Looks like Rick Nash isn’t the addition that HC Davos in the Swiss NLA had hoped for. Despite scoring his second goal in as many games since coming back from a shoulder injury, Davos still lost 6-3. Nash, who injured his shoulder last week, played his second game since his return, and has not been invisible offensively. However, doesn’t matter how many goals you score if you can’t play defense as a team. Davos sits in 10th of 12 teams in the NLA.
Just an aside, if anyone follows Euro hockey closely, let me know. It’s tough to find stats for these games.
Carl Hagelin is off to a good start in the second-tier Swedish league HockeyAllsvenskan, as he finished his first game with his hometown Södertälje SK with two assists. This update comes courtesy of Matias Strozyk, who was tweeting updates throughout the game. Considering how difficult it is to find updates of the second-tier leagues in Sweden, finding Matias’ Twitter account was a bit of a savior.
Also, Rick Nash returned tonight for HC Davos in the Swiss NLA. Nash, who sat out for a week with a bruised shoulder, scored the tying goal in Davos’ 3-2 overtime win over Henrik Zetterberg’s EV Zug. When Nash is in the lineup, Davos wins. When he isn’t, they lose. Interesting phenomenon.
As per Pat Leonard, Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh has signed with HC Barys of the KHL. Per Laurie Carr, McDonagh will join former Rangers Nigel Dawes and Nik Antropov with Barys, as well as former Connecticut Whale captain Andrew Hutchinson and Tampa Bay Lighting defenseman Victor Hedman.
McDonagh is the third Ranger to bolt overseas for hockey, joining Rick Nash (HC Davos – Switzerland) and Carl Hagelin (Sodertalje SK – Sweden).
There are other ways to get your hockey fix during “The Lockout, Part III.”
During the last lockout almost 400 players went overseas to play hockey. This time around, there are over 120 players abroad. We figured its about time someone put together a guide of who is playing where, what are the differences among some of these leagues and which teams you should be following.
KHL – Russia
Largely considered the 2nd best league in the world, the KHL currently has around 35 NHL players signed to contracts. The league now consists of 26 teams and this winter will feature Pavel Datsyuk (CSKA Moscow), Alex Ovechkin (Dynamo Moscow), Ilya Kovalchuk (SKA St. Petersburg), Evgeni Malkin (Metallurg Magnitogorsk), Pekka Rinne (HC Dinamo Minsk) and many, many more.
The league is currently divided into 2 conferences (Western and Eastern) and each conference is then divided into 2 divisions. All teams play 56 regular season games.
The team I am most likely rooting for is Yaroslavl Lokomotiv, whose entire roster and key personnel died last year in a horrific plane crash. The fact that former New York Ranger, Artem Anisimov is playing for Lokomotiv (his hometown club) is a nice bonus.
Elitserien (SEL) – Sweden
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Carl Hagelin returning to Sweden to play with his hometown team helps him stay in hockey shape.
Carl Hagelin signing in his hometown for Södertälje SK of HockeyAllsvenskan (second tier league) is some of the best news to have happened in recent weeks for the Rangers. With the end of the lockout not to be seen on the NHL horizon the key thing for the Rangers future right now is likely to be the development of the prospects as well as the younger roster players at the NHL level. With Chris Kreider learning the pro game with the CT Whale in the AHL, perhaps the next brightest young thing on the Rangers roster is Hagelin.
While the SEL – and particularly the second tier where Södertälje currently reside –is not of the calibre of the NHL it does offer Hagelin several opportunities to improve his game. The first opportunity is the added ice time and games at the pro level. While Hagelin has made an excellent, immediate impact with the Rangers he is still a young player who has little pro experience and given the length of a NCAA college season, Hagelin can still benefit from as much game time as possible.
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A buddy of mine, Chris, played in the ECHL several years back and I used to always hound him about what it was like to get paid to play hockey. Although he had a pretty cool lifestyle for a while, more often than not he will tell tales of bruised ribs, missing teeth and broken collar bones. Of course, I’ve never skated a mile in his Bauer’s, so I don’t really know what it’s like to be paid peanuts to get hit every night, and as he always says, “hockey is a young man’s game.”
In order to have a better understanding of what life was like in the minors, I asked him to open up about some of the financial decisions he faced as a player on the fringe.
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Sorry for the late news here. Our personal lives prevented us from a timely update on the Rick Nash injury. In Friday night’s 4-2 loss for HC Davos, the Ranger winger injured his shoulder in the first period. Ironically enough, the injury came from a collision with former Ranger Ilkka Heikkinen. Nash left the game in the first period as a precaution.
An MRI from yesterday showed no structural damage, and Nash is expected to be out for no longer than a week. Safe to say Nash and the Rangers dodged a bullet there.
Nash took some criticism from Ranger fans when he decided to head to Switzerland during the lockout. It’s likely that he’s still going to get some criticism from this injury. It’s worth noting that injuries, especially injuries stemming from collisions, can happen in team practices as well.
During the past few years, the trail of thought was that if the Rangers could find a way to get their All World goaltender extra rest, he would be better prepared for the grind of the playoffs. Last season saw the Rangers finally able to give Henrik Lundqvist extra rest (thanks to a healthy and reliable Martin Biron) and promptly the Rangers made the conference finals; their finest season in years.
It is worth considering whether, during the lockout, if Lundqvist would benefit from an extended break or whether he’d be better off padding up and getting back on the ice. Media reports have recently suggested Lundqvist may head back home to the Swedish Elite League. What is best for Lundqvist however is influenced by the potential length of the lockout, which right now, is like guessing the length of a piece of string.
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It was going to be tough for Rick Nash to repeat his performance in his 2012 Davos debut, where he scored a hat trick and added an assist in a 9-2 win. Nash didn’t score in regulation, being held to a -1 rating and seven shots on goal, but he did net the shootout winner. His shootout goal gave Davos a 3-2 win, and makes the club 2-0 since inking Nash and Joe Thornton.
Remember, make sure you keep checking back for updates on the Rangers playing overseas, the Rangers prospects, and news on where players may be headed.
Rich Nash and Joe Thornton wasted no time getting down to business in Switzerland this past weekend. Nash scored three goals (all of which were assisted by Thornton) in a 9-2 win over the Rapperwil-Jona Lakers. Nash also added an assist in the victory.
To watch highlights from the game, click this link here.
As more Rangers begin their hockey seasons in minors and abroad, we will do our best to keep you all up to date on their performances.
