It's Ranger Prospect Night on Blueshirt Banter Radio.  

Jess Rubenstein of The Prospect Park website and writer for Blueshirt Bulletin joins Jim and Eddie to talk about the Rangers' future from the amateur ranks. 

Jess will be discussing his takes on players such as Chris Kreider, Carl Hagelin, Christian Thomas, and Dylan McIlrath, plus some surprise players that Jess is very high on. 

We have a live Blueshirt Banter Radio chat room that flows throughout the broadcast, and as always we take your phone calls at 646-478-4692. 

This is a must listen show for any Ranger fan that wants to be in the know! Blueshirt Banter Radio is the only place to hear two hours of live uncensored New York Ranger talk. Not to mention fan interaction you won't hear any place else. It's a show all about you the Ranger fan, who we all know are the most passionate fans in hockey. Hope you can join us!

Join Jim and Eddie tonight at 8:00 PM for Blueshirt Banter Radio, the one true voice of the Ranger fan. 

Tonight on the docket we will be talking about Wojtek Wolski’s first game as a Ranger, the horrible officiating in last night’s loss to Montreal , and your thoughts on Dale Weise and his eight games up with the big club. 

While the show streams live, we feature a live interactive chat room which enables you to chat with other diehard Ranger fans. 

It’s always informative and it’s always fun, and most importantly uncensored! 

Feel free to call in at  (646) 478-4692

Monday Night New York Ranger Hockey  talk on Blueshirt Banter Radio !

Jim & Eddie Talk about the Derek Boogaard situation, The demotion of Dale Weise back to the Whale and the Michael Del Zotto Trade rumor.

We will also be priming listeners for Wednesday's Blueshirt Banter Radio Holiday Spectacular.

Join us Tonight at 8 PM for highly interactive Ranger fan fun which includes live phone calls and a streaming chat room for a guaranteed two hours of riotous Ranger fun.  

Here's a sample on what you probably be hearing here on tonights show :

How come the "Handsome Swede" couldn't stop a weak shot by a 42 year old Mark Recchi ?

Did Sam and Joe really stick up for Colin Campbell and his controversial emails by saying he was just joking around ?

The new Heritage Jerseys Yay or Nay ?

Blueshirt Banter Radio starts at 8 PM and features a super fantastic and awesome chat room that coincides with the live streaming of the show.

Ranger fans can even participate by calling in with your own uncensored comments at (646) 478-4692

Hope to see you there !

Immediately following the Rangers vs Penguins game Tonight at 9:30 PM we crank up the generator and take to the internet airwaves to discuss tonight's game,

We will also being  discussing Sunday's Sean Avery incident in which it seems Erik Christensen has pulled a Fredo as well as the firing of the first metro area coach the Islanders Scott Gordon.

Is Johnny Mac next ?

We cordially you invite you to this special Blueshirt Banter Radio "Toast on a Stick" Post game show that starts at 9:30 PM EST

We even have a live chatroom and take your calls during the show at (646) 478-4692

Who Knows even Larry "Bud" Melman could make an appearance tonight !

      Appearing Live Blueshirt Alumni!

                  Ron Greschner                  

Nick Fotiu

Chris Kotsopoulos

Tonight immediately following the Rangers/Canes game at Madison Square Garden make sure you run from your TV sets and MSG televisions " Night of the living Dead" post game show and cruise on over to the internet and hang out with Jim and Eddie as they recap the game, from the Ranger fan point of view,  which as always will be with either with jubilation or exasperation.

I know for sure, I cant wait to recount on air, the times The Staal brothers and their Thanksgiving will be mentioned by Sam and Joe, and how amazing Carolina Hurricane Jeff Skinner is in his rookie season as well as the out of this world shot block ability of Joe Corvo !

Plus we will be discussing the canceling of the Rangers season subscriber skating event that was suppose to happen on Sunday two days before it was suppose to happen !

So join us at 9:30 PM EST on Blueshirt Banter Radio. The ONE true voice of the New York Ranger fan.

As always we broadcast live, taking your phone calls at (646) 478-4692 and reading your chat entries in our sometimes rambunctious chatroom, for an entire Two Hours following the game !

