Archive for March 30th, 2009
Monday’s Games and Picks
Tonight’s Picks
NJD @ NYR: Take RANGERS
SJS @ CGY: Take FLAMES
DAL @ PHX: Take STARS
RANGERS-DEVILS BATTLE
AVERY MEETS NEW JERSEY
Sean Avery shoves it up New Jersey goalie Marty Brodeur’s ass when he screens the tender during the Rangers power play and then the play comes back and Avery scores the goal on Jersey. Watch it on the video above . . .
Tonight the Rangers meet the Devils in New York for a match up that we possibly could see repeated in the playoffs and without question is MUST WATCH TV.
The game is on Versus in the United States and carried by TSN in Canada at 7pm. Rangers are in a battle for playoff contention still just ahead of the the Habs who have 86 and sit in the 8th and final playoff position one point away from the Rangers. Then you have the Panthers who have 85 points in 9th battling to get one of the final two spots up for grabs.
This is a must game for the Rangers with no room for error or time for antics as the Rangers are in a playoff fight for their lives. Coach John Tortorella was brought in by General Manager Glen Sather just for this type of pressure. Torts is a high strung coach that does well under the limelight and pressure that playing in Broadway provides.
Sather also made several good moves at the deadline bringing in Avery along with some offensive injection not the least of which has been former Maple Leafs forward Nik Antropov.
Some of the story lines for tonight’s Eastern Conference battle in the New York area will be:
Avery’s crease crashing antics that brought in the Avery Rule in the NHL.
Avery vs Brodeur after the elimination game Avery called Marty ” Fatso” in a post game interview.
Avery vs Dave Clarkson battle that has gone on every game that they have played against each other.
Avery playing for the first time against his Ranger mentor Brendan Shanahan who now skates for the crosstown Devils.
Scott Gomez former long time Devil fighting to get his game back to where it was when a Devil has to show up and have a great game against his old mates to help his new teammates secure a playoff spot.
BIG GAME
It’s to bad that the game doesn’t mean more to the Devils in the standings.
But if you know General Manager Lou Lamoriello like I do you will know that any game against the hated Rangers who have over the years stolen players like Gomez and Bobby Holik away from the Swamp only to drive Lou nuts MEANS EVERYTHING.
Lou would love the Devils to lead to the Rangers losing out on a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Lou’s reasoning is simple he believes whole heartily that they ( The Devils) do things in hockey the right way building through draft picks and not over paying players.
Lou goes after character players and believes in loyalty to the organization which made it odd that he brought back Holik years after Bobby bolted to New York for the cash when he was a free agent.
The Rangers under Sather have opted to spend & spend when that’s not enough spend some more. Sather under the cap system has been restricted but still throws money around to certain players as free agents case in point last summer bad deal for defenceman Wade Redden.
This game has playoff implications and so many great side stories it will be a must watch for any real hockey fan.
For Hockey God I’m Dave Frost
