“Around the NHL”: Tortorella vs. the Beat Writers, Off-Season Speculation, Devils & Kings Game One

Hello there again! It’s time to take a look at what’s going on in the wide world of hockey. From a coach at war with the writers who cover his team, to already ridiculous off-season speculation involving the New York Rangers, it’s all here, in Around the NHL! (Oh yeah, and there was a Stanley Cup Finals game played last night too.)

• It’s no secret that I cannot stand the New Jersey Devils; well, actually, it’s their fans more than the actual team. Anyway, I gave them the benefit of the doubt heading into these Stanley Cup Finals. All we heard from them during the series against the Rangers is how they, as a fan base, are growing more now than ever before, how they are finally solidifying themselves. If that’s the case, then how come Game One of the biggest series in this sport was not sold out? Not just empty seats appearing in view of the TV cameras, but a laughable amount of available seats. Example: my friend (who is a Rangers fan wanting to see some Finals action with a group of people) buying eight tickets just a few hours before puck drop, then other people posting screenshots of Ticketmaster a half hour before the game, with plenty of seats still empty. I guess this should not really be a surprise—they could not sell out against the Rangers just weeks ago, and that was with the Blueshirts buying up roughly 20% of the seats in the arena. It’s a shame for them that there aren’t more Los Angeles Kings fans living in the Garden State.

On the Rink with Gootz: The Rise and Fall of the 2011/12 New York Rangers Part II

This second installment comes from our “On the Rink with Gootz” columnist Chris Hoeler, who I thank for helping me out with some additional hockey coverage this season. This article is titled, “A Step in the Right Direction”. Enjoy.

There was a scramble in front of the net as the puck bounced around, and it disappeared under Henrik Lundqvist and then reappeared on the stick of Adam Henrique. Just like that, the 2011/12 season for the New York Rangers ended as the New Jersey Devils and their fans celebrated their ticket being punched to the Stanley Cup Finals against the Los Angeles Kings. On the other side of the spectrum, the Rangers and their fans sat feeling like they had been punched in the stomach. That is the feeling you always get when your team’s season ends.

But while the pain slowly ebbs away there was so much this team did that fans can look back on. While the trip to Europe to start the season was only a few months ago, it seems like years considering how much this team developed together. One example is Ryan McDonagh, who went from a young player looking to solidify his position on the team to a top defenseman going up against the best players. Another is Dan Girardi who went from having to fill a concussed Marc Staal’s shoes to making the All-Star Team.

2012 NHL Playoffs: Round Three Predictions

We’re getting closer to the Stanley Cup, and my, what thrilling match-ups we have waiting for us to watch! The first, which is going to be the series of the playoffs, which will eclipse the ruggedly intense first round bout between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers, is between the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils. I have already given my full series preview here, so all I will say now is how nervous we all are at this undertaking. I work at a school full of Devils’ fans—the students and teachers included in this—which also plays host to the Devils’ sponsored hockey league I coach in. I told a teacher last week, who had earlier assured me that her gut instinct was a Rangers-Devils Eastern Conference Finals match-up, “This is going to be war. I’ll be wearing my Ranger jersey every time I come in this place during the series.” Rest assured, though, there are still plenty of Rangers’ fans there, so either way, the result will bring forth plenty of gloating and an endless amount of jabs.

“Around the NHL”: Letter from a Penguins Fan, Game Three Brawls, General Thoughts

Complaints about the way the Pittsburgh Penguins have conducted themselves this past season have become so commonplace that they blend right in with your general barrage of gripes that you can expect to see with each season. But how about one from a Penguins’ fan himself? Sure enough, these last few weeks have gotten so out of hand, culminating with yesterday afternoon’s debacle with the Philadelphia Flyers, that it prompted an Open Letter to be posted on their SB Nation blog PensBurgh. This is a very thoughtful yet straight-to-the-point message from a lifelong Penguins’ fan that really captures everything that the rest of the league has been saying for years:

