On Voros, dads, and yoga…
-
- January
- 14
Some quick notes from today’s non-practice:
I asked Voros about his time out of the lineup, and the forward was both honest and diplomatic.
“It’s bittersweet obviously,” he said. “You want to be in helping the team and you consider yourself valuable, but obviously we’re performing well. So here’s no reason to change anything. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I understand. I’d be lying if i said i wasn’t disappointed with the way things have gone, but I hope when I get my opportunity, I’ll be ready to play.”
One of the ways Voros hopes to stay ready is by continuing to work on his fitness. You may recall Tom Renney said that had dropped off a bit before taking taking the player out of the lineup. When I asked Voros about his conditioning, he paused for a few seconds before answering.
“Obviously the coach wants what’s best for the team,” he said. “They have no other prerogative than getting wins. So if the coach has decided your fitness level has slipped, they obviously have the most to gain by having you perform at the highest level. So that’s something they noticed and felt I needed to address. And I have addressed it.”
More later..
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on Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 at 12:05 pm by Sam Weinman.
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Josh Thomson Josh, who is 26 and a native of Carmel, graduated from Boston University in 2002 and began working for The Journal News the following March. 
It’s great to see Lundqvists Dad make the trip given where he was about a year ago.
Do we have a pic of this female visiting yoga instructor?
Thanks for the update Sam, but spell check and a proof read goes a long way.
Good news about Hank’s dad.
http://www.nyhockeyrivalry.com
The yoga instructor was clearly a gift for Lundqvist having a good game Drury gets to be there because he’s the captain in what was another good team effort, and for finally scoring…. Reg Grant gets to be there to make it seem like something legit… It’s good to be King
The next game is on Friday, no?
“The yoga instructor was clearly a gift for Lundqvist having a good game Drury gets to be there because he’s the captain in what was another good team effort, and for finally scoring…. Reg Grant gets to be there to make it seem like something legit… It’s good to be King”
...and dubi and Staal were there hiding behind the curtains giggling
Keep the Dads at home.
Didn’t we lose both games during last year’s “Dad’s weekend”?
I’m pretty sure we did. I know for a fact we lost the first game in Boston.
Brandon
Pro-Renny
Anti-Dad
No invite for Mr. Voros I assume?
ha…brandon, I was just going to say the same thing. kinda a distraction.
kaspar – good stuff.
Great to hear hanks dad is healthy again and able to make the trip.
So I guess we’ll be put through the torture of awkward Gianonne interviews over the weekend eh? Great.
Hopefully Z’s father makes the trip and then reads my new Z blog.
http://whatapairofhands.blogspot.com
Colton Orr outplayed by Jackman, Betts outplayed by Thompson. best 4th line in the league.
and if one of your main jobs is faceoffs, do you think maybe Betts could win them once in a while. no response from Orr after Jackman flatened both rozi and Staal.
kaspar, very funny. you ought to be heading political campaigns (if you aren’t already)
I swear bulldog line is Bob.
yea after working on PP they need to work on face offs….
however last night…
in the defensive zone:
Dubi was 1-1 100% (70% in the game)
Betts 4-6 67% (55% in the game)
Gomez 1-3 33% (44% in the game)
Drury 1-2 50% (40% in the game)
any centers main job is faceoffs and before I jump on Betts I’d look at Drury and Gomez…
gorangers,
that was very hurtful. and what exactly did i say that was incorrect. they both were outplayed badly.
Agravine,
its not always how many you take and win, sometimes its when you take them. and betts got beat by 19 yr old Josh Bailey in his own zone with 20 seconds to go in a one goal game.
islander didn’t score and so it didn’t hurt. but when you play the big boys and that happens, they will make you pay. did we all ready forget betts wonderful faceoff against Montreal.
bull dog line… and the goal the Isles got was off one of Gomez’s face off losses… so again I would look at the big boys before going after Betts…
but if you want to look at Bailey… Bailey was 43% against Betts he was 67% against Gomez and 50% against Drury… I am still more likely to expect much better form the million dollar leaders than the fourht line center who was at least responsible enough to cover defensively and not let the Isles score….
