i'm vacationing in montreal and watched the game last night right by the Bell Center; was rooting against the Canadiens, but they pulled it off. Lots of passionate Quebecers. I'm trying to find a sports bar to watch the Flyers-Rangers game tonight.
Matt, you're reminding me of the 1990 playoff game at the Garden when James Patrick laid out Pat Lafontaine with a hard (but legal) body check and how Al Arbour and the Islanders gooned it up from there. Arbour sought revenge so with the Rangers leading 2-1 with a last second face off, Arbour (who gets this undeserved rep as a dignified 'class act') sends out his goons Vukota, Baumgarter and Nylund. At the drop of the puck, Vukota jumped Jeff Bloomberg, a born again who was not a fighter, Baumgartner jumped Kris King and Nylund jumped Nilan. It was an embarrasingly bush move even by Arbour/Oylander standards. My wife who's normally placid (and a lot more mature than I) was even ticked off at how obviously staged Arbour's goon stunt was. I ruefully remember her looking down on the ice and asking me: "who's #30?"….."Chris Nilan"……"ooh, he got killed"………"er yeah hon, put a sock in it, will ya?" I (and all our friends there) were steaming. If you were an Islander fan, you'd have been best served trying to slink out of MSG unnoticed--the Ranger natives at that point were getting very restless--forgotten was the Ranger win. And I remember looking to our right, it really started getting bad because after the teams left the ice, the enraged crowd then turned and focused their attention towards the Islander broadcast booth and taking their rage out on that milquetoast little tool Jiggs McDonald and his sidekick Ed Wesphall who were holed up in their broadcast booth. It was great--Jiggs & Eddie were like two lambs sitting in a cage surrounded by a pack of angry lions and the crowd was swelling in numbers by the minute and it took a hell of a lot of security to finally get them to clear out. Too bad, they would've de-pantsed that fat little shit Jiggs if they'd gotten their mitts on him. That was the one time I came out of the Garden pissed (sort of) off after a Ranger victory. Not that anyone cares but the happiest was the 1986 Ranger-Flyer series when the Rangers beat the Flyers down in the Spectrum and in the wanning moments of that game, much like the Islander game, Dave Brown took a run at the Beezer and cross checked him. Rangers return home, "conditions" are ripe: Saturday night, crowd half-liqoured up, circus in town = later 8:30 start = crowd very liquored up and amped that the Rangers opened the series sucessfully in Philly. However the crowd didn't forget Brown's d-bag move and as a result Brown came into MSG as public enemy #1. Crowd stands for the national anthem, both team facing towards the American flag at one end of the Garden and as the anthem starts--I remember it like it was yesterday--a HUGE banner is unfurled from the blue seats: DAVE BROWN: EAT SHIT AND DIE!! We were crying laughing in the midst of trying to sing the anthem….you couldn't take your eyes off the banner - it was directly in the line of sight of the flag and it was huge, we all saw it, the Flyers (and Dave Brown) saw it, everyone. God bless those responsible for bringing it into the Garden. The game itself: 1-all, then the Rangers score one goal after another, George McPhee outslugs gambler Rick Tocchet (one of the loudest moments I ever hear at a Ranger game when McPhee started getting the better of him) and they win the game and series going away in 5. I hope history repeats itself. In this case, jump on Philly quick, get a 2-0 lead in game, split on the road and then finish them off in 5 and not have them facing (presumably the Penguins) coming off a grueling 7-game series like those ones with Ottawa/Washington before NJ. Sorry for the ramble….aintsy waiting for this (poorly scheduled) series to start already….and just wasting time till faceoff. Go Blueshirts.
lol...joe...what a great post bud. Now..first period over and perhaps someone should inform that selfish prick Nash that he has 2 other linemates. Is he serious with these blue line wrist shots on goal entering the zone? Is this about Nash being able to say after the game "well...I got 8 shots on net but couldnt bury one"? Is friggin Nash serious? Does he plan on passing the puck at all? Was this his gameplan? Hopefully in between periods a coach pulls him aside and asks exactly what the F is he doing.
Glad you saw it, a helluva game. Myself and 3 other buddies lucked out getting a late invite that afternoon from this older guy who was an executive with Stroh's beer (they had a box). Looking at the ice, we were on the opposite sideline from the benches and we were looking left (so the benches were looking to their right) and yes, the banner was right in the visual "line of fire" as the American flag. Hitting the 'SAP' button in my slightly-burned-out memory bank: Dave Brown: comer miereda y morir : )
It was...it turns the series into exactly the one thing the Flyers couldnt afford..a clean series. You can play chippy ala the Bruins and still not end up in the penalty box but what the Rangers just did is basically get into the head of the Flyers making them think before they hit. The Flyers couldnt not afford that because it was the few ways they could win this series. Being a pessimist, this game could not have gone any better. You get your point guys getting points..you have a 4th line that plays the way teams that go far in the playoffs 4th lines play. Your goaltender basically had the night off. MAC played like he had not played in a few weeks so he got a game under his belt. Most important, you put on a power play display that would make any NHL team think twice about trying to play too aggressive against you...the one weakness the Rangers have. You could not ask for a better 1st game of the playoffs.
and one more thing that has to be said...I love tough discipline coaches..love them...but this team has shown exactly why the style of Torts was to give no one confidence..to bully. It shows that you do not have to act like a prostitute in the game of hockey and play on your knees in front of your goaltender trying to block every shot. H.L. spent the past few years standing on his head even though the 5 guys in front of him tried to get themselves killed blocking every single shot...feared by a coach that demanded that is the only way to defend. At one time, I loved Torts but lets face it..he almost ruined several careers..Kreider...Richards...look what Mac has done given some freedom to play both sides. The constant doghouse theory. Unlike any other sport, hockey players are for the most part....nuts. They play hurt...they get stitches and return minutes later. Torts treated these guys like friggin animals...and what Richards is doing shows that there is a hockey God. Really happy for him.
The Flyers are a dumb team coached by a guy who was known for taking dumb penalties. He fits the team perfectly.
I walked into Josie Woods' Pub, the Rangers were down 1-0. Walked out of Josie Woods' Pub, they had won 4-1. I think I found my spot to watch the game...LGR!!!