On Saturday we did a live remote front of the Prudential Center and gave away a bunch of fantastic prizes to  Ranger fans in attendance including this Marc Staal jersey to Kristen, a rabid listener of the show as well as autographed pucks and other Ranger swag to other diehard fans of the show.

We did this all in celebration of the Wade Redden banishment to the AHL and also to show our appreciation to the loyal listeners of Blueshirt Banter Radio who simply put, have made the show the Internet Radio juggernaut that it is today.

Tonight we will be airing a special Tuesday edition of the show because of  tomorrows Rangers game against the Red Wings at the Garden.

Tonight's show starts at 8 PM

Jim and myself and more importantly you fans will be talking about the recent cuts of Mats Zuccarello and Evgeny Grachev and using our crystal balls to project who will be cut from the club after Wednesday's game.

We would love to hear from you on who you think will be cut or sent down to Hartford, so join the show which airs live over the Internet at 8 PM tonight.

The Phone Number to call in is  (646) 478-4692      

We also have the Blueshirt Banter Chat Room, a forum which is chock full of Ranger fanatics that really adds more punch to a broadcast that is already a bit "punchy."

The Chat Room is the perfect forum to follow along with our two hour broadcast that streams live,commercial free, and uncensored. 

Blueshirt Banter Radio is the true voice of the New York Ranger fan so make sure you're there !

To Listen to the show live or podcast just click below :

No, that's NOT Leslie Treff with Chris Kreider but my own large self next to Leslie Treff's recently number one ranked Rangers organizational prospect.

Tonight Live at 8 PM on Blueshirt Banter Radio, Hockey's Future own Leslie Treff will join Jim and myself to discuss the much anticipated and updated Fall rankings of all New York Ranger prospects.

Jim and I will do our best to get to your favorite prospect as we work down Leslie list of Ranger hopefuls.

Plus we will talk about the first week of training camp, Chris Drury's injury as well as the emergence of the kinder and gentler John Tortorella.

As always the true voice of the New York Rangers fan brings you uncensored discussion about the team we love, whether it via your Live phone calls at (646) 478-4692 or our Live Blueshirt Banter Chatroom.

To listen Live at 8 PM or On Podcast :

Jim Schmiedeberg who has been live on the scene since the draft began, will be updating us on the Ranger picks and what New York beat writers he has been schmoozing with.

Jim will give us the full update and his impressions of what he thinks as well a couple special guests one of which may include Jess Rubenstein of The Prospect Park Blog.

This is the show to listen to if you want to talk Rangers draft and sound off about the Rangers first pick Dylan McIlrath and second round selection  Christian Thomas.

It all starts live Tonight at 8 PM live on Blueshirt Banter Radio 

Feel free to join our Blueshirt Banter Radio Chatroom as the show streams live or call in live to have your voice heard at

(646) 478-4692

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It is with proud pleasure that we welcome Chris "Knuckles" Nilan as our guest tonight on Blueshirt Banter Radio. Chris was one of the toughest hombres ever to lace them up and remains a Ranger fan favorite still to this day. Chris spent three years with the Rangers and thirteen overall in the NHL playing predominately with the Montreal Canadiens.

We will also be talking about the litany of moves made around the NHL, including the Nathan Horton trade, the Tomas Plekanec re-signing with the Habs and Enver Lisin not being given a qualifying offer by the Rangers.

The two hour Internet radio extravaganza starts at 8 PM; and as we stream live feel free to join our Live Blueshirt Banter Radio Chatroom or call in and talk to our special guest, Chris Nilan, or the shows hosts Jimmy "The Gem" Schmiedeberg or Eddie "The Mouth" Gieck.

The call in number is

(646) 478-4692

To listen Live Or Archived Click The Player Below :

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Frank Beaton is about is as old school tough as it gets.  Former Ranger GM Fred Shero brought him in over 30 years ago in to add toughness to a Blueshirt team that had only one tough guy and that was Staten Island’s own Nick Fotiu.

Frank was a player who was not only tough but  stood up for teammates. Frank came to Broadway with an impressive brawling resume from both the IHL and WHA with a plethora of penalty minutes and even more impressive than that, a fighter's reputation. He played 25 games for The Rangers between 1978-1980 and that was it, his entire NHL career.

