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| #1 Star of the Game, Cam "Motherfuckin'" Talbot |
Now that I got that out of my system, welcome to another blog, here on the brand new DOINOW.com! A huge thank you goes to Candice (@candieaddiction on the twitter) for her hard work on revamping the site. I'm really liking what we've built here at DOINOW.com. If you have any suggestions, send them in.
As always, you can get all the DOINOW.com archives by checking the right hand of the site. We're now mobile friendly, so you can read this drivel on your phone as well! We have added new sections to the site, so give them a yonder when you get a look. As always, tip your bartenders, don't drink and drive, don't eat the chicken at the Nassau Coliseum, make sure to check out my Top 16 Spots to Pregame at a Rangers Game Blog, and always, and I mean as always, make "IN CAM WE TRUST" your personal mantra.
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| JEFFREY (Samardzjia) and myself |
The infamous JEFFREY, who as you know by now, has season tickets in section 213, but is too fucking bougias to sit in them, is in the same NYC construction union as me. JEFFREY (it doesn't work if I type Jeff or Jeffrey here) and I had this idea brewing for a while, that we would just go to NYC and buy tickets right before game time. Granted, you have to pick your spot here. We figured a weekday game, against a non-rival opponent, would be a great time to pull this shit. JEFFREY sold his season tickets in Section 213 before the game. With money in hand and union construction being slow in these cold ass winter months, we decided to put our plan into effect.
JEFFREY and I were able to score section 117, Row 7 (2 rows behind the suites) seats for $120. However, as we tried to enter MSG at 6:30, we were told our tickets, bought from Stubhub, were fake. I'm a little bit more cool, calm and collected than my elder in JEFFREY, but it was concerning. Long story short, JEFFREY called Stubhub and we got the same seats plus $40 in vouchers/coupons. So basically, JEFFREY and I, sat in the bougias ass dead center seventh row seats for only $100. If you're a diehard fan like me, your dick is probably hard reading this. Face value of these seats were $354. I'll probably never sit this close again, but what a night to have this opportunity, considering what happened during the game.
For anyone who has the time and the money, I recommend taking this gamble. Try to buy tickets right before game time. MSG demands you print out stubhub seats. There are printers at the Hotel Pennsylvania, right across the street from MSG. Whenever I print out stubhub or any other secondary market seats, I print them out there. It usually costs $2.00 for the whole process (Internet time & printout fee) and it's worth it. On a night like this, JEFFREY and I gauged the market for a day. We saw there were 2000 seats on the market and it was a buyer's market. Some rich fuck unloaded his seats and while they were fake, it was on Stubhub and Stubhub had to guarantee them. For $100, JEFFREY and I had the best time ever, perhaps more so for me, considering the final result.
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| Not only was I the only person to wear a jersey in our section, but I was the only one to wear this jersey in MSG! |
I don't know how many of you reading this are rich bougias fucks. I'm not rich, but I do ok. I budget my money for this. However, these rich seats were everything I thought they were. A bunch of rich assholes, who didn't even realize Hank wasn't playing, talking about anything but the game going on. While JEFFREY and I were locked in on the game, and to their credit, the four friends sitting in front of us, it seemed like everyone else could care less. Our row was empty, as shown by the pic earlier in this blog. We had the buffer aka "no-homo" seat. It's disheartening that row will be filled and go for $1000 a seat, whenever the Islanders come in town. The downstairs bar, which I didn't even know existed before today, was packed. Do people watch the games or just close deals at them? I guess I'm too big of a fan to care about anything else except the game on hand when I'm at MSG.
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| Pondering a Molson Ice or Labatt in between periods in the Bougias waiting room |
Do you know that MSG has a coat check for the rich people? I didn't know that was even a thing, as I sat down and took the picture above. I'm telling you man, it's gotta be great to be rich. My Nassau & Queens community college degrees really let me down. We will always learn from our elders and always think we know it all when we're young, but let me say this to any young fans reading this - "STAY IN SCHOOL!" As I watched the suit people down their umbrella drinks & talk the bear market, I can't lie - I was jealous. It's gotta be great to be rich. To even live the lifestyle for a day, man, it will suck to go back to JEFFREY's section 213 seats after this! We're spoiled JEFFREY!
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| JEFFREY says I need to include him more in these blogs. Here I am flashing the Cam "33!" |
Oh yea, there was a game tonight, and what a game it was. I tried to get it out of my system at the start of this blog, but let me just purge myself once more:
TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT! TALBOT!
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| The Shut-Out Kid |
The Rangers headed into this game, two points out of first place, with three games in hand. When it was all said and done, the Rangers remained in this position, but gained points over the Penguins & Caps, with games in hand as well. The Rangers moved to 8-1-2 without Henrik Lundqvist.
Reports before the game saw coach Alain Vigneault say that several Rangers were battling flu-like symptoms. I don't know if this was fugazi or not, but Rick Nash didn't play, due to neck spasms. It was the first game he's missed all year. Everyone else played and Oscar Lindberg, a Rangers prospect from the Wolfpack, saw ice time as the Ranger's 9th forward. Moving up in the line up was Kevin Hayes, playing the wing. I really hate the salary cap, and if anything the cap number should be higher, but if it wasn't for the cap, the Rangers would've never landed Hayes from the Blackhawks. The Islanders, who are in first place, are also lucky, because due to that same salary cap, they were able to steal Leddy from the Hawks. With the Blackhawks struggling, I'm sure Chicago fans are pissed off at the cap, and they have every right to be.
