NOW I know why I don't update this blog. Because the Rangers infuriate me so much, that a blood vessel in my brain might explode if I even start to think about it.
Look.
Gilroy's play had declined steadily from preseason to now, and no one is denying it. He had little offensive production, and even defensively has been shaky.
Valiquette also didn't look so hot in his couple of starts this season.
But the blame is being put onto them. Like moving these players will change anything at all? Of course it won't. The salary cap is still being squished to the max by contracts for players that are invisible (or worse, noticeably terrible).
Unless these players are being moved for a big trade that eliminates at least one of the three "big problems" I will remain unhappy with the decisions.
Valiquette may not have been great, but he was a good team guy and happy in his backup roll. Now we're forcing young goaltenders to take time out of their development to sit on the bench and watch Henrik play... and further more, are these players even ready for the NHL? God forbid something happen to Lundqvist, and then what happens?
Gilroy may not have been great, either, but has he stood out as worse than Rozsival or Girardi? Not to me. Does he stick out like a sore thumb compared to Staal and Redden? Nope. And although that might not be an acceptable compete level, it's not like he was doing anything particularly terrible. And although I am aware that because of waivers and contracts that Gilroy (along with MDZ) is the only defensemen of those I mentioned who can move up and down between leagues without clearing waivers first, he seems like the logical choice to go down.
But the question is WHY. If it's just to "shake up" this team, I hate the idea. I hate sending a kid down without him first getting talked to, without first getting benched for a bad play, without first being a healthy scratch after a terrible game. Teach him something; teach him a lesson. But no, the Rangers take the most severe approach and just send him down to Hartford. (Where, by the way, I wonder if there will be hard feelings since Gilroy came out of no where to take a spot that could have possibly belonged to one of our AHLers.)
If it's to clear some salary for a trade, I'd like to see what the trade brings us before I accept this move as a positive one for the organization.
And let's not get started on the on-ice productions. Taking one point out of Chicago was like a miracle.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
A List of Selfish Things Tortorella has Done.
1) Throwing a water bottle at Capitals fans because he can't control his own behavior, causing the league to thus suspend him during a playoffs series which the Rangers ended up blowing.
2) Scratching Sean Avery, who did deserve some type of punishment. In my opinion, your best players should play during the playoffs, whether you're trying to make a point or not. Bench him for a period, maybe? But healthy scratching him is a bit much, considering how hypocritical Tortorella is for asking others to maintain their composure.
3) The numerous instances where he refuses to take blame for his own defensive pairings or lines or the refusal to change his system when the situation calls for adaption. (Who are you, Tom Renney?) Instead, he calls out players; one instance, it was Matt Gilroy, but it has happened several other times.
4) Being part of the decision to sign Donald Brashear. Yeah, that's working out real great for us.
5) Playing Lundqvist, not against a division rival that also happens to be Stanley Cup Champions, but against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tortorella's old team.
6) Benching Lisin, a third liner who doesn't play stellar defense, instead of healthy scratching him because he wanted to make a show out of it, which set the Rangers off with a shortened bench from before warm ups even happened.
Not for nothing, and I'm not solely blaming Tortorella for the Rangers current slump or this travesty of a weekend, but Tortorella makes decisions that hurts the club for his own petty desire to prove he's the boss. He has done a couple things I really agree with, but I can't agree with petty moves that hurt the team to "prove a point" or "send a message" when the message is just that Tortorella is king.
2) Scratching Sean Avery, who did deserve some type of punishment. In my opinion, your best players should play during the playoffs, whether you're trying to make a point or not. Bench him for a period, maybe? But healthy scratching him is a bit much, considering how hypocritical Tortorella is for asking others to maintain their composure.
3) The numerous instances where he refuses to take blame for his own defensive pairings or lines or the refusal to change his system when the situation calls for adaption. (Who are you, Tom Renney?) Instead, he calls out players; one instance, it was Matt Gilroy, but it has happened several other times.
4) Being part of the decision to sign Donald Brashear. Yeah, that's working out real great for us.
5) Playing Lundqvist, not against a division rival that also happens to be Stanley Cup Champions, but against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tortorella's old team.
6) Benching Lisin, a third liner who doesn't play stellar defense, instead of healthy scratching him because he wanted to make a show out of it, which set the Rangers off with a shortened bench from before warm ups even happened.
Not for nothing, and I'm not solely blaming Tortorella for the Rangers current slump or this travesty of a weekend, but Tortorella makes decisions that hurts the club for his own petty desire to prove he's the boss. He has done a couple things I really agree with, but I can't agree with petty moves that hurt the team to "prove a point" or "send a message" when the message is just that Tortorella is king.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
We'll Miss You Shanny, and yeah, that team we follow lost again.
On behalf of the three of us here at Some Like It Blue, as well as our readers (lmao), I would like to send the deepest of congratulations to Brendan Shanahan on his tremendous Hall of Fame career.
In fact, as I'm writing this, I just saw a tweet from @PuckCentral, "Throughout his career Brendan Shanahan had 17 "Gordie Howe" hat tricks -- the last of a dying breed unfortunately." Amazing, what Brendan Shanahan did day in and day out.
I'm slightly heart broken over the news of his retirement; he was one of my favorite players before he came to the Rangers, and I remember just how excited I was getting the news that Shanny signed with the Rangers. My brother was concerned about his age, but I couldn't stop blubbering about how SHANAHAN was going to wear a Rangers jersey. It was one of the moments I was most proud to be a Rangers fan, because Shanahan was built up so high in my own mind.
Sometimes, though, it's a negative to see your heroes play for your own team. The rumors of the Rangers signing Saku Koivu scared me for that very reason. You watch this guy from afar, and you see him in his prime, winning Stanley Cups with the Red Wings, but when he comes to New York... well, his prime was over. It's why the Rangers wouldn't take him back last year, and that's why the Devils didn't let him last the preseason. Rangers fans complained of how slow he was; I remember doing it myself. He was referred to as "grandpa" and "the old man" around the Rangers Internet community, sometimes not so endearingly.
But I feel so honored that I got to watch Brendan Shanahan play hockey, not only for the Rangers, but for other teams around the league, even the Devils. Because this man exemplifies what hockey is about; honor, courage, leadership, willing to stand up for yourself and for teammates, and a really, really wicked shot. His work during the lockout improved our game, and it will be forever appreciated. What he gave the game, both on and off the ice, is unparalleled.
I remember thinking during that stick ceremony, when Jagr and Shanny both reached the 600 goal milestone together, how silly it was that we were celebrating Shanahan's 600th goal, when next to none of them were scored as a Ranger. But you get a little older and you watch this great hockey player retire, and then you realize the significance of such an event.
It also makes us remember how lucky we were to have Jaromir Jagr and Brendan Shanahan skating on a team together.
And unlike that idiot @Stan Fischler, we realize how pivotal those Rangers were, and how Marion Gaborik cannot even begin to be compared considering how few games he actually has played as a Ranger.
I miss seeing Jagr skate for the Rangers just about every time I turn on a Rangers game. And I miss seeing Shanny there next to him. So even though Shanahan will always be a Red Wing... a part of him will always be a Ranger, too.
I'm such a girl, but I cried watching this, lol.
---
I really, really hate losing to teams to who kick us out of the playoffs. So I really, really hate the Washington Capitals these days.
There were some positives to the game. Firstly, the Rangers came out on all four cylinders, pressuring the puck and pushing the forecheck. It was a fun ten minutes to watch. Secondly, the second period wasn't so bad. It didn't look anything like the usual second periods that kind of make you nervous through the entire twenty minutes. Thirdly, Sean Avery decided to show up to this game. Good, because I missed you, Sean.
The downfalls have pretty pretty obvious. Poor passing, poor puck support, losing battles along the boards, and blatant inability to score. Marion Gaborik scored both of the Rangers goals last night. If he wasn't on this team the Rangers would be at the cellar of the East, and we might end up there despite him.
I've read a few re-caps throughout the Rangers-verse this morning, and three similarities stand out. People are already tired of Tortorella, for one, two, nobody likes our fourth line, and three, everyone thinks Drury and Dubinsky have nothing to do with our consistent losses.
The fourth line we have been seeing in action is Brashear-Boyle-Voros. They are unable to get much generated in the offensive zone; in fact, they can barely keep it out of their own net. Either that, or they're taking a penalty. It's annoying and frustrating, but the best we can hope for is that some of them need to take seats when Drury and Dubinsky come back. Maybe we can keep up PA or even re-call up Dane Byers; anything is better than watching this fourth line. (Concern there, though, is for our young developing players who need ice time if they are going to be called up.) A tiny plus from last night's work was that Voros actually won a fight; unfortunately, that brings us right back to why Brashear isn't the one doing the fighting.
