-Got back a little while ago from the Ranger game. What a waste. It’s painfully obvious that this is not the same team as last year. Does Coach Renney see it yet? They were shutout 3-0 by the Predators. Don’t get me wrong. The Preds are a fine team and have finally got their act together after an 0-3 start. But if your opponent gives you two 5-on-3’s for over a minute and you can’t even come close to scoring, there’s something wrong. It would help if the same European forwards didn’t overpass the puck and pass up clear shooting lanes. Tonight, even Brendan Shanahan picked up this disease. In one word, unwatchable. Aside from the awful power plays which drove fans nuts, there was the abysmal defensive play (if you can actually call it that) of Marek “Big Bird” Malik. Last year, he was the Blueshirts’ best defenseman. This season, he’s their worst nightmare. Never the most fluid skater, the 6-5 oaf relies on positional play while almost never using his body. Last year, he was in shape and teamed well with Michael Rozsival. This year, Malik is almost never in the right spot and frequently caught out of position. He’s an odd-man rush and hooking call waiting to happen. Oh btw he had a couple tonight. And also was abused by Scott Nichol on the Preds’ second goal. It doesn’t look like he’s in shape. If that’s the case, that makes Rozsival’s job almost impossible as he’s had to overcompensate for Malik’s lackluster play. So here’s my question. At what point does Renney finally bench Big Bird?

-So you’re Tony LaRussa. A self-proclaimed genius. Your team trails a desperate Mets team by two runs in the seventh. So it’s not over, right? So what do you do when you’re trying to wrap up the series in six instead of going to a winner take all Game 7 in front of a frantic Shea? You bring in former Amazin’s reject Braden Looper and watch him predictably give up two additional runs with two outs in the seventh. Oh btw the Cards wound up getting two off Billy Wagner in the ninth to lose by that two-run margin. If they lose the series, you can look back at LaRussa’s moronic decision to not go with his best.

-Just wondering. But do you think Mets’ fans will be praying if Wagner comes in with a one-run lead later tonight?