A New Beginning

I would like everyone to know that Sean Avery has been taken out of the ICU at St. Vincent's Hospital and has been moved to a normal room. He will eventually make a full recovery the only question that remains is whether or not he will be resigned by the Rangers. Only two days after being moved out of the ICU, Avery was released from the hospital and back to his regular himself, complaining that the hospital did not have any tanning beds. Avery will now be focusing on his work, but not with the New York Rangers, with Vogue Magazine. Avery has a summer internship with Vogue this summer; he is already planning for his life after hockey. He wants to be involved in modeling and the fashion industry in some way or another. For now, the Sean Avery blog will continue at a later date, for now all future posts will be made on the blog titled, "The Post Lockout Era."

Still Holding On

The future was not looking good for the Rangers going into game four last night against the Penguins. Their backs were up against the wall, and they were swinging at a powerhouse that could not be touched. Then, the unthinkable happened. The Rangers came out and held the Penguins scoreless through the first twenty minutes of play. Goalie Henrik Lundqvist played unbelievable looking like the goalie that lead Sweden to a gold medal in the Olympics. The Ranger team even looked like the team that played against New Jersey and a team that was looking to make a statement. They ended beating the Penguins in style, shutting out the best offense in the East during the play-offs, 3-0. Lundqvist made 29 saves including a penalty shot save against all-star Evgeni Malkin in the third period. The Rangers moved the puck side to side in the offensive zone forcing Penguin goalie, Marc-Andre Fluery to move, and posted 33 shots on goal. A motivated Jaromir Jagr, skated at both ends of the ice and posted a three point night along with the game winning goal. Brandon Dubinsky continued to make a name for himself scoring a power play goal and adding a helper on the game winning goal by Jagr. The Rangers' defense seemed to frustrate the Penguins' perennial offense along with the play of "King Henrik." Sidney Crosby continued to cry which has not changed since his rookie campaign, and his frustration started to rub off on his teammates as Evgeni Malkin slue-footed Paul Mara near the end of the game, which resulted in a fight. Emotion is running high in this series and Ranger players and fans alike have not given up hope quite yet. The series is returning to Pittsburgh on Sunday however, and the Rangers still have a long road ahead of them.

Avery Out... Along with Two Other Rangers

After another Ranger loss on Tuesday night at the Garden, I was too depressed to actually sit down and write. However, today is a new day and another game at the Garden, means I am desperately looking for a Ranger win that will keep my hopes and dreams alive at least one game longer. This will be a daunting task for the Rangers, after losing three key players for game four tonight. Blair Betts will be out with a possible fracture in his left cheek bone along with Chris Drury who injured his ribs in game three and cannot even lift his arms. Betts and Drury have been pivotal on the penalty kill for the Rangers, and Drury has been a silent leader for the team, the entire year. Sean Avery will also be out of the lineup tonight against Pittsburgh after suffering an injury to his spleen. Avery was hurt in the first period of game three, but continued to play through increasing pain in his abdomen picking up an assist in the second period. Avery was rushed to the hospital after the game in which it was originally printed that he went into cardiac arrest. This was a misprint by the media, Avery does however have a lacerated spleen and his CAT-Scan prognosis showed that he will make a full recovery during the off season. The entire Ranger community, myself included, wishes Avery the best of luck to a full recovery and hope to see him reeking havoc on opponents for the Blueshirts again next year. Thank you Avery for all you have done for New York, you will always be loved here. That being said the Rangers will need a lot of help from the hockey Gods if they are going to make this comeback against the powerhouse of Pittsburgh. Three AHL players practiced with the team on Wednesday, only one of which is expected to make an appearance tonight at the Garden. Assistant Captain Brendan Shanahan stated, "At a time like this, losing the players that we lost and being down 3-0, I think you can develop sort of an 'everyone's counted us out' mentality. I think it's really important as a team to come out and respond and just win one game, just think about winning just one game'' after practice on Wednesday. He is trying to keep the team motivated and optimistic. This is really the only thing that you can do at the moment, the future looks grim, but you got to have faith and understand crazier things have happened. Let’s go Rangers.

****Note: As Game Four Started, Chris Drury Made A Game Time Decision To Play

A True Fan

A true hockey fan is loyal in good times and in bad, but one things for sure when it's a bad time all kinds of bad thoughts go through your head about your team. I was having a conversation about my beloved Rangers last night, and I realized that now that they're down 2-0 against the Penguins, I am more poised for another loss tonight than I am to see a Rangers win. All sorts of bad thoughts went through my head and I am already looking forward to another play-off run next year. I'm just waiting and hoping that Jagr goes back to his homeland and that Shanahan finally calls it quits. Both these players I adored a year ago, but they're just not what they used to be and it’s a sad thing to see. Shanahan and Jagr alike dominated the game at one point, but when they were wing men for another perennial superstar. Shanahan was always in the shadow of another great except when for when he played on the Hartford Whalers during the prime of his career when he could handle the heat. Jagr has always needed to be a right-hand man, he had Lemiuex in Pittsburgh and after that he has slowly declined in performance. He's had decent help with slow moving playmakers, such as Nylander, but his style and mental toughness does not give him the capacity to perform under pressure especially in a city like New York. Another thing that really pisses me off about Jagr, is that he gives fans a false hope, through his first six games of this year's play-offs he lead the league with 10 points and actually looked motivated and was skating at both ends of the ice. Last game he just packed it in, he couldn't work the offense he was looking to generate and most likely got discouraged and just stopped playing all together, the Penguins would be running a line rush while Jagr was still in the corner of their zone. It's just a hard thing to comprehend as a fan and a hockey player, when you're a superstar, and especially one that wears the captain "C" you cannot pack it in early during any game. I hope game three tonight brings some different fortunes for New York, but if not I will most likely be writing about off-season acquisitions and signings that the Rangers should make.