Staal and Dubi behind the curtain:
Dubi: I get sloppy seconds, dude.
Staal: with my bros, I am use to that. I want to be first in like an Islander forechecker.
Agravine,
i could be mistaken, but from what i remember. the 4th line was on the ice for that goal against. and my point was betts was sent out to win the biggest faceoff of the game, and he didn’t.
btw in Montreal that faceoff was against Plekanec.. he won every offensive (for him) zone face off so it didn’t matter which one was in there I suppose…
but just to run it down in that game
Dubi 69%
Betts 60%
Drury 53%
Gomez 50%
again I would look at the other two before I started tearing into the fourth line center…
yes you are right I just checked… I think I flashed back to a different game with that one and I apologize.
My point is which other center would you prefer? the only reasonable answer could be Dubi because he is the only one who was doing any better…. and isn’t it sad that you haven’t faith in your million dollar centers.
If I was picking problems Id start with the guys I expect the most of… and thats the ones getting the big bucks…
I went back… ironically I was thinking of the Montreal game:
2833EV14:50
5:10FACMTL won Def. Zone – MTL #20 LANG vs NYR #19 GOMEZ
2843EV15:29
4:31GOALMTL #20 LANG, Wrist, Off. Zone, 11 ft.
Assists: #26 GORGES; #44 HAMRLIK
Gomez lost the face off when Montreal scored soon after…
Agravaine
Pro-Betts
Anti-Goofy Gomez
Agravine,
i agree with you on drury and gomez. the failure or sucess of the rangers is going to have more to do with them than it is betts. but just one more thing on faceoffs.
betts is at 46.7% on the season.
drury is at 49.9%
gomez is 51.3%
dubi is 50.8%.
those are the stats. but i coulld not find definsive zone offensive zone breakdown.
obviously defensive zone% would be a more important number for betts.
Lundqvist, Chris Drury, and strength and conditioning coach Reg Grant being put through a yoga workout in the fitness room by a visiting female instructor.
Pics or it didn’t happen.
So Renney is going to “defend” his way to the playoffs eh? With Patience!
I can’t wait to see how patient those western teams are gonna be when they pull that stuff.. JUst watch how Quennville’s ‘Hawks do things. ( I suppose that during practice Renney had them doing their 2-1 drill.)
Yoga is no joke. Its really tough. Yes my gf dragged me to classes with her. As much as I felt like an ass trying to do those poses I realized as “in shape and strong” as I “thought” I was at 9%BF I was inflexible and my core needed alot of work. So bravo to LQ & Dru for wanting to improve their strength.
Fran is that YOU?? :P
I tried to leave another post on the blue seats LOL Drag all those guys over here would ya LOL
Only one other person mentioned this… but isnt the game in Chicago on Friday and not tomorrow (thursday)?
How good is Evgeny Grachev?
Can he play for the Rangers next year?
Pierre McGuire thinks he is going to be real good, any opinions?
thanks
chicago friday, pittsburgh on sunday
MAKO,
my friend wants me to try yoga and if i can get the same instructor they had id prob do it. my gym offers it so maybe ill give it a try. i doubt they did yoga when one writes a visiting female instructor. shes prob visiting from scores.
Tim Thomas has gone hardcore this season with yoga and core training, and the dude is playing out of his head. It’s a great idea. All the strength in the world doesn’t matter if your not quick and agile in skating and stick skills. This isn’t football
Man I must be going crazy I cannot find my post.
ANyone know anything or have a opinion on Evgeni Grachev?
Can he play for the Rangers next year? What is the long term prediction of his ability?
