A quick 2011-12 Rangers schedule run through

As we all know the Rangers start off in Europe. They are going to have to somehow play 4 exhibition games in 4 different countries in 5 days, something I'm not to crazy about. The real season starts against the Kings and Ducks in Stockholm on Oct. 7 and Oct. 8. The Rangers then get a week off to rest before starting the season state-side on Oct. 15 at the Islanders. With the renovations going on at MSG, the Rangers return from their early west coast trip and play their first home game a full three weeks after the season starts against the Leafs. The Rangers longest road trip is the seven game road trip to start the season. They also have a 4 game 10 day road trip which starts Nov. 15 against the Islanders and ends Nov. 25 after a game against the Caps. The Rangers have 2 long home stands as well. The first begins early in the season on Oct. 27 against the Leafs and ends Nov. 6 against the Winnipeg Jets who visit MSG for the first time since Oct 11, 1995 in a 6-4 Rangers win. The second home stand is in March, a key part of the season likely to influence playoff seeding. The home stand starts March 11 against the Islanders and ends March 23 against the Sabres. That run will not be easy with games against quality teams such as Detroit, Pittsburgh and Carolina.

Regarding division opponents, the Rangers first game against the Islanders on Long Island is the previously mentioned game on Oct. 15 and they first visit MSG on Dec. 22. The Devils first game at MSG doesn't take place until Feb. 7 and the Rangers go to Newark for the first time on Dec. 20. The Rangers visit Philly for the first time on Jan. 2 for the Winter Classic. The Flyers come to MSG for the first time on Nov. 26. The Penguins come to New York on Nov. 29 and the Rangers put their undefeated record against the Pens in their new arena on the line for the first time on Jan. 6.

The Rangers visit the Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins on Jan. 21 and visit the Western Conference champion Vancouver Canucks on Oct. 18.

Other somewhat important games:
10/24 @Jets (first game in Winnipeg since 11/17/95)
12/13 vs. Stars (Brad Richards first game against former team)
Every stinkin' game in April: the Rangers have a very difficult finish vs. Bos, @Phi, @Pit, vs.Was

Who receives the captains 'C' next season??

A few years ago I bought the DVD set of the '94 Eastern Conference Final and Stanley Cup Final against the Devils and Canucks that was actually a gift meant for someone else but I wound up keeping it instead. I popped it in today during this rainy day with my internet turning off and on with the weather changing outside. Today, after watching game 6 against the Devils, what I came away with after that game and was cemented after the Rangers won the cup 2 weeks later, was the start of something special the Rangers never had. Messier was the judge, jury and executioner. He was the go to guy, on and off the ice. He was the face of the franchise for the latter part of the 1990's and the undisputed leader of the team. The Rangers have not had a personality like his in the locker room since he left and the fans are still waiting for that one guy to step up and assume that role.

With Drury's buyout and subsequent retirement, there is a big hole at the top. One of the big questions surrounding the team is who will be wearing the 'C' when the season starts up in October. While Drury was the captain of the Rangers since 2008, I never had the feeling that he was the one true leader of the team, especially after Torts took over. A man smarter than me once said that the leader of a team needs to reflect the personality of the coach and to be able to deflect away criticism and other distractions that may afflict a team over the course of the season. If Keenan were still coaching the Rangers in the 1996-97 season they would have beaten the Flyers and advanced to the Cup Finals. The current Rangers need someone right now to fill that role.

All above is reason why I believe that Ryan Callahan NEEDS to be the captain of the New York Rangers for the immediate future. Callahan has all the tools necessary to take the Rangers to the next level and without affecting his own personal production. It would put a stamp on the youth movement that has overtaken this team since the lockout. What he did on the ice this season not only granted him the respect of the fans as acknowledged by the two Steven McDonald Extra Effort Awards he won in 2009 and 2010 but most importantly the players and coaches. Torts speaks highly of Callahan constantly and I could only imagine that sentiment is reflected in the locker room. I understand that Callahan may not have that presence that Messier once had over his team, but I think Callahan is more than capable of filling in the role as captain and leader of the New York Rangers as admirably as Messier once did.

