Usually when Ranger fans talk about Henrik and Martha it's usually in the context of Hanks utter domination of New Jersey Devils netminder Martin "Martha" Brodeur when it comes to their head to head play on the ice.
However, this time "The King" took to the kitchen to go head to head with home guru Martha Stewart.
Lundqvist appeared on the Martha Stewart program last week, showing off his cooking skills and promoting the Garden of Dreams foundation.
Henrik who in The Mouth's opinion hasn't been at the top of his game for most of his starts, joined Martha to make a Holiday dessert called Apple Crostata.
The always affable Henrik as you can witness for yourself in the 10 Minute video below gets along with Martha swimmingly.
Henrik also mentions where he is opening up his new Tribeca restaurant for all you stalkers.
Recently The Mouth has noticed that any time a Player gets hit viciously along the boards whether it be legal or illegal, the team of the victimized player takes it upon themselves to start World War III.
Last Sunday on November 14th, during a Ranger drubbing of the young upstart Oilers, Sean Avery flattened Oiler Colin Fraser with a tough legal check.
For some reason Fraser's teammate Ladislav Smid decided to drop the gloves with Sean Avery to avenge what really was just a clean hard hit.
What transpired on the ice after that everybody and their mother has an opinion on.
It also appears that even off ice opinions ran strong as Avery's fellow teammate and resident Ranger lack of confidence headcase Erik Christensen told both TV and Ranger beat reporter "Dancin" Larry Brooks that Avery sucker punched Smid.
The Mouth breaks the whole altercation down in usual skewed fashion and even includes the hard to find footage of Christensen speaking to Rogers Sports Net about the Avery decking of Ladislav Smid.
On Friday November 26th, Blueshirt Banter Internet Radio, the one true voice of the Ranger fan, is hosting its very own game viewing party as the Rangers take on the Florida Panthers at the Bank Atlantic Center.
The viewing party will take place at Poitin Still Irish Restaurant and Pub in Hackensack, NJ, and will start at 5:00 PM.
Admission is free and the event is open to all ages.
Poitin Still features about 30 television sets, as well as a big screen, to ensure everyone gets a good view of all the action.
Because of the huge success of the show with the fans, the fellas have booked some of the most popular Blueshirts of all time to make it a can’t miss event.
On hand will be special guests, former Rangers alumni, Ron Greschner, Nick Fotiu and Chris “Kotsy” Kotsopoulos.
The guys will be there and signing autographs for fans for a really phenomenal price.
For 35 bucks you get all three players autographs which also includes Three awesome individual photos for them to sign it on !
The event will also feature a question and answer session with the guys between periods where you, the fan, can ask any questions you would like.
The viewing party will also include a live pre-game broadcast on site of the Blueshirt Banter Radio show by hosts Jim Schmiedeberg and Eddie “The Mouth” Gieck.
If you are planning to get there early and have dinner, we advise you to make reservations as tables are filling up fast. The number to call for reservations or directions or any other questions is (201) 487-0660.
What a glorious time of year, the crisp fall weather can be felt in New York City as the smell of soggy pretzels permeate the air, it can only mean one thing..
Rangers hockey has returned to Madison Square Garden.
Although the Mouth will not be in attendance. most of the crazy people you see above will be.
Ranger fans after ONLY two games are once again questioning the sanity of their coach, targeting their new whipping boy on defense and ready to give rookie Derek Stepan the loudest welcome he has ever received in his hockey life.
For The Big Man all is right in the world.
To celebrate his good mood and to commemorate the seasons first home game, The Mouth presents his take on the home opener along with this fine 2010-2011 season preview video done by the great Ranger video editor LoFFen.
Two games into the season and the Mouth is already professing his prognostications for the Rangers season as well as his affections for err.. umm.. Derek Stepan's Mom !
It seems The Big Man is a smitten kitten with both Derek's play and his Mom's million dollar smile.
We think you will find The Mouth's forecast for the 2010-2011 season is somewhat on the cautious side this time around, compared to last years ambitious Kool-Aid gulping crystal gazing.
On the serious side of things, which is also covered in the clip below, The Big Man addresses the Sean Avery bias that every Ranger gets to see almost nightly at the hands of NHL officials.
The Mouth certainly knows that Sean is no angel and is an awful trash talker and most times when he is asked to drop gloves and throw the dukes more often than not skates the other way as fast as he can.
Sean Avery is not a dirty player. He doesn't stick swing, doesn't slew foot and doesn't deliver head shots.
Avery is merely a player who yaps unsportsmanlike things to the opposition whose main modus operandi is to goad opposing players into bad penalties while he skates away scott free.
Is it honorable ? Probably not, but is gamesmanship? Hell yes.
NHL referees for the most part have decided to have developed a different rule book where Avery is concerned.
