Saint Matthew's

Last night, the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers played a classic hockey game at Madison Square Garden. Tied at 0-0 entering the shootout period, the Devils were able to put their final shot in the net, giving them a 1-0 shootout victory. Goaltenders Martin Brodeur of the Devils and Henrik Lundquist of the Rangers were masterful, stopping every shot they faced in regulation and in the overtime period. The only shot to go in was Patrik Elias’ shot in the fourth round of the shootout.

We Rangers’ fans have dubbed Lundquist “King Henrik” for his goaltending prowess. After last night’s match, I think Devils’ fans should take a little umbrage at that moniker. The real king of the New York-New Jersey goaltenders resides in Newark, “King Martin.”

Of course, if you’re like me and have DirecTV, you missed this instant classic since DirecTV doesn’t carry the semi-sports channel, Versus, that aired this match last night. DirecTV and Comcast, the owner of the semi-sports channel Versus, are in a carriage rights squabble. Essentially, DirecTV doesn’t want to pay as much as Comcast wants for the channel, so they don’t distribute Versus to DirecTV.

But the radio call was wonderful!

(Also posted at reviovine.com)

OK – don’t look at the ridiculous time I am writing this post (4:43am). I have trouble falling back asleep — when I sleep, have a nutty dream (I don’t have normal dreams), and am jarred awake because of the dream experience – if I fall back to sleep, then when I wake up, I feel like I ran a marathon. In a sense, I never “shake off the sleepiness” throughout the day.

To prevent the sleepiness today, after my latest dream that shook me awake at a little past 4am, I decided to get out of bed. I went downstairs, made a cup of coffee, read through the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times  on my iPhone, and now am back in the bedroom, XM radio blasting in the background as I type this entry.

Last night, we held our first 7pm service with Bible study. In a nutshell, it just works.

Our routine is to “chat” for about 30 minutes before we really kick things off. We talk about everything (last night, I yapped about the New Jersey Devils) and when we’re done, our service begins which is followed by Bible study. Yesterday’s service/bible study was no different.

We started talking around 7 and by 7:30, we were talked out and started our service. Twenty minutes or so later, I was passing out information sheets for our bible study. By 8:15, 8:20, my introduction to our study was complete. Everyone left by 8:30.

And this is a good thing.

Getting home before 9 is much better than dragging in at 9:30 or later after our Midweek festivities.

For me, I straightened up my office a bit and prepared somewhat for today. By 9, I was out of church and back home, watching the conclusion of a wonderful Rangers’ victory over the Washington Capitals.

(I must admit, when I arrived home, I received a message from a friend who was at the Garden sitting in seats paid for by his company. His text message to me?

“Eating nachos at MSG. Rangers rock.”

While I am happy that the Rangers made the playoffs, I still have that bad “middle part of the season” taste in my mouth. You know — the team that didn’t score; that played for the shootout; that looked hideous on too many nights. If they end up 7th, they will end up playing the Washington Capitals, which, to sound like a dope, is either good or bad. Washington has been playing good hockey, but then there have been nights when they’ve just mailed it in (thank you, NHL Center Ice for allowing me to see Team Ovechkin play on a regular basis).

Right now, my Rangers’ fan feelings are being compressed by that lingering feeling that this team isn’t very good. When push comes to shove, I don’t think the Rangers have the horses to win.

I was reading the Post at lunch today … read the article on last night’s Rangers’ victory over the Montreal Canadians. Reporter Larry Brooks included this line:

The Canadiens are hurting, forced to play without defensemen Andrei Markov and Mathieu Schneider. Of course the Rangers are forced to play with Wade Redden, so that makes things kind of even.

Pow! Brooks leveled Redden.

I’m not thrilled that the Rangers’ season is coming down to praying for a make-the-playoffs miracle. It wasn’t supposed to be like this this season. However, the Blueshirts left too many points on the ice all season, losing to sub-par teams with regularity. And with each loss and tie, our hockey hearts ached, and no amount of beer could soothe the pain. This Rangers’ team lacked a killer instinct all season. It seemed that for many parts of this campaign, they played for a tie instead of challenging for a victory. Oh, I’ve heard THE excuse – they didn’t have a natural scorer in the bunch; what would you expect them to do? Hogwash. Their defense was improved; King Henrik was in goal; and yet, no one could light the lamp.

All Rangers’ fans had the hope with Coach Tortorella took over in February, the team would take on their coach’s attitude and play a faster, grittier hockey style. At times, they showed flashes. And in those flashes, the memories of the start of the season flashed in our heads.

