Record Last Week (11/22-11/28): 3-1-0
2010-2011 Record: 14-10-1
Upcoming Schedule: 11/29 vs PIT, 12/2 @NYI, 12/3 vs. NYI, 12/5 vs. OTT
Big news from last week:
- The Rangers went 3-1 last week, but only one of those wins was an “impressive” win, that being over Calgary. The Rangers barely showed up against Tampa Bay in a 5-3 loss that looked worse than the score, and won in less than stellar efforts against a weak Florida team and a Nashville team that can’t score if their lives depended on it. But that’s what good teams do, they find ways to beat the teams they should beat, even if everything isn’t clicking on all cylinders.
- Henrik Lundqvist showed that his struggles earlier were just a slump, as he stopped 29 of 30 shots in Nashville, and all 40 shots in Florida in two great showings for one of the best goalies in the game. Lundqvist generally has a slump somewhere in the season where it looks like his game is lost, luckily it came this early this year. There is no need to worry about The King.
- The Rangers are entering a critical point of the season. They have Pittsburgh tonight, and then four very winnable games against the Islanders and Ottawa. The Rangers are very capable of taking three or four of those five games, and will need to do so with a tough stretch against Columbus (14-7-0), Washington, Pittsburgh, Phoenix, Philadelphia, and Tampa Bay to round out the Christmas time schedule. If the Rangers take three or four of five in the early games, and manage to stay at .500 during that tough stretch, it will be considered a successful December.
- Michal Rozsival returned over the weekend, sparking debate over who will sit when he returns. The decision was delayed at least one game, as the Rangers dressed 11 forwards and 7 defenseman because Marian Gaborik was out on Saturday with the flu.
- The Connecticut Whale have been busy, trading captain Dane Byers to give him a legitimate NHL shot and disgruntled Nigel Williams. Although they started very slow, they appear to be turning the season around after a relatively strong week. Those who are supposed to score are starting to finally light the lamp, including hte newly acquired Chad Koralik.
- The Rangers prospects, specifically Christian Thomas, are showing why the Rangers have a top-10 farm system. Thomas, the Rangers 2nd round pick in 2010, was recently named the OHL player of the week.
[poll id="24"]
Posted by: Dave, on 11-29-2010 at 7:15 am in Polls | Comments Off
Record Last Week (11/8-11/14): 2-2-0
2010-2011 Record: 11-9-1
Upcoming Schedule: 11/23 vs CGY, 11/24 @TB, 11/26 @FLA, 11/27 @NSH
Big news from last week:
- The Rangers went 2-1 this week, with a very gratifying win over the Penguins on Monday. It seems it’s not only the Rangers that have questionable officiating when facing Sidney Crosby. While the Rangers generally have terrible on-ice officiating, the one in the article is a call made from Toronto. I don’t believe in conspiracy theories, but this is getting out of hand.
- Both Michal Rozsival and Chris Drury are skating again. Rozsival is due back this week, with Drury needing another two weeks before his return. Both returns are going to force the Rangers to make some difficult decisions on the makeup of the current roster.
- Don’t forget to vote for Sean Avery for the All Star Game.
- Speaking of the All Star Game, Dan Girardi likely won’t be selected because he doesn’t have flashy numbers, but he has been the best Rangers defenseman this season. He is really earning that contract in the offseason.
- The Hartford Wolfpack/Connecticut Whale are just terrible. Seriously, they are awful. When does Ken Gernander get shown the door?
- The Rangers prospects playing anywhere but in the AHL are really making their presence felt on the scoring sheet. The Rangers also had a scare with Dylan McIlrath, but his MRI came up with just a sprain in his left knee.
[poll id="23"]
Posted by: Dave, on 11-22-2010 at 8:21 am in Polls | Comments Off
Record Last Week (11/8-11/14): 2-1-0
2010-2011 Record: 9-7-1
Upcoming Schedule: 11/15 @PIT, 11/17 vs. BOS, 11/19 @COL, 11/20 @MIN
Big news from last week:
- The Rangers went 2-1 this week, with impressive wins over Buffalo (in overtime) and Edmonton (a slaughter). They also played very well against Washington, and did everything they needed to do to win. Unfortunately, you lose those games sometimes. The Rangers now sit in 2nd in the Atlantic Division, and 4th in the Eastern Conference.
- The Rangers unveiled their new third jerseys on Friday. The jerseys look very nice, and I’m looking forward to seeing them during the season.