The on ice officiating in Sean's case considers themselves a extension of the player rather than impartial judges, which is what they are paid to do.
They hear what Avery is saying during play and for the most part they think it's cheap and vulgar and his actions not honorable.
So they have taken it upon themselves to let opposing players take liberties with him to both Sean and the Rangers detriment.
A perfect example of this happened on October 13th at the Mausoleum when Islander assistant captain and blueline chucklehead James Wisniewski made an obscene gesture at Avery, right in front of referee Gord Dwyer's face.
The NHL did the right thing a day later and suspended the dopey Wisniewski for two games.
But at the time of the classless incident nothing was called not even a unsportsmanlike conduct penalty even though referee Gord Dwyer obviously saw it.
Well you have heard all the predictions from the so called "experts" online and in the papers, as well as all the vanilla talking baldies on MSG towing the corporate line predicting that all three teams the MSG network features will be making the playoffs.
They even scared Butch Goring so much that he had to stick to his prediction of the Islanders making the playoffs.
The reason I bring all this MSG tomfoolery up, is that most of you know there is a healthy and honest media alternative called Blueshirt Banter Radio available to you, the diehard Ranger fan.
Our show is the perfect antidote to successfully counter the happy shiny people prattle that MSG programming barrages us with at every turn.
Blueshirt Banter Radio is the one true voice of the New York Ranger fan, a place where you can talk plainly, uncensored and frankly as long as you want and most importantly have fun.
Tonight we celebrate the eve of the Rangers first regular season game by devoting a whole two hour internet program to Ranger team and player predictions by the most important and informed peeps in all sports: The New York Ranger Fan.
Hosted by myself and Jim Schmiedeberg begin_of_the_skype_highlighting "Rangers Rockin Eve 2010" begins at 8 PM EST.
We even have a live interactive Blueshirt Banter Chatroom that runs while the show streams live, where you can commiserate and talk Ranger puck with your fellow fans.
To listen to the show live or on podcast click below :
What a show it was as The Mouth and his partner Jim talked with other SB Nation blogger's about their feelings on their respective teams in the Atlantic Division.
The four guest that joined the guys live on air included representatives from the Penguins, Islanders, Devils. Flyers.
Things started off pretty amicable but The Mouth unable to contain himself prodded the guests into answering some questions that got the esteemed guests ire up.
The 2010-2011 Regular season is almost upon us, and it is in these times that The Mouth gets nostalgic about how many seasons he has actually followed this more than often than not heartbreaking hockey club.
The following clips hold a special meaning to The Big Man because it remind him of the day when the men were men and the women didn't mind being called broads.
These two Ranger tussles took place before The Mouth began following the Rangers which he started in 1975, so the footage is a great document of some of the tough guys the Rangers had before Nick Fotiu arrived on the scene in 1976.
The first fight features Rangers tough guy Teddy Irvine who took care of the nasty business for six years as a Blueshirt. You can be sure that while Ted Irivine patrolled the ice nobody was taking liberties with his teamates.
Ted Irivine by the way is the father of professional wrestler Chris Jericho.
The second fight features Steve "Sarge" Vickers in a game that took place during the 1972-73 season.
A season which Steve scored 30 goals as a rookie and netted him the Calder trophy.
Sometimes when I watch hockey nowadays, I know why the over forty crowd for the most part feels so disenfranchised with current day NHL hockey.
The game has now become a shell of it's former self as far as the physicality and intimidation part of the game goes. Most of the time the game is downright unrecognizable to what I and the over forty fans grew up with and embraced.
Gary Bettman has directed his insane clown posse of referees to basically neuter the NHL player from engaging in the rough and tumble gamesmanship that has made this sport incredibly fun to watch.
It particularly he has put the testicular clamp on the NHL player himself who wants to stand up for his teammates when he feels his fellow player is in trouble on the ice, the third man in penalty levy's heavy fines and missed games for all players that dare to come to a teamates aid when things get heated.
Now that the Mouth himself has finished his own editorial, lets get down to the incident in question that got his ire up yet again on this subject.
Last week, during a game between the Rangers and the Devils that took place at Madison Square Garden, Derek Boogard was given a misconduct on what amounted to a bump on Pierre LaBlonde before a face-off just outside the Devils Zone.
It was a silly penalty called by a silly referee named Chris Rooney. The video evidence of the horrific call below still has the Big Mans head shaking.
Ultimately and inadvertently as the video shows. Chris Rooney's buffoon call could have ended Mats Zucarello's NHL career when Pierre LaBlonde blatantly went for a knee on knee hit on the diminutive Norweigan forward.
Lablonde knew full well that Boogaard was still serving his ridiculous ten minute misconduct penalty, so decide to take liberties knowing their would be know repercussions.
