Rangers Offensive Explosion Gets Them Huge Win

The long awaited explosion of the Rangers offense has finally come. They scored the most goals in a game this season(6 goals). The offense went hard to the net, had a quick transition, and the Defense was joining the play. It really felt great as a fan to see the team succeed for the first time in a while, and also to see the players gain some well needed confidence.

John Tortorella's system was proved successful tonight, in his first win as the Rangers' head coach. Eleven different Blueshirts had at least a point in tonight's contest and some of those points were relieving ones, such as Drury and Gomez's goals. The Rangers also got a big performance from their Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. He wasn't too busy, but he made some huge saves in this game that robbed the Avalanche of prime scoring opportunities and goals.

A few other noticeable players tonight were Nik Zherdev(1goal-1assist), Lauri Korpikoski(2 assists), Scott Gomez(1goal-3assists), and Chris Drury(1goals-1assist). Those were only a few of the many Rangers players that stepped up and played great games tonight. Markus Naslund also had a big game and became the Rangers first 20 goal scorer this season, with a goal to make 6-1 at the end of the game.

A lot of added emotion came into play toward the end of the game, when there was a stoppage at about every 2 minutes due to a scrum or fight. It even had assistant coach, Jim Schoenfeld mouthing off to players on the ice, and then Avalanche head coach, Tony Granato. The emotion was even higher due to the fact that this win would turn out to be a big one for the Rangers as it will keep the Rangers in the playoff picture, placing them in sixth place, as they passed theFlorida Panthers who lost to the Deveils earlier this afternoon. So the Blueshirts will look to build from here, and keep themselves locked in a playof spot.

The Rangers will be off until Thursday, when they will take on the Islanders on Long Island. In the meantime, the Rangers team and fans will be watching two different things; a)Sean Avery being placed on re-entry waivers, and whether or not he will put on a Rangers jersey again, and b) The Trade Deadline, who will go? come? Despite the Rangers not having much activity game-wise this week, it will definitely be an interesting and exciting week with these two major events occurring.

(Photo taken from Rangers Official Website)

Rangers Hope To Get Offense Jump-Started Against Avs

In their third game under new head coach John Tortorella, the Rangers will be hosting the Colorado Avalanche for the first time in several years. The Rangers will see this as a really big game, due to the fact that they are barely hanging on to a playoff spot, in seventh place. The Colorado Avalanche, on the other hand, are in last place in the West and have lost their last 3 games.

Henrik Lundqvist will be in net for the Rangers tonight, as he did a lot of video work with Benoit Allaire yesterday during practice.As for the rest of the lineup, Freddy Sjostrom will be back on the fourth line after missing the last game against Florida. Tortorella said that he missed Freddy being in the lineup last game for penalty killing purposes. So that means that means that Aaron Voros and newly acquired Mark Bell(#22) will be tonight's healthy scratches, leaving the lines looking like this:

Naslund-Gomez-Zherdev

Drury-Dubinsky-Callahan

Dawes-Korpikoski-Prucha

Sjostrom-Betts-Orr

Rozsival-Redden

Staal-Girardi

Mara-Kalinin

I like how the team is playing under Tortorella's system and the chances their getting, but it is time to convert. Last game, the Rangers were capable of scoring at least 5 goals, they scored only one. Tonight's contest against the Avalanche will present the Blueshirts with a big opportunity to convert their prime offensive chances into goals.

(Photo taken from Rangers Official Website)

Dubinsky Non-Goal/ Avery

Well, I decided to look further into the Dubinsky deflection today. I watched the video over and over, but it is hard to see his stick. I did, though, manage to capture a stilled image of the play right before the stick made contact with the puck(Image Above). From what I have looked at, My final conclusion would be goal, You may or may not agree with me on the final call, but I am sure we all agree that the play should have at least been reviewed. Again, it is hard to see the stick, but the level of his hands and the puck in relation to the crossbar, it seems lower. But this is just my opinion.

Also, if you haven't already read about it today, the Dallas Stars plan on placing Sean Avery on re-entry waivers on either Sunday or Monday, three/two days before the deadline. Sean would be placed on waivers for 24 hours. If Avery passes through all of the teams below the Rangers, New York is presented with an opportunity to claim him, and split his salary with the Dallas Stars. That is up to Glen Sather and John Tortorella, and whether they think the team will feed off of Avery's energy. Right now, It seems like a good idea.

Rangers Fall To Panthers, Scoring Drought Continues

The chances were there. The goal scorers were not. It is as simple as that, the Rangers inability to score handed them another loss. For the second consecutive night, the Rangers brought a one goal lead late into the third, and in both games the Blueshirts let up that killing goal to bring the other team back into the game. Unfortunately tonight, they Rangers were unable to keep the game tied and get it to overtime like last night.

First of all, you have to look at the Rangers' game despite the scoring. Just look at the opportunities they created. Under the new coaching system, the players are getting to places on the ice were they really haven't been previously in the season. They got to rebounds, but just were unable to net them. Players are gripping their sticks tight and you can see it. Just take Callahan, Gomez, and Rozsival's opportunities. On all three, they had the goalie down and out with 1/3 of the net open, but they shot it right into the goaltender and were unable to capitalize on prime opportunities.

I do believe under the new coach John Tortorella, this team will come around. I love the system. It is getting the team second opportunities and giving us a chance to win games. This new system even has Wade Redden playing his best of the season. He has looked great, as he has no hesitation to shoot and he looks comfortable and confident. Brandon Dubinsky has also played great these last two games. Overall, the team is playing well, and I think they will come around under this system, but again, it is just my opinion.

The Rangers have off tomorrow, but the Rangers will be back at the Garden to host the Colorado Avalanche at 7:00pm. Colorado is a team that has major struggles this season and the Rangers will look to capitalize on that.

(Photo taken from Rangers Official Website)

Rangers vs Panthers Pregame

I apologize for the brief pregame post, but I was tied up earlier today and was unable to get it up earlier.

