Rangers Report Blog

Alright Staal and all…..this ought to be an interesting evening don’t ya think? Could be chippier than the Boston game, perhaps? At any rate, I give you your clean canvas on which to paint your your wit and wisdom (see how much happier I am today than last night :) Let the game begin, and LGR!!!

P.S. After the dreaded jump, a present. Sorry, I just couldn’t help myself, but at least way you can avoid if you choose ;) (more…)

“I love the fat boy!” (name that speaker)

Well, you all had quite a night here I see from the previous post. Shall we start loving and fresh today?  First, congrats again to all the guest bloggers to far, and advance congrats to those who follow until Carp returns from vacation. You’ve all done a great job keeping the conversation going and keeping this blog the hottest thing off ice (bad metaphor, but whatever, it’s early still).

So, since Carp let me have today I’ve been wracking my brain to come up with something brilliant, different, wonderful, to knock all the other great guests out of the blogesphere!

Sorry, not gonna happen. As I said in previous post, this week I’ve been Malarchuck’d at work. I’ve got the Saint Louis Blues across the neck.

Still…I am a Ranger…And I have a question. Why are you?

Despite Slats, and the Dolans, and the trades, and the near misses and the big misses, and the paltry Cups, we all still live, breathe and fight over this team. Yeah, other sports teams and fans have their issues (hello Chicago and formerly Boston! And the Jets, poor Jets)…but this is hockey! Who cares about that, right?

So, on a pre-game slow day, what’s your answer? Explain your bone/knuckleheaded devotion to this team and sport. Winner gets a T-shirt from Paws & Claws :)

FYI, a new post will be started before game tonight so you can go nuts afresh.

P.S. Craig, props to you for last night’s response.
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Hey, it’s Carp. Thanks, Laurel.

Here’s the latest on Avery, courtesy of the Rangers’ site.

My Pro – Sather Rant

I know, I know, that is not a popular concept in Rangerland. I’m not gonna sit here and tell you all that I think that Slats has been a dream GM. But, since we are on the brink of the 2009-2010 season, with the possibility of starting 4-5 rookies come opening night, a new coach, a new superstar, and so much promise to this season, what better time to ask the question …. “Given the state of this team when Sather took over, has he really been as bad as most Ranger fans make him out to be”?

Imagine, it’s the spring of 2000, and you are just hired as the GM of the New York Rangers. Your team is filled with aged veterans (despite their legendary status), has virtually NO prospects, NO identity since the “The Captain” had left, the team hasn’t made the playoffs in 3 straight years, and you’re sitting at a desk that contains a drawer full of blank checks … What do you do ??

If I was in his position, I would have done the same thing (and I bet most of you would too). With no restrictions to his spending, he tried to buy himself a playoff berth, and honestly that was the only option if you are trying to start off on the right foot your first year, with no prospects to really turn to. His first order of business was to re-acquire Messier and give back the identity our team was so badly lacking. With this move, I think it showed that he actually cares deeply about the emotions and passion of Ranger fans, and wanted to show moving forward that he would try and have the fans’ best interests in mind. Another interesting fact is, in that same year (his first year) while acquiring Messier, the long-time “face of the franchise,” Sather also drafted Henrik Lundqvist, who would turn out to be the “future face of the franchise”.

We all know he over-paid for veterans over the years, desperately trying to bang square pegs into round holes, and mix-match any combination he could to try and get us a playoff berth. Although we look back and blame the likes of Lindros, Nedved, Bure, Fleury, and Holik for not getting us back to respectability and in-turn consider them “underachievers”, the fact is they all shared time a our top scorers in their respective seasons.

My belief is that Sather’s first four seasons as GM, happen to coincide with the years that we had no decent goalie to lean-on, and THAT is the true reason for missing the playoffs for all those years. With an aging and oft-injured Richter, Slats tried to build back the goalie position with youthful prospects that for one reason or another just never panned out. In a four year span, highly regarded prospect Dan Blackburn, Holmqvist, Markkanen, LaBarbera, McLennan, and Valiquette were all young goalies who had a chance to play in efforts to find Richter’s successor. The reason I mention this, is that although the under-achieving veterans hog the spotlight of those bad years, there where early attempts to build with youth. Again, when left with aging veterans and no prospects to turn to replace them, it spelled a recipe for disaster in the early years.

