stanley cup playoffs

A season that has to qualify as a disappointment ended in the Boston TD Garden, as the Bruins wore out the Rangers, and dusted off the Blueshirts 3-1 in game 5 of the eastern conference semi finals. The Bruins now move on to play Pittsburgh while the Rangers move to chalkboard for a plan to move forward...

I will probably live to regret this piece later on but putting my superstition aside the numbers say the Rangers have a good chance to keep their season alive and get out of Boston Saturday with a win. The Rangers, if nothing else, and there is plenty of reasons, have proven resilient in win or go home games...

Mike Lindsley recently talked with former NHL player and captain (Sabres and Islanders) Mike Peca about the NHL playoffs, Peca's Stanley Cup runs and what hockey teams look like when you know they are going to win at the most crucial times...

The Rangers were a dangerous team heading into the playoffs.  Star goalie, Rick Nash's supposed Broadway playoff hunger, depth, last year's experience of losing in the conference finals, the magic of Madison Square Garden.  Oops. The Rangers are done...

I have watched Ranger hockey a long time. What took place Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden will easily rank as 1 of the most disappointing  nights in this fans memory. Forget any of the stats, that being shots on goal, hits, anything...

Oh those feisty Detroit Red Wings. Paying little mind to the prognosticators who looked at the Red Wings as a mere bump in the road (I raise my hand), Detroit used a solid goaltending effort from Jimmy Howard to defeat the heavily favored Chicago Blackhawks 3-1 and grab a 2-1 lead in the best of 7 Western Conference semi finals...

Goaltending-depth-star scoring-special teams.  Those are the four keys to a Stanley Cup run.  The Rangers certainly have the first one, even if Henrik Lundqvist had a bad Game 2 against the Bruins.  Other than the goalie though, the Blueshirts are in trouble.

So here we go again. For the 2nd straight playoff series the New York Rangers have dropped the 1st games on the road. It happened against Washington in round 1 and after the Bruins beat down the Rangers 5-2 Sunday at the Boston Garden the Rangers find themselves in a 2-0 hole...

Waaaaaah. that's the gurgling sound coming from Washington. The poor little Caps still crying about the officiating in game 6 of their 7 game loss to the New York Rangers in the eastern conference 1st round. The Caps blew a 3-2 lead in the series and for the 5th time in 7 attempts they lost a 7th game of a series at home...

Mike Lindsley talked with ESPN NHL analyst and insider Barry Melrose about the upcoming series between the Rangers and Bruins, the Game 7's those two teams battled through in Round 1 and other upcoming series.  Hear it here:

The Rangers bested the Capitals in seven games in Round 1 of hockey's playoffs.  Now, it is off to Boston for a series with the Bruins, one that should be physical and competitive and could go seven games.  How far can the Rangers go this Spring...

The Rangers and Bruins both won Game 7's in Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.  New York, in less dramatic fashion, dominated Washington 5-0 to win the only road game of the series.  Boston, down 4-1 to Toronto, rallied back with three goals in less than 11 minutes, two of which came in the final minutes with a pulled goalie, and won in overtime 5-4.  Now the Rangers and Bruins, these two Origin