Rangers Report Blog

I don’t know if you saw this story about Ron Low, who is an absolutely wonderful person, a guy you all would personally love, despite his troubles coaching a dreadful Rangers team once upon a time.

Anyway, he was mugged in Calgary and in pretty bad shape.

Our best wishes are with him, and I hope the pieces of carcillo who did this are caught and spend a good long time inside.
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We got a little sidetracked last night, so here are the post-game notes.

From the Rangers:

NEW YORK RANGERS POST-GAME NOTES
March 25, 2010 – New York Rangers 4, New Jersey Devils 3 SO (Game #74, Road #35)
• The Blueshirts defeated the New Jersey Devils, 4-3, in the shootout tonight at the Prudential Center, to close out their 11th of 13 back-to-back sets on the season.
• New York improved to 33-32-9 (75 pts.) overall, including a 17-15-3 (37 pts.) mark in 35 road games this season.  The Rangers finished their season series vs. the Devils with a record of 3-2-1, and are now 13-5-2 overall against the Devils with a 6-3-1 mark at New Jersey since the start of the 2007-08 season.
• The Blueshirts now own a record of 7-2-2 in the second game of back-to-back sets this season, including a 4-1-1 mark when the second game is on the road.
• The Rangers notched one power play goal in three chances tonight, and have now registered 10 goals in 46 attempts over the last 11 games (21.7%).  The Blueshirts penalty kill held the Devils scoreless in three attempts in tonight’s contest, and are now nine-for-nine on the penalty kill in the last three games (100.0%).
• Henrik Lundqvist made 35 saves through regulation and overtime, and turned aside all three shots faced in the shootout, to record his 30th win of the season and improve to 30-26-8 overall with a 15-10-2 mark on the road.  Lundqvist is the only goalie in NHL history to post 30 or more wins in each of his first five seasons, and became the first Rangers goaltender in franchise history to record five consecutive 30-win seasons. Lundqvist has now matched-up against Martin Brodeur in 26 career regular season contests, posting a record of 17-4-5 with a 1.75 goals against average, a .938 save percentage and four shutouts over the span.
• After trailing 1-0 following the first period, Brandon Dubinsky notched the Rangers first goal of the game with a power play tally at 7:32 of the middle frame, and finished the contest with a career-high eight shots in a season-high 26:48 of icetime.  The Rangers have now posted a record of 10-1-3 in games when he tallies a goal.
• Rangers Captain Chris Drury notched the game-tying goal with 17 seconds remaining in regulation to send the game into overtime, and finished with three blocked shots in 23:27 of icetime.  Drury has now tallied six points (one goal and five assists) in the last seven games.  The Rangers improved to 9-2-1 in games when he records a goal.
• Michael Del Zotto recorded two assists, including one on Dubinsky’s power play goal and one on Drury’s game-tying goal with 17 seconds remaining in regulation.  The rookie defenseman has now registered five points (two goals and three assists) in the last three games.
• Erik Christensen tallied the primary assist on Drury’s game-tying goal, and notched the game-deciding goal in the shootout.  Christensen improved to 18-of-34 in the shootout for his career (52.9%), including eight game-deciding goals.  He has now tallied 11 points (three goals and eight assists) in the last 13 games, and six points (one goal and five assists) in the last four games vs. Atlantic Division opponents.
• Rookie Artem Anisimov registered one goal and four shots in the contest, and he has now tallied a goal in back-to-back games.  The Rangers are now 7-2-2 when he notches a goal, and 12-5-2 when he records a point.
• Sean Avery recorded his second power play assist in as many games, and has now registered six points (three goals and three assists) in six games since not dressing on Mar. 12 at Atlanta.  The Rangers improved to 7-2-0 when he tallies a goal, and 15-6-2 when he records a point.
• Jody Shelley and Brandon Prust each collected an assist on Anisimov’s third period goal.  Shelley has now registered an assist in each of the last two games, and now has three assists in the last four games vs. Atlantic Division opponents.  Prust has recorded three points (one goal and two assists) in three games vs. the Devils since joining the Rangers on Feb. 2.
• The Rangers return to action on Saturday, Mar. 27, when they will face-off against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre (7:00 p.m.), in an Original Six matchup. The game will be televised live on MSG Network and can be heard on 1050 ESPN Radio.

