It’s hard to believe that a year has passed since James and Ilya passed away. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about them. They were two of the most incredible people—the heart and soul of our little community—I’ve ever had the privilege to call friends. One of the things I miss most, besides our private conversations, is how they could turn even the most frustrating games into something to laugh about. They had this infectious optimism, believing that there was always hope no matter how tough things got. I’ve tried to carry that with me this past year. It’s not always easy, but they’d be proud of how we’ve kept their spirit alive.
RIP, James and Ilya. I love you, guys.
119 responses to “One Year Ago…”
🙌
💙Beautiful tribute, C3
We always have a piece missing when we lose such wonderful friends.
Rest in Peace, James and Ilya💙
Never forgotten, Always missed
Miss talking about bands with James and Ilya of course on the CBA and cap. Still don’t know how Ilya managed to post things before going in to work in the mornings, guy must not have slept!
Isn’t Life strange? A turn of the page…
ILB helped me a lot back in 2020 when i had bad covid. can’t forget his kindness.
loved james passion re the rangers as well.
i hope their families are doing ok.
definitely a huge loss for our community here. I too miss them. I wish I had the chance to meet them in person.
thank you to Beezle and Cccp for carrying on the traditions and keeping this place a godsend
Although I never met either of them, You could tell the type of people they were from there posts. They are truly missed. And I completely agree with Corporal Clegg that Beezle and CCCP cannot be shown enough gratitude for keep this going.
Miss their knowledge and good humor
Lets Go Mets!
When COVID stressed the blog they helped us hang together. Gone way too soon.
I did not see the Lindor GW homer coming.
keep eye out tonight for Nate Sucese
he’s helped coach my son in the summer
heck of a nice guy. Stand out at Penn St. Was last in Chicago system.
was hoping Buffalo would sign him so he could play AHL for Rochester in front of all his family and friends.
I was hoping I should say
I’m sure he’s thrilled the rangers signed him
LGR!
Last chance to shine for some of these guys.
Well said, CCCP.
AHL Rangers, not too excited about these guys.
Rangers just need a good 20 minutes.
And 4 goals.
RIP to two great Blog-men. Gone but not forgotten. Business brings me to CT so I’m watching the game at Pizza boy’s restaurant in Fairfield. Probably the only place for miles showing the game. 2 hot oil slices up for James & Ilya.
in memory of the blogfather and his trusted consigliere. Time marches on and nobody gets out alive so make good use of your time.
don’t think it’s posting
Does anyone know if tonight’s game is on tv? Thanks
jeff
tnt
Last night was tough to watch. I think because it was a lot AHL players i expected it would be a faster , maybe more aggressive game from the Rangers. I also was expecting Edstrum to look better than he did against the non NHL players Maybe an off night. I liked Mancini and Mackeys play though…who knows
thank you Alex. Maybe we will see a better effort from our boys tonight. LGR
Dearth of true talent. Leagues too watered down and getting worse.
Boom Boom!
20,000,000 air strikes over Israel, no casualties. Gotta love the hyperbole and mendacity of our current day Press.
from colin
Laviolette said some guys who played last night in NJ will play again tonight at MSG. 20-93-91, 72, 23 and 8 are still on the ice and practicing, which suggests they aren’t playing tonight.
Kind of like the NHL in the mid 1970s, when the WHA took a lot of talent away.
Not as many NHL teams back then, but hardly any European players to fill the WHA loss.
And most of the 1970s NHL expansion teams were AWFUL! Only the Islanders proved to be the exception.
So they are going to play a second AHL game vs. NJ?
Why do we love our Rempes? We are starved for personalities.
Gary Bettman told reporters that the approximate salary cap figure for the 2025-26 season is $92.5M, up from $88M this upcoming season.
Ho hum hockey so far.
watching another boring game. Why cant nhl tell the fans the extent of playets injuries. This upper body and lower body stuff is bunch of crap.
Nice mention from Uncle Larry about Devils playing these preseason games with an ahl lineup. I am sure that the season ticket holders will get a discount. Nothing like paying NHL prices for AHL talent.
