Rangers: Who's Afraid Of The Big, Bad Canes? Not The Rangers; Not A Chance, Pal

There's a rumor floating around the Southland that the Carolina Hurricanes will win the Stanley Cup.

Believe The Maven. No chance.

A cup of Java? Okay. No Stanley Cup, as there never is for Rod Brind'Amour.

So far, I know no Ranger is quaking in his boots about the Cane's invasion of The World's Most Famous Arena for the second playoff round, whenever that will begin.

Nor why should the Blueshirts sing "Blues In The Night" after what the recently completed season taught us -- and that is a very good lesson.

From October through April the Canes kept chasing the New Yorkers. Yeah, they came close once in a while but "close" never got them the cigar. Nor the prized Presidents' Trophy.

In this case, second place was second rate. Good show, Coach Rod, but not great. (And trust me, Roddy, you'll never sip that elusive Champagne.)

Then again, I still -- make it MUST -- take THN's pre-season prediction seriously.

Also, I have to take author Jared Clinton's thoughts equally seriously because he's one of my favorite writers and thinkers on hockey matters. Here's a snippet of what he wrote:

"The Canes have assembled a roster fit to weather any storm." He also asserted that Carolina has "the NHL's deepest defense corps."

But I beg to differ. With a capital D.

Yeah, Brind'Amour has assembled a determined D, but he doesn't have anyone to match Adam Fox, who's just skating into his prime.

Nor does Windy Brindy have K'Andre Miller-Ryan Lindgren-Erik Gustafsson-Braden Schneider kind of D-depth.

For my Monopoly money, I'll take Foxy over Jake Slavin, Brent (The Beard is Way Too Long) Burns, and Brett Pesce, assuming that The Brettman is fit to play.

Actually, the Cane I most admire on D is well known to all of us in Rangerville; and that's Brady Skjei.

Granted that Professor Peter Laviolette will be closely watching Sabastian Aho,  Teuvo Teravainen, Andre Svechnikof and Seth Jarvis -- each with an Argus eye because they also are good.

But The Maven would rather have Breadman Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, Vinnie Trocheck and Chris Kreider, any night or matinee for that matter.

That's where the Rangers' offensive depth kicks in -- swiftly and hard. It's the scoring depth Chris Drury has assembled that's so daunting.

Does Carolina have the equal of star-seeking Big Al Lafreniere? Nay.

Brindy has the second-best power play in the league, but I'd rather have the Rangers' ever-dangerous-to-score PK artists against them any time.

But let's not kid around; this is no time for comedy; so much is going to be decided on whether Igor Shestrerkin out-matches Carolina's Fred Anderson on the goalkeeping scales.

Frankly, I'm not as crazy about Anderson as his 2.25 and .912 marks against the Islanders would suggest. Then again, Shesty simply cannot pull the choke job he did a year ago against New Jersey. (Nay, Nay, a thousand times Nay!)

Which brings us to Lavvy's not-so-secret weapon -- The Skating Skyscraper. The Man Of The Minute (or six on the ice). Matt Rempe.

The Maven predicts that The Rempe Effect will drive Brindy to distraction because the Canes won't know how to deal with this monster.

I mean, you tell me if there's a Carolina bulldozer who can push Screener Matt out of Andersen's way? There isn't.

And if Mad Matt can keep his errant elbows to himself, here's The Maven's S.O.S. to Jarvis, Necas, and the rest of them; keep away from the boards when Rempe roars into view. ('Nuff said with my warnings today. More tomorrow after my oatmeal.)

Yeah, the best is yet to come, but -- take it from me -- it will happen once we know when New York's very own Rangers take the ice.

Or, to put it another way for the Canes; beware, brother, beware!

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