The USA just completed their first game of pool play, routing Germany by a score of 8-0. While many will point to the fact that the USA were playing a weak opponent, they truly looked like an elite team in their dismantling of Germany. USA dominated play, allowing just 26 shots on goal by Germany, compared to the whopping 46 taken by the US.
JT Miller, wearing the ‘A’, notched the seventh goal for the US, and played a fairly strong game. Miller finished with a goal, two shots on goal, and a +1 rating. Miller also went 9-4 on face offs.
The next game for the USA will be tomorrow against Russia. Peter Ceresnak and Slovakia will take on Canada. The full schedule is available on the IIHF website, and all games are being televised on the NHL Network.
For those that are off this week, you will be treated to a lot of hockey, as the 2013 World Junior Championships are underway from Ufa, Russia. The Rangers have two prospects playing in the tournament: J.T. Miller for the USA and Peter Ceresnak for Slovakia.
Ceresnak and Slovakia surprised a lot of people this morning, as they took Russia to overtime in their opener. In the end, a late penalty doomed the Slovaks, and the Russians converted on the 4-on-3 powerplay with less than a minute to go, winning the game 3-2.
Ceresnak did not have a point in the contest, and was on the ice for the first Russia goal and the first Slovakia goal, finishing with an even rating.
We know Ryan McDonagh is back in the US and we know Carl Hagelin has terminated his deal with his hometown team back in Sweden. We also know Rick Nash has had his own injury issues despite scoring at an impressive rate in Switzerland. It goes without saying that the NHL is the best league in the world when they’re actually playing hockey. So why then are so many Rangers players struggling to adapt to playing in inferior leagues with inferior players?
Rick Nash aside, and perhaps Hagelin – although in Sweden’s second tier, don’t forget – no Ranger has exactly set the world alight in Europe thus far. In one way it’s hard to be overly critical. After all with little practice time, familiarisation to their clubs, their leagues’ playing style and teammates and a lack of long term perspective (given the short term deals struck with clubs) there isn’t a great basis for success for players heading to Europe.
Again, to be fair it’s not just Rangers players that have failed to make a significant impact. For example Ilya Bryzgalov hasn’t exactly got his game back on track in the KHL, Evander Kane suffered a torrid time in Russia while Max Paciorettey had a miserable time in Europe and came back at the first opportunity following a somewhat bitter divorce with his Euro employers.
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Per Andrey Osadchenko, who covers the KHL, Ryan McDonagh is on his way home, as he has been granted a leave of absence from Barys to deal with personal issues and an injury. Pat Leonard has additional information, noting that the injury is not believed to be serious.
McDonagh would be the third Rangers roster player to suffer a minor injury while playing overseas. Rick Nash suffered a shoulder injury in September, missing a little more than a week with Davos in Switzerland. Carl Hagelin also suffered a shoulder injury a month after Nash. While Hagelin’s injury was also minor, it led to the termination of his deal with Södertälje SK in the second-tier Swedish league HockeyAllsvenskan (s/t to surlysailor for the info/link).
Another Ranger is heading overseas. This time around, it’s Derek Stepan, who will be heading to Finland to play with Kalpa Kuopio of SM-Liga.
Off to play in Finland! #kalpa
Notable NHLers on Kalpa are Sami Kapanen and Craig Smith (Nashville).
Update 3:00pm: Thanks to agentsmith for pointing this out: Smith and Stepan were teammates at Wisconsin.
First, I hope that everyone who reads this blog and all of your families are safe. Hurricane Sandy did a number on the tri-state area, and it was by far the worst storm we have ever encountered. I had a close call myself, as a tree that is (was) three feet from my bedroom window snapped, and the top half came crashing down, missing my apartment by about five feet. There was also another tree that was leaning, but did not go down. Both trees have been removed thankfully.
Now back to some semblance of Ranger hockey: Carl Hagelin had a bit of a scare last night, as he took a hit to the shoulder and was removed from the game. It was a precautionary move, but like Rick Nash before him, his shoulder injury is day-to-day.
Additionally, MSG is planning on airing more KHL games on the MSG network as the lockout continues. There will be a total of eight games aired on MSG throughout the month of November:
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Adam Rotter of SNYRB has the translated tweets from Sweden, but it looks like Michael Del Zotto and Dan Girardi may be joining teammate Carl Hagelin in the HockeyAllsvenskan with Södertälje. This is just another blow to the fans who believe a season will begin sooner rather than later, as more players flock to Europe to find ice time.
It’s interesting to see Del Zotto heading overseas, as he doesn’t have a contract with the Rangers. It makes him cheaper to sign, but it’s a much bigger risk for MDZ. If he gets hurt, he doesn’t have the NHL contract to slide back on and still get paid (via insurance) if/when the lockout ends. As for Girardi, he will need to go through the normal steps of insuring his contract before signing.
This isn’t confirmed yet, as contract details need to be ironed out, but at least it’s good to see that three core Rangers will be playing with each other overseas.
Almost 150 NHL players have taken their talents abroad. Some will skate in arenas as far west as the Irish Sea, and some as far east as the Sea of Japan. Of those 150 players, three represent the pride of the New York Rangers.
Carl Hagelin has continued his domination of Sweden’s second-tier league, HockeyAllsvenskan. There he has posted 2 goals and 5 assists in 4 games played for Södertälje SK. Ironically, he skates alongside Rangers’ rivals Matt Read and Niklas Grossmann, both of the Philadelphia Flyers.
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The only prospect in action last night was Jesper Fast in the SEL. In HV71′s 3-2 win over Frolunda (the soon to be home of Henrik Lundqvist), Fast notched an assist and continues his hot start to the SEL season.
Since it was just Fast in action last night, it seems prudent to combine today’s ATF with an update on Ryan McDonagh, who is already playing big time minutes with Barys Astana in the KHL. In a little over 23 minutes of ice time, McDonagh notched two assists in Barys’ 5-0 win over Dinamo Riga. McDonagh’s assists were both primary assists, and his second came on the powerplay.
After the jump, check the full line score for Jesper Fast.
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Last night, Ryan McDonagh made his KHL debut for Barys Astana, notching some significant ice time and finishing the 5-1 victory with a +1 rating. Some names that you might notice that are playing with McDonagh on Barys: Nik Antropov, Brandon Bochenski, Dustin Boyes, Nigel Dawes, Victor Hedman, and Andrew Hutchinson. Not exactly a lineup lacking in NHL and/or North American players.
Carl Hagelin also continued his great play in Allsvenskan, notching a goal and an assist in Södertälje SK 5-1 win. That update comes courtesy of Bill Meltzer, who has been doing a great job of tweeting updates from all around Europe and Russia. Definitely give him a follow, as he gives updates on leagues, like Hagelin’s Allsvenskan, that we find it difficult to locate game stats.
