Rangers Report Blog

Maybe you’ve seen this already:

NEW YORK (AP) — Former NHL player Ron Duguay plans to play a game each next weekend for the Jersey Rockhoppers and Brooklyn Aces in the first-year Eastern Professional Hockey League.

The 51-year-old Duguay, a 40-goal scorer for the New York Rangers in 1981-82, signed a two-game contract Thursday. He will become the second-oldest player to play in a professional hockey game. In 1997, Gordie Howe took a shift for the Detroit Vipers in the International Hockey League at age 69.

Duguay will play for the Aces on Saturday, March 21, against the Rockhoppers at the Aviator Sports and Recreation Center in Brooklyn. The following day, he will dress for the Rockhoppers against Danbury in West Orange, N.J.

As part of Duguay’s signing, the EPHL will team with Duguay to promote the Madison Square Garden charitable organization, The Garden of Dreams.

Duguay had 274 goals in 860 career games with the Rangers, Detroit, Pittsburgh and Los Angeles in his NHL career that ended in 1988-89. He last professionally in 2002-03 for the Jacksonville Barracudas in the Atlantic Coast Hockey League.

Here’s something that LA Times NHL writer Lisa Dillman wrote about the relationship between John Tortorella and Sean Avery. Torts had some not-so-kind words for Avery when he was a commentator for TSN, and has of course backed off of them now that he is coaching Avery. They seem to be getting along fine now—Avery got a ton more playing time last night—but it’s an interesting read on a topic that might come up again.

That was my favorite comment on the previous thread, from the notoriously funny Kaspar.

He’s right. There’s still some stuff to complain about—especially you Zherdev fans—but last night (and today, Kaspar) is as good as it’s been for the Rangers since, what, the playoff victory over the Devils last year?

Why? Because a road win in Nashville is as good as a road win in Detroit at this point. A win anywhere, at this point. Because seventh place is a lot better than ninth.

Because this game was stamped by John Tortorella, who certified that the “new coach” honeymoon period is over and that this is how it must be and will be from now on. Because Henrik Lundqvist, as crucial a piece of the puzzle as anybody, had a solid game even if he still isn’t having solid food. Because three of the Rangers goal scorers last night were named Avery, Staal and Sjostrom and on a team that really doesn’t have a true sniper, that’s what it will take.

And for so many other reasons, as well.

Tortorella must have peeled the paint off the walls between the first and second periods, must have promised the Rangers that they would either skate hard the last 40 minutes or skate much, much harder today in practice. Whatever, he got their attention and got results. (A while back, I said he’s not exactly like Keenan—and after the game, when he wouldn’t talk about why Nik Zherdev was benched, he proved it; Keenan would have gone off about how he let his teammates down and embarrassed his family).

Now come the Flyers for a home-and-home matinee starting in Philly tomorrow afternoon. The Rangers did the smart thing, too, in staying in Music City overnight. They will practice there this morning and then fly to Philadelphia.

Some observations:

1) Nik Zherdev’s benching wasn’t likely only due to the sloppy back pass in the offensive zone, which led to the rush the other way and the second Nashville goal. Clearly the kid has talent and a pair of hands comparable to few in the league (and fewer on the Rangers). But also, clearly, there is more that he doesn’t do that ticks off coaches. The giveaway was probably just the last straw. Now it’s up to Tortorella to get him back in there and to turn his benching for the last two periods into a positive.

2) Markus Naslund. His minutes diminished, too, especially after he was responsible for a too-many-men penalty. See, the players are responsible for that penalty, but it is up to the coach to prevent it from happening again. All I can say is about Naslund and Zherdev sitting is, with more and more minutes, Ryan Callahan and Sean Avery played better and better. About how many Rangers could you say that this year?

3) Avery. Avery. And more Avery. Forgive me, because I didn’t feel bringing him into this situation was ideal, and I still think it could blow up over the next three seasons. But he has been even better than the biggest Avery fan could have hoped. Better than he was in those two playoff series where he and Lundqvist were the difference. Love him or hate him, he’s a factor … and he’s a pretty good player. Kind of makes me wonder why more players don’t play like that. Not only is he extraordinarily physical, but he’s a great skater and he knows what to do with the puck when he gets it. Why wouldn’t more “role” players go as hard as he does?