The Mouth shares his passionate take on the play in the video below :
On Saturday we did a live remote front of the Prudential Center and gave away a bunch of fantastic prizes to Ranger fans in attendance including this Marc Staal jersey to Kristen, a rabid listener of the show as well as autographed pucks and other Ranger swag to other diehard fans of the show.
We did this all in celebration of the Wade Redden banishment to the AHL and also to show our appreciation to the loyal listeners of Blueshirt Banter Radio who simply put, have made the show the Internet Radio juggernaut that it is today.
Tonight we will be airing a special Tuesday edition of the show because of tomorrows Rangers game against the Red Wings at the Garden.
Tonight's show starts at 8 PM
Jim and myself and more importantly you fans will be talking about the recent cuts of Mats Zuccarello and Evgeny Grachev and using our crystal balls to project who will be cut from the club after Wednesday's game.
We would love to hear from you on who you think will be cut or sent down to Hartford, so join the show which airs live over the Internet at 8 PM tonight.
The Phone Number to call in is (646) 478-4692
We also have the Blueshirt Banter Chat Room, a forum which is chock full of Ranger fanatics that really adds more punch to a broadcast that is already a bit "punchy."
The Chat Room is the perfect forum to follow along with our two hour broadcast that streams live, commercial free, and uncensored.
Blueshirt Banter Radio is the true voice of the New York Ranger fan so make sure you're there !
To Listen to the show live or podcast just click below :
The Mouth had a chance to visit The Prudential Center or as "The Pebble" as he likes to call it for a preseason game between his beloved Blueshirts and the New Jersey Devil Dogs.
Now The Big man isn't so hot on preseason Hockey but The Mouth wanted to be there for the first game in several years that Wade Redden wasn't on the clubs National Hockey League roster.
This is certainly was a cause to celebrate with other Ranger com padres, so if the Rangers arent playing at MSG, the best way to immediately commiserate with other Ranger fanatics is go to a Devils Home game when the are playing The Rangers !
It also served as The Mouth's first chance to get a look at the Devils at their semi- new building in Newark.
Once he arrived the chaos ensued, and it was all captured by The Big Man's unsteady camera work.
The Mouth certainly is no gear head, as a matter of fact when it comes to anything mechanical he is about a useless as teets on a bull.
So when he started to do some research on Rod Gilbert being the focus of a 1970 Television ad launching the Mercury Meteor automobile, The Big Man was forced to do fact finding on a unfamiliar subject.
Upon further investigation, he found out that in 1970 that there were absolutely no Mercury Meteor's available for purchase in the United States.
So the mini-mystery began.
When things like this happen The Mouth in a paranoid state will usually listen for clues in the audio of the commercial for something he misheard originally.
But after about 20 minutes of watching this one minute commercial like a mental patient, The Mouth was convinced that the ad was from 1970 and the car indeed was a Mercury Meteor.
Riding further down into the information super highway via his PC, The Big Man found out the Mercury meteor was discontinued in 1963 by Mercury in the United States, but was still available to Canadian drivers until 1976.
So by brilliant means of deduction this is a 1970 Canadian Television ad for the Mercury Meteor, featuring none other than Ranger great Rod Gilbert.
The news is a bit old in Rangerland but last week a Sean Avery picture surfaced with him wearing the much anticipated third jersey at a photo shoot that was suppose to make it's debut later this season.
Avery who is pictured above sporting the third jersey in The Mouth's opinion could be a dead ringer for Rivers Cuomo from the band Weezer.
The new third jersey is pretty much a replica of a uniform the Rangers had worn for many years up until the late 1970's.
The Blueshirts this year will be celebrating their 85th year in the National Hockey League,
There is no question the Rangers have a truckload of raw and talented prospects who are developing nicely. The majority of praise has to go to Gordie Clarke and his scouting staff for hand picking these promising young players,
If there is one thing that is particularly curious about the Ranger picks and prospects that are participating in this years Traverse City Tournament is the desparity in the height ranges of the smallest group of players and heights the biggest group players on the roster.
The Rangers have THREE players listed at Traverse as 5'9 ( Ryan Bourque, Christian Thomas, Kelsey Tessier) along with the diminutive Mats Zuccarello-Aasen who is not at Traverse but attending regular Ranger camp back in New York.
On the flip side the Rangers have FOUR young gargantuan prospects at the Tournament all listed at 6'4 (Dylan Mcilrath, Evgeny Grachev, Lee Baldwin, Randy McNaught).
But Regardless of height, this is a truly talented group.
Ryan McDonagh has been given the captaincy, which may be an indicator that he is going to be given a real shot at making the big club and Derek Stepan who also is making a serious run for a spot on the Rangers roster this year, so far at Traverse has shown great poise and at this moment is the tournaments leader in overall points.