You think his name would be a blip on the Ranger fan radar screen. But fans remember the Ranger tough guys back then, because frankly their were so few of them.

I should also mention there's another reason Frank still remains memorable to older Ranger fans today, is because he came to the Rangers with not one but two nicknames, Frank "Seldom" Beaton and Frank "Beater" Beaton.

He wasn’t a big guy but he was fearless. He fought everyone on the ice to make it to the National league and sometimes even off the ice.

For example, one night a wise guy gas station attendant intentionally spilled gas on Frank’s new Corvette, big mistake, the next thing you know they were taking that gas station attendant to the hospital after Beaton had laid him out.

Frank will be joining us as our guest on Blueshirt Banter Radio tonight at 8 PM to talk a bit about his days as a professional ice hockey tough guy but the main reason we invited him on is to talk about something very tragic that very recently has impacted his personal life.

Frank Beaton’s cousin, Jon who lived in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada was out celebrating with his friends on New Years Eve 2010 when he was murdered at the hands of a gutless coward.

The cowards name was and still is Robert "Bubba" Lamb.

Lamb stabbed to death  a young, vibrant and fun-loving unarmed Jon Beaton, and  ran, like all cowards do and still remains a fugitive from the law today.

We will be talking to Frank tonight about his family tragedy and try in anyway to get the message out there and  help the Beaton family in anyway through our show and fans to get this murderer caught and brought to justice.

Besides the heavy stuff, we will be talking about the possible return of Nicolai Zherdev to the Rangers as well as the possible return of the Winnipeg Jets to the NHL !


You can join us live in the Blueshirt Banter Chatroom to text it up with other Ranger fans while the show streams live or ring us up, as we will be taking your phone calls for the entire two hours at  (646) 478-4692

Remember Tonight at 8 PM  EST  Cya There !

Just Click The Player below to hear the broadcast. :

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Because of the Prime Time Olympic showdown between Canada and Russia, we felt it prudent to switch our Wednesday show at 8 PM to Thursday.at 8 PM.

This will give us as well as you fans more to talk about as Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby go head to head tonight in a crucial game for both teams

Tomorrows Broadcast will also serve as a jumping off point for us to talk about some possible Ranger deals as the trading deadline quickly approaches.

No show tonight, but tomorrow at 8 PM it's Game On !

Right on the heels of a spirited Tuesday show we have another one lined up for the Ranger faithful tonight Wednesday February17th starting at 8 PM and running till 10 PM EST.

Jim Schmiedeberg and Eddie "The Mouth" Gieck will be your hosts as usual and tonight's show will feature guest Mike Zippo, organizer of the "Fire Glen Sather Rally" and we will get a live update from Blueshirt Banter.com's own Nick from the Olympic village in Vancouver.

But as we always say,the stars of the show are you the fans. You can participate by calling in at (646) 478-4692 and /or visiting our Blueshirt Banter Radio Chatroom

It's all just one click away to listen in and you are good to go.

Blueshirt Banter Radio the World's Greatest Ranger Internet program is pleased to have Fire Glen Sather Rally organizer MIke Zippo as their guest tonight. Since we are a program by the fan and for the fan, this will be the perfect forum to get all the lowdown on what the Rally is going to be all about.

 

We will also be talking about the Kotalik and Higgins deal as well as breaking exclusive news on a possible new transaction that may be in the works for the Rangers.

The Blueshirt Banter Chatroom is always lively so feel free to join us while listening to the program.

 

The show starts at 8 PM please join us. You can listen to the show live or archived here:

Eddie "The Mouth" Gieck and his co-host Mandar, will be hosting 90 minutes of Pre-game coverage as the Rangers take on the Carolina Hurricanes at 7:00 PM tonight at Madison Square Garden.

The show starts at 5:30 and runs right up until game time and as always be taking your calls at 347-857-2090.

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The entire grand prize included airfare, a weekend in New York City, as well as tickets to attend a Ranger game to see Henrik Lundqvist and Henrik Zetterberg play. Over 40,000 people entered the contest.

Ulf, who average almost a point a game in his four years as a Ranger from 1978-1982, was hampered by injuries most of his time here with the Blueshirts, injuries which still plague him to this day, especially his knees and lower back.

