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"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...

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...

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 ...

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.  ...

NY RANGERS: WHY BLUESHIRTS SHOULD TRADE FOR RYAN O'REILLY By: Matthew Blittner Ryan O'Reilly?! Yes you read that right.  The Rangers are in need of a top-6 centre, and Buffalo is still rebuilding. The ingredients are there for a trade to be cooked up. With Mika Zibanejad, Kevin Hayes, JT Miller, and David Desharnais currently penciled in as the four pivots for the Rangers, there are serious questions about the team's ability to compete for Lord Stanley's Cup. Every team that has won the Stanley Cup in recent memory has done so with at least one -- if not two -- bonafide top-tier centers. The likes of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Anze Kopitar, and Jonathan Toews occupy this top-tier of centers and each has hoisted the Cup in recent years. The last time the Rangers went to the Cup Final they had neither a top-tier centre, nor a legitimate top-line centre on their roster. The group of Derek Stepan, Derick Brassard, Brian Boyle, Domin...

NY YANKEES: HOW MLB BROKE TWO LONGSTANDING TRADITIONS  By: Matthew Blittner Pride and Tradition. These two words sum up the NY Yankees' franchise perfectly. Outside of winning, the most important things to a sports team are its' self-pride and its' traditions. No team knows this better, or fully appreciates this as much as the Yankees. For over a century, the Yankees have conducted themselves with a dignity that has placed them among the most successful franchises in professional sports. In today's Major League Baseball there are many who view the game as boring and say that it needs an injection of "fun." Maybe those voices are right -- to a degree. Players such as Bryce Harper and Yasiel Puig have led the charge in ushering in the "fun." But where some of their exploits are a welcome shot in the arm, there are some things that are better left the way they are. If you are a baseball fan, chances are you know that...

NY RANGERS: IT'S TIME TO RETIRE FRANK BOUCHER'S JERSEY By: Matthew Blittner With the Rangers preparing to retire the iconic number 19 of franchise great Jean Ratelle, it's time to discuss whose sweater should be the next to join Ratelle's in the rafters at MSG. While most hockey fans have at least heard of the famous "GAG Line," there's another line in Rangers' history that deserves recognition. The Goal-A-Game Line of Vic Hadfield, Jean Ratelle, and Rod Gilbert was together from the 1965-66 season until Hadfield was traded to Pittsburgh during the 1973-74 season. Their best season was in 1971-72 when Ratelle, Hadfield, and Gilbert finished third, fourth, and fifth respectively in the NHL scoring race. While the GAG Line was indeed productive, they never won a Stanley Cup. But this next line won not just one Cup but two. The "Bread Line," was the first super line in Rangers' history and it consisted of three Hall of Famers...

NY RANGERS: JEAN RATELLE TO HAVE NUMBER 19 RAISED TO RAFTERS By: Matthew Blittner The time has finally come! As training camps across the NHL prepare to open in under a month, now is the perfect time to remind fans that there is more to the sport then just playing the game. Last season, the Rangers began the process of mending their relationship with one of the greatest players in franchise history. Jean Ratelle, the iconic centre on the legendary GAG Line -- as in Goal-A-Game Line -- is having his number 19 sweater raised to the sacred rafters in Madison Square Garden on February 25, 2018. When reached for his thoughts, Ratelle stated:  "To have your sweater retired is the greatest honor a player can receive. You can't ask for more than that. I'm really looking forward to being back at The Garden. My family will be with me. I'm going to enjoy it." Only a few have ever been blessed with this,  summus pontifex of honors. When Ratelle...

NY RANGERS: CAN IGOR SHESTERKIN BE NEXT "KING" OF BROADWAY? By: Matthew Blittner Hen-rik! Hen-rik! Hen-rik! If you're a Blueshirts' fan you know this chant all to well. "The King." Henrik Lundqvist's extraordinary nickname fits him like one of his Swedish tailored suits. Since 2005 The King has ruled MSG with a scepter in one hand and a blocker in the other. He wears his crown proudly, but most only ever see him with his mask on. The Rangers' franchise leader in wins, saves, and shutouts has done it all on the ice -- except win a Stanley Cup. He has won 30+ games in 11 of his first 12 seasons -- only one other netminder can claim that -- and the one time he didn't reach 30 wins, was the lockout shortened 2012-13 season during which, he lead the NHL with 24 wins.  A one-time Vezina Trophy winner, and 11-time NHL All-Star, the King has earned his reputation as one of the finest goalies in the National Hockey League,...