NHL Trade Deadline Musings: Zidlicky to Devils, the Nash Saga Continues

These past few days have just been up and down with rumors, most revolving around Columbus Blue Jackets’ superstar winger Rick Nash, with nobody seeming to know anything at all about what is really transpiring. But before all of that, we had a couple of big deals, the first being Jeff Carter dealt to Los Angeles by Columbus so he could be re-united with former drinking buddy, err…I mean, teammate from Philadelphia, Mike Richards. The return on the trade was defenseman Jack Johnson and a first round pick. With that, I would say both teams made out rather well. The Blue Jackets get some much-needed offense from the blue line, though Johnson’s defense is anything but solid (I guess you can say he’ll fit right in, then?) as he currently sits at a -12 on the season, and a -90 overall for his career. That’s scary to think about, considering the offense he has put up. Carter, meanwhile, will help a stagnant Kings’ offense, as he will personally be revitalized by playing with a big market team in a city full of night life. You can expect him and Richards to be the bash-brothers they were with the Flyers.

1995/96: The Year the New York Rangers Should Have Won the Stanley Cup

Luc Robitaille was one of the many superstars on a promising 1995/96 Rangers team.

At the culmination of the 1993/94 NHL season, the New York Rangers snapped a 54 year Stanley Cup drought, with their thrill-ride seven game series victory over the Vancouver Canucks. This team, the assembly of which, is one that people only dream about today,and has perhaps gone unmatched in hockey over the last 17 years, with its combination of veteran leadership, superstar power, clutch goal-scoring ability and goaltending, and a much less talked about presence of skillful youth. This is the one lineup, that, if given the opportunity, any fan of this team would ask for. However, two seasons later, the Rangers arguably fielded an even better team, but one that is largely forgotten, due to it being sandwiched between the Rangers’ Stanley Cup victory and the ensuing lockout, and later, the arrival of Wayne Gretzky in New York, to re-team with Mark Messier, a duo which won four championships in Edmonton. The mid-1990′s was the most exciting time to be a Rangers’ fan since probably the 1970′s. Anyone who has read Losing the Edge: The Rise and Fall of the Stanley Cup Champion New York Rangers (Pub. 1995), by Barry Meisel, knows that GM Neil Smith was poising his team to become a dynasty, but unfortunately, it never happened, and the Rangers would have to settle for only one. The 1995/96 season had even more promise at the start than 1994 did, and although they finished lower in the standings, this had all the makings of another championship.

New York Rangers: Only Three Games In, Is It Time to Start Worrying?

The New York Rangers are on a road trip from hell. First they traveled more than 11,000 miles to Europe, through Scandinavian countries for exhibition matches, and now back to the United States, where they played one game on Long Island, and are now gearing up for yet another road trip, 3,000 miles to western Canada, to play four games against Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, and Winnipeg, before finally returning to back New York for their home opener against Toronto. This schedule, made so because of the prolonged renovation underway at Madison Square Garden, and the NHL’s fascination with having the Blueshirts travel to Europe what seems like every season, left the team exhausted for their first two games in Sweden, which they dropped to the Kings and Ducks respectively, in overtime, last weekend. With the way they played, they were lucky to have even gotten the two points. Lundqvist kept the Rangers in both games, while Gaborik and Richards were excellent together. Unfortunately, the list ends there in regards to players who actually impressed.

The Rangers could have blamed those two losses on any number of factors, which also included not having enough time to get in team practices, and playing four exhibition games on large-size hockey rinks. John Tortorella even exclaimed, “We can’t wait to get the hell out of here,” upon completion of last Saturday’s loss to Anaheim. Before last night’s game against the Islanders, he told the press that, “The season starts tonight.” If that is the case, than both starts to the season were disasters. With an entire week off to rest up, practice regularly, and prepare, the Rangers were flat once again, plagued by the same thing that dragged them down in Stockholm: penalties. The Rangers were shorthanded eight times last night, the Islanders cashing in on two of those chances. The most glaring of these undisciplined penalties came at the most inopportune time, with less than five minutes remaining, and the Rangers trailing 3-2. Marian Gaborik took the most obvious hooking penalty, one reminiscent of a pre-lockout defenseman trying to manhandle an opponent. I yelled at the TV, watching incredulously. This is the most undisciplined team I have ever seen in my life, I thought to myself. After eight last night, eight against Anaheim, and five against Los Angeles, this is not rust we are seeing, but an epidemic of laziness and stupidity.