I mean that in the nicest way possible. But I found out tonight what you guys have asked all along, and what I’ve suspected all along. They read the Bonehead blog!

OK, John Tortorella launched me a bit tonight. No big deal. No hard feelings. I’m a big boy. I can take it, and we spoke afterwards anyway.

A while ago, I had questioned his using Chris Drury and Ryan Callahan to start overtime. I embellished it at the time, calling them “penalty killers and shot blockers” or something like that. My point was that, when OT comes, you need the two points. You should have your best offensive players on the ice. And I also brought up back then that I would use three forwards and one defenseman if I was in the Rangers’ position, needing points so badly, at this stage of the season.

So I asked Tortorella after the game tonight (after he started Christensen and Gaborik for the OT), if he ever considered using three forwards in OT, something, by the way, that he did in Tampa.

“No, Carpy. No,” he said, then looked away for another question. I got the feeling he wasn’t done. I just wondered if it was going to reach Larry Brooks proportions. Would he ask me if I’ve ever been in a fight? (I have, but it sure has been a while).

“You have a pretty good goalie,” he said. “I know you’ve talked about that. You do a lot of … you throw a lot of things out there and you really don’t think. You really don’t think.”

I thought I’d keep it light instead of going back at him. So I said, “That’s not my job.”

He got angrier.

“Obviously, it isn’t,” he said.

Again, no big deal. I spoke to him outside the coaches’ office later. He again said he’d take his chances in a shootout given the makeup of this team and its goalie. I still disagree. I wouldn’t want my team’s destiny relying on a shootout, a skills competition, especially when there are two Rangers on the entire current roster—Prospal and Gaborik—who had scored once each in shootouts this season. Two shootout goals, total, all season!

But that’s why he’s a coach, and I’m not. That’s his decision, and I’m certainly not saying I’m right and he’s wrong. I just wouldn’t want to go to a shootout when there’s nothing to lose in the OT.

Anyway, a pretty prominent player, whose name doesn’t matter, walked by me on his way to the bus. He said, “write something nice tonight. No lottery (pick).”

So, yeah, they’re Boneheads at heart. Life is good.
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I’ll put up the Rangers’ version of the post-game notes later, or in the morning. I wanted you guys to chew on this for tonight.

Also, Ryan Callahan wasn’t on the bench for the third period, or I think late in the second. Saw him after the game. He was limping on that left leg, probably the knee, he hurt in Boston. He said he aggravated it in the second period when a defenseman fell on him. Callahan said he hadn’t been examined by doctors yet, but would be tomorrow, and that he’s not sure if he just re-injured it, or aggravated the existing injury.
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Tortorella talked about not using Jokinen and Lisin much in the third.

“It’s just a decision by me,” he said. “I worry about (Jokinen) away from the puck. I worry about (Lisin) away from the puck, and the situation we’re in right now, we’re just not going to die on the vine with players that I’m not comfortable with as far as playing away from it. Because the situation, our games are so close that a mistake defensively will cost you a game. It’s a call by the coaches here. (Jokinen) is a good kid. (Lisin) is a good kid. But if we’re going to go down we’re going to go down with the guys who give us the best chance to win a hockey game.”

And, finally, on the team playing looser.

“There’s no sense of feeling the pressure here,” he said. “You lose a couple of games here with so few games left, you’re done. So you just go out and play, and we’ve talked as a group. A lot of people poke holes in us. A lot of people are poking holes, and rightfully so. We’ve had a very up and down season. I’m not complaining about that. But we can’t listen to that. We’ve got to stay within ourselves and find a way to grind and get points here. Whether we get there or not, I don’t predict it. But we’re going to keep on fighting and see where we’re at in the end.”

Henrik Lundqvist goes for win No. 30 tonight (or any night hereafter), which would make him the first goalie in NHL history to win 30 in each of his first five seasons. Of course that includes skills competitions.