Our fourth line hinders our other lines, as they must see more and more ice time because Tortorella doesn't want Brashear and Voros out there for any longer than he has to. Partially, this is because Tortorella is not a fourth line coach and tends to give his fourth line few minutes. But the other part of the equation is that they are really that terrible; they don't deserve more than the 4 minutes they are already getting.
And it reminds me of who we let go last season, who did their jobs for cheap and did their jobs well. Imagine if Blair Betts, Freddie Sjo, and Colton Orr were our fourth line. I think that dramatically changes the look of this team from back to front, because Tortorella would have the luxury of putting the fourth line out there and not having to worry about this having a disastrous outcome.
Plus, our terrible fourth liners weren't all playing when Dubinsky and Drury were in the mix. I'm really not sure how anyone could make the judgement that Dubi and Dru have so little affect on this team that their injuries don't change anything. The Rangers haven't leaned on these two for goals, certainly, but they have a better chance at goal scoring than Voros or Brashear do (...maybe??), and were a huge part of the penalty kill, which now is someone else's responsibility. As much as I'm not a Drury fan, none of us are in that locker room and knows how much of an impact he makes while he's there. Even Dubinsky, who hits and creates energy even if he's not playing a good offensive game, affects the locker room. At the very least, Drury and Dubinsky influence the PK, and the way the lines are set up, which goes back to Brashear and Voros having to be in the lineup every single night.
This is not supposed to be any kind of excuse for the way the Rangers have played; I certainly do not believe the Rangers keep losing because Captain Un-Clutch has a concussion. I'm not disputing those who suggest that this team would be losing with both Drury and Dubinsky in the lineup. A good team wins despite those injuries; and this team was showing signs of weakness long before Glencross blind-sided our seven million dollar man. But this isn't a good team, he's our captain, and yeah, his injury influences the on-ice product, even if it's not seven million dollars worth of influence.
Finally, the blame is being placed most firmly on John Tortorella's shoulders. In many ways these pundits and bloggers are right; Tortorella has not done his job the way he has promised in recent games. In the beginning of the season, we saw Rozsival, Dubinsky and Higgins all take a benching and they came back and played stronger because of it. Maybe it's only me, but I liked the handling of Christopher Higgins, who hasn't been all I dreamt him up to be, but he certainly is improving as time goes on. Recently, though, despite huge blunders from the defense and offense alike (I'm looking at you, Wade Redden, after last night) no one seems to be held accountable. I also am sick of the line-changing that reminds me of the Tom Renney days. If the team can't score, how does making sure that chemistry does NOT develop help in any way?
Of course it's time to point our fingers at Tortorella. Not to yell "fire," but to ask him to do something with this mess. It's his job to motive this team, to manage this team, to put players in the best positions he can to ensure we're scoring goals and the players stay confident. So let's see it, then.
I keep saying it, but I see a lot of my favorite ex-Ranger in Ryan Callahan. I hope that turns itself around, and I hope the coach takes notice. Guys who get their goals from working hard and get the chance to work with decent play-making centers on first and second lines score X amount of goals. When ice time and the decent centers go away, these players score way less than X. Sometimes maybe it's better to be Brandon Dubinsky, who never had "the breakout" year, and continues to plug along with a mediocre if not underwhelming amount of goals.
In fact, as I'm writing this, I just saw a tweet from @PuckCentral, "Throughout his career Brendan Shanahan had 17 "Gordie Howe" hat tricks -- the last of a dying breed unfortunately." Amazing, what Brendan Shanahan did day in and day out.
I'm slightly heart broken over the news of his retirement; he was one of my favorite players before he came to the Rangers, and I remember just how excited I was getting the news that Shanny signed with the Rangers. My brother was concerned about his age, but I couldn't stop blubbering about how SHANAHAN was going to wear a Rangers jersey. It was one of the moments I was most proud to be a Rangers fan, because Shanahan was built up so high in my own mind.
Sometimes, though, it's a negative to see your heroes play for your own team. The rumors of the Rangers signing Saku Koivu scared me for that very reason. You watch this guy from afar, and you see him in his prime, winning Stanley Cups with the Red Wings, but when he comes to New York... well, his prime was over. It's why the Rangers wouldn't take him back last year, and that's why the Devils didn't let him last the preseason. Rangers fans complained of how slow he was; I remember doing it myself. He was referred to as "grandpa" and "the old man" around the Rangers Internet community, sometimes not so endearingly.
But I feel so honored that I got to watch Brendan Shanahan play hockey, not only for the Rangers, but for other teams around the league, even the Devils. Because this man exemplifies what hockey is about; honor, courage, leadership, willing to stand up for yourself and for teammates, and a really, really wicked shot. His work during the lockout improved our game, and it will be forever appreciated. What he gave the game, both on and off the ice, is unparalleled.
I remember thinking during that stick ceremony, when Jagr and Shanny both reached the 600 goal milestone together, how silly it was that we were celebrating Shanahan's 600th goal, when next to none of them were scored as a Ranger. But you get a little older and you watch this great hockey player retire, and then you realize the significance of such an event.
It also makes us remember how lucky we were to have Jaromir Jagr and Brendan Shanahan skating on a team together.
And unlike that idiot @Stan Fischler, we realize how pivotal those Rangers were, and how Marion Gaborik cannot even begin to be compared considering how few games he actually has played as a Ranger.
I miss seeing Jagr skate for the Rangers just about every time I turn on a Rangers game. And I miss seeing Shanny there next to him. So even though Shanahan will always be a Red Wing... a part of him will always be a Ranger, too.
I'm such a girl, but I cried watching this, lol.
---
I really, really hate losing to teams to who kick us out of the playoffs. So I really, really hate the Washington Capitals these days.
There were some positives to the game. Firstly, the Rangers came out on all four cylinders, pressuring the puck and pushing the forecheck. It was a fun ten minutes to watch. Secondly, the second period wasn't so bad. It didn't look anything like the usual second periods that kind of make you nervous through the entire twenty minutes. Thirdly, Sean Avery decided to show up to this game. Good, because I missed you, Sean.
The downfalls have pretty pretty obvious. Poor passing, poor puck support, losing battles along the boards, and blatant inability to score. Marion Gaborik scored both of the Rangers goals last night. If he wasn't on this team the Rangers would be at the cellar of the East, and we might end up there despite him.
I've read a few re-caps throughout the Rangers-verse this morning, and three similarities stand out. People are already tired of Tortorella, for one, two, nobody likes our fourth line, and three, everyone thinks Drury and Dubinsky have nothing to do with our consistent losses.
The fourth line we have been seeing in action is Brashear-Boyle-Voros. They are unable to get much generated in the offensive zone; in fact, they can barely keep it out of their own net. Either that, or they're taking a penalty. It's annoying and frustrating, but the best we can hope for is that some of them need to take seats when Drury and Dubinsky come back. Maybe we can keep up PA or even re-call up Dane Byers; anything is better than watching this fourth line. (Concern there, though, is for our young developing players who need ice time if they are going to be called up.) A tiny plus from last night's work was that Voros actually won a fight; unfortunately, that brings us right back to why Brashear isn't the one doing the fighting.
Our fourth line hinders our other lines, as they must see more and more ice time because Tortorella doesn't want Brashear and Voros out there for any longer than he has to. Partially, this is because Tortorella is not a fourth line coach and tends to give his fourth line few minutes. But the other part of the equation is that they are really that terrible; they don't deserve more than the 4 minutes they are already getting.
And it reminds me of who we let go last season, who did their jobs for cheap and did their jobs well. Imagine if Blair Betts, Freddie Sjo, and Colton Orr were our fourth line. I think that dramatically changes the look of this team from back to front, because Tortorella would have the luxury of putting the fourth line out there and not having to worry about this having a disastrous outcome.
Plus, our terrible fourth liners weren't all playing when Dubinsky and Drury were in the mix. I'm really not sure how anyone could make the judgement that Dubi and Dru have so little affect on this team that their injuries don't change anything. The Rangers haven't leaned on these two for goals, certainly, but they have a better chance at goal scoring than Voros or Brashear do (...maybe??), and were a huge part of the penalty kill, which now is someone else's responsibility. As much as I'm not a Drury fan, none of us are in that locker room and knows how much of an impact he makes while he's there. Even Dubinsky, who hits and creates energy even if he's not playing a good offensive game, affects the locker room. At the very least, Drury and Dubinsky influence the PK, and the way the lines are set up, which goes back to Brashear and Voros having to be in the lineup every single night.
