Why the Rangers Can Replicate the Bruins (Part one)

It all starts with a simple formula. Be difficult to beat. Have a world class goaltender and a deep defensive corps. Be a gritty team and forecheck well. Don’t lose games on special teams. Then every now and again flash some offensive depth. The only significant difference between the Rangers and the Bruins appears to be the absence of a Zdeno Chara type defenseman (Dylan McIlrath has the potential to be similar down the road) and to the naked eye, the two teams seem similar in composition.

So what is it that makes the Bruins the new reigning Stanley Cup champions and the Rangers a young up and coming team that still has to battle just to make the playoffs? There are a few reasons for the difference in status even though there are many similarities. Let’s start by looking at the similarities.

Home Grown Core

The Bruins won the Cup on the back of a drafted core of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, David Krejci, Taylor Seguin and Milan Lucic amongst the forwards. Their top three playoff scorers were Bruin draftees. Then look at the styles of some of these players. Marchand is the gritty, energetic two way presence (think Ryan Callahan), Milan Lucic is the power forward with skill (Brandon Dubinsky possesses some similar qualities), Krejci is the playmaking center (Derek Stepan?) and Tyler Seguin is the skilled young center making his way up the depth chart (Anisimov anyone?).

World Class Goaltending

Henrik Lundqvist meet Tim Thomas. If there was a better goaltender in the league than Tim Thomas from game 1 in October to game 7 in June I didn’t see him, but boy was Lundqvist close. Thomas benefitted from a healthier team, a more experienced team, and the presence of a Norris trophy monster on the blue line, but both clubs had the ability to steal games they had no right winning because of the guy in net. If you discuss the top goalies in the world right now, there’s no way these two aren’t at the forefront of the discussion.

Defensive Depth

This is an area where the teams are similar, but the Bruins are slightly more advanced. It all starts with Zdeno Chara for the Bruins and rightly so. No player in the league (on the blue line) possesses the same blend of size, skill and leadership as the Norris trophy winner. The only person that comes close to the same mix (at the same level of performance) is Shea Weber. Marc Staal is not at this level, but he could get there. Physical, big and absolutely core to the Rangers, Staal does a bit of everything for his team with perhaps even better shut down ability.

The main reason the Rangers defense lags behind right now, is Mike Del Zotto and Tomas Kaberle. The Bruins possess good puck moving ability with Kaberle (despite at times being maligned in the playoffs, he was still a solid addition), Dennis Seidenberg and of course Chara. The Rangers need an improved Del Zotto to compete in this area, but the Rangers defense does possess puck moving ability throughout the top 6. Both teams placed in the top 5 in goals against this year during the regular season.

Special Teams

It might surprise some people, but the Bruins were only 16^th in the league on the penalty kill while the Rangers were 10^th. The year before, the Bruins were 3^rd and the Rangers 8^th. Both teams have good defensive depth and it usually is reflected on the kill. Both teams can score on the PK (as the Bruins showed in game 7 of the Finals). Both teams were very similar on the PP, though neither would like to boast about their units. Despite both teams having depth at forward, the Rangers’ 16.9% and the Bruins 16.2% placed them 18^th and 20^th respectively. Not great at all. The Bruins would have benefited from a full year from Marc Savard while the Rangers are going to pursue Brad Richards in part for his powerplay prowess.

You want more similarities?

Both teams have placed recent emphasis on young players. The Bruins have recently integrated Seguin, Marchand and Adam McQuaid while they have solid additions on their way with Jordan Caron, Ryan Spooner and Toronto’s high pick from this year’s draft to name a few. The Rangers have benefitted greatly this year from the integration of Derek Stepan, Ryan McDonagh, Mike Sauer and can look forward to Chris Kreider, Christian Thomas and Carl Hagelin to name a few. The Bruins are more advanced because they moved prospects/picks for help (think Kaberle, Kelly, etc) and it paid off with the ultimate prize. However, in terms of future talent there is no doubt the Rangers have a lot to look forward to.

