Well we all knew it was coming. GMDM said he was standing pat unless something just about knocked his socks off. Well coming from New York city he musta brought a man crush on Montoya with him cause I see nothing else about this trade that accounts for doing it.

We gave NY our beloved Sjo our beleagured Lenny and threw in the lovable and feisty Bam Bam in return for lil Hoss and Monty (and depending on which site you read there’s a pick in there, going some way, conditionally).

I realize that as a 1st round pick (and one we moved up to get) more was expected of Fast Freddie and that it never really materialised but I was hoping we’d keep the boy for one more shot. But there’s a lot of talent coming up in the ranks and the lovable Swede was going to be in even more of a dog fight to stay out of the press box than ever before. I hope the change of scenery can do for Freddie, what dawg days in the desert could not. Good luck to you and godspeed, Weeble, you will be missed greatly.

Rather than lose Grats to that horrible re-entry waiver rule, he was allowed to languish down in the A. I only wish the Bammer’s hands were as soft as his head is hard. The kid gives his all each and every shift. Protector and big hearted lug that he is, we will all miss his courage and fire. With Avery already agitating the hell out of the east coast there really doesn’t seem to be a place for Josh on the NYR bench but the Rangers have obviously seen what happens to them when that moron is out of the lineup and decided to get a backup. Josh will most likely sit on the farm due to not having much else to contribute besides pugilistic talent. But who knows, he is still young maybe he can be taught to crease camp and earn some type of offensive distiguishment that way? Who the hell would try to get him out of a crease? Anyway… Good luck to you too Bammer and thanks for all the spark you provided for us.

Ah Lenny. At least you will be reunited with the goalie coach who understood how to get through to you. Underappreciated (your record when you managed to get a game wasn’t that bad) and badly managed (thrown to the freakin wolves in a series of ugly goalie dramas) you are still a guilty secret crush for me. I hope you fare well back there on the other coast. Fast glove and smooth lateral movement to you bucko.

So GMDM finally got his boy. Montoya has been brought into the Yotie fold. Creates a very interesting tandem down in the A. The next 2 years should be very interesting on our goalie front as Tordjy and Monty battle for top dog honors. With the Breezy/Telly combo working out so awesomely and Tell is signed for another year, looks like we finally have some good depth in the cupboard for flexibility. So welcome to the family Monty ( I hope you are half as good a GMDM thinks you could turn out to be).

Last but not least Lil Hoss. Forever in the shadows of the awesomeness that is Marian, this poor guy needed a break like nobody’s business. He got one in this change of scenery. Hopefully Marcel Hossa will jump right in and find his niche and hopefully a wee bit of a scoring touch. Not much to look at as far as offense this season, Marcel does possess a nice defensive edge so maybe we won’t feel the pinch of losing our defensive Swede so much. Come on in Marcel we got plenty of love for the underdog to go round.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duvWNZ68p1g stolen errr borrowed from http://www.islandersarmy.com/blog/ 

Sorry about the scary blast from the past but seriously… Duuudes??!

King Henrik was flattened by the flu and Jagr had a bad back… Jagr played and wished he hadn’t. The King didn’t and wished he had. I watched from the inner sanctum of Chez Tanner *waving energetically at the coolest hockey hosts evah!*

From jump street this game was on and poppin! Bouyed by their successful run against Brodeur, the Yotes didn’t get to answer the question (who’s harder to beat? Mad Marty or King Henrik?) But they sure got to strut their stuff on Broadway.

Joel Perrault (who was called up from the minors at the start of this trip) saw some heavy duty action right away as he fired up our special teams unit with a PP goal in the first period to start the action. The rest of the period was a scrambling Valliquette and a shambling Rangers first line. (21 sogs from both sides but no give from either goalie) 1 - 0 Yotes

The second period is when the scoring committee got to work. Straws were drawn for scoring order and pretty much like clockwork, pucks were thrown with impunity at the hapless Valiquette.

Carcillo played super smart, we saw the player all night instead of the pugilist and he was rewarded with a goal. 2 - 0 Yotes

TQ has been invaluable on this road trip and he helps set up #3 w/ Kapi and Vbrat. 3 - 0 Yotes. Then apparently Fast Freddie gets impatient for his turn and a sweet Bally set up to Vbrat, to Sjo becomes #4 of the game as Sjo continues his streak. 4 - 0 Yotes. And of course not to be shown up on his 07 debut Perrault comes roarin back with another PP goal to make it #5 against an ever more dazed and confused Rangers team. 5 - 0 Yotes.

Mid third period, just as we start waiting for the clock to wind down on a sure shut out for Byrz! Handz ends up in the box and Girardi manages to pot one. 5 - 1 Yotes

Poor Valley, it wasn’t all his fault but after Jagr lost his tooth to an inadvertant elbow from Sjo early in the game, all the piss and vinegar seemed to leak right outta those boys. The highly paid, highly touted, ultra stacked Rangers brought nuthin to the table.

VS

We polish up the apple and then head out for the bright lights of the city that never sleeps. Good run lads…keep it up.

~Photos from Seth Wenig/Associated Press ~