Ethan Werek Rangers 2009 Second Round Pick Talks w/ The Mouth On Blueshirt Banter Radio Tonight At 8 PM

With The Rangers current state of affairs looking fairly grim, the Blueshirt Banter Radio Team decided Ranger fans needed a breath of fresh air as we welcome a young man who has a bright future with our Blueshirts Ethan Werek.

Ethan is in the home stretch of completing yet another impressive season (his second) in juniors with the Kingston Frontenacs of the OHL.

Ethan was the Rangers second round draft pick in the 2009 draft and from what the Mouth tells us is a really personable and talkative kid.

Please join us live at 8 PM on the Radio as well as our live Blueshirt Banter Radio Chatroom to join the other hardcore fans who talk Rangers hockey while you listen.

To listen to the Program just click below or visit Blueshirt Banter.com

We also take your calls all night at (646) 478-4692

Blueshirt Banter Radio w/ The Mouth & Jim on Blog Talk Radio

Andrew Gross Appearing With The Mouth On Blueshirt Banter Radio Tonight 8 PM

Andrew Gross, Ranger beat writer for the New Jersey Record will be joining The Mouth and his radio partner Jim Schmiedeberg on Blueshirt Banter Radio tonight at 8 PM sharp. The show runs from 8-10PM and can be heard by visiting the link below.

We also have a live Blueshirt Banter Chatroom that goes on while the show streams live.

We also take your calls all night at (646) 478-4692

Listen to Blueshirt Banter on Blog Talk Radio

The Mouth Reports Live From "Fire Glen Sather Rally"

We are pretty sure the megaphone wasn't necessary but the Mouth was given the chance by the Rally organizers to speak on behalf of his fellow Ranger fans and he took full advantage.

The Big Man aired his grievances with Glen Sather with such passion, you would have thought Glen Sather himself had messed up The Mouths White Castle order.

The rally was a tremendous success in that did get some media attention and was most of all a perfect reason for Ranger fans to get together in mass and have a lot of fun for a common cause.

It also sets the table for future rally's.

The organizer Mike Zippo did a head count at the rally's peak and it topped out around 250. All The Ranger beat writers were in attendance as they looked on from the sidewalk.

Ranger writers included Larry Brooks, Andrew Gross, Michael Obenauer and briefly Newsday's Steve Zipay.

The Mouth surmises that Zipay's short stay was due to the fact Steve is on the Cablevision payroll and wanted nothing to do with the fan protest against James Dolan's incompetent GM Glen Sather.

The Fire Glen Sather Rally Handbook

The Mouth will be on the scene at the Fire Glen Sather Rally with Video camera in hand to film this historic social networking event where hundreds of Ranger fans are expected to attend.

Frankly, The Big man thinks nothing will change in Rangerland, but just  perhaps this arrogant and other worldly out of touch organization will finally hear the true voice of the New York Ranger fan.

Ranger fans have no true traditional media outlet to vent their frustrations except for the wildly popular internet radio show Blueshirt Banter Radio which will be covering the event from 4:30-6:30.

The rally is being held at 5 PM today on the East Side of 7th avenue between 31st and 32nd Streets in front of the FUSE Building.

Mike Zippo the rally's organizer has sent out this  email addressing the following about the Rally :

We are encouraging everyone to bring signs, be loud, and to have fun. However, there are a lot of people who worked very hard on this event. We want to be taken seriously by both the media and the organization. Try to keep the signs PG, and try to keep the use of foul language to a minimum.

As a reminder to everyone, there will be uniformed police at the event ready to make arrests if someone steps way out of line. To make sure this rally goes off without a hitch and goes well, 

 please act like adults. 

Try to refrain from taking any shots at the players. Today is not a trade so and so rally. This is all about Mr. Sather and the poor decisions he has made as GM of the Rangers over the past 10 years. 

The Mouth will be covering the event for Blueshirt Banter Radio and will be reporting live from the scene, feel free to say hi to him as he always loves commiserating with his fellow Ranger fans.

If you cant make it out to the rally listen to the live coverage on Blueshirt Banter Radio 4:30-6:30

Fire Sather Rally Live ! 4:30-6:30 on Blog Talk Radio

Playoff Payback Time For Southern Nemesis Rangers vs Atlanta Flames 4/12/1980

The Rangers very rarely beat the Atlanta Flames at home or on the road. It was just a simple fact, the Flames gave the Rangers fits.

No matter how much of a talent difference on the ice there was Dan Bouchard and his fellow teammates flat out owning the New York Rangers to both the teams and fans utter frustration.

It all came to a screeching halt when the Rangers beat them handily in the Preliminary round of 1980 playoffs.

