Playoffs Slipping Away, Draft Position Gets Better

If you have been here long, you know that I am one of the more optimistic Rangers fans. I always try to find the silver lining, and look at the positives. I just can’t do it anymore for this season, not after last night’s embarrassing display of nonchalance and indifference. This team just does not have what it takes to make the playoffs. Sure, they sit in 9th place in the conference, just three points back of the Bruins, but the Bruins have two games in hand on the Rangers. The loss of Marc Savard will hurt them, but their defense and goaltending should help weather that loss. At this point, I’m torn between rooting for the Rangers to win, or hoping they get a lottery pick.

The Rangers have fifteen remaining games, of which seven are against playoff teams, five are against non-playoff teams, and three are against teams in the hunt. As per SportsClubStats (s/t to Jordan for that one), in order to be guaranteed a spot in the playoffs, they will need to finish 10-2-3. To at least have a 70% shot at making the playoffs, they will need to finish 10-4-1. The moral of the story here is that the Rangers need to win 10 games to even be in the playoff hunt come April. It’s doable, but unlikely, especially considering what we’ve seen from the Rangers the past few games.

When looking at the draft position, each of the #10 (Atlanta), #11 (Tampa Bay), #12 (Florida), and #13 (Carolina) seeds have games in hand on the Rangers. Of those teams, Atlanta, TB, and Florida can leap frog ahead of the Rangers if they win these games in hand. They also play these three teams once a piece before the season ends. Those three games will have a huge bearing on where the Rangers sit come draft season, or whether the Rangers make the playoffs. Looking at the Western Conference, the only team below the Rangers is Columbus (Edmonton doesn’t count). They sit four points back of the Rangers, with no games in hand. It’s possible that they leap frog the Rangers too, especially if our beloved Blueshirts fail to show up for the remaining fifteen games.

In the end, I can’t root against the Rangers, it’s not in my blood. So I will be cheering for them, and hoping they make the playoffs. But the possibility of someone like Tyler Seguin, or Cam Fowler, or Vladimir Tarasenko is very tempting (Side note: Columbus plays Atlanta tonight, and for those hoping for a lottery pick, pray for an OT game). Any one of those players would greatly improve the Rangers and fill a gigantic hole on the team. Plus, there’s a very good chance they are NHL ready and could make a solid impact next season. But still, I cannot root against the Rangers, even if I think their playoff hopes have been crushed.

Game 66: Rangers at Devils

This may be the biggest day of the Rangers year. For one, it’s a must-win game. Lose this game, especially in regulation, and your playoff picture is looking cloudy. And two, it’s my birthday. Rangers wouldn’t want to lose a game on my birthday. It wouldn’t be good.

OPPONENT: Devils

RECORD: 28-23-3

LEADING SCORER: Zach Parise, 30-35-65

GOALIE: Martin Brodeur, 2.37 GAA and a .910 save percentage

RANGERS LINES:

Prospal-Christensen-Gaborik
Dubinsky-Jokinen-Callahan
Avery-Anisimov-Drury
Prust-Boyle-Shelley

Hank in net.

STATE OF THE BLUESHIRTS: Not great. Bad loss against Buffalo. Loss three in a row–although two they got points in. Still, they need two points. I don’t care if you need to go to OT, or a shootout. Need to get two points. Hank needs to be huge. Gaborik playing well would be nice. Someone needs to step up. Someone. Anyone.

CRAZY THOUGHT: Hank gets a shutout

ON THE iPOD: Just Friends (Sunny), Musiq Soulchild

FINAL PREDICTION: Rangers 3, Devils 0

So, watch, discuss, have fun. LET’S GO RANGERS!!!!

GMs Propose Hit to Head Rule Change

At the GM meetings this week, the GMs across the league are recommending a league-wide ban on shoulder hits to the head. This topic was going to be a hot one before the Matt Cooke incident. What that incident did was provide Evidence A in the case against such hits. Evidence B is David Booth. Evidence C is…well, you get the point.

The proposed rule change is as follows (from TSN):

“A lateral, back pressure or blindside hit to an opponent where the head is targeted and or the principal point of contact is not permitted.

A violation of the above will result in a minor or major penalty and shall be reviewed for possible supplemental discipline.”

