Super Sunday

November 1, 2009   ·   Derek Felix   ·   Jump to comments

Today is November 1st. The NYC Marathon is taking place here in the Big Apple. I remember once, dropping off my Dad with my Mom because he ran it. I was just a little kid. But such a memory always sticks with ya. Ditto the time we went as a family to Central Park to watch the completion of one when me and Justin were older. Hard to fathom it’s been that long. But such is life.

This is the best time of year at least in our opinion. Halloween was yesterday and we went to a fun get together in which we each wore the Jason mask I got, earning the funny reaction I love so much. In between, we watched football and puck and had our usual good time. Now, a day later we gained an hour which means the sky will be pitch black after 4. There’s something cool about it that can’t be explained. This month, we get my favorite holiday Thanksgiving. Or as I prefer to call it, Turkey Day. Hopefully for a select few Rangers who we’re not pleased with, they won’t still be on my list.

Speaking of which, the Rangers return to MSG for one of those 1 PM matinees with the Bruins visiting fresh off a 2-0 blanking of Edmonton. Tuukka Rask got the shutout. But a guy the club has never solved will be watching Tim Thomas battle Henrik Lundqvist instead. As for Marian Gaborik, Sean Avery and Christopher Higgins, it’ll depend on warmups with Tort deciding. If he scratches Dane Byers, that would be ridiculous. God forbid he makes an example of Chris Drury. Captain of nothing. Many want his ‘C’ stripped. I don’t know if that would work because they could lose him altogether. It’s bad enough he’s become the $7 million version of Blair Betts. Sitting him out or putting him on the third or fourth line might send a message.

While the Rangers try to end the malaise that’s seen them win once in their last half dozen since a 7-1 start, both NY football teams will also be playing at the top of the hour thanks to the annoying Brett Favre showdown with his former team. The Giants and Rangers both have been brutal lately. The G Men, losing two straight play the Eagles in Philly. Something tells me that’s not a good thing. Meanwhile, the Jets go for a second straight win at home versus Miami. Didn’t they just beat them? Why schedule bitter rivals so close together? If we didn’t know any better, maybe it was the NHL who had the Islanders visit Montreal twice in like a four-day span with a home game sandwiched between. It’s also a tad odd that the Devils have played in Tampa twice.

Oh well. So, there’s plenty for NY sports fans to watch. Toss in Game 4 of the World Series with the Yankees leading the defending champion Phillies 2-1 on the strength of last night’s 8-5 win. Wow. Cole Hamels sucks. Might it be having thrown too many innings the past 2-3 years which has derailed other young hurlers? Who knows. Anyway, CC (Cash Cow) Sabathia looks to make it three in a row for the Bronx Bombers tonight versus Joe Blanton. Either they’ll be in command or have to face Cliff Lee with the series hanging in the balance. Should be fun.

Some other thoughts on the NHL:

-The Islanders sure are playing great. Winners of three straight after blowing the doors off a strong Buffalo team 5-zip, they’re now back to .500 (4-4-5). Great job by Scott Gordon keeping his young club together. Though getting captain Doug Weight has helped enormously. Any coincidence they’re 3-0 since he returned from the Swine Flu? Still, Jeff Tambellini notching his first NHL hat trick last night is a big confidence booster. He’s now up to six goals. It’s not just John Tavares anymore as teammates are finally chipping in. Mark Streit has also played better lately netting an OT winner at Washington and going plus-three yesterday. Both Dwayne Roloson and Martin Biron have played better in backstopping the team to the season high three-game win streak. And Kyle Okposo is contributing. Things are looking up on the Island.

-It’s hard to get down on Buffalo, who lost for just the second time in regulation. Every once in a while, you’re going to have an off night in this league. Lindy Ruff’s team is getting balanced scoring with Jason Pominville, Drew Stafford and Clarke MacArthur helping out Thomas Vanek, Derek Roy and Tim Connolly. They also boast one of the game’s best third lines with Matt Ellis, Paul Gaustad and the feisty Patrick Kaleta all getting involved. With superb freshman Tyler Myers on the blueline, the Sabres are a lot tougher. The gritty Mike Grier has also done a solid job in his second stint as has rookie Tim Kennedy. As long as Ryan Miller stays healthy, this team should be competing for the Northeast all season.

-Meanwhile, the Devils continue to roll away from The Rock, improving to a perfect 7-0 thanks to their 2-1 shootout win in St. Pete. That it wasn’t Zach Parise, Jamie Langenbrunner or Travis Zajac was surprising. Instead, their most improved player David Clarkson stepped up, with a nice backhander beating Antero Niittymaki to give them the win over the Bolts. They totally outplayed Tampa for two periods almost leading by 20 shots but only led by one. Steven Stamkos got a little help with his 10th goal that tied it as it ricocheted off Langenbrunner and Bryce Salvador. But the Devs did a solid job giving MB30 an easy day. Of course, he was his usual dominant self in the skill competition, even intimidating Vincent Lecavalier into an awful attempt. What’s happened to Vinny? He’s stunk. But then again, so has Alex Tanguay. Anyway, Marty went four-for-four and we believe that’s his shootout-leading 33rd win with only Lundqvist trailing. If someone can help, we’d appreciate it and mention ya.

-In other games, the Candy Canes continued their woeful start, getting trounced by the Flyers 6-1 in a contest that featured a few scraps. You have to wonder if Jim Rutherford will pull the plug on Paul Maurice, who did such an outstanding job taking over for Peter Laviolette last season, getting them all the way to the Conference Final. But the team isn’t responding. Might Rutherford, who’s similar to Lou Lamoriello, turn to Laviolette for an encore? We’ll have to wait and see. They will get Erik Cole back and suspended Tuomu Ruutu as well. How much longer can they go on losing before there’s a change?

-The latest installment of Leafs-Habs was it’s usual entertaining brand of hockey between bitter Original Six Canadian rivals. Not surprisingly, the Maple Leafs rallied from two down to tie in the final three and a half minutes with goals coming from Alexei Ponikarovsky and Tomas Kaberle, who had a monster night with four points including the tying marker with 58 ticks left. Kaberle had 13 points on their road trip. He’s still a lethal weapon. Fittingly, the game needed a shootout but that’s where both Mike Cammalleri and Scott Gomez victimized Vesa Toskala’s soft glove to give the Habs a 5-4 home win in what was Mike Komisarek’s return. Though the former rugged Hab defenseman played his usual physical style hitting everything that moved and blocking shots, he still wound up minus-three much to the chagrin of Brian Burke. Do you think he regrets handing all that money to such a flawed player? We like the way he plays but sometimes, he gets too caught up in the emotion. Especially with plenty of boos last night. If Komy could simplify his game, he’d be much more effective. Something that remains to be seen in Year 1 in the hockey capital.

The puck’s about to drop. Plus plenty of pigskin. We’ll see ya later!