The announcers on MSG last night mentioned just before the game that Tortorella preached better discipline to the team, and then Brandon Dubinsky takes a tripping penalty a little more than a minute in. Dubinsky, whose play has been less than lackluster all throughout the preseason and these first three games, clearly looks lost and devoid of hockey sense, and has managed to have taken 20 minutes in penalties thus far. Never being a big fan of his I-Play-Good-When-I-Want-To style of play, I wonder what will have to be done to wake him up, as with the money he is being paid, he needs to either start scoring or Sather has to start looking for a new team for the egotistical “power forward”. He is the prototypical third line center being paid second line money, who has a head the size of a superstar—not really the recipe for success, is it now?

People have also blamed these losses on the injuries to defense, because of Sauer’s recent shoulder injury and Staal’s long-term concussion problems. Aside from normal nerves and a bit of shakiness in the first two games, the Rangers young defense really has not been the issue. Would I kill to have those two guys back? Of course, but I don’t see the Rangers having any wins even with them in the lineup, with the way the offense has looked so far, and the amount of penalties that have added up.

And so I ask, is it time to start worrying? It may be only three games, but the Rangers, aside from Gaborik (2 goals) and Richards (1 goal, 2 assists), have been offensively challenged. Its not even the fact that they are not scoring, but they look terrible at times. The penalties have a lot to do with that, because a team cannot develop flow when they spend nearly an entire period’s worth of playing time in the penalty box. Though there is no “reffing” conspiracy against the Rangers as some fans may tell you, there were a few calls last night that were atrocious, including a delay of game call to Brian Boyle when the puck was still moving, and a goaltender interference penalty on Callahan, who had no way to avoid hitting the goalie. That aside, the cat is out of the bag regarding the Rangers. Word is, they are undisciplined and will take stupid penalties, so you know the referees are going to watch them even closer now.

Discipline is not something a team can learn, or hopefully, re-learn overnight. This is something scarier than if the Rangers were shutout in these three games. Lundqvist has been brilliant, and is the only reason why these losses are not blowouts. But what happens when he gets a night off or has a clunker himself? Will the team just implode? Under normal circumstances, a team would welcome a four game road trip, to get out west and get away from everything; it could be a chance to refocus. But the Rangers have been on the road for about a month now, and due to their first three games, this trip is going to be anything but fun. The Canucks have always been tough opponents, and the Flames and young Oilers team will be very tough to beat. The other foe on the swing, the Jets, are still looking for their first win—will it come against New York?

The Rangers need to win two of these four games, what could be an early season-saver. Be it as it may, only mid-October, but if the Rangers drop all four games or only win one, the hole dug will be even deeper. To the people who are not alarmed, John Davidson used to say, “The points you get in October are the points you don’t need in April”. If the Rangers keep losing, playoff chances will diminish, and it does not matter what time of the season it is. At 0-1-2, the Rangers could easily be 0-3-0, so you can imagine what a poor trip out west could mean—the future is really not too bright. With the Penguins and Flyers bound to have good seasons, and the Devils and Islanders set to surprise, we may be looking at the worst team in the Atlantic this season, without a quick turnaround.

New York Rangers: Musings Around the 2011 NHL Trade Deadline

Bryan McCabe could be showing off his lethal slapshot as a New York Ranger by next week.

The last few days have been rather busy as teams around the league have been making minor moves to prepare themselves for the final stretch run of the season. However, the New York Rangers continue to remain quiet, even as the losses pile up and the offense continues to struggle. Though they may not be looking to make a blockbuster, I would find it hard to believe that they will just stand pat and do absolutely nothing. The team is in need of a top-flight center, a physical defenseman, and an offensive defenseman. Unless Glen Sather pulls together some sheer magic, they will not be acquiring all three, but perhaps one or two may be able to be acquired.

Something keeps nagging at me regarding the “concussion” Marian Gaborik sustained yesterday afternoon against the Philadelphia Flyers. I am not going to say the Rangers are out-and-out lying about it, but the whole situation is rather strange. He only played six shifts in the first period, for a mere four and a half minutes, which would indicate something was wrong, but then he was on the ice for the last shift of the period, which does not make any sense. If he really had a concussion, he would not have even been put out there in the end. Now, unless Gaborik suffered this concussion by taking off his helmet in the locker room during the intermission, this situation looks to be one where the Rangers pulled him, because his name is being involved in trade talks. No one saw him get hit, at least not that hard, and the concussion is being announced as “minor” and only lasting five to seven days. How convenient, just enough time to last until the deadline passes. Whether the Rangers want to trade him or whether they will trade him are two completely different stories. As much as I want to see him moved, I just do not see a deal out there glaring at me, except the one I mentioned where the Rangers could trade him and another player to the Los Angeles Kings for Dustin Brown. I believe that deal will help out both teams. Other than that, where would Gaborik fit in?