This is not supposed to be any kind of excuse for the way the Rangers have played; I certainly do not believe the Rangers keep losing because Captain Un-Clutch has a concussion. I'm not disputing those who suggest that this team would be losing with both Drury and Dubinsky in the lineup. A good team wins despite those injuries; and this team was showing signs of weakness long before Glencross blind-sided our seven million dollar man. But this isn't a good team, he's our captain, and yeah, his injury influences the on-ice product, even if it's not seven million dollars worth of influence.
Finally, the blame is being placed most firmly on John Tortorella's shoulders. In many ways these pundits and bloggers are right; Tortorella has not done his job the way he has promised in recent games. In the beginning of the season, we saw Rozsival, Dubinsky and Higgins all take a benching and they came back and played stronger because of it. Maybe it's only me, but I liked the handling of Christopher Higgins, who hasn't been all I dreamt him up to be, but he certainly is improving as time goes on. Recently, though, despite huge blunders from the defense and offense alike (I'm looking at you, Wade Redden, after last night) no one seems to be held accountable. I also am sick of the line-changing that reminds me of the Tom Renney days. If the team can't score, how does making sure that chemistry does NOT develop help in any way?
Of course it's time to point our fingers at Tortorella. Not to yell "fire," but to ask him to do something with this mess. It's his job to motive this team, to manage this team, to put players in the best positions he can to ensure we're scoring goals and the players stay confident. So let's see it, then.
I keep saying it, but I see a lot of my favorite ex-Ranger in Ryan Callahan. I hope that turns itself around, and I hope the coach takes notice. Guys who get their goals from working hard and get the chance to work with decent play-making centers on first and second lines score X amount of goals. When ice time and the decent centers go away, these players score way less than X. Sometimes maybe it's better to be Brandon Dubinsky, who never had "the breakout" year, and continues to plug along with a mediocre if not underwhelming amount of goals.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Dubiii don't be hurrrrtttt!
“Basically, for lack of a better word, it blew my hand up, basically,” Dubinsky said.
Yup. Adorable. Not that he broke his hand. Just him. ^_^
Obviously, Drury is out for tomorrow with a concussion, Dubinsky out 4-6 week (*sob*) with a broken hand. We're short in the center department.
We play the Thrashers tomorrow. Woo-hoo?
Question of note: How is it with teams with track records like the MAPLE LEAFS and the RANGERS manage to be number 1 and 2 on Forbes list of most valuable hockey teams? Clearly, winning means nothing.
Yup. Adorable. Not that he broke his hand. Just him. ^_^
Obviously, Drury is out for tomorrow with a concussion, Dubinsky out 4-6 week (*sob*) with a broken hand. We're short in the center department.
We play the Thrashers tomorrow. Woo-hoo?
Question of note: How is it with teams with track records like the MAPLE LEAFS and the RANGERS manage to be number 1 and 2 on Forbes list of most valuable hockey teams? Clearly, winning means nothing.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Prucha's Revenge
It's hard to really dissect what happened in Nassau County two nights ago, mostly because it was just so terrible. There's nothing else to say besides that the Rangers didn't bring it. And there is just no excuse for that; especially not against a rival, and especially not when about half the fans in attendance were wearing Ranger blue.
Although there are no excuses, a big factor in the Rangers' defeat was that Marion Gaborik had to sit out due to a sore leg/knee/whatever, that he suffered on Monday during a leg to leg collision against a certain little, loveable and hardworking Phoenix Coyote we all know so well. Typical; I wanted a Rangers' win and a Prucha hat trick. Instead, I get a terribly-played game by Prucha and the Coyotes, but for good measure, they take out our number one guy.
Marion is extremely important. Period. For the first time in a while, we've got a forward on our team that can actually rival Lundqvist in the "all-important" category. Just as Lundqvist gives the Rangers a chance to win (and even a chance to steal a game) every single night, Gaborik is proving that he also almost just as critical to the Rangers' success.
If Gaborik plays, the focus of the opposing team is on him, leaving his linemates more open. It also keeps the focus on the number one line, instead of worrying about secondary threats. When Gaborik is missing, those defensive efforts are now straddled on Dubinsky, Callahan, Prospal, Kotalik, etc. And while all decent soldiers, none of these players can even bat an eye at the Gaborik.
This is just a small taste of the frustration that Gaborik can bring to a team. He is absurdly dominating at times, and he is the biggest pleasure to watch. But ugh, it's such a terrible feeling while he sits on the sidelines.
Before Rangers fans start jumping off the GW, Gaborik's injury is not said to be serious. In fact, he could even play tonight. (Of course, this is what we're all hoping, as the Rangers take on the Wild at 8. Gabby's return?... or not?) But just for one game, we saw what it was like to not have Gaborik. And already, it hasn't been fun.
Who is going to stand up if Gaborik can't? If they can't get motivated for a match against a serious rival that should practically counts as a home game, I don't know what the Rangers will get motivated for. This was a terrible disappointing loss. And it just amplied just how important our newest seven-million-dollar piece of glass is to this team.
Avery (who seems to be a piece of glass, himself) and Higgins also didn't pratice yesterday, either. Uh oh.
As of right now, there is a 50% chance Gaborik plays tonight against his former team. I was really hoping he would score five goals against THEM this time.
On Edit: As I posted this, Andrew Gross reported that Dane Byers is here. I understand this as the following; three subs (Voros, Parenteau and Byers) so three of Gaborik, Higgins, Avery and Brashear are out tonight.
Also, a shout out to Amy Jo over at Yotesgurl/Sign Gurl presents... who captured these clips and put them on Youtube all for our enjoyment. You can check it out over at Kel's Natural Hat Trick Productions.
Edit 3pm:
Gaborik, Higgins, Avery out tonight. HURRAY. -_-
Although there are no excuses, a big factor in the Rangers' defeat was that Marion Gaborik had to sit out due to a sore leg/knee/whatever, that he suffered on Monday during a leg to leg collision against a certain
Marion is extremely important. Period. For the first time in a while, we've got a forward on our team that can actually rival Lundqvist in the "all-important" category. Just as Lundqvist gives the Rangers a chance to win (and even a chance to steal a game) every single night, Gaborik is proving that he also almost just as critical to the Rangers' success.
If Gaborik plays, the focus of the opposing team is on him, leaving his linemates more open. It also keeps the focus on the number one line, instead of worrying about secondary threats. When Gaborik is missing, those defensive efforts are now straddled on Dubinsky, Callahan, Prospal, Kotalik, etc. And while all decent soldiers, none of these players can even bat an eye at the Gaborik.
This is just a small taste of the frustration that Gaborik can bring to a team. He is absurdly dominating at times, and he is the biggest pleasure to watch. But ugh, it's such a terrible feeling while he sits on the sidelines.
Before Rangers fans start jumping off the GW, Gaborik's injury is not said to be serious. In fact, he could even play tonight. (Of course, this is what we're all hoping, as the Rangers take on the Wild at 8. Gabby's return?... or not?) But just for one game, we saw what it was like to not have Gaborik. And already, it hasn't been fun.
Who is going to stand up if Gaborik can't? If they can't get motivated for a match against a serious rival that should practically counts as a home game, I don't know what the Rangers will get motivated for. This was a terrible disappointing loss. And it just amplied just how important our newest seven-million-dollar piece of glass is to this team.
Avery (who seems to be a piece of glass, himself) and Higgins also didn't pratice yesterday, either. Uh oh.
As of right now, there is a 50% chance Gaborik plays tonight against his former team. I was really hoping he would score five goals against THEM this time.
On Edit: As I posted this, Andrew Gross reported that Dane Byers is here. I understand this as the following; three subs (Voros, Parenteau and Byers) so three of Gaborik, Higgins, Avery and Brashear are out tonight.
Also, a shout out to Amy Jo over at Yotesgurl/Sign Gurl presents... who captured these clips and put them on Youtube all for our enjoyment. You can check it out over at Kel's Natural Hat Trick Productions.
Edit 3pm:
Gaborik, Higgins, Avery out tonight. HURRAY. -_-
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Welcome Back
...to reality.