Last but not least Bread plays a couple of shifts and get shut down. I guess this lower body injury is more serious then they thought. Rest him now so he can be his usual. Great playoff scorer.
Today’s press is all about narrative construction. Don’t expect the truth.
Those Allstate “Mayhem” commercials are great.
Thanks for making my eyes water with that post, C3po.
Is this game on msg or just Max and tnt and whatever? The video on the max app is giving me a headache.
Great job by Igor there. 🙄
What time is the next bus to Hartford?
how many days since Sticky’s last preseason shutout?
Vittorio 🤌
Aloooot of days since Igor’s last preseason shutout. 🤷🏻♂️
Penalty on Rempe for being bigger than the guy he brought down.
Not a great effort against an AHL team.
I was about to ask if anyone else didn’t feel to good after that game.
*too
WTF.TheyExitTheGameThirdPeriod?
RIP to two great Blog-men. Gone but not forgotten. Business brings me to CT so I’m watching the game at Pizza boy’s restaurant in Fairfield. Probably the only place for miles showing the game. 2 hot oil slices up for James & Ilya.
That wasn’t $11M Igor last night. Gave up 2 on poor rebound control on relatively easy saves. He put 2 rebounds in the slot that shouldn’t have happened. Blocker the first into the corner and hold the second in your glove. Mancini continues to look good. Hard to believe he only scored 4 goals in 3 years of college hockey. Othmann and Berard looked a little better and Miller can’t run a PP. Jones can. They had half their team on the ice last night and barely beat an AHL team.
Missed the game last night, exhausted from outdoor chores before winter sets in lol. Box score looked good.
Brooks stirring the pot today with Rempe. Are we sure BDL isn’t Brooks? 🤣😉
Was going to say a few days back that I was starting to think VC would be waived/moved to make room. IR convenient.
Good Larry Brooks article on Rempe today. I think he is right and it would not be a bad idea for Rempe to start season in AHL.
If Bread is out for a couple of weeks what do you guys think of trying Othman in his spot. Was not very impressed with what I saw yesterday. Two young defensemen looked good also Trocheck was as usual.
Like a lot of people have said, paying our goaltender anything near 11 or 12 million is insanity. He is not the best goalie in the league;somewhere in the top 10. If he becomes a free agent and some other team wants to pay that price for 7 or 8 years ,let them.
The Rangers should save there money to throw at Connor Mcdavid. Maybe another Oiler can lead us to the Stanley Cup.
Hey;you never know.
LGR
Ranger vets looked disinterested. If Drury pays Twerkin 10 million + he’s dumber than a Armadillo. Rangers barely make the playoffs without a healthy Loaf.
fan’s expectations of Rempe, and Edstrom, are to high. They are going to be disappointed. Both are borderline NHLers, and with time, may develop into semi regular 4th line players.
endstrom Darrick and rempe is a formidable 4th line which would give them an advantage over most teams matchups
sorta how the Martin clutterbuck czikkas line gave people fits
carrick
I want Othman to be ready. But he hasn’t looked ready to me yet
mancini is a find! 5th round gem
jones looks useful. He will play some games for us this year. I for see him having a solid nhl career. He’s doing good to increase trade value if it comes to that. But I like him. Esp on PP2
Mancini can move for a big man
They are paying Shesty 10+ guys
well then he’s dumber than an armadillo, book it
Not sure what most fans want out of those guys this season. I’d be more than happy to see (assuming a full season) 8-12 G and 10-15A while getting 10ish minutes a game.* They are the head bangers ball line at this stage. I still think Rempe could develop to be more than a 4th liner but has to start somewhere.
*Lavi should give both the 3rd and 4th lines a bit more time this season
Beezle, Rempe has scored 20 points twice in his career, major included. Edstrom has never scored 20 points in a season. That’s the expectations I’m talking about. They have never done it, and now at the NHL level they are?
We will all regret paying Twerkin 10 mil+ book it.
