Where's Marek?

NYR vs ATL 10/18/07 – Stats – Score Sheet

Rangers Lines
Dawes-Gomez-Jagr
Prucha-Drury-Callahan
Straka-Betts-Shanahan
Hollweg-Dubinsky-Orr

Rangers Pairs
Pock-Rozsival
Tyutin-Girardi
Staal-Mara

Lundqvist

You may not have heard, but Thomas Pock has been complaining about not getting playing time this year. Pock, having been passed by Girardi and Staal on the Rangers depth chart, had been a healthy scratch for every game so far this season and has registered his discontent with the press. Now, I’m not historically a Pock-hater by any stretch. In fact, I don’t mind him at all. His ceiling isn’t that high, but he’s serviceable and you need guys like that in today’s NHL.

With my thoughts about Thomas Pock thoroughly explained, please allow me to move on with a brief, plain statement to #22: You, sir, made me miss Marek Malik. You made him look like Mr. Super God Of The Entire Hockey Game. You did this on your very first shift of the season. Impressive.

You see, Thomas finally managed to join the fray in Atlanta and immediately got caught out, resulting in the Thrashers first goal. There is nothing that will get the blood simmering like your team’s yappy scratch finally getting some playing-time and instantaneously proving he deserved none. On this particular play our replacement defenseman was caught pinching in idiotic fashion and managed to lose his stick (!) at the same time. After hurrying back in a vain attempt correct his own mistake, he ambled around at the side of the net for a minute before he was handed another stick by a back-checking forward. Just as he seemed to figure out what he was supposed to do with the stick, he turned around and had the puck go between his legs, through the crease to an unguarded Dupuis. It was an unholy display of terrible defensive hockey.

Of course, the first goal was followed by "penalties"> to Prucha and Callahan and a 5-on-3 goal given up by New York. Ugh. Suddenly my newfound hatred for Thomas Pock had grown even more acute. I came back from Hawaii for this? I hope Henrik Lundqvist shoves his blocker in your Österreich, Pock.


It bears noting that while Pock was blindly stabbing his stick at various pieces of the empty ice (see video of nearly ever Thrashers goal), Lundqvist was All-World. In the 1st period he stopped no less than three breakaways, including one that came after another gaff by Pock.

I sincerely hope Thomas likes Hartford. Perhaps he'll earn a standing reservation at the local Applebees or find a nice Nutmeg State girl to settle down with. Regardless, I trust he'll get comfortable there.

In the second, the Rangers seemed to find their feet, but they were down 2-0 already and they couldn’t beat Johan Hedberg (who replaced and injured Lehtonen early).

Atlanta tallied their third goal following a non-called offsides, and a blatant one at that. Erin Perrin skated in backwards with the puck, clearly passing over the blue line before the puck entered. He was offsides by a mile while attempting to re-control a lost puck. He took himself offsides, for $%@#’s sake! And let me tell you, nothing will piss you off more than when you’re team of uncoordinated fools gets jobbed by the morons in stripes…

Hold that! Nothing will peeve you more than that except perhaps the assclown Atlanta announcers who think the goal was brilliant and ignore obvious infraction. The mites playing between periods have scored nicer goals, Captain Atlanta! It’s good to know that Georgia’s future as a hotbed of American sport is in your homer-blind hands. I hope you get syphilis from Bobby Holik.

By the third period I was crying and openly hoping for bloodshed. What on Earth are we paying Colton Orr for if it’s not to take of his skates off and start randomly slashing at people? Come on! These clowns haven’t earned a point all season, they’re cleaning our clocks, and no one lifts a finger? Jesus, Colton, man-up and take a felony for the team. You’re not here for your goal-scoring touch.

Of course, even when Hollweg and Orr finally tried to start something (in response to a decent hit on Prucha), Colton was goaded into a double-minor by Exelby. You know things aren’t going well when you lose a battle of wits to the likes of Garnett Exelby.

Checkmate.

I watched the rest of the game on mute, secretly hoping Malik returns to the line-up on Saturday and cursing Continental Airlines for bringing me back to the dreadful team. After all, they don’t have hockey in Hawaii. Or Austrians.

Other Notes

- Credit Lehtonen with some huge early saves on the Atlanta side, particularly just before he left in the 1st period. He was replaced by Johan Hedberg who was equally up to the task. It was a good game for the Atlanta net-minders.

- Bryan Little, the Thrashers 2006 1st rounder, seems like a good, gritty goal-scorer. His goal showed a knack for the net.

- There is no use hiding it any longer… I love Dan Girardi. I sent him flowers this morning. I hope he likes lilies.

- The refs, Dean Warren and Justin St. Pierre, were terrible throughout. I give the credit for being consistent at least. They called an awful, putrid game from start to end and made countless mistakes on both sides. So, you got that going for you fellas... which is nice.