Reality is the Rangers haven’t had a strong game in quite some time. They were clearly out of their league against the San Jose Sharks, and struggled against the Maples Leafs despite the ending score. (Reality also is that the Maple Leafs apparently are just terrible. The new trend is Maple Leafs jokes, which are all over message boards, Twitter, and hockey blogs. I almost have pity, although it’s pretty hilarious.)
The good news is that the Rangers played a better game on Thursday, even though the outcome wasn’t so spectacular. Let’s face it; the Devils have to beat us sometimes. It’s just the odds of probability. Plus, even though we are top five (at last check) in goals per game, some of our (relatively) big guns have been rather quite. I would like to see more from Dubinsky and Callahan. Higgins just seems totally lost sometimes; other times he seems solid without the puck, but he’s still reaching for that first goal. Drury, like usual, is invisible to me. Then again, I’m biased against him and readily admit it. Regardless, we need some of these guys to step it up in the goal scoring department. Defense… well, we have what we have. Unfortunately, it seems like whatever issues have plagued Dan Girardi may have spread to Marc Staal?
Staal will improve, though. And Higgins will eventually get that first goal. It’s not all dire, but it would be great if these guys would pick it up instead of letting Gaborik and Lundqvist do all the work.
(Brief sidebar: I’m searching the internet for today’s possible line up and wanted to comment on Rick Carpiniello’s blog for a moment. I’m not really feeling it these days. I know he does it as a side project, so this is nothing personal about Rick or what he does, but it’s just not what it was before. Which greatly upsets me, because I would rather not turn to Steve Zipay for my Rangers coverage. With Zipay, it is kind of personal. I just tend to disagree with his assessments and ideas, and usually on issues that are near and dear to my heart. On top of that, you are going to need to be an Optimum customer or get Newsday delivered to your home as of next week if you expect to continue to read Zipay’s coverage of the Rangers. I happen to be both, but this is disappointing to fans who rely on Zipay’s coverage. Of course, we can go back to thanking the Rangers’ terrific owners for that, as they own Optimum and Newsday through Cablevision. I suppose that leaves Andrew Gross as my favorite beat writer, but even he doesn’t update as often as the great Sam Weinman, and I also hate having to click “read more” to read more. I suppose I’m getting really picky, and I’m lucky that the Rangers even have beat writers.
Although, trying to be a Coyotes follower has opened my eyes to the alternative; the Coyotes actually report on how practice went themselves, via their website, and post line ups and quotes and other interesting tidbits. I don’t even know if the Rangers do that, honestly; I rarely frequent the official website. Then you have the Islanders, who used to have beat writer that they employed themselves, Chris Botta over at Islander’s Point Blank. He’s no longer sponsored by the Islanders, though; I believe AOL has continued his funding. In any case, I’m less satisfied with the beat writers than I have been in the past, and just find the Coyotes and Islanders offer some alternatives to the current situation. OK, so that wasn’t so brief.)
Anyway, I went over to Steve Zipay’s blog in effort to find the line up for tonight, and apparently it is yet to exist. However, the Rangers were looking like this during yesterday’s practice:
Lisin-Prospal-Gaborik
Higgins-Dubinsky-Callahan
Avery-Drury-Kotalik
Brashear/Voros-Anisimov-Boyle
Our All American line of Higgins-Drury-Callahan has become the All American Line part two, with Dubinsky subbing in for Drury. Not my favorite, yet better than the alternative; I would like to take a look at Higgins and Callahan without Drury. (I actually really liked the idea of Avery on that line. Under rated passer, that one.) Also, I like reuniting Drury and Kotalik. Kotalik’s been impressive, and perhaps he’ll give Drury a bit more umph. I’m not sold on Lisin yet, either, so I’m unsure of my feelings about him on the top line.
Of course, there’s another reason for the title “welcome back.” A really cute story (also via Steve Zipay) came out of the Shark’s utter destruction of the Rangers last Monday night. A girl held up her Jed Ortmeyer jersey on the glass during warm-ups. Jed chucked her a puck. It was Ortmeyer’s first return to the Garden, and he scored a goal. It was good to see, even if it hurt the home team.
Christopher Higgins is going to get an interesting welcome back tonight, for sure, when the Rangers take on the Canadiens. Habs fans are notorious for being oh-so kind to players when they return. Hey! What could be better than Higgins scoring his first tonight, hmm? And although it’s not really a welcome back, we are going to be seeing Scott Gomez and Paul Mara for the first time since their departures. Seeing Brian Gionta alongside of Gomez in red may bring back some terrible memories, now that I think about it. They both are going to have something to prove tonight.
And of course, we will welcome back Lauri Korpikoski and Petr Prucha back to the Garden on Monday. I should have taken a vacation to Hawaii or some place equally as distant, but instead, I bought tickets.
Puck drops tonight at 7. Let’s go Rangers!
(Actually, about a million pucks drop tonight. Could we stop with the Super Saturday idea? We can't possibly keep up with all of it!)
--
On Edit:
OH! Before I forget, you must all see the awesomeness going on here. Unreal, this guy.
Reality is the Rangers haven’t had a strong game in quite some time. They were clearly out of their league against the San Jose Sharks, and struggled against the Maples Leafs despite the ending score. (Reality also is that the Maple Leafs apparently are just terrible. The new trend is Maple Leafs jokes, which are all over message boards, Twitter, and hockey blogs. I almost have pity, although it’s pretty hilarious.)
The good news is that the Rangers played a better game on Thursday, even though the outcome wasn’t so spectacular. Let’s face it; the Devils have to beat us sometimes. It’s just the odds of probability. Plus, even though we are top five (at last check) in goals per game, some of our (relatively) big guns have been rather quite. I would like to see more from Dubinsky and Callahan. Higgins just seems totally lost sometimes; other times he seems solid without the puck, but he’s still reaching for that first goal. Drury, like usual, is invisible to me. Then again, I’m biased against him and readily admit it. Regardless, we need some of these guys to step it up in the goal scoring department. Defense… well, we have what we have. Unfortunately, it seems like whatever issues have plagued Dan Girardi may have spread to Marc Staal?
Staal will improve, though. And Higgins will eventually get that first goal. It’s not all dire, but it would be great if these guys would pick it up instead of letting Gaborik and Lundqvist do all the work.
(Brief sidebar: I’m searching the internet for today’s possible line up and wanted to comment on Rick Carpiniello’s blog for a moment. I’m not really feeling it these days. I know he does it as a side project, so this is nothing personal about Rick or what he does, but it’s just not what it was before. Which greatly upsets me, because I would rather not turn to Steve Zipay for my Rangers coverage. With Zipay, it is kind of personal. I just tend to disagree with his assessments and ideas, and usually on issues that are near and dear to my heart. On top of that, you are going to need to be an Optimum customer or get Newsday delivered to your home as of next week if you expect to continue to read Zipay’s coverage of the Rangers. I happen to be both, but this is disappointing to fans who rely on Zipay’s coverage. Of course, we can go back to thanking the Rangers’ terrific owners for that, as they own Optimum and Newsday through Cablevision. I suppose that leaves Andrew Gross as my favorite beat writer, but even he doesn’t update as often as the great Sam Weinman, and I also hate having to click “read more” to read more. I suppose I’m getting really picky, and I’m lucky that the Rangers even have beat writers.
Although, trying to be a Coyotes follower has opened my eyes to the alternative; the Coyotes actually report on how practice went themselves, via their website, and post line ups and quotes and other interesting tidbits. I don’t even know if the Rangers do that, honestly; I rarely frequent the official website. Then you have the Islanders, who used to have beat writer that they employed themselves, Chris Botta over at Islander’s Point Blank. He’s no longer sponsored by the Islanders, though; I believe AOL has continued his funding. In any case, I’m less satisfied with the beat writers than I have been in the past, and just find the Coyotes and Islanders offer some alternatives to the current situation. OK, so that wasn’t so brief.)
Anyway, I went over to Steve Zipay’s blog in effort to find the line up for tonight, and apparently it is yet to exist. However, the Rangers were looking like this during yesterday’s practice:
Lisin-Prospal-Gaborik
Higgins-Dubinsky-Callahan
Avery-Drury-Kotalik
Brashear/Voros-Anisimov-Boyle
Our All American line of Higgins-Drury-Callahan has become the All American Line part two, with Dubinsky subbing in for Drury. Not my favorite, yet better than the alternative; I would like to take a look at Higgins and Callahan without Drury. (I actually really liked the idea of Avery on that line. Under rated passer, that one.) Also, I like reuniting Drury and Kotalik. Kotalik’s been impressive, and perhaps he’ll give Drury a bit more umph. I’m not sold on Lisin yet, either, so I’m unsure of my feelings about him on the top line.
