NEW YORK -- It was advantage Rangers on Saturday in the off-ice gamesmanship that is running parallel to the Eastern Conference final between New York and Montreal. There has been no shortage of storylines in this series, which has already featured one surgery and two suspensions in three games. And with two days off between Games 3 and 4, the old adage that idle hands are the devils workshop was proved true at Madison Square Garden when two New York assistant coaches showed up to watch Montreal practise. The intrusion seemed squarely aimed at getting under Montreals skin. When Canadiens goalie coach Stephane Waite noticed the break in protocol, he told head coach Michel Therrien. As the players stretched, Therrien moved down the rink and had words with Rangers assistant Ulf Samuelsson. Observers said the exchange was somewhat prickly. Samuelsson, no stranger to antagonizing rivals during his playing days, and fellow assistant coach Dan Lacroix left soon after. Therrien told reporters later there was a "gentlemans agreement" that rival coaches dont attend practices on non-game days. The idea is to allow coaches to make changes or test out new strategies in private. "When we saw those assistant coaches there, they were not supposed to be there, so we let them know," Therrien said pithily. New York president and GM Glen Sather watched the practice from one of the top rows of the lower bowl at Madison Square Garden, seemingly more interested in his phone than what was happening on the ice. Game 4 is Sunday night. The Rangers lead the series two games to one. While coaches seemed hot and bothered over the presence of the Rangers coaches, Canadiens defenceman P.K. Subban was oblivious. "I get in trouble when Im looking up in the stands," he said, drawing laughs. The Canadiens, coming off a bitter seven-game battle with their rival Bruins, are finding themselves down and dirty again in the trenches with the Rangers. The series has already left an ugly trail. Montreals Brandon Prust has been suspended two games for the Game 3 hit that broke Derek Stepans jaw. Rangers agitator Dan Carcillo has been banned for 10 games for jostling a linesman in the wake of the Prust hit. And Stepan was recovering in hospital Saturday from surgery to repair his jaw. Carcillo has requested that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman review the 10-game suspension, according to the NHL Players Association. "I think its building," Habs forward Brendan Gallagher said of the animosity between the two teams, which he has helped grow by throwing his five-foot-nine, 180-pound body around with reckless abandon. "Last game, it certainly took a big step forward," he added. Gallagher looks like his mum still packs him a lunch. But he is fearless, a hockey Smurf full of grit and attitude. While his assistants were stirring the pot Saturday, Rangers coach Alain Vigneault -- the picture of calm normally -- was still burning over the missed call on the Prust hit and the domino-effect mayhem that ensued. "At the end of the day if the right call is made on the ice, that whole situation doesnt happen," he lamented. The war of words continued on the Rangers website, which noted Stepan was New Yorks second-leading playoff scorer while fourth-liner Prust "has had trouble keeping up with the speedy Rangers through the first three games of this series." The good news for Vigneault was word that Derick Brassard is healthy. The New York centre left early in Game 1 with an upper body injury after being checked by Canadiens defenceman Mike Weaver and has not played since. Brassard told reporters after practice that he was good to go. That brought a smile to the face of Vigneault. "I was told he cleared himself," Vigneault said with a laugh. "Thats good to know. He didnt tell me." As one might expect, Vigneault said Stepan was "unlikely" to play Sunday. The 23-year-old centre has not missed a game since coming into the league in the 2010-11 season. Carcillo declined to speak to reporters Saturday. But Vigneault said the player knew he needed to have kept control of himself. "I cant begin to tell you how bad he feels about the whole thing," the coach said. "His situation, his personal future, the team. Theres nothing he can do about it now and theres nothing we can do about it." Forward Brad Richards called the abrasive Carcillo "a great teammate." "I heard a lot about him before but I dont have one bad thing to say about him." The New York players, for the most part, had little to say about the length of the ban to Prust, a former Ranger. But goalie Henrik Lundqvist said that hot spots in the playoffs usually cool down in the off-season. "Especially during the playoffs, you dont see your