At the All-Star break, halfway through the season, the two teams with New York on their jerseys are heading in opposite directions.

>>Reuters

A strange New York-focused NHL rehash from Reuters -- aimed at international and expat circulation, perhaps? It's all true, it's just nothing, on this Friday afternoon, that wasn't true a few days ago. (Though I kinda miss the days when the Rangers had "NEW YORK" going down diagonally on their road jerseys.)

As for the "opposite directions" thing: it's odd, but the Rangers haven't worried me this season ("worried" in the "Oh, god I hope they don't succeed" sense). Somehow, despite their record and third-place rank in the East, I have not taken them seriously. I think the low scoring is part of it -- which is possibly off base, since a good defensive team should theoretically do well in the playoffs.

But my other source of comfort? Redden, Drury and Gomez strike me as the same overpaid weights they appeared to be when they were first signed. In the back of my mind, every year those signings don't pay off is another year wasted as they become evermore burdensome weights in later-age seasons of their career. And that seems to be a legit worry with at least one segment of Rangers fans (although what fanbase doesn't fret about such things?).

It's a very Islanders-oriented perspective. But in a season like this, we do what we can to get by.