Just a few thoughts about the monumental upset witnessed last night.
- Doesn’t it frustrate you seeing Halak do that? If Lundqvist had even that amount of offensive support last year in game 7 would it have been us?
- Mike Knuble. Why did the Rangers a) get rid of him and b) not try and bring him back last summer. He totally outshone Caps ‘stars’ Semin and Green.
Now… onto the real purpose of my post: Ryan Callahan. We are very lucky to have a heart and soul player, who is mutli-dimensional; has a strong work ethic, is young and wants to be a Ranger. However, sorry Ryan – we need more.
As much as people criticise Brandon Dubinsky in certain ways, I believe Ryan Callahan needs to step up offensively, improve his finishing and become an offensive leader and not ‘just’ be a leader through example. A -12 rating, 37 points, 30 shots less than the year prior – this isnt enough. Even if the Rangers address the scoring in the summer with new additions, this team will only excel if the core, young guys on the team score more. Callahan needs to become a perennial 25 goal guy, he needs to shoot more and he cant be prone to the long stretches without production he suffered this year. 4 times this year Cally failed to gain a point for atleast 5 consecutive games, including two 7 game spells. He also went without a goal for 7 or more games 3 times. That’s not good enough.
He hits (perhaps even too much – i.e. Pronger? Chara? easy there little guy…), he forechecks and he never, ever gives up but Ryan Callahan needs to produce. If Callahan becomes a 50 point guy, a 25 goal scorer some of our problem is aleviated.
Yes his linemates didnt help at times and he had his injuries, he may also have benefited from an Olympic break had he not played (thinking purely from a Ranger point of view here) but an off season shooting a ton of rubber and working on his release will do Cally no harm at all.
I genuinely believe this team, even as currently constructed, has alot of offensive potential but Ryan Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky represent the offensive problem this team faces: consistency.
While not 100% confirmed, it looks like Ryan Callahan will be playing tonight against Buffalo. According to Andrew Gross, the injured winger will be taking part in the pre-game warmups. If his knee continues to feel good, then he will play tonight, likely in the place of the recently called up Dale Weise.
As per Andrew Gross, injured Rangers forwards Ryan Callahan and Brian Boyle returned to the ice today. Callahan took part in the full practice, while Boyle skated on his own after practice was over. It doesn’t appear that Boyle will be ready for tomorrow’s game in Buffalo, but there is still an outside chance that Callahan will play. He said it basically depends on how he feels tomorrow.
The Rangers have played well despite the injury to the alternate captain, going 3-0-1 since he went down with his knee injury. Should Callahan play tomorrow, it is anyone’s guess who will sit. It could be Aaron Voros, it could be P.A. Parenteau, it could be Dale Weise, it could be Jody Shelley. Voros has played particularly well lately, as have Parenteau and Shelley. Weise could be the odd man out, but since he was just called up, he could be given his shot to play. It will be an interesting decision to see who plays and who doesn’t when these injuries begin to heal.
As per the beat writers on Twitter; Ryan Callahan, Sean Avery and Brian Boyle did not skate at practice today and will not play tonight. Also, it looks like coach John Tortorella will be keeping the same lineup as he did against the Islanders, with Matt Gilroy and Enver Lisin being sent to the Prucha Box. So despite playing a combined 15 minutes in the last game, Anders Eriksson and Corey Locke will remain in the lineup tonight tomorrow against Tampa Bay. It is safe to assume the lines will look the same as they did against the Islanders on Tuesday:
Dubinsky-Christensen-Gaborik
Prospal-Locke-Drury
Voros-Jokinen- Parenteau
Shelley-Anisimov-Prust
Henrik Lundqvist will be in net todaytomorrow, for his 800th start in a row.
As per Steve Zipay, Ryan Callahan is out tonight with his leg injury, being replaced in the lineup by the recently called up P.A. Parenteau. The other player called up, Anders Eriksson, will be in the lineup tonight, replacing Matt Gilroy. Gilroy only played 10:05 in the shootout win against New Jersey on Thursday night.