And it doesn’t quite compare to Martin Brodeur’s eight 40-win seasons, and 13 seasons of 30 or more wins (Brodeur failed to win 30 in his first two seasons—as a rookie he split time with Chris Terreri; his second season he won 19 of 40 games after the lockout; and last season, when he played only 31 games because of injury, was the only other time he’s failed to hit 30).
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You know what always cracks me up about the Prudential Center? This is the home of the Devils, one of the most notoriously frugal franchises in sports, right?

Well, engraved on top of the chrome plumbing on every urinal and toilet in the whole building is the Devils logo. How much do you think that cost? I don’t even think the Yankees or Cowboys did that in their new buildings, though I wouldn’t be surprised if they had.
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Bonehead Shout-out Alert: Dave Maloney just asked me to come on the radio with him during the first intermission. So come over to the radio side after the first.

Or step down?

It’s always confusing when you play a great game against a bad opponent that plays horribly. It’s is also confusing if you beat a good team, which is what the Rangers need to do tonight … unless they are tanking, which apparently they aren’t doing. Or at least, they didn’t get that memo last night.

1) Nice to see Marian Gaborik turn on the jets as he did early in the season. He’s almost blameless in this whole season (except for the Olympic injury controversy), but when he plays and moves like that, you can understand why John Tortorella gets frustrated with him at other times.

2) Ditto for Sean Avery. I assume he will be himself tonight vs. the Devils, because he is always that way against the Devils, the Islanders and the Flyers. Look out Kovalchuk and Brodeur. But where is this most nights? Coach Keenan wondered the same thing (so now, I guess, I’m stealing his stuff).

3) It’s easy for a lot of guys to look good when the other team spends most of the night A) distracted by Avery or B) getting out of the way. I mean, how about all those breakaways? And posts? I mean, Girardi scored. Let’s see ‘em get more than one goal tonight.

4) In a game like that, I prefer to look at who did what early. And early, Anisimov scored on a terrific shot (Shelley got an assist because, I think, the puck hit him). I know more might have been expected from Anisimov, but considering how much time he’s spent playing with stiffs on the third and fourth lines, and how good defensively he is, I think this has been a pretty darn decent rookie year for him.
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PS, I’m finally getting away from the hardwood for a night. Going to Newark for the game (unless we have another hurricane or some other unexpected disaster at blog HQ).
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New poll on the right.

From the Rangers:

