Rangers, Young Stars, Brendan Shanahan and Jaromir Jagr. . .?

Rangers:

Okay, this will be short and sweet. I was at a bar watching the game last night, and as so often happens when I'm at a bar watching a game, I cannot pay full attention. Too much noise, no sound on the TV, and someone's head always in the way. ;)

That being said, it apparently was as much the goalie's duel as it appeared from my vantage point. Credit Valiquette with what seemed to be a good game and for getting his team a point. Ryan Miller might have been spot on, but the Rangers seem to have this problem with scoring, if you haven't noticed.

I looked at Prucha's numbers today and he played 17:23, which is not only a season high, but a very high number for him in general. I only saw that he was on the ice for the goal against, although I didn't really see how it transpired. I figured though, as I lamented with a friend at the bar, that might be enough to anger Renney. You know how it works. No goals or assists to speak of, and you never know what will happen.

That's pretty much all I can say on the game. Looks like Rozsival took a face to the boards and might not play tonight. I will have to go back and take a look at that. If he can't go, Bobby Sanguinetti will make his NHL debut in Ottawa.

Game starts in just over an hour. Have fun guys.


Young Stars:

Congrats to Dubinsky and Marc Staal for making the squad. Staal is very much deserving, and Dubinsky had a great year there last year. I think the new format will prove interesting. But my first thought upon looking at the rosters was - -

Rookies are going to clean up!

Maybe that's not fair, and maybe it's going to prove very wrong, but as much as I like sophomores Staal, Nicklas Backstrom, Devin Setoguchi, Bryan Little, and Milan Lucic, I have to think that in that open ice setting, guys like Michael Frolik, Steven Stamkos, Kris Versteeg, and Blake Wheeler will score more goals.

And even if they don't, they have Drew Doughty, Luke Schenn, and goalie Steve Mason on the backend.

Either way, that will be fun!


Brendan Shanahan a Devil. . .?

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=262692&lid=headline&lpos=topStory_main

TSN says - almost? maybe? I'm not sure if we can trust completely, without a contract or agreement, believe this is 100% going to happen. But, face it, if he were going to play, he'd play as near to NY as possible. So NJ does not surprise me. I DO NOT like the Devils, but I hope the perennial good guy does well if this is how it shakes down. More when it becomes official.


The Man Known As Jaromir Jagr:

I miss Jaromir, badly. So badly. Especially when this team is not scoring and their current captain lacks anything resembling a pulse.

http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/22224-THNcom-Blog-Jagr-says-return-to-Penguins-not-out-of-the-question.html

Turns out, he might consider returning to where it all began for him, in Pittsburgh. If Mario wanted him to. Apparently all is not rosy in Russia.

Hmm.

I have so many opinions that I can't even express. I did not want Jagr to leave the Rangers. This man transformed a team that was going and had been going nowhere for almost a decade. He believed, he guaranteed, he made it happen. A historic run for him on Broadway.

People may disagree and argue over whether the Rangers are better or worse without their departed leader. I think we can all agree they are different though. And in my mind, certainly more vanilla. (Again, Stamkos, not the good kind).

If Jagr decides to come back to the NHL, and to Pittsburgh, it will be weird for a dozen reasons. I won't want him to play badly because I care for him and respect him so much. But the Penguins are a now very much hated rival for me. Then there's the whole quasi-hatred for #68 from those fans in Pittsburgh. I wonder how it would all pan out. With a year and a half more on Jagr's contract in Omsk, perhaps it isn't even worth it to think that far ahead. So much can happen.

But would I like to see Jagr return to the NHL and have a full-out farewell tour...? Absolutely. He deserves it, he really does.