thanks
Pierre Maguire
Pro-Grachev
Anti-hair
bull dog yea and with Betts being touted for his defense obviously he should be at a high number, but he is not that far behind the others overall (all of them are ranked form 40-60 I looked it up the other day so I don’t remmebr the exact numbers)
PArt of his faceoffs are low becuase he only has one bona fide wing on his line to help win the draws… Orr is much improved but still… its really Betts and Sjo out there…
how much do you want me to bore you with stats? Dru and Gomez’s stats are padded by wining pp face offs. Betts gets very few of those… the majority of his faceoffs are shorthanded
ES:
Gomez 254 of 506 51% (74% of his faceoffs)
Dru 228 of 443 51% (74%)
Dubi 205 of 420 49% (79%)
Betts 157 of 303 52% (67%)
PP
Gomez 74 of 127 58% (19%)
Dru 50 of 104 48% (17%)
Dubi 57 of 101 56% (19%)
Betts 4 of 7 57% (2%)
SH
Gomez 22 of 49 45% (7%)
Dru 21 of 52 40% (9%)
Dubi 7 of 13 54% (2%)
Betts 65 of 174 37% (38%)
ES and PP Betts is about on line with the other three. SH he is way below (Gomez and Dubi… Dru he is not that far off) but by the sheer number of times he is on the ice in a faceoff where the chances are against him his overall percentage will be down….
I also can’t get the different zone numbers (well I could but that is very time consuming…)
btw… I’m not saying Betts doesn’t need to improve. When I say I want them working on faceoffs I mean the whole team… all the centers and the wings for when the centers are thrown out I mean it… but there are mitigating factors, the quality of the line mates is going to effect the percentage numbers… so is the fact that our fourth line is almost always paired up against their top line…
Wouldn’t Aaron Voros be more effective on the 4th line than Colton Orr? What exactly did Orr do last night that makes him so vital on the 4th line?
What/when did McGuire say about Grachev?
I thought he did really well in the WJC.. very strong on the puck and nice shooter.
Pavel
Macguire says he’s ready for NHL
expect him to be with Rangers next season
MATT
LMAO you are probably right….
Agravaine,
betts shorthanded % is low, those are all in his own zone. i know it is harder to win them shorthanded, but that is low. just watched the end of the game lastnight again. that faceoff i was referring to, he actually won. it went to giradi who threw it up the boards quick to an islander.
Kaspar
Pro-Golden Locks
Anti-Skating Backwards
bull og, yes its low… but not that much lower than Drury. I’m not saying Betts doesn’t need to seriously pick it up… but he is put in a position to fail more often than not…
I think they ALL need to start working on faceoffs….
They need to work on the PP in general. Even when they win the faceoff, they pass the puck around, only to take a sharp angle shot and get the puck cleared. It’s friggin painful. No lateral movement, stationary players, everything kept to the outside. garbage. they have trouble even setting up in the offensive zone
Kaspar
Pro: hip-check
Anti: buy-out
PATRICK
That’s exactly what id like to know. Usually these Yoga chicks have sweet tight semi plumpy asses, some of that is what’s needed on this blog. Id rather see some pics of that instead of the Naked Guy, or any Renney quotes.
For the next game, Renney NEEDS to keep Kalinin away from Toews. That kid will put moves on Kal that will probably give him a woody.
And what the fugg is with this West, the Yotes are in like 7th place, the Jackets are in 8th i think, the Hawks in 4th or something. The Kings are good but probably wont make the playoffs, what the fugg is going on ?
I really hope the Isles don’t get the 1st or 2nd pick. Bolts, and Sens gotta start losing. Leafs too. It seems like an East team will get those two. That’s perfect, first Sidney Crabass, then Malkin, and Ovechkin, then Stamkos who might be a star in the future, and now Tavares, and Hedman. Perfect ! Good thing Kane, Johnson, and Toews are in the West. That Vanriemsdyke kid was a #2 overall pick, but Flowers fans keep saying he’s the bust of the first round. That would be great. Doesn’t help them, that he’s a Rangers fan.
Orr
Pro-Yoga chicks
Anti-renney quotes,naked guys,Isles,crosby, Kalinin woodies and if i remember correctly making wagers on the blog:)
LOL Kaspar… u make this blog complete (wink-wink)
somerset – If you’re out there. I think it was your post yesterday a.m. or late the night before that said something about Prucha looking like he’s flying out there PERHAPS because he’s just fresh. Then to hear someone say it in the lockerroom, then repeated through the broadcast, I think you were on to something. So he should be in mid-season form right about the 1st week of March. ahem ahem.
Lmao Beer you are now using Msgulag proganda to protect coach Tomfoolery’s idiotic decision to sit Prucha most of the first half of the season.
