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00:004-1 win over a Lightning team that went on a tear after dropping their season opener in New York.
00:07They won every game after they got beat in New York, but then they come back to New York and
00:12get beaten again by the New York Rangers. There's a full buy-in with the structure. I really like
00:16the mix of what they have personality-wise and talent-wise, and I think if they continue on,
00:22they will. I mean, this is a sustainable sort of situation that they found themselves in,
00:27barring any other catastrophic injuries. Right. We've got another episode of Up in the Blue Seats
00:35for you all, your favorite Rangers podcast from the New York Post. It's Molly Walker and former Ranger
00:41Brian Boyle, as always, with plenty to talk about with this Rangers team right now. They are 6-2,
00:50tied for second place in the NHL with 12 points in eight games, entering Wednesday night's slate.
00:57undefeated at home. 5-0 is the third longest win streak at home to start a season in franchise
01:04history. You didn't know that? You didn't catch that one? Yeah, Bri. Yeah, Bri. And they've been
01:10without their star goaltender, Igor Shosturkin, for the past two games after finding out that he is
01:18done for the season. What a gut-wrenching thing to happen to this team so early in the season, Brian.
01:27What was going through your mind at that moment watching that play?
01:32Please don't be bad. Please don't be bad. Yeah. And unfortunately, it was bad. And that's worst case,
01:40right? And man, we were talking before we put this on record, how quickly the response from the
01:49organization was. Yeah. And that's, that is really, really difficult to handle. So, you know, we just,
01:58I, I, I've been through some injuries, nothing like this. I've never, thankfully, I never had to go
02:04through a long-term thing. And that is the short-term injuries I've had are, man, they're lonely. It's
02:10dark times. It's really, really, you don't have a purpose, really. And it's slow progress. So,
02:18you know, thoughts go out for him because I know people might think I'm overstating this.
02:23I'm really not. This is a guy who obviously is extremely committed to what he does. This is the
02:29most important thing in his life. And it was just taken from him for a little while. So,
02:34and he scored and he was playing so well and the team was playing so well. It's, it's, you know,
02:40it's a little bit, your heart goes out to Igor and credit to the team. I was really interested to
02:46see how they were going to respond and not just whomever they threw in the net. I wanted to see
02:52how
02:52the rest of the team responded. And, and I mean, pass with flying color so far, this is, this is
02:58an
02:59impressive start for this group, getting as many points as they can, where, especially in the time
03:04of the year, where look at the, look at the standings. There's a lot of three and threes,
03:09three, two, and ones, two, three, and ones. There's a lot of teams that are trying to find,
03:13and I think will, I think the, the teams that maybe are whatever, that kind of middling right now,
03:20we'll find their game. Some of them, and some of them that might be above their skis might come back
03:25to earth, but I like, there's a full buy-in with the structure. I really like the mix of
03:30what they have personality-wise and talent-wise. And I think if they continue on, they will,
03:37they will, I think, I mean, this is, this is a sustainable sort of situation that they found
03:43themselves in, barring any other catastrophic injuries. Right. Yeah. Yeah. It's hard not to feel
03:49physically ill when something like that happens, first and foremost for the player, like you mentioned,
03:54who we can't overstate enough how good of a start to the season he was having.
04:01I mean, he was automatic and was making it look like second nature and was, I mean,
04:07the swagger that he had in that, the, the, I didn't even know it was possible, honestly.
04:12I mean, he's always had a little bit of that, but it was basically oozing from the goal line
04:17to start this season for him and everything that he was doing. And then it's so hard to tell with
04:24him
04:25because he's had similar reactions in the past and only been out a few weeks, but I kind of felt
04:31like in the moment and I had wrote it that way. But it's heartbreaking to realize when you're right.
04:38It is a right knee injury that will obviously require surgery to fix. No, there's been no word
04:44if it's ACL, MCL or any specifics like that. This is the NHL. So, but from a player's perspective,
04:51Brian, I mean, what do you think was going on in that Rangers room in the aftermath?
