Posted 7/27
I went on a bit of a rant on my twitter last Saturday about what the Rangers should do with Mats Zuccarello. If you remember, it was rumored that the Rangers were not MZ's first choice as he wanted to play with the other half of the Swedish Olympic men's ice hockey team known as the Detroit Red Wings. When MZ approached Red Wings GM Ken Holland about signing in Detroit, Holland couldn't promise him extensive time in the NHL without starting in the minors first. Upon visiting the Rangers, he was apparently told he would start the season in New York and thus signed with the Rangers. As we all know MZ started the season in Hartford and was called up in December, he was also promoted/demoted a couple times during the season as well, as an injury replacement. He has done everything he can during his time in New York to make himself a better player at the NHL level.
MZ is a Brad Richards-esque player just in terms of his statistics. In Sweden, he was better than a point-per-game player with those points coming more in assists than goals. In his last two seasons in Sweden, over 90 games, he scored 35 goals with 69 assists for 104 points. Last season between New York and Hartford, over 78 games, he scored 19 goals with 33 assists for 52 points, which I think is fantastic for a guy playing in his first full season on North American ice. I would LOVE to see MZ play on the first line with Richards and Gaborik next season. Just having those guys on the ice is going to open up a ton of ice for him and he certainly has the speed to keep up with Gaborik. MZ is entering the last year on his contract and I would hate to see him be stuck in Hartford for the majority of next season and leave only to succeed in the NHL somewhere else.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Good, Bad, Ugly: NYR fall to Islanders 4-2
The Rangers lose 4-2 to the Islanders Saturday night on Long Island, here's the good, the bad and the ugly on the game.
The Good- Henrik Lundqvist did everything he could to keep the Rangers in it, the top line showing good chemistry, Del Zotto shooting the puck alot more he's a much different guy from last year. PK wasn't terrible despite letting up 2 goals to Tavares. Woywitka wasn't bad in his limited minutes and might have a role on this team.
The Bad- Gaborik hooking penalty with 5 mins left was lazy on his part. Dubi-AA-Cally line weren't completely invisible but needed to be better. Why was the 4th line out with 2 mins left before Torts pulled Hank? Bad move by him perhaps a timeout there would have been better. The Rangers 4th line might be the worst in the league. Didn't notice Rupp or Zuccarello at all.
The Ugly- My number one key to the game was staying out of the penalty box which they failed to do. Rangers still haven't scored on the power play, they were 0-4 tonight but they did get their chances. The Rangers spent 30% of the game killing penalties, it's awfully hard to generate consistent offense when you have guys parading in and out of the box all night. The wins will start coming once the Rangers start taking less than 4-5 penalties a game. At least the absence of Staal isn't the cause of the Rangers losing the early games.
It doesn't get any easier from here, the Rangers next game is on Tuesday 10/18 against the Canucks in Vancouver to begin a 4 game, 6 day road trip through Canada.
The Good- Henrik Lundqvist did everything he could to keep the Rangers in it, the top line showing good chemistry, Del Zotto shooting the puck alot more he's a much different guy from last year. PK wasn't terrible despite letting up 2 goals to Tavares. Woywitka wasn't bad in his limited minutes and might have a role on this team.
The Bad- Gaborik hooking penalty with 5 mins left was lazy on his part. Dubi-AA-Cally line weren't completely invisible but needed to be better. Why was the 4th line out with 2 mins left before Torts pulled Hank? Bad move by him perhaps a timeout there would have been better. The Rangers 4th line might be the worst in the league. Didn't notice Rupp or Zuccarello at all.
The Ugly- My number one key to the game was staying out of the penalty box which they failed to do. Rangers still haven't scored on the power play, they were 0-4 tonight but they did get their chances. The Rangers spent 30% of the game killing penalties, it's awfully hard to generate consistent offense when you have guys parading in and out of the box all night. The wins will start coming once the Rangers start taking less than 4-5 penalties a game. At least the absence of Staal isn't the cause of the Rangers losing the early games.
It doesn't get any easier from here, the Rangers next game is on Tuesday 10/18 against the Canucks in Vancouver to begin a 4 game, 6 day road trip through Canada.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Rangers at a competitive disadvantage?
After watching a slew of hockey games this past weekend, I couldn't help but to notice that the teams that stayed state-side were playing at a much faster pace than the Rangers showed, particularly in the latter stages of the second period and into the third period last Saturday against Anaheim. It was also apparent to everyone watching that the Ducks were the more conditioned, rested team going into that game against the Rangers despite having to fly from Finland to Sweden after their opener against the Sabres and not to mention that Anaheim only had to play one game against a European team in Finland. As soon the NHL announced that the Rangers were going to be playing 4 games in 5 nights in 4 different countries and then play 2 regular season games, I hated it and I mentioned it on here. I don't care if the Rangers were the most conditioned team in pro sports, playing all those games in such a short time frame and doing as much traveling as the Rangers did, has to take a toll on the human body.
