The Dark Ranger

Cane-Do, Cane-Do -- Rangers Run Win Streak to 6 | NYR 5 CAR 1

2011-11-13T12:15:00.001-05:00

The cheers rained down on the Blueshirts on Friday evening as a 4 goal outburst in the 3rd period put away one of the squad's nemeses, the Carolina Hurricanes, 5-1 at Madison Square Garden.

For once, I can write a happy recap about a visit by Carolina to the Garden as opposed to the past 3 seasons.

Since blowing a 3 goal lead 2 Saturdays ago against Ottawa, the Rangers have reeled off 6 straight wins and are now a dazzling 5-1-1 at home for one of their best home starts in years. The official recap is here.

Your eyes are the eyes of a woman in love... 5 Ranger heart
throbs scored on Friday -- Avery, Girardi, Dubi, Cally
and Richards. Female fans had plenty of reason to swoon.

5 different Rangers scored -- all of the heart throbs of the fan base -- on Friday night and the way the end of the game could not come fast enough for bewildered Carolian Hurricane goalie Cam Ward as he was peppered with 40 shots for the game including 15 in the 2nd period and 17 in the third.

Throughout the game, the Rangers found all sorts of ways to score:

in the first period, a partial breakaway by Sean Avery in the first period after the Canes showed incredible slowness in exploiting a 4-on-2 into the Rangers zone. The Canes misplayed a pass, took a terrible shot at Henrik Lunqdqvist and then got vicitmized when Jeff Woywitka snapped the puck out of the zone off the boards to center ice. Chasing after it was Sean Avery on the right side, who broke in and deked, charged Cam Ward and lifted a shot over a sprawling Cam Ward that hit the inside of the crossbar. It was Sean's first goal of the season. Right from the start of the game, you could see him skating confidently -- he apparently has gotten his skating legs back. He also brought his pesty self to the game as he drew 2 penalties;

Happy Place -- Avery celebrates his first goal of the season.

a powerplay goal by a defenseman -- Dan Girardi, who together with Henrik, is the team's MVP. Here is one player who has earned every penny of his raise from last year. He took a high-sticking penalty from Cane's captain Eric Staal in the third period to negate a potentially dangerous powerplay with the score tied 1-1. During the Rangers' powerplay after the 4-on-4 finished, he teamed up with Brad Richards to score the game-winning goal. Throughout the game the Blueshirts showed a better appreciation of puck management during the powerplay by holding the puck in, making excellent passes to move around and actually shooting the puck. During the second period, they kept the puck in the offensive zone for nearly the entire powerplay. Unfortunately, they failed to score and then yielded the tying goal when they could not complete a line change. That was perhaps the only miscue of the defense all night long;

Pretty Power Play -- Dan Girardi scores on the power play
with 9:15 to go. Credit Mark Richards with a great no-look pass
and patience to set up Girardi. The Rangers engineered a power play
that was beautiful all game and a pleasure to watch.

opportunistic and aggressive rushes -- on the ensuing faceoff after Girardi's goal, the Rangers went for the kill as Ryan Callahan led a rush in on the right side, his terrfic shot was kicked out by Cam Ward to an opportunistic Brandon Dubinsky who scored his first goal of the season and looked skyward as if the largest albatros of his career had departed his shoulders -- within 9 seconds, the game had gone from a tight 1-1 contest to a 3-1 Ranger lead with 9:06 to go in the game;
Net Party. Callahan again finds himself in
the goal crease with the puck. This time the goal counted.
a full squad rush led by Dubinsky into the Carolina end led to him being swiped and knocked down by Cam Ward (no penalty called because no ref saw it), but Dubi did not let up as he fought for 11 seconds in the corner to keep the puck ini play and in the Canes' zone, he won the puck got it behind the net and on his return trip to the front of the net, drew a penalty, but helped to keep the play going. In a pile-up in the crease, Callahan made his way into the crease where he shot the puck into the net as he was getting crushed from behind. On a play where the Rangers drew 3 penalties, they got a back-breaking goal to make the score 4-1; and

Happy Place #2 -- Dubinsky celebrates his first goal
of the season at the same place where Avery celebrated.

finally, Brad Richards got a well-deserved goal with 1:35 left on a wrap-around to cap the scoring as a reward for all his work all night long.

Although he was scoreless, Marian Gaborik was again magnificent. Whatever cobwebs he and his teammates were having at the beginning of the season have been long shaken. He is skating effortlessly, making tremendous passes, took 7 shots on goal and missed one or two one-timers that on any other night should have connected. He is beautiful to watch again especially during this recent stretch. Derek Stepan with 6 shots has shown the form he was developing last year.

Henrik Solid Again -- 34 saves for Henrik on Friday night including 15 in
the first period. The offense came through to make the last 10 minutes of the 3rd period
comfortable. The Blueshirts kept usual thorns, Eric Staal and Jeff Skinner off the scoreboard.

What can you say about the team's defense? Defensemen take time to develop as can be seen now with Michael Del Zotto, who is showing a lot more steadiness on both sides of the ice. Michael Sauer and Girardi are "known" quantities but their continued improvement has been outstanding. RyanMcDonagh is becoming a stud and GM Glen Sather continues to get a pass for converting Scott Gomez (who?) into something that helps NY while hurting the Canadiens. The Rangers defense contributed a goal and 3 assists against Carolina.

Stop the Presses. The Rangers' improved overall play can
be seen as Erik Christensen introduces Hurricane forward,
Zach Boychuk, to the base of the boards.

Steve Eminger and Woywitka won't lead any all-star balloting but they have been serviceable. Anton Stralman, who is getting raves about his skating ability, will be joining the team shortly. All in all, the Rangers' defense has kept other teams off the scoreboard (the team is currently tied with Edmonton for the fewest goals yielded with 32), bought the offense time to gel, has started to protect Henrik in the crease and surprisingly has scored rather often in fact, and most importantly are a squad that have banded together to cover up for the loss of Marc Staal.

Girardi, McDonagh, and Del Zotto have gained some comfort at the point and making usually controlled rushes into the offensive zone and are becoming an offensive threat is something that has not been seen for some time. Girardi has 8 points (3G, 5A), McDonagh has 7 points (3G, 4A), and Del Zotto has 6 points (2G, 4A) -- they are among the Rangers' top 10 scorers. They also have gaudy +/- numbers. Truth be told, their aggressiveness and ability to not mistakes have taken pressure off the forwards.

We are heading to the conclusion of the first 20% of the season. Certain teams, the Rangers included, that started off slowly -- Bruins, Canuck and Red Wings -- are starting to show up for games and put together serious win streaks.

Over the past couple of weeks, the Rangers have shown glimpses of how talented they are. They have played well overall but improvement is always possible. There are times when their offense disappears but during these past few games, their overall level of play has been raised.

During the next 2 weeks, they only have 4 games, 3 of them on the road. The benefit is that some aches and pains suffered by players (Brandon Prust and Dan Girardi especially) will get a chance to heal. Lundqvist will get some rest. The disadvantage may be a loss of momentum. They also have away games against three of their favorite foes -- the Islanders and Canadiens and Capitals -- on opposing ice before returning to take on the Flyers on November 26.

The Rangers are challenging for the top of the conference and have a couple of games in hand. Let's hope this is not the highwater mark of their season.

Next game is on Tuesday against the Islanders. It seems a while back when they dominated the Rangers in game #3 of the season. The Isles have not had much success since. The Rangers want to keep it that way.

--- The Graying Mantis

GAS Line exercising the Gift of Gab

2011-11-10T15:06:00.001-05:00

RANGERS HOLD OFF SENS FOR 5th CONSECUTIVE WIN - NYR 3 OTT 2

It wasn’t long ago that many of our players were standingaround getting dizzy from the constant like switching and shifting. The missionfind a way to activate the teams big offensive gun, Marion Gaborik. Things mayhave finally clicked for the Gabby with his latest pair of line mates.

Read the official recap here.

It would make sense that the guys to mesh with Gabby wouldbe the guys that are closest to playing the same style. Salary aside, big set up guys like Richardsare not always a natural match. A lesson we should know all too well consideringthe one ice match game we had with Jagr a few years back. With guys like Stepan and Anisimov stilldiscovering their own game, it does indeed help that they can be brought alongby someone with more experience in Gaborik. It also helps in that they haven’t beento the ball yet and been convinced that other players need to learn how to playaround them. Could this be a definitive scoring combination for the Rangers?Yes definitely, but as we have seen before nothing in this team is set in stoneand difficulty could be just around the corner. In the meantime, the team cantake confidence in a few things.

Scoring—yes, the guys that are supposed to score andstarting to net some goals and make it a routine. Gaborik’s is starting to have the kind ofseason Ranger fans expected. Getting afew other guys to convert will definitely help. As guys like Dubinsky wait fortheir first goal, there are other things that can contribute.

Energy and the Snarl—It would appear that there is a bit ofarrogance back in the team and that’s a good thing. Passion greatly contributes to a teamsability to deal with the ups and downs. Its make a winners fire burn hotter andshortens slumps through determination. Is this an Avery affect? Possibly. Itcould also be the winning affect. Orboth. Be it in a lockeroom or on the ice. The team seems tighter to be moreintent in imposing its will. (except for Christensen who always looksdisinterested.)

Defense—Marc Staal is still out. In his absence the d corpshave collectively tried to fill the void. I think everyone forgets that MarcStaal was not Brian Leetch or Nick Lidstrom. He was still learning also. The Dmenmake mistakes that young defensemen make. If they are looking for help, it willcome from the forwards. Minutes for the3^rd line is a good start but they can’t be depended on to spend theday forechecking and abusing opposing forwards if Torts expects to get hisshare of offense out of them. He needs to stop being so stubborn roll for 4 linesfor more minutes and take the burden off the 3^rd line with the 4^th.

Right now the 4^th seeing any ice is a concessionTorts feels he has to make to appease people. The fan favorite, the shootoutguy and the big body get on the ice long enough to chase pick a fight and go tothe box. Hardly the best use of a guy with speed who plays well behind the netin Avery, a guy with a handle and can tap in goals like Christensen and a guylike Devaux who could be put to better use smashing guys along the boards orscreening goalies.

For now though, We’ll take the wins anyway we can get themand prepare for our closeup at the Winter Classic. Let’s go Rangers.

Till Next Time Ranger Fans,

J_Undisputed.

Sharks Landed and Avery Recalled | NYR 5 SJ 2

2011-11-02T02:28:00.002-04:00

The San Jose Sharks, away from the confines of the Shark Tank, finished their long (and so far unbeaten) road trip with a visit to MSG to take on the winless Rangers (at home) in a Halloween matchup.

Despite the horror shows that the Rangers had inflicted on their fans for the first 2 home games, this night the Rangers were more interested in doling out treats to their faithful.

This time, there was no repeat of Saturday's debacle as the Blueshirts skated away with their first home win of the season, 5-2, behind the steady goalkeeping of Marty Biron. The official recap is here.

Reports that the Rangers were looking to recall Sean Avery to the main club by putting him on re-entry waivers had been news all day.

Sean of the Undead. Sean Avery is set to return to the
Rangers in time for Thursday's game v. Anaheim.

Speculation and wonderment have been raging among fans as to how Avery's potential return to the lineup would impact the team.

One could surmise that certain players on the roster answered an important wake-up call as Artem Anisimov and Erik Christensen put up points and Captain Ryan Callahan had a 3 point night as the first line essentially got a night off from having to be the primary source of scoring.

Ryan McDonagh had yet another goal (3rd of the season) to open the scoring in the first period and is showing signs of being a stud on the defense. He has been great as a defender and picks his spots to join the offense.

Wake-Up Call-Up. With Sean Avery set to rejoin the
team, 2 Ranger zombies stirred into action as Erik Christensen
assisted on Artem Anisimov's nifty backhander to make
the score 4-2 in the 2nd period.

His offensive talent is so much smoother at this stage in his career than Marc Staal's ability (which started to bloom last season).

Dan Girardi had 2 assists as the backliners continued to contribute to the scoring column.

Best of all, for the second game in a row the Rangers scored more than 3 goals and again had a 3 goal lead in the 3rd period. So perhaps they are starting to get used to playing at their new home.

Right from the start of the game, (at the 7 second mark), Brandon Prust tangled with Ryane Clowethat ended up with Prust hurting his hand a little, but he seemed torecover from it without too many problems. But the fight served to energize the Rangers as they moved the puckwell, with only a few mistakes (Girardi in the neutral zone that almostopened a breakaway).

Stepan's driving to the net during
the first period led to the Ranger's
2nd goal during a power play.

On a power play (which has been quite successful recently) Brandon Dubinsky and Derek Stepan teamed up to score thanks to a great cross crease one timer from Dubinsky from Niemi's right that he just didn’t see as Stepan swooped in from his left.

TheSharks quickly answered back with a shot by Pavelski that actually beat Biron twice.

The first time the shot beat Biron to his right side cleanly, but hit both posts and and came careening out right to Pavelski who beat Biron to the right side. This time the puck stayed in the net and diminshed thebuzz of the Stepan goal.

The Rangers ran into a few problems into the second. At one point, theSharks had the puck in our zone and without an opportunity to make a line change, fatigue wore in and another goal wasscored by the Sharks to tie the game.

The second time around counts. Pavelski beats
Biron to make score 2-1 Rangers in the second period.

The Rangers just couldn’t get rid of the puckthere and it cost them dearly.

Right after that, the Rangers quickly regained momentum and took San Jose out of the game. After the game was tied, the Rangers went on to score 3 straight goals in the final 6 minutes of the period as they simply wore down the Sharks.

That edge was seen in the Rangers 16 shots on goal during the period. It also led to witnessing two great goals.

The Captain enjoys the view after scoring
to make it 5-2 in the second period.

First, Anisimov had a fantastic up and over shot close to the net off of a beautiful lead toward the net from Christensen.

Second, it was Callahan’s second goal (and the last goal scored in the entiregame) that was the topping to the period. It came with less than a minute to go in the period.

Coming in hard into the offensive zonefrom the right side, he dished the puck behind him along the boards ashe moved behind the net.

By the time he actually cleared the net,Richards fed the Captain a pass that he was able to get in on a mostlyempty net.

This was done even as he was knocked down to the ice, andthe look on his face was priceless. Cocky, even.

There was no scoring in the third period, but the Rangers killed off 2 penalties in the 3rd to ensure that the Sharks would not have a 3rd period comeback like Ottawa did the other day.

Andre Deveaux in his first game did okay as a center. He didn’tscore, but he appears to be promising thanks to his gritty style. It will be interesting to see how he fits in and how long he stays once Avery is back on the roster. The Michael Rupp injury may prove to be a blessing for the Rangers by giving Avery and Deveaux a chance. We'll see how long that window is open.

Overall, this game might prove to be the start of an upswing. The team is scoring, the power play has become more successful and against the Sharks, the Rangers only took 3 minors (in addition to Prust's fighting major). Also, the defense has settled down -- Michael Sauer is logging in nearly 20 minutes per game. Michael Del Zotto has beed adequate and not guilty of cover-your-eye mistakes.

Granted, nothing ever changes overnight. There’s a scary notion whether Torts will change the lines updrastically with Avery in the equation, but right now, you can see the team's potential.

After the Sharks' loss, Joe Thornton said that the Blueshirts "were probably the softest team we played on the [road] trip. We should have had these two points." It’s kind of odd that we’re getting this typeof reputation, considering that the team leads the NHL in fighting majors.

Coach John Tortorella did not take kindly to Thornton's comments, "He could go down as a player, being one of the better players in our league never to win anything. So what he should do is just shut up." Too bad these teams can only meet again this year in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Overall, considering that the Rangers came away with the win, thathas to say something about the progress we’re making. Tonight waseasily Ryan Callahan’s night, with a little help from Marty Biron innet.

Next game is Thursday night -- the 4th game of the 6 game homestand and likely includes Sean Avery's triumphant return to the MSG faithful in a contest against the Anaheim Ducks. The Garden should be rocking that night.

--Cava

Making Sens of it all....

2011-10-30T17:52:00.000-04:00

BLUESHIRTS FAIL TO NAIL COFFIN SHUT, BECOME VICTIMS IN COMEBACK...

Halloween has always been my favorite holiday....but not even I can appreciate the trick the Rangers played last night on their fans showing up for a the first win in a renovated MSG. Yes last night was frightening to say the least. There was a time when this would be no surprise as the Sens seemed to have our number. Well at least the number of the old Rangers. But now we're a new team...a young team, with a young captain. a star center, and super skilled winger, an all star goalie and chock full of homegrown young players coming up in the system. Treat or Trick? I'll let you judge for yourself...I know what I saw on the ice last night.

Read the official Replay here.

Lonely at the Top: We got this, relax people!

On with this early Halloween edition. Hmm.... It started a night like any other. Looking for a win at home, our club came out motivated and looked for their first win at home. oh.. if it was only that easy. Finding themselves outplayed they got behind. So they coasted with a "don't panic" mentality and patiently waited for a break; passing the time, shuffling pucks around the endboards... chipping them up the sideboards, turning them over at the blue line and getting pinned in there own zone for minutes at a time like a bunch of trick or treaters that were instructed not to leave their block in search of a sugar jackpot. That appears to be the status quo as far as offense goes now with this coaching staff.

The belief that things will suddenly click and result in an explosion of goals if the lines are mixed the right way by Torts, the mad scientist is a pipe dream. We did manage to catch a break when Anisimov was caught from the side while turning to circle up the boards again and managed to go into the boards head first, resulting in Ottawa getting hosed on a 5 minute boarding call (I'm a Ranger fan but that hit was legal). I was glad that we managed to take advantage of our unexpected windfall with 2 power play goals (including Richard's first in the Garden as a Blueshirt) and went were up by 1, but I still wondered if we could managed to eek by without that lucky call. My questions seemed to be answered when we managed to keep the flow going, capitalize on some mistakes made by Ottawa and found ourselves with a commanding 4-1 lead.

Then, as quickly as it came, it left... The Sens turned up the pace just as we clicked the autopilot button and clawed their way back from the brink. Surely the Ranger fans in attendance thought, this can't happen. Perhaps many were reluctant to panic because we still had a lead, whether it was a 3 goal lead, then a 2 goal lead...then a 1 goal lead.... Ok, so they tied it up...but we have one of the best goalies in shootouts in our net. Why worry, right? ummm.. lets see.. O for 3 in the shootout. It's like going to biggest house on the block with the best costume and goodie bag and find their giving out fruit.. Sonova... At the end of the night, what started as a breakout game, became a break even game, and eventually a heartbreaker of a game. How can this continue?

Over the last couple of games, I've heard the coach say, No excuses... We can't blame it on travel, on injured players or anything else. Of course, he meant "we" in the "it's you f*ckers that are making me look bad" sense of the word. A game like last night's will tell you alot about the leadership of the team. When the panic starts, is usually the best time for a captain to step up and lead by example. I think Cally does a good job night in and night out leading by example. He went out and righted a wrong by scoring a goal after inadvertently tipping one past Henrik.

Beyond that, where were the calming voices at the bench, in the middle of this downward spiral and resulting clusterfu.....? It stands to reason that the coaches opinions are the only ones not being disputed or disregarded, yet the blame is not laid at his feet.... its the players... its the ref that didn't call a trip when Gabby went down, its the reporters for asking the question on every ranger fan's mind.."WTF?!?!" The team itself is floundering and uninspired while waiting for a prophecy made by their coach to be fulfilled. Where is the team that makes its own luck? I've seen everyone from abandoned goalie to the young captain take part of the blame on their shoulders... so we know at least they have some idea of what accountability is...

Will Sending Avery to the Minors Haunt Torts all the way to

his Termination?

It's also telling when players make reference to a guy you sent down to the minors, as a difference maker. The fans have been saying it for a while, but to hear it from guys like Henrik and Boyle, it only makes the team concept look more diluted. I'm sure they have been pulled aside for that, but who gives a crap.

The team is telling their coach what they need to win. You'd figure the coach of a team that couldn't even coast to a regulation win with a 3 goal lead, would be open to suggestions. The decision to keep Christensen is looking worse with every shootout loss. Defending the decision, by touting Christensen as a more skilled versatile player only makes Tortorella look like more of a putz. Avery can turn the puck over along the boards and take penalties just as good as anyone else on the team.

Till Next time Ranger Fans,

J_Undisputed.

P.S. - Happy Halloween. Remember to make your little Rangers visible when the go trick or treating and to check their candy. The world is not as safe as it once was. The existence of Gary Bettman is proof of that.

Overpowered - Punchless Rangers Lose Home Opener | TOR 4 NYR 2

2011-10-28T22:38:00.000-04:00

Late yesterday afternoon, I headed to Penn Station from Long Island under gray clouds. I was surrounded on the LIRR by numerous Rangers fans in various sweaters.

When the season began, I was feeling a sense of withdrawal watching the Rangers playing overseas and starting on the road for the first couple of weeks.

Finally, the Rangers came home. I kept thinking of my old section, the rut in the concrete floor in front of my seat. It was comforting the same way the den in my childhood home was. I was missing that seat.

Uninspiring Beginning. From what I could
see, the music was awful, and the player
intros were listless -- just like the team.

I arrived at Penn Station, but I was not going to the Garden. I had an appointment elsewhere. Like many of my friends, I had not renewed my seats this year. It was a difficult decision, but not necessarily permanent.

A cold driving rain greeted me on 7th Avenue and that's when I really started to miss being inside the Garden sitting at my comfortable seat, rut and all.

Despite the nostalgia, I have been ambivalent about the Rangers since training camp opened. After last night's effort, a depressing 4-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, I can see my ambivalence so far has been validated. The official recap is here.

Last night the so far surprising and youthful Maple Leafs came to christen the new Garden. Michael Sauer and Wotjek Wolski joined the Rangers squad after missing most of the season due to injuries.

Within the first 6 1/2 minutes of the game, Dan Girardi got the Rangers off to an early lead with a shot from the right point that simply eluded Jonas Gustavsson, who was replacing usual starter James Reimer, out with an injury. It was a typical bad goal given up by the mediocre goalie.

Rangers celebrate their first goal and first lead of their home season.

Immediately, visions of the sieve that Gustavsson was last year during last year's Gaborik led 7-0 rampage were obviously dancing in fans' heads. And the Rangers looked like they were going to pounce.

The Rangers pressured throughout the first period and even scored twice but each time the goal was waved off due to incidental contact in the crease between Ryan Callahan and Gustavvson. So two terrific shots by Dubinsky and Del Zotto were nullified.

