Rangers Report Blog

I know, that’s not the Sabres’ logo (right) anymore. It’s like two or three removed from the original. I like the original, because it’s more clever. A buffalo and two sabres. Plus it’s old school.

Enough about that.

Tonight really is a show-me game for the Rangers. They felt they did OK in St. Louis, where they lost to a very mediocre (at best) team. They were happy with the win over the dreadful Islanders, by a single goal and an empty-netter. Some of their best players showed a pulse in those two games.

So show me. Show us. Show that there is still a reason to think this team can make the players (hard to believe we’re saying that about a team that entered the weekend fifth in the East).

It will take a week and a half of much better efforts for anybody to believe that that the Rangers can make even a peep in the playoffs, but they can start convincing us by putting two wins together.

Do it on the road against a team in the same hunt (the Sabres are two points behind the Rangers). Do it against a team that’s patient and well-coached (Lindy Ruff is the longest-tenured coach in the NHL, and is not only an ex-Ranger but also a Roger Neilson disciple). Then come out one night later, when they honor two of the all-time greats in franchise history, and stomp the Maple Leafs at home. Make it three in a row.

Show us.
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The Rangers have scored two goals, total, against Buffalo this season, a 3-1 loss and a 2-1 shootout loss.

The Rangers have actually done pretty well in back-to-backs this season, going 7-2-1 in the first games and 6-3-1 in the second games on consecutive days.
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I’m still laughing over the Seinfeld thing yesterday. Especially those clever enough to tie in Seinfeld references with the Rangers (I paraphrase): “If every instinct Tom Renney has ever had is wrong, then the opposite would have to be right. He should do the opposite.” … And, “I signed Drury, Gomez, Redden and Roszival and yada, yada, yada, I have a really crappy team.” Great stuff. You guys are pretty funny and pretty smart. Even the “boneheads” (if you haven’t been paying attention, that’s a term of endearment here at the blog).

I have another assignment today and hope to get home to watch most of the game tonight. Glad I’m not in Buffalo, actually, and you should be, too.

Let me know if they report on TV or elsewhere what number Rozsival is going to wear after they retire “his” No. 3 tomorrow. Maybe we should have a little contest, “Number Rozy.” Suggest a number he should wear, and why?

Enjoy the game.

The Rangers just announced that “Last Minute Tickets” which became available have been released for Sunday’s game and the Andy Bathgate-Harry Howell ceremony.

Visit newyorkrangers.com or call 212-301-7171 for info. The ceremony begins at 6:30 p.m.

Also, here is MSG Network’s scheduled programming that evening, for those who can’t get to MSG.

5:30 p.m.:        “MSG Vault: Classic Rangers”

         A behind the scenes look at the original salute to Harry Howell in 1967

6:30 p.m.:        Bathgate and Howell Night Ceremony, hosted by Sam Rosen

7:15 p.m.:        New York Rangers Pre-game

8:00 p.m.:        New York Rangers vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

10:30 p.m.:      New York Rangers Post-game

 

Yeah, the Rangers’ situation isn’t rosy, and the future isn’t bright. But right now they’re in a playoff spot, and not in the police blotter.

How’d you like to be the Montreal Canadiens, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the second-most successful pro sports franchise in North America, and having a week like this: The Habs are also hanging on to a playoff berth (they actually trail the Rangers) their best player, Alex Kovalev, has been sent home by the coach and the GM, and now there is an investigation into whether Habs players are involved with organized crime?

The Habs will hold a press conference today at 2 p.m. The story is breaking in La Presse, a French-language paper. But the English-language Montreal Gazette has this update today.

Not to make this an Around-the-NHL thing, but did you happen to see Alex Ovechkin’s latest hightlight goal. It’s here, on NHL.com.

