Thursday night’s loss left the Rangers a game under .500 with 24 games to play. Despite the losing record, the Rangers sit just two points out of a playoff spot, and in the #10 seed in the East. The Rangers have a very tough schedule heading into the Olympic break, with all four games against playoff teams. The most important of these games is the finale against Tampa Bay, currently the #8 seed in the East.
After the break, the Rangers play their next five games against sure-fire playoff teams. In fact, of the 24 remaining games, only 4 of them are against teams with a losing record. That leaves for a very challenging task of beating playoff, or near playoff, teams in order to just make it to the postseason.
So, with the old Kovalchuk poll forced into retirement, in comes the new poll. Will the Rangers make the playoffs? Vote on the right. Personally, I’m an optimist, so I think they will sneak in.
With the Rangers in a 145 minute scoring drought, the desire for a bigger scoring threat becomes much greater. If the Thrashers cannot sign star forward Ilya Kovalchuk to a long-term deal, expect GM Don Waddell to trade Kovalchuk. This is probably the best bet for Atlanta, who would get some good pieces in a deal to help build a contender.
As for the Rangers, I ran down what it would take to land Kovalchuk. If the deal looked something like this:
To Rangers: Ilya Kovalchuk, 2010 5th round pick
To Thrashers: Brandon Dubinsky, Bobby Sanguinetti, 2010 1st round pick, 2011 3rd round pick, 2011 1st round pick (if Kovalchuk re-signs)
Roster Moves: Rangers waive Wade Redden, re-call Ilkka Heikkinen.
Would you take the deal? Remember, if Kovalchuk does not re-sign, then he turns into a rental that cost you Dubinsky and Sanguinetti. Is this a risk you are willing to take?
To make things interesting, assume that Glen Sather will not have a period of time to negotiate with Kovalchuk before the deal.
Poll is off to the right.
There seems to be a lot of discussion about who should get the chance on the top line with Vinny Prospal and Marian Gaborik. Chris Higgins played well in his one game with them against Columbus, Brandon Dubinsky has played well there, as has Enver Lisin. It has been made abundantly clear that it does not have to be position-specific, as Prospal can play both wing and center.
So, let’s leave it to the masses. Who do you think should be on the line with Prospal and Gaborik? Personally, I think it should go to Artem Anisimov. The poll is over on the right.
It is time to retire the old poll on the right. The majority of people thought that the 2009 Hall of Fame class (Yzerman, Hull, Leetch, Robitaille) was better than the 2007 class (Messier, Stevens, MacInnis, Francis). There was no wrong answer in that poll, but it’s interesting to see people’s opinions. Personally, I think the 2007 classes numbers were skewed because Stevens was not a scorer.
On to the new poll: With the season a week away, and all of the offseason and preseason talk about Marian Gaborik’s groin and fragility, the question is, how many games will he play? It’s a legitimate concern amongst Ranger fans, and it’s the reason why all the “experts” expect the Rangers to finish in the bottom 10 of the league this year. No one expects him to play a full season.
The poll is on the right. Let’s see how optimistic (or pessimistic) everyone is.
With the induction of possibly the best HOF class ever yesterday, it sparked some debate on which class is better: the 2009 class of Yzerman, Hull, Leetch and Robitaille, or the 2007 class of Messier, MacInnis, Stevens and Francis. It’s a tough call, and there probably is no wrong answer here. But let’s run through the NHL regular season numbers:
2009 Class:
- Goals: 2,348 (Yzerman-692, Hull-741, Leetch-247, Robitaille-668)
- Assists: 3,220 (Yzerman-1,063, Hull-650, Leetch-781, Robitaille-726)
- Points: 5,568 (Yzerman-1,755, Hull-1,391, Leetch-1,028, Robitaille-1,394)
- Stanley Cups: 7 (Yzerman-3, Hull-2, Leetch-1, Robitaille-1)
- Awards: 1 Hart (Hull), 2 Pearson (Yzerman, Hull), 2 Conn Smythe (Yzerman, Leetch), 1 Selke (Yzerman), 1 Masterson (Yzerman), 1 Byng (Hull), 2 Norris (Leetch), 2 Calder (Leetch, Robitaille)
- All-Star Appearances: 36 (Yzerman-10, Hull-8, Leetch-10, Robitaille-8)
2007 Class:
- Goals: 1,779 (Messier-694, MacInnis-340, Stevens-196, Francis-549)
- Assists: 4,088 (Messier-1,193, MacInnis-934, Stevens-712, Francis-1,249)
- Points: 5,867 (Messier-1,887, MacInnis-1,274, Stevens-908, Francis-1,798)
- Stanley Cups: 12 (Messier-6, MacInnis-1, Stevens-3, Francis-2)
- Awards: 2 Harts (Messier), 3 Conn Smythes (Messier, MacInnis, Stevens), 2 Pearsons (Messier), 1 Norris (MacInnis), 1 Selke (Francis), 3 Byngs (Francis), 1 Clancy (Francis)
- All-Star Appearances: 47 (Messier-15, MacInnis-15, Stevens-13, Francis-4)
It really is a toss up. There is no wrong answer here, cases can be made for both, and these are just the raw numbers. There was much more to each of these players than just statistics, especially with Scott Stevens.
The only surprise here is that Ron Francis was only voted to the All-Star Game four times. That’s an absolute travesty.
Update 4:00pm: Actually, let’s make a poll out of this. It’s mid-page, on the right hand side.
With the offseason upon us, the Rangers, and GM Glen Sather, have a very difficult choice ahead of them. Do they go with Nik Antropov, or Nik Zherdev? Let’s analyze this a bit:
Zherdev
Pros: Younger, has the ability to be a superstar, great hands, more on the faster side, should come relatively cheap and probably for two years max.
Cons: Sometimes looks apathetic, work-ethic always in question, enigmatic, disappeared in the playoffs.
Antropov
Pros: Entering his prime, huge body, mroe devloped offensive upside, more consistent.
Cons: Definitely more expensive and will require more years, never really met his potential in Toronto or NY, not as fast as one might want a top winger to be.
It’s a tough choice, and you know the Rangers will only have the ability to sign one of them. Considering the cap room, or lack thereof, I would go Zherdev. This should spark a nice debate. The poll is on the right. Fire away.
With the playoff drive in crunch time, where every game is life or death, the question here is: Do the Rangers have enough to make the playoffs?
They have four games remaining, are two points ahead of Florida, but the Panthers have a game in hand, playing tonight.
Will the Rangers make the playoffs? Vote in the poll on the side.
With Tortorella in and Renney out, there is no real point to discussing what the Rangers need to do, considering there won’t be another coaching change this year.
Most people still think Sather needs to go. I am in full agreement. However, you have to feel bad for whoever takes over, with all those contracts.
Update 12:05pm: I guess it’s time to remove that mantra ‘More consistent than Tom Renney’s lines’ too. Let me know what you think of the new mantra.
With all the discussion about Sean Avery, Tom Renney, the teams needs, and the teams management, let’s get a grasp on what everyone thinks. The poll is below on the right.
So what do you think the Rangers need the most?
If you’ve been keeping up with this blog, you know my answer…
About one month ago, we started the poll on the side about whether Tom Renney deserves to keep his job. And it is somewhat surprising that the results show about a 60/40 ratio of fans wanting to keep him around. I guess the people that want him gone (us Nick and I included) are the more vocal.
It’s no surprise that we here Nick and I want him gone. It is simply time for a change. If the Rangers fail to get past the second round again this year, then the minority might just get what it wants.
The question is, who do you want to replace him?
Polls | Dave, 6 Feb 10 | 
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