The Maven shares his thoughts as the Rangers are set to take on the Panthers for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final in Florida.
A few Terrific Topics Now That We're Getting Serious About This Series.
* By far the most confusing Ranger for me to figure happens to be Kaapo Kakko. In second place, Alex Wennberg. (Some people think he helps the team. I don't.)
* Back to Kakko. Help me, please, is this guy an asset or a debit to the Blueshirts? Or is he even worth discussing? (Frankly, I figure we should forget about him until he's traded.)
* Now that the Rangers power play is returning from its two-game vacation, I predict that it will explode all over Sunrise.
* A quick Jimmy Vesey return would be helpful but the immediate return of Blake Wheeler should enable us to applaud the Rangers depth.
* I like our team at home," says Cats' forward Nick Cousins. Today, we'll find out how much Floridians like them in Sunrise.
* Not to be a wise guy, Nick, but I like the Rangers on the road, particularly in Sunrise.
* I'm waiting for a team to sign Morris Mentum. Boy, oh, boy; would that team ever have momentum! (I've been waiting for years to get that one off my chest.)
* Veteran hockey scribe Rick Carpinello writes, "the Rangers have no answer to Ryan Lomberg."
* Is that Carpy's idea of a joke? Will someone – anyone – tell Poor Richard about The Grim Remper.
* I wonder if you all are aware that the Analytics Crowd has been saying – since around Thanksgiving – that Barclay Goodrow is overpaid.
* My buddy Sean shoots back, "Despite what analytics jackals say, this is the time of year that Goodrow earns that dough."
* Decades ago, I did a playoff pregame segment down in Sunrise with a live panther. I figured that I deserved a Purple Heart for going face to face with that beast.
* But my buddy Glenn "Chico" Resch – with whom I happily worked for many years – insists that they give away tougher stuffed panthers at the Skee-Ball game in Coney Island than the cat who didn't bite nor claw me. (I would do anything for an Emmy!)