NEW YORK RANGERS POST-GAME NOTES
March 24, 2010 – New York Rangers 5, New York Islanders 0 (Game #73, Home #39)
·         The Rangers defeated the New York Islanders, 5-0, tonight at Madison Square Garden, in the first network hockey telecast ever produced in 3D and the first live 3D sports telecast in North America.
·         The Blueshirts have posted a record of 32-32-9 (73 pts.) on the season, including a 16-17-6 (38 pts.) mark at home.
·         New York tallied two power play goals in six attempts, and has now registered nine goals in 43 attempts over the last 10 games (20.9%).  In the last 10 games at MSG, the Rangers have notched 13 goals in 45 power play opportunities (28.9%).
·         Marian Gaborik notched two goals and added one assist for his team-high 24th multi-point performance of the season, and his ninth game with three-or-more points.  He has now registered 10 points (four goals and six assists) in nine games since returning from injury on Mar. 6 at Washington, including six points (three goals and three assists) in the last two games at MSG.  His assist on Del Zotto’s power play goal at 8:30 of the first period was his 40th assist of the season, marking the second time in his career he reached the 40-assist mark.
·         Henrik Lundqvist made 27 saves to record his 23rd career shutout and third of the season.  He improved to 29-26-8 on the season, including a 15-16-6 mark at home this season.  Lundqvist has held opponents to two or fewer goals in 11 of his last 14 games, posting a 7-5-2 record with a 2.28 goals against average and a .926 save percentage over the span.
·         Rookie defenseman Michael Del Zotto tallied one power play goal and added a power play assist in 17:18 of icetime.  He currently leads all NHL rookies and ranks first on the Rangers overall with 17 power play assists, and is tied for the league lead among first-year players and leads the Rangers with 21 power play points.
·         Dan Girardi notched one power play goal, added an assist, and finished with three blocked shots and four hits in 23:06 of icetime.  Girardi has now recorded six points (one goal and five assists) in the last seven games.
·         Sean Avery tallied one power play assist, tied for the game-high with five shots and registered five hits to capture Second Star honors.  He has now registered five points (three goals and two assists) in five games since not dressing on Mar. 12 at Atlanta.
·         Erik Christensen recorded two assists, including one on Del Zotto’s power play goal, and registered a plus-two rating.  He has tallied five points (one goal and four assists) in the last three games vs. Atlantic Division opponents.
·         Rangers rookie Artem Anisimov opened the game’s scoring at 3:12 of the first period.  The Rangers improved to 6-2-2 when he tallies a goal, and are 11-5-2 when he records a point.
·         Marc Staal recorded one assist and led all skaters with a season-high eight hits.  Staal ranks fourth on the team with 24 points at even strength (five goals and 19 assists) this season.
·         Brandon Dubinsky collected one assist and registered a plus-two rating in the contest.  He has now registered four points (two goals and two assists) in the last six home games.
·         Rookie defenseman Matt Gilroy recorded an assist on Anisimov’s goal at 3:12 of the first period, and has now registered two assists in the last four games.  The Rangers improved to 8-5-2 on the season when he records a point.
·         Jody Shelley registered his first point at MSG as a Blueshirt, and has posted a plus or even rating in each of his 12 games as a Ranger.
·         The Rangers will conclude their 11^th of 13 back-to-back sets tomorrow, Mar. 25, when they will face-off against the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center (7:00 p.m.), in an Atlantic Division matchup; the game will be televised live on MSG Network and can be heard on 1050 ESPN Radio.
POST-GAME QUOTES
John Tortorella on the team’s play… “Obviously, he (Gaborik) is an important guy but a lot of guys contributed tonight here.  To me, that was the most important thing, you just want them to feel good about themselves.  We know we have a hill to climb but if they can be loose and feel good about themselves and just allow themselves to play we will take our chance with it that way.  I am just glad with the way we played and won a hockey game.”
Henrik Lundqvist on tonight’s game… “When you get a win like this, you start to feel it again.  It has been a while since we have had this feeling.  The only thing we can do right now is continue to battle and fight.  Tomorrow is a big opportunity for us.  We play a great team but hopefully we match their game and maybe we can play better than we did today.”
Dan Girardi on tonight’s game… “We did a real good job. We generated a lot of offense. It’s one game at a time for us.  It’s desperate times right now for us. We need a lot of wins.”

Or “go down” time, like when a fighter takes a dive.

Looks like Ryan Callahan’s injury wasn’t too terribly bad. He’s a game-time decision.

I noted the extremely low number of manpower games lost in the previous thread and somebody reminded me that trainer Jim Ramsay deserves more than a little credit for that. That would be Gold Medal Jim Ramsay, by the way.

Won’t be watching in 3D. So if anybody will be, let us know how it looks.

See youse.

I don’t think they will tank, but they might not have to.

If they’re beaten by the Islanders tonight, then start the six-game trip, they might not be able to avoid a lottery pick. And there’s no reason to think they couldn’t go as low as fourth or third.
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One thing that continually amazes me is how other teams get ripped apart by injuries (or trade away players, i.e. Atlanta and Carolina) and stay afloat. Other teams—Boston and perhaps now Philly—can’t handle the massive injuries they’ve suffered. Meanwhile the Rangers have maintained this miserable pace while remaining remarkably healthy for two years.

Do you realize they lost a total of 31 manpower games to injuries in 2008-09, and that Dmitri Kalinin led the team with six games missed. In the NHL, that’s virtually being injury free for a whole year. This year the Rangers have missed 57 manpower games, and a lot of those were by Brashear, and 13 by Dubinsky, who broke his hand early in the season. That’s still an unbelievably low number.

Yet, with all this health and good fortune, they stink.

Here’s the info, and since I don’t know anybody who has a 3D television, and before as few days ago I didn’t even know there were 3D televisions, I figure the only way to see it is to buy tickets on the web site for the viewing at the WaMu Theater.