Of course, there’s another reason for the title “welcome back.” A really cute story (also via Steve Zipay) came out of the Shark’s utter destruction of the Rangers last Monday night. A girl held up her Jed Ortmeyer jersey on the glass during warm-ups. Jed chucked her a puck. It was Ortmeyer’s first return to the Garden, and he scored a goal. It was good to see, even if it hurt the home team.
Christopher Higgins is going to get an interesting welcome back tonight, for sure, when the Rangers take on the Canadiens. Habs fans are notorious for being oh-so kind to players when they return. Hey! What could be better than Higgins scoring his first tonight, hmm? And although it’s not really a welcome back, we are going to be seeing Scott Gomez and Paul Mara for the first time since their departures. Seeing Brian Gionta alongside of Gomez in red may bring back some terrible memories, now that I think about it. They both are going to have something to prove tonight.
And of course, we will welcome back Lauri Korpikoski and Petr Prucha back to the Garden on Monday. I should have taken a vacation to Hawaii or some place equally as distant, but instead, I bought tickets.
Puck drops tonight at 7. Let’s go Rangers!
(Actually, about a million pucks drop tonight. Could we stop with the Super Saturday idea? We can't possibly keep up with all of it!)
--
On Edit:
OH! Before I forget, you must all see the awesomeness going on here. Unreal, this guy.
Friday, October 23, 2009
No Records Broken Here
I hate Martin Brodeur. It’s no great revelation – I’ve mentioned my distaste for him before. And don’t give me that “you’re just mad that he’s not on your team” bullshit. I would hate him even more if that were the case. Arguable talent aside, he’s a pompous ass.
Last night’s game for NYR v NJD was not as much of a disappointment as the final score would indicate. Yes, it sucks that the NYR lost and girly-man Parise scored 2 goals. Yes, it stinks that NYR lost their second in a row. But…there was a silver lining. That pompous ass I mentioned before is chasing a shutout record, and he would have liked nothing more than to break said record against my boys. I started watching last night’s game with the thought that as long as NYR scores at least one goal, I’d be happy. Well, yes, the win would have been even better, but here’s what's behind my line of thinking, from NHL.com:
“Martin Brodeur is one shutout away from matching Terry Sawchuk's all-time record of 103. When he puts blade to ice Thursday night at Madison Square Garden, Brodeur can equal the mark in the most hostile of enemy territory. He has always said that playing -- and beating -- the Rangers is always a little more special to him since the Blueshirts are the Devils' biggest rival. So you'd have to forgive the 37-year-old goaltender if he's a little more excited than normal about having a chance to tie an NHL record against the Rangers.”
Screw you, Brodeur. Screw you and your record. Not this time. Not against my boys. How selfish to want to break it against a specific team. You are and always will be a jackass.
Just for the record, I can’t fault the NHL.com staff writer Dave Lozo for creating this article, because he did do a nice write-up on Michael Del Zotto earlier in the month. Marty can make an ass of himself without any help from the press.
Last night’s game for NYR v NJD was not as much of a disappointment as the final score would indicate. Yes, it sucks that the NYR lost and girly-man Parise scored 2 goals. Yes, it stinks that NYR lost their second in a row. But…there was a silver lining. That pompous ass I mentioned before is chasing a shutout record, and he would have liked nothing more than to break said record against my boys. I started watching last night’s game with the thought that as long as NYR scores at least one goal, I’d be happy. Well, yes, the win would have been even better, but here’s what's behind my line of thinking, from NHL.com:
“Martin Brodeur is one shutout away from matching Terry Sawchuk's all-time record of 103. When he puts blade to ice Thursday night at Madison Square Garden, Brodeur can equal the mark in the most hostile of enemy territory. He has always said that playing -- and beating -- the Rangers is always a little more special to him since the Blueshirts are the Devils' biggest rival. So you'd have to forgive the 37-year-old goaltender if he's a little more excited than normal about having a chance to tie an NHL record against the Rangers.”
Screw you, Brodeur. Screw you and your record. Not this time. Not against my boys. How selfish to want to break it against a specific team. You are and always will be a jackass.
Just for the record, I can’t fault the NHL.com staff writer Dave Lozo for creating this article, because he did do a nice write-up on Michael Del Zotto earlier in the month. Marty can make an ass of himself without any help from the press.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Random stuff
The hockey season is just flying right by, isn't it? The Rangers have already played six games, more than several other teams. It always seems like the Rangers have a heavy schedule in the beginning of the year, and the with the Olympics coming in February, the schedule is even more compressed. A lot of fans complain about compressed schedules, but for my own personal and selfish reasons, I love the schedule. Hockey, hockey, and more hockey. I feel like it's strange when the Rangers aren't playing a game that night.
Put the compressed schedule on top of trying to keep with the Coyotes (Prucha love doesn't fade) and the Canadiens, as well as being a Islander follower (because I can't bring myself to say "fan") and hockey has pretty much taken up every extra second of life. So, sorry if I ignored you, NYR Devotion, Some Like It Blue.
Very generally speaking, as there have been six games so far this season and none of them have been properly analyzed around here, we're finally getting some answers on who the Rangers actually are.
The Rangers are not Tom Renney's Rangers. Literally, obviously, we have had a coaching change. But the coaching philosophy has also changed, and in the most dramatic fashion. We saw some of these changes last season down the stretch, but in certain cases, John Tortorella reverted to a conservative approach as the Rangers didn't have the endurance or leg strength to push Tortorella's exciting style. They also just didn't have the firepower to get work done.
It seems amazing, looking back, that any head coach in the National Hockey League would accept the level of conditioning that Renney accepted. I don't mean this has a personal bash on Tom; I didn't noticed their poor level of conditioning, either, until I saw them struggle to move in third periods under Tortorella. I also have no idea what level of conditioning other teams are at throughout the league. But it's impossible not to see that obvious change from last year to this year.
Maybe their conditioning gives this team it's relentless attitude. These Rangers don't give up. Now, anything can change throughout the season, but I can't see these Rangers laying the Dallas egg like last year's Rangers did. They have outscored their opponents 12-3 in the third period so far this season. That is nothing like the Rangers who would give up third periods and allow for comebacks such as that December Disaster against the Capitals or the Canadien's comeback the year prior.
Would John Tortorella accept those efforts? No.
And that is why we've seen the benching of Michal Rozsival already this season. If you aren't going to play with intensity, and if you aren't going to earn that paycheck, you aren't going to play. Period. And that's another beautiful change. (As a side note; the better play of Wade Redden indicates that all of us who questioned why Renney would want a good outlet passer but a mediocre d-man on his defense-only squad were absolutely right. I'll take that GM job now, Sather.)
This team plays with intensity. I doubt I'll find myself falling asleep on them. Who can fall asleep with our dynamic All-American line is finding ways to smash into every moving opponent they can touch? Who can fall asleep when Marion Gaborik promises to be a threat each and every single time he has the puck?
The promise of this team isn't necessarily wins or even playoff appearances. We are first place in the NHL, literally, right at this moment, but we haven't had a particularly demanding schedule yet, and teams go through hot and cold spells all season. Remember just how hot we started last season? Despite how fast the Rangers took off last season, I still couldn't get behind them. Something felt missing. (I think his name was Jaromir Jagr.) And they didn't have an aura about them; not the way these Rangers seem to.
The promise of these Rangers are that they are fun. They are worth your money spent on them, because they will try hard every single game. They make you want to root for them. Even when they lose, you'll feel satisfied.
And maybe that will change. Maybe they'll be nothing more than the Rangers of last year. But at least right now, there is this promise of what they could be. And I'm really excited.
Although, those 2-on-1's could stop at any time now. Really.
The Rangers play the Kings tonight at 7pm. And I pretty much totally cannot even wait.
---
Although it's a good read and kind of funny, I still got a "how is it always the Rangers?" feeling out of this piece on Henrik Lundqvist and Sean Avery's fashion senses.
---
In case you missed it:
Petr Prucha scored a powerplay goal on his back last Thursday when Phoenix took on the Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins. Coyotes won 3-0.
Jed Ortmeyer scored the first goal of the night for San Jose on Saturday, who would go on to beat the Wild 4-2.