The Mouth addresses the above and much more in the video below.:
When The Mouth prepared himself for this video he had to ask himself this important question: "Do statistics lie?" Because if we were to judge Brandon Dubinsky's 2009-2010 campaign purely on numbers, Brandon had a pretty good year.
Despite being injured and missing 13 games, and a self induced camp holdout Brandon managed to bang home 20 goals for the first time in his NHL career, despite playing in all 82 games the two previous years. He also led the Rangers in game winning goals with five.
After reviewing the stats Mouth has decided to take a second look at his assessment of Dubinsky's play last year, which at season's end The Big Man concluded was uneven and dispassionate at times.
On many occasions it seems Brandon elevates his games against division rivals but seems to disappear for stretches at a time against teams where there is no competitive ill will.
But after a few months of The Mouth distancing himself from the disappointing end to the Rangers season and the multitude of players who failed to produce offensively, perhaps Brandon Dubinky just might have had himself a good year and The Big Man missed it.
The Mouth hashes his thoughts out loud in the video below.
Dale Weise is the type of player Ranger fans are clamoring for. Dale is a north-south player who has grit and determination and most importantly can put the puck in the net.
Dale scored 28 goals last year on a Wolf Pack team that really struggled with injuries.
Both the Mouth and Jim are looking forward to having Dale on the show before he heads to training camp with the Rangers.
Update : Dale Weise will not be joining us, Unfortunately he had to cancel.
The show starts at 8 PM.
The Call In Number (646) 478-4692
To listen to the show Live or on Podcast Click Below :
Out of all the acquisitions the Rangers made this off season, perhaps even including the Frolov UFA signing, The Mouth believes this move might have been the best.
The Rangers obtained a young, emerging LW in Tim Kennedy, who has some real potential for what really amounts to as a song.
Kennedy went to salary arbitration with the Buffalo Sabres who are limited in cash and shackled by budget restraints, being that thay are from a small market.
In the end, the arbitrator ruled against the Sabres and awarded Kennedy a One Million dollar contract.
Buffalo was not willing to pay Kennedy his million and immediately bought out 1/3 of his contract and placed him on waivers. Kennedy did have a say so in which team he was willing to go to and he picked the Rangers.
The Rangers will pay Kennedy $550,000 for this upcoming season. The Big Man feels this could prove to be the shrewdest moves Glen Sather has made this summer.
Kennedy is young, talented and super cap friendly to the Blueshirts who don't have much wiggle room salary cap wise.
For The Mouths vociferous opinion as well as some local coverage of the trade in Buffalo watch below:
Tonight's going to be a stroll down memory lane as former Ranger head coach Emile Francis and former Ranger defenseman for over a decade Rod Seiling are the guests on Blueshirt Banter radio tonight with The Mouth and Jim.
if you have any interest in the history of Hockey or Ranger hockey specifically, this really is a must listen.
Emile "The Cat" Francis is as sharp as a tack and is the undisputed reigning expert on New York Ranger lore.
This will be Emile's third time with us and it's always a an absolute blast.
We are surprising Emile live on air with Rod Seiling, who played with the Blueshirts under Emile Francis from 1963-1974.
This show promises to be a dandy and we hope you catch it live or on podcast.
Ranger Crisis is a video blog hosted by The Mouth. Established in February 2009 Ranger Crisis was created to discuss New York Ranger Hockey from the fans point view as well as explore the lighter side of being a Ranger fan through a satirical lens. However, in this case the lens is being wielded by a 48 yr old boccalone who has been following the Rangers since he was 10 like it was a religion.
The Mouth also has more Complete Ranger games and Ranger archival footage 1952-1985 than any other person on the planet. The big guy from time to time will crank up the time machine and share these video gems with his fellow Ranger fans with the intent to hearken them back to the simpler days before salary cap and Gary Bettman.
So sit back and enjoy Blue Shirt fans as it's all beamed right onto your computer desk for your enjoyment. We wholeheartedly thank you for stopping by and most importantly as always say...
Here are today’s news and links: Rangers News: Highlights: NYR 4, OTT 0
(4:58 video via NHL.com) Game Recap: With any and all regular season glory
that can...
Will Cuylle (OHL Images)Friday night was more than just the New York
Rangers game two win as the last two Rangers prospects got their league
finals under...
So far this month the Rangers have gone 3-4. Since November 27th the
Rangers have gone 5-5. Their last ten games have been a perfect .500 dance
of win one,...
Click here to read my story on last night’s game, from lohud.com. Thoughts:
1) I didn’t see an eight-game winning streak coming. I really didn’t.
Actuall...
The second season begins Wednesday and Thursday for the NHL. The teams that
made into the top 8 in their respective conferences will do battle for the
righ...