04:58Yeah. I mean, it's, you go to your teammate first, but again, it's a funny league. Like it's a team
05:05sport. It's the ultimate team sport. I think I, you have to put, you wake up every morning and you
05:14got to look at yourself in the mirror and be selfish in terms of what I have to be ready.
05:18I have to eat
05:19the right things. I have to go to bed at the right time. You have to really be disciplined in
05:24yourself
05:24and think about yourself first. So you can go and perform to your best for your teammates.
05:31And then when something happens to your teammate, you have to be there for your teammates. So they
05:35obviously, you know, and that's just what you do. It's like, you don't really have a lot to say.
05:40You kind of just huddle around the guy that's injured and just, there's not a lot of words usually
05:46spoken in my experience. And you just, Hey, we're going to, we're going to play well for you in your
05:53absence. We're going to do it. And this is a, this is how opportunities are created. And this is how
05:59people, you know, I remember in training camp, my second year in New York, where I was specifically
06:06told I was going to be in the minors that year. And I started the training camp fairly well.
06:12We're getting down to the nitty gritty. There's probably 15 or 16 forwards left on the roster.
06:17And in a two on O crisscross passing drill, two guys run into each other. One guy hurts his knee.
06:24He's out for a month. I stay on the roster. And so like you have opportunities.
06:29Here you go. That's a lot of games from a guy you expected to play in the net who plays
06:34a lot
06:35that are now open for someone else.
06:37And that opportunity is for Dylan Garand, who goes from last round of training camp cuts as the third
06:44stringer to the Rangers number one in less than two weeks. Put a whirlwind for this kid. I mean,
06:52he gets brought back up almost immediately after Corpus Allo gets hurt, backs up Schusterkin in the home
06:58opener. Then he pitches his first career NHL shutout the next day in Detroit. And then days later,
07:05he's coming in relief against the Washington Capitals on the road after Schusterkin exits.
07:11It's a big ask of a rookie, but how do you see Dylan Garand taking this on?
07:19Well, thank, you know, thank your lucky Stars Rangers fans that he was not claimed to because
07:24there was, there were teams that were thinking about it as the words right out of my mouth.
07:29I have heard. And that was the risk, right? That was the, that was the risk going into it.
07:34Corpus Allo was going to be their guy. They can't, can't carry three goalies.
07:39Ooh, they got them, they kept them and now he's back. So that's great news and give them credit,
07:44right? A shutout season saving. Yeah. I mean, that's just a, that's a good bounce and you need
07:49some bounces. You need bounces along the way to get into the playoffs and get through and all that.
07:55There's a lot to be said when you're the number two guy, if you can perform, because usually you're
08:02playing the second of a back-to-back, you're the one on the road the next night and to go
08:06and pitch
08:07a shutout, I'll be it against Detroit, right? Who, who knows what, what they are. It doesn't matter.
08:12There was interesting circumstances.
08:13They're an NHL hockey team though, right? And that doesn't, I mean, that doesn't really go into
08:19Dylan Garand's brain. He has to stop the puck and he did. And that's what he's done. So he showed
08:26at the
08:27end of last year, he went down, probably wasn't happy about it, but played well. And he's right
08:31back up and look, he was right there. It was obviously we talked about it, him being put on
08:39waivers because it was, it was close enough. It's like, why is this the right move? We'll see.
