Tonight I will have the distinct honor of co-hosting the Hockey This Week radio show which will be broadcast live from Mulcahy's, 3232 Railroad Avenue, Wantagh, New York at 5:30pm before the Rangers Playoff Viewing Party!

Come early for a Happy Hour tailgate party with the Hockey This Week crew and myself then watch the Rangers take on the Washington Capitals in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals on 10 GIANT screens in HD! More details to follow!

I'd love to see and meet as many of you guys and gals as possible. Should be a great time as the entire program will be dedicated to your New York Rangers.

If you can't make it down you can listen to the show by clicking here.
 
If you have any questions shoot me an e-mail or leave it in the comment section below.

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Via @thenyrangers...


...thought this pic was pretty cool.

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Katie Carrera at the Capitals Insider reports that the Capitals plan will be to crash the net tonight...

Niklas Backstrom on creating traffic in front of Henirk Lundqvist...

"I think that's the whole thing we have to do more of starting now," Nicklas Backstrom said. "We have to move in front of him a little more so he can't see the puck. Otherwise, if he sees the shot he's going to stop most of them."

Bruce Boudreau on crashing the net...

"I don't think you can ever get enough of that," Boudreau said. "It's not as easy to do as you'd like. Their defense is really good at blocking out, sometimes the opportunity is not there. To get traffic the point man's got to have time to shoot the puck and you've got to have time to get from the corner from getting the puck to get to the front of the net. We did as much as we could, we'd like to do more, but every team would like to do more."

...probably a great game plan seeing that the Rangers do nothing to opponents who run Lundqvist.

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Update, 2:21 p.m.:
Here's video of the exchange (via The Blueshirts Blog)



Original Post:
Here's transcript of John Tortorella and Larry Brooks exchange during press conference this morning courtesy of Sara Orlesky at TSN...

Brooks: do you think going in to this game that your backs are against the wall?

Torts: do I think our backs are against the wall?this is a series

Brooks: that's what I'm asking. Are your backs against the wall right now?

Torts: I never think our backs are against the walls. In a series...

Brooks interjects: in a series or anytime?

Torts: anytime.

Brooks: so u didn't think your backs were against the wall saturday?

Torts: Saturday?

Brooks: against NJ?

Torts: you mean in the regular season

Brooks: that's what I'm asking. You said you never think your backs are against the wall. Are you just talking about playoffs or anytime?

T: well we're in playoffs right now. You're asking me questions to try and box me in to language.

B: no I'm not

T; yes you do

B: No I'm not. I'm asking you do u think your backs are against the wall, you said 'I never think backs are against the wall'. I said 'in regular season or playoffs'. So you're only talking about playoffs.

T: I'm talking about a series of playoffs. Why are we even going back to regular season. Cause its logistics with you. You try to use my words...

B: no you talked about the regular season just now

T: you try to use my words brooksie

You try to use my words and box me in to a corner all the time

B: I asked u a question and I'm just trying to get an answer

T: can I get another question. I went in here in a pretty good mood today too

B: so did I

T: well you obviously f***ed that up didn't you?

B: no you did

...Torts is fired up!!! Fans sitting behind Rangers bench better watch out tonight.

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Update, 1:17 p.m.:
Zipay has quotes from John Tortorella on Avery...

"When Sean is consistent with his play, he can add some forechecking to us," Tortorella said. " Hopefully he'll give us an opportunity to forecheck, to stay disciplined and add some energy to our lineup."

"We have to spend more time in the end zone than we did last game, that's a big part of how we have to play against this club so hopefully Sean will give us some juice there and add some forechecking," Tortorella said.

...as well as some much needed swagger.

Original Post:
Steve Zipay tweets that Sean Avery will return to the Rangers lineup for Game 2.

Andrew Gross adds that Mats Zuccarello will be the healthy scratch. The rest of the lineup will remain the same.

...i think Torts recognized how physical Game 1 was and that Avery could be an asset. I just hope Avery gets a decent amout of ice time and takes advantage of it.

...would love to see Avery on the first shift get right in Neuvirth's face and let him know it's going to be a long night.

Zipay also tweets that Prust, Wolski, Lundqvist and Fedotenko were the only Rangers to skip this morning's skate.

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TheNYRBlog reader Kevin D. sends me this pic he created in honor of his hatred towards Caps coach Bruce Boudreau.


...when I see this picture I just think of Chris Farley in 'Tommy Boy.'

Back in 2009, Boudreau's book recollects an exchange with Sean Avery in which the Rangers pest said this about the Caps coach's weight...

"He told me I was the biggest, fattest bleeping pig he had ever seen," recounted Boudreau in his book. "He told me I was fatter than bleeping Ken Hitchcock. He told me I was going to die because I was such a fat bleep."

Boudreau coached Avery in Junior hockey.

...hoping Avery goes back to the well and gets on Boudreau tonight.

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...Torts has his playoff beard in full effect. Nice!!!

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Newyorkrangers.com announces that fans looking to get into the New York playoff spirit before the team returns from Washington for Game 3 on Sunday can come out to Greeley Square Park at Broadway and 32nd Street this afternoon for a "LET'S GO NEW YORK" rally to celebrate the Rangers' and Knicks' appearances in their NHL and NBA playoffs.

The two teams plan to take over Greeley Square Park from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. in an event that features several former players, representatives of the Rangers Road Tour, and the Knicks City Dancers.

Fans at the rally will take part in interative activities and contests to win playoff tickets and other prizes. There will also be autograph sessions with the former players.

If you can't make it to the rally, just a reminder that there are also two viewing parties tonight (see here). I will be co-hosting the Hockey This Week radio show before the viewing party at Mulcahy's on Long Island. For more on my appearance click here.

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...loving how hockey becomes relevent again on WFAN once the Rangers get in the playoffs.

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Scott Burnside at ESPN.com wonders if Marian Gaborik is a player that can deliver the goods after missing on a golden opportunity to score on the crease in the second period of Game 1 Wednesday night...

"But the squandered chance was simply another piece of evidence that suggests Gaborik is one of those players who cannot seem to deliver the goods when the game is played at its most demanding level. Gaborik had four shots on goal in Game 1, including that glorious second-period opportunity. He has now gone 10 straight games without a goal.

This isn't an indictment of Gaborik's work ethic. But the playoffs are bottom-line time, so trying hard and being a good guy, opening doors for little old ladies and tossing change to panhandlers, counts for exactly nothing."

Gaborik on not scoring on Wednesday night....

"Obviously when you get a chance, you need to do everything to score," Gaborik said after the Rangers' practice at Verizon Center on Thursday. "So obviously it's frustrating, but you just have to keep going and create chances and just try and bury it."

...if the Rangers want any chance of winning this series Gaborik is going to have to re-discover the magic from last year. If not this is going to be a short series.

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