4) Ryan Callahan. Maybe he will be the next Avery, even if he’s not as agitating. I thought, even through the darkest weeks before the coaching change, that he was playing terrific. Now he’s off the charts. Maybe Avery can rub off on him. Maybe the additional ice will result in some production to go along with all the other things he does so well. I thought the Gomez goal should have been Callahan’s, but I think if Gomez didn’t tip it ever so slightly he wouldn’t have taken credit for it.

5) Derek Morris has been pretty darn good so far. Nik Antropov a little less so.

6) The goal by Marc Staal—who had another solid game—reminded me of the year they were disallowing all those goals because of the silly, stupid in-the-crease video replays. That goal never would have counted. That year should be erased from memory, especially since Brett Hull scored the Cup winner in the crease. It was like the year baseball umpires were told to call all those balks. Please.

7) Hank’s NHL record. I know it has to be considered that he had more opportunities to win games because of the skills competitions at the end of tied games, but 30 wins in each of his first four seasons is pretty darn good. More important, he’s won four in a row, and he is your beacon of hope for more “bright, glorious, beautiful Ranger mornings.”

Here are the official game summary and event summary from last night’s game.

Hey, we know the Rangers haven’t had a lot of luck with understudies this year, but this is an opportunity. Backup goalie Dan Ellis starts in place of 6-foot-5 Pekka Rinne, who I am pretty sure the Rangers have never seen before and who is pulling a Lundqvist and sitting out with some sort of ailment.

Good story in Nashville about Steve Sullivan, the ex-Devil who missed 142 games over almost two years with a back injury and has recently returned as the Preds make their playoff push.

But I’m not going to go into all the this-and-thats while the pregame show is on, because, well … I don’t know why.

You ask for it, you got it here on the (Festivus) blog. You wanted a separate post pregame, here it is. Now do your thing below. I’ll check in during the game.

I don’t even have a memory from a game at Music City. I think I was only there once. The Predators were barely in the league when I left the beat, and it’s not even like the Rangers have gone there a bunch of times since then. Oh, Tennessee. Such a hockey town!

The Rangers will play the Predators tonight (an 8 p.m. start) for the first time since Oct. 18, 2006, a 3-0 Rangers loss at MSG. All-time the series is 5-4-1-2 in the Rangers favor, and they are 3-1-0-1 in Music City.

Anyway, both teams are in the same boat—fighting for their lives in an ultra-tight playoff race. The Preds have won six of their last eight and are in eighth place in the West with 71 points.

The Rangers, as you know, lost a three-game winning streak Monday and are ninth in the East, but that changes, as John Tortorella said, “hourly.”

And again in this new era under Tortorella, we are left to wonder about this team, and to watch each game not only for the result, but to try to ascertain if these Rangers are good enough to make the playoffs and/or to beat anybody if they get in. To wonder if they can score enough goals, no matter what the system they play. So far, we surely don’t know.

This would probably be a good place for the Rangers to start stringing together some points (even shootout points or OTL points are good when you play against the other conference), especially with the crucial home-and-home matinees against the Flyers looming this weekend.

Henrik “Lunch” Lundqvist is expected to play despite his lingering stomach flu, after sitting out Monday and puking during the Sunday game. The King Is one win shy of becoming the first goalie in NHL history to reach the 30-win plateau in each of his first four seasons, an accomplishment that must be taken with the grain of salt that other goalies may have done it with the benefit of shootouts instead of ties.

And it appears Tortorella will split up Wade Redden and Michal Rozsival, putting Redden with Derek Morris and Rozsival with Paul Mara. That should be interesting.

We’ll check back later if there are any updates.
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For more on the fighting debate, Sam Borden and I are discussing it over at the Faceoff Blog. Also, if you would like to hear NHL VP Colin Campbell’s take on the issue, he will be the guest on Gary Bettman’s Sirius XM radio show from 4-5 p.m. today. You can call in with questions at 1-877-645-6696 or e-mail nhlhour@nhl.com
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Another reminder: LoHud.com is running its annual March Madness bracket challenge. Me and some of my colleagues and fellow blogsters—inlcuding Blogfather Pete Abraham, Sam Borden, Kevin Devaney Jr. and Josh Thomson—will be filling in our brackets by Monday. If you fill in a perfect bracket you can win $100 million. Click here for details, or to enter.

Henrik Lundqvist has been fighting a stomach ailment. It’s why he didn’t play on Monday and why he missed the post-game interviews after a win over Boston on Sunday, when he was getting intravenous fluid. Hear the gruesome details and we fumble to understand the ailment.

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He still doesn’t know why he was throwing up so much during the game that he needed those fluids. He doesn’t feel sick, he just can’t eat big meals comfortably beginning last week. Lundqvist said he is taking medicine for it now and expects it to clear up.