08:44Well, it turns out it doesn't matter. Now he's back and all the eggs, all the eggs in the grand
08:51basket. Yeah. In the grand basket. Um, yeah. And then Spencer Martin was the recall to serve
08:57his backup. Uh, he had a lower body, body injury to start the season as well, but he was cleared
09:03just in time, um, and has backed up grand in the last two, but you know, there aren't many other
09:10options for the Rangers. You know, Callum tongue is, is way too green. So like you said, Brian, just all
09:16and all Rangers should be counting their lucky stars that, that grand is still in the organization
09:21and, and able to shoulder this workload going forward. Um, and their depth and goal is what
09:29makes me feel like they will explore alternative options just in case. But I do think there's also
09:37a desire to see what they have already. Obviously Corpus all is going to be out for at least the
09:42next
09:42month. So the Rangers are going to have to ride this grand Martin duo for a bit here. Uh, I
09:50do
09:50believe jury wants to see how the team does with grand behind them first. And I am also under the
09:55impression that there's a desire to see what Corpus all it looks like too. They haven't even seen him
09:59in a single game yet. Um, so if the team keeps playing well, no matter who's in net, uh, that
10:06urgency
10:07dwindles, right. Um, I'm curious if, if you would take that wait and see approach or if you would be
10:14exploring potential trade options, right? It's so hard because you know, the one guy that was going
10:21to have the lion's share of the starts is gone and goaltending is such a interesting, you can't have
10:27too many. You certainly can't have too few. Yeah. There's only two nets at practice. I mean, so how many
10:34do you want signed? And then there's 50 contracts to go around in the whole organization. So do you
10:40need, you can have extra forwards, you can have extra D, you can sit a guy out and put them
10:45in
10:45in the minors and whatnot. You can run through a practice with, with extra guys and everybody will
10:50get their work in. It's, it's just such a specific amount of goaltenders that you have to have. So
10:54when one goes down longterm, okay, at least you have a finite, like, you know, we need to add one
10:59because, but then you knew what you had with him. Now you, whoever you're adding, there's always
11:07that unknown, right? There's whether it's a Callum Tung who, or of that ilk around the league,
11:13that's just like potential, but like he played half the games at UConn and then he came in and
11:18he's kind of up and down. He's a young kid. Right. So, you know, it's important to find the right
11:25guy and it's, you can't like rush it, but then again, you need, you can't have too few. You
11:29certainly can't have too few goalies. Yeah. So it's really a hard pickup. It's also realistically,
11:35hypothetically speaking, if it does work out with Garand as the number one for the rest of the
11:42season, if that's how it plays out and or Corpus Allo, whichever, then you put that season ending
11:49cap hit from Igor and you can add elsewhere in the lineup. So that could, that's looking down the
11:59line, but hypothetically speaking, if it doesn't affect them in goal and it doesn't change anything
12:07for this Rangers team, then it could be a pretty big chunk of money to work with or going into
12:15the
12:15trade deadline. Yeah, that's true. And elsewhere is a, is a proper distinction, I think, because
12:22again, with, right. Well, we've seen in the past and big names. And I look at like when Ryan Miller
12:29was traded to, I believe St. Louis out of Buffalo, like, you know, world-class goaltender. It's really
12:35hard. It doesn't always work out the way you think it will right away with goaltending trades
12:42mid season. That's why you don't see a ton of them. So if, if they're going to address
12:46that and pretend everything goes as it's going now, and it's a great season and they're knocking
12:53on the door and it looks like they're a legit playoff team that could make some noise. Well,
12:58that means that the goaltending is pretty solid. So again, the distinction of elsewhere is huge.
13:03Where can we add, where can we plug some holes? Um, do they take a big swing? Who knows? Because
13:11again, that cap hit, you would assume is coming back on the books the following year. Right. But
13:16it's, uh, it is too early to tell. It's fun to speculate on a little bit. Yeah. The hope is,
13:22I think if I'm the GM, the hope would be, these are the guys that we've identified in the, in
13:29the
13:29off season or we we've had and homegrown guys and they do well and that makes everybody happy
13:35because yeah, no, we had this guy in the wings. We knew what he's capable of and look at him
13:38go now
13:39so we can add elsewhere if we have to. Yeah. Yeah. I'm getting these out of the way now because
13:45it is what everyone is asking and talking about, but Connor Hallibuck doesn't make sense for the
13:50Rangers. He's signed through 2031. Igor signed through 2033. I can't imagine the Rangers want to give
13:57up a haul for one year of Hellebuck or that Hellebuck even would want to do a barely a year
14:02in New York given his circumstances right now and the contract that he's on. Um, and I know ESPN
14:09reported Jonathan Quick as a possibility and I have no doubt that if the Rangers were to ask him,
14:15he'd be willing, but I have it. I'm pretty good authority. They're not considering that. Um,
14:20unless the guy has been training to stay ready to play. It just does not. He'd be out longer than
14:24Yeah. Like, I'm sorry. Are you trying to get Jonathan Quick to suffer a major injury as well?