The Rangers will be hosting the 7th place Florida Panthers in John Tortorella's second game behind the bench. The Rangers had noticeable changes in their game game under the new head coach last night despite falling to the Leafs 2-1 in a shootout. The Blueshirts look to continue their efforts tonight against a dangerous Florida team, that is just 2 pts behind the 6th place Rangers.

Henrik Lundqvist will be in goal again for the Rangers. Paul Mara in, Reitz out. Also, Sjostrom scratched, Voros in. I would assume Sjostrom is out for two reasons; he was really banged up in yesterday's game in Toronto, and Torts probably wants to get a look at Voros. There was no skate for the Rangers this morning.
More after the game.....

Tortorella's Debut

Despite the Loss, I noticed many changes In the Rangers game last night:

• Great Forecheck
• Got to loose pucks
• Quick Transition
• Defensmen took risks offensively and were aggressive defensively
• Much more jump to their game
• Moved as 5 through the neutral zone
• MOVEMENT in the Powerplay
• Overall, they were exciting to watch

I will have a pregame post later on, as the Rangers will host the Florida Panthers tonight at the Garden........

Totorella Debuts Against Leafs/ Rangers Claim Mark Bell

John Tortorella will make his coaching debut tonight in Toronto. This game has the fans extremely anxious and it gives them the chance to be excited about a Rangers game for the first time in Months. The Blueshirts will look to turn things around starting tonight in Toronto, as they face-off against the Maple Leafs at 7:30pm.

Since becoming coach Monday Night, John Tortorella has made many changes already, but one that sticks out are the line changes. Totorella's lines in practice looked like this:

Naslund-Gomez-Zherdev
Dubinsky-Drury-Callahan
Dawes-Korpikoski-Prucha
Sjostrom-Betts-Orr

Personally, I like the changes and I think they will develop chemistry. I have also heard that Marc Staal and Dan Girardi will be paired together on Defense, not to sure on what the other pairings will be though. Henrik Lundqvist will be in goal for the Rangers tonight.
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Also, earlier today, the Rangers announced that they have claimed forward Mark Bell off of re-entry waivers. The 28 year old is 6-foot-4 and is an Aaron Voros type player, but with much more skill. This could mean that Voros will be moved before the deadline. Anyway, the Rangers will pay half of his $2.5 million contract. Bell has 87 goals and 182 points in 445 career games in the NHL.
(Photo taken from CBC.ca)

Tortorella Comments From Practice

Here are some comments by Torts that were made in today's meeting with the media as per Steve Zipay of Blue Notes(http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/hockey/rangers/blog/):

"I have always liked the pressure game. We're gonna try to pressure... We're not trapping. Everybody thinks it's a defensive system; it's a transition mechanism. But I've gotta be careful; I made a major mistake last year with our team in Tampa where I was too aggressive and our D couldn't handle it and it cost us. I made a huge mistake in not changing that a little bit. I waited too long."

"I'm going to give Schoney the penalty killing and he's going to handle the D during the games and I'm going to do the power play. I think it's important that the head coach has the power play. You're dealing with a lot of your top people and I think that's an important aspect of a head coach, getting the most out of your top people. You get to converse with them, they see the game differently than the coach does. Obviously if we're going to win it's going to have to produce."

"I'm not a four-line guy. Your best players need to be your decision-makers. They're going to get every opportunity to win hockey games for us. They're going to be put in those situations, as long as they show me they're going to be able to compete hard. If they're playing hard, I'm going to send them right back out there."

"Mike (Pelino) is going to help me in pre-scouting and tape work, hand-in-hand with Jerry Dineen. I talked to him about this and I think we need a clean break. It's nothing to do with Mike. I think it's good (for players) mentally to wipe the slate clean. I've had the trainers take down the standings and all the stats, we'll clean that up and start over. There is going to be a philosophical change here, but there's a couple of good guys who are out and I just don't want them blamed."

"I'm not going to stand behind the bench and just calmly go about it. I'm just not built that way. I think honesty is what players want. They're going to get pushed, they're going to be held accountable, and there are going to be some bumps in the road, there may be some conflict along the way, but I don't think we should be afraid of conflict."

"I'll be meeting with them one on one, slowly but surely, sometimes on the ice, sometimes on the plane, when it needs to be. I had some major one-on-one battles in an office along the way. And it turns into some conflict. We're not going to overload them with a quarter of the season left. I talked to a couple players today in a casual way. When you put a player in an office, they clam up."

"Initally, I just want them to relax a little here. I think the team's been paralyzed with all the things going on with the club....And losing knocks you down. I am gonna push them, but as a coach you have to understand when you need to be with them. I think this is a time to get them to feel decent about themselves. There would be nothing better than a win. I think they're a little bit beat up. This reputation that I just kick the hell out of people takes on a life of its own. I think they need to get a little self confidence."

Torts also went on to call Henrik Lundqvist the best goaltender in the league.

Tortorella's first game will be tomorrow night against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Toronto, at 7:30pm.

(Photo taken from the Rangers Official Website)

More Later.....

Conference Scheduled For 7pm(UPDATE)

It has been reported that Glen Sather is holding a media conference call at 7pm tonight. I will update this post when I hear more.....
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UPDATE(8PM)- So this was what was announced by Glen Sather during the conference as per Carp of the Rangers Report(http://rangers.lohudblogs.com/):

• It is Official. John Tortorella is heading into New York as we speak, and will be taking over as Head Coach of the New York Rangers.
• Glen stated that the Lightning will receive no compensation for Tort's remaining contract money, and that Tortorella signed a multi-year contract with the Rangers.
• Jim Schoenfeld and Mike Pelino will serve as the assistant coaches and Tom Renney is welcomed to stay in the organization if he chooses.
• Sather also mentioned that he had this move planned for a while and that he planned to make the move today, regardless of Sunday's results in the game against the leafs.