We’ve had a look at the similarities between the two sides and this list isn’t exhaustive; for example if you consider the actual depth of the forward groups beyond just the home grown cores. There was no need to spell out the obvious; original six franchises, droughts before each team’s recent cup wins etc. Check back to see what the key differences are, and why the Rangers can replicate the Bruins with a few changes.

Rome Suspended After Horton Hit

Anyone that saw the Canucks/Bruins game three from the Stanley Cup Final will have seen the Aaron Rome hit that took out Nathan Horton. It was late, it was on an unsuspecting player and today the league reacted. Rome’s hit was a big one and Rome acted recklessly when he dished out the hurt on Horton. Now, Rome has paid for the hit twice.

First of all the Canucks got a beat down losing the game 8-1 (in part thanks to the penalty issued on Rome) and today Rome was suspended by the league for 4 games for his actions on the Bruins forward, actions that have cost Horton the remainder of the Cup Finals as the Bruins announced earlier today. It has also been announced that Horton has been released from hospital.

The Rome hit will be more fuel to the fire this summer when some of the media undoubtedly discuss banning headshots from the game. Whether people see the 4 game suspension as enough or not enough will remain to be seen. What this suspension does mean however, is that Rome’s season is over. Just like Horton’s.

What this suspension does not do however is provide equality. The Bruins lose an important offensive piece in their quest to get back in to the series while the Canucks lose a depth player and have a talented player like Keith Ballard to call up on. While the punishment does fit the crime it’s hard not to feel a sense of anger if you are a Bruins fan. It will be interesting to see how the Bruins come out in game 4. Luckily Rome won’t have to look over his shoulder as he won’t be stepping out on to the ice.

Kevin Weekes and Marty Turco Talk Stanley Cup

I was lucky to be part of a conference call this afternoon with former NHL goalie and current NHL analyst Kevin Weekes and current Blackhawk goalie and former all star Marty Turco. While only very few questions were fielded both players spoke at some length about the final series going on right now, specifically about the goaltending. Unfortunately yours truly didn’t get selected to offer up a question (I had some killer questions lined up!) but thought I’d share some of the discussion with you guys anyway. Even without a Ranger element it makes for some interesting reading. (Please note; the responses are written up from notes and the question and answers are not necessarily in the order they were discussed.)

At first, the moderator asked both goalies to give some opinion on the first game of the finals. Here’s what they had to say, followed by some brief Q&A.

Turco: This has been my first cup final as an analyst and it’s been a lot of fun. The hockey in game one was intense and I have to admit to being surprised by the physicality. The goaltending has been great obviously. I’m interested to see what changes are made for game 2, how each team adapts.

Weekes: The series, game 1 was great. It’s two franchises that are starving for a cup win. This has been Vancouver’s best season in their anniversary season. People in Vancouver would obviously love the Cup whereas in Boston you have the drought, this being their first finals since 1990. I agree with Marty, game 1 was very physical, it featured some great 5 on 5 play and I think game 2 will be even better.

As a backup goaltender how can you assist your team in the Finals?

Turco: You have to stay ready to play and above all else be a team guy. You have to try and give your best and even in practice, by stopping shots in playing to your best you are helping players improve by making them try harder to score on you. Anytime someone gets hurt you have to be ready to help, remembering also that there is a human element to all of this, but above all as backup it all comes back to being a good teammate.

Weekes: Every player has their own path in hockey and players have had different roles throughout their careers. Using Marty as an example, he has been a backup, a number one, an all star and represented Canada on several occasions whereas I started as a backup had a chance to be a starter and ended my career backing up for 3 or 4 years. It doesn’t always matter about the position you’re in as much as always been ready, having an open mind but above all being able to bring added value to the situation. Some people try to trivialize the backup role but it is a critical role in hockey. You look at both teams in the Final, they have excellent backups. Schneider in Vancouver and Rask in Boston have both been critical to the success of their teams. Being a back up is also about doing more, about being an example.

Has this post season finally put Roberto Luongo’s critics to rest?

Turco: First of all nothing is more important than how you feel about yourself. How you handle criticism is a direct reflection of yourself. We’re all human, we have all experience failures. Luongo has been through and experienced everything. He has won at every level he has played at and he has skills better than almost everyone at the position. He cares about winning. If he doesn’t win the Cup he can still look at himself in the mirror especially as he has already achieved so much.