Put the compressed schedule on top of trying to keep with the Coyotes (Prucha love doesn't fade) and the Canadiens, as well as being a Islander follower (because I can't bring myself to say "fan") and hockey has pretty much taken up every extra second of life. So, sorry if I ignored you, NYR Devotion, Some Like It Blue.
Very generally speaking, as there have been six games so far this season and none of them have been properly analyzed around here, we're finally getting some answers on who the Rangers actually are.
The Rangers are not Tom Renney's Rangers. Literally, obviously, we have had a coaching change. But the coaching philosophy has also changed, and in the most dramatic fashion. We saw some of these changes last season down the stretch, but in certain cases, John Tortorella reverted to a conservative approach as the Rangers didn't have the endurance or leg strength to push Tortorella's exciting style. They also just didn't have the firepower to get work done.
It seems amazing, looking back, that any head coach in the National Hockey League would accept the level of conditioning that Renney accepted. I don't mean this has a personal bash on Tom; I didn't noticed their poor level of conditioning, either, until I saw them struggle to move in third periods under Tortorella. I also have no idea what level of conditioning other teams are at throughout the league. But it's impossible not to see that obvious change from last year to this year.
Maybe their conditioning gives this team it's relentless attitude. These Rangers don't give up. Now, anything can change throughout the season, but I can't see these Rangers laying the Dallas egg like last year's Rangers did. They have outscored their opponents 12-3 in the third period so far this season. That is nothing like the Rangers who would give up third periods and allow for comebacks such as that December Disaster against the Capitals or the Canadien's comeback the year prior.
Would John Tortorella accept those efforts? No.
And that is why we've seen the benching of Michal Rozsival already this season. If you aren't going to play with intensity, and if you aren't going to earn that paycheck, you aren't going to play. Period. And that's another beautiful change. (As a side note; the better play of Wade Redden indicates that all of us who questioned why Renney would want a good outlet passer but a mediocre d-man on his defense-only squad were absolutely right. I'll take that GM job now, Sather.)
This team plays with intensity. I doubt I'll find myself falling asleep on them. Who can fall asleep with our dynamic All-American line is finding ways to smash into every moving opponent they can touch? Who can fall asleep when Marion Gaborik promises to be a threat each and every single time he has the puck?
The promise of this team isn't necessarily wins or even playoff appearances. We are first place in the NHL, literally, right at this moment, but we haven't had a particularly demanding schedule yet, and teams go through hot and cold spells all season. Remember just how hot we started last season? Despite how fast the Rangers took off last season, I still couldn't get behind them. Something felt missing. (I think his name was Jaromir Jagr.) And they didn't have an aura about them; not the way these Rangers seem to.
The promise of these Rangers are that they are fun. They are worth your money spent on them, because they will try hard every single game. They make you want to root for them. Even when they lose, you'll feel satisfied.
And maybe that will change. Maybe they'll be nothing more than the Rangers of last year. But at least right now, there is this promise of what they could be. And I'm really excited.
Although, those 2-on-1's could stop at any time now. Really.
The Rangers play the Kings tonight at 7pm. And I pretty much totally cannot even wait.
---
New York is one of the fashion capitals of the world and it just seems a natural fit that these two high-profile athletes, who are pretty good hockey players in their own right, are entrenched in the style scene there.
Although it's a good read and kind of funny, I still got a "how is it always the Rangers?" feeling out of this piece on Henrik Lundqvist and Sean Avery's fashion senses.
---
In case you missed it:
Petr Prucha scored a powerplay goal on his back last Thursday when Phoenix took on the Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins. Coyotes won 3-0.
Jed Ortmeyer scored the first goal of the night for San Jose on Saturday, who would go on to beat the Wild 4-2.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Hittin' the Nail on the Head
I love this guy - the Hockey Rodent - He's a Rangers blogger who just tells it like it is, with some pithy choice words thrown in. It's opinion-based fact, if that makes any sense.
Anyway, over the weekend, he wrote something that I just had to post here. It was embedded in an article entitled "Here, Kitty", named so for reasons I don't care to elaborate on - you'll see why in the third paragraph of his article. He nails it by saying:
"Brashear remains a mercenary who takes stupid penalties and decommissioned one of the few gutfull contributors (Blair Betts) with an illegal high blow and gets rewarded by the victimized franchise. Shameful.
Don't speak to me of loyalty. There is no loyalty and pride in this dis-organ-eye-zation. Guys who phone it in get paid zillions. Role players who work their flesh to the bones get exiled. Jed Ortmeyer, Colton Orr, Betts, Petr Prucha, Fred Sjostrom.
Stiffs like Redden, Michal Roszival (tonight's über-p*$$#) and Drury play soft games and get financially showered while grunts who give everything to the team receive walking papers."
This sums up my general hangups with this team's management. With the guys he listed, we can all relate to what he's saying. And who does this all boil down to? Sather. To see any material improvement in this team's yearly outcome, he's the one who needs to go.
Anyway, over the weekend, he wrote something that I just had to post here. It was embedded in an article entitled "Here, Kitty", named so for reasons I don't care to elaborate on - you'll see why in the third paragraph of his article. He nails it by saying:
"Brashear remains a mercenary who takes stupid penalties and decommissioned one of the few gutfull contributors (Blair Betts) with an illegal high blow and gets rewarded by the victimized franchise. Shameful.
Don't speak to me of loyalty. There is no loyalty and pride in this dis-organ-eye-zation. Guys who phone it in get paid zillions. Role players who work their flesh to the bones get exiled. Jed Ortmeyer, Colton Orr, Betts, Petr Prucha, Fred Sjostrom.
Stiffs like Redden, Michal Roszival (tonight's über-p*$$#) and Drury play soft games and get financially showered while grunts who give everything to the team receive walking papers."
This sums up my general hangups with this team's management. With the guys he listed, we can all relate to what he's saying. And who does this all boil down to? Sather. To see any material improvement in this team's yearly outcome, he's the one who needs to go.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Anddd Our Starting Line Ups Arrreee....
Christopher Higgins-Chris Drury-Ales Kotalik
Evgeny Grachev-Artem Anisimov-Ryan Callahan
Donald Brashear-Brian Boyle-P.A. Parenteau
Dane Byers-Matt Maccarone-Enver Lisin
Marc Staal-Matt Gilroy
Michael Del Zotto-Dan Girardi
Alexei Semenov-Mike Sauer
Steve Valiquette, Matt Zaba
Thank you, Andrew Gross.
We are less than three hours away from real live Ranger preseason action!
A couple notes:
Of course, Brandon Dubinsky is still not skating with the team. At this point, just sign the contract, Brandon. You need to be at camp and you have little leverage, as much as the offer is a lowball.
Interesting to see Ales Kotalik on a line with Chris Drury, trying to recreate that Buffalo magic. That first line looks like it could be the legitimate second line for opening day.
Christopher Higgins, Ales Kotalik, Donald Brashear, Matt Gilroy and Enver Lisin are making their Rangers debut.
Wonder how the crowd will react to Brashear.
Artem Anisimov, P.A. Parenteau, Dane Byers and Michael Del Zotto are just some of our prospects trying to earn themselves a spot on the big boys lineup. Anisimov seems to be a shoo-in, but anything could happen. John Tortorella has said he is expecting two rookies up front, two rookies in the rear. As scary as that is (on the defensive end, anyway) it's still very exciting to see our up-and-coming kids, especially if a handful make the team.
Ryan Callahan, Marc Staal, Stephen Valiquette and Dan Girardi: I've missed you!
Yeah, yeah, and Drury's playing too.
Marion Gaborik "tweaked" his groin. LOLLMFAOHAHAHAkillme.
Evgeny Grachev-Artem Anisimov-Ryan Callahan
Donald Brashear-Brian Boyle-P.A. Parenteau
Dane Byers-Matt Maccarone-Enver Lisin
Marc Staal-Matt Gilroy
Michael Del Zotto-Dan Girardi
Alexei Semenov-Mike Sauer
Steve Valiquette, Matt Zaba
Thank you, Andrew Gross.
We are less than three hours away from real live Ranger preseason action!
A couple notes:
Of course, Brandon Dubinsky is still not skating with the team. At this point, just sign the contract, Brandon. You need to be at camp and you have little leverage, as much as the offer is a lowball.
Interesting to see Ales Kotalik on a line with Chris Drury, trying to recreate that Buffalo magic. That first line looks like it could be the legitimate second line for opening day.
Christopher Higgins, Ales Kotalik, Donald Brashear, Matt Gilroy and Enver Lisin are making their Rangers debut.
