Rangers Report Blog

Wow! I was overwhelmed with people stepping up to volunteer to guest blog next week. The good news: I just found out I’m going to be taking two weeks of vacation now, and more later in September, so here will be a lot of opportunities. The bad news: I still don’t think we can fit in everybody who wants to do it.

I’m setting up the first week’s schedule mostly with regulars. Otherwise, Jane is stopping in on Wednesday and a friend of mine and hockey blogger who has wanted to do this for years and years is going to do Saturday. 

Some of you guys and gals, I couldn’t tell if you really wanted to do it or not (CCCP). So let me know because we will have at least two more weeks of guest posts coming.

This first week we also hope to have some art one day (or as many as she wants) from Sally.

One major groundrule: I hope you all treat our guest bloggers with respect. Whether you agree with them or not, keep it conversational and not personal. Please. PLEASE! Also, Laurel Babcock may be stopping in, and me too, if there is news.

So here’s the first week’s schedule:

Monday: Nasty1
Tuesday: Mike G
Wednesday: Jane
Thursday: Doodie Machetto
Friday: Staal Wart
Saturday: Patrick Hoffman
Sunday: Rob C 

I need each of you to e-mail me (rcarpini@LoHud.com) and let me know that you are really going to do this. If I don’t get an e-mail I will find a substitute. Then, if possible, please send me your post the night before it is to appear so I can edit it and post it the next morning. Also, let me know how you want to be identified. It’s perfectly alright to use your screen name if you wish. Your post shouldn’t be too long. Say eight or 10 paragraphs max, and it can be shorter. OK? Any questions? 
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Since we are a hockey blog, and since some of you were discussing this yesterday, here’s news and audio from Faceoff.com on the Dany Heatley/Hockey Canada press conference circus yesterday.
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Pete Abraham, the Blogfather of all blogs (his Yankees blog is through the roof) gave me this idea, and I should have gone to it earlier.

But I will now. Next week I’m on vacation, and though I could chime in here and there, I figured this would be the perfect time to try some guest blogging. Sam Weinman’s too busy to ask, and I hate to dump on Laurel and Jane all the time, and Josh is only 26.

So I’m asking the Boneheads. Are any of you interested in taking a day next week (or in subsequent weeks) to do a post? You can talk pretty much anything, as long as you keep it within an arm’s length of the Rangers.

I am not sure how I will choose if there are more than six or seven responses, so I’m up for your suggestions on that as well.

What say you?
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Nothing says that the season is getting closer than previews, and today NHL.com does its thing with the Rangers. The league’s site has been doing 30 team previews in 30 days, and today’s team is the Rangers. So there is a preview story, and also a feature on John Tortorella looking forward to running his first camp as Rangers coach.

Check it out at NHL.com.
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AFTERNOON UPDATE, 12 NOON: Ryan Callahan was the winner of our last poll, about who should be the Rangers’ alternate captains this season. Brandon Dubinsky was second, Marc Staal third and Marian Gaborik fourth.

We have a new poll up about the No. 1 center position. Vote on the right side of this page.
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You all probably saw yesterday that Detroit signed Todd Bertuzzi for one year. I know some of you guys wanted the Rangers to sign him, others wanted no part of him. He’ll probably do great in Detroit with all that talent around him. Don’t know if he would have fit nearly as well with the Rangers.

Got some important biz to take care of today, so I may not be back here until tomorrow. If something happens, I know you Boneheads will post it up in the comments.

Until later, here’s a few Seinfeld Trivia questions (you asked for it, Staal):

1) Name the the three Japanese businessmen who slept in Kramer’s chest of drawers.

2) Name the three men from the Cuban embassy who played golf with Kramer, in exchange for cigars.

3) Who is Yev Kessem?
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MORNING UPDATE, 10:53 A.M.: 

Thanks to Rob E for pointing out this story on Vinny Prospal and John Tortorella.
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The Captain disputes the part of the New York Post report that said he interviewed for the Edmonton Oilers’ coaching position with his good buddy and Oilers boss Kevin Lowe.

Here’s the link to the story on Faceoff.com.

Meanwhile, do you guys think, like me, that Jim Schoenfeld ought to start looking for a new career path? I think Schoenfeld has done a good job, and probably deserves to be the next Rangers GM at some point. But I also don’t think Messier came back to be a scout, or to get Glen Sather’s donuts.

And I know that Jim Dolan thinks extremely highly of Messier (it was under Dolan that Sather was, reportedly, ordered to re-sign Messier from Vancouver in 2000).

So do you think Messier will eventually sit in Sather’s chair? Or do you think he’s more likely to be John Tortorella’s eventual replacement behind the bench? Or what?
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I’m going to cover the hockey portion of the Maccabi games today. The Westchester hockey team is playing twice, against teams from Montreal and Philadelphia. I was pretty cool with that assignment, thinking it would be nice to be indoors, in a cold hockey rink. Then last night I found out it’s inline skating, not ice, and that it’s outdoors. Bringing the sunscreen. See yas later.