Weekes: You have to remember as a goalie in the NHL you are one of 60. That’s an elite group and doesn’t represent failure. People around the globe and hockey is indeed a global sport, would love to be in Luongo’s shoes. My proudest moment in my career was playing a part in the 2002 Stanley Cup Final despite the fact we (Carolina Hurricanes) lost the final.

Is the margin for error for goalies, in this Final series, especially small?

Turco: It really depends. Thomas is playing great, Luongo has been playing brilliant; they’re having fun. I’m not sure they look at it as one bad goal would change the series and feel that kind of pressure. Both of them, these goalies right now have a ton of confidence. You can, at times, see that skaters, these guys are squeezing their sticks due to the great play of these goalies.

Weekes: These two goalies are both Vezina nominees. They are two of the best goalies in the world and they both want to face shots and have a will to win the one on one challenge with the shooters. They are both hungry for success and you can see that in their play. Both goalies are in an excellent place mentally especially Tim Thomas. Luongo; he seems to be at his strongest yet, mentally. Not sure that the margin for error is a major concern right now.

It’s a shame that the call only featured a very small amount of questions as both Weekes and Turco came across as very willing and more than happy to talk at length given the opportunity. Both seemed enthusiastic to discuss any aspect of hockey and my thanks goes to both and the NHL for staging the call, even if I didn’t get to ask a question (angry face!)

Prospect Stajcer in the OHL Finals

Scott Stajcer’s biggest game of his junior career to date didn’t go as planned. In the first game of the OHL finals on Tuesday, Stajcer’s Owen Sound Attack got beat 5-2 to the Mississauga Ice Dogs St. Michael’s Majors. Stajcer managed to stop 23 of 27 shots that came his way. Some of Owen Sounds’ better players such as first round draft pick Joey Hishon (Colorado) were -2 on the night (as was key defenseman Matt Stanisz) so Stajcer received little support during the game.

Owen Sound had plenty of powerplay opportunities – six in all – and converted on two of them but despite outshooting the Ice Dogs they couldn’t solve goalie JP Anderson who has only lost once in the playoffs this season and has only 11 defeats on his record all year. For Stajcer, the loss brings his personal statistics back to earth only slightly. Stajcer now boasts 8 wins and 2 losses in the playoffs to go with a 2.28GAA and a .923 save percentage – all excellent numbers.

Regardless of how the rest of the finals go, Stajcer will get further invaluable experience when his Owen Sound team join the Ice Dogs (the hosts) at the Memorial Cup which begins May 20^th. Every extra start will be invaluable to Stajcer, especially after missing so much time earlier in the season. Game two of the OHL finals, in Owen Sound, is Thursday night.

Eastern Conference Quarterfinals Game 5: Rangers at Capitals

OPPONENT: Washington Capitals

SERIES: Wasington leads the series 3-1.

PLAYOFFS LEADING SCORER: Alex Ovechkin (2-2-4)

GOALIE: Michal Neuvirth (1.45 GAA, .940 SV%)

RANGERS LINES:

Ruslan Fedotenko-Brandon Dubinsky-Marian Gaborik
Sean Avery-Brian Boyle-Brandon Prust
Wojtek Wolski-Artem Anisimov-Derek Stepan
Vinny Prospal-Erik Christensen-Chris Drury

Marc Staal-Dan Girardi
Ryan McDonagh-Mike Sauer
Bryan McCabe-Matt Gilroy

Henrik Lundqvist
Chad Johnson

Scratched tonight: Derek Boogaard (concussion symptoms), Alex Frolov (knee), Martin Biron (collarbone), Ryan Callahan (ankle), and Steve Eminger (healthy)

STATE OF THE BLUESHIRTS: Just win.  One game at a time.  Just win.

CRAZY THOUGHT: Neuvirth gets yanked.

OPPONENT’S BLOG: Capitals Insider

PREDICTION: Everytime I predict the Rangers to win, they lose.  So I’m going with Caps 22, Rangers 0.