But still, there are too many games like last night in Carolina. Oh, I know, the Hurricanes are playing out-of-their mind hockey, winning nearly every game they play. Yet, during phases of last night’s game, the Rangers looked lost. Memories of pre-Tortorella came back. My head hurt watching them skate around in that Third Period. I can only wonder what was going through Coach’s mind because to the casual and diehard fan, the team didn’t look very good. It was almost like they weren’t playing to win; they were playing not to lose. And when you play a type of “prevent” hockey, you end up losing because the other team wants to win. Especially the Hurricanes, who have been winning.

The Rangers are hanging onto their current playoff seeding by a string.

At the start of the season, Rangers’ fans had hopes of contending for the Cup. Making the playoffs was a given in our minds.

Now we lament what could have been.

Sadly, it appears only a matter of time before the off-season begins.

Last night’s Minnesota Wild – Rangers game at the Garden was very boring. And we have the Wild’s coach, Jacques Lemaire, a former coach of the New Jersey Devils, for this sleepy-time display of hockey.

I read somewhere Lemaire is considering retiring at the end of the season.

He should quit now.

Why?

This guy is ruining hockey.

His coaching style sucks the life out of everyone – players, fans, the poor slobs calling the game, the beer vendors, etc. Why would anyone want a coach who preaches slow-it-down, take it easy, dump the puck, clog up the neutral zone hockey? I was getting tired at 7:30 last night. Thank goodness for Sean Avery (and as I was told by a Devils fan, and I concur, Rangers fans are showing plenty of ‘man love’ for Sean), the first period would have really put me to sleep.

Please, I beg the brain trust at Versus and NBC — never show another Minnesota Wild game until Lemaire quits.

The Boston Bruins made a big mistake on Sunday at the Garden – they put Manny Fernandez in goal instead of Tim Thomas. Why, I don’t know. The Rangers took advantage and beat the Bruins. They should thank Claude Julien for making this  rather questionable move.

Last night, I missed the game. But the Rangers reverted to stinkiness, losing to the hungry Carolina Hurricanes 3-0 down in Raleigh, North Carolina. Now, the Blueshirts, if the season ended right now, are out of the playoffs.

No Rangers fan should be surprised.

Yesterday, I was quite surprised that the Rangers made a couple of deals, both of shake up the team and show that General Manager Glen Sather actually gets it. The poor Rangers have been suffering from a lack of size and scoring punch all season. Not that defenseman Derek Morris (from the Phoenix Coyotes) or forward Nik Antropov (from the Toronto Maple Leafs) are going to be the sparks that bring a Stanley Cup to Broadway this year, but they make the team more interesting.

Yes, the team had to give up something to get Morris from Phoenix (Peter Prucha, Nigel Dawes, and Dmitri Kalinin), but to be honest, all three haven’t been very impactful for the Blueshirts this season. I know, Prucha never had a chance to show anything because he was regularly a healthy scratch for many games. He now gets a chance to play with a fairly young Coyotes team.

Morris and Antropov both bring size – something the team has lacked. At times, to see the Rangers on the ice against some other teams – take Philadelphia, for instance – those players towered over the Blueshirts. The lack of size and perceived toughness hurt the team.

Throw in Sean Avery and our hopes that he’s similar to his previous Rangers’ stint, the Rangers could be interesting next season. But, they still need to find someone who can score on a more consistent basis.

Sather has taken a beating for the Kalinin and Wade Redden signings. Both haven’t played up to their massive contracts. He crafted a heavily defensive, yet smaller, team that couldn’t score. Now, with Avery, Antropov, and Morris, things change a bit. Coach Tortorella has some parts to use to continue to shake things up. I still don’t think that the team can get far in the playoffs (if they even make the tournament). Yet, the face of the team is changing in a positive direction.

Last night, the Rangers lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the dreadful shoot-out (I know some fans like it, but the point system associated with it stinks). However, following the game, new head coach John Tortorella made some telling comments about his team, something a lot of Rangers have been sensing for a long time:

“I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but I’m a little concerned about the conditioning of the club – I thought we were tired in the third period,” the head coach said. “If we’re going to play an attack style, we need to be in shape.”

The Rangers have routinely started off games on fire … but come the end of the second period, they’ve seem winded. Forget the third period. Even I’m lighting candles for them. I believe the coach has tapped into a big Rangers problem. With a short season left, I hope he can get this team in shape.