The NHL definitely put the Rangers at a huge competitive disadvantage going into those two games against LA and Anaheim and with the Rangers definitely in Europe again next year with the renovations at MSG, the NHL needs to be far more cautious as to how many exhibition games they allow the Rangers to have.
The NHL definitely put the Rangers at a huge competitive disadvantage going into those two games against LA and Anaheim and with the Rangers definitely in Europe again next year with the renovations at MSG, the NHL needs to be far more cautious as to how many exhibition games they allow the Rangers to have.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
NYR Reviews: @LA, @ANA
Just so you guys know I'm not going to have long drawn out reviews of all the Ranger games this year due to personal lack of time but rather I'm just going to point out the good, bad and the ugly of all the games. Here we go...
10/7 NYR vs. LA
The Good: Henrik Lundqvist and Ryan Callahan in midseason form, Prust being able to drop the gloves following his shoulder surgery. Actually somehow having the lead in the third period.
The Bad: The entire first period, the entire defense, too many penalties, blowing the third period lead.
The Ugly: Where was Brad Richards? How about Wolski or Stepan? Zuccarello's boarding call was a terrible move on his end. Del Zotto not doing more against Mike Richards for the game tying goal, Erixon was just ok, the Rangers need Staal back badly and it shows.
10/8 NYR vs. Ana
The Good: Henrik Lundqvist and Ryan Callahan again, top 2 defensive pairings against the Ryan-Getzlaf-Perry line, Rangers PK during the ref's penalty binge.
The Bad: Marian Gaborik and Brad Richards today together looked lost and were broken up in the third period, Rangers powerplay, undisciplined play.
The Ugly: This Ranger team is flat out dead tired. I can't even imagine how sore these Rangers are going to be on the flight home from Stockholm. Gotta give up to Brad Richards today scored a huge goal late to salvage a point.
I'm going to wait until the Rangers get a few more games under their belt before starting to criticize. It's unfair to get on some guys now because of all the traveling this team has done in the past two weeks and I'm sure the Rangers are anxious to fly home tonight for some much needed rest before their next game against the Islanders one week from today on Long Island.
10/7 NYR vs. LA
The Good: Henrik Lundqvist and Ryan Callahan in midseason form, Prust being able to drop the gloves following his shoulder surgery. Actually somehow having the lead in the third period.
The Bad: The entire first period, the entire defense, too many penalties, blowing the third period lead.
The Ugly: Where was Brad Richards? How about Wolski or Stepan? Zuccarello's boarding call was a terrible move on his end. Del Zotto not doing more against Mike Richards for the game tying goal, Erixon was just ok, the Rangers need Staal back badly and it shows.
10/8 NYR vs. Ana
The Good: Henrik Lundqvist and Ryan Callahan again, top 2 defensive pairings against the Ryan-Getzlaf-Perry line, Rangers PK during the ref's penalty binge.
The Bad: Marian Gaborik and Brad Richards today together looked lost and were broken up in the third period, Rangers powerplay, undisciplined play.
The Ugly: This Ranger team is flat out dead tired. I can't even imagine how sore these Rangers are going to be on the flight home from Stockholm. Gotta give up to Brad Richards today scored a huge goal late to salvage a point.
I'm going to wait until the Rangers get a few more games under their belt before starting to criticize. It's unfair to get on some guys now because of all the traveling this team has done in the past two weeks and I'm sure the Rangers are anxious to fly home tonight for some much needed rest before their next game against the Islanders one week from today on Long Island.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Ranger news and notes 10/5
As we all know, Sean Avery was waived by the Rangers yesterday in what some likely term as financial move, however Tortorella's comments to reporters yesterday made one think that the writing was on the wall on Avery for awhile.
"To me, we have a better team now, and I think we have better players than Sean Avery. I don't want to throw dirt on the guy, and Sean had a very good camp, but our depth has put Sean in this spot. We are a better club now." -John Tortorella
Torts went on to add that Erik Christensen, the man who beat Avery out for a job (somehow) could be used in a variety of roles such as on the power play, a top 6 guy (which admittedly had me scratching my head) and on the shootout. Avery despite having some chemistry with Gaborik last year, was rarely used in any of those situations.
I enjoyed having Sean Avery in a Rangers uniform. He was a key part to the Rangers success during the prime Renney years here. However with the youth movement that the Rangers have been pushing for the past season and a half it was clear that there wasn't anymore room for a 3rd-4th line agitator in his form.
