Rangers talking smack before game one.

Picture from the New York Post

While I do not have a dog in this fight, now that all of my favorite NHL teams have been ceremoniously eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs, that doesn't mean that I am not interested in the games. The series that intrigues me the most is the one between the Pittsburg Penguins and the New York Rangers. Sounds like Jagr not to be out done by team punk Sean Avery has put a shot across the Pens bow. One could say that the rhetoric is heating up before game one.

Jagr says that : Sidney not in Mario's league if that isn't bulletin board material I don't know what is?

"With all due respect for [Sidney] Crosby and [Evgeni] Malkin, I don't think they are Mario Lemieux," said Jagr, preparing to go to Pittsburgh, his first NHL home, for tomorrow's night second-round opener between the Rangers New York Rangers and Penguins.

"I say that with all due respect because the game has changed.

"The gap between the best and worst players on a team [today] is very small. The gap between Mario and the rest of the guys when I was in Pittsburgh was so huge he was able to score 20 points in one series. I don't think those kids are able to do it. If I am wrong I am going to apologize and [say], 'Great job.'

I don't know about you, but I think Sid the Kid is a pretty good hockey player and Malkin isn't too bad himself. If the Rangers don't check the Malkin Crosby line they will be buried by the speedier Penguins. I have picked them to win the Stanley Cup.

I guess that Sioux fans aren't the only one that complain about the refs. Brendan Shanahan is basically calling the refs out before the series start and calling Sidney Crosby a diver... I guess what ever it takes to get the upper hand?

When the Rangers played their March 30-31 home-and-home against the Penguins, Crosby contested essentially every penalty call either made against the Penguins or those he believed should have been made against the Blueshirts. There was widespread belief that No. 87 and his teammates dived repeatedly in matches that were officiated according to "Crosby Rules."

"I'd like to believe that bias doesn't exist," Shanahan said. "Some people might argue the league wants Crosby to advance, but others might argue that it would be a greater benefit to have a team from New York in the conference finals.

"But the refereeing is something we are not going to focus on. I'd hope we can keep that out of our room, entirely."