2 Games???  That’s all Matt Cooke of the Pittsburgh Penguins got for blind-siding Artem Anisimov in a blowout win.  Watch Cooke’s Hit To The Head  And it was the second time he’s done this in his NHL career.  Thankfully, Anisimov was not seriously hurt — assuming you define “seriously hurt” to exclude needing smelling salts to remember where you are and being unable to play the rest of the game. 
What will it take for the NHL to dole out punishments that actually deter attackers?  Does the league need to see Crosby motionless on the ground during the Winter Classic?  How about Ovechkin [...]

The decision to buy a player’s jersey is perhaps the most important one a fan can make.  That jersey is going to be on your back, in public, for years.  If you choose poorly you will be mocked by friends and strangers.  Especially Devils and Islanders fans.  Do not underestimate the importance of this decision.  So how should one pick which player’s jersey to buy? 
Here are the criteria I use:
(1) How good is the player.
(2) Does the player have staying power — will he be/has he been a Ranger for a long time.
(3) Type of player — gritty, dainty scorer, role [...]

Well, that was nice.  Can’t complaint about getting seven goals, from multiple forwards and two defensemen.  The new lines looked good.  Each chipped in positively, whether by racking up points, drawing a penalty, or having good shifts that resulted in scoring chances.  Good goaltending too, even with 4 goals allowed.  About the only negative was the early first-period back-checking lapses.  All around, a solid victory. 
But what I really want to focus on is that the team finally stood up for one another.  First Voros fought (and actually beat) the guy that drilled and injured Staal (albeit on a clean hit).  Then the team aided Lundqvist [...]

The Capitols are a better team in all facets, except maybe goal.  This showed last night.  Even when we play adequately on defense we don’t have the offense to keep up.  This is not due to the injuries to Dubinsky and Drury either.  Our struggles began well before they went down.  Which makes it all the more important that the power play come through.  Yet instead of rising to the challenge, it is 5-for-34 in the last nine games.  Pathetic.  It doesn’t matter what the PP did in the first stretch of the season.  It needs to be consistently reliable and productive [...]

 
Great piece on former Ranger Jed Ortmeyer by Melissa Hoppert in the New York Times.  It focuses on how he has persisted despite a life-threatening blood disorder.
 
I always liked Ortmeyer.  Not the most talented guy on the ice by any stretch.  But he always played hard and gave his body for the team and his teammates.  Seemed like a good guy in interviews too.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/sports/hockey/17ortmeyer.html?ref=sports
 

Every win is a good win.  And this was no exception.  Lots of good to take away from the game.  It was a road win.  Lundqvist was solid.  Great penalty kills (including a short-handed goal to tie the game and 1:23 to close OT).  Higgins looked respectable in the middle.  The team was better on faceoffs, at least in the key moments.  And the Rangers came through in the clutch in their first shootout of the year. 
P.A. Parenteau was a spark from the get-go.  He just seems to have a nose for offense (even though he missed a wide open net [...]

First an issue that needs to be brought into the light and then some thoughts on last night’s game against Atlanta.
Stop me if this scenario seems familiar:  Opposing team dumps the puck into the Rangers zone.  Lundqvist drifts behind his net.  Gathers the puck.  Fires it medium-strength up the boards, no more than mid-board level.  Puck is stopped by opposing player.  Results in sustained pressure while the Rangers scramble to set their defense.  Scoring chances ensue. 
I respect Henrik for wanting to get better and contribute to the offense.  But PLEASE STOP!!!  It only hurts the team.  Henrik Lundqvist should NEVER [...]

I have never understood why a player who gets suspended for something he does in a game against Team X sits out the next set of games in date order and not the next set of games against Team X.  The aggrieved party is Team X — they lost their player due to injury from a boarding or whatever.  But they are not the one that benefits from the suspension.  (Granted, the suspension also is supposed to be a deterrent to future hits of that nature by hurting the offender’s team.  But the same effect would be had if the [...]