Wonder how the crowd will react to Brashear.
Artem Anisimov, P.A. Parenteau, Dane Byers and Michael Del Zotto are just some of our prospects trying to earn themselves a spot on the big boys lineup. Anisimov seems to be a shoo-in, but anything could happen. John Tortorella has said he is expecting two rookies up front, two rookies in the rear. As scary as that is (on the defensive end, anyway) it's still very exciting to see our up-and-coming kids, especially if a handful make the team.
Ryan Callahan, Marc Staal, Stephen Valiquette and Dan Girardi: I've missed you!
Yeah, yeah, and Drury's playing too.
Marion Gaborik "tweaked" his groin. LOLLMFAOHAHAHAkillme.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Dubi, Dubi, Do
We really don't know what exactly is on the table from the Rangers and we're not exactly sure of what Dubi is expecting. So it's kind of hard to piece together this whole saga considering we don't have much information to go on.
What We Do Know:
Dubinsky and Sather have been in the process of negotiating a contract since July 1st with seemingly no progress.
When training camp opens tomorrow morning, Dubinsky will not attend unless the Rangers call him tonight with a deal. (Edit: it appears that option is now over and Dubinsky officially will not be attending.)
The Rangers have also offered some multi-year deals, but all have fallen short of Dubinsky's expectations.
Dubinsky is (was?) expected to compete for the role of first line center playing with Marian Gaborik. If this happened, Dubinsky could realistically rack up 60 points this season, making him worth AT LEAST 3 million next summer during Free Agency.
Also according to Larry Brooks, today the Rangers offered Dubinsky a one year contract worth more than what he was making last season, $635,000. Dubinsky has rejected that offer, and thus will not show up to training camp tomorrow morning.
What Dubinsky Could Be Expecting:
GP-G-A-P
CAREER
Callahan 147-34-25-59
Dubinsky 170-27-54-81
LAST SEASON
Callahan 81-22-18-40
Dubinsky 82-13-28-41
PLAYOFFS CAREER
Callahan 27-6-3-9
Dubinsky 17-5-7-12
Dubi's agent must be using Callahan's contract as a measure for what Dubinsky should be making. While Callahan has put in more goals, Dubinsky has more assists (granted, Dubi is a center, and playing with Jagr may have helped that). But the fact that Dubi stayed consistent despite no longer playing with Jagr on the first line this season indicates to me that he took a step up even though his numbers stayed exactly the same. I would love to see him score a couple more goals this year, but I think he is progressing quite nicely. Callahan certainly had a better “break out” year than Dubi, but Dubinsky has better playoffs statistics than Callahan overall, and this season included.
I’m not trying to quantify Dubinsky’s worth as more than Cally’s (as Dubinsky is probably is a bit overrated), just that I can’t imagine Dubinsky (or his agent) being happy with something much lower than Callahan is making. Whether Callahan or Dubinsky actually merit over two million dollars a year is another question entirely.
Callahan also had arbitration rights, which also helps put some leverage in his hand that Dubinsky currently doesn't have.
What Now:
Although this is pure speculation, I have a feeling Dubinsky would have taken Callahan's contract (or even a bit less) and ran with it; even a one year deal for around 1.5 million would probably have been acceptable.
I'm surprised that Sather was so ready and willing to lowball a hard working draft pick like Dubinsky, especially now when the Rangers aren't so strong down the middle. How do these negotiations affect future contract talks with Dubinsky?
What if Dubinsky is never given an offer he accepts?
The longer Dubinsky holds out, the more and more likely a trade for Dubinsky's rights will occur. Unfortunately, it's hard to guess what the Rangers could get back for him, considering he's not actually under contract. Although swaps with Boston for Kessel have been whispered, Boston is clearly going to want more than Dubinsky in return.
In any case, this is not looking good for Dubinsky.
John Tortorella said, "I can't speak for Dubi, but for us, this kind of thing happens, I'm not sure where it's gonna go. It's not like we hold grudges....that needs to play out. It will not affect our camp, we're going to go out about our business as a team…Who knows what happens to the center position in the next couple of days..."
I cannot imagine why this was not taken care of throughout the summer. Dubinsky is an important, hardworking member of the Rangers, and it disheartens me to see how he’s being treated. From what I can tell, Dubinsky is not making outrageous demands; he wants a fair contract for how much he has done for his club the past two seasons.
If I’m Brandon Dubinsky, I cannot imagine taking those multiyear deals that are (in my assumption) under two million dollars. Dubi is quite possibly going to be looking at three million dollars plus deals next season, if he only takes a one year deal.
At the same time, the one year deal the Rangers are offering is just plain offensive.
However, my assumptions could be wrong. Maybe the Rangers are being more than fair, and Dubinsky’s overvaluing himself. I hope, and I trust, that Brandon truly does want to be a Ranger, and is doing everything in his power to making that a reality.
But after all; if we can pay Donald Brashear onepointfivemillion dollars this season, we should be able to give Dubinsky the same.
Get this done, Sather. You’ve got 10 and a half hours until training camp.
Yeah.
How come hockey seasons always have to start with some personal bitterness?
****
In other NHL news… apparently there is none. We were expecting some answer out of that Phoenix mess today but we got nothing. Nothing ever goes easy. Too bad Lauri Korpikoski doesn’t know if he should buy a house in Phoenix or Hamilton, yet.
Also, just a note on it being September 11th today. As a NEW YORK Rangers blog, a team that plays home games in Manhattan, and wears the colors red, white, and blue, it seems even more imperative than usual to remember those people who lost their lives in the terror attacks eight years ago. God Bless America, and the city that’s home to everyones favorite hockey team.
What We Do Know:
Dubinsky and Sather have been in the process of negotiating a contract since July 1st with seemingly no progress.
When training camp opens tomorrow morning, Dubinsky will not attend unless the Rangers call him tonight with a deal. (Edit: it appears that option is now over and Dubinsky officially will not be attending.)
The Rangers have also offered some multi-year deals, but all have fallen short of Dubinsky's expectations.
Dubinsky is (was?) expected to compete for the role of first line center playing with Marian Gaborik. If this happened, Dubinsky could realistically rack up 60 points this season, making him worth AT LEAST 3 million next summer during Free Agency.
Also according to Larry Brooks, today the Rangers offered Dubinsky a one year contract worth more than what he was making last season, $635,000. Dubinsky has rejected that offer, and thus will not show up to training camp tomorrow morning.
What Dubinsky Could Be Expecting:
GP-G-A-P
CAREER
Callahan 147-34-25-59
Dubinsky 170-27-54-81
LAST SEASON
Callahan 81-22-18-40
Dubinsky 82-13-28-41
PLAYOFFS CAREER
Callahan 27-6-3-9
Dubinsky 17-5-7-12
Dubi's agent must be using Callahan's contract as a measure for what Dubinsky should be making. While Callahan has put in more goals, Dubinsky has more assists (granted, Dubi is a center, and playing with Jagr may have helped that). But the fact that Dubi stayed consistent despite no longer playing with Jagr on the first line this season indicates to me that he took a step up even though his numbers stayed exactly the same. I would love to see him score a couple more goals this year, but I think he is progressing quite nicely. Callahan certainly had a better “break out” year than Dubi, but Dubinsky has better playoffs statistics than Callahan overall, and this season included.
I’m not trying to quantify Dubinsky’s worth as more than Cally’s (as Dubinsky is probably is a bit overrated), just that I can’t imagine Dubinsky (or his agent) being happy with something much lower than Callahan is making. Whether Callahan or Dubinsky actually merit over two million dollars a year is another question entirely.
Callahan also had arbitration rights, which also helps put some leverage in his hand that Dubinsky currently doesn't have.
What Now:
Although this is pure speculation, I have a feeling Dubinsky would have taken Callahan's contract (or even a bit less) and ran with it; even a one year deal for around 1.5 million would probably have been acceptable.
I'm surprised that Sather was so ready and willing to lowball a hard working draft pick like Dubinsky, especially now when the Rangers aren't so strong down the middle. How do these negotiations affect future contract talks with Dubinsky?
What if Dubinsky is never given an offer he accepts?
The longer Dubinsky holds out, the more and more likely a trade for Dubinsky's rights will occur. Unfortunately, it's hard to guess what the Rangers could get back for him, considering he's not actually under contract. Although swaps with Boston for Kessel have been whispered, Boston is clearly going to want more than Dubinsky in return.
In any case, this is not looking good for Dubinsky.
