Poll: Fan Confidence – September 27, 2010

2010-2011 Preseason Record: 2-1-0
Upcoming Schedule: 9/29 vs. DET (Pre-season), 10/1 vs. OTT (Pre-season), 10/2 @OTT (Pre-season)

Big news from last week:

• The Rangers waived Wade Redden. It was a move widely speculated, but a move no one would believe until it actually happened. With Redden gone, the Rangers are looking to fill his spot on the bottom pairing of defense, and there is some very stiff competition there.
• The Rangers made the first round of cuts. The cuts consisted of players sent back to their CHL clubs, and sent a few to Hartford, the most surprising being Brodie Dupont, who I thought would get more of a look at camp.
• Chris Drury broke his finger, and will be out for at least four weeks. This means Drury will definitely miss the start of the season. Drury may not provide much on offense anymore, but he is still an integral part of the club killing penalties and playing solid two-way hockey. He is going to be tough to replace for those games.
• With so much news, often overlooked is the solid effort put in by the Rangers, who won two dramatic games in OT over the Devils. The Rangers also played very well against Detroit. The Rangers offense looks to be alive and well, as the addition of Alex Frolov, the great play of Matt Gilroy, and other contributions of other players has given the Rangers a much more balanced attack. Hopefully this will translate to the regular season as well.

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Preseason Game 3 Recap

The Rangers were unable to hold on to their preseason winning ways, as they lost to the Red Wings 5-3 tonight in a game that was no where near as physical or as intense as the previous two against the Devils. The refs seemed to be on the Rangers side, as the Red Wings had two goals disallowed, one on a quick whistle and the other on a phantom in-the-crease call. But that wasn’t enough for the Rangers, who simply could not outscore a much more skilled Detroit team. The biggest positive for the Rangers is that they effectively skated with one of the NHL’s top teams for a full 60 minutes. In the end, it was Detroit’s skill and puck possession ability that did the Rangers in.

Much like last night’s game against the Devils, the Rangers came out very slow and were dominated early. and fell behind 2-0 behind two very quick goals by Dan Cleary and Henrik Zetterberg in the first four minutes. However, the Rangers quickly regained some confidence when Sean Avery, who just seconds earlier was denied on a breakaway (from a beautiful outlet pass from Matt Gilroy) by Jimmy Howard, buried a garbage goal that resulted from the chaos after Avery was denied on the breakaway. Todd White was credited with an assist, but the play really resulted from forechecking performed by Evgeny Grachev.

The second period opened up with a much slower pace than the first, but the relentless Red Wings forecheck forced Michael Sauer into a bad pass that wound up being a turnover, leading to a goal by Brian Rafalski, giving the Wings a 3-1 lead. The game could have very easily been 4-1, but thanks to a quick whistle, Martin Biron was spared from giving up a weak goal. Erik Christensen cut the Rangers deficit to one when he ripped a wrist shot past Jimmy Howard after Mats Zuccarello-Aasen forced a turnover behind the net. Just 26 seconds later, Artem Anisimov converted a tap-in goal while shorthanded to tie the game. The play was set up by Alex Frolov, who helped create the turnover, the ensuing 2-on-1, and then faked out every Red Wing while placing a perfect pass on Anisimov’s stick, who didn’t even have to move for the tap-in goal.

The third period began the way the second period ended, with the Rangers doing a solid job of killing off a penalty. But that wasn’t enough to prevent the Wings from taking the lead off of a Tomas Holmstrom shot that beat Chad Johnson, who replaced Martin Biron to start the period, on the short side. The goal was a very weak goal allowed by Johnson. Patrick Eaves added insurance when he ripped a shot through Chad Johnson, giving the Wings a 5-3 lead. After the Holmstrom goal, the Wings effectively shut down the Rangers, which led to a very uneventful third period, as the Wings were able to hold on for the victory.

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Preseason Game 3: Rangers at Red Wings

The Rangers swept the Devils in their two preseason games, and now head to Detroit to see if they can continue that success. The Rangers victory last night was especially impressive, considering their top forward line and top defensive line weren’t playing. This year’s Detroit team seems to be stronger with Jiri Hudler back in the fold, so the Rangers will need to bring that continued intensity if they want to win today’s game. Also, several Rangers will be cut after tonight’s game, so expect those on the bubble to give it everything they have.