- Two moves the Flyers made this week really affects the Rangers this coming offseason. First, they signed Claude Giroux to an extension averaging $3.75 million per season, then they signed Jeff Carter to a deal worth $5.5 million per season. Both contracts set market value for players like Brandon Dubinsky, Ryan Callahan, and to a lesser extent Artem Anisimov. Of course, the David Backes deal at $4.5 million per season throws a wrench in all this. I still project Dubinsky/Callahan to be between $3 million to $3.5 million, and Anisimov to get around $2 million.
- Speaking of Dubinsky, he and Callahan were left off the All Star ballot for some reason. Meanwhile, Marian Gaborik is on the ballot, even though he has only played four games this year due to injury.
- Speaking of Gaborik, he returned from injury on Thursday against Buffalo, and was held off the scoresheet. His real return was yesterday when he exploded for a hat trick and a +5 rating in the 8-2 drubbing of the Oilers (in Tom Renney’s return). The bad news is that when Gaborik came back, the Rangers lost Michal Rozsival to an injury for the next 5-7 days.
- The Hartford Wolfpack/Connecticut Whale are having all sorts of trouble this season. This can only get worse after trading team captain Dane Byers to Columbus for Chad Kolarik. Byers was a mainstay in Hartford, and was one of the anchors of the team. Byers was never going to be given an NHL shot with the Rangers, so good luck to him in Columbus, hopefully he gets a shot there.
- The Rangers prospects are still lighting it up in the CHL, specifically the names you expect to see there: Ethan Werek, Christian Thomas, and Roman Horak. Unfortunately, Dylan McIlrath (1st, 2010) suffered a knee injury. Severity is unknown, but the initial reports are not looking good.
[poll id="22"]
Posted by: Dave, on 11-15-2010 at 7:30 am in Polls | Comments Off
Record Last Week (10/25-10/31): 2-2-0
2010-2011 Record: 7-6-1
Upcoming Schedule: 11/9 vs. WAS, 11/11 vs. BUF, 11/14 vs. EDM
Big news from last week:
- The Rangers continued their roller coaster season with strong wins against Chicago and New Jersey, alternated between two losses to Philadelphia and St. Louis. In the two wins, the Rangers looked very strong, out-hustling opponents, blocking shots, and playing a stellar team game. In the two losses, they looked lethargic and uninspired. Such is life when you are a .500 team, as the Rangers are.
- Marian Gaborik is inching closer to a return, and is eying a game on this homestand to do so. The Rangers need him desperately, as the Brandon Dubinsky-Artem Anisimov-Ryan Callahn line can’t continue this pace forever.
- Glen Sather spoke about the rebuild in New York, and the plan behind it. Many focused on one statement that was taken out of context, where Sather called fans impatient (I mean, we are impatient). Staying focused on the point of the article, the post-lockout rebuild has been done very well.
- With Matt Gilroy riding the pine a lot this season, Chris (jurgenno) tossed around the idea that the Rangers should look to trade him while he still has some value. Gilroy is a NHL defenseman, but it doesn’t look like he will be fitting in with the Rangers system. If he’s not going to play, get something for him while you can.
- Sean Avery has been a pleasant surprise for the Rangers this year. He has been a great agitator, while chipping in offensively. He has been getting 2nd line minutes at even strength, but the idea was tossed around here that he may have earned some additional powerplay time. Avery does well in front of the net and along the boards, and with only one powerplay unit looking to be successful, it can’t hurt to try.
- The Hartford Wolfpack/Connecticut Whale are having all sorts of trouble this season. They can’t seem to get any offense going, which is unfortunate because the defense and goaltending has been pretty good thus far.
- The Rangers prospects playing in Canadian Juniors are still lighting it up. Four prospects are averaging over a point per game, and Dylan McIlrath is starting to show why he was the Rangers surprising first round selectino in June, after his slow start..
[poll id="21"]
Record Last Week (10/25-10/31): 1-2-0
2010-2011 Record: 5-4-1
Upcoming Schedule: 11/1 vs. CHI, 11/4 @PHI, 11/5 @NJD, 11/7 vs. STL
Big news from last week:
- After three strong wins to close out the previous week, the Rangers defense collapsed in the first two games this week, allowing ten goals to Atlanta and Carolina. The Rangers got their act together though, and played a great game in Toronto on Saturday to get back on track and to give Henrik Lundqvist his first shutout of the season.