The trade for Jagr in 2003-2004 was one of the most lopsided Ranger trades of all-time, and really was the “kick-start” to the rebirth of the organization. Scoring 15 goals and 29 points in only 31 games after being acquired that first year, it was clear who was going to be the new captain to take the reigns. Of course the lockout was the following season, which turned out to be one of the greatest things to happen to Rangers hockey in recent history. Old contracts expired, earlier drafted prospects of Sather’s were starting to come into their own, and a boat-load of complementary players were added to re-ignite Jagr’s career.

Maybe Sather is terrible at signing UFAs, but the man knows how to make a trade. He knows how to get what he wants when he sets his mind to it, and most importantly (in the case of Gomez) he knows how to fix his mistakes and maximize the return for them. Most experts will tell you it takes 3-4 years for prospects to make their mark in the NHL and in the Rangers case it may have taken a little longer given the fact there wasn’t much to work with and Sather basically started from scratch, but they are here now and we are on the right path. Since the lockout, the youth movement has been in full-effect, we have our franchise goalie and future captains. We were ranked 12th in Hockey’s Future Organization Rankings last year (and were ranked even that low due to the untimely death of Cherepanov). This year with the additions of McDonagh, Kreider, Heikkinen, Ambuhl, and Nigel Williams I would venture to say we will be ranked in the top 7.

The future is bright, the present is bright, it just took a little longer then most of us would have wanted, and we have Sather to thank for building back the depleted farm system and drafting some of the best young players in the NHL today.

Side Note: In honor of our new head coach John Tortorella (who I always thought looked like “The Fonz”), I am currently writing a petition to have the Rangers goal anthem officially changed from “Hey … Hey … Hey, Hey, Hey” to “Ay … Ay … Ay, Ay, Ay”

• Photoshop courtesy of blogger Jay

  THANKS FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY CARP

  – somerset -

Rangers beat the Red Wings Last night, 3-2 at Madison Square Garden. The game marked Marian Gaborik’s first appearance as a Ranger. The Blueshirts looked fantastic in the first period, but listless through the final two. I think we all hope they buck this trend quickly.

However, the young crop of Ranger hopefuls continued to impress. Matt Gilroy looks like a shoe-in for a defensive spot on the roster and Michael Del Zotto is making it hard for the Ranger decision makers to send him back to the OHL.

On the forward side of things Evgeny Grachev continues to make a statement with his poise and confidence on the ice and Enver Lisin showed great finish on a nice pass from Gaborik in the first stanza, That goal combination may have won Lisin a first audition as possible linemate for Gabby once the season gets underway.

Some Other Musings from last night.

Don’t Believe The Hype:  The comparisons to Gilroy being like or reminding fans and TV media of a Brian Leetch are absurd. Matt Gilroy is already 25 years old has only played in ONLY five pre-season games and by that age Brian had already played in 353 NHL games scored 78 goals and recorded 289 assists for a total of 367 Points. Leetch accumulated all this while taking care of his defensive zone in phenomenal fashion. If you feel the need to compare Gilroy to anybody how about a young James Patrick, that I might buy into.

There’s Always One: The only new face that has yet to impress this preseason happens to be one of the Rangers more expensive UFA signings in Ales Kotalik, so far Ales has been wild with his shot from the point on the power play and a virtual non factor even strength.

Vinny Prospal Invasion: Vinny Prospal scored a nice unassisted power play goal in the first period, and was interviewed between periods, which made a bigger impression on me than his goal. Vinny strikes me as evil, but the good kinda evil like Sean Avery. He will speak his mind, cause the odd bit of controversy and shoot from the hip both with his words and his stick.

Grachev and Del Zotto Time Bombs: We would all love to see this infusion of youth make the Rangers squad but besides being unable to return to their OHL teams, if both Grachev and Del Zotto make the Rangers squad, they also become pros. Which means the free-agency clock on their careers begins ticking immediately. This may be a factor into the Rangers decision against keeping these two around with the big club for this season. The Rangers have very little wiggle room as is with the cap especially with several overpaid players already with long term contracts and let’s not forget Marc Staal is due for a large payday next year.