Hope to have some updates later.
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NOON UPDATE:

Just want to give you all a heads-up on the NHL trade deadline site on NHL.com. Good reading.
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AFTERNOON UPDATE:

All but Mara skated this morning, and Korpikoski expects to be available tomorrow in Buffalo. No word on who sits if he plays, though. Anybody venture a guess?
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THIS JUST IN:

The March 8 game against Boston has been moved up to a 12:30 start for NBC. Somebody might want to tell the Rangers, who didn’t show up until about 2 p.m. the last time this happened.

Nobody on this blog is celebrating, I’m sure, this victory over the Islanders. Nobody is putting any emphasis on it other than the Rangers did what they had to do. They had to beat the Islanders. Or, the other way around, they couldn’t lose to the Islanders.

But it wasn’t the Red Wings, and it wasn’t even the Flyers or the Panthers. It was the Islanders. So the Rangers should take the win, be glad that they did a few things well, be more glad that some of their big-money players decided to jump off the milk cartons, and move on.

They simply avoided a disaster last night. That’s it.

Some points in review:

1) As I’ve been saying for a while, I’m not sure Glen Sather ever intended to fire Tom Renney, and may wait until the season is over to evaluate his coach. It no longer is available on the internet, I don’t think, but Larry Brooks wrote the same thing in an early in the Post.

(We often write one story that appears in the early editions, with deadlines too early to include the game; then replace the early story with the story about the game; it’s standard procedure but sometimes some of our best writing isn’t seen by most readers).

Brooks noted that in Sather’s entire career as a GM, his coaches have been himself and his cronies/organizational people (Muckler, Ron Low, Ted Green, Kevin Lowe and Renney). He hired two guys from outside his circle: George Burnett and Bryan Trottier, and neither of them lasted 60 games. So it’s not likely Sather will go outside for a guy like John Tortorella if he was inclined to fire Renney. And he might not be inclined to do so, regardless.

Sam Borden and I discuss this over at the Faceoff blog.

2) Here are a few more voices, with whom many of you will strongly disagree, writing that Renney is not to blame for what’s gone on, or pointing out how hamstrung Renney is with the roster he has. 

Sam Borden wrote a column on Renney for The Journal News and LoHud.com today, and you can see that here. 

And the Post’s Jay Greenberg wrote on a similar subject, which you can read here. 

3) Last night marked the 41st anniversary of first game at the “new” Garden, which is now the second-oldest arena in the NHL. (Kenny Albert found out that Flyers goalie Doug Favell had the first fight in the building, against Reggie Fleming).

I was thinking this could be the last game in the building if they lose because the fans might tear it down.

4) I thought I noticed in St. Louis that Scott Gomez and—forgive me for saying this—Wade Redden were playing better. Last night was the best game by either of them that I’ve seen. And Chris Drury stepped to the plate, too.

I know there’s a lot of venom built up for these guys, but they may be your only hope of anything happening this year or in the next few years. They have to be better, because they’re not going anywhere, and much as it pains you, you might have to actually root for these guys to get it together. They will never live up to their contracts, but if they live up to their annual statistics that will have to be good enough.

I nearly fell out of my chair when Redden took that hit to clear the zone on the empty-net goal.

5) They have to play Petr Prucha every single game now, right? Or trade him. I’m sure he was one of the players Phoenix was scouting, with Don Maloney and two other Coyotes scouts in the building last night.

Hi All, it’s Joe Erwin guest-blogging for Carp.

Who would have thought a month ago this would be a huge game for the Rangers. It seems like they’ve hit “bottom” a few times recently — the 10-2 loss in Dallas, the 5-2 loss to the Flyers on Sunday, but a loss to the awful Islanders at home might make a new low.

Tom Reney is staying optimistic.

“We are in this together, the coaching staff and the players, and I know that group in our locker room cares an awful lot about what it means to be a New York Ranger,” Renney said at the morning skate today. “I believe that if we trust the system and do the right things, we have the people and the leadership in order to succeed.”

Find out more of what Renney and the Rangers are saying.

The Islanders enter tonight’s game coming off a win over the Penguins. Here is the view from the Island.
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EVENING UPDATE:

Hey, it’s Carp again.

