ECSF RSS Feed

Sather & Torts failed deadline rearing it's ugly head

Sat, 19 May 2012 19:35:03 +0000

I believe I've seen enough Rangers now to offer some opinion.

Rick Nash? cost too much - okay fine . However where was our Plan B?

Why weren't we in on Gaustad ? Kubina? A Zidlicky type ?

John Scott? this team was sucking wind the last 25 games let alone now! We had trouble keeping pace in matches with the Caps , the Isles and Canadians - it was obvious to us all.

However, Torts has this absurd idea that he needs to mold players into "his " guys before they can understand what the NYR are about blah etc blah .

Watching us shell up for a minute and 20 secs while teams pin us in and pass the puck along the blueline at will is sickening, it's gutless and it isn't hockey. I despise "weather the storm" mentality.

Chipping the puck out 500 times isn't a gameplan it's avoidance. We have 4 legit scoring threats, and I'm giving the benefit there. And now we're chipping out to a team that wants us to chip it out so they can slam it back in and forecheck the hell outta us and drill our d-men; who are stuck in mud.

At the very least you had to add a PP D-man over Bickel and an upgrade over Prust , who is God Awful.

And don't tell me "who were we gonna add" that's the GM's job - there were players to be had.

We put all our eggs in the Nash basket and blew the deadline and possibly our shot at the Cup.

Glen Sather folks - still a clown.

i'm sure his act will go over well with the mods there

Sat, 19 May 2012 15:10:32 +0000

from HF

http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/showthread.php?t=1192845

Sather & Torts failed deadline rearing it's ugly head...thread start 26Kocur26

GDT: Your New York RANGERS vs the sea of fake tanned Jersey Shore Swamp Rats

Sat, 19 May 2012 12:20:18 +0000

Kovy lost the last game, not sure if he is even alive given the Egyptian Princess' ways, plus he lost last game so I am coming out of retirement and taking over.

Huge game over at the Pebble this afternoon. Devils management is obviously intimidated by the strong showing our fans make at what they believe is their home but in reality is MSG West. "At Home on the Road" as the Rangers website shows today... Management and their fanbase still have nightmares of the celebrations of the 4-1 series victory in 2008...

Look for Lundqvist to continue to play solid. Expect Gaborik to come out skating hard after a disgusting Euro-whorish showing in period two of game 2.

Quote

Game Three Preview

May 18, 09:15 PM EDT

New York Rangers vs. New Jersey Devils, 1:00 PM at The Prudential Center

Game 3, Eastern Conference Finals (Series Tied 1-1)

Where To Watch: NBC Television

Live One-Hour Postgame Show: MSG Network

Where To Listen: 98.7 FM ESPN New York

Live In-Game Chat: 12:45 PM on BlueshirtsUnited.com

What2Watch4

After splitting the first two games of the Eastern Conference Finals with the Devils at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers will now try to regain home-ice advantage on the road as the series shifts to the Prudential Center in Newark for Game 3 Saturday afternoon and Game 4 Monday night. The Rangers are coming off a disappointing 3-2 loss to the Devils in Game 2 on Wednesday night---one in which they let a 2-1 lead slip away, and one in which the team felt it was outworked for much of the game by a hungrier New Jersey squad. That loss was not too dissimilar for their other Game 2 losses to the Senators in the first round of this year's playoffs and to the Capitals in the second round. So far during the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs the Rangers have fared much better in Game 3---riding a brilliant Henrik Lundqvist performance to a 1-0 victory over the Sens and scoring a triple-overtime 2-1 decision over the Caps. The Rangers will be looking to generate more offense on Saturday, especially at even strength. The Blueshirts beat Martin Brodeur twice in Game 2, with both goals coming on the power play. And in Game 1 the Rangers scored only one true even strength goal---whiloe also netting one power play goal and another goal into an empty net. While the Rangers are hopeful that rookie Chris Kreider can continue his strong play---which included two goals already in the series---they are also looking for Marian Gaborik, Brad Richards, Ryan Callahan, and Cral Hagelin, among others, to break loose offensively. Meanwhile the Devils are expected to once again deploy their two most explosive players---Ilya Kovalchuk and Zach Parise---on the same line with Travis Zajac, as they did in Game 2. It is not yet known if New Jersey will dress Peter Harrold or rookie Adam Larsson on defense. Harrold replaced Larsson in Game 2 after Larsson had played in Game 1.

Players2Watch

Rangers-Ryan Callahan: The Rangers captain had a strong start to the post-season offensively, but has scored only one goal in the past 12 playoff games. He is still working extremely hard, has been a ferocious hitter (leading the NHL with 73), and a fearless leader, but he has managed just one shot on goal in each of the first two games agains new Jersey. For someone who plays more than 20 minutes per game, and in all game situations, the Rangers need more production from Callahan. And it would be an emotional lift for the others on the team should the popular Callahan finally break through against the Devils.
Devils-Zach Parise: The Devils captain has had some of the best scoring chances of any player in this series, so far, but has yet to score a goal. Henrik Lundqvist stuffed him on three consecutive shorthanded shots in Game 1, and he had another prime chance to score shorthanded in Game 2, but was denied. Parise has one assist in his last four playoff games, and has totaled four goals in 13 playoff games this spring. Should he get untracked, it would cause huge problems for the Rangers.
[indent]
"Obviously this Game 3 is a huge game, as it has been in each series for us. That's the only thing we are thinking about right now. We're not dwelling on any mistakes we made the other night. We're more focused on what needs to be better in our game. I think we have a good group in here, and we've responded before, and we expect to do the same (Saturday)."-Mike Rupp
[/indent]

ByTheNumbers

The Devils allowed three power play goals in their entire five-game series with the Flyers, and have already surrendered three power play goals to the Rangers in the first two games of the Eastern Conference Finals. The Devils up-and-down penalty kill surrendered nine power play goals to the Panthers over seven games in the opeining round of the playoffs this year.
Henrik Lundqvist has allowed three goals in only five of the 16 playoff games he has played this spring, including in Game 2 against the Devils Wednesday night. In the previous four games following a contest in which he allowed three goals, Lundqvist has given up a total of four goals combined.