The release from MSG:

MSG TO TELECAST WORLD’S FIRST EVER HOCKEY GAME IN 3D|
Rangers vs. Islanders at Madison Square Garden on March 24 Will Be Screened in 3D at the Theater at MSG for Area Hockey Fans
Telecast Will be America’s First Live 3D Sports Event Delivered to the Home
New York, NY – March 18, 2010 – MSG, a leader in delivering state-of-the-art, cutting edge technology to viewers, announced today that it will telecast the March 24 Rangers-Islanders matchup from Madison Square Garden in 3D, the first network hockey telecast ever produced in 3D.  MSG will also be the first network in America to offer home viewers a live 3D sports telecast.  In 1998, MSG was the first regular provider of sports coverage in high-definition television, producing all Knicks and Rangers home games in that emerging format.
The Rangers will host a special viewing party of this historic telecast at the Theater at Madison Square Garden that will include appearances by popular Rangers alumni Mark Messier, Adam Graves, Ron Duguay, Nick Fotiu, Ron Greschner, Dan Blackburn and others, as well as fan contests and giveaways .  Tickets to the 3D screening are $20 and available at newyorkrangers.com via Ticketmaster.   MSG HD subscribers with 3D compatible televisions will be able to watch the telecast on a separate channel offered by Cablevision, and MSG is in discussions with other providers.  For more information please visit msg.com/3D.
“MSG has been a leader in delivering emerging technology to our viewers, and a leader in high quality original programming, including a record 64 Emmy nominations this year,” said Michael Bair, president, MSG Media.  “We were the first regular providers of high-definition sports telecasts with Knicks and Rangers games more than a decade ago, and we’re excited to continue this tradition of providing the most innovative and creative telecasts to our audience.”
MSG is planning a renovation which will be a comprehensive top-to-bottom transformation of the arena that will enhance the experience for customers, athletes, entertainers, fans and marketing partners.  The state-of-the-art facility will also include the most up-to-date technology throughout the arena for fans attending events.
Longtime Rangers voice Kenny Albert will call the play-by-play, former Ranger Dave Maloney will serve as analyst, and Al Trautwig will serve as television host for the evening.
The game will be shot using 3ality Digital’s image-capturing technology, which integrates with existing broadcast equipment for pixel-perfect 3D imagery.   3ality Digital, which has more than a decade’s worth of development work behind its systems, has been the technology of choice behind a number of recent 3D sports productions, including BSkyB’s January Premiere League Soccer broadcast, the first live 3D broadcasts of NFL and college football games shown in theaters, and the 2010 Sony Open golf tournament. Gamecreek Video will provide a separate high-definition mobile video production unit for the game, working with 3ality Digital camera rigs and image processing systems. In the Theater at Madison Square Garden, RealD’s 3D stereoscopic Cinema Processing System will enable the audience to view the game in 3D via eyewear, screen and filtering technology.   A provider of advanced 3DTV-capable technology, Harris Corporation, an international communications and information technology company collaborating with MSG on the telecast, supplied NetVX ™ encoders and signal processing equipment that will be used to ensure synchronous transport of the 3DTV signals from Madison Square Garden to the network operations center.

Heard this last night, checked around a little, didn’t find any evidence that it’s true: Glen Sather will retire after this season.

The source claims to have knowledge of this, from a better source. I’m not sure if I believe it, and I’m certainly not sure Sather would be sharing such info with some people, and not with the people I asked. So I’m very skeptical.

Aah, the beauty of a blog. You can just throw crap like this out there. It would never fly in the newspaper. But if it comes true, remember where you read it first.
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After seeing all these “hit from behind” penalties and the—in Mike Milbury’s words—“pansification of the game” I think it’s time to rewind to the pre-lockout days or earlier. Let the referees and linesmen determine what is and isn’t boarding, what is and isn’t dangerous; and let the league determine additional discipline.

Because, let’s face it, players now turn their backs to the opponent because they know they won’t be hit that way, and they know if they are hit they will draw a power play, and if they are hit and do a good enough acting job they might be able to sell it into a major penalty. It’s become a joke.

In the old days, players didn’t turn their backs, didn’t face the boards, because they knew they’d be blasted. So they didn’t have to be protected. They protected themselves. And guess what? The result was that players who forechecked hard created turnovers, and the game was more exciting and fun to watch.

