Then there is the incident that happened during the 2009 NHL playoffs

"That's a tough job to do, and he's a tough guy and he's very capable of doing it." However, Brashear has been a non-factor in the first 18 games of the season. The Rangers' enforcer has had trouble staying healthy, including a lingering bruised right wrist, which has kept him out of seven of the last nine games. When he is on the ice, Brashear has barely been noticeably and has yet to convincingly win a fight for New York. With players like Brashear, Brian Boyle, Dane Byers, Aaron Voros, and even the agitator Sean Avery on the roster, why does this team lack toughness Where is the protection for the stars on the team When Calgary Flames' Curtis Glencross delivered a high blind-side hit to the head of Chris Drury this past Saturday night, where was the retribution It wasn't like the Rangers were down by three goals already and afraid to take a penalty; the hit was put on Drury just 48 seconds into the game.

That's the captain of the Rangers going down to the ice with a concussion and not one Rangers player did anything about it. Wade Redden actually side stepped the fallen Drury, before gingerly skating over to Glencross after the whistle had already blown. How about all of the times when Henrik Lundqvist and even Steve Valiquette have been run over while in net, an issue that at least dates back to last year (in terms of it consistently occurring). The Rangers don’t protect their goaltenders, the most important position player on the team, and prove once again they are one of the softer teams in the league. Then there is the incident that happened during the 2009 NHL playoffs. No Rangers fan will ever forget the very late elbow that Brashear put on Blair Betts in Game Six of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. Unfortunately, Colton Orr, who is now with the Toronto Maple Leafs, was a healthy scratch that game, but the only other Ranger who reacted was Paul Mara, who is now skating with the Montreal Canadiens.

Mara still didn't do much; he only pushed Brashear into the boards and chirped at him, collecting an unearned 2:00 roughing penalty in the process.The Rangers need to play more physical and need to start protecting their players.It was really disturbing to see Drury go down and not one player on the Rangers do anything about it A statement must be made to the rest of the league.. Vice President-elect Joe Biden arrived in Baghdad on Monday for talks with leaders of Iraq, where the withdrawal of some 140,000 American troops is seen as a key challenge facing the incoming U.S administration. The Delaware senator, who takes office with President-elect Barack Obama later this month, met President Jalal Talabani at his Baghdad residence. The visit by the long-time chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee came at the tail end of a tour of southwest Asia that included stops in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where Obama wants to send more troops as he withdraws from Iraq. Biden voted for the 2003 invasion of Iraq but later become a critic of the war and the way President George W Bush executed it. He is best known in Iraq as the author of a 2006 plan to divide the country into self-governing Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish enclaves an idea that offended many Iraqi politicians and was quietly put on the back burner as violence ebbed.(Reporting by Abdulrahman Taha; writing by Tim Cocks and Peter Graff; editing by Michael Roddy). With two weeks to prepare for a Monday night game with the Ravens, the Browns have their best opportunity to get a quality win. The Ravens whupped the Browns in Week Three, 34-3, and forced Brady Quinn back to the bench at halftime. With Quinn coming back into the starter’s role, according to the latest reports, revenge could indeed be sweet. All the off-field drama aside, the Browns have a clear need to get a victory against the Ravens, or all the talk about “the process” will continue to fall on deaf ears.