Down Time

April 28th, 2006

The Rangers took the day off from on-ice workouts, and so did we (we didn't take the day off, just took the day off from covering practice to finish up the May issue, out next week). So there's not much to report today. While only five players took to the ice -- Darius Kasparaitis, Jarkko Immonen, and Thomas Pöck giving Henrik Lundqvist a 30-minute workout, and Jaromir Jagr skating on his own for five minutes -- the rest of the team held a meeting to try to regroup for Saturday's brink of elimination contest at the Garden.

See news reports today in the Times, News, Newsday, Journal News, Star-Ledger, Post, and Record. Additional notes from the News. Larry Brooks of the Post thinks the Rangers should consider bringing up some young guns from Hartford for Game 4, but the Wolf Pack staved off elimination last night in their playoff series, forcing a Game 7, so that's unlikely -- although seeing Pöck dress in place of Sandis Ozolinsh is not out of the question. Also from the Daily News, strong hints that JD will not be returning for a 21st straight season in the Rangers' broadcast booth.

Here's a CHL report from Jess Rubenstein on "Seasons on the Brink": The Rangers are not the only ones facing elimination these days. For the three remaining Ranger prospects playing in the CHL playoffs, Friday could be elimination day. In Barrie (OHL) Wednesday night, Jakub Petruzalek set up the tying goal, but his Colts fell in OT to the Peterborough Petes 6-5. The Colts now trail in their series 3 games to 1. In the WHL, also on Wednesday, Roman Psurny and his Medicine Hat Tigers fell once again to the Moose Jaw Warriors by a 3-1 score and now trail that series 3-1 as well. On Friday night, the Guelph Storm, with Ryan Callahan, will join Barrie and Medicine Hat as they fight for their season.

Entry Filed under: Hockey