C- Ryan Callahan
A- Brandon Dubinsky
A- Marc Staal

Drury retires...

Yesterday, Chris Drury announced his retirement from the NHL. Over 892 regular season games he scored 255 goals with 360 assists for 615 points. In the postseason, over 135 games, he scored 47 goals with 42 assists for 89 points. He was known as a clutch player with 64 GWG over the course of his career. Drury was bought out by the Rangers on June 29th to clear cap room for the Rangers to sign unrestricted free agent Brad Richards.

First an foremost I'm a Drury fan. It's on record on this blog. I can't blame him for accepting a buyout to look for other work which sounds like he has already done this summer. However, I also tweeted yesterday that I didn't blame the fans either for being angry at him. One does have to wonder if his knee was already going to prevent him from playing this season anyway. This is the reason why I stated the Rangers should just keep him this year and buyout Wolski. Drury could have just retired under contract and would have come off the cap or the Rangers would have just put him on LTIR and his cap number would come off the books that way. By the way, the Rangers would have been able to do EVERYTHING that they have done already this offseason. Its unfortunate that Drury was not the player that fans were hoping to get when he was signed to that monster contract. Good luck to him in his post NHL life.

Side note: I'm going to begin posting with more frequency as the season gets closer. The start of the season is only 6 weeks away!!

summer break...

I'm going to be taking a break from blogging for a few weeks while the NHL is in its true offseason phase. I'm also going to be moving to a much larger apartment next week. Follow the @justblueshirts twitter account here or click on the link above. See you in September!!

Rangers sign 2011 first round pick JT Miller

The Rangers announced this morning that they have agreed to terms with their 2011 first round pick JT Miller. The Rangers drafted Miller with the 15th overall pick in the entry draft last month. Miller is expected to play for the Plymouth Whalers of the OHL this season however he is eligible to play in the AHL at some point because he wasn't drafted out of the junior leagues in Canada. This is interesting news because he weren't supposed to hear anything from this kid for at least another season. He was originally going to play in the college ranks this year at North Dakota. But recently changed his mind and committed to Plymouth.

This kid is really setting himself up to be in the NHL in a year or two. The Rangers are absolutely loaded in their farm system. The next 3-5 years are going to be really exciting to watch these kids grow and mature with the team. I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest to see the CT Whale contend for a Calder Cup in the next season or two.

Callahan, Eminger signed, NYR cap situation

Ryan Callahan, the last of the Rangers restricted free agents finally signed yesterday by agreeing to a 3 year contract worth $12.825 mil and a cap hit of 4.275 mil.

Steve Eminger also agreed last week to a 1 yr, 800k deal, not bad for a 6-7th defenseman.

Barring trades or buyouts this is going to be your 2011-12 New York Ranger team. If Wolski isn't bought out which no longer seems is going to happen, I still think there could be a trade on the way between now and the preseason as the Rangers are carrying 14 forwards on the roster. As was the case for most of last season, the Rangers would like to be a couple million under the cap for potential injury call-ups from Hartford. As of right now according to capgeek.com they are just 700k under the cap with everyone now signed.

Rangers cap situation re-evaluated, Eminger close?

As reported by capgeek.com and the NY Post's Larry Brooks, the Rangers are carrying an extra $527,000 in cap space as a bonus overage from last season. While I'm not sure whom the bonus belonged to or why this happened, it does put a bit of a damper on the Rangers cap situation once again. To me, the chances of Wolski's contract being bought out increase more and more with each passing day. The Rangers are barely going to be under the cap once the rosters are set when Dubinsky, Callahan and 2 additional defensemen are signed.

Speaking about one of those defensemen, once again according to Larry Brooks, the Rangers are in talks and are apparently close to re-signing Steve Eminger to a contract. One must figure that as a 6th or 7th defenseman, he'll be making less than a million next year. On a side note, there is going to be one heck of a battle coming up in training camp for that last roster spot on defense.

Dubinsky's arbitration hearing is coming up in two days and I'm going to hold my breath on that subject...