Valiquette to start against Canes
-
- January
- 26
A couple of quick hits after practice:
Stephen Valiquette will start tomorrow against Carolina to give Henrik Lundqvist a chance to rest up for Wednesday’s game in Pittsburgh.
Lundqvist said practice wasn’t optional for him today, but the Rangers’ occasional spare practice goalie Chad Killam (a former Manhattanville College) goalie had brought his stuff to the rink just in case.
Regardless, Lundqvist took part in the hour-plus skate, and said he needed to.
“I wanted to skate. I haven’t practiced,” Lundqvist said. “The practice we had in Montreal wasn’t a real practice. You can’t stay away too long.”
An important clarification to my previous post: I originally thought Petr Prucha and Lauri Korpikoski would again be scratches tomorrow, but it was actually Aaron Voros and Dan Fritsche who left the ice last at practice, signaling they’d be scratches tomorrow. If that’s the case, Prucha would be on a line with Brandon Dubinsky and Nikolai Zherdev, and Lauri Korpikoski would skate with Chris Drury and Nigel Dawes.
The team had a meeting before practice. The message? Don’t get too comfortable. “We’re in a good position, but we just want to make sure we’re in a great position heading into the playoffs,” Brandon Dubinsky said.
More later….
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on Monday, January 26th, 2009 at 4:56 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. 
Whewwwwwww.
That’s a relief.
My head was hurting reading the last post
God damn it !! Renney is a pathetic fuggin coach, why would you take Fritsche out of the lineup, that’s idiotic, he played a good game !!!
Just kidding. Most Renney haters have to find a random thing to complain aboot, i wanted to give it a shot. Good to see Pruchs, and Korpedo back, hopefully they have a good game. Vally as well. Nyr needs to give him a win, cause he’s been great.
Why not put Prucha back with Dawes & Drury since they were playing well? Ahh well.
Wow Sam… u r on fire today my friend…Sam has more posts in four hours than Prucha has total minutes on PP for the season!!
MIKE IN IA,
Re: your earlier post
I was born in Brooklyn (Canarsie) but moved out to the Island around age 10 or so. Currently live in the Smithtown area, not too far from Middle Island.
On Henrik—I agree. When he has a good first period (0 GA) he usually seems to be poised for a shutout or a 1 or 2 GA performance. He does seem to wear down a bit when teams get to him early, but that might also be a reflectiong of shoddy overall team play. Although, lately he seems to be better at forgetting about the early goals. There’s been a few games recently where he’s allowed an early first period goal, but managed to keep the GA at 2 or even 1 for the game.
*reflection
sam your previous post was like yelling fire in a crowded movie theater
kaspar – re the teams rankings per tsn interesting on the rangers. i disagree with norris and hart – s/b staal; and selke – certainly not dubinsky – maybe betts.
Hart: Nikolai Zherdev
Norris: Michal Rozsival
Vezina: Henrik Lundqvist
Selke: Brandon Dubinsky
Calder: Lauri Korpikoski
Breakthrough: Ryan Callahan
Disappointment: Wade Redden
Key Injuries: None.
Whew!
I will be at the Garden tomorrow night. Let’s get the “2nd half” off to a good start!
seriously my bloodpressure hadn’t come down from that last post… glad proochs is back in WHERE HE BELONGS
Thank goodness!
LI Joe, I was reading your posts a couple days ago about why the Rangers hand’s are tied with Redden and how the salary’s are handicapping them so much….damn, it’s hard to say this, but i agreed with everything you said.
Now don’t let it happen again!
let’s get the volins out now.
Fire Renney
violins
too much violins in hockey
Brandon Dubinsky was speaking in a team meeting? Thank god we’re paying those mid-level-talent veterans the big bucks for their leadership skills.
Oh, wait, that was simply him explaining what was said, right?
Bob… u got laid over the weekend or something? u write your name with capital “B” now?
Sam, it’s Chad Killiam…not Killam
http://njmg.typepad.com/rangersblog/2009/01/valiquette-to-face-canes.html?cid=146272764#comments
will be interesting to see which way they go as far as prucha et al. i asked andrew gross the question and answer is in comments. above the comment area is his blog.
That is interesting. It should be Prucha in the lineup, though, we hope.
What a cool name, Killiam. Sounds kinda like “Kill ‘em”
reminder at 7 the ahl all star game is on msg +
not counting with myself, I didn’t get laid.
thnx LI Joe… r there any Pack players at that game?
i think AA and sanguinetti
one of the announcers name is “BOB BEERS” LOL… we know what his mom was having while giving birth… very redneck-ish of her
Sam, it’s Chad Killiam…not Killam
greg- who cares
mike, because it’s a name. and you spell names correctly.
looks like no sanguinetti. he lost some teeth the other day so that could be it (or did i miss his name)
Any one interested the AHL game is on right now on some misc channels.I have it on center ice. But I saw some other channels were going to carry it. Ansimonov and Sagateni are suppose to be playing.