The game is at 3pm on NBC, and on 1050AM on your radio.

Prospects Still In the Playoffs

Junior hockey is down to the conference finals stage and Niagara’s Jason Wilson is still very much alive on behalf of the Rangers prospects. Wilson, having an excellent end to his junior season scored a goal in the second conference final game as Niagara managed to tie the series at one a piece against Mississauga, beating them 5-3. For Wilson it was his 12^th playoff point (5^th goal) in just 11 games. Compared to his last playoff experience (with the London Knights) where he managed 2 helpers in 10 games, Wilson is truly stepping up this year. All this comes on the heels of his best junior regular season where Wilson had career highs of 18 goals, 43 points in 64 games, to go along with his 94 penalty minutes, a career low. Maybe this proves that Wilson, when concentrating on the offensive side of his game can provide more than just a physical brand of hockey. Wilson and his Niagara ice Dogs try to take a 2-1 series lead tonight at 7pm.

Impressive also, is the fact Christian Thomas still leads the OHL in playoff scoring despite being eliminated in 5 games in the conference semi finals. In just 10 games Thomas grabbed 19 points including 9 goals. Behind him are a whole bunch of Windsor Spitfire players with one also joining Thomas on 19 points but who had played 5 games more. The stats are just further testament to Thomas’ outstanding playoff performance. Thomas is likely to be overtaken soon enough by some of those Windsor Spitfire players as they try and beat Owen Sound in the other conference final. However, Rangers goalie prospect Scott Stajcer might have something to say about it. In game one of the series Stajcer was immense saving 38 of 39 as Owen Sound beat down the Spitfires 8-1 but in game two Windsor came back to win 4-2 as Stajcer stopped 19 of 22. So far in the series (do the math) Stajcer has been outstanding stopping 57 of 61 shots. The goalie is raising his game when it counts most. If he continues this form, he should be rewarded with a Rangers contract this summer.

Over in Quebec and Ryan Bourque and his Remparts team lost game 1 of their conference final to Gatineau, losing a tight affair 2-1. Bourque grabbed an assist on the lone Remparts goal, was credited with 3 hits, a +1 rating and had 4 shots; an all round performance from the Blueshirt prospect. Bourque is another Ranger prospect that has kept his play up in the playoffs. In 12 games for Quebec he has 14 points, including 4 goals: all this coming after a 59 point regular season in just 49 games. It will be fun to see the HOF’ers son continue to develop next season. Quebec look to tie it up tonight at 7, like Niagara in the OHL.

Changing Of The Guard: Sauer/McDonagh Taking Bigger Role

Even two days later, the loss on Wednesday night still stings.  Among the positives, that Chris pointed out yesterday, there was one thing that goes widely overlooked by the fans.  If I asked you to guess, without looking, which defensive pair started each overtime period, you would likely guess Marc Staal and Dan Girardi.  if that is your guess, then you are wrong.

Michael Sauer and Ryan McDonagh are the pair that started each overtime period, and each played about 32 minutes in the double overtime game.  Of course, Staal and Girardi had more ice time at 37 and 40 minutes respectively, and that is to be expected.  But the second item that goes widely unnoticed is that Sauer and McDonagh actually had more shifts than Staal and Girardi.  Yes folks, Staal (42) and Girardi (44) both came in under the 47 shifts for Sauer and McDonagh.  Didn’t expect to hear that, did you?

I’m over the loss, not because I have accepted that it was a loss, but because we saw two kids –two rookies– grow up before our eyes this postseason.  Prior to February, the Rangers defense behind Staal and Girardi was shaky at best, and was evey shakier after shipping out Michal Rozsival for Wojtek Wolski.  Now, the Rangers have possibly the best shutdown pair in the game in Staal and Girardi, and then possibly another top-ten shutdown pair in McDonagh and Sauer.  Combine that with all-world goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, and the Rangers are a defensive force to be reckoned with.

