NHL Arena Blog

	Avalanche	1
(28-34-1, 57 pts)
	Rangers	6
(32-24-8, 72 pts)

COL:R Smyth (21)

NYR:C Drury (16), N Zherdev (17), M Naslund (20), S Gomez (13), P Prucha (4), R Callahan (14)

 

 

Trip Notes: I had an absolute blast! I was in NYC for 6 days. I arrived Wednesday night, the night before the Colorado Avalanche @ New Jersey Devils game. Met up with Mike soon after arriving. We walked towards Times Square looking for a place to eat. Found a great pizza place in Times Square. He got tired so he headed back to NJ and I continued walking around the city, taking in all the bright lights and excitement. There's so much life in NYC.

The following day I took the train down to lower Manhattan to catch the ferry to the Statue of Liberty. Made a reservation ahead of time so that I was assured I could go inside the statue. Depending on the time of year, this sells out quickly, so if you want to do more than walk around it ...book the tour ahead of time. It's worth it! I didn't have a lot of time to spend on the island since I needed to get back to the city to meet up with Gary for the game. On the way back to the hotel, I walked through Battery Park, past Ground Zero, then back on the subway. I also suggest fitting that in as well. You can't see much of Ground Zero because it's fenced off, but still a must see. It's a good reminder on how short life is ...and why we shouldn't take it for granted. Live life to its fullest!!!

Around 5, I walked over to Gary's office to meet him for the New Jersey Devils game. Met up with Mike "The King" to take the subway to the game at the Prudential Center. He is truly "The King"! I can't believe how many sporting events (home/away) that he's been to. He's the ultimate sports fan. Same goes for Gary, he has a very impressive sports resume. Both Gary and The King took great care of me, getting me to the game, and making sure I had a great time. It was college night at the Rock so it was a bit obnoxious at times. I'm not sure I've heard that many obscenities before in one game. Some of the chants they use, I'd rather not repeat. I was a bit surprised we only saw one ejection. But overall, I had a great time. I had great company and met some more great people. Also met up with Dick from the Colorado Blueliners. It was great to see him again. He and a few others made the trip out for all 3 games as well. The subway ride home was quick and painless. Met up with Mike after the game and hit a couple Irish Pubs. I believe we started out at O'Lunney's, Connelly's, then Pig & Whistle. I think. They all kind of blended in together. Met two girls at the 2nd bar, Jana and Brynn. We had a great time talking with them. Both are aspiring Broadway actresses. I know they will both make it. Came close to closing down the bars. I think we got back around 3. Doh!

Met Mike at Carnegie's Deli for lunch. Great food, but ate way too much! I should've known better than to eat there that day ...but I was starving and it was close. Met up with Andrew & Peter from Buffalo and Gary for dinner before they headed to the Knicks game. It was great to see them again! Met at Manganaros. I hear they have great food. Unfortunately, I still felt sick from eating so much at lunch, so I had to skip on dinner tonight. I will definitely make it back there at some point.

Went on both the NBC tour and the Top of the Rock w/ the Art tour. If you're not all that into art, I'd just go to the top without the other tour. It's not that it was horrible, I just had a hard time paying attention at certain times ...I had other things on my mind. The NBC tour was pretty cool, minus the fact I went on a slow day so I didn't see much and you can't take any pictures on the tour. The Top of the Rock was really cool. Had a great view of Central Park and the rest of the city. It was a clear, beautiful day in NYC.

 

The New York Rangers game was absolutely amazing. It’s definitely near the top for exciting/fun games. I had a great group of people sitting near me ..Rob, Jason, and Mike and his girlfriend Cathy. The atmosphere in MSG is one of the best. The fans really get into the action. During intermission I met up with a couple new friends I had met a couple nights before at the Devils game and a few people from the Colorado Blueliners Booster club. On the walk back to the hotel after the game, I saw Will Farrell. He was leaving his Broadway show and heading home. That was a pretty sweet way to end the evening.

Sunday I started out the day with a tour of MSG. They took us through the WaMu Theatre which is below the arena and above the subway. It's pretty sweet how you can't hear the subway or the arena in the theatre. Also got to see a couple of the restaurants for the high rollers and both the basketball and hockey locker rooms. Got some great pictures. After that tour I headed over to the Empire State Building and went to the top. The weather was starting to get cold and the snow was slowly coming into town so the visibility was only 5 miles but the view was still great. They were expecting a lot of snow the next day so if I didn't go up today, tomorrow would be much worse. Met two very nice ladies at the top. They were kind enough to take my picture. They are from CT and were in town for the weekend. Next time I'm out their direction we will meet up. Stopped by the New York Public library for a brief visit. It's quite beautiful inside with all the amazing artwork and architecture. For the evening I purchased tickets to an off Broadway show, Alter Boyz. It was good. I loved how they made fun of boy bands. Oh, and the ushers confiscated my camera during the show. Apparently you can't take pictures. They even deleted all the pictures before they gave it back to me. Too funny.