Courtesy of the NYR:
NEW YORK RANGERS POST-GAME NOTES AND QUOTES

September 21, 2009 – New York Rangers 4, Detroit Red Wings 2 (Pre-Season: Game No. 5, Home No. 2)

Click Here For The Official Game Summary

The Rangers opened the game’s scoring with three straight goals in the first period, and held on to defeat the Red Wings, 4-2, tonight at Madison Square Garden.
The Blueshirts notched two goals on the power play in eight opportunities, and have tallied three goals with the man advantage in the last two games; New York held Detroit scoreless in four power play chances.
Marian Gaborik registered a power play assist and tied for the game-high with five shots in 19:38 of icetime in his Rangers debut.
Free agent acquisition, Vinny Prospal, tallied the Rangers’ opening goal with the man advantage at 5:13 of the first period; He also tied for the team-high with nine faceoff wins.
Enver Lisin gave New York a two-goal advantage with a power play tally, and is tied for the team-lead with three goals in the pre-season.
Henrik Lundqvist (W, 12 saves) and Steve Valiquette (16 saves) combined to stop 28 of 30 shots for the victory.
Ryan Callahan gave the Rangers a three-goal lead mid-way through the first period, off an assist from Evgeny Grachev; Callahan also tied for the game-high with five hits and a plus-two rating; Grachev now has two assists in his last two games.
Artem Anisimov, Rangers’ second round pick (54th overall) in 2006, sealed the win with an empty net goal in the game’s closing seconds; He entered tonight’s game tied for fifth in the league in pre-season scoring, and currently leads the team with five points (three goals and two assists) in four games.
Blueshirt defensemen Wade Redden, Dan Girardi and Bobby Sanguinetti each collected one assist in the contest.
The Ranges return to action on Thursday, September 24, when they will face-off against the Washington Capitals at Madison Square Garden (7:00 p.m.), in their final home game of the 2009-10 pre-season schedule; the game will be televised live on MSG.
POST-GAME QUOTES

John Tortorella on tonight’s game…

“I thought we played a really good first period and probably played one of our worst periods in the second, but we found a way to win. Third period I thought we grinded it pretty well but still struggled with turnovers. They had more NHL players in there. It was good for our guys to play against (them).”

John Tortorella on Marian Gaborik…

“I thought he did some good things. Obviously, you can see his talent. He did some things in our end zone; he did some lousy things in our end zone; he did some good things in some other areas. I think he is going to add a dimension to our team that I think you need and that is his creativity and the dynamic player that he is. I am sure it is hard for him. I haven’t talked to him at all about playing today or even after the game. I am sure it is hard for him, he wants to be healthy. I thought he gave us some good minutes. He did a good job killing penalties.”

Marian Gaborik on tonight’s game…

“I felt pretty good out there for the first game. I felt nervous at the start but it felt pretty good. It was a win for us. Hopefully, it is going to get better and better.”

Henrik Lundqvist on tonight’s game…

“We were playing well in the first period. It feels good to just be out there and get the game feeling. It is just about being out there and getting the feel for it. We are getting closer, it is exciting.”

I’m always so bad about getting out thank-you notes promptly. This one is about 15 months late. I hope he understands…

Dear Jaromir,

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for all that you accomplished while donning a Rangers sweater for just over three seasons. You came into New York with a lot to prove and thankfully a cheaper price tag since our much-maligned GM somehow induced the Washington Capitals to pay around $4 million per year of your annual salary during the length of your contract. Unloading Gomez’s tragic contract this past summer comes in a close second in Glen Sather’s Post-It sized list of “Good Moves” during his dictatorship tenure.

You proudly predicted, in response to all the naysayers that thought the Rangers would be bottom feeding with the ragamuffins from Long Island, that the Rangers would be a playoff team in 2005-2006. You proceeded to put the Rangers on your broad shoulders (with some help from Henrik) and carry them for 82 games in a whirlwind season that brought a majority of Rangers back from their collective fetal position following 7 seasons of morbidly disgusting hockey played by players that would skate for 20 minutes and watch their ludicrous paychecks come in.

While that 2005-2006 season fell apart due to many injuries (yours included), that season made hockey relevant again in New York City. The identity of the team changed. You made a man out of a player who probably doesn’t have a hair under his arms, but who could also be the team’s future captain in Brandon Dubinsky. You covered up a lot of the weaknesses of an overmatched coach who had the killer instinct of the adorable bear in the Snuggle Fabric Softener commercials. You became the team’s captain prior to the 2006-2007 season and you were a captain that led by doing and not by talking (though when you did talk, you cracked everyone up).

And, unfortunately, you and the aforementioned GM could not agree on a new contract following the 2007-2008 season. My instinct was to attack you for not coming down from your asking price to play in a city that you loved. But I realize that things aren’t always that cut and dry. Nevertheless, I felt I owed you a heartfelt thank you for your service while wearing the red, white, and blue. You wore the sweater with pride and respect and you are the reason the team is not the punch-line they once were at the turn of the century. Your presence this past season was sorely missed.