So I would assume that Tortorella will make his debut behind the bench on Wednesday in Toronto, as they Rangers will be playing the Leafs at 7:30pm that night.

Renney Fired, Tortorella Hired(UPDATE)

It has been announced today that Rangers head coach, Tom Renney has been fired from the head position. The Rangers have been dropping games as of late, and it was time for a change. Team GM and President Glen Sather felt the same way and finally made the decision to dismiss Renney. Renney got the Rangers past 82 games in three consecutive seasons once coming in as head coach, his overall record coming into this season as coach was 128-83-35. Assistant coach Perry Pearn was also fired.

Now you may be asking yourself who will be behind the bench now? That will most likely be hard-nosed John Tortorella, an ex head coach for the Tampa Bay lightning. He led the Lightning to a Stanley Cup Championship the year before the lockout. His reputation was made as an "In Your Face" coach and will hopefully get the Rangers awake and going. Glen Sather and Tortorella have agreed on a deal and are working things out as we speak. The official announcement of John Tortorella as head coach is expected to be announced later today.

(Photo taken from TSN.ca)

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I apologize for the late and short post, but I just got home and am locked up at the moment. I will be posting more concerning the issue later today.

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UPDATE(3:45pm)- It is being reported that the Tampa Bay Lightning want compensation for Tortorella, being that there is still time on his contract and they have to pay it. They will most likely be denied compensation by the league, but you never know? This will put a bit of a delay on the Rangers officially hiring Tortorella. More later.....

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UPDATE(5:10pm)- There is supposedly going to be a press conference announcing Tortorella's hiring later this afternoon/early tonight. In the meantime, you can entertain yourself with this video preview of our "to be" coach: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ee6mT8y5C34&feature=related. Enjoy! More later.....

Drooping Rangers Host Leafs, Bathgate and Howell Raised To Rafters

Coming off of a 4-2 loss in Buffalo last night, the Rangers come home to host the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight at 7pm. The Rangers, after last night's loss, have fallen back to eighth place in the East with a 31-23-6 record. The Leafs are in eleventh place right now with 54pts and have had a struggle the whole season , but cannot be underestimated. This will be a huge game for Head Coach Tom Renney, being that he is going up against a non-playoff team and his team has lost eight out of their last ten games. If the Rangers come out with no spirit tonight, as they have in recent games, I feel that there is a good chance the Renney Era will be terminated.

It is being said that Renney will go back to Henrik Lundqvist in tonight's contest, despite playing in last night's game in Buffalo. Paul Mara will again be out for tonight's game with a shoulder injury, that means that Dmitri Kalinin and Eric Reitz will be probable in tonight's lineup. Renney has not announced who will be in/out from a forwards standpoint, but based on last night's performance, Renney will most likely be changing up the lines once again.

Also, before the game, a ceremony will be held to honor two former Rangers that have made it to the HOF in Harry Howell and Andy Bathgate. These two played during the Gilbert/Giacomin Era and were prominent players during their time. They wore numbers 3 and 9, so those will be the numbers that will be added to the collection of banners that hang from the Garden ceiling. Congratulations to these two great men.

(Photo taken from Rangers Official Website)

Lack Of Spirit Leads To Rangers Loss

Once again, the Rangers' players showed no emotion and it lead to a loss. What else is new? Not only did the offense only produce 2 goals, but the team Defense had an abhorrent game, in which they were giving Lundqvist no help, in fact, the second Sabre goal was deflected off of Wade Redden's glove. This Ranger team looks discombobulated and are losing all focus and confidence. Not good signs as the playoffs are right around the corner, and the Rangers have the last and final playoff spot in the East, as this win caused the team to drop to eighth place.

One positive thing that came out of of this game was the fact that the Rangers scored another powerplay goal, though it was a very flukey goal that was pushed in by Markus Naslund's momentum. This game was extremely boring until Scott Gomez skated behind the net and took out Buffalo goaltender, Ryan Miller, which he eventually left the game because of, what looked like, a strain. After that occurred, some animosity and action came into the game, and it got a bit interesting, The Rangers proceeded to net two goals, those were scored by Markus Naslund and Nigel Dawes. So those events were really the only positives in the game for the Rangers.

The Blueshirts will come back home to New York, where they will host the Toronto Maple Leafs Sunday night, the Leafs are a team that is out of the playoff race, but cannot be underestimated. Also, tomorrow night the Rangers organization will honor two Hall of Famers in Harry Howell and Andy Bathgate. Numbers 9 and 3 were worn by the two and will now hang from the Garden Rafters.

(Photo taken from the Rangers Official Website)

Rangers Look To Make It Two In A Row In Buffalo(UPDATE)

The Rangers head into Buffalo tonight coming off of a relieving win against the Isles Wednesday night at the Garden. That win improved the Blueshirts record to 31-22-6, putting them in 5th place in the East with 68 pts. Two points behind them in 8th place are the Buffalo Sabres, who have defeated the Rangers in both meetings between the two this season. These 2 points are crucial for the Rangers because 2 points will keep the Rangers in the 5th place spot for the time being, and will provide the Rangers the chance to move into 4th place(that is if Philly loses to Pitt. today) with a big game against the Leafers at the Garden tomorrow.

Henrik Lundqvist will most likely be in net again for the Rangers tonight, so that would leave Steve Valiquette to play in tomorrow's second of back-to-back games for the Rangers. Lauri Korpikoski will be playing tonight, coming back from an injury suffered in St. Louis Monday night. Aaron Voros will be healthy scratch, so that means both Petr Prucha and Nigel Dawes will be in the lineup for the Blueshirts tonight as well. Paul Mara will remain out tonight because of his shoulder injury.That will leave the lineup looking something like this:

Naslund-Gomez-Callahan
Dawes-Drury-Prucha
Korpikoski-Dubinsky-Zherdev
Sjostrom-Betts-Orr

Rozsival-Staal
Redden-Girardi
Kalinin-Reitz

As I mentioned before, these points are very important for the Rangers. As a matter of fact, all points from now on will be important for the Rangers, but the problem is that most other teams the Rangers will be playing feel the same, that makes every team hungry and dangerous. So this means that the Rangers will have to be on their toes and at the top of their game for the next couple of months.
(Photo taken by Getty Images)
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UPDATE (6:15pm)- Lauri Korpikoski will be in the lineup tonight, this is his first gane back after missing the previous game because of an injury suffered Monday Night in St. Louis. Aaron Voros will be the healthy scratch. Updated lines above.