OPPONENT: Detroit Red Wings

2009-2010 RECORD: 44-24-14

2009-2010 LEADING SCORER: Pavel Datsyuk (27-43-70), Henrik Zetterberg (23-47-70)

GOALIE: Jimmy Howard, 2.26 GAA and a .924 save percentage

RANGERS LINES:
Alex Frolov-Derek Stepan-Marian Gaborik
Brandon Dubinsky-Erik Christensen-Mats Zuccarello-Aasen
Sean Avery-Todd White-Evgeny Grachev
Brian Boyle-Artem Anisimov-Brandon Prust

Dan Girardi-Alexei Semenov
Matt Gilroy-Ryan McDonagh
Pavel Valentenko-Michael Sauer

Martin Biron/Chad Johnson

STATE OF THE BLUESHIRTS: The Rangers won their first two preseason games in dramatic fashion, and the powerplay looks as if it’s clicking in the early preseason. There is still plenty of work to be done, and there are still a lot of battles in camp to be fought. With Wade Redden officially gone, the Rangers are going to look to some of their younger defensemen to try and fill that void, specifically Ryan McDonagh and/or Michael Sauer, so it will be interesting to see how they play tonight. Pavel Valentenko may have a leg up in this race, as he played a solid game last night and provided a physical presence that the Rangers simply haven’t had in a while.

CRAZY THOUGHT: Stepan outscores Gaborik.

ON THE iPod:Sinatra – Fly My To The Moon

FINAL PREDICTION: Red Wings 4, Rangers 3

Game time is 5pm. So watch and discuss here. Let’s go Rangers!

Sunday Link Dump

It’s Sunday again, and that means another link dump. It’s a rather light link dump today, with the majority of Rangers related news being Redden related.

Andrew Gross has some reactions by the Rangers over the waiving of Wade Redden. It looks like he wasn’t a cancer in the locker room. Michael Del Zotto spoke about how Redden was the first to address the team after last year’s shootout loss (telling everyone to remember this feeling) to the Flyers on the last day of the season. Redden also acted as a bit of a mentor to MDZ. Remember, Redden isn’t a bad guy or a bad hockey player. The waiving was simply because of his contract. If he were making $2 million, Redden would be on this team, and I don’t think there would be that much animosity.

HBO is going to have a reality show with the Penguins and the Capitals leading up to the Winter Classic. I’ve watched these 24/7 shows leading up to boxing matches, so it’s going to be interesting how they produce it, considering there are NHL regular season games before it. It’s not like the season shuts down for the game. How quickly do you think that turns into the Crosby/Ovechkin show?

Michelle Kenneth is unsure if the Rangers are sold on Sean Avery for this season. Personally, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get traded, due to the checkered past with him and coach John Tortorella. I think this decision will depend on how Avery does during the first few games in the regular season. If Avery returns to form, he’s a bargain at $2 million per season.

Preseason Game 2 Recap

The second game between the Devils and Rangers did not disappoint. This game was physical, exciting, and a downright well game played by both teams with players looking to make the team. Trailing 3-1 going into the third period, the Rangers scored three goals on the powerplay to eventually tie the game at four a piece, forcing overtime. In the overtime period, the Rangers added another powerplay goal, courtesy of Michael Del Zotto off a brilliant feed from Ryan Callahan, to win their second straight game against the Devils, both in overtime.

The Devils opened the scoring in the first off a nifty play by Zach Parise, who batted down a clearing attempt by Michael Del Zotto, and then fed Ilya Kovalchuk who beat Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist high glove side. However, that lead was short lived when Ryan Callahan answered right back under a minute later. Ruslan Fedotenko, who is with the Rangers on a tryout, made a nice move along the boards to get free, and fed a perfect centering pass to Callahan who buried the puck into the empty net. But just five minutes later, the Devils answered again, with Andy Greene managing to skate through most of the Rangers on the ice, around the net, and back to the slot where he beat Lundqvist five-hole. Greene was able to get so open do to some sloppy in-zone play by the Rangers, particularly Todd White.

The second period started off with some interesting scuffles, as David Clarkson and Sean Avery got into it, but Avery didn’t drop his gloves. As the refs broke it up, Kovalchuk dropped his gloves with Avery, and Clarkson jumped in after a few seconds. Somehow, Clarkson didn’t wind up with a penalty at all during all this, and the Devils wound up with an eventual 5-on-3 advantage (including a Valentenko interference before the play, and a Garnet Exelby roughing penalty after the play), that the Rangers killed off. The second period was a little slow offensively until the Devils put one behind Lundqvist off the stick of Matt Taormina. Prior to the goal, the Rangers just couldn’t get the puck off Zach Parise’s stick, who managed to control a few rebounds behind the Rangers net, before getting the puck to Kovalchuk, who fed Taormina for the goal. Again, Lundqvist was beat high glove side on the Devils third goal. The Devils dominated the second period, out-shooting the Rangers 13-5 in the period.

