Jagr now having all his leads challenged!

[wildboy26]

Jagr had better pick it up. Thornton is now tied with Jagr in the points and has the same number of games left. Ovechkin is one behind Jagr in the goals category and is charging hard. Jagr could end the year sweeping the awards or winning one of them when you include the other MVP awards, it is that close.

[charlio lemieux]

From what I hear it is a groin injury.

[wildboy26]

From what I hear it is a groin injury.

You mean Jagr has a groin injury?

[charlio lemieux]

Heard mention of him "tweaking" something groin related last week. Wouldn't have paid much attention but I have him in a hockey pool. So I though I would keep an eye on him. Sure enough he has gone from around 1.5 ppg to nothing.
Never know with him. He could be back to normal tomorrow, or it could bug him for the rest of the year.

[wildboy26]

I guess that explains his recent slump. With Jarg how he deals with some new adversity is always a roll of the dice as you said. I dont know the details of course bu your hockey pool may not be looking so good now with Thornton and his line on a roll and Jagr in iffy health.

[charlio lemieux]

I am listening to the Ranger game right now and from the sounds of it Jagr is feeling much like his regular self.

[wildboy26]

That is good to hear. The chase for the Art Ross between him and Jagr will be alot of fun if Jagr is healthy. The Rangers will also be a good dark horse in the playoffs if Jagr is his usual self.

[charlio lemieux]

I am betting Thornton will outscore him from here on out. If Thornton does it by enough to win the Art Ross is another question.

[charlio lemieux]

Uh oh Jagr has disappeared. Absent from the PP. Not on the bench.

[wildboy26]

I am betting Thornton will outscore him from here on out. If Thornton does it by enough to win the Art Ross is another question.

They are already tied in points with the same number of games remaining, that was before todays games.

[wildboy26]

Uh oh Jagr has disappeared. Absent from the PP. Not on the bench.

That totally sucks!

[charlio lemieux]

I hadn't looked, in a few days. Joe had two pts last night.
Jagr has points today. Still no sign of him at the end of the period. Not good.

[charlio lemieux]

Jagr is back for the third. Must have been an equipment issue. :relief:

[wildboy26]

That is a relief to hear. I hope Jagr and Thornton are both healthy to the end of the year and to enjoy the battle for the scoring title. Also maybe Ovechkin can get going again and push Jagr for the Richard trophy.

[charlio lemieux]

Staal has stalled a bit too. It will be nice to have a race for the Art Ross. It
would be a perfect cap to what has been a great comeback regular season for the NHL.

[wildboy26]

I agree.

This has been an amazing comeback year for the NHL, the new rules have worked very well, scoring is up which is great, and the great veteran stars mixed with the great rookie class of Ovechkin, Crosby, Svatos, the very surprising Lundqvist, and Phaneuf has been great for the game.

Staal has had a great year, but I am not sure if Staal will be in the race for a points title anymore either.

[Mel]

It looks like the Rangers might be back on track with a win Thursday. I guess we'll see tonight if it sticks. They went from a 7 game win streak to a 6 game losing streak. That was tough. All but one were 1 goal losses and all 6 the opposing goalie was a star of the game.

For that reason, some circles of Ranger fans are convinced they hit a string of hot goalies. Because all games were tight and low scoring... no blowouts. They managed only 10 goals in the span.

Hopefully Jaromir gets the touch back and this team can get on a roll going into the playoffs (can't believe i just said that LOL)

[Amoroq]

I remember a certain so and so had abandoned the rags before the start of the season? I could be wrong, but I think the team this certain so and so chose was Nashville. Oh have the times changed ;)

[wildboy26]

Rangers up 3-0 on Toronto so far tonight(Saturday), Jagr has 3 points, Thornton had only 1 tonight, he might be back in the hunt although he is still clearly behind being atleast 1 point ahead, but 2 games behind.

Mel, if you run into 6 or 7 hot goalies in a row is it likely the opposing goalie?
Different people would have different views on that, but by that point I would start to wonder if it is really that or just an inability of a team to have a good conversation on shots and scoring chances. That is just my opinion though. My local QMJHL hockey team seems to run into more "hot goalies" than any other team in our league, but I kept track of their goals per shot ratio and it was one of the lowest in the league after 20 games or so until I stopped tracking it.

[Mel]

@Amoroq - I never said I abandoned the Rangers. They have always been my team right through the 7 year stretch of horror - and I have taken my lumps every step of the way.

I chose the Thrashers as my adopted team to cheer for while the Rangers re-built, which every one assumed would take years. I still like the Thrashers and they sit 1 point out of a playoff spot after a horrible start to their season.

This year has been a pleasant surprise for Ranger fans who haven't had much to smile about in years. I don't know about other cities, but this group has won their fans back in a big way following the lockout. Last summer Glen Sather was a marked man... now he actually walks the halls of Madison Square Garden and greets the fans - yes times have most certainly changed.

@Wildboy - You could be right, maybe it's just searching for excuses but the Rangers have proven they can score goals. In the 7 game streak prior they scored 31 goals. The fact that they only mustered 10 goals in the 6 games following, in addition to the opposing goalie being a star in every game (the #1 or #2 star in 5 of the 6 games) would indicate that hot goalies had at least something to do with it. Especially Huet, who made the Rangers yet another shutout victim.

But it doesn't matter much. You lose you lose. I think fans were just trying to find reasons to believe the team wasn't collapsing.

[Mel]

Jagr came up big last night with 1g, 3a. he passed Joe T by 2 and became the first player to reach 100 points on the season. I'd say the race is back on.

[wildboy26]

The race is definitely back on. :)

[a4l]

The race is definitely back on. :)

You are the only one who thought it was off. :wave:

[KB in Kelowna]

I see where Jagr just became the all time single season point producer in Rnager history and he still has games to play.:thumb:

[Mel]

Yeah, he did and he's not done yet. Currently tied with Adam Graves for the most goals in a season (52). He's sure to break that one too.

On a side note, it came out in an interview after the game last night that Jagr plans to retire at the end of this contract (2 more seasons) at age 36.

That kinda surprised me, but you never know with him. He was talking about playing in Russia this season at one point. I hope he sticks around longer than 2 years.

[charlio lemieux]

He says, Renney is it?, is the best coach he's ever played for.

He seems to know how to keep Jags happy at any rate. 4 points last night.