John Tortorella said, "I can't speak for Dubi, but for us, this kind of thing happens, I'm not sure where it's gonna go. It's not like we hold grudges....that needs to play out. It will not affect our camp, we're going to go out about our business as a team…Who knows what happens to the center position in the next couple of days..."
I cannot imagine why this was not taken care of throughout the summer. Dubinsky is an important, hardworking member of the Rangers, and it disheartens me to see how he’s being treated. From what I can tell, Dubinsky is not making outrageous demands; he wants a fair contract for how much he has done for his club the past two seasons.
If I’m Brandon Dubinsky, I cannot imagine taking those multiyear deals that are (in my assumption) under two million dollars. Dubi is quite possibly going to be looking at three million dollars plus deals next season, if he only takes a one year deal.
At the same time, the one year deal the Rangers are offering is just plain offensive.
However, my assumptions could be wrong. Maybe the Rangers are being more than fair, and Dubinsky’s overvaluing himself. I hope, and I trust, that Brandon truly does want to be a Ranger, and is doing everything in his power to making that a reality.
But after all; if we can pay Donald Brashear onepointfivemillion dollars this season, we should be able to give Dubinsky the same.
Get this done, Sather. You’ve got 10 and a half hours until training camp.
Yeah.
How come hockey seasons always have to start with some personal bitterness?
****
In other NHL news… apparently there is none. We were expecting some answer out of that Phoenix mess today but we got nothing. Nothing ever goes easy. Too bad Lauri Korpikoski doesn’t know if he should buy a house in Phoenix or Hamilton, yet.
Also, just a note on it being September 11th today. As a NEW YORK Rangers blog, a team that plays home games in Manhattan, and wears the colors red, white, and blue, it seems even more imperative than usual to remember those people who lost their lives in the terror attacks eight years ago. God Bless America, and the city that’s home to everyones favorite hockey team.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Training Camp Will Be Hell
I miss hockeyyyy. I'm starting to get that itchy, impatient feeling. Training camp opens on September 12th for the Rangers.
I...can't...wait...
I think this is a really positive sign for my own personal love of the Rangers. Last season at this time, I was still too depressed about Jagr and Shanny and Avery and Straka and Tyutin to be excited about the next season. And even though I miss some of the 2008-2009 Rangers, I'm pretty sure this is a testament to how much we really needed the change that I'm so anxious to see Gaborik and Higgins and Prospal take center stage. I feel a different type of buzz this year when looking towards hockey season than I did last season. And I'm really, really excited about it.
The one damper on my parade is the lack of news on the Brandon Dubinsky front. John Tortorella said in a recent interview;
As much as I'm against players being greedy and asking for too much, I have a feeling Dubinsky would immediately take a three year, two million dollar deal. And I really don't think that that's way too much to ask. Sather is purposely playing hard ball with Dubinsky, and I'm not liking it.
And we're all really not going to like it if Dubi DOES get settled on the first line with Gaborik next season and is suddenly putting up 60 or 70 points instead of 40. Because even if it has nothing to do with the development of Dubi's game and it all to do with him playing with Marian Gaborik, his asking price is still going to sky rocket.
Am I reading this wrong, then, or does anyone else get the feeling that the Ranger's organization is no longer considering Dubinsky a critical part of their future plans?
Since I'd rather not leave off on a negative note, here is a very very positive sign from the Rangers organization.
We all know that John Tortorella made a stink about the conditioning level of several Rangers when he first took over for Tom Renney. They were just not in good enough shape to play the aggressive, offensive hockey that Tortorella wanted. But that's not going to be a problem this year.
YESSS!
YESSS!
YESSS!
UGH, why does this always have to be brought up to bring down my high spirits?
But that was with Renney.
It's different now.
And that's the reason we should be excited for next season.
I...can't...wait...
I think this is a really positive sign for my own personal love of the Rangers. Last season at this time, I was still too depressed about Jagr and Shanny and Avery and Straka and Tyutin to be excited about the next season. And even though I miss some of the 2008-2009 Rangers, I'm pretty sure this is a testament to how much we really needed the change that I'm so anxious to see Gaborik and Higgins and Prospal take center stage. I feel a different type of buzz this year when looking towards hockey season than I did last season. And I'm really, really excited about it.
The one damper on my parade is the lack of news on the Brandon Dubinsky front. John Tortorella said in a recent interview;
"Vinny and I had a long conversation prior to our even talking about this … I know, I’ve coached him for so many years — my question was, Does he want to play? Is life too good? Because he’s made a lot of money. He’s been successful. He’s a good... person. But I just wanted to make sure that he wanted to play. He’s ticked off. He was bought out. He has something to prove here. I think it’s a good situation on a one-year deal, and show us maybe for when another contract comes around. Some other people in the organization need to understand that too.”
As much as I'm against players being greedy and asking for too much, I have a feeling Dubinsky would immediately take a three year, two million dollar deal. And I really don't think that that's way too much to ask. Sather is purposely playing hard ball with Dubinsky, and I'm not liking it.
And we're all really not going to like it if Dubi DOES get settled on the first line with Gaborik next season and is suddenly putting up 60 or 70 points instead of 40. Because even if it has nothing to do with the development of Dubi's game and it all to do with him playing with Marian Gaborik, his asking price is still going to sky rocket.
Am I reading this wrong, then, or does anyone else get the feeling that the Ranger's organization is no longer considering Dubinsky a critical part of their future plans?
Since I'd rather not leave off on a negative note, here is a very very positive sign from the Rangers organization.
We all know that John Tortorella made a stink about the conditioning level of several Rangers when he first took over for Tom Renney. They were just not in good enough shape to play the aggressive, offensive hockey that Tortorella wanted. But that's not going to be a problem this year.
Training camp...will be hell.
YESSS!
At least two letters have been sent to the Rangers players warning them to report in the best possible shape.
YESSS!
And tip-top shape is necessary to play Tortorella’s up-tempo brand of hockey.
YESSS!
But, again, it’s relative. Coming out of last year’s training camp, Petr Prucha was touted as the Ranger in the best shape. All it got Prucha was a semi-regular spot as a healthy scratch and, ultimately, a trade to Phoenix.
UGH, why does this always have to be brought up to bring down my high spirits?
But that was with Renney.
It's different now.
And that's the reason we should be excited for next season.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Now This is What a Jersey Should Look Like!
If you didn't catch it yet, Puckdaddy has gotten pics of the new USA Olympic jerseys.
I've gotta say, I like them.
The Canadians ones were nice, too. But the USA third jersey just has something about it, you know? It draws me to them. It makes me really want to root for them. Here's a picture from USA Hockey of Ryan Malone donning this awesome new jersey.
I mean, does he not look distinguished? Don't you want to stand up and chant "Let's Go Rangers USA?" Because I do.
And although I could only find a picture of Ryan Callahan in plain old blue, somehow I'm having a really easy time imagining him in that third jersey.
On the Rangers front, we also have Chris Drury and John Tortorella attending the Olympic Camp. Oh, and Bruce Lifrieri; the Rangers massage therapist. ^_^
Also, the local talent includes: Mike Komisarek (West Islip, LI NY), Rob Scuderi (Syosset, LI NY), Dustin Brown (Ithaca, NY), Ryan Callahan (Rochester, NY), Chris Drury (Trumbull, Conn), Patrick Kane (Buffalo, NY), and Bobby Ryan (Cherry Hill, NJ).
And just to wrap up my ramblings on Americans: Sign Dubinsky, Rangers. Please?
I've gotta say, I like them.
The Canadians ones were nice, too. But the USA third jersey just has something about it, you know? It draws me to them. It makes me really want to root for them. Here's a picture from USA Hockey of Ryan Malone donning this awesome new jersey.
I mean, does he not look distinguished? Don't you want to stand up and chant "Let's Go
And although I could only find a picture of Ryan Callahan in plain old blue, somehow I'm having a really easy time imagining him in that third jersey.
On the Rangers front, we also have Chris Drury and John Tortorella attending the Olympic Camp. Oh, and Bruce Lifrieri; the Rangers massage therapist. ^_^
Also, the local talent includes: Mike Komisarek (West Islip, LI NY), Rob Scuderi (Syosset, LI NY), Dustin Brown (Ithaca, NY), Ryan Callahan (Rochester, NY), Chris Drury (Trumbull, Conn), Patrick Kane (Buffalo, NY), and Bobby Ryan (Cherry Hill, NJ).
And just to wrap up my ramblings on Americans: Sign Dubinsky, Rangers. Please?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