(The quotation is taken from Larry Brooks’ game report in the Post)

OK. I’ve been very quiet these past couple of days where the Rangers have taken hold of the New York sports headlines as they’ve fired Tom Renney and replaced him with John Tortorella.

I feel bad that the Rangers didn’t play well for Coach Renney. He is a good man who deserved better from his team. I hope he decides to stay with the Rangers in some capacity – the team needs a stand up guy in the organization.

Tortorella – I’ve always like him. The Rangers should have signed him as head coach after John Muckler was fired many moons ago. He is fiery and hopefully will make the Rangers play a faster, stronger brand of hockey. We can only pray.

Hopefully, the so-called leaders on the Rangers have awoken from their season-long slumber. Tonight, they take on the Toronto Maple Leafs up in Canada. We Rangers fans can only hope for the best.

I received the following in an email last night from a devout New Jersey Devils fan. Suffice to say, this Rangers fan isn’t amused.

911 Operator: “What is your emergency?”
Caller: “I’m choking.”
911 Operator: “What is your location?”
Caller: “Rangers’ locker room.”

A friend of mine asked me last week why I slowed down with my posting about my favorite hockey team, the New York Rangers. That’s simple – they stink. How many times can I sit in front of my computer and vent my spleen?

They don’t score. They don’t play defense. They skate like they are all wearing 60 pound weights on top their equipment. They don’t have much heart. They play as though they’ve given up on the season.

I was happy on Monday night – not that the Rangers lost to the Devils 3-0 at the Rock in Newark – but that I had a church Voters’ Meeting and missed the game.

Sean Avery appears that he’s coming back after the Rangers exiled him and he signed with the Dallas Stars and then he got into that little “sloppy seconds” scandal that got him suspended and placed into therapy. When the Rangers didn’t resign him in the off-season, I felt it was a mistake because Avery played with passion and heart. Whether you liked the way he played hockey, that’s another issue. But his hockey was filled with passion, and I like players who have it.

Instead, the Rangers went down the “Koom-ba-ya” path — picking players who would like one another, play video games together after practice, and discuss why their investments were in the toilet.

I don’t know if the Rangers forgot, but hockey is about winning, about raising the Stanley Cup. It is not about whether the team loves one another. This isn’t some social experiment – it’s a darn hockey team!! No Hillary Clinton “Villages” needed – you need heart, passion, and a willingness to leave it all on the ice.

I am just a little ol’ pastor in New Jersey who just so happens to be a hockey fan, but I always believed that winning cures all ills. You can hate your linemate, but if you win the Stanley Cup, all is forgiven. OK, maybe you won’t trade Christmas cards, but your names will be forever engraved on Lord Stanley’s Cup.

Tonight, the Capitals come to town. The Rangers are playing rather pathetic hockey. And yes, I am thanking the Lord that I have church tonight at 7:30, something that will prevent me from watching most of this pending disaster. As you can tell, my confidence in my team is overflowing.

Of course, my Rangers heart aches with the news our former captain, Jaromir Jagr, could be headed to Edmonton. Heck, the Rangers have no room for players like Jagr or Brendan Shannahan, two real leaders who actually care about winning. But they have room for Wade “A $39 Million Weight Around Our Salary Cap Neck” Redden, Chris “Was I Named the Captain? No Kidding!” Drury, and Scott “Thank God for all those Good Years in Jersey; It’s Now Paying for my Manhattan apartment” Gomez. Right now, I’d take Jagr and Shannahan over these three. Maybe we’d actually score a goal.

This morning while I was out on a visit to Woodcrest, I was asked by someone about the HBO show “Big Love.” I watched one season, but haven’t seen it for a few years. When I told the person that I do not subscribe to HBO or other premium movie networks via DirecTV, they were a little surprised. Outside of the fact that these premium channels cost an arm and a leg on DirecTV, and the HD choices with these premium packages just stink, why would I spend more money each month on channels I would barely watch?

I currently receive the Choice Extra – Plus HD/DVR package with DirecTV. It is essentially a basic package that has HD channel access and DVR capabilities. This television package suits me fine. I receive local sports, local channels, and all the top pay channels minus the premiums. On top of this, I receive the National Hockey League’s Center Ice package, which is basically all the NHL games, many in HD.