The Rangers cut the deficit to one in the beginning of the third period, when a Matt Gilroy shot from the top of the circle trickled through Johan Hedberg on the powerplay. Avery sat in front of the net on the goal, and provided enough of a distraction for Hedberg and defenseman Anton Volchenkov to allow the shot to trickle through. Unfortunately, the Devils answered right back as Andy Greene lifted the puck behind both Garnet Exelby to Brian Rolston, who beat Lundqvist on the ensuing breakaway, giving the Devils a 4-2 lead. Artem Anisimov answered right back for the Rangers on the powerplay, as he deflected a Callahan shot on net, which was stopped, and batted home the rebound out of mid-air.

The Rangers tied the game on a blast by Fedotenko from the face-off circle on another powerplay, off a nice feed from Gilroy, who looked very comfortable at the point on the powerplay. Avery was again in front of the net for this goal. In overtime, the Rangers scored another powerplay goal, which finished 4-for-5, when Callahan made a great pass to a cutting Michael Del Zotto, who hit an empty net for the winner. Goalie Johan Hedberg had lost his stick on the play, and was using Anton Volchenkov’s stick on the play. Volchenkov was unable to replace his stick before the game winner.

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Preseason Game 2: Rangers at Devils

After an impressive win against the Devils at The Garden to open the preseason, the Rangers travel across the river to The Rock to face off against the Devils again. The Rangers made their initial cuts, sending a few players to Hartford and returning youngsters to the juniors. The lineup tonight consists of those who did not play in the first preseason game, and a few others who weren’t sent down.

OPPONENT: Devils

2009-2010 RECORD: 48-27-7

2009-2010 LEADING SCORER: Ilya Kovalchuk, 41-44-85

GOALIE: Martin Brodeur, 2.24 GAA and a .920 save percentage

RANGERS LINES:

Ruslan Fedotenko-Todd White-Ryan Callahan, Dane Byers-Artem Anisimov-Evgeny Grachev, Sean Avery-Tim Kennedy-Jeremy Williams, Derek Boogaard-Kris Newbury-Dale Weise

Michael Del Zotto-Steve Eminger, Alexei Semenov-Pavel Valentenko, Garnet Exelby-Matt Gilroy

Martin Biron Henrik Lundqvist, Chad Johnson

STATE OF THE BLUESHIRTS: Wade Redden has officially been sent to Hartford, meaning the Rangers are actively looking for his replacement during these preseason games. There will be stiff competition among the likes of Ryan McDonagh, Matt Gilroy, Garnet Exelby, Alexei Semenov, Michael Sauer and Steve Eminger. Oh happy days!

CRAZY THOUGHT: Fedotenko scores a hat trick, giving us Ranger fans a second look at him before writing him off.

ON THE iPod: Katy Perry / Elmo – Hot N Cold. This got yanked from Sesame Street because Katy Perry’s cleavage was “too much to handle”. But yet, they didn’t change her costume when filming?

FINAL PREDICTION: Rangers 4, Devils 1

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

Wade Redden To Be Placed On Waivers

As per Larry Brooks, defenseman Wade Redden will be placed on waivers today at noon. It looks like the Rangers have found his replacement in either Ryan McDonagh, Michael Sauer, Garnet Exelby, Alexei Semenov, or any of the other young defensemen. Redden was given an ultimatum at the end of last season, saying show up ready to play, or be sent to the AHL. It looks like he either wasn’t ready to play, or the defenseman has just seen the new NHL pass him by. So long Wade.

Some quotes from GM Glen Sather, as per Andrew Gross:

“It’s always difficult changing somebody’s life but you have to do what’s right for the team.”

“There was no sense waiting to waive Wade Redden, wants to give younger players more of a chance”

Glen Sather told Wade Redden after last season unless he came back “and really got off to a great start” this would happen.

Update 10:45am: As per Andrew Gross, Redden will be considering his options for a few days before making a decision. He can look into playing in Europe/Russia, he can retire, he can refuse the assignment, or he can show up in Hartford, where Sather has guaranteed him playing time. If he shows up in Hartford, he’s going to have to refrain from being a locker room cancer, no matter how disgruntled he is. Oh happy days!

Redden has four years at a $6.5 million cap hit per year. He makes $6.5 million this year and next, and $5 million the following two years.