Meanwhile, Marian Gaborik was buzzing around the ice taking advantage of his speed to get good chances. On one rush, he split the defenders and took aim at Gustavsson before being stopped. His speed has been one of the bright spots so far.

The Rangers had 16 shots in the first period, nearly matching their game average of 22 so far this season. But at the end of the period, the Rangers only had a 1-0 lead.

First Period Blanks. Callahan failed to convert twice on the doorstep. And
he was called for being in the crease twice to nullify goals during the first period.

In the first 80 seconds of the second period, Matt Lombardi found an opening between the goal post, Henrik Lundqvist's arm and his side to slip a puck into the net to tie the game at 1.

Phil Kessel roamed the ice at will wreaking havoc.
Lundqvist stopped the league leading scorer
twice on breakaways during the second period.

The Ranger defense scrambled to keep the puck out of the net as Henrik was forced to track Leaf players all around the net.

In fact, for the next 30+ minutes of the game, the Rangers would muster a pitiful 7 shots on goal and were behind 4-1 with 4 minutes to go. During that span, the Rangers were out shot 23-7.

Gustavsson, shaky in the first period, was given a reprieve as the Leafs provided what Tortorella wants -- the best defense is keeping your team pressuring in the other end. Then in a final burst,the Rangers would score after shooting 7 pucks at Gustavsson in the waning minutes.

One of those nights. Lundqvist had a shaky 3rd period.
But he also had no support after the first period.

Although there was no further scoring in the second period, the Rangers were obviously being dominated as they could not set up any attack in the Leafs zone.

In the third period, Henke was beaten 3 times. While he was not as sharp as he had been in previous games, he had kept the team in the game during the 2nd period when he made 15 saves.

Unfortunately, the 3rd period was the worst period he has had the entire season so far and he was not picked up by his team.

The first Leaf goal came from a scramble in front of the net when Joffrey Lupul was able to poke the puck past Henrik's left side at the 2:11 mark. For 2 straight periods, the Rangers yielded a goal within the first couple of minutes.

The back breaking goal came 4 minutes later. As an onrushing Artem Anisimov headed into the Leafs' Zone, Mike Komisarek poked the puck away and slipped it between his legs to Clarke MacArthur who spun on a dime, headed up the left side over the blue line and blasted a shot from the dot of the left faceoff circle that beat Lundqvist to the far side.

The final Toronto goal was scored by Mike Brown who launched a shot from nearly the same spot to beat the Ranger goaltender. That time, again the Leafs were quick on the transition and Tim Erixson was victimized by Brown at the Ranger blue line with 6:06 remaining. Michael Del Zotto closed out the scoring late in the game. His play has improved the past week. Unfortunately, the Ranger goals only came from their defensemen.

Overhaul in the Garden and Locker Room. In September 2008, MSG introduced
a model of the renovated arena. Little did Naslund, Redden, Drury and Gomez
know they would not be around to open the renovated arena.

Through these first 8 games (roughly 10% of the season), there has been no spark on the team. There is no personality that charges up the fans and the team -- Vinny Prospal and Sean Avery come to mind as the ones missing.

Maybe we just foolishly hoped for continued improvement from the 2009 season to last season to now this season on a scale beyond the players' capabilities. It is possible that Boyle and Prust and Anisimov had career years LAST year.

Stepan may be having a sophomore slump but he showed signs of working well with Dubinsky & Callahan. Both of those players have not shown any signs of offensive firepower. Each has a single goal.

Meanwhile, the Rangers have lost to 2 teams that have some serious scorers -- the Islanders and Maple Leafs. The Caps and Pens are scoring prolifically. You have to be concerned.

Still, we won't have answers until mid-to-late December. Patience is the watchword. And that is in short supply among Ranger faithful.

That last thought is worrisome. Fans have been getting awfully anxious on the Internet for the past week or so. Folks, this team is not built to win this year. We want them to compete but most of all we want to be entertained.

The hue and cry over the missing Sean Avery is no different than the hue and cry over Petr Prucha and other players who had some initial success, won the fans' hearts but ultimately proved not to have staying power.

Right now, this season will be about further development of the youngsters (Sauer, Del Zotto and Stepan). Some players are playing for their careers and cannot live on the success of last season (e.g., Boyle, Prust, Anisimov, Dubinsky). They should be looking over their shoulders anyway because a new regime is being groomed in the AHL and minors.

Next up -- a Saturday 3 p.m. matinee with the Ottawa Senators.

--- The Graying Mantis

Rangers Roar Past Jets in 2-1 Scramble | NYR 2 WIN 1

2011-10-26T02:26:00.001-04:00

In meeting the second NHL team within a week to leave Atlanta by visiting Winnipeg, Monday night’s victory was exactly what the Blueshirts needed. It was messy andgritty in some places, with some serious domination issues in our zoneat one point, but in the end, the Rangers came out with two points thanks to two power play goals including a late one from Ryan Callahan that ought to carry them to their Home Opener on Thursday night.

Considering everything, not bad for a week’s run in Canada(3-1 overall and 3-2-2 for this 7 game road trip). Needless to say, there’s always room forimprovement. Here’s hoping they carry this momentum home to NYC. The official recap can be found here.

With 28 saves, Marty Biron had a fantastic effort between the pipes,proving that even without Lundqvist (for a game or two), we still havesome great goaltending talent on the ice.

Lundqvist was out aftercramping up during the previous game and reports explain that the newskates he’s using tend to hurt his foot now and then. We can be pretty sure that he’ll be back for the homeopener.

The first period was pretty back and forth, with good movement, butagain, we seemed to have problems with penalties and being totally outshot by the opposition. Throughout the first 7 games of the season, the Rangers on average are being outshot 31-22. Against the Jets, the Rangers were outshot 28-17. This is simply not good. It is definitely a result of missing Marc Staal and Matt Sauer from the defense.

It is no help that the Rangers lead the NHL with average penalty minutes of more than 20 per game and there own power play, even helped by the 2 goals in this game is clicking at an anemic 10.7%. Finally, being outshot also is an indictment of the offense generally. Coach Tortorella noticed as serious bench time was liberally handed out to Brad Richards, Marian Gaborik and Artie Anisimov during the 3rd period.

An early fightbetween Brandon Prust and Tanner Glass ended up with them being in the box for a fiveminute major, but this, along with another Ranger penalty in the sameperiod led to no damage as Biron and the Ranger defense were able tokeep the game scoreless.

The second period had a great goal on a Ranger power play with Dan Girardifiring hard from the blue line. Ruslan Fedotenko (who overall had a tremendous game) was in the right placefor a sweet deflection past Jet goalie Chris Mason. Unfortunately, the Jets came backnear the end of the period thanks to a crisp quick-look shot by former Ranger Nik Andropov to tie the game going into the 3rd period.

About 5 minutes into the 3rd, the ice slanted in favor of the Jets. TheRangers simply could not clear the puck out of theirzone. Every time they tried to clear the puck, a Jetwas ready to capture it at the point and send it right back in. The activity in the defensive end was intense and the partisan Jet crowd was roaring with the action. This seemed like a make or break moment of the game as the Ranger defenders could not even get a change. The shots for the 3rd period showed total domination with the Jets having a 12-1 edge.

Jets to the left of me, Jets to the right of me. The Jets unleashed a barrage of
shots early in the 3rd period. The Rangers withstood the attack and
turned a rush into a power play opportunity that Callahan converted.

While Biron was unable to freeze the puck after making several eye-opening saves to keep the game tied, the Rangerscame to his defense with sliding blocks and stick sweeps. I had hopedthat some of the passing wouldn’t be along the boards too much, but itseemed like our passes were getting picked off a little too easily. However, the Rangers did not panic and maintained their positions in pretty good order despite being exhausted from the onslaught.

The Goal Scoring Trio. Fedetenko fed Callahan
who deflected a shot off Bogosian for the game winning
goal. Why isn't Bogosian celebrating?

The defensive effort was commendable, but also scary when you realizefor that amount of time, the Jets had so much control of the situation. Incredibly, when the Rangers did take control of the puck, they made a strong rush to the Jets end where Fedetenko drew a penalty on a strong move toward the net.

From there, the winning goal was scored during the first minute of ensuing power play on what lookedlike a simple lateral pass just in front of the crease by Cally thatbounced off of a Jet’s skate right into the net.

I’m of the belief thatyou really should just pepper the net with shots. Not all of them willgo in, but there has to be at least one of them that does. It was aninteresting chance taken, that really worked out for the Rangers. Asfor the Jets, I’m pretty sure that has to be an deflating way tolose a game.

The Rangers, energized by the lead, simply locked down on the Jets with a great forechecking effort for the final 8 minutes of the contest. During the final 3 minutes, the Rangers grounded the Jets as the Jets could not get out of their own zone thanks to the swarming Rangers.

The next game will be finally on home ice at the Garden against theToronto Maple Leafs this Thursday. The pregame ceremonies should be interesting with a tribute to Derek Boogaard and the welcoming of Ryan Callahan as captain and the arrival of Brad Richards.

--- Cav

Oilers Mow Down Blueshirts | EDM 2 NYR 0

2011-10-24T13:58:00.000-04:00

Did that blade move? This guy had more excitement
than anyone willing to waste Saturday night
in front of the t.v. watching the Rangers.

On a night where 14 games were played in the NHL including some dominating performances, goal-scoring explosions and some nasty rivalries being renewed, the last game to be finished was by far the most boring match.

Unfortunately, that contest was the snorefest that the Rangers presented to a sold-out crowd at the Rexall Center in Edmonton.

Youth and age combined as the Oilers defeated the Rangers 2-0 at the Rexall Center behind a goal and an assist by 18 year-old rookie Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and 19 saves by oldtimer, 38-year-old Nikolai Khabibulin. Jordan Kaberle also assisted on both goals. The recap is here.

Beginner's Luck. 18 year-old first overall pick, Ryan Nugent
Hopkins continues to impress and make a case to say in the
NHL with 5 goals and 2 assists in his first 7 NHL games .

If the Rangers want to be part of a winter landscape that has been vacated by the NY baseball and basketball teams, they better get into gear because the higher echelon teams in the East (and division) are starting to say good-bye.
All the talk of traveling has its point but the Rangers were a very good road team the past few seasons. So far, they rarely have had a lead in any game.

What's worse is that right now they are a boring team that seems to be having an energy hangover from last season. Perhaps what they need most of all is their initial visit to home ice and familiar surroundings. That is on the horizon as the home opener is 3 days away.

The missing defensemen (Staal and Sauer) are a problem, but if the lack of an offensive spark is the absence of Wojtek Wolski then the Ranger problems are deeper than we imagined.

There's really not much to say about the game other than noting the continuation of 2 negative trends.

First, terrible penalties taken by the Rangers. The mishap of Rupp getting his stick tangled in an Oiler's player midsection in the 3rd led to the game-clinching goal by Corey Potter and provided a cushion that was obvious the Rangers would not overcome.

Second, an inability of the offense to do anything. The closest thing to a goal the Rangers had was when Ruslan Fedetenko stole an outlet pass by Kabibiluin and tried to shoot back at the vacated net. There was little on the shot as the goalie successfully scrambled back to the right side of the goal to block the shot. Marian Gabork was once again stopped on a breakaway, this time in the 3rd period. He also failed to put home a rebound of a Brendan Bell shot in the first. Continuing how starved for offense the Rangers were during the game, missing opportunites like these were fatal to any chance the Rangers had.

Other than that, the Oilers bottled up the Rangers all night long as the offensive woes continue including being outshot 11-4 in the first period.

Then there was an injury scare when Henrik Lundqvist left the game with a bad foot and was replaced by Marty Biron for the final 9 minutes of the game. Whenever Henke leaves the game, Ranger fans hold their breath because he is the key to any hopes for a successful season.

Despite the fact that there was no injury, Biron may get hist first start against the Winnipeg Jets on Monday night to give him some work against an offense that averages fewer than 2 goals a game.

The Silent Treatment. Tort's comment after the game as he
declined to take questions from reporters: "We (stunk) from
head to toe. I'm not going to dissect it with you guys."

Former Ranger coach Tom Renney, who was run out of town thanks to the player mutiny started by Ranger disaster Scott Gomez, must have savored this win after the embarrassing asskicking the Rangers inflicted on his squad at the Garden last year.

The performance so far this season by Khabibulin has been remarkable. During the summer, he spent time in an Arizona jail for a DUI and joined the Oilers.

Little was expected of the 38 year-old netminder especially after last season's awful record of 10-32-4 for an equally awful Oiler team.

Potter's Field. Former Ranger and career minor-leaguer
Corey Potter celebrates the backbreaking goal
at the 4 minute mark of the 3rd period.

Quietly, he now leads the NHL with a goals-against average of 0.72, and second with a .969 save percentage. Unfortunately for him, the Oiler offense has let him down as his record is only 2-0-2.

Fortunately, the Rangers are about to end their opening season 7 game road trip with their first to Winnipeg since the Clinton administration.

If they can defeat the Jets (2-4-1), who are near the bottom of offense and defense in the NHL, then the Canadian road trip will be a quite respectable 3-1.

A victory there would be a nice segue to Thrusday night's home opener at the Garden against the very hot Toronto Maple Leafs.

---The Graying Mantis

NY Henrik Prevails Over Calgary Henrik in Thriller | NYR 3 CAL 2 (OT)

2011-10-21T13:59:00.001-04:00

After going winless in Sweden and the U.S., so far, the Rangershave had some great games in Canada. Their game against Vancouver on Tuesday earned them their first win of the season,and last night’s game against the Flames saw them skate away with a fantastic3-2 overtime win thanks to Sean McDonough’s goal that came with 1.5 secondsleft before the buzzer. The Rangers are now 2-1-2.

Despite having earlier screened Henrik Lundqvist to enable the Flames to tie the score at 2-2,he more than made up for it with that in this game. So far, McDonagh has scored 2 goalsand an assist in these 2 games in Canada and has provided a key backline lift to the Rangers offense.

The game featured a battle of the Henriks in goal –Lundqvist for the Rangers and Karlsson for the Flames as Mikka Kiprusoff wasgiven the night off. The official Recapcan be found here.

Cubicle Crew. The Rangers do not have Ice Girls. Even with
the upcoming renovations. Just thought we would mention that.

The 4 regulation goals were all scored in the firstperiod. Marian Gaborik was able to getthe scoring started in the first period with a power play goal at the 4:53 markthat came only a minute after Sam Rosen mentioned that we were the last team tonot have one. The goal broke a seasonlong powerplay schneid of a pitiful 0-for-16.

Drought Breaker! Gaborik's goal in the first period
broke the Rangers' season long power play futility .

Whatwas noteworthy about the goal was Gaborik’s hard work on the ice. He covered for Michael Del Zotto as he pinchedin and was engaged around the boards. Gaborik’spresence there prevented the puck from leaving the offensive zone and enabledthe Rangers to continue to exert pressure.

Gaborik’s work paid off when he worked himself toward the top of thecircle where he received a pass from Derek Stepan that he immediately shot pastKarlsson on his glove side. The firstline’s chemistry (especially between Brad Richards and Gaborik) seems to beshowing some promise.

Jarome Iginla managed to get one by Henke about 2 minuteslater to even it up. Then, Brian Boyleand Brandon Prust, demonstrating their long-standing chemistry teamed up toscore a shorthanded goal while Gaborik was off the ice for a hookingpenalty. Boyle rushed into the Flamescorner to steal the puck from a Flame and snapped a pass to Prust who bulletedit past Karlsson.

Within 2 minutes, during yet another power play, the Flames tied it thanks to a goal by MarkGiordano. Unfortunately, McDonagh wasslow in getting out of Lundqvist’s line of vision and the puck whistled pasthim, leading to the goalie getting visibly angry. It was one of only 2 goals allowed byLundqvist. The rest of the game, Henrikwas again unbeatable as the Flames had a 20-13 edge in shots during the final 2periods.

Love Fest. McDonagh with another key goal. He has made
it a habit since last year's finale against New Jersey.

One of the best highlights of the game was the second periodPK, which had to be one of most focused sessions I’ve seen from the Rangers sofar this season. Calgary had very littletime to set anything up before the play was picked up and the puck was dumpeddown the ice. If they can make that partof the regular routine (and avoid screening Lundqvist or Biron), they should dowell down the road, defensively. Theteam overall seemed to have an easier time of keeping up with this team - itwasn’t so much of a chase this time around as with the other foes. Whether this is a sign of the Rangers gettinginto a game routine will remain to be seen.

Duh, Winning! Callahan lets the 19,300
Flames fans know the game is over.

That is, if the Blueshirts can avoid the penalties, atleast. This remains a really big problemfor the team, and we took a number of them that didn’t need to happen. Not counting the fights Rupp and Newbury had,Gaborik’s mini stick lift after skating behind the net got him in trouble inthe first period. This changed slightlyin the 2nd and 3rd periods, but we had two instances where the puck was dumpedover the glass for delay of game calls rather than down the ice. The look on Tortorella’s face was pricelessand I’m sure that both Woywitka and McDonagh are going to get pulled aside fora discussion. Well, Woywitka will, at least. He is definitely a work inprogress. McDonagh’s game winning goalmay get him out of trouble.

I’m not sure how the officials didn’t catch that hookingcall on Gaborik in the second period after his breakaway. Everyone seemed to have noticed that, but theofficials let that one go. Same goes fora stick to the face that Dubinsky caught behind the net. You’d think with all of those cameras, they’dpossibly take notice. Still, the missedcalls luckily weren’t part of game changer moments and didn’t cost usanything. This seems to be a continuation of the patter from last yearbut the Rangers do not have Avery on the ice who seemed to be the referees’whipping boy.

The next game will be against former Ranger Coach Tom Renneyand the Oilers on Saturday night. And then a trip to Winnipeg before the Rangers finally arrive at the new MSG for their first home game.

--- Cav

Nuck Nyuk Nyuk

2011-10-19T16:57:00.003-04:00

RANGERS HAVE LAST LAUGH AFTER BIG THIRD PERIOD IN VANCOUVER

Like the first 3 games of the season, the first 2 periods of last night's kick off of a NorthWest Road Trip seemed like deja vu. Haunted by foul filled memories, youthful exuberance ruled over discipline and we had to thank the hockey gods for our guy in goal.

Read the official report here.

Henrik's sharp reflexes were enough to keep us in the game until we were able to generate some offense. It was a good win after a so so game against one of the leagues better goaltenders. However it would be a disservice to let this one slide in favor of just celebrating the win. The first two periods of this game were played like the last 258+... under the Torts plan... and at this rate, its hard to understand how this is supposed to work for us or get us to a cup.

The major difference between the goals scored in the 3rd last night and that of the previous two was that according the blue print, everything in the third was done wrong.... and Thank god for that. The 3rd and fourth liners were producing goals run and gun style. D-men played as extra forwards and dished passes to shooters around the net. For once... the offense wasn't concerning itself playing the shell game around the boards, which has seeming been the bane of a ranger fans existence over the past couple of seasons. The horribly contrived game plan, where forwards go deep behind the net and and dmen pin themselves to the boards at the blue line in order to keep pucks in, leaves the middle of the ice wide open for opposing forward trolling the passing lanes for cross ice passes to pick off and start oddman rushes with. With the entire team racing back behind the play on turnovers, its almost inevitable that a penalty will be committed just to break even at the other end.

The energy level we display in trying to outwork our opponents is nice and reflects the young legs on the team. Its really a shame that for many of the forwards, being out of position is part of the plan. At any given time there is a clump of blue shirts concentrated on the ambush effort and when we manage to strip an opponent of the ice, it's a success. When the opponent manages to get a pass out to someone on the open side, we're slowly relying more and more on our superstar goalie to bail us out. In the mad scramble to to dig a puck out and work it around the boards to an open man, the art of the pass, big shot from the blueline, the one timer and the dangle is lost and the training wheels are back on.

Perhaps Torts feels like he is using a game plan that suits the skill level of this team. These young players won't get any better dishing rubber around the boards and perfecting dumps into the corners to be chased. While we are not a team with size, our players have shown to be skillful enough to play a more open game. Mike Rupp was acquired to put hands on people when stuff got rough. He still managed to score a goal last night doing the most basic of practices. Follow the play, advanced the puck, and wait for a shot at a rebound. Brandon Prust the same. It seems on the 3rd and 4th line.. despite only getting 5 minutes a night, these guys are not high enough on the totem pole to have the preaching from Torts, erode their most basic of hockey instincts and overwrite them like it seeming does on the the top two lines. As Torts tries to recreate the Tampa bay cup team and justify his ego, most of our players are being neutered by the inhibiting bland offense. In case, you haven't notice yet, this is really sticking in my craw.

I feel like this is a pivotal point to a player like Derek Stepan, who has seemed to really picked up a chip on his shoulder over the summer and is playing with more confidence. There are many a player on this team that may finally be coming into their own and I can't help but feel we're missing out on it thanks to the mundane offensive plan. I also resent the notion that injuries (like that of Staal) already have this team on unstable legs. This team cannot revolve around 1 player or 1 line or even just 3 lines. Playing favorites and on a whim switcharoos on the lines are things you do when tweaking something that already works. Till then, a solid offensive game plan and mastering of the fundamentals will provide more versatility in the line up. Stop dumbing down your offense to the most common denominator and elevate the skills of the players where they will have another gear when you need it. We've seen what your non marquee players can do in a period like the 3rd. There is no reason they and the rest of the team cannot practice and use these skills all the time.

Till Next time Ranger Fans; Frustrated Early,

J_Undisputed

Tavares-ty in Uniondale | NYI 4 NYR 2

2011-10-16T22:39:00.000-04:00

The Rangers came about as close to home as they could before the "new" MSG reopens in a couple of weeks.

Their cameo visit to the U.S. brought them to MSG East a/k/a The Mausoleum (officially, the Nassau Coliseum) to visit the feisty 2-1 Islanders before heading out to Canada for a week.


Back in the U.S. of A. The Rangers made a brief appearance in the U.S. for their game against the Isles before embarking on a 4 game trip to Canada.

Unfortunately, their sluggish offensive play and their injury-riddled defense combined to ensure the team would be no match for the youthful Islanders who were led by John Tavares to a 4-2 victory in front of a capacity crowd. The official recap is here.

A sold out raucous Coliseum filled to the brim with Ranger fans greeted both teams. When the final whistle blew, early season trends were reinforced for another night:

Rangers fans arrived with the hope that the Blueshirts offense would start to click and Islander fans had the chance to see whether the Isles their thumping of the Lightning was a positive sign of the future for this season.