A deal on ESPN NEWS has the caps sending (spelling does not count)Semin,Nylander,someone else i forgot his name,a defenceman and there 1st round pick next year thats 2010 not 09,and there 1st in 2011.To Atlanta for kolvachuk,and atlanta’s 1st this year
Must be nice to have tradable contracts!
This proves my theory that Ranger fans cannot be happy for at least one day !!! The Rangers win 2 games in a row (and get a point in the third game) and now people are complaining about FACEOFF WINNING PCT.??
Granted … i know the win streak is against the 2 worst teams in the NHL, but take a couple days off and enjoy being First in the Atlantic again esp. after the Flyers crapped the bed against the Pens !!! haha
graves9 – Funny how you get so offended by something that has nothing to do with you. OR coaching. You can make it whatever you want to make it.
I GUARANTEE if Fritsche came back into the lineup right now he’d look like he has an extra step too.
Twist on brotha.
Graves9 …
Someone else said it, and i was complementing him on it.But it was the first i have read that take on Prucha.
Fritsche and Voros could be in the same boat down the road !!
i forgot to say this
im glad we were able to reel the islanders in, i was getting worried
ack somerset….
hey I brought it up in defense first off! I am one of the ones who tries to stay positive when I come here… but positive is one thing and talking about something that has been a problem all season is another… We got away with bad face offs last night, and I am glad… but we can’t keep that up.
there is nothing wrong with appreciating the win and recognizing that some things still need to be worked on…
Hockey boy
A deal on ESPN NEWS has the caps sending (spelling does not count)Semin,Nylander,someone else i forgot his name,a defenceman and there 1st round pick next year thats 2010 not 09,and there 1st in 2011.To Atlanta for kolvachuk,and atlanta’s 1st this year
Where is it? Got a link??
HOCKEY-boy’s January 14th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
A deal on ESPN NEWS has the caps sending (spelling does not count)Semin,Nylander,someone else i forgot his name,a defenceman and there 1st round pick next year thats 2010 not 09,and there 1st in 2011.To Atlanta for kolvachuk,and atlanta’s 1st this year
————
dude… you’re full of shit…
agravaine – dude ,you have too much free time on your hands.
CCCP
Pro-checking out trade rumours ( even going to ecklund)
Anti-Hockey Boy
Beer if Prucha was playing every game this year imo his play would be no different. I can’t believe you’d believe anything Sam Nosen and Joe would say.
graves…well, who knows. We could only speculate to that point. But his first 8 games he had nada.
We could also speculate that if there was no Voros, Fritsche, Rissmiller, he wouldn’t have sat for that long.
Also..a player int he lockerroom said it during pregame. I don’t remember who it was though.
one cup… ironically enough I was just going over face-off stuff yesterday during the game in the Ranger Nation chat room I plug every so often so much of that was on hand…
lol
Beer Me! January 14th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
graves…well, who knows. We could only speculate to that point. But his first 8 games he had nada.
—————-
are you talking about Captain Mellow Dru?
Kasparaitis… there’s no cure for it. lol
drury while having an off season is 2nd on team in goals and on pace for 24. and if you take out 1st 12 games where i think he had 0 pts or something close he has done much better – getting close to a pt a game since then
wow…second on the team that supposedly doesn’t score much… or doesnt want to score much… and on pace for 24 goals! im sold…
CCCP, its known as the Heart-break of Kasparaitis
You just learn to live with it
Hi Joe—re: Drury – good point, except that the Rangers W/L record was much better when Drury wasn’t scoring…..
That would be one hell of a deal. Kovalchuk and Ovechkin. Ouch !
Total BS though.
hi speed – the last game you went to was a good one. pitt correct?
cccp – i also prefaced it by saying it would be 24 goals in an off yr especially pts wise. however, a good part of the off yr was the 1st 12 games.
Kaspar… must be tough life, eh? nobody to whack, no one to chop lol
Kurt – Grachev is big , strong powerfull skater. He very gifted and smart. Once you watch him play you will know that this guy could make our team!!