14:31Like, no, that's just, it's just, yeah. But just to get it on the record, cause I know that's what
14:37everybody's been asking about. Um, sorry to disappoint. Um, and I'm, I'm not sure if everybody
14:44wants me to ramble on about the cap ramifications of it all, but if you do want to read the
14:49logistics
14:50of the Rangers putting Schuster can on long-term injured reserve instead of season ending injured
14:54reserve, you can read my column from October 11th on it. It's all explained there. Um, but in short,
15:01the Rangers get 3.97 million in cap relief from the LTIR move rather than his full near 11.6
15:07million
15:07cap hit when on season ending LTIR. Um, and that 3.97 million is, is a new number, uh, from
15:15the
15:15updated CBA. It's like a league average. Yeah. So that's shout out players guys. Yeah. Average
15:23salary is 4 million bucks. Yeah. Oh man. Snaps. Snaps. And I'm not mad. I wasn't, I want you're
15:30mad. It's okay. I'm not mad. I did everything I could to stay in the league as long as I
15:34did.
15:35I look back. I'm like, how did I fool them for that long? But I'm happy for those guys. Would
15:41I like $4 million? Would you don't want $4 million? No, it's great. It's great for
15:45league. It really is. $4 million is awesome. But yeah, that's all, that's all relatively
15:51new in the NHL, uh, to close the loophole that teams were using to exploit having no salary
15:58cap in the playoffs, which is also no longer a thing. Yeah. You think teams were just a
16:06little bit, just a smidge, but you know what? It was pure theater. It was pure theater. I
16:12loved it. I loved it. It happened to me. John, Patrick Kane came back. Killer. Absolute
16:20killer. Yeah. No, I was actually, Tampa was the one everybody blew the whistle on. It
16:24was like, it happened to us. Yeah. Yeah. It happened to Tampa in 2015. So then they turned
16:30around and said, okay, we can do that. The guy didn't play the whole year and had 32 points
16:35in the playoffs. That's incredible. Showtime. Anyways. Yeah. That's, uh, Patty Kane. Yeah.
16:45Yeah. Well, not to rub it in, right. Not to rub it in. Yeah, no, that actually hurts. That's
16:51what makes me mad. Losing those two. Yeah. I like $4 million, but I would love a cup. Maybe
17:00I was about to say, cause evidently that's an option nowadays. Oh my gosh. Yeah. Bummer
17:07news. Bummer news, but, uh, good news for Dylan Grant. But, but 2-0 and 2-0 since it
17:13happened and granted, you know, we'll get into this right now, but I mean, they lose 3-1
17:18in Washington after the Igor injury. I didn't think that they played poorly though. Uh, they
17:25were clearly a little rattled and, and had the wind taken out of their sails a bit. They
17:28were missing that oomph in their game afterwards, but then they beat a very bad Vancouver team
17:366-2. Um, but they overcome a shorthanded goal from Elias Pedersen in that game that tied the
17:43game in the second period. So that's still an encouraging sign from this Rangers team that
17:50would have folded last season in that sort of situation. Um, and then the 4-1 win over
17:58a lightning team that went on a tear after dropping their season opener in New York, they won every
18:04game after they got beat in New York, but then they come back to New York and get beaten again
18:09by the New York Rangers. Let's get in. Let's get into that just a little bit. Yeah, go ahead.
