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NY RANGERS: PRESEASON GAME 3 PREVIEW VS. ISLANDERS

NY RANGERS: PRESEASON GAME 3 PREVIEW VS. ISLANDERS By: Matthew Blittner Welcome to Bridgeport, Connecticut! After playing their first two preseason games in the friendly confines of Madison Square Garden the Rangers will hit the road for a back-to-back set starting on Friday night at the Webster Bank Arena against the Islanders. After facing the Isles on Friday, the Blueshirts travel to Newark, New Jersey to take on the Devils Saturday night. Through two games, the Rangers are a perfect 2-0 in preseason play, thanks to consecutive overtime wins against the Islanders and Devils. Friday night in Bridgeport the Blueshirts will look to go 2-0 against the rival Islanders and continue to establish momentum as they prepare for the regular season. Game time is 7:30pm EST and will be broadcast on MSG Networks. The big story for the Rangers has been the play of their rookies, specifically that of their first-round draft picks Lias Andersson and Filip Chytil. 
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NY RANGERS: FILIP CHYTIL WINS IT IN OVERTIME!

NY RANGERS: FILIP CHYTIL WINS IT IN OVERTIME! By: Matthew Blittner The Rangers win 4-3 in OT! Kevin Shattenkrik passes to Mats Zuccarello, who holds the puck, cross-ice pass to Filip Chytil and the rookie scores his first goal for the overtime winner! 2-0! Monday night the Islanders fell at MSG, 1-0 in OT. Tonight, the Devils fell inside MSG, also in OT, by a score of 4-3. It may be preseason but the Rangers are already showing what they're made of with back-to-back overtime victories over their rivals. From the start of the game, there were a few things that stood out: 1) Whistles continue to be blown by the officials as over 15 penalties were called tonight. Thankfully the Rangers went 2-9 on the power-play, including Chytil's game-winning tally. To go along with their 2-9 on the power-play, they also went 6-7 on the penalty-kill. 2) Chris Kreider is already in midseason form. With a goal and assist tonight Kreider was an animal as he impo
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NY RANGERS: PRESEASON GAME 2 PREVIEW VS. DEVILS

NY RANGERS: PRESEASON GAME 2 PREVIEW VS. DEVILS By: Matthew Blittner One down and Five to go. This year, the Rangers have a six-game slate scheduled for the preseason. After last night's 1-0 OT win against the Islanders, the Rangers now have five games remaining on their exhibition calendar before they begin to count. Tomorrow, Wednesday September 20th, the Rangers will play host to the rival New Jersey Devils at Madison Square Garden, with the game starting at 7pm. Heading into the contest, both teams are 1-0 in preseason play. The Rangers defeated the Islanders Monday night at MSG by a score of 1-0 in overtime. The Devils defeated the Capitals Monday night in Newark by a score of 4-1. The Devils allowed Washington to open the scoring but they quickly regrouped thanks to a three-goal second period. First-round draft pick Nico Hischier would complete the scoring in the third period as he tallied his first goal with the Devils. Just like in the Rangers-Islande
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NY RANGERS: NEAL PIONK DAZZLES IN 1-0 VICTORY

NY RANGERS: NEAL PIONK DAZZLES IN 1-0 VICTORY By: Matthew Blittner THAT'S ONE! What a move?! Neal Pionk, a defense prospect out of Hermantwon, Minnesota introduced himself to the Madison Square Garden crowd in style. With 2:31 gone in the overtime period, Pionk showed why he's a highly touted prospect when he pulled out a Spin-O-Rama move to get by the Isles defense and shot the puck over goaltender Eamon McAdam's left shoulder for the 1-0 Rangers victory. Throughout the game Pionk showed he's got the goods by shutting down each Isles player that he was tasked with shadowing. One of several impressive youngsters that the Rangers trotted out in their first preseason game, Pionk, along with Lias Andersson, Gabriel Fontaine, Anthony DeAngelo, Ryan Graves, Cole Schneider, Christoval Nieves, and Vinni Lettieri, welcomed themselves into the Rangers-Islanders rivalry.  DeAngelo and Graves had exceptionally strong games on the Rangers' b
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NY RANGERS: PRESEASON GAME 1 PREVIEW VS. ISLANDERS