Atlanta's curse over the Blueshirts also ceased to exist when the Flames decided to move their team to Canada. This video shown here is footage of the last game the Atlanta Flames ever played as a part of the NHL. The following season the Atlanta club moved to Calgary and became the Calgary Flames.

This particular video has some very interesting hi-lites. Ed Hospodar's first NHL goal, a stick swinging incident between Phil Esposito and the aforementioned Flames goaltender Daniel Bouchard.

There is also a weird technical glitch where the audio starts off with the Atlanta Flames announcers, then after about a minute or so the familiar voices of Jim Gordon and Bill Chadwick take over the announcing reigns.

Trade Speculation and Ranger Rumor Emergency Broadcast at 6 PM

 

Join The Mouth as he gives us the Updates on whats going on with the Ranger trade talks and speculation.  The Big Man has been pretty good so far with the help of his sauces.  

Setoguchi ? Souray ? Cogliano ? Horton ? Booth ?

Who will it be ?

Join us tonight at 6 PM visit our Blueshirt Banter Chatroom or call in (347) 857-2090

To listen just follow the link on Blog Talk Radio 

Listen to The Mouth on Blog Talk Radio

Will The Real John Davidson Please Stand Up ? Rangers vs. Capitals 1/14/79

 

According to our fearless video leader The Mouth, Ranger netminder John Davidson was a total goaltending enigma. 

Some games he was simply sharp as a tack and virtually unbeatable and other times he looked like a randomly picked out a Ranger fan from the crowd that was thrown in between the pipes. 

The game featured here took place in the season that Ranger fans most fondly remember J.D, the year Davidson lead the Rangers to the Stanley Cup Finals against the Montreal Canadiens. A playoff which early on Davidson was spectacular.

Davidson and the Rangers in this particular game faced the Washington Capitals at the Cap Centre and frankly our Blueshirts got waxed. 

Then again back in the day the Rangers always got waxed at the Cap Centre, they frankly rarely ever won there, and the same can be said for the Omni which was the home of the old Atlanta Flames.

Let's just say J.D wasn't at his best this night, but to be fair neither were the Rangers. Not many regular season games exist from this year so even a  Ranger loss is a rare video treat.

Tonight The Mouth Talks to the Ranger GM who Picked Four Players over Niklas Lidstrom in the 1989 Draft !

 

Tonight On Blueshirt Banter Radio The Mouth talks to the man who conducted the 1989 draft for the New York Rangers former interim GM Joe Bucchino.  

Joe served as GM for the Rangers for 54 days between the Phil Espositio and Neil Smith regimes.

The Rangers had four shots to pick Lidstrom before Detroit took him in the middle of the Third round. 

The four Players The Rangers selected ahead of Lidstrom were

Round 1   Steven Rice

Round 2   Jason Prosofsky

Round 3   Rob Zamuner

Round 3   Louie Debrusk

To be fair a lot of GM's passed on Niklas Lidstrom, but imagine what the Rangers would have been with Niklas Lidstrom and Brian Leetch on the backline ?

Join us Tonight at 8 PM when The Mouth asks Joe Bucchino about his 1989 draft as well as his meteoric rise in the Ranger organization, which is a great story in of itself. 

The Mouth promises you it's going to be a great show.

As always we take your phone calls (646) 478-4692

Listen to Blueshirt Banter Radio on Blog Talk Radio

Savoir Faire Lucky Pierre Is Everywhere ! Rangers vs. Quebec Nordiques 10/27/84

Pierre Larouche was one of those few Rangers that did what he was supposed to after being acquired. He scored goals.

In the Mouth's opinion he ranks up their with the top Five finishers to ever to suit up for the Rangers. In this video Pierre can be seen burying the puck twice as the Rangers took on the Quebec Nordiques at the Le Colisee on October 27th, 1984.

The Mouth cranks up the time machine hardcore and even treats us to a classic Planters Peanuts commercial.

The video quality is a bit darker than the Big Man would have liked it, but it is some great footage of the Nordique's hosting the Blueshirts at Le Colisee.

A building that The Mouth deems at least for this game "The Worlds Most Quietest Arena."

Jody Shelley For Dummies Video : Rangers Are Building A Team Of Atomic Supermen !

The Mouth and his fellow Ranger fans have uttered the phrase "I just don't get it" about a million times this season when trying to understand the Blueshirts direction, philosophy and especially their lackluster play on the ice

The most recent "I just don't get it" moment came with the Jody Shelley transaction that went down late last week.

A deal in which the Rangers sent a 2011 Sixth Round draft pick to San Jose in exchange for Shelley a 34 year old brawler.This latest acquisition still has The Big Man and most of his Ranger com-padres scratching their head.