Why The Rangers Are In/Out Of The Playoffs

The Eastern Conference, once you get past the power house teams, is a plethora of mediocre and bubble teams fighting for a spot in the bottom four seeds in the playoffs. The battle is going to be so tight, that a puck bounce here or there may spell success (or doom) for any teams playoffs dreams. Ryan Dixon of The Hockey News analyzes what key scenarios would be that successful, or fatal, factor for any teams hopes. For the Rangers, Dixon says:

NEW YORK RANGERS
IN Martin Biron holds the fort for 15 games, allowing a fresh Henrik Lundqvist to shine brighter than ever in the remaining 67. The Rangers got a healthy, productive campaign from Marian Gaborik during his first season on Broadway; will they be lucky enough to get an encore plus a bounce-back year from Alexander Frolov in his Ranger debut?

OUT Gaborik once again fails to stay in the lineup consistently and the Blueshirts are completely dominated up the middle thanks to a shocking dearth of impact centers.

Dixon hits the nail on the head for the Rangers. Martin Biron is one of the biggest keys for the Rangers, as Henrik Lundqvist was gassed down the stretch, having played 72 regular season games. If Biron is good enough to spell Lundqvist for 15-20 games, then the Rangers can lean on one of the best in the world during that final push for the playoffs.

Naturally, you can’t analyze the Rangers season without looking at Marian Gaborik and his wonky groin. That’s a given. However, with the addition of Alex Frolov, the Rangers have a legitimate secondary scoring threat that will hopefully ease the pressure on the Slovak winger, making it easier for him to repeat his performance last season. Another 40-goal campaign from Gaborik, combined with a 30-goal performance by Frolov, will give the Rangers that one-two punch they have lacked since the line of Straka-Nylander-Jagr was broken up.

One other factor that Dixon fails to mention is the continued improvement of Ryan Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky. Both players are going to need to at least eclipse the 20-goal, 30-assist mark this year for it to be considered a successful year for either forward. The time has come for both players to step up. Now, the status quo for both players is just fine by me, but only when they play on the third line. Top six minutes are expected from both Callahan and Dubinsky, and now it is time for them to produce like top six wingers.

With the Eastern Conference wide open, the Rangers could feasibly sneak into the playoffs, and as a relatively high seed too. To do so, they are going to need their off-season acquisitions to pan out, and will need the continued development of their youth. Some may not be too thrilled with the Rangers entering the playoffs in the bottom half, but we’ve seen what a hot goalie can do for a team (see: Halak, Jaroslav), and the Rangers have one of the best in the world. The playoffs change everything, but getting there is the first priority for the Rangers.

Training Camp Cuts

The New York Rangers have made their first cuts of training camp. 25 players in total have been sent to either junior or Hartford leaving 38 in Rangers camp.

The following players have been sent to Hartford:

Goal: Jordan Parise, Cameron Talbot

Defense: Lee Baldwin, Sam Klassen, Tomas Kundratek, Jyri Niemi, Blake Parlett, Nigel Williams

Forward: Chris Chappell, Devin DiDiomete, Brodie Dupont, Ryan Garlock, Chris McKelvie, Justin Soryal, Kelsey Tessier

Some may be surprised Dupont is one of the first forwards to be sent back to the AHL. Dupont’s now clearly buried on the depth chart and barring a rash of injuries it’s very unlikely he’ll play for the Rangers before leaving as a free agent next summer. Dupont is the most senior forward sent down to Hartford at this stage. The Hartford defense already has a lot of talent at its disposal after the first cuts. Kundratek, Klassen, Niemi all have upside while Williams is one player that, like Dupont, probably has no chance at the NHL level with the Rangers organization. One thing has become clear in Hartford. The players sent down today promise to give the team a very physical look should they stick at that level. Soryal, Dupont, DiDiomete and Klassen in particular will provide the side with an edge.

The following have been sent to the Juniors:

Goal: Scott Stajcer (Owen Sound, OHL)         

Defense: Daniel Maggio (Sudbury, OHL), Dylan McIlrath (Moose Jaw, WHL)

Forward: Ryan Bourque (Quebec, QMJHL), Roman Horak (Chilliwack, WHL), Randy McNaught (Saskatoon, WHL), Christian Thomas (Oshawa, OHL), Ethan Werek (Kingston, OHL), Jason Wilson (Owen Sound, OHL), Andrew Yogan (Erie, OHL)

No huge surprises with the junior cuts however Roman Horak perhaps had done enough in camp and in the scrimmages to at least see some time in the exhibition season, it seems his below average showing in the conditioning section of camp cost him the opportunity. Jason Wilson being returned to junior was perhaps a surprise.  Wilson had performed well at camp and made an impact offensively during the scrimmages and given his age (20) was eligible to play in Hartford. Wilson could very well have been the next Dale Weise (overage draftee to break into the Hartford team) so to see him go to junior for an overage year was a surprise. It will be interesting to see what offensive upside Wilson shows in the OHL.