18:14Please. The floor is yours. Well, look, I mean, let's go back to the season opener at home,
18:19the home opener rather. Um, and we did talk about it, but the goal on the power play from
18:26Mika Zibanejad was like you've, everyone felt that goal, including Mika and you saw the reaction
18:35that he had and it just, it meant more. It wasn't just a regular, whatever. And so like you ride
18:41the
18:41high of that emotion. And obviously there was a, uh, a certain sort of, I think focus from the
18:48players that like, all right, this is our barn. We're winning this game. We're playing well in
18:53front of our fans last year, last year. Yeah. You can tell by their answers that it was a point
18:58of emphasis going to, as it should have been, it was 100% a point of emphasis going to the
19:04season.
19:05Right. And then, and, and great job on them. They got it done. It's one game.
19:09They've continued to play well. And then, you know, I worked, I was at NHL network, uh, yesterday and
19:16talking previously about this game. This is another challenge. This is a measuring stick
19:21in part because of the pointed comments from John Cooper after his team's performance in that
19:27Rangers home opener and what they had done since they looked like the old lightning. They're going
19:33to be a problem in the Atlantic. They're going to be a good team. I expect them to be around
19:37late
19:38into the playoffs. I do. I think that's what that team is capable of. So here we go. They're out
19:45for
19:45blood. They remember because it wasn't that long ago, what that feeling was like. And then again,
19:51like, let's just one play that I loved is JT Miller throwing a reverse hit on
19:59Crozier. Was it the guy's helmet came flying off right in front of the Tampa bench and just looks at
20:08the Tampa bench case to his bench. And I'm like, yes, we are so back. There's an attitude. There's
20:15a swagger. Brian was like, inject it straight into my name hockey in all of its forms. Like there's
20:25great. There's skill. There's grit. There's a mix of like, and I've seen this, I'm seeing it across
20:31the league. There's, there's pairs on a, on a line. And then there's the guy who was just a
20:37lunch pail. It's like, all right, we need you. And I, when I first started noticing this, it was
20:41like in, in, um, and we had it with like a Ryan Callahan. He'd be on the top six doing
20:46a ton of
20:46work for, you know, whoever, Brad Richards and another skill guy. If, if it was whoever it was,
20:53I get to Toronto and it's, it's Zach Hyman playing with an Austin Matthews and you know,
20:58whoever else is on, on the left side. Like this is working and it's interesting how there's been
21:04movement in the top six, even with the success. And, and you see a guy like Lafreniere get moved.
21:11I'm like, wait a second. He's scoring all the goals. Why are we moving him? Finally? Like he's
21:17doesn't matter. Yeah. And it goes back to what I said. And that's what Sullivan said. He,
21:21he literally said Laf is producing offense in numerous ways. Now with that, now doing a lot
21:29of heavy lifting and it, and then he's right. You could put them wherever right now.
21:33Goes back to what I said last year, the trade deadline. Again, it didn't work with number 10,
21:42old number 10, not new number 10, not new number 10. And it's nothing against an Aaron and what he
21:47was capable of. Obviously I think that guy is like a hall of fame player. Yeah.
21:51Just didn't, it threw off what the rest of that collection of players was trying to do. And now
21:59they're North South. That's what I was going to say. Will that, will it be like, okay, we don't
22:03have that. And when we need it, maybe, but like right now, and I think more games than not, they're
22:09all on the same page and the chances they're getting, they're earning, they're grinding for
22:13them. And Ty Cartier's people should be buying his jersey. Brian, they're playing so North right now
22:21that sometimes I half expect them to skate through the end boards. That's how heavy they come into
22:28the zone. And there will be more injuries. We don't need that. How, but how, how fast and how tilted
22:35and how North that they're playing. And you're right. It's no knock on our Tommy Panarin, who
22:40is an all class player, but he's got that East West in him, the fancy stuff. There's none
22:52of that anymore. Like they're based on support. It's outnumbering and support. He was kind of
22:58over on the half wall being like, someone give it to me. Right. They didn't have the guy to give
23:01it to him. So again, it's nothing against him because obviously, but it's not quite
23:06working right now in LA, but it's just, that's, that's, it didn't, it didn't fit. It wasn't
23:11a puzzle piece that fit. Yeah. Yeah. I think you saw it after the deadline, Lafreniere last
23:16year. It was like, well, it's a flash and there's nothing on the line. I'm like, no, I, I honestly
23:20think the game makes more sense to him. And they've added pieces that it also makes sense
23:24to. He's not deferring anymore. That's been the widespread. And he's
23:31scout that you ask. That's, that's the, that's the answer is he's no longer deferring
23:37to Artemi Panarin and it's keeping the puck on his stick longer and making him think through
23:44the game more than he maybe was. And he's just creating, he's involved all the time now.
