Alexander Frolov

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Stepan Shines as Rangers Crush Sabres in Season Opener

Posted by Greg Caggiano on October 9, 2010
Posted in: Hockey, New York Rangers. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 2 comments

Source: AP Photo

The New York Rangers opened the 2010/11 season on the right foot with a 6-3 thrashing of the Buffalo Sabres tonight at HSBC Arena. But what was even more special than a convincing win in the season opener, was the performance of rookie Derek Stepan, who recorded a hat trick in his first NHL game. He also had multiple scoring chances on top of that, and ended up having the biggest night of his life, while becoming the first player in team history to record a hat trick in his first NHL game, and the first Ranger since 1955 to record one on opening night.

The game got off to a very quick pace. Neither team seemed rusty as there was end to end action early on. The first goal of the season would belong to Derek Stepan, who netted his first NHL goal off a crazy deflection that went off the skate of Sabres defenseman Tyler Myers and in. Girardi and Avery would get assists, and Avery was effective all night long; he would finish with two assists on the night.

Five minutes later, Brandon Dubinsky would also score on a great feed from Artem Anisimov from behind the net, to get the Rangers up 2-0. The first period would end with the Rangers up by a deuce.

The Sabres would get on the board almost midway through the second, on a far-away slapshot from Jordan Leopold. This was one Lundqvist should have had, as there was hardly any screen in front of him. But the Rangers would answer back with two more goals that period, both from Derek Stepan, to give him the hat trick (and prompting a kiss on the visor from Brandon Dubinsky during the intermission). The Rangers would further increase their lead early in the third on an Erik Christensen goal, with assists going to Gaborik and Frolov, giving him his first point as a Ranger.

Minutes later, Stepan would have a chance at a forth goal when he missed on a breakaway. Four minutes later, Leopold would score his second for the Sabres and Derek Roy would net one later in the third to cut the Rangers lead to 5-3.

With the Sabres on a powerplay late in the third and the goalie pulled, Brandon Dubinsky would ice it with his second of the game, giving the Rangers a season opening victory.

To nit-pick a little bit, Lundqvist was not very strong tonight and he should have had the first two goals he gave up, while the defense just standing around for the third goal did not help matters. The defense really needs to wake up and shake off the rust in time for their next game against the aggressive Islanders on Monday. Steve Eminger also had a horrible game, and took two penalties.

The Rangers offense definitely looks better than last season, even though it is only one game. The Rangers may get chances like they did tonight all season long, but if the defense plays like this consistently, they could be in trouble.

The Blueshirts next game is on Long Island on Monday afternoon. The injured Chris Drury is a slight possibility to play, though Friday seems to be a more realistic scenario.

Frolov Discusses Signing with Rangers; Commentary from Russ Cohen

Posted by Greg Caggiano on July 27, 2010
Posted in: Hockey, New York Rangers. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

You are entering the Frolov zone.

Quotes from Alex Frolov himself are slowly making their way to Twitter, and we have these from Arthur Staple of Newsday:

“I probably thought free agency would go faster, maybe easier than this. I had a chance to go to Russia. It was a tough decision.”

-Maybe because nobody wanted to shell out big bucks to a player who scored 19 goals last season and was relegated to playing on the third line?

“I decided to take the 1-year deal, then next year we can talk more long-term. I know what I can bring to the Rangers.”

-Good thing it’s only a one year deal; no harm, no foul. As for what you can bring, I hope it’s a lot more than what I am expecting.

“In my whole career, I’ve been to the playoffs once. I wanted a chance to get there again and win a Stanley Cup.”

-Then why on earth would you come to the Rangers?

These next ones come from Andrew Gross of the Bergen Record:

“…I think New York is probably the best place for me to be right now.”

-Yes, cause us fans love Russian enigmas. Zherdev v2.0 is the label he is already getting, but I’m thinking more along the lines of Alexei Kovalev’s second stint on Broadway.