Islander fans were rewarded with a hat trick from John Tavares and 3 assists from former Ranger castaway P.A. Parenteau. All the Rangers needed to complete the horror show would have been a stellar performance by former Ranger Al Montoya. Instead they faced Evgeni Nabokov, who did not report to the Isles last season, and had not played for more than 500 days.

The Ranger offense continues to struggle. The first line had plenty of chances (Marian Gaborik had 8 shots on goal and scored one goal) and the squad had 31 shots but could not develop momentum for most of the game. Nabokov acquitted himself quite well as his defense helped him by clearing the puck and giving the goalie clear sight lines.

The Rangers continue to owe rent for space in the penalty box. This time, they were guilty of 8 infractions -- admittedly, a couple of them were absolutely bogus (especially the delay of game call on Brian Boyle in the 2nd period). The Isles had 11 shots (out of a total of 34) and converted twice. Considering that the Rangers have been whistled for numerous penalties in each of their first 3 games (a situation going back to preseason) and the Rangers offense is not clicking, this is not a formula for winning.

For the first time ever, the name Tavares is
synonymous with hockey talent, not Disco.

Being shorthanded so much has reduced time for the first line to become a force on the ice.

The Rangers would be 0-3 if Henrik was not in playoff form.

John Tavares is the real deal. Not that anyone should have any doubts. I found an interesting forecast about Tavares after the June 2009 draft. If you hate the Islanders, this is grim reading.

He has made his linemates much better so far. Considering his 4 points on Thursday night against Tampa and a hat trick against the Rangers (2 go ahead goals on the power play and an empty net) on Saturday night, Tavares just concluded an eye-opening first week. He would have had another but for the tremendous save by Lundqvist (see below).
Denied! This was simply a beautiful save on Tavares during
a 2nd period power play. Moments later, Tavares scored on
a backhander to give the Isles a 2-1 lead.

Tavares has teamed up with P. A. Parenteau to become an early season force of youth and scoring. Tavares has 5 goals and 3 assists, and Parenteau has 1 goal and 6 assists. Not to be outdone, Matt Moulson has 4 points. That equals a prolific 15 points from the first line through 4 games. Meanwhile, the Rangers as a TEAM has 11 points (although they have played one game less).

We are only 3 games into the season. I can hear the fans' voices on Facebook (still screaming about Sean Avery's dismissal) screaming about Tortorella, Richards, Gaborik, giving up on the season, blah, blah, blah. . . . Rangers fans often remind me of Mets fans. I remember when Mets fan whined after Willie Randolph went 0-5 in his first week as a manager. Fans were calling for his head, saying he was overmatched and underqualified. The team rebounded, winning the next 6, on their way to the playoffs. It's a long season.

The Losing View

The Winner's View

Keep in mind that in prior years (especially in 2008 when the Rangers were in Europe), the Rangers started off fast creating visions of conference finals in fans' heads before falling back into the pack and spending the next few months scrambling for a playoff position. This madhouse scramble has been the hallmark of every season except the first one after the lockout.

Denied! God, Gaborik sucks on breakaways.

Unlike recent seasons, this year the Rangers have started out slowly. It is no time to panic. But there are some signs that make me nervous. First, the nagging injury to Marc Staal that has impacted the defense. The injury to Michael Sauer is worrisome. Marian Gaborik still does not look right. Where has his speed gone? His defensive play is lacksadaisical -- he killed the Rangers comeback opportunity with a horrendous penalty with 5 minutes to go. The Isles essentially played keepaway to kill the clock.

Also, is it me but do the Rangers look very slow? All the talk of youth has been a bit of a mirage right now as they are playing for the Whale right now. Fedetenko, Rupp, Christensen, Prust will never be confused with speedsters.

The Silver Lining. There is talk that the Isles may move to
Brooklyn. Then Tavares will be within walking distance.
Just like once upon a time in the movies.

But, right now, it almost looks like they are still tired from last season. They expended lots of energy forechecking and blocking shots all year long. I thought the break would re-energize the team, especially Gaborik, and give them time to rest injuries. Only Lundqvist has come out sharp. Fortunately, the team has been in every game so it is really a question of getting the offense to score.

Fortunately, when the Rangers finally return home, they will be owed 7 home games thanks to this season's schedule. So, they will be able to get settled, put away their passports and get back into a routine.

The trip to Canada will be interesting. Another venture to a new time zone and another coast before they make their way back to NYC.

--- The Graying Mantis

The Last Cut is the Deepest -- Rangers Waiving Sean Avery

2011-10-04T12:01:00.006-04:00

The New York Rangers are reported to announce at noon today that they are waiving Sean Avery.

In deciding between two frustratingly inconsistent players, the Rangers decided to go with keeping the boring Erik Christensen as their final forward and waive the gritty fan favorite, Sean Avery.

For sure, Avery has never endeared himself to Coach John Tortorella (even before he became the Rangers' coach), so in many ways the waiver is no surprise. The Coach likely will say all the civil things [see below for what the Coach did say which once again demonstrates I am no prognosticator about human nature] but this is just another step in transforming the roster into one that relies on speed, youth and multiple skills.

Perhaps if Sean had scored more than 4 goals last season, had more consistency on the ice and reduced the number of momentum-killing offsides he would "create" every game, there may have been room for him. Perhaps if he was not targeted by the league and referees (unfairly) for his infamous comments in Dallas and became an on-ice distraction, he could have remained.

Perhaps more telling is that he had started to become a public distraction (originally starting off harmless - Vogue internship and opening a new restaurant - to the political - lobbying for gay marriage - to the embarrassing - the post-party encounter with L.A. police in June and his charge in late September against Wayne Simmonds for hurling a slur at him during a preseason game). His recent behavior made it easier to select the plain vanilla Christensen over Avery.

In the final analysis, perhaps the Rangers decided that his $1.9 million salary for such paltry offensive performance (vs. Christensen's $900K salary) was a possible backbreaker, especially since the Rangers may be on the prowl for a quality veteran defenseman to replace the ailing Marc Staal. (The Rangers announced yesterday that Staal will miss the first 2 games of the regular season in Europe at the end of this week.) Now that the Rangers are down to 5 defensemen, they better be looking to reinforce the back line as they waived Stu Bickel and Brendan Bell while in Sweden. Apparently the team's bag charges will be that much cheaper as the team only has 20 active players now.

Avery is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. So now we will see if anyone claims the enigmatic forward or if he moves on to Europe as his agent suggests.

He certainly has a mix of offensive and defensive skills and he was definitely a fan favorite. We'll always have the "Avery Rule" and his battles with the Devils and Martin Brodeur will always bring smiles to the faces of Ranger fans especially when the Blueshirts beat the Devils in 5 games in the 2008 playoffs. But during last season, you could sense that he was wearing out his welcome with his uneven performances.

Ultimately, to become an elite team that is not always straddling the playoff bubble, the Rangers cannot afford to carry players who cannot be counted on for a consistent standard of performance every game.

Both Christensen and Avery are maddeningly inconsistent in extreme ways. Certainly, the Rangers cannot afford to carry 2 such players. So #16 is the odd one out leaving Christensen to draw the ire of Ranger fans.

--- The Graying Mantis

Afternoon Update -- After the news broke at noontime, the Coach had these comments about the waiver as reported by the Daily News:

I don’t want to jam up Sean here - I think we have better players than Sean Avery, plain and simple. I can dodge it ten different ways, without trying to run Sean over. I thought he had a good camp. But I think with the makeup of our team, and some of the people we’ve added, and some of the youth we’ve added as far as depth put Sean in this spot.

The players that are here are better than Sean Avery. Maybe not in the role or a couple instances Sean could help us in, but they’re more versatile in a lot of different areas.

I’m trying to do this the right way, because I do not wanna keep on shoveling dirt over Sean Avery, but we have better players than Sean Avery, right now on the hockey club.

THREE TIMES Torts had to say this? Give us a break. Who is he trying to convince -- himself, management, the fans?

Of course, Torts cannot control himself as he revealed his true feelings while throwing Sean a bone:

I give Sean a lot of credit as far as when he was brought in here, I wasn’t here, but I know he was a catalyst in helping that team get into the playoffs. But I think our team has grown, and we’ve got to keep on moving and not standing still.”

Below are some pictures to remember Sean Avery by . . . .

Student of the Game.

#30's worst nightmare on ice.

Making a fashion statement.

Sean never looked good in this sweater.

But Avery was Brodeur's nemesis regardless of the sweater he was wearing.

Now trending on eBay.

Dance partners? I don't think so.

Always an ambassador of the sport, Avery was never
one to shy away from interacting with savage beasts
prowling enemy arenas, here Flyer fans.

Say Goodnight, Sean - you can leave your uniform right here.
#16 getting escorted off the ice after surviving another
attack from an opponent and today from his former coach.

New Kids fight right in as Rangers spend night in Box. Lose one to Philly /Jagr, 4-3

2011-09-27T12:47:00.002-04:00

The Sin Bin was "Standing Room Only" last night in Philly.

To be fair theofficials were on both teams last night as far indiscretions go. It was one ofthose games where it was fairly obviously that in order to have a fighting chance,we needed to stay out of the box. Wedidn’t.

Read the official recap here.

Now before we get started. I know this is only pre season. Iknow half of these kids won’t make the team. I know our biggest offensiveplayers weren’t on the ice last night. That being said, to watch these two teams go at it last night, it feltlike the post season and some of those penalties I think were more thanjustified. What? Were there preseasonboarding workshops added to the Flyer’s camp this season? Much respect goes toDman Stu Bickel, who looked more like Travis Bickel, when he went Taxi driveron the player that blind sided and boarded his teammate, Devaux, with a latehit. Bickel wasted no time in tearing in Sestito and that’s what Ranger fanshad been looking for in years past when guys not versed in fisticuffs, wereleft to fend for themselves against knuckle dragging meatheads. That oneincident, set off a melee and gloves and helmets flew.. and rangers and flyersfans alike drooled at the thought of the winter classic and seeing similarcarnage on an outdoor rink.

We came from behind 3 times, which was a symbol of ourresiliency but also evidence than we didn’t seem to grasp that we needed tostay out of the box. Errant sticks and guys trying to set picks put us at adeficit of defensive players while, new flyers and roaming cannon for hireJagr, just circled looking for vacancy where they could set up and unload onone timers. His free wheeling days over, a player like Jagr is happy to beforgotten about on the ice so he can net some easy goal without having to shakeoff half a team first. This was recipe for disaster on our penalty kill. I’ll go out on a limb and say in a game likelast nights, it probably showed the coaching staff more when a young guymanaged to stay out of the box when everyone is getting called, rather than gettingover excited and committing that crucial penalty.

As it was, after the last goal was scored against us, theteam finally became conscious of penalties and then became snake bitten as theycoasted for the last few minutes hoping to catch a break or a gift goal. It was a little backwards. Maybe in the backof their minds, some of the kids mulled over that they might not be making thetrip overseas and their prospects of making the team as guys like Prust and Staallooked closer to suiting up, would be dwindling. The exception for the newguys was Jon Mitchell who didn’t seem atall gun shy and was aware of the fact you’ll miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.

As for the vets, Brian Boyle continues to impress and be thebridging influence between the majors and minors for some of the prospects.Avery showed he still has the ability under the opponent’s skin, Dubinsky stillplays with attitude and Christiansen still plays like the team needs him ratherthan the other way around. The team caught a plane to Europeafter the game last night.

Till Next Time Ranger Fans,

J_Undisputed

P.S. – Does anyone else think that the next time Dale Weisegets the urge to fight, he should just pull his own jersey over his head andflail till he gets punched/and or taken down? It would save a lot of time.

Bell Ringer - Brendan's Late Goal Leads Rangers to 4-3 Victory in NJ | NYR 4 at NJD 3

2011-09-24T19:42:00.001-04:00

It's so nice to watch an exhibition hockey game because it reminds you how different it is from baseball and football. You know the NFL -- the sport that charges outrageous prices so you can watch stars play a couple of series or two before they sit down and work the steroid pumps (I mean weight room and saunas).

Or baseball where you may be lucky to catch an A squad under the Floria sun or in the Arizona smog for a couple of innings before they have to rest their tender groins, elbows or whatever else those pseudo-athletes try to protect.

If you were lucky enough to go to the Rock or watch MSG you got to see Brad Richards score a goal early in the first period in his debut for the Blueshirts and work on chemistry with his first linemates. Martin Brodeur played the entire game. Ilya Kovalchuk hauled ass over the ice for the entire game.

All in all, despite some ragged play, you ended up with an entertaining 4-3 win by the Rangers. The recap (such that it is sits here).

Hallmark moment -- Brendan Bell getting the #1
Star for scoring the game-winner with 4:54 left.

Some observations:

When the Rangers defensemen avoided the penalty box, we got to see the promise the first line has. There was some slick passing among the crew, a Wolski and Richards engineered a pretty give and go at the blue line.

Brad Richards certainly displayed that he knows what he is doing and will definitely show Ranger fans what we have been missing on a nightly basis while he was on Tampa and Dallas.

Brad Richards in what should be a familiar
picture -- leading the rush up ice.

When Rangers Kris Newbury and Tim Erixson led a parade in the 2nd period to the sin bin, Ranger offensive momentum died as the first line was not on the ice for approximately 10 straight minutes and the Devils took advantage to turn a 3-1 deficit into a 3-3 thanks to 2 power play goals.

That impact was evidenced by the Rangers having a 20-8 shot advantage midway through the game before the Devils out-shot them 18-11 the rest of the way. I was hard pressed to remember any shots after the Newbury (2 penalties leading to Devils goals) and Erixon (provided a 5 on 3 advantage) took their penalties. Amazing the patience the Devils showed as they set up Kovalchuk to score with 1 second on the 5 on 3 so that the Devils still had the man advantage. Fortunately, they would not score again in the game.

The Devils, under Peter Deboer, employed an uptempo offense that Kovalchuk was enjoying. You can tell when the whole team is together (Parise did not play), they will not have the same slow start they did last season.

Martin Brodeur -- hard to believe it is his 20th season in Devils' goal. You do have to admire his longevity. What is noticeable is that he is not the same Brodeur. Yes, he was beaten on 2 deflections including the game winner last night by Brendan Bell but he was also clearly beaten by Gaborik (but for the puck being on its side) and Callahan (a pass slid under his stick). If you are a Devil fan, you have to be worried that Martin's side-to-side movement may not be what it once was. This season is also the last year of his contract so that will become an interesting story as we proceed.

Goalies were beaten high all night -- Derek Stepan beat Brodeur with a beautiful shot to make the score 2-1 in favor of the Blueshirts as they scored 2 goals within 81 seconds after Brad Richards scored his first goal as a Ranger on a deflection.

Marty Biron was beaten high all 3 times including quite the rocket shot by Kolvachuk to tie the score 3-3 near the end of the 2nd period.

The game was ragged in stretches especially on the defensive side. The fact that Girardi and Staal were not playing did not help secure the defense. The Rangers also were missing Dubinski and Prust so the overall forechecking was not at the level we have come to expect.

The third period was outstanding for the Devils offensive pushes and the Rangers' defenses. Chad Johnson replaced Marty Biron in goal and was up to the task. The Rangers worked hard to keep the crease clear. Both teams threw their bodies around. Dale Weise had a crunching but clean check behind Brodeur as both teams got more physical as the tentativeness wore off.

After Bell scored with 3 minutes to go on a simple shot thrown from the blue line at Brodeur that was deflected past him, the Devils had the tying goal called off thanks to goalie interference with 2:22 to go. They pulled Brodeur but then Martin Gaborik was called for an interference penalty with 1:55 remaining. That killed the Rangers power play that could have ended the game and put the Devils on the offensive.

The Devils immediately took residence in the Ranger defensive zone like evacuees from Hurricane Katrina in the Superdome for the remaining 100+ seconds of the game. The Rangers could not get a change as the Devils kept the puck in the zone. Finally, the Rangers were able to get possession of the puck for a moment and threw it into the corner where the final 6 seconds mercifully ticked away.

Mike Rupp introduces himself to Jacob Josefson.

The things to take away from this game are: (i) the first line of Gaborik, Wolski and Richards certainly looks like it will be fun, (ii) there ought to be a trickle down effect because the next two lines will blend skill and speed and energy that should payoff against other teams' defenses, (iii) when the Rangers' full roster is healthy enough for everyone to play, the team should be a lot of fun to watch; and (iv) the East is going to be loaded -- there is no doubt that the Devils will pick up on their season-ending push from this past Spring. They have Bryce Salvador back, Parise is back, and they have the hint of great young talent in Jacob Josefson and Adam Larrson. Besides Kovalchuk and Sykora. It is unlikely, unless a catastrophic injury rears its head, that they will start off as poorly as last year.

Next up -- the Rangers renew acquaintances with the Flyers on Monday night in Philly. A scorecard will be necessary to see who is now on that team.

Your eyes may glaze when you see who is wearing #68, if he plays. If he comes out in this uniform, it will certainly be news. This is his picture from the Flyers' website. http://flyers.nhl.com/club/player.htm?id=8448208

Apparently, the orange and black could not be photoshopped in. Nice to see that JJ still bleeds blue.

Jaromir Jagr

Right Wing - PHI

-- The Graying Mantis

Pre Season... The Continuation of Last Season.

2011-09-22T13:14:00.001-04:00

The preseason is underway. Aside from the huge hole left in ranger fans hearts for a fallen Enforcer (RIP Boogey) and the fact that our stadium is still not finished yet. We've trudged on and arrived at the doorstep of another season. One game in, I have to tell you.... I'm already getting flashbacks to last season.

Get the official recap of the game here.

Its not the 2-1 loss but all the factors surrounding this soon to be jet lagged start to the season. Staal's still got his headache (only now he has 2, he just got married over the summer-- just kidding, ladies), Prusty's shoulder needs a little more time, we have a superstar reassuring us that the groin soreness he feels is nothing to worry about. Sean Avery's buried even further down the line and its still the smallish guys that will probably define our offense as hope Henrik can continue to keep us alive. After one game:

Some observations.

We have lots of candidates and few opportunities for spots on the roster. So we'll have a better chance of finding the right or right-ish guys for the job. The kids seem eager to impress and full of energy and effort, but they're still on the small side which means, they were getting out muscled and lined up for hits all nights.
Talbot showed some good potential in Goal. Especially in robbing Sykora on the second chance attempt. I won't get high on him yet. Potential is good but it goes nowhere unless you get some practice in the big time. Ask Chad Johnson.
We netted some Second Gen guys like Erixon and Borgue have that little bit of extra guidance which has helped their maturity as players. While Lou Lamoriello is still calling their houses asking if their dads wanna suit up and play and digging up guys like Sykora and returning meathead, Cam Janssen.
Bigger bodies could be on the way. While were happy to have Rupp. We need to start home growing some bigger kids of our own. A kid like McIlrath showed he knows how to use his size showed me more in 60 minutes than Jessiman did in his whole time with the Rangers. Is it too early for fans to start sending this kid some protein powder?
Dubinsky is still playing strong and hasn't seemed adversely affected by being overlooked for captaincy. He still speaks up on behalf of his team.
Girardi, Christensen looked a little ho hum. Probably still looking to shake off the cobwebs.
Emminger shows he'll still be the heavier hitter on a the defensive squad.
This team seems to be conforming well to the NHL benchmark (penguins) image forced on the teams by the league. Young captain, more skate than hate, star goalie, aging vet, agitator, and the lunch pail 4th line.

A special thanks to all of you Dark Fans for your patience with us over the summer.... Welcome back. Next Game Friday..

Till Next Time,

J_Undisputed

Memorial Service in Vancouver Today for Rick Rypien, 27

2011-08-17T17:21:00.022-04:00

It is terrifically sad that this offseason has seen another untimely passing of a hockey player, not overly talented but much beloved.

In May, it was Derek Boogaard of the Rangers; this week, it was Rick Rypien, who was about to report to the Winnipeg Jets.

Instead of lacing up his skates, today, at the Rogers Centre, Vancouver fans arrived to pay tribute to Rypien, who was found dead on Monday.

Renowned for being a rough and tumble player at 5'9", he also got a lot of attention for roughing up a fan during a game with the Minnesota Wild last October, which garnered him with a 6 game suspension.

I think everyday, the longer you’re here, the more you play, e
veryday you wake up and feel how very fortunate you
are and very grateful. -- 11/16/10 interview

He had last played for the Canucks but was getting ready to join his new team, the Winnipeg Jets, within the day.

Like Derek Boogaard, his death came as a surprise and can be attributable to illness.

An enforcer on the ice like Derek, Rypien's death also brought out an outpouring of grief from teammates at all levels of his hockey career and from the passionate hockey fans of Vancouver.

This article from the Vancouver Sun is touching and delves into some of the reasons he may have been depressed.

A memorial was set up at the Rogers Centre and pictures have been posted throughout the day.

Perhaps the most moving tribute is this letter that someone posted that imagines Rypien reuniting with Luc Bourdon, the 21 year old former Canuck player, who died nearly 3 years ago in a motorcycle accident:

"The ice goes on forever and it's so smooth it's as if a
zamboni is always one stride ahead of him."

R.I.P., Rick Rypien, and we send our condolences to his family, friends and fellow fans.

Below are some other photos.

--- The Graying Mantis

Derek Boogaard Buried Today in Home-Town in Saskatchewan

2011-05-21T21:57:00.023-04:00

A somber walk from the chapel in Regina, Saskatchewan this afternoon as hundreds attended the private funeral for the Saskatchewan-born Boogaard. A good summary of the service is here.

Jesse Spector at the Daily News attended and had this to report:

About 40 members of the Rangers organization were in attendance today, led by MSG Sports president and Rangers alternate governor Scott O’Neil, as well as Glen Sather, the full training staff and nearly all of the players.

John Tortorella, recovering from knee replacement surgery earlier this month, is not yet able to travel.

Brendan Shanahan, now a vice president in the league office, flew to Regina with the Rangers contingent, and the NHLPA was represented by executive director Donald Fehr along with Jim McKenzie, a tough customer in his own right during his playing days.

While many of Boogaard’s former Wild teammates also paid their respects, it was of particular note that Jody Shelley made the trip from Philadelphia, such was his respect for a fellow combatant. Boogaard and Shelley fought six times over the years, most recently in November in Philadelphia.

Family leads the attendees out of the chapel.

It was Krysten's graduation day today at the University of Kansas.

Anecdote from Jacques Lemaire, former coach of the Minnesota Wild: I told him you have to work on your skills and take no bad penalties,” Lemaire said.