I was listening to the first period on the radio and Dave Maloney noted that his brother, Don, the Phoenix GM and two of the Coyotes’ scouts are in the house. You know that Sather only likes to deal with his buddies and people he knows. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

First, I need to address a few of our bloggers who seem to be angry that I don’t post 24/7. Obviously, those who have been around since Jan. 29 know the deal.

Sam left for greener (literally) pastures at GolfDigest.com. It was an emergency. My bosses were looking for somebody to basically volunteer to keep this blog alive, preferably somebody with experience with the Rangers. I was the obvious choice.

But the caveat is that I had to keep on doing my full-time job as a columnist, which means I don’t have time in my week to attend every practice, or even every single game, or even every single home game. Sorry. I thought, and we think, it is still worth keeping this site going. Most agree.

So, no, I cannot be on top of every little line change, or who’s going to be the healthy scratch every game (we could guess “Prucha” and be right most times). And, ps, the Rangers bloggers who DO blog often and who are at every practice and game, haven’t exactly been filling up the cyberspace with news. You can’t create news, just report it.

However, we have been able to keep up with the important news, even with my limits, and Jane McManus has filled in at practices and games very well, and provided sound bites too (she’s off this week, that’s why she hasn’t posted). Also, I found that sometimes it’s best to just update a current post, or to jump into the comments instead of putting up a new post. Keeps the conversations going.

So, again, I apologize for not posting more often. Most of the readers seem to be enjoying the back-and-forth, the opinions and the news we have provided, though. And I have thoroughly enjoyed being back, even if I go to bed with bloodshot eyes most nights.
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Enough about that.

The Islanders are in tonight, and of course this could be the disaster of all disasters this season. Lose to the team many of you so lovingly call “the Fishsticks” and it will be the ugliest night of the season, no doubt.

I have said that I believe there’s every chance that Glen Sather will not make a coaching change during the season. However, if there is a game that could change that, this could be it. Lose to the Islanders at home, and it might be the last straw. And if they do lose, and it isn’t the last straw, then that’s a pretty good indicator that Renney’s staying put … or that it will take a 20-game losing streak to bring him down.

Not advocating, just opining.
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I know some people don’t like when I pose questions, but I am curious about something. If the Islanders are sold and relocate, will Rangers fans celebrate or be saddened? I know for the most part, the Isles are annoying to Rangers fans, but they have historically been a great rival. Would you be sorry to lose that rivalry? Or would you drive them to the airport? Don’t feel you have to answer if you don’t want to, and as always, discuss anything you want.

I have an assignment this afternoon, and Sam Borden is going down to do a column on the game. I’ll try to provide some sort of update later.
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MORNING UPDATE:

Andrew Gross, reporting from the morning skate, blogged that Korpikoski is out with an injury and Dawes back in. I believe that the Rangers will have the minimum 20 healthy bodies tonight, so Prucha is still in, too.
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NOON UPDATE:

Steve Zipay is blogging that Paul Mara’s MRI came back negative—no structural damage, no surgery needed. He’s still in a sling. No timetable for his return.
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Here’s a nice story from Harold Gutmann on Henrik Lundqvist doing his part for kids through the Garden of Dreams foundation.

I’ve been thinking all night and all morning, what the heck do I write today? That the Rangers are going to recall a defenseman from Hartford? Like that’s going to matter? Or that maybe Nigel Dawes is going back into the lineup? 

I know only this: It’s not going to be pleasant at MSG tomorrow night, and the Rangers better not fall behind early, or at any time, and better not  let the Islanders—who right now are playing better and who have a couple of players playing legitimately better than any of the Rangers’ top five forwards—beat them.

And I know that a lot of you are torn between rooting for the Rangers and rooting for them to lose so there will be wholesale changes, and that some of you are obsessed with the coach’s firing to the point where you can’t or won’t see how bad this roster is and how dead-in-the-water the organization is in terms of salary cap and thus flexibility to fix anything.

But, geez, what else can you say? And how many times can you say it?