So please accept this belated thank-you letter that I would hope represents the pulse of the Rangers fan base. Hope all is well in Russia. Send me a postcard when you get a chance.

XOXO,

Noah

(Thanks for the opportunity, Carp!)

(Ed. note: Colorado Mark wrote this before the Dubinsky signing).

FALL TV PREVIEW RANGERS STYLE:

And now for something different. While browsing my Entertainment Weekly magazine, I noticed a lot of new shows starting up. Here are some excerpts!

EXTREME MAKEOVER: RANGER EDITION: This show has been on forever.

SURVIVOR: NYC: 10 Rookies move into the veterans undersized apartment in Manhattan for training camp. Each day one is voted “off the island” as there is only room for three. Watch as Sean irritates his roommates by “rocking” his “straight Speedo” while cooking breakfast, ridiculing their lack of fashion-sense and bringing home Paris Hilton and an Olsen twin at three in the morning before Tortorella’s first day of camp.

THE AMAZING RACE: Enver Lisin challenges Rico Fata and Fred Sjostrom for the title of “Fastest Skater Who Can’t Score!”.

BIG BROTHER: A documentary on the Staal household, where Marc suffers through yet another summer Stanley Cup Party he can’t enjoy.

TWO AND A HALF MEN: A comedy starring linemates Vinny Prospal, Marian Gaborik and Sean Avery (Who lost half his man-card for interning at Vogue).

THE BIGGEST LOSER:- Starring Wade Redden. Check local listings for a blue-line near you.

AMERICA’S GOT TALENT: Ryan Callahan, Brandon Dubinsky, Matt Gilroy and the
Chrises (Drury, & Higgins) compete for a spot on the US Olympic team. Watch as
they hide Henrik Lundqvist’s cup the night before the big game.

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE?: Starring Donald Brashear.

TRAUMA: Hopefully NOT starring Marian Gaborik!

THE FORGOTTEN: A drama starring Nigel Dawes, Petr Prucha, Scott Gomez, Blair Betts & Paul Mara.

HELL’S KITCHEN: Head Chef John Tortorella searches for the right ingredients to make Ranger Soup. Watch as he stirs the pot, seasons with plenty of salty language, then throws it all in the pressure cooker!

HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER: The Trash Talk Techniques of Sean Avery.

HANK: ‘Nuff said!

BIG BANG THEORY: A comedy about the Rangers attempts to revive their impotent power-play, starring Marian Gaborik as the “Bang” for the Rangers Bucks!

FRINGE: Fourth Line hopefuls Brian Boyle, Donald Brashear and Aaron Voros search for the mysterious, elusive entity known as icetime.

LOST: Brandon Dubinsky and his agent find themselves on a mysterious island where they are stalked by a Cigar-Smoke Monster and can’t get to training camp.

PRIVATE PRACTICE: Also starring Brandon Dubinsky.

FLASH FORWARD: A fun fantasy about the future of the Rangers after Glen Sather retires.

BONES: No comment from CBS as to the rumor that the show has been renamed “Bone-Heads” featuring a bunch of wannabe bloggers bickering over line combinations.

Of course a lot of these shows won’t last very long, and there are sure to be mid-season replacements (Two Tom Renney Projects are in production, The Mentalist and Bored to Death, the latter featuring his Power Play ). Since this blog seems to have multiple sources, I am sure that there are some insiders who can let us know of other shows on tap!

Thanks to Carp and the blog for letting me attempt to induce chuckles!
—Colorado Mark

Just in from the NYR:

RANGERS TRIM TRAINING CAMP ROSTER BY FIVE
25 Active Players Remain With The Club

New York, September 19, 2009 – New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that the club has assigned the following five players to Hartford (AHL): goaltenders Chad Johnson and Matt Zaba; defensemen Ilkka Heikkinen and Corey Potter; and forward Paul Crowder.
The Rangers now have 25 players remaining in training camp, including two goaltenders, eight defensemen and 15 forwards. The team will have an off day tomorrow and continue their exhibition schedule Monday, September 21 at 7:00 PM when the team will face-off against the Red Wings at Madison Square Garden. 

