Mel
4-23-06, 2:48 PM
The latest on Jagr.
Let me preface this by saying Jagr or no Jagr... any effort even closely resembling yesterday's complete and total unraveling will make this an easy sweep for New Jersey.
Jersey is a playoff savvy team. They still have a number of guys who won Cups there. They know all about discipline and playoff hockey success formulas. They will gladly let the Rangers shoot themselves in the foot with stupid penalties. All of their offense came on the power play. You give Elias, Gionta and Gomez 13 power plays.... I don't care who's in goal, you will pay that price and they did. It was nothing short of an embarassment plain and simple. Playoff inexperience was apparent. Which I suppose should not surprise anybody.
A few calls that led to PP goals I felt were questionable. Moore along the boards as MD pointed was really what should have been a non-call, Jagr got called for a hook, that from where I was sitting did not impede the player in the least. It should have been a non-call. Both led to goals.
But most of the penalties were good correct calls. The refs went out of their way to make it clear the the game will be called tight. The Rangers have nobody to blame but themselves. Malik blatant elbow to the face of Pandolfo, I mean come on... you cannot play that kind of game in the playoffs especially against Jersey and hope to win. It actually plays right into their style. They rely on being more disciplined than the opponent, and cashing in on their mistakes.
The Devils too got a few borderline calls too so I am in now way claiming the refs called a worse game for the Rangers. But overall they called the game even tighter than regular season. It's almost as if they're taking it too far the other way.
I still firmly believe that the Rangers can carry the play and beat this team 5 on 5. Despite all the shorthanded time including 2 5-3's, the shots on goal wound up 30 each. We saw some Ragner momentum early which of course was quickly snuffed by taking penalties. 16 penalties. Unacceptable. And they should not expect even a sniff in this series if they can't turn this problem around immediately. But based on the regular season... I'm not overly optimistic of that happening. But I will continue to hope for the best.
As for Jagr, I personally don't think he's gonna go tomorrow night, which mean it will be miraculous to sneak out of the swamp with a 1-1 tie. He left the Meadowlands without a sling so some say he might have popped a shoulder and they popped it back in. If he can go, even in discomfort he will.
This was printed a few hours ago:
(AP) EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J Jaromir Jagr's attempted swipe at Scott Gomez left the New York Rangers' star forward with an injury that could sideline him in the playoffs.
With the Rangers trailing by four goals and virtually no chance of coming back late in the third period Saturday, Jagr was sent out by coach Tom Renney to get what he called "practice" in penalty killing. Jagr tried to hit Gomez, New Jersey's second leading scorer, and lunged toward him.
He didn't connect and then stumbled as he appeared to stretch his arm out awkwardly.
Right after Patrik Elias scored the Devils' final goal in the 6-1 opening victory of the best-of-seven series, Jagr was escorted to the dressing room and favored his left arm.
Renney only confirmed that Jagr had an "upper body injury," and the right winger who finished second in the NHL with 54 goals and 123 points didn't offer any more details or any assurance he'd be able to play Monday night in Game 2.
He is expected to be evaluated by doctors on Sunday.
"I don't know what is going to happen tomorrow. After that, if I'm ready to play, I'll play," he said. "It doesn't matter. We have to get ready for the next game whether I play or not."
New York was done in on Saturday by undisciplined penalties that led to five New Jersey power-play goals in 13 opportunities.
If the Rangers don't have Jagr in the lineup, they will have to figure out how to stop the Devils' offense while trying to replace the player who had a hand in nearly 50 percent of their goals in the regular season.
Jagr wasn't ready to concede anything, even if he is forced to watch instead of play. The loss was New York's sixth straight.
"We can win," he said. "You always have to believe."
By dropping their final five games in the regular season, the Rangers missed a chance to win the Atlantic Division. A 5-1 loss to Ottawa in the finale dropped them from first to third in the Atlantic and from third to sixth in the Eastern Conference.
That put them on the road to start their first postseason appearance since 1997 instead of inside the friendly confines of Madison Square Garden.
