by Pete Robinson

Interestingly enough it may happen. After the large success of the winter classic in Buffalo, where the Penguins and the Sabres met outside for the first time, the Rangers may get their shot as well. According to the Daily News, the Rangers may get their own winter classic next season at Yankee Stadium. The Rangers have shown a lot of interest including GM Glen Sather who said, ‘We’d love to do it.’ In search for an opponent the logical teams would be either the Isles or the Devils, though the Devils have not shown the same enthusiasm.

In addition, it has been reported that the Rangers will also be playing in Prague at the opening of the season against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

After a terrible New Years start, the boys in Blue get their first win in 2008 against Montreal, with goals coming from Straka, Prucha, Dawes, and Drury. Dawes definitely showed some spirited play last night further trying to earn a spot back on the roster after Ryan Callahan was sent back down to Hartford following a less than stellar start to the season. With Straka, Shanahan, and Avery still DTD or IR, Dawes may be up for a while, though Greg Moore will likely return to the Pack.

With trading season coming about, rumors will start to flourish with who’s coming and who’s going. Recently the talks of trading involved Petr Prucha (5-7-12) for Dave Vyborny (3-11-14), though there has been no official word about trading Prucha, reports say that the Rangers have been contacting Columbus for quite a bit of time. The Rangers top brass has also stated that practically anyone could be moved, including Captain Jagr, Shanahan, or even our newly acquired center, Drury or Gomez. This is unlikely to happen in my book. On the button now is liable to be Marek Malik, Paul Mara, or Petr Prucha (with Al Montoya as trade bait).

With a win on the books in ‘08, this could be the spark they need to get going. On Monday the Rangers will face a strong Pittsburgh team powered under Captain Sid and a backup goaltender who has won 7 of 8 games. The Rangers have had a slow start in the first half, but hey’ when haven’t they?