Opening Night at the Rock: Devils 2 Isles 1

What I liked:

--The pace of the game. The Isles may lose 50 games like a lot of the so-called experts are thinking but they are not going to be boring. The constant pressure and pushing of the tempo by Scott Gordon's Islanders is going to be fun to watch.

--Jack Hillen. Is it me or is Hillen one of those guys you just seem to notice when he is on the ice? Reminds me of something my Dad told me once: some guys are players and some guys are playing. The players affect the flow of the players are along for the ride, reacting. Seems to me, from what we have seen in three games, Hillen is perfectly adept at affecting and making other guys react.

--Joey MacDonald. He was superb as a surprise starter in net. Good idea to hold DiPietro off for the home opener, too.

--Richard Park. Sure, he hit two posts but the fact is that he got himself into a position to make plays. Won 9 of 12 faceffs too.

--Bruno Gervais asserting himself offensively.

What I didn't like:

--One goal. Yeah, it's Brodeur but one goal is not going to make anyone feel any better about the expected scoring woes.

--The Power play. Sure looked unorganized at times...but Mark Streit looked confident running the show. The PP is always the last part of a team's game to get together so of course there is still time.

Overall, a loss is a loss but at the very least, our boys were competing hard. Tonight the Blues invade the Coliseum. Man, it is good to have hockey back.

Josh Bailey, Blake Comeau, and Thomas Pock were the "healthy" scratches.

Let me leave you with this picture of a-hole Joe Elliott placing The Cup upside down on the stage Thursday night in Detroit. You can't tell me that this wasn't on purpose. The base of The Cup is black and looks like THE BASE OF THE CUP for crissakes. Def Leppard blows and Elliott must've huffed too much hairspray sharing tour buses with Bon Jovi in the eighties.

(Picture from Yahoo's Puck Daddy hockey blog)

Crack-addled Ranger fans

Yesterday, my wife and I were shopping at the Danbury Mall in Connecticut. I wasn't going to say where we were, but I figured I may as well since there is a miniscule chance that someone who was in there would read this.

Anyway, we were in a sports collectibles store and two dudes were talking hockey. I literally stopped both walking and breathing when one dude said, "If he keeps this up, Lundquist is going to be as good or better than Brodeur."

Let that one sink in and remind yourself how delusional Ranger fans can be.

Lundquist matches Martin Brodeur in one category: they both won gold medals at the Olympics. That is it.

Henrik Lundquist is a good goalie and I am told he is a snappy dresser. But while Lundquist is checking himself out in the mirror, Marty Brodeur is winning hockey games. He has three Stanley Cups. Lundquist just made it out of the first round. Brodeur just set the all-time record for wins in a season by a goalie with 48. Lundquist has been outplayed by Kevin "Suitcase" Weekes for stretches at a time.

I guess what I am saying here is that Ranger fans--or this one guy in particular--need to wake up. When Henrik Lundquist wins the Rangers a Stanley Cup, then you can talk. But right now, the guy hasn't even made it to the conference final yet. Comparing him to the best goaltender of the past decade or so is an embarrassment. Seriously. In my lifetime, there have been really two goalies in the NHL who have been so off-the-charts that they have been otherworldly. One is Patrick Roy. The other is Martin Brodeur.

Has Lundquist stolen games for the Rangers? Of course he has. So did Vanbiesbrouck and Richter and Glen effing Hanlon. Hell, as an Islander fan, I can tell you that Tommy Soderstrom and even Eric Fichaud stole games for the team. But comparing Lundquist to Brodeur is like saying that Jeff Hostetler is/was as good as Peyton Manning because both guys won Super Bowls. I'm a Giants fan and I will tell you that it just ain't true.

So, my advice to that Ranger fan is to first stop huffing paint and second to just sit back and hope his team can get past the Sabres before proclaiming that your goalie is as good or better than the Devils goalie. Talent like Martin Brodeur's is so subtle, rare, and amazing that we should just sit back and enjoy it as hockey fans. There is no comparison to be made yet.

Oh, and you're probably wondering what I said to that guy. I didn't say anything. Once I was able to breath again, I went and checked to see if they had an Alex Ovechkin McFarlane figure. They didn't; we left.