Does it worry Rangers coach John Tortorella?

“Not for a second,” Tortorella said. He expects Lundqvist will be in goal against Nashville tomorrow.

Nik Antropov didn’t practice today after getting “banged up” in the 3-0 loss to Carolina. Tortorella said he would be ready to go tomorrow as well.

As for the line, Tortorella made his first major switches since taking over. With Antropov out, Aaron Voros played with Chris Drury and Brandon Dubinsky. Sean Avery was on the second line with Scott Gomez and Nikolai Zherdev, and Markus Naslund played with Lauri Korpikoski and Ryan Callahan.

The last line, Fredrik Sjostrom, Blair Betts and Colton Orr, remained intact.

On defense, Paul Mara played with Michal Rozsival and Derek Morris was with Wade Redden.

Avery said he played with Gomez about half the year in his previous stint as a Ranger.

“I think the way he’s coaching this team is you’re going to be rewarded on how you work,” said Avery, who will see more time with the new line if they are played tomorrow as practiced today.

Everyone was asked about being in ninth place in the standings, and everyone issued some form of the “one game at a time” quote. It was an easy fill in the blank.
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Hey, it’s Carp. Don’t want to start a whole Phil Rizzuto thing here, but I need to wish a Happy 90th Birthday to Marg Cater, one of our loyal readers north of the border, a serious hockey fan, and the mom of an NHL big shot and long-time friend of this blogger. You go, girl.

This is something we’ve discussed to a degree here before, and now NHL general managers appear ready to do something about it, too.

The staged fights in hockey. I think they serve little purpose except to get a home crowd into a game. I think it’s stupid that one team’s goon fights another team’s goon just because they’re on the ice at the same time, not because of anything that happened during the course of the game, or anything in their history.

My friend Bob McKenzie wrote this column about it for TSN today.

It’s a rainy day and I am headed off on one of many mini road trips—to glamorous places like Poughkeepsie, New Paltz and Utica—this week. I know, you’re jealous.

So I wanted to give you something to discuss, if you want to. If not, well, at least it’s a new thread for you guys to have your usual conversation.

I’ll check in pregame tomorrow.

I just heard from Jane, who is at practice and will be posting in a little while.
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Oh, one more thing. LoHud.com is running its annual March Madness bracket challenge. Me and some of my colleagues and fellow blogsters will be filling in our bracket this week, too. If you fill in a perfect bracket you can win $100 million … and maybe buy out Jim Dolan for part of the Rangers. Click here for details, or to enter.

Last night’s 3-0 loss in Raleigh was a good example of what I was talking about yesterday. Sometimes the goals scored or allowed don’t add up to the quality of play,or lack thereof.

I thought the Rangers were better in Carolina than they were at home against Boston Sunday. They seemed to tire at the end—and that is going to happen in back-to-backs when you play at that pace and with such ferocity. So the conditioning aspect is a factor … not that they’re out of shape, but that you have to be in much better condition to play this style on consecutive nights.

They made a few glaring mistakes, especially Sean Avery’s two selfish penalties and the defense pair of Michal Rozsival and Wade Redden, which reverted to January form.

But overall, I thought their play in all three zones was better than it was against the Bruins. Unfortuntately, Cam Ward was also somewhat better than that picket fence the Bruins used in goal.

So now they are in ninth, and that will get their, and your, attention. Eighth place to fourth place doesn’t matter. Ninth does.

Some thoughts:

1) Valiquette was very good, especially on the initial save on the first goal rebound that the defense (Rozsical and Redden and Chris Drury) left sitting there for half an hour, and on Eric Staal’s breakaway in the second after Avery’s penalty.

2) I think one of the most promising aspects of this new game heading into the (maybe) playoffs is the physical style the Rangers now play. They hit, hit, hit—led by Ryan Callahan of course—and never let up. I don’t remember the last Rangers team that was this physical.

3) Through two periods, I thought this might be the Rangers best game under Tortorella.

4) Three or four times a Ranger, with the pucks below the hash marks, passed instead of shooting. And that’s how Cam Ward gets a shutout.

5) Versus was, as usual, impossible to watch. No replays. Constantly covering the screen with promos. Closeups of somebody away from the play while something significant is happening around the puck, or after a whistle. You have no idea who is lining up for a faceoff until after the puck drops and Versus decides to put the camera back on the, you know, ice.

