Rangers Report Blog

So thanks to Nasty 1’s question I got to talking to people about watches, and found out that when Henrik Lundqvist signed his last contract, he gave the six Rangers trainers Breitling watches, the Chrono Superocean series. (From some Googling I see they are about $3K each.)

Lundqvist included a card, complete with a cartoon of the goalie, thanking the trainers for everything for checking his equipment to watching (washing?) his car and joking that they got to keep doing it. “You could tell he put a lot of thought into it,” said one of the lucky recipients.

Today was a voluntary practice, and Steve Valiquette guarded the net against Aaron Voros, Lauri Korpikoski, Colton Orr, Blair Betts, Marc Staal, Fredrik Sjostrom and Sean Avery. That’s right, Avery. He said he likes to skate in the morning and the voluntary practices give him a chance to work on things at a little slower pace.

And he is looking forward to the atmosphere for a night game at the Garden. The last few weekend matchups have been afternoon contests, and Avery says he loves playing in front of a good Saturday night crowd.

UPDATE: Carp and I will be doing another video chat Tuesday at 1 p.m. Cancel your lunch with the CEO and tune it to LoHud with all your Rangers questions!

(Shhh…. Playoffs.)

Rangers coach John Tortorella doesn’t want to hear about it. He is trying to get this team to focus on the Sabres — on the first period specifically — and doesn’t want to talk about sixth spot or ninth or whatever is happening in the horse race.

But that’s a lot to ask considering that the Rangers have three home games coming up, with a 21-10-4 record on the Madison Square Garden ice. That’s decent, especially considering that Buffalo has a 14-16-5 away record.

The Rangers are in sixth place in the Eastern Division, a mere two points away from Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, tied for fourth.

“We’re in a great position, we can get to fourth that’s what we’re shooting for,” backup goalie Steve Valiquette said. “If we can get to fourth then we can get home ice advantage.”

The Rangers worked on faceoffs today as the team prepares to host Buffalo. The lines were the same as yesterday’s practice and, given the chemistry they showed in the win over Montreal on Tuesday, it’s hard to imagine Tortorella breaks them up for tomorrow. Here’s the coach on faceoffs:

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By the way, Tortorella would not comment on the fact that he is the winningest American-born coach in the NHL after the win in Montreal. With 245 wins, he moved ahead of Peter Laviolette. Nice little milestone, but he didn’t want to discuss it. Tortorella cut off a reporter’s question about it saying, “it’s not about me.”

Valiquette said newcomers Derek Morris, Nik Antropov and Sean Avery are fitting in:

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Sean Avery said there was some initial confusion about the new system, something that Morris corroborated, but that everyone was getting it down now.

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Finally, Antropov stayed out on the ice after practice to play goalie for his son at the practice facility. The 6-foot-6 Russian played the net on his knees while his 8-year-old son Daniel shot the puck. Awww, what a good dad. And you can look for him in the 2018 draft.

(Carpy suggested we put up head shots so you know who is writing a post, hence my blurry credential shot.)

The Rangers practiced today in Greenburgh, in preparation for back-to-back games this weekend. It was pretty intense, a lot of sprinting and pushups, with some line work at the end. That kind of workout seems to be assistant coach Jim Schoenfeld’s specialty.

Coach John Tortorella said having three days between the win in Montreal and Buffalo gives the team some time to work on film and continue getting into his “system,” which is I believe coach-speak for doing some kind of Vulcan-mind meld. It’s definitely code.

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Paul Mara said he has gotten a lot of feedback from people about the tempo of the games before the change in coaches. “It’s funny… there are some descriptions of it being pretty boring.” Mara said the team can feel the difference and it extends off the ice. He is very diplomatic, in his own words click below.

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The lines: Naslund-Drury-Antropov; Avery-Gomez-Zherdev, Sjostom-Dubinsky-Callahan, Korpikoski-Betts-Orr. Defensive pairings Morris-Redden, Mara-Rozsival, Girardi-Staal.

