As mentioned earlier, Christopher Higgins was at 12 Angry Mascots last night.

Here is the rest of what went down during Higgins segment during the show:

• The guys touched on how hockey players have the best and coolest sounding names.
• He talked about his first career goal, which happened at MSG, and you can watch below. Higgins said that that night at MSG was “the craziest night of my life”. He had about 70 friends and family in the stands that night and he only wanted the game to end so that he could finally say that he played at MSG. The Rangers goalie was Kevin Weeks and it was the first Rangers home game after the lockout, a game the Rangers would lose in OT to the Habs.

…I was at that game and have no recollection of Higgins scoring. I do remember Marcel Hossa skating down towards my side of the ice on a two on one and banking the puck in. It seemed like the begining of a wonderful era in Rangers hockey…it was in fact not.

• He says that the atmosphere and level of intensity from Montreal Fans trumps that of every other fan base including that of the Yankees.

…As host Scott Rogowsky then pointed out, there is nothing else in Montreal. Certainly not the Expos anymore.

• They also touched on hazing of hockey players, Higgins hopes that entering his fifth year he won’t be hazed, but that hazing is a big part of the hockey culture. He recalled being hazed all the way back to his days as a 14 year old high school student but says that its a part of the culture.
• When asked by a fan if he could beat Don Brashear in a fight, Higgins responded with a sly smile and said yes.

Last night, Christopher Higgins talked about his fist time playing at MSG and his first career goal, which came against Kevin Weeks.

More on that and more from Higgins later.

Last night, Rangers LW, Christopher Higgins joined Scott Rogowsky and Neil Janowitz for the latest installment of their show, “12 Angry Mascots”.

Higgins was the main attraction, though Mets Weekly host Julie Alexandria gave him a little run for his money. The show featured stand up comics and a few taped bits including a hysterical video on  fake Mets Prospect Fernando Escobar. Then “Tony Bernazard” came on stage and started berating everyone, maybe the second best thing besides Higgins.

As for Higgins, he was set up in a talk show type format, came out dressed in a t-shirt, shorts that had a flower print on them and old school Nike sneakers. Not sure if that would have met Sean Avery‘s approval.

As for Avery, Higgins says that he is one of only two teammates that he has met so far, the other being Aaron Voros. The day he was traded Avery texted him and Chris Drury called him. He also said later on that he has yet to meet John Tortorella in person, but has spoken to him on the phone.

Higgins said that it was a weird feeling to be traded from Montreal, his favorite team growing up, but that he is excited for the opportunity in New York.

His “old man” as he kept calling his father, was a Canadiens fan and because of that Christopher grew to like them also.

His “old man” is also part of the FDNY in Brooklyn and his brother is part of the NYPD in Manhattan.

The rest of what Higgin’s said in his segment and when he met with the “media”, which seemed to consist of myself, my buddy Will at SNY and Steve Gelbs of NYRANGERSCast, will appear later and in the coming days.

Larry Brooks reports that the Rangers and RFA Brandon Dubinsky are in discussions about reaching a new contract.

The Post has learned the team is in conversations with Dubinsky’s representative regarding contracts of varying lengths, though neither party would characterize the state of the discussions that will accelerate upon the conclusion of Zherdev’s final 96 hours.

Earlier this month, the Blueshirts signed Group II free agent Ryan Callahan to a two-year, $4.6M contract. Dubinsky’s agent is certain to cite that deal — Dubinsky went 13-28-41 last year, Callahan 22-18-40; Dubinsky is a career 27-54-81 in 170 games, Callahan 34-25-59 in 147 games — but Callahan owned the leverage of salary arbitration rights while Dubinsky has no systemic leverage unless he can attract an offer sheet.

The Blueshirts are at approximately $51M of the $56.8M cap. That does not include either Zherdev or Brandon Dubinsky, who remains an unsigned Group II free agent. That number also does not include a fourth center, fourth right wing or sixth defenseman.

…I was under the impression, from talking to various people, that Dubinsky’s contract was going to have to wait until after Zherdev’s arbitration hearing. The Rangers will have more money to spend on Dubinsky or extra players if Zherdev’s number comes in to high and they didn’t want to get into a sticky situation where Dubi has signed but Zherdev’s number comes in lower than expected and they bring him back.

….It was always a matter of patience that certain people just couldn’t handle. Dubinsky will be back as a Ranger and it appears that he will be at the latest, by the middle of next week.

Today is the arbitration hearing for winger Nikolai Zherdev and the Rangers In Toronto.

The arbitrator will have 48 hours to decide on Zherdev’s salary for the 2009-10 season.

According to Larry Brooks in the NY Post, Zherdev declined the Rangers  qualifying offer worth $3.25 million and has submitted a bid of $4.5 million.