Karri Ramo, Hiller's back-up for Calgary, was tested early. The Flames took a penalty, not even two minutes into the game, after a Glencross hooking call on Kreider. Once again, the Rangers powerplay looked strong, but couldn't produce a goal. However, it's not because the Rangers didn't try, it was because of some Flames puck luck and a show-stopping save from Ramo. Hayes tossed in a shot that hit off the post and Miller should've had an easy rebound goal, but Ramo stole a goal from Miller by extending his glove hand and robbing Miller like a 1920's Chicago bank robber. The Rangers tried and tried again on the powerplay, but couldn't get a better look.
Listen, the Rangers are 8-1-2 without Hank and playing fabulous hockey. However, and I know there have been circumstances during each PP, but the Rangers need to bury a PP goal. They've been shut out of a PP goal in the last 5 games. Goals will be scarce come playoff time, so it's pertinent the Rangers figure this out.
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| Hank who? (Settle down, I'm joKING) |
The Rangers, like they've done since the Sabres game on Friday, have played some strong defense. No longer is the defense pinching beyond belief. They are moving the puck, getting the clears, but at times, prone to breaking down. Towards the end of a 0-0 second period, where the Rangers were dominating the puck and the Flames weren't getting many shots off, the Flames took the puck into the Rangers zone and teed off for 4 shots, all stopped by Talbot. It wasn't pretty, but Talbot got the job done. With twenty minutes left in the game, we had a 0-0 hockey game.
Brassard (PASS THE BRASS courtesy of WEBLEEDBLUE.com) forced a huge turnover early into the third period. Just like it was Rick Nash, Brassard left a nice pass for Kevin Hayes, firing up from the wing position. Hayes buried one past Ramo. 1-0 with 17 minutes left in the game. Little did we know, that's all it would take, as Talbot would earn his fourth shut-out of the season. Hayes is the future of the NYR. No questions asked. Without exaggerating, as I've been prone to do, especially talking Talbot, Hayes stepped in for Nash and got the goal Nash would've made. That's a huge undertaking for a rookie, but Hayes did it like he's been here for 10 years.
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| Did John Gianonne spill his beer? |
I don't know how this game came off on TV until I watch it back. However, live, and the seats I had, this was the greatest game ever. I've seen plenty of boring 1-0 games, but this wasn't that. Both teams had chances, but great defense was played. I love great defensive hockey. It's like a pitchers duel. I wouldn't say the goaltending won the game, as much as the team defense won the game. I remember a bad MSL turnover, but aside from that, the Rangers played diligently with the puck.
Let's talk Talbot. Yes, we all know I'm the leader of the Talbot Train and probably the only person wearing a Talbot jersey at MSG. He had a few battles, but not as much as in recent games during his starting stretch. Like the game in Arizona, Talbot was tested and held down the fort. He wasn't hit with a barrage of activity, save the final minute of the second period, but he made the big saves when it mattered and got the shut-out. With Hank going through a life-threatening injury and with reports that still might be out for 2-3 more weeks, you have to feel confident with Cam. He hasn't played well enough to steal the starter job, ala Tom Brady vs Drew Brees or Gehrig vs Pipp, but he's played well enough to earn a 7-1-2 record. Sure the Rangers goal scoring has helped, but many of those goals came from the Rangers pinching, which in turn, led to easy goals by the opposition.
While on the subject of wearing a Talbot jersey, several funny stories. Many remarked in my section how I was the only one to wear a Rangers jersey, much less a Talbot jersey. One person thought I was rich, that I could just go buy a Talbot jersey! I had to explain that I'm insane and a diehard Talbot fan from his early days. I just lucked & gambled into these great seats and would have a Talbot jersey (Thank you tax return) anyway.
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| ICWT |
This was a great game for Talbot. While it wasn't a 40+ save performance, Talbot made 21 saves for the shutout. Where Ramo made the save of the night on the Miller rebound, Talbot held down his end, got the Hayes goal and made sure the game would be a 1-0 final. As much as I hate Hank's contract, but not Hank himself, there is no question - Cam Talbot is the best back-up goalie in the league and could be starting for the majority of teams in the NHL. Tell me another team that would have their back-up goalie post a 7-1-2 record. More impressive, was Talbot shutting out a playoff contending team, with his best skater (Nash) not in the game.
This was a big win for the Rangers. They needed to win this game to keep pace with the Islanders, who blew out Arizona 5-1, the same team the Devils beat 3-0 the night before. Let's hope Arizona gets swept on their metropolitan trip, as they play the Rangers on Thursday. The Islanders are off until Friday, where they play these very same Flames. If the Rangers can win on Thursday, they will take first place in the division and with games in hand. The Islanders better start shaking like Michael J. Fox now.
With the Rangers scoring a ton of goals as of late, they were due to for a letdown. Luckily, we all believe in the mantra of "IN CAM WE TRUST." That was never more evident than tonight, as Talbot held it down when it mattered the most and when he got the least amount of goal support this season. Let's hope the offense is firing on all cylinders and for the love of the shit, the PP connects for one.
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| Yours Truly |
Before closing, I would like to thank everyone for taking time out to read this, whether it be through my relentless facebook or twitter posts or me texting you. This blog has cracked north of 1400 hits a day, which is not bad, since I started this project in late October.
Moving forward, my good personal friend and known member of the Mets 7-line, Joe "Shoes" DiLeo will be joining the site doing Mets baseball reports. We plan on launching a podcast, where we will just shoot the shit. It could be a fun listen on your way to work, for those days that Richard Neer is on WFAN. While the site will be taking advertisements over time, this will always be a site, with fan passion, for NY sports.
Thank you for supporting the new DOINow.com, it is greatly appreciated.
I will be back Thursday night, with NYR/ARI thoughts.
LET'S GO RANGERS
IN CAM WE TRUST
Sean McCaffrey
BULLSMC@aol.com
@NYCTHEMIC on twitter
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