kudos he deserves. young team, struggling (former) top line, etc.... coaches are doing a damn fine job.

welcome to montreal, where you're only as good as your last shift. 6/8 on the road is sweet. i dont care how they go in, but if huet lets in 2 or less a game, we have nothing to complain about....

I was there. The rangers have probably the second best top 6 in the conference. once we had the lead we were playing for the point. yes it sucks, but when you look at who we were playing against, on the road, without saks, i was happy with the point.

where is wamsley?

his shootout average is lousy partly because his players don't score. i might add that (i) hossa's shot was incredible and (ii) kozlov has the second best shootout percentage OF ALL TIME.

yes - habs let him go back to toronto near end of season as a gesture. he blew his knee out during his first game with TO (from memory), they let him go and he never played again. remind your friend of that classy move by the leafs...

i think the goofs playing wing with him have to shoulder a lot of the blame here.

patience folks. its a long season. they're slumping, it happens. sens just lost 6 straight. gainey's switching out bonk and johnson (effectively) for smoke and kosto is coming to light though.... was this really an upgrade? we had one of the best pk s in the league last year. have always wondered why gainey was so eager to blow that line up (and not save much dough in the process). smoke is sucking and kosto in sitting in the the press box...