At Age 59, Ulfie is still youthful in his demeanor and remembers his time as a Ranger fondly. I was astonished at his recollection of particular plays where he set up goals, such as one in particular that lead to a Ron Greschner tap in goal directly off a faceoff.

Ulf assured me Ron would remember the play if I asked him about it now thirty years later. I don’t doubt Ulfie for one minute, his memory, his graciousness and mind are as sharp as his passes used to be when skated for the Blueshirts.

Here are some quotes from the nice chat I had with Ulf.

On Fred Shero:  "Fred was laid back and was great to me and Anders. He always made sure he put us out on first line ahead of all the other lines, no matter what other Rangers previous status to us coming here, because we never took a shift off, we always gave it our all."

He and Anders Hedberg coming to New York:  "We really got the ball rolling with putting fans back in the seats as far as sellouts go at Madison Square Garden back in 1978.  It was great to be a part of that.  Also, in my four years here we lost to the eventual Stanley Cup champion in the playoffs every year.  I played on some very good Ranger teams."

Ulf’s philosophy on and off the ice:  " When I was on the ice, it was all about the game, nothing else was in my head. I always took pride in my faceoffs. I wanted to win every faceoff.  If I would lose a draw, I didn’t let it get me down.  I knew there would be a next time.  I took the same approach to my overall game.  You can’t change what happened in the past or predict what’s in the future but what you can do is definitely control the present and that’s how I approached the game as well in life."

On John Davidson:  "J.D was a great person.  He made sure myself and Anders were part of the team off the ice as well.  J.D was excellent at bringing the players together for gatherings when we weren’t at the rink. The Ranger teams I played on were a close tight knit family on and off the ice."

On Bobby Hull:  "Playing with Bobby in Winnipeg (WHA) was great.  He knew how to work the crowd and get them excited.  He would stay after games and sign autographs until every fan had one."

Views on Coaching : "You can’t coach through fear, especially young players, if you go that way you have players out there afraid to take chances and play their game because they are scared to make mistakes."

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[Note by Jim Schmiedeberg, our good friend Eddie "The Mouth" Gieck is going to expand his duties as co-host of Blueshirt Banter Radio and contribute here on the site as well. We welcome his unique point of view, as well as his expansive knowledge of Ranger history.]

I think every Ranger fan should root as hard as they can on any given  Blueshirt game night, the consummate Ranger fan should always maintain optimism that the club will be able to win a contest no matter how tough their opponent and no matter how dire the strait.

While he or she is doing that, try as a side project to gauge a Ranger  performance not solely on a Win-. Loss basis but on a criteria of how well the younger players are doing.

I say this because although I wish with all my life force that the Rangers will win the Stanley Cup in 2010, the reality is they probably will not and as blasphemous as that may sound, we as Ranger fans are well aware of our teams glaring shortcomings compared to some of the more "together" elite teams in the league, and although there is always hope our teams past history doesn't show much positive surprises.

So next time the Rangers are playing, keep a mental checklist of how Brian Boyle is doing on faceoffs, How is his effectiveness on wing compared to Center? Try to gauge Enver Lisin's skill level and effort from game to game. Determine if Michael Del Zotto is indeed the real deal on both ends of the ice,  Evaluate if Matt Gilroy is progressing or regressing. Ponder if Artem Anisimov's development would prosper more quickly with more ice time.

The reason I suggest this young guns type of checklist is because whether you believe it or not the Rangers in the near future will be a yearly consideration to win the Stanley Cup.  I assure you down the road this team will be young and exciting  and an Atlantic Division force. Unfortunately,  the club is stuck with a trio of absurd long term contracts that are presently gumming up the works in epic proportion and stifling the teams overall progression even if you discount the youth..

Rangers Director of player personnel Gordie Clark has done a wonderful job drafting and the Rangers have one of the better rated prospect rankings in the entire NHL, so the next time you watch the game, instead of pulling your hair about a yet another failed clear by Michal Roszival, save yourself the aggravation and instead embrace the positive, that better days are ahead. So for now smile and give a  silent cheer every time you see a 19 yr old Michael Del Zotto makes a terrific first pass out of the zone.