Good Season

Not a ton to say. Well, a ton to say, but not a ton to say that everyone else hasn't already said. Game 5 went the way it was supposed to, it was Game 4 that didn't. The series went the way we expected it to, it just didn't do so in exactly the way we expected it to. Did that make sense? We expected to lose the series, but no one could have predicted the way it happened. Like Game 5 in the series against Buffalo the second year after the lockout, Game 4 last week will stick in our memories as Ranger fans for a long time.

The Caps are the real deal this season, to be sure. On that note, Garden Faithful, while booing Boudreau was great and deserved, and "Can You Hear Us??" was the best Garden chant I've heard since my father told me stories about "Buy a Porsche, Hextall," could we stop booing Ovechkin so much? He's kinda great at hockey, and there's really nothing wrong with being kinda great at hockey.

Here's the point. A quick look at our season exits since the lockout (1st round, 2nd round, 2nd round, 1st round, no playoffs, 1st round) would have you believe that we're stagnating. But we're not. It's obvious that what all the sportswriters are saying is at least a little true: we're finally building a team the right way. And unlike after all our previous 1st-round-exit-after-squeaking-into-the-playoffs-in-the-last-week-of-the-season-after-a-great-March-runs, after this one, you have to feel good about the team's chances in years to come.'

More specific analysis to come, as I break down exactly what our current contract situation is for context in off-season discussions (and also a quick note on why everyone keeps saying "Redden" again), but a couple of honorable mentions should go out right now, to Ruslan Fedotenko and Marian Gaborik.

Feds, after a thoroughly mediocre season in which I often referred to him as the "marginal" or "average replacement" hockey player, shifted into a whole new gear for the playoffs. I don't know if he hit the "it's the Second Season and I'm a veteran" button or the "oh crap, my contract is up in as few as four games, I'd better start earning a new one" button, but all of a sudden he was everywhere, taking bodies, carrying the puck, and doing all the things you want your hockey players to do when they play the hockey. If he can be that guy all season, I want him back a lot.

Gabby, as I've said before, is the undeserving victim of a lot of Garden ire. It's hard to blame fans: we're very used to getting burned like this. We hire some guy who's supposed to be a scoring superstar, we pay him lots of money, he shows up, and he doesn't score all the goals we expect him to. Booooooo, run him out of town. In the past (Bobby Holik, Eric Lindros, Theoren Fleury, Petr Nedved, I don't have to keep going, right?), that's been the right reaction. But Gaborik is the real deal, and he has continued to show it this season as well.

He's not a washed-up veteran - he's a 29-year-old in the prime of his career, and he remains one of the fastest skaters in the league. He came from the Wild, where Jacques Lemaire stifled all offense, to New York, where he was excited to play in a "safe is death" environment. In the first season of his 5-season deal with us, he put up 42 goals and 44 assists. As Tortorella transitioned us into a "defense-first, and the offense will come," Gaborik's production understandably dropped. However, despite the new environment, despite being saddled with a rotating cast of linemates that never settled down, even in the playoffs, and despite being out with injuries for almost a quarter of the season, he still netted 22 goals and 26 assists, good for second among Rangers (6 points behind Brandon Dubinsky, who played 15 more games, had an extra 2:08 per game, and finished with 100 penalty minutes to Gaborik's 18 and as a -2 to Gaborik's +8).

What's that? Gaborik finished the season +8? Despite being acquired exclusively for his speed, and on a club where the coach preaches defensive responsibility first? Yes, he is talented enough to totally change his game style to fit his coach's demands, be really good at it, and still put up very good numbers. His +8 ties him with Derek Stepan and puts him 1 behind Ruslan Fedotenko's +9, putting Gaborik second among all Ranger forwards.

Anyway, this post wasn't supposed to The Case For Gaborik, this is just some stuff that is true that you should know. The point was that as Ranger fans we have a lot of reasons to be very excited about seasons to come. I'll be getting into our specific contracts soon.

Meanwhile, there's a lot of hockey left to watch. As for predictions: in the East, I expected Buffalo to pull it out last night. Now they didn't, Pronger's back, and they're going back to Philly for Game 7. If Buffalo wins that game, the series is Caps-Sabres, and the Sabres are screwed. Meanwhile, even if Tampa pulls out Game 6 tonight, there's no way they come back to Pittsburgh and win a Game 7. As for Boston-Montréal, it could still go either way, but I imagine Pittsburgh beating either victor. If Philly beats Buffalo tomorrow (assuming I'm right about Pens-Bolts), we get either Caps-Habs and Flyers-Pens or Caps-Pens and Flyers-Bruins. If it's the former, I figure Pittsburgh and Washington both win. So, in conclusion, the only way the Eastern Conference Finals don't come down to Caps vs Pens is if they meet in the semis because the Flyers and Bruins both win their series. Winner: HBO.

In the West, I really will be pulling for the thoroughly likeable defending Cup champion Blackhawks to win Game 7 in Vancouver tomorrow, pulling off the unthinkable upset of the President-Trophy-winners-by-a-mile after going down 3-0 in the series, but I just can't imagine it happening. Vancouver's really good. Either way, it's a defining moment for some hockey team. Watch this game tomorrow night. That leaves Sharks-Kings as the only question. Could still go either way. If the Sharks win, we get Canucks-Preds and Wings-Sharks, which I think gives us Canucks-Wings in the conference finals. If the Kings win, we get Canucks-Kings and Wings-Preds, which... again probably gives us Canucks-Wings. Winner: hockey fans.

The point is: there are a lot of really good hockey teams left in the playoffs this year, in both conferences. So, go watch a lot of hockey.