- Evgeny Grachev was called up when Derek Boogaard went down with an injured hand. Grachev replaced Boogaard in the Rangers loss to Carolina, playing with Todd White and Erik Christensen for a little under seven minutes. Grachev then replaced White in the lineup against Toronto, playing with Boogaard and Christensen. Grachev was held scoreless, but the 20 year old didn’t look out of place, finishing with an even rating and five hits.
- The line of Brandon Dubinsky-Artem Anisimov-Ryan Callahan is lighting things up for the Rangers. Through the first ten games, all three are on pace to finish with at least 70 points. The return of Marian Gaborik will affect their powerplay time a bit, thus maybe knocking them off that pace, but they will also face lesser defensive pairings. As for now, the three young, home grown players have answered the call this season.
- The Rangers are still not a very good faceoff team. Their numbers in the circle will get better once Chris Drury returns, but Artem Anisimov really needs to get better than his 44% success rate.
- The Rangers are taking a page from the Devils of the 1990s-2000s when it comes to building their roster this year and for the future. Meanwhile, the Devils seem to be copying the Rangers from the pre-lockout 2000s.
- The Connecticut Whale is still having a lot of trouble getting offensive contributions. When no one on the team has hit double digit points yet, it’s a troubling sign.
- The Rangers prospects playing in Canadian Juniors are absolutely lighting it up. Four prospects are averaging over a point per game, and Scott Stajcer is doing his best Patrick Roy impression, as he remained unbeaten.
[poll id="20"]
Posted by: Dave, on 11-01-2010 at 7:15 am in Polls | Comments Off
Record Last Week (10/11-10/17): 3-1-0
2010-2011 Record: 4-2-1
Upcoming Schedule: 10/27 vs. ATL, 10/29 vs. CAR, 10/30 @TOR
Big news from last week:
- The Rangers played a real clunker against Colorado to open their four game swing last week, but really finished strong. The Blueshirts had solid wins against Toronto, Boston, and New Jersey. “We won one yesterday. We win one today, it’s called two in a row. We win one tomorrow, it’s called a winning streak. It HAS happened before.”
- The already decimated Rangers received took another hit when Brandon Prust took a Gregory Campbell stick to the eye. Luckily for the Rangers, Prust checked out okay. Other good news is that the PRP treatment for Marian Gaborik is progessing as planned. On a sour note, Michael Sauer (hah, I made a funny) was a late scratch from last night’s game with a lower body injury. The coaching staff has said he’s just nicked up, so hopefully it won’t linger.
- The Rangers defense has been the story of the week thus far. After four lackluster showings to open the year, the defense really clamped down, blocking a lot of shots and playing overall solid defense during the Rangers current streak. The defense seemed to tighten up as soon as Steve Eminger was scratched. It has only been two games, but it’s worth noting.
- News came out that coach John Tortorella and General Manager Glen Sather aren’t seeing eye-to-eye on certain roster moves. Tortorella isn’t exactly candid when speaking about it, but his answers to allude to a bit of a rift between the coach and the general manager. Considering this news, and the slowish start, it’s no surprise that Tortorella’s job may be on the line if the Rangers falter when players return from injury.
- The Connecticut Whale is having some trouble getting offensive contributions. There’s only so much Chad Johnson and a stacked defense can do to get wins. The Whale needs to find it’s offensive fire, and fast. But with Dale Weise out after wrist surgery, it’s going to have to come from sources like Evgeny Grachev and Mats Zuccarello-Aasen.
- Ethan Werek, Christian Thomas, Roman Horak, and Scott Stajcer have opened up their respective Major Junior seasons on fire. The skaters are averaging over a point per game, and Stajcer is doing his best Patrick Roy impression. Werek, Thomas, and Stajcer were named to the OHL team for the Subway Super Series.
[poll id="19"]
Record Last Week (10/11-10/17): 0-1-1
2010-2011 Record: 1-1-1
Upcoming Schedule: 10/18 vs. COL, 10/21 @TOR, 10/23 @BOS, 10/24 vs. NJD
Big news from last week:
- After a dominant performance against the Buffalo Sabres to open the season, the Rangers lost two in a row to the Islanders and Maple Leafs. The loss to the Leafs came in overtime, and the Rangers defense gave up a whopping ten goals in that two game span.
- The Rangers were decimated in the injury column against the Leafs, losing Marian Gaborik and Chris Drury for several weeks. News also came out the Vinny Prospal will be having knee surgery, and will be out indefinitely.
- The coaching staff decided not to call up anyone from Hartford to deal with the crippled lineup. Todd White and Erik Christensen will be inserted back into the lineup.
