Dawes And Prucha On The Outer

The Rangers finished their season last year, loaded with draft picks and prospects that they had developed. Lauri Korpikoski made his NHL debut in the final game, and joined Petr Prucha, Ryan Callahan, Brandon Dubinsky, Nigel Dawes, Fedor Tyutin, Marc Staal, Ryan Hollweg and Henrik Lundqvist on a team that featured nine Rangers’ draft picks, and a tenth player (Dan Girardi). Over the summer, Glen Sather took the opportunity […]
Some Things Never Change

by Mark Owens Let’s get one thing out of the way: Chris Drury will be the second-best captain the Rangers have had in the past 30 years. He is more than ready to lead this team, especially with seven new players and legends Jaromir Jagr and Brendan Shanahan out of the picture. The team’s average age is now 26, down from […]
Turnover, Speed, and Leadership Void

by Mark Owens Chris Drury and Scott Gomez, along with Henrik Lundqvist, take over as the team’s leaders. Jagr’s offensive production ‘ hopefully ‘ will be replaced by the speedy, enigmatic, underachieving, high first-round pick Nikolai Zherdev (sounds a little like Alex Kovalev, doesn’t it?). Replacing Shanahan’s 23 goals, theoretically, will be Markus Naslund, whose production the past two seasons has […]
Sather Turns Defense Into Offense

After day one of the 2008 Free Agent period, the Rangers were set on defense, but had significant holes on their top two lines. On day two GM Glen Sather made an attempt to rectify that, dealing defensemen Fedor Tyutin and Christian Backman to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Nikolai Zherdev and Dan Fritsche. Zherdev, a 24 year old right wing who […]
Jagr Would Like To Return

Jaromir Jagr wants to extend his tenure on Broadway and has told reproters that the Rangers are his number one choice. Whether he (and Brendan Shanahan) return will be largely up to what Glen Sather wants to do financially and strategically. It’s expected that while Jagr has indicated he’d like to return, there’ll still be competition for Jagr’s services, both in the NHL and […]
Moving On

The Rangers are moving on to the Eastern Conference Semifinals for the second straight season thanks to a 5-3 win in last night’s Game 5. The win gave the Blueshirts a 4-1 series victory (in the process eliminating the Devils) and a chance to wait on the sidelines as the remaining two series battle it out. The victory was that much sweeter against the Devils, erasing the 4-0 […]
Gomez and Drury Lead the Way in Total Team Effort

by Mark Owens Gomez assisted on two power play goals and Drury assisted on all three markers to lead the Rangers to a 3-2 win over the Devils. Both teams now have 91 points and five games left. Gomez’s Willis Reed-like appearance despite bruised ribs energized fans and teammates alike. Gomez played with passion all […]
Great, Now Do It Again

by Mark Owens Chris Drury‘s slap shot 23 seconds into the second period made the score 3-0 and the Rangers never looked back. Brendan Shanahan sealed the win on a beautiful give-and-go with Sean Avery, snapping the puck past a beleaguered Antero Niittimyaaki, making it 4-0 and chasing the Finn from the net. In the goalie’s defense, only […]
The Price is Right?

by Matt Waxman At this point it should be apparent what the Rangers are, and that is a mediocre team. They are not an offensive team, nor are they a defensive team of late. This is a team in limbo. There are several ways this can play out, but first a review. At the start […]
Preseason Grades Are In

by Mark Owens With the win Saturday, the Rangers wrapped up the preseason. As Ranger fans await confirmation of Tom Renney’s final roster cuts, now is the time to evaluate each player’s – and the team’s – performance. With a record of 3-2-1, I rate the team’s preseason performance a C+. There were blowout losses […]