With the severity of the pain he felt when his back seized up during the pregame warmup on Dec. 16, Devils defenseman Henrik Tallinder thought he might not play again this season.

Here he is now, practicing with the team and hoping to return to the Saturday afternoon lineup against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Tallinder has missed 6 games due to his back. Alex Urbom, a rookie defensemen, was sent back to Albany as Coach Pete DeBoer is confident Tallinder will return.

“We wanted to get through a full practice and get a little contact in,” DeBoer said. “I thought he looked good to me. See how he wakes up tomorrow, but he looks good.”

Tallinder almost suffered another injury during practice yesterday when he was hit on the top of the left foot by a Dainius Zubrus shot. Even though his foot is sore, he is still expected to play.

Tallinder wasn’t the only Devil to be injured during practice, Zubrus suffered an injury of his own when he put a shot on net and the puck bounced out and hit him in the mouth. He broke one tooth and will need additional dental work.

“I shot the puck. Moose (Johan Hedberg) made a save and it came back at me. I was still going to the net, so it hit me in the mouth,” Zubrus said. “It chipped one tooth and another was pushed in.”

Get New Jersey Devils tickets for this New Year’s Eve matchup and all Devils games at Select-A-Ticket.

Christmas came early this year for the New York Giants with a 29-14 victory over the NY Jets on Christmas Eve. This victory also gave the Giants bragging rights as the winner of the “Battle of New York.”

“I hate to use that cliche, but this is a huge one,” left tackle David Diehl said. “This is about the city, the city of New York and what team wants to be responsible. They have talked all week and said what they wanted to say. From Day 1, they’re our big brother and other stuff. We went out there and played our game and showed whose stadium this is.”

The Giants had their first 99-yard play in franchise history on a touchdown pass from Eli Manning to Victor Cruz. Cruz, who had three catches for 164 yards, broke Amani Toomer’s single-season mark for yards receiving.

With this win the Giants are 8-7, which puts them in the running for the NFC East title. The deciding game will be the Giants’ season finale against the Dallas Cowboys on New Year’s night at 8:20PM in MetLife Stadium.

With the loss, the Jets find themselves fighting for an AFC Wildcard spot. The Jets need a win against the Miami Dolphins next week. In addition to this win, they will also need some help from several other teams on order to remain alive in the post-season.

The Jets need the Cincinnati Bengals, Tennessee Titans and either one of the Oakland Raiders or Denver Broncos to lose (combined with a Jets victory over Miami) to reach the playoffs.

Each team still has a shot, find New York Giants tickets today and see them battle Dallas Sunday night for the NFC East title.

Despite losing five of their last six games, the New York Giants are still in the playoff picture in the NFC.

With a victory over the Jets this Saturday combined with a Dallas loss to Philadelphia, the Giants would regain first place in the NFC East. Given their tie-breaker advantage over the Dallas Cowboys, the team they play in the season finale, the Giants control their own destiny. Should the Giants defeat both the Jets and Cowboys, they will make the playoffs regardless of what Dallas does versus the Eagles.

The New York Jets however are not in such a guaranteed position. While the Giants know exactly what they have to do in order to ensure a berth, the Jets could win both of their final games but still not be a lock for a playoff spot in the AFC.

The Jets would benefit by a loss or two by the Bengals to help New York reach the playoffs. This is from ESPN on the subject:

If the Jets and Bengals both win out to finish 10-6, they’d have to resort to the strength-of-victory tiebreaker. (They’d have the same conference record and same common-opponents record.) The Jets would hold a significant advantage over the Bengals. Based on current records, the Jets’ SOV would be 56-83 (combined records of teams they beat); the Bengals’ SOV would be 51-88, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

But first things first, the Giants and the Jets will play at 1pm this Saturday, a Christmas Eve matchup which is a home game for the Jets at MetLife Stadium.

There’s been a lot of back and forth in the newspapers this week with each team taking verbal jabs at one another but all the talking goes out the window and the game is determined on the field. This is probably the biggest game to be played at MetLife Stadium yet.

Fans can find New York Giants tickets and New York Jets tickets at Select-A-Ticket, a Riverdale, New Jersey based ticket broker who has been selling football tickets since 1978.