Take away their automatic protection from the officials, and players will stop facing the boards when somebody’s coming. And you won’t see very many hits from behind.
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Still hoping to get some details on how you can view the first pro sports game in 3D tomorrow. Or if you can. Or where you can. I fear, though, that you will need a special television, not a pair of cardboard glasses. I doubt most of us might have that piece of equipment in the house.

Two days off, a game in which they didn’t expend too much energy, and then two more days off. Not bad work if you can get it.

Of course, this R&R (rest and relaxation, not to be confused with Redden and Rozsival) leads into the death march of the season starting with the Islanders trying to catch and pass the Rangers in the standings and in 3D! Then a six-game trip. Then a home game against Toronto. Then a home-and-home with the Flyers that might mean nothing to either team.

Good luck with that.

1) We’ve dissected and dissected this team’s roster, and we’ve only just begun. But for the sake of intelligent discussion, please don’t say “get rid of Drury” because he cannot be moved. And let’s not give up on the Anisimovs, Gilroys, Del Zottos or Grachevs, even the Staals or Dubinskys at this point. Even if they turn out to be busts, all of them, right now they are assets. Losing any of them without great return only makes the Rangers worse for the foreseeable future, not better.

2) It’s amazing that no matter how inept the Rangers are offensively—and they are—they continue to lose games defensively. That play on the first goal yesterday happens every period: Two defensemen on the same side of (or behind) the net, the forward coming back not recognizing the problem. This time it was Staal and Rozsival and the captain. The winning goal, granted, was the fault of a forward (Jokinen) and the goalie, who cannot allow a 25-foot back-hander to beat him, even with a screen or a deflection. As a former goalie, I do know that longer back-hand shots are trouble because you can’t read the release point or the target as well as a forehand shot. But still … Anyway, right after the winning goal, Del Zotto took a gamble he needed to take, resulting in a 3-on-1, on which Knees Girardi slid across to block the pass, didn’t block the pass, and forced the goalie to make an incredible save on the 2-on-zero. How many times have we seen that?

3) Most teams make these mistakes and hide them by being able to score goals.

4) The Bruins have scored fewer goals than the Rangers.

5) MSG Vault’s 1975 Rangers stuff last night was awesome footage, vs. Islanders and Bruins. When men were men, when boards were white, when players were slow and didn’t wear helmets, when goalies were normal-sized. Can’t beat Gordon and Chadwick.
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The Rangers announced this today:

RANGERS AGREE TO TERMS WITH
FREE AGENT DEFENSEMAN LEE BALDWIN
New York, March 22, 2010 – New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that the club has agreed to terms with free agent defenseman Lee Baldwin.
Baldwin, 21, skated in 32 games with the University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves this season, registering one goal and nine assists for 10 points, along with 51 penalty minutes.  He ranked second among team freshman in assists and tied for third in points.  Baldwin ranked sixth on the team overall and third among team defensemen in assists, fourth among team defensemen in points, and fifth on the Seawolves in penalty minutes.  He registered his first collegiate point in his second game with two assists on October 9 vs. Mercyhurst.  Baldwin notched his first career NCAA goal, and posted a career-high three points (one goal and two assists) and plus-three rating on November 7 vs. Denver.
Prior to joining the Seawolves, the 6-4, 205-pounder skated in 150 career British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) games over three seasons with the Burnaby Express and Victoria Grizzlies, recording 20 goals and 74 assists for 94 points, along with 174 penalty minutes.  Baldwin enjoyed his finest BCHL season with the Grizzlies in 2008-09, establishing career-highs in goals (13), assists (41), points (54), power play goals (seven), shorthanded goals (one) and penalty minutes (79) to capture Team MVP and Top Defenseman honors while serving as an assistant captain for Victoria.  The 2009 BCHL All Star also led the Grizzlies in plus/minus rating, and led all BCHL defensemen in points.  In addition, Baldwin has registered five goals and 14 assists for 19 points, along with 20 penalty minutes in 33 career BCHL playoff games with Burnaby and Victoria.