“One game Derek took a bad penalty early, and the next day he walked in and gave me a check for $10,000. He told me, ‘If I ever take a bad penalty again, cash this.’ I never had to, and I wound up tearing it in half after a few weeks. But I posted it on my bulletin board to show people how serious he was about trying.”

Sean Avery, Marian Gaborik, Brian Boyle and Ryan Callahan pictured here.

---The Graying Mantis

Who will stand up for Boogey?

2011-05-19T15:30:00.006-04:00

Now I don't want to be one to stir the pot. Especially with the wound so deep and obviously fresh with the passing of our fallen enforcer... but I'm glad this came out and kudos to Big George Laraque for putting this out there.

In an interview with serious Radio, Big George (a known gentle giant himself) put the hockey world and ranger fans on notice...

“He was cleared to play at the end of the season and the team just told him to take the rest of the year off,” Laraque told NHL HOME ICE on SiriusXM Radio. “You know how much pressure that puts on a guy? He was ready to play with the contract he had and the team says, ‘It’s OK, just take the rest of the year off.’ On top of that, he told me his coach was not a big fan of him.

“I don’t want to insinuate anything that happened and the cause (of his death) or whatever but I would have been frustrated if I was in that situation. The fact he was inactive so long and those two incidents happened, it clearly didn’t help him.”

............He told me John didn’t really like him as a player,” Laraque said. “I don’t know what John thought or what he said.

“All I know is that Derek told me he was cleared to play, to come back, that he wanted to play and the team told him to take the rest of the year off, to get ready for next year. He didn’t tell me who told him that, he just told me the team said that.”

You can read the rest of the article here.

Having been my suspicion for a while, I have to say I am deeply disappointed in the organization, the coach and that these are decisions being made for our team. I hope this makes the direction of our organization, transparent. I'm loving the infusion of youth and watching guys develop within the organization, but watching half a team enabled to play double time while the other half containing some integral pieces, sit idle in the dog house waiting for the coach to smile upon them is BULL$HIT!!!

Now i'm not saying that Boogaard should have been activated and put on the first line, but I think we all took notice of how certain players were played regardless of what else was happening on the ice this year... how it later impacted our team. Guys like Avery rode the bench despite being one of only few fired up players for getting penalties that a guy like Dubinsky got routinely without being admonished for... a guy like Prust was played (fighting heavyweights, playing shorthanded, even strength) till he was falling apart at the seams... A scorer like Gaborik made to freewheel it on the wing with no set up pass, or big body to pave the road or screen the goalie, because everyone else on the ice went to the boards and waited for dump.

It goes without saying a guy like Boogey could have taken on some guys that Prust got mixed up with, taken some opposing players out of the play and did some intimidating on the ice... had this game been played with some of the fervor it used to... before this became Tortorellas band of mad scramblers and half sized grinders. Now this isn't me playing Monday morning quarterback. There were plenty of times I cheered this team and their underdog persistence... and there were some that I felt I had to for the sake of Morale. The sad fact is, I must make an admission of my own now, that I didn't really feel like this was my team, this season. There are certainly players I would call my players and others that I would still call likeable... but that is a far cry from a team. I'm sure the resemblance was there through the Tortarella looking glass. However, if you asked me to name the lines, I couldn't really ... as the mix and match went on so often that the only lines that ever stuck were those that showed instant chemistry and dug us out of a whole through one of our many comeback wins. If all the juggling and slight of hand had been taken out of the line making process... we'd see that many live guys were simply inserted to dead lines for the sake of keeping the flow of the game rolling. This is not the multifaceted gem that can epitomize an NHL team... 1st line scorers, 3rd line energy guys, 4th line grinders... It was the same group of players wearing 3 different hats a night while the other players watched and tried figure out where they fit in.
When Torts was first hired, I appreciated the no nonsense take on coaching. However its just become more apparent that if you don't fit his ideals.. then you're simply not a Ranger. You don't get invited to the party.. you're not one of the cool kids.. and you don't get automatically absolved of your mistakes. It becomes hard to fathom how a guy like Drury is revered and given automatic precedence over a guy who's physically 100% and looking for ice time... just so the Captain can hurl himself in front of another puck, break something else and dig for scraps around the net before getting flattened by another player... or how a guy like Prospal can come in disregard the game plan as if he's never heard any of the discussions in the locker room or film sessions and crash the net on his own while everyone else.. is again at the boards with their backs to center ice. Then again, its kind of easy to see when you considered that they were already in Tort's pocket from the beginning. It's unfortunate that a voice beyond the grave must highlight this disparity among players for us...

Thanks for the heads up, Boogey(special thanks to BGL)... RIP Big man... Once a Ranger Always a Ranger.

Till next time Ranger fans,
J_Undisputed.

P.S. - I also found it particularly disappointing that so many fans can start talking about Boogeys cap hit and money situations instead of the type of person and inspiration he was as a human being. Here's to hoping the Rangers honor their contract to him and the money goes to where he would like it.

Minnesota Wild Fans Commemorate Derek Boogaard -- "He always will be our teddy bear"

2011-05-16T14:00:00.034-04:00

It is almost cliche to state the obvious that a parent's loss of a child is one of the most heart-rending tragedies to confront.

"I keep expecting him to walk through the door" -- Len Boogaard, Derek's father.

In an ideal world, that type of loss does not happen, it is out of place, it breaks the natural order, it is not fair.

"I met him a couple summers ago. My brother was on a two-week leave from Iraq, and my brother and I didn't have a very good relationship at the time. We got there like four hours early, we waited in line to meet him and my brother and I got really close during that time. We were the first ones to meet him, and he was just like the nicest guy ever." -- Shelby Leske, 18, one of the organizers of the fan tribute.

But it happens and yesterday at the Xcel Energy Center, the surviving family members (Boogaard’s parents, Len and Joanne, sister, Kyrsten, and brothers, Aaron, Ryan and Curtis) unashamedly exhibited their love, shared their grief for Derek Boogaard and celebrated his life with hundreds of Minnesota Wild fans.

"Derek was dependable to a fault. You could depend on him for anything you needed. At any time, your priority became his priority." -- Krysten Boogaard, Derek's sister.

The proud father described his feelings seeing his son play in his first NHL game on opening night on October 5, 2005 --

Derek dressed up in his suit. I was so proud. I was standing at the window and watched him weave his way through the crowd. Nobody paid any attention to him. They didn't know who the heck he was. Look at how that changed.

Below -- Father and Daughter (l); Daughter and Mother (c); Father and Son (Aaron) (r).

Gentle giant, big-hearted and fan-friendly are some of the attributes that everyone has used the past couple of days. Teammates from Minnesota and the Rangers kept describing him as a teddy bear.

Yesterday, Derek's siblings picked up on that theme while fighting through tears to get their messages of love across:

His sister, Krysten, mentioned that teddy bears are a source of comfort and dependable, two of her brother's best traits. His brother Ryan continued:

Teddy bears are usually big, and while he couldn't admit it, cuddly. You wouldn't think of Derek as cuddly, but there wasn't a person in our lives that had more love to give and more love to receive. . . . Derek was a teddy bear, and always will be our teddy bear.

--- The Graying Mantis

The Star Tribune (which has done a wonderful job of reporting) has the story here and I recommend your visiting them.

Derek Boogaard | June 23, 1982 – May 13, 2011

2011-05-14T11:25:00.009-04:00

Last night, the New York Rangers sadly announced that Derek Boogaard had died. Read the notice here. The cause of death has not been disclosed, pending autopsy results.

Derek did not have a chance to become as well known or popular to Ranger fans as he was with the Minnesota Wild. For a wonderful tribute, please read this and this from the Star Tribune in Minneapolis. He was beloved in Minnesota. Even NPR (a/k/a Minnesota Public Radio) had a tribute for him this morning.

After signing a 4 year contract in the offseason, he only appeared in 22 games and missed the final 52 games because of a concussion and shoulder injury. He began his NHL career with the Wild and averaged about 42 games/season over during 2005 through 2010.

With the Rangers, he became actively involved in the behind the scenes charity work. He created “Boogaard’s Booguardians,” hosting military members and their families at all New York Ranger home games. In addition, he made multiple appearances with partner organizations of the Garden of Dreams Foundation.

During the season, he scored a goal (beating the Caps' Michal Neuvirth and breaking his personal scoreless streak of 234 games) that made You Tube highlights and even made light of it during a Garden Of Dreams commercial when at one point a kid said to him, "I saw you score a goal." Boogie's quick reaction was, "no, that wasn't me!"

He also picked 94 as his jersey as a tribute to the Stanley Cup winning team. One poster reported sitting with him and some of his friends last October at a Yankees game. After hearing how happy Ranger fans were to have an enforcer, Derek's friends mentioned that he was in the best shape of his life, including losing 60 pounds during the offseason, taking seriously the importance to be in top condition to play for Tortorella's Rangers.

I think Ranger fans lost a good guy without getting a chance to know him. And the Minnesota fans lost one of their favorites.

It's a sad day for the Rangers and Wild families. It's appropriate it is a gray day here in NYC.

--- The Graying Mantis

Fighting For Eighth

2011-04-04T09:32:00.000-04:00

The Rangers' playoff dreams died in a shootout loss in Philadelphia last April on the final day of the regular season.

One year later, they just might have saved their season in the same locale, solidifying their hold on the final playoff spot in the East with a 3-2 shootout victory Sunday over the Flyers.

Combined with Carolina's overtime loss Sunday night to Buffalo, the Rangers hold a two-point lead over the Hurricanes and are one point behind the No.7 Sabres with three games remaining, including a home match Monday night against Boston.

"It's a little different situation, but not for us," said All-Star defenseman Marc Staal. "I had a good feeling going into the shootout that we were going to pull it off. We've been good all year long.

The Rangers are 9-3 in shootouts this season -- tied for the most wins in the league -- even if coach John Tortorella still is no fan of the NHL's tiebreaker system.

"Yes I do. They should disband them completely," Tortorella responded when asked after Sunday's win if he still dislikes shootouts. "We've been fortunate we've done them, and we've won some this year. It's still not the way to decide a hockey game. I think we have the best in the business but the National Hockey League, you don't decide games this way."

RANGERS 3, FLYERS 2 (SO): John Tortorella insisted he didn't have any flashbacks to last year when the Rangers and Flyers ended 60 minutes of regulation and five minutes of overtime still tied. The Rangers' season ended with a shootout loss in Philadelphia last April, but little-used forward Wojtek Wolski and Erik Christensen scored in the skills competition Sunday in support of goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who added two more shootout saves to the 32 stops he made over 65 minutes to secure two huge points for the Blueshirts in the tightening Eastern Conference playoff race.

"We're just looking for points," Tortorella said. "I think we've got one of the best (goalies). I thought the key save was on (Claude) Giroux, that second one was a key one. Hank stood in there really strong for us today."

From Blue Chip to Buffalo Chip...

2011-03-31T16:31:00.006-04:00

Blueshirts Choke trying to nail Sabre Coffin...

Without too much time before what better be a rebounding win over the the Isles. We'll keep this short and sweet. A disallowed goal was all we allowed to stand between us and 2 badly needed points. In perhaps one of the biggest 4 point games of the season, The roof fell in on the Tortorella balls out offensive movement. It doesn't happen every game, but several times this year, the chip forward aggression tactic has come back to bite us in the ass big time as any team with a bunch of aggressive forwards and an endless supply of young legs have been able to beat us at our own game.

It was no mystery that our play would leave us with large defensive holes, that someone would have to fill. Our cloning efforts for the Girardi/ Staal tandem falling short, we had to rely on a long of young guys stepping up. Mistakes would be made, and painful lessons learned. Perhaps now is not the best time to revisit the merits on this system or the personnel decisions made regarding veteran presence on our blue line. One thing is clear about this season. The fate of the team always hangs in the balance as far as the fans are concerned. The realist outlook is that this season will go down as a rebuilding year or another disappointment with a pocket full of experience and youthful consolation prizes. Are we hopeful optimists or bitter perennial pessimists?

As we continue a run for the post season, we fight the urge to get too happy too soon .. or two sad without a backwards glance to see how far we've come. With young Chad Johnson possibly looking at some time in net due to the tweak that hobbled the king last night, we must treasure these moments. Its not destination (playoffs) but the journey and the rites of passage our young players must endure that makes this season special.

Till Next Time Rangers Fans,

J_Undisputed

King Henrik and His Defensive Troops Throttle Bruins | NYR 1 BOS 0

2011-03-27T22:37:00.028-04:00

In yet another game that had playoff intensity, atmosphere, hitting, nail-biting tension (especially during the ENTIRE 3rd period), the Rangers rode Derek Stepan's 20th goal early in the first period to a thrilling 1-0 victory over the Boston Bruins up in Beantown on Saturday afternoon. The recap happily resides here.

The Ranger defense, led by #2 star Dan Girardi, and Henrik Lundqvist blocked everything the Bruins launched. During the 3rd period, where the Bruins outshot the Blueshirts 12-1, the Bruins launched a fusillade of 34 shots - 12 on net, 18 were blocked, and 4 missed. Showing how hard the Rangers focused on this aspect of their defensive game -- they blocked 29 shots for the game. The Bruins blocked only 8.

Foreshadowing. Former Bruins broadcaster Bob Wilson dropped the ceremonial puck with Derek Stepan. 6 1/2 minutes into the game, Stepan won a faceoff in the offensive zone and within seconds converted a shot by Vinny Prospal into the only goal of the game.

Stepan became the fifth Blueshirt this season to reach the 20-goal plateau, joining Ryan Callahan, Brandon Dubinsky, Marian Gaborik and Brian Boyle. He also became the first Ranger rookie to score 20 goals in a season since Petr Prucha netted 30 during the 2005-06 season.

Meanwhile since that horrid 3 game homestand a few weeks ago when the Rangers lost all 3 in a row, Henrik has gone 8-1-1 over his last ten games with a sparkling 1.73 GAA and a sterling .935 save %. And those numbers include the 5 goals he gave up in Anaheim in what may have been the only bad game the Rangers have played since mid-February.

Henrik leads the NHL with 11 shutouts and this past week gave up 1 regulation goal in 3 games. "Fortunately", the Rangers mustered a goal in each game as they gathered 5 points out of a possible 6.

The Rangers owned the ice for most of the first 2 periods. Unfortunately, other than Stepan's goal, they could not solve Bruins netminder, Tuukka Rask. The Rangers finished the first 40 minutes with a 22-14 shot advantage and 11 blocked shots. The defense looked sharp and played physically.

The key to the game may have occurred early in the 3rd period. The Bruins came out flying building on momentum they had started to develop late in the 2nd period. In what was a critical juncture about 3 minutes in, Wojtek Wolski and Sean Avery put on a forechecking display that bottled up the Bruins for more than a minute in their own zone.

The forechecking continued for another minute with the next shift as the Bruins totally lost the momentum of their initial surge. At the very least, the initial burst of energy the Bruins had shown was thwarted as well as an opportunity to get an early equalizer. It was a statement shift by those 2 players.

Where's my Blankie? After having several shots blocked
in the 3rd period, Capt. Zdeno Chara could only find
solace by curling up like the cheapshot baby he is.

Later, Avery threw his body in front of a shot from the point and from a sprawling position cleared the puck out of the zone. It was evident that the team understood how to make the necessary sacrifice to preserve the lead and not make any bone-headed plays. And it turned into another game where the Rangers did not give up either a tying or winning or any goal in the 3rd period.

Stoned and Stoned Again. With the game on the line,
Henrik stopped Rich Peverley in close twice.

Not that I want to throw cold water on what was a great game, I shudder to think about the Rangers having to rely on such an effort in the playoffs. I shudder over the Rangers engaging the Bruins during an early round of the playoffs because the winner would be beaten up.

Everytime a Ranger player puts his body in front of a shot, he risks getting dinged, or breaking a hand, or finger, or ankle or worse. Dubinsky, Callahan and Drury have lost significant time to such injuries the past 2 seasons.

Let's not forget the beating that Henrik has taken recently -- Bergeron ran him into the back of the net and shook up Henrik. The collective sighs one could hear reverberated like a cold winter wind through streets of Manhattan. The offense could provide some cushion in these games to take some pressure off.

The playoffs will be even more intense than some of these competitive regular season games. Fortunately, the Rangers are heading into the final 2 weeks with a playoff position about to be secured.

A win in Buffalo on Wednesday night may be the final points the Rangers need to secure at least an 8th spot and push Buffalo down. It may also mean that Chad Johnson can give Henrik a night off the next night in Uniondale.

The rest of the schedule continues to be difficult -- a Sunday matinee in Philly, a team that is looking to right the ship. Then Boston visits MSG and they will have revenge on their mind.

--- The Graying Mantis

Point Well Taken, Not So Well Earned | OTT 2 NYR 1 [sho]

2011-03-25T18:53:00.039-04:00

Not that I want to quibble with the title of the Rangers' official recap, but the Rangers stole a point last night with one of their patented answers of the 3rd period bell.

Brandon Prust scored early in that period to tie the game at 1 and neither team scored for the remainder of regulation, overtime and the first 4 frames of the shootout. The Ottawa Senators converted in the bottom of the 5th to take the game by a score of 2-1. Craig Anderson, with a new 4 year contract, got a measure of revenge as he bested Henrik Lundqvist. Official recap is here.

Like the Florida game on Tuesday, the Rangers scored their only goal in the 3rd period. Unlike the Florida game, the Rangers slept walked through the first 40 minutes as they had no answer to a combination of Ottawa speed and blanket defensive coverage.

Magically, they converted their offensive malaise into 3 standings points, which, as I will describe, shows improvement from earlier this season.

Bad Gabby. To his credit, after leaving his man,
Ryan Shannon, open to score, Gaborik played at a heightened level
with strong defensive play and several good opportunities to score.

Ottawa scored its goal at the 15:21 mark of the first when Marian Gaborik failed to cover Ryan Shannon in the slot. During the stretch leading up to the goal, Ottawa dominated the ice and the Rangers looked slow-footed in their own end.

Marc Staal, coming back from a knee injury, himself started slowly but gained confidence. In the beginning of the 3rd period, his rush up ice and brilliant pass to Brandon Prust as he was falling down (and drawing a penalty) sprang Prust who was able to beat Anderson to his right side for the tying goal (Prust's 12th of the season) within the first 3 minutes.

Prust "Owns" Ottawa. Without Prust, the Rangers would have
been shutout in both home games against Ottawa.
This season, the Rangers lost both home games to Ottawa this season by the score of 2-1. In each case, Prust scored the tying goal (a shorthanded goal in the first game and a goal on a delayed penalty call last night).

At least last night, the Rangers got it to extra time and gathered a point unlike the earlier loss which happened late in regulation when a shot ricocheted off Henrik's back.

Despite the recent offensive juggernaut being derailed this week, there is good news on the defensive side -- the defense has tightened up nicely and there have been no deflected goals going past the Ranger goalie for the past several games.

Additionally, in both home games, the Rangers did not commit any egregious mistakes that cost a game with a late goal. Henrik played superbly because he was tested in both games, and did not give up any "soft" or fluky goals.

On Tuesday, he robbed the Panthers of a chance to tie the game late in regulation. Last night, he robbed Chris Neil on a breakaway out of the penalty box. So, during this pivotal time, the Rangers did not leave points on the ice with late game failures.

As for Ottawa, a team that went into wholesale liquidation mode, they have truly played the role of spoiler recently. The Rangers took 3 points (out of 4) from them during this month. Meanwhile, the Devils recently lost 2 games to the Senators (so did Tampa Bay) that have torpedoed the Devils' playoff hopes. That point difference is one reason the Blueshirts are in the top 8 of the conference and the Devils are getting ready for early golf.

Finally, it is indeed frustrating to see the Rangers struggling on offense as they did at home this week. At least they did not lose 3 in a row like a few weeks ago. During their recent streak of 7 wins in 8 games, the Rangers scored 32 goals and had nine power-play goals over their past seven games. Scott Burnside had a very complimentary column about the Blueshirts yesterday, worth reading.

But truthfully, we know that the team was truly clicking. During the Florida game, the Rangers dominated the ice but had trouble finishing, could not score into open nets or engaged in too much passing.

Against Ottawa, it was much worse as they had mustered 9 shots during 30 minutes (as opposed to 23 shots in one period against the Isles) and reverted to the old ways of making one too many passes. Yes, #17, I am looking at you -- Dubinsky looked a lot like the old Dubi that Torts chewed out a couple of weeks ago. And Staal failed several times to simply shoot as he went into helicopter wind-up mode on several opportunities. There were other culprits as the offense simply did not click until the 3rd period.

Bad luck (or the crappy MSG ice) also played a role as passes hopped over sticks (like Christensen's attempted feed to Gaborik in the 2nd period) and a couple of others slithered out of reach of Ranger players at Anderson's door step. Whether this was just one of those nights or a reversion to old habits will be evident during the upcoming road trip.

Pass the Lysol. Apparently it was MSG's night to honor NY's most overpaid, untalented and incompetent celebrities as Chris Carton, resident moron at WFAN, Gary Bettman, the 21st century poster dwarf of the Napoleon complex, and Katie Couric (she still has a job???) graced MSG.

The 7th place Rangers have built a cushion (7 points over 9th place Carolina) and teams like Buffalo and Carolina still have to play their "in hand" games to catch up in the schedule. A condensed schedule at this time of year is a mixed blessing -- there are points to get but the wear and tear and pressure can break you when you are doing the chasing. Just ask the Devils.

Now the road beckons and what a trip that is upcoming over the next 8 days -- Boston for a Saturday afternoon game, then a 3 day break before a crucial back-to-back in Buffalo and Uniondale on Wednesday and Thursday nights before a Sunday matinee in Philly. A win in Boston may guarantee Chad Johnson a start against the Isles and Henrik a rest for at least one game.

---The Graying Mantis

Rangers keep things rolling

2011-03-23T15:45:00.002-04:00

1 GOAL GAME NETS 2 MORE POINTS.

Emerging from the see saw battle with Florida with 2 points was crucial this time of year. More so because it keeps our momentum going for the final 8 games. 5 points up on Buffalo, 5 under Montreal, All is not safe. There were both signs of life and danger in last nights game.

Read the official recap here.

If there were lessons to take away from the scratch and claw win last night, they were these:

- our hard nose grinding style is not unique. In fact the Panther team we played did a pretty good job of emulating our style and matching our effort. Vokoun included, backstopped his team and gave them a chance to win by 1 goal also. Lots of other teams develop this kind of hard nosed play this time of year for when they're weapon of choice is not getting the job done.