The New York Rangers made the short trip to Newark, New Jersey’s Prudential Center last night to take on the New Jersey Devils. The result was a 4-1 New York victory which was a much closer game than the final score would indicate.

As always with these two teams, there was physical play, end-to-end action and terrific saves at both ends by the goaltenders.

To give you an idea of what a Rangers vs Devils game is like, the first fight of the evening came at 0:03 of the first period. That’s right, THREE SECONDS after the opening faceoff there was a fight between Mike Rupp of NY and NJ’s Cam Janssen. With a decided reach advantage, Rupp landed more blows but in the end it was a close bout without many haymakers landed but it certainly set the tone and sent a message that this was going to be a hard fought game.

New Jersey had the edge in play through the first period, out-shooting the Rangers by a margin of 12-4 and scoring the lone goal, a rebound shot which Travis Zajac put up and over sprawling goaltender Henrik Lundqvist.

New York picked up their play in period number two, hitting the goal post behind Devils goalie Martin Brodeur at least 3 separate times and finally evened the score at 1 when Artem Anisimov converted a centering feed from Derek Stepan. Stepan’s pass deflected off a Devils defenseman right onto the stick of a charging Anisimov who buried it behind Brodeur for his 7th tally of the season.

The Rangers took the lead for good in the third period on a goal by Marian Gaborik. Another strong play by Anisimov resulted in a shot on goal which was stopped by Brodeur but he couldn’t handle the rebound and Gaborik banged it home for the 2-1 lead.

New Jersey threatened to tie it up on a number of chances but Lundqvist was stellar between the pipes, turning back a total of 30 shots by the end of the game.

It appeared a gaff by Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh would give the Devils a chance to tie it as he took a two minute minor for closing his hand on the puck with 6:57 remaning in the third period.

However, it was the Rangers who took advantage as a clearing attempt by Rangers dman Stu Bickel – playing in his first NHL game – went past Ilya Kovalchuk at the Devils’ point and was pounced upon by speedy NY rookie Carl Hagelin. Hagelin broke down 2-on-1 with Brian Boyle and rifled a shot past a stunned Brodeur for a shorthanded goal which gave the visitors a two goal cushion. It marked the 10th shorthanded goal surrendered by the Devils this season, the most given up by any team in the league.

Gaborik put the icing on the cake with an empty net goal in the final 4 seconds of the game. The two goal game gives Gaborik 19 on the season after netting just 22 last year.

The two teams are battling for playoff position in the NHL’s Eastern Conference and will meet up several more times before the year is over.

Find New York Rangers tickets or New Jersey Devils tickets at SelectATicket.com for each of the teams’ home games.

Upon the death of Jerry Garcia in 1995, the Grateful Dead’s time officially came to an end. Founding members rightfully decided that it just is not the Grateful Dead without Garcia.

Over the years the surviving members have toured in various incarnations because, as any DeadHead knows, THE MUSIC NEVER STOPPED!

The latest variation includes rhythm guitarist Bob Weir and bassist Phil Lesh in a band named FURTHUR, the name taken from the famous Ken Kesey bus.

Playing old Grateful Dead favorites with Dark Star Orchestra guitarist John Kadlecik admirably taking on the “Jerry parts”, Furthur has been touring for two years now and the fans really enjoy their sound.

In addition to the expected Grateful Dead tunes, Furthur also has dusted off some long-lost Dead numbers and thrown in a wide range of covers. Some of the materials they’ve played are from bands such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, The Band, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Ryan Adams, Van Morrison and The Clash.

Furthur has scheduled an east coast tour in 2012 including an eight night stand at the Beacon Theatre in New York City. Furthur will play the Beacon on April 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17 & 18.

Fans of Furthur, the Grateful Dead, RatDog and Jam Band music in general will be thrilled to hear these songs played live once again. Don’t miss these legends of rock n roll live in concert at the Beacon Theatre. Find Furthur tickets today.

On Monday, the New Jersey Devils traded forward Rod Pelley and defenseman Mark Fraser to the Anaheim Ducks in return for defenseman Kurtis Foster and minor league goalie Timo Pielmeier. The deal also included a 7th round draft pick going to the Ducks in 2012.

Pelley went scoreless in the seven games played for the Devils this season, while Fraser went scoreless in four games played. The combined salaries for Pelley and Fraser, who will both be unrestricted free agents after this season, total $1.25 million.