23:54I mean, his seven goals, not only lead the team, but have him tied for second in the NHL
24:00right now, team leading 10 points, three assists, two goals on the power play. And he's averaging
24:08just over 19 minutes. Yeah. I mean, it's, it's again, you know, it's so hard with him.
24:16You know, I always use the word fleeting, but it's hard to imagine it be fleeting right now,
24:22just because of how much runs through him now, how much of their offense he's involved
24:30in now. So I just feel like unless he goes cold, which is always a possibility, but at
24:36least he's so involved in getting so many touches that I, I just, it's difficult to envision
24:41and slowing down. No, I, I agree. And I think he's, he's capable of it. It's not, you know,
24:50lots of guys go on hot streaks. It's the first overall pick. Yeah. He's, he's, I think he's
24:56unlocked something, which it might not, the pace might not remain right. It might not be,
25:02you know, a 70 goal pace throughout the season, but it's, in fact, it won't be, but
25:10that'd be cool. Who knows? Yeah. There's other guys like that. I think we'll find the net more
25:18we'll score in some bunches. I think JT Miller will score more goals. I think, you know, there's,
25:23there's just, it's Dorofaev. I thought who in the first few games, there were chances there. He was
25:29creating. There was, you know, even in the Boston game, the first game of the season where no one
25:34really looked right. He was doing anything he could just to get something created. There was
25:38wraparound chance. There was other, so he'll, he'll heat up too, I think. And yeah, we, we can get to
25:43him in a sec, but I want to go back to tie. Yeah. I feel like we, we might be
25:48witnessing one of the
25:49best waiver pickups of modern Rangers history. I think it's, it's time to start talking in that way.
25:56I mean, he's got two goals, four assists, but he's making things happen out there. He is
26:03relentless on the forecheck. I love the way that Sullivan talks about him. The, the dog on the bone
26:10descriptor, a disruptive player. I love the way that he describes tie, but he also has some skill there
26:19too. Well, yeah. And there's, again, you would be, and you're around, you see practice a lot. I think
26:29you'd still be surprised because you probably don't get, you get a couple days. There's so much going on
26:36in training camp where you see guys that you know are going to the American league. You should see
26:40those guys practice in the summer. Cause I get the chance to guys you've never heard of around the
26:45league or in the American league. And I'm like, what? This guy's better than I ever was. The skill
26:51is like, and you know, there's just some habit stuff. There's different things that separate,
26:56but an NHL or from an AHL or, but these guys have a ton of talent. And then when you
27:02get like,
27:03you have a, you feel when a coaching staff is like, I believe in you, this is you, you're moving
27:11up because you earned it. It proved me right. It's just, you feel 10 feet tall. And again, his,
27:18his whole foundation is going North, winning battles, being hard. Thank you for this opportunity.
27:24Like he, like an adopted puppy. Honest to God. I know what you just did for me. I'm going to
27:29give
27:29you everything I have. My whole heart is yours. And hell run through a wall for you. Yeah, man.