-Our offensive weapon of choice seems to be trying to get into his groove, firing pucks and gaining back his scoring touch. But Gaborik is going to need alot of help. The lunch pail guys like callahan, dubi and prust and even Prospal can chip in goals, but they must channel their focus and refrain from getting too wild. Theres nothing that says they should forgo shots or look from Gabby every time he's on the ice, but keep in mind that this is player that once he started, he's very hard to stop. Having him fired up and shooting and passing with consistency could be the difference between the first and second rounds.

- Injury wise and for guys with a lot of wear and tear, the biggest favor we can do for ourselves is to secure a spot as early as possible and try to rest our hard workers.

- Everyone knows our playoff chances rest with Henrik. After a securing a spot, it might not be too bad to Let Chad Johnson get in a game or two. Sitting on the bench and playing doorman is doing nothing for the kids development. If it turns out we need him later.. it might be better to get the butterflies out of the way early.

-For consistency's sake, Leave the lines assembled and ride it out. Chemistry is not such a horrible concept. Last night it didn't prove to be too effective, but the random benchings have to stop... and the substitutions should be direct and not turn the whole line up over.

Till next time Ranger Fans,

J_Undisputed

LETS GO RANGERS!!!

Rangers Surge Into Playoff Territory NYR 5/Pitts 2

2011-03-21T16:10:00.000-04:00

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH -- Two days after a five-goal first period, the New York Rangers had to delay their offensive outburst until the Pittsburgh Penguins committed some big penalties in the third.

Marian Gaborik and Ryan Callahan scored power-play goals 11 seconds apart as part of a four-goal final period and the Rangers extended their winning streak to a season-high four games with a 5-2 win over the Penguins on Sunday.

New York took advantage when Matt Cooke was given a five-minute major penalty and ejected 4:36 into the third for an elbow to the head of defenceman Ryan McDonagh. After Chris Kunitz gave the Penguins a 2-1 lead with a short-handed goal during the long penalty, Pittsburgh defenceman Matt Niskanen was given four minutes for high-sticking Callahan three minutes later.

Gaborik slammed home a rebound of Brandon Dubinsky's shot to tie the game at two with eight seconds remaining in the 5-on-3 advantage. Cooke's penalty had just ended when Callahan scored the game-winner, his 23rd goal, from a bad angle on the goal-line.

"It's pretty easy to get down on ourselves (and) hang our heads after letting up a goal on the power play like that," said Callahan, who has scored in three straight games and has seven goals in six games. "But to our credit, we showed a lot of character coming back and still working."

New York's Henrik Lundqvist made 38 saves in his 17th consecutive start despite being questionable with a stiff neck. He was run over in the crease on Friday night by Montreal's Benoit Pouliot with 3:39 left of the Rangers' 6-3 win, but stayed in to earn his 30th win of the season.

After sitting out of practice Saturday, Lundqvist got back into the net on Sunday.

"Hank played with some (guts), didn't he?" Rangers coach John Tortorella said. "He played very well right on through. He gave us a chance ... and then we capitalized on their penalties in the third period."

Derek Stepan scored with 1:15 left and Dubinsky added an empty-net goal to close out the scoring. Artem Anisimov had given the Rangers a 1-0 lead in the first period.

Rangers all-star defenceman Marc Staal didn't play because of an undisclosed injury, but his brother provided a spark for the Penguins.

Jordan Staal tied it 1-1 in the first period for Pittsburgh, which had won four of five. The Penguins missed a chance to move within four points of Philadelphia in the race for the Eastern Conference's best record.

Cooke has been suspended three times over the past three seasons for illegal hits. He also delivered a hit on Boston's Marc Savard in March 2010 that resulted in a severe concussion and prompted the NHL to adopt a new rule that bans blindside hits to the head.

Cooke appeared to stick out his elbow to strike McDonagh near centre ice early in the third.

"I didn't see him coming. I know it hurt, that's for sure," McDonagh said. "I would hope it wasn't his intent. It's a tight game. I'm sure he's not trying to get his team a five-minute penalty. He'd probably just trying to finish his check and just caught me wrong."

Cooke wasn't available to reporters after the game. Tortorella sidestepped the question of what discipline the NHL should give Cooke, saying, "That's not for me to decide. You're not getting me involved in that stuff."

Led by co-owner Mario Lemieux and general manager Ray Shero, the Penguins have been vocal about penalizing head shots with more fervour.

Cooke will likely be suspended for his latest infraction.

"I don't think you can talk about eliminating head shots from the game, as we have as an organization, and not expect (Cooke's hit) to be examined," Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma said. "It's what looks to be a contact right to the head on the play, so the league will look at that and treat it as such."

The Penguins killed almost all of the power-play time, and then the crowd -- the 202nd consecutive home sellout -- roared when Kunitz scored an unassisted goal with 13:34 left.

"I think it made us a little bit angry," Lundqvist said. "Sometimes you have to use your frustration in a good way and use it as motivation and energy, and I think we did that."

The Rangers caught a break when Niskanen drew blood with a high-stick against Callahan three minutes later, giving New York more than two minutes of a 5-on-3 advantage. It took the Rangers 1:52 before Gaborik extended his point streak to five games with his 22nd goal that made it 2-2.

Cooke's penalty had been over for only three seconds when Callahan scored.

"We gave them a very long time on 5-on-3, and it wears down the PK-ers," Jordan Staal said. "We needed to kill it, but it definitely wasn't there."

New York, which had scored six goals in each of its past two games and 32 in the previous seven, moved four points ahead of eighth-place Buffalo and six up on ninth-place Carolina in the playoff race.

"Right now it's fun," Lundqvist said. "When you're winning, everybody's having fun."

Rangers Go Slap-Habby -- Net 5 in 1st as Henrik Gets Win #30 | NYR 6 MON 3

2011-03-19T13:59:00.035-04:00

Last night at the Garden, a golden opportunity presented itself to the Rangers. The Montreal Canadiens came into MSG, having arrived in the wee hours after their shootout victory over Tampa Bay in Montreal.

Coming into the game, the Rangers were in 7th place and had a chance to solidify their place and perhaps, with a regulation victory, draw closer to Montreal in 6th place.

Montreal was also missing 4 players due to injuries. The Rangers, meanwhile, were rested from their Tuesday night game against the Isles, watching other teams in the conference playoff race taking turns knocking each other off.

The simplest approach for the Rangers would have been to exploit these advantages like they did against Philly a couple of Sundays ago, as opposed to the klunker against Minnesota. The game would be an indication whether the maturation of the team now included taking advantage of a depleted opponent, continue a consistent offensive presence, and perhaps string some wins at home. Much to the fans' surprise, the team proved that it could capitalize.

The Rangers hit the ice fast and furiously, starting with a fight at the opening whistle between Brandon Prust and Travis Moen. They also brought again their new uptempo offense, ferocious forechecking and cycling as they outscored the Habs 5-1 in the opening period as they won their 3rd straight home game with a 6-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens in front of a loud MSG crowd. Official recap is here.

Slap Shot Homage.
Steve Eminger eyes Lars Eller along the boards.

During their last 3 home games -- all high-scoring wins, 7-0 over Flyers, 6-3 over the Isles and 6-3 over Montreal -- the Rangers have scored at least 2 goals in the opening period of each game.

They have forechecked relentlessly and dominated great swaths of game time in the offensive zones, even on the road s evidenced by their strong effort in San Jose. It is evident that the loss in Anaheim was just a bad game and not symptomatic of the team falling into a late-season swoon.

They have launched numerous shots on goal, the power play has shown more energy and actual success (they even surprised fans by scoring on a 5-on-3 PP against the Isles).

Their playmaking has improved; players are not afraid to shoot from anywhere on the ice as witnessed by Dan Girardi's goal (his first in 3 months) by blasting a rebound from outside the left circle, and the 3-on-1 rush orchestrated late in the first period by Marc Staal that led to a cross-ice pass to Brian Boyle on the right who rifled a shot past weary Carey Price.

Another Early Start. Keeping with a recent theme of play of scoring in the first period, Artem Anisimov starts the 5 goal first period by converting a breakaway at the 5:28 mark.

Missed it by that much. After PK Subban tied the game nearly 2 minutes later, Carey Price proved you cannot stop what you cannot see as Dan Girardi's opportunistic blast from the left circle blows past him into the back of the net for a 2-1 lead at the 10:11 mark.

Glove Hand Needs Work. Ryan Callahan extended the Rangers lead to 3-1 at 17:09. Then 32 second later, Marian Gaborik's shot whizzes past Price's glove hand for a 4-1 lead at the 17:41 mark.

3-on-1 breakout converted -- 35 seconds later, Brian Boyle converted a cross-ice pass from Marc Staal in a terrific 3-on-1 rush. Over a period of 1:07, the Rangers scored three times to extend a 2-1 lead to 5-1.

3 straight home wins; 3 straight goalie knockouts. During their current streak of 3 straight wins at home, the Rangers have outscored opponents 19-6 and knocked out 3 straight starting goalies. The latest victim, alleged Vezina candidate, Carey Price, got to sample the same view of the inside of the net that the 5 Ranger goals enjoyed in the first period.

One worrisome point -- because they need every point they can get and no longer have Marty Biron to rely on, Henrik Lundqvist has been playing every game for a month. He deserves our admiration as he won his 30th decision of this season. In his 6 years as Ranger goalie, he was won 30 or more games each year from the start of a career -- the first goalie in NHL history to do so.

Fortunately, there have been some gaps in the schedule between games. Also, the Rangers' scoring has taken some pressure off Henrik during crunch times of recent games where outcomes have not been in doubt in the 3rd period (except for the San Jose game).

However, he still has been called upon to make incredible saves early in games to keep the Rangers in the game. Henrik's performance during the Sharks and Isle games were filled with highlight reel saves.

Also, last night Henrik took a beating from the Canadiens and seemed to suffer a neck injury with 3 minutes to go when he was hit by Benoit Pouliot. Whether the injury impacts his ability to play in Pittsburgh on Sunday afternoon remains to be seen. In the post-game Henrik admitted that his neck felt sore. The Rangers may have to start Chad Johnson to play it safe -- it helps that the Blueshirts have won 3 in a row.

The Rangers have hit this stretch of 4 home games among the next 5 by beating 2 rivals (the Isles and Montreal). Tomorrow, they travel to Pittsburgh for a mid-day contest before the next 2 home games against lesser conference teams. Getting 4 points or more from these 3 would enable the Rangers to maintain or even increase their position.

Meanwhile, at the Rock, the Devils' storybook run from the outhouse to the subbasement of the Eastern Conference took a real hit last night. Although outshooting the Washington Capitals, 33-12, Marty Brodeur let 3 behind him as the Devils were shutout 3-0. The Devils have lost 2 in a row. Their inability to score (Kolvachuk has 25 goals) has come back to hurt them recently. The Devils have been outscored 5-1 in the past 2 games and Brodeur has not looked like a difference maker out there. With 10 games to go, the Devils have to leap over 3 teams to get to 8th and trail Buffalo and Carolina by 6 points.

Right now, the Rangers are in control of their destiny and this season, which has taken on its own identity and magic, continues to be entertaining and promising.

---The Graying Mantis

Rangers Sign McIlrath and Ryan Bourque

2011-03-16T18:21:00.001-04:00

It's official.

THE NEW YORK RANGERS AGREE TO TERMS WITH DEFENSEMAN DYLAN McILRATH AND AGREE TO TERMS WITH FORWARD RYAN BOURQUE.

Let's take a visual look at our newest Boys in Blue.

Dylan McIlrath's nickname is "The Undertaker" (he is #8)

Ryan Bourque, son of Ray Bourque is ready for prime-time

tdr

King gives Isles Royal Treatment

2011-03-16T14:55:00.001-04:00

RANGERS TOY WITH MONTOYA
It was a much needed win. Does it help that we won by more than one goal or drubbed a former goalie who would have loved to come back and beats us with vengeance for being traded away? Not really, but the coffee is probably a little sweeter this morning, the breakfast warmer and the outlook on the day a little brighter, knowing that we are still in the thick of a race for a playoff seed.

Read the official recap here.

Two goals from Gabby and the first from McCabe could have been almost just been icing in this game seeing as we had 2 two spare. This is about more than this game, however, and having a prolific scorer on a roll and a shot from the point to salvage or at least sort something out of our tangle of a power play and could be huge for us down the stretch. With the supporting cast of hard chargers in Dubi, Cally, Prust and others we could shore up some kind of offensive force. The race is only getting tighter at this point, with Buffalo gaining and a 4 point game coming up against the Habs on Friday. All Henrik has to do is continue to be God-like in net and not get injured.

Going foward: A few things that could be pivotal.

- When the other team ups the pressure, we often scramble to keep the buck alive around the end boards. Tort's strategy of defenseman being aggressive and fighting and holding the line at the offensive blueline backfired much of the time I have seen it this season. Resulting in countless oddman rushes the other way.

- We outshoot our opponents in many games but how many are actually high percentage shots. The low bad angle shots are seriously inflating our numbers many games but aren't helping us score as much as teaching our players to close in and pick the upper corners from the slot.

- Mccabe can net a few more if the pucks is kicked out to him for second chance opportunities on downed goalies. Hes shown ability to get get pucks through to the net. Its not quite Lidsrtom-esque but its better than anyone else's we have so far.

Prepare for the final push boys and girls...

Till Next time Ranger Fans,

J_Undisputed.

Fighting Or No Fighting?

2011-03-16T13:17:00.004-04:00

Clearly, there is great debate recently over the role of violence and fighting in the NHL. Thirty general managers are discussing this as you read this. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has publicly made it clear that fighting "is part of the game" in response to crticism from hockey pacifists, but on the flip side there seems to be an unspoken resurgence of players lobbying to limit fighting in hockey.

We can all agree that things are changing this season and with the great number of injuries as a result of a faster game and the continued 'head-shot' issue, it seems there is no consensus on the the issue of fighting in hockey.

Some recent comments on this site under a post titled Stupid Heads is drumming up thousands of hits and I thought it was worth re-posting - see below. Both are valid arguments. Both are not wrong. Where is this all going to end up...

The Shivering Sands said...

There is a kind of street justice (or perhaps "ice justice" would be more appropriate here) in hockey that no other sport has. There is a reason why there is no dancing on the ice, or trash talking to the media. It is because of the toleration of fighting.

I certainly do not want to the NHL to regress back to the days of "Hanson Brothers" type goonery; however the ability for two players who have a problem with each other to be able to take a minute from the game and just duke it out really is one of the reasons why hockey is so special, and in all honesty, why I have grown to love it.

Completely eliminating fighting from hockey all together is totally unnecessary and won’t solve anything and will only push away the need for support for truly needed rules like a "zero tolerance for head shots" policy.

These players are big boys and they know what they are getting themselves into.

And then
General Ganz said...

The problem with fighting is it's antisocial. Fighting is fine, if it's the sport itself - boxing, MMA, whatever. The issue with fighting in hockey is that it's treated as an outlet to resolve disputes.

When you don't like something, you're permitted to lose your shit and fight it out. That's not how things work - in life, in sports, in general. It's only how things work in pro hockey, which is increasingly disconnecting itself from reality and the society within which it operates.

Tell me, what the Hell am I supposed to tell a kid about controlling himself and resolving disputes "using his words", when his so-called heroes are out there chucking the knuckles anytime shit doesn't go their way? All this "part of the game" nonsense is bullshit. It's there to validate the self-image of those dinosaurs who grew up within it.

Are you telling me Bettman jerseyed the judge in court whenever he ruled against him? Come on, dude - give your own head a shake.

Send us an email or leave comments below...let us know what your thoughts are.

TDR

The Joy of Optimism?

2011-03-13T20:15:00.000-04:00

I have never been one known for my positivity. Glass half full? Probably not. That said, after an impressive win over Ottawa in Ottawa and throwing a touchdown on the board against Philly, I began to see, and even feel a glimmer of hope. My hope would be dashed just days later by the feathered ones of Anaheim. Regardless of their change in ownership, they still remind me of everything I dislike about theme parks and tourist attractions. That loss stung on so many levels. Which brings us to last night's game in San Jose. I would stay up late and make an effort to be positive.

The start of last night's game did not lend itself to positivity. Between the zebras missing I want to say, 3 high sticking calls to yet another goal deflected off a Ranger's jersey. C'mon. Poor Mark Staal, man. This guy takes a high stick to the chops and then has a puck bounce off him and into the Rangers' net. I was already picking out which piece of furniture would feel the wrath of my frustration, but still refused to give up.

You can't give up on this team. You can't, because you know they don't have quit in them. They work so hard and play with their hearts. They battle. I am talking Mel Gibson in Braveheart, they BATTLE!! Just look at Brandon Prust. If things don't work out with the Rangers, a stab at being one of the X-Men would not be out of the question. He could easily take Wolverine's place. Seriously, his toughness knows no bounds. That kind of work ethic and tenacity deserves a reward. And yes, a goal from Erik Christensen will do nicely, thank you. Pretty goal. I mean Cindy Crawford circa 1990, pretty. Great pass from Prospal. Well done, boys.

The Rangers defense continues to impress as well. Aside from McDonagh's 2 falls that scared the hell out of me and nearly resulted in one goal, if not two, it was a solid, solid night

for the defense. It was nice to see Michael Sauer put one in the net too. That guy is a worker. He blocked 4 shots last night. I have never seen him back down to anyone if the gloves need to come off, and offensively he showed some poise in front of the net with that goal he had. Lunch pail? Check. Hard hat? Check. Yeah, punch the time card and go to work, and they did just that. It wasn't just Sauer. The boys on defense did their job last night.

What? Did you really think I would forget the King?

Not a chance. One of the elite goalies in the NHL, and can dress better than James Bond. And Henrik in the cage going into a shootout? Even a negative guy like me can see the bright side there. And he didn't disappoint. He had ample highlight reel material during regulation, especially in the third period, but man, he was

John Wayne with pads and a glove in that shootout. He is a patient, patient goaltender. He has the patience of a Kindergarten teacher before Ritalin. He didn't flinch. And yes, he is a worker. How can you not be happy for the guy? Great goaltending. Great win.

So, did I wake up this morning, brimming with optimism and a declaration that the glass is truly half full and NOT half empty? No. I am not Tony Robbins and I have made my peace with that. But I like this Rangers team and last night I was reminded of why. Wednesday night was a tough loss, and to bounce back the way they did last night was impressive. Resilient. No doubt. Half full? Half empty? Undecided. And really, who cares about me and my negativity? 12 games left to play. All for the glory of the cup. One game at a time, boys. Keep up the good work.

- Frandom Notes

Stupid Heads

2011-03-13T10:21:00.000-04:00

"Step right up you saps and lemmings! Give us your money and shut your face. And if we want your opinion we'll give it to you!"

You probably think I pulled that line off of the confidential NHL's marketing strategy documents. I didn't, but I can't blame you for thinking so. Bettman and Co. continue to do business on the spilled blood of their players, and as more of their franchises continue to go quietly broke, they're gonna need a whole lot more of the red stuff. God help you if you question violence and hockey and suggest they showcase the good part of the game - skating, stickhandling, and scoring. He's even got the whole country of Canada behind him - ask any Canadian hockey pundit about fighting and they'll tell you it's part of the game. I don't know what counts as sport up there, but in the rest of the sporting world, people don't put up with that bullshit in their leagues. Sure, you've got UFC and WWE, which are in good company with the NHL as it nudges its way toward the lunatic fringe.

Right off the bat, you can discount those sponsor letters to the League - those were all Montreal companies who have been conspicuous by their silence until now, when their favorite team got victimized, so their arguments about violence in hockey are inadmissible. You gotta admit though, the little Commish has some set of stones on him telling them to shove it. Hey, he makes a cool 7 mil, so in my books that counts as 'fuck you money,' so he has the cheddar to shoot back like that.

The problem here was summed up well by Ken Dryden in an article that appeared in the Globe and Mail, basically saying that peoples' justification of violence in hockey is "stupid." It is. Painfully stupid. That Todd Bertuzzi collects millions today after almost killing a guy is stupid. That headshots are subjected on anything less than zero tolerance is stupid. Don't even get me started on fighting. The talking goons will tell you that fighting is necessary because it prevents guys from using their stick on each other. That's as stupid as changing the law to let guys walk up and feel a girl's tits because it will prevent them from becoming all-out rapists.

The thing that's most concerning here is that stupid is not necessarily ineffective. Stupid can come out on top. Stupid can win people over, and stupid can keep coming back to life even when it gets so stupid it seems to self-destruct.

Stupid gets peoples' attention - Charlie Sheen, Mohammar Ghadaffi, Sarah Palin, Lindsay Lohan, that stupid cat on YouTube! Maybe stupid is the strategy! Of course, how could I have been so stupid!

General Ganz

BOO-YAH! !!!!!!!!!!

2011-03-07T13:36:00.003-05:00

Five points, 4 goals and 1 assist.

NYR 7, Philly 0

So you missed yesterday's game Rangers fans?

The Blueshirts only scored 7 goals against the Eastern Conference leading Philadelphia Flyers, Henrik Lundqvist earned his 9th League-leading shutout in the NHL, soon-to-be-Captain Ryan Callahan scored four goals and one assist - his first hat trick in the NHL, Mats Zuccarella scored his career-leading 2 goals, Marian Gaborik was back in the lineup and looked solid, Sean Avery actually had ice time and Brandon Dubinsky, challenged to throw-em-down by Mike Richards, taught the Flyers Captain a lesson in pain.

So you really didn't miss much. Official recap here.

Where Have I been all season?

So with fourteen games left in regulation this season, and on par with the win over Ottawa Friday night, every game is a 'must-win' for our young Rangers. New York, seventh in the East, leads eighth-place Carolina by three points and ninth-place Buffalo by four.

There is a lot of chatter online about how the Rangers are likely to miss the playoffs this season, given the limited trades at the deadline (acquired McCabe from Florida) and sticking with a team comprised of top-talent 2nd and 3rd liners. This may be the case as we continue to believe in and build a youth movement in the Rangers system and current roster. In future seasons we should see a much improved and more consistent team as they gain valuable ice experience, but they are not 'dead in the water' this season and are still believing in the philosophy that they are a playoff contender. After yesterday's blowout, it is a huge confidence boost and if, God forbid, they do qualify for the 7th or 8th spot in the Eastern Conference, it is likely to be against the Flyers, Penguins, or Lightning. Knowing that the team has it in them to shutout and destroy the Capitals or Flyers at any point in the season gives slight comfort to getting further than the first round. Only the Lightning scares me.

