I don't like bitchin' about the Refs when a team loses, it just comes off all wrong. And usually, it really wasn't the refs causing the loss. Last night the Rangers won with a solid effort, extreme goaltending and a pair of Jagr goals. However, the call against Colton Orr has me furious.
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Orr was given a five, a ten and a game for the hit on Cullen. I'm not sure he deserved even two minutes. In fact.....I saw no penalty on the play at all. I have seen a few bad calls/non-calls over the last two weeks in games that have me wondering if I understand the rules of the game.
Now it's true that I didn't have the best relationship with "stripes" when I played. I could tell ya a few stories. I do however understand that the job is a tough one and the Refs in hockey have the hardest job of all sports officials. I do respect what they do and what they have to go through. That said, one has to wonder about some of the calls we've seen recently. Not just in Ranger games, I mean league wide.
I have often suggested that officials will react to the result of a play rather than the activity before/during it. Last night's hit on Cullen was in no way an infraction of any of the rules as far as I can tell. The result sure looked bad. The helmet to helmet contact was followed by Cullen falling on his face. The blood made it look even worse.
OK, enough of that. Perhaps the NHL rescinds the match penalty and we move on.
Henke was on fire last night, eh? I would still like to see him a step further out of his net on long shots. He plays so damned deep. He's also on his knees a lot but maybe that's a Swedish thing. :-)
The Rodent has his recap for you.
Formerly known as "Pete from Uniondale", the Carolina coach was once a regular on WFAN in NY. Now he coaches the son of the current Islander coach, Ted Nolan. I think it's cool that Teds' son made the show. Good for the both of them. I never have hid my admiration for Nolan and there's no sense starting now.
Passion, hitting and solid team defense. This is what the Rangers need to do each game. Add in tremendous goaltending and strong penalty killing and good things will happen. If only the Rangers could play like that each night rather than once every few games. You can't win a seven game series unless you bring it every night. Oh....that's right, it's still the regular season. But you know what I mean.
The Rangers settled out of court with one of the Ice Dancers. Whatever. "MSG failed to properly protect the dozen skating cheerleaders from being touched inappropriately when they went into the crowd at games and required them to be glamorous and to wear padded bras, fake eyelashes and hairpieces. "
Oh no......not fake eyelashes! Those sexest brutes.
The World Juniors began yesterday. "All three local teams are represented, the Rangers leading the way with six participants: Bobby Sanguinetti (USA), Artem Anisimov (Russia), Alexei Cherepanov (Russia), David Kveton (Czech Republic), Carl Hagelin (Sweden), and David Skokan (Slovakia). Sanguinetti is an offensive defenseman in the mold of former Rangers star Brian Leetch, and he should play a key role on Team USA's power play. And Cherepanov, who excelled in this tournament last year, could turn out to be the biggest steal of the 2007 draft if he continues to build upon his early success."
** The trade freeze ends tonight and there is wide speculation and rumor surrounding Petr Prucha. I will say this, and I'm looking right at you Mr. Sather.....if you trade Petr and the team doesn't win the cup THIS YEAR I will come visit you ;-)
I have supported Slats and Co. ever since the fire sale (even before that) and the trades from then to now have been good ones for the most part. Slats has a way of pulling off good deals so I guess I have to trust him now. Yet I really have become attached to Petr Puck and would really rather not have him as part of any NYR trade.
After the game last night I had promised the wife we'd watch a movie so I didn't get to post about the game. The movie selected? Miracle. I had seen it before and of course I saw it all happen in 1980. Have you ever been to Lake Placid? It's awesome just being at the rink.
Do you believe in miracles.........YES!
----}- Bird
Posted by Bird at December 27, 2007 12:17 PMeMail this entry!
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