Also their one power play looked bad. If the Devils power play is sponsored by PSE&G then the Rangers is brought to you by the ’77 blackout.

BTW Willie O’Ree, the first black player in the NHL dropped the first puck. A real nice man, you can read more about him here.

More later… 

The Islanders picked up defenseman Rob Davison from San Jose and the Devils traded Cam Janssen to St. Louis for defenseman  Bryce Slavador.

Outside of the New York area, Brad Richards and Johan Holmqvist went to Dallas for Mike Smith and others and Brian Campbell moves from Buffalo to the Sharks.

Goalie Cristobal Huet was traded from Montreal to the Caps, who also got Sergei Federov. 

The Rangers, though, keep waiting and the Hossa to the Habs rumors are still out that. Marian that is.

More to come as it comes in….  

«FULL STORY»

“I hope not,” Renney said. “This is the Ottawa Senators. This is the NHL. This is what we get paid to do to put a product on the ice in front of our fans. They want to support us for the right reasons. We have to play.”

The fans will get to see the play of Sean Avery, who Renney said will provide spark to the team as he comes back from surgery back on Nov. 27. The wrist is fine and after the doctors checked it out this morning, he was given the good to go.

“What he brings us is what he always has,” Renney said. “He’s an intelligent player, who doesn’t scarifice the defensive side of the puck to do his things. I like his speed, naturally. He’s an abrasive guy.”

What Renney is hoping for is a trickle down effect, where the rest of the Rangers follow No. 16′s lead.

“To a point,” said the coach. “There are a number of times during the hockey season where you are looking to establish traction and gets parts of your game back. When he is not in the lineup, there’s a vital part of our game that is missing to a point. He helps everybody to understand this is [what we are missing.]”

Avery will be in. Petr Prucha is a scratch, along with Paul Mara. Marek Malik in, as will be Nigel Dawes on the third line.

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Anyway, the Blueshirts did win 5-2 with Brendan Shanahan scoing two, Jaromir Jagr one with Dan Girardi and Blair Betts chipping in as well.

This is a game the Rangers needed. They took advantage of a slumping Ottawa squad while breaking out of their own scoring slump. It’s important to win a game like this because if the Rangers do meet Ottawa in the playoffs, they will want a win or two during the season.

Also by scoring five and spreading it around, the team can rest can gain a little confidence going into a tough stretch in December. Remember, this time last season, they went into a big slump that alomost torpedoed the season.

But that’s done now and now the Rangers have the third most points in the league, two away from the conference top and four from Detroits NHL pacing 36. Oh and the Rangers no longer have the fewest goals in the league. That honor now goes to the New York Islanders.

Who would have thunk that?

On a different note, I am off to Nashville tomorrow to cover the Winter Meetings for Baseball. I will not be at the game on Monday, but John Buro will cover for me. I will be posting on this blog if any Ranger news happens. But if you like baseball and want to know the latest news and notes check out the Amazin Scene and Bronx Scene for all the updates.

See you in a few!!! 

John Dellapina reported last week the Blueshirts signed an agreement with the NHL to turn it over by the 26th, even though their injunction is in appeal.

To me, it’s pretty much the same site with all the same bells and whistles.

Also, if you now look at the game stories, they are written by Jim Cerny, who is a former New York Times scribe and former radio voice of the Islanders. His summer job is spent as the assistant general manager of the Newark Bears and if you follow the Atlantic League, you know the Bears won the championship last season.

Cerny is one of the good guys in the business and helped me get my start back in 1994 by credentialing me for Bears games and letting me interview the players, including Rickey Henderson who was playing for Newark that season.