Age/maturity and significantly more training/coaching than he has probably seen in the past could change that for Rempe and he certainly seems to have the drive/work ethic to try. Edstrom I don’t know, though he does seem to have a bit of ‘right place/right time’ to his game.
There are lots of guys across pro sports that surprise to the upside after having what appears to be mediocre lower level performance. Likewise, there are a lot of flame outs too.
Absent a cup win, I think most teams regret paying up for goalies. In the case of the NYR the question is how much paying Igor say $11M per hurts their chances because that money is not available for other needs. Would having a $7 or 8M per goalie and another $3-4M to spread around be better? And those figures are not exactly cheap for a goalie either.
I’m not saying they can’t, I’m saying they never have, so the expectations should be reeled in.
we are better than last year and last year we were a top team I. The league and definitely contenders for the cup
add
Chytil (if stays healthy)
Kaako (hurt bad last year never got going)
smith (way better than wheeler at this point in career and better RW than we have had in a while)
mancini/jones/mackey – better options than Gustafson
miller Schneider a year further in their growth as NHLers
healthy trouba
better laffy (even though he was pretty good last year)
same for Cuylle growth
Mika had a down year and should be better
year 2 of laviollete so less growing pains and set expectations
a better rempe/endstrom
#NYR Transactions: The team has assigned forward Anton Blidh, defensemen Casey Fitzgerald and Brandon Scanlin as well as goaltenders Louis Domingue and Dylan Garand to the Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL):
https://www.foreverblueshirts.com/new-york-rangers-news/victor-mancini-connor-mackey-battle-roster-spot/
mackey would have to clear waivers
off season jamesgeau
Clegg –
don’t forget about Jones
it will be irrelevant to everyone here, yet perhaps cathartic for to me to share. My wife and I were in the hospital this week last year, set to deliver our son. JamesG passed the night before his birth and we were without a decided name… we went with it, in no small part because James simply was on my mind. In December, my father who was fit as an ox, captained his university wrestling and football teams for multiple years, and who I thought would outlive all of us, shot one of his best rounds of golf and then was diagnosed with an aggressive leukemia a few days later…succumbing shortly after the new year. In those two weeks of hospital, he and our family didn’t miss watching a single rangers game. I thought of Ilya and wished he were by our side to shepherd him, as he did for so many children that were robbed of so much time. Strange that I didn’t personally know James or Ilya, yet they were there with me through two of the most important inflection points of my life. I can only assure you that, at least in my book, they won’t be forgotten.
karl
thanks for sharing. God bless your 1 year old son and your dad.
20 pts. Is a stretch for Rangerv4th liner given the limited TOI they get. 10 or 15 maybe.
Miller and Foxy gonna get a look…..finally
ORF – per your earlier, I’m a proponent of getting the 4th line a consistent 10-12 mins a night but you are right, if Lavi limits the line to 6 or 7 per, hard to get much production.
if Rempe, and Edstrom are 2/3 of your 4th line, and only getting 6 minutes a night, the Rangers will be playing 2 forwards short each night. Similar to the playoffs, when Rempe dressed, they played one short. This is the most likely scenario, BTW. Neither are going to kill penalties, or PP. they are not going see the ice much in the 3rd, because they won’t be called upon to close out games. The Vesey injury in the Florida series hurt them, and his injury right now is going to hurt them. I’d be searching the waiver wire, for 4th line veterans, and veteran LDs.
Maybe Mendoza will have 20th Round Pick Phil Maton pitching again tonight, for the twenty fifth consecutive day. Geessh!
Even a healthy Vesey is serviceable at best. No knock, just fact.
I don’t disagree, but he’s trusted by the coach.
Coming out of Harvard, Jimmy was multi- coveted like he were Wayne Gretzky.
Edstrom is better than Rempe and believe Laviollette would give him more than a few minutes a night
what are you basing your Edstrom is better than Rempe off of?
better skater …better defensively ..better hands around the net
When they had to make a roster filling decision last year, the tried both guys and kept Rempe in, for a playoff run with big expectations. Why do we think Lav trusts the guy he passed over the guy he kept going back to and dressed in for 11 playoff games?