“I probably could have made more in Russia, sometimes you have to think about something else…”

-You could have made a lot more in Russia, and played in a stress-free environment, at least when compared to New York. And what else were you considering? I know $3 million is pocket change to some people, so maybe the lavish New York lifestyle perhaps?

Lastly, we have some great quotes from Russ Cohen who told me, “Alexander Frolov has a lot of skill but sometimes makes one too many moves on the ice and that tends to frustrate viewers. He’s not a complete player and his numbers have been in decline each of the last three seasons.”

And he basically echoes my mentality of the whole situation when he says, “He’s the type of player a team might bring in to put them over the top rather than taking a potential roster spot away from a young player.”

New York Rangers Ink Winger Alexander Frolov

Posted by Greg Caggiano on July 27, 2010
Posted in: Hockey, New York Rangers. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

Just about twenty-four hours after writing about how signing Alexander Frolov is not the answer to the New York Rangers problems, it has been announced that the Rangers have reached a deal with the Russian-born left winger for one year at $3 million.

Frolov is coming off the worst season of his career, putting aside his rookie campaign, and one that saw him benched and then relegated to third line duty by head coach Andy Murray for a lack of work ethic.

Although this deal does not break the bank, the Rangers are really not in much better shape with him than they were without him. Frolov could give the Rangers 20 goals and 50 points, but this team was in need of a star-like player, one that they did not get and should have stood pat because of. By December, he will be labeled the second coming of Nikolai Zherdev, mark my words.

The bright side to this is the fact that he is a bit more defensively responsible than Zherdev, and is only two years removed from a thirty-goal season. This move just reeks of a good ole fashioned Glen Sather reclamation project, but because it is a one year deal, it will not harm the Rangers future.

I’m still not crazy about this, but it could be worse, like Frolov being 38 instead of 28.

Article coming later on my projected forward line combinations for the Rangers on opening night.

Alexander Frolov is Not the Answer to the Rangers Problems

Posted by Greg Caggiano on July 26, 2010
Posted in: Hockey, New York Rangers. Tagged: , , , , , , . 2 comments

It seems like this week’s rumor, which is actually running pretty rampant this morning, is the New York Rangers being interested in free agent winger Alexander Frolov. Being that the Rangers have done absolutely nothing to help improve the team’s shoddy offense this summer, it almost seems like a no-brainer to bring the two-time 30-goal scorer to Broadway.

However, in a move that seems all too Rangeresque, Frolov is not currently coming off one of those 30 goal seasons, but one where he scored only 19 goals, the lowest amount since he was a rookie in the NHL in 2002, and being on the best Los Angeles Kings team since that year.

Frolov would lighten the burden of Marian Gaborik, to a degree, but it is not going to help the Rangers solve their offensive woes. At most, Frolov can be counted on for 25 goals, maybe the 30 that he has hit twice before, but what it seems we have here is Nikolai Zherdev V2.0.

Zherdev too came to the Rangers with a lot of skill, and the ability to make moves that brought people out of their seats, and score the highlight reel goal from time to time. That was all fine and dandy in October and November, but where was Zherdev has the season dredged onward? Nowhere to be found.

Frolov too has that ability, to make people go “wow”, but in coming off a season which he mightily struggled, I would be inclined to say “No Thanks”.

To show his streakiness, let’s take a look at some of his stats: He scored only two goals in November, and one in January, where the amount of games for those two months totaled 27. Twice he had ten game goal scoring droughts, and there were only four occasions where he scored goals in back to back games. He had two four-game point scoring streaks, both in October, and never matched that for the rest of the season.

Do we still think Frolov coming to New York is a good idea?

Sure he was good two years ago, but judging off of last season, he actually seems just like the player the Rangers would bring in; gauging the acquisition off of past success and not recent struggles. The Rangers must move on from this type of signing, unless they can get him at a bargain basement deal (he made $4 million last season).

The Rangers will not be worse off if they sign him, but they won’t be better either. Unless a superstar comes around, the Rangers should just put their wallet away and be patient.