New York Teams Keep (Lin)ning

With the dust still settling in New York from Super Bowl XLVI, two other local teams have been making noise in their respective leagues. After Tuesday nights 3-0 win over the Boston Bruins, the New York Rangers have become the clear number one in the Eastern Conference and arguably in the NHL. While the New York Knicks are riding a six game win streak under the wing of new sensation Jeremy Lin. Overall, it’s a great time to be a New York Sports fan.

            The Rangers have finally moved away from the Yankee mentality of over-paying old superstars and have focused on bringing younger players up through their farm league. So far this season four players with major ice time have been called up from their affiliate the Hartford Wale and have brought an energetic spark to the team. Aside from the great effort the team continues to give every night, much of the Rangers success can be attributed to their goaltending. Starting goalie Henrik Lundqvist is leading the league in both goals against average, with 1.81, and shutouts with 7. The team is also anchored by veterans Ryan Callahan and Marian Gaborik who lead the team in points with 48 and 41 respectively. Things are looking good for this young Rangers team who now have a 9-point lead in the Eastern Conference over the second place Boston Bruins. If Lunqvist can continue his level of play you can expect a deep run in the playoffs by the New York Rangers.

            Back over on the hardwood, the New York Knicks were facing implosion just two weeks ago with all-stars Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire both sitting out due to injury. The team’s 8-15 record didn’t seem like it would be improving anytime soon until Harvard graduate and now NBA superstar Jeremy Lin came onto the scene. Lin is now 6-0 in his first six career starts and has jumpstarted a slumping Knicks team. He has averaged 27 points , 9 assists and 3 rebounds per game in his past five games and had scored more points in his first five career starts then any player in NBA history, and yes I mean more then both Michael Jordan and Lebron James. After hitting a game winning three last night in Toronto and finishing with a team high 27 points and 11 assists Lin continues to prove that he is the real deal and I cant find any reason to disagree.  Some people are beginning to question whether the return of the team’s two biggest players will disrupt the teams newly acquired flow. But Anthony responded with, “I can play with anyone, I always have.” Don’t look now Knicks fans, you finally have something to cheer about.

- Scott Burgess