Last night, I was left wondering if I was truly the only believer in a Ranger comeback from 0-3 down. Well, it turns out I’m not as our captain Jaromir Jagr also believes this series against his former team isn’t over.

Here was what No.68 had to say about his team’s chances of becoming the third NHL team to make history 33 years following the Islanders, who in turn followed the 1942 Maple Leafs in the 33 theme:

“I have a very funny feeling about this series. It’s not over. It’s just my feeling. I don’t know how many believe me, but we’ll see.”

“Too bad it’s 3-0, but I’m not going to tell you I’m dead. I think a lot of guys in here believe that, too.”

Jagr wasn’t done. Here’s what else the 36 year-old Czech Ranger captain had to say about this chance to do something special much like the 2004 Boston Red Sox:

“I actually believe we can change this. We have a chance to make history.”

“It might be my last game,” he added. “Let’s make it special.”

Why the heck not? When the Rangers have attacked with vigor in this series, they’ve had success. Come out aggressive and get the first two making themselves and the MSG crowd believe in Blue.

“We are down 3-0. Fine. It’s not where we want to be, but we can’t do anything about that now. We played very well in this game. We can say, ‘We lost again,’ or we can have confidence.”

“Even a great team like the Yankees couldn’t hold a 3-0 lead. They are the best ever. We can make history.”

I believe they should have confidence and even without Sean Avery, Blair Betts and possibly Chris Drury will feed off a crowd which won’t mail it in. I’ll be there cheering our guys as will other loyal Ranger fans.

So let’s do it! Dare to be great! I say hell yeah!

And that guarantee still stands. There will be a Game Six! Tonight’s the first magical step of four.

Who’s with me?

As announced on VERSUS, the three finalists for the NHL’s coach of the year award are Bruce Boudreau of the Capitals, Guy Carbonneau of the Canadiens and Mike Babcock of the Red Wings.

No problems with the first two, as Boudreau not only turned around the Caps after the firing of Glen Hanlon early in the season but Washington was one of the best teams in the league in 2008 period, winning a ton of games down the stretch just to squeeze into the playoffs as Southeast division champions.  Carbonneau took a non-playoff team from 2006-07 that wasn’t expected to do much this year to the top seed in the NHL’s Eastern Conference, this despite having shaky goaltending at times from both Cristobal Huet (since traded) and rookie Carey Price. 

I’m not too high on Babcock being the third choice, yes the Red Wings won the President’s Trophy but how much is coaching really involved when you still have Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Nicklas Lidstrom and other reliable veterans including the goaltending tandem of Chris Osgood and Dominik Hasek (though both faltered late)? 

I would have considered Barry Trotz, who somehow found a way to get Nashville in the playoffs despite their new owner trying to pull a Rachel Phelps (a la Major League) and liquidating the team before relocating it.  Actually Claude Julien might have been my third choice though, since absolutely nothing was expected of a Bruin team that was in disarray after giving away Joe Thornton two seasons ago, lost one of its best players in Patrice Bergeron for much of the season, and had career journeyman Tim Thomas as their number one goaltender.  Boston also made the playoffs to the surprise of many. 

In any case, odds are Boudreau will win the award. 

As reported on tsn.ca, Montreal backup net minder Jaroslav Halak will start for the Habs in a critical Game 4 in the city of Brotherly love.

The move to Halak makes perfect sense. After all, it is not like Montreal had any other quality goalies on the roster that they gave away too fast because they thought Price > Sawchuk (rolling eyes)

It will be very interesting to see how Montreal responds to the change.

IN GAME UPDATE: So far the score is 0-0 , End of the 1st period. Based on being here at work and NOT watching the game (gotta love the West Coast for this, sarcasm off!) it seems the Habs have come out with a purpose, peppering 14 shots on Flyers goalie Martin Biron, but Marty looks up to the task again tonight thus far. Halak with 7 saves, so far, so good for Carbonneau on his decision.

When one sits back and thinks about how humans communicate, it truly is amazing how many different languages there are in the world. But there comes a time when certain phrases or words can be translated through several languages.

Now you might be wondering when looking the title of this article, this phrase must apply? Be truthful, it probably does not, and you sit here wondering ‘What in the world am I trying to get across (unless of course you took French in high school and ACTUALLY paid attention!)

Before we provide the translation of the phrase above, let’s provide a quick thoughts about the Philadelphia Flyers / Montreal Canadians series thus far:

1. Fragile Confidence? So it appears Guy Carbonneau will not name a starter in net for Game 4, does he honestly expect us to believe that little used Jaroslav Halak will be between the pipes tonight? I say not a chance, as we all know Habs management might be feeling the pressure of trading away Cristobal Huet and putting too much trust in phenom goalie Cary Price too soon. Expect to see Price front and center tonight.