The win in Montreal seems to have energized the Rangers and, although Torts wouldn’t cop to looking beyond Saturday’s game, a few of the players said it was good to have those two points in hand with three home games coming up.

Carp is on his way to beautiful Troy, NY. He will be checking in from time to time, but I will be taking you through practice tomorrow and the weekend games.
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Don’t know what this means, if anything other than the Hartford Wolfpack has a new player, but the Rangers just signed an undrafted free agent:

Here’s the official release:

RANGERS AGREE TO TERMS WITH FORWARD PAUL CROWDER

       New York, March 19, 2009 —New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that the club has agreed to terms with free agent forward Paul Crowder.

            Crowder, 24, skated in 35 games with the University of Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) this season, registering 14 goals and 19 assists for 33 points, along with 44 penalty minutes.  He established career highs in goals (14), assists (19), points (33), and penalty minutes (44).  Crowder led the team in assists, points and shorthanded goals (two), tied for second on the club in goals and finished fourth in penalty minutes.  In addition, the Victoria, British Columbia native tied for first on the Seawolves with six power play goals, two game-winning goals and a plus-11 rating.

The 6-3, 202-pounder has skated in 107 career WCHA games with the University of Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves, recording 32 goals and 48 assists for 80 points, along with 80 penalty minutes.  In 2006-07, he tied for the team lead in goals (11), ranked second in points (24) and tied for third in assists (13) as a first-year player.  Prior to attending the University of Alaska-Anchorage, Crowder appeared in 119 British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) contests over three seasons with the Powell River Kings, Coquitlam Express and Burnaby Express, registering 36 goals and 83 assists for 119 points, along with 122 penalty minutes.  He established BCHL career highs in games played (58), goals (19), assists (39), points (58), and penalty minutes (57) while skating with the Kings during the 2003-04 season.  Crowder also recorded one goal and three assists for four points, along with two penalty minutes in seven BCHL playoff contests with Powell River in 2003-04.

Thought I’d post early in the morning because I have a lot to do today, and because I know a lot of you guys start blog-surging with the roosters. Don’t get used to it, though. I’m a late sleeper.

Some thoughts on the victory last night:

1) Was that really Wade Redden making big plays in both ends?

2) Capt. Drury finally showed up in the skills competition. He made an awful giveaway that Lundqvist complicated by allowing a terrible bad-angle goal.

3) Like them or hate them, this team needs Drury and Redden to play better. Much better. They are not going anywhere for a long time, and they are going to play every day. So they’d better start contributing. Or else.

4) When Alexei Kovalev plays that way, it makes you (me) think, “Why doesn’t he play like that all the time?” And that’s what has always been so infuriating about him. 

5) You know what Iron Mike Keenan would have done with a player like Sean Avery? Double-shift him. Give him a few shifts per game with Colton Orr and Blair Betts, and use his energy and edge to stir it up even more.

6) I mentioned this in the comments last night. Some of the referees aren’t biased against the Rangers as much as they are just incompetent.

7) Why is it that the Rangers continue to give up goals right after they score?

8) Lundqvist’s third goal allowed was awful. The second, though, it looked to me that he had one eye on Ryan Callahan who was about to run him over. I mean, Hank sure looked as if he moved his right leg to avoid the collision even as the puck was coming from his left.

9) Tortorella just loves it when somebody asks him a dumb question after the game, doesn’t he. And if it’s an out-of-town writer, he loves it even more. And even more if it’s after a loss.

10) Martin Brodeur broke Patrick Roy’s record last night, and still nobody in New York (except Chico Resch and Ken Daneyko) know how to pronounce his last name. The second part is “der” not “dure.”

11) What if Antropov sees the light and lives up to his ability and becomes a keeper and the Rangers don’t have the cap space to re-sign him?

12) Have I mentioned how I feel about the skills competition deciding NHL games?