Back to the game yesterday, Callahan got the Rangers going 51 seconds in with a redirection of a pass from Brandon Dubinsky and made it 2-0 with 7:02 left in the first with a power-play goal. Zuccarello pushed the lead to 3-0 at 5:06 of the second, then Callahan chased the shaky Boucher. He struck again 4:20 into the third against Bobrovsky, turning his left skate to steer the puck into the net. Anisimov made it 6-0 with 5:19 left off an assist from Callahan, and Zuccarello scored his second with 1:13 remaining.

"Oh Danny Boy...the summers' gone and all the Flyers are dying"

With Jeff Carter out with the flu, our defensive core made Danny Briere, Scott Hartnell, Versteeg, etc. invisible. It was shutdown defense, and although we did our job and played the system -- it actually felt that Philly didn't give a sh#t; they looked uninterested in the game after the 2nd or 3rd goals. And unlike our own team, the Rangers took advantage of that demeanor and continued to play hard, never changing the forward-moving system of scoring goals first. Defensive positioning we were not, and Torts pushed and pushed and the team followed - a good coaching effort.

For Rangers fans, it was New Year's Eve - the 'Goal Song' blared throughout The Garden, high fives aplenty and angry little ugly bitter Orange jerseys silent throughout the game, an occasional "Let's Go Flyers" chant subsequently overshadowed by the "Let's Go Rangers" chant --- even the fans of Flies couldn't overcome this historical bloodbath, now known as "WHEN THE GARDEN BLED ORANGE".

Deke and Doh! Anisomov scores.

As to the physical nature of the game, the Award For "Lamest Attempt To Fight" goes to Philly's Kris Versteeg who took a run at a non-fighter coming off of a concussion - Marian Gaborik; our boys answered and didn't necessarily receive the benefit of the referees penalties. One particular Brian Boyle 10-minute penalty had Coach Torts up in arms, receiving an official warning from the refs - so it is certain the COMCAST-OWNS-NBC, who had the official broadcasting rights for yesterday's game from top down had the refs ready to keep the Flyers in the game (great conspiracy, eh?) but to no avail.

Even when a second period Sean Avery goal was overturned by the officials (surprised? = Comcast) with Philly down 3-0, a turning point, Flyers Captain Mike Richards called out Dubinsky for a brawl meant to remind his own team that this was the moment we've been given and the game was not over; the young Brandon Dubinsky, our gawkiest fighter, held Richards to a standard unseen - three fists to Richards face later, Dubie took him down and The Garden celebrated one of their own - a young warrior crowned in Blue. The Flyers Captain from that point forward was The Walking Dead.

Henrik Lundqvist was again stunning in goal with his ninth shutout of the season, with a couple of spectacular saves. Flyers' goalies Boucher and Bobrovsky have now given up 18 goals on the last 132 shots they've faced for a ghastly .864 save percentage and 4.52 GAA combined, their greatest vulnerability. The Blueshirts exposed what the Flyers' critics have been saying all season long -- goaltender problems. Hah ahah a ha aha hah ah.

So two road games this week against the Anaheim Ducks, followed by the San Jose Sharks -- two tough contenders will be difficult. But we can all agree on one thing.

They are must-wins.

TDR

Getting Each Other's Back -- Rangers Put It Together for One Night | NYR 4 OTT 1

2011-03-06T01:08:00.022-05:00

Coming into Friday night's contest in Ottawa, the beginning of the past week had shown 2 thrilling victories on the road vs. Carolina and Washington.

Then a return to the Garden left fans weeping over 3 straight defeats to decent teams (Tampa Bay, Buffalo and Minnesota) that dropped the Rangers into 8th place on the cusp of oblivion.

During the dismal home stand, the Rangers' inability to score -- one goal in each game -- shaky defense, shaky goaltending and terrible special teams were disheartening and fatal.

Arriving in Ottawa, the Rangers did not appear fazed and were not panicking -- the players had regrouped and talked a good game. Coach Tortorella extolled the efforts of the players, singling out Brandon Dubinsky for his effort (although he may have been the worst Ranger for the past 2 weeks), and pretty much assured them that he had his back.

Glen Sather, using understanding that he has a good blend of talent, did not pull the trigger on any trades to unload young assets for a rental and gave the entire team a vote of confidence. BTW, anyone notice that Brad Richards still has concussion symptoms? How nice it would be for Dallas to have 2-3 Rangers playing while the Blueshirts played nursemaid for Richards.

The players' ongoing mission has to be to put pucks in the net and keep opposing pucks from getting behind Henrik's back. We know the former has been a struggle all season long and it keeps getting harder thanks to an unending parade of injuries -- add Del Zotto and McDonagh to the list late in the week after losing Marty Biron earlier in the week.

But for one night at least, in Ottawa, the Rangers put together a complete game effort -- their shooting was much more creative and accurate as they jumped out to a 4-0 lead on their way to a comfortable 4-1 victory. The official recap (did you think I would forget?) is here.

Marksman Aim. Prospal's shot was aimed at the one place
Anderson could not cover in time -- low and along the ice to the glove side.

The team would be facing Craig Anderson with a sparkling 95% save percentage in his career against the Rangers (4-1-1, 1.48 GAA, .958 Sv %), That percentage took quite the beating as the Rangers scored 4 on 27 shots.

During the game, they continued dominating swaths of ice and time in the offensive zone as they have all week but with much better results.

The defense and goaltending were sharper (and perhaps luckier as a couple of deflections stayed out of harm's way as opposed to finding the back of the net like in the Minnesota game).

Rounding into Shape. A month ago, you could not have convinced me that
Prospal would return and that he would actually show some of his scoring ability.

Each of the Rangers' goals showed that the players were thinking better about their shot selection. Vinny Prospal slid his shot along the ice (after a wonderful feed from Sean Avery, his 21st assist of the season) and the puck went underneath Glen Anderson's glove hand -- perfect placement to beat him.

In the 2nd period, Mats Zuccarello and Artem Anisimov scored 12 seconds apart. Zuccarello picked up a loose rebound of a Stepan shot in the crease and cruised in front of the open net and roofed the shot instead of shooting it into the goalie's side which we saw all too often this week at home.

Anisimov took a crisp pass at the blue line from Ryan Callahan right after the ensuing faceoff and marched into Anderson's kitchen, made a strong move to his left and sent the puck into the back of the net.

Finally, in the 3rd period, Derek Stepan took note of Zuccarello's shot and roofed his own for a goal to make the score 4-0.

Each goal was a the direct result of confidence and forethought of each player putting the puck into places where the goalie would have difficulty if any chance at all to stop the puck. Contrast that with the number of shots that the Rangers flailed at in the slot against Minnesota or the shots they kept launching into Jose Theodore's midsection or the shots they could not lift over his prone body. Against Ottawa, these shortcomings were rectified. Now it becomes a question of whether the Rangers have learned a lasting lesson.

Meanwhile, the Devils, Sabres, Hurricanes, Canadiens do not seem to want to lose and provide the Rangers with any cushion. Those teams are all bunched up around the Rangers. The Blueshirts could easily fall to 10th as much as rise to 6th depending on whether they string together wins or losses.

Recent numbers are truly ugly for the Blueshirts -- 5 wins in regulations in their last 28 games (more than 25% of the season). Since January 25, the Rangers are 4-10-1. Two of those victories are shootout wins. Included are several hapless offensive results where they only scored one goal (including the last 3 games of the home stand).

Still, during that 3 game losing streak, you could see the team trying to make plays, try to break in on the net, try to shoot from all over the ice. To little avail. Why?? Some fans claim the team has no heart or is being victimized by its coaching -- these fans are and should be easily ignored.

More thoughtful fans should realize the following two facts: The team is still very young. The team is not all that talented. Correct that -- they are talented if you are assembling only a roster of 2nd and 3rd line players with precious few of them having any finesse or sense around the net.

Some players should be more advanced with their scoring skills -- Dubinsky (the leading scorer on the team with 43 points in 61 games, nearly identical to the 44 he had in 69 last season) and Callahan are primary culprits of missing open nets or shooting shots that totally miss the mark and carom around the boards and out of the zone.

But the maturing of youth can lead to some unexpected gains -- for example, look at Brian Boyle, look at how Derek Stepan has developed, Zuccarello shows feistiness and fearlessness; Michael Sauer has been solid on defense; Ryan McDonagh shows that he has a clue.

One friend eloquently summed up the Ranger offensive woes: "The Rangers need someone to pass to that can think and aim fast enough to make the lamp shine that wonderful shade of red. They don't have it and that's what they need."

Mark my words -- Stepan, Wotjek Wolski and Zuccarello -- this trio will be good for 70-75 goals collectively next season and images of unfilled nets will be less of a problem.

If Gaborik returns to form, and Dubinsky and Callahan can stay healthy and notch more than 20 goals each, and Boyle is not a flash in the pan . . . . I won't go so far as to look at the next coming of the Detroit Red Wings, but a noticeable offensive improvement is not that big of a stretch. Add an improving defense and a quality offensive free agent pick-up and you can see that the rebuilding process may pay dividends sooner than many fans expect. But I am getting way ahead of myself.

Back to the here and now -- in another Sunday nationally televised matinee, the Rangers face the Flyers yet again. Fortunately, the Flyers played and lost (their 3rd loss in a row) to Buffalo on Saturday afternoon so the Rangers will be more rested.

Then the Rangers bring their 20-13-5 sterling road record to visit Anaheim and San Jose in critical games for all participants. Another interesting week looms.

---The Graying Mantis

Don't Worry, Be Happy NYR 1, Wild 3

2011-03-04T13:52:00.000-05:00

F*** you Bobby McFerrin!

There are few reasons to be happy, so turn off the radio.

With only 16 games left, the Blueshirts are trying to hold on. After their terrible loss to the Minnesota Wild last night, the Rangers dropped to eighth place behind Carolina on Thursday and hold only a two-point edge over Buffalo, which has played three fewer games. This makes three losses in a row at home. The Rangers were/are sluggish and only scored once in the first period, thanks to Sean Avery - his first since early January. The only potential reason to be happy is not having to pay for the playoff tickets, as it is becoming more clear that even if we do grab the 7th or 8th slot, it is likely to be a first-round only series against either Philadelphia, Boston or Tampa Bay -- teams we generally don't beat.

Official recap here.

It is quite depressing to think that the bottom-feeders New Jersey Devils or the Toronto Maple Leafs very likely could take one of the last playoff slots this season, as both teams are playing great hockey. The playoff hopes will now be determined by wins and wins only, and Blueshirt fans are left scratching our heads screaming, "WTF???"

Tonight against the Senators is crucial as a win could/would build some confidence heading into a matchup against the Eastern Conference leading Flyers on Sunday on national television. That should be a special game.

Not much else to say, Rangers fans, but I would like ask, "Why is it that we torture ourselves year in, year out?"

tdr

Slipping deeper into the Abyss

2011-03-02T11:43:00.004-05:00

SLUGS LEAVE TRAIL THROUGH PENALTY KILLERS TO WIN BY 1
Last nights PK was atrocious, so many back door conversions on the open side and the our Defense looked clueless. We were outworked. In the last in a series of 1 goal losses, story remains the same. The other team wanted it more than we did. By one more goal.

Read the official recap here.

Here we are again, Rangers fans. Another season in which we could be proving our selves to be perennial frontrunners who blaze through the first half of the season only to gas in the home stretch. While it might be easy to use the injuries as an excuse, They were hardly a factor early in the season. The difference is all the other teams have stepped it up and we have yet to find out if we have another gear.

In that respect, credit should be given .. or at least not as much taken away from Slats and the suits. Mccabe was a fairly modest deal for most concern that freed up some salary at season end and John Mitchell for a 7th round pick probably didnt cost us anything. The only thing worse than chugging along in 2nd gear while everyone is passing us in third would be to add a high octane players like richards that would only add weight and not add enough pick up to qualify us for the post season.

While the possibilities are still there to make to the first round. A quick exit would only hold water with the ticket prices. The fans demand more now that we've seen what this team can do. Its up to them to find another gear and up to us to keep hope alive even if they play better away that they do at home.

Till Next time Ranger Fans,
J_Undisputed.

NOOOOOOoooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-02-28T18:12:00.001-05:00

Martin Biron broke his collarbone in practice today and is out indefinitely. Crap!

I guess Henrik Lundqvist carries a lot on his collarbone for the remainder of the season.

tdr

Another Blueshirt...

2011-02-28T15:30:00.003-05:00

According to TSN's Trade Tracker:

The Rangers Have Acquired John Mitchell from the Leafs for a 7th Round pick in 2012.

Bolted and Jolted -- Rangers Lose Game and Then Biron | TAM 2 NYR 1

2011-02-28T13:14:00.039-05:00

This season's Ranger woes against the top 2 teams in the Eastern Conference continued as the Blueshirts are now winless after 8 contests with the Flyers and Lightning, the first and second seeded teams in the conference.

The Rangers finished their regular season slate with the Tampa Bay Lightning with another excruciating 2-1 loss before a packed, vocal crowd at MSG on a children's day matinee. Official recap is here.

Then, further bad news hit the team as the reliable bugaboo this season -- injuries -- reared its ugly head as the Rangers announced that reliable backup goalie, Marty Biron, was finished for the regular season, at least with a broken collarbone sustained during practice.

To add icing to this not-so-delicious cupcake, Glen Sather revealed that Capt. Chris Drury was likely finished for the season.

Running out of options. The cupboard is looking a little barren
as the Rangers need to replace yet another important contributor.

Meanwhile, at the Garden, the Rangers played another one of their disappointing Sunday games. This loss reminded me of their earlier loss to Ottawa 2-1 when Prust scored the Rangers' only goal -- a shorthanded one -- and the Rangers lost in regulation thanks to a 3rd period goal.

Yesterday, again the Rangers fell behind in the first period, used an excellent move by Prust to score a shorthanded goal to tie the game in the second before the Lightning capitalized on a 5-on-3 power play advantage with 17:20 remaining in the game.

Unlike the Ottawa game, the Rangers did compete well with a quality team and were close to tying it up on several occasions. The true difference between the teams yesterday was the 2 man advantage the Lightning exploited early in the 3rd period to score the winning goal.

Finishing touch. Brandon Prust moved up ice with surprising speed and moves to totally undress Marc Andre Bergeron at the blue line before breaking in alone on Dwayne Roloson to tie the game. It was the Rangers' 10th shorthanded goal of the season. Tampa Bay has yielded 11.

The Lightning started off quickly and took a 1-0 lead with less than 6 minutes gone when St. Louis threaded the needle between Lundqvist's pads. Then they clamped down on the Rangers offense holding them to 4 shots in the first period.

Despite playing an uneven game, the Lightning showed why they are 2nd in the conference. They have legitimate three scorers -- Steve Stamkos, Martin St. Louis and Vincent LeCavalier -- that are powerful offensive presences on the ice and do not miss many opportunities. While holding Stamkos shotless, St. Louis and Lecavalier scored the Tampa goals.

Bryan McCabe made his Ranger debut and showed that he knows how to QB a power play.
Too bad, his teammates were out of position or could not convert several opportunities.

The futility of the Rangers offense is patently obvious when you consider the Rangers had 3 power play opportunities during the period. The Lightning were extremely effective in stacking the blue line and only during the latter part of the 3rd power play did the Rangers realize that dumping and chasing was the only entryway available into the Tampa zone.

Unfortunately, when there, the Rangers failed to hit the net, or missed open nets, or were muscled off the puck. I stopped counting at 5 the number of times I saw Artem Anisimov get plopped on his ass while the Ranger were trying to execute in the offensive zone. We'll ignore his inability to score from the slot for now.

His linemate, Brandon Dubinsky, did not fare much better -- his growing inability to find the net has grown along with his being tagged for journeys into the penalty box. Dubinsky's stats over the past 7 games are not pretty: 12 shots, 2 assists and 14 penalty minutes.

Still, the Rangers kept themselves in the game and as the game progressed, they routinely set up some beautiful chances but were denied by their own ability to finish what they created.

After the Rangers missed cashing in on the first period power play chances, the refs called 6 straight minors against them. The Rangers effectively shut down Tampa Bay for the first 3 and even scored on one of them.

However, the game winning goal came from a 2 man advantage that Tampa Bay exploited on penalties called on Dan Girardi for boarding (highly questionable) and an unfortunate delay of game penalty on Brian Boyle for lifting the puck over the glass. My heart sank as I watched the puck float so slowly out of play.

That led to Tampa using some slick passing in the offensive zone that freed up Lecavalier to fire a laser that beat Henrik Lundqvist stick side into the far side of the goal. The play happened quickly and without hesitation -- a far cry from the Rangers' 5-on-3 power play attempts that we have seen during the season.

The Rangers, to their credit, picked up the pace after the first period and ultimately out-shot the Lightning for the game (23-19). After pulling Henrik off the ice with 93 seconds to go, they won several consecutive faceoffs in the offensive zone and pressured Tampa Bay for the equalizer. They got close, did not wilt but could not convert. Considering the quality of the competition, there is nothing to be ashamed of, but the Rangers 0-8 regular season record against Philly and Tampa Bay is not inspiring.

Rainy days on Mondays. . . Out for the season:
Competent backup goalie, Marty Biron, and the Captain, Chris Drury.

Next up is Buffalo on Tuesday night. The Sabres have 65 points, trail Carolina by 2 points for the 8th slot in the East and trail the Rangers by 5 points.

--- The Graying Mantis

Make Room for MCCabe

2011-02-26T16:47:00.009-05:00

According to TSN.CA: Florida Panthers captain Bryan McCabe has been traded to the New York Rangers in exchange for forward Tim Kennedy and a third-round draft pick. Read the full story here.

In addition to scoring from the Blue line, Perhaps McCabe will be able to use his experience as captain to provide some added calming influence for when things get a little frantic and the teams energy disperses and mistakes begin to snowball. If not, its only a rental till July 1st. At which point, should we decide to keep him or he decide he wants to stay, he can be signed to a new (maybe less expensive contract.

As for Kennedy, he seemed to have a lot of hustle early on and be the type of player that could excel in this young leg, grinding system. Was he another Callahan? I guess the Panthers will have a chance to find that out. The 3rd round pick. Eh well.... A few seasons ago, we seemed like a team that should be grasping for our picks like Rosie O'Donnell for the last jelly donut. But our farm system seems to be a lot more effective with Schoeny back there cracking the whip and helping develop our younger guys. So I'm willing to let a pick slide here and there. At the very least come July 1st, we'll still be free up of Kennedy's money and Kreider would be that much closer to making the team.

Sound Off, Ranger Fans... Will McCabe make a difference? We want your Opinions.

Till next Time Ranger Fans,

J_Undisputed

Red Carpet Performance by Defense Sparks Another Shutout of Caps | NYR 6 WAS 0

2011-02-26T12:58:00.033-05:00

The adjectives start to run out. Resilient, gritty, hard-working, gutsy. The Rangers lose their top offensive threat yet again.

Then they lose one of their star defensemen. They continue to have difficult not only scoring generally but scoring first.

They arrive in the Nation's capital to play one of the East's top teams just back from a lengthy and successful road trip. An opponent, by the way, that is looking for revenge after being embarrassed at MSG 7-0 and thwarted at home before a national t.v. audience and also looking to re-establish their home ice dominance.

Yet, once again, showing a cohesiveness and courage that was never associated with recent teams, the Rangers banded together to inflict a 6-0 drubbing on the Washington Capitals. The Rangers have won 2 in a row against Southeast teams, both on the road. Henrik Lundqvist (25-20-4) benefited from the Rangers' sterling play while Michael Neuvirth (18-10-4) took the loss for the Caps. Official recap is here.

Band of D-Men. The defense did what
was needed to frustrate the Capitals.
One thing the Rangers have demonstrated is that someone will appear to lead the team offensively on many a night. In Raleigh on Thursday, Wotjek Wolski carried the Rangers with his late tying goal and shooutout winner. In D.C., it Eric Christensen with 4 points.

In assessing a thorough team performance like last night's, awarding the usual top 3 stars is insufficient. Since we are in Oscar season, something a little more substantial is in order and we need to think bigger.

The Award for taking the heart out of a team and crowd should go the defense -- helping to pitch a shutout, scoring a goal and adding 3 assists, often giving a clinic on clearing pucks out of the zone and playing smart positional hockey. And yes, covering up for more of Michael Del Zotto mistakes.

Another Award for exasperating the fan base should go to Henrik Lundqvist who made several sparkling saves early on, kept his composure even when under attack, and earning his league-leading 8th shutout of the season. He deserved to be the beneficiary in a game where the Rangers kept piling on goals.

Seeing is believing. Anyone have an idea back in October that any of these
4 players would be on the ice together to congratulate Henrik for a victory?

Finally, another Award for best performance by a below the radar player should go to the player who stepped in to fill the gaps left behind in scoring by Gaborik, Dubinsky and Boyle -- tonight it was Erik Christensen with 2 goals and 2 assists.

#1 Star -- Eric Christensen. Often maligned but the
key to at least 5 Ranger victories this season.

Eric Christensen may have had the offensive game of his career with 2 goals and 2 assists including a beautiful conversion of a Michael Sauer pass in the first period and a terrific backhanded pass to Brian Boyle for the 6th goal of in the game's final minute.

Meanwhile, the formerly glamorous Capital offense suffered its 9th shutout of the season (the Rangers have been shut out 4 times).

The Capital power play continued its season-long woes at home, going 0 for 5, and scoring fewer than 1/2 of the power play goals it did last season.

An Early Spring -- An Even Earlier Choking Feeling? When the
playoffs come, the Caps may not have to worry about the Pens,
but the Flyers, Lightning and Bruins will be formidable.

Nothing epitomizes the Caps' futility more than Ovechkin only scoring 6 points in his last 15 home games. Meanwhile, on the road, he has 18 points in his last 16 road contests.

Even more interesting, Ovechkin had not scored a point in his prior 3 home games against the Rangers. That streak has been extended to 4.

Nothing Doing for $100, Alex. You don't need Watson to know what the
"O" in Ovechkin stands for when he has faced the Rangers this season.

So, when the Rangers played Washington last night, they had the Caps mediocre home record on their side and the tendency of teams returning from long road trips to come out flat. True to form, the Capitals played right into the Rangers' hands.

With last night's win, the Rangers took the season series 3 games to 1. They outscored the Caps by 14-1 over the final 3 games (185 minutes of play).