March 8th Time Change

On Sunday March 8th, the Rangers will be facing off against the Boston Bruins. This game will be televised on NBC, and because NBC is annoying this way, they moved the game up to 12:30pm due to scheduling purposes. Hopefully the Rangers will be awake for this afternoon start, as they were anything but awake for the game with the Flyers last Sunday afternoon at 12:30.

Rangers Finally Win In Regulation, Edge Isles 3-1

In a game where the Rangers top players played like top players, the Blueshirts found a way to snap the three game losing streak that they were carrying with them coming into tonight's contest. Grant it, the second goal was flukey, and they only scored 3 goals, but the Rangers played a solid 60 minute game. Their leaders stepped up and lead by example, that has to be a constant if the Rangers have playoff hopes.

Henrik Lundqvist was a standout tonight, making 25 saves, some of them big saves when they were needed and posted an assist . A couple other players that really stood out tonight were Petr Prucha(fight and an assist), Nigel Dawes(goal), Scott Gomez(goal), Chris Drury(3 assists), Marc Staal(solid defense), and Frederick Sjostrom(goal). All had a solid performance in tonight's win over the Isles.

Now the Rangers would be mistaken to come out of this game overconfident. Afterall this was a win over the last place team in the league. There is still work that remains to be done and this team has to convert their opportunities into goals, and get this offense going.

This win moves the team to 5th place in the standings. The Rangers will go head to head with a team that is trying to catch them in the standings, that team is the Buffalo Sabres. That game will be played in Buffalo at 7pm on Saturday night. The Rangers are 0-2 against the Sabres so far this season.

(Photo taken from Rangers Official Website)

Slumping Rangers Host Isles At The Garden

The Blueshirts will be taking on the last place Islanders at the Garden tonight, a big opportunity to snap the losing streak. The Rangers have now dropped 3 straight games, and have posted a 2-6-2 record in their last 10, and are currently in eighth place in the Eastern Conference. The Isles are 17-33-6 on the season, and are 6-21-2 while on the road. The last time these two teams met up was at the Coliseum, where the Rangers came out on top 2-1. The season series favors the Rangers as they are 3-1 when going head to head with the Isles.

Henrik Lundqvist will be in net for the Rangers tonight, as he has been one of the few Rangers that has been playing throughout the slump. Another player that is a member of the well playing players is Lauri Korpikoski, who will miss tonight's contest due to an upper body injury suffered in St. Louis Monday night. His replacement will be Nigel Dawes. Dawes sat out Monday's game against St. Louis as a healthy scratch. Due to the absence of "Korpedo", Brandon Dubinsky will move from second line wing to centering the third line tonight. Also, Dmitri Kalinin will be in the lineup for the injured Paul Mara, who' MRI showed no structural damage to his right shoulder, which means it will not need to be operated on. That is good news.

These points that are up for grabs tonight, will be vital for the Rangers as a win tonight will get the Blueshirts out of eighth place and higher in the standings for the time being. If they drop this game and increase their streak to four, they will be just three points ahead of the ninth place Hurricanes. Plus, if the Rangers start losing tonight, the Garden faithful will surely express their feelings towards the team.

Mara Out 2-4 Weeks, Hartford D To Be Called Up

It has been reported that Rangers defenseman Paul Mara will be out of the lineup for the next two-four weeks due to a shoulder injury suffered in a fight with Aaron Asham Sunday afternoon. This will not help the Rangers who are trying to overcome a losing slump. Head Coach Tom Renney said he will turn to Hartford for a replacement for Mara. His options are Corey Potter, Bobby Sanguinetti, Brian Fahey, or Mike Sauer.

This means that either Dmitri Kalinin, who played for the first time in six games last night in St. Louis, or D Erik Reitz will be healthy scratches. I would think that Reitz would be the scratch as Erik was brought to New York to serve as an extra defenseman, but I could be wrong. And for the D-man to be called up, I would think Renney will turn to Potter. He has brought up Potter three other times this season when needed. Bobby Sanguinetti is said to be premature for the NHL, so I don't believe that he will be the replacement. As mentioned before, Fahey and Sauer could be called up as well, but again, based on history, I think Renney will go with Potter.

Rangers Drop Yet Another Game, What Happens Now?

Where do they go from here? Coaching Change? Personnel Change? What is the answer to turning this slump around?

Those are only a few of the questions that come to mind when thinking about the Rangers loss Monday Night in St. Louis. The Rangers inability to score bit them in the behind once again, as they were only able to produce one goal against a St. Louis team that has let up the fourth most amount of goals in the West. Lauri Korpikoski netted the only goal for the Rangers.

Henrik Lundqvist, despite letting in a fluttering shot for the Blues' first goal, played great and once again, gave the Rangers a chance to win the game, but the offense failed him, which has been a theme his season for the Rangers.

The fore-check was working well in the first half of the game, but then it let up as the contest progressed. That is when Henrik Lundqvist had to be good, and for the most part he was. Th team offense was unable to convert on their opportunities, and in the second half, they were unable to even produce those chances.

At least in the beginning of the season the team was coming back and getting games to overtime and shootouts, and actually winning them. But now, the Blueshirts are losing games in regulation, not gaining points when they are vital, and because of this, are quickly descending through the standings. If their act is not put together soon, they will find themselves on the outside looking in, from a playoff standpoint.