27:35On such a vanilla, no offense, but Seattle's kind of a vanilla like franchise and just let
27:43them kind of go. We'll take them and get in great pickup because huge pickup. Look, he's got that
27:52ability, but he also is on games where he might be on the road and it might be three and
27:57four and
27:57he might be a little sleepy. He's not. Nope. He doesn't want to go anywhere. He doesn't want to
28:03go down to the third line. Nevermind. He's, he's woken up and that's great. It's the group for,
28:08it's very easy to root for the Ty Cartier's of the world. And JT loves playing with it.
28:16Yeah, cool. Good. You go do all the work. I'll be here. Loves it.
28:21I love playing with Brandon Frost. He's like, all right, you go get it. I'll be here.
28:26No, it makes sense. It makes sense, but they work together. Um, Ty was saying that he feels
28:31like they feed off of each other, especially on the four check. So it's been a lot of fun
28:36to watch. Um, you know, going back to Dorofiev, that's kind of the only thing that, you know,
28:44people are making a big deal about or starting to show some concerns over, um, where are you
28:51at with his game right now? I mean, he makes the, he makes the switch right in the top six.
28:58He swaps Lafreniere and Dorofiev, but he said it was, you know, that when Dorofiev was with
29:04Miller, the line was creating and getting changes. They just weren't converting. It just wasn't
29:09a matter of getting rewarded. So you flip it to someone like Lafreniere who is getting rewarded
29:15almost every time he touches the puck, it feels like at this point. And it had, it paid dividends
29:21pretty much right away. Um, but I, I didn't feel like it wasn't, I don't, I'm not, I'm not
29:29concerned. Well, are you concerned? No, no, no, no, no. I mean, no. And I think this guy
29:35has the ability to get like eight goals in six games, you know, it is, you know, for better
29:40or worse, I think he's playing hard. That's kind of what he has been. Right. So what do
29:50you have? 37 last year, 12 in the playoffs. It sounds about right. You know, and in the
29:56finals, did he cool off? Yeah. He cooled off in the finals against a team that was so dialed
30:03in. It's so locked down. He had 37 during 37 and 12. Yeah. 37 and 12. You're right. Yeah.
30:10So it's like, that's, that's not a fluke. It's in there and he'll, he'll find it. It's
30:17yeah. It's still early. It's, it's too, it's too early. And if, if, if it felt like he was
30:23dragging the line down or something, I can see the concern, but it feels like more competitive
30:29in his battle game than I actually anticipated. So I'm even less worried about it. Yeah.
30:34I mean, well, I mean, Adam Fox said to me last night that he feels like the defensive buy-in
30:39has been outstanding was the word that he uses. The Harvard grad uses outstanding. Pay attention.
30:46It's a good word. It's true though. Really, really encouraging. A lot has happened. A lot
30:57has happened in such a short amount of time. It feels like, but things are still afloat very
31:03much. So encouraging even despite such horrible, horrible, bad luck news. Yeah. That's a, that's
31:15a mature team. I mean, look, it's, they couldn't score to start the year and then the wheels fall
31:22off. Cause again, I, I was saying it last year that JT was really, really, really banged
31:29up. You were in that room. You knew what he was dealing with. There's, there's so many
31:32things and it just, everybody is on the same page is the best way I can put it. They understand
31:39exactly what's expected of them. They know what it takes to have success, what their game
31:44is supposed to look like, the non-negotiables of how they've defended, how quickly they've gotten
31:49out of their zone. Like last year, they were good moments where they were defending. They
31:54couldn't get it out of their zone. The additions of Dursey and Pedersen are, are so huge. And
32:00you know, with Schmitz looking like he's played five years, a lot of nights, how long that hangs
32:07on, hopefully all year. Cause he wants to be all year, but it's been, it's, you're able to have
32:17defense that can move the puck up, even if it's not fancy or whatever, it's just out of
32:22your own zone. The game gets so much more organized for all the 18 skaters. And you
32:28know, exactly. Everybody's in lockstep. It's a great feeling to have.
32:33It took them until March 27.
32:36How many, I mean, every time they went at home, are we going to do that?