NY RANGERS: PRESEASON GAME 1 PREVIEW VS. ISLANDERS By: Matthew Blittner IT IS TIME! Hello and Welcome to the unofficial start of the 2017-18 NHL season! Tomorrow, Monday September 18th, 2017 the NY Rangers open their preseason slate of games with a matchup against their rivals, the NY Islanders. While the Islanders are in action for an exhibition match today at their old home -- Nassau Coliseum -- the Isles and Blueshirts will renew acquaintances at Madison Square Garden tomorrow night at 7pm EST. Tomorrow's game is the first of six on the docket for the Rangers this preseason, and dating back to September 21st, 2009, the Blueshirts are 12-2-0 in preseason games at MSG. With the addition of Kevin Shattenkirk, re-signing of Brendan Smith, acquisition of Anthony DeAngelo, retirement of Kevin Klein, and releasing of stalwart Dan Girardi, the defense has a new look feel to it. On the offensive side, the Rangers are returning largely the same unit th
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NY RANGERS: JT MILLER, CENTRE OR WINGER?

NY RANGERS: JT MILLER, CENTRE OR WINGER? By: Matthew Blittner Hey you! Yes you! Do you want to be a centre for the NY Rangers this season? They can really use another pivot. After trading Derek Stepan to Arizona on Draft Night, and losing Oscar Lindberg in the Expansion Draft to Vegas, the Rangers find themselves short a centre or two. With a shiny new contract that will pay him $5.35M per season over the next five-years, Mika Zibanejad is firmly entrenched as the Rangers' top-line centre. Kevin Hayes, thanks to his growth potential and current skill set, has been promoted to second-line centre duties. The signing of David Desharnais takes care of the Rangers fourth-line centre concerns. That still leaves the third-line without a centre. Who wants to be the third-line pivot for the Rangers? Here's the candidates: Andrew Desharnais (he's in camp on a PTO); Lias Andersson (they drafted him with the pick that Stepan netted them from Arizona. He&
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NY RANGERS: DEFENSEMAN RYAN GRAVES PLAYER PROFILE

NY RANGERS: DEFENSEMAN RYAN GRAVES PLAYER PROFILE By: Matthew Blittner NY Rangers Training Camp is underway and that can only mean one thing -- there are a lot of players looking to make the team, and only a few can. Hope springs eternal for many as they prepare themselves for the preseason slate of games that starts Monday night at MSG against the Islanders. An area of concern for the Rangers last season was their defense, but not this year. All signs point to this being a strength of the team. With the addition of Kevin Shattenkirk, re-signing of Brendan Smith, acquisition of Anthony DeAngelo, retirement of Kevin Klein, and releasing of stalwart Dan Girardi, this defense has been revamped and is looking to lead this team to the promised land. Down on the farm the Rangers have a glut of defense prospects, and one such Ranger hopeful is Ryan Graves. After the first group of ice drills was complete, Ryan was kind enough to chat about why he should be consi
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9/11 16th ANNIVERSARY

9/11 16th ANNIVERSARY By: Matthew Blittner Where were you when the world changed forever? I was eight years-old and sitting in art class at PS 195 Elementary School in Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, NY. As a child sitting in school I had no idea what was going on in the outside world. All that mattered was doing what the teacher said, and trying to have fun doing it. All of a sudden, my Mother entered my classroom, spoke to the teacher for a moment, and then came over to me. She told me to gather my things, that we were going home. We got my younger sister, and then headed home. On the way home we stopped to pick up my Father from his security job.  A distinguished Police Officer for the NYPD, my Father had been at his second job when the world changed. My Mom, sister, and I went to pick him up so that he could come home, change clothes, and then go to work down at what forever became known as, "Ground Zero." Two airplanes had been taken over by h
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"AND THIS ONE WILL LAST A LIFETIME"