I am not looking forward to Wednesday's game against the Isles. With the way this team is playing, we can be looking at another embarrassment. That game will be played at MSG at 7pm.
(Photo taken from Rangers Official Website)

Rangers Return To Work In St. Louis

Coming off of a 5-2 loss to the Bruins Sunday Afternoon, The Rangers are right back at it Monday Night against the Blues. The Blues, 23-25-7, are currently in 14th place in the West. The Rangers, 30-21-6, are 3-5-2 in their last 10 and are placed at 6th in the East. A win tonight would put the Blueshirts back in 5th pace, 2 points ahead of the Montreal Canadians, who have also been struggling.

Henrik Lundqvist will be back in goal for the Rangers, after being pulled in the second period against Philadelphia. Paul Mara will miss this game due to a dislocated shoulder, suffered in yesterday's fight with Aaron Asham. That means Dmitri Kalinin will be in the lineup tonight, returning from his injury suffered in Boston several weeks ago. From an offensive standpoint, Petr Prucha will most likely be playing in tonight's contest, as coach Tom Renney felt he improved as yesterday's game progressed. Not sure if the line combos will be juggled again or not, though.

The Rangers have lost 7 of their last eight, and are yet to turn the slump around, the opportunity can not be bigger tonight and Wednesday. Tonight, they play a St.Louis team in which has let up the fourth most goals in the Western Conference, and on Wednesday, the Blueshirts go head to head with the Isles, who place 30th in the league. Two straight wins will certainly help the confidence of this Rangers team, and maybe put them back on track.

(Photo taken by Getty Images)

Captain Drury Takes Blame For Rangers Slide

In the locker room after today's devastating loss, a lot was said by Rangers Captain Chris Drury. Drury, who has been just about invisible the last month, acknowledged the Rangers problems and is taking the blame for it, here are some of his quotes in today's post game interview;

“I have to look at myself, I’m not doing what I was brought here to do. I’m not leading the way I should lead. I’m not playing the way I should play.”

“I stand in front of the guys, I’m the captain,” Drury said. “If you (media and fans) want to point fingers, boo people, write your stories or whatever - it should start with me.”

At least Chris is manning up to the problem, and taking matters into his own hand, probably to take some of the heat off of his teammates and coaches. But Drury's task now, is to speak through his play, not through his mouth.

Tom Renney also made some comments in the press conference;

“I think confidence is always an issue when you’re struggling,”

On the Fire Renney Chants: “There’s no question about that.”

The Rangers are right back to work Monday Night, as they face-off with the St Louis Blues at 7pm, in St.Louis.

Rangers Look For Big Points In Game Against Flyers

The Rangers will host the Philadelphia Flyers today at MSG. The Blueshirts are coming off of a shootout loss in Florida on Friday, while the Flyers beat up on the Isles yesterday, 5-1. The Flyers find themselves in fourth place in the East with 67pts, as the Rangers are in 6th place with 64 pts, so ultimately, a win today would put the Rangers in fourth place for the time being. The Flyers do have 2 games on hand on the Rangers though.

Henrik Lundqvist will most likely be between the pipes in this one for the Rangers and across the rink will be Philly Goaltender Martin Biron. I am assuming that the lineup for the Blueshirts will be the same as the last two games, but there is always a possibility that Petr Prucha could be switched into the offensive lineup, or Dmitri Kalinin, who is ready to go after his injury, could replace Erik Reitz, but I cannot assure you this.

So this is a big one for the Rangers as it could either help the team ascend in the the standings or descend in the standings. The last time the Rangers played the Flyers was back in November at the Wachovia Center where the Rangers came out on top, 4-3.

(Photo taken from Rangers Official Website)

Rangers Fall to Panthers In Shootout

I deeply apologize for the late post, but I have been extremely busy lately. I will be back on schedule this week so expect posts to be back on time.

The Rangers were unable to get two points in the game last night against the Panthers, despite goalie Henrik Lundqvist standing on his head. The Offense weren't crashing the net as much in this game as they were on Wednesday against Washington. One of the few times they did, the produced a goal, which was scored by Frederick Sjostrom. The offensive jump that was present in Wednesday game just not there last night, and the scoreboard showed it.

Henrik Lundqvist played a spectacular game, making 46 saves, and several of them were things of beauty. Henrik's parents were visiting and were able to see the game last night.

This should be a sign to the organization that the team needs to acquire a big-time scorer, as the deadline approaches us. It has been proven many times throughout the season that this team is not a big scoring team and that is their Achilles heel. It has lost them many games, and if they would like to go far in the playoffs, the scoring must improve.

The Blueshirts will now face the Philadelphia Flyers Sunday at the Garden. This game is on NBC and is scheduled for a 12:30pm start. The Flyers are currently in 4th place and are coming off of a big win against the Isles this afternoon.

(Photo taken by Getty Images)

Rangers at Panthers Pregame

I apologize for late and short pregame, I was unable to get it up earlier due to time constraints.

Anyway, the Rangers are going head to head with the red-hot Panthers tonight in Sunshine Florida. The Blueshirts are coming off of a big shootout win against the Washington Capitals Wednesday night at the Garden. If the Rangers win this game tonight, they will be in fourth place in the east. If the lose, they will allow for other teams to gain ground on them. So it is crucial the Rangers pick up 2 in tonight's contest.

Tom Renney stated that Petr Prucha and Dmitri Kalinin will be watched in warm-ups. Depending on how he feels about them, will determine whether or not they will be in tonight's lineup. Otherwise, I would expect for the same lineup that was on the ice Wednesday, to be in place tonight in Florida. That means Henrik Lundqvist in goal as well.

