Hockeybird.com: Rangrs win 6-2!!!!!!!

Sorry -- I know that's old news but the Rangers never play wildly exciting games like that the night before my column. In fact, they didn't even bother to play at all last night. You'd think that would be the topic of discussion amongst the NY area columnists this morning but, no. Indeed, they weren't really sure what they were supposed to be writing about today so we've got a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

Newsday gets us started with a little more information on Lindros' eye injury. You see, it wasn't a scratched cornea after all. It was a hyphema, which is a rupture of a small blood vessel in the iris resulting in "bleeding into the anterior chamber of the eye." Columnist Mike Shields admits that he had to consult eMedicine.com to figure out what the hell that was. While I applaud his resourcefulness, I wonder why he didn't just ask the Rodent?

Also in Newsday we get the following answer to a recent question posted to the boards: "Goalie Jussi Markkanen's wife, Sanna, gave birth to a baby boy named Olli last Thursday." Olli, the goalie's son is cool and all but I'm with Rocha -- Marky Markkanen would have been much funnier.

The Post, floundering around for a subject to write about on this slow news day, also decided to go with Lindros' eye, misspelling hyphema and noting that Lindros has been practicing with a visor but likely won't play with it because, "It makes it hard to smoke between shifts." (I made that last bit up.)

The Journal News and The Star Ledger both pounced on comments by Sather and Leetch yesterday like a pair of hungry waifs fighting over a scrap of crusty bread. The result? Articles on the subject of Leetch getting slowly better. (Also -- paint drying on locker room walls!)

The Journal News quotes Sather as saying, "I'm sure a normal guy wouldn't be playing." To which Leetch replied, "So what are you saying? Are you saying I'm not normal? Am I abnormal? Abnormal how? Do I amuse you? Am I like a freak to be put in a side show and laughed at?"

The Star Ledger quoted Leetch as saying, "I could go out and contribute, it was just that doing it every shift, the mental part becomes the key. I was playing over 20 minutes, so there were chances to make mistakes if I wasn't playing well. And we didn't play some good games." We didn't play some good games... Leetch has clearly been spending too much time with Kovalev.

Speaking of Kovalev, he's the subject of Sherry Ross' article in today's Daily News in which she notes that he's been getting his freak on of late. This she attributes to Kovalev's pairing with Holik and Rucinsky. Kovalev agrees, calling Ruchinsky Rosie several times in the process.

Regarding Kovalev's prior tendency to get a bit too fancy with the puck, dancing around and never getting off a shot, Ross says, "Holik will have none of that nonsense, and he hasn't been afraid to tell Kovalev so. It's to Kovalev's credit that he seems to be paying attention."

Finally, all of the papers are happy to inform us that the Dude has made the trip to Tampa and Osear has been reassigned to Hartford accordingly.

Let's all get psyched up for tonight's game. The Rangers will likely win by 6 points giving Rocha the chance to write an exciting headline tomorrow. Articles will rain down from the sky on him while I continue to pick through the dailies like a man dissecting a fish, looking for the glint of a shiny dime, looking up only long enough to shake my fist in his general direction.

I called three people and read this aloud to them.
Unfortunately, yes, you're screwed, as there will be a great game for you not to write about tomorrow!

Posted by: BaHa on November 25, 2003 10:44 PM