Future looks bright even if we made some questionabe signings.
cccp – If you say so. I guess it was.
Dress the dads for the game against the Chicago & Pittsburgh. They’d probably fare better than their sons.
Beer Me! “quite honestly” i was being sarcastic…u r so easy to convince… no wonder Tommy Boy has a special place in your heart :)
agravaine , I didn’t mean to diss you. Its just that that’s a lot of work for a blog . God bless you.
So when is Sather going to make a trade?
I ‘d trade Henrik for Kolvachuk and some players and picks or a top player, like thorton, you need scoring to win , not a great goalie,wings won with Osgood.
Ovechkin does not like Malkin. (join the club)
http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news;_ylt=Ar1E5y9KPcrnpmM7v2JCDpI5nYcB?slug=ap-ovechkin-malkinfeud&prov=ap&type=lgns
“Kaspar… must be tough life, eh? nobody to whack, no one to chop lol”
thats not true CCCP
The senior center is right down the block man!
Ovechkin
Pro-Lerch
Anti-Malkin
How funny was it that the Islanders’ back-up goalie last night was their goalie coach?! I love it when hockey isn’t all polished and perfect. Leaves room for a little surprise.
Yeah Joe, the 4-0 Pgh game was the last for me. You?
Now off to Chicago …to play the wannabe Detroit team. Sure this team has made strides and are having a great season with young talented forwards and a good goalie.
BUT don’t be fooled , this team is young and Respects the Rangers. Hate the fact we suck against western teams but if we play like we can …The blackhawks will wimper with there tail between there legs and we Rangers will show who’s the better Original 6 team.
Yeah I know the Kane and Teows factor but come on this crappy hawks team sucked so bad , they were gift wrapped theses 2 awsome scorers!! Yeah sure if we sucked like them we’d have some guy like that !!
Untill that sorry ass franchise actullly make the playoffs and wins something maybeeee ill believe. I like the blackhawks and I bet most of you do too , I’t onlt because we felt sorry for them and are glad they arn’t so shitty.
Kaspar
Pro-Uncle Fester
Anti-Gomez (both of em)
Hawks are a much better team then the rangers.
They are skilled, big, nasty and defend each other.
They have two small guys who are very talented.
We have 8 small guys…thats about it.
mike in ia-
pro- kaspar
anti-itis
Beer Me!
January 14th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
Kaspar
Pro-Golden Locks
Anti-Skating Backwards
beer, i was gonna post the exact same thing lol but u beat me to it. thats funny shit too sakting backwards.
The Rangers missed the playoffs 7 years in a row and the only first round pick that has worked out so far is Staal. Look at how well the Caps and Hawks have drafted during that time or even the Flyers and Devs.Most of the forwards they’ve drafted are 3rd liners and who really knows what Grachev will turn out to be.
and we have to wait till Friday to have more crap to bitch abOOt? life is tough that way…
bob
pro- farting on his hand and sniffing it
anti- hyenas and any other african wildlife
lol cccp
and im sure there will be plenty crap to bitch abOOT… hawks are for real… but i hope there be more positive bitching than negative
I wanna life time Ranger . Were always bringing in a players to tease us for a couple of years….Gretzky , Lafluer, Dionne ,Esposito ,Sean Avery ,Shanny, Jagr , Lafontaine and Lindros ..Just to name a few. We let go young greats like Marc Savard and Doug Weight. Having guys like Dubinsky ,Staal ,Girardi ,Dawes and Prucha on board is the smartest thing to do. Home grown talent With Grachev and Ansimov along with sags and delzotto. Zherdev is young so if we lock him up he can be included. By the way Lunqvist is included too , I almost forgot.
Submit your fav pic for the Adam Graves Tribute now!
I just did.
http://graves.iamaranger.com/
Graves-
That’s because the Rangers finished 9th-12th and never really got a top ten pick, and when they did, they were weak drafts, or they traded them away. The Caps and Hawks and Pens bottomed out AND the Rangers didn’t start getting young until 04 and that draft alone has brought them Cally/Dubi/Korpo and maybe Byers and Potter. The rule is to get one NHL player per draft, with two being a great draft.