Here’s the announcement:

RANGERS AGREE TO TERMS WITH FREE AGENT FORWARD VINNY PROSPAL

            New York, August 17, 2009 – New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that the club has agreed to terms with unrestricted free agent forward Vinny Prospal.
     “Vinny is a highly-skilled player with good offensive instincts and the ability to play on the wing or at the center position,” stated Sather.  “We think he will give us added flexibility and brings a veteran presence to our lineup.”
            Prospal has eclipsed the 20-goal mark four times, including a career-high 33 goals in 2007-08, and has recorded two career hat tricks.  He has also surpassed the 70-point plateau three times, and is one point shy of 600 career NHL points and two goals from reaching 200 career goals.
     The 6-2, 198 pounder has skated in 874 regular season contests with the Philadelphia Flyers, Ottawa Senators, Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Anaheim Ducks, recording 198 goals and 401 assists for 599 points, along with 473 penalty minutes.  Prospal has skated in 80 or more games in each of the last seven seasons.  In 2007-08, he established career-highs in goals (33) and game-winning goals (five), and tied his career-highs in games played (82) and power play goals (10).  He led Philadelphia in goals, and ranked second on the team in shots (215), and third in points (71) and assists (38).  He also tied for third on the club in power play goals and game-winning goals.
            His most productive season was in 2005-06, when he registered a career-best 80 points (25 goals and 55 points) with Tampa Bay.  He also established career-highs in shots (236), power play goals (10) and multi-point games (24).  Prospal tied the Lightning record for longest point streak, recording a point in 13 consecutive games from October 26 to November 20 (eight goals and 13 assists).
            Prospal appeared in 82 games with Tampa Bay last season, registering 19 goals and 26 assists for 45 points, along with 52 penalty minutes.  He ranked fourth on the team in assists, tied for fourth in points and finished fifth in goals.  He also ranked third on the Lightning in scoring during the month of January (six goals and eight assists), and was one of only two players on Tampa Bay to appear in all 82 games.  Prospal recorded a season-high, seven-game scoring streak from December 30 against Montreal to January 12 at Los Angeles, collecting nine points (three goals and six assists) over the span.  In addition, Prospal recorded his 400^th NHL assist on March 7 against Carolina.
     Prospal also captured a bronze medal with the Czech Republic at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, tying for the team-lead with four goals and finishing third on the club with six points. The Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic native was originally Philadelphia’s third round choice, 71^st overall, in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft.

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The signing of Vaclav Prospal—still unannounced by the NYR—is a decent move. They are certainly thin enough up front, and you only need to look at the line combos a lot of you have put together in this space the last month or so to see that. Boyle? Arnason? Byers? Those guys might be fine, but how many of them can you have?

Prospal is a legit NHL forward. He can play, and he can play a few ways. He’s annoying (more on that in a minute) and he has some skills and he’s proven.

But, which Vinny are you getting? The 33 goals/71 points Vinny of 2007-08 or the 19 goals/45 points Vinny of 2008-09? And if it’s the ‘08-09 model, well, how happy are you all going to be when he’s sitting there with 9 goals and 14 assists in December? Answer: Not very.

Now, back to the annoying part. I don’t remember all the details, so help me out if you do. There was a game in Tampa Bay when Prospal scored a late go-ahead goal against the Rangers and celebrated way over the top. And I remember the Rangers were really ticked off about it. I can’t recall if they attacked Prospal (my memory seems to think Todd Harvey or somebody else may have taken exception to it) and/or if the Rangers ended up coming back to win that game and ripping Prospal in the postgame interviews. It was something like that. I’m going to try to find my notes later on.
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Sorry, I forgot to post the official Mark Messier announcement yesterday. Here it is, for those who didn’t figure to go to the Rangers’ site. I was at my niece’s graduation party all day. Family comes first.
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In case you missed these two stories from Larry Brooks in the Post today, Mark Messier has returned to the Rangers organization as an assistant to Glen Sather.

The story says that Messier isn’t necessarily Sather’s heir apparent, but, c’mon.

Brooks also had the Rangers signing free agent Vinny Prospal for one year and $1.1 million, We all know that Prospal played for John Tortorella in Tampa Bay, but we also have seen the YouTube clip where Prospal ripped Tortorella after a game.

More thoughts on all of this later.

I was reading about the Olympic roster for Slovakia today and saw that, in addition to Marian Gaborik, the injured Marian Hossa, the NHL veteran Pavol Demitra, and your old favorite Marcel Hossa, there is a familiar name listed.

Ziggy Palffy. Remember him? Doesn’t it seem that he played decades ago? Didn’t he wear the actual Fishsticks jersey?

Well, I read the next line and it turns out old Ziggy scored 52 goals in 53 games for  Skalica HK 36 over there last year. And he’s only 37.

Boy, this officially said we’ve got nothing to talk about, doesn’t it?

Or, in some cases, maybe past/demoted Rangers vs. past/demoted Devils.

Here’s the AP story:

    NEWARK, N.J. (AP)—The New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils are taking their rivalry to another level.
    The Devils announced Thursday that the top minor league teams of the franchises will play two games at the Prudential Center this season.
    The Lowell Devils will host their AHL Atlantic Division rival, the Hartford Wolf Pack, the Rangers’ top affiliate, on Jan. 6 and Feb. 3. Both games are scheduled for 7 p.m.
    Lowell season ticket holders will receive information on both games with their season ticket packages, the Devils said. Individual ticket information for both games will be available at the start of the 2009-10 AHL season.