I support this as long as it targets the blatant offenders. There is a very fine line here though, much like the boarding calls we have seen. What happens if a player changes his body position last second, and a clean hit to the shoulder becomes a hit to the head? Sure, the player delivering the hit may not get suspended, but the powerplay that comes from it could alter the outcome of the game.

It is a very fine line to draw, but it is the same judgment call being used in the other big sports. Baseball umpires have to determine if a pitcher blatantly threw at an opposing batter. Football referees have to determine if a hit was late or dirty. Basketball referees have to determine if a foul was flagrant. These shoulder to the head hits have ended, or at least greatly affected, careers in the NHL (see: Lindros, Eric). It is good to see that the NHL wants to protect its players from dirty hits, but let’s hope the league recognizes what is dirty, and what is just a clean hit with unfortunate timing/results.

BSB March Madness Tournament Pick ‘Em

It’s that time of the year again, and Selection Sunday is right around the corner. For a little fun, I created a Yahoo Pick ‘Em group. Unlike the BSB Fantasy Hockey League, there will be no prize for winning, but it will be for bragging rights. There is no team number limit, so the more the merrier.

Sign up at Yahoo by clicking here and selecting Join a Group. Then enter the information below:

Group ID: 28834
Password: blueseatblogs

Good luck.

Not So Home Sweet Home

Believe it or not, the Rangers have a decent road record. They are actually in the top 50% in the Eastern Conference when it comes to their record away from MSG. However, when they play at the World’s Most Famous Arena, they are an abysmal 14-15-6. They are one of only two teams in the East with a losing record at home, Toronto being the other team. When you compare it to the entire league, only St. Louis and Edmonton are added to that list of teams with a losing record at home.

Let’s break this down a little bit, the Rangers stats at home:

• GP: 35
• GF: 103
• GA: 99

That’s a measly +4 goal differential, not all that impressive, and one of the worst differentials at home in the league. Only Atlanta (+2), Nashville (Even), Montreal (+2), St. Louis (-14), Columbus (-1), Toronto (-14), Calgary (-4), Florida (+4), Islanders (-3), Edmonton (-20), and Boston (-1) have home goal differentials that are equal to or worse than the Rangers. Of course, some of those teams (Columbus, Toronto, NYI, Edmonton) are completely out of the playoff picture this year. The rest of them are in the same position as the Rangers, or slightly better.

Oddly enough, the Rangers are one of the better teams at scoring at home; their 103 goals at home is 8th in the league. It is preventing goals at home that appears to be their downfall. The 99 goals allowed at home is 29th in the league, with only Edmonton allowing more goals at home. To break this down more, the Rangers have allowed 5 shorthanded goals against at home. Only the San Jose Sharks have allowed more.

The powerplay’s effectiveness is thanks to the addition of Marian Gaborik. The shorthanded goals against blame can be placed on John Tortorella, for now. The thinking here is that as the head coach, he is in charge of drawing up an effective strategy that maximizes goals while limiting shorthanded chances against. At some point, blame needs to go on the players, specifically the point men, for allowing odd man rushes by pinching at wrong times, not keeping the zone, and by playing overall poor defense.

What astounds me is that on the road, the Rangers have the exact opposite problem. They can’t score, but are one of the stingiest defensive teams away from MSG. The numbers differ by such a wide margin that it is cause for alarm:

• GP: 31
• GF: 65
• GA: 77

Their 65 GF on the road is 29th in the league (again with Edmonton being worse), while the 77 GA is good for a 5th place tie with Chicago. The -12 goal differential looks ugly, but it’s actually right in the middle of the pack. So, believe it or not, the Rangers are on par with the rest of the league when it comes to road games, which is a main reason why they are one of seven teams in the East with a winning record away from home. It’s a good thing the Rangers only have six home games left, and ten on the road. That schedule may actually play to the Rangers strengths, and get them into the playoffs.

Yankee Stadium Out for Winter Classic

It looks like a Rangers home game at Yankee Stadium for the Winter Classic is no more. Via the Yankees PR Department Twitter, the Yankees have set a college bowl game, dubbed the Pinstripe Bowl, for December 30. No news yet on how long the contract lasts, but this effectively removes Yankee Stadium from the running for the Winter Classic, as it is impossible to put an ice rink in the stadium in such a short period of time.