32:39Yes. Yes. This one, but this one's March 27th was when they got their fifth regulation
32:47win last season.
32:48They have 14 last year at home wins. All right. So when we get past 14, we can stop talking
32:54about last year, but we have to keep going. I get it. I get it.
32:59So someone said to me last night on Twitter, I don't get why we have to keep saying this.
33:03And I was like, Oh, I do. I think it needs to be put into context just because, I mean,
33:11this team just deals in extremes.
33:17It really is incredible. It's, it is so extreme one way or the other. That's why it's worth
33:26notice more, worth mentioning because yes, it's a different team from last year, but at the
33:32crux of it, it still is much of the same. So it, that's why it's still worth mentioning
33:37because it's crazy that they could be that different from season to season, just from
33:43the few tweaks that, that Chris jury made in the off season, which is a credit to Chris
33:48jury. He deserves a little bit of a, of a cap tip at this moment in time for how they've
33:54started the season. So definitely, definitely will say that, um, yeah, we've got a couple of games
34:05coming up Thursday in Newark and then Saturday in Columbus, but Brian first battle of the Hudson
34:12of the season. How do you see that matchup?
34:15Yeah, that hopefully that they, they have that same understanding because that devil's team is
34:20going to want to make a statement. They're looking at the standings already and you know,
34:29you'd look at a Carolina and then a lot of people are talking about Washington and then I'm, I think
34:34the New Jersey devil's thought they would be in that top three. So for them to make a statement,
34:40they would try to beat a very good Rangers team at home. And there's the whole history of the
34:45rivalry, um, a sloppy game sort of last night for the devils, I think, but they're scoring some goals
34:54now and let's see. I mean, it was, I liked the devil's mix. I think it's going to be a
35:01challenge. I just
35:02don't, they didn't do any, they didn't do anything in net and, but there's no more Igor. So this is,
35:08this
35:08is going to be an interesting battle for me. I think there's a ton of skill in Jersey. I think
35:15if the Rangers just play their game, sort of like what we expected out of them against Tampa, I thought
35:21that was going to be a challenge. They stuck with their system and their program. That's why that
35:25game meant so much to me as a fan being like, okay, maybe they really did learn something.
35:30Yeah. That was a big one. I really did think, I mean, especially I just, I've, I weigh the lightning
35:36so highly. I really do. I always have a class above a lot. Yeah. They really are. And so
35:43consistently for so long. I know it's impressive. That's, that's what really impresses me the most
35:49about that team. So you, you weigh that lightning, those both of them, you know, you could say, okay,
35:55the first one, it was the lightning's first game, yada, yada, yada, but no, then they won every game
36:01after that, but then came back to New York and got beat just as badly. That's the, you know,
36:08that's what the Rangers can take on the road. They can take that game anywhere. That's what's so
36:12encouraging about it. It's, it's, it's simple in a way it's outworking, you know, it's not, it's not
36:21easy, but it's simplified and they look like they're all on the same page. Whereas, you know,
36:28in Jersey, it's, it's different that, that devil's team, some nights looks like the globe trotters
36:33and some nights it's like, what, where are you going? Yeah. Cause they're built on instinct and
36:38they have some high, high, excuse me, high end skill. Got Jesper Brad and Jack Hughes, obviously
36:43are dynamic players. Just don't, don't put them in overtime because Jack Hughes will score another
36:48goal and win the game in overtime. And he'll throw a stick in the crowd. Cause he's at home.
36:54Oh man. Well, I guess we'll see how that one shakes out, but I think that's a good place for
37:00us to
37:00stop. We just burned through a ton of topics. That was a nice hearty episode. Give us a thumbs up,
37:07like, and subscribe, comment down below. Can the Rangers get through this Igor Shisterkin season ending
37:14injury. Do you have faith in Dylan Garand to become the official number one this season?
37:22And will the Rangers continue on this upwards trajectory that they're on? Let us know.
37:29And we'll talk, talk again next week. Bye.