In more pressing matters, it was revealed today per Larry Brooks and the NY Post that Marc Staal could be out as much as one month due to his intermittent headaches from a concussion in the middle of last season. This will cause the Rangers to make roster moves once the waiver statuses of Sean Avery, as well as Brendan Bell and Stu Bickel, defensemen also waived by the Rangers yesterday are known. Tim Erixon, the Rangers highly touted defensive prospect, will be on a plane today heading to Stockholm to meet up with the rest of the team who only have 5 healthy jet lagged defensemen at the moment. It has been rumored for a while and later confirmed that the Rangers are in talks with Paul Mara, a former Ranger defenseman to be added as a 6th-7th pointman which can be done after noon today once the Rangers players clear waivers.
"To me, we have a better team now, and I think we have better players than Sean Avery. I don't want to throw dirt on the guy, and Sean had a very good camp, but our depth has put Sean in this spot. We are a better club now." -John Tortorella
Torts went on to add that Erik Christensen, the man who beat Avery out for a job (somehow) could be used in a variety of roles such as on the power play, a top 6 guy (which admittedly had me scratching my head) and on the shootout. Avery despite having some chemistry with Gaborik last year, was rarely used in any of those situations.
I enjoyed having Sean Avery in a Rangers uniform. He was a key part to the Rangers success during the prime Renney years here. However with the youth movement that the Rangers have been pushing for the past season and a half it was clear that there wasn't anymore room for a 3rd-4th line agitator in his form.
In more pressing matters, it was revealed today per Larry Brooks and the NY Post that Marc Staal could be out as much as one month due to his intermittent headaches from a concussion in the middle of last season. This will cause the Rangers to make roster moves once the waiver statuses of Sean Avery, as well as Brendan Bell and Stu Bickel, defensemen also waived by the Rangers yesterday are known. Tim Erixon, the Rangers highly touted defensive prospect, will be on a plane today heading to Stockholm to meet up with the rest of the team who only have 5 healthy jet lagged defensemen at the moment. It has been rumored for a while and later confirmed that the Rangers are in talks with Paul Mara, a former Ranger defenseman to be added as a 6th-7th pointman which can be done after noon today once the Rangers players clear waivers.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
BREAKING: Avery to be waived by the Rangers
A little bit of breaking news this AM. Larry Brooks from the NY Post is reporting that Sean Avery will be waived by the Rangers. As I accurately predicted in my last blog post this ends Avery's tenuous career in New York. If anything Sean is a cap casualty because his cap hit is double Erik Christensen's and he is least likely of the two to be claimed off waivers. I honestly can't see him reporting to Connecticut either which will make him a FA if that occurs although that's just speculation. More info will be posted as it becomes available.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Rangers announce cuts, Staal and Sauer updates, EC/Avery competition
This morning the Rangers announced they sent the following players to the Connecticut Whale of the AHL: Bourque, Hagelin, Mitchell, Newbury, Weise, Erixon, Parlett. The Rangers also sent Dylan McIlrath to Moose Jaw of the WHL
The lineup looks something like this:
Wolski-Richards-Gaborik
Dubinsky-Anisimov-Callahan
Zuccarello-Stepan-Fedotenko
Prust-Boyle-Rupp
Avery/Christensen
Staal-Girardi
Mcdonagh-Sauer
Del Zotto-Eminger, Bell, Bickel
Lundqvist
Biron
Stajcer
Stu Bickel and Brendan Bell were kept based on the injury situations regarding Staal and Sauer. Sauer is traveling with the team in Europe but is not playing and according to Torts is improving. Staal's situation too must be getting better since he is practicing with the Connecticut Whale once again today. Another interesting subject is the competition for the 13th forward spot between Avery and Christensen that Torts went out of his way to announce. In my opinion Avery is behind Christensen at the moment and needs to step up his game more in terms of skill for the remaining european games if he expects to make the team.
The lineup looks something like this:
Wolski-Richards-Gaborik
Dubinsky-Anisimov-Callahan
Zuccarello-Stepan-Fedotenko
Prust-Boyle-Rupp
Avery/Christensen
Staal-Girardi
Mcdonagh-Sauer
Del Zotto-Eminger, Bell, Bickel
Lundqvist
Biron
Stajcer
Stu Bickel and Brendan Bell were kept based on the injury situations regarding Staal and Sauer. Sauer is traveling with the team in Europe but is not playing and according to Torts is improving. Staal's situation too must be getting better since he is practicing with the Connecticut Whale once again today. Another interesting subject is the competition for the 13th forward spot between Avery and Christensen that Torts went out of his way to announce. In my opinion Avery is behind Christensen at the moment and needs to step up his game more in terms of skill for the remaining european games if he expects to make the team.
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