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 […]
Staal, Mara Given Props
The Rangers head out to the Island tonight (7:00pm – MSG HD) for their first of six meetings with their division rivals. The Islanders have struggled this year, with only 4 points in 9 games…and are coming off a 4-3 loss to Carolina in which they registered 60 shots, but failed to tie it on a Penalty […]
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 […]
Looking To Rebound
The Rangers look to rebound from their first loss of the season Wednesday against the Sabres, when they host the visiting Maple Leafs tonight (7:00pm – MSG). Lauri Korpikoski will sit out with an arm injury, and will be replaced by Tom Fritsche in the line-up. Petr Prucha goes back to the bench to allow Nigel Dawes another shot after missing the last […]
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 […]
No Such Thing As A ‘Free’ Agent
In a way it’s ironic that the NHL and NHLPA use the terms “Free” Agency. Judging by some of the projected offers for the few marquee players on offer, they’re about as far afield from that designator as you can be and still sign a valid contract. Tampa Bay (complete with new ownership) has gotten […]
Critical Decisions
by Steven Zeltser This offseason is going to be critical for both the organization and Sather himself. There are many decisions to be made. Do they bring back their captain, Jaromir Jagr? If so, who else from the Jagr entourage must be signed? Straka? Rozsival? Malik? Does Shanahan have another year in him and is his […]
Progress Made, Changes Needed
by Mark Owens Despite bowing out in round two again and perhaps wasting their final season with Hall-of-Famers-to-be Jaromir Jagr and Brendan Shanahan, the Rangers’ season was mostly successful, due to the development of rookies Marc Staal, Brandon Dubinsky, Nigel Dawes and Ryan Callahan. Lauri Korpikoski scored a goal in his NHL debut Sunday, and is one of several rookies with a chance to make […]