Five Things About the Rangers/Habs Game. . .

A day late, but what can you do ;)

* Had the pleasure of watching this game CBC style and it was a pleasure - a distinct pleasure. Listening to Bob Cole makes me feel this weird sense of nostalgia, as if I were reliving all the cold but happy Saturday nights I spent watching Hockey Night in Canada with my family growing up. Except for the one overlying fact that it never happened. I never had the chance growing up in the greater NY area to watch what all our neighbors in the great white north did. But Saturday night made me feel that lucky.

* As unhappy I was that the Habs scored and won, I couldn't have been happier that it was Mike Cammalleri scoring the hat trick. Why? Do I have him on my fantasy team? Hardly. I'm glad it was Cammo because that means it was not Gomez. Just imagine if it were him scoring the hat trick against his former team. [Pause]. I'll now give you thirty seconds to get that dirty image out of your minds.

* Speaking of Sco-Go, he was Greg Millen's intermission guest and he, apparently, is playing the same interview game he did when he was in New York. When asked if he felt a sense of connection with Brian Gionta because of their years together in NJ, Gomez said something along the lines of, "well it works, because we talk out there; like I'm sure you and your wife talk." Sigh. Some things never change. Note - the camera did not show Millen during this, so we cannot be sure whether he finds Gomez as amusing as John Giannone did.

* The game was a good game to watch, despite the end result. The pace was quick, there was plenty of goal scoring which I love. It was all you could hope for in that respect. The unfortunate part was that the Rangers, in giving up so many goals, have seemed to get away from the defensive steadiness that got them to as good a start as they had. The cohesiveness has slipped and while the game against NJ was more solid than the crap-fest against San Jose, they are still a lacking team. I'll be curious how they are able to respond against a Coyotes team that can strangle their opponents - with speed like Montreal has, and a tenacious system of shutting down the neutral zone.

* Every time Ales Kotalik scores I feel a small sense of relief. I know it's early in the season, too early to say it was a good/bad/indifferent move, but it's a relief to see a guy that hasn't gotten away from what made him successful on other teams. Usually guys find a way to come to NY and get away from what made them good. He hasn't so far. He has been a nice surprise. As for Vinny Prospal. He's been a nice player as well, for sure. But I felt way more confident in Vinny coming here. A guy who had played for Tortorella before so will not at all be shocked by his expectations. A guy that played his best hockey (honestly guys, this is a player that with the exception of last year has had very to very, very productive years in the last bunch of seasons. I heard the name Prospal and I thought, he can play with almost anyone). And so far, he has lived up to all expectations and more.