The Princess Blade

Just got home from an exciting but ultimately unfulfilling game between the New York Rangers and the Buffalo Sabres. The Rangers showed up with their usual hard hitting*, delicate passing and the genius of Heinrik Lundqvist. Sadly they were outmatched by a combination of the Sabres dumb luck, their speed and some truly shitty refereesmanship. I mean, I am the first to admit that I often see a call and disagree with it vocally and vehemently only to watch the replay and have to sheepishly recant. However, when some simian puts his stick under Jagr, kneels on the old guy then rears back and thwacks him across the face I have to stick by what I'm seeing and wonder why you aren't calling that.

Anyway, none of that is important because it has no bearing on the best moment of the whole game. The Rangers heroically clambered over this shit-ass ref to get themselves into overtime with a 2-2 tie. As they skated out for the OT the legend that is Jaromir Jagr looked down at his stick, he flipped the blade up toward his face, ran his fingers along the blade then dipped his head and, wait for it, kissed it.

I am not making this up.

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*My beloved Darius Kasparitis has been in neither of the games I've been to this year. I've looked on the internet and all I can come up with is some vagueness about a groin injury followed by a "conditioning" stint on the minor league team in Hartford. I miss him. But I have to admit that Hollweg is taking over nicely. During the second period, already sporting a black eye, he checked someone so hard and so sloppily that he knocked the guy's helmet off. The ref called it but play wasn't stopped so, knowing he was already going to the bad boy's box, he rolled up on someone else and just clocked him, didn't even try to disguise it. The student may be surpassing the master at this point.