(Image taken from Rangers Official Website)

Shootout Win Snaps Rangers' Skid

It feels like forever since we were able to witness a Blueshirt win, but last night that winning feeling, once again, filled the players and fans. The Rangers offense was able to net 4 goals in last night's contest, plus the shootout winner, which is 5. Ryan Callahan and Laauri Korpikoski were by far the best players on the ice for the Rangers last night, and Scott Gomez seemed to have a lift to his game, picking up two assists. The downside is that that the powerplay continues to struggle, and the players keep standing still and not moving. Besides the shootout goal, the Rangers defense was able to contain Alex Ovechkin and keep him off the board for the most part, AO recorded an assist and a shootout goal.

That is all for today due to time constraints. Stop by tomorrow as the Rangers face-off against the red-hot Florida Panthers in Sunshine Florida, at 7pm.

(Photo taken by Getty Images)

Rangers Look To Snap Five Game Drought At Garden

The Rangers are currently caught in a five game losing streak entering tonight's contest against the second place Washington Capitals. The Blueshirts inability to find the back of the net has cost them many losses this season, but never have they lost 5 in a row until now. The offense hopes that they can get the goal scoring jump started tonight against the Capitals. That will not be an easy task as the Caps are red hot and before their loss the other night, had an eight game winning streak.

Tom Renney, once again, is expected to have new lines on the ice tonight at the Garden. Nigel Dawes, Scott Gomez, Markus Naslund; Ryan Callahan, Chris Drury, Lauri Korpikoski; Nik Zherdev, Brandon Dubinsky, Aaron Voros; Fredrik Sjostrom, Blair Betts and Colton Orr. These lines are not definite for the game tonight, but are likely to be implied. Petr Prucha may also see ice tonight as a possibility to add some offensive skill to the lineup. Dmitri Kalinin will not be in the lineup once again, therefore, Erik Reitz will be playing as a replacement.

The last time the Rangers played the Capitals, was at Washington in January. The Rangers lost that game 2-1. As fans, we can only hope for a win as this team has looked extremely shaky lately, and we certainly don't want another blowout. The Rangers should look at this as an opportunity to prove themselves and beating an extremely talented second place team in the Washington Capitals.

(Photo taken by Getty Images)

Avery Assigned To Hartford

It was announced today that Sean Avery was assigned to the Hartford Wolfpack. He remains Dallas Stars property, but he had to be assigned to an AHL team and Dallas does not have one. Therefore, Glen Sather, in negotiations with Stars Co-Gm Les Jackson, was able to get Avery assigned to the Hartford Wolfpack.

The Rangers will not own Avery until he goes on Re-Entry waivers and the team claims him. That could be as early as tomorrow at noon. If the Rangers were to claim him on re-entry waivers, they would only pay half his 4 million dollar salary, Dallas would fund the rest. Now we just have to wait for him to be claimed on re-entry, and then we can officially call him a Ranger. This could very well be the spark this dull team needs.
(Photo taken by Getty Images)

More later.....

Yet Another Loss, Rangers Blanked By Devs 3-0

The problems continue. The Rangers response to a blowout on Friday was not a good one tonight in Newark. The Rangers were shutout once again due to their inability to score and convert. The Blueshirts had numerous opportunities with the man advantage and produced nothing, absolutely nothing. Henrik Lundqvist once again gave the team the chance to come back in the game by making big saves when they were needed, but the Rangers offense had no response and were unable to find the back of the net. These are bad signs coming out of the team at a crucial point in the season. It leaves many with the thought that something dramatic must happen, a change, and it must come quickly.

Well I believe Tom Renney is officially on the hot seat, as he has not led the team to a win a few weeks. The team is unresponsive and that could very well be due to a coaching fault. Or you could look at it as more of a personnel problem, with no players really stepping up and taking charge. Or it could be a combination of both. These consecutive losses are leaving fans and the organization with many questions, and if this team has intentions on making it past 82 games this season, they will have to provide answers for these questions quickly.

The Rangers next game is on Wednesday at the Garden, where they will face-off against he second place Capitals. If the Rangers drop this game as well, the fans will surely let this team hear it.

Sean Avery cleared waivers today and must now be assigned to an AHL affiliate team, the Hartford Wolfpack seem to be the most likely team that Sean will land on. I will update as that situation progresses and the Rangers get closer to finally claiming forward Sean Avery later this week.

(Photo taken by AP Images)

Rangers Look To Redeem Themselves At The Rock

Coming off of the worst game of the season, the Rangers will play the New Jersey Devils at 7pm in Newark tonight. This game is important for many reasons, it could actually be labeled the one most important game of the season so far. An obvious reason for importance is the fact that the Blueshirts carry a four game losing drought with them into this game, they would like to snap that tonight. The other reason is that the Rangers have fallen into sixth place in the conference and the gap between the divisional rival Devils is increasing. Another factor that will make tonight's contest interesting is that former Ranger Brendan Shanahan will be dressed in a Devils and will be playing against the Rangers for the first time this season.

As I noted in my post yesterday, coach Tom Renney will have different sets of line combinations on the ice tonight. They will look like this:

Naslund-Gomez-Drury

Callahan-Dubinsky-Zherdev

Dawes-Korpikoski-Sjostrom

Voros-Betts-Orr

I am extremely anxious to see what the first two lines bring to the table tonight, as I am a little unsure on how the third line will perform. Voros should add a little more offense to the fourth line.

The Devils are currently in third place in the Conference and first in the Division. They have gotten this far without All-Star goaltender Martin Brodeur. They lost their last game 3-1 to the L.A. Kings. The last time the Rangers met up with the Devils was in late December, the Rangers went on to lose that game 4-2. The last visit to the Rock did not go so well for the Rangers either, losing 8-5 in a disastrous defensive game. The Rangers hope to have a better effort this time around.