2. A New Playoff Memory For Umberger?  Flyers forward R.J.Umberger’s playoff career is most remembered for the shocking hit he took from then Sabres defenseman Brian Campbell in a series against the Sabres in 2006. Despite being overshadowed by some of the bigger names on his own team, Umberger is making new playoff memories and has been an underrated force for the Flyers, scoring 5 goals in 10 playoff games thus far.

3. “The Other Goalie”- Cary Price has received much of the attention going into this series, but it is the Flyers Martin Biron who has stepped up front and center and is making all the big saves.  A trade that was questioned towards the end of the season, the Flyers acquistion of Biron from the Buffalo Sabres last year is looking better by the minute. Kudos to Biron, who was a great team guy in Buffalo after Miller arrived and became a backup, for getting his chance and making it count.

So what shall we expect tonight?

From a Canadiens perspective, the first goal is critical. Along with that, it is important that Price makes a few saves early in this game, to get his confidence back and try to shake off the brutal 2nd period he endured in Game 3.   The Habs need the power play to be sharp, and especially be careful with a guy like Mike Richards on the ice, who is for my money the most dangerious shorthanded player in the NHL today.

For the Flyers, continue the momentum. Let’s be fair here, this series could easily be 3-0 Philly and taps would be playing in the streets of Montreal. The Flyers need to have that killer instict tonight, and with the return of Mike Knuble tonight, that should give the Flyers even more of a boost.

Oh, and before we go, I forgot about the French title above. Translation? A Must Win For The Habs Tonight. Any french speaking people reading this blog? Do not expect much more French from me, I did fall asleep in class in high school!

Sean Avery was rushed to a Manhattan hospital last night after suffering a lacerated spleen in game three’s loss to the Penguins. Reports of Avery going into cardiac arrest were refuted by the Rangers, but it was apparent that the injury was serious.

Avery is expected to make a full, off-season recovery.

This is bad news for the Blueshirts, who have to be perfect the rest of the way to advance any further into the playoffs. No word on Blair Betts, Chris Drury or any other possibly injuries, but I’ll keep you informed. While it’s not impossible, it seems like just a matter of time before the Rangers start booking tee-times.

“Over? Did you say over? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!

And it ain’t over now. Cause when the goin’ gets tough. The tough get goin’! Who’s with me? Let’s go!”

Bluto: What the fuck happened to the Delta I used to know? Where’s the spirit? Where’s the guts, huh? “Ooh, we’re afraid to go with you Bluto, we might get in trouble.” Well just kiss my ass from now on! Not me! I’m not gonna take this. Wormer, he’s a dead man! Marmalard, dead! Niedermeyer… 
 Otter: Dead! Bluto’s right. Psychotic, but absolutely right. We gotta take these bastards. Now we could do it with conventional weapons that could take years and cost millions of lives. No, I think we have to go all out. I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody’s part.
Bluto: We’re just the guys to do it.
D-Day: Let’s do it.
Bluto: LET’S DO IT!

If you came here looking for a eulogy, try elsewhere! I’m not here to write the final script for the 2007-08 Rangers after another tough loss in Game Three- this time 5-3 to the Penguins at Madison Square Garden.

Instead, what you’ll read is why I believe the same team that’s dropped the first three in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Semi can still comeback. So let’s count the reasons:

1.They have been real close in all three and easily could be up in the series. We’re talking a four goal total difference in the three games.

2.The Pens luck has to run out some time. Let’s face it. They’ve gotten every break. And we’re not talking calls here either but goal posts on one end and bounces which setup goals.

3.Henrik Lundqvist. He wasn’t good last night and has been outplayed by Marc-Andre Fleury. Lundqvist is very capable of elevating his game to that next level. I believe he will.

4.Jaromir Jagr. He’s played very well and once again was a force scoring a tying goal and setting up another. The Ranger captain is very hungry. His couple of tirades at Sidney “The Whiner” Crosby along with his inspired play tells me he’s not ready to pack it in just yet. If the leader of the team is still battling, then this team isn’t beaten.

5.Attack. Attack. Attack. The Rangers have the capability to turn the tables on the Pens by making them play in their end. When they turned it up in the second period last night, Pittsburgh was on its heels and survived a couple of close calls including a Scott Gomez crossbar before Ryan Hollweg’s foolish penalty swung the momentum.

6.Discipline. When they play this team five-on-five, they can win. It’s when they’ve taken penalties that they’ve gotten in trouble. Once again, the Pitt power play won them the game. This team is so much better than that. Stay out of the box and they’ll extend the series.

