Blueshirt Banter, a New York Rangers community

I already can’t wait to get back on the ice next year. I think the rivalry against the Kings increases tremendously…. I can’t wait to play them. Both organizations have won a Stanley Cup now, and they’ve got the latest one. So I think every game next year is going to be exciting. The battle of California is really on right now. Whether it’s us, San Jose or L.A., I think when those teams are playing each other, you are going to see great games.

The Hawks lost eight of 11 in March before winning it all. Nearly the same story for Sidney Crosby's Penguins. They lost 7 of 11 in February, then won it all.

The Red Wings most-recent cup team lost 10 of 11 in February. And the Anaheim Ducks may be the best example of all, losing 17 of 25 in an ugly, post all-star performance that was forgotten by the time they hoisted the cup in June.

"All this Cup talk about town is counterproductive in some ways," Kevin Bieksa said today. "I can tell you there isn't one guy in this room who has even thought about the playoffs. I mean, have you looked at our schedule, we've got what, 14,15 games in January. We're just trying to get through the month, honestly we haven't even thought about a Cup in here. It's play, day off, practice, play. Man we're just trying to survive the month."

I took some serious milligrams. I had close to a Grade IV separation, there's just no way you can play and not hurt your team.

I never watched a minute of the game. ... I slowly got dressed [throughout the game], like I would any other game. About 10 minutes left in the third, I was completely dressed, helmet on, squirted water on myself, punched myself like I'd been playing. When Justin scored the empty-netter, I immediately -- I'll admit this -- I bawled for about five seconds.