Just when I thought after the pitiful performances against New Jersey and Philly, I could safely put away my credit card for playoff tickets, the Rangers have won 2 tough games in a row and solidified their 7th place standing and have even drawn to within a hair's width of Montreal and Washington.

Now, Tampa Bay visits the Garden on Sunday afternoon -- the #2 seed in the East. Then Tuesday brings my least favorite NY team -- the Buffalo Sabres and then Thursday the Minnesota Wild (a strong playoff contender in the West) finishes the upcoming 3 game homestand.

Whereas a week ago, a sense of dread was developing after the loss to Philly, now a renewed sense of optimism is starting to appear just like buds on the trees. What the standings will look like a week from now is a mystery that I hope my heart can handle.

-- The Graying Mantis

Goal-Ski!

2011-02-24T11:54:00.003-05:00

WOLSKI TAKES WIND OUT OF CANES IN SHOOTOUT.

It was a fiercely contested game. How fierce was it. It turned brother against brother as older brother Eric had no problem delivering a headshot to younger brother Marc when the Staals met along the boards. Marc who was skating with his head down would eventually leave the game with a slight knee tweak that Tortorella would later describe as nothing serious.

Get the official recap here.

Our blueshirts showed life early with heavy hitting, while Caroline did their best to get the run and gun game going with the speed of Eric Cole and an aggressive as usual Eric Staal. While we seemed to be taking the fight to the Canes, and even managed to score the first goal. The sheer amount of odd man rushes and semi breakaways in their favor was enough to make every Ranger fan facepalm about every 2 minutes. With Henrik making great stop after great stop, we managed to scamper into overtime and netting at least one point, thanks to a lot of patience and puck handling of Wojtek Wolski in the Carolina zone, in the closing minutes. In Jagr-esque fashion, Wolski showed his potential weaving through red Cane jerseys and drawing attention away from the far side of the net. Michael Sauer would come down from the blue line to chip in, but it would be unnecessary as Wolskis pass was batted in on a defensive attempt of a Cane defensemen.

With the Rangers surviving a 5 minute overtime in which 4 on 4 would have almost spelled doom for the team considering the Canes speed and even more breakaway opportunities, the attention turned to the shootout. We seemed to have a pretty decent first 3 for shootouts in Christensen, Zuccs and Wolski. With Ward stopping Christensen and Zuccs shooting wide, Wolski took his time winding his way down and drawing Ward off center. While many of us were expecting Wolski to do his divide and conquer move (body and skates going left and his Stick and puck going right) around Ward, Wolski took advantage of the non centered Ward and smoke one top shelf over the glove.

Prior to the shootout, Wolski could be seen in the corner consulting with Marty Biron on what his options were on Ward. Perhaps Zuccz and Christensen could have benefited from the Back up sage. At this point we should be doing everything we can to close out games and win and separate ourselves from those behind us. Wolski showed an awareness and appreciation for that urgency. It is, however, a concept that hasn’t seemed to resonate with some members of the team. We must move forward every chance we get. Every second of every period or every game or we’ll find ourselves in that dreaded or die last game of the season again.

Till next time Ranger Fans,

J_Undisputed

Philly Sends Rangers Fly-ing Downward

2011-02-21T19:33:00.000-05:00

Is it just me or do you think our Blueshirts make an impact when we're injured?

With six losses in a row, followed by wins against the Penguins and Los Angeles, and with the Rangers losing in a monstrous battle against the Jersey devils of Newark on Friday, one would think they'd bring their "A" game to The Garden yesterday against the top team in the East - the Philadelphia Flyers.

Well...they didn't. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Official recap here.

So where do we start? Let's just say half way through the first period, 'supposed-difference-maker' Marian Gaborik left the game not feeling well, which in other words mean 'concussion-like symptoms'; in hockey terms that means out for at least the next two, twelve weeks or indefinitely, as evidenced by every major NHL star who wants to get back in the game after such concussion-like symptoms (Crosby, Malkin, Savard) but cannot properly tie their shoes in the morning, let alone skate. So here we are again, without the million-dollar-sniper who was supposed to steal games from others - while faraway chants of "We told you so..." can be heard from as far away as Minnesota. Hardy har har, you Wild bunch.

I do wonder if all the crazy Gaborik trade talk has any truth to it?

Goalie once-extraordinaire Henrik Lundqvist played fairly well, except for a softie backhand by soon-to-be-incarcerated Daniel Carcillo in the second period. It kills me that this criminal is turning out to be their difference maker for the Flyers. It hurts bad..

Not to be forgotten were the efforts by Ryan Callahan, Brandon Dubinsky, Sean Avery, Brian Boyle, Brandon Prust - and even Marc Staal and Dan Girardi. These guys are the makeup of never giving up, the ones that won us games when our stars were out.

As it turns out, the experiment called Vinny Prospal appears to be dwindling as he is slow and extremely tired looking, unable to stay with Gabs when he is actually on the ice. But it's a moot point for now, as Torts will be spinning his wild line rotater over the next 2-3 games in an attempt to find the magic that used to win the third periods. Wouldn't you do the same? Maybe we can borrow Tom Renney for a couple of practice sessions because the line changing is beginning to parallel that of John Tortorella.

Speaking of injuries and players not playing to their potential, here's an update:

Medical Watch:

RW Derek Boogaard (concussion) remains out indefinitely due to headaches and other concussion symptoms stemming from a fight Dec. 9 against Ottawa.
C Chris Drury (left knee) underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee Feb. 11 and will miss about six weeks.
LW Ruslan Fedotenko (sprained shoulder, appendix) already was out with a shoulder injury when he underwent an appendectomy Feb. 2. He's expected to be sidelined until late February.
LW Alex Frolov (right knee) is out for the season after suffering torn knee ligaments Jan. 8, requiring surgery.

Makes you feel good on a playoff race, doesn't it?

Mathematically, it seems that in games when you're down (which defines the entire season thus far) you either play strong in the third, you win them or lose them. The first half of this season we won most of them -- exciting last-to-the-minute type games that drew you in and made you believe "This team could actually go all the way..." But like a casino, keep playing and the house will get it's money back. The latter half we find ourselves playing as hard and with as much passion, but the losses are plentiful.

And so it goes, we find ourselves again scratching our heads wondering if this ailing Blueshirts squad, with 21 games left can win 13 of them to make the post-season...

And so it goes...tomorrow vs Carolina.

TDR

Lundqvist has to be the difference maker for the remainder of this season.

Ilya Providing a Belated Return on Investment | NJD 1 NYR 0

2011-02-19T11:01:00.022-05:00

There are those games where you marvel at a player's skill and remember how beautiful ice hockey can be, even if the team you root for loses.

Last night at the Prudential Center, the surging New Jersey Devils (now 14-1-2 since January 8) rode Ilya Kovalchuk's talent and leadership to a 1-0 victory as Johan Hedberg bested Henrik Lundqvist. The official recap is here.

I have not been a fan of Ilya Kovalchuk. I did not get behind the idea of him joining the Rangers. And I am still glad he is not on the team. Still, I give him his credit -- he is not dirty or self-reverential like the twin-headed Bettman butt-buddies named Malkin and Crosby.

Under the proper tutelage, his talent has fully revealed itself. Next time, someone tells you coaches are not important to a team's chemistry -- compare the Devils under John McLean and under Jacques Lemaire.

The game started off at a frenetic pace -- play continued from the opening puck drop for nearly 6 minutes. The crowd was chanting Let's Go Devils and Let's Go Rangers. Blue Ranger sweaters were a strong presence in stands. The buzz and cheering reminded me of watching some tapes of the infamous 1994 conference final series. Too bad it is not like this every night at The Rock.

The Devils are a changed team since Jacque Lemaire took over. Their discipline in the defensive zone is admirable but they now focus more on offense, thanks to the presence of Kovalchuk, than his previous boring trap teams. (If this team, which I picked in the preseason to be 4th in the conference, had Zach Parise playing, they would be quite scary.)

If you want a full understanding of how the Devils set-up works, you should read my colleague's analysis over at Hockey Rodent. He can explain this in much better detail than I could ever hope to.

Zuccarello's shootout mastery is not translating into goals
during regulation play. This missed first period opportunity was a killer.

After an initial flurry during the opening minutes which included a couple of missed golden opportunities (including 3 attempts by Mats Zuccarello), the Rangers were a step behind the Devils until the 3rd period.

Unfortunately, the missed chances were costly because for the 7th game in a row, the Rangers surrendered the opening goal and against a defensive monolith like the Devils, that goal stood up.

Besides the fact that the Rangers looked tired after the previous night's win against L.A., Marc Stall picked the worst night to have perhaps the worst game of his career. He was guilty of making several ill-conceived passes in his own zone. His failure to stop a puck at the blue line led to Kovalchuk's racing up ice, picking up the loose puck and sailing in on Henrik to beat him for the only goal of the game with 11:42 remaining in the second period. The suddenness of the score deflated the Rangers. He tried to help on the offense but I saw him out of position or simply uninvolved too often that made me think he was simply exhausted.

Later in the 2nd period, Kovalchuk proved why he is quite an offensive talent as he glided around the right faceoff circle, eluded 2 Rangers and calmly blasted a shot that beat Lundqvist over his left shoulder -- fortunately, the goal post stopped the puck, otherwise we would be watching that highlight goal for the next year or two.

Sandwiched. Kovalchuk was launched into the bench but
jumped back out smiling. An indication of someone enjoying the game.

Of course, the Rangers surged in the 3rd period but Callahan was stoned by Hedberg early on. The Rangers buzzed around the Devils' zone but as they often do, they failed to put the puck on net. They hesitated to take shots from the point enabling the Devils to get in position to block pucks. The Rangers only had 4-5 scoring chances all night long.

During a power play opportunity midway throught the 3rd period, the Rangers passed the puck smartly around the zone but could not convert their passing into any shots. Even though the Rangers applied plenty of pressure during the period, they still only had 6 shots (and only 16 for the game).

It was a shame the Rangers did not play with this intensity earlier in the game. It is apparent that the Rangers' inability to score the first goal of a game is putting them at a severe disadvantage, game after game.

Meanwhile, the Devils had no fear about taking shots from all angles as soon as they presented themselves. Several last moment desperate clears by Ranger defensemen kept the Devils from scoring more.

The Devils, once trailing the Rangers by 31 points in the standing, now trail by 14. They are within hailing distance of 8th place but their surge has started too late. However, they are certainly showing signs of what this team will look like next year, when they could be quite scary.

The standings got tighter again -- Carolina beat the Flyers in Raleigh. I still think Carolina has the best chance of beating the Flyers in an opening round series. The Rangers face the slumping Flyers on Sunday afternoon and then visit Raleigh on Tuesday night. Then a trip to D.C. for the Caps next Friday night. This is one hard stretch coming up.

---The Graying Mantis

The King Topples the Kings for his 200th Win | NYR 4 LAK 3 [sho]

2011-02-18T12:58:00.022-05:00

There are just some games where you really really should have been there to enjoy it. From what several fans told me, last night was one of them. Thankfully, it was also kids' night and the young fans in attendance got to see quite the game.

The Rangers and Kings played an entertaining up-and-down the ice game without the dirtiness and brutality that marks so many games against Eastern Conference foes. The Rangers, relying on their season-long resiliency and trademark strong 3rd period surges, defeated the Kings in a shootout by a score of 4-3. The official recap is here.

A Captain Earning his C. Kings' Captain Dustin Smith had 2 goals for L.A.
including the game tying goal with less than 3 minutes left in regulation.

The Kings put on a skating exhibition for a full 60 minutes, justifying their lofty standing out West, proving that their Sunday victory in Philly was deserved and showing Ranger fans that their recent 8-0-3 streak was no fluke.

Fortunately, Jonathan Quick was not in goal for the Kings or else the result could have been different. His replacement, Jonathan Bernier, was shaky at times especially in the 3rd period and shootout. The Kings had 9 shots each period and the Rangers at least 10 as both teams played offensively minded hockey the entire game.

Besides grabbing 2 points, the best thing about the game for the Rangers is seeing the positive impact of the return of the wounded have had --

Exhibit A is Ryan Callahan who proves time and time again that captaincy is his destiny. He scored in the 2nd period to awaken the slumbering Ranger offense. He was all over the ice, helping to kill penalties and provide a jolt of energy to the squad.

Meanwhile, his counterpart, Brandon Dubinsky, who scored the team's 3rd goal providing the Rangers with a brief 3rd period lead, again found himself sitting in the penalty box thanks to 3 foolish penalties that either broke the team's momentum including nullifying the back half of a 4 minute double minor in overtime.

Exhibit B is Vinny Prospal whose return has re-energized linemate Marian Gaborik. He scored an important goal for the first time since Obama became President as his tally gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead. More importantly, Gaborik has scored 9 points in his last 9 games.

"Here, let me get this." Christensen puts Bernier out of his
misery by escorting the puck into the net. EC is 4 for 4 in shootouts.

Exhibit C is Eric Christensen whose shootout prowess is undeniable. His undressing of King goalie Jonathan Bernier was so ridiculous that it almost appeared Christensen was ashamed to score.

His goal provided a model for Mats Zuccarello to follow when he gave the Rangers a 2-0 shootout lead as Mats deked to Bernier's right and left him just as out of position.

Deja blue. Zuccarello putting the finishing touch on
his latest successful execution of another goalie.
The victory gave the Rangers a 2 game win streak, both wins coming at home this week. It also gave them a little cushion as they took advantage of other playoff competitors losing this week -- the Canadiens (to Buffalo), the Canes (to NJ), Atlanta (to Phoenix) and Buffalo (to Toronto).

The importance of last night's victory cannot be overstated. The Rangers are visiting Newark tonight to face the 13-1-2 Devils (since January 8). Then a home match against Philly for Sunday brunch.

The Rangers can effectively terminate the Devils' lingering playoff hopes. Their fans have risen from the grave recently to taunt Ranger fans. It is the final cry of the fans before the fingers of futility close around the season for New Jersey. It would be sweet to see the Rangers throttle them tonight.

--- The Graying Mantis

Tonight The King Meets The Kings

2011-02-17T10:50:00.002-05:00

Tonight's Game
The Rangers will face-off against the Los Angeles Kings tonight at Madison Square Garden (7:00 p.m.), in the first game of a back-to-back set. The Blueshirts currently rank third in the Atlantic Division standings, and seventh in the Eastern Conference, with a record of 30-24-4 (64 pts). The Rangers enter tonight's contest having defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins, 5-3, on Sunday at Madison Square Garden, to reach the 30-win plateau for the sixth consecutive season. The Kings have posted a record of 32-22-3 (67 pts) to rank eighth in the Western Conference following Wednesday night's 4-3 overtime shootout win at Columbus, and are now 5-0-2 on their current 10-game road trip. Following tonight's contest, the Rangers will conclude their back-to-back set when they face-off against the New Jersey Devils on Friday, Feb. 18, at Prudential Center (7:00 p.m.), in an Atlantic Division match-up.

Callahan Lifts Rangers Out of Slump

2011-02-14T12:34:00.001-05:00

NEW YORK, Associated Press -- A perfect storm of potential greeted the slumping New York Rangers when the battered and beaten Pittsburgh Penguins came to town at the end of a long, emotional weekend.
Pittsburgh was missing injured stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and was down in toughness with Matt Cooke and Eric Godard serving suspensions.

Throw in the fallout of Friday night's fight-filled blowout loss on Long Island, and the Penguins were a seemingly early target for the Rangers, who had lost six straight.
When New York fell behind by two goals in the opening 5:06, coach John Tortorella called a timeout that turned around his team's fortunes. The Rangers scored five straight goals and beat the makeshift Penguins 5-3 on Sunday.

Behind a struggling power play that produced three goals in a game for the first time this season, the Rangers broke an 0-5-1 slide.

"Even though they made a few plays and scored early, we felt good about our game," forward Brandon Dubinsky said. "We just kept grinding away. We had two tips-ins."

Ryan Callahan had two goals and an assist to help the Rangers win for the first time since he returned from injury on Feb. 1. New York took advantage of Pittsburgh's NHL-leading, penalty-killing unit.
The Rangers tied it before the first intermission and busted out in the second period -- while recording 16 shots -- on goals by Vinny Prospal, Callahan, and Artem Anisimov. That was enough to end the skid that put the team's playoff hopes in jeopardy. The Rangers hadn't won since beating Washington 2-1 in a shootout on Jan. 24.

"It's definitely good to stop the bleeding," Callahan said. "We put ourselves in a little bit of a bind standings-wise. With this one, we can start looking at teams ahead of us, not the teams behind us."
New York's rally was sparked by Tortorella's timeout called after Nick Johnson's second NHL goal. Deryk Engelland had given the Penguins a 1-0 edge at 2:06.

Brett Sterling brought Pittsburgh within 5-3 with a power-play goal 5:12 into the third, but the Penguins, who failed to capitalize on a double high-sticking penalty to Michael Sauer later in the period, have lost four of five following a five-game winning streak.

New York hadn't scored more than three goals since beating Toronto 7-0 on Jan. 19. The Rangers scored only 12 during the losing streak, but found their touch against Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury.
In its previous 20 games, the Rangers connected for only eight power-play goals in 70 chances.
The Penguins tried to get back to normalcy in their first game since Friday's 9-3 loss that produced 346 penalty minutes, 10 ejections, 15 fighting majors and 20 misconducts.

Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma said he didn't sense any carry-over into Sunday's game.
"We tried to forget about what happened Friday night and focus," defenceman Kris Letang said. "We came out and had a good first half of the first period, and a penalty killed us."

Upset with the supplemental penalties handed out by NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell, that included a US$100,000 fine to the Islanders, Penguins owner Mario Lemieux lashed out at the league.

"Hockey is a tough, physical game, and it always should be. But what happened Friday night on Long Island wasn't hockey. It was a travesty," the Hall of Famer said. "It was painful to watch the game I love turn into a sideshow like that."

Lemieux, who bought the team out of bankruptcy in 1999 and ended his playing career during the 2005-06 season, said the sanctions weren't nearly enough.

"The NHL had a chance to send a clear and strong message that those kinds of actions are unacceptable and embarrassing to the sport. It failed," he said. "We, as a league, must do a better job of protecting the integrity of the game and the safety of our players. We must make it clear that those kinds of actions will not be tolerated and will be met with meaningful disciplinary action.

"If the events relating to Friday night reflect the state of the league, I need to rethink whether I want to be a part of it."

His team responded well early, and it appeared as though the Rangers were headed for another loss. New York hadn't earned a point in a game since a 4-3 shootout loss to Pittsburgh on Feb. 1 after the Rangers squandered a two-goal lead. Before Sunday, that was the last game the Rangers were ahead by two.
Callahan scored the first of the Rangers' power-play goals at 9:20 of the first. Brian Boyle had started the comeback at 5:43, 37 seconds after Tortorella's timeout.

New York broke it open in the second, starting with Prospal's second goal in five games after returning from knee surgery. Callahan made it 4-2 at 11:04 during the first half of a double high-sticking penalty to Sterling.
Anisimov pushed the edge to three with another power-play goal with 4:37 left in the second and ultimately put away Pittsburgh.

Prelude To The Blueshirts Win

2011-02-14T11:53:00.003-05:00

What helped our boys in Blue yesterday was a fight-filled night between the Penguins and The Islanders on Friday night. This is mandatory viewing; with Pittsburgh physically taking advantage of The Islanders this season and with Rick DiPietro getting knocked out by Pittsburgh's Brent Johnson only weeks ago, as the laughing stock of the league - the Isles were no longer willing to watch their guys take any crap from the Penguins.

Friday's game, won 9-3 by the Islanders, featured 346 penalty minutes, 15 fighting majors and 11 game misconducts. The Islanders were fined $100,000 by the league, and two of their players - if that's what you call Trevor Gillies and Matt Martin - were suspended for 10 and four games, respectively. Pens' Eric Godard was suspended the mandatory 10 games for leaving the bench to join the fight.

The videos below outline a brawl of a game. So for once in my hockey lifetime, I'd like to tip my DARK hat and thank The Island for a dirty game well done.

PERIOD ONE

PERIOD TWO

PERIOD THREE (yes...there are still more fights)

So who feels bad for Talbott? Ha ha ah aha ha .....

tdr

Splat!lanta Provides No Solace for Rangers | ATL 3 NYR 2

2011-02-13T10:45:00.025-05:00

Another dispiriting loss. Another one goal loss. One point taken out of the past 6 games. This loss may have signified the Rangers finally hitting bottom during this 0-5-1 streak -- yielding 2 goals to Evander Kane in a 3:31 stretch late in the 3rd period to turn a 2-1 lead into a 3-2 loss. The official recap is here.

The Atlanta Thrashers, in the midst of their own losing streak, gratefully accepted their guest's gift that keeps them in the playoff race.

The Rangers actually had a lead within the first 2 minutes of the 3rd period when Brandon Dubinsky one-timed a pass from Marian Gaborik early in the 3rd period. It was the Rangers' first lead since scoring the 2 goals against Pittsburgh on February 1 -- a stretch of nearly 13 periods of hockey (255 minutes). Too bad the lead taken with 18 minutes to go in the 3rd period did not even last 13 minutes.

There are good things to mention about the game -- Henrik Lundqvist was active in net and sharp making 32 saves. Marian Gaborik, Brandon Dubinsky and Sean Avery had very good games overall. The Rangers even scored a power play goal.

That's about it. . . .

The Rangers defense was slow all night long and scrambled way too many times in the defensive zone to keep up with the Thrashers.

The Rangers flowed back and forth often leaving Lundqvist abandoned and shifting wildly to snare pucks the defensemen failed to clear or possess. This led to Atlanta scoring both of its goals late in the 3rd period on rebounds after Lundqvist made terrific saves.

We should not overlook the horrid giveaway at the blue line led to a 2-on-1 that gave Atlanta a gift goal in the first period. To his credit, Henrik was very diplomatic: “It seems like [the Thrashers] always got to the rebound. They were hungry around the net." Indeed.

What is up with that headdress?

Even Tortorella seems shocked.

Gaborik made a strong play during an Atlanta powerplay in the 3rd period to draw a penalty shot opportunity. His 2 for 6 success rate went even further south when he came up with an incredibly unimaginative attempt that was easily stopped. Punching in a short-handed penalty shot goal there would have extended the Rangers' lead to 3-1 but Gaborik failed yet again.

Other offensive players failed as well -- it is becoming apparent why Wolski was traded (3 goals in 14 games). He has moments of splash but his ability to finish and score appears to be nonexistent. The rest of the team looks tired -- those who have played the entire season like Brandon Prust and Brian Boyle.