Oopps most are already aware. Sorry
Cmon Sam….how about some juice on this bore of a blog. A trade rumor, something, anything but updating us on possible line combinations and who might be scratched. Your readers comments are the only thing worth reading for Christ sake.
im sorry greg i didnt realize that. shame on me
hockey man rangers ummmmm im sorry but seemed to have misspelled sagatitties name
td for trade rumors and stuff go to hockeybuzz.com. but its usually bullcrap
Anyone have link to AHL all star game? Not like it matters much, was just interested in seeing AA
just fyi i saw 2 tix on ebay for $ 60 and another 2 for $ 79. i already have my 2 – but check ebay now and then to see how that mkt works for future reasons as to when is best time to buy . so if any of you are interested in what looks like a good deal for tomorrow check it out – tix are in the 300’s
I’ve bee watching the AHL game, pretty fun. AA looks good; it’s all there, it’s just a matter of him doing it over and over again but he has the tools and talent. He looks like he could be comfortable playing in the NHL now if need be.
Bobby Sags isn’t playing but he took part in the skills.
yeah, well we’ll see… I for one will miss tomorrow nights game, as I have a game of my own to coach, basketball, not hockey.
It used to be painful to miss a game. Now, I sometimes forget when the boys play. I’ll glance at a game here or there and yet I always seem to see the same game, the same boring hockey. Doesn’t anyone else see this?
Early in the season this team was much more exciting to watch. They were skating, hitting and scoring. Now it seems this team has fallen into this disinterested style of play.
At the beginning of the season Zherdev, Naslund, Dubi and Voros were scoring. What happened to that team? Where did it go? Why has it fallen into this not-to-lose mindset? Honestly, who cares if you don’t make the playoffs? You’re not going to do anything there playing like this and we’re certainly not good enough to “turn it on” when we get there.
So why not play the right way throughout the season, not just in the beginning and a push at the end? Every other team shows consistency game in and game out, why can’t we?
I don’t like this not-to-lose mindset. I want my team’s to play hard and let the chips fall where they may, and if your front office does the job, and the coach and players do their job, you’ll have a successful season playing the game the right way.
These excuses this team makes about “not having the offense” or ” we have our style of play” really aggravates me me sometimes.
I can’t really watch 3 allstar games in 3 days…kinda hard to watch all that shinny hockey. I did see how AA looked , didnt see him alot…hows he doing?
If it’s Canada vs. USE, who is AA playing for?
USA, sorry
vogs – its planet usa vs canada. basically everyone vs canada. btw – if you’re no longer interested in the rangers why are you still posting here?
Rangers style can be lame at times but hey Its still The Rangers out there is n’t it? Did we or did we not Hire Sather and then we boooed him out of coaching. He hired Renney and now we play a style that most of you hate. We hate Sather for coaching , Potvin still ,Ryan Holleweg ,Malik ,Cindy crosby , Tom Renney ,Perry Pern , Blomez ,Dreery , and some hate Betts. We hate the Ice chickens as well. Alotta hate for 1 set of fans don’t ya think…anger , anger and more Anger!!!!
(Vogs) If you choose not to watch maybe yer better off . We don’t want you to be refered to as a fair weather fan …Hockey is to be enjoyed and sure we see dumb stuiped plays but hell , If we aint there to watch them blunder then why the hell are we there for?
greg – i don’t hate drury and while disappointment is increasing as to gomez don’t hate him either. certainly not betts either. wish the potvin chant would stop as to make him irrelevant and make everyone realize the isles good days were a long long time ago.
as for the rest of your list more like intense dislike than hate – although i guess i hated hollweg.
YAAAAWWNN!!
u guys need a fresh air… really…it helps
AA had 1 goal (nice deflection he likes to stand in front of the net) and 2 assists in the third period. The second assist was the game winner and he did all the dirty work. He looked very good. It’s a little weird that I didn’t watch the NHL All Star game but was actually looking forward to the AHL to see AA (and Sags although he didn’t play).
AA can play defense and like I said before, he has the tools and talent. Give him a chance and move somebody to win damn it!
Wing
Grachev – Anisimov – Zherdev
Naslund – Dubinsky – UFA
Callahan – UFA – Prucha
Sjostrom – Betts – Orr
Imagine that future 1st line and those retarded Drury/Gomez contracts off the books.