(Photo taken by Getty Images)

Sunday Practice, Partner's Day

I was at the Rangers practice this morning and I noticed one major change. New Lines. Scott Gomez was centering Chris Drury and Markus Naslund, Dubinsky back at center with Callahan and Zherdev on his wings, Korpikoski in the middle of Sjostrom and Dawes, and Voros on the fourth line with Betts and Orr. I like the idea of Callahan on a line with Dubinsky and Zherdev, and you would also imagine that Gomez, Naslund, and Drury will provide some offense. The top two lines leave the bottom 2 a little unstable, but who knows they might work. Kalinin skated for a little while and then left, he is not going to be playing in tomorrow's game. Paul Mara, who finally shaved, will return in tomorrow's contest against New Jersey.

I also mentioned yesterday that I would be attending Parner's Day today, an event in which invited fans get to interact with players and coaches. Coach Tom Renney made a speech saying that adversity is a hole in which you could fall in, or a hole you cover up, walk over, and forget, the Rangers will fill the hole and overcome the adversity starting tomorrow. He also made it a strong point that this is a team that wants to win and will win. Glen Sather was also at the event, but did not speak.

More tomorrow.....

Rangers Get Hammered In Dallas, 10-2

Embarrassing, Disaster, Spanking. Those were only some of the words that were used in post-game interviews by coaches and players, after the 10-2 debacle in Dallas last night. This is an extremely alarming loss for many reasons. It also raises various questions. I will list some of the reasons and questions here for you:

• Is this the end of the Renney Era? The head coach put his players through hell in practice on Wednesday, making them do windsprints and suicides for an hour. That sends a clear message that Renney was unhappy with the way his team was playing. So what do they do in response, they let up 10 goals, don't show any offense, any play their worst game of the season. That is very alarming to an organization when a team doesn't respond to their coach.


• Where is the leadership on this team? Nobody steps up on this team, and our so called top players, play like 3rd liners. Starting with Gomez. His turnovers led to two Dallas goals in the first period. This led to his benching for majority of the third period. Nice Alternate captain, getting benched is showing real great leadership for the other players on this team. Chris Drury is next on the list. He is our captain. Just wanted to remind you in case you forgot. He has been practically invisible over the last few weeks and has been playing awful. Example: Rangers come in 2 on 1 in the second period when it is 3-2, Drury has all day to take the shot. What does he do? He shoots wide and Dallas turns it the other way. He had a man crashing the net, there was only one defensemen for Dallas in the lay, and he shoots high and wide.


• The Blueshirts defensive game obviously collapsed last night, as shown by the score. Despite the fact the Rangers haven't won in 4 games, the defense hasn't been terrible. Tonight, they left goaltender Steven Valiquette out to dry, and looking like a Pee-Wee goalie. Totally Unacceptable on their part. Grant it, Valiquette didn't play his best game, but he had no help, and I would expect most goaltenders in this league to lose focus and let in softies if their defense allows layers to walk in and score.


• Another good point brought up in the Rangers Report Blog (http://rangers.lohudblogs.com/), is our team's cap is just abut maxed out, and we have minimal talent. A team like Dallas has plenty of cap room remaining, and their team is full of talented players that step up when the time is right. Players such as Ribeiro, Zuboz, Modano, Morrow, and others. Where is that on this team. Sather has dug us into a deep hole, and I think he should be smart enough by now to realize there is an urgency to dig us out.

This game was a total disaster from a Rangers standpoint, and this was only against Dallas. Our schedule only gets tougher from here. The Rangers go on to play the Devils(3rd Place), the Capitals(Second Place), the Panthers(8th Place), and the Flyers(6th place). This next week or two could be very well be one of the most important weeks of the season. As the days go on, I am getting more convinced that Avery would help this team, but for now the Rangers need to focus on the week ahead. Also, I will be attending Partner's day this Sunday. We watch the Rangers practice and then have a luncheon with the players, I am extremely anxious to see the moods of these players and if they will dare to speak about last night's lost.
(Photo taken by Getty Images)

Blueshirts Look To Get Back On Track In Dallas, Interest In Avery

The Rangers will look to break, what has become, a three game slide tonight in Dallas at 8:30pm. The Stars are currently in seventh place in the West with 55 points and have had a season with many ups and downs. The Rangers have also had such a season and currently at a low point in it as they play tonight's game trying to prevent the losing skid to increase to four straight games. They have not lost 4 straight yet this season.

D-man Paul Mara will not be playing in this one because of the flu and most likely Goalie Henrik Lundqvist will not be starting for the same reason, the flu. This is second game Henrik will not play in because of the flu this season. So this means that Steve Valiquette will be making his 12th appearance of the season in goal, and also that D Corey Potter will be playing in place of the ill Mara. Erik Reitz will also be in tonight's lineup to replace injured Dmitri Kalinin.

Now another topic that has come up. It has been reported that Rangers GM Glen Sather is meeting with Dallas Stars Co-GM, Les Jackson later today, to discuss the possibility of Avery's return to Broadway. The Stars organization has made it clear that they want nothing to do with Sean after the incident in November, in which he made a comment about Calgary defenseman Dion Phaneuf dating his ex-girlfriend, Elisha Cuthbert. The Stars will most likely place Sean on waivers when he is released from the NHL's anger management program, either this week or early next week. If the Rangers picked him up while on waivers, they would only pay half of his salary, which is around 4 million, so the Rangers would pay around 2. We will see what happens over the next several days.

(Photo taken by Getty Images)

Corey Potter Called Up, New Lines

It was announced today that D-man Corey Potter has been called up to make the trip to Dallas with the Rangers. This is solely because Paul Mara has been overcome by the flu and may not be able to play Friday night. Goalie Henrik Lundqvist has also caught a case of the flu, but coach Renney believes he will play in tomorrow's contest against the Stars. Dmitri Kalinin will not be joining the team on the trip to Dallas, on account of his upper body injury he suffered last Saturday in Boston.

