Gene Wang at the Capitals Insider reports that Mike Green, out since receiving a Derek Stepan elbow to the chin on Feb. 25th, says that he will be available for Game 1...

"Absolutely, yeah," Green said when asked if was ready to go after practice. "I feel great and in game-shape ready to play."

Asked again immediately thereafter, he said: "I'll be playing. Expect to see me out there."

However, Caps coach Bruce Boudreau is saying Green will be a game time decision.

...expect Green to be in the Caps lineup tomorrow night.

Meanwhile, Stephan Whyno at the Washington Times says Michal Neuvirth will be the Caps Game 1 starter in goal.

...Caps starting a rookie goaltender in Game 1. Sounds good to me.

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Andrew Gross at Ranger Rants has quotes from John Tortorella on a wide range of topics...

On Henrik Lundqvist:

"He can taste it, he started thinking about that after we lost to Philly last year and how close we were," Tortorella said. "That's what I've always loved about him is how hard he competes. That's a huge trait he has. I think it filters to our team."

On Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals:
"It's not just him, we've got to be really careful about that. He's a top player in the league but there's a few others over there. We don't have a special remedy. You just have to be aware of where he's at and try to act accordingly and certainly not test the waters against him. Neutral zone play for both teams is going to be important."

On Marian Gaborik:
"I think Gabby cares. If there's one guy, it's a great situation for him. You need to have a short-term memory and move on. You're not defined by regular-season play as a player. You're defined as far as what you do in crucial situations and that's playoff hockey. I know Gabby's willing to grab a hold of this and try to help this club get where it wants to be. That'll go game to game, it'll go shift to shift for him. It has been a struggle for him, there's no hiding that. For players like that, it's going to be wide open for him. He's got to really look forward to it and express himself as a player and look forward to that."

On why Tortorella likes guys without playoff experience:
"The more guys with little playoff experience, the better, and there's not going to be a whole lot of explanation to them. Because it's innocence, they don't know. I think sometimes we all turn it into something bigger and add different pressures when we don't need to. I think innocence in approaching this is a good thing."

For more quotes from Torts click here.

For player quotes click here.

Jesse Spector at The Blueshirts Blog has more here.

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Update, 11:41 a.m.:
@thenyrangers tweets that Drury-Christensen-Avery skating together with Zuccarello mixing in.

Original Post:
Andrew Gross tweets that for the second straight practice the Rangers lines look like this...

Prospal-Anisimov-Gaborik
Wolski-Boyle-Prust
Dubinsky-Stepan-Fedotenko
Zuccarello/Avery-Christensen-Drury

While Jesse Spector reports that all seven defensemen and both goalies were the ice.

...i didn't think this was possible a week ago, but my gut says Avery is in over MZA tomorrow. I think Torts will go with experience. Either way, neither of them is going to get much ice time.

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Update, 11:19 a.m.:
Here's another from NHL Network...



Original Post:
Larry Brooks of the New York Post breaks down the Rangers/Caps series...



Linda Cohn (a huge Rangers fan btw) at ESPN tells us how the Rangers can upset the Capitals...



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The New York Rangers will be hosting numerous viewing parties in the tri-state area tomorrow and Friday.

Tomorrow the parties, which are from 7-10pm, will be at:

- Stout, 133 West 33rd Street (33rd bet. 6th and 7th),New York, NY 10001, (212) 629-6191 with Ron Greschner in attendence

- Black Bear Bar & Grill, 205 Washington Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 656-5511 with Nick Fotiu in attendence

Friday, April 15th parties, also from 7-10pm, will be at...

Mulcahy's, 3232 Railroad Avenue, Wantagh, NY, (516) 783-7500 with Brian Mullin in attendence.

There will be one more party scheduled on Friday but details have not been announced.

...i'm seriously considering going to Mulcahy's on Friday night. Who's in?

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Tonight I will be participating in a Rangers blogger roundtable on Blueshirt Banter Radio to discuss Rangers playoff hockey.

Other bloggers taking part in the round table discussion will be Nick of the Rangers Tribine, Eric at 5-hole.com, Mike of Bleeding All Blue, David of Blue Seat Blogs and of course the hosts of Blueshirt Banter Radio Jim Schmiedeberg and Eddie Gieck of Blueshirt Banter.

The Blueshirt Banter Radio Show actually starts at 8pm, but the round table will begin around 9pm. Jim and Eddie have also setup a live chat on the show's page that listeners can participate in by registering with Blog Talk Radio.

Should be a lively discussion as we talk everything Rangers playoffs. I encourage everyone to check it out starting at 9pm. To listen click here.

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Here's video of John Tortorella and Henirk Lundqvist talking about the Washington Capitals from yesterday...



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Larry Brooks at the New York Post reports that the Rangers have sent Derek Boogaard, who has not played since sustaining a concussion on Dec. 9th, home.

Boogaard had started to skate on his own and participated in several optional morning skates at the practice rink during the middle of March even though a return this year had been ruled out.

Brooks adds that Glen Sather declined to elaborate on the decision.

...this is a bit puzzling. Sure he won't see a second of playoff action, but why send him home? I'm sure he'd like to be around the team and cheer them on. He probably already feels like an outsider, this will only further exacerbate that. Hope this doesn't affect his confidence going forward.

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Last week I post a "History Will Be Made" video created by @ChristopherLD, well here's the latest TheNYRBlog reader creation from @TheWrage (FYI, I have two more videos to post this week)...



...amazing job as always by a TheNYRBlog reader. As always if you have any Rangers pics or creations please e-mail them to me so I can post them on the blog.

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Update, 9:36 a.m.:
Larry Brooks at the New York Post says the Rangers feel Kreider's decision is not irrevocable and they continue to be in communication with him.

Original Post:
Yesterday, Rangers 2009 first round pick Chris Kreider announced he will be returning to Boston College for his junior season.

Kreider recorded 24 points - 11 goals and 13 assists - in 32 games as a sophomore this winter. He missed five games in March because of a broken Jaw. He has tallied 47 points - 26 goals and 21 assists - in 70 games during his two seasons at Boston College.

...don't think you're going to find too many people who are going to argue with this move. Just 11 goals isn't exactly lighting it up and from everything I've read on Kreider it sounds like he's not ready to make the jump to the next level.

...having siad that, it would have been nice to get him in the Rangers system as soon as possible. A full year in Hartford learning how to become a professional may have been better for him. Either way, Kreider is still a huge part of the Rangers future.

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