The other minor lineup change for tonight is that Aaron Voros will indeed return tonight, and Enver Lisin will be the additional healthy scratch.
The Rangers have called up P.A. Parenteau and Anders Eriksson from the AHL, for Saturday’s game against Toronto. The Parenteau call-up is presumably for Ryan Callahan, who re-injured his leg against the Devils.
As for Eriksson, there are a couple potential reasons for the call-up. The Rangers may want a seventh defenseman for the rest of the road trip (which would be odd, since they haven’t carried seven all year). Or, it may be to replace Matt Gilroy, who played only 10:05 in the shootout win against the Devils. Do the Rangers want a veteran presence for the last playoff push? We’ll see what happens.
Aaron Voros has tweeted that he may find himself back in the lineup on Saturday against Toronto. This is bad news for Ryan Callahan, who re-injured his leg in last night’s thriller against New Jersey. To quote Voros, stay tuned.
With the Rangers still mathematically in the playoff hunt, they took to the ice for practice today without alternate captain Ryan Callahan for a second straight day. Sean Avery participated in practice, returning after a one day absence. Both wingers were injured in the Rangers loss to the Bruins on Sunday.
Team USA, the youngest team in the Olympics this year, was supposed to be an afterthought for the 2010 Olympics. The pool play favored the Americans slightly, placed in a pool with two very beatable teams in Norway and Switzerland. However, the young Americans were supposed to get blown away by the Canadians, the overall favorite to win the gold this year. After last night’s stunning victory, these young guns are changing the course of these games.
However, despite all the hooplah surrounding last night’s upset, we have to remain a bit controlled. This, in no way, shape or form, is comparable to 1980. So just stop with those comparisons please, you look stupid when you make them. Canada is stacked, but they’ve won a single gold medal in hockey since 1952. 1952!
Team USA does not have to play Canada, Sweden, or Russia until the gold medal game. However, they still will need to face one of the Czech Republic or Finland, both very strong teams who are very capable of beating not only the Americans, but the aforementioned powers of the other bracket. Before we get excited about a potential medal, let’s make sure these young guns beat the winner of the Swiss/Belarus game on Wednesday. At that point, and only at that point, are they guaranteed to at least compete for a medal. They would then have to beat either Finland or the Czech Republic AND Canada/Russia/Sweden. That is no easy task.
But let’s hear it for Ryan Callahan and Chris Drury. Both are playing very well, especially on the penalty kill, and have proved doubters wrong about what they bring to the team. Hopefully this will give Drury a boost after the Olympics and he can get some of those garbage goals he’s been collecting.
So several teams of interest started their Olympic campaigns yesterday. A Quick look at the scores;
Team USA 3 – Switzerland 1
Team Canada 8 – Norway 0
Team Russia 8 – Latvia 2
All the Rangers involved on Tuesday were in the US game where Chris Drury and Ryan Callahan went scoreless for the US team and Andreas Ambuhl did the same for the Swiss. The goals scored for Team USA were by Bobby Ryan, David Backes (GWG) as well as a powerplay marker for Ryan Malone. Next up for the US is Norway on Thursday.
Team Canada looked impressive against the same Norwegians the US will face next. Dany Heatley got 2 goals, Jarome Iginla got a hatrick while the other scorers were Ryan ‘hows my ankle’ Getzlaf, Mike Richards and Corey Perry. Sid Crosby got 3 helpers for the Canadians but perhaps most pleasing for the home crowd was the shutout for Roberto Luongo on his home ice. Next up for Canada is Switzerland…
Russia managed a big win over Latvia on Tuesday with Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin and Ilya Kovalchuk amongst the scorers. As befitting a side with AO in it, the Russians peppered the Baltic side with 45 shots. Next up for Russia in 2 days is Slovakia who have the ‘luxury’ of playing games on back to back days. Slovakia, who start today against the Czech Republic are still expected to be without the Rangers very own Marian Gaborik for both games.
For those of you who watched the US game how did you feel Drury and Callahan played?
Analysis | jurgenno88, 29 Apr 10 | 
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