Foster, in his seventh NHL season, has only played in nine games this season for Anaheim. He missed the first six games of this season recovering from thigh surgery. In those nine games he accrued only two points and eight penalty minutes. The Devils will be looking to Foster for help on their power play. 22 year old goalie, Timo Pielmeier, has been in Elmira (ECHL). He appeared in 10 games this season with a 3.45 GAA.

With these additions,Pete DeBoer will need to make roster moves when center Travis Zajac and defenseman Anton Volchenkov are soon taken off IR.

“I think we get a pretty good acquisition very soon in Travis Zajac, who will be back soon and Anton should be back by the end of the week,” Lamoriello said. “When you have such quality individuals (like Pelley and Fraser) who’ve given you so much each and every day in practice and in the locker room as support, you try and do the best for them. This is a win situation for both teams. They’re getting two role players who will be tremendous for them and we’re getting a player who has tremendous upside in the role we see that he’ll fit.”

Find New Jersey Devils tickets now for all home games at the Prudential Center including next Tuesday’s matchup versus the New York Rangers.

The five hottest events on SelectATicket.com last week were:

1. NBA All Star Game Tickets
2. 2012 MLB All Star Game Tickets
3. Wrestlemania Tickets
4. The Book of Mormon Tickets
5. Big East Tournament Tickets

The return of the NBA clearly has fans excited for the All Star Game in Orlando this season.

Wrestlemania has been popular all year long in anticipation of the big event in Miami this coming April 1st.

The hottest show on Broadway, The Book of Mormon, is no stranger to this list, either!

Be sure to return next week to see what events make the top five list for the current week.

The NHL Board of Governors revealed a plan to do away with the current 15-team Eastern and Western conferences and their three sub-divisions. Their plan is to now have four conferences.

This new alignment does have its benefits. It will increase regional rivalries and competition for playoff spots, in addition to decreasing travel time for teams out West. The alignment will also guarantee home-and-home series among all teams.

The new look conferences, which have yet to be named, are as follows:

1. New Jersey Devils, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Rangers, New York Islanders, Washington Capitals, Carolina Hurricanes
2. Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, Buffalo Sabres, Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning
3. Detroit Red Wings, Columbus Blue Jackets, Nashville Predators, St. Louis Blues, Chicago Blackhawks, Minnesota Wild, Dallas Stars, Winnipeg Jets.
4. Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks, Phoenix Coyotes, San Jose Sharks, Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Colorado Avalanche.

Based on statistics, the Rangers, Devils and Islanders are set to do battle in the most difficult of the four new conferences. Since the 2004-05 season, the teams in this new conference have combined to send 27 teams to the playoffs. This is the highest percentage out of all the new conferences. These same teams have also averaged 92.2 points in the standings over that same time period as well, another best out of the new conferences.

With this new alignment, only four out of the seven teams in the conference the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers are in will make the playoffs. This will make the intra-conference rivalries even more intense than they already are!

Find New Jersey Devils tickets and New York Rangers tickets online and enjoy the fastest game in town.

Jesus Christ Superstar, a musical written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, will be coming to Broadway after a completely sold out, critically praised, extended run at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Canada. Des McAnuff, a two-time Tony Award winning director, brings a bold, new vision to the classic rock opera. McAnuff puts a totally new twist on Jesus Christ Superstar, playing on Rice’s concept of a romantic triangle between Jesus, Mary and Judas.

When asked about the love triangle twist, McAnuff replied, “It’s very much there in the album already. Tim has talked about the love triangle, but I added the term “secular love triangle” since one of the show’s amazing achievements is that they look at Christ as a man. It’s undeniable he was one of the most remarkable people who graced the planet. Even if you don’t believe he was the son of God, it tells an inspiring and human story.”

Although casting has not yet been announced, it is expected that much of the original Stratford cast will be reclaiming their roles on Broadway.

The musical, about the last days of Jesus’ life, will begin preview performances on March 1, 2012 at Broadway’s Neil Simon Theater. Jesus Christ Superstar will open on Broadway on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 64th birthday, March 22, 2012.