Here are the official game summary and event summary from last night’s game.
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There’s still time to take a shot at winning $100 million. All you have to do is fill out a perfect NCAA men’s bracket. It’s free. I will be competing with fellow blogsters Pete Abraham, the Blogfather himself, Kevin Devaney Jr., Josh Thomson (the mystery man from the right side of this page) and Sam Borden. Last year we had a side bet and I lost my shirt (although I think I beat out Sam Weinman; God I miss him). Even if you can’t make a perfect bracket, why not try to beat me? I don’t think you can. How’s that for a dare?
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Finally, this: I know a lot of you probably root for the New York Football Giants, too. Well, we have an extraordinary Giants beat writer named Ernie Palladino, who just spent a year fighting for his life. He won, and he’s back, and I strongly urge the Giants fans among you Rangers fans to check out his blog from time to time. Or at least stop by to welcome him back, by clicking here, or by pasting this into your bookmarks/favorites: http://giants.lohudblogs.com.

I was the first aboard the “Bring Avery Back” bandwagon. I told you all, but you wouldn’t listen, that Sean Avery would be great for this team, would play not only like an all-star but also a captain. I told you he would turn this team around and single-handedly pull them into the playoffs.

I told you so.

Didn’t I?

Ok, maybe not.

I had my doubts. I admit it. The guy has come here twice, and been nothing but a difference-maker both times. OK, he’s ticked off some teammates here, but he really hasn’t terribly misbehaved as a Ranger. Everywhere else he has worn out his welcome, but not here.

So I am here to admit my mistake. For $1.9 million the guy is a bargain, especially compared to some of the other people on the payroll making AIG executive-type money and doing less than AIG executives have done to earn it.

Give it up to Slats for getting him at half price, and believing Avery would do this if given a second chance. Give it up to Tortorella for changing his tune on Avery, too. I will withhold my long-term fears about Avery for now, and my main point against bringing him back—that the Rangers are so close to the cap already that another $1.9 M might hamper any off-season moves they try to make.

I doubt they could spend that $1.9 M and get a player who brings more to the table that Avery has brought so far. Too bad so many guys who make so much more don’t follow his lead.

I’ll address Avery more, no doubt, in the future. But I wanted to get it off my chest that I was wrong. (not the first time, not the last).

Now let’s see if he can drag them into the postseason.

Enjoy the game.

Or afternoon. Whatever. Happy St. Paddy’s Day.

More than corned beef and cabbage, the Rangers could use a Leprechaun or some plain old good luck tonight in Montreal, where they meet a team in direct competiton for a playoff spot.

The Rangers and Les Habs are tied for sixth (Montreal has a game in hand) and are only four points out of fourth (but also four points out of 10th) in the East. But you know that.

You also know that things are looking up for the Blueshirts after Sunday’s fairly complete win over the Flyers at the Garden avenging the less-than-stellar loss in Philly the day before.

And you know that John Tortorella has made a big difference since the coaching change.

Well, Montreal has had its own coaching change, too, with GM Bob Gainey pulling a Glen Sather and stepping behind the bench himself after firing Guy Carbonneau, another Montreal legend.

Here’s a story on that topic from TSN today.

So the Habs are struggling since the change, with a win over a bubble team, a bad loss, and then another against the Devils and Martin Brodeur, who tied St. Patty Roy’s wins record with Roy in the house. Alex Kovalev—you’ve heard of him—missed the last two with a flu bug, but he is expected back tonight. Kovalev has been known to sleep-walk through games and even long stretches of games. But he has also been known to awaken wide-eyed and with a vengeance whenever he sees Blueshirts in front of him.

Expect him to be prowling for goals tonight. Expect the Habs to anticipate the Rangers’ aggressiveness, and to patiently wait for the inevitable (Wade Redden) bad pinch or turnover at the blue line, and then to counter-attack. Expect Gainey to have them ready for what the Rangers are bringing in the Tortorella era.