Hell.. just imagine a Hossa in that lineup somewhere.
does anyone know the status of tom renneys contract? how long more he has?
I don’t think Naslund and Grachev will have anything to do with each other. I think Naslund is only a two year stopgap scorer and next year will be his last. I also don’t know if the 4th line is coming back next year, well some anyways.
Sam and Joe said the Ducks have 11 UFAs; if Travis Moan is one, the Rangers should go after him and put him and Cally together.
zher – 10:14 doesn’t make much sense. drury has no movement so he’ll be here 3 more yrs. gomez 5 more unless some other team trades for him and that’s doubtful. and naslund will be gone after next yr or before grachev at least arrives. and when drury and gomez are gone the way to go is not more free agents, as we realy won’t be able to afford any once people like staal get their increases. is that an nhl09 lineup?
Pavel , Dawes should be in there too!!
You’re right, Joe, I’ve given up on them completely… good lord, a guy can’t vent a little without being told he’s not a good fan and can’t comment on the current state of his team?
Sorry, Joe, I don’t drink the kool-aid and say “yum”.
vogs – plenty of us vent. i just don’t see the point in coming here to tell people you’re not watching them. i didn’t say what kind of fan you are. just that i’ve seen your act before.
I was just stressing how great it’d be if Drury and Gomez were gone. With the salary cap going down, and they are still signed, we’re screwed.
Gomez might be moveable if we throw in a 1st rounder and a Sangs… lol
I just want Hossa, dammit!
zher – and if we had hossa you’d want him gone too for the next flavor of the month. so you want our leading goal scorer in drury gone – great move. we are screwed because of redden and rozy who were signed this yr. and on your list you show a guy who has not played a single nhl game as your number 1 center. what is your goal – 1st pick in the draft? not that there’s anything wrong with that.
I just had a crazy thought… Anaheim has one d-man signed through next season… Pronger…. Pronger for Redden + whatever it takes to not have Redden on the books?
Artie had a goal and an assist tonight, and made a sweet pass for the eventual game winner. Sucks that there was no Sags, but eh.
Hopefully those two will replace some of the losers that don’t deserve a spot on Nyr.
zher – i’m sure anaheim would do that one. good idea.
“what is your goal – 1st pick in the draft? ”
Actually, that wouldn’t be a bad idea. IMO, you either go for the cup or go for the best draft pick… Hedman would be nice. This squad ain’t winning shiat.
btw, Voros has the same amount of points this year (14) that he had last year.. in 13 less games this year.. and like 55 fewer PIM.
Why did he do so well the first month?
I dont know about Pronger for Redden, but maybe Pronger for Roszival if they aren’t in playoff position I heard they wanted to move pronger anyway…
We just throw in Roszival and whatever else it takes for Pronger
Rozy and 1st, Rozy 1st and Sangs
Though I’d love to hold onto Grachev, Anisimov, DZ, Dubinsky, Staal, Callahan
etc
who knows prolly wont happen L@L
I’d rather unload Redden’s contract, but Rozsival’s is more tradeable, IMO.
Pronger actually hits.. even though he’s sucked this year.
Sather better not do anything stupid or I’m gonna go all Frank Miller Batman on him (for those who don’t get it think the Christian Bale Batman but even more ruthless).
Guys to hold onto; Cally, Dubi, Staal, Girardi, Henrik, Mara, Korpi, Nicky Z, Dawes (I believe in Nigel Dawes), Grachev, Anisimov, Del Zotto, Sanguinetti, Kundratek, Gaulton, Hagelin, Stephan, Sauer, Dane Byers
Guys who I’m cool with and I’d be fine keeping: Betts, Sjo, Potter, Dupont, Paranteau, Jordan Owens, Vally, Prucha
Maybe I’m forgetting people that’s my list to build around and to add only one or two UFA. Nothing more.
Mike A:
Like your roster. And you can probably add one or two keepers from the 2009 Amateur draft (Kulikov?) if we don’t do too well in the regular season or swap first round picks as part of a draft day deal. It makes me sick when I see all the ex-Rangers starring in the NHL. Long before I was a Dawes fan, I jumped for joy as I watched Rangers draft pick Mark Savard simply eat up the juniors with multiple 100 pt seasons. There was little question his passing skills in particular were spectacular, but of course the Campbell regime had no place for him. They labeled him selfish, when he was immature and unlike other more recent draftees (of lesser skill I might note )who have received the Royal Ranger PR treatment tho not scoring for 20 games intervals, Savard was left out to dry and disposed of by a callous Ranger management incapable of developing a top ten NHL forward!! Aside from some inane first round picks, the Rangers have to rank near the bottom in self-evaluation of the talent they do draft.
