Dominating

The Rangers served notice last night that they are ready to take on the best teams in the NHL. New York totally controlled their game with league-power Ottawa, beating them 5-1. The win keeps the Rangers in first place and brings them within three points of the Senators for second place in the conference.

Jaromir Jagr got things going with a power play goal during a two-man advantage. Marek Malik scored off of a deflection and Jason Ward added a shorthanded goal. Ottawa scored when Henrik Lundqvist could not control a rebound, but Michael Nylander and Petr Sykora added goals to provide the winning margin.

Hockey needs to get the focus back onto the ice. The Great One himself, Wayne Gretzky, has now been tied to the Rick Tocchet betting scandal. According to a report in today’s Newark Star-Ledger, Gretzky is on the wiretaps discussing the gambling ring that Tocchet ran. Gretzky had denied any knowledge of it on Tuesday and now has been caught in a lie. Hopefully, that is the extent of his involvement, because the league doesn’t need a scandal like this right now.

Photo by AP/Frank Franklin via ESPN

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By Peter Trinkle on February 9, 2006 1:47 PM

Comments [rss]

dude

I take it back: not all hockey sucks; Olympic hockey rules, largely because hockey's only worth watching once every 4 years.

JESUS CHRIST

Hockey is good but only Olympic Hockey. American Hockey sucks balls. It finally got some tread with the no ties rule but it still needs more excitement

Mark

*or "in the bag," whatever.

Mark

Five goals by five different players is pretty much all I could have asked for. Now I can rest easier with Prucha out and the Olympics opening the door to more potential injuries. It's going to be tough with the ton of games coming after the break, but if Lundqvist can stay healthy (this is kind of key), we should be in decent shape. I also think Henrik has a real shot at the Vezina this year, if not the Calder (I'd think Ovetchkin's got that in the big, and rightfully so).

Peter

Dude

Have you watched a game this year or better still, gone to one? Hockey had really slowed down before the strike, but the rule changes have really opened the ice up and made it a much more entertaining game. Try it, you might like it. Then again, Section 313 may be right.....

I will be cheering from Section 304 tomorrow night. Go Rangers!

section313

Hockey is the best sport bar none - you either get it or you don't. And we certainly know who doesn't.

Peter

I'm a huge Ranger fan. That being said, lets see them do it again when the playoffs come around. If players like Ward, Nylander, Straka, and others besides Jagr can score with consistency against the likes of the Senators, the Flyers, the Red Wings, etc, then I'll be a believer. Otherwise, I'm inclined to believe that the Senators decided to sleepwalk coming off beating the doormat Pens.

pdnyc

I really love it when people like "dude" post pointless comments that illustrate their complete lack of knowledge on a situation. dude, you're obviously not interested in the nhl and obviously don't know what you're talking about, so why even post?

section313

Attendance and viewership are up (except, you know, by dude). It's the NY sports media that keep the Rangers off the front page - better to read about the Knicks losing again.

Jay

The Malek hit on spezza was nice too. I wish the NHL would pump up the rangers, as its a good story and helps PR wise... A good playoff run by nyr would be good for the sport, and get ppl interested again...