Board Thread:News and Announcements/@comment-18001608-20130909061701

It just couldnt be written any better. With New Jersey up 3-2 in the series, Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final between the Rangers and Devils is on Friday - 18 years to the day that New York captain Mark Messier made his legendary guarantee that his own Rangers - also down 3-2 to the Devils - would win Game 6. "I remember being on the bus, and guys were saying, Hey, did you see what Mess said?" former Rangers defenceman Doug Lidster once told The Sporting News. "We all thought it was him just stating, as a matter of confidence, Hey, were going to win the game. I dont think he came out with cockiness." After the first two periods of Game 6, Messiers words didnt hold much value as the Rangers were down by a score of 2-1. "I remember (coach) Mike Keenan coming around and kind of patting you on the knee, saying, Hey, come on, lets go, lets dig down," Lidster told The Sporting News. "I was thinking, That isnt working for me, Mike. You havent done that all year long. Now that its almost screwed up, youre turning to us and trying to motivate us that way? But you could always look across the room and know Mark was there. Hed have that look in his eye...and then he turned it on. What he did on the ice is history." In true storybook fashion, Messier scored a natural hat trick in the third period en route to a 4-2 Rangers win and a Game 7 victory in double overtime two nights later. "When I was faced with the press the day before the game, I thought what a great idea it would be for the players to wake up the day of the game and find out how much I believed in us and how I thought we could go in there and win that game," Messier said in a Canadian Press interview from 2008. "My oversight was 14 million other New Yorkers and the New Jersey Devils were going to read the same article. I was so focused in, I thought only the 20 players on our team were going to read that paper." Now fast forward to the present day - are current Rangers captain Ryan Callahan and his teammates ready to make any declarations going into their own Game 6? And if no one is willing to give a quote for the New York papers, which Ranger do you think will step up with that Messier-type performance needed to win Game 6? Will it be Callahan? Star sniper Marian Gaborik? How about Brad Richards, Brandon Dubinsky or Brandon Prust? Or will the Devils be the ones stepping up and shutting the Rangers down? As always, its Your Call! Cheap Jerseys Paypal. He plans to run through them -- and the Giants -- Sunday. The Browns rookie running back is aware the Philadelphia Eagles piled up 191 yards -- 123 by LeSean McCoy, who got 121 in the second half -- last week in a 19-17 win over the Giants. Cheap Jerseys Direct. First up, the Vancouver Canucks. The Vancouver Canucks, on paper, are by far Canadas top team and the best hope to contend for the Stanley Cup, but even coach Alain Vigneaults talented club has a long list of questions heading into training camp. http://facialhairstyleshq.info/cheapjerseys.html. Sunderland earlier escaped with a 1-1 draw from its northeast derby against Newcastle thanks to Demba Bas 86th-minute own goal, denying the visitors a hard-earned victory after playing more than an hour with 10 men following Cheick Tiotes dismissal.TORONTO – Everyone there lived on boats. “They have little TVs that they hook up to car batteries on the boat,” he said of the distinct and unusual habitat at sea. It was less than a month after the Marlies drive to the Calder Cup final and Mike Zigomanis was on the other side of the planet, visiting a remote village on the water in the third-world country of Cambodia. “I went away and just tried to get away from everything,” said the 31-year-old before the start of the regular season on Friday afternoon. “Turned the email off, turned [off] all the updates, reports, trackers.” Zigomanis was in the midst of a month-long journey across Southeast Asia where he touched down in the busting Chinese cities of Beijing and Shanghai, wandered through the northern hills of Thailand, glimpsed the Phi Phi Islands, looked at Tokyo in awe and snapped a few memories of the historic sites of Vietnam. It was an up-close look at the cultures of those who live differently than us, a valued piece of perspective for the budding traveler. Roaming through a place where few, if any, spoke the English language was a challenge in and of itself, but one that Zigomanis cleverly found his way around. Lost or just searching for his next turn, the Toronto native would pull up a map from the GPS on his phone, show locals where he was looking to go, and then masterfully employ the services of Google Translate for a better understanding of where and what he was to do. The timing of the endeavor wasnt perfect. It was July and Zigomanis was an unrestricted free agent. “I had my agent calling me a lot,” he laughed, signing a one-year deal with the organization at the end of July. “I checked my email once before I went to bed every day, returned the email and then go and find the Great Wall, see the Phi Phi Islands in Thailand, or travel through a third-world country so it was good.” Cleansing the mind and soul without interruption was of huge value to the 12-year pro. The physical demands of a prolonged plaayoff run require good amounts of ice, muscle therapy, and rest – plenty of rest.dddddddddddd But maybe just as overwhelming as the bodily toll is the taxing of the mind; reaching for the necessary drive, enthusiasm and heightened focus during 17 additional make-or-break games. Its easy to understand why Zigomanis left the continent in short fashion and perhaps the reason why so many teams dip in the year that follows a deep postseason drive; they simply havent recovered from the season before. “You see a lot of those teams, they make it to the Stanley Cup finals and sometimes they dont make the playoffs next year,” he noted. Zigomanis was with the loaded Pittsburgh Penguins in 2008-2009, the year after they dropped the Stanley Cup Final to the Detroit Red Wings. “When I was there we were in second [place] at one point, then after Christmas we were in 10th place at one time. People dont remember that. There was a huge letdown.” Some wheeling and dealing followed before head coach Michel Therrien was let go, replaced by Dan Byslma, who then guided the Penguins to an epic Finals win over those very some Wings. And so Zigomanis is especially mindful this fall of his current club, who were swept by the Norfolk Admiral in the Calder Cup final late last spring. Hes aware of the potential for a lingering hangover after what was a surprising and ultimately successful year. The Marlies opened their season on Saturday with a resounding 3-1 win over Rochester, following up on Sunday with a dispiriting 4-0 loss to Lake Erie, highlighted by an empty showing on a dozen power plays. “Its a long season,” concluded Zigomanis. “It takes a long time to mentally regroup. Youre kind of excited from the season before, either you win it or you just come close, and youre just go, go, go, go. And if you over-exert yourself, even for one week, if you overdo it one week, two weeks, its tough to recover. Just have to keep that in the back of our mind when were preparing.” ' ' '  