With 38 players left in New York there should be plenty of players getting extensive looks in the exhibition games. Nothing seems to have become any clearer however, for the hotly contested roster spots at center and on defense. All the legitimate center candidates remain on the roster while the try-outs on defense, Mike Sauer and Pavel Valentenko remain to fight it out for the 5-7 spots. The next two games of the exhibition season should help clear things up.

Preseason Game 1 Recap

The Rangers beat the Devils in the first preseason game of the 2010-2011 season, and did so in dramatic fashion, winning 4-3 in overtime. The game itself had the intensity of a regular season game between these two rivals, and with good reason. Both teams had fringe players fighting (literally) for a spot on the roster come October. The physical game included two fights, with Brian Boyle and Brandon Prust each dropping the gloves. Neither fight was conclusive, but Prust landed some heavy rights.

The Rangers opened the scoring with a powerplay goal off some nifty passing. Rookie Derek Stepan collected the puck, skated to the slot, fed Alex Frolov at the blocker-side post, who one-touched a pass to Marian Gaborik at the right post, who buried the puck into the empty net. It was a very pretty goal on the powerplay, which will hopefully be a sign of things to come from the Rangers. The Devils countered five minutes later off a Marc Staal turnover tying the game at one a piece.

After a Frolov goal (unassisted) five minutes into the second period, Ilya Kovalchuk tied the game on a breakaway after a beautiful pass from Zach Parise sprung the winger alone on Martin Biron. Brian Boyle gave the Rangers a 3-2 lead when he picked the puck up off the boards, and beat Martin Brodeur five-hole, on what was a very weak goal. Weak or not, a goal is a goal. Dale Weise collected an assist on the Boyle goal, and the line of Weise-Boyle-Derek Boogaard was surprisingly strong in the game.

Biron played very well for the Rangers tonight, and gave way to Chad Johnson in the third period. Dos-Nueve had a relatively strong game, but unfortunately allowed an extremely weak tying goal to Zach Parise with under two minutes to go in regulation. The game went into overtime, where Marian Gaborik (naturally) won the game with a ridiculous snipe from the slot on the powerplay. The Rangers were on the powerplay because Michael Sauer drew a boarding call, and coach John Tortorella took a risk and played four forwards on the powerplay.

The line of Frolov-Stepan-Gaborik combined for six points in the preseason opener, with Alex Frolov leading the way with a goal and two assists. Marian Gaborik added a goal and an assist, and rookie Derek Stepan added an assist to round out the scoring for the top line. Brian Boyle (goal), Dale Weise (assist) and Dan Girardi (assist) finished out the scoring in the victory.

Derek Stepan had a glorious debut tonight. He brought creativity and energy to a scoring line that thrived. It has been a while since the Rangers have had more than one weapon on offense, and the line of Frolov-Stepan-Gaborik kept the Devils guessing. Stepan is showing a lot of maturity for such a young kid. He is also showing that he may actually be ready to take on the burden of being that top line center. What remains to be seen, of course, is whether Stepan hits the proverbial NCAA wall around 40-50 games into the season.

What surprised a few, but not me, was to see that Mats Zuccarello-Aasen was tossed around and knocked down more often than Petr Prucha. Of course it did not slow him down, but it does go to show that MZA may need a bit of time in the AHL to adjust to the physical nature of the game before he is ready to showcase his skills, which he has in abundance.

On defense, Michael Sauer is showing that he is ready to compete for a spot, which may be bad news for tryouts Alexei Semenov and Garnet Exelby. Sauer did a good job playing a physical game tonight, and also drew the penalty that led to the game winning goal (he also paid for that dearly). Rookie Ryan McDonagh also provided a very physical presence on defense, and the combination of McDonagh and Sauer on defense provided a physicality that the Rangers have not seen in years.

Notably absent from the “notables” were Ruslan Fedotenko and Alexei Semenov. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as sometimes being unnoticed is better than being noticed for poor play, but for two veterans trying to beat out rookies that impressed, it means that they are going to have to either step up their games, or pray for an injury. This is not a knock against either, it’s praise for the rookies instead. The Rangers and Devils face off again on Saturday at the Rock, but first comes the initial round of cuts tomorrow morning.