Even if Grachev becomes only a 20-20 grinder guy (20G-20A) he could be like a Holmstrom at worst. Don’t bring him up next year, let him stay and with Stan Butler and keep developing and playing great, there’s no rush to bring him up.
By the way, this is what I want for a Rangers team in two years; I want the core of this team to be Henrik/Staal/Girardi/Cally/Dubi/Prucha/Dawes/Korpo and add Anisimov/Grachev/Del Zotto/Bobby Sags/Hagelin/Weisse/Soryal, and to sign a sniper like Kovalchuck and hopefully Sauer can get healthy ad Derek Stephan and Kundratek are decent, and for this group to play together and grow together.
I also want MSG to stop ramming 94 down our throats; I’m forever grateful for it, but it’s time to make some new memories and stop living in the past. After Graves’ # goes to the rafters, no more 94 until the 20th Anniversary. To paraphrase Tom Coughlin; living in the past is cheap, work hard for now.
Oh, I forgot to add Nicky Z; he HAS to stay!
Shanahan signed an $800,000 dollar contract, meaning he will receive about half of that for playing half of the NHL season. With the move, Shanahan rejoins the club that drafted him in 1987.
http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=263183&lid=headline&lpos=topStory_nhl
We couldn’t take a 400k cap hit?
We let go young greats like Marc Savard and Doug Weight.
Who gives about Weight, we got Esa Tikkanean in exchange and i remember that being great for us. Marc Savard we traded for Hlavac and basically Jamie Lundmark.Hlavac had 1 semi-big year for us and Lundmark busted, so eh. At the time it was a good deal, so you can’t really say anything there. But tbh your right we need to hang on to guys. Dubinsky’s going to be great in a few years and Callahan’s a goal scorer believe it or not. Once he gets his 2 way game down, he’ll start picking it up offensively.
We should sign Brian Gionta in the off season. Give Gomez someone who can actually skate with him besides Zherdev.
ZzzzzGreg
So you htink that the Hawks stink? Really? If they do then I’ll take that kind of stench.
If the Rangers play footsie with the puck the way they have been lately..Lundqvist is in for 4 miles of bad road.
Shanny Signs with the DEvils: Its Offical. Good he can slow them down now.
Shanny may not have been the answer for us. I mean, why would we want to tinker with the chemistry of our 2 dynamic PP units? Why tinker with lines and disrupt development? Why have vocal leadership in the dressing room who has won 3 cups and knows what it takes to win, and who could motivate a team that clearly has issues with work ethic? We don’t need any of that. What we need is more defense. More standing still on the power play. More pissing our pants with fear at the thought of a one-timer. More 2-1 games. More 4th line at critical junctures in the game, especially when down a goal with 5 minutes left. We need more of video sessions and for god sakes, a truck load of chewing gum. Forget leaders and goal scorers. I mean, who has pulling the trigger at every available chance worked for? Ovechkin? Puh-lease. MORE DEFENSE!!!!!!!!!!
Nothing major, but I like to read about transactions:
“The Columbus Blue Jackets acquired forward Jason Williams from the Atlanta Thrashers on Wednesday, in exchange for defenseman Clay Wilson and a sixth-round draft pick in 2009.”
I don’t know about Gionta, only if they can clear cap room (Rozi/Redden/Naslund). I really like Naslund, but he may be the only movable vet given his moderate contract and length.
Actually, forget Gionta, he’s been slowing down; I’m fine with Prucha and Dawes as the smaller guys on this team (not counting Cally/Korpi/etc. but they’re more two way players while those guys are in the Gionta mold). They’re cheaper.
Next year give Anisimov a real shot and soem of the HFD guys because cost cutting is gonna have to come somewhere, and it’s prob gonna be the 4th line.
BTW, very off topic, but I’d like to say rest in peace to Ricardo Montalbon, a great actor. Star Trek II is still my favorite movie.
If someone from Hartford is going to get a legitimate shot, and I mean a shot where he gets to play all the time, then someone is going to need to get hurt, or there is going to have to be a huge deal made. Really. We have waaaaaaaaaaayyyyy too many players. Not even just talking about this season, looking ahead it gets worse.