There is another rumor out there today that the Chicago Blackhawks are interested in Steve Eminger. This could be a possibility, but the Rangers could only make this deal if they were to get a defenseman in return, and the only one on their corps that they would move and who would not affect the Rangers cap situation would be Nick Boynton. Perhaps that will be the veteran presence the Rangers are looking for, as Boynton is 32 and has 595 games of NHL experience.

As for who the Rangers could be getting in terms of an offensive defenseman, I would have to go with the crowd on this one and say Bryan McCabe of the Florida Panthers. The 35-year-old powerplay quarterback still has a lethal slapshot from the point, but is not very sound defensively. However, when compared to Sheldon Souray, who the Rangers scouted multiple times, I would say McCabe looks like a Norris-winner in comparison. Another possibility would be John-Michael Liles, the Colorado Avalanche quarterback who started out the season red-hot but has since cooled off into what his career averages suggest. He is a lot younger, cheaper, and still has a decent amount of experience. Online sources are saying that Colorado is in a lot of talks right now, but no names of players or teams are being revealed, so it is up to us to guess.

Now to who the Rangers should move, I would have to say Matt Gilroy and Michael Del Zotto. I do not really care one way or the other if they keep or trade Eminger—personally, he has not been that bad of late. Del Zotto, however, has been atrocious. Is it a sophomore slump or is this what the rest of his future will hold? To play it safe, the Rangers may just want to demote him for the rest of this season. If they feel like gambling, they may want to move him completely. As for Gilroy, have the Rangers ever had a more pointless presence? He doesn’t hit and has no offense. Yet another instance of good speed being wasted.

One last thing of note, and that is the speculation of the Rangers wanting Chris Neil from Ottawa, and him not waiving his no-trade-clause. I find it hard to believe that a team with Sean Avery, Brandon Prust, and an injured Derek Boogaard would have a place for a player like Neil, who is a better fighter than Prust and Avery, but is a decent instigator himself, and who plays very much on the edge. I would not want him, whatever the deal would be, unless Avery was somehow traded, but I do not see that happening. The only reason I can think of, besides wanting to goon it up, would be that Boogaard’s injury is more serious than we think, and he is done for not only this season, but the future as well. Maybe the Rangers should just quit when it comes to enforcers, because they never seem to have any luck.

The New York Rangers Need to Trade Marian Gaborik

Sorry for such a boring, generic title, but I’m running low on New York Post back page cheese this morning. I also apologize for having to bring back the Marian Gaborik milk carton, which was actually quite popular a few weeks ago, but now, it is just angering, especially when you consider he had no shots on goal in last night’s debacle against the New Jersey Devils. I had created it in the midst of one of Gaborik’s (many) funks this current season, after which, he scored four goals against the Toronto Maple Leafs on January 19, prompting me to put a giant “FOUND” stamp over the front of the carton. But once again, Marian the Magnificent has disappeared after a hat trick, something he has done three times this season.

When I say “disappear” or “struggles” I am only referring to the goal scoring department, because he has a decent number of assists, but the Rangers aren’t paying him for assists, and they are not helping the team to win. The fact that he has more of them than goals this season only shows how deeply he has truly struggled. Yes, he missed some time early in the season, which could account for him being thrown off his stride, but he has been back for quite some time now, and for a player that never had a decent center for his entire career, he cannot blame this subpar campaign on that, because with a career winger as his center last year, he still found a way to put up 42 goals.

In 46 games this season, he has only 17 goals, but 10 of those goals have come in only three games: the hat tricks against the Edmonton Oilers and New York Islanders, and the four goal performance recently against the Maple Leafs. That leaves him with an eye-opening seven goals in 43 games. Is that superstar material? Each time he has looked to bust out of a slump, he has fallen right back in. He had zero goals before his first hat trick, then went the next eight after it scoring only two. His second hat trick would break the mini-stretch of games, but in the 19 games following that, he would score only three goals. His four goal game against the Leafs at last seemed to be the end of this stagnant season, but it only proved to equate to his previous two outbursts, as he has two goals in twelve games since.

