From A to Z
Six weeks after we started the series, we are finally at an end. With this profile on Mats Zuccarello the last in our 47 part series, we draw to a conclusion the preview of the Rangers’ season. Over this series we have profiled each player that the Rangers have under contract, whether they be in New York, […]
Room For Optimism – Part III
For those who’ve been following, I’ve been responding to a post on the OTG message boards that asked why we should be optimistic. In Part I of my response, I focused on what other teams have done in the Eastern Conference, and how many of those teams have questions two. In Part II I turned my attention back to the Rangers […]
A Word To The Weise
The Rangers could open the regular season Saturday with as many as eight draft picks on the opening roster, along with two more who were undrafted signees that made their NHL debuts with the team. It’s quite a difference from the teams we saw in the late 90s, when the team was dominated by spare […]
Line Dancing
Twenty Seven players. A maximum of twenty four spots – if Chris Drury starts the season on Injured Reserve. Probably more likely to be twenty three spots, whether or not Drury is healthy to start the season. Remaining on the roster, the Rangers still have sixteen forwards, nine defensemen and two goaltenders. At least deciding the goaltending […]
Prospecting For Gold
The Traverse City Prospects Tournament concluded today, with the Rangers finishing in fifth spot on the back of an impressive 7-2 win over the Dallas Stars. Derek Stepan lead the way for the Rangers in the competition with seven points in four games. One of the players who benefited from playing alongside Stepan, is the player we […]
Captain, My Captain
Around two dozen Rangers got on the ice today for practices, with the remaining NHL players – excluding Marc Staal – expected to join them sometime this week. Meanwhile a number of prospects are getting ready to travel to Traverse City to kick off the annual Prospect Tournament this weekend. Oh yeah, and Summer officially ended yesterday…good […]
Forward Motion
Yesterday’s signing of Tim Kennedy in many ways surprising. Perhaps, more than anything, this was Sather being opportunistic, and taking advantage of a rare young free agent with some promise, at a bargain price. Certainly it’s hard to see how the addition of Kennedy fits into any sort of strategy for the coming season. The Blueshirts now […]
Callahan, A Good And Great Man
As we wrap up August, the Rangers created a little bit of excitement yesterday by signing free agent LW/C Tim Kennedy. While Kennedy is likely to compete for a spot on the third or fourth line, he’s unlikely to affect the prospects of the subject of today’s Ranger Countdown – Ryan Callahan. Callahan goes into this season […]
Byers Beware
The first five profiles of our Ranger Countdown this off-season, have focused on players who have a good shot of making the opening night line-up. In our sixth edition, we turn our attention to one of the players on the outside looking in. Dane Byers has played a handful of NHL games, but has yet to […]
Season Ends Abruptly
With yesterday’s shootout loss to the Flyers, the Rangers’ season came abruptly to an end. Maybe I’d gotten too used to seeing post-season play, but for whatever reason the loss yesterday struck me as surprising, and of course more than a little disappointing. In many ways it was a fitting end to the season, a […]