Tums & Tylenol (Part 1) and Player Appreciation Day. . .

First of all, if you want to share a favorite moment for the Rangers, the Coyotes, a favorite player, or whatever, head over to the 2nd Annual Appreciate Your Players Day forum over at Some Like It Blue.

Just a fun little way to say good things about your team and your favorite players, before your team (and your favorite player) may look different after your GM is done with them!

;) Oh Sather, Sather and his Fisher Price calculator will be having fun tomorrow.

Not too much stupid fun, I hope.

Sigh.


Anyway, the TRUE Tums & Tylenol Day is July 1st, but the secondary T&T Day, thanks to who the Rangers GM is and the fact that we know all too well that fact, remains Trade Deadline Day.

As much as we hope the damage will be minimal, we have to fear.

As much as I'm fine if they do nothing, you have to fear they will.

As much as you think there are untouchables (Hank, Staal, Cally), you just fear in the back of your mind that Sather will crumble under the excitement of the day.

Can I get another sigh.

Sigh.


I'm going to be very busy tomorrow at work, but I've cleared time leading up to 3pm to be by my computer, so I can keep an eye and an ear out for news on one of hockey's most exciting days.

But keep the Tums & Tylenol close - just in case.

I know I will...

Did Bob Gainey Out-Sather Glen Sather. . .?

On the surface, this evening's deal between the Rangers and Habs begs that question.

As we speak, fans in Montreal are teetering over bridges and ready to overthrow Bob Gainey for making what they deem is such a horrible trade for them.

How do I feel?

=)

=)

=)

And not for not liking Gomez, although let it be said, he had two things against him:

1) His inability to live up to his contract, though not entirely his fault
2) His inability to make us believe he gave a crap and was trying hard, which is entirely his fault.

I think Gomez, in a situation that makes him happy, can be effective. Put it this way, I wish him, as a person, well in Montreal, but not too well, if you get me.

Let's face it, he was never going to live up to the contract he was given. Again, not his fault. Gomez should never have been the top $$-maker on any teeam.

BUT, he could have looked like he cared a little more. That will always be my one gripe with him.

And as for complaints of why not Drury or why not Redden?

1) Shouldn't we be glad someone was going to take ONE of Sather's mistakes. ANY ONE of them?!
2) Drury has only 3 years left, Gomez had 5 - that has something to do with it, no doubt. Plus, Mr. Renney made Mr. Mumbles the captain of the team, not that I think that really would have stopped the trade, but it's worth noting.
3) No one will take Redden. That I even believed for a second Brian Burke would take Redden off our hands tells you how hopefully dellusional I can be at times.

Take this what it is, folks. A nice trade. It drops salary, a salary we desparately needed dropped. And it steals the best prospect in Montreal in Ryan McDonaugh. I listen to Montreal radio faithfully. They love this kid.

Trust me, fans in Montreal are probably more upset by the fact that he's leaving than in the fact that Gomez is coming.

And if Sather doesn't manage to screw it all up in the next few hours or days - always a possibility - then he might have just made up for one of his horrible mistakes and given the team the opportunity to make themselves better.

Fixing one mistake doesn't make you a better person; it'll just make us Rangers fans smile a little more until you make the next one.



Torts Quotes:

Steve Zipay on Blue Notes posted some Tortorella quotes yesterday, most of which I think are a breath of fresh air for Rangers fans. Feel free to take a read here.

My favorite:

"And I’m not afraid of youth. It’s going to be done on merit."

It may be too late for many of the wasted youth on this team, but for whomever is around for next season, this is going to be a wonderful change of pace.

Accountability - hmm, what a concept!



Yotes:

Speaking of wasted Rangers youth, I got a "tweet" from a Coyotes fan that made me very happy today.

"I LOVE prucha. he's a hard worker and does the little things that make a team better. He's crucial to us"

See, Pete will be fine. Just fine. =)

I was already greatly looking forward to the Coyotes season to see the team in action ON the ice.

But perhaps with some changes in place, I'll be looking forward to the Rangers as
well...

Although way, way too early to tell.



Canada Day/Free Agent Frenzy Day/Tums and Tylenol Day:
The day that knows so many names.

I usually think of July 1st in the order above.

I wish Canadians, and those of us hockey lovers, a Happy Canada Day.

I get NO work done because I'm highly anticipated any trade, especially ones not done by our GM.

And I have the two Ts - Tums and Tylenol - at the ready for those headaches and bouts of nausea.

(For the record, I now know why I was kept up last Thursday night in advance of the Draft. I preached and preached Tums and yet, where were they as I anticipated the potential bad moves of the next day and lay awake, tossing and turning?).

Back to the point. I will, for the most part, after today be on Twitter only, as I will be out of state. I will not be anyone's best source for "up to the minute" updates, so please check elsewhere and help keep me informed! =)

And I wish you all a Happy Canada/Free Agent Frenzy/Tums and Tylenol Day!!! =)

Rangers/Isles Preview and Random Ramblings. . .

There's not too much I can say about the New York/New York hockey matchup that hasn't already been thought about or talked about. Rick DiPietro is, in all likelyhood, out of tonight's game with mystery injury. While the Isles aren't saying, we can assume it's about his knee or his hip. Either way, he is 99% not to play tonight.

That being said, the Rangers need to take this game seriously. The Isles always get up to play them. The Isles, because not much else goes right for them, honestly, have to take games against the Rangers and the Devils as playoff games. And last year they owned both area teams.

Rangers will dress the same guys as they did Saturday. I think it's important that Petr Prucha builds on his strengths last game. This will be his first consequtive games in the lineup since the first two of the season in Europe.

I think the Rangers can and should beat the Islanders. Absolutely. But I've been around long enough to know that sometimes the Rangers under-value their opponents. And if that's the case, it could get ugly. Eh, it'll probably get a little ugly anyhow. Because it's:

Isles/Rangers - Part 1 of 6. Tonight @ 7pm.


Around the League:

-Alex Ovechkin will return to Russia to be with his ailing grandfather and will miss his first game in the last 200+. His streak ends at 203. I hope he comes back and plays like the player we call know he can be. Perhaps this has been weighing on his mind a little to start the season?

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=3666820

- NHL Trade Deadline Day - aka one of the most popular days to call in sick if you're Canadian - has been moved from March 3rd to March 4th, 2009. I myself will probably be stuck at work, regretably. But I will be useless as anything and hoping for no meetings during peak trade hours. It's also one of the only days a year that I can get TSN footage online here in the States.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=3664140