Instead, I told them, I am a Netflix subscriber. I pay $9 a month and get unlimited movie rentals (I can have only one DVD at a time) while being able to stream a whole lot of movies and TV shows to my Netflix Roku box for free. With Verizon Fios Internet service, the movies stream perfectly, even in HD. And the Netflix streaming service is wonderful – I catch up on television shows I never watch. For instance, “Heroes” is not on my weekly “must watch or record” list. Netflix allows subscribers to stream each episode of Heroes without any additional costs above the monthly $9 charge. About a week ago, I watched the first couple of episodes of the first season.

Tonight, I am going to watch the Rangers game – if I stay awake. But afterwards, maybe I will flip over to my Roku box and stream “Spaceballs.” I love that film.

I also have an Apple TV where I can rent movies from iTunes. Again, why pay for premium movie networks when I have other choices – more choices – for less price?

This past weekend, I preached on our reading from 1 Corinthians where Paul exhorts his readers not to act in a way that would lead those weak in their Christian faith away from God. I used myself as an example – as a pastor, I have certain obligations as a clergyman to live a good and decent life, acting as Christ-like as possible in all public situations. However, there will be times when I fail to live up to those basic tenets.

Last night was one of them.

I attended the Adam Graves Viewing Party at the Wamu Theater at Madison Square Garden. It was a fun night to say the least. Former Ranger Tie Domi’s comments about his former teammate Glenn Healy were a hoot (something about Healy not wearing underwear and “going commando” during his time as a player; and Domi mentioned that the Scottish Healy wore a kilt). While being interviewed with his former teammates Mark Messier, Brian Leetch, and Graves, Mike Richter was surprised when an audience member cried out to him NOT to run as a Democrat for Congress (there are rumors that the Connecticut-living Richter is somehow going to replace Kirsten Gillibrand in her vacated House seat in NY). The look on Mike’s face was priceless. Nick Springer, a Para-Olympian who is a friend of Graves presented him with his Para-Olympic jersey he wore in Beijing last year when he won a gold medal in wheelchair rugby (who knew they had that sport?). The place exploded when Graves took off his suit jacket and put on the jersey. Chants of “USA! USA!” rang out in the Theater and tears welled up in Graves’ eyes and in the eyes of many watching the most touching moment of last night. 

And the sign that flashed on the big screen – “Mark, thanks for making crying cool” – a reference to Mark Messier’s drop-of-the-hat crying at anything touching. I lost a bet with a guy near me — I said Mark would probably cry a second after starting to speak; the Captain was crying before he started. 

Personally, I would like to thank the group of New York City firefighters from Brooklyn and Staten Island I sat near for providing me with enough Bud Light to float a small boat. Thankfully, they weren’t those huge 22 ounce plastic cups the Garden was selling for $8.75; the firefighters were drinking the $8.00 12 ounce variety (they fit better in your hand). When they found out that I was really a clergyman and was chaplain of our local fire department here in New Milford, they treated me like one of their own. The beer, the hot dogs (which weren’t very good), the endless parade of popcorn (I think they thought popcorn helped soak up the alcohol) were coming from all ends. After 10 bottles and a quarter of a 22 ounce cup, I was beer-ed out. I was going to meet up with someone at Stouts bar after the game, but I just couldn’t do it. 

Yes, I got home in one piece. 

And yes, I am paying for it now. I thank the good Lord for aspirin and black coffee filled with caffeine.

Oh, the Rangers stunk and lost in a shootout to the Atlanta Thrashers. THEY LOST TO THE THRASHERS ON ADAM GRAVES’ NIGHT!!

To me, the top two stories of the sports weekend had to do with the Giants and Brendan Shanahan. 

- Eli Manning wasn’t sharp at all, but all the credit in the world has to go to the Philadelphia Eagles who came to Giants Stadium with a game plan, and they executed it perfectly: Stop the run, pressure Manning, and keep the Giant receivers in check. Without a real downfield threat since Plaxico Burress shot himself in the leg, the Giants have been very one dimensional relying on the running game. In the offseason, the G-Men need to get a wide receiving threat equal to Burress. 

The Eagles versus the Arizona Cardinals for the NFC crown. Who would have imagined this one at the start of the playoffs?

- Brendan Shanahan has decided to play for the Devils, considering the Rangers were stringing him along all season. The Rangers flirted with Mats Sundin to a sickening point, even though reality (Sundin wanted $10 Million; Rangers could only offer close to $3 Million) was staring at them in the face. Shanahan probably would have taken less than what the Rangers could max out at in order to stay in New York. And the Rangers? I mean, who wouldn’t Shanahan –  player who can actually forecheck, score every now and then, and provide leadership on and off the ice?