Cmon Sam….how about some juice on this bore of a blog. A trade rumor, something, anything but updating us on possible line combinations and who might be scratched. Your readers comments are the only thing worth reading for Christ sake.
.....
Wow… you expect the guy to fabricate news? Sam drops knowledge you wil not get anywhere else, in such a timely manner at that. Unbelievable. Knock the guys writing all you want, but he delivers every bit of news he comes across. Richter/politics thing? Good luck finding that story anywhere else!
I only saw pieces of the game (about 30 min), but from what I saw, AA looked good out there and he is HUGE. He looked bigger than any of our current forwards; he looked like Voros, if Voros could actually skate and had soft hands.
Time to recall this kid, and give him a look for a few games. He’s 4th in the AHL in scoring, and the Rangers are 27th in the NHL in goals for per game. I’m not expecting him to come in and light it up, but I do think he could be productive on a line with Zherdev. He’s definitely got the talent, lets see if he can contribute something to the big team. Even if he translates 1/3 of his AHL production over to the NHL, would anyone really complain if he stuck for the rest of the season and went something like 8-14-22 or 7-13-20?
He’ll adress a MAJOR area of concern for this team—SIZE! He instantly makes the Rangers bigger, and if they move Dubi to the wing (where he’s probably better off playing) it will also add some size to the wings.
Dubinsky-Anisimov-Zherdev
A “scoring” line with some size. This team is so small and soft, it sucks watching games against NJ, Philly, Anaheim, etc..
Add SIZE and skill. Give Anisimov a look!
P.S. Defense is not a word you often hear when describing the play of all-star games. Anisimov’s defensive talent and awareness were definitely on display a few times during the game, however. Even though the defense is loose, you could still see his awareness on the ice, and he actually broke up a few plays down low in his own zone as well.
Face it—we play the trap. Defensive skill is paramount in such a system (size also helps). There should be no concern then, as his D is up to snuff for the NHL. If he plays solid defense, and utilizes his size somewhat, any offense he contributes will be an added bonus.
Bob – did you read the article in the NY Post yesterday?
http://www.nypost.com/seven/01242009/sports/rangers/rangers_tandem_excels_when_a_man_down_151667.htm
I hope we don’t lose anyone of our youngsters via trade over the next few weeks but you can’t expect to get anyone good in without giving something up in return.
I say the Rangers do nothing at the deadline this year other than a tweak. It’s for the longterm interest. They’re most likely not ready to be contenders, so just be patient and wait for some of the kids to develop.
“sam your previous post was like yelling fire in a crowded movie theater”
haha…good one joe.
win = complain
lose = complain
change lines = complain
keep lines = complain
Sam makes an assumption = complain
Sam gets stomach bug = complain
NEW YORK RANGERS FANS = COMPLAIN … being positive is to dull
2nd round exit = hey, not bad!
True that, Beer Me!
The problem with calling up Anisimov is he will be probably be replacing somebody else that we want in the lineup, since Renney won’t sit a “star” or a fourth-liner. I’m sure the Rangers would have no problem calling upon him…as soon as a couple players hit the injured reserve. The reality is that we have still only had ten man-games lost to injury, and a few of those were Rissmiller.
“2nd round exit = hey, not bad!”
7 years, no playoffs = pathetic
3(soon to be 4) straight years in post-season = headed in the right direction.
Beer Me! January 27th, 2009 at 9:32 am
“3(soon to be 4) straight years in post-season = headed in the right direction.”
—-
do i smell the JINX?!
Give me something to cheer for and i will. Rooting for prucha, staal, dubinsky and henrik is fun, but would be a lot better if I had any faith in the team as a whole or at least in its future
bum finding a free meal pass = heading in right direction or luck?
I’m teasing, but….
The pathetic thing about not making the playoffs for 7 years in a row is that we have so little to show from it. Yea we got henrik in that period but in the 7th round and staal was a no brainer. that stretch of drafting by Smith and Sather is why we are in this position. I’d say every other team in the nhl has a promising forward on their roster right now that they drafted….we don’t have that player, we have some good third liners
AA looked really good. Didn’t realize how tall he was. He keeps his feet moving at all times, went to the net constantly & skated to open space & is a tremendous passer. Seems to have great skill & instincts & kept up a constant back-check, although I did not notice great speed. Looks like he can become a high level NHL player, although with the loose, open All star game with zero hitting it’s hard to to form a real conclusion, but I was VERY impressed.
salty 2:31 well said
Congratulations.
You’ve done a phenomenal job here, and I will really miss your insights.
On the other hand, I’ll look forward to reading you at Golf Digest, my favorite golf print publication. If not in print (? hope so) then it will give me a reason to check their Web site.
Phil