One of the commentors noted that the blogger who poses as the president/GM of the New York Rangers took some shots at me. Then I realized, this is a compliment. So thank you. But it’s spelled Carpiniello.

Some thoughts after that mighty loss in St. Loo:

1) While thinking about the implications of Paul Mara’s shoulder injury, you consider that the Rangers have been remarkably healthy this year. And the first reaction to that is, well, you don’t get hurt when you stay out of the corners and above the circles.

Second reaction: What would this team and its record look like if it had even an average number of injuries? Maybe it would be better off if some of the skating-dead had been sidelined and some younger, fresher, caring players had to be recalled. Couldn’t have been much worse the last three weeks.

2) For the first time since I took over this blog, I’m going to say something nice about Scott Gomez and Wade Redden. I thought, in St. Loo, Gomez got involved a lot more than he has the last three weeks. He took a couple of hits to make plays and he got in Keith Tkachuk’s face at the first-period buzzer, and that’s how he used to play as a Devil. Get dirty to make a play. Redden … well, he is a good passer. He really is. That doesn’t nearly absolve him from all the other deficiencies he’s shown, particularly in the concentration and passion departments. But he is a good passer.

3) Aaron Voros. My, goodness, man, stay down. That was a frightful beating, and I thought that after Voros got tagged that he was obviously hurt or disoriented and I thought the linesmen should have stepped in at that point. He could have been seriously injured. But you have to give the guy at least a little credit for caring after being benched the game before.

4) How many years will it take for Versus to figure out how to televise a hockey game? How many Versus employees does it take to change a light bulb?

This telecast was dreadful, just as was NBC’s on Sunday. Replays? What are replays? Does anybody realize that the NFL is a multi-billion dollar industry not because it sells out its 16-game season, but because of the way its games are televised. Because it goes by the more-is-better theory. In other words, if there’s a play worth seeing, then it’s worth seeing again and again and again. I still haven’t seen two of the goals from Sunday’s game, or one of the goals last night, actually go into the net.

There seemed to be some question on Korpikoski’s goal, a delayed but emphatic “goal” signal by the referee. And surely it was reviewed in the booth and in Toronto. But not in our living rooms. How about that overhead shot that’s set up in every NHL arena? Why not show us that?

And VS. play-by-play guy Joe Beninati is a real amateur. I mean, he does well enough when describing the plays, but the cliches? Every rookie is a freshman. Goals are tallies. Assists are helpers. Periods are frames or sessions. Defensemen are backliners. It goes on and on. Then, it’s not bad enough that he has to say “on Versus” every 12 seconds—as if that’s going to make us watch Versus more often than we have to—but he also repeats the name of the arena, as if Scottrade, in this case, is paying him and not the Blues, millions for naming rights.

Makes you appreciate the play-by-play guys we have around here.

5) I still think that Sather might wait out the entire season to decide on a coaching change. I really do. And I think that might be a good thing, because I don’t have any faith in his ability to hire the next guy. Likewise, could you imagine if Sather was ever actually fired (never happen)? Imagine Jimmy Dolan conducting a search for a GM? OMG.

6) Did I mention I hate the shootout?

Now please excuse me. I have to go watch A-Roid lie.

Some thoughts before the Rangers meet JD’s Blues in St. Louis tonight.

1) This is another tough one-day trip, the Rangers’ third of this streak—a three-hour flight for one game, and then right back home again. Game was moved up to 6 p.m. local time, so it will begin at 7 p.m. here, probably for Versus.

2) Imagine if they don’t beat the Blues and Islanders back to back the next three nights? Actually, it’s not hard to imagine … but it will be really ugly at MSG Wednesday.

3) There are games in this streak in which I thought the Rangers had a level of “battle”—in Boston, in New Jersey, in Florida, in the only win, against Washington. Then there are those games in which they just looked a little flat—Atlanta at home, you could also argue Boston.

But there were also games where “quit” would not be too strong a word to use on a good portion of the roster, and I thought yesterday was one of those, along with Dallas.