At the top, you have Drury, Gomez and Naslund. 3 spots gone. Z, Dubi and Cally are good players we don’t want to get rid of, 6 spots gone. Sjostrom, Betts and Orr, pretty decent 4th line, makes very little, Orr is the enforcer. 9 spots gone. That leaves 3 spots for Prucha, Dawes, Korpi, fritsche, voros, and who ever else wants to crack into the lineup. With AA and Grachev having great season, it only makes sense to have them around. It’s time to start consolidating. Packaging up players who are alright, and trading a few to a hurting team for one player who is more adept. Maybe even including a top player, and moving everyone up the depth chart a rung or two. The question is, who goes?
Struggling to hold on against the worst team in the league is not very encouraging. Perhaps the Rangers should put all of their mature “assets” up for sale in March. There is no way this team will contend for the cup during the tenure of M. Nasland, C. Drury, S. Gomez, W. Redding to name a few. Best to redefine the team core with a focus further down the road and trade mature assets for developing assets (or the right to choose developing assets). Also needed is a coaching change. Tom Renney is bright and principled but lacks the ability to motivate. Tortorella, Hartley or some clone of theirs is needed. Tom should never be fired because he has contributed much, but it is time for him to stand down.
Mike A, you say “The rule is to get one NHL player per draft, with two being a great draft.”
if each team only got one player per draft, and the avg career is like 7-8 years, each team would only have 7-8 players, no? Free agency and trades would just move the same one player per team per draft around, not add more players to the mix.
you need 2-3 guys per draft that are NHL potential. The number of undrafted free agents is minimal, and I guess there are a few guys who go to Europe and come back at 26 or 27, but you need 2-3 guys per draft to fill a roster.
Tom and Joe, alas, you are right.
We’re gonna need a bunch of those guys you mentioned to be in at $1M or less.
And, with almost all of them being free agents, that makes them less attractive. maybe they could move the 2 guys under contract (Voros and Rissmiller), and not get much back, just a pick or something, to dump a few bucks and mainly to make way for the future.
what a mess
”...scratches last night, and are expected to be scratched again tomorrow in Chicago.” ...game is Friday night….
re: Evgeny Grachev
http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/22054-THNcom-Blog-Four-WJCers-who-were-worth-watching.html
Evgeny Grachev, Center, Russia
“This guy is big, has tremendous power and uses it to his advantage. Grachev looked like a man playing among boys and steamrolled a number of outmatched opponents on his way to five points in seven games and a plus-3 rating.
Since he’s already showed a desire to play in North America by choosing to leave Russia for the Ontario League, the New York Rangers look to have third-round steal on their hands.
To be sure, Grachev’s game still needs fine-tuning in the defensive end before he’s ready to jump to the big time, but since he already houses an NHL-sized frame, Grachev’s development just needs to be guided, which it will be by Stan Butler in Brampton.”
speed my last game i went to was montreal. you saw the better one with the pitt game
graves we never fell as low as the hawks or the caps to see a top 2 pick. mostly around 10th or so all those yrs of not making the playoffs
matt – i don’t see it that dubi will be great as you said. top end for him is low tier 2nd center hardly “great”
matt – there is no room for gionta or any free agent with our cap situation. we’re better off just trying to sign our own
joe in del – i’ll give you 40 reasons not to sign shanny 1 for each yr of age.
when Shanny scores pp goal after pp goal for NJ (LIjoe) ya may be rethinking what ya just said. Shanny is gonna end up with 700 goal before he desides to hang it up.
what does he have 650 goals. you’re talking 2 1/2 yrs minimum for that to happen. it’s a very good thing he’s gone. way past time to move on. we’ll see how far the devs go in playoffs. i must have slept through the parade shanny led us to the last 2 yrs. how did it compare to the 94’ parade.
Gionta becomes an option if we can’t resign Zherdev, I mentioned this previously.
jjp – i don’t think so. if we don’t sign z (he is restricted by the way we would get compensation in picks unless he goes back to russia), we should use that money for our own (cally etc this yr, staal next yr). cap is going down so we absolutely must stop signing free agents like drunken sailors.