6) I love that Verizon commercial where the hockey fan from Philly and the hockey fan from New York get on an elevator together.

7) How about Tortorella pulling his goalie with 2:33 left?

8) I wonder how many games one of these bubble teams is going to have to win down the stretch to get into the tournament.

Here are the official game summary and event summary for last night’s game.

At least they’re dry now. Maybe they will remain that way for three periods.

Just wanted to put up a separate pre-game post so you guys have a clean slate for the game. 

The Rangers are 6-4-2 in the second game of back-to-backs this season, but have lost four in a row (at Pittsburgh, at St. Louis, vs. Toronto in OT, and vs. Florida).

You can read Carolina’s game night notes here. You already know about Eric Staal’s four-goal, two-assist game Saturday.

Did you see that Montreal fired coach Guy Carbonneau and GM Bob Gainey took over behind the bench?

Enjoy the Versus telecast.

I really wrestled with how I wanted to analyze yesterday’s game. You know why. It was a good win over a good opponent (although Boston has been struggling) in which the Rangers scored four goals, which used to be a week’s worth.

But, you know … 

If John Tortorella thought the Rangers “wet their pants” then how would he describe what Bruins backup goalie Manny Fernandez was doing all day long?

And while I mentioned after the Islanders game that some of the greats of the game live by the “don’t critique the wins” belief, it’s hard not to wonder if the Rangers lose the Boston game 3-1 against an average goalie. Then, how do we judge the way they played if they lose that game 3-1, or even 3-2, allowing the two third-period goals as they did?

So the Rangers go on the road for the next three, still in the tightest and most tenuous of playoff positions. They need to continue to get points (and to prevent their opponents from getting points) the rest of the way. A two-game streak either way can mean the difference between sixth and ninth place.

So, while trying really hard not to be negative over three straight wins against two lousy opponents and one lousy goalie, here’s a review:

1) You’ve got to be happy that the captain is showing a little fire. Chris Drury dropped the gloves after what he perceived to be a cheap shot. He was mad, and mad is good sometimes. I think Drury’s an OK captain, by the way. I know a lot of you guys want him out, or not to wear the C. But I don’t think his leadership is the problem. It’s been his performance on the ice. You can’t lead when you play poorly. You have to maintain a certain excellence before others will follow. Drury’s game is clearly on the rise.

2) The power play isn’t just scoring, but it is also creating. There are more open one-timers being fired per two minutes than there had been for games. Nik Antropov can fire it, but he gets a little Kovalevian sometimes, looking to make a perfect play or perfect shot.

3) I think way too much is being made out of Sean Avery’s return, by everyone. NBC is promoting its next Rangers telecast as “Sean Avery and the Rangers against the Flyers.” For gosh sakes, he’s a third liner. That said, Avery has had a solid impact on both of his games back. And he’s a pretty good hockey player. In other words, he does simple things that all players should do, or don’t do nearly enough, like fire bad-angle shots at the net when the options are limited. He did that twice Sunday, and they resulted in a near-goal and a goal. As for his penalty in the last minute, sorry everybody, but that is the correct call. That was the definition of interference.

4) I love the “donate blood” signs in the penalty boxes at MSG.

5) Boston sure brought out a physical challenge, and the Rangers answered it.

6) The Rangers’ aggressiveness will allow some chances, and we saw that off the opening faceoff, when Drury had to take a penalty to prevent a 2-on-1, and we saw it again on one of Boston’s goals (of course it was Wade Redden trapped pinching).

7) Once again the Rangers allowed a goal shortly after they scored one, a season-long problem. And later, nearly another.

8) Good to see Mark Recchi can still “embellish” with the best of them.

9) I know Pierre McGuire for a long time, and so I don’t feel the way a lot of you do about his work. But it really irritates me when he repeatedly starts his comments with “Edzo …”

So it’s on to Raleigh and Nashville (did you older fans ever think you’d hear that) for the Rangers. Tonight is a Versus game, which means a lot of us will be listening to Kenny Albert and Dave Maloney on the radio.

Here are the official game summary and event summary from yesterday’s game.

I’ll try to check in later.
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Sam Borden and I are discussing how A-Rod’s absence will affect the Yankees, over at the Faceoff blog.
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AFTERNOON UPDATE:

Yup, it’s Valiquette in goal tonight. First time since the debacle in Dallas. He beat Carolina Jan. 27, in the win before the big slump began.

CORRECTION: Should read his first start since the 10-2 loss in Dallas. He appeared in relief vs. Flyers.