opponents as friends, even though youve played with them. Right now I dont have any friends in Montreal," the stylish Swede said with a chuckle. "Theyre just enemies and you play it that way. Thats your approach. "But you also have to understand this game, you know, theres a lot of players that play on the edge. Thats their role, thats what they do. Theyre always going to play it like that and sometimes things happen and maybe they take it a little too far. As it comes to relationships, as friends, in the summertime you move past it. "But right now, do I like what happened? Absolutely not. But its on the ice, it happens on the ice. It is what it is." Michael Bournival slotted into Prusts place on Montreals fourth line in practice. Francis Bouillon was skating in place of Nathan Beaulieu on defence. Subban and other Habs said, despite the Game 3 overtime win, the Canadiens have more in the tank. "I dont think weve played our best hockey yet this series," said Subban. And they acknowledged that they cannot rely on young goalie Dustin Tokarskis heroics, as they did last time out. "We now we cant expect him to do that every game, so we want to be better in front of him," said Canadiens captain Brian Gionta. On the Rangers side, J.T. Miller was skating in place of Carcillo on the fourth line with Derek Dorsett and Brian Boyle. New York gave winger Chris Kreider a "maintenance day" off. That meant Dominic Moore skated with Rick Nash and Jesper Fast, filling in for Kreider. NOTES: Game 4 will be shown at the Bell Centre in Montreal. Canadiens officials say more than 20,000 tickets have already been snapped up. Discount Sports Jerseys . 1 Caroline Wozniacki and three-time champion Serena Williams cruised into the semifinals, while last years runner-up Vera Zvonareva succumbed to Aussie Samantha Stosur in Thursdays womens quarterfinal action at the U. Authentic Sports Jerseys . - A retired Indiana school principal who was NASCAR star Jeff Gordons drivers education teacher was killed with his wife in a Tennessee crash while returning from watching Gordon race. https://www.discountsportsjerseyscheap.com/. -- Jose Bautista never worries about hitting homers during the regular season. Fake Sports Jerseys . John Albert Elway, 24, was booked into jail early Saturday morning after an incident near a college campus in downtown Denver, according to jail records. Cheap Sports Jerseys . Or, for that matter, the aged.So the Buffalo Bills lost to the Atlanta Falcons by three in the Rogers Centre and the talk continues about the NFL coming to Canada, specifically Toronto. I can see both sides of optimism and possibility as well as pessimism and an unknown. There is no doubt that as a city and country, Toronto and Canada have a superiority by comparison to many American NFL cities in terms of population and marketing business opportunities. By comparison, Green Bay, Buffalo, Indianapolis and Jacksonville are small cities and the truth is, if the NFL can make it in those markets, they can make it happen in Toronto. Because it is high profile and new, the ability to sell out the stadium in the first few years would not be a problem. Im sure many that know little about football would purchase tickets just to be there. It really would be something and the revenue generated for eight home games would be significant and competitive to many established NFL teams. But will it be a success that lasts for years and decades? The presentation of football has changed dramatically over the years because of TV, points spreads, fantasy, red zone channel, pre-game shows and on and on and on. In many of the games, the stands are far from sold out. Even the Monday night game between the Giants and Redskins had many prime seats available. The Rogers Centre holds about 54,000 for football so it would be the smallest stadium in the NFL. A new stadium would cost billions to be competitive with other physical structures. But I do think it is going to happen. First would be London , second would be Los Angeles and third would be Toronto. I can only guess at a timeframe as it would take an identifiable owner of aggressive attitude to push it through. I do hope if and when it happens that the league relocates as opposed to expands. 