Boneman has been after me on a daily basis lately to end my second embargo against New York Rangers news. This current moratorium has been in place since Dec 16th, and it's allowed Christmas, my wedding anniversary and birthday to come and go without the usual ups and downs that accompany each thrill and disappointment provided by the Broadway Blueshirts over that span. But perhaps more importantly, I was able to coolly focus on the writing and editing of the Agile book during the past three months, during which time The Real-Life Adventures of AgileMan (Lessons Learned in Going Agile) went from a third of a first draft to its current nearly-published form. So the embargo served its primary purpose, as far as I'm concerned.
Unlike the first Rangers blackout of the season, during which I managed to hear virtually nothing about how the team was doing, I found this most recent attempt at ignorance much more often thwarted. Sometimes it was well-meaning friends, who either didn't know about the embargo or didn't care, but mostly it was my own fault, as I'd stumble across a final score as I was flipping around TV channels (sports tickers are everywhere now!) It's harder than you might think, in this Information Age in which we find ourselves, to remain oblivious to news of this sort!
Anyway, I'm "caught up" now. I don't know everything that I missed, but I'm aware of many of the high and low points. Among the former would be a 13-game unbeaten-in-regulation run by the boys (10-0-3) which was pretty damn impressive! Unfortunately it ended when they traveled to the state of Florida only to lose back-to-back games - in regulation! - to the lowly Panthers and Lightning! Oh well, it was still a good run. Apparently the nadir occurred when the Rangers held a 5-0 2nd period lead against the much-hated Montreal Canadiens, only to allow the Habs to come back and tie it before the end of the 3rd period, and then win it in overtime! Ouch!! I'm glad I wasn't watching the updates on that game!
Here's a quick recap of how the team from Manhattan has done during each of the distinct periods this season:
Pre-Embargo # 1: 3-6-1
During Embargo # 1: 9-2-0
Between Embargos # 1 & 2: 4-5-2
During Embargo # 2: 23-13-7
That's right.. they're a combined 4 games below 0.500 while I've been paying attention, and a whopping 17 games above 0.500 when I haven't been!! Which undoubtedly means that I'm a fool for ever lifting the current blackout!! However, the run up to the post-season is one of the most exciting times of the year, so how could I not want to watch it all play out?
Unfortunately, the Rangers haven't clinched a playoff spot yet (in fact, no team in the Eastern Conference has!) as they sit in 6th place, where the top 8 make the post-season. They have 88 points, with 7 games left (all against division rivals) and probably are going to need about 91 or 92 points to clinch. Now, generally speaking, requiring a mere 4 points with 7 games left would usually make a team a shoo-in, and I'm sure many are regarding the New York Rangers' prospects that way right now. This particular Rangers fan, however, clearly remembers how they finished the 2005/06 NHL season: with 6 consecutive regulation losses!! So at this point, nothing's guaranteed, or even close to it! Having said that, I can't help but be pleased and impressed with their performance during this embargo, as that 10-0-3 run appears to have made all the difference (after all, they were only 13-13-4 otherwise). They could still miss the playoffs, finish 1st in the conference, or do just about anything in between! It should make for quite the wild ride in the last two weeks of the season.
And Boneman... if they do miss the playoffs, it's going to be all your fault!!
[Update: I got the greatest summary today, from Shane T, of all the New York Rangers games that I missed during Embargo # 2! It was about 15 pages thick, and had little write-ups on each game, as well as the standings following the game. That guy may just be the greatest hockey fan I know!]
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