Update:8:28PM: Some twitter feedback on Brooklyn:

The great Scotty Hockey says that it doesn’t have enough seating and that you need to drive there. Read Scotty all the time here.

Bronx Baseball Daily agrees that its not a good idea, saying that you can’t get there without driving and thinks that if Brooklyn is the choice, the rink at Coney Island with renovations would be a better option.

Laurie Carr says that it doesn’t have enough seating to house an ECHL team

Jason Richard suggest modernizing the Rye Playland where the Rangers practiced for many years as an option.

…So the early report on things is that work needs to be done to get this to work, so it looks unlikely. The lack of public transportation though is a big-time reason that it won’t happen though.

Update:8:16PM: Steve Zipay has more on this at Blue Notes. He thinks and has quotes that could suggest that Albany could be the new home of the Rangers ECHL team.

…Tweeter danno2530 suggests the Brooklyn Aviator center. Seems like a good idea to me, it is certainly close enough to the Rangers.

I know almost nothing about this place, so more research is needed, but I would love this idea.

Original Post: According to Andrew Gross, who cites a newspaper source, the Charlotte Checkers will become the AHL affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes next season.

…How dare they, although it makes considerable sense

The Rangers will have to find a new ECHL affiliate.

Update:6PM: Gainey did step down at the news conference, but will stay on with the team as an adviser.

At Sports Illustrated, Michael Farber breaks down the Gainey era in Montreal.

Update:1:42PM: Craig Custance, of the Sporting News says that Bob Gainey is leaving quite the situation for Pierre Gauthier.

Update:12:41PM: McKenzie says that Gainey is stepping down and that Pierre Gauthier is taking over.

He follows up by saying that Gainey is leaving voluntarily

Original Post: Bob McKenzie of TSN is reporting that rumors are running rampant that Montreal Canadiens GM Bob Gainey will step down at a News Conference this afternoon.

..There is no confirmation on this, but McKenzie is not the only one speculating on this. Gainey acquired Scott Gomez from the Rangers on June 30th of this past summer. He also signed Brian Gionta, and Mike Cammalleri. Montreal is currently in sixth place in the Eastern Conference with 62 points.

Gainey spent his entire NHL career with the Canadiens from 1974 to 1989. He has been the GM in Montreal since 2003, making the playoffs every year but one

Jaromir Jagr broke the Rangers single-season record for goals in 2005-06 by scoring 54, breaking Adam Graves record of 52.

Through 59 games, Jagr had 42 goals. Through 59 games this season, Marian Gaborik has 35.

Gaborik is projected to hit 49 goals. He is currently fourth in the NHL in goals scored.

Gaborik has six goals in his last five games.

…It certainly wouldn’t hurt the Rangers chances at the playoffs if Gaborik broke the record.

With the Rangers off until Wednesday night, they went through a full practice today as they will tomorrow.

The lines were the same as they have been, Marian Gaborik, Vinny Prospal and Erik Christensen, Olli Jokinen, Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Callahan, Sean Avery, Artem Anisimov and Enver Lisin with the fourth line being a medley of Brandon Prust, Donald Brashear, Brian Boyle, Aaron Voros and Chris Drury.

Andrew Gross notes that Henrik Lundqvist was using his Swedish Olympic equipment again.

Gross also notes that Sean Avery gave a thumbs up to last night’s half-time performance of The Who.

…I am a fan of the Who and I am neutral on the performance. It was rusty, but the stage and Pete Townshend were both solid. But how could anyone follow what Bruce did last year.

For more, visit Ranger Rants. Also at The Blueshirts Blog

The Rangers powerplay had been mired in an 0-25 slump until last Thursday when they busted out for four powerplay goals and then another on Saturday night.

John Tortorella told Arthur Staple after the game on Saturday that the key to the powerplay is moving:

“The key is puck movement,” Tortorella said. “If we get stagnant and we hold on to the puck . . . that’s one of the things we’ve worked on with Gabby, to get rid of the puck. Because once he holds on to it, everyone just converges on him. He gets rid of it, he gets himself open.”

…Makes sense, nothing good ever happens when people are standing still, their has to be constant puck movement and cycling and hopefully Gaborik finds himself open to rip his crazy slap shot or for people to converge on him and leave Michael Del Zotto or Olli Jokinen open at the point.

Speaking of Jokinen, Del Zotto says that his addition has helped a lot with the powerplay:

“Getting Olli has kind of sparked us,” said Michael Del Zotto, 19, the main power-play quarterback all season. “We were almost locked into making the same play every time for a bit there. We understand now, with the talent we have, we’ve got to be more creative.”

…Jokinen at the point gives the Rangers another option that has to keeps teams honest and stop them from just keying on Gaborik. The Rangers need to keep this going and its the one downside to the time off that the team has right now.

Larry Brooks has more on Gilroy in the NY Post today.

But the mobile defensemen craved by Tortorella — to the exclusion of crease clearers — are on the move again. Or at least during the past week, Matt Gilroy has been on the move, carrying the puck, gaining the zone and looking to create for his teammates without yielding opportunities the other way.

