Rangers Pictorial, Family Dynamics Event, and The Maven

I was recently presented with a handful of content from the Rangers that I thought would be worth sharing with my readers. First off, the Rangers Official Site has a sneak preview of the 2009-10 Player and Staff Pictorial at this link. Pictures include Henrik Lundqvist, Sean Avery, Marian Gaborik, Chris Drury, Dan Girardi and...................Michal Rozsival? Jokes aside, I always find it interesting to see how some of the players dress when an occasion calls for formal attire. It is usually Lundqvist and Avery who come out with the flashy outfits as can be seen in the picture to the right.

Also, the Rangers will be holding their annual Family Dynamics event on Thursday, November 19 (tomorrow) in which you can meet Adam Graves, Marian Gaborik, and other fellow Blueshirts. The event is held to promote the elimination of child abuse and neglect, so there will be an auction where all money will go directly to Family Dynamics. For more information on this event, please visit http://www.sco.org/familydynamics/.

And lastly, Stan Fischler (The Hockey Maven), who was interviewed here on the site in August provides his take on last night's 4-2 loss to the Washington Capitals. (Full Article HERE)

My buddy, Dave Perlmutter, photographer-extraordinaire, had watched two periods of the Capitals-Rangers clash as I did. Four eyes; two different opinions.

It was 2-1 for Washington at the end of the second period whereupon The Perl unabashedly declared that the visitors were in the driver's seat and looked like winners on the basis of stats alone.

"Don't be silly," I declared, "it's only a one-goal game. Anything can happen in the third period."

The Perl pointed out how overwhelmingly the stats favored the Caps over two periods.

"That's my point," I shot back. "A one-goal lead with all the pressure Washington so far has generated is not enough."

And so The Maven eagerly awaited the third period and an opportunity for Marian Gaborik to add to his one-goal production over two frames.

I watched Washington kill a penalty early in the third as the Rangers ratcheted up the pressure, forcing Washington to back-peddle and then take yet another penalty.

The Law of Averages HAD to be working for the Blueshirts and it did, thanks again to Marian The Magician.

At 8:23 of the third, Gaborik threaded another needle from the left side - a shot by the way that few could manage, which is why he IS the Magician - as the power play wound down and I felt thoroughly vindicated in my conviction.

None of this would have been possible, of course, had New York failed to move into a significantly higher gear and maintain that pace beyond the half-way mark of the third.

Yes, I was aware of the return of Alex Ovechkin, who nabbed one goal on just one shot and played forcefully enough to be a constant threat although he was not as productive as Gabby The Goal Machine.

But when the count is 2-2 with less than five minutes remaining in the third, I figured that the home club had a good shot and, what's more, I had a Marian hat trick on my mind.

And then IT happened. The Wade Redden-Matt Gilroy defense became discombobulated and - POOF! just like that - the tie evaporated.

Not not a Gabby goal; but rather a Matt Bradley breakaway with the inexperienced rookie Gilroy the primary victim.

Bradley, the Caps' scrappy forward, outraced the embattled D-men before flipping the rubber over Henrik Lundqvist's left shoulder with a snapshot that seemed to anticipate that The King would - as he often does - bend, giving the shooter enough air for his laser to find twine. For Bradley, the unassisted tally was his fourth of the season. And with only 4:51 left in the finale.

Ales Kotalik had a chance with two to go on an awful rebound presented by goalie Semyon Varlamov, who smote the Rangers in the playoffs last Spring. But the Caps cleared away the tempting biscuit and added an icing to give the Blueshirts one more platinum - as opposed to golden - opportunity.

Winning the face-off in the enemy zone, New York's passing was passable but the shooting was somewhat to the left of ersatz and eventually Caps defenseman Brian Pothier put a Hail Mary seeing-eye billiard shot off the left boards that skimmed right into the middle of the vacated Rangers goal.

End of hopes; end of game.