32 teams is enough. Playoff Watch The NFC East is down to Dallas and Philadelphia. The Cowboys are 4-0 in the division and now have 11 days between games with the next one in Chicago on Monday night. With the Eagles, you cant express enough praise toward Nick Foles and his ability as a quarterback. He has 19 touchdowns and no interceptions this season, one away from equaling Peyton Manning last year (20-0). He is willing to take sacks and not take risks at just the right moment and has an understanding of all aspects of football that now puts him in the conversation with all the young quarterbacks with bright futures. But he has only started six games this year. As always with the NFC East, the teams you play and how they are playing is critical. The Cowboys remaining schedule includes road games at Chicago and Washington as well as home games against Green Bay and Philadelphia. The key game outside of the last one is the Packers if Aaron Rodgers is playing and Green Bay still has playoff hopes. If both answers are yes, that changes everything in that game. The Eagles have homes games against Detroit and Chicago along with road games at Minnesota and Dallas. Both schedules are about the same in evaluation of competitive reality so I would not be surprised if everything comes down to December 29 in Dallas. Pivotal Question I was asked the question the other day if the Jets should draft a quarterback with their first pick, which could be a good player. In the upcoming draft there may be as many as five quarterbacks that could be quick, efficient starters. Geno Smith has had a tough year. Mark Sanchez has had a tough year for different reasons. For Geno it is an inability to protect the ball consisteently and for Sanchez, it is an a heath issue.dddddddddddd I am not sure which one is going to rise to the starters position next year but if you already have two quarterbacks, do you really want a third? I do think with Smith, it is burn-out. When you think about it, it has been a year and a half since he has received a break from football. From the end of his collage season to the All-Star bowl games to the combine to the individual work-outs to the draft to the organized team activities to mini-camp to training camp and now Week 14, you can understand why he has regressed. It does not effect some players like Russell Wilson and some it does. I think Smith needs to take a vacation in February and come back in March and start all over again. So to answer the question, dont draft a quarterback, draft the best receiver you can when you time comes. Winning Ways The New England Pariots have now had 13 winning seasons in a row, which is pretty impressive, not only this year but overtime. Building a football team is one skill, building a good winning football program is a different skill. A team is that year and no other. Every team is different than the last one and a team has a one-year lifespan. A program is a set of circumstances over extended time. No doubt the biggest mistake in the Patriot "program" was the evaluation of Hernandez and its repercussions but the Patriots have recovered and now that block of time is a memory more than a point of adversity. But 13 winning seasons cant be rationalized, the best football "program " is just outside of Boston with the Patriots. Time To Sit In Washington, is there anyone out there who wants to see Kirk Cousins start a game or two instead of RG3? Robert Griffin is coming of his best game of the season but still takes too many shots. He has two knee injuries to the same knee and a third would be pretty much career-ending. I doubt it will happen but I would sit Robert Griffin and play Kirk Cousins for the last three games. It would make for extreme competition at quarterback in 2014 and give Griffin a true block of time to heal and take the knee brace off come summer football. Its a tough decision but sometimes the most logical ones are. Best of the Best And finally, the Seattle Seahawks play in San Francisco this week and I would not be surprised if the 49ers won. But, I was unable to evaluate that 34-7 win in one way. Seattle is very athletic up front across the offensive line. Having Russell 0kung and Max Unger and Breno Giacomini back at left tackle, centre and right tackle respectively was a difference-making trio of success. Their remaining schedule includes road games at San Francisco and the Giants as well as home games against Arizona and St. Louis and hopefully an NFC Championship. At 15-1, it would be well-earned. In the AFC, I look at the way Denver and New England responded and I say Denver is a better team. Both teams were coming off a very tough game against each other and both had to travel the next week (New England to Houston - Denver to Kansas City). The Patriots struggled to beat Houston and the Broncos looked good beating the Chiefs. Finally, football is a complex game and sometimes complicated while other times, its very easy. When we were watching Peyton Manning, it was easy to see his line of scrimmage read. There is Eric Decker out to his right lined up against a rookie cornerback. Just throw the ball to Decker. Sometimes football is complicated, sometimes its simple. ' ' '