It is unknown whether the Blueshirts, who will be represented at the hearing by assistant GM Cam Hope, have submitted a bid lower than the QO.

In any event, once the arbitrator’s decision is announced — arbitrators are permitted to award any salary in the range between the bids and most often come close to splitting the difference — the Rangers will then have another 48 hours in which to decide whether to accept the contract or walk away from it, thus making Zherdev an unrestricted free agent.

More from Brooks: (more…)

(Update 10:50) Finally home after a long day, but lots of fun at 12 Angry Mascots tonight. Christopher Higgins was top notch, funny stories and such to come tomorrow and in the coming days.

Christopher Higgins will be appearing at Comix tonight as part of 12 Angry Mascots.

He will be joined by the host of Mets Weekly, Julie Alexandria.

The show begins at 7:30 and Comix is located at 353 W. 14th Street, just east of 9th Ave.

…I will be there tonight, along with my buddy Will from SNY and hoping we can get some good quotes from Higgins and enjoy a great show.

Promo video’s are after the jump.
(more…)

With the recent announcement of this years class of the US Hockey Hall Of Fame, John Grigg of The Hockey News, has a list of his top 10 American born players.

At number 10: Mike Richter:

Richter makes the grade here less for his NHL resume than for his international one. Richter did win a Stanley Cup with the Rangers in 1994 and has the third-most NHL victories (301) amongst American netminders. But he answered his country’s call on 11 separate occasions, playing in world juniors, world championships, three Olympics, a Canada Cup and a World Cup – in which he led the U.S. to a gold medal and was named tournament MVP. Richter even left the University of Wisconsin after just one season to play for the U.S. national team for a year-and-a-half in preparation for the 1988 Olympics. His NHL career began the next season.

At number 3: Pat LaFontaine:

Inducted into the Hall in 2003, Lafontaine is No. 7 in scoring amongst American-born NHLers (468-545-1,013). But he did it all in just 865 games, making him – by a wide margin – the U.S. leader in points-per-game. The third overall pick in 1983 by the Islanders, LaFontaine registered six straight seasons of 40-plus goals, with his best year being 1992-93 with Buffalo, when he scored 53 goals and 148 points. Injuries cut LaFontaine’s career short, but during his heyday he was one of the most dynamic players in the league, routinely wowing crowds with his speed, vision and deft stickhandling.

And at number 2: Brian Leetch:

Set for induction into the Hall this November, Leetch sits sixth on the list of American NHL scorers (247-781-1,028) and is the seventh-highest scoring defenseman in NHL history. The ninth pick of the 1986 draft still holds the record for goals scored by a rookie defenseman with 23 in 1988-89 (when he won the Calder Trophy) and his 71 points that season are second-most all-time by a freshman blueliner. Leetch played in nine all-star games, was a first team all-star twice, a second team all-star three times, won two Norris Trophies and the Conn Smythe Trophy in 1994 after leading the playoffs in scoring and the Rangers to their first Stanley Cup in 50 years.

…Here’s to hoping that Brandon Dubinsky or Ryan Callahan make this list some day.

….Pat LaFontaine had a truly tremendous career but concussions did him in. He even put in 62 points in 67 games in his time with the Rangers in 1997-98. As for Leetch and Richter, nothing else to say about them.

The Cablevision board of the directors has decided to move forward with the spin-off of Madison Square Garden and its properties.

James Dolan will become Executive Chairman of the new, public Madison
Square Garden and would continue in his present role as President and CEO of Cablevision. Hank Ratner would be President and CEO of Madison Square Garden, and would remain Cablevision’s Vice Chairman. Charles Dolan would continue in his role as Cablevision’s Chairman.

….Still can’t get rid of Jimmy.

The list of what goes where, after the jump.

(more…)

According to Beyond the Blueshirts, via twitter, Sergei Zubov is close to signing with SKA St. Petersburgh.

Zubov, 39, played only 10 games for the Dallas Stars last season.

The Rangers had been rumored to be one of eight NHL teams interested in Zubov.

Zubov of course was a big part of the Rangers 1994 Stanley Cup.

…This isn’t official yet, so everyone hold their horses….still it always appeared to be in the Rangers best interest to steer clear of bringing back Zubov. While he could have been an asset at the right price, both as a powerplay QB and a mentor to the Rangers young defensemen, but either the Rangers didn’t agree at all or the price was never met.

Last night MSG re-ran a “Rangers Classic” from earlier this season, a game the Rangers defeated Pittsburgh in a shootout.

That tied the game at 2, and I picked up the game during the overtime period. Here is what I noticed from the little that I saw:
The game, from October 25th, featured these late game heroics from Nikolai Zherdev: (more…)