Why The Rangers felt the need to add yet another enforcer, just a week after acquiring Brandon Prust, a player whom by the way fits that bill nicely, has everyone thinking that Glen Sather is off his meds again.

With only about only 20 games left in the Rangers season, what are they trying to accomplish with this move that sees them giving up a sixth-round draft pick in next years draft ? What can be gained ?

The Mouth shares his concerns as well his skewed views on the subject in this short and concise video.

Rangers Take On The Ugliest Uniforms Ever : Rangers vs. Canucks 11/28/83

The Mouth thinks it's pretty much a consensus amongst Hockey fans that the worst main uniform of any team that has come down the pike in the last 30 years are the Vancouver Canucks absolutely awful Halloween jerseys they wore in the early 1980's.

The Rangers took on the players wearing that uniform on November 28th 1983 as the Canucks came to MSG showcasing their new rising star Tony Tanti. Tanti would up with 45 goals that season.

The video has some great points of interest. The first being the Patrick Division standings. The Rangers and Islanders are battling it out for first place while the New jersey Devils are in the cellar with a 2-20-0 record. 

Boy, Things have sure changed.

The Mouth also muses that in the video John Davidson who is just starting his MSG broadcasting career can be seen between periods strongly resembling Groucho Marx with bushy eyebrows and all.

Brandon Prust For Dummies Video : In Brandon We Prust

 

Brandon Prust is exactly what the doctor ordered.  A player who will actually fight every night and stick up for his teammates without thinking twice.

He’s an Aaron Voros type, but one who will not actually embarrass himself when he does decide to drop the mitts.

Brandon who really is just a tad under 6ft reminds The Mouth of Darren Langdon, he takes on all comers, who most times takes on opposing teams enforcers who have every physical advantage.

Fortunately or unfortunately this spells the imminent demise for Donald “The Big Rig” Brashear who the Mouth is strongly speculating maybe loaned to the KHL or either traded back to the Capitals or possibly the Panthers.

"The Big Rig" who was once a monster in his day, is all but a memory as a Ranger, Brashear’s engine block is cracked and he is completely and utterly out of gas.

Time to welcome a new warrior to the fold, Brandon Prust.

Ranger Crisis and Joe Micheletti finally Meet : Staple Center February 2nd 2010

Joe Micheletti gave a wave to Ranger Crisis at The Staple Center after the Rangers 2-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on January 2nd, 2010. 

The game was covered by Ranger Crisis roving reporter Fred "The Grump" Wodnicki who was good enough to prod Joe Micheletti to say high to us as well as film his own whole experience at the game that night.

Whether Joe Micheletti said hi to us and the Mouth out of fear for his life doesn't really matter, If there is one thing we know here at Ranger Crisis, is that "The Grump" gets things done and always films with his own brand of skewed magic.

The clip runs about 10 minutes and could be deemed too long by you internet junkies who need your quick fix but lets face it, if you're on the east coast you are probably snowed in.

What else are you going to do ?

So take your Ritalin and enjoy, Fred "The Grump" Wodnicki" live and unsnipped

Fire Glen Sather Rally Organizer Mike Zippo On Blueshirt Banter Radio Tonight

It's gonna be a great night of Blueshirt Banter Radio as we have Fire Glen Sather Rally organizer Mike Zippo on Tonight at 8 PM. 

We also will be discussing Ales Kotalik's and Chris Higgins departure as well as breaking some news on a transaction that is looming in the Rangers future.

Listen To The Archived Version Here :

Olli Jokinen For Dummies Video : Matthew Barnaby Calls Jokinen A Hockey Cancer

 

The Rangers got Olli Jokinen and Brandon Prust in exchange for Ales Kotalik and Christopher Higgins. The deal was primarily done to free up cap space at the end of this season. 

Kotalik was miserable under coach Tortorella and demanded a trade as we first reported on Blueshirt Banter Radio. Kotalik's contract has him making 3 million per over the next two and a half seasons. 

Higgins makes 2.25 per season and will be a UFA at the end of this current campaign,  Olli Jokinen a former first round pick is a bit of a problem child who earns 5 million a year, but he also will be a UFA at the end of the 2009-2010 season.

Jokinen at this point is a rental and one that could possibly help the Rangers offensively this season but for the long term, his days as a Bluehshirt are numbered.  

Kotalik's and Jokinen's involvement in the trade satiates both teams quest to get these absurdly paid underachievers off their respective clubs.

The Mouth of course serves up his own sardonic take on the whole deal in the video and also adds a clip at the end where Matthew Barnaby was involved in some controversy after he unleashed some harsh words about Jokinen when Calgary first acquired him from the Panthers.