NY RANGERS: CAN BLUESHIRTS NAB HOBEY BAKER FINALIST ALEX KERFOOT? By: Matthew Blittner Can they do it again? Before the start of last season, the Blueshirts signed coveted college free agent Jimmy Vesey to an Entry Level contract. Vesey had been named the Hobey Baker Award winner for the 2016 NCAA season. After spurning the advances of the Buffalo Sabres and Nashville Predators, Vesey -- hailing from Harvard -- chose to take his talents to Broadway and eventually earned himself a starting gig in time for the Blueshirts' 90th season Home Opener.  In his first ever NHL game, Vesey was thrust into the spotlight against the rival NY Islanders. While the Harvard lad didn't register a point, he did skate a total ice time of 13:02. His soft hands and fleet of foot skating instantly endeared him to his teammates and the fans. Vesey would total 27 points in 80 games (16 G, 11 A) for a credible rookie year. Now, Vesey's one-time Harvard teammate, Alex...

NY YANKEES: THE NIGHT THE EAST WAS LOST By: Matthew Blittner WARNING: For those of you who just spent your Friday night watching the abomination that was the Yankees-Red Sox game, this article is for you. A crucial series in Fenway Park began tonight. The Yankees went into Boston trailing their arch-rivals by four games in the standings and needed to win at least  two out of three to remain within reach of the AL East Division leading Red Sox. At this point in the season, to be more than three games back of the team you are chasing is a major obstacle, and with their loss the Yankees are now five back of Boston. So there you have it, the AL East crown may as well belong to the Red Sox. Tomorrow the Red Sox send Chris Sale to the mound in an attempt to push the Yankees to six games back, and let's be honest, with the way Sale has pitched this year, there's a 95% chance that he succeeds in that mission.  Assuming that Sale follows through with the wi...

NY YANKEES: RIVALRY WEEK SERIES 3 By: Matthew Blittner 5-2. What's the significance of the above? It's the Yankees' record in their last seven games -- 1-2 against the Red Sox and 4-0 against the Mets. What has been dubbed, "Rivalry Week," by the YES Network has turned into a three-series spectacle for the Bronx Bombers. A win to kickstart Rivalry Week was followed by consecutive crushing defeats to the rival Red Sox and then a four-game sweep of the crosstown Mets. As we ready ourselves for the third and final series of Rivalry Week there's a question that needs answering -- are the Yanks playing well? A 5-2 record over seven games, on the surface, indicates that the team is playing well. However, if we dig deeper, we will find that the Bombers have been exhibiting the proverbial late-inning yipes. A bullpen that was struggling to say the least, was revitalized by the trade deadline acquisitions of David Robertson and Tomm...

NY YANKEES: WHAT TO DO WITH AROLDIS CHAPMAN? By: Matthew Blittner DEMOTE HIM! No more excuses! No more misguided loyalty! No more anything! It's time to make a move. The Yankees need to remove Aroldis Chapman from the closer's role if they wish to make any sort of run this season. Chapman, once the premiere closer in baseball, is now a shell of his former-self, and that's putting it lightly. For the second time in as many appearances, Chapman gave up a home run to a rookie. Sunday night it was a game-tying blast to Red Sox rookie Rafael Devers. Tonight, it was a two-run shot off the bat of Mets' rookie Amed Rosario that took a 5-2 Yankees lead and turned it into a 5-4 nail-biter. Chapman recorded his 16th save in 20 chances, but it's what he did during the save that inspired this article. A closer cannot be serving up home runs on a golden platter to the opposition. As YES Network announcer David Cone pointed out, "Chapm...

NY YANKEES: WHAT'S WRONG & HOW TO SAVE ONCE PROMISING SEASON By: Matthew Blittner On the eve of New York City's annual Subway Series, its' worth taking a look at the teams. The Mets and Yankees roll into their yearly matchup having ridden a roller coaster throughout the season. The Mets came into the season with high hopes as they had made it to the postseason in consecutive years for the first time in over a decade. The Yanks meanwhile, faced a rebuilding year with low expectations. As the season got under way the teams engaged in a Freaky Friday swap. The Mets have gone from high hopes to rebuilding, while the Bombers went from rebuilding to contenders. But as these teams prepare to face-off, it is fair to note, that the Yanks' once promising season is beginning to spiral down the drain. While the Mets have waved the white flag with the trades of Lucas Duda, Jay Bruce, Addison Reed, and Neil Walker, the Yanks are fighting to sa...