Manhattan is Melting

Washington fans should just be happy 'Torts' didn't have this to launch at em!




Let’s break it down into a Top (or Bottom, depending on how you look at it) 10, shall we?


1. John Tortorella – Should he apologize for accidentally hitting a woman, seated near the raucous fan, with a water bottle? From a public relations stand-point…duh! I have a hard time believing that the Rangers PR department did not suggest for Torts to issue an apology, but if the coach didn’t want to then that would end that. Regardless if Torts wanted to apologize for the incident or not, common sense would say he should, even if it is insincere, just to flush this crap down the toilet and be done with it. And for those comparing the fact that Avery was scratched for game five because of discipline and then Tort’s hypocrisy with the water bottle, you may have a slight point, but it is apples and oranges for the most part.

2. Glen Sather’s letter – In all fairness to the Rangers (not Glen, because I am sure that letter was a team effort), they do have a point. Jim Ramsay is a stand-up individual who wouldn’t make up a story like that or exaggerate it. If the Rangers asked for additional security, why was nothing done? Rangers fans are no better than any other fans in the league in terms of trash-talking (with nearby children), but MSG would never let such a situation happen. They learned their lesson from Mike Milbury and the Boston Bruins years ago.

3. Donald Brashear – To be honest, I was expecting him to be suspended for at least an entire round. Sean Avery gets suspended six games for his “sloppy seconds” remark, and this thug (with a nice little NHL rap sheet) gets the same amount for breaking Blair Betts’ orbital bone and concussing him? Avery has never been suspended for an on-ice transgression and yet they put these two in the same class. Avery is in no way, shape, or form, an angel (just ask many of the Capitals that he has slashed, speared, and butt-ended), but what Brashear did was what Marty McSorley did to him, except Brashear didn’t have a stick in his hands. So it breaks down like this: Blair Betts – the Rangers top penalty killer and face-off man is out for an extensive amount of time, and Donald Brashear – King Goon, is out for six. I’ll score one for the Caps.

4. Dubinsky’s Bitten Hand – Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn’t Game 6 a nationally televised NBC game? So, there isn’t one camera that was focused on the skirmish that ended with either Shoane Morrissonn or Mike Green biting Brandon Dubinsky’s hand? To top that off, when Dubinksy went to show the referees what had happened, he was slapped with a 10-minute misconduct for complaining.

5. Bill McCrearey – How has this man gotten as much playoff work as he has? He missed an insane amount of calls on both sides. Avery has gotten away with plenty, as have many Capitals’ players. It makes you wonder if he is still bitter at the Rangers after Mike Richter body checked him behind the net after the New Jersey Devils scored with 7.7 seconds left in game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals.

6. Henrik Lundqvist – Paging Mr. Lundqvist from games one through four. Lundqvist hasn’t been horrendous in games five and six, but he has been average. Average Henrink will obviously not get this Rangers team, with no goal support, far in the playoffs, let alone the second round.

7. Wanted – Chris Drury (I know he’s hurt, but still), Scott Gomez, Markus Naslund, Nik Antropov. A goal or two would be nice.

8. Nik Zherdev – The first few months of the season were nice. Thanks for making the Rangers trade a defenseman that they could really use right now in Fedor Tyutin.

9. Ovechkin/Varlamov – Ovechkin has been great in the series. No one expected anything less. Was his Terrell Owens like celebration following the Caps’ game three victory classless and bush league? Yeah. Was his little eye-spy episode during the Rangers morning skate and subsequent comments stupid? Yup. Have the Rangers shut him up? Nope. Shoot the puck on Varlamov, I know it sounds crazy, but if you shoot the puck, it sometimes goes in. Genius!

10. Ryan Callahan and Brandon Dubinksy – I saved this for last because I wanted to end this on a positive note. These two players have truly grown up in this series and have taken the reigns of this team during the playoffs. As I said in November, Callahan is a top six forward in this league in the mold of Adam Graves. He and Dubinsky are truly proving their worth to this franchise right now. Let’s not forget the great work of Blair Betts, Freddie Sjostrom, and Lauri Korpikoski. Others have had their moments, but none have been as consistent throughout the playoffs like these five guys.

Game Seven prediction: My heart says 2-0 Rangers. My brain says 4-2 Capitals.