- The Rangers defensive shuffle continues, and the lack of a true third righty defenseman is beginning to be exploited. Neither Matt Gilroy nor Steve Eminger have fared well there, and Michael Sauer simply cannot play the position. It is going to be interesting to see how the coaching staff and General Manager Glen Sather solve this problem. Remember, Ryan McDonagh is a lefty as well, and Pavel Valentenko is still very raw and needs tie in Hartford.
- Both Evgeny Grachev and Mats Zuccarello-Aasen are off to good starts in Hartford. Both are contributing offensively, and Grachev seems to have found his stride defensively, as he is a +4 through the first four games of the year. Not all is well in Hartford, as Dale Weise is injured.
- The Blueshirts are hitting their first tough scheduling of the season, with four games in seven nights, including back-to-back games to end the week.
[poll id="18"]
Posted by: Dave, on 10-18-2010 at 7:00 am in Polls | Comments Off
Record Last Week (10/4-10/10): 1-0-0
2010-2011 Record: 1-0-0
Upcoming Schedule: 10/11 @NYI, 10/15 vs. TOR
Big news from last week:
- The Rangers won their first game of the season, dominating Buffalo 6-3. In case you’ve been MIA for the past 24 hours, rookie center Derek Stepan netted himself a hat trick against of of the best goalies in the world. Brandon Dubinsky also added two goals.
- The Rangers absolutely dominated a very good Buffalo Sabres team on Saturday. What was impressive was that they continued to score goals at will on the reigning Vezina trophy winner. It’s just one game, but this offense looks very good, and has looked very good all preseason.
- Matt Gilroy was scratched against the Sabres, which came as a puzzling move to many. It was assumed that Gilroy had earned his spot as the #5 defenseman, but according to coach John Tortorella, he did not. That could be smoke and mirrors of course, to give both Steve Eminger and Michael Sauer a shot at securing that #6 spot by playing them both. But then again, Gilroy will be a scratch against the Islanders this afternoon.
- Chris Drury skated with the team during practice and traveled to Buffalo. He did not play against the Sabres, and will not play against the Islanders. All signs point to a return on Friday at MSG for the Rangers home opener against Toronto.
- The
Hartford Wolfpack Connecticut Whale have trimmed their roster to 23 players, which includes eight defensemen. What is interesting is seeing Evgeny Grachev playing center (yes, center) between Mats Zuccarello-Aasen and Brodie Dupont. Dale Weise will be playing with Kris Newbury and Dane Byers.
- The Rangers non-AHL prospects started their seasons, with Roman Horak grabbing the spotlight. It’s unlikely he can continue his three points per game pace, but 2009 5th round pick certainly turned heads both in camp and in the opening three games.
[poll id="17"]
Record Last Week (9/27-10/3): 2-1-0
2010-2011 Preseason Record: 4-2-0
Upcoming Schedule: 10/9 @BUF
Big news from last week:
- The Rangers finished the preseason 4-2-0. The Rangers offense was impressive, scoring 26 goals (27 if counting the courtesy goal after winning a shootout) in the six preseason games. However, their defense was porous to say the least, allowing 25 goals in those six games.
- The Rangers took another hit in the injury column, as Vinny Prospal will be out for at least two weeks. Both players will begin the season on injured reserve.
- The Rangers cut the roster to 25. This includes 16 forwards (two on IR), seven defensemen, and two goalies. The Rangers do not need to make anymore roster moves until Drury or Prospal return from IR.
- By keeping Mike Sauer and Steve Eminger as the #6 and #7 defensemen respectively, the Rangers do not need to worry about finding playing time for Ryan McDonagh and Pavel Valentenko. Eminger as the #7 will spend the majority of his time in the press box, thus getting limited amount of playing time. This is a route the Rangers could not take with McDonagh or Valentenko. By keeping Sauer, the Rangers do not risk losing him to waivers, where he would most certainly have been claimed. McDonagh and Valentenko do not have to clear waivers.
- The Rangers have showed interest in the Oilers, as they have been scouting the team for quite some time. While many believe this is proof that the Rangers want Sheldon Souray, it is much more likely that the Rangers are scouting other players, as Souray hasn’t dressed for a single Edmonton preseason game.
- The Rangers CHL prospects got off to a good start, most notably Roman Horak, Christian Thomas, and Ryan Bourque.
- Wade Redden reported to Hartford after being waived. Redden is hoping to play a leadership role in Hartford, much like the role he played for Michael Del Zotto last season.
[poll id="16"]
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.
[poll id="15"]