"AND THIS ONE WILL LAST A LIFETIME" By: Matthew Blittner "Zubov swings it around...Larmer clears the zone! That's it...54-years of curses are over! No more 1940! The New York Rangers are going to win...1.1...hold the celebration one more time."- Sam Rosen, Rangers Play-By-Play announcer. Before the celebration, before the most emotional call a television personality has uttered in the last 25-years, there was one final face-off. "Here it is... The waiting is over! The New York Rangers are Stanley Cup Champions! And this one will last a lifetime! No more curses, this is unbelievable! These people have waited a long time! Fans, players, coaches...this is unbelievable! Let the celebration begin!"- Sam Rosen. The 1993-94 NY Rangers were a team that inspired a city and fanbase. It inspired those watching them to believe that your dreams can indeed come true. An ecstatic fan held up a sign after time expired that read: "Now I Ca
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NY RANGERS: CAN BLUESHIRT SOPHOMORES AVOID DREADED JINX?

NY RANGERS: CAN BLUESHIRT SOPHOMORES AVOID DREADED JINX? By: Matthew Blittner Get those good luck talismans ready. Every sports fan knows that when a player has a successful rookie campaign they often then suffer from what is known as the, "Dreaded Sophomore Jinx." What might this age old jinx have to do with the New York Rangers? Everything! Jimmy Vesey, Pavel Buchnevich, and Brady Skjei all had quality rookie seasons last year, and are thus in need of some anti-jinx repellent.  If the Rangers are to achieve their goal of winning the Stanley Cup, they are going to need strong seasons from each of Vesey, Buchnevich, and Skjei. BRADY SKJEI Last year, Brady Skjei dealt with what can only be described as a tale of two halves. From Opening Night to the All-Star break, Brady was among the worst defensemen in the League. Then the light went on. From the break, through the end of the regular season, Skjei was an indomitable force on the Rangers&#
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NY YANKEES: AARON JUDGE BENCHED -- FINALLY

NY YANKEES: AARON JUDGE BENCHED -- FINALLY By: Matthew Blittner All-Rise has become All-Sit. The man that inspired the phrase All-Rise for his prodigious home runs, now finds himself on the bench for multiple games. A first-half that saw Aaron Judge establish himself as the odds-on-favorite for AL Rookie-of-the-Year and AL MVP honors, has given way to a nightmarish second-half. After hitting .329 with 30 home runs heading into the All-Star break, Judge is hitting .174 with seven home runs since the break. Watching his slugger struggle for two months, Manager Joe Girardi has finally given into common sense and sat down his burley right-fielder. Per Girardi:  “I’m probably going to give him a couple of days off to see if that’s something that helps him. Try to refresh him and get him going. He’s played in a lot of games and I’m probably going to give him a couple of days off.” So, short of saying that Judge has been benched, Girardi has sugarcoated his
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NY JETS: JOSH MCCOWN NAMED WEEK 1 STARTER

NY JETS: JOSH MCCOWN NAMED WEEK 1 STARTER By: Matthew Blittner Well that's that! Today, Monday August 28, 2017, the New York Jets once again revealed just how dysfunctional of a franchise they are. Declining to draft a Quarterback during the Draft in April, the Jets went into the offseason with three QB's fighting for the right to be their Week 1 starter against the Buffalo Bills on September 10th. Josh McCown was brought in via free agency to compete with Christian Hackenberg and Bryce Petty for the right to be the Jets' starter. Of the three, neither has had success in the recent past. Hackenberg was essentially redshirted last season after being drafted in the second-round of the 2016 Draft. Petty started four-games last season and failed to impress after being a fourth-round pick in the 2015 Draft. McCown, the veteran of the trio, is 2-20 in his last 22 games as a starter (primarily for the Browns) and is the definition of a journeyman. 
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