Wouldn’t call playing Rempe 4-5 minutes a game trusting abut the reason he dressed him was because most of the roster is soft
I couldn’t believe he left him in. Did he have to because of the 3 batter rule?
ORF – Can’t believe he brought him in AGAIN. And I don’t think he scared 90 MPH once. Dead arm, dead tired. I like Mendoza but this makes me wonder.
Responding to a specific Post and getting lost in Netherland is ridiculous.
I believe Rempe and Edstrom can and will kill penalties. Looked decent in preseason doing it. They really clog up the passing lanes. Rempe does a good job winning battles to clear the zone
we need new PK personel with goody gone and vesey hurt
Kreider/Zibanejad, smith/Trocheck, Cuylle/Carrick. Those are your PKers.
subway series?
6 minutes a game where he preferred Rempe to Edstrom 🤷♂️
I like Rempe and he fills a need but if you watch him and Edstrom play are you still saying he’s a better hockey player?
if it were about better hockey players, than neither would be on the team. Othmann and Berard would be the 4th line wingers. Neither Rempe, or Edstrom are particularly good hockey players. What they are, is big. Rempe brings some intimidation, Edstrom is just big.
We are talking about 4th line players/open spot but disagree on Edstrom assessment ….think he will be on the team sooner
I think they continue to improve and as most oversized players are on a later development curve
They can play. We don’t know what their ceiling is yet.
if Rempe were an islander or devil we would not be happy. His forcheck changes the tone of the game.
…a matchup nightmare for the opposing team
last year there was plenty of preseason pessimism. My optimism was proven right in the fact that we set a franchise record in points to finish with the presidents trophy. We won the first 7 Stanley cup playoff games which is crazy awesome. And lost to the juggernaut champions in the conference finals with close 1 goal games. This team is right on the precipice! Not sure what else they have to do to shed the pessimistic outlook by some.
they need more balls in the top 6
smith is no slouch. Kreider is tough as nails just not “enforcer” trocheck as tough as they come. Laffy has big nuts
compared to other teams top six I think outside of tchachuk brothers there aren’t many teams with top six balls that are bigger than ours. Unless I’m misremembering
Hughes? Barzel? Matthews? Pasta ? Crosby?
Trochek yes but hes not very big…Laf maybe some day …the rest not really…. what did they do against Florida who will still be in the way
Too soft at D, especially with Black&Decker out.
biggest problem is the chytil problem which was not addressed this summer. or the years before that for that matter
we were actually helped by the season long injury for chytil which created the true number 1 line centered by trocheck. we were hurt when he returned in playoffs
they were hurt when the DJ folded up again 5 on 5
fla shut down top 6 guys all playoffs long. bost, tampa, rangers and most of edm series
i am very pessimistic that chytil is still here. 3rd line is supposed to be strong in both ends – ie play 200 foot game. no line centered by chytil will fit that description. he’s paid way too much for the little he does. him leaving will be addition by subtraction
I don’t think I said either way one was better, just that when the coaching staff needed to pick someone for the playoff roster they picked the guy they didn’t trust with a normal workload over the guy you are saying would get more time than that
you can trade him Alex but if they don’t get a big nasty 3C who can score some 5 on 5 goals or a winger with balls to get the deejay to play with some heart it won’t matter
bobby
your over the top support for chytil makes you lose all credibility when you complain about guys regarding toughness. chytil is afraid of his own shadow. softest player on the team by far. probably league wide too.
He’s not making 8.5 or making 20 minutes a game ..you love the DJ alot more than I like Chytil.
Cheat Ill is an admittedly gifted talent – but who would know it?
Im optimistic to start the season that we have at least a few games before capitulating on Smith as the guy to activate the Huggy Line scoring 5-on-5. So that should be nice!
You know me, always low expectations. I’ve seen this show before.
I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I’m just not that fired up for this hockey season. Old age?