They are still kids, and mistakes will be made (I’m almost positive McDonagh won’t make that pass again for the rest of his career).  Mistakes are a part of the game, but the Rangers have two separate defensive pairs that appear to be capable of shutting down any top offensive line.  Many teams would do anything just to have one pair like this, and the Rangers have two.  Factor in that Girardi is the oldest at just 26 years old, and the Rangers appear to be set for a very, very long time.  Perhaps the best thing about the emergence of Sauer and McDonagh is that Staal and Girardi can take a few more shifts off, which they so desperately need.

Whale Down In Series Despite Comeback

As the Rangers rested, the Connecticut Whale played game five of their first round playoff series last night. Unfortunately for the Whale – much like to their benefit with Zuccarello the game before – it was a demoted player from the parent club that made the difference last night. Mark Mancari, having been up and down between Portland and Buffalo numerous times in recent days was back in the line up for the Pirates and had 1+2 as the Pirates raced out to a 3-0 lead and hung on to win 5-4.

Although the Whale lost the game they will have a lot to be confident about going into their crucial game 6, trailing 3-2. The Whale were poor to begin but showed character and heart to come back from 3-0 down to score 4 of the next 5 goals to tie it up at 4. Unfortunately ex NHL winger Mark Parrish had the final say for Portland, halting the great comeback.

The Whale also have reasons for hope because Kris Newbury and Brodie Dupont found their offense. Newbury had 2+1 while Dupont grabbed a goal and assist after being very quiet offensively throughout the series. The prospects were involved too, as Carl Hagelin fared well, going +1 and taking 4 shots; Pavel Valentenko went +2 however Evgeny Grachev was scoreless and was -1. Chad Kolarik continued his comeback with a multiple point effort and grabbed a goal and a helper while Mats Zuccarello was held off the board on this occasion.

On this night however it appeared to be goaltending that let the Whale down as veteran Dov Grumet-Morris was yanked in favour of Cam Talbot after conceding 3 goals on the first 16 shots. The Whale look to stay alive in the series as they host Portland on Saturday at 7. If a game 7 is required, the teams will go back to Portland on Monday night. Fingers crossed that’s the case.

Video: Can You Hear Us?

For those that missed it, or want to re-live the peak moment before last night’s collapse, here is the video of the epic “Can you hear us?” chant at MSG last night. Good to see all of the fans coming together on this one.

Whale Have Big Game Tonight

With the Rangers not playing today and licking their wounds, The Connecticut Whale gets back into playoff action tonight against Portland. The Whale did well to hang in with Portland in the first few games as they got back some of their very best offensive weapons. Those weapons are one reason that make tonight’s game worth keeping an eye on for Rangers fans. Fresh from his demotion from the Rangers, Mats Zuccarello made an immediate impact for the Whale getting 1+1 in his first playoff game in the AHL. Not to be outdone was perhaps the Whale’s most important offensive weapon, Chad Kolarik. Also in his first game back, Kolarik also had 1+1 as the Whale tied their series up – 2 a piece – thanks to a 3-1 win over the Pirates, Tuesday night.

Other Rangers prospects have also contributed in the series so far. Evgeny Grachev has 2 assists in 4 games to go with a +1 rating.  Dale Weise has 1+1 while Tomas Kundratek also has an assist in what has been a low scoring series to date. The Whale has scored 10 goals in the 4 games thus far while holding the Pirates to just 8 in the 4 games. It has been a very tightly contested series so far. Perhaps most important, from a long term Rangers’ point of view, is the fact Carl Hagelin is getting his feet wet in the pro game in this series – and is doing so at the most important time of year. While Hagelin hasn’t scored a point for the Whale yet he’s featured in 3 playoff games and should be involved in tonight’s matchup. Dylan McIlrath on the other hand isn’t expected to play in the playoffs outside of injuries hitting the defense. These playoffs are seen as an opportunity for McIlrath to watch and learn while he attempts to improve his skating to a level where his mobility is a compliment to his imposing physical presence.

Tonight isn’t about feeling sorry for ourselves as Rangers fans (although many wouldn’t begrudge it). It’s instead another opportunity to keep an eye out on the Rangers of tomorrow. There’s plenty of legitimate prospects playing in the AHL playoffs and the series against the favoured Pirates is a good learning opportunity for each and every one of them – whether they dress or not.