7.Stack the deck. It goes against everything Tom Renney believes in. So what do we have to go on? See Boston manager Terry Francona circa 2004 when his Red Sox turned the trick smashing the Babe Ruth curse against the hated Yankees. How did he do it? By making every key pitching change and pulling out all the stops to win. He never gave up. Neither should Renney. What that means is he should load up his top three scoring lines and play them as much as possible. Get them out every second shift. Double shift his best players and make it work. Show Michel Therrien that winning the fourth one won’t be easy. 

8.Power it up. It’s no secret that the Ranger power play has failed miserably going 0-for-5 last night and now 0 for the last 14. So throw out all the ideas and just tell the players to get the shots to the net and find the rebounds. Shoot low and get traffic. They’re fully capable despite the shenanigans we’ve seen.

9.Keep shooting. Shots were 39-17. If the Rangers continue firing the puck, good things will happen. Fleury’s not Superman. He nearly cracked in the second period. Make him sweat even more.

10.History. Every 33 years, it says an NHL team rises up from such a big 0-3 hole and comes back to win four straight. Need proof? The 1942 Maple Leafs cameback to defeat the Red Wings 4-3 to win the Stanley Cup. In 1975, the Islanders climbed out of an 0-3 hole to beat those Penguins 4-3 in the Cup quarterfinals. Well, guess what. It’s 2008. Thirty three years later. Karma? It can happen!

So, there you have it. Ten big reasons I am not giving up. Even if enemy fans want to laugh. Well, go ahead. I’m not throwing in the towel! I STILL B-E-L-I-E-V-E!!!!!  

I’m also going to go out on a proverbial limb and guarantee a Game Six. Now it’s up to my boys to make me a prophet. It’s their choice!

Game three for the Rangers and Penguins starts in just under 10 minutes. The Petr Prucha experiment is over for right now in New York, as  Ryan Hollweg is back with  Blair Betts and Fred Sjostrom on the fourth line. Tom Renney tinkered with the lineup in practice, so don’t be surprised if Brendan Shanahan ends up logging some fourth line minutes tonight as well.

On defense, Christian Backman survived a roster move as well, as Jason Strudwick had been paired with Paul Mara  in practice. Mara does move into Backman’s spot on the power play, however.

Gary Roberts is now a healthy scratch for the birdos, who will look to put the perverbial fork in the Rangers tonight.

Enjoy the game, it’s a must win for the Blueshirts.

For the Rangers, they must win tonight’s Game Three at Madison Square Garden to have any realistic hope of coming back against the Penguins.

Games One and Two are over with. They can’t change what went against them in terms of bad breaks. What they can do is Turn Back The Clock and show the same kind of mettle they had against Buffalo by feeding off some of the best fans in the league.

The message is simple. Sweep the two home games!

Jump all over the Pens. Force them to play defense. If the Rangers are hungry and win the battles, they’ll be fine.

I’ll be there expecting them to win. There’s way too many experienced guys to just mail it in now. So Let’s Go Rangers! Tell Sidney Crosby and Co. that it won’t be easy.

See ya there.

It’s a day later. A bit early at that as the latest rainstorm gets ready to hit. It should be pretty heavy today. Maybe I find that a bit ironic considering my team’s plight at this collective moment.

After a nice leisurely drive and walk to the historic Conference House out near the water yesterday, I was able to clear my head. Here are some random thoughts which have been flying around:

-The Rangers attempted 31 shots (five more than a perimeter oriented total) which never hit the net yesterday. Nine were missed and 22 were blocked by hustling Pens who sacrificed their bodies at every turn. By contrast, Pittsburgh only had nine shots blocked while another nine were missed. A huge difference. If they’re to get back in this beginning tomorrow, the Blueshirts need to reverse that trend and play with the same intensity. Pitt showed they wanted it more.

-As usual, Sean Avery made a nuisance of himself with the outcome decided drawing the ire of Hal Gill while engaging Marc-Andre Fleury. By that time, I’d already turned it off. Too little. Too late. He was invisible and notably didn’t have a strong Game One. Isn’t about time the agitator stopped living off strong first rounds?

-Christian Backman was again shaky. He was very weak in the first game responsible for the Pens’ second goal. There was also an instance where he should’ve one-timed the puck but waited and got it blocked which drew criticism from Pierre McGuire. Right on point. Tom Renney needs to think long and hard about scratching him and bringing back Marek Malik. Big Bird might get blamed for plenty but if he’s paired with Paul Mara, that’s an upgrade. Unless Backman’s finding offense, he sticks out like a sore thumb.

-Find me one network studio analyst getting paid top dollar who has the balls to tell it like it is instead of kissing Sidney Crosby’s ass. No backbone. I don’t know what’s worse. The ridiculous lengths Canadian backer McGuire and former coach Ed Olczyk (biASSed much?) went to or Brian Engblom waving the No.87 pom poms on Martin Straka’s soft penalty where the baby face dropped like he was shot.

