Murphy's back

The title of this blog really says it all.

A very happy week in Ranger land (well.. Forget about Monday). The return of #24 to the blue line is a huge boost to this team. Graeat to see the kid return. A brutal showing on Monday against Sault Ste Marie was followed up by a great game last night against Owen Sound.

So what happened on Monday? The Rangers were run over by a strong and tough Greyhounds team. A 6-2 loss for Kitchener, which included 5 fights and 10 players in the penalty box to start the third. Despite the Rangers getting the first goal, they quickly fell behind 2-1 following some questionable calls by the officials. The Soo were awarded a penalty shot on a play that wasn't really much of a breakaway. Then towards the end of the period, Michael Cattenaci was the victim of a blatant knee on knee collision in the Soo zone, where there was no call. The greyhounds were score moments later, setting the framework for a melee to end the second. As the greyhounds left the ice, goalie Franky Palazzese tapped Nick Cousins with his stick. Cousins would then audition for an Oscar as he flew across the ice. All of a sudden the entire greyhounds team jumped on Palazzese, which brought the Rangers in to defend. 4 fights broke out despite only 2 being called.

The issue here is officiating. Had that knee on knee call not been missed, the third Soo goal would have almost definitely not happened. I don't like calling out the refs but come on. Some things can't be missed. What if Cat had been severely injured? Would have been a much bigger deal then.

The return of Ryan Murhy was announced late Wednesday evening n Mufphy's twitter. After one game he seems to have done wonders already. Despite only netting one assist in his return, the team as a whole played significantly better on Friday night, beating the Owen Sound Attack by a score of 5-3. The Rangers dominated most of the game, and it's definitely great to see Murphy running the power play again (which not only finally got a goal, the PP got 2 goals!)

The final bit of news comes from the preview of the Rangers expansion plans. Construction will begin n February/March on a project that will add 1000 seats plus new media boxes (more leg room maybe?) and 8 new private boxes that will not have a view of the rink. A computer rendition of the new addition can be seen on the Rangers website. Personally, I still prefer the option of a new rink, however it looks like city council disagrees with me. If this is the best solution for now, then I'll take it. Just as long as it works out. It'll be weird seeing one half of the rink have 1000 extra seats, and the other side still the same size.