Hockey

NHL writer for Sporting News Jesse Spector as well as NY Post college football reporter Lenn Robbins dropped by One on One Saturday. Talking to Kenny Ducey and myself, Spector hashed out the landscape of the NHL labor negotiations, explaining the big sticking points and what the lockout thus far has meant New York area teams.

Matt Loughlin, WFAN Devils Play by Play man, joined Mack Rosenberg and Mike Valdetara on One on One to talk about the Devils chances at coming back in the series vs the Kings, why the Devils have played poorly on the power play so far, and more.

Gary Bettman almost got his dream matchup. A Stanley Cup final between The Los Angeles Kings versus the New York Rangers would have had all the storylines to produce one of the highest rated finals in recent memory. Two of the biggest markets in the National Hockey League. One an Original Six team that finished first in its conference, poised to return to the Stanley Cup finals after an eighteen-year absence. The other an improbable 8-seed, the first to ever knock off the top three seeds in its respective conference. Kings v. Rangers had all the glamour and intrigue to battle the NBA playoffs for popularity, until Lou Lamoriello and Martin Brodeur struck again.

It wasn’t easy in the first two rounds.  Only the No. 8 seed next to the Ottawa Senators’ name in the playoff bracket would make you think they weren’t capable of giving the Rangers a series.  The Sens came hard, and the Rangers skated away with a gritty seventh game win at the Garden.  The second round was a matchup with the seventh-seeded Washington Capitals, a new look team with a defensive mindset that didn’t exactly match up with their personnel.  Still, the Capitals brought the Rangers to another decisive seventh game, which the Blueshirts would skate away with on their home ice.  No, it certainly wasn’t a breeze getting through the first two rounds.