-Watching Henrik Lundqvist before during a postgame interview wasn’t too reassuring. He might’ve said all the right things but body language told a different story.

-I touched on it briefly but it’s time for Tom Renney to grow a pair and demote Brendan Shanahan to the fourth line. He just is too slow and is really hurting Avery and Scott Gomez. Especially if he’s going to play Petr Prucha because less than five minutes just won’t cut it. If they’re not elevating Prucha, then Fredrik Sjostrom is plenty good enough a skater and solid defensively to be moved up. Why not try Prucha and Shanahan with Blair Betts? This would give the team a different look and much better balance to go head to head against a very deep Pens’ team.

-With another great third period last night totally outclassing the Sharks to go up 2-0 on the road, Dallas has done little to make me think otherwise. That they’re the most complete Western team left and certainly look on a collision course with the Red Wings.

-If deadline pickup Brad Richards continues to perform, that’s going to be one hell of a trade for them especially if the former Conn Smythe winner delivers the hardware.

-How about that no-look reverse setup Sergei Zubov made to Mike Modano for the winner? Not bad for the veteran Russian blueliner’s first game back!

-How good is Mike Ribeiro. You don’t think Montreal wants a do over on that one again?!?!?!?!?!

-One other thing on that series. If the Sharks don’t comeback to make it at least interesting, when does Ron Wilson finally take some heat?

-Peter Budaj better be in net for Colorado tonight. Peter Forsberg would help too.

-He’s gotten plenty of criticism for his wretched play in Game Two. Think there’s just a tad of pressure on 20 year-old rookie Carey Price later tonight?

-If Martin Biron keeps this up, who says he can’t backstop the Flyers to a Stanley Cup? He’s been brilliant. They shouldn’t even be playing. That’s how good he was against the Caps with it all on the line in Game Seven last week.

-It’s Evgeni Malkin and not Crosby who’s been the best player for the Pens so far. He just has dominated in all facets. So while everyone’s getting on their knees for Sid the Kid, it’s his better overall teammate who continues to get overlooked.

-I get that he was sticking up for his star player but Michel Therrien was completely out of line ripping Renney before Game Two. At no point did the affable Ranger coach ever complain about Crosby offering essentially no comment. Instead, you heard plenty of teammates defend Straka. The same thing the hypocritical Therrien was doing.

-Color me impressed with Tyler Kennedy. This grinder has been very strong on the boards. Ditto Pascal Dupuis which comes as no surprise that the “other player” in the Marian Hossa deal has performed well as he has had better success (2003 Wild).

-I had it in my preview and so far it’s held true. Rob Scuderi is undervalued.

-Are Johan Franzen, Valtteri Filppula and Jiri Hudler secondary scorers anymore? Both Franzen (Calgary Game Six OT anybody?) and Filppula were good last year. Hudler finally developed and is playing well. Ditto for defensive stalwart Niklas Kronwall. Amazing how the Winged Wheel continues to find hidden gems in the draft. Their scouting staff is as good as anyone in the league. It’s high time they got more recognition!

-Finally, I love Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg but they shouldn’t be up for the Selke. John Madden was a deserving pick but there are plenty of other worthy candidates. Mike Fisher, Tomas Plekanec and Mike Richards all come to mind.

I don’t have the words. It’s awfully hard to win when you can’t score. How about generating an actual scoring chance? Would it kill the Rangers to make the Penguins play defense? Marc-Andre Fleury didn’t have to sweat on any of his saves regardless of what the shots were. Easiest playoff shutout he could have.

I’m baffled beyond belief. Of course the refs’ inadvertent early whistle on the one Ranger goal by Martin Straka would prevent it from being tied. And of course our conservative coach didn’t pull Henrik Lundqvist early enough. Hell-o McFly! Earth to Tom Renney! Anyone home? Our freaking power play wasn’t doing anything and needed a full 6-on-4 to have any remote chance of getting it tied.

It’s not all his fault that our players showed no urgency. Where was it? But hey. If you want to continue to send out old man Granahan instead of younger legs Cally, Dawes or Avery, then it becomes essentially a four-on-four.

The Pens did what they had to converting their one power play with Jordan Staal netting the winner on a nifty feed from Evgeni Malkin with little space. They then trapped the heck out of the Rangers who looked way too blue to bother coming back making a one-goal deficit feel like 10.

Is the series over? Well, unless they find a way to win two and imitate last year, it probably is.

Maybe they should try a different strategy. I wish I knew what that consisted of. If I have to hear another freaking network defend Sidney Crosby’s ridiculous antics to draw penalties, I’m going to throw the remote through the TV.

I’m out.