Original Post: 2/7/10: 1:05:PMMatt Gilroy came into this season with relatively high expectations because of his Hobey Baker Award and leading Boston University to the National Championship last season.

Gilroy has been up and down this season and was sent down to Hartford in December. With an assist last night, Gilroy has points in two straight games and John Tortorella told Michael Obernauer that he is coming along:

“The past two games I think he’s played much better,” the coach said. “He’s been harder on people, he’s been taking time and space a lot quicker. His strength is his skating; it’s just a constant learning curve that we’re trying to get him to take people out – not to run people, but just close people out. He makes a great pass on Dru’s goal. He’s more involved in the offense. The thing we’ve really been working on is in his end zone as far as closing people out, and I thought he played very well as far as that aspect.”

Gilroy has four goals and six assists on the season. He last scored on November 28th against Pittsburgh.

…Gilroy is only 25 and still have time to develop. He has gotten better as the season has gone on and if he can bring his offensive game back into the fold, while still focusing on D, Gilroy could be a huge part of the Rangers playoff push. He has good vision, is a great skater and looks like he can be a big player for the Rangers.

On December 28th Vinny Prospal underwent arthroscopic knee surgery and missed seven games in-which the Rangers went 4-1-2. Since his return, the Rangers are 4-9-1 but Prospal has three goals and eleven assists in that time, as he tries to return to form.

In Newsday, Arthur Staple writes about Prospal and his physical struggle since returning to the lineup:

“They said it’s more like six to eight weeks until you feel right,” Prospal told Newsday after the Rangers’ 3-1 win over the Devils on Saturday night. “I was skating 10 days after [the surgery], so I knew there would be a little pain left, and there still is sometimes.”

Staple discusses the possibility of Prospal, on a one year deal worth $1.15 million, being an attractive trade chip for the Rangers at the deadline.

…Prospal will not be traded unless the Rangers lose every game until March 3rd, even then, the team will probably continue to be buyers because they will never be far enough out of the playoffs for them to sell. Prospal has been a little streaky since his return, but had four points on Thursday night when the team lost 6-5 to Washington. These days off until Wednesday’s game against Nashville should give Prospal nice time to continue his recovery, as will the Olympic break. Prospal is too important to the Rangers playoff push this season to move him.

The New York Islanders have surprised some, not me, with their play this season and proximity to the playoff race. The team is in 13th place in the Eastern Conference, and five points out of the playoffs, but is on a seven game losing streak.

According to Bruce Garroich, Gordon could be on the hot-seat for the Isles as some players are not getting along with him

Garroich says that defenseman Brendan Witt was put on waivers because of disagreements with Gordon.

…I think Gordon will finish the season and start with them next year unless John Tavares wants a change or the Town of Hempstead asks him to go for the Lighthouse to work. To me, the Isles are a team that can only be taken so far by Gordon. They are still incredibly young and were fortunate to get solid play all season from Dwayne Roloson while Rick DiPetro recovered from injury. They are probably a half-season ahead of schedule in their rebuild and should contend seriously for the playoffs next season. They are close for this season, but they shouldn’t be pressured into making a run. The Isles have a very nice core with Tavares, Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey and they should develop on their own.

The ultimate sports fan’s Sunday was jump-started with one of the most exciting hockey games played all year, a rivalry match-up between the Penguins and the Capitals. Just as one All-Pro quarterback would reign victorious in the Super Bowl, yesterday’s matinee would result in a victory for a World-class NHLer…this time for Alexander Ovechkin and the Capitals with a 5-4 OT win over Sidney Crosby and the Penguins.

Down 4-1 in the middle of the 2nd period, the Caps would score four-straight against a weary Penguins team who had arrived in DC at 2:15 AM. Ovechkin earned a hat-trick (42) and an assist (44) and pretty much took the game over from the second period on. Mike Knuble had the game-winner (21) on the power play in OT and also added a helper (18). Crosby (39) and Jordan Staal (16) both finished with two goals apiece for Pittsburgh.

Only two days after letting in six goals in a loss against the Capitals, Henrik Lundqvist was superb on Saturday night as he stopped 41 shots in the Rangers win over the Devils.

Lundqvist told Larry Brooks in the NY Post about how he prepares for certain games:

“I usually go over every tape, but there are some games you just have to let go because it’s hard to find the answers,” Lundqvist said after breaking a personal 0-6 streak in gaining his first victory since Jan. 19. “That type of game [against Washington] where that are that many mistakes, you just move on”.

Lundqvist also said that the Rangers and his own little slide, was weighing on him:

“[The losing streak] was weighing on me a little bit. I had been working hard but maybe too hard. It’s a relief for me to get this win. . . . I’m very happy with the way I played and the team played.”

…Hank is the ultimate competitor and when the team loses, he takes the responsibility and its good to see him get rewarded with a great effort from himself and from the team in front of him, like he did on Saturday night.