It was game in which the top, and usual, suspects just looked as if they were out for a skate in Central Park. Scott Gomez? Hello. Not only is he playing poorly, but he seems to be avoiding contact. Chris Drury?

4) It’s also unfair to paint everybody with the “quit” brush. I thought some guys competed and tried really hard against the Flyers—who, by the way, are not a very physical team anymore. Again, though, it was the usual suspects in the “effort” department, too: the Callahans, the Maras.

5) Even when they try to do something positive it turns out negative, and there was no greater example than Mara fighting Arron Asham, trying to make a statement, or trying to play to the buzzer, or whatever he was trying to do. Then he hurts his right shoulder, and from the immediate looks of it, it could be serious. We’ll know more in a day or two, probably.

After the game, Mara sought out Asham to thank him for stopping the fight once he realized Mara was hurt. There is honor among some of these guys, bless their courageous hearts.

6) In past regimes, “Fire Renney” and “Fire Sather” might have had a greater impact than it does now. Why? Because Jim Dolan isn’t about to be swayed by a chant, and neither is Sather. And because, let’s be honest, those chants were feint, not the kind that rocked the place for “Fire Muckler” and “Fire Campbell.” Anyway, I really doubt that fan dissatisfaction even registers with these untouchable guys who run the team.

But I wrote today that something needs to happen. Here is my column from The Journal News and LoHud.com today.

Maybe the number of kids in the stands at the matinee game, and the number of diehards who probably sold their seats to fake-fans or Flyers fans kept the volume of the chants down.

7) The power play really, really stinks. I mean it is God-awful. I mean, I have to go to the Thesaurus to try to find a word that accurately describes the foul odor it emits. And I still can’t, except in my Roget’s II it uses an example for “a foul odor”: This shrimp smells. To compare the Rangers power play to shrimp would be unfair to the shrimp. You almost have to try to be this bad.

I’ll probably update here later. See ya.

(ed. note: I previously had written that it’s a 7:30 start tonight. The NHL lists it at 7 p.m. Sorry).
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JUST WANT TO PASS THIS ALONG:

A couple of commentors mentioned Rangers trainer Jim Ramsay.

I forgot to write that he was one of yesterday’s heroes. Somebody behind the bench took a puck to the head— I’ve been told it was a young kid—and Ramsay actually left the Rangers bench and ran into the stands to tend to the injured kid until the EMS got there. Wow!

This guy is a perennial all-star, and as much or more than anybody in the organization, deserves to see the day when the Rangers win another Cup.

Great work, Rammer!
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AFTERNOON UPDATE:

Nothing major: Rangers had an optional skate this morning in St. Louis, did not call up a defenseman to replace injured Paul Mara (right shoulder). No update on Mara’s condition.

So Kalinin goes in as the Rangers have only six defensemen; nobody called up from Hartford, but I’m guessing that will change by practice time tomorrow. Sounds like Prucha gets another shot tonight and Voros sits again. Lundqvist in goal.

Almost hate to interrupt the previous thread … but I figured you’d want some of what went on in the postgame, especially since MSG Network wasn’t there with its postgame show.

So here are Tom Renney’s remarks and some notes:

Reaction to the 3-on-5 goal:
“Not very happy. Simple as that. It’s one of those things where you try to press to get a part of your game going and you give up a short-handed goal. It’s pretty disappointing, to say the least.”

“It’s a tough day for us. A tough day for everybody.”

On the team’s mental state, giving up the three quick goals after the short-hander:

“Confidence is always an issue when you’re struggling, there’s no question about that. And I think what you’ve got to do is look to find small successes in your game, play the game in increments not of 20 minutes but less than that, and really get back to building a game. You build a game off a good foundation, hard work, managing the puck well, being on the right side of the puck and just keep pushing it forward.”

On the chants of “Fire Renney” and “Fire Sather,” and what blame he takes:
“I take full responsibility for where this team is right now. That’s incumbent with the position. My job is to correct this, get us wining, get us feeing better about ourselves. I look to be a solution. It’s as simple as that.”