Rangers Fans Get the Shaft

Joe Fortunato of Blueshirt Banter has a rather disturbing experience about how the organization treats its fans. Some of this shouldn’t surprise us, but the level of apathy towards the fan base from upper management is alarming. The one thing that got me is this:

But while I was working the masses with The Mouth my father had walked across the street to view from outside the barricades. As he was watching an MSG executive walked out to smoke a cigarette. He lit up, looked at my father and commented: “look at these idiots, making a scene out there. They actually think they are going to change something.”

You can read the rest of this disturbing revelation at Blueshirt Banter.

The Worst Case Scenario

Well, the Rangers got another point last night, making it four points out of eight possible thus far. That leaves the Rangers in the #9 seed with 67 points, two points behind Boston, who has two games in hand. The Rangers hold the tie head-to-head tie breaker with Boston, but that’s only if they finish tied in both points and wins at the end of the season. Considering the remaining schedule (10 road games, 8 vs playoff teams), there is a very strong possibility that the Rangers will miss the playoffs. They are going to need a hell of a run, to the tune of 25 points out of the maximum 32 in the remaining schedule. Suffice it to say, the Rangers are going to need a miracle to make the playoffs.

The worst thing they can do to us as fans is continue this OTL stuff. Yes, the points are good, but they need wins, and a full two points. Against some of those opponents, they are going to need to do it in regulation as well. At their current pace, the Rangers are going to get 16 points out of the 32, and finish with 83 points, which will definitely be out of the playoffs. The problem with 83 points is that it probably puts the Rangers as the #24 team in the NHL, just out of the bottom-five and without a shot at the #1 overall pick.

While many of you have voiced your opinions that you want the Rangers to tank the season, I find that to be absurd. How can you actually root for the Rangers to lose? I want them to win, I want them to make the playoffs. Rooting for your team to lose is ludicrous. That said, a top-5 pick would really help this team out. Someone like Tyler Seguin or Cam Fowler would instantly fill a hole on this team. If they don’t get in the top-3, someone like Brett Connolly or Kirill Kabanov might be good enough to crack the roster right away.

There’s so much going through my mind right now about this team. I want them to win, but I want a Tyler Seguin or Cam Fowler. I can’t even organize it into a coherent post. This team is not making the playoffs. Period.

Rangers Top 20 Prospects

Leslie Treff at HockeysFuture has re-ordered the Rangers top prospects due to “graduation” to the NHL. There will be some more re-ordering soon, as Michael Del Zotto (currently #2) and Matt Gilroy (#7) will be graduating within a few weeks. The top five are the usual suspects: Evgeny Grachev, Del Zotto, Derek Stepan, Chris Kreider, and Bobby Sanguinetti. For the rest of the list, head over to HockeysFuture and check it out.

Game 65: Rangers vs Sabres

After a disappointing loss last night, our beloved Blueshirts are back at it again.

OPPONENT: Sabres

RECORD: 34-20-9

LEADING SCORER: Tim Connolly, 15-42-57

GOALIE: Ryan Miller, 2.16 GAA and a 9.30 save percentage

RANGERS LINES:

Prospal-Christensen-Gaborik
Dubinsky-Jokinen-Callahan
Avery-Anisimov-Drury
Prust-Boyle-Shelley

Hank back in net

STATE OF THE BLUESHIRTS: Once again, down. Bad loss against the Caps. Just looked flat out there. Getting shut out by Jose Theodore? Child, please. Not good enough. And, now they face our national hockey savior, Ryan Miller. Look at his numbers. .930 save percentage? Crazy. Rangers will have to try and pepper him with shots, hoping he makes a mistake. Other than that, Hank has to be huge. This is a huge game. After getting one point against the Pens, none against the Caps, they need two here against Buffalo. They need two.

CRAZY THOUGHT: Shelley gets into a fight

ON THE iPOD: Miley Cyrous, Hathbanger (It’s basically a remix of “Party in the USA”, by Miley Cyrus, and “Party and Bullshit”, by Biggie Smalls. It’s actually awesome. And I don’t like Miley Cyrus.)

FINAL PREDICTION: Rangers 2, Sabres 1

So, watch, discuss, have fun. I’ll be at the game tonight. Not sure where I’m sitting. But, if you see a ridiculously good looking guy in a Drury sweater, it’s probably me. LET’S GO RANGERS!!!