Let me preface this by saying Jagr or no Jagr... any effort even closely resembling yesterday's complete and total unraveling will make this an easy sweep for New Jersey.
Jersey is a playoff savvy team. They still have a number of guys who won Cups there. They know all about discipline and playoff hockey success formulas. They will gladly let the Rangers shoot themselves in the foot with stupid penalties. All of their offense came on the power play. You give Elias, Gionta and Gomez 13 power plays.... I don't care who's in goal, you will pay that price and they did. It was nothing short of an embarassment plain and simple. Playoff inexperience was apparent. Which I suppose should not surprise anybody.
A few calls that led to PP goals I felt were questionable. Moore along the boards as MD pointed was really what should have been a non-call, Jagr got called for a hook, that from where I was sitting did not impede the player in the least. It should have been a non-call. Both led to goals.
But most of the penalties were good correct calls. The refs went out of their way to make it clear the the game will be called tight. The Rangers have nobody to blame but themselves. Malik blatant elbow to the face of Pandolfo, I mean come on... you cannot play that kind of game in the playoffs especially against Jersey and hope to win. It actually plays right into their style. They rely on being more disciplined than the opponent, and cashing in on their mistakes.
The Devils too got a few borderline calls too so I am in now way claiming the refs called a worse game for the Rangers. But overall they called the game even tighter than regular season. It's almost as if they're taking it too far the other way.
I still firmly believe that the Rangers can carry the play and beat this team 5 on 5. Despite all the shorthanded time including 2 5-3's, the shots on goal wound up 30 each. We saw some Ragner momentum early which of course was quickly snuffed by taking penalties. 16 penalties. Unacceptable. And they should not expect even a sniff in this series if they can't turn this problem around immediately. But based on the regular season... I'm not overly optimistic of that happening. But I will continue to hope for the best.
As for Jagr, I personally don't think he's gonna go tomorrow night, which mean it will be miraculous to sneak out of the swamp with a 1-1 tie. He left the Meadowlands without a sling so some say he might have popped a shoulder and they popped it back in. If he can go, even in discomfort he will.
This was printed a few hours ago:
(AP) EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J Jaromir Jagr's attempted swipe at Scott Gomez left the New York Rangers' star forward with an injury that could sideline him in the playoffs.
With the Rangers trailing by four goals and virtually no chance of coming back late in the third period Saturday, Jagr was sent out by coach Tom Renney to get what he called "practice" in penalty killing. Jagr tried to hit Gomez, New Jersey's second leading scorer, and lunged toward him.
He didn't connect and then stumbled as he appeared to stretch his arm out awkwardly.
Right after Patrik Elias scored the Devils' final goal in the 6-1 opening victory of the best-of-seven series, Jagr was escorted to the dressing room and favored his left arm.
Renney only confirmed that Jagr had an "upper body injury," and the right winger who finished second in the NHL with 54 goals and 123 points didn't offer any more details or any assurance he'd be able to play Monday night in Game 2.
He is expected to be evaluated by doctors on Sunday.
"I don't know what is going to happen tomorrow. After that, if I'm ready to play, I'll play," he said. "It doesn't matter. We have to get ready for the next game whether I play or not."
New York was done in on Saturday by undisciplined penalties that led to five New Jersey power-play goals in 13 opportunities.
If the Rangers don't have Jagr in the lineup, they will have to figure out how to stop the Devils' offense while trying to replace the player who had a hand in nearly 50 percent of their goals in the regular season.
Jagr wasn't ready to concede anything, even if he is forced to watch instead of play. The loss was New York's sixth straight.
"We can win," he said. "You always have to believe."
By dropping their final five games in the regular season, the Rangers missed a chance to win the Atlantic Division. A 5-1 loss to Ottawa in the finale dropped them from first to third in the Atlantic and from third to sixth in the Eastern Conference.
That put them on the road to start their first postseason appearance since 1997 instead of inside the friendly confines of Madison Square Garden.