The Official Unofficial Season Preview
As we sit on the eve of the NHL season, it’s time to take stock of the team we have. The Rangers officially kick their 2009-10 campaign off in Pittsburgh against the defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins. And what a difference a year makes. Around this time last year, the Rangers were one of four […]
Rangers Add Gaborik, Brashear
Dany Heatley may have wanted to come to New York, but Glen Sather looked elsewhere yesterday for scoring help. The Rangers officially announced they had signed Marian Gaborik to a long term contract yesterday (5 years – $37.5M) in a move that immediately brings some scoring ability into the mix. The Rangers finished tied for the fifth fewest goals […]
Active Day For Rangers
The Rangers opened up the 2009-10 season with a splash Wednesday, signing free agent forwards Marian Gaborik and Donald Brashear and bidding two thirds of their checking unit adieu with the departures of Colton Orr (Maple Leafs) and Fredrik Sjostrom (Flames). The moves followed Tuesday’s trade of Scott Gomez to the Montreal Canadiens, in a week that has certainly changed the tone of the organization. According to reports, Gaborik has signed a five-year deal worth $37.5M, […]
Tortorella Loses First Game In Shootout
Welcome back to the NHL “Torts”. The Rangers looked better at times last night, and Wade Redden even scored his first goal since October…on the power play no less, but the result was the same. A 2-1 Shootout loss to the Maple Leafs makes John Tortorella the fourth replacement coach this year to lose his debut in a shootout. He was the sixth one replaced so far this […]
Pluses and Minuses
With the Rangers just a couple of weeks away from the NHL trade deadline (March 4th), the players in the organization no longer just have to worry whether they’ll be dressing in Broadway Blue, but whether the new man behind the bench will make them be successful, or perhaps send their careers the wrong way. […]
Home Cooking
Before the lockout, the Rangers were known mostly for one thing: failure. Seven years of playoff futility was highlighted by a stream of aging, high priced veterans, who for the most part failed to perform in the bright spotlight of Broadway. Four and a half years on, and the Rangers have moved on with three […]
Hank and Team Defense Carrying the Team
by Mark Owens Only three NHL defensemen have a worse plus/minus than Dmitri Kalinin. At -10, Kalinin leads the team in this category. He also seems to bring the worst out of whichever defenseman he is paired with. Aside from Sunday’s team-wide malfunction, is it any surprise that Michal Rozsival‘s play improved immensely once he was reunited […]
A Game-Changing Power Play and Other Surprises
by Mark Owens Last season’s power play unit ranked 22nd in the NHL and continually failed to help the team win close games. This failure came to a head in the playoff loss to the Penguins, when the Rangers squandered one power play after another during the five games. In this season’s first 10 games, Brandon […]
Rissmiller Clears
Off day for the Rangers, with their next game not until Friday, when they visit the Columbus Blue Jackets in Ohio. One player who will be unlikely to make the trip is Patrick Rissmiller who cleared waivers just minutes ago. The Rangers are now free to assign the UFA forward to Hartford if they so desire. Rissmiller […]
A Season Of Change
Well I’m finally back from a long summer that finished up with a two week trip to Europe and the back to back games in Prague. I certainly apologize for not having everything ready to go for the start of the season, but as you can imagine there are things in life that sometimes take […]