Will the Rangers bounce back and corral Game 3 Saturday on the road in Newark? Share your predictions below.

Paplebon

Sat, 19 May 2012 02:15:39 +0000

They just interviewed him on mlbnetwork...he's a bag of fucking rocks

Clemens key accuser: 'I misspoke' about evidence

Sat, 19 May 2012 00:58:50 +0000

Clemens key accuser: 'I misspoke' about evidence
By JOSEPH WHITE | The Associated Press – 1 hour 54 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AP) Roger Clemens' lawyer jabbed his left index finger and hammered away, relentlessly attacking Brian McNamee over his personal life and accusing the government's chief witness of ''making up this stuff on the fly.'' The attorney finally sprung his trap and pointed out what appeared to be a flaw in McNamee's story about the collection of evidence that turned up in a beer can.
McNamee's explanations: ''I misspoke; I'm sorry'' and ''It's never been asked that way to me.''
Clemens' longtime strength coach endured a fifth day Friday of questioning - he's now spent some 24 hours in the swivel chair between jury and judge in the perjury trial of the 11-time All-Star pitcher.
Clemens is charged with lying to Congress in 2008 when he said he never used steroids or human growth hormone. McNamee is the only witness who will claim firsthand knowledge of Clemens using performance-enhancing drugs, and he never wavered from that central accusation during Hardin's cross-examination.
McNamee will return to the stand Monday in a trial moving so slowly that U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton - for the first time in more than three decades on the bench - imposed time limits to speed things up: Only 90 minutes per side for witnesses after McNamee and closing arguments limited to two hours apiece.
''I just can't let this case meander on forever,'' the judge said.
The trial was supposed to last four to six weeks, but it's just wrapping up its fifth week - and the government said Friday it still has nine witnesses to call, down from the 14 it estimated the previous day. If the trial isn't done by June 8, Walton said he may have to call a recess for about a month because of various scheduling conflicts.
''And then we'll have some real unhappy jurors,'' Walton said.
Clemens' attorney Rusty Hardin spent three-plus days of cross-examination portraying McNamee as a chronic liar who frequently changes his story. Toward the end, Hardin raised numerous unsavory personal details: McNamee tampered with a dead body when he was a New York City policeman, he lied to investigators looking into a Florida incident in 2001, he had two driving-under-the-influence arrests in 2002, he got caught up in an Internet fraud investigation after ordering diet pills over the Web in 2004.
''Would you agree that you had a severe drinking problem?'' was among the many accusatory questions from Hardin. McNamee answered ''No, sir'' to that one.
The aim was to take McNamee down little by little, and his weariness showed as he hung his head more than once. During one of many pauses in testimony, a juror reached over and handed McNamee a tissue so the witness could wipe his nose. McNamee also indicated, reluctantly, that he was hypoglycemic, thus explaining why he needed frequent breaks to elevate his low blood sugar.
But Hardin also aimed for a classic ''gotcha'' moment while asking McNamee about the Miller Lite beer can. McNamee says he put the needle and other waste from a 2001 steroids injection of Clemens into the can, but he also says the can contained remnants from injections related to other players.
When Hardin talked McNamee through a timeline of events dealing with the can, it became apparent that McNamee had not accounted for the actual moment at which he put the items from the other players into the can.
Hardin angrily demanded to know how materials from other players ''flew'' or ''showed up magically'' in the beer can. When prosecutors objected, the lawyer said: ''Well, how did they get in there?''
''I put them in the can that night'' after injecting Clemens, McNamee said.
McNamee went on to say ''I misspoke; I'm sorry'' when explaining the apparent gap in the story. When Hardin asked whether McNamee ever told government investigators that he put the other players' material in the beer can that night, McNamee said: ''It's never been asked that way before.''
''Isn't this,'' concluded Hardin, ''a classic example of you making up this stuff on the fly?''
Even though McNamee never backed down from his core testimony that he injected Clemens with performance-enhancing drugs from 1998 to 2001, but prosecutors have their work cut out for them as they try to rebuild their key witness in front of the jury. The judge said he would allow only 90 minutes of follow-up questioning from prosecutors, and they used up 20 minutes of that allotment before court adjourned for the weekend.
To bolster McNamee's credibility, the government hopes to win an argument to include previously barred evidence that shows McNamee supplied drugs to other players who have since acknowledged that they were users. Hardin claimed that would open up a ''bunch of minitrials'' over each player associated with McNamee and could extend the trial for months.
The judge said he will rule on the matter Monday morning.
Late Friday afternoon, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and its chairman, Rep. Darrell Issa, filed a motion to quash Clemens' subpoenas for Issa's testimony and committee documents. That committee held the hearing that Clemens testified before in 2008; Issa, a California Republican, was not chairman at the time.
The motion argues that the subpoenas are barred by the Constitution's speech or debate clause, which protects elected officials from being questioned in a lawsuit about their legislative work.
''In particular, the subpoena to Chairman Issa should be quashed because high-ranking government officials may not be compelled to testify absent extraordinary circumstances, including that the official is uniquely able to offer that testimony, unlike here,'' the House general counsel's office said in its motion.