A Shout Out To An Old Friend

November 28, 2009   ·   Derek Felix   ·   Jump to comments

It’s a busy Saturday with another full slate following yesterday’s off Thanksgiving or as it’s referred to as Black Friday for the super sale madness/insanity. No. We didn’t get anything, opting instead to grab some new jeans and cool shirts on Turkey Eve. Hey. We got great deals! Best of all, my new diet has me back down to 32’s. I really am craving an Auntie Anne’s pretzel today at the Mall and plan to leave in a bit. Third time in a week. That’s like a record. Maybe I’ll stumble upon a new pair of running shoes or more cool shirts. We’ll see.

Of course in a couple of hours, the Rangers will visit Mellon Arena in hopes of doing a 180 after last night’s listless performance in St. Pete. One John Tortorella would soon forget despite a nice tribute to the former Cup winning coach by his ex-team, which he had little reaction to. Perhaps he knew early how brutal his team was. Ditto Vinny Prospal, who came close to tallying early. If only he had. On the plus side, Bobby Sanguinetti finally debuted and looked alright in 22 shifts (16:14 TOI) finishing just a minus-one with a shot, hit, takeaway and blocked shot. He was on for one goal against in which his man rebounded one home but it was hardly his fault due to another uneven Henrik Lundqvist performance which got him pulled. Ryan Callahan also found the back of the net with improving Artie Anisimov assisting. Tonight, Steve Valiquette gets the call. A tall order but I’m sick of Lundqvist. Let him go admire himself in a 40 foot mirror with media scribes kissing his ass.

Anyway, that wasn’t the purpose of this entry. But instead to give a shout out to an old friend of ours. If not for Steve Lepore, this blog never would’ve seen the light of day. It was almost four years ago that he asked me if I’d be interested in helping him start up Battle Of New York (BONY) back in the blogged days. And so, an unlikely team was formed with a diehard Ranger fan joining a Kool Aid Devil drinker, bringing Mr. Lepore’s novel concept to life of covering the metro area teams. Of course, they hand out a trophy for whichever team finishes with the most points between the Devils, Islanders and Rangers.

The games take on a life of their own which makes the rivalries great. Yes. Even Isles-Devils has heated up some in Year 1 of JT91 since preseason. Sure. John Tavares and his hard working club got taken to school earlier, falling 6-1 to the Michael Myers/Jason/Freddy Devs, who never die no matter who they have out. Hasan probably has another pic of the scratches coming. It’s easy to respect what the Isles have done this season. Rarely are they ever out of a game. So, today wasn’t the norm but an oddity which you expect them to bounce back from. If only our team would oblige. I’m going to be brutally honest here. As much as it pains me, the other clubs give maximum E-F-F-O-R-T daily. The Islanders are much more fun to watch than the Rangers right now. Since we added Brian’s Sabres, it’s given us four teams from the NY/NJ area to keep track of. If we’re a little slow with Buffalo and the Isles, sorry. But it’s hard taking on more than one team. Both the Sabres and Islanders had great wins yesterday with each beating quality teams. The Isles’ comeback against the Pens was tremendous. Nothing better exemplified that than their lengthy penalty kill two men down and killing off a double minor before Sean Bergenheim tied and Tavares won it in an outstanding third in which they outshot the Pens 18-5. Did we mention Sid The Kid was held scoreless with one shot and a minus-two? When’s the last time the Rangers silenced him? He owns our so-called elite goalie. Maybe it’s not coincidence he’s sitting out. Full credit to the Islanders.

As for Buffalo, they ended a four-game skid with a gritty 4-2 road win over the Flyers silencing Wachovia Center. Who doesn’t like that along with the traditional Philly jeers? Well, unless you’re a cheesesteak fan. The Sabres lost three players off their bench including second period scorer Paul Gaustad to injuries. The game also featured rough stuff with captain Craig Rivet getting into it twice with Daniel Carcillo. He later limped off after taking a shot off his foot. Good news is it’s not as bad as it looked. Despite being down players, the Sabres found a way with a healthy Tim Connolly in on all four goals with two goals and two helpers. What a player he is when he is on the ice. That he has Islander ties (Mike Peca trade) is fitting. No wonder we now include the team from Western New York. When legendary ‘caster Rick Jeanneret termed the win, “by far the grittiest of the season,” we nodded in agreement because it was dead accurate. It’s enjoying to see shorthanded teams not give in. No wonder we appreciated what Buffalo did. And believe us, they’ll be there this time. No matter what our lurking Buffalo contingent says.

To think that we’ve been on wordpress for a couple of years is kinda odd. And sometimes, there are server issues. So, it’s far from perfect. However, without Steve, none of this would’ve been possible. He also is responsible for the cool logo we got at the top of the page, with some help from Dustin. Perhaps it needs to be altered. Especially with Buffalo in the mix. Being able to post in this space gives me great pleasure because it allows me to express my thoughts on the game. While it’s a mixed bag with us pulling no punches no matter the topic, it’s fun to have this little forum.

That’s why when I stumbled across Steve’s “Best Blogs: Team-By-Team” over at his outstanding Puck The Media, I felt honored. I don’t view myself as anyone special. Just a passionate fan who loves the game and sits up in Sec.411 at MSG with Pop, bro and friend wearing his emotions on his sleeves. Lepore says I’m the only tolerable Ranger fan. Eh. I believe there are others as evidenced by some very good blogs that we list in our Ranger section. Scotty Hockey’s a daily read. I can be annoying. Especially when the team isn’t performing. In a depressed sorta state. Earlier, I had a brief chat with close buddy Rob “Kraze” Davis, who was boasting about his team’s continued success when it was 2-1. I deadpanned, “What’s hockey,” drawing the desired reaction before going into a bunch of jokes about the Rangers future. Perhaps I’m letting down my brethren by not putting these ideas here along with my poetry which knows no boundaries.

“A Heartless Team”

by Derek Felix AKA D Flex

They played a game

Last night in St. Pete

One team showed up

While the other a scaregrow

Who forgot their brain

Skating like chickens without heads

While Lightning struck the opposite net

Firing bolts at our overrated goalie

Who stood and stared in another dimension

As pucks sailed by as he looked dead

Along with the rest of his overmatched team

That embarrassed their coach

Who couldn’t even acknowledge a tribute

Standing on the bench beet red

Due to the atrocity

No words or screams could be heard

On this forgetful night few paid attention

Leaving this blogger in endless pain

To write a column in this space

Of the egocentric goalie

Who needs a full length mirror

So he can stare at his own face

Such is the state of Ranger hockey

With zero passion showed

And not one ounce of glow

Making us long for Jeremy Shockey

What will it take for them to wake up

And finally put on a consistent show

With December on deck

And an even more bitter winter ahead

Their season hangs in the balance

Will they finally show fight

Or should we just escape

To another place

That’s who I really am. Few know that side. The nickname D Flex stems from some fun freestyling at a Memorial Day party two and a half years earlier. P gave it to me and it stuck. Back to the original subject. It’s because of Steve Lepore that me and Hasan- another unlikely duo are able to give our daily observations on our teams and the sport. Thank you dear buddy for even thinking of us.