I'm with you Al. And like I said I want to see if the Habs play to that level against not the Bruins. When you have a HUGE rivalry like that (maybe the biggest in the NHL) talent difference doesn't matter nearly as much. The things that "concern" me are Subban, need to keep him somewhat under control and not allow him time and space to bomb away. The Habs PP. We have to keep it under control. Best way is stay out of the box. And playing in Montreal. Don't let it get into our heads. We end up okay on those things and we have a great chance to win IMO.
And sc I agree with you. I say slight edge/slight fav Montreal as well, but close enough where one says toss-up series and we'll see how it ends up. And that is how I view this. No major edge either way. Two teams that are very similar. We'll see how it goes.
Two even teams. I agree with BigDaddy about Hank's past in Mtl meaning shit. For all the people picking against us, I believe Pierre McGuire without saying it, might be picking the Rangers to win it all. This morning, he said Boston's 3rd line gave Mtl fits, and our 3rd line is better. Also said our top 4 dmen are better than Boston's top 4. Then went onto to say how Roy came in with all those saves in OT in '86 to steal the series from us and was the main reason they eventually won the cup, even though they were not thought of as a real contender. Hank reminds him of Roy that year, not only from his stellar play but his focus off the ice, demeanor, attitude, leadership.
When I was a member of the Ranger fan club in the 60s & 70s, I remember taking the trip up to Montreal. That Saturday night the Rangers were up against a powerful championship Montreal team. I'll never forget, Gilles Villemure was the Ranger goalie. Montreal was really taking it to the Rangers. They were storming Villemure constantly. He was standing on his head thwarting their prolific scorers. We were down 3-2 and the crowd was loud and frantic. It was so different from watching at MSG. In the last minute Jean Ratelle stole the puck at mid ice and fed Rod Gilbert who beat a young Ken Dryden. The game ended at 3-3.....and I convinced myself it was a victory. Canadian fans are boisterous & devout. We Ranger fans showed them that we are also crazy for our hockey team. And a group of us went to a bar because we couldn't get enough hockey and watched the Toronto Maple Leafs play the Los Angeles Kings on Hockey Night in Canada. Those were the days. Rangers were good, but Montreal was great. Montreal has owned the Rangers for decades. TIME FOR CHANGE. GOOOOOOOO RANGERS. BTW....Good/Fair refs will call a good game.
I remember in 79' when they played We Are the Champions at the Mtl Forum when they carried around the Cup. That stung as a young kid after watching them beat the Isles.
Ouch, Can't forget that one. 24 years old, rangers take game 1 in montreal and lead in game 2 2-0 and I'm thinking sweep and a cup. Naturally montreal came back in game 2 to win and then won the next 3 straight for the cup. That one sucked big time.
Congratulations on making it to the ECF. Shocking turnaround, impressive .............................
12 ESPN pickers, 9 picked the Habs (including our beloved Strang...Habs in 6). All in 6 or 7. 3 picked us. Cohn (as usual) and Custance in 6, Powers in 7. A lot of Montreal lovers. Use that guys. We are big underdogs. No one really giving us a shot.... 9 of 12 picking Montreal...WOW. We have no shot...LOL.
Time for the King to refuse to be beaten and take us to the god damn cup. Nash breaks out of his chains like hercules and gets a couple today.
If we keep saying it game after game, at some point you would think Nash would score a goal. If he couldn't score against the Pens he may never score, but we can certainly hope he mans up and scores in the playoffs at some point. Personally I think we will need him to score to beat the Habs. If we are sitting here after the ECF with him at 0 or even 1 goal I doubt we are talking about advancing to the cup final, but we'll see. It is so mental now though. Look at his comments: “it’s trying every night to put the puck in the back of the net but it’s a bigger than my struggles, its’ about a team trying to win a championship and if I can help defensively right now I will do everything that I can to help win games. “I’m trying out there to make plays and hold onto pucks and as I am not scoring, I need to keep doing that. Sometimes they go in and sometimes they don’t.” “The team success is the main thing, the team picture is so much bigger than my struggle, if me scoring can help it’s great, it’s been frustrating and I have been through all the stages.” Are you do, “overdue…definitely would say overdue.” We'll see, but I think he is a must if we want to beat the Habs. That line MUST produce IMO.
Key, as always when you start on the road, is we must come home 1-1. If we don't very long shot at best we win the series. The Bell Center would be in our heads even more, and then we'd need to win 4 of 5. So must come home 1-1. To me our best shot in Montreal is to win today, but just get a win today or Monday night, and away we go.
