HOCKEY LAST NIGHT: DANGER, RANGERS

Only seven days left in the War on Christmas.

Devils 6 Rangers 1: Back in the day, the great Gump Worsley was once asked which team gave him the most trouble. His answer: "The Rangers." He was playing for New York at the time. The current Blueshirt netminders, Henrik Lundqvist and Kevin Weekes, can readily relate after being bombed for 15 goals in two games this weekend.

Blackhawks 2 Avalanche 1: It was a day too good to be true for Chicago sports fans -- the Bears scored 34 points and the Blackhawks got a power-play goal (Adrian Aucoin's game-winner).

Predators 2 Blues 1 (OT): St. Louis goalie Manny Legace, who could still be in Detroit if not for that playoff loss to Edmonton last spring, went and stuck a few more pins in his voodoo dolls of Fernando Pisani and Brad Winchester after his slacker teammates failed to give him enough support yet again, both offensively and defensively.

Today's better games: Red Wings-Blue Jackets, 7 p.m.; Flames-Ducks, 10 p.m.

HOMETOWN BREAKDOWN

The Ottawa 67's romped 4-1 over the Kingston Frontenacs, and it's not even clear if we could ever understand what's truly wrong with that team. (As the Kingston Whig-Standard's Claude Scilley put it, the Fronts "played like lumps of coal.")

Back with more later. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.