The big question is whether King Henrik can turn around his abysmal record in Montreal (it’s not the Forum anymore, Hank). Larry Brooks wrote about that today (but beware, you may be assaulted with one of those annoying video ads if you try to read it).

I’m back from my Oddyssey through Poughkeepsie, New Paltz and Utica, where I actually saw a high school hockey championship double-header and one of the teams was named “Oddyssey.” I was reminded that former Devils coach Tom McVie used to coach at the Utica Memorial Auditorium, where I saw the games.

McVie is credited with the line that Roger Neilson used to borrow whenever they saw a bad game:

“They should let everybody in for free and make them pay to get out.”
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Or for free, you could win $100 million. Seriously. All you have to do is fill out a perfect NCAA men’s bracket and you could make more money than Wade Redden, Chris Drury, Scott Gomez and Michal Rozsival combined. It’s free, so why not slide over to the hardwood and give it a shot? I will be competing with fellow blogsters Pete Abraham, the Blogfather himself, Kevin Devaney Jr., Josh Thomson (the mystery man from the right side of this page) and Sam Borden.

The Rangers had an optional practice today in Greenburgh before they head to Montreal for tomorrow night’s game. Both teams are tied for 6th place in the Eastern Division, which makes this game particularly telling.

Rangers coach John Tortorella said he liked the lines that skated on Sunday, which doesn’t necessarily mean he will keep them. Obviously, Nikolai Zherdev, Scott Gomez and Sean Avery got a lot of time. Fredrik Sjostrom skated in the third line with Brandon Dubinsky at center and Ryan Callahan, Markus Naslund was with Chris Drury and Nik Antropov, and Lauri Korpikoski skated with Blair Betts and Colton Orr in the fourth.

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Not surprsingly then, Orr, Betts, Korpi, Sjostorm and Aaron Voros were at the optional skate with backup goalie Steve Valiquette. Orr got a little one-on-one coaching from Benoit Allaire, and worked on shooting the puck high into the net.

Tortorella said he thought Dan Girardi did the right thing trying to protect Zherdev. He said it too many players in the NHL went after each other for good, hard hits, but with the Rangers facing Philly on the second straight night with potential for facing each other in the playoffs, “it wasn’t a bad thing at all.” Girardi got a 2 min. instigator penalty, a 10 minute misconduct and 5 mins. for fighting.

“I hate losing him for that amount of time, but you usually end up killing those things off and you get through when it’s done for the right reason and that’s what happened with this,” Tortorella said.

Drury said he liked the energy the new players are bringing to the Rangers. Which is exactly what they need this time of year. In his own words with the audio below…

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Full disclosure, I’m not crazy about focusing on the designated matinee idol. So when NBC put a camera on Sean Avery and called it the “Star Cam,” well, let’s just say Avery would have had to do a lot in order to make me want to write about him.

He did it.

Two goals, a couple skirmishes and then Flyers coach John Stevens says this about him.

“We got emotional and used it in the wrong way there,” Stevens said. “I think (Avery’s) probation period is over and now he’s back up to his old antics and we got sucked in to be quite honest with you. We started worrying about him instead of playing the games. He draws your physical attention  and allows their skilled people to play and then we play the whole game shorthanded.”

The Rangers scored on three of those power plays—final score 4-1. Andrew Alberts got a penalty for charging Avery in the third period. So much for letting the skill players take over, Avery scored two of the goals himself while playing on a line with Scott Gomez and Nikolai Zherdev.

“He gets the puck, five guys on their team want to kill him,” Scott Gomez said.

Avery said he felt like the Rangers were starting to realize how good they can be, and why he is playing better now than when he first got to New York. Avery has scored in the last three games, and has five points (four goals and an assist) in the last five games.

“I think it has to do with my mindset and where my head is more than anything,” Avery said. “We talked about, after the first couple of games, how I was just so nervous and kind of playing a little too hard. So I was just trying to slow it down and think of the plays and where they are going to end up and try and anticipate it.”