The New York Rangers need to do something, anything, to get this team back to where they were playing earlier. The team was expected to lack consistency, because of the amount of youth, but Marian Gaborik is no youngster, he should not be having this problem, or at least, not as drastically as he has been. If the New York Rangers cannot get Brad Richards from Dallas, something I really believe they will not be doing before free agency, then they must trade Marian Gaborik, it is that simple. He has not even looked good during his slumps—sometimes players will play well but just catch bad breaks—but he has not shown that explosive speed (or “powerful stride” as Joe Micheletti would call it) nor has he shown that devastating wrist shot except once or twice, when it was something we were used to seeing on a regular basis last year.

But who could the Rangers trade him to? Not only must a team be interested, but they must have the cap space to be able to take him, if they can’t send a star player back the other way. If the Rangers package Gaborik with another player, than perhaps a trade for Dustin Brown of the Los Angeles Kings would not be out of the question. The Kings were rumored to have a heavy interest in Gaborik during the off-season, and if you were to add Gaborik to a very good lineup that already has a budding young star in Anze Kopitar, the team could take off, if a change of scenery would actually do him any good. I am not so sure if the Kings would trade away their captain, but then again, crazier things have happened.

If it was up to me, I would trade him for just some draft picks and a top prospect or two, but that could really set the Rangers back further as they would have no superstar in the franchise, either proven or potential, unless they want to wait for free agency, a term that should make all of us cringe. Perhaps the Rangers can even try to trade for Brad Richardson on Los Angeles, because his name looks similar to the coveted star they seek (I’m only kidding).

The Rangers need to do something here because this is not a slump Gaborik is in. He looks disinterested, which usually marks the end of one’s tenure with a particular organization. John Tortorella can only change the lines so many times before he must realize that nothing can be done to jump-start him. It was reported on NHL.Com a few weeks ago that “Sather would listen to offers for Gaborik”. Well, let’s see if he becomes a little more serious and starts talking trade, because if they don’t act soon, this team will be out of the playoff picture before you know it.

Gretzky Would Play for Rangers in Legends Game; Why Not Right Now?

Just finished reading a great piece by Larry Brooks in the New York Post, where he asks Wayne Gretzky, who turns 50 on Wednesday, how his life is going and should the Winter Classic be in New York next season, would he play for them in the legends game. The Great One responded with an emphatic yes and an, “I’d be there in a minute if the Rangers had one.” If this doesn’t help sell the NHL that the Rangers should be hosting the WC next season, I don’t know what will. As someone alluded to on Yahoo, wouldn’t it be sweet to see a Rangers-Kings classic, where Gretzky suits up for Los Angeles for the first half of the game, then finishes in Ranger blue? But that does not appear to be the likely scenario, because it seems the Rangers and Flyers are the leading contenders for 2012.

This all begs me to ask the question, if Wayne is so eager to play for them in the legends game, would he play for the Rangers right now? With injuries to Dubinsky, Callahan, Christensen, Fedotenko, Boogaard, Frolov, Prospal, and now Girardi and Prust, Gretzky would be a top-flight player on this team who is featuring half of the Connecticut Whale on their roster. If you would have told me that by January, the Rangers would have peeks at Zuccarello, Weise, Dupont, Kolarik, Newbury, McDonaugh, and Williams, I would have thought you were crazy, but the Rangers have caught the injury bug this season, and no one has escaped it, including Marian Gaborik and Chris Drury who are healthy now but missed an extended period of time earlier in the season.

The Rangers four current centers are Brian Boyle, Derek Stepan, Artem Anisimov, and Chris Drury…HELP! Where would Gretzky fit into all of this, even at fifty years old? I’d say pretty damn well if you ask me. The Rangers are one of the worst teams in the league on faceoffs…do you think Wayne has slipped up in that department. And how about for goals, a category the Rangers are strapped for considering half their team is watching in the press box? I think he still has a few biscuits left in his arsenal.

So Wayne, if you are reading this and still feel ties to New York, please come and help us out! If I see Captain Clutch miss one more open net or flub one more slap shot, or lose a faceoff, because apparently, that’s the only thing his $7 million salary is paying him to do, I’ll scream. You will always be welcome here Wayne, so how about a comeback attempt?