Tom Renney has also made a decision to change up the lines. He is trying Gomez, Naslund, and Voros together on a line to see if they will provide an offensive spark. If this occurs, the forward lines will look something like this:
Naslund-Gomez-Voros
Dubinsky-Drury- Zherdev
Dawes/Prucha-Korpikoski-Callahan
Sjostrom-Betts-Orr

It hasn't been clarified just yet if Dawes or Prucha will occupy that wing spot on the Korpikoski line, but based on Renney's past decisions, I would expect Dawes to be in over Prucha. I believe the placing of Aaron Voros on the line with Gomer ans Nazzy was done to get Aaron back to scoring like he did in the beginning of the season. We will just have to wait and see if the Head Man's combos will ignite the offense and get them to score some goals Friday Night.

Anisimov Sent Back To Hartford

Well after a lack luster game by the team's offense last night at the Garden, the Rangers have sent forward Artem Anisimov back down to Hartford. Artem did not do much in his first NHL game, but hey, the entire offense didn't do much. It is possible that this season's AHL All-Star representative for the Wolf Pack, will stay in Hartford for the remainder of the season. If that is so, I believe Petr Prucha should own that open spot in the lineup, when he was in, he produced. For some reason, he has been a healthy scratch the last few games, despite making a difference when he was in, Aaron Voros has occupied his spot. It just doesn't make sense to me, nor to the rest of the fans out their.

Also, another point from last night's game, newly acquired Eric Reitz played a solid game in his Rangers debut. Eric engaged in a fight, had several hits, and, for the most part, was responsible in his own zone. Dmitri Kalinin is back and will most likely be playing in Friday's game in Dallas.

A Night Of Celebration Ends In Boo's

Adam Graves's retirement ceremony was a success. The Garden and the organization did a fantastic job, once again, in honoring a Ranger Great. The emotion in the crowd was incredible, the "Gravsey" chants sounded awesome, and they the Garden faithful managed to squeeze in a Potvin chant during Adam's speech. After the ceremony was over, it was time for the current Rangers to hit the ice, and boy, I wouldn't have minded if some of the players that were on the red carpet would have hit the ice with them.

Because of time constraints, I will make this quick. Overall, the Rangers offense failed again, in only scoring one goal on the Atlanta Thrashers. The defense played good, and Hank was Hank(except in the SO), but there is no excuse for only scoring one goal against a second to last place team. Quite honestly, it is an embarrassment. Coach Tom Renney felt the same way about the team's effort last night, so he reenacted team USA's practice in the movie Miracle by making the team perform wind sprints and suicides. It is about time the head man applied punishment to a non-producing team.

The Rangers look to get back on track against the Dallas Stars Friday night in Dallas. That game starts at 8:30PM, hopefully the team will have a response to Tom's meaningful practice.

(Photo taken from Rangers Official Website)

Rangers Host Thrashers On Graves Retirement Night

Tonight, Adam Graves, along with his former teammates, will take center ice for the ceremony of the retirement of Adam's number 9. His number will be the sixth Ranger player banner to be raised to the Garden rafters. Adam holds seven Rangers regular season and postseason team records. He had a spectacular career, which included playing a big role in the '94 cup win. He has touched hearts of many Rangers fans, and for it, he has been crowned the title of the "Heart and Soul" of the 1994 championship team. It is now time for him to be honored for his efforts as a Ranger, and 18,200 fans will help to do that when his number is retired tonight.

After the celebration, the Rangers will face off against the Atlanta Thrashers. There are a couple of lineup changes for the Rangers in tonight's contest. As a result of the team's dormant offense, they have opted to call up skilled prospect Artem Anisimov, and see what he is all about in his first NHL game. Anisimov is the team leader in points for the Rangers' affiliate team, the Hartford Wolfpack. D-man Erik Reitz will also make his Rangers debut tonight, he will be replacing Dmitri Kalinin, who suffered, what is being called, an upper body injury, Saturday in Boston. So the new lines are expected to be as follows; Gomez centering Callahan and Naslund, Drury in the middle of Zherdev and Dubinsky, a third line of Anisiomv centering Voros and Korpikoski, and the fourth line will be the usual Betts, Sjostrom, and Orr. Erik Reitz will be paired up with Paul Mara, Redden with Girardi, and Staal with Rozsival. We will see how all of the changes will play out.

The Thrashers currently find themselves in second to last place in the East. They have struggled all season and that begins with their goaltending, which has been shaky this season. The Blueshirts should capitalize on a struggling team and should net some goals. This is a prime opportunity for the Rangers to get their offense jump started. The last time the Rangers saw the Thrashers was in December in Atlanta, they won that game 3-2, on account of Scotty Gomez's game winning goal less than a minute into OT.

The retirement ceremony is scheduled to begin at 6:30pm. Because of this, warm ups will be pushed back to 7:3o, and the puck will drop sometime around eight. Hopefully the boys will be motivated by the energy from the celebration and will get back on track with a solid win.

Also, I will be at the game and will most likely get home late. So I will not have a post game post up until tomorrow afternoon. I apologize in advance, for not getting it up earlier.
(Photo taken from Rangers Official Website)

A Look At The Week Ahead

The Rangers have a fairly light week ahead of them. Only two games will be played over the next seven days. The first of which is on Tuesday, a night that promises to be exciting with the retirement of Adam Graves's number 9, well deserved. Anyway, after the ceremony, the Rangers will hit the ice and clash with the Atlanta Thrashers. The boys win this one, I would like to see some offense in this game. The crowd will be pumped after the Graves ceremony and what better way to keep the excitement than netting a few goals. This should not be a 2-1 overtime win, the Rangers should capitalize and get some points on the board.

Then it is off to Dallas where the Rangers will face the Stars on Friday Night at 8:30pm. The Stars currently find themselves occupying the seventh place spot in the West, with 53 points. The last time the Rangers met up with the Stars was in October at the Garden, when the Stars won 2-1 in regulation.

The Blueshirts will want the full 4/4 points in these two games as other teams in the conference will be making up their games at hand, and possibly surpassing the Rangers in the standings. So there are only two games on the schedule for this week, but each game will be equally important.