Less than 24 hours to go before the puck drops on Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal between the Rangers and Devils. The Journal News writes the Rangers have a chance to emulate the NY Giants and their improbable superbowl victory.

There are a couple of players who have a unique view of this playoff match-up. Mike Mottau, Kevin Weekes and Karel Rachunek all played for the Rangers and now play for the Devils, while Scott Gomez brings playoff experience and knowledge of what it takes to win a cup…all of course with New Jersey.

Jaromir Jagr has just one remaining clause that he can reach to trigger an automatic option for next season. If the Rangers reach the Stanley Cup Finals, Jagr could earn the Conn Smythe…a prospect that seems very remote at this stage.

It appears the Devils will be planning on playing forward Dainius Zubrus a lot against Jagr. Zubrus played for the Sabres in last year’s playoffs and did a good job against the Rangers’ captain.

The Rangers, and Tom Renney are taking a similar approach to last year, which saw them beat the Thrashers 4-0 for their first series win in over 10 years.

One of the players that lead the Rangers in that series was Sean Avery, a player that the Rangers will be hoping makes a positive impact in the series with the Devils.

The one plus that the Blueshirts have playing against the Devils is the amount of road support they’re likely to have from their fans. The Rangers have managed to draw plenty of fans to the Prudential Center and Continental Airlines Arena before that.

The Charlotte Checkers get their best of five series with the Gwinnett Gladiators under way tonight. The Checkers have stumbled coming into the playoffs, but will be hoping that they can beat their rivals.

Ryan Hillier (Halifax) and David Skokan (Rimouski) continue their post season tonight. Each team will be playing game three…the Mooseheads lead 2-0 in their series, while the Oceanic trail 0-2.