 

The weather forecasters were right on with the forecast. I woke up to see lots of snow outside my window. Not quite as much stuck to the ground in the city area, but on my walk through Central Park, it was a much different story. There was close to a foot there. The park was absolutely beautiful with all the snow. The park was very crowded with kids and adults sledding, cross country skiing, snow football, and taking a stroll. I believe all the schools were on a snow day so they took advantage of their day off hanging out at the park. I spent close to 4 hours walking through the park. I hadn't planned on walking that long, but kept getting turned around on those windy paths. Next time I'll stick to the roads so I don't get lost.

 

Overall I had an amazing vacation. I will definitely be going back to NYC very soon. I have to see the new Yankees and Mets stadiums. Click here to view the rest of my pictures from NYC.

Arena Notes:

What can I say ...I love Madison Square Garden. You bet ...MSG! It's still my favorite arena to go see a hockey game. I sat on the 3rd level in the 3rd row on the end. It was a great seat because I didn't have anyone sitting in front of me. The only downside to sitting in that low of a row is all the people walking in front of you. There's definitely an old time hockey feel to MSG which I love. The crowd really gets into the game which makes for a great atmosphere. There's an abundance of nightlife in the area surrounding MSG between Times Square, Broadway, ...plus much more. If you want to have some fun, go to NYC.

Game Notes: NEW YORK -- If John Tortorella took any personal satisfaction from his first win as coach of the New York Rangers, he hid it well.

Just three games into his first fulltime stint behind the bench, Tortorella guided his new club to its biggest offensive breakout of the season. Ryan Callahan and Nikolai Zherdev scored in the first 68 seconds, and the Rangers rolled to a 6-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night.

Tortorella, who took over Monday for the fired Tom Renney, dropped a pair of 2-1 decisions before seeing his aggressive style produce in bunches.

"This isn't about me," Tortorella said. "It's about a hockey team trying to find its way, that's gone through a little bit of an ordeal here the past few weeks. We're just trying to clear our heads. It's about a team trying to get into the playoffs."

Petr Prucha and Scott Gomez also scored in New York Rangers second four-goal first period. The Rangers jumped two points in front of Florida into sixth place in the Eastern Conference after dropping 12 of 14 games (2-8-4).

The New York Rangers (32-24-8) are three points above the playoff cutoff and four behind fourth-place Philadelphia.

New York Rangers captain Chris Drury added to the onslaught when he snapped a career-worst, 17-game goal drought with a 5-on-3 power-play tally at 4:56 of the second. Markus Naslund reached 20 goals for the 10th straight season in the third.

"We are starting to get the system down," said Gomez, who also had two assists. "We are starting to get a feel for how he wants us to play. It was important for us to get the two points."

The game deteriorated into a street fight in the closing minutes as several brawls delayed the inevitable ending.

After starting a six-game trip at Washington, Colorado Avalanche has dropped four straight. The Colorado Avalanche, last in the West, will visit the New York Islanders on Monday.

"Obviously we're not happy with our positioning," said Darcy Tucker, who fought New York's Paul Mara. "We've just got to continue to work hard and move forward and try to be as tight as we can and stick together."

The only suspense was gone with 6:55 left in the second when Ryan Smyth snapped Henrik Lundqvist's shutout bid. By then, the New York Rangers had built a 5-0 lead against the ineffective goalie tandem of Peter Budaj and Andrew Raycroft.

Tortorella, winless in a four-game stint as the New York Rangers coach in 2000, said before the game he had begun to get to know his new players and that they are grasping the up-tempo, pressure style he wants to play.

After a video session Friday, the Rangers put what they learned into action. New York Rangers had scored more than two goals once during their skid and none in their previous 14 losses.

The New York Rangers will have four days of off-ice preparation before their next game.

"After the week there is definitely no more excuses," Gomez said. "If you're not on his page, he said you'll find yourself on the bench pretty quick."

Callahan got things started when he helped force a turnover and then took a perfect feed from Brandon Dubinsky to make it 1-0 at 28 seconds. Unlike Thursday's home loss to Florida, when New York Rangers had a goal waved off 17 seconds in, this one stuck.

Zherdev doubled the lead at 1:08 when he took a pass in front and pinballed the puck off the skate of defenseman Ruslan Salei on the Rangers' third shot.

Prucha, given a second chance under Tortorella after being a regular scratch by Renney, made it 3-0 with 6:36 left in the period.

That sent Budaj to the bench after he faced nine shots. New York Rangers needed 1:38 and one shot to solve Raycroft as Gomez pushed the lead to 5-0 when he tipped in Marc Staal's slap shot.

"It definitely wasn't the start we expected," Budaj said. "It starts with me. We have to be better than that. It's disappointing and pretty embarrassing."

Gomez slithered a pass through the crease to Drury, who scored for the first time since Jan. 16 at Chicago, to make it 5-1, and Naslund closed the scoring with 5:11 remaining.

Game notes
The New York Rangers are 26-3-2 when they score at least three goals. ... New York snapped an 0-5-2 skid against the Colorado Avalanche, beating them for the first time since Nov. 20, 2001. The Colorado Avalanche took the previous meeting in New York on Dec. 18, 2005. ... The New York Rangers were one of four teams without a 20-goal scorer. *(from espn.com)