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PLAYERS ASSIGNED TO HARTFORD (AHL) ON 9/19/09:
Goal: Chad Johnson, Matt Zaba
Defense: Ilkka Heikkinen, Corey Potter
Forwards: Paul Crowder

PLAYERS STILL IN NEW YORK RANGERS TRAINING CAMP:
Goal: Henrik Lundqvist, Steve Valiquette
Defense: Michael Del Zotto, Matt Gilroy, Dan Girardi, Wade Redden, Michal Rozsival, Bobby Sanguinetti, Alexei Semenov, Marc Staal
Forwards: Artem Anisimov, Sean Avery, Brian Boyle, Donald Brashear, Ryan Callahan, Chris Drury, Brandon Dubinsky, Marian Gaborik, Evgeny Grachev, Christopher Higgins, Ales Kotalik, Enver Lisin, P.A. Parenteau, Vinny Prospal, Aaron Voros

Better late than never. That goes for Dubinsky and Sather, and to me for being late to the party after being stuck in traffic while Dubinsky was signing.
Here’s the official word:

RANGERS AGREE TO TERMS WITH
FREE AGENT FORWARD BRANDON DUBINSKY

New York, September 19, 2009 – New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that the club has agreed to terms with restricted free agent forward Brandon Dubinsky.

Dubinsky, 23, has skated in all 82 regular season games in each of the last two seasons. In 2007-08, his first full season, he led all NHL rookies in hits (196) and ranked seventh among rookies in points (40). He tied for sixth on the Rangers in goals (14), ranked fifth in assists (26) and sixth in points (40). Dubinsky ranked third on the team in faceoff winning percentage (51%), winning 512 of 995 faceoffs. He also skated in 10 post-season contests, finishing tied for second on the team in goals (four) and ranked fourth in points (eight). Dubinsky was named MVP of the NHL YoungStars Game at the 2008 All-Star Game, notching two goals and an assist. He was also selected as the winner of the Steven McDonald award by the fans, given to the player who performs “above and beyond the call of duty.”

Last season, Dubinsky registered seven multi-point efforts, including two three-point performances. He led the team in faceoff winning percentage (53.6%), finished fifth in assists (28) and sixth in points (41). He ranked seventh in the NHL with 251 hits. Dubinsky also appeared in seven post-season contests, finishing with one goal and three assists for four points. He was selected to appear in his second NHL YoungStars Game at the 2009 NHL All-Star Weekend.

The 6-1, 205 pounder has skated in 170 regular season contests with the New York Rangers, recording 27 goals and 54 assists for 81 points, along with 193 penalty minutes.
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And, as for that imposter … I know who you are now, and you will be banned very shortly.

Some thoughts 0n last night’s game, with a quick turnaround to this afternoon’s game in Boston (4 p.m., MSG).

1) Anisimov, Grachev, Lisin. Skills and skating. Good combo in a Tortorella system. Just give them sweaters. Loved Gilroy the other night. I also think that Higgins is going to be a really good player this year. And I liked the Kotalik signing (maybe in the minority there). So there’s some hope.

2) That Voros-Boyle-Brashear line was pretty effective … except Brashear has to learn when to get the hell off the ice, especially down a goal in the waning seconds. Voros, as long as he doesn’t play too many minutes or have to fight much, can be an effective player. I hated the Brashear signing, but he is better than Orr. And Boyle? Well, he’s big. Jury’s still out on him. But these guys won’t be doing PK duty or anything, like last year’s fourth-liners.

3) Abdelkader. I just wanted to say that again. Haven’t said it since June.

4) Do you guys like the fact that Mike Keenan is going to be a studio analyst 10 or 12 times this year? Should be fun if he fires from the hip. If not, he won’t be good at all.

5) It’s going to be a long, long year if MSG Network keeps beating us over the head with those Geico commercials (not to mention the virtual ads).

6) Redden and Rozsival. Well, the best play Redden made was to give Anisimov the puck. Otherwise, they stunk.

7) You Boneheads rock, turning out these kind of numbers for preseason games.

Here’s the official game summary.

Check out the Rangers’ site for pregame notes today
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Once again, here’s the guest blogging schedule for the coming week. Please e-mail your post to me the night before it is scheduled, and e-mail me if you have any questions: rcarpini@LoHud.com.

Sunday 9/20: Colorado Mark
Monday 9/21: Noah
Tuesday 9/22: The Mouth
Wednesday 9/23: Somerset
Thursday 9/24: Laurel Babcock
Friday 9/25: The Real MikeyNJ
Saturday 9/26: AdamZ
Sunday 9/27: Me.