Tonight On Blueshirt Banter Radio New York Ranger Royalty Emile "The Cat" Francis joins us as our guest along with longtime beat writer (1960's-80's) for the Rangers Jerry Eskanazi.

The Mouth and Jim are doing Three Hours of commercial free Internet radio so we can get all your views and opinions on the recent trade as well as get in all the stories by a true Hockey legend Emile "The Cat" Francis.

Show Starts at 8 PM EST Tonight !

Listen to Blueshirt Banter on Blog Talk Radio

Monday Night Hockey 1980 : Barry Beck The Destroyer Of Men

Yes, Ladies and gentleman the NHL in the late 70's and early 80's attempted to introduce Monday Night Hockey via the syndicated route to fans all across America.

The game featured in the video is a contest that saw the Rangers host the Minnesota North Stars at Madison Square Garden on December 1st, 1980.

This telecast was a big deal in the city because other than in Manhattan , you were most likely never going to see a televised Ranger Home game. 

This game was broadcast on Channel 9 WOR, a channel that everyone in the metropolitan area could access.

Ranger home games simply weren't available through cable in the other Four boroughs at that time.  

Fortunately or unfortunately for The Mouth he grew up on Long Island and for some reason the Big Man got to see all the Rangers home games thanks to Suffolk Cablevision.

Of course Rangers fans couldn't wait for this particular  Monday Night contest in order to watch their beloved Rangers don the blue jerseys at home live inside Madison Square Garden.

One of the hi-lites of this game is a bone jarring hit delivered by Barry Beck on an unsuspecting Mike Eaves. 

Barry Beck was the hardest hitter in Ranger history, bar none.

Dan Girardi Tests Positive For Estrogen While Gabby Gets Pummeled

The Mouth was so sick when he viewed this he nearly threw up several chocolate chip black and white cookies he consumed watching it with his fellow Ranger fans.

The Big man  was at the Foxwood Casino Viewing Party with about 300 other befuddled Ranger com-padres that was held on January 21st, 2010.

Rather than actually give you a description of what the Big Man thinks about the lack of respect for a fellow teammate that Daniel Girardi has concerning Marian Gaborik.

We here think the headline and the video pretty much sum up how The Mouth feels about the pummeling Gaborik got that night, while every Ranger watched.

Dan Blackburn On Blueshirt Banter Radio Tonight Live w/ The Mouth and Jim

Dan Blackburn who's promising Ranger career was cut short by nerve damage in his shoulder, will join us live tonight to talk about his playing days as a Blueshirt and a whole lot more. It's hard to believe but Dan is only 26, even after all this time.

Dan is presently a goalie instructor who has recently been involved in teaching various youth goaltending clinics for the Rangers organization.

We will be taking you calls as always, stop on by and say hi to Dan.

Listen to Blueshirt Banter on Blog Talk Radio

Truth Machine Phil Esposito Crucifies Penguin's Moe Mantha: Rangers vs. Penguins 3/13/86

This broadcast in the Mouth's opinion is a real gem. The game is not so hot, although it does provide some rare footage of Blueshirt goals by both Raimo Helminen and Bobby Crawford. 

The clip is more about the frankness and absolute candor that Phil Esposito brought to the Rangers broadcast. I assure you Phil wasn't doing a shtick, this is the way Phil was and still is. 

Phil provides some real chuckles when he calls Moe Mantha "stupid" and seems to be obsessed with Moe Mantha's horrible plays rather than be focused on the two terrific goals, scored  by those two obscure Rangers that night. 

The Big man would also like you to take notice of Sam Rosen alluding to the Penguins setting their attendance record that year by averaging 12,000 people per game. 

A year which incidentally was Mario Lemieux's second season in the NHL

For you people scoring at home, the Rangers blew the two goal lead and the game wound up in a 2-2 tie.

Donald Brashear Suffers Excedrin Headache # 9 at Hands of Matt Carkner

The Rangers took on the Ottawa Senators last night in a game that was all around brutal to watch for a Ranger fan.

The game saw the Blueshirts go two consecutive games without scoring any goals and to add insult to injury, our geriatric enforcer Donald "The Big Rig" Brashear got his clock cleaned with one powerful shot to the kisser by Senator's fighter on skates Matt Carkner.

Before all you Ranger fans go screaming for Gigantor Colton Orr's help and how he would have dealt with Carkner, Orr basically met the same fate against Carkner on December 14th falling to the ice hard and heavy.

Although with one caveat Colton Orr had dismantled Carkner in a previous hook up on November 17th.

As per usual The Mouth calls the fight.