Jesus Christ Superstar first opened on Broadway in 1971. As it happens, Jesus Christ Superstar won’t be the only religious musical on Broadway this season. A new production of another ’70s musical, Stephen Schwartz’s “Godspell,” opened earlier this fall at the Circle In The Square Theatre.

Find Jesus Christ Superstar tickets today or any Broadway tickets at Select-A-Ticket. Select-A-Ticket has been buying and selling Broadway tickets since 1978, even access to sold out performances are not out of the question.

Every year since 1933 the Radio City Christmas Spectacular has been thrilling holiday revelers with their exciting show filled with dance numbers and holiday magic.

Featuring the World Famous Rockettes dancers and the big man himself, Santa Claus, the Radio City Christmas Spectacular is a holiday tradition right in the heart of New York City.

Visitors travel from far and wide to visit New York at this time of year. With the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center right across the street, Radio City Music Hall gets a lot of crowds this time of year. That is why they hold several performances per day, and they still sell out most shows!

If you are near New York City, heading there this holiday season or are even thinking about it, you are best served ordering your Radio City Christmas Spectacular tickets in advance. Countless disappointed fans are turned away daily at the door due to sold out performances. Buy in advance and get ready for the most exciting show of the season in the greatest city in the world.

This year they have added new numbers and thrilling 3D special effects but have not strayed from the true meaning of the Christmas Spectacular show, instead they have enhanced it. See this all new and wonderful extravaganza before it is too late, the final performance is quickly approaching and you will have to wait until the end of 2012 to get another chance to experience the magic.

Following last night’s victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins, the New York Rangers are on fire with 3 consecutive victories and 7 in a row on home ice. The Rangers appear to finally be putting it all together at Madison Square Garden, fans will recall that over the past several years the Rangers have had a rough go of it at MSG but this season they have so far been able to own their building. The Garden Faithful have been rocking this season, too!

Only three points behind Pittsburgh for first place in the Eastern Conference and with 4 games in hand on the Penguins, it cannot be stressed enough just how important it was for the Rangers to win last night’s game. Storming out to a 4-1 lead in the second period on goals by Marian Gaborik, John Mitchell, Brad Richards and Ryan Callahan, the Rangers surrendered a late 2nd period goal to the Pens and held on for their lives in the 3rd period to squeeze out the regulation time victory. Points in the standings are important no matter what time of year it is as the conference is tight and every season the playoff spots aren’t decided until the final games of the year. It would be nice for a change to see the NY Rangers head into the last month of the season with some breathing room instead of fighting tooth and nail just to reach the playoffs.

The NHL season is already 25% complete and the Rangers are looking to continue their strong play into the next 21 games. They are among the stingiest defenses in the league so far and all of this has been done without All-Star shutdown defenseman Marc Staal in the lineup. Staal has yet to play a game this season as he deals with post-concussion symptoms but a positive sign was revealed this week as he has started light skating at the Rangers practice facility. If the Rangers can add their all-star defenseman to the already formidable current lineup, it can be nothing but a huge bonus for the team.

Be among the most passionate fans in hockey, see the Rangers dominate on home ice at historic Madison Square Garden by ordering New York Rangers tickets today!

The National Hockey League’s fifth annual Winter Classic game will be played in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies. The Philadelphia Flyers will square off against their long-time Atlantic Division rivals, the New York Rangers on Monday, January 2, 2012.

An alumni game between former Flyers and Rangers players is scheduled for December 31st. The game will be broadcast live by Versus.

The Rangers shut out the Flyers yesterday when the two franchises met for the first time this season. This win was New York’s sixth straight victory at home. This is their best Madison Square Garden start in nearly 20 years.

The scoreless first period featured a bout at center ice 4 seconds into the game between New York’s Brandon Prust and Philadelphia’s Zac Rinaldo.

”It’s been a long time coming and we’ve been waiting for it. The game was a little more in the spotlight and everyone is looking forward to this Winter Classic,” said Prust, referring to the outdoor game at Citizens Bank Ballpark in Philadelphia. ”It always feels a little more like a playoff atmosphere with Philadelphia.”

Rangers’ rookie Carl Hagelin, playing in his second NHL game, netted his first career goal 5 minutes into the third period.

