Off-season Notes
It never is fun to lose, and it always takes me a while to get back into the groove of things after the Rangers season ends. So apologies certainly for having just the minimal updates so far. First up, we’ve updated the OTG Draft page with details for the June 24-25 NHL Entry Draft to be hosted […]
Keep The Hits Coming
As the Ranger prepare for tonight’s game, they’ll likely be hearing the same story from John Tortorella: come out quickly with a strong forecheck, and take the body at every chance. It was that recipe that ultimately paid dividends for the Rangers in game three, and more of the same will be what’s required tonight. […]
Inexperienced Rangers Head Into Playoffs
The Rangers head into their Wednesday night series opener with the Washington Capitals with a big hill to climb. Of the 20 man roster that played in the final game of the season, only thirteen have played in the post season before. Of those thirteen players, only four have played more than forty post season […]
Playoffs Edging Closer
Just a few short weeks ago at the trade deadline, the Rangers were very much at risk of missing the playoffs for a second straight year. A 4-6-1 record in the month of February – with only two wins in regulation – combined with improved play from Montreal, Carolina and Buffalo, had evaporated what was […]
Room For Optimism – Part II
Earlier today I put together reasons why I felt you could be optimistic about the upcoming Rangers season. In Part I, I applied a critical viewpoint to each of the teams in the Eastern Conference and highlighted questions that could be raised about almost every team. That’s not to say all those questions will remain unanswered, […]
Camp Fire Stories
Traditionally Rangers training camp has been more about getting veterans into shape, than any real competition for spots. Not so in 2010, when the Rangers entered the preseason preparations with an abundance of players looking to rebound, along with several good rookies looking to make their mark. Certainly not all questions have been resolved, but […]
Stepan Up
The Rangers today made what will possibly be their last two roster moves prior to the start of the season. By sending Pavel Valentenko and Ryan McDonagh down to Hartford, they effectively have got down to the 23 man roster for opening night. That means good news for today’s Rangers Countdown Profile subject. With the last reassignments made, along […]
More Cuts As Rangers Trim 11
The Rangers trimmed their roster by a further eleven players today, bringing the number remaining in camp to just 27, including injured forwards Chris Drury and Vinny Prospal. The cuts marked the end of contract bids for defensemen Alexei Semenov, Garnet Exelby and try-out Brandon Manning. At forward, the biggest surprise was perhaps Mats Zuccarello Aasen going to down […]
Free Agents Sometimes Prospal
We’re halfway through the Rangers’ preseason schedule, and less than two weeks from the season opener up in Buffalo against the Sabres. Today’s Rangers Countdown profile is on a player who is expected to make the opening night line-up, but has yet to appear in a preseason game – Vinny Prospal. Player ProfileLast Summer, the […]
Ask Not What Your Team Can Do For You
Day two of training camp started this morning at 8:00am for the Rangers, with more conditioning exercises expected. They won’t get to use pucks until tomorrow when the first scrimmages are expected to occur. One player who will be no doubt eager to get on with the show is late season signing Tim Kennedy, the subject […]