He plans to meet with players one-on-one and “make sure we’re real clear on what’s expected of the players, give them a solid foundation of expectation, because sometimes that gets a little blurred too. You know, coaching’s an interesting art because you can climb down guys throats and hope they respond that way, you can soft-love them and hope they’ll respond that way. … That’s coaching. We’re at a stage where we have to know our athletes and press the right buttons. I think we’re a good staff, I think we’re capable of doing that, and I know this team wants very badly to win.
“So it’s all hands on deck now.”

“We all have to step up now. It’s not exclusive to one guy. This is an all-in thing. It’s time to man-up.”
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A few notes:

Paul Mara popped his right shoulder out in the fight with Arron Asham in the third period and did not make the trip to St. Louis. He said it will take a few days for the swelling to go down before the injury can be diagnosed. It looked pretty bad, though. Mara praised Asham for his sportsmanship; Asham stopped fighting when he realized Mara was hurt. …

Nik Zherdev was benched for part of the second period for his lack of effort and preparation. “And that’s part of my job,” Renney said. “I’ve got to make sure he and everybody is ready to go. So in as much as it is he who pays the price there, you’ve got to take responsibility as a coach.” …

Renney had planned to play Steve Valiquette in St. Louis tomorrow, but he said part of his thinking for pulling Lundqvist was that he likely will go back to his No. 1 goalie tomorrow. …

How rare is the 3-on-5 short-handed goal. Well, it was the third of Mike Richards’ career and that’s the NHL record.

So it has begun. The blaming. And probably not a moment too soon.

Of course with the now-underachieving Rangers (who earlier overachieved, at least in terms of a record artificially pumped up by the PED of shootout points) there is plenty to go around.

The GM has made an absolute mess with his roster and his salary cap, a mess for which there will be no easy of quick answers.

The coach continues to fluster a good portion of the fan base, and probably some players, by refusing to play a popular scorer named Petr Prucha while the team fails game after game to generate enough offense, and by not holding his top-dollar players accountable; indeed by continuing to send them out, never missing a shift. And by, arguably, stifling their abilities with a conservative scheme.

And the top players are just awful for the most part. Some of that is not their faults, because it’s not fair to expect that extra-large dollars will equate to more production. But plenty of it is their faults, because none of them is living up to reasonable expectations.

Personally, I continue to bang the drum about the roster not being nearly good enough to be a serious competitor for the Stanley Cup, and maybe not even for entry into the playoffs, although it should be that good.

“All of the above” surely fits when trying to figure out what’s going wrong with a team that has lost six of seven, scoring nine goals in that stretch, four of them in one game against a Washington team willing to trade chances.

Some of you have noted that the competition (Larry Brooks of the Post) beat me to some of this blame game today. Good for him. He’s never been afraid to take out the ripper. He shredded the top management, the coach, and the players today.

The question, though, is what James Dolan is prepared or qualified to do to fix it. Sather can fire Renney (I think it will have to get much worse before he does). Dolan won’t fire Sather (ever, it seems). Renney won’t bench Sather’s players. Sather’s players won’t perform for Renney. And there is no space in the salary cap for help, with the exception of a half-priced Hartford Wolf Packer, Sean Avery, who will provide spark and distraction, but not much offense. He’d have to be Jaromir Jagr, circa 1990s, to have a serious impact, anyway. And Prucha, if he ever gets a chance, will have so much expectation on him that it just won’t be fair. He’s not going to come in and score 20 goals the rest of the way.

What a mess.

(PS, watch how the NBC crew parachutes into town, reads the Post and all of a sudden starts tearing apart the Rangers. That’s how these networks operate: Read the paper, gain instant expertise).

Try to enjoy the game.

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PREGAME UPATE:

Voros and Kalinin out; Prucha and Reitz in. No kidding. Not absolute 100 percent definite, and everybody will skate in warmups, and Reitz does have a bruised foot, but Renney said he’s planning to use Prucha and Reitz! And it’s not even April Fool’s Day.