”I’m just going out and playing my game,” Hagelin said. ”The puck bounced out to me and I just whacked it in.” It was the Rangers’ third-straight win against the Flyers, dating back to last season, outscoring Philadelphia 12-2 in those contests. This was only the third loss this season for the Flyers on the road. The Rangers will also host the Flyers at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 23, a little over a week before the Winter Classic.

Find NHL Winter Classic tickets today and be one of the lucky fans to attend the biggest event of the NHL regular season.

It appears unlikely that New York Jets running back, LaDainian Tomlinson, will play in the team’s game against the Buffalo Bills. Tomlinson did not practice all week because of a sprained medial collateral ligament that has already caused him to miss one game. Tomlinson was hurt against New England two weeks ago. Tomlinson watched his team play on television in their last game against Denver for the first time in his NFL career.

“It’s never fun to have injuries,” Tomlinson said, adding that his knee is “100 percent better” than it was earlier in the week. “It’s one of those things where we always feel like we can play, even though we’re injured. Sometimes it hurts us to go out there and play injured, but that’s what we do. And when you can’t play, it does make you down. That’s kind of where I am right now.”

The Jets and the Bills, both with 5-5 records, are looking for a victory on Sunday to keep pace in the AFC playoff race. Neither of these teams can afford to lose. The Jets won the first meeting 27-11 in Week 9.

Jeremy Kerley, rookie wide receiver, is also questionable for the game after not practicing all week with a similar injury.

Find New York Jets tickets and parking passes for every home game at MefLife Stadium. Some games have tickets discounted below face value at Select-A-Ticket.

After a 17-10 loss to the Eagles, their NFC East divisional rivals, the Giants are on a two-game losing streak and are heading into a Monday night meeting at New Orleans. The Giants are tied with Dallas for the lead in the division but if they don’t improve their running game they could be well on their way to a second-half collapse, which seems to be the norm in recent years. In 2009 the Giants started the season 5-0 and ended 8-8. Last season they opened 6-2 and ended with a 10-6 record, losing two out of the three final games.

The Giants have six games left in the regular season so they need to pull themselves together quickly. However, with their upcoming schedule, it may not be that easy of a task to pull off. After the Monday night meeting with New Orleans (7-3), the Giants return home for a meeting against the undefeated Green Bay Packers (10-0).

“It’s put up or shut up,” Rolle said. “At the end of the day, I am not trying to be sitting at home come the first week of January, watching these other teams that I know are not better than us go on. We’re a great team. We know we’re a great team. We have to go out there and prove it.”

The fans know and the New York Giants know that they are better than the game vs Philadelphia indicates but they’re going to have to really bring it in the closing weeks to hold on to first place and reach the playoffs. I think they can do it, do you? Let us know what you think in the comments below and head over here if you’re looking for New York Giants tickets.

As week 11 in the 2011-2012 NFL is now underway following Thursday night’s 17-13 Broncos victory over the Jets, the other New York team is looking to put more distance between themselves and the other teams in their division.

The New York Giants are currently sitting atop the NFC East standings with a record of 6 wins and 3 losses. The Dallas Cowboys are in second place with a record of 5-4 and the division is rounded out by Philadelphia and Washington with identical 3-6 records.

The Giants host the Eagles Sunday night at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford. Earlier this season, in week 3, the New York Giants defeated the Philadelphia Eagles by a score of 29-16.

Earlier in the day, the Cowboys visit the Washington Redskins. The Cowboys are also looking to add some separation from the pack in the NFC East and turn it into a twp-team race against the Giants.

Philadelphia and Washington are in desperate need of putting together significant winning streaks to save their respective seasons.

The Eagles may be without starting quarterback Michael Vick who suffered broken ribs in last week’s game. The Eagles are being coy up to this about in terms of revealing his availability but reports indicate that practices this week featured backups Vince Young and Mike Kafka preparing for the Giants. It is still unclear which player will get the start but with their season all but on the line, entering this final stretch with a backup as your starter cannot be a great feeling for the Eagles and their fans.

Sunday night’s matchup will be a major influencing factor on the NFC East standings. The Giants need to hold server with Dallas to maintain their lead. If Dallas wins in the afternoon, the Giants need to win at night to maintain their current lead.

There are still some good New York Giants tickets available for Sunday’s game and every home game for the rest of the season.