BRING IT ON CAMEL LIPS!!!

Ok so it’s the Blueshirts vs. the Fat Birds.

The most hated player in the NHL, against the biggest whiner in the NHL.

The NHL’s flagship franchise (that should have the you-know-what promoted out of them) against Bettman’s ultimate wet dream franchise that he would love to have win the Cup...so he can promote the you-know-what out of them!!

Get the point people?

Of course you do. I’m a biased Ranger fan who thinks the NHL wastes too much time catering to and promoting this whiny, little baby. This so-called “next one”, who is on a small market team, when he should be on the NHL’s biggest stage so that the sun could rise and shine around the Blueshirts of Broadway! That about right people?

In all honesty, I don’t feel that way at all. I just wanted to get you all to read the article, so I decided insulting Sidney Crosby and painting myself as a stereo typical Ranger fan would hook you all in. SUCKERS!!!!

Ok, so now that you’re already into the article, let’s talk about the series.

This will be a tough one for the Boys in Blue. The Penguins have loads of firepower, in the likes of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Marian Hossa and even former Blueshirt, Petr Sykora, and also Ryan Malone. They also have an elite puck moving defenseman in Sergei Gonchar, and have plenty of size and grit in players such as Hal Gill, Brooks Orpik and Ryan Whitney. Plus, they have their own pest in Jarrko Ruutu.

The Rangers, meanwhile, have a lot of talented young players, and indeed, Brandon Dubinsky, Nigel Dawes, Ryan Callahan and Marc Staal are all starting to come into their own, but they cannot even come close to matching the offensive abilities of the Pens young guns. That being said, the youth, along with a nice mix of experienced veterans such as Brendan Shanahan, Jaromir Jagr, Martin Straka, and of course Mr. Clutch, Chris Drury and Scott Gomez will be key. Defensively, the Rangers can turn into the mid-90’s Devils if they have to, with effective blueliners such as Dan Girardi, and Fedor Tyutin. Plus, Michael Rosival, while not the “disher” that Gonchar is, can be effective on the power play.

Bottom line, the Rangers can score. But if they try to go toe to toe with the Pens, they will lose and this series will be over quickly. No, if they are going to win this series, they are going to do it by outworking, outsmarting and basically suffocating the Penguins. We all know that defense and goaltending is what wins in the playoffs. And with a 3rd straight Venzina trophy nomination, Henrik Lunqvist has the edge over Marc-Andre Fluery and Ty Conklin, as one of the best netminders in the game.

Also, keep in mind that the Rangers are fueled predominantly by an agitator whose presence was certainly felt throughout the series against the Devils, and whose presence needs to be felt in this series as well, in order for the Blueshirts to succeed. The stats do not lie, and say what you want about Sean Avery. When he is in this line up, the Rangers win, win and win some more. It will be very interesting to see if he can get under the skin of Crosby, or if the refs will penalize him for accidentally sneezing on diaper boy. And it will be even more interesting to see if Jarrko Ruutu will be able to play the role of agitator as well as our local fashion expert (interning at Vogue Sean??)!

Prediction:
Hahaha...yeah right. I’m wimping out on this one. I’ve told you. I have had a very specific and very effective superstitious routine that has worked all year, so you’re getting nothing from me other then it is going 6 games minimum, and who ever comes out of this series I think is coming out of the East.