A statistical note -- Steve Eminger missed several games as a healthy scratch -- the Rangers did not win without him in the lineup. His replacement, Michael Del Zotto, has taken ill-timed penalties (like the one late in the 3rd that led to Atlanta's powerplay winning goal) has not scored a point and is a -8 over his last 9 starts.

He is not totally to blame. If you are going to put a 20 year old defenseman on the ice, you need to pair him with an experienced veteran that will settle him down. The Rangers do not have one -- Michal Roszival is in Phoenix and was the best candidate. The Achilles heel that is Del Zotto has been exposed time and time again.

Alone Again. Not a Ranger defenseman in sight as Evander Kane scores the tying goal (top) and the winning goal (bottom) within 3 minutes of the 3rd period.

I keep reminding myself that this is a rebuilding year. Youth is being introduced into the mix and older players are being eliminated. It's not as if anyone is expecting the Stanley Cup to return to NY this season. But it is too bad to watch this recent swoon as the team had overachieved for so long.

But then I remind myself that even great teams have losing streaks and the Rangers still are in playoff position and can get it turned around, especially as the newly returned healthy players get back into shape.

Beating Pittsburgh Sunday afternoon -- a thoroughly depleted team wracked by injuries and suspensions -- would be a good step forward.

---The Graying Mantis

Tonight Is a Must-Win Against The Thrashers

2011-02-11T10:19:00.000-05:00

TONIGHT’S GAME:
The Rangers will conclude a three-game road trip when they face-off against the Atlanta Thrashers tonight at Philips Arena (7:30 p.m.). The Blueshirts currently rank third in the Atlantic Division standings, and seventh in the Eastern Conference, with a record of 29-23-4 (62 pts). The Rangers enter tonight’s contest having been defeated by the Detroit Red Wings, 3-2, on Monday at Joe Louis Arena. Fourteen of the Blueshirts’ last 18 games have been decided by one goal (6-6-2 in those games), including seven of their last 10 road games (4-2-1 in those games). The Thrashers enter the contest with a 24-22-10 (58 pts) record to rank ninth in the Eastern Conference, and have lost 11 of their last 13 games (2-7-4). Following tonight’s contest, the Rangers will face off against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday at Madison Square Garden (3 p.m.) in an Atlantic Division matchup.

Rangers only wing Detroit before losing 5th straight.

2011-02-08T14:04:00.005-05:00

Exploding out of the gate and owning the first period still wasn't enough to earn us a win. In fact while most of the commentators seemed to be impressed with how less sucky Jimmy Howard was in net for Detroit, I was unimpressed. Overall, it was great Original 6 game with lots of energy and battles all over the ice, but for all the rushes, scoring chances, and back and forth play... the score hardly tells the tale.

Read the official recap here.

With no disrespect to the Howard, it seemed many of our shots where channeled straight up the middle, exactly where the defense wanted them. As with many of our past games, we seemed to out shoot our opponents and still wind up on the short end of the sticks. This could only point to our quality of shots. The bottom lines echoed by commentators across different networks and analysts throughout the league are always commending our high energy game and tenacity, but whats missing is that our game is also very easy to read. The other teams defense is slowly migrating toward the board where they they can apply pressure and take away our puck movement and what few goal that we've scored in the past 5 games, have come from a higher percentage of bad angle shots.

The wings came out flat last night and our energy and defense too over causing turnovers and quick rushes toward the Detroit net. After the first period, the tides began to reverse as Detroit up its game and started to play a smarter game. Going to the boards and digging the puck off to where they're fowards could play us in open ice and then crash the net for rebounds. It was telling that Datsyuk could outplay two skaters and our backup with only inches of space. Energy alone doesn't win a game and it has to be directed with consistent lines and fundamental basics like crisp passes without cycling the puck around the endboards hoping to confuse the defense. While it creates space for players like Prospal who seems like hes on his own mission these days; going rogue and crashing the net every opportunity he gets, the itch to play certain shows but it heard seems like the rest of the team is aware of his objectives and his of theirs or theirs of each others. As a team, the only way to roll forward is communication and repetitive practice in open ice with room to work around defensive pressure.

Till Next Time Ranger Fans,

J_Undisputed

Impudent Gomez and Impotent Offense Doom Blueshirts | MON 2 NYR 0

2011-02-06T09:47:00.025-05:00

When the post-mortem of this season is written and the Rangers do not find themselves among the 8 teams in the playoffs or in 8th place ready to get swept by the Flyers, they will look back on games like yesterday's as the reason why.

In fact, they can look at pretty much every game since the All-Star break as a reason why epitomized by the Rangers' again being unable to score early in games, falling behind heading into the 3rd period, mounting a frantic rally in the 3rd period and falling one goal short.

This perilous recipe for success has not worked its early season magic recently. Throw in the fact that the Blueshirts are 0-for-3 against Montreal (so far), 0-for 3 against the Flyers (so far), 0-for-2 at home to Carolina and you can count up points left behind on the table.

Instead, the Rangers were shut out by Montreal, 2-0, in a matinee before the usual packed house at the Chambre du Horrors known as the Bell Centre. The recap is here. The team's losing streak is now 4.

Proving once again that goaltending is the least of the team's problems, Mary Biron was saddled with the loss despite showing an excellent glove hand, being a 3rd defenseman with his adept puck-handling and zone-clearing passes, and making some outstanding saves. Unfortunately, Carey Price bested him by playing well but helped by plenty of blocked shots, one too many passes by Ranger forwards and overall hesitation by the team in trying to finish plays.

Bodies Everywhere. Despite only 6 penalties
called in the game, there was plenty of hitting.

Let's also not forget the incredible ineptitude of the Rangers' power play -- the one that had 4 straight chances in the second period and came up with one lone shot on goal during those 8 minutes of a man advantage.

It was during this stretch that the game was lost. The Rangers simply had trouble keeping the puck in the zone at times. At other times, 3 Rangers would cycle endlessly behind the net enabling the Canadien defenders o collapse in front of the goal.

No Rangers were in front of the net and the Rangers did nothing to stretch the defense by getting the puck to the net. When the Rangers actually succeeded in doing that, Del Zotto had the lone shot on net during the 3rd power play. What became noticeable was the fact that because the Rangers created no momentum during the power plays, Canadien players did not seem to exert any energy. In fact, after each power lay was concluded, the Canadiens burst into the Rangers' zone to attack as if they had been resting.

It was, of course, not surprising, when after the 4th power play failed with 2:04 left in the 2nd period, within 40 seconds, Montreal scored the game winning goal. That play showed sharp passing along the blue line first by Yannick Weber at the right point who sent a sharp pass over to the left point to Alexandre Picard that got the Ranger players moving out of position.

Picard shot the puck that went wide to Biron's right where it caromed off the board to the left side of he goal where an unchecked Gomez calmly collected it and went up high over Biron's left glove. Whether it was a deliberate pass or an errant shot, the passing at the point opened up space that enabled Gomez to exploit the opening. This was exactly the kind of passing and chaos the Rangers could not create during their power plays.

Gomez collects the puck from Picard's shot as Biron scrambles from the right post to cover the left.

Gomez roofs the puck (puck is to the left of the "G" on his uniform); Biron had no chance . . . .

and can only watch the puck as it starts to tall into the corner of the net. Game over.

Picking up a recent theme, the Rangers came out flying in the 3rd period and held a huge territorial advantage and scorched Carey Price with 19 shots. Montreal had 6. Price was skilled and lucky enough to withstand the onslaught.

Why the Rangers have fallen into the habit of raising their offense in the 3rd period instad of earlier is a mystery. Perhaps they are in fact a better conditioned team. But the tactic, such as it is, is not working because the Rangers come into the 3rd periods of many games trailing or tied and that adds pressure to score an equalizing or winning goal while keeping the other team off the scoreboard.

It has not worked in the last 4 games -- the Rangers outshot Florida 11-1 (and outscored the Panthers 2-1 but that one shot allowed was the Florida game-winner), Pittsburgh 11-3 (no goals and a shootout loss), Devils 15-2 (no goals and a regulation loss) and Montreal 19-6 (no goals and a regulation loss). 56 shots yielding 2 goals and 1 point in the standings.

Dark Days Coming? 10 games ago, the Rangers were tied with the Capitals at 55 points for 5th in the conference and led Montreal by 4. Things have changed now thanks to their recent 3-6-1 streak including an abysmal 3 game (and pointless) home losing streak (Florida, Pitt and NJ).

The teams ahead of the Rangers in the conference are putting some serious distance between them and the Blueshirts. Over the past 10 games, the Canadiens have outgained the Rangers by 7 points and lead them by 3, the Caps - 4 points, the Pens and Flyers - 9 points each, Tampa - 7 points.

That is a lot of territory to try to make up as the number of games dwindle. Carolina beat the struggling Thrashers to replace Atlanta as the number 8 seed and are within hailing distance of the Rangers.

Where there was talk during the All-Star break that the Rangers could make a run at a top 4 conference slot, that dream may be disappearing as quickly as Marian Gaboirk's ability to score in consecutive games.

The Rangers are off to Detroit for a Monday evening game on Versus at the Joe. Fortunately, the Red Wings have been inconsistent recently with their own 4-5-1 stretch. If there's any consolation, anyone notice that the Black Hawks are 11th in the conference.

---The Graying Mantis

RANGERS FANS UNITE, SAY 'NO' TO SHELDON SOURAY

2011-02-04T17:55:00.000-05:00

Remember Wade Redden, kids? He's worse!

This scares the hell out of me. Even at the beginning of this 2010-11 season, Sheldon Souray was put on waivers and no one in the entire NHL inquired. Just say no!

Go here for yet another attempt to scare all Rangers fans into oblivion. Please stop. Enough.

tdr

King Lundqvist Was Overthrown, NYR 2, NJ Devils 3

2011-02-04T16:32:00.004-05:00

A much needed regime change was in order last night

It was to be a battle of two elite goaltenders, Mahhhhh-ty Brodeur on the Devils side & Henrik Lundqvist on the Rangers side. With Brodeur having one of the worst seasons of his career and Our 'King' Lundqvist having one of his top seasons, no one could have predicted that Blueshirt backup Marty Biron would be the one to keep the Rangers in the game.

Official recap here.

Shameful to watch and eerily feeling like watching Rick Dipietro in net, Henrik Lundqvist was in the Twilight Zone throughout this match of the elites. Kovalchuk connected on New Jersey's first shot to give the Devils the lead 1:04 in, a hard shot that caromed in off the post. Shortly after, Dainius Zubrus' scored. By the second period our very own Zuccarello (Hobbit) failed a clearing attempt pass to Chris Drury, which Elias stole and assisted Brian Rolston who scored giving the Devils a seemingly comfortable 3-0 lead. Lundqvist was pulled like pork from the bone (and we 'aint talking about Brodeur and his meat fetish).


This is what was left of Henrik.

Marty Biron replaced the fallen goalie, and managed to keep all subsequent pucks out of his net.

That 'nostalgic stomach gas feeling' filled Rangers fans at this point (see picture to the right), made even worse that half of MSG was filled with strangely happy and cheering Newark fans. I thought all Devils fans had their heads between their legs this season???! What motivated them to buy an overpriced Garden ticket in the first place when all hope had been lost?

In his second game after missing 19 because of a broken hand, Callahan took a pass from Anisimov and fired a shot from the bottom of the right circle that beat Brodeur over the left shoulder to make it 3-1 with 3:35 left in the second.

Hope filled the room...maybe.


It got busy at Marty's Meathouse

The third period furthered our hope and positioned the Rangers to comeback, as Vinny Prospal - in his first game of the season after prolonged injuries - scored on Brodeur less than 2 minutes in the period, leaving 18 minutes left for the Rangers to tie up the game, and who knows? maybe even take this one away from the Devil-losers

There were scoring chances....and more chances.....and more chances. All missed. The closest scoring opportunity arrived with only 2 seconds remaining in the game, with a blitzkreig of shots and bodies in front of Marty Brodeur's net, Brandon Dubinsky finally found Marty vulnerable, laying on the ground upside down like a spicy rotiserie chicken from Price Chopper with the legs facing the sky, took the shot hitting the post with one second left. Tie goal, almost..

Cheap Eats if you ask me. Game effin' over.

The Blueshirts are now 7th in the Eastern conference, only two and a half losses away from sliding into the eighth & last slot for playoff qualification, so let's move on toward a successful points-run starting tomorrow night in Montreal. Should be an easy one! Right?

Let's Go Rangers! Don't let the once-injured vets mess up the chemistry that has won us games!

tdr

Nabokov Meets With Bettman

2011-02-02T15:26:00.002-05:00

Courtesy of the Houses of Hockey Waiver Wire!

Brilliant!

A-Bylsma-L....

2011-02-02T14:34:00.004-05:00

RANGERS LOSE IN SHOOTOUT TO PITTSBURGH SUPPORTING CAST.

Returning from the all-star break, there were questions floating around about possible rust on the team and the returning forwards. Would we instantly be better with all the players healthy or would it sour the mojo that our patchwork quilt of reserves and only slightly injured players had been building?

Read the official recap here.

While the rangers were trying to feed off the energy of the returning Callahan. Bylsma's $h*tbirds were trying invoke the spirit of Crosby and Malkin (who were probably at home engaged in a Halo deathmatch). It seemed to be working Marc Andre Fleury managed to wander outside the small blue patch in front of him and hit the ice after ranger player brushed by him. Jordan Staal managed to do his part by suckerpuching Brandon Prust while in a scrum and sullying the family name. After all, it wouldn't be a Penguin team without at least one cheapshotting douchebag known for his scoring, to jump and unsuspecting player in an effort to lead his team by example. (Stall got a match penalty and a 1 game suspension)

In the first period, during the usual Vs. fanfare, They managed to pull Tortorella away from important stuff like coaching in order to do an interview. His response to the euphoria of the interviewer over scoring the first goal against the media hyped, league hyped, vs. hyped Pittsburgh hockey Juggernaut, was simply "I dont think we're playing that well and the score is deceiving... They're making too many long passes and we're not taking away enough space in the neutral zone..." Boy was he ever right. Attribute it to rust, returning players, or fear of penguin team (what vs. would love to have you believe at the leagues request).. but our Defense was G*ddamn atrocious. Players not getting their sticks down, missing coverage, weak and lackadaisical switching off. Creating just enough holes for players to shoot without paying for it and wristing shots from far off distances. It was a see saw battle back and forth for 3 periods because we allowed it to be. We didn't shut down this team and we didn't commit to a plan. Instead a mixed batch of players were sent out on the ice as if they needed to evaluated all over again and our offense seemed to be adlibbed as the game progressed. Rushing to get up ice and attempts at low percentage passes to Gaborik without first drawing the attention elsewhere; Scampering in errant directions and trying to chip the puck up ice. Our game last night was one dimensional and our apprehension showed in overtime as we wasted time volleying the puck between d-men in our own zone rather than moving the puck up ice. Only slightly more anti-climactic were the pedestrian shots taken by our shootout selections. With all the success guys like Wolski and Zuccs have been having the shootouts with fancy stick work, the feeling last night was "who wants to be typecast as a dangler...? Kids stuff". It was indeed a let down for the returning Lundqvist who must have been hoping for an easy night after playing against the best players in the world while most of the rest of the team had the week off.

Ref Reality check- No Vs. Broadcast would be complete without idiotic commentary, annoying announcers and watching Sean Avery take a blind side hit without a ref's acknowledgement, but somehow the same officials manage to exponentially inflate Newbury brushing by Fleury outside of the crease into a full blown elbowing call. Fortunately "hockey Lives on Versus" because calls like this, will have it dying everywhere else.

And for the sake of all that is Friggin right with the world, can someone explain the link between chemistry and linemates to our coach. Is it so hard just to make substitutions for the injured guys and let them try to fill a role? I feel like i'm being haunted by the Tom Renney Line changer...

Dubinsky-Anisimov- Callahan

Gabby - Drury (till Christiensen comes back)- Avery

Zuccs- Stepan- Wolski

Prust - Boyle - (Newbury... till Fedotenko comes back)

THE RANGER revealed

2011-01-27T16:20:00.009-05:00

(Thanks to The Rangers Tribune for breaking the update)

Thanks to Stan Lee and the NHL, every team now has a superhero that represents each franchise as a way to appeal to kids of all ages and identify them with the team, and not necessarily the players on the team. Closely resembling McDonalds and their 'playground' tactics, this is probably one of the stranger things the NHL has done to attract kids into the sport.

Not sure what it has to do with hockey, but I am sure on January 30 they will explain everything. The only true evil are the guys I can think of are behind making this deal for the league (i.e. Dolan, Bettman, etc...) Truth be told, maybe the NJ Devils and NY Islanders could use a real-life superhero at this point in the season - the Atlantic Division could grant them this handicap.

Well one thing is for certain - our name lends itself to creating a superhero. The Ranger. Easy to remember. Has a fighter adjective built into the name. But what happens when you are the Maple Leafs or The Islanders??? Hilarity.

Completely ridiculous...

This is all Stan Lee could come up with?

Sad that THE DARK RANGER was the original unofficial superhero of the New York Rangers, but we accept the new guy in town and understand that it's time to move on.

Though, we'll stick with the bad photoshops and hold our heads up high!

DARK

He Giveth and he Taketh Away.

2011-01-26T12:47:00.005-05:00

RANGERS DROP CLOSE ONE TO CATS OFF ARTIE'S BACK...

Henrik Lundqvist must have felt as if he was blindfolded for most of the night and by the end... maybe he was hoping for a cigarette and firing squad. The Marksman however might be aiming elsewhere; in the direction of Artem Anisimov.

Read the official recap here.

It was just the night before where young Anisimov would play the hero and lose his goose egg on Shootout tallies... however last night Anisimov would play guest bumper twice on shots that got past Henrik Lundqvist, including the deciding goal. Some, you win and some, you ....facepalm, then sink between two players on the bench hoping to not be seen or noticed, the hope avoid the shower of debris that rains down from the stands... For young Anisimov, this is just one of many stumbles that every player in blue has experienced at some time or another. As long as his gaffes don't come with a signature (Malik, Roszival, Poti, etc) , he'll move on and tweak his game so that they don't happen again.

So much was made of the fact that we didn't play like a team that had went the distance the night before with another team. I can't say I beg to differ, but I did notice that our game wasn't up to snuff. By that I mean, while conceding we played with intensity and energy that has become synonymous with the team. We didn't have the level we needed to beat the team we played last night. The Panther team that came into the Garden last night, started a game with hard checking and muscling players off the puck. Unfortunately for us, their game is much like ours and they knew exactly where to find us. In the corners and along the boards are the places we hope to lure other teams where our cycling around the boards and slight of stick game has the defense moving enough that eventually a lane opens up to the front of the net. Florida brought a heavier checking game than we expected and played us tighter in the places we normally get the most work done. While the scoring for both teams came in spurts, this game was decided on resiliency and ability to adapt. The Panthers for the most part took their game off the boards and up high instead of working in the traffic jam that occurred in front of the net at both ends of the ice. Multiple deflections and weird bounces and screened shots seemed to cause havoc for Henrik most of the night. For the most part, his facial expressions ranged somewhere between "How the hell.." and "SONOVA...". The Returning Del Zotto actually made one or two extra effort plays that would make you think he's found purpose in his game again. Though the team overall seemed to be treading water hoping for a break, there were a players that did stand out out. Avery getting top ice time of all the forwards must have been such a humbling moment for Torts, who eventually had to put all his eggs in one basket to generate some offense with Boyle centering Avery and Gaborik and forcing things down low. The defense picked up and only allowed one shot for Florida in the third. A little deflection and screen from Anisimov would be all that it needed to go in.

As we head to the All star-break, we can perhaps look forward to a week that will give our players the rest and rehab they need... and we'll settle back for a Dive Free Allstar game with both Crosby and Malkin out.

Till Next time Ranger fans,

J_Undisputed.

The Hobbit Shoots and Thrashes / NYR 3, Atlanta 2 (SO)

2011-01-22T22:54:00.000-05:00

ASSOCIATED PRESS below (DARK thoughts tomorrow):

Atlanta Mats Zuccarello scored in a shootout, Brian Boyle's goal forced overtime with 5:19 left in regulation, and the New York Rangers rallied to beat the Atlanta Thrashers 3-2 on Saturday night.
Henrik Lundqvist stopped 20 shots through overtime and then was perfect in four shootout rounds for the Rangers, who avoided losing for the fourth time in five games over seven days. Wojtek Wolski added a second-period goal for New York.

Anthony Stewart and Nik Antropov had goals for the fading Thrashers, who have lost six of seven.
Stewart's 12th goal gave the Thrashers a 2-1 lead 18:01 into the second period. Bryan Little's shot from the right circle glanced off Stewart's backside, but Stewart gained control of the puck and scored to Lundqvist's glove side.

Atlanta made it 1-0 on Antropov's tip-in -- his eighth goal -- 6:47 into the first.
Wolski scored his ninth goal to lift the Rangers into a 1-1 tie at 2:43 of the second period. He was skating toward the bottom of the slot when Derek Stepan sent a pass to him from the right circle.
The Thrashers seemed to get a boost from a penalty-killing unit that started the night ranked next to last in the NHL.

Atlanta wasn't short-handed until 14:33 remained in regulation, but Ondrej Pavelec stopped three shots while the Thrashers were down two men.

Boyle set up his 17th goal, tied for the most on the Rangers, with a hit on defenceman Johnny Oduya that forced a turnover. Boyle slid the puck past Thrashers defenceman Dustin Byfuglien, as both players skated past the Atlanta blue line, before regaining it and beating Pavelec.

The injury-ravaged Rangers had six rookies in the lineup, including Brodie Dupont, who made his NHL debut. New York coach John Tortorella gave only seven shifts to Dupont, the team's third-round draft pick in 2005. He is the eighth rookie to make his Rangers debut this season.

New York, which lost forwards Brandon Dubinsky and Ruslan Fedotenko this week to injuries, also saw defenceman Dan Girardi get banged up. Girardi had a bloody upper lip and nose after he fought Andrew Ladd in the second period.

Notes: Wolski has three goals and six points in six games since the Rangers acquired him from Phoenix on Jan. 10 for defenceman Michal Rozsival. ... New York captain Chris Drury has no goals in 19 games since returning from a broken finger. ... Girardi was trying to avenge a clean hit on defence partner Marc Staal when he grabbed Ladd's jersey and fought the forward.