Then he talked about what it’s like to be coached by John Tortorella.

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“I think he has been outstanding in trying to keep that concentration but it has to be all of the time,” Tortorella said. “We don’t want any cracks. We want to keep him concentrated on what he has to do.”

*Three Ranger goals were on the power play.

*Rangers are 36-26-8 overall.

*Next game is Tuesday in Montreal.

*I asked Henrik Lundqvist about the stomach thing, and he is still taking medicine for it but says he feels better, as long as he doesn’t eat any meat. Uh, paging Dr. House, we need a diagnosis…

*The call on Dan Girardi (2 minutes instigating, 5 for fighting and 10 for misconduct) was because he went after Mike Richards in retaliation for a hard but legal hit on Zherdev. That’s a new rule, and Tortorella responded to it saying, “I’m more concerned about the hockey club then how the games are going to be called.”

Here’s a link to the official box score.

Lastly, I got my official season credential today! I’m legit!
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Don’t forget, you can win $100 million all you have to do is pick a perfect NCAA bracket. It’s free to join, and you can click here for registration info. A bunch of us from The Journal News and LoHud.com will be making picks as well—including Carp, Pete Abraham, Kevin Devaney Jr., Sam Borden and Josh Thomson.

Forget the almost goals in the loss to Philadelphia yesterday, the Rangers have another chance at the Flyers today at Madison Square Garden.

Every game from here on out has playoff implications.

Had they won yesterday, the Rangers could have been tied for fifth, but right now sit in eighth place. John Tortorella is 4-3-1 with the Rangers and, given Nikolai Zherdev’s reaction to his benching in Nashville, the honeymoon is over. The Rangers were 1-2 on their road trip, and home ice must look pretty sweet.

Henrik Lundqvist will start in goal, and the lineup is expected to be the same even if Tortorella tinkers with the lines again. I’ll be back after the game with quotes and notes.

UPDATE 12:37: Torts has switched up the lines again, and will start Naslund-Drury-Antropov and Mara-Rozsival. The Flyers are sitting goalie Martin Biron and have put Antero Niittymaki in front of the net.

Fourteen games left. Home-and-home against the Flyers today and tomorrow. Home-and-home against the Flyers April 9-12. And 10 games in between.

I think it’s safe to say that these four against the Flyers are going to go a long, long way in determining the Rangers’ fate.

In between:

at Montreal Tuesday (third in four nights).
Buffalo March 21.
Ottawa March 22 (rare back-to-backs at home). 
Minnesota March 24 (the only non-conference game left; shootout or OTL points allowed don’t matter).
at Atlanta March 26.
at Pittsburgh March 28.
Devils March 30. 
at Carolina April 2.
at Boston April 4.
Montreal April 7.

So some games against teams more desperate or as desperate as the Rangers are/will be; some against teams they can’t catch; some against teams who are their direct competition for playoff spots.

I know, that’s Mike Milbury-esque analysis. But it’s reality, and to try to emphasize one game over another is idiotic at this point. Also to try and determine which games might be Rangers wins or Rangers losses makes no sense, especially since we know they can beat top teams and lay eggs against bottom-feeders.

But, obviously, having four against an arch-rival in such a short stretch makes them crucial. 

PS, I expect Nik Zherdev to react positively from his benching the other night, and to be a force down the stretch. Don’t mis-read Tortorella’s intent. He’s not saying he doesn’t want or like Zherdev. He’s saying he expects much more from him. This is his way of getting it.

Is anybody else looking to an annoy-athon between Sean Avery and the Flyers’ new pest, Daniel Carcillo?

I also think the NHL’s GMs might see a staged fight or two, and perhaps even one of those late-game donnybrooks if any of these four get out of hand.

Finally, I wish I was in Philly even if only for Lauren Hart’s national anthem, the best in sports.

Enjoy.